The Book of Life

and we'll be reading out of the book of Luke

Luke 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10 and verse 20 and it's good to have

friends here thank you for being here family

so glad that my my in -laws are here with us

today Nat and Becky Ochoa God bless them and

thank you for coming and I know they wouldn't

miss their granddaughter's baptism and all the

other friends that are here God bless you I just

feel in my spirit today that God has a word for

you. And I'm going to read this one verse, not

going to give you the context for it, just want

to zero in here on the words of Christ. Nevertheless,

do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are

subject to you. First of all, how many of you

are glad that the spirits are subject to you?

I mean, every spirit. is subject to you i'm glad

that that's a wonderful thing that the spirits

the evil spirits are subject to you but rather

rejoice because your names are written in heaven

amen i'm going to preach today i'm i'm going

to pitch a fastball today is that all right any

baseball fans out there You know what a fastball

is? You know, there's no curveballs, nothing,

just right down the middle. As hard, as fast

as we can. And not going to rush, but we're going

to get right to the point today. And my simple

message is the book of life. Let us pray. Father,

I love you today, Lord. Thank you for your many

blessings. All of our lives, you've been faithful,

God. In the good times and in the bad, you've

never left us. You've never forsaken us. And

God, that we've come to this day, God, not only

to lift up your name, to lift up holy hands,

to bless you, God. Thank you for all that you've

done for us this week. But also, God, to celebrate

all that you are going to do, to be strengthened,

to be encouraged, Lord. And I pray that the word

of God would go forth today, would edify. Would

fall on good ground, Lord. Anoint my lips of

clay and put your word in my mouth, Lord. In

the name of Jesus, we pray today. Someone say

amen. Amen. You can be seated in the presence

of God. I want to ask you a question. Have you

ever tried to get into a party, a restaurant,

or event, only to be stopped at the door? and

be told, sorry, your name is not on the list.

That ever happen to you? Some of you, when you

were in the world, that might have been a bouncer

at a club, but we won't go there right now. You

can't get in. And whenever that happens, there

is a little awkward moment right there, right?

There is a little bit of embarrassment that happens.

and we usually might respond and say something

like, there must be some mistake, right? There

must be a mistake. Check your list again. You

ever done that before? Check your list again.

Must be something wrong. Your list is wrong.

I know for a fact that I was invited. I know

for a fact. So there must be something wrong

with your system, and if you're real persistent,

I'm not moving out of line. Because I know that

I was invited and we came all this way and we're

going to be here and we're going to get into

that party. And then that's maybe when the host

might look at you and ask you that very simple

question. Well, did you RSVP? Did you RSVP? And

that's when, you know. Husbands, you might turn

to your wife and say, well, did you RSVP? No,

I thought you did. Well, who RSVP? I must have

done it. And they look at you and say, well,

if you didn't RSVP, sir, well, you might have

been invited, but you're not going to get in

because your name is not on the guest list. Somebody

say amen. And if it's not on the guest list,

it doesn't matter how dressed up you are, how

many miles you may have. Driven because if it

was a special occasion, a wedding, they only

paid for so many plates. And if you're an RSVP,

you're going to have to go to McDonald's somewhere.

Drop your gift off and go somewhere else. Because

you're not getting in. If it's a good host, now

maybe if it's a bad host, they might let you

slip in somewhere in the back. But if it's a

good host that's doing their job, they're not

going to let you in. They're going to have to

put their foot down. If this has ever happened

to you, or maybe you've been the host at one

point, say, man, I hate to be the bad guy, but,

you know, I can't let you in because if I let

you in, you know, it's going to be on me. And

so you were invited. That's true. But did you

RSVP? And I want you to understand that the same

principle applies to the kingdom of God. You

know, God has a heavenly book. He's got a record.

containing all the names of those who have been

born again and redeemed by the blood of Jesus.

And it's called the book of life or the Lamb's

book of life. I want to read in Revelation chapter

Revelation 20 · chapter mention

20 and verse 12. It says this, and I saw the

dead, John writes, and I saw the dead, small

and great, standing before God. The books were

opened. Another book was opened. which is the

book of life. And the dead were judged according

to their works by the things that were written

in the books. And verse 15, And anyone not found

written in the book of life was cast into the

lake of fire. I want you to understand something

about this book. This book, the book of life,

is... Just as important as the Bible itself.

Just as important as the Bible. You see, the

Bible is important. How many of you love the

Bible? How many of you thank God for the Bible?

The B -I -B -L -E. That's the book for me. I

don't know if anybody heard that song, but we

used to sing it as a kid growing up. I stand

upon the word of God. The B -I -B -L -E. And

then we would shout. Trust me, we would sing

it. Amen. We love the Bible. Let me tell you

about another book. Not just the Bible. It's

the book of life. The Bible tells us how to be

saved. But the book of life confirms if you are

saved. I want you to think of heaven as a wedding.

Because indeed, in a spiritual sense, it will

be a marriage between the bride and Christ. And

there will be a great supper of the Lamb that

will be commenced in heaven. So think of heaven

as a beautiful wedding between Christ and His

church. The Bible is the invitation. And the

book of life is the RSVP. Amen, somebody. It

is the confirmed guest list. This Bible is the

invitation. And the beautiful thing about this

great banquet, this great marriage, this great

union, supper in heaven, is that everyone is

invited. Everyone is invited, but you must RSVP.

You must reserve your seat. And how do we do

this? By applying the gospel. of Jesus Christ

through our life, through water, and Holy Ghost

baptism. Otherwise, doesn't matter what you've

done in this life, doesn't matter who you know,

doesn't matter how far you traveled, all of those

things are nice and wonderful, but you will not

get in. I want to talk just for a few moments

about this book of life, what it represents.

What it means for us and how it ought to shape

our daily life. The earliest reference of a heavenly

record appears in the time of Moses where Moses

intercedes on behalf of Israel and he prays this

prayer in Exodus 32. This was after the incident

of the golden calf. God was ready to wipe them

out. Moses stood in the gap for Israel and began

to pray. And he prays this very somber. Very

critical prayer. He says, yet now, if you will

forgive their sin, but if not, I pray, blot me

out of your book which you have written. And

here Moses in his prayer reveals divinely, I

believe, this heavenly, eternal book that God

has in heaven. And he was so concerned with the

fate of Israel that he was willing to be removed.

from this book on their behalf. But this prayer

reveals some very important things. It reveals,

first of all, that there is indeed a record of

those who belong to God. God's a good record

keeper. Amen. He's a good record keeper. He keeps

records of a lot of things. He keeps records

of our prayers. Somebody say amen for that. All

of our prayers are being recorded in heaven.

Even our tears, the Bible says, are recorded.

That's right. Every tear you cry in this life,

in prayer, in heartbreak, in pain, God's got

a bottle that captures those tears. I don't know

how he does it, but he records it. Amen, somebody.

So God is an excellent, Record keeper. If he's

ever going to be audited by the IRS or anybody

else, his books are clean. And you can go all

the way back to the beginning of time. He's got

all the records in place. Amen. Nothing is going

to slip through the cracks. So he's got a record

of all the saved. And another thing this prayer

tells us inadvertently is that names can be added

and names can be... blotted out so there's a

lot that we can unpack just from this one prayer

there are other references throughout the bible

this theme of a book of life of a heavenly record

weaves its way through the psalms the prophets

the gospels until it ultimately crystallizes

in revelation on judgment day that there is a

book of records and there are some serious and

sobering conclusions about this book that ought

to shape our daily walk with God. This whole

series that we've been in on Countdown to Eternity,

which began a few Sundays ago, if you missed

out on a message, you can go back and listen,

but it's all about understanding how this world,

number one, is not our home and that there is

something far beyond that God has prepared for

us and that it's... about time, and it is important

for us all to start living with heaven in mind

and living with eternity in mind because Jesus

is coming soon. He's coming back for his church.

Somebody give God some praise for that. Amen.

A few Sundays ago, I preached a very sobering,

very hard, burdensome message about hell, but

today we're focused. On a positive note, the

fact that there is this book, first thing I want

to tell you is that your name can be written

in this book. If it's not written yet, and there

are some here today sitting in this auditorium,

sitting in this church, whose names have yet

to be written in this book, I've got good news

for you today. Hallelujah, somebody. I've got

good news. Your name can be written in this book.

You know, There are some very prestigious events

that take place in the world, here in America

even, where these events are so exclusive that

to get your name on those lists would be virtually

impossible. For instance, the Met Gala in New

York City, one of the most glamorous occasions

where only A -list celebrities Top designers,

fashion icons are invited. Even billionaires

and celebrities have to be personally approved.

So you can't even buy your way into this affair.

There are other such occasions that occur in

government even. There is the White House State

Dinner, which typically honors the visiting heads

of state or royalty from other countries. And

it's a very exclusive thing. You can't just sneak

in the back door or show up uninvited. These

are exclusive affairs. These are things that

you've got to be approved and invited. You can't

just show up and expect to get there. And it's

impossible to get your name on the list from

these places. And there's a lot of other type

of exclusive events and occasions that take place

and places even. You've got to reserve years

in advance. And even then, it's not guaranteed.

People do these things just to visit special

places, exclusive places. But the good news I've

got for you today is that the best place you

would ever want to be, spend eternity in, the

best place you would ever want to go to is not

so exclusive that your name cannot be added to

that list. Your name. can be added to heaven's

guest list. Hallelujah. And I don't know if there's

somebody here today that knows the joy, that

knows the blessing of having your name written

in that book of life. Hallelujah. You cannot

earn your way on that list. Hallelujah. You can't

wiggle your way there. You can't buy your way

in. You can't sneak in the back door. But the

good news is that Jesus came 2 ,000 years ago.

He died on the cross. He shed his precious blood.

blood, opening the door, paving the way so that

you and I can enter in those pearly gates one

day through that exclusive party. Otherwise,

no, the marriage supper of the Lamb. Is there

somebody today that can give God high praise

and glory that your name can be and has been

written in that book of life? Somebody shout

hallelujah. Come on, shout hallelujah. What a

blessing that is. Your name can be added when

you repent of your sins and you are baptized

in the precious name of Jesus Christ. Your name

can be added. Two things happen when you are

saved. First, heaven records it. Like I said,

God's a good record keeper. Your name gets written

in heaven. Secondly, not only does heaven record,

But heaven rejoices. You know, it's not like

when something gets recorded here in this life,

you know, it's just like a very administrative

thing. There's not much celebration. There's

no fanfare, you know. It's just like, okay, your

name gets recorded. You know, your bill gets

logged, whatever it is. But when our names get

added to the book of life, the Lamb's book of

life in heaven, God doesn't just write down the

name. No. All of heaven rejoices. There, oh hallelujah,

Jesus said this, there will be more joy in heaven

over one sinner who repents over the 99 just

persons who need no repentance. I've come to

tell you today that not only is our name recorded,

but heaven throws a celestial party when one

name, when one person repents. And this is why

in this church and in every church, We ought

to celebrate. We ought to rejoice. We ought to

lift our voices and our hands and throw a big

celebration over just one person that gives their

life to Jesus Christ. Hallelujah! I thank God

today that we're going to rejoice. Just a few

weeks ago, we baptized our brother Kong here.

And we threw a party for him. And we celebrated.

Not too long ago, I'm seeing one of my first

cousins here. My first cousin Abraham, just a

few months ago, gave his life to Jesus. And all

the family and everybody rejoiced. I've come

to tell you today that not only is there rejoicing

in heaven, there's rejoicing on earth. I wonder

if there's somebody today. When was the last

time you thanked God? When was the last time

you rejoiced? When was the last time you gave

God praise? Not for your new car. Not for your

new house. Not for whatever it is that you're

driving. But when was the last time you gave

God praise? That your name was written in the

book of life. Somebody ought to give God glory

today. Hallelujah. Not to let the angels out

praise me. If all the angels of heaven rejoice,

they are creatures whose sins have never been

washed by the blood of the Lamb. They don't even

know what it's like to be going to hell and now

going to heaven. But you and I here today, we

ought to celebrate. Hallelujah. We thank God

because we know. That's why the Bible says, let

the redeemed. Say so. At the redeemed of the

Lord. That's right. It is our job to praise God.

We can't let the rocks cry out for us. We can't

let the angels of heaven. Hallelujah. We can't

let them out celebrate us. No. We have a reason.

We got calls for celebration today. Praise be

to God. Clap your hands and give God a hand of

praise right now. Hallelujah. All right. I said

this was going to be a fastball, so let's move

on here. Number two is that your name must also

be preserved in the book. See, on the one hand,

your name can be added, but I've got good news

for those, and I've got some news for those whose

names have been added. You've got to make sure

that your name is preserved in the book. Jesus,

when speaking to one of the seven churches in

Revelation, the church of Sardis, right? or says

these words, Revelation 3, 5. He who overcomes,

someone say overcomes, shall be clothed in white

garments. And I will not, I will not blot out

his name from the book of life. He's talking

about those who overcome and at the end are dressed

in white. which is a symbol of purity and holiness.

He said, but I will confess his name. Whose name?

His name or our names. I will confess his name

before my father and before his angels. See,

the church of Sardis had a reputation of being

alive on the outside, but were spiritually dead.

They knew what it was to play church. They knew

what it was to go through the motions. They knew

what it was to check all of the religious boxes.

They needed to, but on the inside, they had some

issues. On the inside, they were far from God.

They started on the right track, but they lost

their faith and risked, according to this warning,

having their names. blotted out from the book

of life. The book of life, my friend, today,

saint especially, is not for those who merely

start the race, but those who finish the race.

Amen, somebody. I might lose some of you now.

Praise be to God. Jesus said, he that endures

unto the end shall be saved. It's not just how

you start. It's how you finish. Elsewhere, the

Lord said this. Revelation 3, 11. He said, Behold,

I am coming quickly. Hallelujah. I'm coming quickly.

I'm going to preach in the next couple of weeks

on that very statement. I'm coming quickly about

the coming of the Lord. The rapture of... the

catching away of the church. He said, behold,

I'm coming quickly. Hold fast what you have,

watch this, that no one may take your crown.

Jesus is saying to the church, not then, but

to us today as well, hold fast to your crown,

overcome with white garments. Why? Because the

enemy wants to rob you of your eternal inheritance.

We need to understand something, church, each

and every one of us today. We, you, can lose

your crown. Make sure that no one or no thing

takes your crown, your crown of life. Your crown

of reward. The crown that crowns us when we get

to heaven one day. Make sure that nothing in

this life rob you from that crown. Hallelujah.

I don't know about you, but I want to make it

to that city. Hallelujah. I want to receive my

crown of righteousness. My crown of salvation.

Hallelujah. But if I'm not careful, and if we're

not careful, we can lose out. Our salvation.

You can lose your salvation. You see, we need

to correct some faulty thinking. The Bible does

not teach this idea of eternal security. Otherwise

known as once saved, always saved. Somebody invented

that. Maybe to make themselves feel good. Huh?

It just came up. That's a man -made doctrine.

Just give me five more minutes. That's a man

-made doctrine. Once saved, always saved. And

there are many, many Christian denominations,

groups that espouse to that idea. But you won't

find that idea in the scriptures. You will find

the idea, not of eternal security, but of eternal

assurance. So we have a blessed assurance. We

have a guarantee that Christ is preparing a place

for us. But Scripture is filled with admonition,

with instruction, and even with warning that

it is up to us not to save ourselves. We're not

teaching a works -based salvation. You understand

what I'm saying today? Where you earn your way

to God. No, you don't get good to get God. You

get God to get good. Somebody say amen. But what

we are saying and what Scripture is saying is

that you have to work out. Your own salvation

with fear and trembling. Hallelujah. If you're

saved, then you have to stay saved. You cannot

go back to the world. You cannot be like a dog,

like Jesus taught. who returns to its vomit,

or going back to where you came from. You can't

go back to the world, back to a life of sin.

You can't continue in sin. That grace may abound.

You can't live however you want and expect to

see Jesus one day. That is not what Scripture

teaches us. You have gained salvation through

Christ, but you could also lose your salvation.

And there are some today that are walking a very

thin line. Some today that are on the edge or

walking dead. They're living dangerously spiritually

because they are looking at it from the wrong

perspective. They are looking at it from how

much can I do in this life and still make it

to heaven. Hallelujah. Come on, somebody. How

much can I get away with? How far can I push

the envelope? How much can I sin? And how far

can I take this? If that's how you think, you've

got it all backwards. What you ought to be saying

is, how much can I give to the Lord? How closer

can I get to his kingdom? How much can I give

up in order to serve him? Hallelujah. want to

just barely make it. Come on, am I talking to

somebody? Oh, I want to make it all the way.

I hate to break it to you, but God's not going

to grade on the curve. You know, if your neighbor's

got an A and you got an F, God's not going to

just, you know, equalize things. Salvation is

a personal thing. The Bible says this in Hebrews

12 and verse 14. Follow peace with all men and

holiness, without which no man shall see the

Lord. Church, this is not written to the lost.

This is not written to sinners, so to speak.

This is written to believers. This is written

to the church. Follow peace. I'm going to say

peace and holiness. Somebody say holiness. You

see, once we are saved, we have to make sure

we stay saved. How? By remaining in peace with

men and in peace with God. We have to maintain

our testimony. It's not complicated. We like

to complicate things, but this is not complicated.

The Bible makes it plain. Follow peace with all

men and holiness. Because if you don't, guess

what? You can lose your salvation. Your name

can be blotted out from that book of life. You

won't see the Lord if you don't follow peace.

That's why we preach. That's why we preach peace,

amen, with one another and living a holy life.

So today, as I prepare to close, come on up,

sister. As I prepare to close. If you need to

forgive, then you better forgive. Because I don't

want to let unforgiveness have my name be blotted

out from the book of life. If you need to clean

up your heart, clean it up. God's giving you

an opportunity to get right with him, to purify.

To say, create in me a clean heart, oh God. And

renew a right spirit within me. If you need to

get right with him, then do it. Don't lose your

salvation over an unforgiving heart. Amen. Some

will say it's not worth it. Can I tell you something?

Nobody in this life is worth. I don't care what

they do to me. I don't care how many tires they

flat of mine. I don't care how many dirty looks.

I don't care. Nobody, I'm going to say it again,

nobody in this world is worth losing my salvation

over. If you can't be best friends with them,

honey, love them from a distance. But forgive

and let go. My God. Have you got that secret

sin in your life? No. Conviction is setting in

right now. Someone needs to give that to God.

1 John 1, 9, if we confess our sins, God is faithful

and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us

from all unrighteousness. The question is today,

not do you know his name? We know his name. How

many of you know his name today? What's his name?

Come on, shout it. What's his name? Hallelujah.

Come on, one more time. What's his name? I'm

so glad I know his name today. There's no other

name but the name of Jesus. That's the name that

we're going to invoke in baptism today, the name

of Jesus. The question, though, today is not

whether you know the name of God, but the question

is, will he know your name? Because there's many

people right now that claim to know His name.

Claim to know the name of God. Have the revelation

of who He is. By believing the right things and

attending the right church and dressing the right

way and doing all those kinds of things. And

those things can be great and wonderful. But

the question is, does He know your name? Because

your destiny eternally Will not be determined

by whether you know his name. But by whether

he knows your name. When we stand before God

one day in judgment. He's going to separate the

wheat from the tare. He's going to separate,

I say, the ain'ts from the saints. He's going

to separate the sinners from the winners. Hallelujah.

He's going to separate them. And there's going

to be many people on that day that are going

to be shocked to realize that God doesn't know

them. Jesus said these sobering words, the gospel

according to Matthew chapter 7 and verse 21.

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

He said, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord,

God, if this verse doesn't shake you to your

core, I don't know what will, shall enter the

kingdom of heaven. But he who does the will of

my Father in heaven, many will say to me in that

day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your

name? In other words, didn't we preach about

you? Didn't we prophesy in your name? Oh, weren't

we used so mightily? Cast out demons in your

name? Oh, they were subject to us, God. We saw

your power in our life and done many wonders.

Didn't we see miracles? Didn't we see blessings?

Didn't we have awesome services? Didn't we have

great revivals? Didn't we have great crusades

and miracles? And all of these things. And then

I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart

from me, you who practice lawlessness. Would

you stand with me this afternoon in reverence

to God, in reverence to His Spirit today? Hallelujah.

When God opens up that book and He begins to

look for names, is He going to see yours? Will

it have never been added? Or will it have been

blotted out? You know what he's not going to

do? He's not going to check how many services

you attended. That's a man thing. We keep track

of those things. But he's not going to keep track

of how many services you attended. He's not going

to ask you how many sermons did you listen to.

He's not going to ask you how many songs did

you sing. He's not even going to ask you how

many. How many great things did you do in my

name? Huh? Oh, no. He's not going to ask that,

you know, how wonderfully you were used. What

he's going to ask is, did you do my will? Because

if you've done the will of the Father, no child

can receive the inheritance unless his name,

his or her name is written. In the will. And

if you want to receive your heavenly reward.

Then you got to make sure your name is written

in his will. I've done the will of God today.

And if your name is written in the will. Hallelujah.

If your name is written in that book. Then you

will hear those wonderful words from the Lord.

Well done. My God. Well done. My good. Faithful

servant, enter into the joy of the Lord. I don't

know if there's somebody here today that wants

to hear those words. Come on, somebody ought

to lift up your voice today. Is there somebody

today that wants to hear those words? Ah, I got

reason to celebrate today. I said I got reason

to celebrate today. We were singing, hell lost

another one. Yes, it did. My name. and your name

can be written in the