Is Your Name Written There? Series

(Sing) “Everybody's gonna have religion in glory; Everybody's gonna be a-singin' that story; Everybody's gonna have a wonderful time up there - Oh, glory hallelujah. Brother, there's a reckonin' a-comin' in the mornin'; Better get ready - I'm givin' you the warnin'; Everybody's gonna have a wonderful time up there. Now get your Holy Bible, in the back of the book. The Book of Revelations is the place to look. Are ya gonna be amongst the chosen few? Will you make it through? … WELL (then re-sing the chorus)

Everybody’s gonna have a wonderful time up there! It will be an exciting place to live – a place of awe and wonder. The streets of the city will be paved in gold, and the walls will be far higher than the highest mountain on earth. Now that’s gonna be impressive!

But the most impressive thing about heaven is – we get to live there. Jesus said: “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” John 14:2-3

So, when Jesus comes back… He’s coming for us. (PAUSE)

It’s going to be such an exciting place to be, that everybody’s gonna want to go there. According to a Pew Survey back in 2021, 75% of Americans believe in heaven. And most of them figure on getting there.

But there is one small fly in the ointment. Revelation 21:27 says “Nothing unclean will ever enter (the New Jerusalem), nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

ILLUS: During the Revolutionary War, an enlisted man who distinguished himself in battle, could be promoted - become an officer and receive an increase in pay. But in the last year of that war, Congress ran out of money. They couldn’t afford to pay any more officers. So, General Washington created something that became known as the “Purple Heart”. It was just a small piece of purple cloth, shaped like a heart, with the word MERIT embroidered on it (PAUSE) but it was highly prized. The Continental Army was disbanded 2 years later – and Washington decreed that the decoration was to be awarded to ALL soldiers who displayed valor during the Revolutionary war. Their names were then written in a book called the “Book of Merit” along with details of what they'd done to deserve this honor.

So, how many Revolutionary Soldiers do you think received the Purple Heart? Nobody knows… they lost the book. All the names of those who won the Purple Heart in the Revolutionary War are lost to history, and they will never be found.

But now, in our text today we’re told that there’s another book with names in it and that book will NEVER be lost. In fact, the only way you can enter into heaven is if your names “are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” (Revelation 21:27) The Lamb’s BOOK of life will never be lost because God will keep it safe until we claim our inheritance. And only those written in that book will make it into heaven.

And you’re going to want your name in that book. There’s an old Gospel hymn that says: “Lord, I care not for riches, neither silver nor gold; I would make sure of heaven, I would enter the fold. In the book of Thy kingdom with pages so fair. Tell me, Jesus, my Savior, is my name written there?”

So, the question this morning is this: “Is your name written in the Lamb’s book of life?”

Now, there are a couple misconceptions about this book. The first is - there are people who believe they can get into heaven, even if they don’t believe in God. Seriously – that’s what some people believe! According to that Pew Research survey we mentioned earlier - 39% of Americans believe you can go there without BELIEVING in God! REALLY? How would that work? Well, apparently some folks believe that if you’re a nice enough person you can earn your ticket into heaven. In fact, God couldn’t keep you out if he wanted to because you’d DESERVE to be let in.

Now, as I’ve said numerous times before… that’s not going to happen. Neither You nor I can be good enough to be good enough to deserve heaven. “All (of us) have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” and the only way we’re going to enter the gates of heaven is by belonging to Jesus. It’s the LAMB’S book of life.