Names Not Found Written In The Book Of Life

“NAMES NOT FOUND WRITTEN IN THE LAMB’S BOOK OF LIFE”

TEXT: Revelation 3:5; 20:12; 15 W. Max Alderman

INTRODUCTION: After reading our Text, I trust that you will agree with me that there will be nothing more horrible than to stand at the Great White Throne Judgment and find that your name has been forever blotted out of the Book of Life and then to immediately realize that you are hopelessly lost and that you will spend forever in the Lake of Fire. We are going to talk about names today… Your name is important.

I. YOU DO HAVE A NAME… Proverbs 22:1

“A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.”

Webster’s Dictionary tells us that a name is: a word or phrase that constitutes the distinctive designation of a person or thing. In the Old Testament, especially, the names were given to communicate the “heart” of the parent into the life of the child. For an example, Daniel’s name means: “God is my Judge”. It was as though the parents wanted to impress upon Daniel that the supreme leader and judge is the Lord. Even in the New Testament, the name Lazarus means: “God a help”. In this case, I imagine that the mother of Lazarus could not give her son riches and perhaps very little help. As he lay at the rich man’s table and his name was called, it reminded him that God was his help, even if he were only eating crumbs from the rich man’s table.

A. Having a Name Signifies That You Have Lived… Jeremiah 1:5

Believing that life originates at conception, I also believe that the Lord knows you as an individual and knew you from the moment of conception. In an eternal sense God has always known you. The lord knew Jeremiah before he was in his mother’s womb. “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5

B. Having a Name Signifies That You Are Listed… Ex 32:32

The Scriptures indicate that the Lord has written a book and it seems that this book is the Book of Life. Notice how Moses refers to this book when he is dealing with the rebellion of a sinful nation and interceding on their behalf.

Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. (Exodus 32:32)

Moses was willing to have his name blotted out of the book that the Lord had written. I believe that this book is the Book of Life or literally the book of living which includes every person conceived when we understand that life begins at conception.

C. Having a Name Signifies That You Are Loved…

I am able to say that because John 3:16 is still in the Bible. As long as there is a John 3:16 in the Bible and that is forever, God will love you. You are significantly loved by the Lord. He loves you personally. You are not a “John Doe” to Him. May I say it like this, “To Him you are Somebody worth dying for”…

II. YOUR NAME IDENTIFIES YOU…

A. The Stars Are Named…

We hear of Credit card theft and in association with that, we hear of identity theft. I am so grateful that there is no identity theft with God. Just recently, I read in my devotions that the Lord named all of the stars and knows them by name. With such a staggering large number as that, it still is no issue with God. You can be assured, if He knows the stars by number and then calls them all by their names (and He does), He certainly knows who you are. “He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.” Psalms 147:4

B. The Souls of Men Are Named…

I certainly do not pretend to know how God names us, but I can know that there are no unknowns with God. When He makes His book, He may name us differently than the way that we do… I certainly do not know. What if He took the Old Testament formula for naming us, as did the parents then, and then identified us by the way that we conduct ourselves? Have you not heard people say, “Why, there is Mr. Big Shot or Miss Stuck up?” The Lord may also have His names as such. He may call John, “John the liar” or “John the procrastinator”. He may have “Hypocrite Joe” or “Sam the scam artist”. Then there may be “Willy Drunkard” or “Mary Prostitute”. Then He may have “Frank the Faithful” or “Arthur Longsuffering”. I really do not know how He names us, but if He named and numbered the stars, He also can name us… He has you and I “pegged”.