OUR NAMES ARE WRITTEN IN HEAVEN:
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE: LUKE 10:20
’Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather REJOICE, BECAUSE YOUR NAMES ARE WRITTEN DOWN IN HEAVEN.’
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INTRODUCTION:
AS CHRISTIANS, WE HAVE SO MANY REASONS TO REJOICE, YET IT SEEMS THAT SO MANY PEOPLE WHO PROFESS JESUS CHRIST AS THEIR LORD AND SAVOUR, REALLY SEEM TO LACK THE JOY OF THE LORD. I PRAY THAT THIS SERMON REMIND US ALL OF A REASON TO REJOICE AT ALL TIMES BECAUSE WE ARE CHILDREN OF GOD AND THAT WE HAVE A HEAVENLY CITIZENSHIP THAT IS FAR GREATER THAN ANYTHING IN THIS EARTHLY LIFE.
THROUGH THE LORD’S DEATH AND RESURRECTION, HE HAS PROVIDED SO MANY REASONS FOR YOU AND I TO REJOICE.
WE HAVE BEEN PROVIDED VICTORY OVER SATAN, THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS AND OVER ALL KINDS OF EVIL DEMONIC SPIRITS. WHEN ADAM AND EVE TRANSGRESSED AGAINST GOD AND HIS COMMANDMENT, PUNISHMENT WAS PRONOUNCED UPON ADAM, AND HIS WIFE, EVE. BUT PUNISHMENT WAS ALSO PRONOUNCED UPON SATAN, THE SERPENT. THE VERY FIRST PROPHECY OF THE COMING MESSAIH, THE SON OF GOD, WAS GIVEN IN GENESIS CHAPTER 3, VERSE 15. THERE GOD PROCLAIMED THAT A RIGHTEOUS SEED WOULD BE BORN INTO THIS WORLD AND HE WOULD IN TIME, "CRUSH THE HEAD" OF THE SERPENT. AT CALVARY THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT WAS DONE. OUR DIVINE DELIVERER, JESUS CHrIST,"CRUSHED THE HEAD" OF THE "PRINCE OF DARKNESS" WHEN He GAVE HIS LIFE UPON THE CRUEL rUGGED CROSS OF CALVARY.
GOING FROM THE FIRST BOOK OF THE BIBLE, GENESIS, TO THE VERY LAST BOOK OF THE BIBLE, REVELATION, WE FIND THIS REFERENCE; REVELATION 20:10 ’THE DEVIL THAT DECIEVED THEM WAS CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE AND BRIMSTONE, AND THERE HE SHALL BE TORMENTED FOR EVER AND EVER.’ CHILD OF GOD, HERE IS REASON FOR US TO REJOICE! JESUS CHRIST HAS CONQUERED THE GREATEST ENEMY WE HAVE EVER HAD TO DEAL WITH.
STOP AND THINK FOR A MOMENT OF COUNTLESS MULTITUDES OF PEOPLE WHOSE LIVES HAVE BEEN DESTROYED BY SATAN.
IN JOHN CHAPTER #10, JESUS TOLD US THAT SATAN IS A MURDERER AND A THIEF WHO HAS COME INTO THE WORLD TO KILL, STEAL AND DESTROY. I DON’T KNOW YOU OR THE THINGS THAT SATAN HAS DECIEVED YOU INTO DOING. I CAN ONLY SPEAK OF MYSELF. THERE HAVE BEEN TIMES WHEN I HAVE ALLOWED HIM TO LEAD ME INTO AREAS THAT HAVE RESULTED IN MUCH HEARTACHE AND SORROW. YOU ARE PROBABLY NO DIFFERENT THAN I AM, HE HAS ALSO DONE THE SAME TO YOU.
I DON’T KNOW WHAT SINS OR HABITS AND VICES THAT MAY HAVE A BINDING HOLD ON YOU AT THIS MOMENT --- HOWEVER I DO KNOW THAT THROUGH JESUS CHRIST --- YOU AND I HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE POWER OVER SATAN AND OVER EVERY YOKE OF BONDAGE. "WHOM JESUS SETS FREE IS FREE! YES, FREE INDEED!" I JOHN CHAPTER 3, ’FOR THIS PURPOSE THE SON OF GOD WAS MANIFESTED, THAT HE MIGHT DESTROY THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL.’ WHAT A GLORIOUS MESSAGE OF GOOD NEWS WE HAVE TO BOTH PERSOANALLY EXPERIENCE AND TO SHARE WITH OTHERS.
CALVARY WAS A CRUCIAL BLOW TO SATAN’S POWERS. BUT THEN JUST THREE DAYS LATER, WHEN JESUS ROSE FROM THE GRAVE, HE CONQUERED DEATH, HELL AND THE GRAVE! SO THERE IS NEVER A REASON FOR ANYONE OF US TO LIVE A DEFEATED SPIRITUAL LIFE. WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN POWER OVER EVERY UNCLEAN SPIRIT. NOW THINK ABOUT THIS AND BEGIN TO REJOICE. SATAN’S GOAL WAS TO SEND YOU INTO HELL WITH HIM. HE REALIZES HE IS ETERNALLY DOOMED TO HELL, BUT AS AN ACT AGAINST GOD HE WANTS YOU TO GO ALSO. BUT WHEN YOU WERE BORN AGAIN, AT THAT VERY MOMENT IN TIME, YOUR NAME WAS WRITTEN IN HEAVEN, RECORDED IN THE LAMB’S BOOK OF LIFE. THINK ABOUT HOW ANGRY THAT MADE THE DEVIL.
JESUS TOLD HIS DISCIPLES THAT THEY WERE TO "REJOICE BECAUSE THEIR NAMES WERE WRITTEN IN HEAVEN." THAT IS OUR BOASTING! THAT IS OUR TESTIMONY! BUT EVEN IN THIS, JESUS RECEIVES ALL THE CREDIT AND ALL THE GLORY. ISN’T THE LOVE OF JESUS SOMETHING WONDERFUL? WHEN JESUS WAS HANGING UPON THE CRUEL CROSS, SUFFERING MORE THAN YOU AND I WILL EVER BE ABLE TO COMPREHEND, THERE WAS ONE THING THAT KEPT HIM UPON THE CROSS. HE WANTED TO TAKE ALL THOSE THAT PLACED THEIR TRUST IN HIM TO A BETTER PLACE WHEN THIS EARTHLY LIFE IS OVER. THE ONLY WAY HE COULD DO THAT WAS TO GIVE HIS LIFE AS A SACRIFICE FOR OUR SINS.
JESUS COULD HAVE SUMMONED 10,000 ANGELS AND THEY WOULD HAVE REMOVED HIM FROM HIS FATE. I’M SURE THE THOUGHT CROSSED HIS MIND FOR THE SCRIPTURE TELLS US THAT HE WAS ’IN ALL POINTS, TEMPTED LIKE YOU AND I, YET HE DID NOT YEILD TO THE TEMPTATIONS. WITH THE PAIN SHOOTING THROUGH EVERY NERVE AND FIBER OF HIS BODY THERE WAS A GOAL JESUS KEPT IN MIND. HE WANTED TO CONQUER THE STING OF DEATH.
WE WERE MADE IN THE DIVINE IMAGE OF GOD, AS ETERNAL BEINGS THAT WILL SPEND ETERNITY IN EITHER HEAVEN OR HELL. WE DON’T GO TO HEAVEN BECAUSE WE WANT TO. OH NO! SATAN’S POWERS ARE FAR ABOVE OURS. WE HAVE TO HAVE JESUS TO CONQUER SATAN FOR US! ONE DAY ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF GOD, WE WILL ALL STAND BEFORE THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF JESUS CHRIST. THERE WE WILL GIVE ACCOUNT OF THE THINGS WE HAVE DONE IN OUR BODY, BOTH THE GOOD AND THE EVIL. I CAN IMAGINE SATAN WILL BE SOMEWHERE AROUND TO CAST ACCUSATIONS AGAINST US. WHEN OUR NAME IS READ HE WILL DECLARE SOMETHING LIKE THIS: "THEY CANNOT GO TO HEAVEN BECAUSE ON ------- DATE, I PERSUADED THEM TO LIE, AND TO STEAL. ON ANOTHER DATE ------ I CONVINCED THEM TO CURSE OR TO COMMIT ADULTERY. THEY ARE GUILTY OF SIN AND WORTHY TO GO TO HELL FOR ETERNITY. THEIR SIN HAS TO BE PUNISHED!"
YOU REMEMBER THOSE TIMES SATAN IS REFERRING TO AND HE IS RIGHT. YOU DID DO THOSE THINGS. YOU ARE GUILTY OF EACH ONE OF THOSE ACUSATIONS SATAN BROUGHT AGAINST YOU. BUT YOU ALSO REMEMBER THAT THERE WAS A TIME WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT MOVED UPON YOUR HEART. JESUS TENDERLY DREW YOU TO HIM AND YOU ASKED HIM TO FORGIVE YOU OF EACH AND EVERY SIN AND TO WASH YOUR HEART AND TO CLEANSE YOU FROM ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS. THE BOOK OF LIFE IS OPENED AND THERE IS YOUR NAME, RECORDED IN THE BLOOD OF JESUS, THAT VERY SAME BLOOD THAT WAS SHED UPON CALVARY.
SATAN SAYS, "LOOK ON THIS DATE AND SEE IF I AM NOT RIGHT. SEE IF HE DID NOT COMMITT THOSE THINGS JUST AS I SAID." YET, KNOWING THAT SATAN IS FOR ONCE TRUTHFUL, YOU STAND THERE WITHOUT ANY FEAR OR CONDEMNATION. PERFECT LOVE CASTS AWAY FEAR. YOU HAVE CONFIDENCE IN WHAT JESUS DID FOR YOU. YOU KNOW YOUR NAME IS WRITTEN IN HEAVEN.
JESUS LOOKS ON THE VERY DAY SATAN SPOKE OF. THIS IS SOMETHING WONDERFUL, SOMETHING TO REJOICE IN. SATAN KNEW YOU DID THOSE THINGS, HE REJOICED IN YOUR FAILURE. AND YOU KNEW YOU DID THOSE THINGS. BUT WHEN THE BOOK IS OPENED, ON THOSE DAYS SATAN ACCUSED YOU OF, NOTHING -- ABSOLUTELY NOTHING --- APPEARS. THERE IS A BLOOD STAIN ON THAT DAY’S PAGE. AS A MATTER OF FACT, IF WE WERE ALLOWED TO SEE THE PAGES OF THE BOOK OF OUR LIFE, FROM THE DAY WE WERE SAVED UNTIL THE DAY WE DIED, EACH AND EVERY PAGE WOULD BE STAINED WITH JESUS’ BLOOD. EACH DAY WE TRUSTED IN HIS FORGIVING POWER.
TO SATAN THE WORDS ARE DECLARED, "NOTHING IS AGAINST HIM." OH BROTHER OR SISTER, YOU TALK ABOUT REJOICING, WE’LL HAVE A GLORIOUS TIME! REJOICING BECAUSE OUR NAME IS WRITTEN DOWN IN HEAVEN. DELIVERED FROM HELL AND FROM THE JUST PUNISHMENT OF OUR TRANSGRESSIONS.
BUT YOU AND I DON’T HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL THAT DAY TO REJOICE. BEGIN TO REJOICE NOW, TODAY, AND TOMORROW AND EACH AND EVERY DAY THAT IS LEFT OF THIS EARTHLY LIFE. WE CAN REJOICE IN EARTHLY THINGS TOO MUCH. THEY ARE HERE TODAY AND GONE TOMORROW. BUT WHEN OUR NAME IS WRITTEN IN HEAVEN IT IS AN EVERLASTING ACT OF LOVE; NO MAN CAN TAKE THAT ACT OF JESUS AWAY FROM US.
WHEN SATAN COMES AROUND AND REMINDS YOU OF YOUR PAST, YOU REMIND HIM OF THESE TWO THINGS.
1:) REMIND HIM OF JESUS’ MERCY AND GRACE.
"WHOM THE SON SETS FREE, IS FREE INDEED."
WE ARE NOT CITIZENS OF THIS EARTH. WE ARE
LIKE ABRAHAM, WE ARE LOOKING FOR A CITY WHOSE
BUILDER AND MAKER IS GOD." YES, IF YOU
CONFESSED YOUR SINS AND REPENTED AND TURNED
FROM THOSE SINS, YOUR NAME IS WRITTEN IN
HEAVEN AND YOU HAVE NO NEED TO WORRY OR FEAR.
2:) REMIND SATAN OF HIS FUTURE.
ONE DAY HE WILL BE CAST INTO THE BOTTOMLESS
PIT OF HELL, NEVER TO BOTHER THE SAINTS OF
GOD AGAIN. REJOICE OH CHILD OF GOD,
REJOICE!
WORRY AND DEPRESSION GRIPS SO MANY PEOPLE. THESE ARE TROUBLESOME AND TRYING DAYS. IN EVERY DIRECTION WE TURN WE SEE THE FOOTPRINTS WHERE SATAN HAS BEEN. RUINED LIVES, BROKEN HEARTS, SUFFERING AND AUNQUISH ABOUNDS. THERE ARE BROKEN HOMES AND BROKEN LIVES. WE PRAY AND PRAY BUT IT SEEMS THERE IS LITTLE ELSE WE CAN DO. HOWEVER, THERE IS ONE OTHER THING WE CAN DO.
YOU MAY NOT BE A MINISTER AS MYSELF, BUT YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A MINISTER TO SHARE YOUR TESTIMONY. PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR JOY! THEY ARE LOOKING FOR PEACE OF MIND! JUST BEGIN BY THINKING OF YOUR ETERNAL HOME.
HEAVEN WILL SURELY BE WORTH IT ALL
WORTH ALL THE SORROWS THAT HERE BEFALL
AFTER THIS LIFE WITH ALL ITS STRIFE
HEAVEN WILL SURELY BE WORTH IT ALL.
REJOICING IS SOMETHING THAT OTHERS WILL NOTICE AND THEY WILL WANT TO KNOW "WHY"-- YOU ARE SO FULL OF JOY. YOUR JOY IS SOMETHING THEY MAY NOT SEE MUCH OF IN THEIR WORLD. YOUR SMILE, YOUR COUNTENANCE, OPENS THE DOOR FOR YOU TO SHARE YOUR TESTIMONY OF WHAT JESUS HAS DONE FOR YOU AND WILL DO FOR ALL THOSE THAT WILL COME TO HIM AND PLACE THEIR TRUST IN HIM.
I DON’T HAVE MUCH OF THIS WORLD’S SILVER OR GOLD. I DON’T OWN BUT JUST A LITTLE SPOT OF GROUND UPON THIS EARTH. I JUST HAVE A LITTLE HOUSE TO RETIRE AND LIVE IN ONE DAY IN THE FUTURE, IF GOD PERMITS. NOT VERY MANY PEOPLE UPON EARTH KNOWS MY NAME. BUT WHEN I CROSS OVER JORDON’S RIVER AND INTO THE PROMISED LAND THAT JESUS HAS GONE TO PREPARE FOR ME, I SHALL CROSS OVER INTO A GLORIOUS CITY, AND SHALL MOVE INTO A MANSION THAT GLISTENS THROUGHOUT THE ENDLESS AGES OF TIME. AND I REJOICE RIGHT NOW. THE MORE I THINK ABOUT WHAT AWAITS FOR ME ON THE OTHER SIDE, THE MORE I REJOICE. AND I WANT YOU TO REJOICE ALONG WITH ME.
THE LORD IS NO RESPECTOR OF PERSONS. WHAT HE HAS SO GLADLY DONE FOR ONE, HE WILL GLADLY DO FOR ANOTHER, HE WILL GLADLY DO "FOR ALL" -- THAT WILL COME TO HIM. IT IS NOT GOD’S WILL THAT ANY MAN "PERISH" BUT THAT ALL SHOULD COME TO REPENTANCE." THE ROYAL CARPENTER, THE SON OF JOSEPH, HAS WRITTEN OUR NAME IN HEAVEN AND WE HAVE A GLORIOUS FUTURE.
A FEW DAYS AGO,I PICKED UP A MAGAZINE WHILE SITTING AWAITING TO BE CALLED FOR A DOCTOR’S APPOINTMENT. THE COVER PAGE OF THIS MAGAZINE TALKED ABOUT "LIFE AFTER DEATH" AND IT ASKS THIS QUESTION: "IS YOUR NAME WRITTEN DOWN IN HEAVEN?" THE INSIDE ARTICLE SHARED THE SURVEY REPORT: "MOST PEOPLE BELIEVE WHEN THEY DIE THEY WILL GO TO A BETTER PLACE, WHERE ALL PAIN AND DISAPPOINTMENTS THAT ARE PRESENTLY KNOWN IN THIS PRESENT LIFE WILL BE OVER." IF WE REALLY DO BELIEVE THIS,THEN LET US BE WITNESSES AND SHARE OUR BELIEFS AND SHARE OUR TESTIMONIES UNTO THE MULTITUDES OF PEOPLE WHO ARE LIVING EACH AND EVERY DAY, DEPRESSED AND WORRIED ABOUT THEIR FUTURE.
WHEN PEOPLE ARE AROUND YOU, HOW DO THEY FEEL? HOW BRIGHT AND GLORIOUS IS YOUR TESTIMONY? WHEN THEY BECOME TIRED AND DEPRESSED AND WORRIED ABOUT LIFE AFTER DEATH, WHY NOT GIVE THEM YOUR TESTIMONY OF HOW JESUS, WROTE YOUR NAME IN THE BOOK OF LIFE, RECORDED IN HEAVEN’S ROYAL BOOKS, SEALED FOREVER AND FOREVER! AMEN AND AMEN!
If this short little sermon has been a blessing or a help to you in any way, I would love to hear a word from you. I am praying for all who read this, that Jesus would strengthen you, encourage you, uplift you, and IF your name is NOT WRITTEN DOWN in Heaven’s Righteous Books, then just as you are, bow before Him and allow His mercy and grace to cover you, just now.
vlccogop@blomand.net
