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Fall Asleep to The Book of Life _ Is Your Name Written in Heaven Before You Were Born · truthunedited

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  Speaker 1: Before the mountains were born, before the first star ignited
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  Speaker 1: in the velvet dark, before time itself began to turn.
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  Speaker 1: Your name was known, not written by human hands, not
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  Speaker 1: recorded in ink that fades or paper that crumbles, but
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  Speaker 1: engraved in the heart of God, in a book older
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  Speaker 1: than creation, a book that holds every soul He has
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  Speaker 1: ever loved. To night, as the world grows quiet and
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  Speaker 1: the day releases its grip on your heart, we invite
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  Speaker 1: you to rest in a mystery as old as eternity itself,
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  Speaker 1: the Book of Life. Have you ever wondered, was I
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  Speaker 1: chosen before I was born? Does God really know my name?
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  Speaker 1: And if my name is written, can it ever be erased?
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  Speaker 1: These are not small questions. They have stirred the hearts
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  Speaker 1: of saints and seekers for thousands of years. And to
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  Speaker 1: night we will walk together through scripture, through story, and
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  Speaker 1: through the gentle truth that, no matter how lost you
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  Speaker 1: may feel, you were never unknown to Heaven. So close
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  Speaker 1: your eyes if you wish, let your breathing slow. You
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  Speaker 1: do not need to see the images, only listen. Let
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  Speaker 1: this be a journey not of the mind alone, but
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  Speaker 1: of the soul. For tonight we will discover what it
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  Speaker 1: means to be written in the Book of Life, and
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  Speaker 1: why that truth changes everything. Your name was known before
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  Speaker 1: the foundation of the world. Let us begin chapter one,
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  Speaker 1: the ancient mystery, what is the Book of Life? In
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  Speaker 1: the beginning, there was the Word, and in that word
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  Speaker 1: all things were spoken into being, light and darkness, sea
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  Speaker 1: and sky, the mountains and the depths beneath them. But
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  Speaker 1: long before the first human breath was drawn, before Adam
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  Speaker 1: opened his eyes, in the garden of Eden, there existed
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  Speaker 1: something even more profound, a record, a registry, a book
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  Speaker 1: not made of leather or parchment, not bound with thread
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  Speaker 1: or sealed with wax. This book exists beyond the material world,
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  Speaker 1: in the realm where God dwells, where time does not
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  Speaker 1: age and nothing can decay. The ancients called it cepher
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  Speaker 1: Hachim in Hebrew, the Book of Life. But what is
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  Speaker 1: this book really? Is it literal? Is it metaphor? And
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  Speaker 1: why would the God who knows all things, who sees
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  Speaker 1: the sparrow fall and counts the hairs on your head
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  Speaker 1: need to write anything down at all? Throughout human history,
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  Speaker 1: kings and rulers have kept records. In ancient Persia, the
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  Speaker 1: emperor maintained royal archives, where every decree, every act of loyalty,
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  Speaker 1: and every betrayal was carefully inscribed. When someone performed a
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  Speaker 1: great service to the throne, their name was entered into
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  Speaker 1: the chronicles. When someone dishonored the king, their name was
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  Speaker 1: blotted out, erased from memory, as though they had never existed.
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  Speaker 1: This is the imagery the Bible borrows when it speaks
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  Speaker 1: of the Book of Life. But unlike any earthly king,
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  Speaker 1: God does not need parchment to remember. He does not
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  Speaker 1: need scribes or archivists. Every name, every soul, every heartbeat
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  Speaker 1: is already woven into the fabric of his eternal knowing.
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  Speaker 1: So why then, does Scripture speak of a book? Because
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  Speaker 1: we need the image. We who are bound by time
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  Speaker 1: and limited by forgetfulness, need a symbol weakened grasp a
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  Speaker 1: picture of permanence, of being known, of mattering in the
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  Speaker 1: eyes of the eternal One. The Book of Life is
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  Speaker 1: not for God's benefit, it is for ours. It is
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  Speaker 1: his way of saying, I have not forgotten you, I
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  Speaker 1: never will. The Book of Life appears throughout both the
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  Speaker 1: Old and New Testaments, whispered in the prayers of the prophets,
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  Speaker 1: and revealed in the visions of the apostles. It is
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  Speaker 1: not not a hidden doctrine reserved for scholars. It is
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  Speaker 1: woven into the very fabric of biblical faith. One of
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  Speaker 1: the earliest mentions comes from the lips of Moses himself.
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  Speaker 1: After the Israelites had sinned grievously, crafting a golden calf
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  Speaker 1: and bowing before it. While Moses was on the mountain
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  Speaker 1: receiving the law, God's anger burned hot. He threatened to
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  Speaker 1: destroy the entire nation and start again with Moses alone.
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  Speaker 1: But Moses, that humble shepherd turned prophet, fell on his
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  Speaker 1: face and pleaded for his people. And then he said
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  Speaker 1: something extraordinary. In the Book of Exodus, chapter thirty two,
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  Speaker 1: verses thirty two to thirty three, Moses praise but now
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  Speaker 1: please forgive their sin. But if not, then blot me
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  Speaker 1: out of the book you have written. And the Lord replied,
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  Speaker 1: whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of
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  Speaker 1: my book. There it is the first clear reference. Moses
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  Speaker 1: knew that God kept a record, a book where the
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  Speaker 1: names of the faithful were inscribed, and he loved his
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  Speaker 1: people so much that he was willing to have his
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  Speaker 1: own name removed if it meant their salvation. Centuries later,
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  Speaker 1: King David, poet warrior man after God's own heart, spoke
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  Speaker 1: of the same book. In Psalm sixty nine, verse twenty eight.
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  Speaker 1: He cried out against his enemies, may they be blotted
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  Speaker 1: out of the Book of Life and not be listed
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  Speaker 1: with the righteous. David understood something profound. To be written
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  Speaker 1: in the Book of Life was to be counted among
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  Speaker 1: the living, among those whom God had chosen to dwell
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  Speaker 1: with him forever. To be erased was not merely death,
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  Speaker 1: It was separation from the presence of God himself. Later, still,
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  Speaker 1: the prophet Daniel received visions of the end times of
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  Speaker 1: judgment and resurrection. In Chapter twelve, verse one, the Angel
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  Speaker 1: tells him, at that time, your people, every one whose
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  Speaker 1: name is found written in the book will be delivered,
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  Speaker 1: not every one, only those whose names remain, only those
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  Speaker 1: who have kept faith. And then in the New Testament,
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  Speaker 1: the Book of Life appears again and again, most vividly
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  Speaker 1: in the final book of the Bible, the Revelation of
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  Speaker 1: John the Apostle. John, exiled on the island of Patmos,
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  Speaker 1: was caught up in a vision of the end of
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  Speaker 1: all things. He saw the throne of God blazing with
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  Speaker 1: light he saw the risen Christ, the Lamb who was slain,
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  Speaker 1: standing at the right hand of the Father, and he
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  Speaker 1: saw books opened. In Revelation Chapter twenty, Verses twelve and fifteen,
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  Speaker 1: John writes, the dead were judged according to what they
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  Speaker 1: had done as recorded in the books. Another book was opened,
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  Speaker 1: which is the Book of Life. Any One whose name
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  Speaker 1: was not found written in the Book of Life was
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  Speaker 1: thrown into the lake of fire. Two kinds of books.
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  Speaker 1: One records deeds, reaction, every word, every hidden thought. The
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  Speaker 1: other records names those who belong to God, those who
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  Speaker 1: have been redeemed, those who will enter the eternal city.
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  Speaker 1: But here is where it deepens. Some passages speak simply
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  Speaker 1: of the Book of Life, Others refer to it as
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  Speaker 1: the Lamb's Book of Life. Are they the same or
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  Speaker 1: are there two books? Most scholars believe they are one
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  Speaker 1: and the same, But the distinction is meaningful. When Scripture
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  Speaker 1: calls it the Lamb's Book of Life, it is emphasizing
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  Speaker 1: that entrance into this book is not earned by good
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  Speaker 1: deeds or moral perfection. It is written in the blood
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  Speaker 1: of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, who was slain from the
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  Speaker 1: foundation of the world. This is not a registry of
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  Speaker 1: the self righteous. It is a roll call of the redeemed.
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  Speaker 1: In Revelation chapter thirteen, verse eight, it says all inhabitants
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  Speaker 1: of the earth will worship the beast, all whose names
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  Speaker 1: have been written in the Lamb's Book of life, the
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  Speaker 1: Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.
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  Speaker 1: Notice the timing from the creation of the world, before sin,
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  Speaker 1: before the fall, before the first human heart ever turned away,
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  Speaker 1: the plan of redemption was already in place, the names
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  Speaker 1: were already being written. And in Revelation chapter twenty one,
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  Speaker 1: verse twenty seven, when John describes the New Jerusalem, the
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  Speaker 1: Holy City, descending from heaven like a bride adorned for
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  Speaker 1: her husband, he says, nothing impure will ever enter it,
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  Speaker 1: nor will any one who does what is shameful or deceitful,
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  Speaker 1: But only those whose names are written in the Lamb's
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  Speaker 1: Book of Life. This is the ultimate citizenship, Not a
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  Speaker 1: passport to a country, but a place in the eternal city,
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  Speaker 1: not a membership card, but a name spoken by God himself.
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  Speaker 1: Let us return to the question why, if God is omniscient,
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  Speaker 1: if he knows all things, past, present, and future, why
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  Speaker 1: does he need to write anything down The answer is
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  Speaker 1: both simple and profound. He doesn't. The Book of Life
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  Speaker 1: is not for God's memory, It is for our assurance.
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  Speaker 1: Imagine a father who writes his child's name on the
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  Speaker 1: door of their bedroom. Does the father need the sign
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  Speaker 1: to remember which child sleeps there? Of course not. But
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  Speaker 1: the child sees it and feels known, feels claimed, feels
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  Speaker 1: that they belong. The Book of Life is God's way
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  Speaker 1: of saying, you are mine. I chose you, I have
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  Speaker 1: not forgotten you, and I never will. Throughout Scripture, God
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  Speaker 1: uses physical symbols to convey spiritual truths. He gave Noah
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  Speaker 1: a rainbow to remember his covenant. He gave Moses stone
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  Speaker 1: tablets inscribed with his law. He gave Israel the ark
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  Speaker 1: of the Covenant to carry his presence among them. And
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  Speaker 1: he gave us the image of a book to assure
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  Speaker 1: us that our names, our lives, our souls matter in
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  Speaker 1: the eyes of the eternal One. Earthly books can be burned,
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  Speaker 1: libraries can crumble, empires rise and fall, and their records
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  Speaker 1: turn to dust. But the Book of Life is kept
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  Speaker 1: in the hand of God beyond the reach of time, decay,
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  Speaker 1: or destruction. No fire can consume it, No flood can
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  Speaker 1: wash it away, no enemy can steal it, and no
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  Speaker 1: darkness can ever obscure what is written within. When you
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  Speaker 1: feel forgotten, when the world seems indifferent to your pain,
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  Speaker 1: when it feels as though your life is insignificant, remember this,
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  Speaker 1: Your name is written in a book that will outlast
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  Speaker 1: the stars. There is something deeply comforting in the idea
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  Speaker 1: of being known, not just seen, but truly known, not
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  Speaker 1: just recognized, but remembered. In a world where ida entities
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  Speaker 1: are reduced to numbers social security digits, account passwords follow accounts,
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  Speaker 1: the soul longs for something more. We long to matter,
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  Speaker 1: to be more than a statistic, to be loved not
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  Speaker 1: for what we do, but for who we are. And
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  Speaker 1: that is exactly what the Book of Life offers. God
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  Speaker 1: does not write your achievements. He writes your name. He
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  Speaker 1: does not list your accomplishments. He records your identity as
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  Speaker 1: his beloved child. You are not a transaction, You are
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  Speaker 1: not a case file. You are a name spoken with
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  Speaker 1: love before the foundation of the world. And yet, even
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  Speaker 1: as we rest in this beautiful truth, a question arises.
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  Speaker 1: A question that has troubled theologians, pastors, and seekers for centuries.
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  Speaker 1: Can a name be erased if it is written? Can
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  Speaker 1: it be blotted out? If God knows us from the beginning,
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  Speaker 1: can we still be lost in the end? That question,
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  Speaker 1: dear listener, will carry us into the next part of
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  Speaker 1: our journey. But for now, let this truth settle into
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  Speaker 1: your heart like a soft, steady rain. Before you were born,
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  Speaker 1: you were known, before you took your first breath. Your
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  Speaker 1: name was spoken in the courts of heaven. And no
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  Speaker 1: matter how far you have wandered, no matter how many
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  Speaker 1: times you have stumbled, that name remains written, not in ink,
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  Speaker 1: but in love, not by the hand of man, but
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  Speaker 1: by the hand of God himself. Rest Now you are known,
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  Speaker 1: You are loved, and your name is safe. Chapter two
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  Speaker 1: Biblical evidence. Where is it found in scripture? If the
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  Speaker 1: Book of Life is real, if it truly exists in
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  Speaker 1: the courts of heaven, then we should expect to find
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  Speaker 1: it woven throughout the pages of Scripture, not hidden in
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  Speaker 1: obscure footnotes or whispered only in mista visions, but plainly
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  Speaker 1: declared again and again, from the earliest books of the
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  Speaker 1: Law to the final revelation given to John on Patmos.
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  Speaker 1: And indeed, we do the Book of life is not
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  Speaker 1: a secret doctrine. It is not the invention of medieval
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  Speaker 1: theologians or the phantasy of apocalyptic writers. It is a
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  Speaker 1: thread that runs through the entire tapestry of God's word,
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  Speaker 1: from Genesis to Revelation, spoken by prophets, sung by psalmists,
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  Speaker 1: and confirmed by the apostles themselves to night. We will
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  Speaker 1: walk through that evidence, not as scholars dissecting ancient texts,
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  Speaker 1: but as seekers, tracing the footsteps of those who came
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  Speaker 1: before us, those who knew that their names mattered to God.
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  Speaker 1: Let us begin where the story of faith itself begins,
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  Speaker 1: in the wilderness with Moses. The people of Israel had
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  Speaker 1: barely escaped the crushing grip of Egypt. The Red Sea
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  Speaker 1: had parted before them, and they had walked through on
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  Speaker 1: dry ground, while Pharaoh's army drowned behind them. They had
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  Speaker 1: seen the pillar of fire by night and the cloud
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  Speaker 1: by day. They had eaten manner from heaven and drunk
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  Speaker 1: water from the rock, and yet in a moment of
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  Speaker 1: fear and impatience, they turned away. Moses had gone up
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  Speaker 1: the mountain to meet with God, to receive the law
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  Speaker 1: that would bind them as a holy people. But the
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  Speaker 1: days stretched long, and the people grew restless. They gathered
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  Speaker 1: their gold and melted it down, shaping it into the
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  Speaker 1: image of a calf, and they bowed before it, saying,
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  Speaker 1: these are the gods who brought us out of Egypt.
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  Speaker 1: When Moses came down and saw what they had done,
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  Speaker 1: his anger burned. He smashed the tablets of the law
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  Speaker 1: at the foot of the mountain. He ground the golden
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  Speaker 1: calf to powder and made the people drink it, and
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  Speaker 1: then he returned to the Lord to plead for them.
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  Speaker 1: This is where we find one of the most moving
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  Speaker 1: prayers in all of scripture. Moses stood before the presence
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  Speaker 1: of the Almighty and said, in Exodus, chapter thirty two,
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  Speaker 1: verse thirty two, but now, if you will forgive their sin,
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  Speaker 1: but if not, please blot me out of your book
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  Speaker 1: that you have written. Moses was willing to be erased,
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  Speaker 1: to have his own name removed from the book of
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  Speaker 1: Life if it meant the people could be saved, and
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  Speaker 1: God answered him in verse thirty three, whoever has sinned
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  Speaker 1: against me, I will blot out of my book. There
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  Speaker 1: is mercy in that answer. God did not destroy Israel.
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  Speaker 1: He forgave them, but he also made something clear. The
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  Speaker 1: book exists, names are written in it, and those who
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  Speaker 1: reject him, who turn their backs on his covenant, risk
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  Speaker 1: being removed. This is not a book of mere attendants.
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  Speaker 1: It is a book of relationship, of covenant, of faithfulness.
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  Speaker 1: Centuries later, another voice spoke of the same book. King Dai. David,
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  Speaker 1: the shepherd boy who became king, the poet whose words
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  Speaker 1: have comforted millions, knew both triumph and tragedy. He sinned grievously,
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  Speaker 1: yet he repented deeply. He experienced the grace of God.
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  Speaker 1: But he also understood judgment. In Psalm sixty nine, a
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  Speaker 1: song of anguish and longing, David cried out against those
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  Speaker 1: who hated him without cause, and in verse twenty eight
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  Speaker 1: he prayed, may they be blotted out of the Book
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  Speaker 1: of Life and not be listed with the righteous. David
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  Speaker 1: knew that to be in the book was to be
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  Speaker 1: counted among the living, among those who would dwell forever
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  Speaker 1: in the presence of God. To be removed was not
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  Speaker 1: simply death, It was eternal separation from the source of
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  Speaker 1: all life. But David also knew something else. In Psalm
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  Speaker 1: one thirty nine, one of the most beautiful passages in
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  Speaker 1: all of scripture. He reflected on how intimately God knows
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  Speaker 1: each soul. In verse sixteen, he wrote, your eyes saw
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  Speaker 1: my unf formed body. All the days ordained for me
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  Speaker 1: were written in your book before one of them came
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  Speaker 1: to be. Before David was born, His days were already
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  Speaker 1: recorded before he took his first breath. God knew him.
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  Speaker 1: The book contained not just his name, but his story,
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  Speaker 1: his journey, his destiny. This is not a book of cold,
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  Speaker 1: distant record keeping. It is a book written by a
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  Speaker 1: father who knows his children, who sees them before they
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  Speaker 1: are born, who holds every moment of their lives in
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  Speaker 1: his hands. Another prophet, another era, another glimpse of the
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  Speaker 1: same truth. The prophet Daniel lived in exile. He had
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  Speaker 1: been torn from his homeland as a young man and
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  Speaker 1: carried off to Babylon, where he served in the courts
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  Speaker 1: of foreign kings. He witnessed the fall of Jerusalem, the
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  Speaker 1: destruction of the Temple, the scattering of God's people, and
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  Speaker 1: yet in the midst of that darkness, God gave him
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  Speaker 1: visions of hope. In daniel Che chapter twelve, verse one,
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  Speaker 1: the angel Michael told him. At that time, Michael, the
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  Speaker 1: Great Prince, who protects your people will arise. There will
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  Speaker 1: be a time of distress, such as has not happened
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  Speaker 1: from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time,
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  Speaker 1: your people, everyone whose name is found written in the
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  Speaker 1: book will be delivered deliverance, rescue, salvation. Not for everyone,
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  Speaker 1: not based on nationality or lineage or good intentions, but
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  Speaker 1: for those whose names are found written in the book.
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  Speaker 1: The Book of Life became a symbol of hope in
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  Speaker 1: the darkest of times. It meant that no matter how
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  Speaker 1: scattered the people of God might be, no matter how
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  Speaker 1: broken or defeated they seemed, God had not forgotten them.
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  Speaker 1: Their names were safe. And then the prophets spoke of
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  Speaker 1: something even deeper in Malachi chapter three, verse sixteen, during
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  Speaker 1: a time when the people had grown cynical and cold
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  Speaker 1: in their worship, it says, then those who feared the
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  Speaker 1: law talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard.
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  Speaker 1: A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning
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  Speaker 1: those who feared the Lord and honored his name. A
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  Speaker 1: scroll of remembrance another image of the same reality. God
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  Speaker 1: was keeping record not of ritual or performance, but of
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  Speaker 1: hearts that truly honored him. That spoke his name with
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  Speaker 1: reverence and walked with him in faithfulness. When we turned
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  Speaker 1: to the New Testament, the Book of Life appears with
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  Speaker 1: even greater clarity. Jesus himself spoke of it in the
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  Speaker 1: Gospel of Luke, chapter ten. Jesus sent out seventy two
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  Speaker 1: of his disciples to preach and heal in his name.
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  Speaker 1: When they returned, they were filled with joy, saying, Lord,
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  Speaker 1: even the demons submit to us in your name. Jesus replied,
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  Speaker 1: I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have
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  Speaker 1: given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions, and
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  Speaker 1: to overcome all the power of the enemy. Nothing will
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  Speaker 1: harm you. And then he said something surprising. However, do
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  Speaker 1: not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice
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  Speaker 1: that your names are written in heaven. The greatest miracle
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  Speaker 1: was not power over demons. It was not signs and wonders.
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  Speaker 1: It was this that their names were written in heaven,
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  Speaker 1: that they belonged to God, that they had citizenship in
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  Speaker 1: the eternal City. The apostle Paul, writing to the church
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  Speaker 1: in Philippe, mentioned the Book of Life as something the
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  Speaker 1: believers already understood In Philippians chapter four, verse three. He
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  Speaker 1: spoke of his fellow workers and said, whose names are
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  Speaker 1: in the Book of Life. It was a simple statement,
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  Speaker 1: almost casual, but it carried profound weight. These were not
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  Speaker 1: perfect people. They were ordinary believers, struggling and striving. Yet
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: their names were recorded. They belonged. But it is in
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: the Book of Revelation that the Book of Life takes
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: center stage. The apostle John, exiled on the rocky island
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: of Patmos for refusing to renounce his faith, was given
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: a vision of the end of all things, and throughout
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: that vision the Book of Life appears again and again.
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: In Revelation chapter three, verse five, Jesus speaks to the
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: church in Sardis and says, the one who is victorious
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: will like them be dressed in white. I will never
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: blot out the name of that person from the Book
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: of Life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: and his angels. A promise, a guarantee. Those who overcome,
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: who remain faithful, will not have their names erased. Jesus
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: himself will speak their names before the Father. In Revelation
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: chapter thirteen, verse eight, John describes those who will worship
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: the beast during the final days of tribulation, all inhabitants
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: of the earth will worship the beast, all whose names
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: have not been written in the Lamb's book of life,
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: the lamb who was slain from the creation of the world. Again,
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: notice the timing, from the creation of the world, before sin,
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: before rebellion, before the first tear was ever shed, the
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: Lamb was already slain in the plan of God, and
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: the names were already being written. In Revelation chapter seventeen,
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: verse eight, the Angel says, the inhabitants of the earth
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: whose names have not been written in the Book of
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: Life from the creation of the world will be astonished.
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: Over and over the same refrain. The book exists, names
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: are in it, and those names were written from the
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: very foundation of the world. But perhaps the most solemn,
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: most sobering reference comes in Revelation chapter twenty. John sees
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: a great white throne blazing with the glory of God.
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: He sees the dead, great and small, standing before it,
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: and he sees books opened. In verses twelve through fifteen,
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: he writes, and I saw the dead, great and small
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: was opened, which is the book of Life. The dead
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: were judged according to what they had done as recorded
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: in the books. The sea gave up the dead that
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: dead that were in them, and each person was judged
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: were thrown into the Lake of Fire. The lake of
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: Fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: found written in the Book of Life was thrown into
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: the Lake of fire. Two kinds of books. One recorded deeds,
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: every action, every word, every thought, a perfect record of
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: human life. The other recorded names those who belong to God,
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: and the difference between the two determined eternity. Finally, in
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: Revelation chapter twenty one, John describes the New Jerusalem, the
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: Holy City, descending from Heaven, radiant as a bride. In
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: verse twenty seven, he says, nothing impure will ever enter it,
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful.
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: But only those whose names are written in the Lamb's
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: Book of Life. The final City, the eternal home, the
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: place where God dwells with his people forever. And the
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: only requirement for entry is this. Your name must be
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: written in the book from Moses to Malachi, from David
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: to Daniel, from Jesus to John. The testimony is consistent.
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: The Book of Life is real, It is kept by God,
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: It contains the names of those who belong to Him,
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: and it will be opened on the last day. This
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: is not mythology. This is not poetic symbolism meant to
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: be dismissed. This is the word of God, repeated across centuries,
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: spoken by prophets and apostles, confirmed by Christ himself. And
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: if it is true, if this book really exists, then
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: the question we must ask is not whether it is real,
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: but whether our name is in it. Rest in that
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: question for now, not with fear, but with hope, For
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: the God who keeps the book is the same God
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: who gave his son to write our names in it
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: with his own blood. You are seen, you are known,
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: and your name matters. Chapter three. Before the foundation of
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: the world, there is a moment that exists outside of time,
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: a moment before the first star burned, before the oceans gathered,
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: before the voice of God spoke light into the darkness.
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: A moment in eternity passed when everything that would ever
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: be was already known. In that moment, You were there,
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: not in body not yet formed, but in the mind
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: of God, in the heart of the Father, you were known.
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: Your name was spoken, your days were numbered, your purpose
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: was written. This is one of the most astonishing truths
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: in all of scripture, that before the foundation of the world,
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: before anything was created, God had already decided to love you.
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: To night, we will step into that mystery, not to
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: solve it, for the mind of God is too vast
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: to fully comprehend, but to rest in it, to let
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: the weight of it settle into our souls, like warm
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: light breaking through the coldest winter morning. You were not
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: an accident. You were not a surprise. You were chosen, planned,
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: and written into the story of eternity before time began.
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: The apostle Paul, writing to the church in Ephesus, opened
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: his letter with one of the most profound statements ever penned.
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: In Ephesians Chapter one, verses four and five. He wrote,
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: for He chose us in him before the creation of
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: the world, to be holy and blameless in his sight.
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: In love, he predestined us for adoption to sonship through
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure. And will read
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: those words again slowly. He chose us, before the creation
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: of the world, before the mountains, before the oceans, before
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: Adam took his first breath in the garden, before Sin
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: entered the world, before Abraham, Moses or David, before the
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: prophet spoke, or the angels sang. God chose you not
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: because of anything you would do, not because you would
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: earn it or deserve it, but simply because he loved you,
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: because it pleased him, Because in the infinite depth of
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: his wisdom and grace, he decided that you would be his.
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: This is what the Elogians call election or predestination, words
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: that have sparked debate for centuries. Words that some find
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: comforting and others find troubling. But beneath the theology, beneath
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: the arguments, there is a simple, beautiful truth. God wanted
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: you before you existed. He already loved you, before you
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: had done anything good or bad. He had already written
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: your name in his book. In Revelation, chapter thirteen, verse eight,
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: John writes about those whose names have not been written
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: in the Lamb's book of life, the lamb who was
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: slain from the creation of the world. Notice the phrase
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: from the creation of the world the plan of salvation,
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: the sacrifice of Christ, the writing of names in the book.
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: It all happened in the eternal mind of God before
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: the first day of creation. This means that when God said,
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: let there be light, he was already looking forward to
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: the cross. When he formed Adam from the dust, he
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: already knew that one day he would send his son
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: to redeem Adam's children. When he planted the garden, he
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: was already preparing a better garden, an eternal city, where
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: those whose names are written would dwell with him forever.
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: Creation was never an experiment. It was never a gamble.
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: It was a love story written before the first page
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: was ever turned. The prophet Jeremiah experienced this truth in
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: a deeply personal way. He was called to be a
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: prophet during one of the darkest periods in Israel's history.
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: The nation was crumbling, the people had turned away from God,
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: and Jeremiah was tasked with delivering messages of judgment that
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: no one wanted to hear. He was mocked, beaten, thrown
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: into a pit, and left to die. His life was
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: filled with sorrow, and yet in the midst of all
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: that pain, God spoke to him and said, in Jeremiah,
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: Chapter one, verse five. Before I formed you in the womb,
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: I knew you before you were born. I set you apart.
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: I appointed you as a prophet to the nations before
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: I formed you, before you were born, I knew you.
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: Jeremiah's life was not a series of accidents. It was
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: not random. Every moment, every trial, every word he spoke
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: had been known by God before Jeremiah ever existed. And
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: if that was true for Jeremiah, it is true for you.
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: Before your parents met, before your grandparents were born, before
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: the country you live in was founded, before the mountains
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: were formed. God knew you, He saw you, he loved you,
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: and he set you apart for a purpose. King David
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: understood this in a way that took his breath away.
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: In Psalm one thirty nine, one of the most intimate
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: prayers ever recorded, he wrote in verses thirteen through six,
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: for you created my inmost being, You knit me together
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. I know
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: that full well. My frame was not hidden from you
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: when I was made in the secret place, when I
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: was woven together in the depths of the earth, your
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: me were written in your book before one of them
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: came to be. All the days, every single one, written
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: in God's book before David lived even one of them.
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: The days of joy, the days of sorrow, the days
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: of victory and the days of failure, The days when
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: David felt close to God, and the days when he
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: felt far away, All of them already known, already recorded,
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: already held in the hands of a loving father. This
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: is not a distant, impersonal God. This is a father
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: who knows every heart beat, every breath, every tear, a
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: father who does not simply observe your life from a distance,
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: but who wrote it with intentionality and love. Some people
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: hear this and feel afraid. They think, if God already
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: decided everything, then do my choices even matter? Am I
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: just a puppet on a string. But that is not
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: what scripture teaches. The Bible holds two truths intension, truths
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: that seem to contradict but are both completely true. God
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: is sovereign, he chooses, he plans, He knows the end
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: from the beginning, and yet human beings are responsible. We
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: make real choices, our decisions matter. We are called to believe,
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: to repent, to follow. How can both be true? We
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: do not fully know. It is a mystery that theologians
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: have wrestled with for centuries. But perhaps that is the point.
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: Perhaps the mystery itself is meant to drive us not
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: to answers, but to worship, To stand in awe of
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: a God whose mind is so far above ours that
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: we cannot trace his paths. To trust him, not because
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: we understand everything, but because he has proven himself faithful.
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: There is a story that helps illustrate this mystery, though
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: no illustration is perfect. Imagine a great author writing a novel.
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: The characters in the story make choices, They love, they struggle,
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: they fail, they triumph, and yet the author knows how
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: the story will end. The author planned it from the beginning.
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: Does that mean the characters are not real within the story?
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: Does it mean their choices do not matter? Of course,
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: not within the world of the story. Their choices are
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: real and meaningful, and yet the author's plan is also real.
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: Both are true in the same way. God is the
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: author of all things. He knows the end from the beginning.
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: He wrote the story before time began. And yet within
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: the story of our lives, our choices are real. Our
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: faith matters, our love matters, our obedience matters. God has
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: not made us robots. He has made us his children,
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: and he invites us to walk with him, to trust him,
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: to choose him, even as He has already chosen us.
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: This is the wonder of it, that the God who
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: holds eternity in his hands still bends down to whisper
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: your name, That the God who wrote the stars into
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: the sky still writes your name in his book, That
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: the God who needs nothing still chooses to love you.
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: In Romans chapter eight, verses twenty nine and thirty, Paul writes,
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: for those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: to the image of his son, that he might be
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: the first born among many brothers and sisters. And those
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: he predestined he also called. Those he called, he also justified,
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: those he justified, he also glorified. This is the golden
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: chain of salvation, foreknown, predestined, called, justified, glorified, every link
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: held firmly in the hand of God. If you belong
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: to Christ, if you have heard his call and answered,
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: then this chain cannot be broken what God has begun.
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: He will complete what he has written. He will not
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: erase what He has started in you, he will finish.
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: You are not saved by your strength. You are saved
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: by his choice. You are not held by your grip
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: on him. You are held by His grip on you,
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: and his grip is eternal. There is a carpenter who
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: plans a house. Before he lays the first stone, he
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: draws the blue print, He measures every beam. He knows
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: where the windows will be, where the doors will open,
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: how the roof will shelter those inside. Does the house
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: build itself? Of course not. The carpenter does the work.
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: But the house was in his mind long before it
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: was in the world. In the same way, God knew
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: you before you were born. He planned your life, not
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: to control you like a machine, but to love you
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: as a father. He wrote your name not in ink
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: that fades, but in the eternal book of His love.
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: And nothing, not sin, not failure, not doubt, not time,
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: not death can erase what God has written. Before the
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: mountains were born, before the seas gathered, before light broke
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: into the darkness. He knew you, and he chose you,
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: not because you were perfect not because you would earn it,
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: but because, in the mystery of his grace, he decided
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: that you would be his rest. In that to night,
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: Let the weight of it cover you like a warm
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: blanket on a cold night. You were not forgotten, you
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: were not overlooked. You were chosen before the foundation of
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: the world, and nothing can change that. Chapter four, The
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: great debate, predestination versus free will. There is a question
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: that has echoed through the halls of theology for centuries,
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: a question that has divided churches, spark debates, and cause
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: believers to wrestle with scripture late into the night. It
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: is a question that touches the very heart of who
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: God is and what it means to be human. If
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: God chose us before the foundation of the world, do
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: we have any choice at all? If our names were
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: written in the Book of Life from eternity past, does
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: our faith even matter? And if salvation is entirely in
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: God's hands, then why does scripture call us to believe,
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: to report to choose tonight? We will not pretend to
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: solve a mystery that the greatest minds in Christian history
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: have grappled with. We will not claim to have all
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: the answers, but we will walk through the tension with honesty,
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: with humility, and with the hope that even in mystery,
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: God is good for The tension between predestination and free
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: will is not a problem to be solved. It is
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: a paradox to be held two truths that seem to contradict,
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: yet both are affirmed in Scripture. Both are true, and
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: both lead us to worship. Let us begin with the
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: side that emphasizes God's sovereignty, the side that says salvation
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: is entirely God's work from beginning to end. This view
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: is often called Calvinism, named after John Calvin, the French
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: reformer who lived in the fifteen hundreds, but the roots
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: of this theology go much deeper, back to the apostle
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: Paul himself, and even to Jesus. In Romans chapter nine,
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: Paul writes one of the most challenging passages in all
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: of Scripture. He is addressing the question of why some
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: believe and others do not. Why Israel, God's chosen people
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: rejected their Messiah, while gentiles, who were once far from
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: God came to faith. And Paul answers with words that
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: have made readers uncomfortable for two thousand years. In verses
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: eleven through sixteen, he writes, yet before the twins were
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: born or had done anything good or bad, in order
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: that God's purpose in election might stand not by works,
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: but by him who calls. She was told the older
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: will serve the younger, just as it is written, Jacob
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: I loved, but Esau I hated. What then, shall we say,
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: is God unjust? Not at all? For he says to Moses,
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. It
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: does not, therefore depend on human desire or effort, but
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: on God's mercy. It does not depend on human desire
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: or effort. That is a hard truth. It means that
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: no matter how hard we try, no matter how good
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: we are, no matter how much we want to be saved,
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: we cannot save ourselves. Salvation is God's work. He chooses,
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: He calls, he saves. Paul goes further. In verses twenty
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: through twenty one, he writes, but who are you a
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: human being to talk back to God? Shall what is
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: formed say to the one who formed it? Why did
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: you make me like? This? Does not the potter have
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: the right to make out of the same lump of clay,
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: some pottery for special purposes and some for common use.
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: The image is clear. God is the potter, we are
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: the clay, and the potter has the right to shape
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: the clay as he sees fit, some vessels for honor,
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: some for common use, all according to his purpose. This
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: is the doctrine of unconditional election. It means that God's
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: choice to save is not based on anything we do.
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: Not our faith, not our works, not our decision. God
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: chooses freely according to his own will for his own glory.
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: In Ephesians chapter one, verse eleven, Paul writes, in him
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: the purpose of his will. Everything not just some things. Everything.
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: God is sovereign over all, and his purposes cannot be thwarted.
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: In John chapter six, verse forty four, Jesus himself says,
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: no one can come to me unless the Father who
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: sent me draws them, and I will raise them up
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: at the last day. No one can come unless the
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: Father draws them. This means that faith itself is a gift.
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: We do not choose God. He chooses us, and then
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: by his grace he gives us the faith to believe. Later,
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: in verse sixty five, Jesus says again, this is why
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: I told you that no one can come to me
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: unless the Father has enabled them. Enabled, not just invited,
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: not just offered. Enabled. God does the work. He opens
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: the heart, he opens the eyes, He draws the soul
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: to Christ. Those who hold this view find great comfort
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: in it because it means that salvation does not rest
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: on our weak, wavering, inconsistent will. It rests on the unchanging,
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: eternal will of God. If God has chosen you, nothing
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: can snatch you from his hand. If your name is
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: written in the Book of Life, it will never be erased.
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: As Paul writes in Romans, Chapter eight, verses twenty nine
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: through thirty, for those God foreknew, he also predestined to
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: be conformed to the image of his son, that he
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: might be the first born among many brothers and sisters.
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: And those he predestined he also called. Those he called,
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: He also justified those he justified. He also glorified past tense,
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: glorified even though we are not yet in glory. Paul
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: speaks of it as though it is already done, because
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: in the mind of God it is what he has begun.
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: He will complete what he has written, He will not erase.
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: This is the beauty of the doctrine of predestination. It
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: takes the weight of salvation off our shoulders and places
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: it entirely in the hands of God. It means that
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: even when we are weak, he is strong. Even when
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: we doubt, he is faithful. Even when we stumble, he
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: holds us. But there is another side to this truth,
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: another set of scriptures that seem to say something different,
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: scriptures that speak of human choice, of responsibility, of the
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: call to believe, and the warning that those who reject
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: Christ will be lost. This view is often called Arminianism,
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: named after Jacobus Arminius, a Dutch theologian who lived in
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: the late fifteen hundreds and early sixteen hundreds. But like Calvinism,
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: this theology is rooted not in one man, but in
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: scripture itself. In John chapter three, verse sixteen, perhaps the
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: most famous verse in all the Bible, Jesus says, for
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: God so loved the world that he gave his one
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish,
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: but have eternal life. Whoever believes, not whoever was chosen,
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: not whoever was predestined, but who who ever believes. The
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: invitation is open. The call is universal. Anyone who comes
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: to Christ in faith will be saved. In Tecod Peter
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: chapter three, verse nine, the apostle writes, the Lord is
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead,
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish,
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: but everyone to come to repentance, not wanting anyone to
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: perish every one. If God has already decided who will
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: be saved and who will be lost, how can this
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: verse be true? How can God genuinely desire the salvation
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: of all people if he has already chosen only some
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: Those who hold this view say that God's choice is
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: based on his foreknowledge, that he looked ahead through time,
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: saw who would believe, and chose them on that basis.
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: This is called conditional election. God chooses those who will
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: choose him. In Romans, chapter ex eight, verse twenty nine,
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: Paul writes, for those God foreknew, he also predestined. The
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: word fornew comes. First God knew, and then he predestined.
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: He saw the end from the beginning, and he wrote
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: the names of those who would believe. In One Timothy
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: chapter two, verses three and four, Paul writes, this is
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: good and pleases God, our savior, who wants all people
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: to be saved and to come to a knowledge of
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: the truth all people. God's desire is universal. His love
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: is for the world, and the reason not everyone is
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: saved is not because God did not choose them, but
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: because they did not choose him. In Revelation chapter twenty two,
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: verse seventeen, the final invitation of the Bible is given.
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: The Spirit and the bride say come, and let the
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: one who hears say come. Let the one who is
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: thirsty come, and let the one who wishes take the
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: free gift of the water of life. The one who wishes.
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: The invitation is open, the door is not locked. Any
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: One who comes will be received. And in Matthew chapter
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: twenty three, verse thirty seven, Jesus laments over Jerusalem, saying, Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: How often I have longed to gather your children together
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. And
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: you were not willing. You were not willing. Jesus desired
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: to save them, but they refused, and that refusal mattered.
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: It was real, it had consequences. Those who hold this
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: view find comfort in the fact that the call of
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: the Gospel is genuine, that the invitation is sincere, that
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: when God says come, he truly means it. That human
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: responsibility is real, and our choices matter. So which is true?
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: Is salvation entirely God's choice or is it dependent on
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: our response? The answer, dear listener, is yes, both are true,
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: and scripture affirms both without apology. God is sovereign, He chooses,
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: he calls, he saves, and yet human beings are responsible.
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: We must believe, we must repent, we must come. How
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: can both be true? We do not fully know. It
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: is a mystery that lies beyond the reach of human logic.
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: But perhaps that is the point. Perhaps the mystery is
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: meant to humble us, to remind us that God's ways
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: are higher than our ways, and his thoughts are higher
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: than our thoughts. In Deuteronomy, chapter twenty nine, Verse twenty nine,
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: Moses writes, the secret things belong to the Lord, our God,
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: but the things revealed belong to us and to our
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: children forever that we may follow all the words of
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: this law. There are secret things, things God has not revealed,
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: things we are not meant to fully understand, and that
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: is okay. We are called to trust, not to comprehend.
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: Some have tried to reconcile the two views. They say
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: that God's sovereignty and human responsibility are like two parallel
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: train tracks. They run side by side, and they never
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: meet in our understanding, but they both lead to the
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: same destination. They both bring us to worship. When we
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: emphasize God's sovereignty, we are humbled. We realize that we
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: contribute nothing to our salvation. It is all grace, all gift,
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: all God, and we fall on our faces in gratitude.
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: When we emphasize human responsibility, we are sobered. We realize
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: that our choices matter, that faith is not passive, that
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: we are called to respond, to believe, to follow, and
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: we rise to our feet in obedience. Both truths drive
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: us to the cross. Both truths magnify the grace of God.
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: And both truths are held together in the person of
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, who is both fully God and fully Man,
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: who is both sovereign king and suffering servant, who both
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: chose us and calls us to choose him. Perhaps the
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: best way to hold this tension is to live in
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: the middle, to affirm both truths without trying to resolve
• 50:32
  Speaker 1: the mystery. To say with confidence, God chose me, and
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: also I chose him. To rest in the sovereignty of
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: God when we are weak, and to embrace the responsibility
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: to believe when we are called. In Philippians Chapter two,
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: verses twelve and thirteen, Paul captures this tension beautifully. He writes, Therefore,
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: my dear friends, as you have always obeyed, not only
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: in my presence, but now much more in my absence,
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: for it is God who works in you to will
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose.
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: Work out your salvation human responsibility, but immediately, for it
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: is God who works in you divine sovereignty, both in
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: the same breath, both held together, both true and so
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: to night. We do not need to choose between them.
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: We do not need to resolve what God has left mysterious.
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: We simply rest in this that God is good, that
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: his ways are higher, that He can be trusted, and that,
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: whether we understand it or not, our names are written,
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: our faith is real, and our salvation is secure. For
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: those who worry that predestination makes them puppets, remember this,
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: You are not a puppet. You are a child. And
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: a good father does not control his children. He guides them,
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: he calls them, He loves them, and in love he
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: gives them the freedom to respond. For those who worry
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: that free will makes salvation uncertain, remember this, Your faith
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: is not the foundation. Christ is. Your grip on him
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: may be weak, but His grip on you is unbreakable.
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: In the end, both sides agree on the most important truth,
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: Christ alone, that no one is saved by their own effort,
• 52:36
  Speaker 1: That everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: will be saved, and that God gets all the glory.
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: So rest tonight in the mystery. Do not be troubled
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: by what you cannot understand. Instead, be comforted by what
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: you do know. God loves you, Christ died for you,
• 52:56
  Speaker 1: The Spirit called you, and your name is written in
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: the Book of Life. Life that is enough. Chapter five.
• 53:05
  Speaker 1: Can your name be erased the blotted out question. Of
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: all the questions that stir the heart of a believer,
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: few are more urgent than this one. Can a name,
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: once written in the Book of life ever be erased?
• 53:20
  Speaker 1: If God wrote your name before the foundation of the world,
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: if He chose you in love, if Christ died to
• 53:25
  Speaker 1: secure your salvation, then is it possible even still to
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: be lost. This is not a question born of curiosity.
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: It is a question born of fear, the fear that
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: we might not be good enough, that we might fail
• 53:40
  Speaker 1: too many times, that one day God will look at
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: our lives and decide we were not worth keeping after all.
• 53:48
  Speaker 1: And so tonight we will face this question with honesty.
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: We will look at the scriptures that speak of names
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: being blotted out, and we will also look at the
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: scriptures that promise eternal secure We will hold the tension
• 54:02
  Speaker 1: not with easy answers, but with the hope that God
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: is more faithful than our fears. Let us begin with
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: the passages that trouble us, the ones that seem to
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: say that a name can be removed. The first comes
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: from the lips of God himself in Exodus chapter thirty two.
• 54:20
  Speaker 1: After Israel sinned by worshiping the golden calf, Moses pleaded
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: with God to forgive them. He even offered to have
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: his own name removed from the book if it would
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: save the people, and God replied in verse thirty three,
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: my book. Blot out, remove, erase. The language is clear,
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: and it suggests that a name, once written, can be
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: taken away. Later, in Psalm sixty nine, verse twenty eight,
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: King David prayed against his enemies, saying, may they be
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: blotted out of the Book of Life and not be
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: listed with the riightace again the possibility of being removed.
• 55:04
  Speaker 1: David understood that to be in the book was a privilege,
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: not a guarantee, that faithfulness mattered, that turning away from
• 55:12
  Speaker 1: God had consequences. In the New Testament, Jesus himself speaks
• 55:17
  Speaker 1: of the possibility. In Revelation chapter three, verse five, he
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: says to the church in sardis, the one who is
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: victorious will like them be dressed in white. I will
• 55:30
  Speaker 1: never blot out the name of that person from the
• 55:33
  Speaker 1: Book of Life, but will acknowledge that name before my
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: father and his angels. Notice the phrase, I will never
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: blot out. The promise is given to the one who
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: is victorious, to the one who overcomes. But the very
• 55:47
  Speaker 1: fact that Jesus mentions blotting out implies that it is possible. Otherwise,
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: why would he need to promise that he will not
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: do it. These passages have caused many believers to live
• 55:59
  Speaker 1: in to wonder if their salvation is secure, to question
• 56:04
  Speaker 1: whether they have done enough, believed enough, endured enough to
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: keep their name in the book. But before we let
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: fear take root, we must also look at the other side,
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: at the promises of God that speak of eternal security,
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: of a salvation that cannot be lost, of a grip
• 56:21
  Speaker 1: that will never let go. In John chapter ten, verses
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: twenty seven through twenty nine, Jesus says, my sheep, listen
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: to my voice. I know them, and they follow me.
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: No one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father,
• 56:42
  Speaker 1: who has given them to me, is greater than all.
• 56:45
  Speaker 1: No one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: Never perish. No one can snatch them, not even themselves,
• 56:54
  Speaker 1: not even their own failures. The grip of God is
• 56:57
  Speaker 1: stronger than anything in Romans chapter eight, verses thirty eight
• 57:02
  Speaker 1: and thirty nine, Paul writes, for I am convinced that
• 57:05
  Speaker 1: neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the
• 57:10
  Speaker 1: present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth,
• 57:14
  Speaker 1: nor anything else in all creation will be able to
• 57:17
  Speaker 1: separate us from the Love of God, that is in Christ,
• 57:21
  Speaker 1: Jesus our Lord. Anything else that includes our own sin,
• 57:26
  Speaker 1: our own doubt, our own weakness, nothing can separate us
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: from the love of God. In Philippians Chapter one, verse six,
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: Paul writes, being confident of this, that he who began
• 57:39
  Speaker 1: a good work in you will carry it on to
• 57:41
  Speaker 1: completion until the day of Christ Jesus. He will complete it.
• 57:46
  Speaker 1: Not we will complete it, not if we hold on
• 57:49
  Speaker 1: tight enough, but he will. God finishes what he starts.
• 57:54
  Speaker 1: In First John chapter five, verses twelve and thirteen, the
• 57:58
  Speaker 1: apostle writes, who whoever has the Son has life. Whoever
• 58:02
  Speaker 1: does not have the Son of God does not have life.
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: I write these things to you who believe in the
• 58:08
  Speaker 1: name of the Son of God, so that you may
• 58:11
  Speaker 1: know that you have eternal life. No, not hope, not guess,
• 58:17
  Speaker 1: not wonder. No, the assurance is real. The promise is certain,
• 58:23
  Speaker 1: So how do we reconcile these two sets of passages?
• 58:27
  Speaker 1: How can both be true? There are two main views
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: among faithful Bible believing Christians. The first view says that
• 58:35
  Speaker 1: once a name is written in the Book of Life,
• 58:37
  Speaker 1: it can never be erased. This is called eternal security,
• 58:42
  Speaker 1: or once saved, always saved. Those who hold this view
• 58:47
  Speaker 1: interpret the blotting out passages differently. They say that when
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: God told Moses he would blot out whoever sinned, he
• 58:53
  Speaker 1: was not speaking of true believers. He was speaking of
• 58:56
  Speaker 1: those who professed to follow him, but whose hearts were
• 58:59
  Speaker 1: never truly his Their names were never genuinely written in
• 59:03
  Speaker 1: the first place. When David prayed for his enemies to
• 59:07
  Speaker 1: be blotted out, he was asking that they be excluded
• 59:10
  Speaker 1: from the community of the faithful, that they be recognized
• 59:13
  Speaker 1: as never having belonged to God. And when Jesus promised
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: not to blot out the name of the one who overcomes,
• 59:20
  Speaker 1: he was giving assurance to true believers. The promise is
• 59:24
  Speaker 1: not conditional. It is a description of what is already true.
• 59:29
  Speaker 1: Those who belong to Christ will overcome. They will persevere
• 59:34
  Speaker 1: not because of their strength, but because God holds them.
• 59:39
  Speaker 1: In this view, the warnings in scripture are real, but
• 59:43
  Speaker 1: they are warnings to examine yourself to make sure your
• 59:47
  Speaker 1: faith is genuine, to test whether you truly know Christ.
• 59:51
  Speaker 1: As Paul writes in Second Corinthians, chapter thirteen, verse five,
• 59:56
  Speaker 1: examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith.
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: Rest yourselves. True believers may stumble, they may sin, they
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 1: may even walk away for a season, but they will
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 1: always come back because God will not let them go.
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 1: The second view says that a name can be removed
• 1:00:15
  Speaker 1: from the Book of Life, that salvation, while secure in Christ,
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 1: can be forfeited by persistent unbelief or wilful rejection of God.
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: This is called conditional security. Those who hold this view
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 1: take the blotting out passages at face value. They say
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: that God genuinely warns believers that if they turn away,
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 1: if they abandon the faith, if they harden their hearts
• 1:00:41
  Speaker 1: and refuse to repent, their names can be erased. In
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 1: Hebrews chapter six, verses four through six, the writer gives
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 1: a sobering warning it is impossible for those who have
• 1:00:53
  Speaker 1: once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who
• 1:00:56
  Speaker 1: have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the
• 1:00:59
  Speaker 1: goodness of the Word of God and the powers of
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 1: the coming Age, and who have fallen away to be
• 1:01:05
  Speaker 1: brought back to repentance. Those who hold this view say
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 1: that the warning is real, that a person can experience God,
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 1: taste his grace and still turn away, and if they do,
• 1:01:18
  Speaker 1: there is no more sacrifice for sins. In Hebrews Chapter ten,
• 1:01:23
  Speaker 1: verses twenty six through twenty nine, the warning continues, if
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 1: we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 1: knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 1: but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging
• 1:01:39
  Speaker 1: fire that will consume the enemies of God. How much
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 1: more severely do you think some one deserves to be
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 1: punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot,
• 1:01:49
  Speaker 1: who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 1: the Covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 1: Spirit of Grace trampled treated as unholy insulted. These are
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 1: not the actions of some one who never believed. These
• 1:02:05
  Speaker 1: are the actions of some one who once knew Christ
• 1:02:08
  Speaker 1: and then rejected him. In this view, salvation is not
• 1:02:11
  Speaker 1: lost through weakness or occasional sin. It is lost through deliberate, persistent,
• 1:02:17
  Speaker 1: wilful rejection of Christ. It is possible, but not easy.
• 1:02:23
  Speaker 1: It requires a hard heart, a seared conscience, and a
• 1:02:26
  Speaker 1: choice to walk away from the light. So which view
• 1:02:30
  Speaker 1: is correct? Perhaps both contain truth. Perhaps the answer lies
• 1:02:36
  Speaker 1: not in choosing one side, but in living in the
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 1: tension between warning and assurance. The warnings are real. They
• 1:02:44
  Speaker 1: are meant to keep us from complacency, to remind us
• 1:02:48
  Speaker 1: that faith is not a one time decision, but a
• 1:02:50
  Speaker 1: life long journey, to call us to persevere, to hold fast,
• 1:02:55
  Speaker 1: to keep walking with Christ even when the road is hard.
• 1:02:58
  Speaker 1: But the promises are all so real. They are meant
• 1:03:01
  Speaker 1: to give us peace, to assure us that our salvation
• 1:03:04
  Speaker 1: does not rest on our strength, but on God's faithfulness.
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 1: To remind us that Jesus is a better keeper of
• 1:03:11
  Speaker 1: our souls than we could ever be. Perhaps the best
• 1:03:14
  Speaker 1: way to think about it is this, If you are
• 1:03:17
  Speaker 1: worried about losing your salvation, that very worry is evidence
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 1: that you belong to God. Because those who have truly
• 1:03:24
  Speaker 1: fallen away do not care. They do not lie awake
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 1: at night wondering if their name is still in the book.
• 1:03:31
  Speaker 1: They have moved on, they have walked away, and they
• 1:03:35
  Speaker 1: feel nothing. But if you still care, if you still
• 1:03:39
  Speaker 1: long for God, if you still desire to follow Him
• 1:03:42
  Speaker 1: even when you fail, then that desire is the work
• 1:03:46
  Speaker 1: of the Spirit in you. And the Spirit does not
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 1: abandon what he has begun. In Romans chapter eight, verse sixteen,
• 1:03:53
  Speaker 1: Paul writes, the Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that
• 1:03:57
  Speaker 1: we are God's children. That testimony is real. It is
• 1:04:02
  Speaker 1: the quiet assurance in your heart, the whisper that says
• 1:04:06
  Speaker 1: you are mine, the longing that pulls you back to
• 1:04:09
  Speaker 1: God even when you have wandered. And if that testimony
• 1:04:12
  Speaker 1: is there, then your name is still written. So do
• 1:04:16
  Speaker 1: not live in fear. Live in faith. Not faith in
• 1:04:20
  Speaker 1: your ability to hold on, but faith in God's promise
• 1:04:23
  Speaker 1: to never let go. If you have stumbled, come back.
• 1:04:27
  Speaker 1: If you have sinned, repent, if you have doubted, cry
• 1:04:32
  Speaker 1: out to him. He will hear you, He will lift you,
• 1:04:36
  Speaker 1: he will restore you. For the God who wrote your
• 1:04:39
  Speaker 1: name in the book before the foundation of the world
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 1: is the same God who holds that book now, and
• 1:04:45
  Speaker 1: his grip is eternal. Your name is not written in pencil,
• 1:04:50
  Speaker 1: It is written in the blood of the Lamb, and nothing,
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 1: not your weakness, not your failure, not even your fear,
• 1:04:57
  Speaker 1: can erase what Christ has written rest to night. In
• 1:05:01
  Speaker 1: that promise, you are held, you are loved, and your
• 1:05:06
  Speaker 1: name is secure. Chapter six, two books. At Judgment Day,
• 1:05:13
  Speaker 1: there will come a day when time itself will end,
• 1:05:16
  Speaker 1: when the sun dims and the stars fall from the sky,
• 1:05:20
  Speaker 1: when the mountains crumble and the seas give up their dead,
• 1:05:23
  Speaker 1: when every soul that has ever lived will stand before
• 1:05:26
  Speaker 1: the throne of God. That day is called Judgment Day.
• 1:05:30
  Speaker 1: And it is not a myth, it is not a metaphor.
• 1:05:34
  Speaker 1: It is a promise woven throughout scripture, spoken by prophets,
• 1:05:38
  Speaker 1: confirmed by apostles, and declared by Jesus himself. And on
• 1:05:43
  Speaker 1: that day books will be opened, not one book, but many,
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 1: and the difference between those books will determine the destiny
• 1:05:52
  Speaker 1: of every soul for all eternity to night. We will
• 1:05:56
  Speaker 1: step into that vision not to frighten, but to prepare,
• 1:06:01
  Speaker 1: not to condemn, but to offer hope. For the God
• 1:06:04
  Speaker 1: who sits upon the throne is not only a god
• 1:06:06
  Speaker 1: of justice, he is also a God of mercy, and
• 1:06:10
  Speaker 1: the two are not in conflict they meet at the cross.
• 1:06:14
  Speaker 1: The Apostle John, exiled on the island of Patmos, was
• 1:06:18
  Speaker 1: given a vision of the end of all things. In
• 1:06:21
  Speaker 1: Revelation chapter twenty, he describes what he saw with words
• 1:06:25
  Speaker 1: that have echoed through the centuries. In verses eleven and twelve,
• 1:06:29
  Speaker 1: he writes, then I saw a great white throne, and
• 1:06:32
  Speaker 1: him who was seated on it. The earth and the
• 1:06:35
  Speaker 1: heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place
• 1:06:38
  Speaker 1: for them. And I saw the dead, great and small,
• 1:06:42
  Speaker 1: standing before the throne. And books were opened, books plural,
• 1:06:48
  Speaker 1: not just one, many books, each containing a different record.
• 1:06:53
  Speaker 1: John continues, Another book was opened, which is the book
• 1:06:56
  Speaker 1: of life. The dead were judged according to what they
• 1:07:00
  Speaker 1: had done as recorded in the books. Two kinds of books,
• 1:07:04
  Speaker 1: two kinds of records, and both were opened before the throne.
• 1:07:09
  Speaker 1: The first set of books records deeds, every action, every word,
• 1:07:14
  Speaker 1: every thought, a perfect, unchanging account of every life ever lived.
• 1:07:20
  Speaker 1: Nothing is hidden, nothing is forgotten, every secret, every motive,
• 1:07:26
  Speaker 1: every moment is written there. These are the books of works,
• 1:07:31
  Speaker 1: and they are terrifying because none of us can stand
• 1:07:34
  Speaker 1: before them and claim innocence. None of us can say
• 1:07:39
  Speaker 1: I have done enough. None of us can point to
• 1:07:41
  Speaker 1: our lives and say this deserves heaven. In Romans chapter three,
• 1:07:46
  Speaker 1: verses ten through twelve, Paul writes, there is no one righteous,
• 1:07:51
  Speaker 1: not even one. There is no one who understands. There
• 1:07:55
  Speaker 1: is no one who seeks God. All have turned away.
• 1:07:59
  Speaker 1: They have together become worthless. There is no one who
• 1:08:03
  Speaker 1: does good, not even one, not even one. That is
• 1:08:07
  Speaker 1: the testimony of the books of works. Every life, when
• 1:08:11
  Speaker 1: measured against the perfect holiness of God, falls short. In Ecclesiastes,
• 1:08:17
  Speaker 1: chapter twelve, verse fourteen, Solomon writes, for God will bring
• 1:08:22
  Speaker 1: every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it
• 1:08:26
  Speaker 1: is good or evil, every deed, every hidden thing. The
• 1:08:32
  Speaker 1: books miss nothing. Imagine standing before those books. Imagine every
• 1:08:37
  Speaker 1: lie you ever told being read aloud, every unkind word,
• 1:08:42
  Speaker 1: every selfish act, every moment of pride, greed, lust or hatred,
• 1:08:49
  Speaker 1: every time you chose yourself over God, every time you
• 1:08:53
  Speaker 1: knew the right thing and did not do it. The
• 1:08:56
  Speaker 1: books would not need to be long. Even a single sin,
• 1:09:01
  Speaker 1: one moment of rebellion, is enough to separate us from
• 1:09:05
  Speaker 1: a holy God. And yet the books are filled page
• 1:09:10
  Speaker 1: after page, year after year, A lifetime of imperfection, recorded
• 1:09:15
  Speaker 1: in perfect detail. This is the justice of God, perfect, impartial,
• 1:09:21
  Speaker 1: and unavoidable. And if we were judged by these books alone,
• 1:09:26
  Speaker 1: not one soul would enter heaven. But John saw something else.
• 1:09:31
  Speaker 1: Another book was opened, which is the Book of Life.
• 1:09:34
  Speaker 1: This book does not record deeds, it records names. And
• 1:09:39
  Speaker 1: the names in this book are not there because of
• 1:09:41
  Speaker 1: what those souls have done. They are there because of
• 1:09:45
  Speaker 1: what Christ has done. The Book of Life is the
• 1:09:48
  Speaker 1: registry of the redeemed. It is the role call of
• 1:09:51
  Speaker 1: those who belong to God. It is the list of
• 1:09:54
  Speaker 1: those who, though they sinned, have been forgiven, though they failed,
• 1:10:00
  Speaker 1: have been restored, though they deserved judgment, have been given grace.
• 1:10:05
  Speaker 1: And the difference between these two books, the Books of
• 1:10:08
  Speaker 1: Works and the Book of Life, is the difference between
• 1:10:10
  Speaker 1: condemnation and salvation. In verse fifteen, John writes, anyone whose
• 1:10:16
  Speaker 1: name was not found written in the Book of Life
• 1:10:19
  Speaker 1: was thrown into the lake of fire, not found. That
• 1:10:23
  Speaker 1: is the tragedy, not that they were judged by their
• 1:10:27
  Speaker 1: works and found wanting, but that when the Book of
• 1:10:30
  Speaker 1: Life was opened, their name was not there. And yet
• 1:10:34
  Speaker 1: for those whose names are written the books of Works
• 1:10:37
  Speaker 1: lose their power, because their sins have already been judged,
• 1:10:42
  Speaker 1: not in them, but in Christ. On the cross, Jesus
• 1:10:46
  Speaker 1: took the full weight of the books of works, every sin,
• 1:10:50
  Speaker 1: every failure, every broken law. He bore it all, and
• 1:10:55
  Speaker 1: when he cried, it is finished, the debt was paid.
• 1:10:59
  Speaker 1: In Colossians chapter two, verse fourteen, Paul writes, having canceled
• 1:11:04
  Speaker 1: the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us
• 1:11:08
  Speaker 1: and condemned us, he has taken it away, nailing it
• 1:11:12
  Speaker 1: to the cross. The charge, the record, the books, all
• 1:11:17
  Speaker 1: nailed to the cross, all paid in full. So when
• 1:11:22
  Speaker 1: the books are opened on that final day, those who
• 1:11:25
  Speaker 1: belong to Christ will not be judged by what is
• 1:11:28
  Speaker 1: written in the books of works. They will be acknowledged
• 1:11:31
  Speaker 1: by what is written in the Book of Life. This
• 1:11:34
  Speaker 1: is the difference between two kinds of judgment. There is
• 1:11:38
  Speaker 1: a judgment for unbelievers where the books of works condemn,
• 1:11:43
  Speaker 1: and there is a judgment for believers where the books
• 1:11:46
  Speaker 1: of works no longer matter because their names are written
• 1:11:49
  Speaker 1: in the Lamb's book. In John chapter five, verse twenty four,
• 1:11:54
  Speaker 1: Jesus says, very truly, I tell you, whoever hears my
• 1:11:57
  Speaker 1: word and believes him, who sent me has eternal life
• 1:12:00
  Speaker 1: and will not be judged, but has crossed over from
• 1:12:03
  Speaker 1: death to life. Will not be judged not because believers
• 1:12:07
  Speaker 1: have no sins, but because their sins have already been
• 1:12:11
  Speaker 1: judged in Christ. The verdict has already been given, and
• 1:12:16
  Speaker 1: it is not guilty. This does not mean that believers
• 1:12:20
  Speaker 1: will not stand before God. They will. But their judgment
• 1:12:24
  Speaker 1: is not about condemnation. It is about reward. It is
• 1:12:29
  Speaker 1: called the judgment seat of Christ or the Beamer seat.
• 1:12:33
  Speaker 1: In Second Corinthians, Chapter five, verse ten, Paul writes, for
• 1:12:38
  Speaker 1: we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,
• 1:12:41
  Speaker 1: so that each of us may receive what is due
• 1:12:44
  Speaker 1: us for the things done while in the body, whether
• 1:12:46
  Speaker 1: good or bad. This is not a judgment of salvation.
• 1:12:51
  Speaker 1: It is a judgment of faithfulness. It is where God
• 1:12:54
  Speaker 1: examines what believers did with the life he gave them.
• 1:12:58
  Speaker 1: Did they serve him? Did they love others? Did they
• 1:13:02
  Speaker 1: use their gifts for His glory? And based on that
• 1:13:06
  Speaker 1: they will receive rewards or loss of rewards. But they
• 1:13:10
  Speaker 1: will not lose their salvation because their names are already
• 1:13:14
  Speaker 1: written in the book. In First Corinthians, Chapter three, verses
• 1:13:18
  Speaker 1: twelve through fifteen. Paul describes it this way. If any
• 1:13:23
  Speaker 1: one builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay,
• 1:13:29
  Speaker 1: or straw, their work will be shown for what it is,
• 1:13:32
  Speaker 1: because the day will bring it to light. It will
• 1:13:35
  Speaker 1: be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the
• 1:13:38
  Speaker 1: quality of each person's work. If what has been built survives,
• 1:13:43
  Speaker 1: the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up,
• 1:13:46
  Speaker 1: the builder will suffer loss, but yet will be saved,
• 1:13:50
  Speaker 1: even though only as one escaping through the flames saved.
• 1:13:55
  Speaker 1: Even though only as one escaping through the flames, the
• 1:13:58
  Speaker 1: salvation is, but the rewards may be lost. This is
• 1:14:03
  Speaker 1: a different judgment than the Great White Throne. The Great
• 1:14:06
  Speaker 1: White Throne is for those whose names are not in
• 1:14:09
  Speaker 1: the Book of Life. The Beamer seat is for those
• 1:14:12
  Speaker 1: whose names are. And the difference is everything. So how
• 1:14:17
  Speaker 1: do we understand this? How can there be two kinds
• 1:14:20
  Speaker 1: of books, two kinds of judgment, and yet one God
• 1:14:24
  Speaker 1: who is perfectly just and perfectly merciful. The answer is
• 1:14:29
  Speaker 1: the Cross. The cross is where justice and mercy meet,
• 1:14:33
  Speaker 1: where the books of works were paid in full, and
• 1:14:36
  Speaker 1: the Book of Life was written in blood, where the
• 1:14:39
  Speaker 1: wrath of God was poured out on sin, and the
• 1:14:42
  Speaker 1: love of God was poured out on sinners at the cross.
• 1:14:46
  Speaker 1: God did not choose between justice and mercy. He satisfied both.
• 1:14:51
  Speaker 1: He upheld his righteousness by punishing sin, and he expressed
• 1:14:56
  Speaker 1: his love by taking that punishment himself. In Romans Chapter three,
• 1:15:00
  Speaker 1: Verses twenty five and twenty six, Paul writes God presented
• 1:15:05
  Speaker 1: Christ as a sacrifice of atonement through the shedding of
• 1:15:08
  Speaker 1: his blood to be received by faith. He did this
• 1:15:12
  Speaker 1: to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had
• 1:15:15
  Speaker 1: left the sins committed beforehand unpunished. He did it to
• 1:15:19
  Speaker 1: demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to
• 1:15:23
  Speaker 1: be just and the one who justifies those who have
• 1:15:26
  Speaker 1: faith in Jesus just, and the one who justifies both
• 1:15:31
  Speaker 1: at the same time. God is perfectly just punishing sin,
• 1:15:37
  Speaker 1: and he is perfectly merciful, justifying the sinner. And the
• 1:15:41
  Speaker 1: cross is where both are true. So when the books
• 1:15:44
  Speaker 1: are opened, do not fear. If your name is in
• 1:15:48
  Speaker 1: the Book of Life, the books of works no longer
• 1:15:50
  Speaker 1: condemn you. They have already been dealt with. The debt
• 1:15:54
  Speaker 1: has been paid, the record has been nailed to the cross,
• 1:15:58
  Speaker 1: and on that day when every soul stands before the Throne,
• 1:16:02
  Speaker 1: when the heavens tremble and the earth gives way, when
• 1:16:04
  Speaker 1: the books are opened and the names are read, there
• 1:16:07
  Speaker 1: will be two groups. Those who stand on their own merits,
• 1:16:11
  Speaker 1: who are judged by their deeds, who look to the
• 1:16:13
  Speaker 1: books of Works and find only condemnation, And those who
• 1:16:18
  Speaker 1: stand in Christ, who are covered by His righteousness, who
• 1:16:22
  Speaker 1: look to the Book of Life and find their name
• 1:16:24
  Speaker 1: written there, not because they deserved it, but because He
• 1:16:28
  Speaker 1: loved them. Which group will you be in? That is
• 1:16:32
  Speaker 1: the question? Not will you be perfect? But will you
• 1:16:36
  Speaker 1: be forgiven? Not have you done enough? But do you
• 1:16:39
  Speaker 1: belong to Christ? If your name is in the book
• 1:16:43
  Speaker 1: the books of works no longer matter, And to night,
• 1:16:46
  Speaker 1: as you rest, let that truth wash over you like
• 1:16:49
  Speaker 1: warm light. You are not judged by your failures. You
• 1:16:53
  Speaker 1: are known by your name, and your name is written
• 1:16:56
  Speaker 1: in the Book of the Lamb, Chapter seven, The Lamb's
• 1:17:02
  Speaker 1: Book written in blood. There is a detail in scripture
• 1:17:05
  Speaker 1: that is easy to miss, a small but profound distinction.
• 1:17:10
  Speaker 1: Sometimes the Bible speaks simply of the Book of Life,
• 1:17:13
  Speaker 1: but at other times it calls it the Lamb's Book
• 1:17:16
  Speaker 1: of life. Are they the same? Most scholars believe they are.
• 1:17:21
  Speaker 1: But the difference in name matters because it tells us
• 1:17:25
  Speaker 1: something crucial about how names are written in that book.
• 1:17:29
  Speaker 1: They are not written in ink, They are written in blood. Tonight,
• 1:17:33
  Speaker 1: we will step back to the very beginning, to the
• 1:17:36
  Speaker 1: moment when the plan of salvation was conceived to the
• 1:17:40
  Speaker 1: Lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world,
• 1:17:44
  Speaker 1: and we will understand that every name in the Book
• 1:17:46
  Speaker 1: of Life was purchased at the highest cost imaginable. In
• 1:17:50
  Speaker 1: Revelation chapter thirteen, verse eight, John writes, all inhabitants of
• 1:17:55
  Speaker 1: the earth will worship the beast, all whose names have
• 1:17:59
  Speaker 1: not been written in the Lamb's Book of life, the
• 1:18:01
  Speaker 1: lamb who was slain from the creation of the world,
• 1:18:05
  Speaker 1: The lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.
• 1:18:08
  Speaker 1: That phrase is staggering. It means that before God spoke
• 1:18:12
  Speaker 1: the first word of creation, before he said let there
• 1:18:16
  Speaker 1: be light, the plan of redemption was already in place.
• 1:18:20
  Speaker 1: The Lamb was already slain. Not in history that would
• 1:18:24
  Speaker 1: come later on a hill called Golgotha, but in the
• 1:18:28
  Speaker 1: eternal mind of God, the sacrifice was already made. The
• 1:18:33
  Speaker 1: blood was already shed, the names were already written. This
• 1:18:37
  Speaker 1: tells us that salvation was never an afterthought, It was
• 1:18:41
  Speaker 1: never a back up plan. It was woven into the
• 1:18:44
  Speaker 1: fabric of creation itself. God knew that humanity would fall,
• 1:18:49
  Speaker 1: He knew that sin would enter the world, and before
• 1:18:52
  Speaker 1: he even made the world, he decided how he would
• 1:18:55
  Speaker 1: save it through the lamb. In the ancient world, when
• 1:19:00
  Speaker 1: the two parties made a covenant, they would often seal it
• 1:19:03
  Speaker 1: with blood. They would sacrifice an animal, cut it in two,
• 1:19:07
  Speaker 1: and walk between the pieces. It was a solemn act,
• 1:19:11
  Speaker 1: a way of saying, if I break this covenant, may
• 1:19:14
  Speaker 1: I be like this animal, cut down and destroyed. But
• 1:19:18
  Speaker 1: when God made his covenant with Abraham, something extraordinary happened.
• 1:19:22
  Speaker 1: In Genesis chapter fifteen, God told Abraham to bring animals
• 1:19:26
  Speaker 1: for the covenant ceremony. Abraham cut them in two and
• 1:19:30
  Speaker 1: laid the pieces out, And then as the sun set
• 1:19:33
  Speaker 1: and darkness fell, Abraham fell into a deep sleep. And
• 1:19:38
  Speaker 1: in verses seventeen and eighteen, it says when the sun
• 1:19:41
  Speaker 1: had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with
• 1:19:45
  Speaker 1: a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On
• 1:19:49
  Speaker 1: that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram. Only
• 1:19:52
  Speaker 1: God passed between the pieces, not Abraham, God alone, and
• 1:19:58
  Speaker 1: the message was clear, this covenant does not depend on you,
• 1:20:02
  Speaker 1: It depends on me. If this covenant is broken, I
• 1:20:06
  Speaker 1: will pay the price. And he did in the person
• 1:20:10
  Speaker 1: of his son, the Lamb of God. When John the
• 1:20:14
  Speaker 1: Baptist saw Jesus for the first time, he did not
• 1:20:17
  Speaker 1: call him king. He did not call him prophet or teacher.
• 1:20:21
  Speaker 1: He said in John chapter one, verse twenty nine. Look
• 1:20:25
  Speaker 1: the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of
• 1:20:28
  Speaker 1: the world. The lamb, the one who would be sacrificed,
• 1:20:33
  Speaker 1: the one whose blood would seal the covenant, the one
• 1:20:36
  Speaker 1: through whom every name in the book would be written.
• 1:20:39
  Speaker 1: In the Old Testament, on the day of Atonement, the
• 1:20:43
  Speaker 1: high priest would enter the most holy place. Once a year,
• 1:20:46
  Speaker 1: he would bring the blood of a lamb and sprinkle
• 1:20:49
  Speaker 1: it on the mercy seat, the lid of the ark
• 1:20:51
  Speaker 1: of the Covenant, where the presence of God dwelt. That
• 1:20:55
  Speaker 1: blood covered the sins of the people for one more year,
• 1:20:58
  Speaker 1: but it was never enough. The sacrifice had to be
• 1:21:02
  Speaker 1: repeated year after year, Lamb after lamb, blood after blood.
• 1:21:10
  Speaker 1: Because the blood of animals could never truly take away sin,
• 1:21:13
  Speaker 1: it could only cover it temporarily. But when Jesus came,
• 1:21:18
  Speaker 1: everything changed. In Hebrews chapter nine, verses eleven through fourteen,
• 1:21:24
  Speaker 1: the writer says, but when Christ came, as high priest
• 1:21:27
  Speaker 1: of the good things that are now already here, he
• 1:21:30
  Speaker 1: went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is
• 1:21:33
  Speaker 1: not made with human hands, that is to say, is
• 1:21:37
  Speaker 1: not a part of this creation. He did not enter
• 1:21:40
  Speaker 1: by means of the blood of goats and calves, but
• 1:21:43
  Speaker 1: he entered the most holy place once for all by
• 1:21:45
  Speaker 1: his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. The blood of
• 1:21:50
  Speaker 1: goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled
• 1:21:53
  Speaker 1: on those who are ceremonially unclean, sanctify them so that
• 1:21:57
  Speaker 1: they are outwardly clean. How much more then will the
• 1:22:01
  Speaker 1: blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself
• 1:22:05
  Speaker 1: unblemish to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead
• 1:22:09
  Speaker 1: to death, so that we may serve the Living God
• 1:22:13
  Speaker 1: once for all, not year after year, not lamb after lamb,
• 1:22:19
  Speaker 1: but once, one sacrifice, one lamb, one offering that was
• 1:22:25
  Speaker 1: sufficient for all time, for all people, for all sins,
• 1:22:30
  Speaker 1: and that blood did not just cover sin, it removed it,
• 1:22:34
  Speaker 1: It washed it away. It made the sinner clean, not
• 1:22:38
  Speaker 1: outwardly but inwardly, not ceremonially, but truly. And it is
• 1:22:44
  Speaker 1: that blood, the blood of the Lamb, that writes names
• 1:22:48
  Speaker 1: in the book. In Revelation chapter five, verses nine and ten,
• 1:22:53
  Speaker 1: the elders in heaven sing a new song to the Lamb.
• 1:22:56
  Speaker 1: You are worthy to take the scroll and to open
• 1:22:59
  Speaker 1: it seals because you were slain, and with your blood
• 1:23:03
  Speaker 1: you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language
• 1:23:07
  Speaker 1: and people and nation. You have made them to be
• 1:23:10
  Speaker 1: a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they
• 1:23:13
  Speaker 1: will reign on the earth. Purchased. That is the word.
• 1:23:18
  Speaker 1: Your name is not written because you earned it. It
• 1:23:22
  Speaker 1: is written because you were bought, purchased, redeemed, and the
• 1:23:27
  Speaker 1: price was the blood of the Lamb. In First Peter,
• 1:23:31
  Speaker 1: chapter one, verses eighteen and nineteen, the apostle writes, for
• 1:23:35
  Speaker 1: you know that it was not with perishable things such
• 1:23:38
  Speaker 1: as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the
• 1:23:41
  Speaker 1: empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors,
• 1:23:45
  Speaker 1: but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without
• 1:23:48
  Speaker 1: blemish or defect. Not silver, not gold. Those are perishable,
• 1:23:55
  Speaker 1: they rust and fade. But the blood of Christ is precious.
• 1:23:59
  Speaker 1: It is it, and it has the power to write
• 1:24:02
  Speaker 1: a name that will never be erased. In ancient times,
• 1:24:06
  Speaker 1: when a debt was paid in full, the creditor would
• 1:24:09
  Speaker 1: write across the record, paid in full, or in Greek tetelestie.
• 1:24:14
  Speaker 1: And when Jesus hung on the cross, bleeding, dying, bearing
• 1:24:18
  Speaker 1: the weight of every sin ever committed, he cried out
• 1:24:21
  Speaker 1: with a loud voice, teteleste it is finished. Paid in full.
• 1:24:27
  Speaker 1: The debt of sin, the books of works, the record
• 1:24:32
  Speaker 1: of your failures, all of it paid not by you,
• 1:24:37
  Speaker 1: by Him. And in that moment the pen of Heaven
• 1:24:41
  Speaker 1: dipped into the blood of the Lamb and wrote your
• 1:24:43
  Speaker 1: name in the book. There is a beautiful truth hidden here.
• 1:24:48
  Speaker 1: The Book of Life is sometimes called the Lamb's Book
• 1:24:50
  Speaker 1: of life because it belongs to him. It is his book.
• 1:24:55
  Speaker 1: He owns it, and every name in it was purchased
• 1:24:58
  Speaker 1: by him. You do not belong to yourself. You were
• 1:25:02
  Speaker 1: bought at a price, and the price was the life
• 1:25:06
  Speaker 1: of the Son of God. In First Corinthians, Chapter six,
• 1:25:10
  Speaker 1: Verses nineteen and twenty, Paul writes, do you not know
• 1:25:14
  Speaker 1: that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who
• 1:25:17
  Speaker 1: is in you, whom you have received from God. You
• 1:25:21
  Speaker 1: are not your own. You were bought at a price. Therefore,
• 1:25:25
  Speaker 1: honor God with your bodies. You are not your own.
• 1:25:29
  Speaker 1: That might sound limiting, but it is actually the most
• 1:25:32
  Speaker 1: freeing truth in the world, because if you belong to yourself,
• 1:25:36
  Speaker 1: you would have to save yourself. You would have to
• 1:25:39
  Speaker 1: be good enough, strong enough, worthy enough, and you never
• 1:25:43
  Speaker 1: could be. But you do not belong to yourself. You
• 1:25:47
  Speaker 1: belong to the Lamb, and he has already done everything
• 1:25:50
  Speaker 1: necessary to save you. So when the enemy whispers you
• 1:25:54
  Speaker 1: are not good enough, you can answer, I know, but
• 1:25:58
  Speaker 1: he is. When guilt rises and says you have failed
• 1:26:02
  Speaker 1: too many times, you can answer, I know, but he
• 1:26:06
  Speaker 1: has not. When fear says you might lose your salvation,
• 1:26:10
  Speaker 1: you can answer it was never mine to lose. It
• 1:26:14
  Speaker 1: was his to give, and he does not take back
• 1:26:17
  Speaker 1: what he has purchased. This is why the Book of
• 1:26:20
  Speaker 1: Life is also called the Lamb's Book of Life, because
• 1:26:24
  Speaker 1: every name in it was written at infinite cost, and
• 1:26:28
  Speaker 1: what costs that much will never be discarded. In John
• 1:26:31
  Speaker 1: chapter ten, verses twenty seven and twenty eight, Jesus says,
• 1:26:36
  Speaker 1: my sheep, listen to my voice. I know them, and
• 1:26:40
  Speaker 1: they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they
• 1:26:43
  Speaker 1: shall never perish. No one will snatch them out of
• 1:26:47
  Speaker 1: my hand, never perish. No one will snatch them, not
• 1:26:52
  Speaker 1: even the one whose name is written, because the grip
• 1:26:55
  Speaker 1: of the Lamb is stronger than any force in the universe.
• 1:26:58
  Speaker 1: You were bought, you were purchased. You were redeemed, not
• 1:27:04
  Speaker 1: with silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ.
• 1:27:08
  Speaker 1: And that blood speaks louder than any accusation, any failure,
• 1:27:13
  Speaker 1: any fear. In Hebrews Chapter twelve, verse twenty four, the
• 1:27:17
  Speaker 1: writer says, you have come to Jesus, the mediator of
• 1:27:21
  Speaker 1: a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks
• 1:27:24
  Speaker 1: a better word than the blood of Abel. Abel's blood
• 1:27:27
  Speaker 1: cried out for vengeance, but the blood of Jesus cries
• 1:27:31
  Speaker 1: out for mercy, and mercy has won. So rest to
• 1:27:35
  Speaker 1: night in this truth. Your name is not written in
• 1:27:38
  Speaker 1: pencil to be erased when you fail. It is not
• 1:27:41
  Speaker 1: written in ink to fade with time. It is written
• 1:27:45
  Speaker 1: in blood, the blood of the Lamb, and that blood
• 1:27:49
  Speaker 1: is eternal. No sin can overpower it, no failure can
• 1:27:54
  Speaker 1: wash it away, no enemy can remove what the Lamb
• 1:27:58
  Speaker 1: has written. You are his, purchased, owned, loved for ever,
• 1:28:05
  Speaker 1: and your name written in blood will stand when the
• 1:28:08
  Speaker 1: heavens pass away and the earth is made new. For
• 1:28:12
  Speaker 1: the Lamb who was slain is also the Lamb who reigns,
• 1:28:16
  Speaker 1: and he will never lose what he has bought. You
• 1:28:19
  Speaker 1: are safe, You are his, and nothing can change that.
• 1:28:25
  Speaker 1: Chapter eight. Stories of Assurance those who found their names.
• 1:28:31
  Speaker 1: Throughout history, there have been moments when men and women
• 1:28:34
  Speaker 1: stood at the edge of darkness and wondered if they
• 1:28:37
  Speaker 1: were truly known by God. Moments when guilt was so
• 1:28:41
  Speaker 1: heavy it seemed impossible that grace could reach them. Moments
• 1:28:45
  Speaker 1: when they asked the question that has echoed through every generation,
• 1:28:49
  Speaker 1: is my name really written in the book? And in
• 1:28:52
  Speaker 1: those moments, God answered not with theology alone, but with
• 1:28:57
  Speaker 1: encounters with mercy, with the undeniable assurance that He had
• 1:29:02
  Speaker 1: not forgotten them. Tonight we will walk through the lives
• 1:29:06
  Speaker 1: of a few who found their names written in the
• 1:29:08
  Speaker 1: Lamb's book, not because they were perfect, but because they
• 1:29:12
  Speaker 1: were loved. Let us begin with a man who lived
• 1:29:15
  Speaker 1: in the fourth century in the city of Hippo in
• 1:29:18
  Speaker 1: North Africa. His name was Augustine, and before he became
• 1:29:22
  Speaker 1: one of the greatest theologians the Church has ever known,
• 1:29:25
  Speaker 1: he was lost. Augustine was brilliant, educated in rhetoric and philosophy.
• 1:29:31
  Speaker 1: He could argue circles around most men. But his brilliance
• 1:29:35
  Speaker 1: did not lead him to God. It led him into pride,
• 1:29:39
  Speaker 1: into pleasure, into a life of sin that he justified
• 1:29:44
  Speaker 1: with clever words and empty reasoning. He had a mistress,
• 1:29:48
  Speaker 1: he fathered a child out of wedlock. He chased after wealth, status,
• 1:29:53
  Speaker 1: and the approval of men, and all the while his mother, Monica, prayed.
• 1:29:59
  Speaker 1: She prayed for years, decades. She wept before God, pleading
• 1:30:04
  Speaker 1: that her son would come to know Christ. And Augustine
• 1:30:08
  Speaker 1: felt nothing. He heard the Gospel and dismissed it. He
• 1:30:12
  Speaker 1: saw the faith of his mother and mocked it. He
• 1:30:15
  Speaker 1: lived as though there were no book, no judgment, no
• 1:30:18
  Speaker 1: heaven nor hell. But one day everything changed. He was
• 1:30:23
  Speaker 1: sitting in a garden in Milan, tormented by his own emptiness.
• 1:30:28
  Speaker 1: He had everything the world could offer, and yet he
• 1:30:31
  Speaker 1: felt hollow. He could not escape the weight of his sin.
• 1:30:35
  Speaker 1: He could not silence the voice in his soul that whispered,
• 1:30:39
  Speaker 1: you were made for more than this. And then he
• 1:30:42
  Speaker 1: heard it, the voice of a child playing near by,
• 1:30:45
  Speaker 1: singing a simple refrain, Take up and read, Take up
• 1:30:49
  Speaker 1: and read. It was just a child's game, but to
• 1:30:53
  Speaker 1: Augustine it felt like the voice of God. He reached
• 1:30:57
  Speaker 1: for the scriptures lying beside him, and open and to
• 1:31:00
  Speaker 1: a random page. His eyes fell on Romans chapter thirteen,
• 1:31:04
  Speaker 1: Verses thirteen and fourteen. Let us behave decently as in
• 1:31:09
  Speaker 1: the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual
• 1:31:13
  Speaker 1: immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather clothe
• 1:31:19
  Speaker 1: yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think
• 1:31:22
  Speaker 1: about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. In
• 1:31:26
  Speaker 1: that moment, Augustine's heart broke, the weight of his sin
• 1:31:30
  Speaker 1: became unbearable, and yet at the same time he felt
• 1:31:34
  Speaker 1: the warmth of grace. He saw clearly that he was
• 1:31:38
  Speaker 1: a sinner, but he also saw clearly that Christ had
• 1:31:41
  Speaker 1: died for sinners. He fell to his knees and wept,
• 1:31:45
  Speaker 1: not in despair but in relief, because he realized that
• 1:31:50
  Speaker 1: his name was already written, that God had been pursuing
• 1:31:53
  Speaker 1: him all along, that his mother's prayers had not been
• 1:31:56
  Speaker 1: in vain. Augustine later wrote, you have made maid us
• 1:32:00
  Speaker 1: for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until
• 1:32:03
  Speaker 1: they rest in you. He went on to become a bishop,
• 1:32:06
  Speaker 1: a teacher, and a defender of the faith. His writings
• 1:32:10
  Speaker 1: shaped Christian thought for centuries, but none of that mattered
• 1:32:14
  Speaker 1: as much as the moment he realized his name was
• 1:32:16
  Speaker 1: written in the book From the Depths of Sin to
• 1:32:19
  Speaker 1: the Heights of Grace. Augustine's story reminds us that no
• 1:32:22
  Speaker 1: one is too far gone, no life is beyond the
• 1:32:26
  Speaker 1: reach of God's love. Now let us turn to another man.
• 1:32:29
  Speaker 1: Centuries later, his name was John Newton, and before he
• 1:32:34
  Speaker 1: became the author of one of the most beloved hymns
• 1:32:37
  Speaker 1: in Christian history, he was a slave trader. John Newton
• 1:32:42
  Speaker 1: grew up knowing the Gospel. His mother was a devout
• 1:32:45
  Speaker 1: Christian who taught him scripture from a young age, but
• 1:32:48
  Speaker 1: when she died he rebelled. He joined the British Navy, deserted,
• 1:32:54
  Speaker 1: was captured, flogged, and eventually found himself working on slave
• 1:32:58
  Speaker 1: ships off the coast of war West Africa. He became
• 1:33:01
  Speaker 1: hardened cruel. He saw human beings as cargo. He bought
• 1:33:07
  Speaker 1: and sold men, women, and children as though they were
• 1:33:10
  Speaker 1: live stock, and he felt no guilt. He thought himself
• 1:33:14
  Speaker 1: beyond redemption. But in seventeen forty eight, his ship was
• 1:33:19
  Speaker 1: caught in a violent storm. The waves were so high
• 1:33:22
  Speaker 1: they threatened to break the vessel apart. Water poured into
• 1:33:26
  Speaker 1: the hold. The crew thought they would die. In desperation,
• 1:33:31
  Speaker 1: Newton cried out to God. It was not a prayer
• 1:33:34
  Speaker 1: of faith. It was the cry of a terrified man,
• 1:33:37
  Speaker 1: grasping for anything that might save him. But God heard.
• 1:33:42
  Speaker 1: The ship survived, and in the days that followed. As
• 1:33:46
  Speaker 1: Newton lay in his bunk, something began to change. The
• 1:33:50
  Speaker 1: memories of his mother's prayers came flooding back. The scriptures
• 1:33:54
  Speaker 1: she had taught him echoed in his mind, and for
• 1:33:57
  Speaker 1: the first time in years, he felt the weight of
• 1:34:00
  Speaker 1: what he had done. He had participated in one of
• 1:34:03
  Speaker 1: the greatest evils in human history. He had destroyed lives,
• 1:34:08
  Speaker 1: he had torn families apart. And yet in the quiet
• 1:34:12
  Speaker 1: of that storm battered ship, he heard a whisper, you
• 1:34:16
  Speaker 1: are forgiven. It took years for Newton to fully turn
• 1:34:20
  Speaker 1: from the slave trade, but eventually he left it behind.
• 1:34:24
  Speaker 1: He became a pastor. He preached the Gospel of grace,
• 1:34:29
  Speaker 1: and one day he sat down and wrote the words
• 1:34:32
  Speaker 1: that would echo through generations. Amazing grace, How sweet the
• 1:34:36
  Speaker 1: sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost,
• 1:34:41
  Speaker 1: but now am found. Was blind, but now I see.
• 1:34:46
  Speaker 1: John Newton never forgot what he had been, He never
• 1:34:50
  Speaker 1: minimized his sin. But he also never doubted the grace
• 1:34:53
  Speaker 1: that had saved him, because he knew that his name
• 1:34:56
  Speaker 1: was written not because of what he had done, but
• 1:34:59
  Speaker 1: because of what Christ had done. And if a slave
• 1:35:02
  Speaker 1: trader can be redeemed, then no one is beyond hope.
• 1:35:06
  Speaker 1: Let us now turn to a story recorded in the Gospels,
• 1:35:09
  Speaker 1: a story so brief it is easy to overlook, but
• 1:35:13
  Speaker 1: it contains one of the most powerful truths about the
• 1:35:16
  Speaker 1: Book of Life. It is the story of the thief
• 1:35:19
  Speaker 1: on the Cross. On the day Jesus was crucified, two
• 1:35:23
  Speaker 1: criminals were crucified alongside him, one on his right, one
• 1:35:27
  Speaker 1: on his left. They were guilty men, thieves, perhaps murderers,
• 1:35:33
  Speaker 1: men who had lived lives of crime and violence, men
• 1:35:37
  Speaker 1: who deserved the punishment they were receiving. At first, both
• 1:35:42
  Speaker 1: of them mocked Jesus. They joined the crowd in hurling
• 1:35:45
  Speaker 1: insults at the one who hung between them. But then
• 1:35:49
  Speaker 1: something changed in one of them. Perhaps it was the
• 1:35:52
  Speaker 1: way Jesus prayed for those who were killing him, Father,
• 1:35:56
  Speaker 1: forgive them, for they do not know what they do.
• 1:36:00
  Speaker 1: Perhaps it was the way he did not curse or
• 1:36:02
  Speaker 1: fight or beg for mercy. Perhaps it was simply the
• 1:36:05
  Speaker 1: work of the spirit in a dying man's heart. But
• 1:36:09
  Speaker 1: whatever the reason, one of the thieves turned to the
• 1:36:12
  Speaker 1: other and said, in Luke chapter twenty three, verse forty,
• 1:36:16
  Speaker 1: don't you fear God, since you are under the same sentence.
• 1:36:21
  Speaker 1: We are punished justly, for we are getting what our
• 1:36:24
  Speaker 1: deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong. And
• 1:36:28
  Speaker 1: then he turned to Jesus and said, Jesus, remember me
• 1:36:32
  Speaker 1: when you come into your kingdom. It was the simplest prayer,
• 1:36:37
  Speaker 1: the humblest request. He did not ask to be taken
• 1:36:40
  Speaker 1: down from the cross. He did not ask for his
• 1:36:43
  Speaker 1: sins to be overlooked. He simply asked to be remembered.
• 1:36:47
  Speaker 1: And Jesus, dying, bleeding, gasping for breath turned to him
• 1:36:52
  Speaker 1: and said, truly, I tell you, to day, you will
• 1:36:55
  Speaker 1: be with me in paradise. To day, not after years
• 1:36:59
  Speaker 1: of penance, not after proving himself, not after making amends
• 1:37:04
  Speaker 1: for a lifetime of sin, to day. In that moment,
• 1:37:08
  Speaker 1: a name was written in the book. Or perhaps it
• 1:37:11
  Speaker 1: had always been there and the thief was only now
• 1:37:14
  Speaker 1: discovering it. But either way, the truth is the same.
• 1:37:19
  Speaker 1: Salvation is not about how long you have followed Christ.
• 1:37:23
  Speaker 1: It is about whether you belonged to him. That thief
• 1:37:26
  Speaker 1: had no time to be baptized, no time to read scripture,
• 1:37:30
  Speaker 1: no time to serve the poor or share the gospel.
• 1:37:34
  Speaker 1: He simply believed and that was enough. His story is
• 1:37:38
  Speaker 1: a reminder that it is never too late, that even
• 1:37:41
  Speaker 1: in the final moments of life, grace is still available,
• 1:37:45
  Speaker 1: that the book of life is not closed until the
• 1:37:48
  Speaker 1: last breath is taken, And if a dying thief can
• 1:37:52
  Speaker 1: enter paradise, then there is hope for all of us. Finally,
• 1:37:56
  Speaker 1: let us turn to a story from our own time,
• 1:37:59
  Speaker 1: a story shared by a woman named Sarah who had
• 1:38:02
  Speaker 1: a near death experience in two thousand and eight. Sarah
• 1:38:06
  Speaker 1: was not a believer. She had grown up in a
• 1:38:08
  Speaker 1: secular home, never attended church, and thought of faith as
• 1:38:12
  Speaker 1: something for the weak minded. She lived her life on
• 1:38:15
  Speaker 1: her own terms, pursuing success, relationships, and pleasure. She did
• 1:38:21
  Speaker 1: not think about eternity. She did not think she needed God.
• 1:38:25
  Speaker 1: But one night she was in a car accident. Her
• 1:38:29
  Speaker 1: vehicle was struck by a truck and she was thrown
• 1:38:32
  Speaker 1: from the car. Paramedics arrived and worked frantically to revive her,
• 1:38:37
  Speaker 1: but for several minutes her heart stopped, and in those
• 1:38:41
  Speaker 1: minutes she saw something. She found herself standing in a
• 1:38:44
  Speaker 1: place she could not describe. It was not dark, but
• 1:38:48
  Speaker 1: it was not light either. It was a place of waiting,
• 1:38:52
  Speaker 1: and in that place she felt a presence, a presence
• 1:38:56
  Speaker 1: so vast, so holy, so overwhelming, that she could not
• 1:39:00
  Speaker 1: look directly at it. And from that presence a voice spoke,
• 1:39:06
  Speaker 1: not audibly, but in her heart. It said, your name
• 1:39:10
  Speaker 1: is written, but you have not yet come home. She
• 1:39:14
  Speaker 1: did not understand. She tried to ask questions, but no
• 1:39:18
  Speaker 1: words would come. And then before she could comprehend what
• 1:39:22
  Speaker 1: was happening, she felt herself being pulled back. The light faded,
• 1:39:27
  Speaker 1: the presence withdrew, and she gasped awake in the hospital.
• 1:39:32
  Speaker 1: The doctors said it was a miracle. They could not
• 1:39:35
  Speaker 1: explain how she survived, but Sarah knew she had been
• 1:39:39
  Speaker 1: sent back, and she had been told something she could
• 1:39:42
  Speaker 1: never forget. Your name is written. In the weeks that followed,
• 1:39:46
  Speaker 1: Sarah began to search. She read the Bible for the
• 1:39:50
  Speaker 1: first time, she went to church. She asked questions, and
• 1:39:55
  Speaker 1: slowly the pieces came together. She realized that the presence
• 1:39:59
  Speaker 1: she had felt was God, and the book he spoke
• 1:40:02
  Speaker 1: of was the Book of Life. She gave her life
• 1:40:05
  Speaker 1: to Christ, not because she was afraid of death, but
• 1:40:09
  Speaker 1: because she knew she was loved, because she had heard
• 1:40:13
  Speaker 1: in the clearest way possible, that she belonged. To day,
• 1:40:17
  Speaker 1: Sarah shares her story wherever she can, not to prove
• 1:40:21
  Speaker 1: that near death experiences are real, but to testify that
• 1:40:24
  Speaker 1: God knows his own, that even when we do not
• 1:40:27
  Speaker 1: know him, he knows us, that even when we are
• 1:40:31
  Speaker 1: far from him, he is near. These stories, from Augustine
• 1:40:36
  Speaker 1: to John Newton, from the Thief on the Cross to
• 1:40:39
  Speaker 1: Sarah in our own time, all carry the same message
• 1:40:43
  Speaker 1: that the Book of Life is not reserved for the perfect,
• 1:40:47
  Speaker 1: It is reserved for the redeemed for those who have
• 1:40:50
  Speaker 1: heard the voice of God and responded, for those who
• 1:40:54
  Speaker 1: have been loved before they ever knew how to love
• 1:40:56
  Speaker 1: him back. If you are listening to Night and wondering
• 1:41:00
  Speaker 1: whether your name is in the book, take comfort in
• 1:41:02
  Speaker 1: these stories because they are not about exceptional people. They
• 1:41:07
  Speaker 1: are about an exceptional God, a God who pursues, who calls,
• 1:41:12
  Speaker 1: who writes names in his book long before those names
• 1:41:15
  Speaker 1: even know they are being written. You do not have
• 1:41:18
  Speaker 1: to be a theologian like Augustine. You do not have
• 1:41:22
  Speaker 1: to have a dramatic conversion like John Newton. You do
• 1:41:25
  Speaker 1: not have to wait until the last moment like the
• 1:41:27
  Speaker 1: thief on the Cross. You do not have to have
• 1:41:30
  Speaker 1: a vision like Sarah. You simply have to believe, to
• 1:41:34
  Speaker 1: come to Christ, to ask him to remember you, and
• 1:41:38
  Speaker 1: he will, because your name has always been known, and
• 1:41:42
  Speaker 1: if you belong to him, it is already written. Chapter nine.
• 1:41:48
  Speaker 1: Names written before birth children and stillborn babies. There is
• 1:41:53
  Speaker 1: a pain that some know too well, the pain of
• 1:41:56
  Speaker 1: a life that ended before it truly began, the agony
• 1:42:00
  Speaker 1: of holding a child who never took a breath, the
• 1:42:03
  Speaker 1: silent grief of a mother who carried a baby that
• 1:42:05
  Speaker 1: never made it home. And in that pain a question arises,
• 1:42:10
  Speaker 1: a question whispered in hospital rooms, in quiet graveyards, in
• 1:42:15
  Speaker 1: the dark hours, when tears will not stop. Does that
• 1:42:19
  Speaker 1: child have a name in the book of life? To night,
• 1:42:23
  Speaker 1: we will step gently into this sacred space, not with
• 1:42:27
  Speaker 1: easy answers, but with the hope that scripture offers, for
• 1:42:31
  Speaker 1: the God who wrote your name before you were born
• 1:42:34
  Speaker 1: is the same God who sees every child, even those
• 1:42:37
  Speaker 1: the world never knew. In Jeremiah chapter one, verse five,
• 1:42:42
  Speaker 1: God speaks to the prophet and says, before I formed
• 1:42:46
  Speaker 1: you in the womb, I knew you before you were born.
• 1:42:49
  Speaker 1: I set you apart, I appointed you as a prophet
• 1:42:52
  Speaker 1: to the nations before I formed you, before you were born,
• 1:42:58
  Speaker 1: I knew you. This is not just about Jeremiah. It
• 1:43:02
  Speaker 1: is about every soul, every life, every baby who was
• 1:43:07
  Speaker 1: known by God before they were known by any one else.
• 1:43:10
  Speaker 1: The Psalmist understood this. In Psalm one thirty nine, verses
• 1:43:15
  Speaker 1: thirteen through sixteen, David writes, for you created my inmost being,
• 1:43:21
  Speaker 1: you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise
• 1:43:25
  Speaker 1: you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made your works
• 1:43:29
  Speaker 1: are wonderful. I know that full well. My frame was
• 1:43:33
  Speaker 1: not hidden from you when I was made in the
• 1:43:34
  Speaker 1: secret place, when I was woven together in the depths
• 1:43:37
  Speaker 1: of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All
• 1:43:42
  Speaker 1: the days ordained for me were written in your book
• 1:43:44
  Speaker 1: before one of them came to be. Your eyes saw
• 1:43:48
  Speaker 1: my unformed body, before there was shape, before there were features,
• 1:43:53
  Speaker 1: before there was breath. God saw and he knew, and
• 1:43:58
  Speaker 1: he wrote. This means that child does not become a
• 1:44:01
  Speaker 1: soul at birth. A child is a soul from the
• 1:44:04
  Speaker 1: moment of conception, seen by God, known by God, loved
• 1:44:10
  Speaker 1: by God. And if God saw and knew, then he
• 1:44:14
  Speaker 1: also wrote in his book The Book of Life. But
• 1:44:18
  Speaker 1: what about a child who dies before birth? What about
• 1:44:22
  Speaker 1: a baby who never draws breath? What about the ones
• 1:44:25
  Speaker 1: who are lost to miscarriage, still birth, or tragedy? Does
• 1:44:30
  Speaker 1: their name remain in the book? Scripture does not give
• 1:44:34
  Speaker 1: us a detailed answer, but it gives us enough enough
• 1:44:38
  Speaker 1: to hope, enough to trust, enough to know that the
• 1:44:42
  Speaker 1: God who formed them is also the God who holds them.
• 1:44:45
  Speaker 1: In Second Samuel Chapter twelve, King David experienced the heartbreak
• 1:44:50
  Speaker 1: of losing a child, his son born from his sin
• 1:44:53
  Speaker 1: with Bathsheba became ill. David fasted and prayed for seven days,
• 1:44:59
  Speaker 1: pleading with God to spare the boy's life, but on
• 1:45:02
  Speaker 1: the seventh day, the child died. David's servants were afraid
• 1:45:06
  Speaker 1: to tell him. They thought he would be overcome with grief.
• 1:45:10
  Speaker 1: But when David learned the child was gone, he did
• 1:45:13
  Speaker 1: something surprising. He got up, washed himself, changed his clothes,
• 1:45:18
  Speaker 1: and went to worship. His servants were confused. In verse
• 1:45:22
  Speaker 1: twenty one, they asked, why are you acting this way?
• 1:45:26
  Speaker 1: While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but
• 1:45:30
  Speaker 1: now that the child is dead, you get up and eat.
• 1:45:33
  Speaker 1: And David answered in verses twenty two and twenty three,
• 1:45:37
  Speaker 1: while the child was still alive, I fasted and wept.
• 1:45:41
  Speaker 1: I thought, who knows? The Lord may be gracious to
• 1:45:44
  Speaker 1: me and let the child live. But now that he
• 1:45:48
  Speaker 1: is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I
• 1:45:51
  Speaker 1: bring him back again? I will go to him, but
• 1:45:55
  Speaker 1: he will not return to me. I will go to him,
• 1:45:58
  Speaker 1: not he will come to me, but I will go
• 1:46:01
  Speaker 1: to him. David believed that his son was in the
• 1:46:03
  Speaker 1: presence of God, and that one day when David himself died,
• 1:46:08
  Speaker 1: he would see his child again. This was not wishful thinking.
• 1:46:13
  Speaker 1: It was faith, faith that God is just, faith that
• 1:46:17
  Speaker 1: God is merciful, faith that innocent lives belonged to him.
• 1:46:23
  Speaker 1: In Matthew Chapter nineteen, verses thirteen and fourteen, people brought
• 1:46:27
  Speaker 1: little children to Jesus, and the disciples rebuked them. But
• 1:46:31
  Speaker 1: Jesus said, let the little children come to me, and
• 1:46:34
  Speaker 1: do not hinder them. For the Kingdom of heaven belongs
• 1:46:37
  Speaker 1: to such as these. The kingdom of Heaven belongs to
• 1:46:41
  Speaker 1: such as these, not will belong one day if they
• 1:46:44
  Speaker 1: grow up and believe, but belongs present tense. The kingdom
• 1:46:50
  Speaker 1: is already theirs. Jesus did not say this about adults.
• 1:46:54
  Speaker 1: He said it about children, about the innocent, about those
• 1:46:59
  Speaker 1: whose hearts have not yet been hardened by sin and pride.
• 1:47:03
  Speaker 1: This does not mean children are perfect. It means they
• 1:47:06
  Speaker 1: have not reached the age where they are accountable for
• 1:47:09
  Speaker 1: their choices. They have not yet rejected God, they have
• 1:47:13
  Speaker 1: not yet turned away, and until they do, they belong
• 1:47:17
  Speaker 1: to him. This is sometimes called the age of accountability,
• 1:47:22
  Speaker 1: the understanding that God, in his justice and mercy, does
• 1:47:26
  Speaker 1: not hold children responsible for sins they do not yet
• 1:47:30
  Speaker 1: understand he does not condemn those who have never had
• 1:47:34
  Speaker 1: the chance to choose. In Deuteronomy, chapter one, verse thirty nine,
• 1:47:39
  Speaker 1: God speaks of the children of Israel who were not
• 1:47:42
  Speaker 1: allowed to enter the Promised Land because of their parents rebellion.
• 1:47:46
  Speaker 1: But he says, and the little ones that you said
• 1:47:49
  Speaker 1: would be taken captive your children, who do not yet
• 1:47:52
  Speaker 1: know good from bad. They will enter the land. I
• 1:47:56
  Speaker 1: will give it to them, and they will take possession
• 1:47:58
  Speaker 1: of it who do not yet know good from bad.
• 1:48:02
  Speaker 1: God made a distinction. The adults were held accountable, but
• 1:48:07
  Speaker 1: the children, who did not yet have the capacity to
• 1:48:10
  Speaker 1: choose were not. If that is true in judgment, it
• 1:48:13
  Speaker 1: is also true in salvation. The God who does not
• 1:48:16
  Speaker 1: condemn the innocent is the same God who welcomes them
• 1:48:20
  Speaker 1: into his presence. And so when a mother holds a
• 1:48:23
  Speaker 1: child who never took a breath, she can rest in this.
• 1:48:27
  Speaker 1: That child is not lost, That child is with God,
• 1:48:31
  Speaker 1: and one day she will see that child again. There
• 1:48:35
  Speaker 1: is a story told by a pastor named David Jeremiah.
• 1:48:39
  Speaker 1: He once counseled a couple who had lost their baby
• 1:48:41
  Speaker 1: to stillbirth. The mother was inconsolable. She kept asking will
• 1:48:46
  Speaker 1: I ever see my baby again? Does my child know
• 1:48:50
  Speaker 1: I loved them? Did they have a soul? The pastor
• 1:48:54
  Speaker 1: opened his bible to Psalm one thirty nine and read
• 1:48:57
  Speaker 1: your eyes saw my unformed body. He said, God sow
• 1:49:02
  Speaker 1: your child. God knew your child, and God loves your
• 1:49:06
  Speaker 1: child even more than you do. That baby is not wandering,
• 1:49:11
  Speaker 1: not lost, not forgotten. That baby is in the arms
• 1:49:15
  Speaker 1: of Jesus. The mother wept, but this time not only
• 1:49:20
  Speaker 1: in sorrow, also in hope, because if God saw, if
• 1:49:25
  Speaker 1: God knew, if God wrote the name, then the child
• 1:49:28
  Speaker 1: is not gone forever. The separation is temporary, and in
• 1:49:32
  Speaker 1: eternity they will meet. This is the hope we offer
• 1:49:36
  Speaker 1: to every parent who has lost a child. You did
• 1:49:39
  Speaker 1: not lose them to the void. You lost them to heaven.
• 1:49:43
  Speaker 1: And heaven is not the end, it is the beginning.
• 1:49:47
  Speaker 1: In Revelation chapter twenty one, verse four, John writes he
• 1:49:52
  Speaker 1: will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be
• 1:49:56
  Speaker 1: no more death or mourning, or crying or pain, for
• 1:49:59
  Speaker 1: the old ord of things has passed away. No more tears,
• 1:50:03
  Speaker 1: no more death, no more mourning. And in that place
• 1:50:08
  Speaker 1: every parent who has grieved will hold the child they
• 1:50:11
  Speaker 1: thought they had lost. The names of children are written
• 1:50:14
  Speaker 1: in the Book of Life not because they earned it,
• 1:50:18
  Speaker 1: not because they believed with full understanding, but because they
• 1:50:22
  Speaker 1: belong to the God who sees, who knows, and who loves.
• 1:50:26
  Speaker 1: So if you are listening to night and you have
• 1:50:29
  Speaker 1: lost a child, take comfort. Your baby is not in darkness.
• 1:50:33
  Speaker 1: Your baby is in light. Your baby is not alone.
• 1:50:38
  Speaker 1: Your baby is with Jesus. And one day, when your
• 1:50:42
  Speaker 1: name is called from the Book of Life, you will
• 1:50:44
  Speaker 1: be reunited, not as strangers, but as family. For the
• 1:50:49
  Speaker 1: God who wrote your name also wrote theirs, and neither
• 1:50:53
  Speaker 1: will be forgotten. Rest to night in that hope. Your
• 1:50:57
  Speaker 1: child is safe, Your child is loved, and your child
• 1:51:01
  Speaker 1: is waiting for you in the arms of the One
• 1:51:03
  Speaker 1: who knows every name. Chapter ten, How do you know
• 1:51:09
  Speaker 1: your name is written? Of all the questions we have
• 1:51:12
  Speaker 1: explored tonight, this may be the one that sits closest
• 1:51:16
  Speaker 1: to your heart, the one that keeps you awake when
• 1:51:18
  Speaker 1: the world is quiet, the one that rises when doubt
• 1:51:22
  Speaker 1: creeps in and fear whispers its lies. How do I
• 1:51:26
  Speaker 1: know my name is written in the Book of Life.
• 1:51:29
  Speaker 1: It is not an arrogant question. It is not presumptuous
• 1:51:32
  Speaker 1: to want assurance. In fact, Scripture invites us to seek it.
• 1:51:37
  Speaker 1: The apostle John wrote in First John, chapter five, verse thirteen,
• 1:51:42
  Speaker 1: I write these things to you who believe in the
• 1:51:44
  Speaker 1: name of the Son of God, so that you may
• 1:51:47
  Speaker 1: know that you have eternal life. No, not hope, not guess,
• 1:51:53
  Speaker 1: not wonder. No, God does not want his children to
• 1:51:57
  Speaker 1: live in constant fear and uncertainty. He wants us to
• 1:52:01
  Speaker 1: have confidence, not confidence in ourselves, but confidence in Him,
• 1:52:07
  Speaker 1: in his promises, in his faithfulness, in the finished work
• 1:52:12
  Speaker 1: of Christ. So to night we will walk through the signs,
• 1:52:16
  Speaker 1: the marks, the evidences that Scripture gives us, not to
• 1:52:21
  Speaker 1: earn salvation, but to recognize it, not to prove we
• 1:52:25
  Speaker 1: are good enough, but to see that He has made
• 1:52:27
  Speaker 1: us his own. The first and most important sign is
• 1:52:31
  Speaker 1: faith in Jesus Christ. This is not mere intellectual agreement.
• 1:52:36
  Speaker 1: It is not simply knowing facts about Jesus. It is trust.
• 1:52:41
  Speaker 1: It is surrender. It is saying, I believe that Jesus
• 1:52:46
  Speaker 1: is the Son of God, that he died for my sins,
• 1:52:49
  Speaker 1: and that he rose from the dead, and I place
• 1:52:52
  Speaker 1: my life in his hands. In Romans chapter ten, verses
• 1:52:56
  Speaker 1: nine and ten, Paul writes, if you declar your mouth
• 1:53:01
  Speaker 1: Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God
• 1:53:04
  Speaker 1: raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For
• 1:53:07
  Speaker 1: it is with your heart that you believe and are justified,
• 1:53:11
  Speaker 1: and it is with your mouth that you profess your
• 1:53:13
  Speaker 1: faith and are saved. This is the foundation. Do you
• 1:53:18
  Speaker 1: believe that Jesus is Lord? Do you trust that his
• 1:53:22
  Speaker 1: death was sufficient to pay for your sins? Have you
• 1:53:25
  Speaker 1: confessed that faith, not just privately, but openly. If the
• 1:53:30
  Speaker 1: answer is yes, then you have the first and most
• 1:53:33
  Speaker 1: essential mark. Because faith itself is a gift from God.
• 1:53:37
  Speaker 1: It is evidence that He has already written your name.
• 1:53:41
  Speaker 1: In Ephesians chapter two, verses eight and nine, Paul writes,
• 1:53:45
  Speaker 1: for it is by grace you have been saved through faith,
• 1:53:48
  Speaker 1: and this is not from yourselves. It is the gift
• 1:53:51
  Speaker 1: of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.
• 1:53:55
  Speaker 1: Faith is a gift. If you have it, it is
• 1:53:58
  Speaker 1: because God gave it, and He does not give that
• 1:54:02
  Speaker 1: gift randomly. He gives it to those he has chosen,
• 1:54:06
  Speaker 1: to those whose names are written. So if you believe,
• 1:54:09
  Speaker 1: take heart that belief did not originate in you it
• 1:54:14
  Speaker 1: was planted by the Spirit, and it is evidence of
• 1:54:17
  Speaker 1: his work in your life. The second sign is love,
• 1:54:21
  Speaker 1: not perfect love, not flawless love, but a genuine, growing
• 1:54:26
  Speaker 1: love for God and for others. In First John, chapter four,
• 1:54:30
  Speaker 1: verses seven and eight, the apostle writes, dear friends, let
• 1:54:34
  Speaker 1: us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone
• 1:54:38
  Speaker 1: who loves has been born of God and knows God.
• 1:54:42
  Speaker 1: Whoever does not love does not know God. Because God
• 1:54:45
  Speaker 1: is love. If you love God, that love is evidence
• 1:54:49
  Speaker 1: that you have been born of him. If you love others,
• 1:54:54
  Speaker 1: especially those who are difficult to love, it is a
• 1:54:57
  Speaker 1: sign that the Spirit is at work in you. Does
• 1:55:00
  Speaker 1: not mean you love perfectly. It does not mean you
• 1:55:03
  Speaker 1: never fail. But it means there is a desire in
• 1:55:06
  Speaker 1: your heart, a longing to love well, a grief when
• 1:55:10
  Speaker 1: you fall short. That longing, that grief is the work
• 1:55:15
  Speaker 1: of the Spirit, and it is a mark of true faith.
• 1:55:19
  Speaker 1: Jesus said in John chapter thirteen, verse thirty five. By this,
• 1:55:24
  Speaker 1: everyone will know that you are My disciples. If you
• 1:55:27
  Speaker 1: love one another. Love is the badge of belonging. It
• 1:55:31
  Speaker 1: is how the world knows we are his, and it
• 1:55:34
  Speaker 1: is how we can know it ourselves. The third sign
• 1:55:38
  Speaker 1: is the fruit of the spirit. In Galatians chapter five,
• 1:55:42
  Speaker 1: verses twenty two and twenty three, Paul lists them, But
• 1:55:46
  Speaker 1: the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
• 1:55:53
  Speaker 1: and self control. Against such things there is no law.
• 1:55:58
  Speaker 1: These are not qualities we produce on our own. They
• 1:56:01
  Speaker 1: are fruit. Fruit grows, It takes time, it requires the
• 1:56:06
  Speaker 1: right conditions, and it comes from the life of the
• 1:56:09
  Speaker 1: Spirit within us. If you see these qualities growing in
• 1:56:13
  Speaker 1: your life, even slowly, even imperfectly, it is evidence that
• 1:56:18
  Speaker 1: the Spirit is at work. And if the Spirit is
• 1:56:20
  Speaker 1: at work, your name is written. You may not feel
• 1:56:24
  Speaker 1: joyful every day, you may struggle with peace, you may
• 1:56:28
  Speaker 1: fail at self control. But if there is growth, if
• 1:56:32
  Speaker 1: there is progress, if there is a longing to become
• 1:56:35
  Speaker 1: more like Christ, that is fruit, and fruit does not
• 1:56:39
  Speaker 1: grow on dead branches. The fourth sign is transformation. In
• 1:56:43
  Speaker 1: Second Corinthians, chapter five, verse seventeen, Paul writes, Therefore, if
• 1:56:49
  Speaker 1: anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come, the
• 1:56:53
  Speaker 1: old has gone. The new is here. The old has gone.
• 1:56:58
  Speaker 1: That does not mean you are perfect, but it means
• 1:57:01
  Speaker 1: you are not the same. Something has changed the things
• 1:57:05
  Speaker 1: you once loved. You no longer love the things you
• 1:57:09
  Speaker 1: once ignored. You now care about. The person you were
• 1:57:13
  Speaker 1: is not the person you are becoming. If you can
• 1:57:16
  Speaker 1: look back on your life and see change, even small change,
• 1:57:19
  Speaker 1: even slow change, it is a sign that God is
• 1:57:22
  Speaker 1: writing a new story in you, and that story is
• 1:57:26
  Speaker 1: evidence of his work. The fifth sign is a desire
• 1:57:29
  Speaker 1: to follow him. In John chapter ten, verse twenty seven,
• 1:57:33
  Speaker 1: Jesus says, my sheep, listen to my voice. I know them,
• 1:57:38
  Speaker 1: and they follow me. Do you hear his voice? Do
• 1:57:42
  Speaker 1: you recognize it? In scripture? Do you sense his leading
• 1:57:46
  Speaker 1: in your life? And when you sense it, do you
• 1:57:49
  Speaker 1: want to follow even when it is hard? That desire
• 1:57:54
  Speaker 1: is not natural. It does not come from human will power.
• 1:57:58
  Speaker 1: It is the work of the Spirit drawing you, guiding you,
• 1:58:02
  Speaker 1: calling you deeper. If you want to follow Jesus even
• 1:58:05
  Speaker 1: when you stumble, even when you fail, that desire itself
• 1:58:09
  Speaker 1: is evidence that you belong to him. Now, let us
• 1:58:13
  Speaker 1: also be clear about what is not a sign, because
• 1:58:17
  Speaker 1: there are false markers that many people cling to, thinking
• 1:58:20
  Speaker 1: they prove salvation when they do not. Perfection is not
• 1:58:24
  Speaker 1: a sign you will never be sinless in this life.
• 1:58:28
  Speaker 1: If you are waiting to be perfect. Before you believe
• 1:58:31
  Speaker 1: your name is written, you will wait forever. Salvation is
• 1:58:35
  Speaker 1: not about perfection, It is about forgiveness. Constant feelings of
• 1:58:40
  Speaker 1: assurance are not a sign. Emotions come and go. Some
• 1:58:46
  Speaker 1: days you will feel close to God, other days you
• 1:58:49
  Speaker 1: will feel distant. But feelings are not the foundation. Faith is,
• 1:58:55
  Speaker 1: and faith can exist even when feelings fade. Never doubting
• 1:58:59
  Speaker 1: is not a sign. Even the greatest saints wrestled with doubt.
• 1:59:03
  Speaker 1: John the Baptist, while in prison, sent messengers to Jesus,
• 1:59:07
  Speaker 1: asking are you the one who is to come? Or
• 1:59:10
  Speaker 1: should we expect someone else? If John the Baptist doubted,
• 1:59:14
  Speaker 1: it is okay if you do too. Doubt does not
• 1:59:17
  Speaker 1: erase faith, it refines it. Doing enough good works is
• 1:59:22
  Speaker 1: not a sign you will never do enough. If salvation
• 1:59:26
  Speaker 1: depended on your performance, you would always fall short. But
• 1:59:31
  Speaker 1: it does not depend on you. It depends on Christ,
• 1:59:35
  Speaker 1: and his performance was perfect. So how do you know
• 1:59:38
  Speaker 1: your name is written? Not by counting your good deeds,
• 1:59:43
  Speaker 1: not by measuring your feelings, not by comparing yourself to others,
• 1:59:48
  Speaker 1: but by looking to Christ, by trusting his promises, and
• 1:59:52
  Speaker 1: by recognizing the work of the Spirit in your life.
• 1:59:56
  Speaker 1: There is a story of a man named Thomas, not
• 1:59:59
  Speaker 1: the apostle, but a man who lived in our own time.
• 2:00:03
  Speaker 1: Thomas grew up in church. He knew all the right answers,
• 2:00:07
  Speaker 1: He could recite scripture, he attended every service, but deep
• 2:00:12
  Speaker 1: down he was never sure. He would lie awake at
• 2:00:15
  Speaker 1: night asking am I really saved? What if I am
• 2:00:19
  Speaker 1: fooling myself? What if my name is not in the book.
• 2:00:24
  Speaker 1: One day he confessed his fear to an older believer,
• 2:00:27
  Speaker 1: a man who had walked with God for many years.
• 2:00:30
  Speaker 1: The man listened quietly, and then he asked a simple question, Thomas,
• 2:00:36
  Speaker 1: do you love Jesus. Thomas thought for a moment, and
• 2:00:40
  Speaker 1: then he said, yes, I do, not as much as
• 2:00:44
  Speaker 1: I should, not as perfectly as I want, but yes
• 2:00:49
  Speaker 1: I love him. The man smiled. Then your name is
• 2:00:52
  Speaker 1: written because you cannot love him unless he first loved you,
• 2:00:57
  Speaker 1: and he does not love in vain. That answer changed Thomas,
• 2:01:02
  Speaker 1: not because it gave him all the answers, but because
• 2:01:05
  Speaker 1: it shifted his focus. He stopped looking inward measuring his
• 2:01:10
  Speaker 1: own worthiness, and he started looking outward, trusting in the
• 2:01:14
  Speaker 1: one who had already declared him worthy. If you are
• 2:01:17
  Speaker 1: listening to Night and you are still unsure, ask yourself this.
• 2:01:22
  Speaker 1: Do you believe in Jesus? Do you want to follow him?
• 2:01:26
  Speaker 1: Do you love him even imperfectly? Do you grieve when
• 2:01:30
  Speaker 1: you sin? Do you long to be more like him?
• 2:01:34
  Speaker 1: If the answer to any of those questions is yes,
• 2:01:37
  Speaker 1: then the Spirit is at work in you, and that
• 2:01:40
  Speaker 1: work is evidence that your name is written. You do
• 2:01:43
  Speaker 1: not need a vision, you do not need a voice
• 2:01:46
  Speaker 1: from heaven. You simply need to trust the promises God
• 2:01:50
  Speaker 1: has already given. In John chapter six, verse thirty seven,
• 2:01:54
  Speaker 1: Jesus says, all those the Father gives me will come
• 2:01:58
  Speaker 1: to me, and whoever comes to me, I will never
• 2:02:00
  Speaker 1: drive away. Have you come to him, then he will
• 2:02:04
  Speaker 1: not drive you away. You are his and your name
• 2:02:08
  Speaker 1: is written. So rest tonight, not in your own strength
• 2:02:13
  Speaker 1: but in his promise, Not in your feelings but in
• 2:02:16
  Speaker 1: his faithfulness. Not in your performance, but in his finished work.
• 2:02:22
  Speaker 1: You are known, You are loved, and your name is safe.
• 2:02:28
  Speaker 1: Chapter eleven. Living as one whose name is written. If
• 2:02:33
  Speaker 1: your name is written in the Book of life, if
• 2:02:36
  Speaker 1: you belong to Christ, if you have been redeemed by
• 2:02:38
  Speaker 1: His blood, then everything changes, not just where you will
• 2:02:43
  Speaker 1: spend eternity, but how you live today. To know that
• 2:02:46
  Speaker 1: your name is written is not just a comfort for
• 2:02:49
  Speaker 1: the future, It is a calling for the present. It
• 2:02:53
  Speaker 1: is an invitation to live differently, not out of fear,
• 2:02:57
  Speaker 1: but out of gratitude, not to earn salvation, but to
• 2:03:01
  Speaker 1: reflect the one who gave it. Tonight we will explore
• 2:03:05
  Speaker 1: what it means to live as one whose name is written,
• 2:03:08
  Speaker 1: not as a burden but as a privilege, not as
• 2:03:12
  Speaker 1: a list of rules, but as a response of love.
• 2:03:16
  Speaker 1: The first mark of this life is humility. When you
• 2:03:19
  Speaker 1: realize that your name is in the book not because
• 2:03:22
  Speaker 1: you earned it, but because God chose you, it crushes pride.
• 2:03:26
  Speaker 1: Its silence is boasting. It makes you fall to your
• 2:03:30
  Speaker 1: knees in gratitude. In Ephesians chapter two, verses eight through ten,
• 2:03:35
  Speaker 1: Paul writes, for it is by grace you have been
• 2:03:38
  Speaker 1: saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves. It
• 2:03:42
  Speaker 1: is the gift of God, not by works, so that
• 2:03:45
  Speaker 1: no one can boast. For we are God's handiwork created
• 2:03:50
  Speaker 1: in Christ Jesus, to do good works which God prepared
• 2:03:53
  Speaker 1: in advance for us to do, not by works so
• 2:03:57
  Speaker 1: that no one can boast. If you are saved, it
• 2:04:00
  Speaker 1: is not because you were better than others. It is
• 2:04:03
  Speaker 1: not because you tried harder. It is because God loved you,
• 2:04:08
  Speaker 1: and that reality should make you humble. True humility is
• 2:04:12
  Speaker 1: not thinking less of yourself. It is thinking of yourself less.
• 2:04:17
  Speaker 1: It is recognizing that you are significant, but only because
• 2:04:21
  Speaker 1: of what Christ has done, and that recognition changes everything.
• 2:04:26
  Speaker 1: It changes how you treat others, because if you did
• 2:04:29
  Speaker 1: not earn your salvation, then you have no right to
• 2:04:32
  Speaker 1: look down on any one else. If grace was freely
• 2:04:35
  Speaker 1: given to you, then you must freely give it to others.
• 2:04:39
  Speaker 1: In Colossians chapter three, verses twelve and thirteen, Paul writes, Therefore,
• 2:04:45
  Speaker 1: as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves
• 2:04:50
  Speaker 1: with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other,
• 2:04:57
  Speaker 1: and forgive one another. If any of you has a
• 2:05:00
  Speaker 1: grievance against someone, forgive as the Lord forgave you. Forgive
• 2:05:05
  Speaker 1: as the Lord forgave you. That is the standard, Not
• 2:05:09
  Speaker 1: as they deserve, not as you feel like it, but
• 2:05:13
  Speaker 1: as the Lord forgave you, freely, completely, without condition. The
• 2:05:20
  Speaker 1: second mark is confidence, not arrogance, but a quiet, steady
• 2:05:25
  Speaker 1: assurance that you are held, that nothing can separate you
• 2:05:29
  Speaker 1: from the love of God, that your name is written
• 2:05:32
  Speaker 1: and it will not be erased. In Romans chapter eight,
• 2:05:36
  Speaker 1: verses thirty eight and thirty nine, Paul writes, for I
• 2:05:40
  Speaker 1: am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,
• 2:05:44
  Speaker 1: neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither
• 2:05:48
  Speaker 1: height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will
• 2:05:52
  Speaker 1: be able to separate us from the Love of God
• 2:05:55
  Speaker 1: that is in Christ, Jesus our Lord. Convinced, not hoping,
• 2:06:00
  Speaker 1: not wishing, convinced, Paul knew that his salvation was secure,
• 2:06:06
  Speaker 1: and that knowledge gave him courage to face anything. When
• 2:06:10
  Speaker 1: you know your name is written, fear loses its power.
• 2:06:14
  Speaker 1: You can walk through the valley of the shadow of
• 2:06:16
  Speaker 1: Death and not be afraid. You can face trials, persecution,
• 2:06:21
  Speaker 1: even death itself, knowing that the worst that can happen
• 2:06:24
  Speaker 1: is that you go home. In Philippians chapter one, verse
• 2:06:27
  Speaker 1: twenty one, Paul writes, for to me, to live is
• 2:06:31
  Speaker 1: Christ and to die is gain, gain, not loss, because
• 2:06:37
  Speaker 1: death is not the end, it is the beginning. It
• 2:06:41
  Speaker 1: is the moment when you finally see the face of
• 2:06:43
  Speaker 1: the one whose name is written beside yours in the book.
• 2:06:47
  Speaker 1: The third mark is holiness, not perfection, but a genuine
• 2:06:52
  Speaker 1: desire to live in a way that honors God, to
• 2:06:55
  Speaker 1: turn away from sin, to pursue righteousness, to be set
• 2:07:00
  Speaker 1: a part for his purposes. In First Peter Chapter one,
• 2:07:03
  Speaker 1: verses fifteen and sixteen, the Apostle rites, But just as
• 2:07:07
  Speaker 1: he who called you is holy, so be holy in
• 2:07:10
  Speaker 1: all you do, for it is written, be holy, because
• 2:07:13
  Speaker 1: I am holy. Be holy. Not to earn your place
• 2:07:18
  Speaker 1: in the book. Your place is already secure, but because
• 2:07:22
  Speaker 1: you belong to a holy God, because you have been
• 2:07:25
  Speaker 1: set apart, because your life is no longer your own.
• 2:07:29
  Speaker 1: This does not mean you will never sin. It means
• 2:07:32
  Speaker 1: you will grieve when you do. It means you will
• 2:07:35
  Speaker 1: turn back. It means you will keep pursuing Him even
• 2:07:39
  Speaker 1: when you stumble. In First John chapter one, verses eight
• 2:07:43
  Speaker 1: and nine, the Apostle rites, if we claim to be
• 2:07:46
  Speaker 1: without sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not
• 2:07:50
  Speaker 1: in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful
• 2:07:54
  Speaker 1: and just and will forgive us our sins and purify
• 2:07:58
  Speaker 1: us from all unrighteous. Holiness is not about being perfect.
• 2:08:03
  Speaker 1: It is about being honest, about confessing, about turning back
• 2:08:08
  Speaker 1: to God again and again, and He, in his faithfulness,
• 2:08:13
  Speaker 1: forgives and purifies. The fourth mark is mission. When you
• 2:08:17
  Speaker 1: know that your name is written, you want others to
• 2:08:20
  Speaker 1: know their names can be written too. You want them
• 2:08:23
  Speaker 1: to experience the grace you have received. You want them
• 2:08:27
  Speaker 1: to know the God who loves them. In Philippians chapter four,
• 2:08:31
  Speaker 1: verse three, Paul mentions his fellow workers whose names are
• 2:08:35
  Speaker 1: in the Book of Life. He did not labor alone.
• 2:08:38
  Speaker 1: He labored with others, and together they worked to bring
• 2:08:43
  Speaker 1: the Gospel to the world. You are not saved to
• 2:08:46
  Speaker 1: sit in comfort. You are saved to serve, to share,
• 2:08:51
  Speaker 1: to be a light in the darkness, to point others
• 2:08:54
  Speaker 1: to the one who wrote your name. This does not
• 2:08:57
  Speaker 1: mean you have to be a pastor or a missionary.
• 2:09:00
  Speaker 1: It means you live your life in such a way
• 2:09:02
  Speaker 1: that people see Christ in you, in your kindness, in
• 2:09:07
  Speaker 1: your integrity, in your love, in your willingness to forgive,
• 2:09:12
  Speaker 1: in your hope in the midst of suffering. In Matthew
• 2:09:15
  Speaker 1: chapter five, verses fourteen and sixteen, Jesus says you are
• 2:09:20
  Speaker 1: the light of the world, a town built on a
• 2:09:23
  Speaker 1: hill cannot be hidden. In the same way, let your
• 2:09:26
  Speaker 1: light shine before others, that they may see your good
• 2:09:30
  Speaker 1: deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Let your light
• 2:09:34
  Speaker 1: shine not to draw attention to yourself, but to point
• 2:09:38
  Speaker 1: others to God. The fifth mark is perseverance. Knowing your
• 2:09:43
  Speaker 1: name is written does not mean life will be easy.
• 2:09:46
  Speaker 1: It means that, no matter what comes, you will not
• 2:09:49
  Speaker 1: give up. You will keep walking, you will keep trusting,
• 2:09:54
  Speaker 1: you will keep following. In Hebrews Chapter ten, verses thirty
• 2:09:58
  Speaker 1: five and thirty six, the writer says, so do not
• 2:10:02
  Speaker 1: throw away your confidence. It will be richly rewarded. You
• 2:10:07
  Speaker 1: need to persevere so that when you have done the
• 2:10:09
  Speaker 1: will of God, you will receive what he has promised. Persevere,
• 2:10:14
  Speaker 1: keep going even when it is hard, even when you
• 2:10:18
  Speaker 1: are tired, even when you do not see the results,
• 2:10:22
  Speaker 1: because the promise is sure and the one who made
• 2:10:26
  Speaker 1: it is faithful. Living as one whose name is written
• 2:10:29
  Speaker 1: is not about perfection. It is about direction. It is
• 2:10:34
  Speaker 1: not about never falling. It is about always getting back up.
• 2:10:38
  Speaker 1: It is not about earning God's love, It is about
• 2:10:42
  Speaker 1: responding to the love He has already given. You have
• 2:10:45
  Speaker 1: been chosen, You have been redeemed. You have been made new,
• 2:10:51
  Speaker 1: and now you are called to live in a way
• 2:10:53
  Speaker 1: that reflects that reality. Not to prove yourself, but to
• 2:10:58
  Speaker 1: glorify him, not to earn your name in the book,
• 2:11:02
  Speaker 1: but to honor the one who wrote it. So live
• 2:11:05
  Speaker 1: with humility, knowing you did not deserve this. Live with confidence,
• 2:11:11
  Speaker 1: knowing nothing can take it away. Live with holiness, pursuing
• 2:11:15
  Speaker 1: the God who called you. Live with mission, sharing the
• 2:11:19
  Speaker 1: hope you have found. And live with perseverance, trusting that
• 2:11:24
  Speaker 1: He will finish what he started. Your name is written
• 2:11:28
  Speaker 1: not in pencil, not in fading ink, but in the
• 2:11:32
  Speaker 1: eternal blood of the Lamb, and that changes everything. Chapter twelve.
• 2:11:39
  Speaker 1: The final comfort rest in his knowing. We have come
• 2:11:43
  Speaker 1: to the end of our journey tonight. We have walked
• 2:11:46
  Speaker 1: through scripture, from the first mention of the Book of
• 2:11:49
  Speaker 1: Life in the wilderness with Moses to the final vision
• 2:11:52
  Speaker 1: of John on Patmos. We have wrestled with questions that
• 2:11:56
  Speaker 1: have no easy answers. We have held truths that seem
• 2:11:59
  Speaker 1: to contradict, yet both are spoken by the same faithful God.
• 2:12:04
  Speaker 1: And now, as the night deepens and the world around
• 2:12:08
  Speaker 1: you grows still, it is time to rest not in
• 2:12:11
  Speaker 1: what you understand, but in who you trust, not in
• 2:12:16
  Speaker 1: your own strength, but in His promises. For in the end,
• 2:12:20
  Speaker 1: the greatest comfort is not found in solving every mystery.
• 2:12:24
  Speaker 1: It is found in knowing that you are known. Before
• 2:12:27
  Speaker 1: we close, let us return one last time to the
• 2:12:29
  Speaker 1: words of King David. In Psalm one thirty nine, the
• 2:12:33
  Speaker 1: psalm we have revisited again and again, he writes a
• 2:12:36
  Speaker 1: prayer that captures everything we have explored to night. In
• 2:12:39
  Speaker 1: verses one through six, he says, you have searched me, Lord,
• 2:12:44
  Speaker 1: and you know me. You know when I sit and
• 2:12:46
  Speaker 1: when I rise. You perceive my thoughts from afar. You
• 2:12:51
  Speaker 1: discern my going out and my lying down. You are
• 2:12:54
  Speaker 1: familiar with all my ways before a word is on
• 2:12:58
  Speaker 1: my tongue. You Lord know it completely. You hem me
• 2:13:02
  Speaker 1: in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.
• 2:13:06
  Speaker 1: Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for
• 2:13:09
  Speaker 1: me to attain. You know me. That is the heart
• 2:13:13
  Speaker 1: of it, Not just that God knows about you, but
• 2:13:16
  Speaker 1: that He knows you every thought, every fear, every hope,
• 2:13:23
  Speaker 1: every secret you have never spoken, every wound you have
• 2:13:27
  Speaker 1: tried to hide. He knows, and he does not turn
• 2:13:31
  Speaker 1: away He does not recoil. He does not love you
• 2:13:35
  Speaker 1: less because of what he sees. Instead, he hems you in,
• 2:13:40
  Speaker 1: He lays his hand upon you, he holds you close.
• 2:13:44
  Speaker 1: This is the God who wrote your name in the book.
• 2:13:46
  Speaker 1: Not a distant, indifferent deity who records names like a
• 2:13:50
  Speaker 1: clerk filing paperwork, but a father who knows his children,
• 2:13:55
  Speaker 1: who sees them fully, who loves them completely. In the
• 2:13:59
  Speaker 1: ancient world, names had power. To know someone's name was
• 2:14:04
  Speaker 1: to know their identity, their essence, their story. And when
• 2:14:08
  Speaker 1: God calls you by name, it is not just a label.
• 2:14:12
  Speaker 1: It is a declaration of belonging. In Isaiah chapter forty three,
• 2:14:17
  Speaker 1: verse one, the Lord says, do not fear, for I
• 2:14:20
  Speaker 1: have redeemed you. I have summoned you by name. You
• 2:14:25
  Speaker 1: are mine. You are mine not because you chose him first,
• 2:14:30
  Speaker 1: but because he chose you, not because you earned it,
• 2:14:34
  Speaker 1: but because he loved you. This is the comfort we
• 2:14:38
  Speaker 1: rest in tonight, that no matter what comes, no matter
• 2:14:42
  Speaker 1: how many times we stumble, no matter how weak our
• 2:14:45
  Speaker 1: faith feels, we belong to him, and He does not
• 2:14:48
  Speaker 1: let go of what is his. In John chapter ten,
• 2:14:52
  Speaker 1: verses twenty eight and twenty nine, Jesus says, I give
• 2:14:56
  Speaker 1: them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one
• 2:15:00
  Speaker 1: will snatch them out of my hand. My father, who
• 2:15:03
  Speaker 1: has given them to me, is greater than all. No
• 2:15:06
  Speaker 1: one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. Never perish.
• 2:15:11
  Speaker 1: No one can snatch them, not the enemy, not circumstances,
• 2:15:17
  Speaker 1: not even your own failures. You are held in the
• 2:15:20
  Speaker 1: hand of God, and that hand is eternal. There is
• 2:15:23
  Speaker 1: a story told of a little girl who was afraid
• 2:15:26
  Speaker 1: of the dark. Every night, her father would tuck her in,
• 2:15:30
  Speaker 1: kiss her forehead, and turn out the light. And every
• 2:15:33
  Speaker 1: night she would cry out, Daddy, are you still there?
• 2:15:37
  Speaker 1: And from the hallway his voice would come, yes, sweetheart,
• 2:15:42
  Speaker 1: I am here. But one night she asked a different question, Daddy,
• 2:15:47
  Speaker 1: I know you are there, but are you looking at me?
• 2:15:51
  Speaker 1: And her father came back into the room, knelt beside
• 2:15:54
  Speaker 1: her bed, and said, I never stopped. That is the
• 2:15:58
  Speaker 1: God we serve. He is not just present, He is attentive.
• 2:16:03
  Speaker 1: He is not just watching. He is caring, and he
• 2:16:07
  Speaker 1: never stops looking at you with love. When the final
• 2:16:10
  Speaker 1: day comes, when the books are opened and the names
• 2:16:13
  Speaker 1: are read, there will be no confusion, no last minute surprises.
• 2:16:18
  Speaker 1: No souls wondering where they belong, because every one whose
• 2:16:22
  Speaker 1: name is in the Book of Life will already know.
• 2:16:25
  Speaker 1: They will have spent their lives hearing the voice of
• 2:16:28
  Speaker 1: the Father saying, Yes, you are mine. In Revelation chapter
• 2:16:32
  Speaker 1: twenty one, John describes the new Jerusalem, the holy city
• 2:16:36
  Speaker 1: that will descend from heaven like a bride adorned for
• 2:16:39
  Speaker 1: her husband, and in verses three and four he writes,
• 2:16:43
  Speaker 1: and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Look,
• 2:16:47
  Speaker 1: God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he
• 2:16:50
  Speaker 1: will dwell with them. They will be his people, and
• 2:16:53
  Speaker 1: God himself will be with them and be their God.
• 2:16:57
  Speaker 1: He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will
• 2:17:00
  Speaker 1: be no more death or mourning, or crying or pain,
• 2:17:03
  Speaker 1: for the old order of things has passed away. No
• 2:17:07
  Speaker 1: more tears, no more death, no more pain. And in
• 2:17:12
  Speaker 1: that city, in that place where God dwells with his
• 2:17:15
  Speaker 1: people forever, only those whose names are written in the
• 2:17:18
  Speaker 1: Lamb's Book of Life will enter. In verse twenty seven,
• 2:17:22
  Speaker 1: John writes, nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will
• 2:17:26
  Speaker 1: any one who does what is shameful or deceitful. But
• 2:17:29
  Speaker 1: only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book
• 2:17:31
  Speaker 1: of Life. Only those whose names are written. That is
• 2:17:36
  Speaker 1: the final requirement. Not perfection, not sinlessness, not a flawless record,
• 2:17:43
  Speaker 1: just a name written in the book, written in blood,
• 2:17:47
  Speaker 1: written by the hand of God himself. And if your
• 2:17:51
  Speaker 1: name is there, then heaven is your home, not because
• 2:17:54
  Speaker 1: you earned it, but because He prepared it for you
• 2:17:58
  Speaker 1: before the foundation of the world. In John chapter fourteen,
• 2:18:03
  Speaker 1: verses two and three, Jesus says, my father's house has
• 2:18:07
  Speaker 1: many rooms. If that were not so, would I have
• 2:18:11
  Speaker 1: told you that I am going there to prepare a
• 2:18:13
  Speaker 1: place for you. And if I go and prepare a
• 2:18:16
  Speaker 1: place for you, I will come back and take you
• 2:18:18
  Speaker 1: to be with me that you also may be where
• 2:18:21
  Speaker 1: I am a place prepared not for everyone, but for you,
• 2:18:27
  Speaker 1: specifically personally, a place with your name on it, waiting
• 2:18:32
  Speaker 1: for the day when He calls you home. And on
• 2:18:35
  Speaker 1: that day you will not walk through the gates as
• 2:18:38
  Speaker 1: a stranger. You will walk through as a child coming home,
• 2:18:42
  Speaker 1: and the Father will be waiting not with judgment, not
• 2:18:46
  Speaker 1: with condemnation, but with open arms. In Luke chapter fifteen,
• 2:18:52
  Speaker 1: in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, Jesus describes the
• 2:18:55
  Speaker 1: moment when the wayward son finally returns home and the father,
• 2:19:00
  Speaker 1: seeing him from a distance, runs to him. He does
• 2:19:03
  Speaker 1: not wait for an apology, He does not demand an explanation.
• 2:19:08
  Speaker 1: He runs and he throws his arms around his son
• 2:19:11
  Speaker 1: and kisses him. That is the God who waits for you,
• 2:19:15
  Speaker 1: not standing with crossed arms, but running to meet you,
• 2:19:19
  Speaker 1: not counting your sins, but celebrating your return. So as
• 2:19:25
  Speaker 1: we come to the end of this night, let this
• 2:19:27
  Speaker 1: truth settle deep into your soul. You are not alone,
• 2:19:31
  Speaker 1: You are not forgotten. You are not unknown. Before the
• 2:19:36
  Speaker 1: mountains were formed, before the seas gathered, before the stars
• 2:19:40
  Speaker 1: were hung in the sky, God knew you, He saw you,
• 2:19:44
  Speaker 1: He loved you, and he wrote your name. That name
• 2:19:48
  Speaker 1: is not written in pencil to be erased when you fail.
• 2:19:52
  Speaker 1: It is not written in ink to fade with time.
• 2:19:55
  Speaker 1: It is written in the blood of the lamb, and
• 2:19:58
  Speaker 1: it will stand when the heavens pass away and the
• 2:20:01
  Speaker 1: earth is made new. You do not have to understand everything.
• 2:20:05
  Speaker 1: You do not have to solve every mystery. You do
• 2:20:09
  Speaker 1: not have to have perfect faith. You simply have to trust.
• 2:20:13
  Speaker 1: Trust that the God who began a good work in
• 2:20:15
  Speaker 1: you will complete it. Trust that the one who called
• 2:20:18
  Speaker 1: you will keep you. Trust that the hand that wrote
• 2:20:21
  Speaker 1: your name will never let you go. So rest now
• 2:20:25
  Speaker 1: close your eyes, Let the weight of the day slip away,
• 2:20:29
  Speaker 1: Let the questions fade, Let the fears dissolve. You are held,
• 2:20:35
  Speaker 1: You are loved, and your name is written in the
• 2:20:38
  Speaker 1: Book of Life, not because of who you are, but
• 2:20:42
  Speaker 1: because of who He is. And he is faithful forever,
• 2:20:48
  Speaker 1: and so, dear friend, our journey together to night comes
• 2:20:51
  Speaker 1: to a close. We have walked through the pages of scripture.
• 2:20:56
  Speaker 1: We have seen the Book of Life appear again and again,
• 2:20:59
  Speaker 1: from Moses to Malachi, from Jesus to John. We have
• 2:21:03
  Speaker 1: wrestled with the mystery of predestination and free will. We
• 2:21:07
  Speaker 1: have asked the hard questions about names being erased. We
• 2:21:11
  Speaker 1: have stood before the throne and seen two kinds of
• 2:21:14
  Speaker 1: books opened. We have traced the blood of the lamb
• 2:21:17
  Speaker 1: that writes every name, and we have rested in the
• 2:21:20
  Speaker 1: stories of those who found their names written even when
• 2:21:24
  Speaker 1: they thought they were lost. But more than anything, we
• 2:21:27
  Speaker 1: have discovered this that you are known, not just seen,
• 2:21:31
  Speaker 1: but known, known by the God who formed the mountains
• 2:21:35
  Speaker 1: and set the stars in their courses. Known by the
• 2:21:38
  Speaker 1: Father who sent his son to die for you, known
• 2:21:42
  Speaker 1: by the Spirit who called you, drew you, and will
• 2:21:45
  Speaker 1: never let you go. If you are still awake, take
• 2:21:48
  Speaker 1: a moment now speak to him, Tell him your fears,
• 2:21:53
  Speaker 1: confess your doubts, ask him to remind you that your
• 2:21:57
  Speaker 1: name is written. And then listen not for an audible voice,
• 2:22:03
  Speaker 1: but for the quiet assurance that rises in your heart,
• 2:22:06
  Speaker 1: the whisper that says you are mine. That whisper is real.
• 2:22:11
  Speaker 1: It is the testimony of the Spirit, and it is enough.
• 2:22:16
  Speaker 1: So sleep now in peace, rest in the knowledge that
• 2:22:19
  Speaker 1: before you were born, you were loved, and nothing, not sin,
• 2:22:24
  Speaker 1: not failure, not even death itself can separate you from
• 2:22:28
  Speaker 1: that love. Your name is written in the Book of Life,
• 2:22:33
  Speaker 1: and it will remain there forever. Good Night, and may
• 2:22:36
  Speaker 1: the God who knows your name keep you in his
• 2:22:39
  Speaker 1: perfect peace.