[0:00] Siwa Garden Oh, the great Lord still will rise As the angels advance, Christ is risen See the salvation of God Cause it down, all it made, made it sacrificed Oh, build in Christ the Lamb For it is, Christ is risen from the dead
[1:04] See where he breathes, where is he laid As he saw that she turns from the empty tomb He is a voice speaking, calling her name Is the master, the Lord, the great son of the day His voice, the master, his Speaking of, sharing of, bringing peace to us Will sound to be a peace And the Lord, the great son of the day Come with the Father Ancient, O nations, through the spirit
[2:06] And the close, take the certainty Honor and blessing, glory and praise to the King Round and cloud, round the glory And the Lord, the great son of the day And we are raised with Him Death is met, love is not, Christ is broken And we shall reign with Him For He lives, Christ is risen from the dead because our risen Lord Jesus Christ is in heaven at the Father's right hand the Bible tells us he intercedes for us he's always praying for us but also it's through Jesus Christ we come to God in prayer so let's come to God in prayer now let us all pray how we rejoice in you our God this morning for the wonder and the glory of your son the Lord Jesus
[3:19] Christ how we rejoice this morning oh Lord for your great love to us that brought him from heaven to earth and from earth to the cross from the cross to the grave but that grave could not keep him that grave could not subdue him though he died in our place though he died for our sins yet we thank you that at the cross he as it were unloaded all of those sins he shook them off our Lord through his death and suffering in our place and we thank you that death could not hold him but he rose again conquering death triumphing over all of its power so that now he lives forevermore he was and is and always shall be the everlasting eternal God but we thank you that for us he is the everlasting savior he is the one to whom we can turn to Lord for forgiveness he's the one we can look to for life everlasting not just life in heaven but life today in fullness and completeness life with God in fellowship with God life oh Lord which has no boundaries no limits but life oh Lord which begins now and goes on throughout the years and all of eternity to come we thank you Lord Jesus that we are here because of you we thank you that we are here because of who you are and what you've done for us we're not here because we are good people we're not here because we are religious people we're not here because Lord we are sinless people we're here because we are sinners we're here because we need forgiveness we're here because Lord we we we depend upon your good grace to us your faithfulness to us that you will meet with us and help us that you will strengthen us that you will give to us faith for our doubts that give us hope and certainty for our fears that Lord you would surround us with that sense of your Holy Spirit's presence and fill us with him who is greater than he that is in the world oh Lord come then and bless this time help us we pray help us as you speak to us in your word help us as we sing these songs of praises that they may not be simply words that tumble from our lips words that Lord mean nothing to our hearts but may they be real and may they be effective and may they be the overflow of our love for you for Lord that is our declaration this morning that you who loved us first we now love we love you oh
[5:53] Lord for loving us we love your Lord for Jesus we love you oh Lord for never leaving nor forsaking us and we ask oh Lord that from that love which you've poured into our hearts our love for you may overflow and love not only for you Lord but love for one another love for the lost love for those without Christ love those who still in darkness love for those who are still bound up in death and sin and fear and doubt oh Lord change us and work in us we pray and get to yourself oh Lord our God great glory and honor and praise in and through our lives for we ask these things in the name of your beloved son Jesus Christ our Lord amen here is God's word which is faithful and true and relevant as well so Luke 10 beginning at verse 1 after this the Lord appointed 72 others and sent them out two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go he told them the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few ask the Lord of the harvest therefore to send out workers into his harvest field go I'm sending you out once in a month and there's a year and there's a lot of times in the harvest field go I'm sending you out when you enter a house first say peace to this house for man of peace is there your peace will rest on him if not it will return to you stay in that house eating and drinking whatever they give you for the worker deserves his wages do not move around from house to house when you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them the kingdom of
[7:57] God is near you. But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this, the kingdom of God is near. I tell you it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. Woe to you, Chorazin. Woe to you, Bethsaida. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
[8:32] But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. He who listens to you listens to me. He who rejects you rejects me, but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.
[8:53] The 72 returned with joy and said, Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name. He replied, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the Spirit submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
[9:21] And we know that God will help us to understand his word as we come to it in a moment or two. If you've got a Bible to hand, then please do turn back to that passage in Luke and chapter 10.
[9:35] In Luke and chapter 10, those first 20 verses, we're going to be thinking particularly about the words of Lord Jesus right at the end of the passage we read in verse 20.
[9:49] Well, here we are at the start of three weeks of beach mission. Another year has gone and another team is here. And again, for those of you who are longer in the tooth than me, then this is something that's been going on for many years. And it's something very much look forward to by the church here. And these young people have traveled from various parts of the country.
[10:15] I think there's some from Wales and from over on the East Coast and over on the East Coast, don't we? Over on the West Coast. Sorry, I was in Devon before I came here. I still haven't got East and West, North and South really sorted out. And I'm moving house at the moment. So yeah, it's all a bit funny. Anyway, and they're here. So they want to present the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ to holidaymakers, to locals as well. And it's an exciting time.
[10:46] It's a time charged with a sense of anticipation. What will happen in these three weeks? What people will they meet? Who will they speak to? What encounters and experiences will they have?
[10:58] It's an exciting time. And no doubt for the 72 disciples of Jesus that we read about here in Luke 10, they must have felt something of that excitement and anticipation as they were sent out by Jesus to this mission to the villages and towns ahead of him. They would have mixed feelings, feelings, yes, of excitement, feelings, no doubt of fear, of anxiety, expectancy, and so on.
[11:28] And these would have been heightened, I imagine, as Jesus prepares these disciples to go by the words of instruction he gives them. Instructions about what they should take with them, about how they should greet people, how they should deal with people they meet within the town. He prepares them, of course, that there may be rejection and people will not welcome them at all. And they're to do these works of miracles, delivering folk from evil spirits, healing those who are sick, and preaching, of course, the kingdom of God is here. But I don't want us to focus on those words of Jesus of instruction, but rather on those words of Jesus upon their return, after they've come back from their mission. These words here in verse 20. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Now it's clear, isn't it, when the 72 return to Jesus, they really feel like their mission has been a great success, don't they? We're told there, verse 17, the 72 returned. Not sure how long that was, whether it was a few days or even a week.
[12:36] They returned with joy and said, Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name. There's a sense that they've been successful. And they're particularly overjoyed that demons have been driven out of people in the name of Jesus. Not by their power, of course. Jesus' power. And for those of you who think that's very strange, very odd, very sort of science fiction or a horror story, it's a reality. We live in a world which is not just physical but spiritual. And in that spiritual world, there is that which is good and that which is evil. Evil spirits really do exist. Satan is not a cuddly toy or some game or somebody you can dress up as. He is the personification of wickedness and evil. And he is at work in this world. And he is influencing and affecting the things that people do and the way they behave. So it's not some myth or fairy story. Evil is real and evil spirits, those who are, those who work for Satan are about. But anyway, that's what they were particularly excited about. And no doubt we can assume that other people were healed as well and that they preached this wonderful good news. The kingdom of God is here. And people responded to it and received it, just as Jesus said that they would. But when we get to verse 20, we have, in one sense, Jesus rebuking his disciples in a very gentle way. But still, it's a rebuke. He says, however, do not rejoice. He tells them not to rejoice in what they've done or what experiences they've had. But he tells them that they are to rejoice in the fact and the truth that their names are written in heaven. That's a strange thing, isn't it? It tells them not to rejoice. Don't rejoice that you've had this great success in your mission. Don't rejoice that you've seen people who have been rescued and saved from evil. Don't rejoice in those things, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Why would Jesus say that? Why would he tell them not to rejoice in these experiences, in these things? Well, we know that our Lord Jesus Christ is always wise and always loving. His words are always of great help to us and value to us. And they're especially of help to us as we seek to serve the Lord Jesus in evangelism in this three weeks of mission. But also as Christians, we are all evangelists. We are all those who have a gospel to tell. We are all those who have a wonderful message to take out. And some of us do that very proactively in the way that we may work within our local church, whether it be in children's work or youth work, or whether it be in Sunday school, or whether it be in evangelistic outdoor events or door-to-door, all these sort of things. Other us do it maybe in a low-key way in our workplaces or in our schools, in our friendships and relationships, just being a
[15:30] Christian in the world, speaking the message, the good news, that God is near, that God is real, and that he can be known. And so Jesus' words are helpful to us in our lives as Christians.
[15:46] When he says to us, however, do not rejoice that the Spirit submits you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Jesus is reminding us and the disciples here that we're not to make our major source of joy the things that we experience or the things that we do. And there's a very obvious reason for that, you see. From day to day, our experiences vary, don't they? From day to day, the Christian life is not the same. From week to week and month to month and year to year, we have those blessings, blessings of people wanting to hear and listen to the gospel, blessings of people being interested in the things of Christ or friends being invited and coming to church. But also we have those times of rejection, those times when we're discouraged, those times when things are hard, those times when things are tough. And if the only foundation for our joy was when things go well, well, we'd be like roller coaster people, wouldn't we? In our emotions, one minute we'd be up and rejoicing, and then next minute we'd be down and we'd be in the dumps. And next minute we'd be up, and it would go on like this. In fact, of course, that's often the way many people live their lives, isn't it? In a roller coaster sort of way. When things are going well, when the sun is shining, when there's money in the bank, yeah, life is great. When the bills come in and it's windy and wet and cold, then they're down. And that's how people live often their lives. And as Christians, that's not how we're to live our lives. We're not to be up and down sort of people. We're not to be those who are always constantly blown here and there by every wind, by every difficulty, by every joy, up and down like yo-yos.
[17:25] And Jesus wants us to find and to know that our joy can be rock solid. Our rejoicing can be built upon a foundation which is not affected by good times and bad times, not affected by storms and by sunshine. We can be joyful all the time in that right sense. Now, Jesus isn't saying, don't be ever happy. He doesn't say, however, do not rejoice. He doesn't want us as Christians to be glum.
[17:55] He doesn't want us as Christians to be those who are always sorrowful or sad. Now, there's times for that. There's times for seriousness, times for sobriety. There's times when we have to be really those who are not just fickle, if I can put it that way, or frivolous. There are times when we must be serious. But there are times when we are to be joyful. And in fact, we are to be those who rejoice all the time. Not in always just going around smiling all the time, I ace all the time, and saying, I'm a Christian, I'm not happy. My life is so wonderful. When you know Jesus, no problems ever occur in your life. That doesn't happen, does it? There's no such thing as living the Christian life without difficulties and trials. But Jesus wants us to build our joy on the foundation, on the rock, not on the sifting sand, not on those things that come and go.
[18:52] And similarly, on the other side of that, we're not to be overwhelmed and sorrowful when things are difficult, in the sense that this, Jesus, when souls do not, are not saved, when people reject the gospel, when people are hard against the things of Christ. We can be easily overwhelmed by that. We can be ever so miserable and sorrowful. Sometimes that can affect a whole church. Very sadly, a whole church, because they've seen very little in the way of blessing in their evangelism or very little growth, they can, as a whole church, become very, very sad. And it affects all their worship. It affects their prayer life. It affects everything that they do. Now, we are not to be like that either. God's work is not easy. Persecutions come. Even in this land in which we live, persecutions come. Trials come. Troubles come. And again, we're not to be those who are overly discouraged by those things.
[19:54] They're not to rob us of our joy. Because Jesus wants our joy to be far more secure. He wants us to realize that we can have an eternal, unquenchable joy, whatever comes our way, whether good or bad.
[20:13] And what is that joy? What is the thing that he wants us to rejoice in this morning if we're Christians? What is it that we're to find as our source of joy in every part of life, whether things are good or bad? Here it is. Rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Rejoice that your names are written in heaven. This is the foundation. This is the thing that really is certain and secure and on which we can stand and rejoice in. What does Jesus mean by that? He's not just meaning those who are his disciples then. This is true of all those who've put their faith and trust in him.
[20:50] This is true of every disciple of Jesus, everyone who has been born again of his Holy Spirit, who has put their faith in Christ as their Savior. What is he talking about? Well, in the Bible, in several places, we're told about there being almost like a register in heaven, a book in heaven, which has the names of all those who will put their faith in Christ. In Revelation 21, it's called the Lamb's Book of Life or elsewhere in Revelation, just the Book of Life. It hasn't got a name according to Jesus here, but it's simply this, that those who are his disciples have their names written in heaven.
[21:31] Now, if our names are written in heaven, if as Christians our names are written there, what does it mean for us? What does it mean today? Why should we rejoice in that? Why should we take joy in that? Well, it means this.
[21:42] It means that God knew our names before we were born. It meant that God knew your name before you were born. Notice Jesus says your names are written in heaven. It doesn't say your names will be written in heaven when you get there, or your names will be written in the future if you do so and so and such and such, but your names are written in heaven. Now, those of you who are parents, and I'm sure that when, before your children were born, even perhaps before even you were married maybe, especially ladies, I know they do so, you drop a list of children's names. And when I meet Mr. Wright and I get married, our first child's going to be called David after his grandfather, and our second child's going to be called Elizabeth after my mother, and so, on. And you get all the names, don't you? And then their middle name, and so on. Poor husband, when he turns up, he doesn't know what's hitting him. He's already got it all laid out, how many children he's going to have, and what their names are going to be. No, that's only, oh, of course, only in my marriage.
[22:42] That doesn't happen in anybody else's marriage. Nobody else is like that at all, are they? Well, actually, to be honest, when Andrew and I had our first son, he didn't have a name for four days, because we couldn't decide what to call him, but he ended up being Tom. So that's what he is. And so we draw up these names.
[22:57] And we think about what the child will be called, and so on. Well, when did God know your name and mine? Was it when we were born? Was it when our parents named us? No. The Bible makes it clear that God knew all about us even before the world was born. And if we were Christians, God knew our name and put it in his book before the world was made. Here's what Revelation 17 says, those whose names have been written in the book of life from the creation of the world.
[23:30] Written in the book of life from before the creation of the world. God doesn't just know, knew about us before the world was made. He knew everything about you and I before the world was made. Not just before we were born, not just before our parents were born, our grandparents were born, but way before that as well. And wonderfully, he chose to put our names in that book of life that even then. Here's Paul writing to the Christians in Ephesus.
[23:57] He says, God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. Now, it's a mystery, isn't it? It's no point of saying, yes, I fully understand this, or I can fully comprehend it, but it's what God has said. That those who would put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ were known to God before the world was made, and their names were placed in this wonderful book to say that they would be saved and rescued. Chose to place us on that register of heaven, purposing to rescue and save us from hell and to bring us into glory with him. Paul goes on to say in that same letter to the Ephesian Christians, he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ in accordance with his pleasure and will, to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the one he loves. That's Jesus. But the reality is this, that those who are not Christians, God knows all about you too. He knows about everything in your life. He knows all about what happened in your past, but he also knows all about what will happen. He knows you. Nothing is hidden from him. If it was hidden from him, if God didn't know these things, well, he wouldn't be much of a God, would he? But he does know all these things.
[25:18] And the question for those of us who have come to faith in Jesus and have this assurance and confidence that God chose us before the world was made, we have to ask the question, why? Why would he choose us?
[25:30] Why would he want us to be part of his church? Why would he want us to know him and to be rescued and saved and enter into his love? Well, God only knows why. I mean, if you look around, don't necessarily do that now, but a bit later on, look around and think, well, why on earth would God choose this lot?
[25:49] Why? Why would he choose me or you? What's so special about us? Nothing. And that's the wonderful truth. It's not because of anything that we've ever done for God or ever will do for God or ever can do for God that moved him to write our names into that book of life and put our names in heaven before we'd done right or wrong. So that it's all of God's grace, not of our doing, not of our action. It's all of his unconditional love that he chooses to save and rescue us. And we could never deserve it. And we can certainly never pay him back for it, nor should we even try to. And here's the wonderful thing.
[26:30] If it's God who wrote our names in heaven, which is what we read and what we see here, if it's God who put them in the book, who's going to be able to take them out? Who? Who can remove God's writing from the book? If God has done it, nobody can change it. Nobody can remove our names. Nobody can take us out of that book. Nobody else can remove us from heaven. Our hope is in God's. Our hope is in his love, in his grace, in the assurance that Christ has done everything for us. And the reality is this, dear friends, we've got it in writing. You know, it's like you can get, be careful what I say here, we're having our house done up and we're doing some work ourselves and you can get somebody come around and they'll say, oh yeah, I'll do this and I'll do that and it'll cost you 150 quid. Okay, fine, that's great, yeah. They come around and they do all the work and they say, that's 250 quid.
[27:25] You say, well, hold on, you gave me a verbal quote, it was 150 quid. Oh yeah, but there were these problems and difficulties that we didn't foresee, so it's gone up. Get it in writing, isn't it? We've got it in writing that God has chosen to save us. We've got it in writing that our names are written in heaven and God has scribed them himself. Therefore, no one can remove them.
[27:48] But the wonderful truth is this, that when Jesus speaks to his disciples and says, your names are written in heaven, he doesn't just mean it's something that's happened in the past, but of course it means they're there now. That's obvious, isn't it? Your names are there now. Even in heaven right now, we are registered before we arrive. Our names are there. We are already citizens of heaven.
[28:09] That's what Paul says to the Christians. He writes to in Philippi. He says, our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will come again. Now, when you go on holiday, you take your passport, you're a British, most of us probably are British citizens, you've got your British passport, you go and stay in that country on holiday, you may stay there even for several months, even longer as well. You don't become a citizen of that country. You're just a traveler, you're a sojourner, you're just somebody who's visiting. You're always a British citizen, even when you're not living in Britain itself. So, dear friends, as Christians, we are citizens of heaven. We're living here in this world. This isn't heaven or heaven on earth. We're living in this world, but we are firstly citizens of heaven. That's where we belong. That's where we're heading. We're just passing through this world. Whoever we are, whoever you are, you're just passing through. This life is going to be three score year and ten. Some of us, not us, somebody here reached that level this week, three score year and ten, didn't they, Paul? Sorry to give that away. But that's not your allotted time, but some of us are much older than that, 70, 80, 90 even. But the reality is that we're only here just for a while. We're just passing through. This world is not all there is. It's not the end. It's just the beginning. And when we pass through, we have to ask ourselves, where will we go from here? Now, if you're a citizen of heaven, you know where you're going. You've got it in writing and your name is registered in heaven. You know where you're going. You're going to be with the living God. You're going to be in his presence for eternity. You're going to be where your heavenly father is, in his house. You're going to be members of your spiritual church family. Some of them are already there and some of your earthly family are there. It's from heaven that you've been born again. It's heaven that you must go and will go and spend eternity. We are citizens of heaven because our names are written in that register today. Now, for many Christians, of course, this whole matter of assurance can be something that we struggle with. This whole hope that we shall be in heaven one day, that we shall make it. Some of us find the road rocky and tough and difficult. We think, I don't know if I will make it. How can I be sure that
[30:43] I'm going to get to heaven? Well, dear friends, the assurance is this, is that Christ has gone to prepare a place for you. Here's what he says. In my father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you. I'm going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am.
[31:06] The assurance that we shall be in heaven is that we already have our names written there and that Christ has gone to prepare that place for us. Here's a little story from a Christian named Watchman Nee. He was a famous Chinese Christian of the last century. He had a young Christian who came to him and he was most upset. This young Christian said, no matter how much I pray, no matter how hard I try, I just simply can't seem to be faithful. I seem to keep falling into sin and getting it wrong. I'm worried I'm going to lose my salvation. I'm worried I'm not going to make it to heaven. This is what Watchman Nee said to him. He says, do you see my dog? This is my dog. He's house trained. He never makes a mess in the house. He's an obedient dog. When I call him, he comes.
[31:55] This dog's a pure delight to me. He's no trouble to me. He's an absolute joy. Now out in my kitchen, I've got my little baby son. He makes a mess, throws his food on the floor. He dirties his clothes and his nappies. He smells. He really is a mess. But who's going to inherit my kingdom? Who's going to have my name and all the things that I possess? Not my dog, but my son, my heir. He went on to say this, you are Christ Jesus' heir because it is for you that he died. We are Christ's heirs, not through our perfection, not by what we do, but by his grace and loving kindness. Dear friends, if you lack assurance and go to God's word and you'll find written there, your name is written in heaven and it's written there now. But of course, the wonderful thing is that because of that, our names will be written in heaven forever. They're never going to be removed from heaven.
[32:58] Here's Jesus as he speaks to one of, in one of his letters, he writes at the beginning of Revelation. He writes a letter to the Christians there at Sardis, Christians who were really struggling and finding things difficult. And he says to them, I will never blot out his name from the book of life. I'll never blot his name out from the book of life. One of the hymns that we often sing here at church, we were going to sing it this morning, but I changed it for a different one.
[33:27] It says this, my name from the palms of his hands, eternity will not erase. Impressed on his heart it remains in marks of indelible grace. We sang in that hymn just before, didn't we? My name is written on his heart. That's the wonderful thing. The reality is this, that we are those who are dear to Christ, those who he loved and died upon the cross for, those that he has loved from before the world was made, and those who he will love when the world is finished and come to an end, but he will never ever remove our names from heaven. So that book is like no other book in the world.
[34:07] It cannot be corrected. It cannot have pages torn out of it. It cannot be altered in any way. It's been written by the unchanging God. Can I say this, and this is my imagination, and I don't wish to be flippant in any way. If there is anything to be added to that register, it's this. In my mind and way of thinking is this. If you imagine it as almost like your school register when you were a child, your name is written there from eternity past. The only marks made on that book are a cross is placed by the name when that person comes to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as their saviour, and then a bit later a tick is put by their name when they enter into heaven. That's how certain we can be that God will receive us in heaven. Our names are written there forever because we shall be there forever, enjoying the Father's smile, enjoying and rejoicing in his love.
[35:07] Does such a confidence, such a certainty give us reason to rejoice when God blesses us and blesses our work when we witness his power in the lives around about us? Yes, it does give us reason to rejoice. We are to rejoice. Jesus tells us the angels rejoice in heaven when one sinner repents, so we are to rejoice. But does it give us reason to rejoice when times are hard, when men reject us, when the message of God's love is spurned? Yes, it still gives us reason to rejoice because our salvation and his love and grace to us does not change. Let me ask you this as we close this morning.
[35:54] Do you know that your name is written in heaven? Do you have that assurance and confidence that you are heaven bound and a citizen of heaven? You can say, well, how can I know? How can I know that my name is written there? Here's what Jesus says to his disciples in John and chapter 10 about the wonderful reality of being secure. He says, my sheep, Jesus is the good shepherd and we are his sheep, my sheep listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. No one can snatch them out of my hand. Do you hear what Jesus says? The person who is secure in the hands of Jesus, the person who is safe in heaven, the person who knows that their name is written in heaven is a person, first of all, who's heard the voice of Jesus calling them by name, calling them to follow him, calling them to turn from their sins, calling them to trust in his death upon the cross for them, trusting him and loving him.
[37:01] Loving him imperfectly, yes. Loving him weakly, yes. But longing for and looking for that day when they shall be with him forever. Have you heard the voice of Jesus calling you, calling you where you are? Not calling you saying, come and be a good person. When you get yourself sorted out, then you can follow me. But saying, just as you are, come. With your sins, with your failures, with your past, with your doubts, with your fears, come. Hear my voice. Turn away from those things. Turn away from those sins that only rob you of life, that only spoil the good things that God has in store for you and follow me. Trust me and live for me.
[37:45] And make me the Lord of your life. The one who is king. The one who you seek to obey. The one who only has good in store for you. Will you do that? Have you done that? If you haven't done that, if you are hearing his voice this morning and something within you is saying, now come on, this is what you need.
[38:06] This is about you and God. Then do that. Do that this morning. In your own heart of hearts at the end of our service in just a few moments. Say, Lord, I want this reality. I want this assurance. I want to know that I'm forgiven. I want to know that I'm your child. I want to know that my name is written in heaven and I'll be with you one day. Let me assure you of this, that Christ will not reject you.
[38:33] He has promised whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. You're not too bad. You'll probably think you're too good. That's the problem. You're not too bad for him. But dear friends, you're not good enough. You need his forgiveness and you need his grace. And Christ will bring you in. Put a cross by your name in the register of heaven.
[38:58] And you will know that you are headed there. For those of us who are Christians, dear friends, rest in this truth. Rejoice in this truth. Don't be shaken from this truth that your names are written in heaven. But continue to live for him, follow him, serve him. Nothing can change what he has done for you. Nothing can alter his grace and love to you. But you shall know that the nearness of God day by day. And you shall be with him for all eternity. Let's bow our heads in prayer very quietly in our own hearts respond to what God has said to us with thankfulness. Perhaps with that prayer, asking him to come into your life. Let's pray.
[39:50] Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you know all about us and you knew all about us before the world was made. We can't hide anything from you, pretend we're something we're not. We can pretend to others, but not to you. You know our sin, our faults, our failings, our fears, our doubts. And again, Lord Jesus, we thank you that in your love you planned and purposed to save us and rescue us through that great cost of the cross. We ask you to forgive us, Lord, when we find ourselves blown here and there by the ups and downs of life. Forgive us, Lord, when we count your love only by success or blessing, when we forget and realize your love is unchanging, though life is changing. We pray that you would draw near, draw near to those who have never known that love and forgiveness. Speak to their hearts and call them to follow you. For those lost, Lord, who struggle and find ourselves at times doubting, fearful, we pray again that you would increase our faith and that, Lord, we might trust you and rest in the wonderful joy that our names are written in heaven and that we might serve and live for you day by day as such people who have such confidence in our God. And we ask these things now in the name of Jesus. Amen.