Written in the Book of Life | Lon Solomon

[Music] well hello everybody and welcome to live with lon uh the first one of this new year no look i know if you watched last week you heard me say that we were gonna do the first so what of the new year in last week's message and i just lost track of you know like i record these like on a monday and then we play them on the weekends so i lost track of my days and i thought that the weekend uh this past weekend would be 2021 uh but it wasn't so anyway uh that's what that's what happens when you do live i mean uh and that's how anxious i am to see 2020 move on is i've moved it up a few days anyway i i'm not i'm not out of my mind i just made a mistake so everybody who wrote me to remind me that i made a mistake thank you so much for doing that i really appreciate it um at least i know you're listening praise the lord all right so now it is 2021 praise the lord let's open in prayer dear lord jesus thank you for this new year and we pray that in 2021 we would see you in your mercy help return our lives and the whole human race to more normalcy before we had this coronavirus pandemic god thank you so much for these vaccines that are coming out and being administered make them safe make them effective lord we praise you and thank you for your goodness in the fastest vaccine development in the history of man uh to cut short our really our our uh imprisonment to this crazy virus so lord now after thanking you for that we commit this new year to you and we uh now commit our time in the word of god to you in jesus name we pray and everybody said amen and amen okay well i'm very excited about our passage today uh it's got it's just absolutely chocker block full of spiritual truth and we're going to do our very best to take the passage apart look at it exegetically expositionally put it back together and talk about what difference it makes for our lives and remember we teach the bible say with me the whole bible come on and nothing but the bible so we're going to teach you this passage straightforwardly uh the way we interpret the bible which is it means what it says and it says what it means and with that introduction let's dig in uh remember a text without a context is what a pretext that's right and so the context we're in luke chapter 10 we're doing a few passages from luke's gospel uh that matthew didn't include in his gospel so we're in luke for just a little bit we'll be going back to matthew in our study of the gospels and let's get a little bit of context here okay if we look back in chapter 9 uh we see verse 51 that it came to pass when the time had come that he jesus should be received up into heaven he steadfastly set his face to go to jerusalem and so here in chapter 9 and following we deal with the events in the last year of jesus's public ministry that happened on his way to jerusalem to the cross and then at jerusalem when he arrives and so the passage for today is part of that uh uh section of the gospel of luke jesus has defined in the end of chapter nine we saw last week his definition of what it means to be a disciple and now we begin chapter 10 where he sends out some of his disciples to do ministry in and around the country of judea so let's begin at verse 1. luke chapter 10. here we go we'll put it on the screen after these things the lord appointed 70 others besides the 12 disciples and sent them two by two before his face into every city and place where he himself was about to go remember he's going from galilee to jerusalem so he sent these teams of two to the villages and towns that he would be going through and why did he send two at a time why was it barnabas and paul and then barnabas and silas and timothy well because it helps to have a friend along listen when you get discouraged it helps to have someone there who can talk to you and encourage you and then when they get discouraged it helps to have you along to encourage them uh that's why god said it's not good for man to be alone i'll make a a helper for him to help us along uh as brenda does to me uh when she's down i lift pick her up and when i'm down she picks me up that's so that's why two is better than one and really there was three because it was the two plus the holy spirit and a threefold chain is not easily broken as the book of ecclesiastes said okay so now uh they're going out two by two these are all believers and disciples and he said to them here's their charge the harvest truly is great but the laborers are few and of course that remains true till today the harvest meaning the world is plenteous jesus said people are out there ready to come to christ but the laborers are few therefore pray that the lord of harvest would send out laborers into his harvest my friend when you get old enough that you can't go be a missionary pray that god would raise up missionaries when you get infirmed enough that you can't go out and share the gospel on the street pray that god would raise up people to do that when you retire from being a pastor pray that god would raise up other godly pastors to continue the work this is what jesus says there's still a ministry for us when we can't go and that is to pray that others will go verse 3 go your way jesus said behold i send you out as lambs among wolves carry neither money bag sack nor sandals and greet no one along the road don't ask him for anything and whatever house you enter first say peace be to this house and if a son of peace is there your peace will rest upon it if not it will return to you so jesus says if someone's there that is sensitive and open to me uh then that's wonderful and if not your peace will come back to you your greeting and you can go you'll go to another house but he says in verse 7 remain in that house where your peace finds a an acceptable response remain in that house eating and drinking such things as they give for the laborer is worthy of his wages do not go from house to house now jesus says when you're working with the gospel then as paul said in second corinthians uh if i minister to you spiritual things uh then is it a problem that i receive from you material things like food and lodging no first timothy chapter five you don't muzzle the ox that treads out the corn you let him eat some of the fruit of his labor on the ground and and the workman is worthy of his hire this is why we pay pastors this is why we pay missionaries and we don't begrudge it to them because they are ministering spiritual things it's no problem for us to minister back to them material things and every church should be generous with their pastor every church should give their pastor more than he needs to survive and trust him to do the right thing with it that's what john macarthur one time said uh trust him if you gave giving him too much that he'll give it to the lord and do the right thing with it but generosity to god's servants it should be a part of every church's ministry and every mission board's ministry okay now moving on and whatever city you enter and they receive you eat such things that are set before you and heal the sick who are there and say to them the kingdom of god has come near to you but whatever city you enter and they do not receive you go out into its streets and say even the very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you this is the way you would curse a city you would wipe off the dust your of your feet towards them or the way you would curse a house you'd wipe the dust of your feet off this was a just a a custom in the time of jesus and notice that jesus said i don't want you to go house by house house to house i don't want you to be beggars if someone is willing to take you in and feed you while you do the work of the gospel great if they're not go find another house that will but i don't want you going around begging for money that will discredit the gospel and it will take people's attention off of the gospel and they'll begin to think of you as a charlatan don't do that jesus said now look at verse 11 even the very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you nevertheless know this that the kingdom of god has come near to you i love this even the towns uh that the that they're cursing even the towns that they're shaking the dust of their feet off to them nevertheless jesus says tell them the gospel tell them the gospel even if they reject you and throw you out of the town and nobody will take you in your house nevertheless jesus said doesn't matter tell them the gospel because maybe later they will come and the gospel is not just for the people who immediately accept us no the gospel is for everybody even if they're our enemy at first and this is what i love i mentioned jim elliot last week he is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose he went to the auca indians in south america and uh that he was told that they are uh violent uh people and uh he went anyway with several other friends of his and they were all murdered right by their airplane where they landed there in an airstrip near the akka uh village but you know what i love i love the fact that after that the wives of these missionaries who had been killed you know where they did they went to the arca indians yes they did and they were received the orcas couldn't believe that after killing their husbands they still wanted to come and share jesus with them and there was a massive revival and the arca indians to this day are a christianized a tribe of indians where the lord jesus they have churches they have schools the lord jesus reigns supreme in their culture why because we don't just tell the gospel to people that like it the first time they hear it we tell the gospel to everybody even if they're running us out of town this is what jesus said nevertheless tell them the gospel even if they run you out of town i love that about the lord jesus the gospel's for everybody no matter how they react at first we keep telling them your mother your father your sister your brother your friends your co-worker even if they don't respond well at first we keep telling them we keep telling them lovingly we keep telling them we keep praying for them that's how my mom and dad came to christ and my brother i kept telling them and kept praying for them and they all came to christ yeah you just don't tell somebody one time okay here we go but i say to you verse 12 that it will be more tolerable in that day for sodom than for that city if the ones that reject me woe to you corazon this was a city around the sea of galilee woe to you bethsaida for if the mighty works which have been done in you would have been done in tyre and sidon two gentile cities in modern-day lebanon they would have repented a great while ago sitting in sackcloth and ashes but it will be more tolerable for tyre and sidon at the judgment than for you and you capernaum the headquarters of jesus who are exalted to heaven in your mind you will be thrust down to hades he who hears you he says to his followers here's me and he who rejects you rejects me and he who rejects me rejects him god the father who sent me so this is jesus's charge to them to the 70. and he says if someone rejects you you know it's going to be more tolerable in for sodom and gomorrah and the day of judgment than for them if they reject christ and go into eternity that way and don't forget if they reject you they're not rejecting you they're rejecting me and if they reject me they're rejecting my father in heaven so this is why in john chapter 8 when the rabbis said we're rejecting you but we are the children of god with god as our father jesus said no that's impossible sorry you can't reject me and be children of god the father can't be done if you love god the father truly and you are his children you would love me jesus said it's a package deal so all these people who say to us well i love god but i just don't want jesus sorry that is that is a not not one of the above selections uh okay now uh here's where i want us to focus on their return verse 17 and the seventy returned with joy saying lord even the demons are subject to us through your name now how did they know that well because they went out there and cast out demons in the name of jesus like paul did in acts chapter 16 he turned to that woman that was demon-possessed and said in the name of jesus christ of nazareth you come out of her and the demon immediately came out of her this is this is uh what the 70 discovered as well uh what a wonderful verse even the demons are subject to us in thy name and jesus said i saw satan fall from heaven like lightning when you guys were out there preaching behold i give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you you say is this still good for us today absolutely it is uh mark chapter 16 repeats this yes now you say what about all these churches where they handle snakes you know and then look remember what jesus said to satan thou shalt not tempt the lord thy god i mean okay if you're walking in the woods god says i'll protect you from the snakes but you don't tempt the lord your god by bringing them in church and playing with rattlesnakes what are you crazy this is not this is not what jesus promises you shall not tempt he the satan said throw yourself off the wall and the angels will catch you and jesus said no you thou shalt not tempt the lord thy god if i happen to fall he'll catch me but if i do it on purpose no so listen don't go around handling rattlesnakes but if uh that jesus is still saying that we're protected and we have power even over the enemy in his name now last verse look at this nevertheless nevertheless in spite of all these powers i'm giving you do not rejoice in this that the spirits are subject to you but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven wow now there's perspective and we're going to talk about that in just a second but let me just say lord even the demons are subject to us in thy name uh we we need to use that power in our lives today we need to pray in the name of jesus against satan and his demons i pray every night for example for my daughter jill in the name of jesus and by the blood of jesus i pray against you satan and against all of your evil beings for my daughter jill and i ask the lord to make them flee from her and her room and her dreams and her body her soul her spirit for it is written resist the devil james chapter 4 and he shall flee from you and i quote that verse it is written just like jesus quoted when he was fighting satan in matthew chapter four it is written it is written it is written but i also quote it is written that we have uh a power over the demons in thy name even the demons are subject to us in thy name friends you got to use that power and remember when you use it you got to pray out loud uh satan is not not omniscient he cannot read your thoughts god can but satan and his beings can't they are finite beings so if you want them to hear something you got to do what paul did in acts 16 you got to say it out loud and i when in my prayer time with brendan and i we pray this out loud at satan and then i pray a lot of things just in my mind because i don't want satan to hear what i'm struggling with why help him why give him any inside information against him we pray out loud use that power even the demons are subject to us in his name quote that and use it quote james 4 and use it against the enemy and you'll find power and protection from him that you uh previously uh maybe didn't know you had all right see what i said this thing's chocker block full but now we come to our most important time we come to our first so what of the new year all right are you ready here we go one two three come on so what yeah and like i always say man to be back preaching the word of god is such a joy after i almost died back in september that every time i get the chance to do it i say come on say with me how sweet it is jackie gleason yeah praise the lord now uh what's the so what are this well jesus said it let me read it again to you in verse 20 nevertheless do not rejoice in this all the power you have over the demons and over whatever that the spirits are subject to you but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven now uh the bible talks in several places about this fact that our names are written in heaven let me show them to you first of all we'll put it up on the screen philippians chapter 4 verse 3 and i urge you also true companion paul writes to help these women who labored with me in the gospel with clement also and the rest of my fellow workers watch whose names are written in the book of life we find this again in revelation chapter 3 he who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments and i will not blot his name out from the book of life but i will confess his name before my father and before his angels this is talking to the believers who were in sardis and saying you stay faithful to me and i will not block your name out of the book of life so let me show you one other uh verse revelation 21 verse 27 and they're shown by no means enter heaven anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie but only those who are written in the lamb's book of life talking about jesus being the lamb so friends there is a book of life in heaven i don't know what it looks like i assume it looks like a big gutenberg bible of some kind but people's names are written in that book these are people who are going to heaven these are people who have trusted christ as their savior and put their trust in what he did for them on the cross as their uh entry into heaven and my name will be there when i arrive and if some angel is looking it up they'll find it approved by the blood of jesus to enter heaven and if you know christ your name is written in that book too this is wonderful okay and uh look look with me in revelation chapter 20 verse 11 and i saw a great white throne and him who sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away and there was found no place for them and i saw the dead small and great standing before god and the books were opened and another book was open which is the book of life now what are these two sets of books well the first is the book of life which we talked about who contains the names of the people that are approved to go to heaven and the books we're going to see in just a minute are the books that record the deeds of all these dead people standing before god all their deeds are written in this book this is why nobody's getting away with anything because all their deeds are written in there now watch and the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books and the sea gave up the dead who were in it and death and hell gave up the dead who were in it and they were judged each according to his word and death and hades were cast into the lake of fire this is the second death look at verse 15 and anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire they were judged and there are levels of hell and they were assigned levels based on their deeds a hitler and the friend that lives next to you who never trusted christ they're not going to the same level of hell they're going to different levels some levels are worse but we'll talk more about that when we get to the parable that tells us that but what i'm trying to say here is they're judged according to their work every work they're hold accountable for you say well what's the book of life doing there all the people at the great white throne judgment my friend are going to hell you say how do you know that well look at john 5 24 let's put it on the screen most assuredly i say to you he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life look and shall not come into judgment but has passed from death into life the great white throne judgment is not for believers we shall not come in to judgment like that you say well then what's the book of life doing there well i'm not positive but i think what it's doing there is for the many people who are going to say wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute jesus i'm i shouldn't be going to the lake of fire i did this for you i did that for you i did the other thing for you remember what jesus said and i'm gonna say to them i'm sorry i never knew you they're gonna i went to church and i sang in the choir i gave a lot of money i was a philanthropist i gave away millions of dollars i did this i did that and and i believe god's gonna swing the book of life around so they can read it and say turn uh to your name and see if it's in here if your name is is uh uh potts tur your last name turn to the ps and look for your name and see if you're in here so he can prove to them they're not in there i don't care what they did sorry your name is not in here you never trusted me as your savior name's not in here now you were all around the mulberry bush but sorry uh you you're not in here and that's the only way some people are going to believe it um because they're sure that their works are earning them heaven okay now all of this uh well what does it mean what's the so what here friends the so what is very simple uh i don't care how bad your day or my day may be going there is always something to rejoice about remember what jesus said jesus said in spite of all this these great things that i've told you 70 don't rejoice in them rejoice that your name is written in the book of life now they had come back and they were having a good day they were having a fantastic day and jesus said don't even rejoice in a fantastic day i don't care how great your day is what i want you to focus on and rejoice about is that your name is written in heaven that's what you should rejoice about well friends just the same in the same way if we're having a bad day uh even more so should we focus on the fact that our names are written in the lamb's book of life and can never be erased uh for my friends uh no matter how bad a week you're having hey there's something to rejoice in your name is written in the lamb's book of life if you know christ if you're having a bad month hey there's still something to rejoice in your name is written in the lamb's book of life if you're having a bad year like 2020 hey there's still something to rejoice in your name is written in the lamb's book of life if you're having a bad decade your name is written in the lamb's book of life this is what we rejoice in and not having a good day or a bad day and so many of us listen we're all prone if we have a really good day that's what we rejoice in jesus said no don't even rejoice in a good day that your names are written in the lamb's book of life so my friend as 2021 begins to unfold i don't know all that's here uh but whatever happens to us we have reason for rejoicing we should never become down and depressed and discouraged uh we do we all do but we shouldn't if we keep our eyes on the fact that hey all right my washing machine's broken but my name's in the lamb's book of life so i rejoice all right so my toilet stopped up okay but my name's in the lamb's book of life and that's what i'm gonna rejoice in all right so uh the plumber charged me 500 to fix it okay but my name's still written in the lamb's book of life and that's what i'm gonna rejoice in uh my car is broken uh my my garage door won't go up uh i just put a scratch on my very favorite purse and i can't get it out uh i went out and played golf today and i did terrible uh uh but my name is still written in the lamb's book of life and that's what i'm gonna rejoice in perspective perspective and jesus gave his 70 disciples perspective don't rejoice in all that other stuff rejoice your names written in the book of life and that perspective will really help you and me to keep from going down into the depths when things aren't right and to add humility to us when things are going great yeah things are going great but what i really rejoice at is because of what jesus's work on the cross my name's written in the lamb's book of life hey my friends i want to close with a quote from john newton and this is the exact quote and it deals with us being in heaven he says when i reach heaven i expect to find three wonders there first to meet some people i had not thought to see there second to miss some people i had expected to see there and third the greatest wonder of all to find myself there i love that quote folks if you know jesus you're going to have the third and greatest wonder of all to find yourself in heaven because your name is in the book of life and it went in there the day you trusted christ and if you've never trusted christ my friend you can do it by simply transferring your trust off of your own human works and onto the work of christ on the cross to get you in and if you do that god's gonna right next to your name approved approved to get into heaven may the lord bless you in this new year and whatever happens may we take joy that our names are in the book of life let's pray heavenly father i thank you so much for our names being in your book in heaven and i thank you lord jesus our names went in there with approved to get into heaven written next to them when we trusted jesus as our savior on the cross so lord no matter what happens this year help us find reason to rejoice in this great and wonderful truth and we pray this in jesus name and everybody said amen now i want to close you say you're not closed no i want to say one more thing to you you know i was born and raised jewish and the jewish people have a day they call yom kippur it's actually a from the bible the day of atonement and the custom is to go to the synagogue uh the om kippur fast all day uh in repentance to the lord and uh we are told by the jewish faith that god decides that day he opens the book of life and decides whose names are in it and who's aren't for the next year until the next yom kippur and as a child eight nine years old i used to go with my father to synagogue and i had this picture in my mind of god with this great white beard sitting in heaven with this great gutenberg bible-like type book in front of him uh writing names in there it was terrifying because there was no no way to know for sure if your name was going in there uh and i remember walking out of synagogue this really happened one one one yom kippur evening and saying to my father who of course knew everything at that age dad how do you know for sure as we walk out of here whether your name is written in the book of life and my dad paused for a moment because he didn't know the answer to that either and he said well lonnie i guess if you live till next yom kippur then your name was written in there and if you don't live to then then your name wasn't and that's all he said and i remember getting this sinking feeling like what this is no assurance this is no certainty this doesn't help at all now i feel just as uh ambiguous as i did before but that was the only answer my dad could give because he didn't know either uh my friends isn't it wonderful to know be written in the lamb's book of life and because of our trust of christ we know we're in the lamb's book of life and we're not just written in for a year we have the certainty of being written in for eternity that wonderful yes well i told my dad that on the day i led him to christ i brought that up to his attention and said dad from now on you're going to have a different answer to be able to give isn't that great and my friend i hope you can give that answer i'm written in the lamb's book of life because my trust for getting into heaven is in what jesus did for me on the cross i'm covered by the blood may god bless you and lord willing we'll see you next week on live [Music] you

Channel: Lon Solomon Ministries

Views: 1,586

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: CA4BsibtP6M

Length: 35min 48sec (2148 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 03 2021