Well, we're turning this evening back to the book of Revelation and chapter 21, and I'd like to look together at the last verse. Verse 27, And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination. or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's Book of Life." So, the subject this evening is the Lamb's Book of Life. Of course, the Apostle John is relating here to us his prophetic vision given by the Spirit of God, this amazing account, this apocalypse which means the unveiling, the revealing of who Jesus Christ really is, his triumph, his victory in the end. At the end of time, Christ will have the victory over sin and death and hell and he will triumph for his people. and usher in the new Jerusalem. And so here is the Apostle John relating the Word of God to us tonight. And of course you remember how he was in exile for his faith. He was a preacher of Jesus Christ, but he had to be exiled, enforced exile onto the Isle of Patmos. And that's where he wrote this, it's thought around the year AD 95. So, what is he speaking of here? The Lamb's Book of Life. Well, every Christian will tell you that their greatest comfort in this world is to know what Christ has done for them, what he has secured for them by his death at Calvary. He secured for them a place in the new Jerusalem. That's what Christ has done. They've been washed in his precious blood that he shed there on the cross and that now they have a new home a true home in heaven above. And so they're passing through this world as pilgrims and they're on their way to be with Christ which is far better. They've tasted the love of Christ, that immeasurable love, the love of God. That's the remarkable thing about a Christian. They've tasted that love which is from heaven. There is no other love like it. The love of God, it passeth all knowledge and understanding. And they've tasted that love and they realise and they know that Christ loved them so that he would lay down his life for them. And so they're looking forward. They have hope. They have certainty that when they come to die and leave this world, and their spirit returned to God who gave it, they will inherit this great city, this glorious kingdom for all eternity. And of course, we know as believers that Christ will return to the world. He shall come again. He came the first time to redeem his people and the second time he shall come to reign over the world and he will bring all men all women, all boys, all girls to His judgment seat. And of course, the great day of the Lord will be upon us all and we shall be brought before Him. And those of us that are here tonight that do not know Him will be judged and sentenced to eternal fire in hell. And those of us that have trusted our souls to him will go to be with him in this glorious new kingdom. And so this is our hope as believers. The Lamb's Book of Life then, this is what John is talking about, is our name. in the Lamb's Book of Life. That's our hope, to inherit the glory of the New Jerusalem. You know, tonight, about 25% of the people in the world are Muslims. They follow Muhammad, as you know. And none of them know whether they're going to heaven or to hell. When they come to die, They say that Allah will weigh out all the good deeds that they've done and all the bad deeds. And then he will make a final judgment. But none of them know what that judgment will be. They say 999 out of every thousand will be cast into hell. Allah, he will will it. He will decide. He will choose. He will put us in the scales, as it were. And even those who are appointed to paradise must first suffer and sweat and be questioned for a 50,000 year long judgment day and then finally cross over a narrow bridge over the fires of hell which is the width of a hair and as sharp as a sword. And some won't make it over and will fall into the fire as Allah wills it. Our idea of heaven, of course, is not the same as what's in the Bible. It's a place of physical pleasure and enjoyment with much food and wine and silver goblets and vast personal wealth and jewels and thousands of servants and wives. But to die a Muslim is to die without any peace. You don't know What's going to happen to you? You don't have any certainty. You don't know what is going to come. And then tonight 20% of the world's population will die either Hindus or Buddhists. They don't believe in heaven as a final home. They say it's just a temporary place where you get reborn into another realm. There is no peace to such people when they come to die. They're dying as an atheist dies, without hope. Another 20% of the world's population claim to be atheists, dying without hope. What a depressing and tormenting death, to die without any hope. Well tonight, I wish to show that only the Christian dies with hope and peace. You see, there is a perfect heaven, a holy place. That will be their eternal right. It says here in verse 27 at the beginning, And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, anything unclean, anything impure, Anything unholy will never come into heaven. It will be a perfect place. Well, this is the hope of every Christian. Is it your hope tonight? That when you come to die, you will die with peace in your heart? With a hope that you will reach the glory of Emmanuel's land, this New Jerusalem? Well, of course, we must come here to ask this question about the Lamb's Book of Life. It says that no one will get to heaven but those which are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Well, there's three thoughts tonight. What is written in the Book? That's the first question. What is written in the Lamb's Book of Life? Who owns this book? And thirdly, what is the purpose of this book? Well, what is written in the Lamb's Book of Life? Well, of course, God has many different books. It's interesting to note the Bible is God's book of inspiration. It's been given by God. In Revelation chapter 5, you can read of another book. The book of God's decrees, his secret plans, his purposes for the universe, that's all written as it were in a book in heaven, sealed with seven seals. God knows the future, you see. And for the Christian, we say we thank God that he knows the future. He holds the key of all unknown, we say, and I am glad If other hands should hold the key or if he trusted it to me, I might be sad. We thank God that he holds all our future. He has his book of decrees. He has a book of natural life. Written in it is your name this evening. You are in that book of natural life. You've been given life. He appointed the day of your birth. It was written in that book. and you are here tonight and when we come to die our name will be taken out of that book of life, of natural life. And then God has another book, a book of remembrance we're told of in Malachi 3. Those that fear the Lord it says. Many things are recorded about them. The things that they say one to another are written in God's book of remembrance. And then in this previous chapter, we read of a book which contains all the deeds that people have done. If you look here in verse 12 of chapter 20, And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were open. What a revelation that will be. The books of the deeds of men. Everything you've done in your life is recorded in heaven. That's not hard for us to understand, is it? In this time when our government is recording everything we're doing on the internet and every message we send and so on. God has recorded all these things. He knows all these things. They're in his book of records. But then here, in verse 27 of chapter 21, we read of the Lamb's book of life. What is in this book? Well, it tells us here, there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. In other words, people's names are written in this book. It's the names of all those who will be finally saved, who will believe, will turn to Christ and trust in Him and be saved. What a list! Not everybody's name is in this book. We're told in chapter 17 that this book was written before the foundation of the world. That's a remarkable thing, isn't it? That those who are going to be saved, God knew and wrote them in the Lamb's Book of Life. Well, what does this teach us? It teaches us that Christ doesn't call nations. He doesn't call multitudes in one go to himself. He calls us one by one. Our names are written there. He's interested in us as individual people. He says, my sheep, hear my voice. And I know them. And they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life. I have a great love for them. And so, I know them by name. Do you tonight know Jesus Christ? Have you come to know of Him? Because if you have, then your name is written in this Lamb's Book of Life. In the old days, many of the cities used to have somebody, a mayor or a burgess, some important person in the city and he had special or she had special rights, freedom to trade and so on in that city and their names were written in a book of gold and kept safe. Well, this is a wonderful picture of the glories of those who come to know Jesus Christ. What glory rests on them? Their name is in that book written in heaven. But do you know who is written in this book? You might say, well, of course, it's going to be the famous people of the world. must be written here. All those people that have done great deeds and exploits in the world, surely their names will be found here. But you know the remarkable thing is that God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. He's chosen people who are looked down upon in society. Paul says, you see your calling brethren. Not many noble people are called to be Christians. Not many mighty people are called to be Christians. And so, in the Lamb's Book of Life, I've written the names of many beggars, many drunkards, many immoral people, many people who've been taken from ditches and slums and come from the most despicable backgrounds and have lived the most dreadful and wicked lives. Their names are found here. in the Lamb's Book of Life. We haven't got time, but the Bible tells us of so many of them who, naturally speaking, you would say their name would never be found in the Lamb's Book of Life. But they are. There was once, back in the 1700s, a very wealthy woman called Lady Huntingdon. And she was a noble woman. She was a woman of great renown in society. And she said, I've been saved by the letter M. Because not many noble. There will be a few written in this Lamb's Book of Life. Not many mighty. She said, if it said not any, my name would have been excluded. All kinds of people are written here in the Lamb's Book of Life. Christ said to the disciples when they come into persecution, rejoice for your names are written in heaven. You see, He's prepared a kingdom from the foundation of the world. He said in Matthew 25, Then shall the king say unto them, Come ye, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. You see, God set down the names of all those that would be saved in this Lamb's Book of Life. Fear not, he said, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. He cannot forget your name. If your name is here, it cannot be forgotten. The foundation of God stand this sure. He knoweth them that are His, because their names are in this book. Well, to be a Christian then is to have a certain future. It is to have a glorious hope. Before us, David said in Psalm 40 that the Lord thought about him and you might say tonight, does God think of me? What about my life? What about my soul? What will happen to me when I come to die? Will I have any peace or any hope? David said, I am poor and I am needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me. Tonight you might be saying the same thing, that you're poor and needy. You know, if your name is in this Book of Life, then the Lord will think upon you because He loves you. He's loved you with an everlasting love. He knoweth them that are His. They are known unto God. They are known in heaven. Their names are written there. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. Paul says in Romans 8, For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. If your name is in the Book of Life, what a privilege, what an amazing joy that you have and hope that you have. Well, who owns this book? Secondly, well, we're told here it's the Lamb's Book of Life. The first name in this book is that of Jesus Christ. You see, He is the head of the body. This list of names is the church of Jesus Christ. A church is not a building. A church or the church of Jesus Christ is one body of people. Boys and girls and adults too, who've been saved. They've sought the Lord and He's found them and He's saved them. And they've committed their life to Him. He died for them. He suffered at Calvary. for those who are on this list of names. Now what does it mean here, the Lamb's Book of Life? You might say, that's a strange term. Why is it talking about a lamb? Well of course, it's teaching us something about how our names can be on this book, in this book. You remember how in the children of Israel in Egypt. They were in slavery and they had to kill a lamb and shed the blood and paint it on the door posts and the lintel. For the Lord said the angel of death as one of the plagues that he was smiting Egypt with would come over and those who had the blood upon the doorposts and then for the angel of death would pass over them. A lamb then had to be slain in order for those in the house to be safe. And that's a picture for us and our souls. Christ, the Lamb of God, perfect spotless life because He was very God as well as very man. He had to lay down His life in order to shed His blood that will cover our sin, atone for our guilt, that the wrath of God would not find us. It found Christ instead. He bore the penalty that was due to us for our sin. We've all sinned, come short of God's glory. but Christ as the Lamb. He died on behalf of His people. Did He die on behalf of you? Do you look to Him and you say, Lord, I need a Saviour. My sins are so great. I'm so guilty. And I only can seek Jesus Christ. He is the only Saviour of sinners. You see, to be a Christian then, the reason why we have peace when we come to die is because we know that we have a Lamb, a Lamb, a perfect Lamb that was slain on our behalf, who gave His life so freely and so willingly and was filled with love as He did so. He loved us so. that He gave His life for our sins. To be a Christian then is to be forgiven, to be washed, to be set free, to be safe in the hands of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who bought us with His own blood. He owns the book. Well, thirdly, what's the purpose of this book? We're told here, but they which are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. It's a book of those who, by God's grace, you know, they were defiled, they were abominable, they did lie, but by the grace of God, we have been saved, washed, cleansed and given life because we've come to know Jesus Christ for ourselves. This is life eternal, Jesus said, that they might know Thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. We have eternal life if our name is written in this book of life. You know, there are many people today just living for this world and maybe you're one of them. You say, I want this and I want that and I want the other, but you're not realising that there is eternity before you. There is a realm that will open up after death. And what are you doing? Are you thinking about eternal life? Jesus said, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, not here upon the earth where moth and rust do corrupt. Do you have any treasure in heaven this evening? You know, there are some who have come to know Jesus Christ and given their life wholly to Him, as true Christians do, And they said this. Here is one of them. He is a missionary to the Orca Indians in Ecuador. He said, people who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. And they forget that they are too expending their life. And when the bubble has burst, they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years. that they have wasted. You know, that man, Nate Saint, his name is, went to the Orca Indians. Nine of them murdered him. But he and his colleagues had committed themselves to reaching them with the Gospel. They had given their lives into this work, come what may, because they realised that there was an eternal future. Later, seven of those nine were converted and brought to know the Lord. Their names, you see, were in the Book of Life. And so we evaluate the things of this world and we think this is all that there is, but there is a great future for every believer. Do you tonight have a hope of heaven? When those books are opened, what will it say of you? What will it reveal of you and your life? When you're standing before the throne and say all your family are around and they're very keen to know what is written in God's record of you and what will be your destiny. Well, it tells us that there is another book that was opened. You see, the Book of Records will say one thing about my life and it will be a terrible record. But I thank God that this other book, the Lamb's Book of Life, will also be opened. And by His grace, There will be written my name and I will enter in to this new Jerusalem. Do you have a certain hope tonight? Can you know if your name is written in heaven? Will you know the unspeakable solemn reality of hell or the unspeakable joy of heaven. Can you know if your name is written in the book of life? Do we have to wait for that day to see whether we are enrolled and enlisted there? Well, there's an interesting verse in Acts 13. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad. They heard the preaching of Christ's gospel. They were glad to hear it. and they glorified the Word of God and as many as were ordained to eternal life, believed. They heard the Gospel and as many as were enrolled, believed. As many who were enlisted in the Lamb's Book of Life, believed. You see, if you hear the Gospel and you come and turn from your sin and repent before the Lord and call upon Him for mercy, then you can be sure your name is written in this citizen's list of heaven, this roll of life. You see, Christ, when He went to Gethsemane and He suffered in the garden there, And the Father revealed to him that cup that he would have to drink, that cup of sorrow, that cup of sin, that cup of evil. He took with him the book of life and he said, nevertheless, not my will but thine be done. You see, Christ was thinking of all those who were written here in this Book of Life. Was he thinking of you in Gethsemane? And when he went to Pilate to the pavement and was judged of him and was mocked of the soldiers and came forth wearing a crown, he took a crown of thorns, he took this Book of Life with him. And he said, I am able to endure all this. the mocking, the scourging, the crown of thorns because of my love for all those in the Book of Life. When He went to the cross and was nailed to the wood and lifted up and mocked and scorned, He took with Him this Book of Life. And he suffered on the cross for everyone whose name is written here. And he cried out when the work was done. It is finished. You see, Christ died to give us life. Life more abundant. Life eternal. The great love of Jesus Christ who calls us to himself. who calls us from the darkness of our sin, from our wickedness and waywardness and folly, to taste of eternal things, the joy of heaven, peace with God, and a knowledge that when we come to leave the world, our name is inscribed with His blood in the Lamb's Book of Life. Well, in closing tonight, we're going to sing a hymn by Lady Huntington. One of the lines that was in this hymn, it says, but can I bear the solemn thought? What if my name should be left out? Can you bear that thought tonight? What if my name will be left out of the Lamb's Book of Life. You know, when anyone goes to the Queen to be knighted, they have to kneel. Will you kneel tonight before Jesus Christ and give your life, your heart, your all to Him that He may give to you eternal life? Blessed is everyone who has a place in the Lamb's Book of Life, because they will have a place in the New Jerusalem, the City of God, for all eternity. May none of us here be left out. Let's pray. O gracious Lord, O Thou art so tender and kind Lord, we pray this evening that if there's anyone who is concerned about eternity and needing that peace and that joy, which only comes through looking unto Jesus, we pray that thou would draw each one, all of us here, to see him, knowing that we are only saved by thy grace. We cannot work our way to heaven. But there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. May we all be found solely and wholly and only trusting in the Lamb of God. Amen.