I was hoping for another couple of verses on that one. I must say, it's hard not to sing when you have songs like the ones we've been singing. I'm always trying, especially these past weeks, not to stream a voice too much, but it's hard, so hard when you have worship songs the way we have. Let us just pray together, shall we? Lord, we wanna thank you that we are in your house. We wanna thank you, Lord, that you have a role, and that role will be called. And Lord, I pray that our names, each and every one of our names will be found on that role, will be found in your book. Lord, I pray that you will open up your word, speak to us tonight, give us understanding, give us sensitive hearts. Let us respond to you, we ask. Amen. Tonight's gonna be a bit of an interesting one. I must confess, the title seems a bit strange. I'll give you the title first, and then I will explain my thought pattern. I've been watching some testimonies over this past week, and something that was said just sparked interest in me, and I wrote down the title for tonight, and it went like this. Having your name in lights or your name in the light. Having your name in lights or your name in the light. Now I know that's a bit cryptic, but I'll explain. And then as I kept going, it sort of drifted to looking at the book of life. So we're going to look at these. They're very similar in nature, taking two different angles. But the title, as I said, is having your name in lights or your name in the light. And that's a very important question to ask ourselves. As I said, it sounds a bit weird. And you may say, what's all that about, like your name in light, your name in the light? This phrase, name and lights, I don't know if you know where it comes from. This whole thing of having your name in lights comes from around the 1900s when the star of the show would have their name in lights over the marquee. That's where it comes from. It means, in essence, that you have become famous, you're successful, you're highly visible, especially in the entertainment world. It means you're significant, you're a public figure, or you've achieved something. That's what it means. And many of us, we want to achieve something. In essence, we want to say our, we want our name, I don't know if you ever thought that, you know, I want my name in lights, I want to achieve something. And that's not, in one sense, a bad goal to have, but it's not necessarily what I believe Scripture wants for us. I believe Scripture wants us to have our name in the light, as opposed to in lights. The Bible does say, before we get to the passage we're going to read for this evening, the Bible does say in John 8-12 that Jesus said, I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Jesus says that He is the light of the world. We touched on that when we touched on the I Am's many, many months ago. Then in Matthew, Christ's teaching, in Matthew 5, verses 14 to 16, He says, you are the light of the world. So in essence, our name, who we are, should be found in Christ, and if we are in Christ, we should reflect Christ. Only He is the light, but He should shine through us so that others may see our Father and glorify our Father in heaven. Paul put it this way in 2 Corinthians 5, 17, if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation, the old is gone, the new has come, if anyone is in Christ. So this whole concept of having our name in Christ in the light, being reflective of that light, being a new creation in Christ, these are all great biblical concepts and great biblical pictures that are given to us. But I wanna bring out another one just to give us an idea of what it means to have our name in the light, or in Christ, is to ask a simple question. Is your name on God's register? Think about it. We wanna read Daniel chapter 12, verse one. Don't worry for all the Bible study people. I'm only reading one verse. Daniel 12, verse one. This is at the very end, you know, as it comes to the very end of the book, but we want to read just the first verse of Daniel chapter 12, and it says this. At that time, Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time, your people shall be delivered. Everyone who is found written in the book. everyone who is found written in the book. So there's an equivalence happening here. Our name is in the light, is in Christ. It's equivalent to our name being in the book, the Lamb's Book of Life, as it's also known. And we're gonna unpack this a bit, and the question still comes, is your name in the Lamb's Book of Life? Is it in God's register? And I will explain what that means in a minute. Now there's different ways, and this has a, we were just praying back in the vestry there, and I'm thinking this has a habit, this could go wrong big time, because different people have different approaches to how your name gets in the Lamb's Book of Life. Okay, and I'm not here to defend one or the other, I'm just here to present to you that your name has to be there. If your name's not there, then when the register is called, when we all see Christ face-to-face, when the roll is called up yonder, as we just sang, your name has to be in the Lamb's Book of Life. But we want to unpack this. We want to just look at this. What does this mean? How does this work out? The Book of Life, that phrase, the Book of Life, is referred to eight times in the Bible. In 66 books, it's referred to eight times. Seven being in Revelation. So the Book of Life is specifically a revelation phrase, and it's important. It's not just because it's in one book, that's it, or it's in two books. It's an important phrase, and it's one we have to unpack. So the Book of Life is referred to eight times in the Bible, seven being in Revelation, and one in Philippians. We'll get to that in a minute. The Lamb's Book of Life, is referred to twice in Revelation. The Lamb's Book of Life. And again, I would like to say that these are similar meanings. They're just different shades and different aspects. And we're told that written in heaven is mentioned once in the New Testament. Your name being written in heaven is mentioned once in the New Testament. And that's found in Luke, chapter 10, verse 20. So this concept of your name being written in heaven, your name being in God's book of life, or the Lamb's book of life, is a very biblical phrase, but it's put within a specific context. And I think it's very important we understand that. So in the Old Testament, I find this interesting. Interesting. In the Old Testament, you'll not find the phrase book of life, you'll not find the phrase the Lamb's book of life, and you'll not find the phrase written in heaven. What you will find is the phrase my book. God speaking, he speaks about his book. We see this in Exodus 32 verse 33. where God's gonna deal with rebellious people, and Moses says, if you're gonna blot anyone out of your book, blot me out of your book. Be merciful to them, but take me out of your book. Now, that's a fascinating prayer in and of itself, and I wish we had time to unpack that one, but we'd never get to communion if we did. But here, and this is the reality, there is a record in heaven. And we have to understand this, there is a record in heaven and your name is either on the record or it's not on the record. Your name is in the book or it's not in the book. Your name is in the light, Christ, or it's not. You're found in Christ or you're not. There's no ifs or buts on this one. And I wish I could give you another answer to this, but we can't. And as I thought about this and prayed about this, And trust me, it's not something I like to speak about very often, but God said, if you're preparing for the coming of the king, what better way to prepare than to be sure that your name is in the book? It's very important we understand this. Because when the king comes, as we looked at this morning, when he comes again, or when we see him face to face, he's not gonna ask, as I said, about your attendance card or what church you attend. Tinder or anything like that, he's going to open up the book and if your name's not there, according to scripture, you don't get in. And that's a sad thing to say, and I don't say it gleefully or judgmentally, it's just a fact of life. According to Scripture, that there is a register in heaven, and I had a bit of a, I don't think it's gonna be like school. For all you schoolteachers or retired schoolteachers, you know what you call the register at the beginning of the day? I don't think it's gonna be like that where some angel's gonna be calling out the names. But there is a name, there is a register in heaven of those who belong to Christ, those who are in God's family and those who are not. And I think we have, because Revelation talks about the books are opened. The books are opened. And then there's another book open, the Lamb's Book of Life, and only those found there have life. But it's interesting here that Daniel states one thing very quickly here. And again, while this is put in the context of the end times and how God's gonna deal with Israel, if you've been following the Bible study, you will know by this time, the whole attention is turned back to what God's doing with Israel. And while this is all too prophetic and in the future and everything else, the phrase still stands, that there is a deliverance that happens. It talks about, at the end of verse 1 of chapter 12, it says, Now, we're not going to work out end-time stuff at the minute, but here is the reality. There is a deliverance found in Christ and in Christ alone and through Christ and Christ alone, and we can be assured of that deliverance But only if we're found in Christ. Only if we're found in His book. Only if we're found in His register. And there's a challenge here to each and every one of us. Deliverance is needed. Deliverance from death, deliverance from a lost eternity, deliverance from hopelessness and brought into a place of hope and life. A place where we're lost and we're not in community to a place where we're in a family and we're in the community of God. That deliverance that comes when we're found only in Christ. This is for believers. This is for followers of Christ. We see this in Philippians chapter four and verse three. I must say, I've wrestled with this one for a bit, this verse, but it really is for believers. It says this, Paul writes, he says, and I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life. Do you get that? Help one another. If we claim to be followers of Christ, there's not a one-upmanship. We should be helping one another and pushing one another on to greater holiness, greater accountability because of one fact. Our names are in the book of life. What we do reflects on God. And so the question still comes, is our name, in the book of life, is our name in God's register. This aspect of our names being written in God's book, or our names being in the light, in him, is not a source, it should not be a source of arrogance, or look at me, look who I am. It should be a source of praise and worship, of thanksgiving, that God poured his grace out on someone like me. He poured his grace out on someone like you. And he gave his life. And he didn't have to, but he chose to. And the fact that our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life should be a source of praise, of worship, of rejoicing because of what God has done and what we have in Christ. Look, chapter 10, verse 20 says, There is, that's what it's all about. The context here, the whole thing about this is not about our gifts or the authority we have in Christ or what Christ does through us, but our source of rejoicing, our source of praise, our source of worship is the fact that our names are written in heaven. Our names are in the Lamb's Book of Life because of what Christ has done. And we're gonna remember that soon. Because of what Christ has done on the cross and through the resurrection. Because we have come and we've asked God to forgive us. Our names are written in the book of life. There is a phrase that has caused me no end of concern. I will be very honest with you. And it's found a lot, especially in the book of Revelation. Come out multiple times. And it's a phrase about being blotted out of the Lamb's book of life. And the scholars have argued over this and debated over this. So I just want to let you know, you're not going to get a full answer tonight, because they've argued over it for years. So hey, I'm just going to put my two pennies worth into this. So there's something worth noting that in the Bible, Jesus never says, and I want to be honest here, Jesus never says about having your name put in, he states that the believers names are there, but he does talk about having your name blotted out. I want you to go back and read, look up in a concordance, look up, go and Google the Lamb's Book of Life and see all the verses that are there. Jesus always talks about having your name blotted out, removed from it. It's a terrifying thought when you think about it, because if that's God's register, God's going to open it up, and whoever's names are in it, you're in heaven and you're not. Well, depending on the scholars you read, I suppose. How this happens, again, is debated, but I want to bring out one thing. Many people will say this, in Ephesians 1, verse 4, A particular wing of the church will quote this, and it says, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy without blame before him in love. God, some will say, well, he chose us before the foundation of the world. There is an issue with that, and I'll say what one of my lecturers when I was in Bible school said. He said, I've changed my opinion, he said, because if I hold to the fact that God chose some to be in my book, he chose some not to be in his book. So how can we then preach God so loved the world? That was his thought pattern. I'm not trying to say anything other than that's where he was going with this. But we have to understand how scripture was written. And it struck me as I looked into this, as we debate over this, the phrase from the foundation, or that little phrase from, is apo, okay, A-P-O, in Greek, and it means from, or from before, or from the time of, or since. And so many people have argued over this. They've unpacked this. And the problem is, when we look at how Scripture is written, and how it's translated, we argue over certain words, and we... We substitute certain words. From or before, we can substitute for other words. But it's interesting when you think about that little Greek word, it can mean from, away from, or of, indicating a separation or a source. So in essence, that we can say that from, from before the foundation of the world, Christ was the source of salvation for all who believe. Makes sense, could very much make sense. For all who believe, Christ is the source of salvation. No one else and nothing else can save except Christ and Christ alone. So is your name in Christ in the line? Or is your name, and is your name in the book of life? Because you can only be there because of Christ. Christ is the origin of salvation. He is the source of salvation. No one's name is written in God's register without Him. what some people have argued over. And I want to just put it out there that this phrase blotted out of the register or out of the book comes from the Roman idea that if they were going to try and demean or remove like a public official from all thought and all record, they would blot them out of the city's register. So they would be removed from memory. They would be removed from all record if they were blotted out. And the question, and again, you see this all throughout the revelation, and again, these are big, difficult, complex issues. I know I'm aware of that we skate over here, but it keeps saying, to the overcomer, to the one who perseveres, to the overcomer, I will give, whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. There's this sense of persevering. It's not a, I've prayed this prayer one time, therefore I've got my ticket to heaven. There's this sense of I've prayed the prayer, I've give Christ control of my life, I follow Him and I live for Him. I live for Him every single day. I count the cost. I count the cost. There are people today, even in this country, and also in the south of Ireland who are going to jail because they refuse to water down their faith. Get that, we're not talking about the East, we're not talking about some of the great persecuted Christians, we're also talking about in the Republic of Ireland, people are going to jail because they refused to give up their faith. Are we persevering in such a way that we will count the cost, no matter what, so that our names remain in the book of life? There are difficult, difficult passages here that will never be easy, that are very easy, or will not be easy to be understood. We get, again, the concept of being blotted out from Exodus 32, Psalm 69. You know, you get this whole idea that there's a choice that can be made if we turn our back on God. And I wanna be honest with you, there's a, one of the most scariest phrases that Christ can ever say to anyone is depart from me, I never knew you. Depart from me, I never knew you. Now if you think about that, they're going, but didn't we cast out demons? And didn't we do great things in your name? And you go, well, I didn't know you. Depart from me. So it's not about necessarily what we do in his name. It's our relationship with him. And therefore, we wanna keep ourselves as close to him as possible. Elsewhere in Revelation, those whose names are in the book of life are those who steadfastly resist the temptation to apostasy and who therefore stand in God's great day. The church is under great attack these days. What Christians can and cannot do are under great attack these days. I would like to say that the community and our politicians don't care if you believe in Christ. Just don't do it publicly. Don't stand on the street. That's why street preachers are being arrested. You can believe what you want in private, but just don't do it publicly. But you can't hide light. Light needs to be shown out in the darkness. Light reveals, light shows the way to go. And so God calls us to stand firm, to be steadfast in all things. I could read from Revelation 3, verse 5, Revelation 17, verse 8, Revelation 20, verses 11 to 15, chapter 21, verse 27, chapter 22, verse 19, but it's the same thing. Those who overcome, those who persevere, those who stand strong. My question to you is this. Do you want your name in lights? about how good you are, how much you have achieved? Or do you want your name in the light, Christ? Do you wanna be made a new creation in Christ? Do you want your name in his register so that when he opens up the book, your name is found in the Lamb's book of life? These are questions that only you can answer. Christ came that we may have life and have it to the full. Christ came that we may have life. He wants to offer life to its fullest form. Not absent of trouble or stress, but he wants to offer us the fullness of life. He wants to forgive us and wash us clean. He wants to make us new. He wants to bring us into relationship. And all that is done through the cross and the resurrection of Christ. All that comes when we say, Father, forgive me. I wanna live for you. And when we see Christ face to face, and the books are opened, our name is found there. That's what it's all about. So where is your name? Where is your name? Where do you want your name to be found? That's another question. Do you want your name to be found in lights? Everybody looking at you? What you've achieved? What mark you've made? in whatever field, be it music or some form of the other performing art, or teaching or preaching or whatever. Do you want your name in lights? Or do you want to be found in the light? Your name, name to be in the light, Christ. To be found made new in him. Every day to get up and make that choice and count that cost to follow Christ. That when his register is read out, when we meet him face to face, your name will be in the book. When the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there. That's what we've just sang, is it not? When the roll is called up yonder. That is the choice you make. That is the choice that I make. No one can make it for you. Jesus calls us to have our name, our identity in him, in him. He wants us to be in Him, be connected to Him, be part of His family, that He would shape everything that we do and say and think, that He would be our chief goal. He wants us to have our name in Him. He wants to make us new. We are to be made new in Him. The old is gone, the new has come. The old is gone, the new has come. The old things we used to do should not entice us anymore, should not have the same pull as they used to. Our heart should be after Christ. In essence, as we're told in Matthew, we are to bear good fruit. We are to bear good fruit. I always put myself in this challenge, and I'll be honest with you, if I was in the shoes of Paul, beaten, near death, in a damp, dark dungeon, would I be singing, you give and take away? Blessed be the name of the Lord. Would I sing that? I suppose I don't know until I find myself there. But we sing songs so easily and yet he wants us to bear good fruit in how we speak and what we think about and how we act with one another. We are to live out his life, encouraging one another, encouraging the followers whose names are in the book of life. Then we can be sure that when the register is called, our name is in the book. Our name is in his book, the Lamb's Book of Life. And Christ can say, come, welcome, good and faithful servant. And I know which one I wanna hear. I wanna hear welcome, good and faithful servant, but that means every day we count the cost. Every single day. I choose to live. with my name in Christ, my name in the light, that my name will be found, written, because of all that Christ has done, not because of anything that I have done or anything that we have done, but we who follow Christ will find our names in the book of life because of what Christ has done, his death, his resurrection. So the question comes as we finish, where do you want your name? In lights or in the light in Christ? Whose register is your name on? Is it on God's register? When we see him face to face and the roll is called up yonder, will your name be on it? I do hope so. I do hope so. That's a choice you make to give Christ your life, to follow him, to follow him every day, to put him first every day, that when the role is called up yonder, our name will be on it. So just some thoughts that God put on my heart as we thought about the coming king, as we prepare for the coming king, as we looked at this morning. Part of the preparation for the coming king is to understand where our name is, is our name in his book of life. And if it's not, or if you're not sure, I would encourage you to speak to us afterwards. Let us introduce you to the one who paid the ultimate price through death and resurrection that you may have life in him. Guilt-free, shame-free, be forgiven, made new, and have your name in his register. Please do not leave this place if you do not know Christ personally, but let us introduce you to him. Amen. We're going to finish with our final hymn, which is something I forgot. Be Thou My Vision. When he was sleeping, my presence found. We crown Him Lord of all. Lord, we realize there are things that we have touched on tonight. Complex things. Lord, I just pray that you will take away any Lord, I pray that your spirit would take that thought of having our name in you, being found in you, being identified with you, having our names in your book. Lord, and if there's someone here who is unsure or doesn't know you, Lord, let tonight be the night where they can say for certain that Jesus is my Lord. Again, Lord, take away anything that's not from you, leave only your truth, and would you get all the glory and all the honor. Amen. Great, we come this time to remember what our Lord has done for us. To bear in our hearts and our minds all that God has done for us. But we're gonna sing just before we have a few thoughts. Jesus, my Savior, to Bethlehem came. So let's sing together. ♪ Jesus, my Savior ♪ What a great truth that is. Jesus said in Mark 10, 45, for even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Dying for me. I think it's in a very important verse, one that is skated over So very quick, and we focus on that word ransom, that Christ paid our ransom, and that is true. But Christ said, for even the Son of Man, and I wanna suggest, as we think about that, that's a very strong phrase from Daniel. Daniel 7, it says, one like the Son of Man, coming in the clouds to judge the nations, of the earth, of the world. He is the divine judge. Picture that. Christ said, for even this divine judge, this son of man, did not come to be served. Christ could have when he was old enough. In fact, he could have came as a man if he wanted. He didn't have to come as a baby, but he did. He chose to be born as we were born. He chose to live a life, grow up as many of us grow up. Just to think of that, and yet he could have said as the son of man, he said, I want you to serve me, but he didn't. He says, for even the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve. He served, he emptied himself of everything, of all, That great phrase, that great term in Philippians, he became nothing. He emptied himself, took on the very form, very nature of a servant. He did not come to be served, but to serve. And if that wasn't enough, thinking that God, the creator of everything, came to serve, he added, and to give his life as a ransom for many. His hearers wouldn't have understood that. They would have understood what the word ransom meant. They would have understood what, some probably would have had the idea of that, what that phrase, son of man, meant. But for him to say that he had come to give his life as a ransom for many, I don't think they really fully understood. I mean, even his disciples, at the Passover didn't fully understand. Even though Christ had said time and time again that he was going to die for the sins of the world and rise again, they still didn't quite get it. And I don't blame them because it was so far out of their understanding, their worldview. And yet the truth still comes. as we are faced with this broken bread, this cup, that the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life. No one took it, no one forced Him, He gave it, willingly, freely. John put it this way, for God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, His only begotten Son. This was a giving. Because this demonstration of love, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. He bought us back. He paid our ransom, he paid our debt. He bought us out of slavery. He set us free. All those great pictures we get in the New Testament is wrapped up in that phrase, give his life as a ransom for many. If you're here remembering, then you're one of the many. You're part of that many. We're here to give thanks that God saved us. We didn't save ourselves. Because of the shed blood of Christ, we are saved. We did not save ourselves. We're not saved by our own merits. We're saved through Christ and through Christ alone. So as we partake of this bread, and as we partake of this cup, I want you to remember that Christ gave himself as a ransom. He chose to. He willingly did it because he demonstrated the Father's love for us. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give. In brokenness, in this expression of not just love, but the cruelty of man, the brokenness of sin, he gave himself. as a ransom to buy us back. He did this to buy us back. Such was God's love for us. I want us to ponder on that as we partake of this communion. I'm gonna ask Sam if he would come now and give thanks for the bread. Lord, tonight again, as we gather round the table, your table, Lord, as we cast our minds back to Calvary once more. Lord, we say thank you. Lord, we thank you for your grace and for that gift that was freely given. Lord, we thank you that you allowed yourself to be ransomed for many. Lord, we thank you for that demonstration of love. Lord, when we hadn't yet been reconciled, Lord, where we were far from you, Lord, and yet, Lord, you come now. Lord, you were the Son of Man, but Lord, you were also the Prince of Peace and the King of Glory. And you came down, Lord, and you took on this form. And Lord, we thank you as we remember your body that was broken, Lord, for us. Lord, for taking our punishment and the peace that we now enjoy. And Lord, as we take this emblem now, the bread, Lord, we proclaim that it was for us Lord, strengthen us that we may walk faithfully until you return. Amen. As is our practice, our custom, please, as the bread comes to you, please take it and eat it. Thank you. As Christ gave himself as a ransom for many, he knew the scriptures. And in Hebrews, it says, in fact, the law requires that almost everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness of sins. He knew that it is by his shed blood that he would ransom us back. So we're gonna ask David to come now and give thanks for the cup. Heavenly Father, once again, we thank you for tonight, Lord. And we thank you that the light of the world loved us and gave himself for us. We thank you, Lord, tonight, Lord, that we are not here in any merit of ourselves or worthiness of anything we have done. But Christ gets all the glory and the honor. And Lord, we know that without the shedding of Jesus' blood, there is no remissions of sin. But Lord, we thank you that that blood shall never lose its power. We thank you it still pardons today, Lord. And Lord, we just thank you for that precious blood that was shed for the remissions of our sins. So Lord, receive of our thanks for what you've done for us. We could never repay you. And we just praise your name. Amen. Again, as is our custom, as the cup comes to you, please hold on to it and we will drink all together whenever everybody has received, please. Thank you. that we have the cup of the new covenant, and because of Christ's shed blood, we are one church with him as our head. Let us drink and remember his death until he comes again. Lord, we thank you for your shed blood. We thank you for the hope that we have in you, a hope that will never disappoint. We thank you that you have ransomed us with your death and give us hope because of your resurrection. Lord, help us never forget but always proclaim you. Amen.