The sermon is titled, Why May I Rejoice? And we will be reading this morning, if you would turn with me to Luke chapter 10. And I will be reading from 1 through 21 to give some context. And our passage of focus is Luke 10, verse 20 and the beginning of 21. So reading from Luke 10. After these things, the Lord appointed other 70 also, and sent them two by two before his face into every city and place, whether he himself would come. Therefore said he unto them, the harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few. Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest. Go your ways, behold I send you forth as lambs among wolves, carry neither purse nor script nor shoes, and salute no man by the way. And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, peace be to this house. And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it. If not, it shall turn to you again. And in the same house remain. eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house. And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive ye, Eat such things as are set before you, and heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say, even the very dust of your city, which cleaves on us, we do wipe off against you. Notwithstanding, be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. But I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which had been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shall be thrust down to hell. He that heareth you heareth me, and he that despiseth you despiseth me, and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me. And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding, in this, rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. In that hour, Jesus rejoiced in spirit. And said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. I'll read one more. All things are delivered to me of my father, and no man knoweth who the son is but the father, and who the father is but the son, and he to whom the son will reveal him. And we'll have multiple references to verses 17 through 22. But the focus of our sermon this morning is verse 20. So this sermon was first preached by Charles Haddon Spurgeon on October 29th in 1876 at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. titled Why May I Rejoice? And again, I'll read our verse of focus. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. Luke 10 verse 20. This morning we shall see our Lord correcting a very natural joy and directing its gladness into a more elevated channel. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. If we commit ourselves to him, he will guide us aright in all things and teach us to sanctify our gladness. We will commence our discourse by saying that our Lord did not blame or upbraid the 70 for rejoicing, that the devils were subject to them. It would have been a very strange thing if they were not joyous on the occasion of so great a success. They'd been sent forth on their Lord's errand, and had gone forth unhesitatingly in his name, girded with his strength, and his power had been revealed, so that his name had been glorified. Should they not rejoice? It was the kingdom of God which they had proclaimed. Should they not be joyful? It was their Lord's enemy, as well as their own, who had fallen like lightning from heaven. Should they not exult? It was not likely, therefore, that the Lord Jesus was angry at their joy when they returned again, saying, Lord, even the spirits are subject unto us through thy name. We must read our Lord's words according to the manner of speech. The peculiar idiom of our Lord's speech often makes him appear to be actually forbidding what he only places in a secondary place. He didn't mean in the present to stop their joy in their success, but only to make it subordinate to another rejoicing, and to prevent the first joy from growing to excess. Some have thought that they detected in the 70 too much personal exaltation, if not an almost childish triumph in the success which they had achieved. I must confess I see small trace of such a feeling in their report to their master. Our Lord himself evidently coincided with the truth of their report, for he also said, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. I can hardly think that he could have seen that sight without joy, and therefore, in some measure, he shared in the feelings of his servants. Had he observed in these brethren that excess of childish exaltation and vainglory, which some suppose I think he would hardly have gone on to invest such novices with yet more power. And yet he did so. For we read in the 19th verse, behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy. And nothing shall by any means hurt you. Had they been intoxicated with a sort of childish glee, the wisdom of our Lord as commander in that crusade would have led them, would have led him to say to them, I had many things which I would have given unto you, but you cannot bear them now. I see already that you're intoxicated with your present victories, and therefore I must withhold from you the extraordinary gifts of my kingdom till you are better prepared to receive them with humility and use them with wisdom. Such prudent conduct had been in accordance with the usual proceedings of our wise teacher. but he saw no such excessive exaltation. He saw nothing so far to blame them. And so he went on to say, therefore I give you power over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you. We cannot understand him to be condemning their rejoicing over the fall of devils. For he says, rejoice rather. And this almost implies that you may rejoice in the first subject of joy in some degree. Notwithstanding, he says, in this rejoice not, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. The one is forbidden only in comparison with the other. We may rejoice that God blesses our labors, but still it must be a far less prominent joy than what brings out our salvation. Church members may be glad when they see a great revival, and their number is largely increased. But at such times, it's doubly needful to look to vital godliness and personal religion, or the joy may be turned into mourning. Now, brethren, take the incident as it will apply to ourselves. There may be some of you here present to whom God has given many gifts for use in the kingdom of heaven. He may also have given you influence in his church and power among men of the world. Moreover, your gifts and your power have not been used in vain. They've been made useful in many ways, so that your course in life has been one of honor and success. The kingdom of God has come near to many through you, and the great enemy's kingdom has suffered injury by your means. Because of all this, you're greatly cheered, Is this wrong? Should you not be full of joy? I say yes. You're bound to be glad. We should all be grateful for gifts, grateful for influence, grateful for success, but a gratitude which is not attended with joy can scarcely be called gratitude at all. There must be joy in the thing received or else one can hardly be imagined to be thankful. If gratitude for these things is a duty, then surely a measure of joy is also a duty. You may rejoice that to you is this grace given, to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and you may be glad that from you the word of God has sounded forth through all the region in which you dwell. So far we go, but we must not go beyond the bounds, or we will become transgressors This joy must be held within its own lines and never suffered to run riot. Let us pause and see how our Lord Jesus puts a restraining notwithstanding and a repressive negative upon this joy when he judges that is in danger of passing due bounds. Let us note how he supplies the place of this joy by something higher and better when he says, notwithstanding in this rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. We shall dwell upon three things this morning. First, the joy which needs moderating. Secondly, the joy which needs exciting. And then thirdly, the joy of the Lord in sympathy with this last joy. Just read the first line of the 21st verse In that hour, Jesus rejoiced in spirit. Our Lord could unite in this joy under certain aspects of it. First, then, the joy which needs moderating. It's the joy of triumph over evil spirits, the joy of having preached the gospel and wrought wonders. In a word, this first joy is the joy of gifts, power, and success. This needs moderating. First, because it's so prone to degenerate into pride. The Seventy were not proud, for they said, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. This was a very proper way of reporting results. They did not take any measure of the success for themselves, but they ascribed it to the matchless, all-conquering name which they used. So far, all's well, but my brethren, the tendency of human nature is towards self-exaltation. And so, slowly, we come to emphasize the, to us. And we allow the, through thy name, to be uttered softly, and yet more softly, until it's only used as a matter of form, and we in our hearts ascribe the whole success of our work to ourselves. If God will bless any man with long-continued success, In soul winning, even though that be a higher achievement than casting out devils, there's an evil tendency in our corrupt nature that will tempt a man to dream that in him there is a peculiar excellence or special virtue. He'll say in his heart, Lord, even great sinners and proud infidels have been turned to you by my preaching and may at the same time forget that it was not his preaching but the name of Jesus which accomplished this. We are nothing. However much God may have worked by us, all the glory is due unto the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, yet we are so base as to take credit to ourselves. Who among us can claim to have been perfectly free from this temptation? True, the Lord keeps his servants humble when he uses them, and if they abound in grace, they may safely abound in gifts also. Saints may be safely trusted with abundant influence if they're abundantly under the influence of the Holy Spirit. But to be preserved, when so eminently honored, is an exceedingly great favor. When we see a successful worker in the Lord walking very humbly, we may say, this is the finger of God. Leave corrupt nature to itself. And as a warm atmosphere soon causes dead flesh to become putrid, so will ease and comfort of self-congratulation and prosperity breed corruption in our human nature. And so it's needful that joy in gift and success should be kept under due control. And if it's tolerated in a measure as it may be, it must nevertheless not be indulged in to any great extent lest evil consequences come to us. So far it may come, but no further, lest the Lord behold us becoming proud, and put us aside from his work altogether, and take unto himself other instruments which will not attempt to rob him of his glory. Again, this joy, which needs to be moderated, should be restrained by the reflection that it is no evidence of grace in the hearts that we possess gifts, or that we are successful, Talents are possessed even by wicked and slothful servants. Grace without talent will save, but talent without grace will only increase our condemnation. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. Though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains and have not charity, I am nothing. the highest conceivable gifts for church work, and the greatest influence in the church are worthless apart from grace. The possession of such powers may be accompanied by hypocrisy and falsehood. It was so in our Lord's day. Judas wrought miracles. Judas preached the gospel. Judas was not only a member of the church, but a trusted officer in it. And yet Judas went to his own place, for he was a son of perdition. Our Lord tells us to expect many cases of graceless workers, for he says, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you that work iniquity. Observe that this warning speaks not of a few, but of many. We shall not only see a Judas once in 18 centuries, but many of whom this shall be the case. Men have gone forth making use of the name of Jesus, and God has honored the name, though he has not accepted the men who have used the name. They have preached, and the message has been true, and God has owned the truth, but the men have not been true. Consequently, they've been abhorred by the Lord. Good seed will grow even though it was scattered by a leprous hand. Let us be aware, however, of speaking truth with a lying lip. Let us be aware, lest we are like Balaam, who had his eyes opened to see marvelous visions of the future, and his tongue inspired to utter deep things. And yet he fell among the accursed, because he ran greedily after a reward. Do not rejoice then, dear brethren, because God blesses you in what you're doing, so that you see souls saved and yourself honored. For this might happen to one for whom the Lord really has no regard. Rather, rejoice in being really and truly one of God's own people, written in heaven. Let us keep ourselves low and watch unto prayer. lest, after having preached to others, we ourselves should become castaways. It would be a dreadful thing to keep the door of the king's banquet hall and open it to others and yet to perish with hunger yourself. Moreover, it's very unsafe to rejoice unduly in the work which we have done, because the work, after all, may not turn out to be all that it appears. I do not know how much of real good the Seventy did, There can scarcely have been very many converts, for otherwise the number of the names would have been greater when the disciples assembled in the upper room at Pentecost. We will not, however, judge the work of the Seventy, but we do know this, that it's very easy for us to go forth and for a time to succeed, so that it seems as if even devils were subject to us, and yet there may be no true work of God. Crowds may gather to listen. There may be manifestation of deep emotion. The number of conversions put down on paper may be very great, yet there may be little or nothing in the whole matter worthy of real joy. And so it may be in other forms of service as well, in the Sunday school or in any other place. We think we've succeeded, and yet we may have only been building on sand, a baseless structure which the next tide will take away. We ought to remember that every man's work must be tested before long, for the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. It's too early to begin to rejoice until the fire has passed over our life work. The edifice is very lofty and apparently beautiful, but what if those walls would turn out to be composed of straw? The foundations of stubble and the rafters of dry wood. How soon will they yield to fire? And how rapidly will the fabric disappear? He who has built the tiniest cell of sparkling gems or the smallest cottage of gold has done more than he who heaped aloft in the air a pyramid of hay. It's not the quantity of the work done. It's not the space occupied in church history. It's not the noise of our great doings. The question is, what is really and truly done? The quality is far more important than the quantity. The enduring character of the work is far more to be considered than the flash and the shine of it. Therefore, rejoice not, oh young man, in all the brilliant success which has, for the present, attended you, and rejoice not even, old man, though you have had half a century of prosperity, rejoice not so much in this as to exalt thyself because of it. but rather rejoice in something safer and more gracious. Rejoice that your name is written in heaven, if it really is. This joy again, however good our work may be, is to be moderated because it does not prove that we are any more precious or that we are any more gracious than others of far less gift and usefulness. Did you notice in the chapter which precedes my text that nine of the apostles attempted to cast out a devil from the lunatic child and they were unable to accomplish it? So they said to the master, why could we not cast him out? The majority of the sacred conclave of apostles failed to cast out a devil and yet 70 inferior persons all return with joy and say, hey Lord, even the spirits are subject unto us. Do you draw the inference, therefore, that the 70 were superior to the apostles? If you do, you've made a very grand mistake, for they are by no means so. It would be a very great pity for any person who has been made useful in the kingdom of God to infer that he is therefore better than those whose earnest labors are crowned by no apparent results. Any obscure child of God whose name has never been mentioned in the church may yet be more worthy than we are. Of all estimates of ourselves, that which is founded upon our apparent usefulness is likely to be most deceptive. Go to, sir, if you consider yourself to be someone, because you've wrought amazing wonders. I will show you the choicest of my master's children on sickbeds, I will show you the richest and rarest piety connected with illiterate poverty. I will find you a man who could not speak a sentence grammatically, who lives in the very bosom of Christ, and will put you to shame for the depth and power of his vital godliness. I'll find you one who shines as a precious jewel in Jehovah's sight, compared with whom you are a poor dull pebble And yet you are highly esteemed in the eyes of men, and he has little honor. His prayers have been of a thousand times more use to the church than your preaching. Yes, it may be even that your preaching owes its success to his prayers. We cannot judge character by gift. He who has one talent and uses it well shall have better acceptance in the last days than he who has five talents and uses them poorly. He who fills his circle, though the circle is small, will have far more comfort therein than he who has a vast field, but left the major part of it untilled. Great importance in the public mind is no argument of great grace. A man is not worthier for being successful. The best may not be the most prosperous, Boast not yourself, O fishermen, because your net is filled. For as good men as you have toiled all night and taken nothing. Again, this joy and success needs to be kept under tight rein because it's not abiding joy. If you, O man, rejoice today because of subject devils, what will you do tomorrow when the devils break loose again? If you return from your labor full of success and rejoice, what will you do when another time you will have to plow the thankless rock and break the plowshare? What if your master would send you to where there will be no response to your invitation? What if he would send you among Samaritans who will not even hear you, and you will have to go from city to city and wipe the dust off your feet against them? What if you should meet a child possessed of a devil and find that you cannot cast the devil out because this kind goes not out except by prayer and fasting? Why man, you will be sorely depressed and your courage will fail. If you have fed your soul upon such light bread as apparent success, it will weaken you. And what will you do when your prosperity wanes? You will not have steadfastness enough to go on under discouragement, and you will shun your Lord's service. This will be ill indeed. Oh, for a faith that has nourished on something better than appearances, a faith that does not live on gift or influence or present success, but sustains itself upon the unfailing promise of the ever-blessed God, this is what we need. Once again, this joy, even if we were to be filled with it to overflowing, would be found unable to bear the strain of trial, trouble, temptation, and death. Will any man when he lies dying be able to console himself with the reflection, I have testified of Christ to others? Will he not need some other confidence? Will he not require something far more personal? Will this be the sweet morsel that will stay the hunger of his soul What if this man had power over devils? May not the devils yet obtain power over him? Will he be able to cheer himself amidst death's chilly waves with this boast? I was a loud talker and a mighty professor, and the cause of Christ grew under my leadership. No. In such times as that, we will want surer consolations and diviner comfort. Unhappy will he be who has accustomed himself to live upon the excitement of crowded meetings or upon the praises of friends. Gifts, attainments, labors, successes, all heaped together, cannot support a soul on the verge of eternity. There is ever present the fact that such things are no sure sign of regeneration. Did not the sons of Pharisees cast out devils? Did not people say of Simon Magus, this man is the great power of God? Yet these are graceless deceivers. We must have sure evidence of new birth. We must know that our citizenship is in heaven. We must know that we belong to Jesus. We must know that our names are written in heaven or else we will find ourselves utterly undone in our dying hours. For all these reasons, Don't be too elated because of devils conquered, crowds gathered, or souls saved, but listen to your Lord's voice while he points you to other reasons for rejoicing. So now we come secondly to consider the joy which needs exciting. Rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. I'm glad, my brethren, that this is the joy in which we may indulge to the full, because it is one in which all the saints may unite and take their share. If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, my dear brother, though you can do but little for him, you may rejoice that your name is written in heaven. Herein, the bedridden sister may rejoice. Herein, the incurably diseased may exult. The child of God whose tongue is silenced by infirmity and whose conflicts with devils are confined to his closet and his chamber may come in and say, I too can rejoice that my name is written in heaven. The joy which our Lord commends is one which springs from faith, while the other joy arises from sight. A man can see that he has gifts. He can see that he has power and influence. He can see that he has success, but rest assured that every joy which comes to believers through the sight of the eyes is a doubtful joy. It's a dessert of which we must eat in small measure. Have you found honey such as this? Do not eat too much of it or it will sicken you. The joy caused by our names being written in heaven comes of faith, for I has not seen the record, neither has an angel read it to us, and only because we believe in Jesus are we assured thereof. For this reason, the joy grows in a good soil and is in itself safe. All the joys of faith are safe as the water which flowed from the smitten rock. No poisonous streams can ever issue from that source. This joy is a heavenly manna, whereof a man may eat according to his eating, and let his soul be satiated. This is healthy meat, which breeds no plague in the camp, as did the eating of quails. For the quails were sent in wrath to satisfy their fierce desires. We never hear of men dying of eating manna, which came down from heaven, but they did die through eating quails, which was food for their lusts. Be it yours to get as much as you ever can of the joys of faith, and especially of this, rather rejoice that your names are written in heaven. This joy consists in knowing our election, knowing, dearly beloved, your election of God. Knowing that your names are written in heaven from before the foundation of the world, oh, what an inconceivable delight. To be God's choice is the choicest of delights. The joy of having your name written in heaven includes the joy of knowing that you are precious to the Lord. For it is written, a book of remembrance was kept for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord, in the day when I make up my jewels. We also rejoice that our names are written, that is known and published in heaven. Paul mentioned certain of his fellows of whom he said, whose names are written in heaven as much as to say, though they have neither fame nor honor, here they have perpetual record where honor is worth receiving, namely before the throne of God. The heavenly writing of our name signifies that we are part and parcel of Christ's new kingdom. We're inscribed among his soldiers. We're commissioned to bear hardness for his sake. We are written in heaven among the friends of Jesus. We are accounted as of the sacred brotherhood. In the great book of the divine fatherhood, we are numbered among the children. And from now on, we will be regarded and treated as belonging to the one family in heaven and in earth. This is the matter concerning which we are called to rejoice. Rejoice that your names are written in heaven. I see in this fact abundant cause for joy, but I cannot stay this morning to bring it out in detail. I would have you joy in the great grace which first inscribed your name in God's eternal book. Oh, bless the sovereign, distinguishing, discriminating grace which wrote down your unworthy name. Where there might have stood the name of a king or of an emperor, or of the name of a person of great repute, or superior talent, or of great eloquence and learning. Instead of those which men esteem to be great names, there stands your commonplace name. Therefore, give the grace of God all the glory forevermore. And then rejoice in the grace which has kept your name inscribed in that heavenly register so that over you that ancient threatening of the law has no power. Whosoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book, Exodus 32, 33. But hitherto you have stood amongst those of whom the Spirit speaks expressly in the book of Revelation. He that overcomes, the same shall be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels, There stands your name recorded still in the Lamb's Book of Life, though many a tear of yours might well fall upon it to think what grace it is keeps it there and will keep it there forever. A name among God's sons and daughters is better for you than if your name were written anywhere else. Being in the Book of Life guarantees you peace, joy, security, and blessedness now and secures you to a place hereafter among the blood-washed host in the many mansions which Christ has gone to prepare for those whom his Father has given him. Sit down now, beloved, and let your soul triumph to the last degree of joy in this. Your names are written in heaven. Forget the falling devils for a while. Forget your abilities. Forget your successes. Cast these all at your Redeemer's feet, where they ought to be, and then take this to yourself as your joy, your portion, your heaven below, that your name is written in the family register of the eternal God. May the Holy Spirit inspire thee with this sublime delight. Brethren, this is the joy which can be cultivated, but how are we to cultivate it? If we desire to have much of this joy, we must make the fact sure. We must be certain that our names are written in heaven or else we cannot rejoice in it. Let your faith grow until it reaches the full assurance of faith. And then you will rejoice that your names are written in heaven. How am I to know it, says one. Well, friend, one thing is sure. If God has written you down among those who are saved, you can soon know it because you're saved. If you are forgiven, your name is written among the forgiven. If you are indeed quickened and made alive, your name is written among the living in Zion. I will not invite you to go further and peer into that which is unrevealed, For if I did so, I would be as much out of my sphere as those who pretend to bring men messages from the spirit world. The Lord gives not to any soul dead in sin the least right to believe that it is written among the living. Neither gives he to any ungodly man the liberty to hope that he is written among the elect of God. We must have evidence, not dreams and airy suppositions. And the evidence of being written in heaven is that a man has been called by grace out of the world to follow Jesus. We see our election by our calling and nothing else. We may know what is written about us in heaven by that which is written within us on earth. If grace has written upon your heart, till you are an epistle of Christ known and read of all men, Your name is in his secret book. If you are trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are his. And the Lord knows them that are his, and has written them down in his own private tablets, which he carries in his bosom. If your name is among true believers on earth, it's amongst the redeemed in heaven. You need not question that, for the declarations of scripture puts it beyond doubt. If you would rejoice in your names being written in heaven, not only be assured of the fact, but meditate upon it. Let this thought be frequently in your mind. My name is written in heaven. Beneath the name of my Lord, the Lamb, it is inscribed. I am one of his redeemed, and he writes me down among his dearly purchased property. He knows me, looks upon me, and regards me as his treasure. I am not my own. I am bought with a price. I belong to him. Go, brother, and exult in this. Let the sweet influence of it upon thy life be daily seen, for this joy, dear friend, will make you set very loose by everything else on earth. What if you're rich? Rejoice not in this, for riches take to themselves wings and fly away, but rather rejoice because your name is written in heaven. If you are a man of learning, thank God for your knowledge and use it for his glory, but nevertheless rejoice not in this, for what is earthly knowledge often but are learned ignorance. Rejoice rather because thy name is written in heaven. If you're a person of position in the church, thank God if you may glorify him thereby, but rather rejoice because your name is written in heaven. Are you strong, in good health? Be grateful for that privilege, but rather rejoice because your name is written in heaven. Turn this inspired text around another way. If you have any sorrow, if you mourn the absence of any earthly good, Do not lament too bitterly, but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. You are poor. Well, be not despondent, for your name is written in heaven. You're despised and your name is cast out as evil, but rejoice nonetheless, for it is written in heaven. You have but few gifts and abilities, but your name is written in heaven. You could not stand up and edify a multitude, but your name is written in heaven. When you die, your departure will make but a small gap in the church's ranks, but your name is written in heaven. Whatever you lack or whatever you suffer, let this console you, and at the same time, let it strengthen you for service. The joy of the Lord is your strength, and you will feel able to go forward in God's work when you can boldly say, my name is written in heaven. I may well serve him who has so graciously redeemed me. He's put me down among his people. Why should I not expect him to be with me when I go upon his errands and attempt to win him glory? My name is written in heaven and therefore I will live for him to the utmost of my strength and spend and be spent for his name. There seems to me to be such a moral, such a wonderful moral and spiritual power about this joy in having one's name written in heaven that it does not require me to explain why the Savior encourages you to indulge in it. This joy is corrective to the other joy. It has about it also, independently of that, so many admirable uses that we need not add a word by way of guarding it or restraining it, but we may, on the contrary, earnestly invite you to partake of it without limit. Eat the fat and drink the sweet. Rejoice, yes, rejoice abundantly. Rejoice and yet again rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. Now lastly, into this joy the Savior enters. And we have to look in the third place to the joy of the Lord in sympathy with it. And so we add to our text the first sentence of the 21st verse. In that hour, Jesus rejoiced in spirit. Why did he rejoice? I think it was with the very same joy that he bids us cultivate as far as it related to himself. For you see, he rejoiced because grace was given. He said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and has revealed them unto babes. It makes Christ's heart glad to think that God has been gracious to the sons of men, to think that he has plucked some of the race out of the horrible pit and lifted them up from the miry clay and brought them out of darkness into his marvelous light. It makes his very soul glad to see that sin has been overcome in many men, and that many have been renewed in the spirit of their minds by divine grace. Jesus was also glad at the Father's choice. He said, I thank thee, O Father. He looks at these 70 babes out of whose mouth he has ordained strength, and he says, I thank thee, O Father, for having chosen these. The 70 looked a wretched regiment to conquer the world with, did they not? A company of fishermen and peasants, men of the low order. If a man had to shake the world, he might naturally wish for choice spirits, the elite, the aristocracy of thought, at any rate, if not the aristocracy of gold and silver. He might wish to select the refined, the noble, the educated for His great enterprise. But Jesus Christ is perfectly satisfied with His Father's choice. It has given me intense joy sometimes to think that our dear Savior is perfectly satisfied to think that His Father should have chosen me. He is not like Hyrum, who, when King Solomon gave him certain cities, was discontented with them. But our Lord has never spoken a word against any of the sheep his father gave him, nor has he despised any of the elect ones whom the father has put into his hand. He is perfectly content with you, beloved, perfectly satisfied that you should be chosen, though you are not one of the wise and prudent, that you should be chosen, though you are like one of the bastings of this world. Jesus rejoiced and thanked the Father because of the choice which his sovereign grace has made. Notice the spirit into which Christ puts his thanksgiving. He's satisfied with the choice because it's God's choice. Even so, said he, for it seemed good in thy sight. That's the true spirit of Christ, to be content with what God wills because God wills it. He has no questionings, no judgings, but shows an entire submission, an intense delight in the regal will of God. Let us also delight ourselves this morning in the fact that our names are written in heaven because God willed them to be there. how well satisfied we ought to be with that will, but how much more joyous may we be because Christ also is content with that will by which we are given to him that we may be his people. Then our Savior went on to rejoice because the grace of God given to us has revealed to us Christ and revealed to us the Father. For he says, no man knoweth who the Son is but the Father. and who the Father is, but the Son, and He to whom the Son will reveal Him. Now the grace of God has manifested itself to you and to me, beloved in Christ, by revealing the Father, whom we now inwardly and truly know. We can say in our very souls, our Father which art in heaven. And we also know the Son. We cannot tell to others all we know of Him, all the secret fellowships we have had, and into what deep communion we have entered, but we know Christ and are known of Him. And this is our life's work, to go on to know Him more and more, and to know the Father in Him. Jesus exalted because there was a fellowship about all this, for he speaks of his knowing the Father and the Father knowing him, and then of our knowing the Father because the Son has revealed him unto us, all of which implies a wondrous communication and communion with the Father and with the Son. Now this, I take it, is the cream of joy. A joy in which Christ partakes as he has fellowship with the Father and with us, and of which we partake as we have fellowship with him and with the Father. Now Mark, listen. There is nothing of this, of what we spoke, in Lord, even the devils are subject unto us. There is nothing of this when we merely have success here on earth. A man may work marvels and yet have no fellowship with the Father and with the Son, and he may lack that which is the essence, the center point, the focus of all true joy. But he who has his name written in heaven has had the Father revealed to him through the Son And in this he may exceedingly rejoice, for the very news of this is what kings and prophets waited for and found not. This is that which even angels desire to look into. Therefore, brethren, rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice. My last word is for those who know nothing about their names being written in heaven. I would like to turn the text upon you for a second or so, for it has a dark side to you. And I pray to God that as you see it, you may tremble and fly to Christ. Whatever you have in this world, sinner, you have nothing worth rejoicing in, because you cannot say your name is written in heaven. Rejoice not in your wealth, your health, your children, your prosperity, your position, your success, for if your name is not written in heaven, glory less is written over all your choices, possessions. As you look on all that you have gained, remember that God can make your souls to hunger and faint even in the midst of all these things. Listen to the thunder of this dreadful sentence. I will curse your blessings. The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked, but he blesses the habitation of the righteous. Oh, that your names may be written in heaven for his mercy's sake. Amen. I think I'll close in prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, may we look into ourselves and see you there and recognize your imprint on our lives. And Lord, may we find true joy in that. And may the joy of our earthly success, or the joy of our success in ministry, our success in work, our reputations, may they bring us joy, but in small measure, Lord. May we put our joys in contrast, as Spurgeon spoke of here. May we ever seek to find our great joy, our true joy, in knowing that we are written in your heavenly register. And Lord, for any here that are not written there, may they be awakened. May they hear what the sermon spoke of, to come to know that true joy that we find in you. I pray this in Jesus' name, amen.