The expression is in manner of speech much like that of our Lord Christ, in John 6. 27, “Labour not for the meat that perisheth, but for that meat which endureth to everlasting life;” that is labour not so much for this or for that, or rather for that than this.
Let us a little consider the expression, “Rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
The Lord Christ might have said, Rejoice in your discipleship to me, that I have called you out of the world; when “not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called,” 1 Cor. 1.26.
Rejoice that ye have followed me in the regeneration, and that ye are become new creatures, when “the whole world lieth in wickedness,” 1 John 5. 19.
Rejoice that ye are enlightened in the mysteries of the gospel, when “they are hid from the wise and prudent,” Matt. 11.25. But if Christ had fixed their joy in any of these, then the fountain and cause of all had been hid, and therefore our Lord Christ leads them to the fountain from whence all these privileges are derived, and that is, the electing love of God; this being the cause of all future good to the creature.
Are ye called out of the world? It is “because your names are written in heaven.”
Are ye begotten of God, and born again? It is “because your names are written in heaven.”
Are you taken into membership with Christ, and thereby become the sons and daughters of God? It is “because your names are written in heaven.”
Have you the earnest of your inheritance in the sealings of the spirit upon your hearts? It is “because your names are written in heaven.”
—Matthew Mead “A Name in Heaven”
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