Today we are remembering both Aunty Agnes and Aunty Lalitha who have

gone onto be with the Lord in heaven.

Since we are on the topic of heaven, in the bible it is recorded that there
are a number of books and I would like to quickly look at them with the
last one being the theme of this message

1. The Book of Destiny

Psalm 139:16
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book
were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet
there was not one of them.
Psalm 139 from verse 14 onwards talks about us being in the womb and
how in Gods book He has ordained our days for us.
The book mentioned here is referred to as the book of destiny
God knew aunty Agnes and Aunty Lalithas end from the beginning and it
was written in the book of destiny. God knows that we will make it if we let
Him have His way. So, no matter how you feel today in the natural, God
will enable us to achieve our destiny. Just trust in Him!

2. The Book of Life

Revelation 3:5
He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I
will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his
name before My Father and before His angels.
God calls us to be overcomers, to finish our race. He promises not to erase
our names from the book of life which is so important for our salvation.
Aunty Agnes and Aunty Lalitha ran their race, they stayed true to God
right up until the end. Their names are in the book of life

3. The Book of Works

Revelation 20:12-15
12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before
the throne, and books were opened; and another book was
opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from
the things which were written in the books, according to their
deeds.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and
Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were
judged, every one of them according to their deeds.

John talks about that the dead will be judged out of those things which
were written in the books, according to their works. People whose names
are in the Book of Life will be judged for rewards.
Aunty Lalitha and aunty Agnes have gone on ahead to their reward. For us
there is a book of works recording what we are doing and for the good
deeds there is a reward

4. The Book of Tears

Psalm 56:8
You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your
bottle. Are they not in Your book?
All of our tears in prayers have not gone unnoticed they have been
recorded in the book of tears. Even if no one else saw the aunties tears for
their loved ones, God did and recorded it in His book of tears

5. The Book of Remembrance

Malachi 3:16-17
16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, And
the LORD listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance
was written before Him For those who fear the LORD And who
meditate on His name.
17 "They shall be Mine," says the LORD of hosts, "On the day that
I make them My jewels. And I will spare them As a man spares his
own son who serves him."
What does the book of Remembrance mean to Aunty Agnes,
Aunty Lalitha and to us?
Everyone who has ever believed in Jesus has their name in it
This Book of Remembrance holds every act of faithful service done for the
Lord. Every encouraging word, every unselfish deed, every sacrifice made,
the Lord has carefully placed there as a witness to the universe that you
are indeed His child.
God inspired Malachi to share a wonderful promise of hope. God would
grant to those who fear Him the reward of eternal life in the Kingdom of
God. They would be identified in a registry called a book of
remembrance (Malachi 3:16).
This fear of the Lord that Malachi spoke of is a healthy respect and love for
God. To fear God and to keep His commandments is the whole duty of
man (Ecclesiastes 12:13). To love God is to keep His commandments (1
John 2:5; 5:3).

God remembers the faithful deeds of those who fear the LORD and who
meditate on His name (Malachi 3:16). This means their godly
conversations with each other are being listened to intently, and every act
of kindness and mercy is being noted (Matthew 10:42; 25:34-40). To those
who care for the needs of others, were reminded, For God is not unjust
to forget your work and labour of love which you have shown toward His
name (Hebrews 6:10).
All through the ages, we see a remnant among Gods people who
remained faithful amidst widespread perversion.
While most people were harshly complaining to one another about God,
these God-fearers spoke different words to each other. They spoke words
that were evidently pleasing to God. We know this because it says God
listened to them and heard them. And that God then had this scroll written
in remembrance of them and their good words.
God says that a book of remembrance was written then for the sake of
those who fear the LORD. In other words, God wont forget. This is his
Outlook Reminder, so to speak. He wont forget his people, even as he
wont forget the wicked. He has not forgotten them, and he will not
overlook them. No, rather, they are recorded in a book of remembrance.
And so for those who fear him, he will remember to save them.
On the great and terrible day of the Lord, he saves them from judgment
and destruction. He saves them as his sons, it says. He will be our God,
and we will be his people. Thats his promise. He wont forget. He will
remember his people. He will remember to show them mercy and grace.
Thats is what Jesus came to bring. In remembrance of his mercy, God
sent Jesus to be born of the Virgin Mary. To live a life of perfect
righteousness. In remembrance of his mercy, Jesus suffered the cursed
death of the cross. He did that in the place of his people. That all who fear
God can call upon the name of the Lord to be saved.
Many have gone to church all their life and still need to be born again.
That was the problem with many at Malachis day. They were in the church
and thought they were all perfect and in the right. They didnt have a right
appraisal of themselves. They were blind to their sin and never came to
God in a right fear. Instead they presumptuously criticized God harshly. A
person who fears the almighty God will never harshly criticize God! I
never recalled Aunty Agnes or Aunty Lalitha ever criticising God
We should come as those who fear God. And if thats our attitude, that
means we do what Peter says. We humble ourselves before God and ask
for his help. Help even to see things aright. Help in the midst of world
where the wicked seem to prosper. Help even when your life is full of
trials. We come in humility. He is the almighty King of Kings and Lord of
Lords. And yet he also loves us, and so todays passage greatly
3

encourages those who come humbly before God. That he calls you his
own. He lifts us up in due time.
In years gone by, people seemed to respect authority so much more. In
our own country that does not seem to be the case. Its said that children
seem to disrespect parents more today. Husbands often report that their
wives disrespect them. Or look at our politics. From both sides of the
political aisle, people can speak pretty nastily about the leaders in
government. Often harsh words dominate in politics instead of humble
appeals to those in power.
THE WAY GOD WILL TREAT US
God delights in our conversation ("listened")
God loves His people and rejoices in them
See the two on the road to Emmaus
The best subjects of conversation are those about God and the Gospel.
They are marked down in God's book
"Book of life" - the redeemed all there
Every single one is there e.g. a telephone directory
God's book records their conversations
We will be His jewels forever
We are golden in His eyes.
There is a "day" for displaying His love to us. (On that day)
Luke 10:20
"Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to
you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in
heaven."
So I ask each of us today is to seek some biblical reflection. Examine
ourselves. Ask even now for God to give us spiritual clarity to examine our
lives. Have we really feared God and trusted in Christ? If we havent
already done so, we need to turn to God today and be saved. If we do,
Malachi reminds us here today of Gods grace. That God will say to you
then today, You are mine! You are my son who I will save. You are my
jewel; my treasured possession! What wonderful words to hear from
God?