Eternal life. If you did a survey
of all of the funerals that you have been to and I have been
to, there's never been one where the person hasn't gone into eternal
life. If you went to the churches around
here and surveyed the people that came out and asked them
whether they had eternal life, that almost universally say they
would. Some, when I've asked about their
meeting with God, have told me, in honesty, well I'm not quite
ready yet, I've got a lot more to do to get there. I want us to just today not look
so much at what this religious world, this deceived world says
about those things. I want us to just look at what
the Word of God says. And I pray that the Lord would
allow us to speak with simplicity and with clarity. So turn back
in your Bibles to John chapter 17. Very soon we will spend those
moments on our pillow and be facing eternity. And I want us who believe to
go from this place today and into eternity. Jesus Christ and a love. These
things are written that you might know, again and again and again,
John, that you might know, not that you might guess, not that
you might suppose. Eternal life is a living reality
for the children of God. These words, John chapter 17,
verse 1, these words speak Jesus, and Jesus is talking to his Father
in heaven, and we have in this most remarkable prayer, we have
the Holy Spirit's witness, the testimony that John recorded
of these words. He could have prayed in silence. And he didn't. It could have
been said that he prayed and it not be recorded, but he didn't. This is recorded, isn't it, that
you, this is the record that the Lord Jesus Christ gave of
himself. This is, let's go back to verse
three, this is life eternal. This is the life
eternal it is in the original. This is the life eternal, that
they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
Thou hast sent. This is the eternal life. that they may know you, the only
true God, and He whom you sent, Jesus Christ." As we saw earlier,
if you look through these first five verses where the Lord Jesus
Christ is praying for Himself, glory is at the heart of it. The glory of God is at the heart
of this. It's the heart of the Lord's
prayer, it's at the heart of His finished work. And we see in here that the Lord
Jesus Christ in verse 2 has been given power over all flesh. It requires nothing less than
the power of Almighty God to bring us to believe in His Son
and to trust Him. Eternal life in these verses
is vitally important. and the glory revealed in his
Son, and in his Son crucified. Eternal life and God's glory
are united. He says, Father, the hour has
come, glorify thy Son, that thy Son may glorify thee. And in verse four, he says, I
have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work thou
gavest me to do. And now, Father, glorify thou
me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee. is intimately linked to the glory
of God and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. This is the eternal life. There is just one. This is the
eternal life. It's a present reality. You are
in eternity now. Eternity doesn't begin when you
leave this world. This is eternity now, isn't it? This is part of eternity. We
can look back as far as we wish and look forward as far as we
wish. And it's all eternity, isn't
it? There is just one. And my prayer for me and for
you is that we will have that one and we'll have hold of that
one. John 5, 24 says, verily, verily, amen, amen, truly, truly,
I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him
that sent me hath its everlasting life as his possession and shall
not come into condemnation, but is passed from death to life. I want to hear his words so I
can believe on him. Faith comes by hearing. This is, as I said earlier, this
is the testimony of God about God. This is a prayer of God,
the Son, speaking to God, the Father. Eternal life is in the
Son. And eternal life is declared
have before us. I just want to look at some of
the words that are declared. Firstly, he begins these words
by Jesus, the words that have preceded it. The words in John
chapter 14, which talk about the glorious union between God
the Father and his children. The glorious reality. In that day, verse 20, in that
day you shall know that I'm in my Father and ye in me and I
in you. He's come from heaven. He's come
from heaven with a purpose. He says, In my Father's house,
John 14, are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
I go to the cross to prepare a place for you in heaven. And
if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive
you. What's the place? Receive you
unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also. He is the way, John 14.6, the
truth and the life. These are the words that are
the declaration, isn't it? He says in John 14, that day
you shall know, the day of your conversion, the day of your quickening
by the Holy Spirit, the day of your having Christ revealed to
you. I'm in the Father and ye in me
and I in you. In John 15, he talks about this
extraordinary union between him and his people, as a vine in
the branches. He talks about his great love.
Greater love, in verse 13, hath no man than this, that a man
lay down his life for his friends. You've got friends, he says. He says in John 15, 16, You have
not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that ye
should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain.
And whatsoever ye shall ask of my Father in my name, he may
give it to you. God's children who have the words
and hear the words are asking people. They keep asking. In John chapter
16, the believing people are those to whom the blessed Holy
Spirit comes and brings a conviction of sin. John 16.8, when he has
come, he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness,
of judgment, of sin because they believe not on me, of righteousness
because I go to the Father and you see me no more, of judgment
because the prince of this He speaks of that convicting
work in the hearts of his children in this world. They see themselves
as sin. They're thankful that there is
a righteousness that's gone into heaven and their righteousness
is all of his righteousness and not their own because they're
sinners. And the prince of this world has been judged. And the
Blessed Holy Spirit is promised in John 16 to come and take the
things of the Lord Jesus Christ and he'll show them unto you,
John 16, 15. He speaks of going and He speaks
of coming. He speaks of what their world,
how the world will treat them. These are the words, these are
the words that we are called upon to go back and look and
listen and read and ask God to give us this testimony. These
things, He finishes before He prays His prayer in John 16,
33. These things have I spoken unto you that in me you might
have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation,
but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. So these
words that he begins by speaking about are the words of peace.
They're the words of the work of God Almighty in the hearts
of his people. This is part of that testimony.
We have a testimony that we declare about the Lord Jesus Christ and
it's in the words of this book. and nothing beyond the words
of this book. Not in the imaginations of men,
not in what men think eternal life is. It's declaring these
words. It is a declaration we, in the
Gospel, are declaring. We're not offering, we're just
declaring this is who God is, and this is how he saves sinners,
and this is his work in the hearts of his people. So we're declaring
these words, not just the words of John 17, but he's leading
us back to look at these other words. If you want to see what
it is to have eternal life, to believe, you go back and you
look at these words that he has said, all of them, all of them,
from Genesis 1-1 to Revelation 22-21, all of them, they all
say one thing. many different ways, they say
the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified is glorious. And so these words that are so
important in coming to understand, this is life eternal that might
know thee. He also, in verse 1, he declares
that there is a time of God's sovereign purpose. There is a
time. The hour has come. He determined
the hour. all the hours he determines the
time of absolutely sovereign over all
things. That's what he's declaring. This
is him. He declares a union. He declares
the glorious union of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Glorify thy Son, that thy Son may glorify thee. He declares
in verse two his universal sovereign power. This is eternal life,
that you know this God, this Jesus Christ, He has power over
all flesh. If He's over all flesh, we're
under Him. And so is everything else that
wriggles in this universe. He has power. Don't you love
the fact that He has power over all flesh? I just rejoice that
in Him power, he's working all things for good. He cannot work
all things for the good of those who love him and called according
to his purpose unless he has power over all flesh. I'm so
thankful he has power over my flesh. Aren't you thankful that
he rules? Aren't you thankful that your
will, like Peter's will this same night, I will, I will, I
will, says Peter, Aren't you thankful that our will is put
in its right and proper place under his power? This is him,
isn't it? This is the man we're declaring.
He has a purpose in that power in John 17, chapter two, isn't
it? He's given power over all flesh,
that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast. He's declaring the glory and
the grace of election. He's declaring the necessity
of revelation that they might know Thee. How do we know God? The only possible way we ever
know Him is by Him revealing Himself to us. Can man by searching
find out God? The answer is no. We know him as he reveals himself. Blessed are you, Simon by Jonah,
he says in Matthew 16. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
this to you, but my Father in heaven revealed it to you. It's a declaration that there
is only one true God. There are many imaginings about
who God is. There is just one true God. These are the things that are
declared just in these verses here, aren't they? and is also declaring that the
knowledge of the one true God is only possible through knowing
the Lord Jesus Christ, that they might know thee the only true
God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. It's declaring the eternal existence
of this being sent on purpose. I've glorified thee on the earth.
I've finished the work which thou gavest me to do. It's a
declaration, isn't it, in our Gospel of the Way to see the
glory of God as in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ
on the cross and his resurrection and his exaltation to heaven.
That he came with a work to do and he finished the work. declaration that he has returned
to glory. He says at the end of this section
of the prayer, glorify thou me with thine own self with the
glory which I had with thee before the world was. He comes from
glory. He does a glorious work. He returns. having consummated
and fulfilled all of that glory and all of that revelation of
God and all of the salvation of all of his people on the cross
of Calvary. This is a declaration of the
gospel from the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ. He that heareth my word and believeth
on him. Do you say Amen to these statements? Believing the record that God
has given to be a son, this is eternal life. Do you also say
Amen and affirm that if there is a denial of these glorious
truths, there is no eternal life? Eternal life is believing the
truth, not believing lies. believing lies about yourself. Believing the truth necessitates,
and being saved by the truth, necessitates hating every false
word. saved you. You love his salvation. You love everything about his
character. You love his people. You love
to hear him raised up and declared and lifted up. When I'm lifted
up from the earth, when I'm lifted up from the earth, I'll draw.
I'll draw. Not all of humanity can draw
all these people to himself. This is, this is eternal life. There is just one, and it is
particular. The one glorifying attribute
of faith is that it finds all that it needs in the Lord Jesus
Christ as he is declared in the scriptures. All believers not only believe,
but they delight in him being declared. as he says he is. Romans 15 calls it the joy and
peace of believing. I've been called many things
over the years, as no doubt you have, but one of the things that
hurts and cuts to the very heart of all people who seek to live
honestly in this world is to be declared a false witness or
to be declared a liar. It just cuts in a way that, I've
had many things said, but that one cuts in a way, because it's
an attack on your very person, isn't it? To not believe God is to dishonor
him, is to see no glory, What are the saints in heaven
doing now? They're in the presence of this lamb, on the throne of glory, hearing
the praises of heaven. That's why in the hearts of God's
people, eternal life must begin here, with the same songs as
they're singing in heaven. Worthy art thou Worthy art thou,
not worthy as us, but worthy art thou to receive honour and
glory. Who gets the glory? The great
question. He speaks of glory again and
again. He finishes his prayer talking about glory, isn't it?
And the glory, verse 22, the glory which thou gavest me I
have given them. What an extraordinary thing. This is the eternal life. What glory can there be for a
God who plans and tries and fails in His purpose? What glory can
there be for a God who loves and loses the object of His love
in eternal hell? who obeys but his obedience is
not sufficient for our righteousness before God? What glory can there
be for a God who wants and cannot achieve? What glory can there
be for a God who dies and yet his death is in vain, saving
none unless they do something? What glory can there be for a
Savior who sees It's the glory. That's the issue,
isn't it? That's why I love what Isaac
said when they went up that mountain to sacrifice. Where's the lamb? Our lamb is a successful lamb. He sheds his life's blood and
there's nothing more to pay. There is no glory for a Christ
who does his Father's will, but only the mighty power of man's
free will can make it effective. What glory can there be for a
God who speaks, and yet it is left up to man to decide what
is true and what is not true? What glory can there be for a
Christ who honours and magnifies the law, but man must add his Glory can there be for a God
who says, I will build my church, but man then steps in and builds
with creeds and confessions and denominations and colleges so
that God's work can be fulfilled by the works of man. Brothers
and sisters, eternal life is Him getting all the glory for
all that He's done and all that He is doing now. This is eternal
life. How God says this is life eternal that
they might know Thee. How can God be known? He's known
by revelation. He's known by regeneration. He's known by the new man created
in righteousness and truly on Therefore, in John 17, this eternal
life comes by the prayer of the Son, the exercise of the power
of the sent Son, power given by the Father and received and
exercised by His Son Jesus Christ, the gift of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the possession, the union of His own, I mean, like a little child rests
in its father's arms and is safe. Doesn't have to know why, just
has to know who. I know whom I have believed,
and I'm persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've entrusted. Those who have eternal life have
been trusted what? To the hands of the Lord Jesus
Christ. absolutely everything, all of our life here. So, eternal life is the gift. This is the record, 1 John 5,
11, that God has given us, to us eternal life, and this life
is in His Son. He that hath the Son, it's a
possession. And he that hath not the Son
hath not life. These things have I written unto
you, that ye believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may
know that ye have eternal life, and ye may believe on the name
of the Son of God. Eternal life is having the Son.
If he gives, his people receive. Eternal life is holding onto
the Son. Eternal life is believing the
testimony of the Father regarding the Son. No wonder Paul says to Timothy,
you lay hold of eternal life. You wrap your arms around eternal
life and come by faith and you keep on coming and you call and
you keep on calling and you do it right now and you don't move
a muscle. Just come and come. We lay hold of eternal life. God-given faith, God-exercised
faith, God-revealed faith, God-sustained faith. I've prayed for you, he
says to Peter, that your faith fail not. Everything about Peter's
life was a failure that night. It couldn't have been more public,
it couldn't have been more embarrassing, it couldn't have been more demeaning
of him and all the others who joined with him. If you'd ask Peter, in the depths
of his despair, is the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, the
very Christ of God and the sent one from the Father, Peter no
doubt doubted his own salvation, but he didn't for a moment doubt
who the Lord Jesus Christ was. Lay hold. This is eternal life. Eternal life is the gift that
glorifies the son as he glorifies the father. It's a free gift. It's a free gift. You've done
nothing to earn it, it's given to you. You've nothing you can
do to enhance it or make it more secure or applicable to you. You don't receive a gift and
say, well, thanks for the gift, but now I will. Thank you for
the beautiful gift that you've given me, but now I'll do this,
this, and this. That dishonors the giver. What
a remarkable giver. to bargain. Eternal life is a
gift, eternal life is a revelation. I thank you, says the Lord Jesus
Christ, I thank thee, O Father, that thou hast hid these things
from the wise and the prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. For so it seemed good in thy
sight, Matthew 11. No man knoweth the Son, but the
Father, neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and
he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. Lord, reveal Your
Son to me. Reveal Him again. It's the life of God Almighty
in the soul of men. It's eternal, it has no beginning
and has no end. Its foundation is in the eternal
union of God and in the eternal union of everlasting love. of
the Father and the Son and the eternal union of all of those
the Father gave Him before the foundation of the world. This
is eternal life. They were given to the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. They were given into His care.
They were given to Him as the surety. They were given to Him
in covenant promises. How secure is their eternal life?
How secure is your eternal life? who takes full responsibility
for everything to do with your eternal life. All the events
of this life and eternal life. Christ Jesus himself is life
eternal. Eternal life is being eternally
united to the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no beginning, there's
no end. Our God doesn't change, don't you love what he says?
I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not concerned. There's
no beginning and there's no end. There's no change, it's all of
grace. I can't mess it up. I can't mess
it up. Because it's in his hands. It's
knowing him as he is revealed in the scriptures. that's having communion with
Him. Knowing Him as there is a union between the Son of God
and the God-man Christ Jesus. There's a union between God and
all those given to Christ. As their surety, their husband,
their sacrifice, their great shepherd of their souls who redeemed
and ransomed them from their sin. To present them to His Father. sight. If you're holy, God must
accept holiness. If you're unblameable, there's
nothing for which God can send you from his presence. Unapprovable. Jesus Christ is
the gift of God. God so loved the world that he
gave and it's all of grace, and it's all for his glory. Eternal
life is the gift of God, and it's all of grace, and it's all
for his glory. Knowing God is the gift of God,
and it's all of grace, and it's all, he gets all the glory. Faith
is the gift of God, and it's all of grace. It's not of yourselves.
He gets all the glory. Faith's object is the gift of
God. It's all of grace. is the gift of God. It's all
of grace and it's all for His glory. Our hearing the words
of truth about the only true God and Jesus Christ is the gift
of God. God sends a strong delusion across
this world. The great whore of Babylon and
her free will works religion has made this world, this religious
world, drunk. Salvation is knowing the only
true God. Are you asking? Throughout these
chapters, these words that he speaks of, Lord, be merciful to me, the
sinner. Lord, save me now. Lord, you say that whosoever
calls on your name, your character as you revealed in the Lord Jesus
Christ and him crucified, is saved. trusting and knowing. Let's pray. Heavenly Father,
bless your words to the souls of your people. Give us the faith
that you alone can give. Grant us the revelation that
you alone can open our eyes to see. Give us the life that comes
from God and lays hold of eternal life. Glorify your Son in the
faith that you work in the hearts of your people here and whoever
may hear these words, our Father, we pray in Jesus' name.