Let's go back to this precious,
precious verse. John 3.15 Henry May once said that the
best way to find out how crooked a stick is to lay a straight
one beside it. And all the way through our journey in John's
Gospel, I've been thinking of how famous this verse is ahead
of us, this one here in John 3.16. And I trust that when we
come to look at that in the coming weeks, we'll see that the Gospel
is so beautifully portrayed in John 3.14 and 15, that Any understanding of the Gospel
in John 3.16 that isn't exactly according to what is written
in John 3.14 and 15 is actually no Gospel at all, in fact a perversion
of the nature and the character and the finished and glorious
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. So let's read these words again
in John 3.16. 14, as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal
life. And as you know so well, it's
so similar, isn't it, to the next verse, which is the reason
for the gospel. For God so loved, for is because,
because God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son
that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. I trust that you have an interest
in everlasting life. Everlasting life. What is everlasting
life? As I said, in our earlier message,
everlasting life is intimately, intrinsically and inseparably
linked to the lifting up of the Son of God. He must be lifted
up. Eternal life, as we read in John
17.3, is knowing God in His true character. It is a heart knowledge
of God as is revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ and revealed
in the scriptures to us. This is eternal life, that they
might know thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom thou
hast sent. No wonder Moses could say the
Eternal God is his refuge and underneath are everlasting arms.
As far as Moses could fall and as far as any child of God can
fall is into the arms of the Lord Jesus Christ, isn't it?
Into those everlasting arms. Of course, the word everlasting
is a simple word, isn't it? It's much perverted, but quite
simply it means something that is without beginning, without
end it always has been and always will be. So any notion of eternal
life that doesn't encapsulate who the Lord Jesus Christ is
and what happened on Calvary's tree and the very nature of it.
God's people have eternal life. Eternally in 1st John chapter
2, as with all things to do with the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, it's a person. The gospel is a person. Everlasting
life is a person. Everlasting life is the knowledge
of this person. Everlasting life is the union
of this person. Everlasting life is in being
in the presence of this person. I love how John begins his first
epistle. That which was from the beginning,
which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which
we have looked upon, and our hands have handled the word of
life. 4. The life was manifested, and
we have seen it and bear witness and show unto you that eternal
life. What's he showing unto you? He's
showing the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is life
eternal. We show unto you that eternal
life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us. He
says a similar thing towards the end of his letter in 1 John
5, verse 11. And this is the record that God
has given us, given to us eternal life, and this life is in His
Son. It's in His Son. So, eternal life has no beginning
nor ending. It didn't begin with your activity.
It didn't begin in your decision didn't begin in you saying a
synod prayer. If you have eternal life, you've
had it from eternity. And that's why in so many of
the epistles, Ephesians in particular, of many others, in Romans chapter
eight and so many, many places, it talks about all of this being
given to us before the foundation of the world. We love that verse. I love that verse in 2 Timothy
chapter one. It speaks of God's activity,
isn't it? For the power of God who has
saved us, verse nine, and called us. What did he do first? The
saving first. He saved us and called us with
an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. but is now made manifest by the
appearing of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, who has abolished death
and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. and it's a personal relationship
with him. Listen to how Paul goes on in verse 12 of 2 Timothy
1. For which cause I've also suffered
these things, nevertheless I'm not ashamed. Not ashamed of all
that's transpired, all the difficult I've had, all of the eminent
view that has come before me. And then this is what he says,
for I know whom I have believed. Faith is a whom, isn't it? Faith
has an object. Faith is the gift of God, but
it's the gift of God in revealing His Son, making Him manifest
to us. For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that
He is able. to keep that which I have committed
unto him against that day. This verse before us speaks of
believing, isn't it? It's to believe into, it's to
believe into a union with him, but it's a union that was established
by our God before the world began, and I love it that way, because
it means that my works had nothing to do with it. It means that
salvation is all of grace. And salvation is not aided by
my good works or aided by my bad works. God loves his people
without a cause. The cause is in him, always. So eternal life has no beginning
or no end. Eternal life is knowing God in
his true character. Eternal life is a person. Eternal
life is the possession of all believers. Listen to what he says. They
have everlasting life, eternal life. They have it. It is the
possession of all lives. It is that word means to possess
as a gift. They have it. It is the gift of God in John 10 verse
28. Just turning it quickly, you
know these verses well, and it's just lovely to repeat them again
and again and again. He says, my sheep hear my voice,
and I know them and they follow me. Isn't there great assurance
in the words of the Lord Jesus Christ? What assurance it is
for us? That all by his grace, if he allows us to do, is to
have the shepherd's voice. declared the sheep will follow
his voice and then he says I give unto them eternal life and they
shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my
hand eternal life has no beginning or no ending and that eternal
life is knowing God in his true character eternal life is a person
eternal life is the possession of all believers eternal life
is the gift of God and I love what Romans 9 Romans 11.29 says
the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. There
is no turning back, is there? God always gives in a way that
the world never gives. Eternal life comes through God-given
faith. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
that he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent
me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation,
but is passed from death to life. John chapter six, verse 40. You wanna know what God's will
is? This is verse 39, and this is the Father's will which has
set me. That of all which he hath given
me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the
last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me. What's the will of God? This
is the will of God. That everyone which seeth the
Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life, and I
will raise him up at the last day. You might remember that
the context of the conversation with Nicodemus It's the establishment
of the fact that Nicodemus is a sinner. It's the establishment
of the fact that Nicodemus, without being born from above, without
a new birth from God, cannot see the Kingdom of God. He can't
see the King, even though he's standing beside Him, before Him.
And he can't enter the Kingdom of God. And to see the Kingdom
of God and to enter the Kingdom of God is to have eternal life.
It's to have everlasting life. It is in John 6.54, it's living
upon him. This is a saying that upset the Jews so
much they all turned away from him and the Lord Jesus Christ
let that great, great crowd of Jews go away and at the end of
it he says to Peter, you can go as well if you like. And the
children of God can't go, can they? They can't go from their
Saviour. He says, Lord, to whom shall
we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. But in John 6, 54, he said, whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last
day. It's living spiritually. on the
Lord Jesus Christ is living spiritually upon his death and his resurrection.
It's living spiritually upon the very life. His life is our
life. He is our life. It's living spiritually
upon him. And as we read in John 6, 68,
when Simon Peter answered, he says, you have the words of eternal
life. Eternal life is believing the
words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Just believe Him. He says in John 12, 50, and I
know that His commandment is life everlasting. That whatsoever
I speak therefore, even as the fathers say unto me, so I speak. It is. It is the product and
the fruit of the new life that comes from God, to believe on
Him. It is the new birth that Nicodemus
didn't have, but I believe did have later on. To have that new
birth is to realise that the old birth is inadequate. If you are born once, you'll
die twice. If you're born again, you'll
only die once. In John 12, 25, he says, he that
loveth his life shall lose it. And he that hateth his life in
this world shall keep it unto eternal life. So let's get a
couple of things really clear about eternal life. Eternal life
is intimately linked to the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
intimately linked to the who that died and the why he died.
and the glory of the revelation of the character of God in the
death of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's intimately linked to God
manifesting himself in all of his glory upon the cross of Calvary. And like all of God's works,
and like God's character, it is an eternal activity. The works
were finished in the foundation of the world, he says. The works
were finished. God is not in the business of
trying. God is not wandering around heaven
trying to work out how on earth he's gonna get some sheep into
his fold. They've always been in his care. He's carried them close to his
heart through all of the trials of this world, and he'll bring
them into heaven. He shall not fail. His blood was not spilt in vain. There's not a drop of the precious
God-man's blood that is wasted in any way at all. Every single
sin that was laid on his, every single sin that he owned as his
own was punished to the absolute full extent of God's holiness. And God says, enough. It's finished. And that's everlasting
life. All of those who are united to
him, it's knowing him in his true character as he's lifted
up. It's knowing him as a person. It is the possession of all believers. It is the gift of God. It's exercise,
the means by which God gives us to hold on to eternal life
is faith, and it's the gift of God. It's not of ourselves. It's
a gift of God. It's a gift of God to be born
again. It's the gift of God to see Him.
It fulfills the will of the Father. It's the will of the Father to
give everlasting life. It's the result of seeing the
Son and believing on Him. And it's living. is living now
on Him, spiritually living on Him. It is simply what He says. And we began today with the extraordinary
authority of these words. They are remarkable words, aren't
they? That whosoever, this is the result
of the lifting up of the Son of God, that whosoever believeth,
I love the whosoever. So he could have accurately said,
couldn't he, that the elect should not perish, but have everlasting
life. He could have said, all that the Father has given thee,
and then that would have been accurate. But if he just said
that it was only the elect I'd be continually wondering whether
I'm elect. I'd be like people blowing at
the daisies, isn't it? You know, he loves me, he loves
me not. I'd be looking at my activities
and wondering whether my activities have got something to do with
it. But I can fit into a whosoever. I can fit into that demographic.
I can be one of them. I can be a whosoever. A whosoever. This is the result, isn't it? In order that whosoever believeth
in him. And I love what that word in
means. It means to believe into, to
believe toward, which is why we lift him up. We don't lift
man up, we lift him up. We lift him up. Believeth in
him as he is pictured. as Moses lifted up that serpent
in the wilderness. And all of that picture of Moses
being lifted up by Moses lifting up that serpent in the wilderness
is all a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified.
It's a picture, isn't it? The bronze, the brazen serpent
is made of two metals. There's copper and zinc. Both
of them naturally are reasonably soft. You put them together.
How do you get them together? A thousand degrees will do. And
you can make a brazen serpent. Rob would know all about this.
How strong brass is compared to zinc. I've got some zinc over
there in the shed and you can fold it around and do all sorts
of remarkable things with it. But a brazen serpent, it speaks
of the solidity, doesn't it? The power and the strength of
the Lord Jesus Christ. It speaks of his two natures.
He's fully God and fully man. He's lifted up. should not perish. Whosoever believeth into him should not perish. Don't you love the shoulds and
the power of the Word of God? They should not perish. Why should
they not perish? They should not perish because
of the character of God. It is impossible for God to be
holy and just and true and faithful and punish the sins that were
laid on the Lord Jesus Christ and then punish them again. This
notion that the Lord Jesus Christ died for sins of those who were
in hell before he died and died for those who go to hell after
he died is a denial of the holiness of God. It's a denial of the
justice of God. He should not. He should not
perish. I should not perish because I
cannot perish. I cannot perish because I should
not perish. It is impossible for any of the
people for whom the Lord Jesus Christ represented as a substitute
and as a sacrifice to his father on Calvary Street, it is impossible
for them to perish. It's impossible. Which is why
they must have eternal life. They must have eternal life.
Eternal life is the natural children of God to be a believer is to believe
what God says about God to have everlasting life is to be given
a new heart and a new nature of to simply believe what God
says about us, about what God says about himself. To believe
is to rely on. You trust his blood. Are you
persuaded like Paul is, that he's able, that he is powerful,
that he is powerful to do all the keeping? Not you do the keeping
with him, him do the keeping. We're kept by the power of God
through faith. It's to rely on Him that all
that God requires He has in His Son. And his son is standing
right before him now with the very wounds that he suffered
on Calvary's tree as an emblem of the fact that all that he
died for must be with him. It's an emblem of the fact that
all he died for were in union with him before the foundation
of the world and they're always in union with him, which is why
he owned their sins as his own. And as a husband, he bears his
bride's responsibilities in this world. He has in the righteousness of
His dear and precious Son, and He can ask no more, nor can He
accept any more. He's all you need to believe
on Him. He's all God requires, and He's
all God will accept. It is just simply Christ alone. Nothing more. nothing less and
nothing else but Christ. It's all Him. It's His work. Faith, as Hebrews 11 says, faith
is the evidence that this Lord Jesus Christ, pictured in this
glorious story in Numbers chapter 21, and again I've obviously
portrayed Him, what He did on the cross, we believe him as he is we believe
everything he says about himself we love every word that he says
of himself so if we we should not perish because we will not
perish because we cannot perish because the law of God and the
justice of God the very character of God demands the salvation
of all If Christ died for your sins, where should you be? In the very
presence of God. And to be in the very presence
of God is to be in the presence of He who is eternal. And you
can't be in His presence without eternal life, which is why they
must, they must, He must be lifted up. They must believe. They must not perish. They must have eternal life. Come, he says, come unto me and
live. Look unto me and live. are you willing to be saved in
such a way that all of the glory of his character is on the fullest
display and magnified and he gets all the glory and we don't
have any of it his glory he gives to us are we willing to be saved
by his blood by his righteousness by his work on the cross of Calvary
that extraordinary transaction is the salvation of all of God's
people. I love the fact that the very
character of God demands my salvation. The very character of God assures
me of my salvation and I just keep looking. I look around this
world and I see the slithering snakes and I look up to a pole
and I look to him Look at the issue, isn't it?
It's the object of faith that is the power and the strength
and the security and the assurance of faith. Don't let conscience
make you linger, nor a fitness fondly dream. The only fitness
he requires is to have your need of him. Lars Bitten had a need. Those who are born again have
a need, a need satisfied in a glorious Saviour. Let's sing number 74. Thanks, Normie. Jesus paid it all, all to Him
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it, white as snow. I hear the Saviour say, Thy strength
indeed is strong, See, I left a print of stain,
he washed it by himself. Now will he not find, I found,
I alone, had changed a leopard's spot and mellowed He washed it by His blood. Oh, nothing good abide, Whereby
thy grace you pay. I'll wash thy garments fine,
In the blood of my Savior. Jesus made it all Sing and let the grain don't
stay, be worshipped by the sun. Those who have the delight of
everlasting life in heaven's glory are singing a song. And
we're here practicing singing those songs. We're getting the
tunes right, aren't we? We're getting the words right.
And they sang a new song, Revelation 5.9. Thou art worthy to take
the book and open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain and hast
redeemed us. to God, by thy blood, out of
every kindred and tongue and people and nation, and has made
us unto our God, kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father,
we do pray that you would cause the blood of your dear and precious
Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, make it precious to us, Heavenly Father. May it not be trampled under
feet, the feet of this world in such a way that allows your
children to be anything but horrified, because it is precious to us,
as He is precious to us. We do pray, Heavenly Father,
that we would be caused again and again to simply look, to
simply come, to simply be the whosoevers that believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And as we drink this representation
of his blood and eat what is his body, we pray, Heavenly Father,
that you would cause his life to be life for us, life in us,
life everlasting. We pray in his name and for his
glory.