May it please God to bless us
together this morning as we consider the question which we read in
the Gospel of Luke chapter 10 and verse 25. The Gospel of Luke
chapter 10 and verse 25. And behold, a certain lawyer
stood up and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit
eternal life? The word lawyer here refers to,
doesn't perhaps refer to what we understand today as a lawyer.
A lawyer refers to, in this particular context, was one who was used
to studying the Word of God and had a wonderful knowledge of
the Old Testament law. And so this was the person that
stood up and asked the Lord Jesus Christ this question, Master,
what should I do to inherit eternal life? Sadly, of course, the question
wasn't really asked from a sincere perspective. He wasn't really
concerned about the aspect with regard to himself, because he
asked it in a way that would tempt, as he thought, the Lord
Jesus Christ to give an answer which might be different from
what he might have expected. And so therefore it wasn't really,
as we might say, an honest question. He didn't really ask it with
a real concern to know for himself what he should do to inherit
eternal life. But be that as it may, it is
a very relevant question for all of us today. In actual fact,
it's a very relevant question for everybody in the world to
come and ask this very important question, what shall I do to
inherit eternal life? Now, one thing is clear that
this person did have a natural understanding that His life was
not something which was just going to fizzle out without any
other thing at all. He realised there was an eternal
life. And how important it is for us
to know that there is an eternal life. We are here today because
there is an eternal life. Surely we've come together today
to hear about those things of eternity, not just the things
that we have to do with, in our natural life day by day, because
of course we live in a passing world, we live in a transient
world, we live in a world which will one day perish, one day
will be burnt up. So therefore the question here
is indeed very important and very relevant to us. Now the
Lord asked this lawyer A question. He said, what is written in the
law? How read is that? And what was
he doing? He was referring this person
to the truth of God's word. Of course, there was only the
Old Testament in existence in these days. But nonetheless,
here was the question. And he knew this man had a knowledge
of the law. And therefore, he asked him what
the result was. What is written in the law? How
readest thou? And we might just consider, if
we are to ask such a question ourselves, what should I do to
inherit eternal life? We might receive the answer in
exactly the same words, what is written in the law, what is
written in the Bible. It's a wonderful privilege for
us today to have this a great volume which contains everything
which we need for our natural life and also for our spiritual
life. And if we therefore have a question
like this, what should I do to inherit eternal life, the result
should really be in this form, to search the scriptures, to
search the Word of God. And if you this morning are asking
such a question, what should I do to inherit eternal life? Well, the answer is really to
search the Bible, to see what it says, how it directs us. And of course, it is very complete. The Word of God tells us everything
that you and I need, therefore, for our natural life, and for
our spiritual life. Now, just for a moment, just
recognizing what this lawyer responded. And it was good words,
you know, that he responded. He said, Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy
strength, with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. Well, was he correct? The Lord
told him, Thou hast answered right. This do, and thou shalt
live. The problem is, of course, that
we are not actually able to fulfil such a great and glorious command. And you may ask me, well, why
can we not do that? Very simply, because our nature
is a fallen nature, and by that I mean it's a sinful nature. And because it's a sinful nature,
it is not possible for us to therefore love the Lord thy God
with all our heart. We'll find that there are those
areas where our love deviates, and it's not centred on God himself. There are many things in our
lives, many things which occur many idols, we should say, which
distract us and turn us away from the true love there should
be and true worship to our God. And therefore, as this question
was answered, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength and all thy
mind, which we know is one of the beginning of the gracious
commands of God. And yet you see how, sadly really,
we fall short of these great truths. No doubt you remember
that it's in the book of Exodus, and we have a very clear statement
of the commands which this man was referring to. And the question
was, or the answer, and God spake all these words saying, I am
the Lord thy God which brought thee forth out of the land of
Egypt as the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods
before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee
any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven
above, or that is in earth beneath, or that is in the water under
the earth. Thou shalt not bow down. Thyself
to them nor serve them for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God
visiting the children the iniquity of the fathers upon the children
unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and showest
mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name
of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him
guiltless that taketh his name in vain. So there we have, as
we are sure aware, a very clear statement there of the truth
of God in the Ten Commandments with regards to the way that
we should react to the Lord Jesus Christ, to God the Father and
to the Holy Spirit. And then the God's servant Moses speaks to
us and tells us also what we should do and what we should
say, how we should indeed bow down and worship the Lord and
to speak about the things of God one to another. And when
he wrote the book of Deuteronomy, of course, it wasn't long before
he was to give up his life or have his life taken. And he therefore
wrote these wonderful words to the children of Israel. Now,
these are the commandments and statutes and the judgments which
the Lord your God commanded to teach you that you might do them
in the land whither you go to possess it, that thou mightest
fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments,
which I command thee thou and thy son and thy sons' sons, and
that all the days of thy life, and that thy days may be prolonged. Hear therefore, O Israel, and
observe to do it, that it may be well with thee, and that ye
may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath
promised thee in the land that floweth with milk and honey."
And so that's in the sixth of Deuteronomy. And so you can read
on in that blessed book and find out the many details that Moses
wrote to the children of Israel to encourage them to worship
the Lord. Well, the crux of the whole thing
is center here in these words that This lawyer was able to
describe to the Saviour in answer to that question, Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul
and with all thy strength and with all thy mind and thy neighbour
as thyself. And just running on for a moment
to the question then that the lawyer put to the Lord because
he was willing to justify himself, and we have to be very careful
today in our lives, not trying to justify the things that we
think and the things that we do, which are perhaps not in
accordance with God's Word, but we are trying to justify ourselves. And so he asked the Lord, who
is my neighbour? And of course, the Lord gave
the wonderful illustration that we generally refer to as the
case of the Good Samaritan. And there we found a man going
down from Jerusalem to Jericho, fell among thieves, and who stripped
him of his raiment and wounded him, departed leaving him half
dead. And that was a sad condition.
And then who was to come and to help him and to look upon
him? Well, we find, first of all,
a priest came. And when he saw him, he passed
by on the other side. then a Levite. And he came and
looked on him and passed by on the other side. See those were
two examples and no doubt this lawyer would have fallen into
that category. And the Lord then said, but a
certain Samaritan as he journeyed came where he was and when he
saw him he had compassion on him and went to him and bound
up his wounds pouring in oil and wine set him on his own beast,
brought him to an inn, took care of him, and on the morrow when
he departed he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and
said unto him, Take care of him, and whatsoever thou spendest
more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these
three thinkest thou was neighbour unto him that fell among thieves?"
Well, the answer was simple, and of course the lawyer got
it right. He that showed mercy on him.' And the Lord responded
and said unto him, Go and do thou likewise." So here is a
very clear indication of what we are to do in a natural way
in our lives. We are to live our lives not
unto ourselves, but we are to live our life unto the Lord. desiring to do his will and to
follow him in the gracious and blessed example that he set before
us in his life and the many examples he gave through those many parables
which we read in the Word of God. And so there was that response
which we see with regard to a natural position. But of course there's
a much deeper question, isn't there? Master, what shall I do
to inherit eternal life? Here, we've just considered the
natural outcome. But there is the spiritual outcome,
which is between our soul and our God. Not between our body
and our God, but between our soul and our God. And how important it is that
we have a right understanding of the condition of our soul. So the question, Master, what
shall I do to inherit eternal life? Well, to inherit something
is that which is generally transmitted from parents to their children. When the parents die, there is
an inheritance which is passed on to the children. Generally
that is the situation. And of course, in that inheritance,
in one sense the children have not worked for it, it's been
provided for them. It's something which their parents
have worked for, and therefore when they've passed away, that
which they possess has been passed on to their children as an inheritance. Master, what should I do to inherit
eternal life? Well, clearly children have not
actually worked for that inheritance. It's been given them. So the
question, what shall I do? Well, there was nothing really
to do, was there? Because the children had inherited
it. It's that which had been provided
for them. So really, it's very similar
to that with regard to our spiritual situation. What shall I do to
inherit? eternal life. Well, the wonderful
thing is that there is an inheritance which has been provided for the
Church of God. And Peter refers to it as an
inheritance which is incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth
not away reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power
of God through grace unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last
time. So to the living Church of God,
those who are spiritually alive, there is an inheritance which
is to be enjoyed, an inheritance which has been provided, and
not because of what they have done, but an inheritance which
has been provided by God himself. What is that inheritance and
how has it been provided? Well, the inheritance is the
great blessing of eternal life. Eternal life and it is of immense
value. Inheritances Naturally can vary
can they not sometimes parents may die? Wealthy may die very
poor and the inheritance can vary very much but to all of
God's people the inheritance which they receive is of tremendous
value Why is it of tremendous value
because it is an eternal blessing It is an eternal favour. They receive the gift of eternal
life, not something which just is going to perish and to vanish
away, is it? Remember the Lord Jesus spoke
about this wonderful blessing of eternal life when he addressed
that rich man, that man Nicodemus, and he spoke to him and he told
him, this great blessing, for God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have everlasting life, should have eternal life. Now this really is the great
question, isn't it? What shall I do to inherit eternal
life, to receive this great blessing of everlasting life? People today
are very concerned and we by nature are all very concerned
that we want this and can I have that and can I have this and
we want this and we want that. We're concerned aren't we about
our food, what we should eat and what we should drink. But
the great question really is with regards to the state of
our eternal soul. Word of God tells us we brought
nothing into this world and it is certain that we can carry
nothing out. All our natural possessions will
be left behind. We came into this world naked
and we should go out in the same way with nothing. But what a
great blessing if we possess the gift of God of eternal life? The gift of God of eternal life? That is the great question, isn't
it? And here we have this put to
us by this lawyer, what should I do to inherit eternal life? It's not something that you and
I possess naturally. It's that which God gives to
us, a great and glorious gift. wonderful favour of eternal life. You know, the Apostle Paul, when
he wrote to the church at Rome, he tells us a very great statement. He says, for the wages of sin
is death. And we've all sinned. We're all
sinners. The payment for our sin is death. But the gift of God, the gift
of God, is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. You see, this inheritance is
the gift of God and it is eternal life and it is through Jesus
Christ our Lord. What shall I do to inherit eternal
life. Well, the great blessing is to
receive the gift of faith, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything is received by our
souls from the good hand of our God. To be blessed with this
wonderful gift of faith, indeed, as the the apostle when he wrote
to the Ephesians And in the second chapter he tells us for by grace
are you saved through faith? Remembering of course that grace
is a free unmerited favor of God For by grace are you say
through faith and that not of yourselves? It is the gift of
God So here we are then what shall happen? I do to inherit
eternal life. Well, very clearly, the truth
is that everything is done for us. We receive faith to believe. We receive it by the grace of
God. And it is not of ourselves. The Apostle Paul goes at great
lengths to clear the ground and to tell us very clearly It's
not in our flesh. As he commenced this second chapter,
when he said, and you hath he quickened, or you hath he made
alive, who were dead in trespasses and in sins. So we do not have
any ability, therefore, to produce eternal life ourselves, because
we are born in sin and shaped in iniquity, we are spiritually
dead, there is no life in us, we are dead in trespasses and
sins, and he clearly elucidates this by saying, wherefore in
time past you walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also
we all had our conversation in times past. We've all been like
that. We've all been taken up with
just the things of the world. We haven't really been concerned
about our eternal life. We've been concerned about what
we can gain in this life. what we can build up for ourselves,
how we can increase our bank balance, and how we can enjoy
life, our natural life, and everything has been centred upon that. And
we have to concur with this statement, wherein in time past, ye walked,
all of us, according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit, the now, worketh
in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind." What does that
mean? It really means we were just
pleasing ourselves. We weren't really concerned about
pleasing God. We were concerned about pleasing
ourselves. And so he says, and were by nature
the children of wrath, even as others. And then we have this
great blessing. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love, wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened, has made us alive, together with
Christ by grace are ye saved. saved from ourselves, delivered
from that condition of death, that condition of darkness, brought
into the great and glorious light of the everlasting Gospel. And
so the Apostle says, and has raised us up together and made
us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the
ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace
in his kindness toward us through Jesus Christ. And so he says,
Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He didn't really
believe that the Lord Jesus was his Master. It was just words
of mock humility. But it's a wonderful favour if
we come to God believing Him to be our Master, that One who
is our ruler, the one who rules over us. And we therefore desire
to do the will of our master. And we come to him in a right
way. What shall I do to inherit eternal life? And then as the
Spirit of God declares to us that he has given to us the gift
of eternal life, and he's given it to us as he's given us that
faith to believe, in the Lord Jesus Christ as our all-sufficient
Saviour. And so this morning, if we are
to be amongst those who receive this gift, this inheritance of
eternal life, have we been blessed with that faith to believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ? Now, we should only come to that
position if we realise that we have a need of a saviour. People today generally have no
concern about their eternal destiny of their soul. They're totally
satisfied with just the things of this world. They think the
things in the Bible are just fairy tales and there's nothing
in them, there's no truth in them. And they consider those
who believe the word of God and the truth of God to be fools. Well, we are fools. but we're
fools for Christ's sake. And we can bless God if God has
given us, therefore, a spiritual concern about the state of our
soul, and a true concern to be found amongst those who do believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ, believe in what He has done in working
out for His people that great work of salvation, the saving
of our souls, If we are to inherit the great gift of eternal life,
it is to be found in that place and to know that Christ has stood
in our place and has paid the price for our redemption. So that we are able to come and
again say with the Apostle Peter, redeemed with the precious blood
of Christ. Now then, put a mercy to this
morning, if God gives us faith to believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, to believe that his death was essential for our salvation. Without Christ's life, without
his death, without his resurrection, my friends, there would be no
hope for you and me today. And so therefore, We read together
that last verse in this same chapter in Luke's Gospel where
Jesus was speaking to Martha and he spoke these great words,
but one thing is needful. And what was that? To believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ. What had she done? Mary had chosen
that good part which shall not be taken away from her. She desired
to come and sit at Jesus' feet. She'd come to hear the words
of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. She'd been willing to
come and sit at his feet and listen and to hear the truth
of God. How different from this proud
lawyer. What a different situation. submitting to the Word of God,
the other arguing really and wanting to be able to show his
own ability in the truth of God. Well, it would be a mercy for
us today if we find ourselves willing to learn, willing to
hear the Word of God, the truth of God, as spoken to us in the
Bible. and the great truth to direct
us to the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, this morning the
question could be asked, couldn't it? What think ye of Christ is
the test? What do we think of him? Do we
just have a vain view as his lawyer did? A view which was not really true?
Do we really have a view of Him as our Master, our Saviour? Do we bow down and worship Him?
Or are we still worshipping ourselves?
This Lord was worshipping Himself. As the Apostle Paul spoke, many
were worshipping themselves. But my friends, what a blessing
if the Spirit of God has moved our hearts to come and to bow
down and to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the only way
of salvation. The only way. So the question
is very pertinent, what thinking of Christ is the test. To test everything in our religion. Do we realise that he is the
one thing needful to deliver our souls? And therefore have
we faith in what the Saviour has done. To believe that the
Lord Jesus Christ suffered that terrible and yet glorious death
on Calvary's cross to save our souls. That without that death,
no salvation. But through that death, you and
I can have hope of this great blessing of inheritance of eternal
life. What will the effect be? Well,
I'm sure the effect will be this, to thank and praise God for his
great love toward us. That love was so great, was it
not? The Lord Jesus Christ was moved to come and to live on
this earth and to die in our place. It's a wonderful meditation
to realise that Christ, Almighty God, nonetheless the second person
in the Trinity, the Almighty God, was so willing to humble
himself and to be obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross, that he might redeem our souls, so that he might grant
to us that blessed gift of this inheritance of eternal life. And so this morning, where is
our hope? Is it in what Christ has done? Do we bless God for the life
and death of the Saviour? Those great words, he bore the
punishment instead. He suffered the just for the
unjust. we were unjust, weren't we? I
think that Christ died to grant that justification for us, so
that we are just, made just, through his death. He who did
no sin, he who lived that perfect life, died that we might be forgiven
of all our sins, and that all our sins might be forever taken
away, washed away in the blood of the Saviour. Well, what shall I do to inherit
eternal life? Is the question of eternal life
important to us? It should be. It must be. Because we do have an eternal
life. Our souls will never die. Never die. It's beyond our comprehension
to understand what eternity really is. But it is a place where there
is no time. Perhaps that's one of the easiest
ways to understand eternity. We live in time. We understand
time. minutes and hours and days and
years. But we don't understand a place where there is no time,
where there is no day, there's no night. It just goes on and
on and on and on. No end. Eternity. And so it is a very important
consideration to know that our souls are right with God. and that we're not wrong with
God. Because if we're wrong with God,
we don't have any hope in the mercy of God. Then you see the
end of our life on this earth will then send us into eternal
hell. Not a place of eternal happiness,
a place of eternal horror and evil and that forever. So the question is so relevant
for all of us, for all mankind. We see, don't we, everyone rushing
along in this mad world with little concern about their eternal
state. So the question is so relevant,
isn't it? What should I do? It's pertinent to you and it's
pertinent to me. and it's pertinent to every single
person that has ever lived and will ever live on this earth
to know what should I do to inherit eternal life. Well may we have
the wonderful evidence that we do have an inheritance. An inheritance which we shall
receive, that which is given to us from Almighty God and to think
of the love of God so great in producing this wonderful blessing
for sinners and unworthy sinners. And I believe as the Spirit of
God touches our heart, we will be so amazed and so thankful
that there is a God in heaven has been mindful of us, small,
insignificant as we are, and has come down into this earth,
and by his Spirit has touched our hearts and given us a concern
as to the condition of our eternal soul, as to whether we do have
an inheritance to look forward to, or whether we do not. and
given us that concern, to seek earnestly the face of our God,
that we may know the truth of those words that the Apostle
spoke. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who
are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after
the Spirit. And what is it? It's the gift
of God. It's the favour of God. And so
may we this morning, as we think on these words, be truly concerned
about our own condition as to whether we do have an inheritance
to look forward to, one that God has provided for us, an eternal
inheritance which will never fade away, remember, reserved
in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith
ready to be revealed in the last time. Amen.