If you will, let's turn with
me in your Bibles to Colossians chapter two. Colossians, the
second chapter. This week, Monday through Wednesday,
we're gonna have our vacation Bible school. I'm looking so
forward to that every year. I'm so excited about it and I
pray for it. Now, remember this week on Wednesday,
there'll be no service here on Wednesday. Our midweek service
is moved to Thursday. Thursday evening, seven o'clock,
and Pastor Mike Walker will be coming to bring us the message.
I'm very much looking forward to that too. All right, Colossians
chapter two. We'll read the first 10 verses. For I would that you knew what
great conflict I have for you, and for them in Laodicea, and
for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their
hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love and unto
all riches, of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement
of the mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ, in
whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And
this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words.
For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the
spirit, joying and beholding your order and the steadfastness
of your faith in Christ. As you have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him, rooted and built up
in him, established in the faith as you have been taught, abounding
therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you
through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men, after
the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are
complete in him, which is the head of all principality and
power. All right, let's stand together
as John leads us in singing our call to worship. My times are in thy hand, my
God, I wish them there. My life, my friends, my soul,
my all, I leave, Lord, to thy care. My times are in thy hand,
whatever they may be, pleasing or painful, dark or bright, as
best may seem to thee. My times are in thy hand. Why should I doubt or fear? My Father's hand will never cause
His child a needless tear. My times are in Thy hand. I'll always trust in Thee. And after death at thy right
hand I shall forever be. If you would now turn to song
number 272 in the Red Hymn. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
I stand, All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground
is sinking sand. When darkness veils His lovely
face, I rest on His unchanging grace. In every high and stormy
gale, My anchor holds within the veil. On Christ the solid
rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand
His oath, His covenant, His blood Support me in the whelming flood
When all around my soul gives way He then is all my hope and
stay On Christ the solid rock I stand, All other ground is
sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand. His oath is come with trumpet
sound, O may I then in him be found, Dressed in his righteousness
alone, Faultless to stand before the throne. If you would turn
to the book of 2 Timothy, Pastor has asked that we read
this. We're gonna continue our study through Timothy with Paul's
second epistle. So we're gonna read chapter one,
verses one through 10. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ
by the will of God, according to the promise of life, which
is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my dearly beloved son, grace,
mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God whom I serve from
my forefathers with pure conscience that without ceasing I have remembrance
of thee in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see
thee, being mindful of thy tears that I may be filled with joy.
When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee,
which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and in thy mother Eunice,
I am persuaded, and I am persuaded, that it is in thee also. Wherefore
I put thee in remembrance, that thou stir up the gift of God,
which is in thee, by the putting on of my hands. For God hath
not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and
of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me as prisoner, but be
thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God, who hath saved us and called us within 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 Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and hath
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
May the Lord bless his word. Let's pray. Our holy, holy Heavenly Father, we're so
thankful for this gospel that you've given us. this good news
of life in Jesus Christ. Father, we pray that you would
be with us this morning. That you would send your spirit
to anoint thy word as we worship our Lord Jesus Christ. Father,
give our pastor recall of his notes. Give him a word. Give him food for your sheep.
And Father, give us hearing ears, give us receiving hearts, cause
us not to look inwardly, not to look outwardly at this world,
but to look to our Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Father,
we're so, so thankful for the many that have come before in
this congregation, in our families, the examples that you've given
us, Lord, but we pray that you would cause each of us to have
faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Renew that faith in us daily,
for we need it. Lord, don't leave us alone. Father,
we pray for our children. As these Sunday school classes
are coming up, As others are becoming young adults and going
out into the world, Father, be with them. Cause them to look
to Christ. Cause them to know their sin
and know the cure. To love Christ, to run to Him,
to cling to Him. Father, we're blessed beyond
beyond all measure. You've blessed this congregation,
Lord, in the past. We pray that you would continue
to show grace upon us, that you would save sinners through the
word preached in this building that goes out into the world.
Father, we pray for those who are going through deep trials. Father, we have so many that
are dealing with physical pains and broken bodies, and Lord,
we know that thou art the great physician. You've given us means
through science and doctors, but we know that the healing
comes from thee. We pray that it would be your
will to restore their bodies that they might come and worship
as part of this congregation again. We pray for those who
are brokenhearted that we may not see outwardly, but we know
they're hurting. Lord, we pray that you would
bind those broken hearts, cause these trials to increase our
faith to look to Christ. Father, once again, we pray that
you would be with us in this service. Lord, leave us not alone
in what we ask for This congregation, Lord, we ask for congregations
wherever men stand today to preach the good news of life in our
Lord Jesus Christ. Don't let us worship alone. Don't let us be hung up on doctrine,
Lord. Give us the humility to know
our sin and know our need. and to look to Christ. We ask
all these things in his name. Amen. Jesus, the very thought of thee
with sweetness fills my breast, but sweeter for thy face to see,
and in thy presence rest. Nor voice can sing, nor heart
can frame, Nor can the memory find A sweeter sound than thy
blessed name, O Savior of mankind. O hope of every contrite heart,
O joy of all the meek, To those who fall, how kind thou art,
how good to those who seek. But what to those who find, ah,
this, nor tongue nor pen can show. The love of Jesus, what
it is, None but his loved ones know. Jesus, our only joy, be
thou, As thou our prize wilt be. Jesus, be thou our glory
now, and through eternity. Let's open our Bibles now again
to the book Brother Dan, or passage Brother Dan just read for us.
Second Timothy chapter one. The book of Second Timothy was
written about nine years after Paul's first letter to Timothy.
Some people think this is the last epistle that Paul wrote.
I don't know that for sure, but certainly we do know that it
was written very close to the end of his life, and Paul knew
it. Look over at chapter four of 2 Timothy. Verse six. For I am now ready
to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I fought
a good fight, I finished my course, I've kept the faith. So Paul
knew that his life on this earth was near its end. And when a
person knows that their time is short, that the end is near,
they just don't waste their time talking about things that don't
matter. The things that Paul deals with
in this epistle, things that he wrote under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, are things that he felt like it was important
for us to remember. after his departure. And this
morning, I want to look at a very important subject, subject in
which he begins his epistle, the subject of eternal life,
eternal life. I've titled the message, the
promise of eternal life. And I took that title from verse
one, Paul and apostle Jesus Christ by the will of God, according
to the promise of life, which is in Christ Jesus. Now the life
that Paul is talking about here is eternal life. He's talking
about spiritual life. He's talking about the life that
we lost in Adam. When Adam sinned in the garden,
Adam died. And we died in him. When Adam
died, we lost the spiritual life. Paul here is talking about life
that we must have. Life we must have if we would
not be condemned. And human beings must have some
something in us that lets us know we don't have this life.
Human beings, wherever you find them, are interested in this
life. Now, we don't know what spiritual
life really is. We don't know how to obtain it,
but people are interested in it. And they created all kinds
of religions to come up with ways to explain this life and
explain how to have it. And it's all wrong. It's all
wrong. And this morning, I want us to
find out what does God's Word have to say about this matter
of spiritual life, eternal life, because that's where we find
out the truth. That's where we find out what is right. I want
us to see what this life is and how we might have it. So number
one, here's my first point. This life, spiritual life, eternal
life is given by the promise of God. Paul talks about the
promise of life. God promised to give this life
to his people, and it's a free promise. And when I say a free
promise, this is what I mean. The promise is not conditioned
on anything that we do. We don't have to do anything
to be eligible to receive it. God promised to give spiritual,
eternal life to his people by his will. You know what that
means? Just because it pleased God to do it. He promised to
give life to his people, people that do not deserve it. This
spiritual life is ours Not by our will. Not because we decided
to let Jesus into our hearts and be the ruler of our hearts.
Not because we decided to let him be the savior. The creature
doesn't make a decision in this matter. This matter of salvation
is God's will. Not our will, it's God's will.
It's God's decision, not our decision. And I tell you what,
you and I should be mighty thankful for that. Mighty thankful for
that truth. Because you know what our will
is? If God leaves us alone to our will, you know what we'll
do? we'll run as far away from God as we can. That's right,
we'll choose sin over holiness every time. We'll choose our
righteousness over the righteousness of Christ every time. Our will
will just be to try and to fail to establish our own righteousness
and then be damned. That's right. You know, when
we say that salvation is by God's will, not ours, people say, well,
wait a minute, that means if I want to be saved and God says,
well, I'm sorry, you know, I didn't promise this life to you. That
will never, ever, ever, ever, ever happen. If somebody wills
to be saved on God's terms, it's because God gave them a new will.
That's exactly right. Salvation is by God's will, not
ours. Salvation is by God crossing
our will, by God saving us against our will with our full consent. That's exactly what it is. Salvation
is by the will of God, and if that wasn't true, nobody would
ever be saved. You see everything physically,
naturally, spiritually, everything that happens, happens according
to the will of God. Everything that ever has happened
in creation or that ever will happen during man's time on this
creation has happened by the will of God. Absolutely everything. I can't explain all of that.
Why do these horrible things happen? I do not know. I just
know this. It was God's will that it happened or wouldn't
happen. God has a will concerning His glory, concerning His glory
and the redemption of His people. And God arranges everything that
happens in human time to accomplish that purpose of God, the redemption
of His people to the glory of His Son. And nothing that man
thinks or does or wants can ever change it or ever stop it. God's
will shall be done. That includes everything that
happens in human time. Everything that happens in human
time is simply this, the eternal will of God being carried out
in time. That's all it is. That includes
everything. Everything about you and everything
about me. Ask you a question. Why are you
here this morning? Why are you here this morning?
Do you know why? From all of eternity, Almighty
God willed You'd be here to hear this message this morning. That makes this pretty serious
matter, doesn't it? God willed for you to be here.
Why do you live in a place where the gospel is preached? Why do
you live, not live in a town where the gospel is not preached?
Why do you live in a place where the gospel is preached? And why
do you go there and not somewhere else? You know why? God willed
it. That's exactly why. Why are you
tall or why are you short? Why are you blonde or brunette
or gray-headed? Why is that? God willed it. That's exactly why. That's true
to the most minute detail. You can't carry that too far.
Now, why does a person have this spiritual eternal life? If you
have it, if you have spiritual life, why do you have it? Because
God promised that you would have it by his will. He promised it.
God willed for you to have life. Why does a person not have spiritual
life? This thing of the gospel, this
thing of salvation in Christ, this thing of salvation by grace,
not of works, that might be so plain to you. Many of you, it
is. It's so plain to you. It's so
obvious to you. And you talk to someone about
it and they don't see it. They just can't. I mean, it just completely
bumfuzzles them. Why is that? Why is it you see
it and they don't? Why do you have this life and they don't?
It's because God willed to leave them alone. That's exactly why. Spiritual life has been promised
by God to his people. Not because they deserved it.
Not because they earned it, not because they decided to accept
it or they're smarter than somebody else so they see it and somebody
else doesn't. Life is given by the undeserved mercy and grace
of God. Paul tells us that in verse two,
to Timothy, my dearly beloved son, grace, mercy, and peace
from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. This spiritual
life has been promised by God based upon the work of God. based
upon the grace of God, based upon the will of God, not the
will of man. Not because they deserve it,
but because it just pleased God to do it. It pleased God to give
them something they did not deserve. That's what mercy and grace means.
We didn't earn it. And the proof that salvation
doesn't have anything to do with the will of man or anything to
do with the works of man is seen in this. When was this promise
of God made? God promised to give life. When
was this promise made? Look at Titus chapter one. This
promise was made before time began, before God created anything,
before man was ever on the scene. That's when God promised to give
this life to his people. Titus one verse one, Paul, a
servant of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the
faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth, which
is after godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, that
cannot lie, promised, when? Before the world began. But hath in due times manifested
his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according
to the commandment of God our Savior. Now that's what I've
been saying, God promised this, before time began, that was his
will. And it's unfolding in time. This
is God's will to reveal himself, to give this life to his people.
That was God's will, that was his promise. And the unfolding
of his will happens through the preaching of the gospel. What's
happening in time is just God's will being carried out. See,
the promise that was made here was before we were ever on the
scene, before Adam was ever on the scene. Then the promise has
to be completely based upon the will, the promise, and the grace
of God, doesn't it? And God's elect do not have to
earn salvation. God promised to give it to them,
and they're going to have it because they're heirs. They're
not earners. They're not servants, slaves.
They're heirs. Look over a page of Titus chapter
3, verse 5. not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by
the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which
he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Lord, that
being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs, not
earners, heirs, according to the hope of eternal life. And
I've told you this many times, that word hope that Paul uses
there means an expectation. It's not presumption. If God
promised to give it to you, it's not presumption to expect him
to give it to you, is it? No, all that is is saving faith. We can expect to have eternal
life because God promised to give it to his people. Christ
has died. He shed his blood. and he died,
then God's last will and testament, his will concerning the redemption
of his people is in full force. And they're going to have this
spiritual life by the will of God. All right. Salvation, eternal life is based
upon by the promise of God. Well, where is my second point?
Where did God put the life that he promised to give his people?
Where'd he put it? He promised it. Where'd he put it? He put
it in his son. He put it in Christ. Look at
1 John 5. The Father has made life, spiritual,
eternal life, and every other spiritual blessing easy to find. We read to open the service that
he's hidden these things in Christ. He didn't hide them from us.
He hid them in Christ so they'd be easy to find, so they'd be
safe and secure in Him. He didn't hide them from us.
He hid them so we could have them in Christ. He made it easy
to find. You don't have to go on a treasure
hunt and look every which way and all across the world for
every different blessing of God. God put them all in one place
so they'd be easy to find. He put them in Christ. 1 John
5 verse 11. And this is the record that God
hath given to us eternal life. And this life is where? It's
in his son. So he that hath the son hath
life. And he that hath not the son
of God hath not life. Now it's that simple. People
just overcomplicate the gospel. They overcomplicate this matter
of eternal life. It really is this simple. God
put life in his son. And you got the son, you've got
life. If you don't have the son, you don't have life because all
life is in the Lord Jesus Christ. this spiritual life of God's
people that he promised his people. You know, it was earned. Now,
we're heirs of it. We didn't earn it, but it was
earned. It was earned by the Lord Jesus when he became a man. He became a man born under the
law, and he obeyed that law perfectly, in thought, word, and deed. He
always obeyed it perfectly. And that obedience to the law
of the Lord Jesus Christ, that obedience is the obedience of
his people. It's it's not our obedience.
It's his his given to us. Well, then they can never die,
can they? They can't ever die that they have eternal life.
Christ made them perfect by his obedience to the law for them
as their representative. But this spiritual life, this
eternal life. Is a whole lot deeper, it's much
more full and much more rich than just a thing that Christ
gives his people life. is a person. You just apply that
to every spiritual blessing God has for his people. They're all
a person. Life is a person. Let me show
you that in John chapter 11. John chapter 11. You know the story here. Lazarus,
our Lord's friend, had died. He stayed away. until Lazarus
was dead. And now he's come to the place
and they're having the wake for Lazarus. And our Lord is speaking
to Lazarus' sister, Martha. In verse 21, then said Martha
unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hast been here, my brother had not
died. She's right. She's right. She
got the doctrine down cold. Lord been there. He hadn't died.
Nobody ever died in the presence of the Lord. Nobody ever died
in the presence of life himself. She goes on verse 22, but I know
that even now whatsoever thou will ask of God, God will give
it thee. Jesus saith unto her, thy brother shall rise again.
Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the
resurrection at the last day. Now here again, Martha has been
well taught. She's got the doctrine down cold,
doesn't she? She knows there's going to be
a resurrection. He'll be raised again to last day. She knows
that she got the doctrine down cold. But life is so much fuller,
richer than that. Because look at what our Lord
says in verse 25. Jesus saith unto her, I am the resurrection
and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Now Martha, do you believe that? Martha, do you believe me? I
am the resurrection. I am the life. Christ is our
life. Life is a person. Look over at
John 14. Our Lord wasn't done teaching this
truth that He is the life of a believer. John 14. Verse 1. Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God. Believe also in me. In my Father's
house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself
that where I am, that you may be also. And whither I go, you
know, and the way you know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord,
we know not whither thou goest. How can we know the way? We don't
know where you're going. How can we know the way to get
there? That's what he's saying. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way,
I am the truth, and I am the life. No man cometh unto the
Father but by me. I am the life. Life is a person. Spiritual, eternal life is all
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why the Apostle Paul said
in Colossians 3 verse 4, when Christ, our life, when Christ
who is our life shall appear, then she also appear with him
in glory. Christ is our life. See, every spiritual blessing
is all in one place. It was the will of the Father
to put it all in one person, in the Lord Jesus Christ. It
pleased the Father that in Him should all fools dwell. It pleased
the Father that in Christ every blessing of God should dwell.
Now, do you want spiritual life? That's my question for you and
for me. Do you want spiritual life? Then look for it where
it's found. Look for it in Christ. Spiritual
life is not in what you do and what you don't do. It's all in
Christ. If you would have spiritual life,
go to him. All right. Salvation, eternal life, spiritual
life. It's the promise of God. It's
all in Christ. Here's my third point. How do
I get it? It's all in Christ, but how do
I get it? Well, you know, scripture tells us there's several I know
several ways that this is described, but first is this. We receive
spiritual life by the gift of God. By the gift. God promised
spiritual life to his people by his will. And he gives it
to them as a free gift. Now you can't pay for a gift. Now I'm gonna go out on a limb
here. Today's Abby's birthday. I'm just guessing Eric bought
her a present. Now, Eric, when you give her
a present, you're gonna give her the receipt and tell her she gotta
pay you back for it? No, you don't pay for a gift. That would
be offensive, wouldn't it? You don't pay for a gift. Salvation,
eternal life is a free gift of God to sinful men and women who
could never deserve it. I'm telling you, we should be
so glad for that, so glad. Look at Romans chapter six. We
should be so glad that we can't and we don't have to earn anything
from God. Because the one and only thing
that we could earn from God is death, is condemnation and God's
wrath. That's the only thing we could
earn from God. God knows that. So he gives this
life that he promised his people. He gives eternal life to them
as a free gift. Romans 6 verse 23. For the wages
of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Now, the youngest child
here can understand what the apostle just said there. Wages
is what you earn. That's what you earn. You do
work, you get this. It's wages. A gift is something
that's given freely. Now, Paul tells us all we can
earn from God by our works. is spiritual death, eternal death.
So thank God eternal life is given as a free gift. We can't
even do anything to get God to give it to us. It's a free gift
of his grace. Now, all life is in Christ and
Christ gives that life to his people freely as a free gift. Look back in the gospel of John
again, John chapter 10. Verse 27, my sheep hear my voice
and I know them and they follow me and I give unto them eternal
life and they shall never perish. Neither should any man pluck
them out of my hand. If Christ gives you this gift
of life, you can never perish. You're safe in his hand. You
can never perish. That's why it's eternal life.
So the father promised to give life to his people. And he sent
his son so that his son could earn that life and he could give
it as a free gift to his people. John chapter 17. John 17 verse two, as thou has
given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given him. Now the father gave the
son power over all flesh. Now that doesn't mean, that means
we don't have power over him. We don't have the power to decide
whether we're gonna accept him or not. He's got the power over
us. And in that power, he gives,
freely gives eternal life to as many as the father gave him.
Then all of his people Everyone that God elected and gave to
his son will have life because the son has the power to give
it to them freely. And if you have, if you don't
have spiritual life and you'd like to have it, tell you what
to do. Beg God to give it to you because
that's how we receive it as a free gift of his grace. All right. Second, I get this life by believing
Christ. Look back at John chapter five.
I get this life through faith in Christ, by believing him. Verse 24, John chapter five.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, 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 unto life. Now, everyone
who has faith in Christ, everyone who believes Christ, everyone,
they have eternal life. They have it. Now, this thing
of faith, this is closely tied to our last point about life
being the gift of God. Faith is also the gift of God,
isn't it? Life and faith go hand in hand. If you believe Christ,
you have faith. If you have life, you have faith.
Now notice what the Lord says here. We don't have life because
we believe. I didn't decide I would believe
and then God gave me faith. No, we believe because God has
given us life. The Lord didn't say, whosoever
believes on me will have eternal life. He didn't say that, did
he? He said, whosoever believes on me hath already has eternal
life. Whoever believes on me already
is past, past tense. He's already passed from death
unto life. Whoever believes Christ, they
already have life because God gave it to them. They gave it
to them at the exact same time. Faith and life come at the exact
same time. Do you know why they believe
on Christ? Because God's given them life. Now I ask you this
morning, do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you believe
on him? Do you believe, really and truly
in your heart, do you believe that all it takes to save you
is Christ? That you don't do one thing to
add to him? Do you believe that? Are you
willing to cast all of your soul on Christ and you not help him
out one bit? Do you believe him like that?
If so, God's already given you life. The evidence that we have
spiritual life is we believe. on the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And that's the whole reason that
Christ came to earth. Whole reason. Look back at John
chapter three. Verse 13 or 14. And as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
son of man be lifted up. That, now here's the reason that
the Son of Man was lifted up, crucified on a cross. That, whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. 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. For
God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world. You
were already condemned. We were condemned in Adam. God
didn't have to do anything to condemn us. sent his Son into
the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him
might be saved. And he that believeth on him
is not condemned. But he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he's not believed in the name of the
only begotten Son of God. This is the whole reason that
Christ came. So when people see him lifted up, and that's what
we do when we preach Christ, we preach him lifted up, we preach
Christ crucified, We see him lifted up as a sacrifice for
our sin that they look to Christ and live. Just like when Moses
lifted up that brazen serpent in the wilderness, what did he
say? Y'all are dying because you've been bitten by these fiery
serpents? Look and live. If you look, you'll live. That's
why Christ was lifted up as a sacrifice for sin. So we look to him. So
we trust him and have eternal life. This life has had, eternal
spiritual life has had, simply by believing on Christ. A few weeks ago, we looked at
Paul's instruction to Timothy to lay hold on eternal life. Lay hold upon it. Now, life is
in Christ. It can't be more plain from the
word of God. Life is in Christ. And we're to strive to lay hold
on that life. We're to strive to, what is it
to lay hold on Christ? It's to beg God, to give me that
life. Beg God to save me. And it's
to refuse to quit begging, to keep begging as long as it takes.
Laying hold on eternal life is being where Christ is preached.
It's being where he is lifted up and refusing to leave that
place. We lay hold on eternal life by
determining this. If I'm going to perish, I'm going
to perish at the feet of Christ. I deserve for God to send me
to hell. If God's gonna send me to hell, he's gonna send me
to hell from the feet of Christ, begging him for mercy, because
he's my only hope. That is laying hold on eternal
life, because it's all in Christ. Now third, we get this life through
union with Christ. Look at John chapter six. Through
union with Christ. John chapter six, verse 53. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, except you eat the flesh of the Son
of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoso eateth
my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and I will
raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed,
and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father
has sent me and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me,
even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came
down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna
and are dead. He that eateth of this bread
shall live forever. Now the Savior here is not telling
us that we've got to be cannibals. You know, we've got to literally
eat his flesh and drink his blood in order to have eternal life.
He's also not telling us this, that we have eternal life by
eating the Lord's table, you know, by symbolically eating
the broken body, the shed blood, the broken bread and the wine
of the Lord's table that symbolically by eating that somehow then we
become saved. What the Savior is teaching here
is union, union with Christ. You know, when we eat something,
It becomes part of our body. That food, the way our bodies
digest that food, that food eventually has union with our body. It actually
literally becomes all the different cells and organisms of our body.
That food becomes one with us. Well, a believer has spiritual
life the exact same way. It's through union with Christ,
who is our life. Now, you can't understand the
gospel unless you understand this truth, this teaching, of
the doctrine of representation, the doctrine of union. All of
us here, every single one of us, has union with our father,
Adam. What Adam did, every last one
of us did. We did in him. When Adam sinned,
you and I sinned in him. Because we had union, representation
in him. And when Adam died, we all died
in him. We lost this life that Paul's
talking about here when Adam sinned. That's what Paul meant
in Romans 5 verse 12 when he said, all sinned. In Adam, everyone that ever descended
from Adam sinned because he's our representative. That's how
we became spiritually dead. That's how we got in this mess
in the first place. We sinned in Adam. We died in him. Well,
we're made spiritually alive the same way we're made dead,
by representation, by union. We have life through union with
the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ. God's people are in Christ. in Him so that everything He
did, we did too. When Christ obeyed the law, we
did too. Just as surely as we sinned at
Adam and became guilty, we obeyed the law in Christ and are made
righteous so that we can never die. When Christ died for our
sin, to satisfy God's justice against the sin of His people,
when He died, we did too. We died in Him. We died to God's
justice. God will never put us to death.
Never. God will never put someone to
death a second time for the same sin. Never. His justice against
the sin of His people is satisfied in the death of our substitute.
We died in Him. So the we who believe, we have
eternal life through union. Union with Christ who is our
life. We're joined to Christ our head.
And we live because He lives. I hope that makes sense to you.
He is our life. And I want us to notice that
every reason for this spiritual life, every one of them, they're
all found in God, aren't they? All found in God. None of it
is dependent on the creature. Life was promised by God the
Father. All life has been put in God
the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is God the Son who is the
life of His people. It's God the Son who came in
the flesh to earn life for His people. It's God the Son who
freely gives this gift of life to his people. It's God the Holy
Spirit who moves and gives life and faith to God's people, to
God's elect in the new birth. All of it is dependent on God.
It's what God does in it. That if you would have life,
I'm going to say it again, go to God and beg for it. Go to
God and beg him to give it to you because it's his to give.
It's a free gift that he promised to give his people. Did God promise
it to you? I don't know. Go to him and beg
him and ask him. Go to him and ask him. You might think, well, I don't
deserve it. Well, that's good. That's good. All the more reason to go beg
him, ask him to give it to you. It'd be just like God to be merciful
to a sinner. Then go ask him. Go ask him.
It's in you. All right, I hope that'll be
a blessing to you. Let's bow together. Our Father, how we thank you
for this promise of life that's by your will, by your grace,
by your gift, by the doing and dying of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Father, how we thank you. And Father, we beg of you that
you give it, this life, to us this morning. Let each one of
us leave here this morning believing in Christ our Lord. Oh, would
you give us this life. Father, we pray you'd bless your
word. And we pray as we prepare to have Bible school for our
children this week, that Father, you'd be with the teachers, that
you'd give them a word from thee for our children, and that you'd
bless this time, that you might teach us more of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and make this time a time you plant the seeds of faith
to give this life to our young ones. Father, bless us, we pray. Of course, in Christ's precious
name, it's for his sake and his sake alone, we pray, amen. All right, Shawn, you can lead
us in a closing hymn. If you would, please turn to song
number 295 and stand as we sing. He leadeth me, O blessed thought,
O words with heavenly comfort fraught. What e'er I do, where
e'er I be, still tis God's hand that leadeth me. He leadeth me, He leadeth me,
by His own hand He leadeth me. His faithful follower I would
be, for by His hand He leadeth me. Sometimes mid scenes of deepest
gloom, Sometimes where Eden's bowers bloom, By water still
or troubled sea, still tis His hand that leadeth me. He leadeth me, He leadeth me,
by His own hand He leadeth me. His faithful follower I would
be, for by His hand He leadeth me. Lord, I would clasp thy hand
in mine, nor ever murmur nor repine. Content whatever lot
I see, since tis my God that leadeth me. He leadeth me, he
leadeth me, by his own hand he leadeth me. His faithful follower
I would be, For by His hand He leadeth me. And when my task on earth is
done, When by Thy grace the victories won, In death's cold wave I will
not flee, Since God through Jordan leadeth me. He leadeth me, he leadeth me,
By his own hand he leadeth me. His faithful follower I would
be, For by his hand he leadeth me. you