Let's turn together to John chapter
17, the gospel of John chapter 17. And take off your shoes, because
this is indeed holy ground. It's what God commanded Moses
when he spoke to him out of the bush. He said, now Moses, take
off your shoes, those shoes of earthly care. and sinful entanglement
take them off. We're treading on holy ground. This is the prayer of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Lord's prayer. You all have been taught from
children to memorize the disciples' prayer in Matthew chapter six.
That's the disciples' prayer. Our Lord taught his disciples
to pray there. This is the Lord's prayer. Our
Lord Jesus Christ, just before he was executed under the wrath
of God as our substitute, just before he was made to be sin
for us and made to suffer all the just, holy wrath of God for
our sin, spoke this prayer on our behalf as our intercessor,
as our mediator. These words spake Jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. What hour? The hour of my death. The hour appointed to me before
the world was. The hour for which this world
has been made. The hour is come when I must
glorify God. The hour has come when I must
redeem my people. The hour has come when those
you gave me from eternity shall be redeemed from the curse of
the law by my precious blood. Glorify thy son. Now, he explains
that to us down in verse 5. And now, O Father, glorify thou
me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with before
the world was. Before the world began in the
covenant of grace, because the Lord Jesus Christ had pledged
himself as our surety to redeem us from the curse of the law,
to do all God's will by which we are saved, the Lord God his
Father and our Father caused our mediator, the Lord Jesus
Christ, to be glorified over all things. He gave him all preeminence.
He gave them all power, He gave them all dominion. The Lord Jesus
now says, Father, glorify me, exalt me, set me on your own
right hand, give me the power and reigns of universal dominion,
that thy son also may glorify thee. That I may, for the glory
of your name, for your eternal praise, for your eternal honor,
give life eternal to all the people you've given me. Now we
know that's what he means in those words. because he says
so in verse two, as thou hast given him power, power, power,
authority, dominion, power over all flesh, good flesh and bad
flesh, all flesh, righteous folks and lost folks, all flesh, Everything
on this earth, thou hast given him as our covenant head, as
our mediator. The Lord Jesus Christ has been
given to him by God his Father, power over all flesh, so that
nobody can resist his will. Nobody can stay his hand. Nobody
can thwart his power. Nobody can hinder him from his
purpose. He has power over all flesh,
that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given
him. There is a people in this world who were given to Jesus
Christ before the world began in the covenant of grace, and
those people he is set to redeem. This power that Christ possesses
is the power of the God-man to save his people. The Lord Jesus
Christ, the God-man, has been exalted to the Father's right
hand and given power and dominion over everybody and everything
for one glorious purpose, to give eternal life to chosen sinners. That's why he's sitting king
in heaven today, to give eternal life to chosen sinners for the
glory of God. All right, now read, if you will,
verse three. And this is life eternal. that they might know thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." This is
life eternal. Now, that's my subject this morning.
I want to talk to you about eternal life. When we preach about eternal
life, many people imagine that we're talking about heaven. And,
in a sense, we are. But eternal life is much, much
more than heaven. Eternal life begins right here,
right now. Eternal life begins in this world. Eternal life begins the moment
that Christ is created in you. Eternal life begins the moment
someone is born again by the power of God's Holy Spirit. The
life of a newborn child of God. Let's imagine. Let's imagine
what I hope has already happened. Let's imagine that one of you
has just now begun to believe on Jesus Christ. Just now, you
look to him and you believe. Since you woke up this morning,
God's given you life and faith in Jesus Christ. That life, that
life is the very same life that Enoch and Moses and Noah and
Abraham and Elijah have in heaven today. The very same life. And
they've been with Christ for thousands of years. But the believer
on this earth has the very same life that they have in heaven.
Eternal life. Spurgeon compared it to a mighty
river. He says, as it flows, it flows
deeper and it flows wider, but when it reaches into heavenly
glory, it is the very same water of life that you had when Christ,
the water of life, sprang up in you unto everlasting life.
It's the same in its essence. Eternal life in heaven is eternal
life finished. How can you say that? Eternal
life completed. How can you say that? I'm begging
for words, but eternal life in heaven is the consummation, if
you can even use terms like that, of that life which has begun,
the moment a sinner looks to Christ and lives forever. Eternal
life begins right here. We grow in grace. Yes, we do. But we do grow, and you've got
to have life to grow. We see now through a glass darkly,
but we do see, and you've got to have life to see. Now, Paul
says we know in part, but we do know, and you've got to have
life to know. And the life we now have, in
which we grow, by which we see, by which we are made to understand
anything, is the very same life that we will have with Christ
forever in heaven. When the believer dies, He's
not suddenly made to enter into a new life. He doesn't enter
into eternal life. Death for the believer simply
rids us of the cumbersomeness of this flesh, this cumbersome
hindrance of life, our body of flesh. Death is putting down
this terrible load. Death is taking off this binding
flesh. Death is but the laying aside
of flesh and entering into the glory of life. But it's not entering
into a new life. When the believer drops his body
of flesh, then he fully enjoys life, eternal life, the life
of Christ imparted to him in the new birth. But I want so
much for you to see this. Eternal life begins here. Eternal life begins in the new
birth. It's not something awaiting us
in heaven. Eternal life, what is it? It's
Christ in you. It's Christ in you. It is Christ
in you. It is Christ formed in you. It
is to be made partaker of the divine nature. Eternal life. This eternal life spoken of in
our text, it's the gift of God. It's the gift of God. The wages
of sin is death, Paul says, but the gift of God is eternal life. This is the record, we read it
earlier, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life
is in His Son. Now, by nature, we are born in
spiritual death, and we deserve everlasting eternal death, the
second death in hell. But God has decreed to give chosen
sinners eternal life, as this eternal life is the gift of God
the Father. It's the purchase of Jesus Christ,
God the Son. Turn with me to John chapter
3, John the third chapter. I hope everyone here is familiar
and knows John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten son, gave his son to be a substitutionary
sacrifice for sin, gave his son up to die for this purpose. that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. Go back up to verse 14,
you'll see what he's talking about. As Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted
up. It's necessary. Jesus Christ
has got to die that we have eternal life. It's necessary, if anybody's
going to live, that the Son of Man be lifted up upon the cursed
tree to die as the sinner's substitute. That whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have eternal life. I recall once when I was
in college, some fella came down preaching at chapel and he was
showing his ignorance, regrettably, he preached out of verses 15
and 16 and tried to show the difference between eternal life
and everlasting life. Well, actually, the two words
are exactly the same. The eternal life, verse 15, the
everlasting life, verse 16, is the same thing. As a matter of
fact, the same words are used in the original text. So what
he's saying is that in order for you and I to have eternal
life, In order for us to live with God and to have God live
in us, Jesus Christ must die. Eternal life's the purchase of
Christ. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life, verse 36. He that believeth not the
Son of God shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth
on him. Our Savior said, I am come. that
they might have life. The Lord Jesus Christ hath suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh. And this eternal life, it's the
gift of God the Father. It's the purchase of God the
Son. It is the work of God the Holy Spirit. We live by the Spirit
of God. Look again in John chapter 6.
John 6 and verse 63. Our Lord Jesus is speaking, he
says, it's the Spirit that quickeneth. It's the Spirit that gives life.
It is the Spirit who brings life to dead sinners. It's the Spirit
that quickeneth the flesh-prophet of nothing. Eternal life is bestowed
upon helpless, lost, ruined, dead sinners by the sovereign,
irresistible work of God the Holy Spirit. Our Lord Jesus tells
us in John chapter 1 and verse 11, John is telling us about
the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, He came unto his own,
but his own received him not. But as many as received him,
to them gave he power, the right, the authority to become the sons
of God. Even to them that believe on
his name. Well, how on earth did they have
this power? How did they have the ability
to believe on his name? How did they have this life?
He explains it, which were born. Not of blood. That is, eternal
life doesn't come by heredity. Just because the Jews had Abraham
to their father, that doesn't mean they have eternal life.
Just because you've got a daddy who loves Christ doesn't mean
you're going to love him. Just because your mama's faithful
does not mean that you're going to have eternal life. It comes
not of blood, nor were they born of the will of the flesh. Because
mama wants you to be saved, that doesn't mean you're going to
have eternal life. Every parent is just selfish enough to pray
for their own children and won't pray for anybody else's. That
doesn't mean you're going to have eternal life. Just because
mama or daddy wills that you live, that doesn't mean you're
going to have eternal life. Not of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man. Just because you will it, that
doesn't mean you're going to have it. Well, how on earth did these
people get life? but of God. You see that? Eternal life is
the sovereign work of God the Holy Spirit. The wind bloweth
where it listeth. You hear the sound of it. You
hear it. Sitting over here the other night
in the storm brewing and the wind was blowing. It got cold
and yesterday evening that wind just blew and blew and blew and
got cold and the leaves going everywhere. You hear the sound
of it. You can hear the rattling in
the trees, but you can't tell where it came from, you can't
tell where it's going. So is everyone that's born of the Spirit.
Spirit of God sovereignly gives life to whom he will. This eternal
life, the gift of God the Father, the purchase of God the Son,
the work of God the Holy Spirit, given to dead sinners by his
irresistible power, This eternal life is given by Christ to all
that the Father gave him in the covenant of everlasting grace.
Look in our text again in John chapter 17. Our Lord Jesus says
in verse 2, Thou hast given him power over all flesh. Now this world needs to learn
something. This religious generation needs to find out something.
Jesus Christ is not a beggar waiting at the heart's door of
sinners for you to pretty please let him in. Jesus Christ is not
waiting for you to do something for him. Jesus Christ is not
waiting at the beck and call of man and will be obedient to
your will or to your command or to your desires. The Lord
Jesus Christ is the sovereign Christ who has power over all
flesh. has power over all flesh to give
eternal life to as many as thou hast given him." There are many,
many who have been given to Christ from eternity. He said, all that
the Father giveth me shall come to me. All that the Father hath
given me, I will raise them up at the last day. Not one of them
will be lost. And all those whom Christ has
given to him, all whom he had given to him back in eternity,
to them he will give eternal life in his time by the power
of his Spirit. The Lord spoke in John chapter
10 concerning this. The Pharisees asked him, after
he'd given this illustration of the good shepherd, They said
in verse 24, then came the Jews round about him. And they said,
how long do you make us to doubt? Why don't you tell us plainly?
As if he hadn't already. How long do you make us to doubt?
If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them,
I told you. I told you. And you believe not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me. But you believe not because you're
not of my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice. I know them, and they follow
me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish."
Eternal life is that which Jesus Christ, by his sovereign power,
and by his eternal purpose, and by the merit of his blood, gives
to those whom the Father gave him in eternity. Now, the evidence
and proof of a person's election is eternal life. That's it. That's it. Perhaps Satan throws
a curve at you and you wonder, well, am I elect or not? Have
I been predestinated or have I not been predestinated to eternal
life? Did Jesus Christ die for me or
did he not? Let me tell you something. As
many as received him, They were chosen of God. What does the
scripture say? As many as were ordained to eternal
life believed. Isn't that right? The apostle
Paul said, I know your election, brethren, beloved of God, because
our gospel came to you, not in word only, but in demonstration
and in power by the Spirit of God. If the gospel comes to you
in the power of God the Holy Spirit, bringing forth life in
your soul and faith in Jesus Christ, it's because God from
eternity has chosen you. Eternal life. Eternal life. Look at how our Lord describes
it in this text, in John 17. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom
thou hast sent. Eternal life is the knowledge
of God in Christ. Let me see if I can show you
what that means. First, eternal life is to know the Lord God
as the only true God. Before Adam sinned, he knew God. He walked with God. He had fellowship
with God. He had communion with God. But
after he sinned, he lost everything. He lost everything. He no longer
had knowledge of God. He no longer understood who God
is and what God does. From the time that Adam stand,
he began to get perverted views of God, and perverted understanding
about God. So much so, that this man, who
once walked with the omniscient God, who once walked in the presence
of omniscience, sewed big leagues together and tried to hide from
God. He tried to hide from God the Creator behind the bush that
God had made. Adam lost all concept of God
in reality. You see, no man by nature knows
God or can know God. Our Lord Jesus said, no man knoweth
the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will
reveal him. He said to the Pharisees, you
neither know me nor my Father. All men think they know God.
Everybody thinks he knows everything about God. But no man knows God
by nature. Nobody does. And yet, man must
have a God. He got to have one. Everybody
does. A man must have a god just like a dog must have a master.
And man's ignorance of God has led him to every imaginable form
of idolatry and superstition on this earth. There is virtually
no creature, no power, no element, no force of nature, if men want
to call them such things, which has not been worshipped by man
as God. Men worship the wind, and they
worship the sun, and they worship the beast of the field, and they
worship the elements of nature, all because they don't know God.
And yet, they've got to have a God. They worship and serve
the creature more than the Creator. And the more educated and brilliant
a man is, the more ridiculous and racist idolatry is. Plato, Socrates, Aristotle. the great philosophers, the great
philosophers, the great minds. Everybody in school who studies
philosophy has got to study Plato and Socrates and Aristotle, because
these were the great minds of humanity. And these great minds
of humanity talked about God like Who was it, that little
robot on, or whoever it was on the Star Wars thing? Talk about
God like the Force. That's all he ever stood, the
Force. There's some determinate power. There is out yonder somewhere
some original cause. The power, the force, the God,
whatever he is. And so they worship nature. You
have a description of them given in Acts chapter 17. The Apostle
Paul went over to Mars Hill, and there at Mars Hill, the ancient
philosophers, those men who were brilliant, educated, refined,
scientific philosophers, they had gods everywhere. They had
gods everywhere. Had a little nook for this God,
a little cranny for that God, a little crevice for that God.
And they had little statues here, little pictures there. Everywhere
they had gods! And if Paul walked into the city,
he was overwhelmed at their superstition. He said, you are too religious! Too religious! He said, I walked
by, I saw an inscription. To the unknown God. Just in case we missed In case
we really missed out who God is, we're going to worship the
unknown God, too. The more educated and brilliant
men are, the more ridiculous in base their idolatry becomes. I hope no one misunderstands
me. I do recognize that we have responsibility
in this world to care for what God puts in our hands, we have
responsibility for that. Doesn't matter what it is, we
have responsibility for it. But these tree-huggers, these
environmentalists of our day, have fallen in love with the
earth, and worship and serve the earth, and would have you
and me to worship and serve the earth. as though this earth somehow
is mother nature indeed. We recognize only the true and
living God and worship and serve him. And our understanding of
things made to the wise acres of this world seem to be foolishness. But eternal life is to know God. To know God. Not to preserve
life on this earth, but to know God. Man's ignorance of God is
such that he always, not occasionally, not sometimes, but he always
rejects light and chooses darkness. He always turns from the truth
of God to vain philosophy, heathen superstition, and religious tradition. Always. There are no exceptions.
People ask me, and I hear them talk like this on television
all the time, well, the majority says. Surely you don't think
the majority's wrong, do you? The majority's always wrong.
They've always been wrong. About every issue with regard
to God and truth, the majority of mankind is always wrong because
man always rejects light and turns to darkness. He always
rejects truth and receives a lie. Our Savior said this, I'm come
in my Father's name. Here he is. Jesus Christ come
in the name of God. And no, he fulfilled everything
prophesied in the Old Testament, didn't he? I mean, everything.
There was absolutely no question. Absolutely no question. Here,
standing before them, is God incarnate. God who was that one
of whom Abraham spoke. God who knew Abraham before Abraham
knew God. He's standing right in front
of them. I've come in my Father's name, and you receive me not.
But another comes in his own name, and you'll receive him.
Somebody else comes, some fellow comes along and says, he's Jesus,
crucifix him. It doesn't matter what kind of
man he is, you'll receive him. Because my thoughts are not your
thoughts. Neither are my ways your ways. You see, the wisdom
of God is foolishness to men. There is a way that seemeth right
unto a man. Some of you sitting out there,
I know why you will not. come to Christ. I know why it
is. You might not say it with your mouth, I know why it is.
Because you really think there's a better way to approach God.
You really think you can come to Christ on the footing of your
own goodness. You really do. You really imagine that you can
stand before God on the footing of your own righteousness. There
is a way that seemeth right to a man. And he pursues it all
his life long. But the ends thereof are the
ways Or what is it to know the only
true God? I mean to know Him. To know Him. I want to know Him. I know that Ronald Reagan exists,
but I don't know Him. I want to know God. To know Him. What is it to know the only true
God? Knowing God is not just having
a God. Everybody has a God. Our Lord
says eternal life is to know the only true God. Knowing God
is not just believing there is a God. The devils believe that
and tremble. Believing in God is nothing.
Believing that God is nothing. People talk as though the fellows
have made some profound religious statement. political candidates,
all of them want God on their side. And everybody talks about
believing in God. I know there is a God, he or
she or something. There is a God. But believing
that God is, is nothing. The devil's got more sense than
most folks do. They believe God and tremble to speak of his name.
What is it to know God? I'm going to give you these four
things, very quickly. To know God, the only true God,
is to know him as God who is God. You got it? To know the only true God is
to know Him as God who is God. He is the great, infinite, invisible,
omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, eternal Jehovah who made heaven
and earth and the seas and all that is in the air. That's what
he said to Cyrus. He said, I want you to know that
I alone am God, and here's how you know it. I've made everything,
and I rule it all. He is God, the incomprehensible
Trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Some of us think they got God
all fixed up, all figured out, and they got everything settled. The Lord God will not be comprehended
by your mind or mine. Mr. Spurgeon made this statement,
I kind of liked it. He said, I would not worship
a God that I could fully understand. I would not worship a God that
I could fully understand. If I could put my religion in
my pocket like a box of lozenges, I'd soon suck it all away. The
Lord, God Almighty, will not be comprehended by our puny brains. He's the infinite, incomprehensible,
triune God. He is God who affordeth all things
with the word of His power. He is God who worketh all things
unto the counsel of His own will. He is God in whom we live and
move and have our being. He is God who reigns everywhere. over all things, who doeth according
to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth, whose will and power no man can resist. To know the
only true God is to know him as my God. My God. Jay, I'm talking about one who
is God to me. I mean, he is God to me. I bow
before his throne. I'm aware of his presence. I'm
aware of his presence. I don't mean occasionally aware.
I'm aware of his presence. I know that I live in him and
before him. I'm aware of his presence. I
worship him with reverence and with awe. I believe him. I trust
his word and I love his law. He's God to me. To know the only
true God Thirdly, is to bow before him as my father. Look in Romans
8, God is to know this God as my father. The Apostle Paul says
in verse 15 of Romans 8, you have not received the spirit
of bondage again to fear, but you have received the spirit
of adoption whereby we cry, father, father. That's what the word
Abba means, father, father. My father, let me see if I can
show you what I think the import of this is. We do not come to God and look
upon God as a judge whom we must dread, but as a father, our father. Now, my father, my father, the
Lord God, is one whom I both trust and obey. One whom I both
love and fear. My daughter sitting over here
loves me. You're not afraid of me, are
you? She's not afraid of me. She doesn't come in wondering
whether or not I want to knock on her head. She's not afraid of me.
She doesn't wonder whether or not I care for her. She's not
afraid of me. But she fears me. She takes care not to offend
me. She takes care not to treat me
with disrespect. She loves me and she fears me. That's my father. He is the judge
of all the earth, but he's my father. I love him and I feel
him. I trust him and I obey him. He's my father. I'm conscious
of his power. But oh, I'm conscious of His
peace. I'm conscious of His righteousness. Oh, the righteousness of God. And I'm conscious of His redemption.
I'm conscious of His justice and of His mercy. And God Almighty
is my Father when all is well, always well. I got this from Mr. Spurgeon
yesterday. I liked it pretty good. If God's my father, if you have
eternal life, you know God, the true and living God, and you
know him as your father. What's that mean? That means
you might strip me, but I'm still clothed in his righteousness.
That means you might put me in prison, but I'm still free in
Christ Jesus. That means you may pluck out
these eyes, but I'll still see his glory. That means you may
cut off my tongue, but I still sing his praise. That means you
may forsake me, but I'm never alone, for he never forsakes
me. That means though I may be sick in body, and maybe even
sick in mind, it is well with my soul. That means that though
I may be pressed under the load of a thousand cares, I know that
all will work together for my good, for God's my father. That
means that though I may be at death's door, it will only lead
me into his presence. He's my father. Fourthly, to
know the only true God is to have a life worth living. That's
what it is. Before I knew God, I cursed the day of my birth. I cursed the day of my birth.
But now I thank God I have a life to live. Before I knew God, I
felt like a galley slave. Those euconauts who worshipped
God faithfully were sentenced to serve the rest of their lives
down in the hull of a ship as galley slaves. That's just how
I felt. Pulling my oars with no purpose, with no reason, with
no reward, with no hope, just pulling my oars. I thank God I have a reason for
life, and I see a reason for everything in life. If I didn't
know God, I would be in utter confusion. I got a letter from a friend
of mine yesterday. I've been trying to minister to his family.
Long way off. I get a lot of disturbing letters,
but I get some good ones. I think maybe he finally heard
something, was helped. He said, I don't know how folks
who don't know Christ can bear the clouds we've just been through. Looks to me like they'd go absolutely
insane. Absolutely insane. Oh, I thank
God. I thank God he showed me. I'd
taken my eyes off him. And I thought I was making a
pretty good headway with my life. I made a pretty good succession
myself. And God knocked the props out from under me and showed
me that Christ is all. Oh, if I didn't know Him, if
I didn't know Him, I would be in absolute confusion with regard
to life and death, with regard to heaven and hell and righteousness
and peace. I had no understanding. If I
didn't know God, I'd tremble at the prospects of old age.
These bones begin to hurt, these muscles begin to sag, and your
back gets weak, and your mind gets weak. I'd begin to tremble. I'd tremble at the thoughts of
sickness and death. Not to know God? Not to know
God? The whole world is scared to
death of cancer, and AIDS, and heart disease, and heart attack,
and one of these things is going to get us. I'm going to tell
you something. If I didn't know God, I'd be
scared to death too. I'd tremble. I'd tremble. I'd
go to the doctor every time I got a headache, whether or not I
had brain tumour. I'd go to the doctor every time I got a little
sore in my finger, whether or not I was going to die of texture.
But I know God. I know God. And I thank God he
rules everything, including cancer, heart disease, and AIDS. That's
right. He rules it all. If I didn't
know God, there'd be no joy for today, no satisfaction for yesterday,
no hope for tomorrow. To those who do not know God,
the future's a blank. They grope about in darkness.
They don't know God. They call themselves agnostics,
and that's a pretty good name. That means folks who don't know
anything. They don't know God, so they don't know anything.
Oh, but the man, the woman who knows God, knows him, are whom,
and through whom, and to whom are all things. He knows God. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee. The only true God, and look at
the next line, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Eternal
life is to know the only true God as he is revealed in Jesus
Christ. To know God apart from Christ
would not be like eternal, for God apart from Christ is infinitely
holy, and I've broken his law. No wife there. He could not bless
me for I violated him. He could not walk with me for
I am unclean and how can two walk together except they be
agreed? He couldn't smile upon me for I have my sin. But Jesus
Christ is my wisdom and my righteousness, my sanctification and my redemption. Knowing God in him is eternal
life. To know God outside of Christ
or apart from Christ would not be life eternal, because the
holy and just Lord God must punish sin. He will by no means clear
the guilty. The soul that sinneth, He declares,
it shall surely die. But Isaiah 53 tells me that my
sins are all put away. Hebrews 9, 26 tells me that He
has purged away my sins. Romans 8 tells me that there
is now and not forever any condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.
To know God in Christ is to be without condemnation and to have
life eternal. Eternal life. It would not be
life to know God apart from Christ. For without Christ this body
would rot in the grave and would never rise and must forever die. If Christ be not risen, our preaching
is vain, your faith is vain, we're yet in our sins. Oh, but
because he lives, we shall live also. He said in my Father's
house are many mansions, many glorious abiding places, many
residences of glory. If it were not so, I would have
told you. He said, I'm going to prepare a place for you. And
if I go and prepare a place for you, I'll come again and receive
you unto myself that where I am, there you may be also. Because
he lives, we'll live too. This is life eternal, that they
might know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou
hast sent. Well, how do sinners get this
eternal life? This blessed living knowledge
of God in Christ. You don't get it by nature, but
by grace. Not by birth, but by the new
birth. Not by your will, but by God's will. Not by you walking
down an aisle and coming down here saying a little prayer,
but by God himself coming down and invading your heart. That's
how you get eternal life. Not by your works, but by God's
work. Eternal life is the gift of God. And these three things are essential
to it. These three things. You get eternal
life, it must be implanted by his grace. He got to give it
to you. He got to give it to you. Now, preachers everywhere compromise
God's glory and play games with the souls of men, and they'll
do whatever they have to do to get the church built up. Talking to somebody yesterday,
one of the preachers left here, went to another county, wound
up up in Louisville, said, oh, he's doing good, said he's baptized
400. So I think most of them stayed. Baptized 400 last year. That's not even trouble. It's
no trouble getting. It's a little tiring maybe to
baptize 400 people. You can do too many at one time.
But as far as getting it done, that's not in trouble. Anybody
can manipulate folks. Anybody who's got good sense
can manipulate people. There's not a child here I couldn't
persuade to make a profession of faith. There's not one here
I couldn't do that with. Or you either. We can persuade folks
that they're saved when they're not. We can persuade men and
women that they're born again when they're not. That's not
a problem. Oh, but to have eternal life, God's got to give it to
you. God's gonna give it to you. So we'll just wait. We'll just
wait. Just wait. But what if God doesn't work
the way we want Him to? He works the way He wants to.
He works the way I want Him to. But if God doesn't come where
we want Him to, He goes where He wants to. That means He goes
where I want Him to. I'll bow to His will. Will you? What if he doesn't do things
in our time and the way we think they ought to be done? He does
things the way he knows they must be done, and we bow to his
will. Eternal life must be implanted.
Man must be born of the Spirit, as God Almighty himself took
that lifeless form of clay and breathed into Adam's nostrils
the breath of life. So God Almighty himself takes
lifeless clay and breathes in the breath of life in the new
birth. It's the only way you'll ever
get it. It's the only way. Secondly, eternal life must be
revealed by the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit takes the
things of Christ chosen to you so that you see your sin the
cause of your death. and you see that Jesus Christ's
blood is the price of life. He shows you that. Thirdly, eternal
life must be received by faith in Jesus Christ. Now, I've got a little paradox
for you, but this book's full of paradoxes. Faith is the gift of God. You'll never believe unless God
gives you faith. But faith is your responsibility.
You must believe. You must believe. And if you
do believe, it's because God gave you faith. Now, I do not
say that faith is in any way the cause of life. You know better
than that. A dead man can do nothing. Faith
is the result of life. I do not say, if you believe,
you will live. Absolutely not. But I do say,
if you believe, or if you live, you do believe. You cannot separate
life from faith. If you do not trust Christ, you
do not have eternal life. You're yet in your sins and the
wrath of God's upon you. It's just that simple. You can
take a refuge in the fact that you have some religious feelings
if you want to. You can take refuge in the fact that you have
some religious desires and inclinations if you want to. You can take
refuge in the fact that you come to church if you want to. But
I'm telling you, unless you believe, the wrath of God's on you. He
that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth
not the Son of God shall never see life. But the wrath of God
abideth on him. To believe on Christ is to realize
the glory of his person. That man is God, that God, that
God who in human flesh reconciled us to himself. Jesus Christ is
the God-man. To believe on Christ is to trust
the efficacy of his blood, to recognize that the blood of Jesus
Christ, God's Son, cleansed us from all sin. To believe on Christ
is to believe in the merit of his righteousness. He is the
Lord my righteousness. But you know, he is my righteousness. To believe on Christ is to rely
upon the power of his intercession. I go through these horrible,
long spells of emptiness and coldness and barrenness of soul
Hardness of heart and dryness of spirit. I get up here to try
to preach to you and I feel like my words are just bouncing right
back at me. And I think to myself, how on
this earth can such a man as you have hope of eternal life? But I believe the power of his
intercession. And I believe He's able to save
to the uttermost all them that come to God by Him. And I want
to tell you something I know. I want to tell you something
I know. I do come to God by Him. I do trust Him. I do test my
soul on Christ alone. And therefore, I'm confident
that He will bring me at last into the presence of His glory
wholly and without blemish. holy in God's sight. To believe
on Christ is to bow to his sovereign rule as my Lord. That's what
it is. That's what it is. Everybody says Jesus is Lord. The believer bows to Christ the
Lord. That's the difference. The whole
religious world says he's Lord. I get papers, and I've read a
number of books and argument and debate going on in theological
circles for the last 50 years. Some folks say a man can be saved
and not acknowledge that Jesus is Lord, and others say a man
must acknowledge that Jesus is Lord and have this Lordship controversy.
Well, folks can fight over their points of theology. I'm going
to tell you something. I'm going to tell you something. The believer
is under the rule of Christ. Willingly. Willingly. What will you have me to do,
Lord? You're the boss. You're the boss. I'm here to
do your will. I'm here to do your bidding. That's all. The
believer does. The unbeliever rules his own
life. The unbeliever says, I'm going to go do this. I'm going
to do that. The believer says, what will
you have me to do? Is that not what our Lord said?
He said, if you'll save your life, you'll lose it. That means
West Rose Bowie, you can keep the reins if you want to. Go
ahead. Go ahead. You can decide whether
or not you're going to worship God, whether or not you're going
to read his word and study. You can decide whether or not
you're going to be with his people. You can decide that. Go ahead.
You can decide what you're going to do with your business and
what you're going to do with your family. Go ahead. If you say
that you'll lose it, you're going to hell for sure. Oh, but if
you lose your life to the rule of Jesus Christ, you'll find
it unto life everlasting. Amen.