I'd like for you to turn in your
Bibles to the book of 1 Timothy. I'm going to read two verses
of scripture that are found in the sixth chapter of the book
of 1 Timothy. Now, our subject this morning
is lay hold on eternal life. Lay hold on eternal life. Twice in the sixth chapter of
the book of 1 Timothy, the Apostle Paul urges those who read this
epistle to lay hold on eternal life. Listen to verse 12. Paul
says, fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life. And then verse 19, lay in store
a good foundation against the time to come, and lay hold on
eternal life. We hear a lot about eternal life.
Well, just exactly what is eternal life? What's Paul talking about
here? Lay hold on eternal life. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath eternal life. And this is the record. God hath
given us eternal life. Just exactly what is eternal
life? Well, let me say this. It's more
than eternal existence. This life we're talking about
here, which is eternal, is a lot more than living forever. It's
a lot more than eternal existence. Satan, who rebelled against God
and led a multitude of heavenly creatures against God, has eternal
existence. He will live eternally. He'll
live under judgment, he'll live under God's wrath, but he'll
live forever. So eternal life is more than
eternal existence. The angels The scripture says
they kept not their first estate, but sinned against God and are
confined to the regions of the dam. They are reserved in everlasting
chains in darkness unto the judgment of that great day. They have
eternal existence. And then unbelievers, wicked
men, all the wicked men who have ever lived on this earth have
eternal existence. For our Lord said, in that day
I will say unto them, depart from me. bind them hand and foot
and cast them into hell where the worm dies not and the fire
is not quenched. So this we know. Eternal life
is not eternal existence. It's not just to live forever.
What is eternal life? Well, I say, first of all, It's
that life which Adam had in the garden before he fell. The scripture
says that Adam was created in the image of God. God said, let
us make man after our likeness in our image. And if Adam had
never sinned, if Adam had never fallen, he would have continued
in that life he would be living today, 6,000 years later. It
is that life which Adam had before he fell. It is that life which
Adam lost when he fell. Now, God said to Adam, when he
gave him the commandment to leave the forbidden tree alone, he
said, in the day that you eat thereof, you'll surely die. He didn't say someday you'll
die. He said in that day you'll die. Now, Adam lived after he
sinned 930 years. He died physically 930 years
later, but something happened to Adam the very moment in which
he fell. Something happened right then.
He lost something because Adam didn't know what it was to be
afraid. Adam didn't know what it was
to be ashamed. Adam didn't know what it was
to hate until that point, until that moment. Now, that's what
happened. Adam lost eternal life. Adam
lost the life of God. And that's what eternal life
is. That's what left Adam when he fell. Eternal life is the
life of the eternal God. That's what eternal life is.
Eternal life is divine life. It's not fleshly life or physical
life, human life, mental life. It's divine life. It's spiritual
life. Sinners are said to be dead in
sin. That is, they have not eternal
life. They have not divine life or spiritual life or the life
of God. They're living physically, but
they're dead in sin. Sinners are said to be dead while
they live. Now, my friends, there are several
kinds of life. There is the life of the plants. There's plant life. In other
words, trees live. Trees can die. Flowers live. Plants live. There's vegetable
life. And then there's animal life. Cows and horses and sheep
and your pets live. They live. They have a life.
And then there's human or mental life, which every son of Adam
has. Every son and daughter of Adam
lives. They live physically. They live in the flesh. Now,
there are three kinds of life. Somebody else says there's mineral
life. Well, maybe. Mineral life, vegetable life,
animal life and human life. But there's another life. There's
a life that most people know nothing about. There is spiritual
life. There's eternal life. And this
is what the Scripture's talking about. Lay hold upon, you can't
lay hold upon something that you already possess. You can't
seek something you already have. There's no need of seeking it.
There's no need of laying hold on it. There's no need of reaching
for it if you already possess it. So there is a vegetable life,
and an animal life, and a human life, and there is a divine life. The scripture says, you hath
equipped them who were dead in trespasses and sin. The scripture
says, we have passed from death unto life. Paul said, I am crucified
with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. Eternal life is the life of God
in a man. It's a new life. It's a new birth. This is what the new birth is.
It's not just turning over a new leaf, or getting religion, or
joining the church, or doing better. Eternal life is a resurrection
from the dead. This thing of the new life, the
new birth, is to be born of God, born of the Spirit. It's to receive
the divine life of God, which I did not have before by nature. And eternal life is to know God.
Our Lord Jesus Christ prayed before he went to the cross for
his people, the priestly prayer of the Master, in which he said,
John 17, 3, this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. So eternal
life is to know God, is to have a living, vital, intimate union
with God Almighty. And this is what Paul is telling
us in these two verses. Lay hold upon this. Lay hold
upon eternal life. As you see the time approaching,
lay hold upon eternal life. And let me tell you, my friends,
as human life is higher above animal life, you know how much
higher human life is than animal life? Well, let me ask you a
question. How much more valuable is the
life of your little boy than the life of your dog? He said,
Preacher, there's no comparison. That's foolishness. That's foolish
talk. I know it sounds foolish, doesn't it? But I'm making a
point. Eternal life is as far above physical life as physical
life is above animal life. That's how much more blessed
it is. That's how much more valuable it is. Eternal life is as far
above physical life, mental life, human life, fleshly life, as
fleshly life is above a dog's life. Now, my friends, death
is associated with every form of life, and this is why I'm
saying this. Death is associated with every form of life. Vegetable
life, the plants die. Animal life, the dogs die. The
cows die. Human life, it's appointed unto
me and wants to die. Eternal life, Christ said, listen,
he that believeth on me shall never die. See how important
it is? See how great it is? He that
believeth on me shall never die. Now, you say, but every believer's
going to die. Now, here's what the Scripture's
saying. When a believer experiences the death of the body, there's
no change in that divine eternal life. He lays aside the body,
but that divine life lives on. It's like a river that continues
and deepens and widens until it reaches the sea of paradise.
That eternal life begins and it never ends. There's no change
in that divine life. It goes on as it was, unbroken. The death of the body only ushers
us into the very presence of God to enjoy eternal glory, eternal
love, eternal peace, eternal perfection for which the believer
has always longed and yearned. When I can read my title clear
to mansions in the sky, I'll bid farewell to every tear and
wipe my weeping eye. There shall I bathe my weary
soul in seas of heavenly rest and not a wave of trouble roll
across my peaceful breath. Lay hold on eternal life. When? That's the question. All
right, my friend, here's the answer. The only laying hold
of eternal life must begin now. Must begin there. Don't you dream
that you'll ever obtain eternal life unless you receive it by
faith in this life. There's no possibility. As physical
death leaves you, eternity will keep you. That's true. As physical
death leaves you, eternity will keep you. Now men may dream up
schemes and plans and all kinds of ways of salvation for men
after death, but the scripture knows nothing about that. Our
Lord Jesus Christ said, if you die in your sins, you cannot,
cannot come where I am. And when our Lord talked about
the rich man in hell, he cried, Father Abraham, send Lazarus
down to dip his finger in water and touch my tongue, I'm tormented
in this flame. And Abraham said, my son, between
you and me, or between you and us, there's a great gulf fixed,
and no one can pass from you to us. and no one from us to
you. My friend, the scripture says
in Revelation 22, 11, he that's unjust, let him be unjust still. If you die tonight as an unjust
man in your sins without God, without Christ, without hope,
you remain unjust. He that's filthy, let him be
filthy still. But he that's righteous, let
him be righteous still. Our righteousness is Christ.
He's our hope, our foundation, our refuge. He's our righteousness,
and he that hath Christ shall have him still. He that's holy,
none of us will lay claim to a personal holiness, but we lay
claim to the holiness of Christ Jesus. And he that's holy in
Christ, let him be holy still. So, my friends, eternal life
is to be obtained, if obtained at all, in this life. This is
when we receive it. This is when we believe. And
I would say to you, while you have the faculties of understanding
and the faculties of reason and the faculties of hearing, the
Scripture says, give your heart and your life to your God when
you're young. That's what it says. Remember
now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days
come not, or the days draw nigh when you say, I have no pleasure
in those things. There'll come a day when you'll
be dull of reason and dull of memory and dull of thinking.
Listen to the Word of God now. Lay hold upon eternal life. You
have nothing facing you of greater importance. You must face death,
you must die physically, or to live spiritually. You must meet
God at the judgment, or to have Christ as my mediator. You must
spend eternity somewhere, or to spend that eternity with Almighty
God, enjoying His presence and His love. I want to point out
five things about laying hold on eternal life. Now, if you
have a pencil and paper, and you'd like to jot down these
five points, I'd be happy for you to do so. It may be that
you'll go back and study it later, and it'll be helpful to you.
But here are five things that I would like to present to you
on this subject, laying hold on eternal life. The first is
this. Somebody might ask this question
while you're listening. You've heard what I've had to
say about eternal life. You say, I'd like to have it. How do I
lay hold on eternal life? All right, listen to these five
things. Number one, lay hold on eternal life. Believe it.
This is where we start. Believe it. 1 John 5, 11 says
this is the record. This is true. As Paul said, it's
a true and faithful saying. This is the record. God hath
given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. And he that hath the Son of God
hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
God has given us eternal life, and it's in his Son. That's where
he's vested it. That's where he's put it, in
his Son. His Son bought that right. His Son has that right
by decree. His Son has that right by By
design, purpose, his son has that right by death. His son
has that right to possess all things. He's the source of all
life and all grace. All life is in him. As the father
quickeneth the dead, even so the son quickeneth or maketh
alive whom he will. And this is the record. Believe
it. Believe it. That's where you start. It's
impossible to please God without faith. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. He that cometh to God must, first
of all, believe that he is. Do you see that? That's where
we start. Listen to John 3, 36. He that believeth on the Son
hath eternal life. This very life we're talking
about, this divine life, this eternal life, this spiritual
life. He that believeth, not he that
worketh, not he that giveth, not he that goeth, he that believeth. Christ, and he that believeth
not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth
on him." Now this faith, you say, well, preacher, my faith
is weak. This faith may be weak. It may be frail, but the promise
is not based on the strength of faith, but the object of faith.
The promise is to you in Christ. It's not the strength of your
faith, it's the object of your faith. The Roman centurion said
this to Christ, Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief. And it's
not the strength of the faith. It may be weak and frail, but
it's the object of the faith. Believe on Christ with whatever
faith you have. And this faith may be limited
in knowledge. I like what the blind man said,
the man who was blind, and Christ made him whole. And Christ asked
him, do you believe on the Son of God? He said, who is he that
I might believe? Who is he, Lord, that I might
believe? What did the thief on the cross know about original
sin? What did the thief on the cross know about prophecy? What
did the thief on the cross know about the law? He knew he was
a sinner, and he knew the sinner's hope was in Christ, and he asked
for mercy. So this faith may be weak, it
may be frail, it may be limited in knowledge, And this faith
may claim no merit of its own. In my hands no price I bring,
simply to the cross of Jesus Christ I cling. Listen to Peter
as he sank beneath the waves. Lord, save me or I perish. Can
you do that? See, that's where you start,
by believing. Believing you're seeking, and believing he is
able to save. Believing he's the only Savior.
Believing he's the one to whom we're to turn. For this faith
is convinced there's no other place to turn. Will you also
go away? To whom shall I go? Thou hast
the words of eternal life. So that's the first thing. How
do you lay hold on this life? I want this life. Above all things,
I want this life. I've got to die. I've got to
face God in the judgment. I've got to spend eternity somewhere.
I don't want to spend eternity separated from God. I don't want
to spend eternity under the judgment and wrath of a holy God. I don't
want to spend eternity in filthiness, uncleanness, and darkness. I
want to spend eternity with God. How can I lay hold on eternal
life? Believe it. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. He that believeth on the Son
hath eternal life. All right? Secondly, believe
it, receive it. Listen to John 1, verse 12. Now, my friend, remember, life
is not a doctrine, it's a person. This eternal life, this divine
life, is not a religion, it's a person. Not a law, not a ceremony
or a ritual. We were born with ritualism and
ceremonialism and legalism and every other kind of ism. But
this life is a person. And it says in John 1, verse
12, Jew or Gentile, bond or free,
male or female, as many, white or black, rich or poor, old or
young, as many, learned or ignorant, as many as received him, him,
him, him. To them gave he the right, the
privilege, to become sons of God. That's what it is, receiving. The Apostle Paul said this in
II Timothy 1.12, I know whom I have believed. You see, there's
believing And I am persuaded he's able to keep that which
I've committed to him. That's trusting him, that's receiving
him. Receiving Christ is to trust him, to trust him. And then receiving
Christ is to acknowledge him, to acknowledge him as he's revealed
in the Holy Scriptures. I believe what God says about
his son, the youth. I believe what God says about
me, about my sins, about my need, about my inability. I believe
what God says about himself, his holiness, his righteousness,
his merit, his justice, his truth. I know there's no way that I
can approach unto the holiness of God unless somebody makes
me holy. And in Christ I have that holiness,
that righteousness. I receive him. I receive him
as my prophet, priest, and king. My prophet to reveal God. my
priest to atone for my sins and my king to reign over me. I receive
him as my intercessor. I receive him as my advocate.
I receive him as my mediator. I receive him as the one who
pleads for me before the righteous holy throne of a sovereign God.
Do you? Receive him. Receive him. All
right. Thirdly, how do you lay hold
on eternal life? You believe it. That's where
you start. And then you consciously intelligently receiving. I know
whom I have believed. A man cannot trust an unrevealed
Savior. Paul wrote in Romans 10, Whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. But how
are they going to call on Him in whom they've not believed,
and how are they going to believe in Him of whom they've not heard,
and how are they going to hear without a preacher? So here's
the third thing now. Cherish it. Cherish eternal life. You know, most men will preserve
physical life at any cost. What will you do to save your
physical life? What will you give? Say you had
a fortune and the doctor tomorrow told you that you had cancer,
and you could be cured, but it cost you every dime you got,
you'd pay it. That's right, you'd pay it. Listen
to Job 2.4, all that a man hath will he give for his life. If
someone told you that you had a disease and there was a doctor
who was in Timbuktu who could cure you, you'd borrow the money,
catch a plane and go and find him if he was in the heart of
the jungle. A man will do anything to preserve physical life. What
will you give in exchange for your soul? Now you think about
that a little while. That physical body of yours is
going to die and rot and go back to the dust in 70, 80, 90 years
at the most. But your soul's going to live
forever. My friend, this thing of eternal life, believe it,
receive it, and cherisheth it, cherish it. We need to give ourselves
to the things that promote eternal life, to the things that promote
a knowledge of Christ. What are these things that promote
eternal life? It's the things that are identified
with eternal life. The Word of God. I tell you,
if you spend as much time reading the scriptures as you do health
books and vitamin books and home remedy books and all these other
things, trying to get good health physically, you'd be in a lot
better condition. Read the Word of God. Spend time
in prayer. Listen to the preaching of the
gospel. Find a place to worship God where God is worshipped.
And then walk around with godly companions. I'll tell you, Eberl,
Evil companions corrupt good manners. And I'd separate myself. I'd flee those things. That's
what Paul said to Timothy. Flee those things that are detrimental
to your spiritual life. Flee those things that are detrimental
to your spiritual growth. Flee those things that drag you
down. And cherish that valuable gift in Christ which God has
given you, eternal life. And then here's the fourth thing.
Enjoy. Enjoy eternal life. Brethren,
listen to me. You can get involved in all the
controversies of this day if you wish. That's your privilege.
That's your right. You can be a party politician.
You can be a man of culture. You can be a man of education
and speculation. You can be a man of power and
possessions and praise if you see fit. That's your privilege.
But if you'll take my advice, you'll lay hold on eternal life.
You're going to have to lay down the things of this world someday.
I'll tell you, they're not worth the time that you spend to acquire
them. You've got to lay these things
down. God's going to burn this world, and God's going to burn
everything associated with this world. You know what God said
in the book of Job? Naked, I came out of my mother's
womb. Naked, I came into this world.
And naked, I'm going to leave this world. The Lord hath given,
and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
And I would say unto you, to lay hold on eternal life in this
sense, consider it the most valuable thing that you have, and nothing
else is worth your time or your trouble. Hang loosely, hold loosely
on to the things of this world. Be ready to let them go. I like
what Ruth said to Naomi. She said, whether you go, I'll
go. Whether you lodge, I'll lodge. Your God will be my God. Your
people will be my people. I'll live where you live. I'll
die where you die. And there's where I'll be buried.
And I want to say that to Christ and to his church and to his
people. To his people. Where you live, I live. Your
people are my people. And then the fifth thing, lay
hold on eternal life. Believe it. Receive it. Cherish it. Enjoy it. Make it your aim, make it your
goal, make it your pastime, make it your hobby, make it your life's
work, and then expect it. Sooner than you know, Christ
is going to call you. Our life here is a vapor. My
life, your life, is but a shadow, but a flower that's blooming
today and tomorrow it's gone. Look for that city. Abraham looked
for it. Count it very near. It's nearer
than you can possibly imagine. And look forward to it. Paul
said, I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is
far better. In other words, he's saying this,
I want to die. You say, that's a strange request.
Yeah, but he knew what was ahead. For me to live is Christ and
to die is gain. And I have a desire to depart
and be with Christ, which is far better. Look forward to it. Look forward to this eternal
life.