In 1 Timothy, the 6th chapter, verse 12, the Apostle Paul says,
lay hold on eternal life. Lay hold on eternal life. In verse 19, That same statement is written
again, lay hold on eternal life. And my friends, there is a life which is known to some men which is as far better
and far higher and far above the life that we have and know
and experience in the flesh, as this mental life in the flesh
is above animal life. Now understand what I'm saying. I'm saying that the life which I have that makes
me see and feel and hear natural, fleshly things. This is mental
life. I have an understanding, a will.
I have a thought process. I have a way of expressing myself,
of thinking. That's life, which all men have. But there's a life as far above
this natural life as this life is above an animal's life. I
ask you this question. What is the life of a cow or
a beast or a whole herd of beasts? What is the life of a beast compared
with the life of your precious child? You give that some thought
a moment. Most of you here have children. If you don't have children,
you have brothers or sisters or someone there near to you.
Pick the dearest one to you. And what is the life of every
cow and sheep and horse in this world compared to the life of
that child. Well, you say less than nothing.
It is nothing. Nothing at all. That animal life,
there would be no consideration if I had to choose between blotting
out every animal on this earth and blotting out the life of
my precious one. There'd be no decision to be
made. Well, I say unto you, verily I say unto you, and I realize
the worth of a human life, that there's a life so far above this
natural life, that this natural life, in comparison, is less
than nothing. That's so. And this eternal life,
that's what we're talking about here. Paul says, Timothy, lay
hold. on eternal life. This is the
life we're talking about, eternal life. We're told to lay hold
to it, to lay hold upon it. It's that life which the sons
of men lost in the Garden of Eden. They retained mental life. They retained the life of flesh.
But Adam died and so did his sons as a result of that sin
and fall. They lost spiritual life. And
we're said to be in the scriptures dead in trespasses and sin, dead,
dead, dead. Without God, without Christ,
without hope, dead. And this eternal life we're talking
about, this life, this spiritual life is something that men know
nothing about. They know nothing about it, they
don't understand it, they can't discern it, they're not even
aware of it. But it's that life which we lost in the Garden of
Eden, and it's that spiritual life, which is quickened in every
believer by the Spirit of God when we're born again. That's
the life we're talking about. It's a life that did not exist
in this frame, in this body, in this person. It's a life that
did not exist prior to the coming of the Word and the coming of
the Spirit of God in regeneration. You hath He quickened. The word
quickened is make alive. You hath He quickened who were
dead. Now we had flesh to life, we had fleshly understanding,
we had fleshly discernment, we could see fleshly, hear, that
which is born of the flesh is flesh. But in that work of regeneration,
in that work of awakening and quickening, when the Holy Spirit
comes using the Word of God, when sinners are made alive,
they are quickened and they receive that eternal life. Eternal life. It is a present possession. This
life, this eternal life, this spiritual life is not something
that we trade the fleshly life for when we die. It's already
ours. It's a present possession. John
said we have passed from death unto life. The passing's already
occurred. We've passed from, we haven't
passed from fleshly death to life, we are alive fleshly. but
we've passed from spiritual death to life. We've been born of the
Spirit of God, we've been born of God. And when a believer,
it's a present possession, now are we sons of God. And when
a believer experiences the death of the body. Have you often wondered
what the Lord meant when he said, he that believeth on me shall
never die? Have you often wondered what
he meant when he said that, he that believeth on me shall never
die? Well, when a believer experiences
the death of the body, that eternal life, that spiritual life goes
on interrupted. It's the same life. It's the
same life. Now, when I'm born fleshly, my
mother and father conceived me, and then I was born into the
world, I received fleshly life, and it's going to die. It's going
to die someday. I'll die, experience death. But
when I was born of the Spirit of God in a spiritual life, a
present possession right now, it never dies. It never is interrupted. Someone said it never changes.
It does change. This spiritual life is like a
river that continues to deepen and widen until it goes into
the perfection of glory. But it's still the same uninterrupted. The flow of the river is uninterrupted.
Let me give you an example of that. Turn to Revelation, if
you will, chapter 22. Revelation chapter 22. I'm going
to read verse 11. Revelation 22, verse 11. Now
here's what we're saying. We're saying that when a person,
a sinner who's dead, who knows nothing of the mystery of godliness,
who knows nothing of God and His Word, his fellowship, his
communion, when he's quickened by the Holy Spirit through the
Word of God, when he comes to faith in Christ, when he comes
to a living, vital union with Christ, he lives. He lives. He lives the same life he'll
live in glory. We see. We see through a glass
dimly, but we see. We know. We know in part, but
we know. We love. We love in degrees or
by degrees, but we love. We are alive spiritually. And
when I change from my existence here, my habitation here, and
go to be with Christ, I'm not going to suddenly have a totally
new understanding and a totally new experience and a totally
new realization. It's going to be the same. I'm
going to see things I saw already. I'll see them in the greater
revelation. I'm going to love with the same
love I love here. It'll be a greater love. I'll
have an appreciation of Christ there. It'll be the same appreciation
I have of Him now. It'll be greater, but it's the
same. I know there are lots of folks, religious folks included,
who have an idea that down here we just accept some doctrines
and some beliefs and facts and get into religion and say, well,
Jesus died on the cross, was buried and rose again, we're
saved, and when we die, this great transition takes place.
We didn't love folks down here, and we didn't pant after holiness
down here, and we didn't seek after God down here, and we carried
all the little grudges and bigotry and prejudices and traditions
and hatred, and we went our own way, and we had our own will,
and all of it. And then suddenly we're going
to love holiness then. We're going to love God. We're
going to love grace. We're going to love everybody. Fiddle sticks.
It ain't so. It's the same life. Now you watch
Revelation 22, 11. He that's unjust, we're talking
about death now. We're talking about this experience
that all flesh goes through. We're talking about closing your
eyes and ceasing to exist down here. He that's unjust, he'll
be unjust still. The man that's unjust in his
dealing with other people is going to go right on being unjust.
The man that's unjust in his criticism of others, he's going
to go right on being unjust. A man that's unjust in everything
on this earth is going to be unjust right on. He'll be unjust
in hell, but he'll be unjust just like he was here. He that's
filthy, he'll still be filthy. He'll still be filthy. And read
on, and he that's righteous, he'll still be righteous. And he that's holy, he'll still
be holy. That's what he's saying right
there. This thing of the new birth, this thing of life, life
eternal, receiving the life of God is an experience right here
on this earth. It takes place here. That's the
reason Paul is saying here in this chapter twice, you lay hold
on eternal life. You lay hold on eternal life.
We're talking about spiritual life. We're talking about divine
life. We're talking about the life of God. And as I say, It's
a life that starts as a babe in Christ and a life which grows
and develops through the nourishment of the Word and through the presence
and power of the Spirit and through the preaching of the Gospel.
It's a life that grows and matures. That's the reason we're talking
about maturity in Christ and perfection in Christ. Through
the years and through the experiences of grace, through trials and
tribulations and temptations and testing, through which God
puts us this life, but it's a river that starts here. It's of the
pure water when it starts, and it's the same water when it reaches
the ocean. But there's more of it. It's
greater and bigger and deeper and wider. And that's the way
this spiritual life is. Before the river starts, it's
dry soil. There's nothing there. But when
God creates a river, like He creates the life, of a believer,
an inner believer. See, Paul said that God separated
me from my mother's womb, but one day He called me by His grace
and revealed His Son in me. He brings us to a living, vital
union with Christ and we become a river of life, spiritual life
that did not exist. And that life goes on uninterrupted. And there's justice and righteousness
and holiness and truth and integrity and love and faith and joy and
meekness and gentleness and kindness and the fruit of the Spirit that
is produced in this life. And then when a man grows older
and he gets weaker and he dies, his body fails and wrinkles and
shrivels up and they put it in the ground, that life goes right
on, right on. There's no magnanimous change. There's no monumental change. He's the same person. He was
a person who loved God here, and he's a person who loves God
there. He's a person that loved the Word here, and he loves the
Word there. A person that loved the believers here, and he loves
them there. He loves them more. Now, like I said, we see through
a glass dimly. We know in part. We understand
in part. We preach in part. But we do
understand. And there we shall know even
as also we are known. Dream not for a moment. Don't
even consider it for a moment that a person will ever obtain
eternal life unless he receives it right here in this life. Never,
never, never, never, never. He'll never receive it. As death
leaves him, eternity will find him and keep him. He that's filthy,
let him be filthy still. He that's unholy, let him be
unholy still. He that's righteous, let him
be righteous still. Now, we're commanded here to
lay hold on eternal life. To lay hold on eternal life.
And our need is illustrated in every example of healing in the
New Testament. Our Lord was walking down the
road going outside the city of Jericho. And there was a man
sitting by the roadside named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus,
blind from birth. And somebody told him that Jesus
Christ was passing by, Jesus of Nazareth. Now this man had
a need. This man was sitting in darkness,
utterly hopeless, without any hope at all of ever seeing. No
one could help him. No power of man could help him.
The power of man could deliver him. There was no, absolutely
no hope that this man would ever see. No hope. Except in this
one person. Jesus of Nazareth. And the two
came together. This man in his need and Christ
in his power. This man in his emptiness and
Christ in his fullness. This man in his pain and misery
and Christ in his power and holiness. And this man began to cry. Jesus,
thy son of David, have mercy on me." And that's the very thing,
Jay, that Paul's talking about here to you and me. We're blind
beggars. We're ragged, dirty beggars.
We're helpless beggars. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
passing by. And he says, pray and lay hold
on eternal life. Christ is eternal life. Christ
is our only hope. Christ is our only source of
help. Christ is the only one who can meet our need. Cry out!
Lay hold! Be urgent! Be urgent. The woman with the issue of blood.
That's another illustration of the same thing. She's dying.
She'd wasted everything she had and spent everything she had
on people who couldn't help her. She was beyond human help and
hope. But she knew this, if she could
get to Christ, she would live. She said, if I can just touch
the hem of His garment. And she pursued Him. Bartimaeus
sat and cried out, this woman pursued Christ. She would seek the Lord, and
she found Him, and she reached out and touched Him. She would
not be denied. And immediately she was made
whole. The leper. Our Lord came down from the mountain,
the Scripture says, and the leper There may be healing for leprosy
now, but there wasn't then. And this leper, no hope. That's
what it says all the way through the Word. Without hope, without
help, without strength. This leper ran and fell on his
face at the feet of Christ, and he said, Lord, if you will, if
you will, you can make me whole. And the Lord said, I will be
thou clean. The prodigal son out yonder broke,
hungry and homesick, bankrupt. without any hope at all. And
he sat there and thought about his condition. And he said, why
do I sit here eating the husk that the swine leave? Why do
I sit here in my dirt and filth and rags? Why do I sit here with
nothing to satisfy when the servants in my Father's house fare better
than I? I'm going to leave this place
and go back to my Father, and I'm going to say, Father, receive
me as a servant, or anyway, but just receive me. And the Father
welcomed him with open arms. So this is the urgency of the
Apostle Paul. He says to all who read this,
particularly to Timothy and those of that church, he said, son,
lay hold on eternal life. Lay hold on that life of Christ.
Lay hold on that spiritual life. Lay hold on that life which is
a treasure of treasures. Lay hold upon that which is worth
more than 10,000 worlds. For what shall it profit a man
if he gain the world, 10,000 worlds, and lose his soul? And
the only laying hold of eternal life I know anything about has
got to be right now. And my friends, in several years of knowing folks
and preaching, I'd say it better be while you're still reasonably
young. Now, I know there are some aged
people who occasionally, because God will not be patternized or
programmed, there are some aged people who occasionally come
to a knowledge of Christ, but there are not many. Serve the Lord in the days of
thy youth, when the evil days come not, when you have to say,
I have no pleasure in these things. And most older folks become dull
of hearing and dull of understanding and dull-witted, and they become
taken up with other things, and they lose the sharpness and the
faculties of thinking and The faculties of weighing and measuring
and counting the cost and these things, and everything becomes
sort of sentimental and emotional. And I know what I'm talking about. I know even great ministers like
John Gill. Jay got to where nobody wanted
to hear him pray. He got old and sentimental and
a little foolish. And the church went from a thousand
people down to forty-five and fifty. Who wanted to listen to
him? Because he just didn't have anything to say. He had plenty
to say back in the vigor of youth. Same thing happened to John Rippon.
The same thing happened to many more. The same thing is going
to happen to you the days coming when you'll just thrive on emotionalism
and sentimentalism and all of these things. And while your
mind is acute, and while your powers, and while God gives you
the powers of thought, and while you can still hear, and while
before God says, leave him alone! Lay hold on eternal life like
Jacob of old who held to the angel of the Lord and said, I'm
just not going to let you go until you bless me. I'm tired
of eating husk. I'm tired of slopping with the
hogs. I'm tired of being empty. I'm tired of being robbed of
the peace and rest and joy. I'm tired of listening to folks
say, peace, peace, when I know good and well there is no peace.
I'm going to lay hold on eternal life. I'm going to, if salvation
is to be had, I'm going to have it by God's grace. I like the story Spurgeon told
about the little robin. You say, is that sovereign grace
preaching you're doing? Yeah, that's what that is. That's
the balanced sovereign grace preaching. That's the preaching
that says, now is the accepted time. Behold, today is the day
of salvation. It's the same preaching our Lord
did when he exhorted the people, ye that are laboring and heavy
laden, you come to me. It's the same preaching he did
when he said, oh, everyone that thirsteth, come to the water.
Come, and I'll make you whole. Virgin was down in Mentone, France. He spent a lot of time down there
because he was a very sick man for many years. And he stayed
in the second story apartment. And he'd wake early in the morning,
they'd bring him his tray, his sweet rolls and juice and coffee,
and he'd sit there and he'd look out on the balcony while he was
eating alone and reading. And one morning he was sitting
there eating a little robin He came out on the balcony and stood
around a little while and looked in and flew off. And Spurgeon
took some of the crumbs from his roll and pushed the window
open and scattered them on the balcony and closed the window
and went back and sat down. In a few moments, the little
robin came back. Spurgeon was fond of him already.
They'd become friends. And he wanted to feed him. And
he put something out there just for the little robin, deliberately,
for the little robin. He'd eat it, and the next morning
he was back again. And Spurgeon had preceded his
visit with a few crumbs, you know, and when he came he found
them already there, and he just ate them, you know. The third
morning, Spurgeon put the crumbs out and he was waiting on his
little buddy, and his little buddy brought somebody with him.
There was another little bird came. And you know that other
little bird didn't knock on the door and say, is this for me?
He just ate. He just ate, that's all. He was
hungry, he had an appetite, and the crumbs were there, and he
ate them. He felt that liberty to eat them. And Spurgeon said
the next morning, he brought a whole bunch of friends. He
brought a wren, and a sparrow, and a robin, and he just, there
was a whole bunch of them out there. And none of them, none
of them said, this is, this is for the little robin, it's not
for us. We can't eat it. No, they had an appetite, they
were hungry, and they, and he said one morning, a great big
old blackbird. Now who, nobody puts anything
out for blackbirds, do they? But that blackbird saw it and
he was hungry and he ate it. And that's what I'm saying to
you, that's what I'm saying to me, and I'm saying to every son
of Adam, you hungry? Come on the table spread. And
it's for all who are hungry. It's all who desire to eat. Eternal
life is for those who want it. Christ is for those who want
Him. Sure, the food's on purpose, but the purpose of God is to
feed the hungry. He said, come you that are thirsty,
come you that are hungry, and buy wine and milk without money
or without price, all you need's an appetite. Let not conscience
make you linger, nor of fitness fondly dream. All the fitness
that God requireth is to fill your needs. There's nothing worth
missing eternal life. I don't care what you have in
your possession. I don't care who you know. I
don't care what power or influence you have attained. I don't care
if it's multiplied by 10,000 times. It's not worth eternal
life. That's right. It's not worth
losing eternal life. Five things I'll give you in
summing up the message. I suggest five things about laying
hold on eternal life. I'll be honest with you, this
is my sole objective in life, is to lay hold on eternal life. I want to live with Christ and
in Christ. I want Christ to live in me. And I mean right here. Because
I know if He doesn't live in me here, I won't live in Him
there. And He won't live in me there either. Now the first thing
about laying hold on eternal life is this. Has to be first,
believe it. Believe it. Believe it. Here's where we start in anything
to do with God. Here's where we start in anything
to do with salvation. Anything to do with heaven or
hell or life or death or anything else. Believe it. You can't lay
hold on a shadow. You can't lay hold on a phantom.
You can't lay hold on a myth. You've got to lay hold on reality,
a substance. You've got to believe it. I'm not calling for perfect faith
because I don't have it. I'm not expecting of any man
what Christ doesn't expect of him or what I cannot produce
myself. And no man's ever produced. This believing may be weak and
frail. It may even be mixed with some
unbelief. But it's faith. What did the
man say whose daughter was sick? Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. And the master did. The master
ministered to him. The master answered his prayer.
The master came at his call. The master healed his daughter.
I believe! Help my unbelief. Let's play
straight with God. Don't pretend to be what you're
not or have what you don't have. Play straight with God. This
man did. He didn't claim to be a strong
believer. He didn't claim to be a great believer. He didn't
claim to be the best believer. He just said, Jay, I believe.
Help my unbelief. If you've got a minute, turn
to John 9. Let me show you another man over here. Believing God,
believing His Word, believing His promises, believing the record
concerning His Son, believing. It's not a perfect faith, it's
a weak faith maybe, little faith, but it's faith. This fellow,
the Lord healed who was blind, they came to him, those Pharisees
did in John chapter 9, they said in verse 24, give God the praise,
give God the praise, this man's a sinner. Listen to him, verse
25. Now, he didn't know much, did he? He said, whether he be
a sinner or no, I don't know, but one thing I know, I was blind
and now I see. Now, he didn't know much, did
he? But he knew one thing, he said, I just know this, I was
blind and now I see, and the fellow that made me whole was
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look down, if you will, a
little further. And the Lord Jesus came to him. In verse 35,
when he heard, they cast him out of the synagogue. And when
he found him, he said, Do you believe on the Son of God? And
he answered and said, Who is he? Who is he, Lord, that I might
believe? I believe. Just show me who he
is. I believe. Oh, that's the kind of faith
we're talking about. It may be uninformed, it may be unenlightened,
it may be the most limited kind of faith, but it has Christ as
its object. That's what this man believed.
He believed Christ. He knew he had come in contact
with the God Almighty who gave the power to him to see. And
he didn't know all about it, but he just believed Him. He
just believed. You see, this believing may be
weak and frail. It may be uninformed and limited,
but this believing is convinced that there's no other source
of life, there's no other source of help. Now, this is the faith
I'm talking about. Lord, the disciple said, to whom
shall we go? Thou hast the words of life.
That's where I am. I don't know whether you're fluctuating
or not, but I know this. There's no life in the law. I
know there's no life in my morality or righteousness. If I depend
on that, I'm already strung up and hung out to dry, and so are
you. I know there's no life in the motions of religion or the
traditions of religion. Religion is an abomination. Religion
is nauseating. Religion is corrupt. There's
nothing to be found. I don't care what they say and
how they sell their bill of goods. I have no confidence whatsoever
in any processional, any ceremonial, any legalistic, any ritualistic
religion. It can't help me and it can't
help you either. And all the washings and baptisms and fastings
and prayings and going through the motions, there's nothing
in it, nothing to it. To whom shall we go? If Christ
doesn't give me life, I die. If Christ doesn't intercede for
me, I die. If Christ doesn't save my soul,
I die. If Christ doesn't make me whole,
I die. And the disciples, when the Lord
turned to them and said, Will you go away? They said, To whom?
Now where are we going? Shall we turn to the law? Never
helped anybody yet. Shall we turn to the sacrifices?
Shall we turn to the Washington baptism? Shall we turn to the
rules and regulations? Shall we turn to all of this
ceremonialism? To whom shall we go? Saving faith
is convinced of one thing. There's no other source of mercy
but Jesus Christ. That's all there is to it. And
I don't know how much faith I've got in Him, but I just know this,
all the faith I've got's in Him. That's the sum of it. And I'll
tell you something else about this believing, this laying hold
on eternal life. It's believing. It may be weak
and frail, but it's believing. It may be uninformed and limited,
but it's believing. And believing that Christ is
the only source, and listen to this, this faith claims no merit
and no obligation. Listen to Job. He may slay me,
but I'll trust him. I'll trust him. Listen to the
woman, the Syrophoenician woman. Yes, it's all right. I'm a dog. But dogs eat the crumbs that
fall from the master's table. I'm not asking to sit at the
table. I'm not asking for the children's bread. I'm just asking
for what dogs get. Crumbs. Crumbs. Brethren, laying hold on eternal
life in the first place is to believe it. to be convinced of
its source, to be persuaded of its glory and its value. It's
to be persuaded of my own inability to attain it, my unworthiness
to own it, my unfitness to receive it. But it's looking to Him who
delights to show mercy. He delights to show mercy. If
God can find Him a strip center of your clothing, If He'll find
him a dead sinner, He'll raise him. If He finds him a blind
sinner, He'll give him sight. If He finds him a lame sinner,
by His power that sinner's gonna walk. If He finds him a lost
sinner, He'll save him. I believe it. I believe it. Secondly, lay hold on eternal
life is to receive it. To receive it. Now Christ said,
I am the life. Brethren, it's not just receiving
His laws, it's receiving Him. It's not just receiving His rules
and His statutes and His commandments, it's receiving Him. Eternal life
is not a doctrine, it's a person. It's not a moral direction. It's
not a religious zeal. It's a living union with a person. That's what eternal life is,
a living union with a person. He said, I am the resurrection
and the life. I am the resurrection and the
life. It says in John 1.12, as many as receive Him. Is this
where we're missing? Have we received the things of
Christ and not the Christ? Have we received the rules and
the laws of the Christ and not the Christ? Have we received
the doctrines of the Christ? And we've become an enforcer
of rules and doctrines and a preacher of these things. And we have
never received the glorious, life-changing person. There's a difference. You say,
what is it to receive Christ? Well, I wouldn't complicate the
matter, but I think I can give four or five things here that
may help us to understand what to receive Christ is. Now, a
person who hasn't received Him is not, I don't imagine, going
to be helped here, but those who have received Him will certainly
identify with these things. First, I would say to receive
Christ is to acknowledge Him as He's revealed in the Holy
Scriptures. It's so. What God says about the record
concerning His Son is so. He is the Word made flesh. He
is the Word who dwelt among us. He is very God of very God. As
Paul said, I know whom I have believed. I'm not trusting a
stranger. I'm not trusting a myth. I'm
not trusting an historical character. I'm not trusting a reformer.
I am resting in and believing in, and I have received a person
who's revealed in this Word. I believe what this Word says
about it. I don't understand everything the Word says. Being
a finite man, how can I comprehend an infinite God? Somebody says,
I don't understand the Bible. Well, join the crowd. How in
the world can a fallible, finite human being understand the writings
of an incomprehensible, infinite, almighty God whom the heavens
won't contain? There's some things you can understand.
I find this, that it's not men don't have trouble with what
they don't understand in the Bible. It's what they do understand
they have trouble with. That's where the problem is.
It's what they do understand and don't like. The rich young
ruler understood Christ when he said to him, sell what you
have and give it to the poor and take up your cross and follow
me. Your money's your God. He understood him. Herod understood
what John the Baptist said when he said, it's not lawful for
you to have your brother Philip's wife. You got to get rid of her.
He understood it. The Pharisees understood the Lord Jesus Christ
when He said, not that which a man puts in his body defiles
him, it's that which comes out of his heart. They understood
that. So to receive Christ is to receive
Him as He's revealed in the Word of God. Secondly, it is to receive
Him in all His offices. He's not just prophet. He's prophet,
priest, and king. He's not just a savior. He's
the prophet, priest, and Lord. It's in all. You can't have half
a Christ or a third of a Christ or two-thirds of a Christ. It's
the all of Christ. Prophet to reveal God, priest
to sacrifice and atone and justify God in His righteousness, and
Lord to reign over us. Thirdly, it's to acknowledge
Him as being all this to me." Now
listen, you haven't received Christ if you just say, He is
Prophet, Priest, and King. You receive Him when you say,
He's my Prophet, Priest, and King. See the difference? The
devils know He's Lord and God. Thomas says, He's my Lord and
my God. That's the difference, Brother
Payne. I hear preachers saying, you
believe Jesus died on the cross, buried and rose again, you're
saved. You ain't no such thing. No, I beg your pardon. There's
too many folks there when that happened that weren't saved.
There's too many folks in hell that know that happened. I'm
saying to receive Christ is to acknowledge Him as prophet, priest,
and king, yes, but my prophet, priest, and king. My Lord and
my God, my hope, my substitute. He's all I need. He's made unto
me wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. I'm not talking
about accepting Jesus as your personal Savior. I'm saying a
personal faith in the living Lord who loved us and gave Himself
for us. Faith in Him. I bow to Him. I
submit to Him. My Lord, He's my God. Do with
me what He will. He's still my Lord and my God.
And then in the fourth place, to receive Christ is to trust
Him. To trust Him. To rest in Him. Listen to this
verse. To as many as received Him, to them gave He the power,
the right, the privilege to become sons of God, even to them that
believe on His name. That believe. That believe is
All them who trust Him, trust Him, trust Him. And then in the fifth place,
to receive Christ is to love Him, to receive Him with affection. We don't receive Him with rebellion.
We don't receive Him with resentment. We don't receive Him, well, okay,
I'll bow to your scepter. No, Lord, your scepter is a delight. You see, there are a lot of folks
who obey masters who don't love them. There are a lot of folks
who get in line because they're whipped in the line, they're
afraid not to get in the line. They walk a certain path because
they step on bars if they don't. No, that's not it. It's to receive
Christ with affection. He said, Peter, do you believe
the Bible? He said, do you love me? Do you
love me? You gonna mind yourself? You
gonna mind your manners and mind the Lord?" No, he said, do you
love me? Do you love me? This is the whole
motive for anything. This is the motive for all things. This is the only motive for anything
acceptable to the Father. The love of Christ constrains
it. If there's any other motive,
we're in deep trouble. And then the third thing I would
say about lay hold on eternal life, believe it, receive it,
and thirdly, cherish it. Cherish it. Cherish it. Now let me make a comparison.
Turn to Job 2. Let me make a comparison. Now,
most of us, most of us will preserve these fleshly lives at any cost. I read about men trapped in mines
who eat rats. and drink heaven knows what. I read about those folks that
were, that plane crashed up there in the mountains and they ate,
they became cannibals and ate human flesh. You say, I never
do that. Let me tell you something. Men will do a lot of things to
preserve this life. They certainly will. That's what,
unless they're mentally unbalanced. You say, some of the people take
their lives, they're not But they're not thinking when they
do. I'm sure of that. They're mentally unbalanced and
troubled. But anybody here this evening with a thinking mind
and a clear mind, if I yell fire, you go ahead for the exits. I
don't think very many of you sit there very long. You'll preserve
your life. And if they find anything wrong
with you, let a doctor whom you've never met before, never heard
of, lay you down and slit you open from one end to the other.
Some of you have taken new drugs that have never even been on
the market, because you're going to preserve this life. That's
what Satan says here in Job 2, verse 4. Satan said to the Lord,
skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his
life. Question. Are you that serious about eternal
life? If you know what it is and you
experience that you are, what shall a man give in exchange
for his soul? What would you give? Let me ask
you this. What would you give tonight? If some man comes in
here with a shotgun, you've got everything you own right here
in your pockets, what are you going to do? You give every bit
to him. Every bit to him. You'll give the deed to your
house, your car, everything. to walk out of here alive. That's
what Satan's saying, skin for skin. He says, all that a man
has, he'll give for his life. And yet this piece of flesh may
die tomorrow. It may die next week. It's the
frailest, weakest thing we have. This pulpit here is going to
outlast me. This thing will be here when
I'm gone. And I'll tell you something that's
going to be here, though. If I have eternal life, I'll outlast
this bullpen. I'll outlast everything. I'll
shine as the stars forever. What will I give for that life? What are you prepared to give? That's something to think about
anyway. Tell you what we'd better do
in cherishing this life. We'd better give ourselves to
those things that promote and strengthen life. You know, I
get a little perturbed with some of my friends. They're such naturalists
as far as food and things are concerned. They won't drink certain
things or eat certain things, get so much rest, you know, and
not eat pork and not eat this, that, and the other. This old
rotten body is going to die. Don't you realize that? But I
don't find them that zealous for Christ. If I find me a naturalist
that's so careful about his orange juice and his liver to give him
iron and all of his 117 vitamins every morning that gives himself
to the gospel and to Christ and to eternal life, I'll listen
to him on that other stuff. But Cecil, most of them I ever
talk to ain't got beans for their eternal life. They're wrapped
up in all this other stuff. Well, you can have that. I think
we ought to take care of ourselves, but I'll tell you this. More
important thing in all the universe to me is this word, prayer, worship,
godly companions, and the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm
dedicated to it, separated to it, consecrated to it, and God
helped me to die preaching it, not drinking orange juice. And I need to avoid those things
that are detrimental to this life. Turn over there to 1 Timothy
6. Avoid those people and those things that are detrimental to
this life. He says in verse 10 of 1 Timothy
6, the love of money is the root of evil. which some people coveted
after and they've erred. What's he talking about? He's
talking about the world and the things of the world. They've
coveted after this, the things that please this flesh. He says,
Thou, O man of God, verse 11, flee these things and follow
after righteousness and godliness and faith and love and patience
and meekness. Those are the things that promote
spiritual life. Pen after them, follow after
them. Above all things, feed on Christ. I think one time, Paul Williams
and I shocked a whole bunch of people. We drove 150 miles to
hear a sermon one night. Do you remember that, Paul? 150, one way. Boy, when you're
hungry, the sheep of Christ will go a long ways for a little grass.
You know that? The bees will fly a long ways
for a little clover. Just hungry, hungry, hungry. Feed on Christ. And then the fourth thing, lay
hold on eternal life. Believe it, receive it, cherish
it. Now let me give you something
here. Enjoy it. Enjoy it. Let me read you something Spurgeon
wrote in 1887. Brethren, sounds like 1979 or
80. Brethren, you can get involved
in all the controversies of the day if you like. But beware the consequences.
You can be a party politician if you like. You can strive to
be a man of culture, education, intellectualism if you like.
Loving speculation more than revelation if you think fit.
But if you'll take my advice, you'll lay hold on eternal life.
Rest in Christ. Find in him your meat and drink
to do his will. Be like Ruth of old, who said
to Naomi, she said, honey, stay with your folks. You are my folks. Stay in your country. Your land
is my land. Well, find your young man down
here. Your people are my people. Your God's my God. I'll live
where you live, and I'll die where you die. And that's where
I'm going to be buried. Because that's my meat and drink.
My meat and drink is to do the will of Him that sent me, Christ
said. That is my meat and drink. I wouldn't put off on you something
that you didn't enjoy. I don't urge you to participate
in that which you don't enjoy. But I'll tell you this, when
Christ becomes your meat and drink, you'll enjoy it. When
eternal life becomes your possession, you'll enjoy it. You can't explain
it. Like Carter Brown left Lexington,
Kentucky, moving to Ashland. Some folks thought he was crazy.
Our folks are moving from Ashland to Lexington. Who wants to live
in Ashland? And they said, what you moving
to Ashland for? He said, you wouldn't understand if I told
you. They won't. They don't understand that. See,
they can't enjoy that. But now, if you know what I'm
talking about, you feed on Christ. feed on Christ. He is my meat. He is my drink. It's not a question
of debating whether or not to worship God or to be somewhere
else. If you want to be somewhere else,
be somewhere else. That's what I'd do. I'd feed the life that
was the hungriest. And then the last thing is this.
Lay hold on eternal life. Believe it. Receive it. Cherish
it. Cherish Enjoy it. And last of all, expect it. Expect
it. Abraham looked for a city. He was looking for a city. And it wasn't down here. It sure
wasn't. He wasn't expecting. David wasn't
expecting to be satisfied. He had enough to satisfy most
folks, but he said, I'll be satisfied when I wake with his likeness.
Abraham believed God, that God would do what he said. To be
absent from the body was to be present with the Lord. John,
you said you'd be glad if God take you home. I believe every
believer would. I really do. He's expecting eternal life.
He's counting on it. He knows it's near. My days,
said Job, are like a weaver's shuttle. They're like a flower
or a shadow, or James says, a vapor. Look forward to it. For me to
live is Christ and to die is gain. Now those just words, they're not words to the person
that has eternal life. He has a goal to be like Christ. That's his intention, that's
his purpose, that's his desire. I know what men today want. They
want a religion that doesn't interfere. They want to be coddled
in what they have. They want the preacher to be
in agreement. I know what they want. But I'll tell you this,
I know something better than what they want. That's eternal
life. And by God's grace, whatever
it costs, whatever it requires, whatever it demands, I urge you
with me to lay hold on eternal life. Lay hold on it. That's where
the victory is. I want us to sing.