This is Eternal Life

Now let me repeat the text, John
17, 3. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the
only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Now many people, when they hear
this statement, This is life eternal. Suppose that we're talking
about heaven. It does mean heaven, but it means
much more than heaven. Eternal life, of which our Lord
speaks in this verse, to which he refers, begins right here
on this earth. Eternal life, to which our Lord
refers, begins in a believer the moment that he is born again. Eternal life begins in a believer
the moment he is regenerated by the Holy Spirit. He receives,
when he is born again, the same life into him which he shall have
throughout all eternity. It's the same life. If I shall
enjoy eternal life in the presence of God, I have it right now. If I don't have it right now,
then I'll never have it. Eternal life, someone said, is
a fountain of water that widens and deepens, but it's the same
river which began in the heart when Christ, the water of life,
came in. The Christian matures. He grows
in grace and in the knowledge of Christ, but he's got to have
life to grow. He's got to have life to mature.
The life of a newborn Christian who just prayed a few moments
ago, it may be somebody in this congregation was quickened
while Don was singing the gospel, while Cecil was praying, while
I was reading the scripture. Perhaps someone's heart was opened,
someone's eyes were opened, someone's ears were opened to hear the
voice of God's Spirit. Perhaps the seed of the Word
was planted in your heart for the Holy Spirit just a moment
ago. And you came to receive Christ,
to believe on Him, to trust Him. Well, that life That life in
that newborn Christian, which was quickened just a few moments
ago, is the same life that you'll find in Moses, who's been with
God for 3,000 years. Now death, the average person
thinks that when a person dies, a Christian dies, that he's transported
into a new life. It's not so. That's not so. Death does not transport the
Christian into a new life. It simply rids him of an old
life. Now turn to Romans chapter 7
with me and listen to the Apostle Paul. What I'm saying is this.
that death does not transport the believer, if I died this
moment, I wouldn't be transported into a new life. I would simply
be rid of the flesh, the old nature, the old life, the things
that hamper my true life. Look at Romans 7 verse 24, Paul
has been lamenting the two natures the conflict of the two natures.
He talks about having a nature of seeing and having a divine
nature. He talks about having a law-warring
against the law of his mind, and bringing him into subjection
to sin. And with the Spirit of God in
him, he loves the law of God, and the Spirit of the flesh conflicts
against that Spirit of life. And he comes to this conclusion,
verse 24, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from
this body of death? That's the body of sin, that's
the fleshly nature. That's that nature that drags
your thoughts into places you don't want them to be right now.
That's that nature when you kneel to pray and you're calling upon
God that takes your mind off somewhere else, wandering down
the road. That's that nature when someone
does something you don't like that flies up in anger and frustration
and says things that you ten minutes later say, why did I
say that? Why did I do that? That's the
body of death. Oh, I thank God. Look at verse
25. Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
I already have that victory. I already have that promise. I already have that life. So
then with the mind, I myself serve the law of God. With the
flesh, regrettably, undeniably, the law of sin. But the life
of the believer, that divine life, which is given him in regeneration
in the new birth is the same life that he'll have in glory.
Now let me show you where that life comes from. Turn to 1 John
5 verse 11. Now, first of all, this eternal
life, and I hope you've understood what I've said thus far because
that's the foundation of the whole message. That eternal life
which we shall enjoy in glory is the same eternal life which
we enjoy now. It's in infancy Maybe we're young
men in Christ, maybe you're an elder in Christ, but you still
see through a glass darkly, you still know in part, you still
prophesy in part. When that which is perfect is
come, when I'm rid of that which prevents me from knowing as I'm
also known, when I am rid of all this, then I shall be perfectly
conformed to the image of God's Son. In 1 John 5.11, this is
the record. that God hath given to us eternal
life. Who gave it to us? God gave it
to us. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal
life. My mother and father didn't give
it to me. God gave it to me. The preacher didn't give it to
me. God gave it to me. I didn't secure it by my own
merit or my own righteousness or by my own work. God gave it
to me. This is the record God had given us eternal life. It's
the gift of God. We were born dead in sin. But
the Father decreed from all eternity in his mercy that we should have
life again. He restored my soul. And then
look at the next line, and this life is in his son. The work
of the Son is to give us eternal life. The Son said, I am come
that they might have life. He that believeth on the Son
hath eternal life. He that believeth not on the
Son shall not see life. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him
might have eternal life. Two friends of mine were riding
down the road one day in an automobile and one of them turned to the
other and said, what is the gospel? The other one said, well, do
you want it in a verse of scripture or do you want it in a verse
of a song? Well, he said, give it to me in both. Well, he said,
in a verse of scripture the gospel is this. He was made sin for
us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. That's the gospel. Christ, the
perfect Son of God, came down here in the flesh, was made in
the likeness of sinful flesh. The sinless became sinful that
the sinful might be sinless. He took my place. He paid my
debt. He imputed to me a perfect righteousness,
a perfect standing before the Father. He purchased for me the
gift of life. He paid it all, all the debt
I owed, sin left a crimson stain, but He washed it white as snow. He said, here it is in a song,
living He loved me, dying He saved me, buried He carried my
sins far away, rising He justified freely forever, and some days
coming, O glorious day. And then the work of the Holy
Spirit is to bring us that life. Now the Father gave it. The Son
purchased it, and the Holy Spirit applies it. In John chapter 3,
our Lord said to Nicodemus, you must be born again. That which
is born of the flesh is flesh. I was born the first time of
my natural parents. I received a natural body, a
natural mind, a natural heart, a natural nature. I believe that
I've been born again, and that was of the Holy Spirit. That
which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born
of the Spirit is what? Spirit. He came unto his own,
and his own received him not. But to as many as received him,
to them gave he the privilege, the right, to become sons of
God. Not just sons of their natural parents, but literally sons of
God. Which were born, not of blood. This is not an inherited
thing. It's not a family inheritance,
nor is it of the will of man, nor is it of the will of the
flesh, but they're born of God. And the Lord Jesus Christ gives
eternal life to his elect. Look at John 17. Now verse 3
says, and this is life eternal. It's the gift of God. It was
purchased for the Son. It is brought to us by the Holy
Spirit, not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, not of
the will of man. but of God. And verse 2 says, Thou hast given
him that power, that authority over all flesh. You know, a lot
of preachers make the Lord Jesus Christ appear to be a weakling.
He's not a weakling, he's king of kings. He has all power, he
has all authority. All things in heaven, earth,
and hell were created by him and for him. And he hath preeminence. He hath been given a name which
is exalted above every name, that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, of things in heaven, of things on the earth,
of things under the earth. And every tongue shall confess
that he is Lord to the glory. He has all authority. The preacher who stands in the
pulpit and tries to get his congregation to feel sorry for Jesus Christ,
to take pity on the Son of God, to please let Jesus have his
way, prostitutes his calling. Our Lord's not a beggar, he's
a king. He never has been anything but a king. And even on the way
to the cross, he turned to those women who wept and lamented him,
and he said to them, don't cry for me, don't weep for me, weep
for yourselves and for your children. You waste your tears when you
weep over the remedy, weep over the disease. Thank God for the
remedy. I'm glad Christ died. I rejoice
that Christ died. I'm thrilled that Christ died.
I'm overwhelmed that Christ died. I'm glad He died. I can't shed
any tears over Calvary's mountain, that's where God saved my soul. Don't weep for me, weep for yourself. Don't weep over the killer, weep
over the cause. Weep over the sin that sent him
to the cross. Thou hast given me authority
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him. The Lord said, Ezekiel, go out here to a certain place.
And Ezekiel went out there. He said he was on a mountain. And he looked over the side of
this mountain, and there was a valley full of dry, parched,
bleached, dead bones. There had been a battle fought
there evidently. Many men had been killed, and
their bones had been just left there to bleach in the sun. The
sand had blown up over them. A few of them were exposed. They were sticking out there
everywhere, all kind of bones. And the Lord God said, Ezekiel,
can these bones live? Brother, that's our condition
as a result of the fall in the Garden of Eden. We're dead. We're
dead, dry bones. We've been dead 6,000 years.
Bleached by the sun, blown over by the wind. lifeless, without
life, without God, without Christ, without help, without hope. But
God says, can these bones live? And Ezekiel said, Lord, you know
I can't make them live. They can't make themselves live.
You know because you have the power of life. The Son quickeneth
whom he will. As the Father quickeneth whom
he will, so the Son hath life in himself and quickeneth whom
he will. You who were dead hath he quickened
or made alive. Well, God said, Ezekiel, preach
to them. Say to them, O you dry, dead
bone, hear the word of God. What an assignment. What a congregation
that fellow had. I'm glad nobody Slipped up behind
him, heard him, standing out there on the ledge, on the top
of that mountain, looking out over a valley, and there were
these bones that had been there all these years, bleached and
dry and white in the sun, and he's standing there commanding
them, in the name of God, to hear the Word of God. That's what I do on television
every Sunday. I command these dry, dead, bleached,
barren, lifeless bones to hear God's Word. And you know something? Some of them do. But I don't
give them that power. It's not my logic. It's not my
wisdom. It's not my experience. It's
not my oratorical ability. It's the Spirit of God. For God
said, prophesy, O breath of God, breathe on these bones. And when
the Spirit of God came on them, they lived, and they stood up
a great army. I don't have the power to give
life, but I'd give life to my loved ones. I don't have the
power to give life, but I'd give life to every friend. I don't
have the power to give life, but I'd give life to every son
of Adam. But that's God's business. And he has that power when I'm
fulfilling his commission. And he said, you preach to them.
That's your business, to preach to them. And we preach, and the
Spirit of God gives them life. Now let's look back at the text
again, and this is life eternal. This is it. Three things. Number one, first of all, eternal
life, if you have it, if I have it, consists in what? And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee, the only true God. Now, brother, my definition
of life eternal has got to be received by you tonight because
I'm going to give you his definition of life eternal. This is the
Son of God speaking here. This is a sacred moment. This
is a holy moment. You talk about Moses taking off
his shoes at the burning bush. We need to take off our shoes
right here. This is the Son of God talking to his Father. And
this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true
God. Now then, before Adam sinned,
he knew God. He walked with God. He talked
with God. He knew God. But when Adam fell,
he lost everything, even the knowledge of God. For our Lord
said, when he came to this earth, No man knoweth the Father, save
the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. He said to the
Pharisees, to the religious leaders, You don't know me, and you don't
know my Father. If you had known my Father, if
you had known me, you should have known my Father which sent
me. Man, as a result of the fall,
man, as a result of his depraved nature, man, as a result of his
dead nature, does not know God. He does not know God. But, he's
got to have a God. As a dog must have a master,
as a horse must have a rider, man's got to have a God. So not
knowing the true God, what does he do? He bills himself false
gods and false idols. I'll show you that. Turn to Acts
17. Acts 17, here in verse 23, Paul
preaching on Mars Hill, said, You men of Athens, I perceive
in all things you are too superstitious. Verse 23, I passed by and I beheld
your devotions, or the gods that you worship, and I found an altar
with this inscription, To the unknown God. You want to know
why in India they have a God for every person, why in China
they worship false gods, in Japan and here in America? Because
man's got to have a God. And not knowing the true God
and not knowing the living God, he whittles out for himself a
God. And then man's lack of knowledge
has led him to heathen philosophies. God says, your ways are not my
ways, your thoughts are not my thoughts. Man's lack of the knowledge
of God has led him not only to heathen philosophies, but to
foolish traditions and to vain worship. And the wisdom of God
is what? It's foolishness to him, and
there's a way that seemeth right to him, and the end is death
and destruction. So men by nature don't know God. And their lack of knowledge of
God leads them to worship false God. That's the reason this fellow
Moon can come over here from Korea and get all these foolish
people to follow him. But they've got to have a God,
just like a little dog's going to follow a master, and a horse's
got to have a rider, man by nature's got to have a religion, he's
got to have a God, and not knowing the true God, and not knowing
the living God, he gets him a God. And he doesn't know the ways
of God, and the wisdom of God to him is foolishness. And he
worships the creature rather than the Creator, and Christ
said, I come in my Father's name, and you don't believe me, let
another come in his own name, wherever he comes from in him
you will believe. Because you don't know me nor
my Father. But a man who has eternal life
knows God. And not just a God. Look at it
again. This is life eternal that they
might know thee, the only true God. Now you underscore that.
Not just to have a God. Not just to believe there is
a God. Because the devil believes there is a God. Every demon in
hell believes there is a God. So eternal life is not to have
a God. It's to have and know the true
God. And it's not just to believe there is a God, but it's to know
him. Now then, what does it mean to
know him? Get with me right here now. And
I'm talking to myself, well it's to you, I want to know him too.
First of all, what is it to know God? What is this knowledge of
God which is eternal life? First of all, it's to know him
as God. As God. as God to me, the great
invisible Jehovah, who is a spirit, who made heaven and earth by
the word of his power, who has revealed himself as Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit, who sent his Son into this world, of whom
Christ said, he that hath seen me hath seen the Father. That
God is God to me. I reverence his name. I bow before him. I believe his word. I seek his
presence. I honor his law. He is my God. Holy and reverent is his name. Holy and precious is his word. Right and holy are his purposes. And righteous and true are his
judgments. And whatever he does with me
or with my friends or with this church, that's his business. He's God. That's to know God. It's to know him as God. Not as one who has no hands but
my hands, who has no feet but my feet, who has no tongue but
my tongue, but him who is God without me, you, or anybody else. He's God, independent of his
creatures in his personal glory. What is it to know God? Secondly,
it's to know him as my Father. Turn to Romans 8. Romans 8, verse
16, verse 14. For as many, Romans 8, 14, as
are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God You
have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but
you receive the spirit of adoption whereby you cry, Father, Father. Our Lord said, when you pray,
say, Our Father. I go to my Father and your Father.
I'm conscious of his presence. I'm conscious of his presence
as God, but I'm conscious of his presence as my Father. I'm
conscious of his power. but I'm also conscious of his
love. I'm conscious of his righteousness,
but I'm also conscious of his mercy. I can fall before him
in reverence and in fear, but I can also go to him in prayer,
and he speaks to me through his word. A man who knows God as
God, and a man who knows God as his Father, is a man whom
you may strip, but he'll always be clothed with God's presence.
You may shut him up in prison, but he'll be free, for his spirit
will soar with God. You may cut out his tongue, but
he'll praise God in his heart. You may put out his eyes, so
that he'll never see a human being, but he sees God with eyes
of faith. He may have a fatal disease,
but he's in the best of health spiritually. He may be forsaken
of all men, but he's never alone. No, never alone. He may be burdened
with a thousand cares. He may not know where the next
ray of light will come from, but he knows that all those cares
are in the tender hands of his loving Father, and they'll work
together for his good. He may be at death's door. But he knows this is but the
passageway that leads him into the presence of his Father. What
is it to know God? It's to know him as God. It's
to know him as my Father. And then thirdly, to know God
is to give me a life that's worth living for. If I didn't know
God as God not a denominational idol, not as a disappointed, powerless,
frustrated reformer, but as the living God. If I didn't know
him as my father, I'd say, cursed is the day that I was born. But
knowing God, I thank him for my existence. If I didn't know
God, I'd feel like a galley slave pulling his oars for no reason.
and for no pay and with no future. But knowing God, every little
common occurrence of everyday life is in his will, and he has
a reason. If I didn't know God, I'd be
in complete confusion about life and death, about law and holiness,
about redemption and justice and mercy and heaven and hell.
But in him I have is revelation. If I didn't know God, I'd tremble
at the prospects of getting old. If I didn't know God, I'd tremble
at the prospects of a long illness and then death. But in Him I
find peace and joy, and every age has its compensation even
that glorious day when I shall bid farewell to every fear and
wipe my weeping eyes." If I didn't know God, there'd be no joy for
today and there'd be no hope for tomorrow. But to know God,
that's where life is life. Not just existence, not just
this day-by-day servitude of flesh, But to know God is that
which is worthy to be called L-I-F-E, life. Now quickly, the
second point now in John 17, look at it again. This is life
eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God and,
now this is very important, underscore this, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. Now listen to me, three things.
Apart from Christ, to know God would not be life. It would not
be happiness. Apart from Christ, to know God
would not be peaceful at all, because apart from Christ, God
to me would be nothing but an almighty, holy, righteous being
whose laws I've broken. And he couldn't bless me because
I violated his law. And he couldn't walk with me
because by nature I'm unclean. And he couldn't smile upon me
in my sins. So to know a God apart from Christ,
my righteousness is not life. That's death, fear, terror. But I'll tell you, in Christ,
with his holy garments on, I'm as holy as a holy woman. In Christ, I have a perfect righteousness. In Christ, I am accepted in the
Beloved. In Christ, God can be my Father. Because in Christ, I'm clean. Secondly, apart from Christ,
no God would not be life. Because apart from Christ, God
is a just God who must punish my sins. And who must say, depart
from me, bind him hand and foot, and cast him into hell. For God
said, I will in no wise clear the guilty. The soul that sinneth
shall surely die. But I found a ransom. I've found
a sacrifice. I've found a Redeemer who was
wounded for my transgressions, who was bruised for my iniquities. The chastisement of my peace
was laid upon him, and by his stripes I'm healed. And Almighty God now in Christ
can be just and justify the ungodly. Huh? How about that? Apart from
Christ, it wouldn't be like to know God. It would be like Israel
who backed away from Sinai's mountain and said, Moses, speak
to God for us. Don't let God speak to us, lest
we die. I say, Christ, speak to God for
me. Speak to me for God. I want nothing
to do with an absolute God. I want nothing to do with Elohim.
I want nothing to do with God in his justice and in his righteousness. I want to do with God who is
Jehovah, Savior. Christ, speak to the Father,
be my mediator, be my intercessor. Stand between me and his justice. Stand between me and his unsheathed
sword of holiness. Take it into your breast for
me, for when his sword is bathed in the blood of his Son, it'll
never touch me. Apart from Christ, listen, in
closing, apart from Christ, to know God wouldn't be life. Because
apart from Christ, my body'd have to stay in the grave. If
Christ be not risen, what's the rest of it? There is no resurrection. But he has become the firstfruits
of them that slept, and because he lives, I live. He went in
that grave, and on the morning of the third day, that brilliant,
bright, blessed Sunday morning, he walked out. And one of these
days, one of God's days, God's tomorrow, I'm going to walk out
of that grave, and I'm going to see him, and I'm going to
be like him. I'm going to be clothed in his
perfect likeness because of Christ Jesus my Lord. This is life eternal. To know thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Our Father, we are thankful
for the precious promise that we have in Christ. We know something of thy holiness,
not much, but something. We know something of thy justice
and righteousness. We know enough to know that we
can't stand in thy presence. No man can look on God and live.
That we would be burned as a sender if we caught just a glimpse of
thy holiness. that our Father in Christ, we're
made whole, we're made perfect, we're made holy. In Christ we
can be drawn, yea, into the very presence of the living God without
fear. Yea, come boldly before his throne
of grace, that you might find mercy and grace to hell. Because he's open for us into
thy presence, a new and living way by the sacrifice of himself
on that old rugged cross. Thank you, Lord, for saving my
soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me
whole. Thank you, Lord, for giving to
me our great salvation so rich and free. In Christ's name, amen.

This is Eternal Life

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