Eternal Life

I would like to read with you this afternoon in 1st John and Chapter 5. 1st John, Chapter 5. When I looked at the list of men that I was privileged to be with today, I thought, oh, I'm awfully young to be in that group. I was quite stressed about the whole thing. But that stress is gone because now I understand I'm amongst really young men, so that's fine.

We're all on the same level. 1st John, Chapter 5. And we're going to read in at verse 11. 1st John, Chapter 5, verse 11.

This is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. Verse 19, And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true.

Even in His Son, Jesus Christ, this is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

Now would you turn with me please to the 2nd Corinthians, 2nd Epistle, 2nd Corinthians, and Chapter 3. 2nd Corinthians, Chapter 3. And we'll just read verse 18. 2nd Corinthians, Chapter 3, verse 18. Verse 17, And now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

But we all with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Now let us just read a verse in the book of Romans 8. Romans 8, verse 28. Romans 8, verse 28.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate, to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called, them He also justified.

And whom He justified, them He also glorified. And now we'll come to John's Gospel. And we'll just pick up a verse in John 10.

John's Gospel, chapter 10. And verse 27. John's Gospel, chapter 10 and verse 27.

The Lord Jesus said, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.

My Father which gave them Me is greater than all. No man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one.

Now a final reading in John's Gospel and chapter 17. John chapter 17. And we'll read it at verse 1. These words spake Jesus and lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come, glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee.

As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. I have glorified Thee on the earth.

I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do. Now we trust that with what we have been privileged to sit under today, that what we have read together this afternoon may just help us a little bit more in our understanding and appreciation for the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and God's desire for us. I was very interested when listening to our brethren pray starting last night.

We went down through and listening to them bringing our burdens and our concerns before the Lord about this weekend before us that there might be something that we would be able to grasp, that we might learn, that there may be something that we can take of ourselves that we might have lives. And as I listened to what our brethren said, these are the words that they said, that our lives might be changed, that we might be conformed, that there might be a transformation take place. And that is what I have come to you today with upon my heart, just that very thought.

You know what has been pressing upon my mind? Change. That's what you want, isn't it? Change. Well, I've come here because I'm all about change.

I want change. Now just wait. Don't jump and leave yet.

You know, change. That's a word. Oh, change.

Someone say change. You know, so often we want to take the old written things and change them rather than let the old written things change us. And I'm not here if you... maybe you have a list in your mind right now and you say, oh, I need to talk to you afterwards, talk about change.

I've got a whole list for you that you can talk on the next month. I don't want the list. I'm not in the list.

I'm not talking about that kind of a change. I'm into the change that God wants. And that's changing me.

And that's changing you. It's not about us going and changing things. And I'm not against that, but I'm not going down that road today.

I'm interested in what and how God wants to change me. Because that's why God saved you. Did you know that? That's the primary reason why God saved you.

Do you have eternal life? Maybe there's some here and you don't know what eternal life is. Well, we'll talk a little bit about it today, but this evening we're going to tell you more about it. From seven till eight.

What eternal life? Do you have eternal life? Do you have it? Of course, yes, I have it. Do you have any idea what you have? We were listening coming down from Ontario yesterday, listening on the radio, and this woman was walking along her subdivision, going to get her morning coffee, and as she walked along, she found a painting. And this painting was amongst the rubbish that was there to be taken away.

And she looked at that painting, and she walked by that painting, and she said, well, I don't know anything about paintings, and I don't know anything about that, and modern art, a streak of blue and a black circle, and some kind of strange design. So she went and got her coffee, and on the way back, she walked by that piece of art, and she said, I don't know, I just you know, I'm going to take that. So she took that piece of art and took it home, and didn't really know anything about it, or why she even took it, and stowed it away in her closet, and a number of months later, she talked to this person about it, and that person about it, and no one seemed to know anything about it.

And a number of months later, this woman had framed this thing and put it on her wall, knowing very little about it. She came to understand that that painting came from a very, very famous Mexican painter, and that a little painting, one quarter of the size of the painting she had found, had sold for a half a million dollars. She had no clue what she had.

Do you know what it means to have eternal life? Do you know? Well, you say it's existence. No, you already had eternal existence when you came into this world. We were all given a soul.

We were born as individual entities. A soul with eternal existence never ceased to exist, either exist eternally in heaven, or in the lake of fire. So we're not talking about eternal existence today, we're talking about eternal life.

Do you have that? And if you have it, do you know what it is? It's not an existence, nor is it a lifestyle. It's not a kind of life, in the sense that it's not a fad. You know, just in the last number of years, oh, there was just all kinds of people, whether they played football, hockey, or soccer, or even Paris Hilton found God in jail.

I mean, it was a fad. It was a fad to be a Christian or to have eternal life. It was a fad.

No, it's not a fad. It's not a fad. It's life.

It's life. Because there was a time when we were dead in trespasses and in sins, but by the grace of God we have been made alive in Christ. It's not a life.

It's not an existence. It's life. How's living? How is it? Morbid? Dreary? Do you know what you have? What did we read in 1 John chapter 5? God is life.

This is not something of his. This is not a characteristic of God that he's going to develop. You know, we were hearing today about character, reputation.

You know, reputation, that is what people think we are. Character is what God knows we are. Reputation is what people think we are.

Character is what God knows we are. And God is not trying to develop in us reputation. He's trying to develop in us the character of his Son.

So here we have life. And we find this life, the provision of it. What is it all about? Well, this is a life not necessarily as God being the channel that this life is from God or through God.

This life is of God. It's not that God is the channel. It's that God is the source.

God is life. God is light. God is love.

The essence of his very person. He is life. He spoke it into existence when we think about creation and all that is around us.

That's who he is. And when a person has eternal life, because having eternal life, well, you see, eternal, having eternal life is not signing up with a membership. Maybe you have a little card in your pocket and it's a donor card.

And you know, if something ever happens to you, your heart goes there and your lungs go there and your whatever, you know, you donate. I belong to that. Maybe you have all kinds of membership cards in your pocket.

You belong to the medical associate and the engineering associate. Well, eternal life is not a card that you hold in your pocket. Yeah, I got eternal life.

It's a little certificate that you put on the wall. You say, I got eternal life. And that's it.

It's not a possession in the sense that it's something you put in your pocket and you forget about it. Eternal life is something that God gives that we never had before. And it's not something that we possess.

It's something that possesses us. It makes us alive in Christ. It's the life of God.

That's what it is. It's the life of God. And we find that this life is from God.

God is life. We find that the Lord Jesus was speaking about the resurrection and the life. You know, when we come to Jeremiah 10, there's an interesting verse there.

You know, as we go down through the Old Testament and we read about how people addressed God, the living God. The living God. That doesn't mean He was just alive.

But it's the idea that He is life. The living God. Source of life.

Jeremiah chapter 10 and verse 10. This is a beautiful verse. Brings together three tremendous truths.

It's the God of life. It's the God of truth. And it's the God of eternity.

All in one beautiful verse. The God of life. The God of truth.

The eternal God. You know, there's that name that is given to God. There's a number of them.

But just the idea of El. That living God. The great cause of all.

Eternal life is in God. I was to ask you today, what is eternal life? What would you say? We won't do a show of hands. What would you say? Well, I remember the day when I received Christ as my Savior.

What a day. Sin's forgiven and I'll never be in hell. Go on.

No, that's eternal life. Is it not? Is that what eternal life is? Just not spending eternity in hell than the lake of fire. Is that it? Well, if that's the definition of eternal life, then I get it.

And I just, now I've got it. And I can just go I'm never going to be in the lake of fire. I'll never be judged by God for my sin.

I just go do what I want. Now I have it. And that's it.

Is that eternal life? Well, you might say, no, no. I remember the day when God saved me by His grace. What a day that will be.

What a day that was. Thinking about the day that will come. And what a day that will be when I get to be in heaven with Him forever.

Is that eternal life? Well, you know, those two things are true in the sense that a person who has eternal life, their sins are forgiven and they will never spend eternity in the lake of fire. That's true because they have eternal life. And you know what? Because you have eternal life, you're going to be in heaven someday.

That's true. But you know what? Neither of those two statements define what eternal life is. Do you know what it is? Why not go to the very Source Himself? And when I come to John chapter 17, what an intimate dialogue.

This is more just the Lord Jesus speaking to His Father. He begins to talk to His Heavenly Father. And it's recorded in Scripture.

And you know what? He gives us the definition of eternal life. And those statements that we previously mentioned, they seem to be absent from His definition. It doesn't mean that they're not true.

They just don't define it. Jesus said, I love these words because this is what God has given to every believer. This is not to be added to, not to be further defined.

This is eternal life. What does it say? That they might know Thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. Did you get that? That's what eternal life is.

It's a capacity that God has given by His Spirit, the Spirit of life, that we on this earth might have the ability to know Him. That's eternal life. It's that which God has given us to bring us into relationship.

You know, when we go down through and we look at this idea of being saved, God's salvation. You know, we have the beautiful truth of justification. The act of God making us right.

And we have the thought of adoption. Brought into that family and presented as heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ. We have the idea of being sanctified.

Separated from sin and sanctified unto God. We have these different things that describe God's great plan of salvation. But you know, there's one here and we read about it so often and we've just touched on a few verses of what we've read today.

But it's the wonderful truth of regeneration. It's that imparting of life and a new nature in Christ. Dead but made alive.

Dead in trespasses and in sins but alive unto God. To live as I want to live. And this is where I'm big on change.

That you and I as possessors of eternal life might know him. That's what it's all about. It's not about It's not about going to Mexico and being a great preacher.

Thank God for your work. And it's not about sailing the seas to far off lands and becoming some great person. It's about knowing God.

That's what it's all about. It's about spending time in this book. Oh, we forgot a critical ingredient, didn't we? Oh, let us go back to Ephesians chapter 1. Oh, there we find that we're sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise.

There we have been given a pledge. There we find out that upon faith in Jesus Christ, at that moment we receive the Spirit of God. A number of other places we work through, we find that the Spirit the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of life, and so on He indwells every believer.

John chapter 16 tells us a little bit about Him. Tells us about His purpose. His purpose in coming is that He might reveal Christ to us.

Not that He might glorify Himself, but that He might show forth the things that He has heard. And what He knows. Searching the deep things of God and bringing them to us.

Why? That we might know Him. The only true God. And Jesus Christ.

That's living. I'm concerned. I'm concerned because I don't know if I really fully understand eternal life.

That which is quantitative. Well, is it? It's eternal. It's quality.

It's the life of God. And God has given that to us that we might have relationship with Him that we might know Him. I wonder maybe.

I wonder maybe if we have gone beyond and really focused out of priority. Put things ahead of really understanding what eternal life is. You see, it's very difficult for me to understand God's will if I don't know God.

It's very difficult for me to try and live that Christian life if I don't know who He is and what He wants. But, I'm thinking about this possession given by God and we don't have time to go down through that, but it's given by God. We have that in John's Gospel.

Life given by God. Well, we find it's not something that we deserved. It's a gift from God bestowed upon us.

We find that it's guaranteed by God. That Holy Spirit of promise. We have the words that we read there in John chapter 10.

I give unto my sheep eternal life and they shall never perish. Let's stop here for a minute. There are some that believe that you can lose eternal life.

Let's say that again. Some people say that they can lose eternal life. That doesn't make a proper sentence.

It's eternal life. It's the life of God. It's God that gave it.

It's not you that keeps it. It's it that gives you life. It's that which has been provided by God.

We can never be separated from this love of Christ. Romans chapter 8. And we go down through the Scripture time and time again and we find that this eternal life, it's guaranteed. Indwelt with the Spirit of God.

Sealed. That guarantees the believer for their inheritance. And the pledge.

The little foretaste. The little down payment. That guarantees the inheritance for the believer.

Sealed. Indwelt with the Spirit of God. It's eternal life I give.

They shall never perish. So it's ours. So if you're all worried about losing it, just set that thought aside because you'll never lose it.

It's time to start living in the good of it. And what is it? God has given us the capacity. Eternal life.

The Spirit of God. That we might know we are. You know sometimes we get really caught up in doing.

And going. It's not about doing. It's not about going.

It's about knowing and growing. You see it's a progressive thing. This is eternal life.

That what does it say? That they might know. It's progressive. The knowing.

It's not the idea. And you know this is applicable to the youngest. And it's applicable to the oldest.

Because it's something that never stops. It is an ongoing knowing. It is the constant revelation by the Spirit of God of the Person of Christ.

Well of course you know Galatians chapter 5, don't you? What is that? It's the fruit of the Spirit. No. What is the fruit of the Spirit? In it's ninefold aspect.

You go down through that list. There's that which is Godward. There's that which is outward.

There's that which is inward. And it's the fruit of the Spirit. It's that which the Spirit of God is trying.

And I say trying because we have the capability and we have the capacity according to the book of Ephesians and 1st Thessalonians. We have the capacity to quench the Spirit. And we have the capacity to just make the Spirit of God give them no room to work.

Render them unemployed as it were. But the Spirit of God is that within us. What is the fruit of the Spirit? You read it.

Oh yes, stark contrast to the works of the flesh, isn't it? Oh yes, it certainly is. Fruit comes from life. You have to have life for there to be fruit.

When you come to Galatians chapter 5, we've gone kind of quick through this, but that's okay. You get the idea. I came with one point.

The definition of eternal life. When you come to Galatians chapter 5, what does it say? That ninefold aspect of the fruit of the Spirit is nothing less than the very character of Christ Himself. What is God doing by giving to you and I eternal life? We read about it in 2nd Corinthians chapter 3. We read a little bit about it in Romans chapter 8. He's trying to change us.

You want change? We need to go in for change with every aspect of our being. Don't worry about changing other things. You worry about the Spirit of God changing you.

Being conformed to the image of His Son. Being changed. And that beautiful verse that we have there in 2nd Corinthians chapter 3 in verse 18.

Looking into the mirror. Getting into this book. And searching through it.

When you go through the Word of God, are you just trying to get a Sunday school lesson? Is that what you do? When you go through the Word of God, are you just trying to get through your daily reading? When you go through the Scriptures, are you just trying to get a message for the conference? For the meeting? Or when you sit down and you go through this book, you're going through this because you want to know Him. You want to learn about Him. You want to get to know Him.

And you know it says that in that process, there is a transformation. There is something that takes place. And I begin to take on the very character of the One that I'm learning about.

Conformed to the image of the Son. Time is gone. Eternal life.

Do you have it? Do you know what you have? It's God-given. It's God-provided. It's God-guaranteed.

The reason why you have it is for God's glory. That in you and I, on this earth in the midst of sin and defilement, in the midst of opposition and rejection, God can look down and know I've failed Him so. But to think that when God saved your soul and mine, He gave us the capacity that here on this earth we can know Him.

We can be changed into the character, to the image of the Son. That's what it's all about. Everything else is secondary.

And this is life eternal. That they, those who have it, that they might know the ongoing, never-ceasing, never-ending. God is eternal and God is life.

Therefore to be with God, to know God, He had to give us life and then He had to give us eternal life because it's going to take all the ages of eternity, however long we have to know Him. To know Him. It's much more than a certificate.

It's not just being saved from God's judgment in the lake of fire. It's not just being assured of heaven. It's life! Capacity-given.

That right here and now we can know Him. And in knowing Him changed, indwelling of the Spirit of God working, yielding to His control, being changed and conformed and transformed to the very character of Christ Himself.