Sermon #34 Jude Sermons
Title: “Eternal Life”
Text: Jude
1:21
Date: Tuesday Evening — July 5, 2005
Tape # Jude
#34
Readings:
Introduction:
Man's natural state is one of spiritual death. He exists, but he
is without "life." "Dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph.
2:1). "Alienated from the life of God" (Eph. 4:18). "Dead while
she liveth" (1 Tim. 5:6). "Ye have no life in you" (John 6:53).
Such are the words used to describe the condition of the unconverted on earth.
In eternity the unbeliever will still exist, but he "shall not see
life" (John 3:36). "He that hath not the Son of God hath not
life" (1 John 5:12).
Life — as used in these Scriptures — is more than mere existence.
The paper of this book exists, but it has no life. The lost will exist in
endless woe, yet they "shall not see life." Endless existence belongs
to saved and unsaved alike; eternal life is the portion of those who are in
Christ alone. Wherever we read "hath eternal [or everlasting] life,"
it has reference to a condition of spiritual blessedness; wherever the lack of
it is recorded, it involves separation from God and conscious misery. There is
a natural life and there is a spiritual life, so likewise there is a natural
death and there is a spiritual death. All the time that the prodigal was away
from his father's house, he was regarded by his father as "dead," yet
terribly alive in sin. His return and restoration is described as being made
"alive again " (Luke 15:32). Spiritual death is the state of all the
unregenerate: they are "alienated from the life of God" (Eph. 4:18).
They abide in death (1 John 3:14) at enmity with God. At conversion the
believer passes "from death unto life" (John 5:24), "from the
power of Satan unto God" (Acts 26:18).
The Source of Life.
"The living God" (1 Tim. 4:10). "With Thee is the
fountain of life" (Psalm 36:9). "The Father hath life in Himself
" (John 5:26). The fountain was there, but no stream had yet come forth.
"No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the
bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him" (John 1:18). It remained for
the Son to come forth and show unto us "that eternal life which was with
the Father" (1 John 1:2).
Eternal Life Manifested.
"The life was manifested, and we have seen it" (1 John
1:2). "In Him was life; and the life was the light of men" (John
1:4). "God was manifest in the flesh" (1 Tim. 3:16). From the manger
of Bethlehem to the Cross of Calvary, "the life" was manifested: in
all spheres, among friends and foes, the life Divine shone forth, and at the
close of that wondrous pathway the living One laid down His life for the sheep
(John 10:15). "This is the true God and eternal life (1 John 5:20).
Jesus was the "Prince of life." He took flesh and blood:
He "was made in the likeness of men," yet He was different from all.
"In Him there was no sin." He was not in that state of death, or
separation from God, in which sin had placed all Adam's posterity. "As the
Father hath life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself"
(John 5:26). Yet He could not share that life with others apart from death. His
own words are, "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it
abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit" (John 12:24).
Let those who make great pretensions to be admirers of the life of Jesus of
Nazareth, but who reject His atoning death, or regard it as unnecessary,
remember this: Like as the rock in the desert of old had to be smitten ere the
stream could flow to quench the thirst of the needy host of Israel, so Christ
must be "stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted" (Isaiah 53:4): He
must die the sinner's death before He could make him a sharer of eternal life
now, and eternal glory hereafter.
Eternal Life Imparted.
"I am come that they might have life" (John 10:10).
"The Son quickeneth whom He will" (John 5:21). "Believing ye
might have life through His name" (John 20:31). "the gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 6:23). When the sinner
believes on Christ, he receives everlasting life (John 3:16). When the Gospel
is "put away" by the unbeliever, he judges himself unworthy of
everlasting life (Acts 13:46), and abides in death. Although the full
manifestation of that life awaits a future dlay, its
present possession is the portion of all believers. The "babe" and
the "father" in Christ alike share it. There may be varied stages of
growth, but the life is essentially the same in all. It is eternal life: it
cannot be lost: it will not perish. It is received by faith. "He that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life" (John 3:36). It is not
communicated through sacraments; neither baptism nor the Lord's Supper have
anything whatever to do with the communication of life. They are for the
living, not for the dead. The way of life is plain and clear. The Lord Jesus
says, "He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath
everlasting life" (John 5:24). "They that hear shall live" (John
5:25). He, and He only, is the Live-giver; He does not delegate this to priest
or parson. To Him, therefore, the sinner must go; there is "life" in
no other. His Word to the unbeliever is, "Ye will not come to Me, that ye
might have life" (John 5:40). Many go, to "Church" and
"Sacrament" who have never been to Christ.
Eternal Life Possessed.
"He that hath the Son hath life" (1 John 5:12). "I
give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish" (John 10:28).
"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" (1 John 5:13). These
Scriptures, and many others give definite testimony that the believer is
already in possession of eternal life, and at no future period will he be
without it, otherwise it would not be "eternal." "God hath given
to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son" (1 John 5:11). "Your
life is hid with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3). It cannot be touched by men or
demons: its source is beyond their reach. The unscriptural theory that a saint
may lose eternal life and finally perish can have no place where this is
received as the truth of God. To make life dependent on the believer is to dishonour the Life-giver, and to make man his own
preserver.
Eternal Life Exhibited.
As to its manifestation, this life is in the believer. He is called to manifest the "life of
Jesus" in his mortal body (2 Cor. 4:10), and no longer the "old
man." No more I that live, "but Christ liveth in me" (Gal.
2:20), ought to be practically, as it is judicially, the expression of the
believer's experience. The treasure is yet in an "earthen vessel " —
not as it yet shall be, in a glorified body — but this need not hinder it from
being manifest. Men looking on may take knowledge that a new power dominates
the man, although his place and surroundings among them remain unchanged. The
body is the same. The members are as they formerly were, but a new power rules
them. They are no longer the tools of sin, but, the instruments of
righteousness unto God. The "spirit" that formerly energized them,
when they were "children of disobedience" (Eph. 2:2), ceases to have
control. It has been superseded by the "Spirit of God" who now
indwells the bodies of saints. An illustration may help us here. There was in
time past a certain house of rather questionable repute in a public part of
this city. By-and-bye it changed owners. The new proprietor had the place
gutted out and thoroughly cleaned, and in a few days we saw a large placard
fixed in the window with the words "WILL BE OPENED UNDER ENTIRELY NEW
MANAGEMENT." The old place stood outwardly as before, but a new kind of
business, under a new manager, was henceforth carried on there. The body of the
converted man is as it was in former days. His earthly calling, his home and
surroundings may be the same, but he is now under new management. Divine life
is in his mortal body, and the Spirit of God now guides and controls him.
Eternal Life in Prospect.
"The end everlasting life" (Rom. 6:22). "In hope of
eternal life" (Titus 1:2). "Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus
Christ unto eternal life" (Jude 21). These passages view eternal life in
its finality. In resurrection the believer will enter upon life in a new
sphere, in a body fitted for its full enjoyment. Here it dwells in mortal flesh, groaning for deliverance;
there it will be at home in a "spiritual body," a vessel suited to
its full and perfect manifestation, in that glory to which its possessor is
even now called (1 Peter 5:10). The "life" will be the same then as
now, but in the resurrection state it will be in other surroundings. There will
be nothing to hinder it there as there is here. The saints will reign in life
with Christ, and instead of sin and death, and the unceasing groan of a
burdened creation, there will be the "all things new," "the
river of the water of life" unceasingly flowing, the "tree of
life" continuously bearing its fruits, and "no more death" in
that "land of the living."