Everlasting Life
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Introduction
Introduction
Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,
you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”
Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,”
and “A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
Over the past months on the first Sunday of the month we have taken this verse one phrase at a time in our communion services. We arrive today at the final phrase “but have everlasting life”. If you have never been with us for a communion service let me make you aware that we do things differently than our normal Sunday morning service. I will teach through the first point on your outline and then we will sing a song. Teach through the second point, sing a song, and so on. When we get to the end we will spend time in preparation and then in partaking of the Lord’s Supper. PRAY
Over the past months on the first Sunday of the month we have taken this verse one phrase at a time in our communion services. We arrive today at the final phrase “but have everlasting life”. If you have never been with us for a communion service let me make you aware that we do things differently than our normal Sunday morning service. I will teach through the first point on your outline and then we will sing a song. Teach through the second point, sing a song, and so on. When we get to the end we will spend time in preparation and then in partaking of the Lord’s Supper. PRAY
Have you ever taken a wrong turn? It seems to happen to everyone. Your driving along and go the direction you think you should go, but as you are going it just starts to seem wrong. The sights don’t look right, or the road is in disrepair, or sometimes the road just ends. I remember a time when I was probably around 14 or so and we were at a father-son retreat. My oldest brother drove some of us somewhere, I don’t even remember where. What I will never forget is ending up on this tiny little one lane road that was going the wrong direction. The vehicle my family had at the time was a huge green fifteen passenger van. When we realize we are on the wrong road my brother decides to turn around via a “three-point turn”. We have never let him for get his fifteen-point “three-point turn”. Eventually we got turned around and were able to get where we needed to go. In life there are two roads that can be taken (S). Scripture describes these as the broad way leading to destruction, and the narrow way leading to life. There are more people on the broad way than the narrow way. The broad way is big, open, and easy (S). The narrow way can be uphill, difficult, and rough (S). What is stressed in Scripture is not the condition of the road but the destination. You see, The difficulty of the road is not what truly matters. What matters is if the road takes you where you want to go! This morning as we examine Scripture bear in mind that if you are on the wrong road, there is still time to change. I cannot promise that it will be easy. It might be like trying to do a three-point turn with a fifteen passenger van on a one lane road. What I can assure you of is that there is only one road that leads to life and that is the road you want to be on.
What does is tell us how to get on the road that leads to life (S). Look with me once again at what the verse says (S).
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
This is the goal. God loved the world, gave His Son for the world, that believers would not perish, but have eternal life!
This is the goal. God loved the world, gave His Son for the world, that believers would not perish, but have eternal life! Everlasting life is the product, or outcome that God desired. To accomplish this, He gave His Son. What is required to have eternal life is belief in God’s Son Jesus Christ. What we believe about Jesus Christ determines what road we are on.
It is our goal this morning to understand the two roads and their destinations.
Everlasting life is the desire, product, or outcome that God desired. To accomplish this, He gave His Son.
The road you are on matters and it matters for eternity.
Consider the destination, and choose the road that leads to life.
There are two roads. The first is…
1. The Road That’s Natural
1. The Road That’s Natural
The phrase we are considering today begins with “but”. “But” introduces contrast. Contrast means that there are two opposing choices, two options. In contrast to perishing, we have everlasting life. In our natural state, we all perish. As we have already discussed, the picture given us in Scripture is of two roads. What we must understand is that we are born already traveling down the broad road! This is reveals numerous places in Scripture. One of the clearest is (S).
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
We walked in the course of the world, in the lust of our flesh, being by nature children of wrath. We are born traveling down the broad way! We are born headed to destruction. Apart from Christ we perish, we lose, we face condemnation, wrath and destruction. But when we place our faith in Jesus Christ, we are given life that lasts for eternity! It is everlasting life!
This is - by nature the children of wrath. Apart from Christ we perish, we lose, we face condemnation, wrath and destruction. But when we place our faith in Jesus Christ, we are given life that lasts for eternity! It is everlasting life!
The fact that belief brings everlasting life presupposes that there is an alternative. It suggests to us that failure to believe results in eternal death. Failure to believe brings condemnation. If we were to keep reading in we would find this explicitly stated. .
(S).
“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
We have previously examined that there is only one method of salvation. The exclusive statement made by Jesus in is unmistakably clear (S).
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
What is not stated in this particular passage is what happens when you do not come to the Father through Jesus. answers that question. Those who do not come to the Father through Jesus Christ are condemned by their unbelief and are subject to the wrath of God resulting in eternal death or perishing. stresses this as well (S).
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
It is important to remember that death means separation. To face eternal death means that the unbeliever will be eternally separated from God. Eternal death is what is in view here. The nature of this contrast demands that both alternatives be eternal. is where Jesus describes the options (S).
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
The way that leads to destruction is broad! It is natural, easy, and the way most people are going. There is only one problem.
The destination of the broad way is destruction!
The penalty for sin is death. Since we are all sinners by nature and by choice, we are on the broad way and we are headed for destruction. We need to change roads. The exit from the broad way is Jesus Christ. Sing with me…
#330 “Only Trust Him”
We need to change roads. We need to get on…
The penalty for sin is death. Since we are all sinners by nature and by choice, we are on the broad way and we are headed for destruction. We need to change roads. We need to get on…
2. The Road Less Traveled
2. The Road Less Traveled
Since we are all born traveling down the broad road, how do we get onto the narrow way? answers this question. God has already provided the way! His love for the world caused Him to send His Son to pay the penalty for sin. Whoever believes in Jesus Christ will not perish but have everlasting life! The road that leads to life is accessed through faith in Jesus Christ! Look with me once again at (S).
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The gift of God is eternal life! This life is in Christ Jesus our Lord! Simple right? If getting off the broad way and onto the narrow way is so simple, why do so few travel the narrow way? The answer is given by Jesus in (S).
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
The way that leads to life is difficult! The gate is narrow! Let’s face it, we don’t like doing hard things. Though the broad way is filled with exits onto the narrow way, the difficulty of the road discourages people from taking it. Part of what makes the narrow way so difficult is the requirement for entrance, Jesus Christ. Peter highlights this in (S).
Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.
People continue to stumble over Jesus Christ! Those who have believed, we are on the narrow way, view Jesus as precious. But to those on the broad way, Jesus is a stumbling stone, an offense, and they cannot get past Him. This is so evident in society today. While it is perfectly acceptable to use Jesus name as a swear word, speaking His name in faith and devotion has become cause for condemnation. From our perspective, already on the narrow way, it is so simple to step off the broad way. All you have to do is believe! But for those on the broad way, Christ can be an insurmountable obstacle. So what do we do? There are really only two options. Compromise or conviction. There are those who advocate that the way to minimize the offense of Christ is to minimize sin. If we stop talking about sin so much, the argument is made that people will find Christ less offensive and so be saved. Lewis Chafer says something that answers this point perfectly.
“Where sin is minimized, redemption is automatically impoverished since its necessity is by so much decreased. The worthy approach to the doctrine of sin is to discover all that is revealed about the sinfulness of sin and then to recognize that God's provided Savior is equal to every demand which sin imposes.”
Minimizing sin will always minimize the Cross! It makes the sacrifice of Christ less important and redemption is thereby cheapened. The solution is not to minimize sin, it is to embody the Savior. To truly be His hands and feet and minister to those around us. As Christ is seen in our lives, hearts will open to His message.
Many people are trying to get on the narrow way through their own means. But the only entrance is through Jesus Christ. Part of the difficulty of the narrow way is that one must come through Christ. For other’s it is the simplicity itself that makes it difficult. We all have a desire to be able to contribute something to our own salvation. Anything else seems “too easy”. Salvation, however, is a product of faith.
Only the narrow way of faith in Christ alone leads to life.
The narrow way is hard because it goes against our fallen human nature. It requires us to trust completely in what Christ has done instead of our own effort. It requires us to kneel at the Cross.
“Kneel At The Cross” (verses 1, 3)
The broad way and the narrow way are important because of their destination. This destination is so important. Consider with me…
3. The Eternal Destination
3. The Eternal Destination
The Road Less Traveled
These are the roads. The broad way that is big, easy, and open. And the narrow way that small, difficult, and exclusive. Which road are you on? This question matters. It matters because The road you are on determines your destination! Biblical revelation declares that the destination you are heading towards will be yours for eternity! presents us with two destinations. The first is that of perishing. This speaks of facing the condemnation of God. His judgment, His wrath is poured out on sin. clearly declares this (S).
The Eternal Destination
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
God’s wrath is against all ungodliness and unrighteousness. Those who do not believe in Jesus Christ face condemnation. We have previously noted that the penalty for sin is death. This separation from God is an eternal separation. clearly reveals that all those whose names are not in the book of life, those who have not trusted Christ, who are not on the narrow way, they will spend eternity tormented and separated from God. This is not a truth that I rejoice in or enjoy speaking about, but it is a Biblical reality. Sin must be punished! You either accept the punishment borne by Christ, or you face that punishment yourself.
I praise the grace, mercy, and goodness of God that there is a second destination revealed in ! The destination of eternal life. When we believe in Jesus we receive eternal life. When we die our body is separated from our soul and spirit. For the believer our body remains in the grave until Christ returns and resurrects us. Our soul and spirit are taken into heaven. Ultimately we are given new, glorified bodies and we spend eternity with Christ! There are two passages of Scripture that express the expectation of the believer. ; (S).
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
; (S).
;
We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
Absent from this body is to be present with the Lord! “We shall always be with the Lord”! What precious promises! These are the only two destinations. There are no third options.
These are the only two destinations. There are no third options. You either spend eternity separated from God or you are always with the Lord. The question is, “what road are you on”? If you are on the broad way this morning, here is an exit! Jesus Christ came to pay the penalty for your sin! He will save you, cleanse you, and sanctify you if you place your trust in Him! If you are on the narrow way this morning, draw ever closer to Jesus! Obey Him more completely, love Him more fully, yield body, mind, soul, and spirit to His control!
You either spend eternity separated from God or you are always with the Lord.
The question is, “what road are you on”? If you are on the broad way this morning, here is an exit! Jesus Christ came to pay the penalty for your sin! He will save you, cleanse you, and sanctify you if you place your trust in Him! If you are on the narrow way this morning, draw ever closer to Jesus! Obey Him more completely, love Him more fully, yield body, mind, soul, and spirit to His control!
“I Will Glory In My Redeemer”
Turn with me to . This is a time for believers to remember the price that was paid. To be reminded of the penalty of sin. Taking part of communion does not save you. This is simply a way for us to be reminded of what Christ has done. If you know the Lord as savior this morning, please join us in bread and juice as we remember Jesus Christ. These are only symbols, they represent the body and blood of our Savior. Examination – verses 26-32
OBSERVANCE OF COMMUNION
OBSERVANCE OF COMMUNION
The Bread (His Body) vv. 23-24 #176 “Lead Me To Calvary” (Chorus Only)
The Cup (His Blood) v. 25 #175 “Hallelujah, What A Savior!” (Verse 3)
Conclusion
Conclusion
There are only two roads. These roads lead to two radically different destinations. Which road are you on? Which destination are you headed for?
Christ has provided eternal life for all who trust in Him.
This is the wonderful promise and glorious expectation of the believer.
The road we are on matters. It matters for eternity. If you are on the road the leads to life, what are you doing to bring others onto that road?
If you are on the road that leads to destruction, take the exit.
I pray that we are concerned about bringing people to Jesus Christ.
That our desire would be to snatch them off the broad way and bring them onto the narrow way.
May our lives and testimonies this week draw others to Jesus Christ.
#175 “Hallelujah, What A Savior!” (Verse 1)