INTRODUCTION - "A WALKING TOUR OF ETERNAL LIFE"
1. Last Spring, Debbie and I took a week off and went down to Myrtle Beach.
2. While we were there, we decided to go down to Charleston for a day.
3. We had never been to Charleston.
4. We had heard a lot about Charleston and so we decided to go there.
5. And after we found our way around, we decided to take a guided tour of Charleston on one of those horse and buggy rigs.
6. The tour lasted about an hour to an hour and a half.
7. And after we finished the guided tour, we decided to take a walking tour.
8. We took a walking tour so that we could go and see the things that we wanted to see.
9. On a walking tour, we could spend more time on the things that really interested us and we could learn more about them.
10. And so, we walked around Charleston for a couple of hours.
11. The things that interested us were religious in nature.
12. We went into several of the beautiful churches in Charleston.
13. We even saw the very first Baptist church which was formed in the South.
14. One of the most interesting things on our walking tour to me was a French Hugenot church.
15. This was interesting to me because my ancestors were French Hugeonots and I had never been in a French Hugeonot church before.
16. The church was very elaborate in its architecture and it was filled with many symbols of their faith in Jesus Christ.
17. The Hugeonot creed was posted inside the church and so I was able to learn what the faith of my ancestors was all about.
18. That’s what I like about a walking tour.
19. I can go to a place and learn from it.
20. I can go to a place and let it teach me about itself.
21. That’s what we’re going to do this morning.
22. We’re going to take a walking tour.
23. We’re not actually going to get up and walk outside this building, but we are going to walk our hearts through God’s Word and let God speak to us today.
24. There’s a phrase in the Bible that many of us misunderstand.
25. That phrase consists of two words: "eternal life."
26. What does the Bible mean when it refers to "eternal life"?
27. I want you to think to yourself for a moment about that phrase "eternal life."
28. If I were to ask you to stand up and give us a definition of eternal life, what would you say?
29. You don’t have to worry---I’m not going to ask anybody to do that.
30. But if I did, what would you say?
31. I want you to remember what you think eternal life is for later.
32. Today, we’re going to take a walking tour of God’s Word to see what God has to say about eternal life.
33. Today, God’s Word is going to answer three questions about "eternal life."
34. How do we get eternal life?
35. When does eternal life begin?
36. And finally, what is eternal life?
37. Let’s begin our walking tour of God’s Word.
BODY
HOW DO WE GET ETERNAL LIFE?
1. The first question we’re going to answer is : How do we get eternal life?
2. Let’s start our walking tour at John 3:16. ((READ John 3:16))
4. This verse tells us that eternal life is given by God to those who believe in Jesus Christ.
5. There is no other way to receive eternal life except through Jesus.
6. This is also stated in John 3:36. ((READ John 3:36))
8. This verse also says that those who believe in the Son have eternal life.
9. John 4:14 also agrees with this. ((READ John 4:14))
11. Jesus is the One who gives eternal life.
12. This verse not only tells us that Jesus is the giver of eternal life, but also that eternal life is completely satisfying.
13. Nothing else satisfies like Jesus Christ.
14. He is the way, the truth, and the life.
15. Jesus is the giver of life.
16. And Jesus gets more specific about that in John 5:24. ((READ John 5:24))
18. Notice that He uses the word "Whoever."
19. This is important because Jesus does not restrict eternal life to a certain race, to a certain country, or to a certain church.
20. He says that anybody can receive eternal life.
21. "Whoever" hears My word and believes Him who sent Me.
22. This same word was also used in John 3:16.
23. "whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."
24. Who is included in the word "Whoever"? Does "Whoever" include you and me? Yes it does.
25. No matter what you have done---no matter how much guilt you feel--- eternal life is available for whoever hears His word and believes in Him.
26. Later on, when people began to stop following Jesus, Jesus asked the Apostles if they would leave Him also.
27. Listen to Peter’s answer in John 6:68. ((READ John 6:68))
29. Peter understood that only Jesus could give them eternal life.
30. Jesus said it again in John 10:28. ((READ John 10:28))
32. Jesus is the giver of eternal life and once He gives it, it can never be taken away.
33. And four more verses specifically tell us that eternal life is received through Jesus Christ alone.
34. ((READ Romans 6:23))
35. ((READ 1 Tim. 1:16))
36. ((READ 1 John 5:11))
37. ((READ 1 John 5:13))
38. And so, what does God’s answer to the question: How do we get eternal life?
39. Scripture is clear that the way that we get eternal life is to believe in Jesus Christ.
40. When Scripture refers to belief, it never means just agreeing with the facts about Jesus.
41. It means to place your life in the hands of Jesus.
42. It means to trust Jesus.
WHEN DOES ETERNAL LIFE BEGIN?
1. So now that we know how to get eternal life, when does eternal life begin?
2. Most people that I talk to, think that eternal life begins after we die.
3. Let’s go back to the Scriptures on our walking tour, and see what God’s Word has to say.
4. John 3:16 says, "whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
5. John 3:36 says, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.."
6. John 5:24 says, "whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life.
8. 1 John 5:11 says, "God has given us eternal life."
10. And 1 John 5:13 says, "so that you may know that you have eternal life."
11. Have you noticed a pattern in these verses?
12. Not one single verse says that we "will have eternal life."
13. They all either say "HAS eternal life or HAVE eternal life."
14. The words HAS and HAVE indicate the present tense.
15. And what that means to us is that if we’re trusting in Jesus as Lord and Savior, then we have eternal life right now.
16. According to Scripture, I can have eternal life today.
17. Eternal life is not something that I have to wait to receive.
18. Eternal life is not something that begins when my body dies.
19. And this is perfectly clear when we go back to one of the key verses on our walking tour.
20. Turn back to John 5:24.
21. I want you to look at this extraordinary revelation of God.
22. John 5:24 says that anyone who has received eternal life, "has crossed over from death to life."
23. Now what does he mean when he says "has crossed over from death into life"?
24. Does that mean that we were already dead?
25. What it means is that before we knew Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we were dead people.
26. Did you know that you can be walking and talking and working and playing and still be dead?
27. Did you know that the world is full of walking dead people?
28. You see we’ve got it backwards.
29. We think that when the body is alive, that we have life and when the body is no longer alive, then we are dead.
30. Well, that’s not the way that God sees life and death at all.
31. Listen to Ephesians 2:1-3. ((READ EPH. 2:1-3))
32. And so according to Scripture, when we are separated from God, we are dead.
33. The Bible says that we are separated from God by our sins.
34. Isaiah 59:2 says, "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear."
35. And so, to be separated from God is to be dead right now.
36. But verses Eph. 2:4-5 says, "But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our transgressions."
37. God raises us up from death to life through Jesus Christ.
38. And when we truly trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, that is when eternal life begins.
39. Now I know what some of you are thinking.
40. Many of you are thinking, "If my life now is eternal life, then what’s so great about it?"
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
1. That brings us to our last question: What is eternal life?
2. Do you remember your definition of eternal life that I asked you about earlier?
3. I asked several people this week, what they thought the Bible meant by the phrase "eternal life."
4. And everyone one of them said the same thing.
5. They said that eternal life is the life we live in heaven after we die.
6. Well, that isn’t exactly what the Bible means when it refers to "eternal life."
7. The Bible clearly tells us what eternal life is.
8. On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus prayed a magnificent prayer which is recorded in John 17.
9. In this prayer, Jesus revealed things about Himself and about the Father.
10. He revealed things about the 12 Apostles.
11. And He revealed His will for future believers.
12. And in this magnificent prayer, He tells us what eternal life is.
13. And so, our last stop on our walking tour is John 17:3. ((READ John 17:3))
15. Eternal life is knowing the only true God through Jesus Christ.
16. It is not knowing about God.
17. It is not knowing about Jesus.
18. Eternal life is having a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
19. A relationship means that we talk with God and He talks with us.
20. A relationship means that we know Him and He knows us.
21. A relationship means that He loves us and we love Him.
22. And if you’re thinking "If what I’m living now is eternal life, then what’s so great about it?" then that says more about your relationship with Jesus than it says about eternal life.
23. If your life right now is not great---If your life right now is not wonderful---If your life right now is not full of Jesus Christ, then you’ve got a problem.
23. And I think that’s why most non-believers don’t come to have eternal life because many of us can’t show them what eternal life is.
24. So many of us live such judgmental lives of misery and discontent and fear that it’s no wonder that non-believers don’t want to live like us.
25. And so they remain among the walking dead because they can’t see how our lives are any different from theirs.
26. If you don’t have peace and joy and contentment and purpose and meaning through a relationship with Jesus Christ, then you need to check whether or not you have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
27. Eternal life is a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
28. And there is no greater joy than being with God.
29. There is nothing more exciting than hearing God speak.
30. There is no greater peace than being under the guidance of Almighty God.
31. And that relationship begins the moment you give your heart to Jesus---the moment that you place your trust in Him.
32. That’s what Jesus was talking about when He said, in John 3:3, "No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
33. If we have not been reborn from death into life, then we will not reap the rewards of eternal life.
34. You see, we think that living in Heaven with Jesus is beginning of eternal life.
35. But that’s not what the Bible says.
36. The Bible says that eternal life begins now and that going to heaven when we die is the reward of having eternal life.
37. And so, if we don’t have eternal life before we leave the body, then it’s too late.
38. And the rewards we receive, will the rewards of the dead, not the rewards of the living.
CONCLUSION
1. And so, what has our walking tour revealed to us about eternal life?
2. Eternal life is a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. That’s what eternal life is.
3. Eternal life begins before we leave our body.
4. And eternal life is only received by trusting in Jesus.
5. Eternal life does not begin when we get to Heaven.
6. We can’t get to Heaven unless eternal life begins before our body dies.
7. Heaven is a reward of already having eternal life.
8. Do you have eternal life?
9. Or do you still walk among the dead?
10. If you’re among the walking dead, there is still hope for you.
11. You can cross over from death into life by trusting in Jesus today.
