ETERNAL LIFE Don Carpenter

Transcript

Why Eternal Life Matters

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I want to talk to you about eternal life. God made man. God made mankind, humans. He made within us eternal life. And everybody's going to have eternal life. Some will be to damnation and some will be to righteousness. And but the soul's never going to die. But sin entered. Man started messing around with sin. The flesh said, Hey, why not enjoy life? We need to understand of all the wonderful benefits that He's given us. John in his writing spoke more about eternal life than any other author. Understand that John and Peter were the two main disciples that God used to establish the church, to get it planted and to nourish it. In first John chapter five and verse four, it says this, for whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. And this our victory that overcometh the world. Even our faith is so important, so necessary for us to be able to walk in and activate eternal life.

Nicodemus And Being Born Again

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In John's Gospel, chapter three, a man of the Pharisees, this is in verse one, whose name was Nicodemus, he was a ruler of the Jews. In other words, he sat on the Sanhedrin, which was the most powerful governing body in the Pharisee sect. And it says the same, or this man, Nicodemus in verse 2 of John chapter 3, came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him. This is his opening statement. This is his opening confession. And that is necessary in eternal life. And Jesus answered, and here's what he says to him. Verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And Nicodemus, and he talks to him about wanting to know how a man can be born again when he's old, and he discusses all kinds of things. And Jesus said, That which is flesh, but that which is spirit and eternal life is very much connected to spirit. And we go on down through to verse 15. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. Isn't it something I am never going to taste death? Now, my physical body, it's subject to death and will die. The Bible said it's appointed on the man, wants to die. But I'll never taste it. I'll just be walking along, and the next thing I'm in the presence of the Lord. I just walk in life, and I'm walking in eternal life. Isn't it wonderful that we can have eternal life? Do you know why you can have this? For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, and whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. So when I think about that, and some people think I'm coming to the end of my life. No, you're not. That's a saying that man developed. That's a hopeless statement. You're not coming to the end of life at all. You're walking in eternal life every day. Some people say it's a point on the man to die, or your years upon the earth. It doesn't matter because that's the flesh. We're talking about the eternal life that's with inside of us. We either

Faith That Defeats Fear

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believe this and we have faith for this, or we get caught up and we allow ourselves to be consumed with death around us all the time. This is the promise. Do you believe God's promises? God promised us. Isn't it wonderful that when you're in a storm and you get the promise of God that you're going to come through it safely? Or when you don't know where to turn, you don't know where the food's going to come for the table, or you don't know where the money's going to come from to pay your debts. Isn't it wonderful that we can go to the word of the Lord? And the word of the Lord is there's a promise of provision. There's a promise that he knows all about us and that he's looking after us. That promise that the one that makes those promises to us also promise us eternal life. He said, This is the promise which he himself made to us. This is in 1 John 2, 25. And the reason I quote scripture and use a lot of scripture, I believe that this is our life. I believe that the word of God is alive and it feeds us, and this is where I get my strength. This is the promise to you, which he himself made to us eternal life. That's his promise. And when he was talking to Nicodemus, he said, if you believe on me, you are going to have eternal life. Romans 4, 21, we read here, being fully persuaded. That's what we have to be. We need to be fully persuaded, and that's where faith comes in. When you are fully persuaded of something, that takes away a lot of anxiety. Takes away a lot of fears. Takes away hopelessness. It brings you to this place of I know that I know. And you must know today that you have eternal life. This is given unto believers, eternal life. 1 John 5, 13, you may know that you have eternal life. I've met people who say they love the Lord. I've met people who say that they know that there's a God. And I ask them if they know for sure that they're going to be spending eternity with the Lord. And they'll say things like, I hope so. Some will even say, can we really know for sure? The Bible talks about knowing. And in 1 John 5, 13, that you may know that you have eternal life. As a believer in Jesus Christ, you will not go to hell. You will not suffer the separation from God. You will have peace with God in your mind. You will have the mind of Christ, and you need to understand that the greatest thing that He has given you is eternal life. Number one, eternal life. I think that's absolutely powerful.

Why John Focused On Eternal Life

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When I made a statement about John the disciple, I'm just going to just take you on a little journey with me here. As he entered his teenage years, John was living with the Lord Jesus. He had the manifestations of God in his heart and life. He had God encounters. Far as we know, and what I can see, he was one of the early, if not one of the first disciples that John the Baptist had. And John the Baptist was the leading preacher of his day, Jesus, said there was none greater. And John, the disciple that talks about eternal life, right away he teamed up with John the Baptist, and he was in those meetings and he was under that influence because his heart was running after God. And then when they found out that the Messiah, Jesus Christ, was in the land and that he was God manifested in the flesh, John said, I'm going to be with Jesus. And he became one of the earliest, if not the earliest, disciple of Jesus. And the youngest. He was quite interested in eternal life, which was quite a thing for teenagers. Matthew 25, 46, verse 45. Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, as much as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me. And he was talking about those who didn't help and wouldn't take in people. And he said, And these, the reason that they would not come to know the Lord is these shall go away into everlasting punishment. But the righteous end to life eternal. That's according to Jesus. And I've always maintained that Jesus knew what he was talking about. John 3.36. He who does not obey the Son will not see life. You cannot

Scripture Points You To Jesus

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serve the Lord and go your own way. You cannot be a born-again believer and have hatred and hostility in your heart toward people and especially the church. When you're born again, you want to be involved in everything that God is doing. And it says, he who does not obey the Son will not see life. Witness of scriptures, you will get people who say, Yeah, I believe the Bible. Yeah, I believe it's there. And I read these stories about Jesus, and they're all good. He was a good man. He did an awful lot of good stuff. I believe that he was the Son of God. They will talk like that because they read that and they think that. But Jesus said, That's a witness about me, but more is require so that you will have eternal life. Well, in John chapter 5, verse 39. Search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. And you will not come to me that you might have life. Verse 40. And you will not come to me that you might have life. And the verse before, he said, Search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. The scriptures are good. Reading about it is good. But listen to this. And you will not come to me that you might have life. Oh, that's good for other people. It's good for the wife. It's good when you get old. It's good for young teenagers. Keep them out of trouble. No, it's good for you. I don't know what I would ever do if I was thinking something was good. And then the Lord tells me, but you're never gonna get it. Because you won't come to me. You won't give your heart to me. You won't ask me to wipe away your sins. You won't confess with your mouth. You won't do it. When you are having a God encounter,

The Danger Of Waiting To Respond

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you feel the Lord close. You feel like right now, whatever I do, it would be very good. I've had people who thought they were dying in hospital bed. And I remember I was one particular individual, and I said, You need to give your heart to Jesus and get things right before God. And he said to me, Yes, but not now. And I'm thinking, when are you going to do it? He knows what he should do, but not now. And I'm thinking, how is that possible? Have you considered that if the spirit is not drawing, if the spirit of God has backed off, and the Bible talks about this, it even talks about my spirit shall not always strive with man. And there's gonna come a cutoff date. Now, some would teach grace right up to your dying breath. It's not a matter of words. We seem to, somehow or another, people, when they come to the Lord, they think it's just to make a statement, it's just a matter of words, although words aren't important and are vital. But there has to be a heart conversion. There has to be something inside of your spirit, man, where you truly repent. There has to be something inside of you where you're coming to God and you feel like God, you're right and Lord, there's something inside of me said, I need Jesus, I need to have peace. Could it be that God doesn't bother visiting him anymore? I've told you this before, and I'm gonna tell you again. I remember when I was a young preacher, and I was working with an evangelist here in New Brunswick. And I remember one particular meeting we did. We were there for several weeks every night. And I don't know the number of nights, but I remember the man. I see him now. Fine-looking man in his late 40s, early 50s. I'd watch him come to the altar and he would pray. I would talk to him and I said, What's wrong? And he says, I can't get saved. He said, I just can't get saved. And he would keep coming as he came to church and he would go to the altar. But he didn't have that peace. He didn't know what it was inside of him. Praise the name of Jesus. If you feel the Spirit of God, you need to make the move

The Gift Of God And Closing

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now. Romans 6 23, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God. This is a gift that He gives to you when you're born again. It's just like a welcome gift. Eternal life is more than a hope for us. It's an assurance. No man can come to the Lord except through Jesus Christ. And whoever believes John three, fifteen and sixteen Whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. That's what Jesus said. And then he says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. Verse 18. He that believeth on him is not condemned. But he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Eternal life. I want you to have it.

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