How to Inherit Eternal Life, Part 1

Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for today, a chance once again to study your word, how blessed we are to know what you say about life and about death. Thank you, Lord, that you hold the keys to death and Hades and you are in charge of all things. We thank you that we can come and learn about you, Lord Jesus, because the scripture speaks of the King and may we learn as your subjects how to worship the King. Pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Turn with me in your Bible, if you would, to Luke chapter 10.

Luke chapter 10. Christ Community Church is a place where the holy truth is wholly taught. Our responsibility is to unveil the Christ to you uncompromisingly. At Christ Community Church, listen carefully, we don't want to teach you from the Bible. We want to teach you the Bible. There's a big difference between those two statements. We don't teach you from the Bible. We teach you the Bible. And today we're going to teach you what the Bible has to say about eternal life. There's a question posed, really a confrontation, really an interruption by a man, a lawyer, who will come and ask that infamous question, how, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

How do I get to heaven? That question is of great, great preeminence in the life of man. We will show you that this week and in the weeks to come. Let me read it for you.

Luke chapter 10, verses 25 down through verse number 29. And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and put into the test saying, teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said to him, what is written in the law? How does it read to you? And he answered and said, Lord, he said, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself. And he said to him, you have answered correctly, do this and you will live.

But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, and who is my neighbor? This question really is a confrontation. A lawyer comes and wants to test Jesus. And it really is an interruption because he stands up and just begin to speak. He doesn't ask, can I say something or Lord, can I have a moment of your time? He just stands up and blurts out, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And so he does it to test him. It's a confrontation. We'll look at that confrontation today.

And then we'll look at our Lord's question to him. And then we'll look at his explanation to the Lord's question.

And then we'll look at the Lord's declaration to this man. And then we'll see his justification, how he justifies himself. This question about eternal life is extremely important. It's important because everyone in this room is immortal. Anybody who ever lives is immortal. They will live forever. They will either live forever with God or they will live forever without God. But everybody lives forever. I have had the wonderful opportunity to do a multitude of memorial services, not just here at our church, but in the different funeral parlors in this area and not even around this area, but other parts of the country as well.

And I love to do memorial services. I love to do funerals because you have a captive audience and you have people asking specific questions. They come face to face with the reality of death. And I pretty much begin every funeral message with the same verse or set of verses in Ecclesiastes 7 verses 1 to 4 to tell people how their death day is better than their birthday, just because it just sounds so way out there. You know what I'm saying? Who ever heard of that? Unless you read Solomon in Ecclesiastes 7 verse number 1, right?

And go on to talk about how it's more important or better to be in a house of mourning than it is to be in a house of feasting. Nobody thinks that way. I mean who would rather be in a funeral parlor today or watching the Superbowl today? Because today is the day of the Superbowl for those of you who do not know. So if someone said, well I'd rather go to a funeral today or I'd rather go to the Superbowl today, what do you think they would choose? But the Bible says it's better to be in a house of mourning than it is to be in a house of feasting, because the wise take it to heart.

Solomon says something very unique. He says, you know, there's something about the funeral parlor, there's something about the house of mourning that brings you face to face with the reality of death. And we've told you before that that is the ultimate reality show. I mean if you want reality shows, I mean don't watch television, go to a memorial service. That is a reality show. That is where people come face to face with life and death. And you talk to people about the fact that it's been appointed to man once to die, after that to judgment.

And people sit in a memorial service and whether they're saved or unsaved, they've got to come to grips with the reality of eternity. And you begin to realize that not only does the wise take to heart the reality of death, but they have to take to heart the brevity of life. You know, we think we're going to live forever, right? I mean we act like we do. We really think that we're going to live forever and ever and ever. We don't think about death. It's morbid to think about death. But the Bible says we're supposed to think of the things that are true.

And death is true. And so we don't like to think about it, but it is the truth. And none of us are going to live forever. And so when someone dies close to us, we begin to think about eternity. We begin to think about life after death. Is there life after death? The brevity of life. James would say it's but a vapor. The psalmist would say my life is like the grass here today and gone tomorrow. Job would say my life is like a breath. It's out there then gone. But you know, we think we're going to live forever, right?

That's why we touch it up. That's why we tuck it up. That's why we like to tone it up. That is our bodies, our lives. Because we think we're going to live forever. All the while, we're just tearing it up all the more. Because we're all going to die. Every one of us. That's the reality. And every man is accountable to God. You sit in a memorial service. You realize that you're held accountable to somebody. And yet there's this belief of reincarnation. There's this belief of annihilationism. There is this belief of evolution.

And all that does is man's way of telling you that you don't have to face the reality that you're accountable to God. That's all that is. It's a lie. Because Romans 1 says that man suppresses the truth about God. He wants to hold down the truth. He wants to hide from the inevitable that there is a God and he's accountable to him. But the wise, they take those kind of things to heart. Because they know that they're accountable to God. They know that there's the reality of death. They know their life won't last very long.

They realize those things. But for the most part, we go through life and we don't think about that. There's so many other things out there to think about. It clouds our thinking. But eternity is always in your heart. God put it there. Eternity is in the heart of man. Everybody who ever lived, without exception, no matter what they say to you, without exception, has a mind centered on eternity. What happens when I die? That's important. For Jesus, when he came to earth, he talked to man about his eternal destiny.

That's why he went around preaching from village to village and from town to town and from hillside to hillside. Preaching the truth about eternity. Preaching the fact that there is a kingdom and that kingdom is eternal. Preaching that the kingdom is at hand. Preaching about the forgiveness of sins. And he would diagnose man's problem and man didn't want to have the cure to his problem. They would hear the diagnosis that Jesus would give and they rebelled against that diagnosis. They would tell them they were sinners.

They were separated from God. They would die in their sins and be separated from God forever if they didn't repent of their sins. They rebelled against that. In Luke chapter 10, there's just a little remnant following the Christ. I sometimes think that we forget that those who followed Christ was just a little number. And even those who were handpicked by him, the twelve, even one of those was a counterfeit. Right? And yet nobody knew he was a counterfeit. To the very end, nobody knew because he was so good at fooling all the apostles.

Didn't fool Jesus, but fooled all the apostles. Churches are filled with counterfeits. Filled with them. Maybe you're one of those counterfeits today. You're trying to fool everybody. But just because you say the right things and you look the part doesn't mean that you truly are born again. I mean if anybody said the part, it was Judas. If anybody looked the part, it was Judas. If anybody was the most trusted of all the apostles, it was Judas. And yet he was the counterfeit. And so even among those that were the closest to Jesus, even one of them was a counterfeit.

So the remnant was just a few who followed him. And Jesus would preach that gospel. His men would preach that gospel. He would give them the components of salvation. He would say, if any man comes up to me, let him deny himself. Let him take up his cross. Let him follow me. If you want to keep your life today, you're going to lose it tomorrow. But if you're willing to give your life away today, you'll have it for all eternity. And that was the message that he preached. It was a hard call. It was a hard call.

Don't let anybody ever tell you it's easy to follow Jesus. It's the hardest thing you're ever going to do. That's why it's called the hard call. But not only was it a hard call, Timothy tells us, 2 Timothy 1 verse number 9, that it was a holy call. Holy call. Because it sets you apart, right? A holy God calls you to set you apart for his purposes. It's a holy call. And that's what makes the call so hard, is because a holy God calls you to be set apart from everything you know. That's why when someone said, I'll follow you wherever you go, what did he say?

What did Christ say? Well, if that's the case, the birds of the air have a place to stay. The foxes have a hole to live in. But if you follow me, you might not have any place to lay your head. You might not have any comfort. Another would say, well, I'll follow you, but let me first bury my father.

Oh no, no, no, no. No, you can't be worried about materialism and collecting your inheritance so you can be sustained in the ministry. And someone says, well, I'll follow you, but let me go say goodbye to my folks.

No, no, no, no, no. You've got to sever those relationships. If your family is more important to you than God, you've got a problem. The Lord said, no one putting his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. If you're going to follow me, follow me. Follow me wholeheartedly. That's a hard call. But it's a holy call. It sets you apart. It sets you apart. It's a high call. Paul said, I press on toward the mark of the high call of God in my life. It's a humble call because there's not many wise, not many intelligent, not many noble, not many rich, but it's the weak and it's the poor.

It's the lame. It's the blind. It's a humble call that God would choose one such as you and such as me. It's an honorable call because those in whom he called, he justified and those in whom he justified, he will one day glorify. That's an honorable call. But it's a call that God extends to man and yet very few accept the call. Why? Why is that? In our story today, we have an encounter with Jesus and a lawyer. One-on-one evangelism. You ever ask yourself, how do you share Christ one-on-one with somebody?

You know, you can write a lot of, read a lot of books about that kind of stuff, read a lot of video series about it, but I guess it's always good to look at Jesus and see what he did, right?

Because if anybody did one-on-one evangelism really, really good, it was Jesus, right? And in this encounter, the guy would leave unsaved, unsaved. He would leave in a tragic condition. He would leave the same way he arrived. Lost without Christ and without any assurance that he would spend eternity with the God of this world, Jesus Christ, our Lord. And so what you have in our story in Luke chapter 10, it's a story about a man who comes to Christ. He asks a question about eternal life. Now, let me help you understand something.

That question is asked over and over again in scripture. Over in Matthew 19, it's asked. Matthew chapter 22, Mark 12, Luke 18, and John 6, by way of implication, it's asked. This encounter in Luke 10 is none of those other encounters. In Matthew 19, it wasn't a lawyer. It was a rich young ruler, and it was a totally different setting than this one here in Luke chapter 10. Matthew chapter 22 and Mark chapter 12 are parallel encounters. Yes, it is a ruler, but it's during the passion weeks, months after this time in Luke chapter 10.

In John 6, it's not one person who asks, but a multitude of people who ask about eternal life. So it's a question that's asked quite often of our Lord, because it's the question of the day. In fact, this question is so important that in your evangelism, if the people you're talking to Christ about are not concerned about eternity, they'll never come to saving faith. If during your evangelistic efforts, you're talking to someone about eternal life, and they don't recognize their need for eternal life, they'll never get saved.

Because salvation is about being saved for eternity. It's about the eternal life that God himself offers. And so many times we talk about, well, in fact, there's a pastor in Orange County, a huge church in Orange County, who says, well, if I can pinpoint a man's felt need, I can lead anybody to Christ. That's what he says. Really? Well, I think Jesus knew everybody's felt need, but the majority of people, he never led to himself. It's not about a felt need, it's about a fallen need. But people come looking to get their felt needs met.

And if we seek to meet the felt needs, listen carefully, you'll never meet the fallen need. And if you don't meet the fallen need, you confirm people with a false assurance about eternal life. You need to tell them the truth about eternity. So this lesson is crucial for us. People need to understand life's ultimate question. That is, where will I spend eternity? So this lawyer comes, he asks a question to test the Lord, because that was his motivation. It wasn't so much about how do I come to a place where I can experience eternal life, as much as it was to trap the Lord Jesus in saying the wrong thing.

But Jesus never says the wrong thing, he always says the right thing. So he comes and asks a question about eternal life. Which, by the way, is something that the Jews knew about. They understood. Throughout the Old Testament, it would speak about an eternal kingdom. So they knew that there was coming a king who would offer an eternal kingdom. Go back to Psalm 16, you can read about David and how he knew about there was life after death. And that life after death could be spent with his father above.

He knew that when his son died, the baby born to Bathsheba, that he, that son, would not return to him. But David would return and reunite with his son one day on the other side of this life. It would be Job. Job, who knew that when he died, he would still see God. It would be Psalm 133, verse number 3, that says, God commands the blessing. What's the blessing? Life forever. So this lawyer, an expert in the law, would know that the Old Testament taught about eternal life. So crucial. Because eternity has been set in the heart of man, that becomes absolutely essential to understanding how it is you present the gospel to somebody else.

Because man will never be satisfied with the superficial. He'll never be satisfied with the peripheral. He'll never be satisfied with the temporal. But he keeps trying to fill the void in his heart, the eternal void in his heart, with something temporary or something superficial. But he can never get enough of it. Because God created man in such a way that man is absolutely restless until he finds the truth about God. And so this lawyer would come and he would ask a question because he wanted to know about eternal life.

A question asked quite frequently of our Lord throughout his ministry. And for the Jews, they anticipated living in the kingdom. Over in Daniel chapter 2, verse number 44, they knew it said that God's kingdom would last forever. In Daniel 7, verses 13 and 14, down through verse number 18, it talks about the son of man and his arrival. And his dominion will be forever and ever. Over in Daniel 12 too, it speaks of a future resurrection. So Jews would know that there is going to be a resurrection from this life to another life.

And over in Luke chapter 1, verse number 32, when the angel Gabriel came to Mary and spoke to her about the son she was going to have. She said that that son would become a king. And he would have an eternal kingdom. So Jews knew about eternity. They understood that. And it was something that was on their minds. Over in John chapter 6. In John chapter 6, there's an incident that takes place that's quite profound because Jesus feeds the 5,000. Literally the 20 or 25,000 on the hillside there in Galilee.

He does an incredible miracle. And as you read the story, he leaves that place. He walks on the water. In Luke's account, after he walks on the water, they arrive at the shore in the land of the Gerasenes. He casts out the demons out of the demoniac and they don't want him to be a part of that. So he goes back again to the other side of the lake. It's the next day and everybody's waiting for him. The Bible says in verse 26 of John 6, Jesus answered them and said, Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.

They came to Jesus and they said, where were you? Where did you go? I mean, yesterday they were fed and they were full. Today, now, it's a new day. It's breakfast. They're hungry. They want Jesus to feed them again. Well, Jesus, where are you? Where have you been? And Jesus says, you're only seeking me because you're hungry.

You're only seeking me because you want breakfast. The only reason you're here is because you want me to meet a superficial need that you have. You want to eat. And Jesus says in verse 27, Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man shall give to you.

For on him, the Father, even God, has set his seal. They said, therefore, to him, what shall we do that we may work the works of God? In other words, how do we obtain that eternal life? And Jesus says, this is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.

You have to believe in who I am. In verse 30, they said, therefore, to him, what then do you do for a sign that we may see and believe you? Are you kidding me? Another sign? What sign do they want? They wanted some more food. Feed us. They were so superficial. They didn't truly want eternal life. They wanted breakfast. The Jews knew about Enoch, how he walked with God, and then there was no more. He walked right up into heaven. They knew about Elijah, who went up to heaven on a chariot of fire. They knew about Moses, who nobody knows where he died or how he died.

They just know that God buried him someplace. The Jews knew all about that. And the Jews had a system, had a tradition, a works-based system. It was based on what they did for God, trying to earn their way to God. And Paul would speak about it in the book of Philippians, how he was circumcised on the eighth day, and how he was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, and how he kept the ceremonies, how he kept the rituals, how he kept the traditions, but he realized it was all dung. It meant nothing in comparison to the grace of God that brings eternal life.

He realized he couldn't earn his way to heaven. He realized that there was this nagging voice in his heart that would not let him go. And man tries to drown out that voice of eternity that's been set in his heart from birth. He tries to drown it out in a variety of ways because he doesn't want to face the truth. But the Jews, even though they painted the outside, on the inside they were wretched. And the conscience that they had convicted them of their sin. And they knew that all the externals couldn't wipe away their sins.

Sad, isn't it? So sad. And so this man would ask a question about eternity. He'd ask it to the Eternal One, the Eternal God, Jesus Christ, our Lord. At least 50 times in the New Testament, eternal life is referred to. 50 times. Our Lord shows up. His message was about eternity. It wasn't about today. It was about eternity. It was about eternal life with God Himself. He said to the Pharisees in John chapter 5, you search the scriptures for in them you think that you can find eternal life. But you miss the point that those scriptures all point to me, the Messiah, who is the Eternal One of God that grants to you eternal life.

You missed that. You missed it completely. Jesus said that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Eternal life. In John 6, there were disciples that turned away from Jesus. And Jesus turned to His own apostles and said, are you going to go away too? And Peter responded by saying, Lord, where are we going to go? You have the words of, you finish the phrase, eternal life. You have the words of eternal life.

In John chapter 10, verse number 27, it says, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. And I give eternal life to them and they shall never perish and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. Over in John chapter 12, verses 25 and 26, it says, he who loves his life loses it and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to eternal life. Over in John 17, verse number 2, Jesus said these words, even as thou gavest him authority over all mankind and to all whom thou hast given me, he may give eternal life.

And this is eternal life, that they may know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Listen carefully, my friends. The message of the gospel is about eternal life. That's what it's about. And you can read about it in Romans 2, verse number 7, Romans 5, 21, Romans 6, 23, 1st Timothy 1, 16, Titus 1, 2, Jude 21, 1st John 5, 11 and 12. I mean, you can go on and on and on. The message is about eternal life. That's the message of the gospel. Everybody lives forever. And so, Paul would tell Timothy that bodily exercise profiteth a little, but godliness is profitable for all things.

Yes, bodily exercise does profit, but very little in comparison to what godliness profits, because godliness has profit not only in this life, but in the life to come. And if you go and you read the scriptures, you realize that the perspective of eternity is what it's all about. For instance, when the disciples were troubled on the eve of the crucifixion, they were troubled about their Lord dying, but they were also troubled because they were scared about what would happen to them. Will they die too?

What's going to happen to them now? They had left everything to follow Jesus. What's going to happen now? And Jesus said to them, let not your heart be troubled. If you believe in God, believe also in me. And then what did he give them? He gave them a promise. A promise of what? Eternity. Eternal life. In my Father's house and many dwelling places, if it were not so, I would have told you, I go and prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and I will receive you unto myself.

What was Jesus' answer to those who had trouble about their present situation? It was eternity. What's the answer to the person who loses a loved one? How do you comfort that person? The same way the Lord God comforts them. 1 Thessalonians 4 verses 17 and 18. Which says that the dead in Christ will rise first and we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together in the air with them and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Therefore, comfort one another with these words. So when the loved one dies, how is that person who experienced the lost comforted? Only one way. Only one way. Eternity. That's it. Eternity. Because the gospel is about eternal life. And see, unfortunately that is completely foreign to us. Why? Because I began today by saying we don't teach you from the Bible, we teach you the Bible. Big difference. Most churches today will teach you from the Bible. That's inadequate. You need to be taught the Bible.

What the Bible actually does say. We live in a world where we say, you know, if we can just find out what people's addictions are. Find out what people's disappointments are. Find out what their deal is. And we can tell them that Jesus will handle whatever dysfunctional issues they've got. That's what we'll tell them. I've got news for you. That's not what Jesus did. So why do we do that? In fact, in Matthew's gospel, in Matthew chapter 4. Remember, Jesus banished all disease from Galilee and from Judea during his earthly ministry.

He healed everybody. Because he was demonstrating his messianic credentials. He was showing to them what the kingdom will be like when the king arrives and sits on a throne. It'll be a perfect world. So he was trying to illustrate for them the kingdom. So he healed everybody. And in Matthew chapter 4, everybody was coming to him. I mean, they were paralyzed, they were blind, they were deaf, they were dumb. All kinds of issues. And everybody was bringing their friend who was sick and they were all being healed.

Because that's what Jesus did. But in Matthew chapter 5, Jesus sits down. He says, blessed are the poor in spirit. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. That's how he begins his sermon on the mount. He begins it that way because he says, I know you've come and you want to be healed and you want to be happy. But I'm not into making you happy. I want you to be blessed. I want you to experience the joy that goes way beyond this life to the next life. And so he speaks about the true blessing that man has.

Blessed are those who mourn over the sin. For they're the ones who will be comforted. And they only will be the ones who are comforted. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. For they're the ones who will be satisfied. The rest of you will never be satisfied. You won't. You'll be always empty. So he began to lay out the true blessings of Christianity. So man would know the essence of his ministry and why he was there. It's about eternal life. That's what the message is. That's what the gospel is.

That's what we are to give to people. The driving motivation for salvation has nothing to do with this life. Nothing. It has everything to do with the life after this. I was sharing Christ with a young man just this past week. Sitting down with him, talking to him about his own personal life. He was sharing with me all his problems. My family has rejected me. My parents don't love me. I've lost my job. I don't have a car that would help me find a job. I don't have any friends. Can you help me? You know what I said to him?

I said, I can't help you with any of that stuff. Can't. I can't help you with your family situation. I can't help you with the fact that you don't have a job. You don't have a car. I can't help you with the fact that you don't have any friends. I can't help you with any of that stuff. I'm sorry. But what I can help you with is your eternal situation. Where you spend eternity. I can help you with that. But I can't help you with your present life. Can't do that. In fact, Jesus said to Peter and the apostles.

In the discussion about the rich young ruler. Who came to Christ. Asked a question. Went away unsaved. And Christ says that salvation is impossible with man.

But only possible with God. Peter speaks to him and says, Lord we've left everything. Everything. Matthew's account says. If we've left everything, what's in it for us? What do we get? And Jesus says these words.

Truly I say to you there is no one who has left house. Or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms for my sake. And for the gospel sake. But that he shall receive a hundred times as much now in the present age. Houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms. Along with persecutions. And in the age to come. Eternal life. Jesus says this is what you're going to get.

You're going to get a family. And you're going to get adversity. That's all you're going to get. That's it. And eternity. And eternity. See for the most part that's just not enough is it for people? I want my little deal fixed. My marriage is broken so I come to Jesus. Jesus doesn't promise to fix your marriage. I'm sorry. Then why would I come to Jesus if he can't fix my marriage? Because you're a sinner and you need eternal life? That's why. Well if I come to Jesus will he help me find a job? I'll give my life to Jesus if he gets me a job.

Jesus might not ever give you a job. I don't know. We come to Jesus for the wrong reason. That's why Mark 4 and Luke 8 and Matthew 13 are so important. When it comes to the parable of the sow and the sow. There are so many bandwagon Christians. Who jump on the Jesus joy ride for a moment or two. Because somebody told them that Jesus would give them a job. And get them rich and give them health and prosperity. And everything is going to be good. Just give your life to Jesus and we're going to promise you a great life.

And they say that's what I want. I want a good life. I'm going to come to Jesus because of that. And Jesus is very clear in the parable of the sow and the sow. Is about the gospel in the kingdom age and how people respond. Most people respond that way. They receive the word with joy for a while. But because of persecutions and affliction. They fall away. There is no root. Or because of the world. It chokes out the seed and they die on the way. Because somebody told them. That Jesus would fix their temporal problems.

And they came to Jesus for that reason. Not because they recognized they needed eternal life. And they were sinners separated from God. And they would die in their sins and be lost for all eternity. If they did not give their life to Jesus Christ alone for the salvation. Now you begin to understand why there was just a remnant of believers. Who followed Jesus. They wanted him to do for them. Walk on water. Multiply the loaves. Feed us again. Show us a sign. Do the superficial thing we always do. Can you do it just one more time for us Jesus?

And we'll believe you then. No you won't. No you won't because you don't recognize your need for eternal life. You've squelched the fact that eternity is set in the heart of man. You're accountable to God for where you will spend eternity. You give your life to Christ. And there's no doubt about the fact that Jesus Christ gives you peace and joy. That you might be able to endure this life. Long enough to get you to the next life. That's what salvation is. It's all about eternity. It's all about the joys of heaven.

But because we are so enamored with the temporal. We are so enamored with the present. We are so enamored with what we see. We can't even begin to focus on the future. But if you notice.

In the scriptures. When it comes to exhorting people. And helping them through the present. It's always about the future. It's always about what awaits them in eternity. Because for the believer that's motivation enough. For the unbeliever it's not motivation enough. I gotta have it now.

I've gotta have the fix now. It's gotta be better now. And if God doesn't do it now. He must not be God. He must not be on the throne. And if God can't fix my problem now.

If God can't save my husband now. If God can't do it now in my timetable. I got a problem with God. And God says you know what it's not about now.

It's about eternity. It's about the future. That's what it's about. And that's why we need to understand the question that's asked. Because it's a question about eternal life. It's a question that Jesus dealt with all throughout his ministry. That's the essence of salvation. What is going. Jesus says you wanna keep your life today.

You're gonna lose it tomorrow. How many weeks. 10 weeks we spent on Luke 9. 23 and the following right. 10 weeks. If you are so into today. That all you can think about is today. And all you can think about is your pain. Or your problem. Or your persecution. You cannot listen.

Get saved. You can't. Because salvation deals with eternity. And the reality that God has put in the heart of man. Eternity is set in the heart of man. From the very beginning. And man according to Romans 1. Knows God. Knows all about God. But suppresses that truth. Because the moral law of God is raw in his heart. He suppresses that truth. According to Romans chapter 2. The gospel is about eternity. We're gonna celebrate the Lord's table. It's all about eternal life. It's all about the future. That's how you endure.

And enjoy the present. Because you know that one day. You will be with Jesus Christ our Lord. One day you will rule and reign with Christ in all eternity. One day you'll see him like he is. And you'll be just like him. It's all about eternity. The eternal. Why would the eternal God. Mess around with your temporal issues. When he knows that eternity. Weighs in the balance. And eternity is what it's all about. Where he says that I have not seen. Nor ear heard. Nor has it entered. The heart of man. The things that God has prepared.

For those who truly love him. You have no idea. What God's gonna do for you in the future. But you believe it. You trust it. And it moves you from this day. To the next day. Read the Old Testament saints. Read about the New Testament saints. It was all about the future. It was all about eternity. It was all about the life with God. That's the promise. That's what we're looking forward to. That's where we're going. It's all about that. How do you think Moses could. Pass up. The passing pleasures of sin for a season.

And endure real treatment with the people of God. Because he kept looking. Forward. To his reward. See that. He kept looking to the future. Believing in what God said. And trusting him for the outcome. That's how Paul lived his life. That's how every apostle lived his life. That's how every prophet lived their life. They lived their life believing in what God had promised to them. And even though Hebrews 11 says. We didn't obtain the promise. We walked by faith. We lived by faith. We anticipated the future.

Because we believed in the God. Who guarantees. The future. Eternal life. Do you have it? Do you know for certain. That you have it. You can know. Because the Bible says.

These things are written. That you may know that you have eternal life. Let's pray together. Father we thank you for today. And the joy of your word. And the truth that's there. And everything about eternity. Lord thank you for dying on the cross. That we would spend eternity with you. In your kingdom. And I pray Lord that during our time here on earth. We would tell others about eternity. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.