ETERNAL LIFE


A. "THERE CAME ONE RUNNING AND KNEELED TO HIM, AND ASKED HIM, GOOD MASTER, WHAT SHALL I DO THAT I MAY INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE? - MARK 10:17-23
  1. Background to our text:
    1. Our Lord was teaching the way of life to the people
    2. The Pharisees sought to entangle Him with the question of marriage relationship
  2. Our Lord was leaving the scene when a rich young ruler came running to Him with a very vital and thought-provoking question:
    1. "What good thing must I do"
    2. "That I might inherit eternal life?" B. ON THIS OCCASION OF BEREAVEMENT AND SORROW, IT IS FITTING TO DWELL UPON THE SUBJECT OF ETERNAL LIFE
  3. We note first, the questioner:
    1. "Jesus loved him" - v. 21
    2. He was young and seemingly full of life and energy - "He came running" - Matt. 19:20
    3. He was wealthy - had great riches, yet he was not satisfied because he realized that eternal life did not consist in the material things of this present life - Luke 12:15
    4. His conversation with the Master showed that he had a noble bringing up "all these things have I kept from my youth up" that gives credit to his parents
  4. The question - eternal life:
    1. This service, dear friends, is a grim reminder that this present life is the most uncertain thing man possesses - James 4:13-14
    2. Cried the prophet of God, "all flesh is as grass" - Is. 40:6; I Pet. 1:24
    3. Said David to Jonathan, "There is but one step between me and death" - I Sam. 20:3
    4. The question of the young man shows clearly that eternal life was a state of the future
    5. Said Jesus to the disciples, "and in the world to come eternal life" - Mark 10:30
    6. How mistaken is man when he conjectures that he possesses eternal life by nature; the elements of death are man's natural possession Job 4:17; 2 Cor. 4:11 C. OUR LORD'S ANSWER
  5. It must be noted that Jesus does not use the word - eternal life:
    1. He sues the word "life" - "wilt thou enter into life" - Matt. 19:17; Luke 10:25
    2. The use of the word "life" by our Lord indicates that eternal life is predicated upon the life we now live
    3. Said Paul, "The life that I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" - Gal. 2:20
  6. The gateway to eternal life:
    1. "Keep the commandments" - thus we clearly see that loving obedience to the law of God is the gateway to eternal life
    2. That was true in the experience of our first parents - Gen. 2:15-16
    3. And that is true today - Rev. 22:14; I John 2:4-7; Is. 30:8-9
    4. It must be noted further, that our Lord does not quote the ten commandments - only some of them - our duties to our fellowmen - the second table - Ex. 20:3-17
  7. "Sell that thou hast, give to the poor, and come and follow me"
    1. Here the Lord of life, who knows man's life, exposes man's great weakness - selfishness, self-service - wealth is to be distributed among the poor - Eccl. 11:1
    2. Human selfishness is the root of our trouble in the world today
  8. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life:
    1. Said He, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" - John 14:6
    2. Wrote John, "He that hath the Son hath life" - I John 5:10-12
    3. said Jesus to the Jews, "Ye will not come to me that ye might have life" - John 5:40
  9. Eternal life, the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord - Rom. 6:23:
    1. Is still future
    2. It will be given to the saints at the second coming of Jesus Christ - compare Mark 10:28-30 with I Cor. 15:22-55
    3. This, dear friends, is the hope of man looking to Jesus and to the world to come for the gift of eternal life.


Design © John Bryant 2011