Eternal Life Within Present Grasp
A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 6, 1887,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"Lay hold on eternal life." 1 Timothy 6:12.
"Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time
to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life." 1 Timothy 6:19.
"LAY hold on eternal life." Observe that this precept is preceded by
another–"Fight the good fight of faith." Those who lay hold on eternal
life will have to fight for it. The way of the spiritual life is no
easy one–we shall have to contest every step of the way along which it
leads us. "Contest the good contest of the faith" would be an accurate
rendering of the passage and a contest it is against the world, the
flesh and the devil! If we live unto God, we shall need to war a daily
warfare and tread down the powers of death and Hell.
We fight the good fight by firm faith in the Lord our God–"This is the
victory that overcomes the world, even your faith." That fight is the
fight of faith, fought for the faith and by the faith. The article
should be inserted and then the words are–"Fight the good fight of the
faith." "Contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints."
"Hold fast the form of sound words." It is worth fighting for, even if
we come to resistance unto blood! He who dies for the faith has laid
down his life in a worthy cause and he shall find it unto life eternal.
We can only hope that we shall be able to live unto God by faith in Him
and faith in the great Truths which He has revealed to be the object of
our faith. When I say unto you, "Lay hold on eternal life," do not
imagine that this is to be done in a dream, or accomplished without
awakening your utmost energies, nor even then without that Divine
assistance which only faith can receive.
As my text follows the command to "fight the good fight of the faith,"
it teaches us that the best way of contending for the faith is for
ourselves, personally, to lay hold on eternal life. You cannot defend
the faith by mere reasoning– victory does not come through an array of
arguments which have been, before, used by men of learning–you must,
yourself, possess the inward life and exhibit the force and power of it
in your daily conduct if you would be successful in the holy war. Men
who forget the Divine Life soon cast away the Divine Truth. If the life
is not in us, we may make what profession of orthodoxy we like, but we
shall, in all probability, before long, turn aside like others, unto
crooked ways. Well are the two commands joined together–"Fight the
good fight of the faith, lay hold on eternal life." It reminds me of
our Lord's words, "I am the way, the truth and the life."
My Brothers and Sisters, there is a higher and a better life than that
which is known to the most of men. There is an animal life which all
possess; there is a mental life which lifts us up above the beasts, but
there is another life as much above the mental life as the mental life
is above the mere animal life! The bulk of men are not aware of this
and when they are told of it, they do not believe the statement. Men
whom they would believe upon any other subject–honest and true
men–are, nevertheless, regarded as a sort of madmen when they begin to
talk about a spiritual life. How should the carnal mind discern that
which is spiritual? it can only be spiritually discerned. But there is
such a life, as many of us assuredly know, and this is the eternal life
which we are bid to lay hold upon. The life of Heaven is none other
than the Divine Life which God's Grace imparts to Believers here
below–only it is developed and brought to perfection. There is no jerk
to the Believer in death–his line of life is unbroken. There is a
change in his condition, for he drops this mortal body and those
tendencies to sin which cling to it, but the same life is in him, in
the body or out of it, unclothed or clothed. His life is the same day,
only here it is the dawn, but in Glory it is full moon. His life is one
and flows on like a river, widening and deepening until, at last, it
swells into a sea of joyous, perfected life in Heaven!
Dream not that any of you will ever obtain eternal life hereafter
unless you receive it in this life. Unless you are partakers of it now,
tremble for the consequences! Where death finds you, eternity will
leave you. Thus I read the Word of God. Let others read as they may.
The only laying hold on eternal life that can be practiced by us must
be commenced now–it is now brought to light by Christ Jesus in the
everlasting Gospel–beware how you put it from you. Grip it now; lay
hold of it now and hold on to it at all hazards! Do my expressions
sound strange? Let me remind you of that exhortation of Holy
Scripture–"Awake, you that sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ
shall give you light." Once obtained, we may rest assured that this
life will not be wrenched from us in the pangs of departure from the
body nor in the Day of Judgment, nor throughout eternity! "Lay hold on
eternal life." I would dwell upon this precept, entreating the aid of
the Holy Spirit that I may speak of this true life in a living and true
manner.
I. "Lay hold on eternal life," that is, BELIEVE IN IT. You cannot lay
hold on it unless you know it to be a reality. We do not lay hold on
shadows, or fictions, or fancies–there must be something substantial
and tangible for us to lay hold upon. It is necessary, therefore, to
begin by a realizing faith.
That we may believe in this life, let me say that Holy Scripture
constantly describes men unrenewed by Divine Grace as being dead–they
are "dead in trespasses and sins." They "shall not see life, but the
wrath of God abides on them." The natural life of fallen men, though it
is cultivated to the highest degree so that they become sages and
philosophers, is, nevertheless, nothing better than death as compared
with the inner life which is called eternal. The life which you possess
today, if you are ungodly men, will be taken from you. How suddenly
none of us can guess! In this very house we have lately had a solemn
reminder of our mortality. But if God gives to you the new life, if
there is infused into you the Divine Life, it is eternal–a living and
incorruptible seed which abides forever. It is the life of Christ in
you–the sap of the undying vine flowing into the branches! Without
this heavenly quickening you are dead while you live and as the
tendency of death is to corruption, you will grow more and more sinful.
Men who are dead in trespasses and sins, by-and-by proceed to a further
stage–and frequently become so corrupt that society itself cries out,
"Bury my dead out of my sight." Without the quickening Spirit you will
remain in spiritual death forever.
The Scripture represents Believers everywhere as possessing everlasting
life. "He that believes in Him has everlasting life." Our death in sin
has passed away when we have believed in Christ. That first look of the
spiritual eyes is sure proof that we possess within us the life of God
and, henceforth, we are so linked with Jesus that because He lives, we
shall live, also. "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then
shall we also appear with Him in Glory."
This life is produced by the operation of the Holy Spirit within the
heart. The Lord Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Except a man is born of water
and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God." It is by
the new life worked of the Spirit that we enter the Kingdom. The
infusion of the new life is the new birth and the entrance into the
Kingdom. We are created anew in Christ Jesus, or, to use another
expression, we are quickened and raised from among the dead! Beloved
Hearers, do you know this change by personal experience? I know that
many here present have passed from death unto life and I rejoice with
them in Christ Jesus.
What a difference this quickening has made to those who have received
it! What a marvelous life it is! It brings with it new perceptions, new
emotions, new desires. It has new senses–there are new eyes with which
we see the invisible; new ears with which we hear the voice of God,
before inaudible! Then we have a new touch with which we lay hold on
Divine Truths of God. Then we have a new taste so that we "taste and
see that the Lord is good." This new life ushers us into a new world
and gives us new relationships and new privileges. The Lord Jesus, who
makes all things new, sits upon the throne of the soul and is the
center of new power and rule. Do you know this life? Some of us
confidently bear witness of this life–but what does this avail to dead
men? There is no change that can be comparable to that which is worked
in men when they are quickened by the infusion of the Divine Life–it
is as though the dead left their graves and much more than that!
The new life is a life of reconciliation. The possessor of it is at
peace with God. We are no longer enemies, but friends of God; no longer
heirs of wrath, but children of the Most High. The spirit of adoption
within us cries, "Abba, Father." We delight ourselves in God who
becomes the spring of all our joys, the light of our delights. This
delight in God draws us nearer and nearer to him in communion and
fellowship–and this fellowship with God begets a new character in us
like that of God. We are changed into the image of Him in whom we live
and with whom we have communion! The new life has about it a
spirituality, an elevation and a purity which are never found anywhere
else. Under its power the man
loves the things which are akin to the life of God and he enters into
sympathy with God. The spiritual life has instinctive aspirations after
holiness, even as the old natural life has desires after evil. It has
new pains and new passions; new joys and griefs. A heavenly fire burns
upon the altar of the renewed soul which will utterly consume all that
is contrary to holiness. As our God is a consuming fire, so is the life
of God within the soul of man–ultimately it will destroy, by the
spirit of burning–all the accumulated mass of original and acquired
sinfulness. Much of smoke may blind our eyes and make us weep during
the process, but the end is beyond measure to be desired. Do we know
this life? Does God live in us? Are our bodies temples of the Holy
Spirit? If not, since the Lord lives, we can never see His face till we
live. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living–and only those
that live unto Him in Christ Jesus can be in communion with Him.
I scarcely need to tell you that this life is one of high enjoyment.
Truly it is a life of battle and of strife against the old death, but
the life itself is as peaceable as it is pure. The spiritual life has
in it all the elements of Heaven. There is a fullness of joy about it,
inasmuch as it brings us into communion with the Ever-Blessed One. On
high days and holy days some of us have said, as a dear Sister said to
me last Thursday night, "I am happy as God, Himself, can make me." We
can say, "God, my exceeding joy." The Lord's visits fill us with such
calm content and overflowing peace that we rejoice with joy
unspeakable. Those who know this happiness may truthfully be said to
live–but those who know it not have missed "the life which is life,
indeed."
I want you all to get this idea into your heads–I mean all of you who
have not learned this fact as yet–there is a life superior to that of
common men! There is a life eternal, to be enjoyed here and now! I want
this idea to become a practical force with you. Stephenson got the
notion of a steam engine into his brain and the steam engine soon
became an actual fact with him. Palissy, the potter, had his mind full
of his art and for it he sacrificed everything till he gained his end.
So may you, by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, lay hold upon eternal
life as being a blessed possibility–and may you be moved to seek it!
There is an eternal life! There is a life of God in the soul of man!
And I trust that you will, each one, resolve, "If it is to be had I
will have it." Therefore direct your thoughts and desires this way.
When the heart begins to value this life and to sigh after it, it is
not far from the Kingdom of God! The quickening Spirit is moving upon
the soul when it begins to be restless in its fallen estate and feels a
hunger after higher things. Oh that the Lord, Himself, would convince
you this morning that the life spiritual and eternal is no fancy of
enthusiasts, but a literal fact, a matter worthy of your very best
consideration! In this way you will begin to "lay hold on eternal
life."
II. But this is not enough–it is merely the doorstep of the subject.
"Lay hold on eternal life"–that is to say, POSSESS IT! Get it into
your soul–be alive! What am I saying? My Brothers and Sisters, this
eternal life must come to you before you will come to it! The Holy
Spirit must breathe upon you, or you will remain in your natural death.
Behold, He sends me to cry, "You dry bones, live!" And therefore I dare
to speak as I have done. Apart from a Divine commission, I dare not
speak thus to you!
How is eternal life grasped? Well, it is laid hold of by faith in Jesus
Christ. It is a very simple thing to trust the Lord Jesus Christ and
yet it is the only way of obtaining the eternal life. Jesus says, "He
that believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and
whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
By faith we have done with self and all the confidences that can ever
grow out of self–and we rely upon the full Atonement made by the Lord
Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a Propitiation. It is thus that we
come to live! Faith and the new life go together and can never be
divided! God grant that we may all lay hold on eternal life by laying
hold of God in Christ Jesus!
This life once laid hold upon is exercised in holy acts. From day to
day we lay hold on eternal life by exercising ourselves unto godliness
in deeds of holiness and loving kindness. Let your life be love, for
love is life. Let your life be one of prayer and praise, for these are
the breath of the new life. We still live the animal and mental life,
but these must be the mere outer courts of our being–our innermost
life must be spiritual and wholly consecrated to God. Henceforth let
devotion be your breathing, faith your heartbeat, meditation your
feeding, self-examination your washing and holiness your walking! Let
your best life be most thought of and most exercised. Be not content to
use your eyes, but practice your faith in God. Neither be satisfied to
exercise your limbs in moving your body, but in the power of the new
life mount up with wings as eagles, run without weariness, walk without
fainting! Lay hold on the eternal life by exercising it continually and
never allowing it to lie dormant.
In laying hold upon it, remember that it is increased by growth.
Zealously grasp more and more of it. Do not be afraid of having too
much spiritual life! Lay hold on it, for Christ has come not only that
we may have life, but that we
may have it more abundantly. My Brothers and Sisters, we are, none of
us, what we might be! Let us reach after something higher! "To him that
has shall be given, and he shall have abundance." Let us not forget
this encouraging Word of our Lord. You that have much life have the
promise of more! We may covet earnestly this heavenly treasure. We are
quickened, but perhaps our life is sickly–let us bask in the beams of
the Sun of Righteousness, for He has healing beneath His wings. Let us
lay hold of the fullest measures of eternal life and go from strength
to strength.
Remember that spiritual life is enjoyed in the fullest sense in close
communion with God. "This is life eternal, to know You, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent." "Acquaint yourself with God
and be at peace." Do not think that those gates of Heaven cut us off
from God, for they are never shut and we may enjoy daily fellowship
with Him who reigns within1 In Heaven or on earth we are in the same
Father's house–yes, we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever! We
are not in Heaven yet, but Heaven may be in us. Men do not yet say of
us, "He is with God," but we know that God is with us. Let us endeavor
to enjoy the eternal life now by abiding in the love of Christ. Then do
we live, indeed, when He sups with us and we with Him. He, being raised
from the dead, dies no more. And we, being raised with Him, live with
Him, for Him and like He! This Christ-life in us comes to the front and
pushes back the lower order of things. We cry no longer, "What shall we
eat?" Or, "What shall we drink?" Or, "How shall we be clothed?" But we
cry, "Lord, what would You have me to do?" Oh, to say with Paul, "I am
crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives
in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith
of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me"!
III. Thirdly, "Lay hold on eternal life." That is, WATCH OVER IT, guard
it and protect it. Most men will preserve their lives at any cost.
Unless they are drunk or mad, they will do anything for dear
life–"Skin for skin, yes, all that a man has, will he give for his
life." Let every Believer regard the life of God within him as being
his most precious possession, more valuable by far than the natural
life. It would be wise to lay down a thousand natural lives, if we had
them, in order to preserve the spiritual life. It is infinitely better
to suffer than to sin, to lose property than purity. God has given us
this priceless jewel–let us guard it as the apple of our eye!
The other day we read in the newspapers of two persons in America being
found dead from "starvation and cold." And we also read that each of
these persons was possessed of a considerable sum of money. We say,
"What fools!" Men with sums of money about their persons, or hidden
away in their rooms, and yet suffering the ills of need till they
actually die of hunger–what madness is this! Are those more sane who
injure and dwarf their spiritual life for the sake of intellectual
pride, or carnal joy, or the esteem of men? Is not the spirit
infinitely more precious than the body? Brethren, if we starve at all,
let us starve our bodies and not our spirits! If anything must be
stunted, let it be the baser nature! Let us not live eagerly for this
world and languidly for the world to come. Having the Divine Life
within us, let us not neglect to feed it and supply its needs.
Here is a man that gives up attendance at religious services in the
week because he hungers to increase his business– he buys brass with
gold! Another quits the place where he enjoys a Gospel ministry to go
at a larger salary to a place where his soul will be famished–he
barters fine flour for husks! Another goes into all sorts of evil
company where he knows that his character is injured and his soul
imperiled–and his excuse is that it pays! O Sirs, is it so, after all,
that this eternal life which you profess to possess is of trifling
value in your eyes? Then I declare before you that you do not possess
it at all! How could you thus play the fool if the Lord had made you
wise unto salvation? "Lay hold on eternal life," for this is the chief
good, for the sake of which you may quit inferior things. "Seek you
first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things
shall be added unto you." First and foremost, guard beyond everything
your life, your real life, wearing always "the armor of light," "the
whole armor of God."
Here is a sinking ship and none can escape but those who can swim. One
man grasps a life belt and puts it about him. Sensible man! Another
carefully secures his gold into a girdle and binds it about his waist.
Madman! He is treating himself as cruel wretches treat a dog whom they
sink into the water with a stone about him! This last individual is the
portrait of professing Christians who will be rich and, thereby, drown
themselves in perdition and destruction. See the ninth verse of the
chapter before us. Hold first and foremost onto eternal life and guard
it with all your power, as being yourself, your all!
To that end the Apostle bade Timothy flee from those things which are
detrimental to that life. "You, O man of God, flee these things." A man
that is very careful of his life will not remain in a house where fever
has been rife. He looks to
the drains and all other sanitary arrangements–and if these are
hopelessly bad, he quits the house. No measure of cheapness or
convenience will make him risk his life. Have you heard of men in their
senses who will hunt for dens of fever and cholera and wantonly enter
them? On the contrary, visitors are scared from a city or district by
the mere rumor of cholera or other infectious disease. You who profess
to be men of God must flee these things which are injurious to purity,
to truth, to godliness, to communion with God–for these are
detrimental to your best life.
Then the Apostle tells Timothy to seek after everything that would
promote his eternal life. He says, "Follow after righteousness,
godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness"–seek after that which will
exercise and develop your highest life. Frequent those hills of
holiness where the atmosphere is bracing for your new-born spirit. I
notice how people who are sickly will leave their homes and journey far
for health. Not only will they sojourn upon the sunny shores of the
Mediterranean, but they will encounter the pitiless cold of the Alps in
mid-winter at St. Maritz or Davoust in the hope of restoration. If
physicians would only guarantee prolongation of life, men would
emigrate to inhospitable Siberia or banish themselves to Greenland's
icy mountains! Men will do anything for life. Shall we not be eager to
do all that we can to foster our spiritual life? Christian people, do
nothing that will damage your Heaven-born lives! Act in this according
to the highest prudence.
God help us to lay hold on eternal life and to that end above all
things lay hold on Christ! We only live in Him–He is our life. To be
divided from Christ is as surely death to us as it would be death to
the body to be separated from the head. Make Jesus the Alpha and the
Omega of your existence, for without Him you can do nothing, nor even
live. "This is the true God and eternal life." To believe in Jesus is
to live! To love Him much is to have life more abundantly. Cling to
Jesus! Rest in the Lord, for He is our peace. Dwell on Calvary. Live
between the First and Second Comings of the Lord. Lay hold on eternal
life as a drowning man lays hold upon a spar and will not relax his
grasp. It is not a vain thing for you, for it is your life. "He that
has the Son, has life; and he that has not the Son of God, has not
life." Let us, therefore, steadfastly abide in the Son of God and so
know that we have eternal life.
IV. But now, fourthly (and with the same brevity)–"Lay hold on eternal
life," that is, FULFILL IT. Labor that the time of your sojourning here
shall be occupied not with this poor, dying existence, but with the
eternal life. Fulfill the higher and the eternal life in every position
of society. The chapter opens with advice to servants who, then, were
slaves. Their earthly life was wretched, indeed, but the Apostle bids
them live, not for this present life, but for the eternal life.
Inasmuch as they could glorify God by continuing to bear the yoke and
would not glorify Him by rising in insurrection against their masters,
he bade them remain in their position until better times might come. He
would have them, by Divine Grace, fulfill the relationship in which
they found themselves.
Christianity is the deadly foe of slavery, but it took time to destroy
it, and meanwhile, believing slaves were bid to glorify God in their
station. And this is what the Gospel says to every one of us–Honor
your station by glorifying God in it. When the famous Spartan warrior
Brasidas complained that Sparta was so small a state, his mother
replied to him, "My son, Sparta has fallen to your lot and it is your
duty to adorn it." Christian man, adorn the doctrine of God, your
Savior, in all things! Wherever you are found, endeavor in that place
to live out eternal life. Be not so anxious to change your position as
to use it for eternal purposes. Are you a preacher? Seek not popularity
by pleasing the times, but seek honor by pleasing God! Are you a
master? Seek not to use your position to please self, but to bless your
day and generation. Are you a servant? Be not perpetually lamenting
because of your hard work and scant wage, but let all men see what
Grace can do.
The eternal life should gild the lower life as the sun lights up the
landscape. It is a sad pity when we let the lower life rise above us!
Shall the horse ride the man? Shall the bullock drive the farmer? Let
the position be bettered, if it may be, but if this cannot be improved,
be you, yourself, improved–and a greater thing is done! Live not for
time, but for eternity. What if I am a servant, yet I am the Lord's
freeman–let me live as such! What if I am poor, yet I am rich towards
God, so let me enjoy my portion! Lay hold on eternal life all the more
eagerly if in this temporal life you have little to lay hold on.
Fulfill this better life, also, by leaving alone those questions which
would swallow up the hour. See how Paul destroys these
devourers–"Questions and strifes of words, whereof comes envy, strife,
railings, evil surmising, perverse disputes of men of corrupt minds and
destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such
withdraw yourself." He speaks in the end of the Epistle of "profane and
vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called." We are
over-
done with these canker worms at this hour! Brothers and Sisters, you
can go and interfere in all the controversies of the day if you like,
but beware of the consequences! You can be a party politician if you
like, or you can be a man of culture, loving speculation better than
Revelation, if you think fit, but, if you take my advice, you will do
nothing of the sort, but "lay hold on eternal life."
I like that expression of Mr. Wesley's preachers, when they were asked
to interfere in this or that political struggle, they replied, "Our
work is to win souls and we give ourselves to it." Oh that churches
would listen to this just now! They are going in for amusements and the
church is vying with the theater! Oh that we would lay hold on eternal
life and seek the salvation of men! Eternal life in our churches would
soon cast out the rubbish which is now defiling them! Jesus in the
churches would purify the temple of the puppets, as once He cleansed it
of the traders. We need to receive anew this conviction that our one
great business here below is to lay hold on eternal life, first making
our own calling and election sure, and then seeking to bring others to
Christ! Other questions compared with this are mere debates as to
tweedledum and tweedledee! Let the potsherds strive with the potsherds
of the earth until they break each other in their anger! But we strive
only for the Kingdom of Heaven which lies not in trivial things. It is
ours to lay hold upon eternal life! As for the rest, the will of the
Lord be done!
Further, the Apostle bids us do this so as to surmount the temptations
of selfishness. He warns us that "they that will be rich fall into
temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which
drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the
root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from
the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." He whose
life's object is to accumulate money is not a Christian! No man can
serve two masters–and if Mammon is his master, Christ is not his
Master. To prosper in business with the sincere desire of using
everything for the honor and glory of God is laudable and proper. But
to make this the end rather than the means is a horrible prostitution
and debasement of our energies. To live for this world is to be dead to
the world to come.
The Apostle bids us "lay hold on eternal life" rather than on this
life–to gain riches of Grace rather than riches of gold. Furthermore,
he has a word for us if we become rich–for he supposes that such a
thing may be and that it did happen in his own day. He says–"Charge
them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor
trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who gives us richly
all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good
works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store
for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they
may lay hold on eternal life." As the alchemist was said to transmute
brass and copper into gold, (though he did no such thing), so there is
a real alchemy which can sublime gold and silver into everlasting
treasure. These talents are not to be despised, but put out to interest
for the Lord. They can be laid by where no rust does corrupt and where
thieves do not break through and steal. They can be traded with in a
heavenly market and turned to everlasting gains. We can use them for
helping in the work of the Lord and by distribution to the poor and
needy.
I would that all men at this hour abounded in almsgiving, but specially
those who are followers of the loving Jesus. Regard your transactions
from the standpoint of eternity. Weigh what you do, not as it may be
thought of by men of the world, but as it will be judged by yourself
when you behold in the heavenly country the face of Him you love! I do
not want you to have to say when you come to die, "I have had large
possessions, but I have been a bad steward. I have had a competence and
I have wasted my Master's goods. All I have done with my wealth was to
furnish my house well, perhaps to buy expensive pictures and to allow
myself luxuries which did me more harm than good." I hope, on the
contrary, you will have to say, "I am saved by Grace, alone, and that
Grace enabled me to consecrate my substance and put it to the best
uses. I can render up my stewardship without fear. I did not live for
the fleeting life which is now over, but for the life everlasting."
Brothers and Sisters, some men spend so much upon themselves and so
little for the Lord, that they seem to me to eat the apple and give
Christ the parings! They hoard up the flour and give the Lord a little
of the bran. Happy man who can carry out in life what he has dared to
say in song–
"All that I am and all I have,
Shall be forever Yours!
Whatever my duty bids me give,
My cheerful hands resign.
Yet if I might make some reserve,
And duty did not call
I love my God with zeal so great,
That I should give Him all."
The Apostle means, when he says, "lay hold on eternal life," get beyond
today and tomorrow. Leap out of this month and this year. Live for the
future; for eternity. Live not as insects that die in a day, but as men
that live forever. This life is as a prick made on paper by a pin–it
is too small a thing to compare with the everlasting future. The
forever, whether of misery or bliss, dwarfs this life to nothing.
Once more, let me say the Apostle urges us to fulfill the higher life
by sundry arguments. He says, "whereunto you are also called."
Sovereign Grace has called us to eternal life–we are elect according
to the foreknowledge of God from among men, in order that we may live
unto Him. We are bound to make eternal life our first and last
consideration, for God has called us thereto. Be not false to the call.
If you are a minister or deacon, you have an official call. Be not
unmindful of it, but live up to your high calling. The Apostle adds,
"and has professed a good profession before many witnesses." Many of
you did this in your Baptism, when, as Believers, you were buried with
Christ "by Baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from
the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in
newness of life." In that sacred act you professed that the old nature
was then and there to be regarded as buried and you would live for
Christ and like Christ. Oh, be not false to your solemn vows, but lay
hold on eternal life–not upon the miserable wretchedness of the
passing hour! Then the Apostle sets before us the great example, "I
charge you in the sight of God, who quickens all things and before
Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;
that you keep this commandment." Christ sacrificed everything for us.
He gave Himself for us! He laid hold on things eternal–as for anything
here below, He let it slip by for our sakes. Eternity was always
pressing upon the heart of Christ, for the joy that was set before Him,
He endured the Cross, despising the shame. Therefore, if you are a
Christian, professing to follow Christ, lay hold on eternal life and
let this fill your grasp.
V. Last of all, and I have done, EXPECT ETERNAL LIFE. By the two hands
of faith and hope lay hold on eternal life as the great reward of the
righteous. Look for the crown of life which fades not away. The time
comes when this mortal life shall be utterly swallowed up in eternal
life. Let me suggest to you, my beloved Brothers and Sisters, that we
think much about the life to come. We shall soon be there in the
endless home, let us send our thoughts there like couriers in advance.
Let the harps of angels ring out their music to our listening ears! Let
the songs of the redeemed awaken us to unite with them in the praises
of our Lord! You will soon be there–anticipate the joy! Put on your
white robes by faith and even if a little imagination should come to
the aid of faith, it will do no harm. Your heads will soon wear the
crown–the crown which you will delight to cast at Jesus' feet! Today
you know the straits of poverty, but you are going where the streets
are paved with transparent gold! You now know the aches and pains of
this frail flesh, but you are going where perpetual youth and rigor
shall cause all pain to flee away! You are passing quickly along the
journey–think much of that journey's end. Remember the rest which
remains, the perfection which is promised, the victory which is
secured, the communion which is provided, the Glory which is dawning!
"His servants shall serve Him and they shall see His face." Think much
of your home–every good child will do so.
When you think of it and your heart grows warm with the thought, then
count it very near. Suppose you are to live a comparatively long life?
Yet no human life is really long. Even to a young man, if he has to
look forward to a gray old age, life is but a span. How brief it seems
on looking back! When I remember the Brother who died in yonder pew
last Sunday, I can but feel how near Heaven is to some among us. We
have touched the celestial country! One Brother has just leaped on
shore! The other day, all of a sudden, I saw the white cliffs of Dover.
The swift ship had performed the passage so rapidly that the sea had
been crossed before I had reckoned on reaching land. There were the
cliffs. Just ahead, Brothers and Sisters, Heaven is just ahead! Run to
the bows! Heaven ahoy! Do not forever continue gazing at the misty
shores behind you. Look ahead! You are far nearer than you think, to
the land of the immortal! We are within speaking distance of Heaven!
The Lord hears our cry and we hear His promise–
"How near to faith's far-seeing eye The golden gates appear!"
In this way lay hold on eternal life by confident expectancy.
Rehearse eternal life! Rehearse the service and joy of Heaven! They
have rehearsals of fine pieces of music–let us have a rehearsal of
Heaven's harmonies. The thing is practicable. We have often enjoyed
rehearsals of temple music in this
Tabernacle. In this pulpit I have been within half an inch of
Heaven–and I hope you know the same nearness in the pews! Let us begin
the music here and now. Glorified saints praise the Lamb–let us praise
Him! They worship the great God with transports of joy–let us worship
with them! They find their all in Jesus–where else have we anything?
Let our Sabbaths be, each of them, a taste of the Sabbath that shall
have no end! Thus "lay hold on eternal life."
"Ah," says one, "I wish I were already in Heaven." Do not be in a
hurry. The best expectancy is that which waits with patience. Our
esteemed Brother, Mr. Lockhart, tells a story of one of his members, of
the name of Carey–a royal name that! She was very sick and near to
die, but she expressed a desire to live, at which he was somewhat
astonished, for he knew her to be so well prepared to depart. She
wished to stay here a while for a good and laudable reason. There was
one thing which she could see here on earth–which she could not see in
Heaven–and she wished to remain here to see it again and again. "What
is that?" Mr. Lockhart asked. "It is the tear of repentance on the
sinner's cheek. I want to see a great many more of those before I go
Home." And so do I. O my unconverted Hearers, I would willingly stay
out of Heaven to weep for you till you weep for sin! To see tears of
repentance in all your eyes would be a Heaven to me!
My Brothers and Sisters around me would be willing to wait, also, even
until Jesus comes, if we could, by our waiting, help to give you
repentance. Tears of repentance bedewing the cheeks of sinners are the
diamonds of angels and the jewels of saints! Oh, that my beloved
helpers may see many drops of the dew of repentance this morning when
they come round among you! And may Jesus see them and speak peace to
repenting hearts. Poor sinners! We would stay out of Heaven for such as
you, even as Jesus came out of Heaven for such as you! Believe on the
one appointed Savior and enter into eternal life–and we will dwell in
Heaven together! The Lord grant it. Amen.