ETERNAL LIFE IN THE SON

Eternal Life In God The Son

"And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son." 1 John 5:11 (NKJV)

"And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life." 1 John 5:20 (NKJV)


1. Church is a Family of Live People!

"One hundred religious persons knit into a unity by careful organization do not constitute a church any more than eleven dead men make a football team. The first requisite is life, always." A.W. Tozer

a) Jesus gives Life.

"For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." Matt 18:20

"As His name would prove a time to draw together many clusters of His dear disciples, so if there should be but two or three, that will draw Himself down into the midst of them; and related as He is to both the parties, the petitioners and the Petitioned -- to the one on earth by the tie of His adopted flesh, and to the other in heaven by the tie of His eternal Spirit -- their prayers on earth would lift upward through Him to heaven, be carried by Him into the holiest of all, and so reach the Throne. Thus will He be the living Conductor of the prayer upward, and the answer downward." —Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

Compare Rev. 5:8; 8:3-5.


2. First Prayer of the Morning (Baillie)

Eternal FATHER of my soul, let my first thought today be of Thee, let my first impulse be to worship Thee, let my first speech be Thy Name, let my first action be to kneel before Thee in prayer. For Thy perfect wisdom and perfect goodness: For the love wherewith Thou lovest mankind: For the love wherewith Thou lovest me: For the great and mysterious opportunity of my life: For the indwelling of Thy Spirit in my heart: For the sevenfold gifts of Thy Spirit: I praise and worship Thee O Lord.

Yet let me not when this morning prayer is said, think my worship ended and spend the day in forgetfulness of Thee. Rather from these moments of quietness let light go forth, and joy, and power, that will remain with me through all the hours of the day; Keeping me chaste in thought: Keeping me temperate and truthful in speech: Keeping me faithful and diligent in my work: Keeping me humble in my estimation of myself: Keeping me honourable and generous in my dealings with others: Keeping my loyal to every hallowed memory of the past: Keeping me mindful of my eternal destiny as a child of Thine.

O God who has been the Refuge of my fathers through many generations, be my Refuge today in every time and circumstance of need. Be my Guide through all that is dark and doubtful. Be my Guard against all that threatens my spirit’s welfare. Be my Strength in time of testing. Gladden my heart with Thy peace; Through Jesus Christ my Lord. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

[John Baillie - a Scotsman of the past.]


3. Jesus taught us to say God Our Father

"Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples." So He said to them, "When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one." Luke 11:1-4 (NKJV)

a) The Holy Spirit’s role.

"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" Luke 11:13 (NKJV)

J.W.McGarvey: "Verse 12 is peculiar to Luke, and in verse 13 Matthew has "good things" where Luke has "Holy Spirit." The Holy Spirit is the best of all gifts, being as necessary to the soul as food to the body." —Four-Fold Gospel

Jesus is Himself Paraclete (Advocate 1 John 2:1). God The Holy Spirit is another Paraclete (Comforter/Helper John 14:16; 16:7).

"At a particular moment, and by no means secretly, the heavenly Secret opened upon them, and there was communicated to them, in a rush of wind and a dazzle of tongued flames, the mystery of the Paraclete in the Church. Our Lord Christ had vanished in His flesh - our Lord The Spirit expressed Himself toward the flesh & spirit of the disciples. The Church, itself one of the Secrets, began to be." [adapted from Charles Williams)

Compare Romans 8:8-17; Gal. 4:6; Matt. 10:19-20.