WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE
[p. 402] WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE
Acts 5:19 - 21; John 6:67,68; Luke 8:49 - 55
The subject in these scriptures — life — is a very extensive one, and is found in a multitude of other scriptures. Its first mention in the Bible is in Genesis 1, on the third day of the creation, as we know it. We have there life in vegetable form, and on the sixth day we have life in the especial form in which it is known in man — what we speak of as human life.
These features of life, treated throughout Scripture, all point to the incoming of Christ in whom life was. It was in Him as a source, so that the evangelist John, after stating the deity of our Lord in the most absolute terms, begins by saying, “In him was life and the life was the light of men” John 1:4; not simply a light to men, but the Light. And then it says, “There was a man sent from God his name John. He came for witness that he might witness concerning the light” John 1:6,7 Such is the character of this light, and the darkness into which it came, that witness had to be rendered to it; attention had to be called to it, and then it adds, “He was not the light” John 1:8 The true light is that which came into the world shedding its light on every man. It is not discriminating any more than the sun is. The sun shines on all kinds of men; it has no respect of persons, or nations, and so it is that this life in Christ becomes light to men — to men, whatever their nationality or colour, or status in life; this light shines on all. It is indiscriminate. That is the true Light; a word that has to be noted.
Now I want to speak of it, beloved brethren, first of all as to what that Light was here among men, for that is what is alluded to. It is what it was here in the Word become flesh. It was a delightful life to [p. 403] God. It was fragrant in every way to Him, so that in this passage in the Acts, the angel opens the doors of the prison in which the apostles were, and says, “Go ye and stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life” Words in Scripture have to do not only with the thing in a general way, but in detail. We find in the Old Testament David is an illustration of this. All his actions were written, as we learn in the first book of Chronicles, but in Samuel we have his words — “the last words of David” Much stress is laid on words spoken by men who had faith — not corrupt communications; the Christian understands that no corrupt communications should proceed from his mouth. It is said, “And in whose spirit there is no guile” Psalm 32:2 and “Neither was guile found in his mouth” 1 Peter 2:22 And so the men of faith spoke. Take a man like Moses, too; the book of Deuteronomy is a record of his words; not what he was told to say as in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, but what he said. “These are the words which Moses spoke” Deuteronomy 1:1. And so with others; Jephthah, for instance, “uttered all his words before Jehovah in Mizpah” Judges 11:11 a reminder of how our words should be uttered; this should be as before the Lord. We have to give an account of them to Him, and it is said, “By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned” Matthew 12:37 How important, therefore, that right words should be uttered. We have, as I said, of David, “These are the last words of David” 2 Samuel 23:1 The Holy Spirit has recorded them, and then we have in the first book of Chronicles, “the acts of David the king, first and last” 1 Chronicles 29:29; we are told that they were written by such men as Samuel, Nathan and Gad.
We have thus beforehand the divine thought as to the life of Christ here in men who foreshadowed Him, and not only foreshadowed Him, but, in some degree had His Spirit. Moses had the Spirit of Christ;
[p. 404] David had it also, and so too the prophets. “The Spirit of Christ” as we are told, “which was in them”. 1 Peter 1:11 Thus words and actions of men of faith were precious to God. And so in every way was the life of Christ precious to Him. The Sadducean authorities at Jerusalem jailed the apostles because they were witnessing to this precious life, and so heaven moves and opens the doors and releases the ministers, and enjoins them to “go ye and stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life” “This life”; it is, as I may say, the eternal present, for it remains in all its fragrance before God.
Now, I want you, beloved, to dwell on this in its universal bearing. But while the Scriptures do not contain all the words they contain enough to preserve and guard the truth, to be, as it were, banks between which the river of God, living, sparkling, life-giving, and refreshing, continually flows. We have from the pen of John, the loved disciple, that if all the things that Jesus did were written, the world itself would not contain the books. So that on God’s part while there is no limit to what might be recorded, yet, what is written, need I say, is the most perfect, the most complete, the most forceful, the most searching in every respects of all books. In fact no book is worth the name save as based on the Bible. But it is not an attempt to be exhaustive, nor will any true minister of Christ attempt to be exhaustive; the truth is that the subject is inexhaustible; and so the Bible is not exhaustive, it is just enough; it is like the dimensions of the ark of the covenant, which was two cubits and a half, a cubit and a half both in breadth and in height. While you look at the ark you are reminded that there is something more, a half that way, a half this way, and a half the other way. Every way you look at it you are reminded that there is something more; as when the queen of Sheba came up and saw Solomon’s grandeur and glory, she said,
“The half was not told me” 1 Kings 10:7 What her eyes had seen exceeded all that she had ever heard; and so it is, that every time you read Scripture, every time you hear about Christ, you are impressed that there is something more; what is written is only to suggest to me what there is; so also as to the blessed Spirit of God; although a divine Person, He is called “the earnest” So you see we have the thing as it were in sample, awaiting the time when God will bring us into the inheritance in all its fulness and blessedness. We, as believers, have to do with divine Persons, having been baptised to the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit. Now what does that mean? It is not in the name, but to the name. It is not protection only thus revealed; I am introduced to all that is presented in God. As John says, speaking of this very subject of life, “That which we have seen and heard we report to you, that ye also may have fellowship with us; and our fellowship [is] indeed with the Father and with his Son” 1 John 1:3 “These things write we to you that your joy may be full” 1 John 1:4 This then is the message that “God is light ... but if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship with one another” 1 John 1:5,7 We are thus introduced, dear brethren, into all that there is in God — all that there is in the Father, and in the Son, and in the Spirit, with the result that we are to be filled unto all the fulness of God.
Well now, coming back to the words of this life, they are not all in the Scriptures; as I say, they all lie in the Spirit. We read that none of Samuel’s words fell to the ground, and we may be sure, beloved, that none of the words of Jesus shall fall to the ground. We are sure they fell into good and honest hearts of men and women, for that is where they fall; they find a home there; they form character there; they produce life there. That is what they do, for the light that was in Him becomes life in us. That is the principle in spiritual things,
[p. 406] that the light coming in, where there is faith, becomes life. We have an illustration of this in John 2. There were six waterpots empty, and the Lord told the servants to fill them to the brim, and they did so; and He said, “Draw out now” and what was drawn was wine. There was a change — the light coming into the soul where there is faith becomes life, and in time it becomes light for others, and hence the continual extension of light; the darkness is passing and the true light now shines. The true light is true in Christ and true in us; it is not only what is in Christ, but what has become life in me by the light that has shone into my heart; and this life becomes light to others as it shines out in me.
And so the apostles were enjoined to “go ye and stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life” Peter and John and James and all the others were to do this. They said much more than is written down in the Acts. If all the sermons preached by these three men, by Paul in his long, patient devoted life, by Barnabas, by Timotheus, and the countless devoted men since, had been written down by the Spirit of God and put together, what a record we should have! There would not be repetition. The apostles did not repeat each other, nor does any true brother or minister of Christ repeat others. He preaches what the Lord gives him; it is a question of what he gets by the Spirit of God. But take all these together and yet I do not believe you would have all the words of this life. The presentation of it goes on; it covers the dispensation. It is a question of what is ministered in the power of the Spirit; but that is not what I had before me; it was what the life itself was, what it was to God as here in this world, as John says concerning it, “which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes ... and our hands handled concerning the word of life” 1 John 1:1 It is not only what Christ spoke, but what it said [p. 407] about Him — the words of it. The words which convey it, and all of them were to be spoken. One would covet being able to speak a word to convey something in a living way of that life. One would have to go over the details of the different gospels to give you an idea. Really all I can do now is to mention this great subject; it is vast, it has to be looked at in all its features; the life of Jesus — what it is in Matthew; what it is in Mark; what it is in Luke; what it is in John. Beloved, let the words of it come into our hearts; let them germinate there, and we shall become like Jesus: “That the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body” 2 Corinthians 4:10 I want to come now to John 6, just to say a word about the words of eternal life. “The words of this life” refer to Jesus as here; “words of life eternal” have to do with the blessing that God has purposed for us, that His love has devised for us, for men. We want the words of that, dear brethren. Who of us would not earnestly seek to get something of these details? The expression ‘eternal life’ is one of the most familiar amongst the people of God. It is a relative term. It stands over against natural life with its limitations; limited by a few years with every one of us, with its sorrow, with its untold sorrow, with its plagues, with its weaknesses and its end in death. Eternal life stands over against these as a divine gift; as that which God promised before the world began. Think of that! That which God had in His mind for us in giving His Son. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believes on him may not perish” John 3:16 — meaning that we are perishing, the healthiest of us are perishing. It is not a question there of judgment, but of perishing. It is the state we are in. God wants us to live in an everlasting way; eternal life is not only a vital principle in me, but an order of things, an environment in which all is of God; where [p. 408] there is neither decay nor death. It is the characteristic blessing of God; and John opens it up to us as the gift of God — the great blessing of God. As the Lord says, “I give them (my sheep) life eternal, and they shall never perish” John 10:28 It is a gift. Now that is the general idea of it. Then there are the details of it. They are known through the words of it. All I want to do tonight is to direct you to the One who has them. There was a drift away from Christ, recorded in this passage, for the reason that He was speaking things which were spiritual. He says, “The words that I speak to you, [they] are spirit and [they] are life” John 6:63 Hardly any of us is capable of listening much to spiritual things. Here they turned away from Him. Many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him because of the spiritual things He was saying; because He spoke words that were spirit and life. He was saying, “My flesh is truly food and my blood is truly drink. He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood, dwells in me and I in Him” John 6:55,56 “Hath it” — not shall have it, but hath it. He was saying also, “He also who eats me shall live also on account of me” John 6:57 The natural man says, ‘How can this man give us His flesh to eat?’ They were unspiritual; the natural mind will lead us to turn away from Jesus in the very presence of the most spiritual communications, the most essential ones, too. And so those things become a dead letter to us. You will find as the Holy Spirit introduces Himself with living power, it is a question of being spiritual. It stands over against the natural, the carnal mind, as you see in the saints at Corinth, and so they were shut off for the moment from spiritual communications. Paul says, “We speak wisdom among the perfect” 1 Corinthians 2:6 to “men, who, on account of habit, have their senses exercised for distinguishing both good and evil” Hebrews 5:14 that is the kind.
Turning to Luke 8, the child was dead; for introduction [p. 409] into life is a question of God’s sovereign action. She had come to the age of responsibility, for she was twelve years old. This case presents the Christian as living from the outset of his relation with God in responsibility. He is made to live by the power of God. We may say that forgiveness comes first and justification, but in the mind of God the believer is to live from the very beginning, by the reception of the Spirit, for the Spirit is life; the Spirit is life in view of righteousness, and moreover the mind of the Spirit is life and peace. God would have us in that blessed state; not only forgiven and justified, but in actual life; enjoying life and peace. God loves us, and He would have us in a living condition from the very beginning of our responsible relations with Him. The Father raises up the dead and quickens, so the Son also quickens whom He will. He says here, “Child, arise. And her spirit returned, and immediately she rose up” The Lord put out the sentimental people, and when I refer to them, I refer to my own heart. I am naturally sentimental. We are naturally full of feelings that are against the Spirit of God, and so the Lord puts them all out. They had derided Him, knowing that the child was dead. He knew the fact as well as they, but He could say, “She has not died, but sleeps” All were weeping and lamenting, but natural feelings, however right, only interfere with divine power, and so the Lord put them all out. Is it not important that we should shut out those natural feelings and sentiments? If we do not, we shall not live; we shall not live practically; so the Lord puts them all out, and in putting them out, He brings in Peter, and James, and John, and the father and mother of the child. Now Peter, James and John, not only represent spiritual feelings and intelligence, but also certain principles. I believe Peter represents the government of God, the administrative side which restrains and [p. 410] orders things; and John and James bring in the love side, the family side. The father and mother represent parental responsibility. These features involve the environment in which life is developed. Then we have the Lord Himself, who is the resurrection and the life. He is going to make the child live. All is in a spiritual setting; it is not simply that the child is raised up, but that she is raised up in this setting in a spiritual environment. That is what you want and so the Lord says, “Child, arise” — ‘maid’ is not correct here — it is “child” according to the better version, because it is a question of being of the family. She is a child, but a child made to live. He says, “Child” taking hold of her hand. It is a question of His power. He has power to quicken. “For even as the Father raises the dead and quickens [them], thus the Son also quickens whom he will” John 5:21 He takes her out of death, and He commands that something should be given her to eat, that is to say, that new fresh life is to be sustained. John 5 is the quickening power of Christ, and John 6 is the food by which the life is sustained, and Christ Himself is the food by which the quickened believer lives; spiritually the ‘something’ is Himself. The One who quickens me, is the One by whom I live. I eat His flesh and drink His blood. “He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood has life eternal ... As the living Father has sent me and I live on account of the Father, he also who eats me, shall live also on account of me” John 6:56,57 The One who quickens is also the food. What we get in the verses read in Luke 8, is the young, fresh life which God intends should mark all the saints now. It is specially developed in the epistle to the Colossians.