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THE GREATEST BLESSING

By George W. Sinquefield

(John 3:16 KJV)  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

        I invite you to think with me on, "The Greatest Blessing." "That whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life."

        God offers to man, through Jesus this great blessing. Many do not seem to understand what it means to be saved. It means more than any of us can ever tell. It means that those who are saved will not perish, but have ever lasting life.

        Now, just what does Jesus mean when He promises that those who believe in Him "will not perish?" He means that they will never be lost, never cease to be saved, never go to hell.

        A man once came to Charles H. Spurgeon, with a portion of scripture. "There now," he said, "Can you tell me what that means?" With a twinkle in his eye Spurgeon replied, "Why, of course I can tell you what it means. It means just what it says.

"But, oh, what light and glory
Would shine o'er all our days,
If we always would remember
God means just what He says." -- A. B. Simpson.

        If a saved person ever goes to hell, then John 3:16 would become a lie.

        "If one person ever proved to me, one time, that God ever told a lie, I would brand everything He ever said as one monstrous lie." Keep in mind that God can not lie, that it is impossible for God to lie.

(Titus 1:2 KJV)  "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;"

(Heb 6:18 KJV)  "That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:"

        In John 3:16 "perish" is used not of the body but of the soul. It is used in a spirited sense not in a physical sense. What, then, can this word "perish" mean as used of the soul? It means something awful, the extreme evil that can befall the soul. It points to that final condition of ruin, a condition which is the culmination of a present process. The Bible says of the lost that they are now perishing.

(1 Cor 1:18 KJV)  "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God."

(2 Th 2:10 KJV)  "And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved."

        In these three verses "perishing" is used in a progressive sense. One who is lost is perishing by degrees. Notice in Romans 6:23;

(Rom 6:23 KJV)  "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

        "The wages of sin is death." This death is also progressive. A lost person is dying spiritually be degrees. He is deader today than he was yesterday and will be deader tomorrow than he is today. When physical death comes he'll die eternally. That is what it means to "perish."

        At the day of judgment Jesus will say to that multitude on His left, "Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels." This is what it means to perish. "And these will go away into everlasting punishment." This what it means for the soul of man to perish.

        We can rest assured that the saved will never perish. Let Christ, our Savior speak to us --

(John 10:27 KJV)  "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:"

(John 10:28 KJV)  "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand."

(John 10:29 KJV)  "My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand."

Life -- Everlasting Life

        This is, indeed, the greatest of all blessings. The lost are dead in sin and will be until they come to Christ who alone can give life -- spiritual, eternal, everlasting life.

(Rom 6:11 KJV)  "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord."

(John 5:24 KJV)  "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."

       Those who accept Jesus as Savior are raised out of a state of death into a state of life.

(John 11:25 KJV)  "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:"

(John 11:26 KJV)  "And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?"

(Col 2:13 KJV)  "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;"

(Eph 2:12 KJV)  "That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:"

(Eph 2:13 KJV)  "But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ."

       Life -- everlasting, eternal life is ours when we believe in Jesus.

(John 1:4 KJV)  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

(John 14:6 KJV)  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

(John 6:33 KJV)  For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

(John 6:34 KJV)  Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.

(John 6:35 KJV)  And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

(1 John 5:12 KJV)  He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

(John 10:10 KJV)  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

(John 3:36 KJV)  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

        The words, "everlasting life," suggest simply endless duration. Even the lost have this but it is everlasting torment in hell but not eternal life which comes through Jesus.

        One writer tells us that the two words "eternal" and "everlasting" are translated from the same Greek word. One is rendered "eternal" and the other "everlasting" but in both cases it should be "eternal." Eternal life is a life of bliss and happiness. The thought of a supreme quality of life is evidently present when our Lord says, "This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God." This life we have in Christ is of such quality that death cannot destroy it. It is the life of God and in II Peter 1:4 we are told that a Christian is a "partaker of the Divine nature. " This life does not recognize death as a barrier but as a doorway, not as defeat but victory, not as disappointment but fulfillment, not as separation but as reunion, not as frustration but as freedom.

        This life is not thought of according to the ANew Testament only as life after death but life over death. This life is the greatest possession of the Christian. "This message of eternal life as a present possession is the greatest that the Christian pulpit can declare."

        The New Testament makes it clear that the Christian does have this eternal life now. It is not that he'll have it in the future, it is a present possession.

(John 5:24 KJV)  "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."

(John 6:47 KJV)  "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life."

       "Hath" means "has" -- the believer has eternal life now -- the moment he or she believes in Jesus as Lord and Savior. Many who are saved do not have assurance of eternal life. Charles C. Ryrie, in his book "So Great Salvation" says,  "Eternal security is that work of God which guarantees that the gift of salvation, once received, is possessed forever and cannot be lost. Since security rests on God's guarantee, its truthfulness, then, does not rest on my feeling or experiences."

        John wrote the Gospel of John that people "might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through His name." He wrote his epistle for people who have already believed that Jesus is the Christ but who do not have the assurance of salvation. He says, "These things I write unto you that believe, that ye might know that ye have eternal life."

(1 John 5:12 KJV)  "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life."

(1 John 5:13 KJV)  "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."

       An American ocean liner encountered a severe storm while crossing the Atlantic. A sailor on duty on deck was washed into the waters. The cry went up, "Man overboard." One grabbed a life preserver and threw it over the stern. In a few moments he felt a tug on the line and he shouted to the man in the water, "Have you got the line?" "No, but the line has got me." He had slipped the life preserver over his shoulders and under his arms. He realized he didn't have enough strength to hold on.

        Notice again the great promise given us in John 20:27-29.

(John 10:27 KJV)  "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:"

(John 10:28 KJV)  "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand."

(John 10:29 KJV)  "My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand."

        How grateful we ought to be for eternal life which was made possible through the awful death of Jesus

        A boy was swimming and drifted out too far. He called for help and a man walking along the shore heard his cry. He quickly too off part of his clothes and went in after the boy. He got the boy back close enough so he could walk to shore but then he collapsed and drowned. The boy called for help, people gathered and soon the lifeless body was brought to shore. When the people saw the body, they began to weep. It was the body of a man who was loved and respected by all who knew him. One man turned to the boy and said, "Son, I hope you will live the rest of your life trying to prove that you're worth the life that was given for you."

        May God help us to live and serve in such a way that the world will know that we're grateful for the life given that we might have eternal life.

        I may be speaking to some who do not have this eternal life, who are today perishing. The word "forever" is written upon the soul of every person. It will be forever in heaven or forever in hell. You will either forever perish or forever enjoy eternal life. The choice is yours.

        Years ago Dan Baker related an ocean incident. He told how a transatlantic passenger stood at the rail of a vessel on a sunny day, tossing a tiny object into the air, then catching it as it fell.

        "What are you throwing around so carelessly?" inquired a fellow passenger.

"Look at it," offered the first passenger. "It is a diamond."

        "I suspected such when I saw it sparkle dazzlingly in the sunlight," commented the inquirer. "Is the stone of much value?"

        Absolutely! Look at the color and size of it! The fact is, I have invested everything I own in the world to possess that diamond. I'm going now to a new country to seek my fortune."

        "Well, if it is so valuable, and if it means so much to you, why do you risk losing it by tossing it around so carelessly?"

        "No risk, really," commented the passenger, throwing the diamond up and catching it again. "I've been doing it for half an hour!"

        "But what if you miss the catch just once? You'll be ruined."

        The man at the rail laughed uproariously. He continued tossing up the stone. But in a moment he stretched to retrieve the diamond -- he stretched as far out over the rail as he could reach. The stone had been thrown just a short distance too far. It splashed into the sea. After the initial shock the owner gasped, "Lost! Lost! All I have in the world is gone!

        "No one would have been that great a fool," people told Dan Baker. "The story is not true."

        "The story is true! Baker would insist. Then confronting the objector, he would suggest, "You may be that man! The ocean is eternity. The ship on which you sail is life. The diamond is your soul. Have you been trifling with it?"

        Nothing is as valuable as a person's soul. No gain is greater than its salvation and no loss severer than its condemnation.

        This greatest of all blessings, eternal life is yours if you want it. "Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

        A Christian girl lay on what proved to be her death bed, and the family doctor had turned sadly away to whisper to her parents, "I am afraid her life is just ending." Quietly as the words were spoken, the dying girl caught them, and with a radiant smile said, "No, doctor, not ending -- just beginning." She was about to enter into the complete and final experience of something she had already possessed on earth -- "everlasting life."

        This eternal life can be yours now if you'll accept Jesus as your Savior.