Eternity (Times of Refreshing Radio) — Peter Brandon

Hello friends, it's a warm and friendly greeting to you from your friends here at the Voice of Melody Victoria. This is Harry Venton presenting today's program of Times of Refreshing. We are pleased to be able to share this half hour with you, and it is our prayer that our time of fellowship together will be a blessing to you.

Today our guest Peter Brandon continues with his interesting heart-searching meditations from John chapter 5 and verse 24. This will be the fourth of the series of five messages from this great verse in the Bible, so stay tuned.

Now musically we open our program with the song entitled The Light of the World. Friends, did you notice the seven descriptive I Am titles given to our Lord Jesus Christ in John's Gospel come through in the song we just listened to?

The Seven “I Am” Titles Reveal Christ’s Deity

We read of these seven I Am titles from chapter 8 through to chapter 15. They tell us what Jesus is and also direct our thoughts to his deity. No other person could speak with such authority and claim to be the light of the world, the bread of life, the door into heaven, the good shepherd who giveth his life for the sheep, the resurrection and the life, the way, the truth and the life, and the true vine.

Who also can claim with authority to be the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega? None, only our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who created all things at the beginning and the one who will bring to a close the divine plan for the human race on earth.

Just as Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, so the Lord Jesus Christ is the one who begins and ends the divine program in this world. Friends, the day is fast approaching when he will close the curtains on the stage of time.

In the light of this, it is our desire and prayer that through our weekly broadcasts you come to know Jesus Christ in a personal way as your Saviour and Lord. Now following our next recording, Peter Brandon will bring us our devotion for today.

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! Oh, what a foretaste of solely divine salvation! This hope of his is my story, this is my song! Praising my Saviour all the day long! Perfect delight, visions of rapture now burst on my sight!

Angels descending spring from above! Echoes of mercy, whispers of joy! This is my song, dear Lord!

John 5:24 and the Promise of Everlasting Life

Back to the old scripture, can I just quote it to you, dear friends, again? This living word of God given to us by the Lord Jesus. Truly, truly, I say unto you, He that hears my word and believes on him that sent me has everlasting life.

We have seen true authority, I say unto you. It demands honesty, you must hear his word. It includes dependency, we must believe on him that sent me. And then it gives us true eternity, hath or has everlasting life.

Now what is everlasting life? Some people think it's some kind of stardust from heaven. Other people think it's a kind of a spiritual jewel that God gives to us from his holy sight. Well, my dear friends, it's nothing like that at all.

Everlasting life is the life of the Lord Jesus. You see, in John's gospel it was written for three reasons. Number one, that we might believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Number two, that we might believe in him.

And number three, that we might have life through his name. And therefore when you go through John's gospel, you will find that in every chapter there is an expression of life. For instance, in John chapter one, he is the source of life.

In him was life. In John chapter three, we find he is the new birth of life. In John chapter four, he is the water of life. In John chapter five, he is eternal life. In John chapter six, he is the bread of life.

In John chapter seven, he is the river of life. In John chapter eight, he is the light of life. So you can see in those chapters, there is this wonderful expression of life. And the Lord Jesus is the source of it all.

In him was life. And the life was the light. And come, he says, that ye might have life, and that ye might have it more abundantly. And therefore I repeat again, that eternal life is the life of the Lord Jesus.

Christ’s Life Radiated in His Incarnation

And he came into this world to radiate and to demonstrate the glory of that life. That is why you never find the Lord Jesus depressed. You never find the Lord Jesus miserable. You never find him irritated.

You never find the Lord Jesus even having some kind of physical sickness. You see he had the abundance of life. But then you might say, well, how is this eternal life given? Now, we know today that there are all kinds of transplants.

For instance, if you've got a bad kidney, you can have a transplant. In fact, in some parts of the world, you can have a new heart. And they give you even a transfusion of blood. But one thing that we cannot do, we cannot transfuse or transplant life into a dead body.

The Holy Spirit Indwells Believers

But God can. You see, my dear friends, there is a person of the Trinity called the Holy Spirit. He is unseen, but he is the indwelling agent of the Trinity. And he can come right into your body and bring into your body eternal life.

When the Lord Jesus was with the disciples, he said that it was absolutely necessary for him to go away so that the Holy Spirit might come, because he wanted not only to be with them, but note this word, in them.

In them. They were totally baffled by that. But on the day of Pentecost, when they were in that little upper room praying, and the Holy Spirit came, and that was the birthday of the church, he came upon them as of a rushing mighty wind, and cloven tongues of fire set upon each of them.

The wind filled the room, and the cloven tongues of fire set upon each of them, and right at that moment the Holy Spirit indwelt them, and eternal life came into them. Now this really delights my heart.

Just as I'm sitting in this small studio, and you're sitting in your home, nearer to you than anyone else there is the Holy Spirit. He's there in that room, and he is waiting to indwell you. And my dear friends, there are only two things stopping the Holy Spirit from coming into your life.

Cleansing from Sin Through Christ’s Blood

One is your sin, and the other is your will. I'm quite sure of this, that most of us, when we moved into our house, we cleansed it and purified it before we brought in our furniture. If we could afford it, we would put up new paper and get even new furniture, and then we would come into the house.

Now the Lord cannot come into our lives whilst they're unclean by sin. And all of us, no matter who we are, we are unclean by sin. The Bible says, all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. We are all as an unclean thing.

Therefore before the Holy Spirit can come in, there must be a cleansing that satisfies God. Now that's why Jesus died. He died on the cross, he shed his precious blood, so that our sins might be forgiven once and for all.

And the Scripture teaches that the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin. Therefore our sins can be forgiven, and there can be that cleansing. But inside every human being, there's a piece of mechanism called will.

It's just like the switch on your television. You can switch it on, you can switch it off, according to your own choice. And when the Holy Spirit comes near, you can receive him, or you can reject him.

Dear friends, may I say this to you? Receive him. Because he wants to bring into your body eternal life. And when he comes into your body, he will make his home within your spirit, and he will bring all the essence of eternal life, so that Jesus Christ can be manifested in you.

Trusting God’s Word Rather Than Feelings

I'm sure some are saying, when shall I know that I have him? You will know that you have him immediately you believe and trust him. And when you trust him, he comes to you in the person of the Holy Spirit.

And the scripture makes this great promise. Believes on him that sent me, has, present tense, has, present tense, everlasting life. And when everlasting life comes into you, slowly, gradually, in a very lovely way, the Holy Spirit will transform your life.

So that the very nature of the Lord Jesus will be seen in you. And that's the lovely thing about Christianity. When people receive Christ into their lives, the Lord Jesus doesn't mar them, but he beautifies them.

He brings his peace, he brings his joy, he brings his love, and he beautifies the whole life. So that when you get near to these people who have had eternal life, you begin to see the lovely facets of the Lord Jesus in them.

A Church Elder Learns to Trust Christ’s Promise

I was having a series of Bible readings in Glasgow, among the Church of Scotland people. And there's some delightful people in the Church of Scotland. And after a series of these meetings, three people stayed behind.

One was a church elder, the other was his wife and another lady. And they shared with me their reactions concerning the messages that I gave. And the church elder said, quite frankly, when I first heard about personal sin, I was a little inwardly upset.

But I searched the scriptures and found that you were right. We'd all broken the commandments and therefore we were guilty before God. I said, well that's splendid, I'm glad you've submitted to that. He said, one thing came as a revelation.

When you spoke on the cross, you mentioned that Christ died for our sins and died for us not only collectively, but individually. Now he said, I've never understood that. But I realized that Christ died for my sins.

And his eyes just filled with tears as he said it. I knew he felt it. Then he said, you gave us that scripture, everyone that calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And I went home with my wife and asked the Lord to save us and come into our life.

But nothing happened. The Lord every night. And I've got very fervent about it. But nothing seems to happen. And then I said this, now faith is twofold. It's trusting Christ and trusting his word. It's Christ that saves you, it's the word that assures you.

Now I said, can I help you? And I turned him to John 5 verse 24. And I asked him to read it. And he read through the scripture. And then I asked him to stop at the word, I got rather a shock. The other lady that came, she was from the Church of Scotland.

A Woman Receives Assurance by Believing John 5:24

And she said this, I got the same experience as my two friends. I was shocked about personal sin, but I accepted it. I believed that Christ died for my sins. And I went home and asked the Lord to save me, but nothing happened.

And then I said to her, you've got to now depend upon what the Lord says. Not what you feel. What the Lord says. If I gave you a promise, you would accept that? Yes, we would. Now the Lord gives you a promise, and he wants you to accept that.

And his word is infallible. So I said to the lady, would you read John 5 verse 24? And this is what she did. She put on her reading glasses, and she read it slowly. Truly, truly, I say unto you. She said, I've got that, haven't I?

God speaking to me. Yes. He that heareth my word. She said, I've heard that, haven't I? Yes, you have. And believes on him that sent me. Well, she said, I do believe. Do you think my faith is faulty? No, I said, it's not a big faith in a little saviour.

It's a little faith in a great saviour. Oh, yes. And then she read, hath everlasting life. And she closed the Bible, and with a frown she says, well, I sincerely hope I've got it. Now, I said, you're not submitting to the words of the Lord Jesus, my dear.

I said, read that scripture again. And she read through it. Truly, truly, I say unto you. And she mumbled, I've got that. And heareth my word. She said, I've got that. And believes on him that sent me.

I understand that. Has everlasting life. Oh, she says, I sincerely hope I've got it. No, I said, you're not believing what the Lord says. He says, has, you're saying hope. Can I read it again? I said, if you like.

And this is how she read it. Truly, truly, I say unto you. Hmm, I've got that. He that hears my word, and I've heard that. Believes on him that sent me. I see that. Has everlasting life. And then she turned to her friend and said, well, according to Jesus I've got it.

I said, say that again. According to Jesus I've got it. I said, say that again. According to Jesus I've got it. Oh, I've got it. She believed his word. May God help you. To stand upon his promise. And claim everlasting life.

Prayer to Trust Christ’s Promise

Shall we pray? Lord, just help someone now. To claim, to trust the claim of the Lord Jesus.

You have been privileged to hear another clear presentation of the way of salvation.

As an individual, you are personally responsible for the decision you make in accepting or rejecting God's free offer of salvation. The Bible says that salvation is unto all. And to every man, woman, boy and girl, there is an invitation given for them to accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour.

But alas, how few accept the invitation. There is a wonderful promise given to those who do receive Christ as their Saviour and Lord. And this promise is found in John chapter 1 and verse 12. To as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.

This promise is effective the moment you believe. In that moment you become one of the family of God.

O what a pleasure and delight for me.

Friends, as we bring our program to a close, we remind you of our free cassette offer. A copy of this program is available to you free and postpaid. To obtain your copy, just address your request to. When writing, be sure to mention in your letter this number.

The mailing address again is. This program has been a radio missionary outreach of the Christian Brethren Assemblies of Victoria and is made possible by God's provision through His people. Friends, it's been great being with you today and we invite you to join us next week for the last of Peter Brandon's messages on John 5 and verse 24.

Till then, this is Harry Vent and on behalf of Peter and the Voice of Melody team wishing you God's richest blessings. And remember, keep looking up.

You will wash away. You will wipe away.