Please go ahead and open to the book of 1 John if you would. 1 John chapter five this evening is where we will be spending our time in God's word. And in recent weeks, we've been drawing our series on the epistle of 1 John to a close rapidly. And when Pastor Curtis asked me to preach tonight, he had originally asked me to cover the entire rest of the epistle. And as I was preparing throughout the week, I asked him permission if I could cover this message really in two parts. Tonight, we're gonna be covering a portion of this passage, actually 1 John 5, 14 through 17, and then, Lord willing, another time we will cover verses 18 through 21. But we're gonna begin by reading our passage this evening in 1 John chapter five, so if you'll follow along with me, I'm gonna begin, actually in verse 13, and pick up where we left off, reading through verse 17. 1 John chapter five, beginning in verse 13. John says, 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 you may believe on the name of the Son of God. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. And if we know that he hear us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, Would you pray with me as we open God's Word this evening? Father, I ask that as we have read this text, Lord, I pray that you would use it to instill in us an appreciation for, and Lord, an understanding of the eternal life that you have given to us. Lord, the eternal life that we can experience, not only in the future, but Lord, that we can experience on an everyday basis. Lord, I pray that this message, these verses, That they would speak to our heart in such a way that we would go out from here energized, Lord. Lord, encouraged, excited about the life you've called us to live. Lord, may we even practically be able to live out some of these truths by the power of your spirit working in us. Lord, thank you for the truths of this text and the time we can spend on unfolding them. And I pray that you bless every aspect of this time we spend together. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. Have you ever had a once-in-a-lifetime experience that was so great that you wished you could experience that every single day of the week? How many of you have ever had an experience like that? Just so great, you just wanted to have it every single day. Well, you know what? A couple summers ago, I was in Denver, Colorado during a 10-week pastoral internship. And a man in the church that I was working at said that he would like to treat me to a round of golf one afternoon. And of course, I took him up on it, if you know anything about me and the sport of golf. And it didn't take me long to realize that this round of golf was not going to be the average round of golf that I was accustomed to. You see, as I started researching the course we were going to be playing at, what I found is that had I been paying for my round myself, which thankfully I was not, I would have been paying $120 for 18 holes of golf with a cart for about four hours of fun. And you know, this was the kind of course where, as you pull up to the drop-off area, there were clubhouse attendants who would come and meet you at your vehicle. They would unpack your clubs for you, take them directly to the cart, no need to bother you. They even offered to park your car for you. This was the kind of course where as you were heading to the practice facility, the driving range, there were complimentary Gatorade and water bottles that would usually cost about $2.50 or $3 at any other course. They were free. Just take what you need. This was the kind of course where once you were on the driving range, there was unlimited amount of practice balls for you to hit. I wasn't accustomed to that. And so I got hit in a way, and I quickly became tired. I couldn't even play the rest of the round because I hit too many balls before the round. But no need to pay any extra. Hit as many balls as you would like to warm up. This was the kind of course where the conditions of the course itself were just as good, every bit as good as what I would see on TV, on the professional courses. Really, this was even the kind of golf course where the same clubhouse attendants that met us in the first place would meet you after your round, would offer to clean your clubs for you before loading them into your vehicle and wishing you on your way. And if you ask me, really, that's my kind of golf course, all right? I could get used to that. You know, I have to admit that as I was researching this course and expecting the experience I was going to be able to have, looking forward to playing this round of golf, I have to admit, I was pumped. All right? I was ecstatic about the opportunity. I couldn't wait to have that kind of golf experience. You see, I knew that this wasn't the kind of golf experience that I get to have on an everyday basis. And so I was greatly anticipating the chance to have that experience in the near future. You know, as I look back on that experience, I wonder if that's not the same way that many of us tend to think about the experience of eternal life. You see, according to 1 John 5.13, which we've already read, believers can confidently know that we have eternal life. And for many of us, when we hear that, we get all excited about the time coming when one day we will be able to have the experience of eternal life someday. But what if I was to tell you tonight that believers in Jesus Christ can confidently experience eternal life right here and right now. What if the Bible were to teach us clearly that eternal life is not only a future event, but it is also a present experience for the believer in Jesus Christ? You know, in fact, I believe this is exactly what John is telling us in 1 John 5, verse 13. He says, These things write I unto you, that ye may know that ye, present tense, it's a present tense verb, you are having eternal life. You see, if you're a believer in Jesus Christ this evening, you not only have the future expectation of eternal life, but you also have the present experience of eternal life. You can confidently experience eternal life every single day of your life. And so that's why I've titled the message tonight simply this, Experiencing Eternal Life Every Day. As I mentioned, really this is the subject matter for the entire end of the epistle. We're going to cover it in part one tonight. We'll cover part two a little bit later. But here's the point, that you and I as believers Don't only have to look forward to this coming experience that's going to be great and grand. We can experience the joys of eternal life right here and right now. We can experience them every day of our life. You know, if you were to have told me or tell me now that I could have the kind of golf experience that I just described to you a few moments ago, if I could have that every day, I would be ecstatic. I would be jumping up and down with excitement. And you know, probably for you, it's not a round of golf, but if you could have that luxurious vacation experience, if you could have that gourmet dining experience or that adrenaline pumping experience that you love to experience, if you could have that every single day, you would be ecstatic too. So a question I want to ask in introduction tonight is this, are you ecstatic? about the fact that you can experience eternal life every day. Does that cause joy to well up with you? Does that get you excited? Does that make you wanna jump up and down with joy? Well, you know what, it should. And you know, just in case it does not, I wanna answer some questions tonight. I really wanna answer two questions tonight to help us, first of all, appreciate the experience of eternal life, but also to understand how we can experience this kind of eternal life in our everyday life. So two questions tonight. First of all, what is eternal life? And then secondly, we'll ask, how do I experience it every single day? But first of all, let's answer this question. What is eternal life? You know, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I have the privilege of teaching a Bible class for fifth and sixth graders here at Burge Terrace Christian School. And I try to, throughout class, try to ask them a lot of questions to make them think about things and also to help them stay engaged. And you know, if I were to ask this question to my fifth and sixth grade Bible class in this upcoming week of classes, I'm pretty sure I know what some of the answers would sound like. You know, most of their answers would probably sound something like this. Eternal life is living forever after our bodies die. Or maybe eternal life is going to heaven forever someday. You know, I took the opportunity this past week to ask Google, what is eternal life? And the short answer that Wikipedia actually gave me, it was at the top of my search results, said this, eternal life traditionally refers to continued life after death. You know, if I were to ask this question to the audience here tonight and feel some answers from you, our answers would probably sound much the same. And granted that these answers are true answers in part, I believe that they're also incomplete answers. And the reason that I think that these are incomplete answers is because they solely focus on the quantity of eternal life to the neglect of the quality of that life that we experience. You see, these answers, they really fail to answer the question, what kind of life will we live after our bodies die? You see, our hearts aren't confidently assured to know just that we are going to live forever. As great as that seems, I can think of a lot of experiences that wouldn't be great to live within forever. But our hearts really want to know, what quality of life will we live forever? What is this kind of life that we experience? And so the question is, what is eternal life? Not only quantitatively, but qualitatively. And I really believe that the same apostle John, who tells us that we have eternal life, he also tells us what it is. And he does so in his gospel, John chapter 17, verse three, I'll have this up on the screen for you, where John says this, and this is life eternal. You want to know what eternal life is? John's going to tell us. This is eternal life that they, being Christians, might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. Eternal life that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. I don't know about you, but it doesn't seem to get much more clear than that. Eternal life, then, is knowing God and Jesus Christ. Or if you wanted to be more precise, eternal life is knowing God through Jesus Christ. Because it's in the person of Jesus Christ where we come to have a full understanding of who God is. Eternal life is having a personal relationship with God through the person and the work of Jesus Christ. So to answer, what is eternal life? Well, it's not only living forever. I'll put it this way. It's living forever with God. You see, eternal life is a gift of having a personal one-on-one relationship with the God of the universe based on the person and the work of Jesus Christ. And really the best thing about this gift is that it can never be taken away from us. You see, John tells us more about this eternal life in John chapter 10, verse 35. We know it well, but it says this, and I give unto them eternal life. According to that verse, eternal life is something we possess, it's a gift, it's been given to us. And because we possess eternal life, what is the result? It says they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my father's or my hand. You see, eternal life is a gift that can never be taken away. So back in 1 John 5.13, What did John mean when he said that we can know that we have eternal life? Well, I believe that John is confidently assuring you And he's confidently assuring me that we presently have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and that relationship will never, ever, ever end. Now that is something to get excited about. That is something to be jumping up and down ecstatic about. You see, that makes any golf trip, that makes any vacation, that makes any dining experience seem trivial in comparison to this experience of eternal life. You see, this is the kind of experience that the believer can have on an everyday basis, a personal relationship with God and Jesus Christ that will never, ever end. You know, in a minute, as I said, we're going to move on to our second question. But before we do, I want to ask some personal questions for you to consider tonight. First question is directed towards confident and assured believers that are here in the room tonight. Let me ask this to believers in the room tonight. Are you enjoying presently your experience of eternal life? Are you enjoying eternal life right here and right now? Or is it just something to you that is off in the future someday? Someday there'll be joy in eternal life. Are you enjoying eternal life right now? And you know what my fear for us as believers here at Burge-Terrace Baptist Church is that we may live our lives as if the joys of eternal life are only yet to come. You know, many times our lives in public are not characterized by the ecstatic joy and enthusiasm that should be present in a joyless, hopeless world. And many times our relationships with other believers are not characterized by ecstatic joy and enthusiasm that should be present within the body of Christ. maybe even possibly many times our public worship here in this place is not characterized by ecstatic joy and enthusiasm that should be present when we gather together for public worship. And if truth be told, many times, really, there is nothing about our experience of eternal life that we claim to possess that is attractive to the unbelieving world around us? Is there anything about your experience presently of eternal life that is attractive to the unbelieving world around us? You see, unbelievers should be able to observe our joyful experience of eternal life in our public lives. And they may not know what it is, but they look at us and they say, I don't know what that person has, but I want it too. And unbelievers should be able to see two believers joyfully experiencing eternal life in their relationship. And they should be able to look at that. Maybe it's in a friendship, maybe it's in a marriage. And they look at those people and they say, I don't know what they have, but I want it too. You know, unbelievers, they should be able to Observe our joyful experience of eternal life when we gather here for public worship. And they should be able to look around the room and say, I don't know what these people have, but I got to get in on it. I want it too. You know what? It is possible tonight, even, that someone here in this room has yet to believe in Jesus Christ and therefore receive this gift of eternal life. Maybe there's someone here tonight who has yet to enter into a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ that lasts forever. You know what, if that's the case for you tonight, can I share with you something to be ecstatic about tonight? And that is the fact that eternal life is available to you, even tonight. A personal relationship with God that can never be taken away is available for you tonight. Can I remind you of the most familiar verses in all of scripture? John 3.16, for God so loved the world. That's everyone. That's you. And what did he do because of his love? It moved him to send and give his only begotten son so that whosoever, including you, if you believe in Jesus, you shall not perish. But you know what? It doesn't just stop there. It's not just that we're gonna avoid hell and get to go to heaven, but what else do we get if we believe in Jesus? We get eternal life. We get a relationship with God that doesn't have to wait until we get to eternity. It can start right here and right now. And if you're here tonight and you don't have that kind of relationship, let me urge you tonight, if you have not believed in Jesus Christ alone or received his eternal life, don't leave here without doing so. It's available. And there are no shortage of believers in this room who would love to speak with you on an individual basis about how you can experience this kind of eternal life every single day and on into eternity. You see, this is the eternal life that we are talking about. We've answered the question, what is eternal life? Really, that was preparing us for verses 14 through 17. And we answered that question because I really hope that your appetite has been wet so far to answer the next question. You see, I could have asked, how do we experience eternal life every day? And maybe for you, you don't have a strong desire to experience eternal life every day. But now that you have an understanding, now that we realize how great and how grand this eternal life is, Our next question should be this, how do I experience eternal life every day? You see, this is the question that John seeks to answer in the closing verses of this letter, and we'll cover verses 14 through 17 tonight. We'll cover verses 18 through 21 next time. And as John answers this question, I believe he points to two ways in which we can confidently experience eternal life every day. We'll cover the first way tonight, and then the second way comes in the next passage. But what is one way that we can confidently experience eternal life and everyday life right here and right now? Well, John turns his discussion and says that we can experience eternal life every day, first of all, in prayer. We can experience eternal life every day in prayer. Look at verse 14 with me, if you would. He says, and this is the confidence that we have in him. Now, perhaps you have a translation in front of you that reads something like this. This is the confidence we have toward him or before him. And really the idea is that we can have confidence when we are facing God, we can have confidence when we are in his presence, when we are with him, spending time with him, And the word confidence here really carries the idea of openness or transparency. You see, it conveys to us that we can boldly be open and transparent when we are with God and spending time with him. You know, I want you to stop and think about a friend of yours that you can be completely open and transparent with in your relationship. Think about that kind of friendship. This is the kind of friendship that you feel 100% comfortable when you're around this person. You're confident. You can be yourself. You can be honest and forthcoming. You can say what's on your mind. without fearing what'll be thought? You can really ask this person for just about anything. Can you think of that kind of relationship? A relationship that's that open and that transparent that you experience that kind of confidence when you're with them? Well, did you know that that is the kind of relationship that we can have with God? John says we can boldly, openly, transparently come into the presence of God. Now, before we go any further with that, I believe it merits the question, how is it that we can have this kind of confidence when we are with God? I mean, who are we to presume that we can have this kind of relationship with the eternal God of the universe? How presumptuous is that? And you know, I won't have you turn there tonight, but I believe the answer is found, at least in part, in Ephesians chapter two, in verses 13 through 18, which says this, but now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ, for he is our peace, who hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us. and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby, and came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them which were nigh, for through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. And I'll repeat that last verse because it's so important. For through him, who's the him? Jesus Christ. Through Jesus Christ, we both have access by one spirit unto the Father. How is it that we can boldly have an open and transparent relationship with God? Well, it's because on the cross of Calvary, Jesus Christ shed his precious blood for your sins and for mine so that we could be reconciled to God and call him, get this, our father. We can call him our father and we no longer are God's enemies who are held at an arm's distance. No, we are children whom he welcomes into his very presence. You see, this is what experiencing eternal life every day is all about. It's a moment-by-moment relationship with our Heavenly Father in prayer. Now, the question that we must next answer is this. If praying to God is a major way that I can experience eternal life every single day, then how should I pray? Because I wanna experience this eternal life every day. I don't know about you. And I know that I have the right and the openness and the boldness because of my relationship with God through Jesus Christ. I can come into his presence and I can commune with him in prayer, but how should I pray? How should I pray in a way that I can most benefit and most experience this kind of eternal life that is available to me because of my relationship with God? How should we pray? And I believe in our text, John goes on to answer this question by discussing two ways in which we should pray. First of all, he tells us that we should pray with confidence in God's plan. We should pray with confidence in God's plan. We find this in verses 14 and 15. Would you look at it with me? He says, And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. Now, Pastor Curtis dealt with this text in part as a part of the morning message. And so we're not going to linger on these verses very long, but I do want to look at them one more time. John says, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. You see, the believer making requests of his father is a part of experiencing eternal life. This is a way in which we experience a relationship with God, is by coming to him as our father and asking things from him, just as any child would do. And when we ask for these things, if they are consistent with God's will, John says that we can be confident that he will give them to us. If we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. What does it mean that he heareth us? Does it just mean that he listens and then decides what he's going to do? Or listens and says, you know what? That's okay. I just hear you, but I'm not going to do anything about it. No, verse 15 tells us what it means that he heareth us. It says, and if we know that he hears us whatsoever we ask, according to his will, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. See, in other words, because a believer has eternal life presently, because we have this personal relationship with God as our Father, we should pray with confidence in God's plan, knowing that God will always answer according to His will. Let me ask you tonight, when you pray, do you have confidence? And specifically, do you have confidence in God's plan for your life? You know, sometimes in a basketball game, a team will shoot a shot from way behind the three-point line, in desperation, late into the game, and maybe the announcer will say something like this. He throws up a prayer, right? Or maybe in a football game, quarterback in the last seconds at the close of a game will throw the football 50 to 60 yards down the field with the hopes that somebody will catch it in the end zone for a scoring touchdown and the announcer will say something like, he throws a prayer, right? You know, sometimes I wonder if that's the way we pray to God. We have no assurance or confidence even hears us in the first place. We have no expectation that he will answer according to his will. And you see, that's not the way that God wants you to experience eternal life. That's not the way he wants you to experience your relationship with him. You see, he wants you to spend time with him in prayer, first and foremost, He wants you to ask for things according to his will. And so that means that we must know what his will is in order to pray according to it. And he wants us to have confidence in his plan. He wants us to trust him. And when we come before him with our requests, we can be confident that when we ask for certain things, God will give them to us if they are according to his will. When we ask our heavenly father for things, he will give them to us. And you see, it's not a matter of getting what we want. Really, it's a matter of getting what God wants. And that's what we covered this morning. And Pastor Curtis already admonished us in this area. And I'm so thankful that God has led us to this text to reinforce the fact that when we pray, we should pray with confidence in God's plan. But you see, not only does John tell us that we should pray with confidence in God's plan, also in verses 16 and 17, we find that we should pray with concern for God's people. I don't know about you, But when I pray, I have a tendency of praying predominantly for myself. And maybe you find yourself in the regular habit of making requests, which aren't wrong. God wants us to make requests, but do you realize that God wants us to pray every bit as much for other people as he does for ourselves? And in this text, John is gonna make it clear that we should not only be concerned about ourselves in prayer, we should also be concerned about others. Let's look at verses 16 and 17. John says this, if any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin that unto death, I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin and there is a sin not unto death. You know, so far, John has encouraged us to be concerned with our own experience of eternal life, right? But you know what, in these verses, John is encouraging us that we should also be concerned with how other believers are experiencing eternal life as well. And so he says, if your brother in Christ commits a sin not unto death, you know what you should do? You should pray for him. Now, before we talk a little bit about that phrase, sin unto death, First of all, I want us to focus on something. I want to ask us something. Before we get to a discussion on that part of the text, what is your first reaction when you see a brother or sister in Christ committing a sin? Is your first reaction to pray for that person? You know, I think if we're all honest, far too often, that is not our immediate reaction. Far too often, our reaction is to be critical of that brother or sister in Christ. Far too often our reaction is to just mind our own business, kind of turn a shoulder like we didn't see that brother or sister sinning. Far too often our reaction is to gossip with others and talk to others about that sin rather than talk to God about that sin. John says we should pray with concern for our brother. You know, many times praying for a sinning brother or sister in Christ is the last reaction that we tend to have, but here John tells us it's our first reaction. We should, if we see a brother or sister sin, we should ask, we should pray for that person. Now, what about this phrase, sin unto death, or sin not unto death? What is that all about? You know, I thought that all sins were sins unto death, right? Well, you know, a couple of things I think would help us to understand. First of all, I think it's helpful to understand that John is not talking about any one specific sin that a believer can commit. Rather, he's talking about a category of sin, okay? It's a kind of sin, not one particular sin. And secondly, I think it's important for us to understand how John typically uses the terms life and death. You see, when John talks about life and death in most of his writings, he is almost always talking about spiritual life and spiritual death. In other words, when he talks about death, he's talking about a spiritual death that results in an eternal separation from God. So when John says that this brother is sinning a sin not unto death, He's talking about a sin which does not result in spiritual death. This is some category of sin that does not result in eternal separation from God. And what category of sin does not result in spiritual death? You know, I believe that this is clearly referring to the category of sins that are committed by believers. You see, scripture teaches very clearly that even though a believer might sin, he is not in danger of facing spiritual death, right? Even though a believer in his experience of eternal life will commit sins, he is not in danger of losing eternal life. John makes that very clear himself in his own writings. You see, this believer may not be experiencing eternal life as he should be, but because he is sinning as a believer, we can say that he's not sinning unto death. You know, as we look back in our text, the next question may be this, well, then what about later in the verse when John says, there is a sin unto death? So if a sin not unto death is a sin committed by a brother, remember he says, if you see a brother or sister in Christ, And this is a sin that doesn't result in spiritual death for that believer because they have eternal life and they're never gonna lose that. There is forgiveness that is available for that sin. It's covered as we've been saying tonight. What is this sin that is unto death? The end of verse 16, sorry. John says, there is a sin unto death. I do not say that he shall pray for it. Well, obviously, there is a sin that does lead to spiritual death and it does lead to eternal separation from God. And you know, I believe that this is the same sin that was committed by the antichrists that were talked about earlier in this epistle. Remember that? There were those who were denying that Jesus Christ had come in the flesh. And therefore, they were rejecting Christ's saving work on the cross, his vicarious atonement for them. And by rejecting that message of salvation in Jesus Christ, these were those who were sinning a sin resulting in spiritual death. You see, if you deny Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, And if you reject his saving work on the cross, there is no other result but a sin that leads to eternal separation from God. And so John says that there is a sin that leads unto death. And he says this, I do not say that you shall pray for it, that he shall pray for it. And that can confuse us because it may seem like John is commanding us that we should not pray for this individual or this group of people. Really, John isn't prohibiting us to pray for this person who is sinning unto death. But really what he's saying is that the kind of confidence that we can have in praying for a sinning believer is not the same kind of confidence we can have while praying for an unbeliever. Because remember what John said about the believer in Jesus Christ in 1 John 1. He said if that believer confesses his sin, what will God do? He's faithful and just to forgive that sin and to cleanse him from all unrighteousness. And so for the sin of the believer who's sinning not unto death, there is a possibility. And not only a possibility, John actually talks about It is not possible for a believer to continue in sin. A believer in Jesus Christ will repent, will confess, and will receive eternal life. Look at verse 16 again. When we see our brother, a believer in Jesus Christ, sin a sin not unto death, we should pray. And what will be the result of this prayer? It says, and God will give him life. for him that sinneth not unto death." God will restore to that believer an experience of eternal life that God wants that believer to have. And even if that believer dies with unrepentant of sin in his life, God will still grant that believer eternal life in heaven one day. There is a sin that is not unto death and there is forgiveness for that sin. And we can have confidence when we pray for a brother and we see him in sin and we ask God to grant him life, God will grant him forgiveness. God will grant him a restored relationship. God will restore him to his experience of eternal life. You know what, this is what John's talking about in our prayers. We should not only be concerned with our own experience of eternal life, but we should be concerned with the experience of other believers. And when we see a brother or sister in Christ who is not experiencing this relationship with God the way that they should be, we are to pray for that individual that God would restore them, that God would give them life, and that God would, as he promised, give them eternal life one day. And so this is what we should pray for. And before we move on to our conclusion, I wanna suggest tonight that it could be possible that if you're here tonight and you say, I am not experiencing this ecstatic joy in my experience of eternal life. Maybe even for you, you've been struggling with assurance of salvation. There's doubt in your mind and confusion about your spiritual state. Can I suggest to you that you could be like this brother, sinning a sin unto death, And what you need is to be restored to that experience of eternal life. You need that forgiveness that God promises if you confess your sin to Him. Look at verse 17. John says, all unrighteousness is sin. You see, just because there is forgiveness for a sin not unto death doesn't mean that that sin isn't a big deal. It is. All sin is unrighteousness. But John goes on and says, but. there is a sin not unto death. Aren't you glad that there is a sin that is not resulting in spiritual death? Aren't you glad that as a believer in Jesus Christ, even though we stumble and we sin, that we can have a restored experience of eternal life presently, and we will have the promise of eternal life on into eternity? Aren't you glad for that? And when we look around at other believers in our assembly, and we see them sinning, you know, our concern for them should not be that they need to get their act together, or they're reflecting badly on my spiritual testimony. No, do you know what our concern for them should be? It's that that believer is not experiencing eternal life, and the joys of a relationship with God, and I'm gonna pray for them, and I'm gonna go after them, and hopefully, not just hopefully, confidently, I know God will forgive their sins and grant to them eternal life despite their sin. You see, tonight, we've been encouraged to experience eternal life, not just in the future, but every single day. And so just by way of conclusion, I wanna ask four closing questions to you. First of all, are you ecstatic about your experience of eternal life? You know, I could be here tonight and you're like me when I was anticipating that golf trip, that golf event. And I was excited about what I was going to be able to experience because I thought it was a once in a lifetime experience. And so far it has been. And maybe that's the way you've looked at eternal life, that someday you're gonna experience that kind of joy, that kind of ecstatic excitement. Maybe for you, you need to realize tonight that that kind of joy in your personal relationship with God is available tonight. And it may be that you aren't experiencing it because of some sin in your life. And it may be that you're not experiencing it because you really didn't have an understanding of what eternal life is, but remember, this is eternal life to know God, to have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. And so for the believer tonight, are you experiencing this? Are you ecstatic about it? Second question I'd like us to consider tonight in closing. Are you experiencing eternal life in prayer to your father? Do you have a daily habit? Not only just a daily habit, but even as we are encouraged this morning, do you have a lifestyle of prayer to God? Do you realize that you can have an open and transparent conversation with God, just like any child would with his father? See, a child doesn't hesitate to run into his father's office, even when nobody else would, and just have an open and transparent conversation with him. That's how we should be with God. Do you have that kind of relationship? or you are experiencing that eternal life, that personal relationship in prayer, communing with God on a moment-by-moment basis, if not, you can. And you see, it's not that we should pray because we have to, and if we're not praying, well, shame on us. Really, we should be praying, and if we're not, we're missing out. Because we're not experiencing eternal life right here and right now. We're waiting for it to come, but it's available to us tonight. Are you experiencing it in prayer? Then thirdly, do you pray with confidence in God's plan? Are you like the announcer on the sports game that comments that we just throw up a prayer We just hope that something good will come out of this. And we really just, you know, we hope for the best. Or do you pray with confidence, knowing that if you pray God's will, and if in all your requests, you submit yourself to the eternal plan and will of God, that He is going to grant that to you. Do you pray with that kind of confidence? You know, perhaps the reason we don't experience this confidence is because we don't know the character of God as well as we should. Maybe it's because we haven't tested and tasted to see just how trustworthy our God is. And because we haven't experienced his trustworthiness on a regular basis, we don't pray with confidence. But you see, for the believer who knows God, who's tasted and seen that he is good, and he gives good gifts, and his will is perfect in all of its ways, to that believer, he can pray with confidence, knowing that God will grant his will according to his request. And then finally, do you pray with concern for God's people? Do you pray selfishly? I think many of us struggle with the tendency to be selfish in our prayer lives. And like I mentioned, there's nothing wrong with us praying for ourselves. In fact, God wants us to be concerned about our own experience of eternal life. But when we see a brother or sister that is living in sin or committing a sin that is robbing them of their joy, that is preventing them from experiencing this kind of personal relationship with God? They're not experiencing eternal life in the present? Do you care for that, brother or sister? Do you realize that there is hope, that there is a sin that leads not unto death, and that God's will for that believer is that they be restored? and that they experience eternal life not only in the future as they will, but they continue to experience it in the present. Are you concerned about that? You see, in our church, we should not only be focused on ourselves, looking to our own spiritual growth. As we grow spiritually, we should be concerned about everyone else's spiritual growth. And you know where it starts? Before we say anything to an individual, Before we go and apply other areas of scripture in rebuking and confronting a believer, you know where it starts? It starts by praying with concern for God's people. Are you experiencing eternal life the way that God intends you to? Let's bow our heads and close our eyes as we finish. You know, it could be tonight that as a result of one of these questions we asked in closing, that something needs to change in the way that we think. And not only in the way we think, it needs to change the way that we act. And so for the believer in Jesus Christ, realizing that you can experience eternal life every day, specifically in prayer, Maybe you need to commit yourself to a renewed relationship with God in prayer. And when you pray, maybe your prayers need to have a confidence in them that they've lacked. They need to have a concern for others that they have lacked. And so as a believer in Jesus Christ, if you need to confess to the Lord and ask for His cleansing and His changing power, then I encourage you to do that tonight. And maybe for anybody in this room, as I mentioned earlier, if you do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior and you've not received His eternal life, I encourage you to call upon Him tonight. get some answers, allow someone to show you how you can experience this kind of eternal life, not only in the future, but every single day. Father, as we close in prayer, I do ask that you would not only to assure our hearts that we are believers in Jesus Christ and that we have eternal life, but Lord, help us to experience it this week. Lord, you've given us a very practical way to enjoy our relationship with you, and it's through prayer. And God, unlike any other relationship that we have, you are available to us 24-7 at all times. You're never busy. Father, you always have time for us. And in fact, you welcome us and you ask us to come before you in prayer. Father, forgive us for the lack of time spent enjoying eternal life, and Lord, enjoying other things of this world. Lord, help us this week to a new and a fresh experience this kind of life, experience this relationship through prayer. Father, may we pray confidently and may we pray with concern for ourselves and for others. And we ask these things in Jesus name. Amen.