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HIS DISCOURSE by one 
 
 who was a spiritual success, 
 is one of several manuscripts 
 left in care of his sister by 
 the writer, and is sent out to his friends 
 and to those who might be interested, 
 both as a memorial and in the belief 
 that this work, labored over during 
 many long years of suffering, bears 
 upon it the stamp of a wholesome 
 earnestness and a spirituality which can 
 not but be a help to those who read. 
 
What is Eternal Life? 
 
 WIRT DEXTER BINGHAM 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
Copyright, 1910 
 By MILLISENT BINGHAM 
 
 Printed by 
 
 Thi Stanlty -Taylor Company 
 San Francisco 
 
Of THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 Of 
 
 Sntrobucttott 
 
 "And this is life eternal, that they might know 
 thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom 
 thou hast sent." John 17:3. 
 
 After all, words are not very adequate vehicles 
 for the expression of thought. This phrase, life 
 eternal, for instance, doubtless brings up in your 
 mind and in mine, varying ideas as to what is 
 included therein. And yet, if you and I do 
 not get from this phrase the meaning which 
 Christ, the speaker, intended, it should bear, we 
 must necessarily have a false idea, or an entirely 
 inadequate one, of what it really means. 
 
 It is quite a usual custom for people to import 
 into written words their own conceptions. In- 
 stead of taking from a verse of the Bible that 
 meaning which Christ put into it, they put into 
 the verse their own conceptions, and imagine that 
 they are getting Christ's meaning, when this is 
 not the case at all. 
 
 This is, and has been for many centuries, the 
 cause of more religious confusion than any other 
 one thing; and the prevalence of fragmentary 
 
 2045 
 
 00 
 
iv INTRODUCTION 
 
 Bible study has undoubtedly contributed to this 
 result. Also the too-common custom among 
 ministers of selecting for a text a verse of the 
 Bible, and from that text landing almost any- 
 where, is another cause of mental confusion. 
 
 It is often quite possible to land almost any- 
 where by selecting one verse of the Bible for 
 a text, and preaching a whole sermon from it. 
 Witness the many ministers during and previous 
 to the Civil War, who defended slavery from 
 the pulpit. Witness today the defense of poly- 
 gamy among the Mormons. 
 
 All we have to do to land almost anywhere is 
 to take from the Bible what seems desirable to us, 
 and let the rest go. Instead of extracting the 
 real Christ-given meaning from a verse by 
 checking it up with the rest of Christ's words, 
 and thus getting the real meaning, the custom 
 has been too common for the minister to take 
 the text and import quantities of his own con- 
 ceptions and ideas into it. 
 
 The result of this course of proceeding must 
 be that our conceptions are often wrong, even 
 where we think we are right. We cannot take 
 truth in teaspoon doses and have any reasonable 
 assurance that it is the truth. 
 
INTRODUCTION v 
 
 Truth, as given in the Gospel of Christ, is a 
 veritable network, each strand of which supports 
 not only one, but many other strands; and one 
 could not be truly said to have a fair under- 
 standing of any truth therein contained, except 
 they possess a fair understanding of every other 
 supporting truth there given. 
 
 Truth is not composed of many different 
 fragments placed together, but is in itself a 
 perfect and complete whole. The moment any 
 part of truth is detached from the main body 
 which supports it, it becomes not only a possi- 
 bility to force this fragment of truth into a 
 meaning entirely foreign to it, but an almost 
 inevitable consequence of such detachment; this 
 part not being in its true position in the arch 
 of truth, the whole structure is slightly deranged. 
 
 Let us, then, endeavor by every means in our 
 power to fill out the meaning of the phrase life 
 eternal in the way in which Christ intended it 
 should be filled out. Let us endeavor to extract 
 all that fullness of meaning from these words 
 that Christ intended they should contain. 
 
 In order that we may get this full meaning, and 
 get it correctly, there appears to be but one 
 course of action open to us, and that is : To 
 
vi INTRODUCTION 
 
 search the Gospel of Christ for other refer- 
 ences to this same thing eternal life. 
 
 You notice I say this same thing, and not 
 these same words eternal life. There are other 
 expressions which Christ uses to convey this 
 meaning, as, everlasting life. Everlasting means 
 eternal. According to Webster, these two words 
 are synonyms, the only difference being that 
 eternal means without beginning and without 
 end; while everlasting simply means without 
 end. Therefore, as applied to all beings having 
 a definite beginning, eternal must refer to the 
 future only, and is absolutely identical in mean- 
 ing with everlasting whenever so used. 
 
 What we seek is the meaning, be the words 
 what they may. We seek Christ's conception of 
 the thing itself. 
 
 By taking all references which Christ makes 
 to eternal life and placing them together, we shall 
 obtain the fullness of his meaning, with least 
 chance of error. 
 
 If at any time it may appear that I wander 
 from the subject, or repeat the same quotation 
 with what seems undue frequency, I trust that 
 you will bear in mind what I have said about the 
 whole network of truth, and remember that I am 
 
INTRODUCTION , vii 
 
 trying to make plain some of these supporting 
 strands, without which a proper conception of 
 any single one strand would be impossible. 
 
 This will also render apparent the necessity 
 for quoting a much larger proportion of Scrip- 
 ture than is usual in works of this nature, but 
 I trust the high prize sought for: truth as in- 
 terpreted by Truth; truth as interpreted by 
 Christ, may be ample excuse for inflicting as few 
 interruptions of my own upon you as can be got 
 along with. Certainly the more we can interpret 
 the words of Christ by the words of Christ, the 
 less our chance of error. 
 
 In this attempt I must also ask your kind 
 indulgence toward my shortcomings, since I 
 shall unquestionably fall very far short of doing 
 this work as I should like to do it. 
 
 WIRT DEXTER BINGHAM. 
 
 Santa Monica, California, 
 April 25, 1909. 
 
OTfmt i* eternal life? 
 
 SECTION i. "And this is life eternal, that Definition of 
 they might know thee the only true God, and 
 Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." John 17: 3. 
 
 First we learn as above, that life eternal is : 
 to know God and Jesus Christ; that is, he that 
 merely knows them has eternal life. 
 
 We have all been acquainted with notable 
 members of that class of people who continually 
 misinterpret the motives of others, even when 
 those others are noble-minded people, imputing 
 to their noblest actions motives of self-interest 
 the motives which under the same circumstances 
 would actuate them. They not only appear to 
 be, but really are, unable to conceive of anybody 
 doing a noble act, untinged by motives of self- 
 interest. 
 
 For instance, you have all probably come in 
 contact with people whose sole idea of honesty 
 is to keep within the law; in whose opinion 
 any act is all right which cannot be punished by 
 process of law. They could no more understand 
 any one being honest for the sake of honesty 
 itself, than they could sprout out wings and fly. 
 
2 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 These are the people who say, when they hear 
 of any noteworthy, honest action such as a 
 man's returning a pocketbook found containing 
 a large sum of money: "What a fool he was, 
 why didn't he keep it? He needed the money." 
 
 So it is with them; anybody who does any 
 action of this kind is, in their estimation, either 
 a fool or a religious crank. Such an act is 
 beyond their comprehension; they do not know 
 honesty. 
 
 The mere power to comprehend in its fullness 
 a noble act, is from the same block as the act 
 itself of the same spirit. In order therefore to 
 know God; to comprehend* him not his infin- 
 ity, but the motives of his doing we must par- 
 
 * Webster would doubtless take exception to this use of the 
 word comprehend, since he says: "The very idea of God sup- 
 poses that he may be apprehended, though not comprehended, by 
 rational beings." 
 
 Now, nothing can be surer than that God comprehends him- 
 self. Paul says: "For ye are the temple of the living God; 
 as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and 
 I will be their God, and they shall be my people." (II Cor. 
 6: 16.) In so far, then as God does dwell in us, in so far as 
 we are one with him; in just that measure do we comprehend 
 him. 
 
 Therefore the word comprehend in this limited use, expresses 
 the meaning I wish to convey better than apprehend, which 
 means to mentally grasp. Now one cannot know God by the 
 mind alone; the process of knowing God involves the heart and 
 soul as well as the mind. 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 3 
 
 take of his nature. That Spirit which is in him 
 must also be in us. 
 
 If then that Spirit be in us which is in him, 
 shall we not have eternal life? Are not both 
 God and the Spirit of God eternal? 
 
 If his Spirit forms a part of us, we shall be 
 eternal as he is eternal; consequently to know 
 God is eternal life to merely know him. 
 
 We can only learn to know God through the 
 words and life of Christ : "No man cometh unto 
 the Father, but by me." (John 14:6.) There- 
 fore he who learns to know God, must also learn 
 to know Christ, since knowledge of both is 
 therein contained. 
 
 SECTION 2. In John 6 : 27, we find : "Labor Labor 
 not for the meat which perisheth, but for that "^"jfe* 
 meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which meat of 
 the Son of man shall give unto you." Christ ' s Gospel 
 
 Everlasting life, as we have seen, expresses 
 the same meaning as eternal life and thus we 
 have here another conception of eternal life. We 
 are instructed to labor for that meat which en- 
 dureth unto eternal life which Christ gives 
 unto us. 
 
 On looking around to see what possessions 
 Christ has left unto us, we find that there is but 
 
4 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 one his Gospel, which he has given unto us; 
 that he has sacrificed his life for us, in order 
 that he might leave to every individual man, 
 woman, and child as a precious personal pos- 
 session, his Holy Gospel. 
 
 But every personal possession we own is valu- 
 able according to the use we make of it, and 
 the word of Christ is no exception to this rule. 
 If we make no use of it, save as a parlor orna- 
 ment, that will be the extent of its value to us. 
 If, on the other hand, we regard it as a most 
 precious personal possession, and labor diligently 
 for that meat the true meaning, which is in it; 
 if we make that meat our own, it will endure in 
 us unto eternal life, and thus be to us more 
 precious than all things. 
 
 The meat is there, but requires labor to ex- 
 tract it, to make it our own; even as God has 
 made it necessary that all the fruits of the earth 
 require labor expended upon them, in order to 
 make them useful to man ; whether merely gath- 
 ering, as in the case of wild fruits, or elaborate 
 processes of manufacture, as in the case of cot- 
 ton. Some form of labor is necessary in every 
 case. So he has also made it necessary in order 
 to accumulate spiritual possessions heavenly 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 5 
 
 treasures, that we must labor ; and the extent of 
 our spiritual possessions will be in proportion to 
 the amount of labor expended in their acquire- 
 ment, differences of soil and climate considered. 
 By soil I mean the individual nature of the man, 
 that in which the seed, or word of God, grows ;* 
 and by climate, the environment of the man. 
 
 The meat which the Gospel contains is surely 
 a right understanding of the word, that inter- 
 pretation which Christ himself intended it should 
 bear. If we get any other interpretation than 
 this, we get that out of it which Christ did not 
 put into it, and it consequently cannot be that 
 meat. 
 
 The meat, then, is not the mere words of the 
 Gospel, but the real Christ-given meaning back 
 of them. The word itself is but the lifeless 
 husk, open sometimes to many different interpre- 
 tations; the real meaning of the word is that 
 meat for which we must labor, sifting, comparing, 
 deriving, with God's help, that completeness 
 of meaning from the four Gospels, which any 
 single one of them must necessarily give in- 
 adequately. 
 
 * "Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God." 
 (Luke 8: 11.) 
 
6 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 Ch if the^ate'r SECTION 3- In John 4 : 13, 14, we find : "Jesus 
 of life answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh 
 of this water shall thirst again: 
 
 "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I 
 shall give him shall never thirst; but the water 
 that I shall give him shall be in him a well of 
 water springing up into everlasting life." 
 
 Here again we have everlasting life, which to 
 us is the same as eternal life. Hence he that 
 drinks of the water that Christ gives has eternal 
 life. And what is this water that Christ has 
 given us? Again we see that the only direct 
 possession that Christ has given to all men is his 
 Gospel. 
 
 He has given his life for all men, but his Gos- 
 pel to all men; hence his Gospel being the only 
 possession which he has bequeathed directly to 
 us individually, must be this water, or must con- 
 tain this water of life. Whichever be the case 
 is without importance, as long as we know where 
 this water is, and how to drink it; and it is 
 plainly evident that there is but one way in which 
 this water may be absorbed into ourselves, and 
 that is to read and meditate on the Gospel 
 wherein this water is, and it will thereby be in 
 us a well of water springing up into eternal life. 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 7 
 
 It were desirable that we drink abundantly, in 
 order that the well may be a deep one, and that 
 the water of life which flows from it may be most 
 plentiful; for why should we have but a little 
 rill of this water in us, when we may have a deep 
 and abundant flow? 
 
 Why should we have but a little eternal life, 
 perfect though it be, when we may have a deep 
 and abundant eternal (spiritual) life? For 
 Christ has given to us that very inexhaustible 
 well from which he derived his own eternal life, 
 the word of God. 
 
 SECTION 4. Continuing we find in John 6 : 54 Christ's flesh 
 and 63: "Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh t a h n e d t ^ u e d is 
 my blood hath eternal life" ; and in further ex- meaning of 
 planation, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the ^rJJJ* 
 flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak 
 unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." 
 
 What does this mean? It surely must mean 
 that the life, the eternal life is in the words 
 that Christ speaks, and that the flesh profits noth- 
 ing as flesh, but only as the Word. You recollect 
 John 1:14: "And the Word was made flesh, 
 and dwelt among us." 
 
 There is also a further lesson here, in the 
 manner in which he speaks of eating his flesh. 
 
8 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 Part of the food that we eat every day builds 
 up our physical self, becomes a part of our out- 
 ward self. In the same way this flesh of Christ, 
 the real meaning of the word, which we absorb 
 each day, builds up our spiritual self, becomes 
 a part of our inward self. 
 
 This likewise explains many references made 
 by Christ to being in us : as in John 14 : 20, "At 
 that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, 
 and ye in me, and I in you." If then, Christ be 
 in us ; being, as he is, eternal, if he be a part of 
 us; must we not be eternal, in so far as he 
 is a part of us? And if we are in Christ, form 
 a part of Christ, must we not be eternal, in so far 
 as we are part of Christ ? 
 
 Referring to the verse at the beginning of 
 this section we find that Christ says we must 
 not only eat his flesh, but drink his blood, to 
 have eternal life. 
 
 What was the blood of Christ, spiritually 
 speaking? It must have been that from which 
 his spiritual self was built up. Since blood is 
 that by means of which the physical man is built 
 up, and as it is derived from food; so, in a 
 spiritual sense, the blood of Christ must be taken 
 to mean that from which the spiritual man is 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 9 
 
 built up, that food which gives life to the spiri- 
 tual man. 
 
 Now, in seeking what gave life to the spiritual 
 part of Jesus, we find the following verse: "As 
 the living Father sent me, and / live by the 
 Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live 
 by me." (John 6: 57.) Since blood is that which 
 gives life to the physical man, it follows, spiri- 
 tually speaking, that the Father must have been 
 that blood which gave life to Christ. And, since 
 the Father could not dwell in Christ bodily, it 
 must have been by means of his Spirit, his in- 
 most self, that he gave life unto Christ. 
 
 Hence we find that to drink the blood of Christ 
 is to absorb into ourselves the Spirit of the 
 Father. And, therefore, to eat the flesh and 
 drink the blood of Christ means: to read the 
 word and absorb into ourselves the Spirit of 
 God. He that does this has eternal life. 
 
 Now there is another reference in John 6:51, 
 which would properly come under this section, 
 "I am the living bread which came down from 
 heaven : if any man eat of this bread he shall 
 live forever: and the bread that I will give is 
 my flesh, which I will give for the life of the 
 world/' To live forever is eternal life, as re- 
 
io WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 gards all beings having a definite beginning. 
 This verse fills in, and renders more forcible, the 
 matter we have just discussed. 
 
 There is here no reference to the blood, but 
 this in no way disturbs the correctness of our 
 previous conclusions ; since to "eat of this bread" 
 obviously means to absorb into ourselves the 
 true meaning of the word, and he who does this 
 absorbs into himself the Spirit of God. For 
 does not Paul say: "Even so the things of God 
 knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God." (I Cor. 
 2:11.) If, therefore, we know the things of 
 God, by absorbing into ourselves the true mean- 
 ing of the word, it is not we that know them, 
 but the Spirit of God in us. 
 
 Christ says: "It is the spirit that quickeneth; 
 the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I 
 speak unto you they are spirit, and they are life." 
 (John 6: 63.) It is plain that when Christ says 
 his words are spirit, and are life, that he does 
 not mean the mere symbols, but the true mean- 
 ings which those symbols are intended to convey. 
 
 Therefore the definition of eternal life which 
 we derive from this section is : eternal life is to 
 eat the flesh, and drink the blood of Christ; 
 which means to read the word of God, and ab- 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 11 
 
 sorb into ourselves the Spirit of God; or, what 
 is the same thing, to absorb into ourselves the 
 true meaning of the word of God. 
 
 That Christ spoke the verses above in the sense 
 in which they are here interpreted is rendered 
 clear, not only by the verses themselves and 
 their agreement with each other, but by the 
 fact that his mission upon earth was a spiri- 
 tual one, to give unto men eternal that is, 
 spiritual life. 
 
 SECTION 5. Continuing we find in John 12: The under- 
 49, 50 : "But the Father which sent me, he gave standing of 
 me a commandment, what I should say, and what mandment is 
 I should speak. And I know that his command- eternal life 
 ment is life everlasting." 
 
 We have here life everlasting again, which is, 
 in respect to us, the very meaning of eternal life. 
 These words which Christ speaks are the com- 
 mandment of God, which is eternal life. If then 
 these words, this commandment, be absorbed into 
 us, become a part of us, shall we not have eternal 
 life? If in the case of Jesus "the Word was 
 made flesh," in our case also shall not the word 
 be made flesh? 
 
 Shall we not by this method become one with 
 Christ? as mentioned in John 17:21 and 23: 
 
12 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 "That they all may be one; as thou, Father art 
 in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one 
 in us." "I in them, and thou in me, that they 
 may be made perfect in one." If our will on all 
 matters be changed by this absorbed word so as 
 to coincide with God's will, shall we not be one 
 in Christ, and through him in God also ? 
 
 Who can deny that this absorbed word of God 
 will produce this result? None surely of those 
 who in true humility of heart unceasingly search 
 the word of God for light, submitting their wills 
 unto the will of God, until finally they find their 
 will is becoming by the marvelous influence of 
 Christ changed so as to be more and more like 
 unto God's will, until at last when we are per- 
 fected in Christ, our will shall become even as 
 the will of God on all matters whatever. 
 
 Who can deny that while this changing process 
 is going on, Christ dwells in such ? Yes, that by 
 the blessed influence of Christ himself, this 
 change is produced? 
 
 Our definition of eternal life here then is, 
 eternal life is the commandment of God which 
 is the word of Christ. 
 
 He that has in him the true meaning of the 
 commandment of God has eternal life. 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 13 
 SECTION 6. We find in John 5:24: "Verily Dee P 
 
 TT 1 t meditation 
 
 verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, necessary 
 and believeth on him that sent me, hath ever- 
 lasting life; and shall not come into condemna- 
 tion ; but is passed from death unto life." Here 
 we have everlasting life again, which is equiva- 
 lent to eternal life. 
 
 Then eternal life is here composed of two 
 things, first, the hearing of the word; second, 
 the believing on him that sent him. Had these 
 things not both been necessary Christ would not 
 have put them here. The inference is plain that 
 the process of hearing should be followed in 
 natural order by the process of believing on him 
 that sent him; and this believing does not, of 
 course, mean a mere assent to the existence and 
 supreme power of God, but carries with it the 
 idea that we must, in some satisfactory degree, 
 know God; that we must know comprehend 
 his character as well as apprehend his power; 
 for how can we believe on that which we know 
 not, and how can we know without compre- 
 hending ? 
 
 Words are dead things. Ideas, thoughts, are 
 live things. Mere assent to the existence of God 
 and his supreme power is a dead thing. To 
 
14 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 know God, to comprehend his character is a live 
 thing, and therein is eternal life. The power to 
 know God and comprehend his character can 
 only be reached through Jesus Christ through 
 his word. 
 
 God is as far above man as the heavens are 
 above the earth ; man cannot therefore know and 
 comprehend God's character in any way what- 
 ever, save by the Spirit of God which he gives 
 unto us through the medium of his Holy Word ; 
 and this endowment with God's Spirit and conse- 
 quent comprehension of his character, with the 
 eternal life following, is not, and cannot be, the 
 result of mere formal reading, but of deep medi- 
 tation and thought on what we read. 
 
 TO believe on SECTION 7. We find in John 6 : 47 : "Verily, 
 ? l ? t i, i8 to verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me 
 
 seek the honor J ' J t J ' 
 
 that comes hath everlasting life." 
 
 from God Here again we have everlasting, to which 
 eternal is equivalent when applied to the future 
 life of man, and thus we have another definition 
 of eternal life. 
 
 To believe on Jesus Christ is eternal life. 
 Here we have a word, believe, to which we are 
 liable to attribute a wrong meaning, or at least 
 an entirely inadequate one, if we are not very 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 15 
 
 careful; as previously mentioned we are apt to 
 put our own meaning into a word, that meaning 
 to which we have been accustomed, instead of 
 that meaning which Christ has put into the word. 
 
 Now in John 5 : 44, Christ says respecting the 
 word believe : "How can ye believe, which re- 
 ceive honor one of another, and seek not the 
 honor that cometh from God only?" Here his 
 inference is plain, a direct statemert put in the 
 form of a question, that no persons can believe 
 who receive honor one of another, and seek not 
 that honor which comes from God only. 
 
 Here he makes plain that his use of the word 
 believe is not intended to convey merely the 
 meaning of mental assent to the fact that he is 
 the Son of God, and that we have eternal life 
 through him, though that meaning is also in- 
 cluded; but this belief to which he refers is 
 incompatible with any other condition of heart, 
 than that condition which seeks the honor that 
 comes from God only. 
 
 Do we seek this ? Here then is a test by which 
 we may know whether or not we possess a 
 belief unto eternal life. It is evident that we 
 must seek the honor which comes from God first 
 of all, since Christ says respecting the very 
 
1 6 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 necessities of life : "But seek ye first the king- 
 dom of God, and his righteousness; and all 
 these things shall be added unto you." (Mat- 
 thew 6:33.) 
 
 If then as between the very necessities of 
 physical life and God's righteousness we are to 
 seek first God's righteousness, how much more 
 ought we to seek first the honor which comes 
 only from God, as between the honor which 
 comes from man, and that which comes from 
 God only. For physical life cannot be main- 
 tained without food and clothing, but to be hon- 
 ored of men is not necessary either to physical 
 or spiritual life. 
 
 It is clear from what has been said that no 
 man is able to possess a belief unto eternal life 
 except he seek first of all that honor which 
 comes only from God ; for if he seeks that honor 
 second it is apparent that he will be in the posi- 
 tion of a man trying to serve two masters, and 
 Christ has said: "No man can serve two mas- 
 ters." (Matthew 6:24.) 
 
 Therefore the man who seeks first the honor 
 which comes from man, and second the honor 
 that comes only from God, cannot be a servant 
 of God, and hence cannot have eternal life, or 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 17 
 
 that belief in Christ which is equivalent to 
 eternal life. 
 
 SECTION 8. In John 8: 51 we find: "Verily, He in whom 
 verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, Christ ' s words 
 
 i 11 1 i -VT abide has 
 
 he shall never see death. Now never to see eternal life 
 death means eternal life, to us ; hence it follows 
 that eternal life is to keep Christ's saying. And 
 how can a man keep Christ's saying except he 
 first know the saying, and how can he really 
 know it except he read it diligently, and medi- 
 tate upon it without ceasing? For no man can 
 really know the saying of Christ except he under- 
 stand it. 
 
 He that keeps the saying of Christ must have 
 in himself the power of Christ, since the power 
 of man is not sufficient to keep the command- 
 ment of God perfectly; and that power of 
 Christ was by and through the word of God. 
 (John 12:49.) "For I have not spoken of my- 
 self ; but the Father which sent me, he gave me 
 a commandment, what I should say and what I 
 should speak. 
 
 "And I know that his commandment is life 
 everlasting." 
 
 Therefore in man also must this power of 
 Christ be by and through the word of God. 
 
 
 
i8 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 Christ says in John 15:4: "Abide in me, and 
 I in you." In verse 7 of the same chapter he 
 says: "If ye abide in me, and my words abide 
 in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall 
 be done unto you." Can this be explained on any 
 other supposition than that he in whom Christ's 
 words abide, will abide in Christ? Then if he in 
 whom Christ's words abide, thereby has Christ's 
 words in himself, will not both the will and the 
 power of Christ be there also, the will and the 
 power to keep Christ's saying? If then to keep 
 Christ's saying be eternal life, will this man not 
 have eternal life? 
 
 The righteous- SECTION 9. In Matthew 25 : 46, we find : "And 
 ne by W ftith is th ese shaN g away into everlasting punishment: 
 eternal life but the righteous into life eternal." 
 
 Here we learn that to be righteous is eternal 
 life. Now we know that God only is righteous, 
 in thought, word, and deed. Therefore it may 
 well occur to us to consider whether any save 
 God or Christ "I and my Father are one" 
 shall ever attain to eternal life. 
 
 We know that no man, as a man, has ever 
 attained or ever can attain to absolute righteous- 
 ness, since Christ says: "There is none good 
 but one, that is, God," (Matthew 19:17), and 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 19 
 
 since he also says concerning himself : "and the 
 third day I shall be perfected." (Luke 13:32.) 
 
 If then, even Jesus Christ did not regard him- 
 self as perfect while still in the flesh, it is plain 
 that none other can be perfect until after the 
 death of the physical man. We therefore know 
 that this life is for us a progress towards per- 
 fection toward absolute righteousness ; but 
 that we shall not reach this condition until we 
 are released from the bonds of the flesh; until 
 we are perfected in Christ and become one in 
 him. 
 
 Then shall we be perfect, as Christ has com- 
 manded us: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as 
 your Father which is in heaven is perfect." 
 (Matthew 5:48.) 
 
 Yet, though because of the bond of the flesh, 
 perfect righteousness is not possible to us here, 
 still that righteousness which is by faith in 
 Jesus Christ, and which has been mercifully or- 
 dained of God for men is possible to us. 
 
 For we can only have faith concerning those 
 things which are not yet perfectly attained to. 
 As Paul says in Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is 
 the substance of things hoped for, the evidence 
 of things not seen." If then there was no further 
 
20 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 righteousness to hope for, faith would not be 
 possible, since faith can only exist concerning 
 those things not yet entirely known or at- 
 tained to. 
 
 Hence it is not possible that men should reach 
 a condition of absolute righteousness here, since 
 to do so would be to render faith impossible, 
 while man is saved by faith. 
 
 If then our righteousness is through faith 
 only, let us be mighty in faith in order that we 
 may also here upon earth be mighty in righteous- 
 ness. And though we cannot of ourselves have 
 faith, let us even say to Christ as the apostles 
 said, "increase our faith"; for Christ is both 
 the beginner and finisher of our faith, and 
 except as we know and acknowledge our own 
 helplessness in the matter, Christ cannot help us, 
 since we must first put ourselves into his hands. 
 
 As Paul says in Hebrews 12:2, "Looking unto 
 Jesus the author and finisher of our faith." 
 
 Let us therefore have that righteousness which 
 is by faith, in order that we may also have 
 eternal life, for to be righteous is eternal life. 
 
 As Paul also says in Romans 10: 17, "So then 
 faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the 
 word of God." 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 21 
 SECTION 10. In Luke 10:25 to 28 we find: Power to love 
 
 . God and our 
 
 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and neighbor comes 
 tempted him, saying. Master, what shall I do to to us > as to 
 
 . - *V i r r -> ,, Christ, from 
 
 inherit eternal life ? the Spirit of 
 
 "He said unto him what is written in the law? ^^ Stud y 
 
 , , of Christ's 
 
 how readest thou? wor ds 
 
 "And he answering said, Thou shalt love the necessary 
 Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all 
 thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all 
 thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. 
 
 "And he said unto him, Thou hast answered 
 right ; this do, and thou shalt live." 
 
 Here then we find it is eternal life, to love 
 the Lord with all thy heart, and soul, and 
 strength, and mind, and thy neighbor as thy- 
 self. 
 
 "With all thy heart." That men are endowed 
 with talents in different degree is apparent as we 
 look around us and observe our fellows ; so 
 perhaps it is unnecessary to do more than refer 
 to the parable of the talents, in which Christ 
 makes this truth apparent, and also the related 
 truth that we are rewarded according to the 
 use we make of those talents which God gives us. 
 
 For instance, men's hearts differ; some men 
 appear to be large-hearted naturally, and the 
 
22 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 hearts of others to be of smaller make. We 
 are not required to love God with as much power 
 as some other larger-hearted man, for that would 
 be beyond us; but with all our heart with all 
 the heart which God has given us. 
 
 "And with all thy soul." Some men's souls 
 are a fertile soil for the growth of love, and 
 when love has been planted there, it springs up 
 into a mighty growth, a growth so large as to 
 be a beacon-light among men. 
 
 The souls of others are rather a sterile soil, love 
 seems to find here but a limited supply of food, 
 and the plant therefore does not become so robust. 
 
 Now why does the plant love find here but 
 a small supply of food? 
 
 Every plant in the physical world extracts cer- 
 tain chemical elements from the soil, from which 
 the plant itself is built up. Different crops take 
 different proportions of the different elements. 
 Returning to the growth of the plant love in 
 the soil of the human soul, it seems apparent 
 that the particular elements which are necessary 
 to nourish this plant, dwell in this sterile soil so 
 sparingly that the plant remains half starved. 
 
 Now if any farmer had on his farm soil so 
 poor in needed elements that he could not raise 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 23 
 
 the crops desired, what would he do ? Why if he 
 knew his business he would doubtless replace the 
 needed elements in the soil by means of some 
 fertilizer which contained those elements in 
 abundance. 
 
 In seeking a fertilizer for a sterile soul that 
 will give it the needed elements to abundantly 
 nourish the plant love, we surely cannot do bet- 
 ter than to search for the human soul which 
 has in all time borne the most abundant fruitage 
 from this plant, the man Christ Jesus. 
 
 It is generally conceded even by those who 
 are not believers that Jesus manifested love in 
 his words and deeds more abundantly than any 
 other man. 
 
 Was the soul of Jesus as a man naturally so 
 rich of soil that love grew luxuriantly there, and 
 brought forth fruit abundantly in loving deeds? 
 We cannot do better than examine the testimony 
 of Jesus himself regarding the matter. 
 
 He says : "I can of mine own self do nothing." 
 This being so, it is evident that of his own self he 
 could not do a loving deed, for that is a some- 
 thing of a very pronounced kind, as every man 
 must admit who has ever tried to force himself to 
 a deed contrary to his nature. 
 
24 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 Loving deeds cannot be brought forth from a 
 soil in which love will not grow. Two men 
 might do the same deed. With one it might 
 be an act inspired by love, and with the other 
 an act grudged, with many grumblings, in which 
 no love was apparent. 
 
 Since the soul of Jesus, he being a man as 
 we are, did not by nature contain this richness 
 of the elements upon which love thrives, we may 
 well imagine what his fertilizer was, and where 
 he obtained it. It is plain that this fertilizer was 
 the Spirit of God, and that he obtained it from 
 God. 
 
 The Spirit of God supplies just precisely 
 those elements on which the plant love thrives 
 best in the human soul ; and does not the Spirit 
 of God enrich the human soul? 
 
 As a well-selected fertilizer manifests its pres- 
 ence by a more abundant crop of fruit, so the 
 Spirit of God manifests its presence by a more 
 abundant crop of loving deeds. 
 
 "By their fruits ye shall know them." 
 
 Since Christ obtained the Spirit of God from 
 God himself, it is evident that we must go to 
 the same source, as John says, "and the Word 
 was God." 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 25 
 
 Now even as a fertilizer must be hauled and 
 spread over an impoverished field in order that 
 all parts of the soil may be enriched, so also there 
 is labor to be done ere the impoverished soul 
 can be enriched by the Spirit of God, and that 
 labor it is perhaps needless to say, must be done 
 upon the word of God, in seeking the true mean- 
 ing thereof. 
 
 This spiritual fertilizer, unlike the fertilizers 
 of the physical world, is a living fertilizer, and 
 grows from a seed the true meaning of the 
 word of God. 
 
 When the soil the human soul becomes so 
 rich in needed elements on which good plants 
 thrive, that it becomes identical with those ele- 
 ments, identical with that fertilizer, then that soul 
 is indeed one in God: such a soul had the man 
 Jesus. 
 
 It is manifestly true that every human soul 
 must raise some kind of a crop, whether it be 
 deeds of love, or deeds of hatred, deeds of gener- 
 osity, or deeds of meanness. Many different 
 deeds there are, both good and evil, but all of 
 them are natural fruits of plants in the human 
 soul. 
 
 It is a strange thing that in many souls a 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
26 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 plant of love toward some often grows side by 
 side with a plant of hatred towards others, as 
 the hill of corn grows beside the burdock, or 
 the turnip beside the mullein. 
 
 Why should this be so? Since there is one 
 plant, in the presence of which none of these 
 weeds which absorb the nutriment from the soul 
 can increase and grow luxuriant. 
 
 The presence of love for God renders the soul 
 an inhospitable soil for all evil weeds, and all 
 good plants thrive in its vicinity. It is plain 
 that no matter how much a human soul may 
 lack those elements which nourish plants of good, 
 that the Spirit of God will, if applied to that soul, 
 render it most rich in the very elements it lacks, 
 and therefore most productive of good deeds. 
 
 Can any man be discouraged when he knows 
 that there is an infinite supply of this Spirit, and 
 that it is easily accessible? When he knows 
 that the infinite Father greatly desires to give 
 him this Spirit abundantly if he will only accept 
 it, and that he has established a way in which 
 he may accept it through the word? 
 
 Here is a way, then, to so enrich the soul that 
 love for God may grow therein with abundant 
 luxuriance, and that we may come to love him 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 27 
 
 with all our soul. Then shall every good plant 
 grow there also, for every good plant is, as it 
 were, but a natural branch of this love for God, 
 not a grafted, but a natural branch; thus shall 
 we come to love our neighbor as ourselves. 
 
 As we have seen, the impoverished soul can be 
 enriched. Now also we find that men are called 
 large-hearted because love dwells in their hearts 
 abundantly. To all small-hearted men this 
 should be most encouraging, since it necessarily 
 follows that even as the poorest of souls can be 
 enriched, so also the smallest hearts can be 
 enlarged. 
 
 Yes, God is able to deepen and enlarge our 
 hearts so that they may hold love in abundance 
 towards the Father and towards our neighbor. 
 This process must doubtless be with suffering, 
 but in contemplating the great heart of Christ 
 there is healing. The more we contemplate it 
 the larger our own will grow, for "all things are 
 possible with God," and "the Word was God," 
 and is. 
 
 "And with all thy strength." That men differ 
 in strength or power to love God is as apparent 
 as that they differ in physical strength, but of 
 this we may be sure: that if we use what 
 
28 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 strength we already have in loving God, in seek- 
 ing him, he is not only able to give unto us 
 more strength, but he will do so. "Unto him that 
 hath shall be given." If we have a little strength 
 he will give unto us more strength. 
 
 Does not John the Baptist say concerning 
 Christ: "For he whom God hath sent speaketh 
 the words of God : for God giveth not the Spirit 
 by measure unto him"? (John 3:34.) 
 
 If then God has given his Spirit to his Son 
 without measure, by coming to Christ we may 
 also receive strength without measure to love 
 God and his righteousness ; for the Spirit of 
 God is strength, and without him there is no 
 strength. Now this Spirit of God comes to us 
 through Jesus Christ, even as Christ said: "No 
 man cometh to the Father but by me," and "I 
 am the vine, ye are the branches." 
 
 Yes, that same strength-giving and life-giving 
 sap, the Spirit of God, that flowed through 
 Christ, -can give unto us strength to love God 
 and our neighbor, even as it gave strength to 
 Jesus to do so. 
 
 "And with all thy mind." All men also differ 
 in their endowment of mental power, but the 
 plain intent of the above phrase is that we should 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 29 
 
 use what mental power we already have, in seek- 
 ing God and his righteousness, for in doing so 
 would be manifested the fact that we loved him 
 with all our mind. 
 
 God does not require impossibilities of us, but 
 only that we should use what mind he has 
 already given us in loving him, in seeking him. 
 If we do this he will surely grant unto us under- 
 standing. 
 
 Now the mind of the natural man is unable to 
 understand the things of God, for this under- 
 standing comes through the Spirit of God only; 
 but the mind of man is able to seek those things 
 and to meditate upon them, and if we do this with 
 what mental powers we have we may be sure that 
 God will bless us with his Spirit, and that we 
 will thereby understand these things. 
 
 What a blessed thing it is to think that no 
 matter how great a man's education may be; 
 though he may be a graduate of many colleges 
 and have many degrees after his name, yet all 
 these advantages will not profit him in the under- 
 standing of spiritual things except he love the 
 Lord with his mind, that is, seek him. 
 
 The very day-laborer who loves God with all 
 his mind, who seeks to understand the things 
 
30 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 of God with what mental powers he possesses, 
 is better off spiritually than the man of many 
 degrees who exercises but a part of his mind in 
 loving God; but a part of his mental power in 
 seeking him and meditating upon his righteous- 
 ness. 
 
 How perfect is the justice of God; and what 
 a comfort it ought to be to all of us to consider 
 that our reward, our treasure, is not given with 
 reference to what we have in the line of edu- 
 cation, but with reference to the use we make 
 of what we have. 
 
 If, then, we use all our mental powers in 
 seeking God, in meditating upon those things 
 which are of him, we shall fulfill this part of 
 God's law : to love God with all our mind. 
 
 We must therefore love God, not only with 
 every part of our being, but with all of every 
 part. 
 
 And if we love God thus, must not this love 
 manifest itself, make itself known that men may 
 see it? Yes, whether we naturally have much or 
 little heart, soul, strength and mind ; if we love 
 God thus, it will manifest itself in good works 
 to all men. For if we love God thus, we will 
 keep his commandment to love our neighbor as 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 31 
 
 ourselves. This love was the love which Christ 
 manifested unto us, for Christ himself could 
 have no greater love than this. 
 
 This love is a perfect love, as Christ has said: 
 "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father 
 which is in heaven is perfect." (Matt. 5:48.) 
 There can be no love more perfect than a per- 
 fect love. Perfection is perfection and there is 
 no further perfection beyond it. So Christ has 
 manifested forth this perfect love to us, and is 
 able now to manifest it forth in us, if we submit 
 ourselves entirely to him. 
 
 His love must always be the same, now and 
 evermore, and if we give ourselves wholly to him, 
 he is able to enter into us, and occupy every part 
 of our being with a perfect love. For he has 
 said : "At that day ye shall know that I am in my 
 Father, and ye in me, and I in you." (John 
 14:20.) 
 
 If then, he be in us, he is able to be in us still 
 more abundantly, until finally we shall be per- 
 fected in him, and there shall be no part of our 
 being where he is not. We shall truly be his 
 entirely, we in him, and he in us, in all possible 
 fullness; as he says in John 15:4, "Abide in me, 
 and I in you." And, as a further clue to how 
 
32 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 this may be done, he says in the seventh verse, 
 "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, 
 ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done 
 unto you." 
 
 Therefore if his words abide in us, we shall 
 abide in him, and he will abide in us. 
 
 If his words abide in us sparingly, he will 
 abide in us sparingly. If his words abide in us 
 abundantly, he will abide in us abundantly. 
 
 He says: "Ye shall ask what ye will, and it 
 shall be done unto you." As Jesus said when he 
 raised Lazarus from the dead : "Father, I thank 
 thee that thou hast heard me. 
 
 "And I knew that thou hearest me always : 
 but because of the people which stand by I said 
 it, that they may believe that thou hast sent 
 me." (John n 141, 42.) Even so shall we know 
 that the Father hears us always, for he hear- 
 eth always the Son, and the Son shall be in 
 us at that perfect day in the greatest possible 
 degree. 
 
 So to have in you this perfect love ; to love the 
 Lord thy God with all thy heart, and all thy 
 soul, and all thy strength, and all thy mind, 
 and thy neighbor as thyself is eternal life com- 
 plete eternal life. 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 33 
 SECTION u. In John 12: 25 we find, "He that Christ ' s 
 
 , .,. , . disciple will 
 
 loveth his life shall lose it ; and he that hateth f ors ake ail 
 his life in this world shall keep it unto life that inte n>oses 
 
 between hira- 
 
 self and God 
 
 Now if a man have eternal life he must love 
 the Lord and his righteousness above all other 
 things, as is evidenced by Luke 14:33: "So 
 likewise whosoever he be of you that forsaketh 
 not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." 
 
 Now for a man to forsake all that he has for 
 something is clear proof that he loves that some- 
 thing more than he loves all that he has. In this 
 case that something for love of which he for- 
 sakes all is God and his righteousness as repre- 
 sented in Jesus Christ. 
 
 Now we know that no man can come to God 
 or know his righteousness save through Christ. 
 "No man cometh unto the Father but by me." 
 (John 14:6. ) He that comes to God through 
 Christ is a disciple of Christ. Hence, as I said 
 at the beginning of this section, if a man have 
 eternal life he must love the Lord and his right- 
 eousness above all other things. 
 
 Now there is but one obstruction which inter- 
 poses between the man who has eternal life, and 
 the Lord and his righteousness, and that obstruc- 
 
34 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 tion is his existence in a material world. When 
 he loses this sense of existence, his union and 
 oneness with Christ, and through Christ with 
 God is made perfect. "I in them, and thou in me, 
 that they may be made perfect in one." (John 
 17:23.) 
 
 How can a man love the very obstruction 
 which keeps him from the dearest object of his 
 affection, the object that he places above all 
 other things put together? Will he not rather 
 hate it with strong hatred ? Is it not that which 
 keeps him from complete oneness with God and 
 his righteousness the one thing which prevents 
 his will from becoming identical with God's will ? 
 
 Yes, he that has eternal life must, indeed, not 
 only hate life in a material sense, the life of, and 
 in this world; but also all things in the world 
 which interpose between him and God's right- 
 eousness. 
 
 SECTION 12. Now in summing up, we have 
 Summary Christ's word for it that it is eternal life : 
 
 1. To know God and Jesus Christ. 
 
 2. To labor for that meat which the Son of 
 man gives unto us, the meaning of the word. 
 
 3. To drink of the water that Christ gives us, 
 the word in its true meaning. 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 35 
 
 4. To eat the flesh and drink the blood of 
 Christ, or to eat of the living bread. 
 
 5. To have in you the commandment, or 
 word, of God. 
 
 6. To hear Christ's word and believe on him 
 that sent him. 
 
 7. To believe on Jesus Christ. 
 
 8. To keep Christ's saying. 
 
 9. To be righteous. 
 
 10. To love the Lord with all thy heart, and 
 with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and 
 with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. 
 
 11. To hate one's life in this world. (Because 
 we love righteousness, and hate unrighteousness.) 
 
 To apply the test of truth to these sayings is 
 not only allowable, but very desirable, since truth 
 is not a thing which need fear investigation, but 
 is rather confirmed and made stronger by it. 
 
 We have here eleven different things, any one 
 of which Christ declares equivalent to eternal 
 life. In order for these each to be equivalent to 
 eternal life, they must all be in perfect harmony. 
 If they do not harmonize, the presumption would 
 be strong that we had either derived a wrong 
 interpretation of some of them, or that these 
 
36 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 declarations and words of Christ were not the 
 truth. 
 
 On the other hand, if all these varying declara- 
 tions of Christ agree together, then the presump- 
 tion of their truth is vastly increased, even to 
 the mind of the unbeliever; for truth must be 
 in harmony with itself, and these doctrines would 
 therefore fill that requirement. 
 
 The fact that the interpretations as given agree 
 together in one, would also be a strong presump- 
 tion that they were correctly given as far as 
 they went. 
 
 We will take any one of these definitions of 
 
 eternal life as, to know God and Jesus Christ 
 
 is eternal life, and ascertain if they all agree 
 
 together with this. If they do, an exceedingly 
 
 strong presumption is thereby derived, not only 
 
 that the word of Christ is the truth, but that the 
 
 interpretations are correct as far as given. 
 
 TO labor for SECTION 13. Let us take the second definition, 
 
 Christ gives "to labor for that meat which the Son of man 
 
 us is to gives unto us is eternal life ; and consider it with 
 
 a^Tchrist relation to the first, "to know God and Jesus 
 
 Christ is eternal life/' 
 
 As we have previously seen, it is necessary 
 that we labor, if we wish to obtain this meat 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 37 
 
 which Christ gives unto us; there is treasure 
 here in the word of God, but it must first be dug 
 out if we wish to make it our own. 
 
 That the invariable effect of labor spent on 
 the word will be to make these treasures ours, is 
 rendered evident by Matt. 7 : 8, "For everyone 
 that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh find- 
 eth ; and to him that knocketh it shall be 
 opened." 
 
 If, then, we seek with diligence for that meat 
 which endureth unto eternal life ; if we labor for 
 it, we shall find it. If we continue knocking with 
 persistence at this door which leads to knowledge 
 of God, this door will be opened to us, and we 
 shall enter in, into a gradually increasing knowl- 
 edge of God. 
 
 Thus we find that to labor for this meat is 
 equivalent to obtaining it, and to obtain it is to 
 know God and Jesus Christ ; since the true 
 Christ-given meaning of the word makes known 
 both God and Christ to all men. Hence, to labor 
 for that meat which the Son of man gives unto 
 us the true meaning of the word and, to know 
 God and Jesus Christ, agree together in one; 
 both lead to eternal life; both are necessary to 
 eternal life ; by both we are led into a clearer 
 
38 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 conception of the Christ-given meaning of eternal 
 life. 
 
 thJwate^that SECTION T 4- Third we have to drink of the 
 Christ gives water that Christ gives us the word is eternal 
 
 US fS God k and Hfe ' N W knowled e of God and Christ is made 
 Christ known to man by the word of Christ, therefore 
 he that drinks of this word, that absorbs it into 
 himself, comes to know both God and Christ. 
 
 He that drinks sparingly of the true meaning 
 of this word will be feeble in knowledge of God, 
 and he that drinks abundantly will have abundant 
 knowledge of God. 
 
 Therefore, to drink of the water that Christ 
 gives us the word and, to know God and 
 Jesus Christ, agree together, and both make 
 more apparent to us what Christ means by eter- 
 nal life. According as one drinks so will be his 
 knowledge of both God and Christ. 
 
 TO partake of SECTION 15. Fourth, to eat the flesh and 
 
 and^bioocMs drink the blood of Christ, or to eat of the living 
 
 to know God bread is eternal life. He that eats the flesh the 
 
 and Christ word _ and drinks the blood the Spirit of 
 
 Christ, or eats of the living bread the true 
 
 meaning of the word, will thereby know both 
 
 God and Christ, since both are in the word made 
 
 known to man. If the word becomes part of us 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 39 
 
 spiritually, as the bodily nourishment we eat be- 
 comes part of us physically, so also will knowl- 
 edge of both God and Christ be in us. 
 
 Thus we find that to know God and Jesus 
 Christ, and to eat the flesh and drink the blood 
 of Christ, or to eat of the living bread, also agree 
 together, both helping to make plainer Christ's 
 meaning of eternal life. 
 
 SECTION 16. Fifth, to have in you the com- T u have J in r us 
 
 J the word of 
 
 mandment, or word, of God is eternal life. God is to 
 
 It is logically apparent that he who has in know God 
 
 ' and Christ 
 
 him the commandment, or word, of God, m its 
 true meaning, must know God and Jesus Christ ; 
 since both are through the word made known 
 to man. 
 
 It is clear also, that he who has in him but a 
 part of the true meaning of the word, can have 
 but a partial knowledge of God and Christ; that 
 as the true meaning of the word increases within 
 him, so also must knowledge of God and Christ 
 increase within him, until finally when the com- 
 mandment of God is in him perfected, his knowl- 
 edge of God and Christ must also be perfected. 
 "For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 
 But when that which is perfect is come, then 
 that which is in part shall be done away." "For 
 
40 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 now we see through a glass, darkly; but then 
 face to face : now I know in part ; but then shall 
 I know even as also I am known." (I Cor. 13: 
 9, 10, 12.) 
 
 We thus see the constant and intimate relation 
 existing between the commandment of God in 
 us, and knowledge of God and Jesus Christ in us. 
 
 We find therefore that these two definitions of 
 eternal life are in perfect harmony with each 
 other. 
 
 TO hear SECTION 17. Sixth, to hear Christ's word and 
 Chri fl r rd believe on him that sent him is eternal life. 
 
 and believe 
 
 on him that As we have seen ( Section 6), the necessary 
 sent him is re i at i on existing between the hearing of Christ's 
 
 to know God 
 
 and Christ word and the believing on him that sent him, 
 indicates that the believing is to be the result 
 of the hearing. 
 
 Now we must all admit that for a man to hear 
 anything without understanding it in some de- 
 gree, profits him nothing. The profit lies in the 
 understanding, for the words themselves are only 
 so many dry bones, being but symbols standing 
 in the place of meaning. Accordingly if the 
 meaning be not in some degree understood, the 
 hearing is profitless. 
 
 In this case, however, the hearing is followed 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 41 
 
 by believing on him that sent him, the result of 
 both being eternal life. This could by no means 
 be called profitless, but rather profitable in the 
 highest degree ; therefore the hearing of Christ's 
 word here spoken of must be a hearing accom- 
 panied by understanding. 
 
 This being the case, both God and Christ must 
 in some degree be made known to the hearer. 
 Hence to hear Christ's word and believe on him 
 that sent him, and to know God and Jesus Christ, 
 are perfectly harmonious and present different 
 views of the same thing, eternal life. 
 
 SECTION 18. Seventh, to believe on Jesus TO believe 
 Christ is eternal life. J esus 
 
 Christ is to 
 
 It is very apparent that for a person to believe know God 
 on anything, he must first be acquainted with it, and Christ 
 or know it in some satisfactory degree. For how 
 can a man believe on a thing of which he has no 
 knowledge? How can a man accept that of 
 which he is ignorant? 
 
 How could you, for instance, have a well- 
 grounded belief that Mr. X, a man totally un- 
 known to you and your friends, was entirely 
 honest, when you knew nothing of him from 
 any source? 
 
 Then, since it is impossible for one to have 
 
42 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 a logical belief in regard to anything without 
 some knowledge of that thing, it naturally fol- 
 lows that any man who believes on Jesus Christ 
 must therefore know him in some satisfactory 
 degree, and he who knows Christ knows God as 
 well, "I and my Father are one" (John 10 : 30) ; 
 and "If ye had known me, ye should have known 
 my Father also." (John 14:7.) 
 
 Hence he who believes on Jesus Christ must 
 therefore know both God and Christ. These 
 two things thus agree, and each helps to make 
 plainer that fullness of meaning which Christ 
 intended the words eternal life should bear. 
 TO keep SECTION 1 9. Eighth, to keep Christ's saying is 
 
 .."S eternal life. ' 
 
 know God He that keeps Christ's saying must first know 
 
 and Christ the saying before he can keep it; and he that 
 
 knows Christ's saying and keeps it, also knows 
 
 both God and Christ, since both are thereby 
 
 made known to man. 
 
 We find that a knowledge of the saying, and 
 consequently a knowledge of both God and 
 Christ, must precede the keeping of it. There 
 is thus an intimate and harmonious connection 
 between the two, and by means of both our 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 43 
 
 understanding of eternal life is rendered more 
 complete. 
 
 SECTION 20. Ninth, to be righteous is eternal To ^ r ' ght ~ 
 
 ecus is to 
 life. know God 
 
 Now we know that the righteousness of God and Christ 
 is as far above the righteousness of man as the 
 heavens are above the earth. 
 
 When Christ speaks of being righteous he 
 surely means the highest kind of righteousness ; 
 that perfect righteousness which is of God, which 
 he himself possessed. We know that no man has 
 ever attained to this perfect righteousness, while 
 in the form of man, save Jesus Christ only. 
 
 In section nine, we found that complete real- 
 ization destroys the existence of faith, since faith 
 is in regard to things hoped for, and if there 
 was nothing left to be hoped for, faith could 
 not exist. 
 
 In regard to knowledge of God, for instance, 
 we have faith that we shall come to know, even 
 as we are known. Paul says, "Now I know in 
 part; but then shall I know even as also I am 
 known." (I Cor. 13: 12.) Now God knows us 
 perfectly, and in order to realize this object of 
 faith, we must also come to know him perfectly, 
 in his character; when however we do come to 
 
44 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 know God perfectly, further faith on this subject 
 becomes impossible, since faith disappears in per- 
 fect knowledge. 
 
 We see on the other hand, that faith in God 
 without any knowledge of him is equally impos- 
 sible, for how can one believe or have faith in 
 that of which he knows nothing? 
 
 We see plainly that some knowledge of the 
 object of faith is necessary in order for faith to 
 exist. Furthermore we cannot fail to see that 
 as our knowledge of God is imperfect, so also 
 our faith in God must be imperfect ; that as our 
 knowledge of God is abundant, so must our faith 
 in God be abundant ; that as our knowledge of 
 God increases, our faith in God also increases, 
 until as our knowledge of God (in respect to the 
 quality of Being), becomes perfect, our faith in 
 God also becomes perfect: that is our faith be- 
 comes merged in perfect knowledge. 
 
 Going back to the matter of righteousness, 
 even as our faith in God increases proportion- 
 ally with our knowledge of God, so also does our 
 righteousness increase proportionally with our 
 knowledge of God, since our righteousness on 
 earth is by faith. As Paul says, "Even the 
 righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 45 
 
 Christ unto all and upon all them that believe." 
 Let it be noted that if the faith of Jesus Christ 
 be a perfect faith, his knowledge also is a per- 
 fect knowledge. "As the Father knoweth me, 
 even so know I the Father." (John 10:15.) 
 
 At that time, then, when a perfect righteous- 
 ness is attained to, must also a perfect knowl- 
 edge of God (his character, rather than his in- 
 finity) be attained to; and if a perfect knowledge 
 of God, a perfect knowledge of Christ also, since 
 we come to know God through Christ. "No 
 man cometh unto the Father but by me." (John 
 14:6.) "I and my Father are one." (John 
 10:30.) 
 
 Therefore we find that, to be righteous is 
 eternal life, and to know God and Jesus Christ 
 is eternal life, agree together. 
 
 SECTION 21. Tenth, to love God with all thy T lov * God 
 
 and our 
 
 heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy neighbor is 
 strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neigh- to know . God 
 bor as thyself is eternal life. 
 
 In order to love anyone it is first necessary 
 that we should be acquainted with, or know him 
 in some degree. One could not love a person 
 whom he neither knew nor knew of. Some 
 knowledge then of God and his character is 
 
46 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 absolutely necessary before we can love him 
 at all. 
 
 If our knowledge of him be small, our love for 
 him must necessarily be small ; if our knowledge 
 of him be great, our love for him must be cor- 
 respondingly great, since God is perfect. 
 
 If our knowledge of God be a perfect knowl- 
 edge, our love for him must be a correspondingly 
 perfect love, and we shall love him with all our 
 heart, and with all our soul, and with all our 
 strength, and with all our mind. 
 
 Now, having the power to keep the first and 
 great commandment perfectly, must carry with 
 it the power to love our neighbor as ourselves, 
 for obedience to this first and great command- 
 ment implies perfection. If we possess the 
 power to love God with a perfect love, we must 
 possess the will to obey all his commandments. 
 "If a man love me, he will keep my words." 
 (John 14:23.) 
 
 We find therefore that there is, and neces- 
 sarily must be, a constant relation between our 
 knowledge of God and Christ, for we have 
 seen that we can only know God through Christ, 
 and our love for God and our neighbor: that 
 both agree, and give us a fuller idea of the mean- 
 ing of eternal life. 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 47 
 SECTION 22. Eleventh, to hate one's life in To hate an 
 
 - . t , . i i-r unspiritual 
 
 this world is eternal life. i ife is to 
 
 As we have previously seen, to know God, to know God 
 
 , i i ,, ,. - , . . and Christ 
 
 comprehend merely the motives of his action, we 
 must partake of his nature. That Spirit which 
 is in him must also be in us. 
 
 If now, that Spirit which is in him be in us, 
 we will love, not the things which are of this 
 world, but the things which pertain to God and 
 his righteousness. Contrariwise, we will hate 
 those things which keep us from the righteous- 
 ness of God ; and our life in this world, con- 
 sidered as material existence, comprises those 
 things. 
 
 As we have seen that our love for God and 
 our knowledge of him are proportional to each 
 other, so also our love for God and our hatred 
 for our lives in this world may be said to be 
 proportional. 
 
 There are however other elements which ap- 
 parently enter into this matter, it being evident 
 that a disciple of Christ who lives surrounded by 
 wickedness and sin of pronounced character, must 
 hate his life more than one who lives more 
 secluded from the wickedness of the world, and 
 whose associates are of the same spiritual mind 
 with himself. 
 
48 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 However it would be well to bear in mind that 
 such a disciple as the one first mentioned may 
 have placed himself in those wicked surround- 
 ings designedly, urged on by his love for God 
 and his consequent desire to do God's work. 
 Every disciple has work to do, but it is perhaps 
 not the duty of everyone to go out into the world 
 to do it. Some may do it best at home and 
 among their own associates. 
 
 But it is logically apparent that he who knows 
 God and Jesus Christ will hate his life in this 
 world in proportion as it is in opposition to the 
 perfect spiritual life. All life in this world (con- 
 sidered as material existence) is in opposition to 
 perfect spiritual life, but in some cases especially 
 so. It is clear that while the degree of our hatred 
 for our lives in this world is largely determined 
 by the degree of contrast offered between our 
 lives here, and the perfect Christian or spiritual 
 life; while it is plain that this contrast varies 
 somewhat in intensity as between different men, 
 yet it is also plain that there does exist a pro- 
 nounced contrast in the case of everyone, and 
 that there should consequently exist in the case 
 of everyone this hatred of his life in this world, 
 conditioned as a material existence. 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 49 
 
 So also the degree of pain produced in us by 
 the contemplation of the wickedness > and sin 
 which is not only around us all, but in some 
 measure in us all, and consequently the degree 
 of our hatred for our lives in this world, is 
 largely determined by, and is proportional to, our 
 knowledge of God and his perfect righteousness. 
 Thus it is logically true that he who knows God 
 and Jesus Christ must hate his life considered as 
 a thing of this world. 
 
 Hence we find that, to know God and Jesus 
 Christ, and to hate one's life in this world, agree 
 together and make plainer to us what eternal 
 life is. 
 
 SECTION 23. All these different conceptions of complete 
 eternal life agree together in one with the state- h f rmon y oi 
 
 ^ all these def- 
 
 ment that to know God and Jesus Christ is initions is a 
 eternal life, showing us that these are not dif- proof of truth 
 ferent conceptions, but different faces of the 
 same conception, that they are merely different 
 parts of one and the same thing, eternal life. 
 
 Complete eternal life therefore includes all 
 these things. 
 
 These different definitions not only agree with 
 the first definition that to know God and Jesus 
 Christ is eternal life, but are also in perfect 
 
50 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 harmony with each other. Each one agrees with 
 every other one. 
 
 As we know that truth must be in harmony 
 with itself, and as we have seen in part that this 
 harmony exists here, so we will by further in- 
 vestigation seek to discover a complete harmony ; 
 to make evident that here we have by correct 
 interpretation an invulnerable network of truth. 
 
 In respect to definitions 2, 3, 4, and 5, as given 
 in the preceding list in Section 12, it is self- 
 evident that in view of the interpretations placed 
 upon them, they are not only harmonious with, 
 but equivalent to each other. 
 
 For, the fourth, to eat the flesh and drink the 
 blood of Christ (to read the word and absorb 
 the spirit of Christ), or, to eat of the living bread 
 (to absorb the true meaning of the word), is in 
 both parts plainly equivalent to the third defini- 
 tion, drinking of the water that Christ gives 
 us (the word in its true meaning.) 
 
 These two in turn are equivalent to the second 
 definition, to labor for that meat which the Son 
 of man gives us, this meat being the true mean- 
 ing of the word. We are told that if we seek we 
 shall find, therefore to labor for this meat is to 
 obtain it. 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 51 
 
 All these definitions are equivalent to the fifth, 
 having in them the commandment, or word, 
 of God. To have the commandment at all they 
 must have it in its real meaning, and this is also 
 the result of the second, third and fourth def- 
 initions. 
 
 The sixth definition, to hear Christ's word 
 and believe on him that sent him is in harmony 
 with the fifth, since to hear Christ's word is 
 equivalent to hearing the word or command- 
 ment of God ; and to believe on God by hearing 
 the word, presupposes the understanding of its 
 true meaning. 
 
 The sixth definition is equivalent to the sev- 
 enth, believing on Jesus Christ, for does not 
 Christ say, "He that believeth on me, believeth 
 not on me, but on him that sent me"? (John 
 12:44.) 
 
 The eighth definition, to keep Christ's say- 
 ing is eternal life, is in perfect harmony with the 
 seventh, since it is apparent that none will keep 
 Christ's saying, save those who do believe on him. 
 
 Now the ninth, to be righteous is eternal life, 
 is equivalent to the eighth, since Christ's say- 
 ing is the commandment of God, and he that 
 keeps this commandment of God is righteous. 
 
52 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 The tenth definition, to love the Lord with 
 all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all 
 thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy 
 neighbor as thyself, is also equivalent to the 
 ninth ; since Christ says respecting the two com- 
 mandments included under definition ten, "On 
 these two commandments hang all the law and 
 the prophets." (Matt. 22:40.) Now he that 
 fulfills all the law is righteous. 
 
 Definition eleven, to hate one's life in this 
 world (considered as material existence, from a 
 spiritual point of view) is eternal life, is also in 
 perfect harmony with the tenth definition, since 
 he that loves God thus will necessarily hate his 
 life in this world, since this life interposes in his 
 consciousness between him and the object of his 
 greatest affection. 
 
 Enough has been said to show the perfect har- 
 mony of all these different definitions of eternal life. 
 
 Furthermore it is apparent that they all must 
 harmonize in every respect when taken in their 
 proper meaning, since they are all in harmony 
 with definition one, to know God and Jesus 
 Christ is eternal life, and since it is evident that 
 definitions in harmony with the same definition 
 must agree with each other. 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 53 
 
 Thus we see that each strand of this network 
 of truth supports and renders stronger every 
 other strand, and that there is perfect harmony 
 throughout. 
 
 The irresistible force of this will appear much 
 greater if we go back and reflect from how 
 many different forms of words we derived these 
 varying definitions of eternal life: "everlasting 
 life/ 7 "eternal life/' "shall never see death/' and 
 "shall live forever." 
 
 There is here an agreement of things men- 
 tioned under different forms of words, but hav- 
 ing the same significance, an agreement so com- 
 plete and perfect as to set the seal of God's Spirit 
 upon it. 
 
 SECTION 24. There are also other ideas in- God's gift to 
 eluded in the conception of eternal life, as in " ! !~ e l ernal t , 
 
 r life, through 
 
 John 10: 10, we find, "I am come that they might re-birth and 
 have life, and that they might have it more * r u owth in ^ 
 
 J Christ must 
 
 abundantly." be accepted 
 
 We know that the kind of life which Christ 
 came to give men is spiritual eternal life. We 
 learn from this verse that this life is of a kind 
 which men do not by nature possess, since he 
 says, "I. am come that they might have life." 
 It is plain that Christ considered mankind as 
 
54 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 spiritually dead by nature, since if it were not 
 so, there would have existed no necessity for his 
 coming with the direct object of giving them this 
 spiritual life, nor any necessity for their being 
 born again. 
 
 Then he goes on to say, "and that they might 
 have it more abundantly." After implying that 
 men do not by nature have this kind of life, he 
 says that he came to bring them more of it, 
 thereby implying that they do have it. 
 
 How shall we reconcile this seeming contra- 
 diction ? 
 
 There is but one conclusion possible, which 
 is that mankind by nature is devoid of any spiri- 
 tual life whatever; that if men individually do 
 possess some of this life, it is because of the 
 infinite mercy of God, who gave it to them, since 
 by their nature as men they do not possess it. 
 
 With respect to the physical world it is ap- 
 parent that the physical embryo before birth can- 
 not be truly said to live, since it possesses no 
 separate entity, and since its life is entirely de- 
 pendent on the life of the parent. What life it 
 has is more the property of the parent than of 
 the embryo, and remains so until birth is com- 
 plete. 
 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 55 
 
 So it is with spiritual life. As the life of the 
 physical embryo does not become its own till its 
 birth into the physical world is complete, so also 
 the life of the spiritual embryo does not become 
 its own until its entrance into the spiritual world 
 is complete. 
 
 When Christ says, "I am come that they might 
 have life," it is apparent he means that they must 
 be born again ere they can possess this life. 
 
 When he says, "and that they might have 
 it more abundantly," it is clear he means 
 thereby that they who have unborn spiritual life 
 may have it more abundantly; that is that they 
 may be born again and thus themselves possess 
 a more abundant measure of that spiritual life 
 which was before, not their own but the heavenly 
 Father's. 
 
 We find in John 3 : 16, "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." Here again we have ever- 
 lasting life the same as eternal life. Here we see 
 that God gave his only begotten Son for this 
 purpose. Eternal life is therefore a free gift of 
 God to us, a free gift of God through his Son. 
 
 In John 10 : 27, 28, we find, "My sheep hear 
 
56 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 my voice, and I know them, and they follow me : 
 and I give unto them eternal life." We learn 
 here that eternal life is not only the gift of God 
 to us, but that it is the gift of Christ to us as 
 well. Thus are we enabled not only to appreciate 
 that it is a free gift to us, that this is the manner 
 in which we obtain it, that we have but to accept 
 this gift in order to receive all the manifold 
 blessings of eternal life ; but we are also enabled 
 to understand better the truth of the fact that 
 God and Christ are one. 
 
 We find here also the thought that eternal life 
 being a gift, must like any other gift be accepted 
 or rejected. That we do not by virtue of our 
 birth into the kingdom of men, possess eternal 
 life, but by virtue of our acceptance of the priv- 
 ilege of being born again into the kingdom of 
 God. 
 
 Some eminent minister has recently said that 
 man by virtue of his birth as man, has in him a 
 divine spark, which cannot be buried. Perhaps 
 not, but could it not be taken back to God who 
 lent it, and leave the unprofitable servant des- 
 titute of eternal life? "And whosoever hath not. 
 from him shall be taken even that which he seem- 
 eth to have/' ^Luke 8: 18.) 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 57 
 
 It is clear that we must accept this gift, ere we 
 can have eternal, spiritual, life. 
 
 SECTION 25. Eternal life must unquestionably Our incom - 
 
 r . , plete eternal 
 
 be perfect, whether we have it here, or hereafter ; uf e here 
 but by no means in the first case necessarily com- 
 plete, since while we are here, eternal life can- 
 not possess us completely. Our being, as it were, 
 is divided between spiritual life, and the life of 
 the flesh; even as Paul says, "the carnal mind is 
 enmity against God." (Romans 8:7.) 
 
 Yet it is plain to be seen that we cannot be 
 completely separated from the mind of the flesh, 
 while we dwell in the flesh, though with the aid 
 of Christ we can approach close to it ; and could 
 we overcome the obstacle of the flesh sufficiently 
 to submit ourselves entirely to Christ, the result 
 must doubtless be a perfectly spiritual mind, as 
 in the case of Christ. 
 
 In Section 21 we find that there exists a con- 
 stant relation between our knowledge of God 
 and our love for God. As the one increases, the 
 other necessarily keeps pace with it. 
 
 Now we find in Section n that to be a dis- 
 ciple of Christ, a man must love God and his 
 righteousness more than all other things put to- 
 gether. We find that all who come to God 
 
58 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 must come through Christ; that all who really 
 come through Christ are disciples of Christ ; and 
 that all true disciples of Christ have entered the 
 process of re-birth, at least embryonic re-birth, 
 and therefore have some measure of eternal life. 
 
 As was said before, our love for God keeps 
 pace, step by step, with our knowledge of him. 
 If our love for God must reach a certain point 
 before we can be true disciples of Christ, or be 
 born again so as to be true children of God ; so 
 also our knowledge of God must reach a corre- 
 sponding point at the same time. 
 
 The point of birth into a true child of God is 
 that at which our love for God and his right- 
 eousness is greater than our love for all other 
 things whatsoever, and I call to your attention 
 that the corresponding point in regard to knowl- 
 edge of God must therefore indicate a knowledge 
 of God quite advanced. 
 
 These two points denote those at which men 
 become true sons of God. "For as many as are 
 led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of 
 God." (Romans 8: 14.) We may be sure that 
 any who have reached these points will never 
 backslide, or be overcome of the world, but will 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 59 
 
 be upheld by the power of God. "For whatso- 
 ever is born of God overcometh the world." 
 (I John 5:4.) 
 
 Whosoever therefore has doubts as to whether 
 he loves God and his righteousness more than all 
 other things, may well also have doubts as to 
 whether he is a true child of God. He need how- 
 ever have no doubt whatever, that with continued 
 diligence in seeking God, his love for God and 
 his righteousness will increase to this point, 
 which when it reaches, Christ shall be revealed 
 to him with such power that he will truly believe 
 on him with a belief such as Christ speaks of, 
 a belief unto eternal life. 
 
 Now since the things of God are discerned by 
 the Spirit of God only, "For what man know- 
 eth the things of a man, save the spirit of man 
 which is in him? even so the things of God 
 knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God," (I Cor. 
 2:11) no man need be troubled that he is 
 without learning, neither encouraged because he 
 has it. For we know that learning in this case 
 avails nothing, but rather that we should be as 
 little children, anxious to learn of God, and will- 
 ing to acknowledge that as men we know nothing 
 of him as we ought. "Verily I say unto you, 
 
60 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God 
 as a little child, he shall not enter therein." 
 (Mark 10: 15.) And surely we shall receive it 
 as little children if we feel that we know noth- 
 ing as yet concerning God, as we ought to know 
 it, and if we labor diligently and without ceasing 
 to learn of him. 
 
 Perhaps most people in civilized lands know in 
 a way, that God is just, merciful and holy, all 
 wise, all powerful; and that he loves all man- 
 kind with a mighty love; but their comprehen- 
 sion of these qualities in him is generally very 
 inadequate. As we have seen, to know means to 
 comprehend. And we know that if we labor for 
 this understanding, God will bless our labor, and 
 give unto us his Spirit, by means of which only 
 is understanding of these things possible, 
 according as we labor. 
 
 Let us take a short look at that complete 
 eternal life which shall be ours in due time, in 
 order that we may not faint, nor grow weary, 
 but may labor abundantly in this glorious hope. 
 Complete SECTION 26. As we have seen that in a com- 
 plete eternal life our knowledge of God and 
 Christ will be perfect, so also our belief in Jesus 
 Christ will be perfect, that is will merge into 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 61 
 
 perfect knowledge of him. Our love for God 
 will be a perfect love, that is will occupy all of 
 every part of our being, leaving no room for any 
 other love whatever, except such as results be- 
 cause of it ; as, to love our neighbor as ourselves, 
 which is after all but the expression of God's 
 love in us toward others. 
 
 Further, in this complete eternal life the com- 
 mandment of God will in us be perfected, that 
 is will dwell in us in all complete and possible 
 fullness. 
 
 We shall then keep Christ's saying perfectly, 
 and consequently be perfectly righteous. 
 
 Our will must therefore also be perfected so as 
 to be identical with, and even as God's will ; and 
 as Christ has informed us in the Lord's prayer 
 that God's will is always done in heaven, so also 
 must our wills always be accomplished there. 
 Furthermore, we shall comprehend perfectly 
 God's mighty love for us, and it will fill us with 
 joy. What sources of perfect happiness are 
 here! 
 
 Paul says, "For we know in part, and we 
 prophesy in part. But when that which is per- 
 fect is come, then that which is in part shall be 
 done away. For now we see through a glass 
 
62 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 darkly; but then face to face: now I know in 
 part; but then shall I know even as also I am 
 known." (I Cor. 13:9, 10, 12.) 
 
 Christ's SECTION 27. Now Christ has by the many in- 
 intended^to stances mentioned in different parts of his Cos- 
 have only a pel regarding the generation and maintenance of 
 appiTcation s P iritual life : by eating his flesh and drinking 
 his blood (John 6: 54) ; by eating the bread of 
 life (John 6: 58) ; by his reference to the meat 
 which endureth unto everlasting life (John 6: 
 27) ; and by his reference to the water of life 
 (John 4:14), thereby drawn a plain analogy 
 between the processes of generating and main- 
 taining physical life, and those processes with 
 reference to the spiritual life. We cannot doubt 
 that he intended this analogy to be carried out 
 in full, or he would not have used it. 
 
 Unquestionably he used this mode of expres- 
 sion as the best means of making himself plainly 
 understood, since all mankind are most accus- 
 tomed to regarding things from a material and 
 physical viewpoint, and he has therefore ad- 
 justed his explanations of spiritual generation 
 and growth to this point of view; at the same 
 time by other statements making plain to us that 
 he intended these things to be taken spiritually, 
 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 63 
 
 as: "It is the spirit that quickeneth" ; causes 
 to live spiritually "the flesh profiteth nothing: 
 the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, 
 and they are life/' (John 6: 63.) 
 
 This verse occurs in the latter part of the same 
 chapter in which three of the above references 
 occur, and is unquestionably in further explana- 
 tion of those references. If, then, it be true that, 
 "It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth 
 nothing/' then it must follow that the meaning 
 of "flesh and blood" in the saying, "Whoso eateth 
 my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, 
 is a spiritual meaning only ; for if it did, as some 
 believe, apply to the physical flesh and blood of 
 Christ, or to the bread and wine of the sacra- 
 ment, then would it be a material application and 
 not a spiritual one, for these are all material 
 things. Hence if "the flesh profiteth nothing/' 
 none of these things can be a cause of possessing 
 "eternal life," since eternal life profits much. 
 
 If, then it be true that this sacrament of the 
 Church the Lord's Supper is other than a 
 symbolical ceremony, then are the words of 
 Christ untrue, for he says, "That which is born 
 of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of 
 the Spirit is spirit." (John 3:6.) 
 
64 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 No man can deny that the spirit of the believer 
 is quickened during the administration of the 
 sacrament, but that this quickening is not due 
 to the bread and the wine is clear. 
 
 The gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke 
 agree substantially in their account of the Lord's 
 Supper: he blesses the bread and gives to them 
 as his body; takes the wine, gives thanks, and 
 bids them drink of it as his blood of the new 
 testament, shed for them. 
 
 If we consider what possible interpretations 
 might be made of this, we shall find four, the 
 body arid blood of Christ may be taken to mean : 
 
 1. The spiritual body and blood of Christ; 
 
 2. The physical body and blood of Christ; 
 
 3. That the bread and wine were intended by 
 Christ to represent his spiritual body and blood ; 
 
 4. That the bread and the wine were intended 
 to represent his physical body and blood. 
 
 Suppose, as in the first instance, that we take 
 the bread and wine to be actually the spiritual 
 body and blood of Christ. But we know that 
 this bread and wine are of themselves material 
 things, and being so, cannot at the same time 
 actually be spiritual. 
 
 Here some may say, How about the Bible? 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 65 
 
 Is not that at the same time a book and also the 
 word of God? The book, to be sure, is always 
 a material thing at all times. But when the 
 meaning of the printed book becomes impressed 
 on the human consciousness, it is a spiritual thing, 
 and is not then a printed book. The very words 
 of the Bible are but symbols standing in place of 
 meanings ; and these meanings impressed on the 
 human consciousness are spiritual, while the sym- 
 bols themselves are material things. 
 
 By science the experience of men and by 
 ordinary reason, we know that one thing cannot 
 at the same time be another thing. 
 
 We also know it by the word of Christ, since 
 he says, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh ; 
 and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit/' 
 which is equivalent to saying that material things 
 cannot either generate or renew spiritual life. 
 And here let it be said that if to some the Bible 
 seems to generate or renew spiritually, they 
 should remember that it is only the Spirit of God 
 which makes known the things of God : so that 
 if the true meaning of any part of the Bible is 
 impressed on our consciousness, this impression 
 which renews us spiritually is the work of the 
 Holy Spirit. 
 
66 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 Hence this first position is untenable and we 
 will dismiss it from consideration. 
 
 Second, we will suppose the bread and wine to 
 be actually the physical body and blood of Christ. 
 
 If this supposition be true, then the bread and 
 the wine being actually the physical body and 
 blood of Christ can in no way renew us spiri- 
 tually. Why so? Because, "That which is born 
 of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of 
 the Spirit is spirit." This being true, not even 
 the physical flesh and blood of Jesus himself will 
 avail to give us spiritual life, and Christ himself 
 testifies that this is true. 
 
 Therefore we may dismiss the second supposi- 
 tion as untenable also. 
 
 We will take the third supposition, that the 
 bread and wine were intended by Christ to 
 merely represent his spiritual body and blood. 
 If they merely represent and actually are not his 
 spiritual body and blood, they do not fulfill the 
 conditions necessary to give eternal life, for 
 Christ has said, "Except ye eat the flesh of the 
 Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life 
 in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my 
 blood, hath eternal life." 
 
 On the supposition we are considering, how- 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 67 
 
 ever, the bread and the wine are not actually the 
 body and the blood, but merely represent them, 
 and hence cannot give eternal life, not being 
 themselves the source of it. 
 
 Therefore we are obliged to dismiss this third 
 supposition also, since eternal life is not thereby 
 to be had. 
 
 Now, considering the fourth supposition, that 
 the bread and the wine are intended merely to 
 represent his physical body and blood, we find 
 that if the actual physical body and blood of 
 Christ cannot give to us eternal life, the mere 
 representatives are still less able to do so. 
 
 This brings us to the conclusion that the say- 
 ing, "Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my 
 blood hath eternal life," does not apply to the 
 sacrament of the Lord's Supper at all, but rather 
 to the word of Christ, that is to its true meaning 
 impressed on our consciousness, as is evidenced 
 by John i : 14, "And the Word was made flesh 
 and dwelt among us." 
 
 It also brings us to the conclusion that in the 
 bread and wine of the sacrament there is no 
 eternal life whatever. The Lord's Supper then 
 is but a symbolical ceremony, calculated to bring 
 home to our consciousness with striking force 
 
68 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 the great sacrifice of Christ for our sakes, to 
 make apparent to us how great his love toward 
 us must have been. Now since it is true that 
 love begets love, that the realization that we are 
 much loved begets in us a like feeling toward 
 him who loves us, the practical utility of the 
 Lord's Supper is clear, as it brings home to us 
 the love of Christ, thereby generating in us a like 
 feeling toward him, and toward the Father who 
 sent him to endure all this for our sakes. 
 
 If there are those who would urge Christ's 
 words concerning the bread and wine: "This is 
 my body," and "This is my blood" ; we reply 
 that many of Christ's sayings can only be inter- 
 preted by reference to his other words, and only 
 by this harmonizing of all his words are we able 
 to come into a correct understanding of some 
 of the things he says. 
 
 In Luke 14 : 26 we read, "If any man come 
 to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and 
 wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, 
 and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." 
 
 If we were to interpret this literally, as some 
 interpret the sayings with reference to the Lord's 
 Supper, it would lead us into the error of think- 
 ing that a man acquired merit by hating his 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 69 
 
 father and his mother; but the Jesus who told 
 us to "love our enemies" could not mean that we 
 should hate our friends and relatives, though he 
 apparently says so as clearly as could well be. 
 
 This verse then to be correctly interpreted 
 must be brought into perfect harmony with that 
 other saying, "Love your enemies/' We can 
 interpret it harmoniously if we hold it to mean 
 that we must hate the spirit of this world which 
 is in our father and mother; yes, and in our- 
 selves also. What Christ really says here is that 
 we must hate all things which interfere to keep 
 us from God and from doing his work, as he 
 himself said to Peter, his chief apostle, "Get thee 
 behind me, Satan : for thou savourest not the 
 things that be of God, but those that be of men." 
 (Matt. 16:23.) For Peter sought to restrain 
 Jesus from doing the work which God had ap- 
 pointed him to do. Did not Jesus hate Satan? 
 Yes, even though this evil spirit manifested itself 
 in one of his best friends. 
 
 We cannot, then, interpret Christ's words re- 
 garding the bread and wine literally, and use the 
 human reason which God has given us to use. 
 In another sense, however, we find that these 
 words of Jesus are true ; for while we do not 
 
70 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 partake of the body and blood of Jesus in par- 
 taking of the Lord's Supper, yet we do partake 
 of his spiritual body, if believing on him as the 
 Son of God who sacrificed himself for us, we 
 feel our love kindling toward him. In loving 
 that which is good we have in us the Spirit of 
 Christ himself. 
 
 If we then in taking part in this sacrament, by 
 the force with which it brings home to us the 
 love of Jesus for us, also experience an increased 
 love for him, in partaking of this Spirit of love, 
 we do partake of the body and blood of Christ, 
 since Christ is a Spirit, a Spirit not only of 
 obedience to righteousness, but a Spirit of sacri- 
 fice for the soul welfare of others. 
 
 John the beloved says, "God is love," and Jesus 
 says, "I and my Father are one/' Jesus must 
 therefore have referred to the kindling of love 
 for him in the heart of the disciple which doing 
 this in remembrance of Christ, as he commanded, 
 must produce. 
 
 If a deaf man who had never heard the Gospel 
 or read the Bible, should come into church and 
 join the people at the Communion table in par- 
 taking of the bread and wine, it is perfectly clear 
 that it could profit him nothing. Or if a man 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 71 
 
 familiar with the Gospel, but not believing in 
 Jesus' sacrifice for our sakes, should take part in 
 the Communion, because everyone else did ; it is 
 evident that he would receive no benefit. There 
 is no eternal life in the bread, or in the wine, 
 either for him or for anyone else. 
 
 Where then is the eternal life? In knowing 
 Christ in realizing the spirit in which Jesus 
 sacrificed his life. We must realize this spirit, 
 if we believe on him and understand that he 
 gave his life for our sakes ; for this in itself 
 shows us that he must have done it in a spirit of 
 love for us. This understanding is not only of 
 the mind, but of the heart, and apart from it, 
 there can be no eternal life in the Lord's Supper 
 for anyone. 
 
 Now this heart comprehension comes to us by 
 the word of God. It is a logical conclusion then, 
 that there is no eternal life which does not come 
 from the word of God, as Jesus says, "the words 
 that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they 
 are life." 
 
 Whether we speak of the "Word of God" as 
 the words which Jesus spoke, impressed on our 
 consciousness and heart in their intended mean- 
 ing; or speak of it as Christ, that is the Spirit 
 
72 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 in which they were spoken, is all one: since it 
 is clear that an understanding of the intended 
 meaning of Christ's words generates in us the 
 Spirit in which they were spoken. 
 
 Meaning impressed on consciousness and heart 
 is spirit. If you are told that some man hates 
 you, and the words or incident related which lead 
 to that conclusion ; if you have not Christ already 
 in you, it must inevitably follow that when this 
 becomes impressed on your consciousness, when 
 you realize it, a spirit of hatred for this man will 
 rise in you. Likewise when the words of Christ 
 in their intended meaning become impressed on 
 your consciousness and heart, when they are 
 realized, the Spirit of Christ rises in you is 
 born in you it may be. 
 
 "Ye must be born again." (John 3:7.) 
 Eternal life comes only through the Word of 
 God. Remember that Jesus says, "God is a 
 Spirit/' and that John says, "and the Word was 
 God." A knowledge of the fact that the bread 
 and wine of the sacrament do not in themselves 
 contain eternal life is of the greatest value, since 
 it leads us to the fact that eternal life 
 comes only by knowing the words of God in 
 their true meaning, that is by having the Spirit 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 73 
 
 of God which is identical with knowing God. 
 "And this is life eternal, that they might know 
 thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom 
 thou hast sent." "I and my Father are one." 
 
 In conclusion the value of the Lord's Supper 
 cannot be denied, for we know God, and as a 
 result have eternal life, not by mental apprehen- 
 sion alone, but by the addition of what may be 
 called heart comprehension. 
 
 SECTION 28. We have found in the foregoing Christ's 
 section that the analogies drawn by Christ be- ea ? in s 
 
 J obtained by 
 
 tween the processes of generating and maintain- carrying his 
 ing physical, and those processes as regards the anal ^ ie f y H 
 spiritual life, are intended to apply solely in a 
 spiritual sense. 
 
 We must carry these analogies out in full in 
 order to get Christ's meaning. Let us consider 
 the mystery of physical generation, and its 
 maintenance and growth. We know that physi- 
 cal life comes from preceding physical life. 
 
 The greatest spiritual authority who ever lived 
 as a man, informs us that this law which operates 
 without variation in the physical world, also 
 operates without variation in the spiritual world. 
 We learn from him that spiritual life is gener- 
 ated from preceding spiritual life, and that our 
 
74 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 spiritual life depends upon that spiritual life 
 which is in Christ, and which comes through 
 Christ to us. "The words that I speak unto you ; 
 they are spirit and they are life." 
 
 Here let it be observed that Christ spoke all his 
 words with a certain meaning, and it is evident 
 that we must obtain something of this true 
 Christ-given meaning ere these words become 
 spirit and life to us. 
 
 As we know that in the propagation of physi- 
 cal life, a seed wherein physical life exists, is 
 the base of every living physical organism; so 
 we also know that in the propagation of spiritual 
 or eternal life, a seed wherein spiritual life exists, 
 is the base of all organisms possessing spiritual 
 life, and we have Christ's own word for it as to 
 what this seed is, "The seed is the word of 
 God." (Luke 8:2.) 
 
 If the word of Christ quoted here be true, 
 there can be no other kind of seed which will 
 raise this crop, because two varieties of seed will 
 not produce the same thing. The seed being dif- 
 ferent, the crop must also be different. 
 
 Now the consciousness of the natural man is 
 but the soil in which the seed of eternal life is 
 sown, and contains in itself no spiritual life what- 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 75 
 
 ever, nor can* it, except this seed be sown in it. 
 "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man [the 
 word], and drink his blood [the Spirit], ye have 
 no life in you." (John 6: 53.) 
 
 After physical life is generated it must be 
 maintained by being fed. The yet unborn physi- 
 cal organism must be fed sufficiently, in order 
 that its life may be maintained, that it may grow, 
 that it may be born, in fact. The life of the un- 
 born physical organism depends wholly upon be- 
 ing sufficiently fed. Likewise the life of the yet 
 unborn spiritual organism depends wholly upon 
 being sufficiently fed. 
 
 Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Ye must be born 
 again." Regarded in this light, the spiritual or- 
 ganism is a re-birth, or birth again. Man is 
 born once into this world consciousness, the spirit 
 of this world, and must be re-born of the Spirit 
 of God. So we see that the man is re-born in 
 this sense, when the Spirit of God taking up its 
 abode in him begins for him existence in another 
 world the kingdom of God. His consciousness 
 and heart hitherto welded to the spirit of this 
 world, which occupies itself with the things of 
 this material world, the things of sense, begins 
 to become welded to the Spirit of God, which 
 
76 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 occupies itself with the things of the unseen 
 world, the things of spirit. As Paul says, 
 "While we look not at the things which are seen, 
 but at the things which are not seen: for the 
 things which are seen are temporal; but the 
 things which are not seen are eternal." (II 
 Cor. 4: 18.) 
 
 We are justified then in saying that a man is 
 born again who has received the Spirit of God 
 the Holy Ghost; knowing that, as John says, 
 "Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the 
 world" (I John 5:4; and that the welding 
 process once begun must be completed that 
 welding process which begins when a man re- 
 ceives the Spirit of God, and which is finished 
 when he becomes one in that Spirit. "I in them, 
 and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in 
 one." (John 17: 23.) 
 
 According to this view, a man would be born 
 again on receiving the Spirit of God ; then there 
 would be a period of growth, a coming to matur- 
 ity as it were, which would be represented by 
 the time between the gift of the Holy Ghost and 
 the becoming wholly one with that gift. The 
 fullness of spiritual growth can be none other 
 than perfect oneness with Christ, with God. 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 77 
 
 As we know that there is no end of the spiri- 
 tual world, we cannot carry the analogy of 
 spiritual things with physical any further than 
 we have, the birth of the spiritual organism, 
 and its growth and coming to maturity ; for with 
 this spiritual organism there can be no death, 
 since this is born of God. The maturity of the 
 organism which is born of God is life eternal 
 life. 
 
 The point of view which we have just con- 
 sidered that a man is born again who has re- 
 ceived the gift of the Holy Spirit we might 
 properly call the "man point of view." There is 
 yet another point of view from which we ought 
 to consider this matter, since both these points 
 of view are necessary to a harmonizing and an 
 understanding of much that we find in the New 
 Testament. The second point of view we may 
 justly call the "God point of view." This point 
 of view is that God in Christ takes up his 
 abode in us and grows in us until our whole 
 nature is Him ; that we are, in our poor human 
 nature, but the soil and Christ the seed. 
 
 Both these points are not only made manifest, 
 but proven by the following verses : "We know 
 that whosoever is born of God sinneth not." 
 
78 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 (I John 5:18); "Whosoever abideth in him 
 sinneth not : whosoever sinneth hath not seen 
 him, neither known him." (I John 3:6.) 
 
 Now we know that John had received the gift 
 of the Holy Ghost when Jesus breathed on his 
 apostles and said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost." 
 (John 20:22.) We know, in other words, that 
 he had been born again of the Spirit. 
 
 John says, "We know that whosoever is born 
 of God sinneth not," and this leads us to the con- 
 clusion that John after having been born again 
 by receiving the Holy Ghost never thereafter 
 sinned. But John also says, "If we say that we 
 have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth 
 is not in us." (I John 1:8.) By this we see 
 that John includes himself with those in whom 
 sin exists as a present possession. We may 
 recall here the prayer of Solomon at the conse- 
 cration of the temple, "for there is no man that 
 sinneth not," and the harmonious saying of Jesus, 
 "there is none good but one, that is, God." 
 (Matt. 19: 17.) 
 
 The truth of these things cannot be denied. 
 Though a man may in one sense be born again, 
 having the gift of the Holy Ghost, and though he 
 will not live in sin, yet he will sin at times. Now 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 79 
 
 we know, also, that "Whosoever abideth in him 
 sinneth not," and, "Whosoever is born of God 
 doth not commit sin." We know that Jesus 
 never sinned and that God could never beget 
 one who sinned, for, as John says, "He that 
 committeth sin is of the devil." (I John 3:8.) 
 
 Can both these points of view be true? Yes, 
 for while in one sense a man cannot be born 
 again who sins, in another sense he is unques- 
 tionably born again, even though he may sin 
 at times. As we have seen from what we called 
 the "man point of view," a man is born again 
 when he receives the Holy Spirit. But from 
 the "God point of view" he cannot be born again 
 until entirely freed from sin. For, "whosoever 
 is born of God sinneth not." From this point 
 of view, therefore, a man is not born again 
 until he is perfected in Christ, which obviously 
 does not occur during his life here. 
 
 So while we are in one sense born again when 
 we receive Christ, yet in another sense we are 
 not born again until Christ has done his work 
 in us and fully freed us from sin. We are inevi- 
 tably bound to be born again at some future time 
 in the latter sense, if we have been born again in 
 the first sense if we have received Christ. 
 
8o WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 A man then can become a son of God only 
 when freed from sin, when perfected and made 
 wholly one with Christ, who is one with God. 
 It is apparent, therefore, that from the last men- 
 tioned point of view that of the perfect Father 
 the Christ who is born in a man must be re- 
 garded as in a sense separate and apart from 
 the man himself; and yet at the same time one 
 with the man in so far as the man lives in that 
 spirit, because, as John says, "whosoever is born 
 of God sinneth not." 
 We must be SECTION 29. Carrying out the analogy which 
 
 we must physical organism depends upon being suffi- 
 
 exercise our dently f ed SQ the birth Q f the S pi r i tua l or- 
 spiritual 
 
 strength by ganism, Christ in us, depends upon being suffi- 
 
 win 0i of g God cientl y fed - And as the Physical organism must 
 be fed sufficiently in order to attain to maturity 
 to the fullness of its physical powers so must 
 the spiritual organism be fed sufficiently to at- 
 tain to the fullness of spiritual powers of which 
 the Christ in us is capable. 
 
 After birth, growth. It is possible for the 
 physical organism to die for lack of food after 
 being born; but the Christ in man, once born, 
 knows the source of supply of spiritual food. 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 81 
 
 This spiritual organism, therefore, is immortal, 
 but like the physical body, may attain a greater 
 or less fullness of power within the span of an 
 earthly existence, according to whether it re- 
 ceives sufficient food, and sufficient exercise of 
 the spiritual strength gained from that food. 
 
 In regard to the food of this spiritual organ- 
 ism, it is God, for Christ says in John- 6 157, 
 "As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by 
 the Father." He then adds, "so he that eateth 
 me, even he shall live by me," and here let us 
 remember what John says, "and the word was 
 God"; also Christ's saying, "I and my Father 
 are one." 
 
 The physical man must not only have sufficient 
 food, but sufficient exercise in order to assimi- 
 late that food and reach the full strength of 
 which he is capable. Repairs go on more rapid- 
 ly when muscles are used, and the parts of worn- 
 out tissue then replaced are built, not back into 
 the softer form of unused muscle, but into the 
 harder form of muscle in action. Thus the 
 physical body becomes great and powerful. 
 
 By the application of this natural law to the 
 spiritual organism, as Jesus has authorized us 
 to do in his analogies, we draw the conclusion 
 
82 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 that the power of the spiritual man depends upon 
 exercise as well as upon food. 
 
 Jesus saith unto them, "My meat is to do 
 the will of him that sent me, and to finish his 
 work." (John 4: 34.) Doing the will of God, 
 that is spiritual exercise. So the maturity and 
 perfectness of spiritual strength which was in 
 Jesus depended not only on his spiritual food 
 "I live by the Father" but also on exercising 
 the spiritual strength which that food gave him, 
 thereby assimilating the food and making it a 
 part of himself. Exercising his spiritual strength 
 was, "to do the will of him that sent me." 
 
 So it is with us. The spiritual man, Christ 
 in us, attains to a greater or less fullness, not only 
 by sufficient food, but also by using the spiritual 
 strength we get from that food in doing the will 
 of God; in finishing that portion of his work 
 which the Spirit tells us is ours. 
 
 Jesus says in John 4 : 36, "And he that reap- 
 eth, receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto 
 life eternal; that both he that soweth and he 
 that reapeth may rejoice together." It may 
 be said that he gathereth the fruit in himself, 
 as he reaps from day to day in this life; since 
 the spiritual man, or Christ in him, becomes 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 83 
 
 stronger according as he reaps does the will 
 of God. Now Christ is life eternal. 
 
 SECTION ^o. So though we may be born As the nat ' 
 
 -..'.. -11 TT O Ural matl diCS 
 
 again, having received the Holy Spirit, yet it is i n U s, the 
 not ^ve that are born, but Christ in us. Like- s P iritual man 
 
 . . , - , - is perfected 
 
 wise we may grow to spiritual fullness of stature, 
 and yet not we, but the Son of God born in us, 
 grows in us to such fullness of spiritual strength 
 as the abundance determines of spiritual food 
 and spiritual exercise which he receives. And 
 this is in our hands. 
 
 It is not we, as we exist in our own con- 
 sciousness, that go to heaven into the kingdom 
 of God, but only that part of us which is good 
 the Son of God. "And no man hath ascended 
 up to heaven but he that came down from 
 heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven. 
 (John 3:13.) It is fortunate that this is so, 
 for if we could take the evil part of our nature 
 with us we should be no more happy there than 
 here. The "carnal mind" is enmity against God, 
 and we should be in a state of division against 
 ourselves. 
 
 Christ said, "The Kingdom of God is within 
 you," but he did not say that this kingdom occu- 
 pied our whole being, nor can it until we are 
 
84 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 finally purged of all that is evil ; in other words, 
 until we are perfected. 
 
 As his own death approached, Jesus said: 
 "The hour is come that the Son of Man should 
 be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, 
 except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and 
 die, it abideth alone ; but if it die, it bringeth 
 forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall 
 lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world 
 shall keep it unto life eternal." (John 12:23, 
 24, 25.) In Luke 13:32, Jesus says, "and the 
 third day I shall be perfected." Christ was 
 glorified by his victory over death in the natural 
 body, and again when in his ascension he passed 
 wholly out of the material into the spiritual 
 world. 
 
 And day by day, as the natural man dies in 
 us, the spiritual man is perfected more and 
 more. And day by day, as the natural man dies 
 in us, the spiritual man brings forth fruit more 
 and more. "But if it die, it bringeth forth 
 much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose 
 it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall 
 keep it unto life eternal." What a blessed 
 thing it is that God has given us power through 
 his Son in us, to live here upon earth in the 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 85 
 
 kingdom of God in a measure. "He that hath 
 the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son 
 of God hath not life." (I John 5 : 12.) 
 
 SECTION 31. There is a phase of the subject Beginnings of 
 
 , , - . , J . r , spiritual life 
 
 not yet touched upon, but which we are justified 
 in mentioning, by the analogies which Jesus 
 drew between physical and spiritual life. There 
 is a period before birth in the development of the 
 physical organism when its life is not its own 
 but belongs to the parent. So also there is a 
 period in the development of the spiritual organ- 
 ism when its life is not its own but the heavenly 
 Father's. "For he that hath, to him shajl be 
 given; and he that hath not, from him shall 
 be taken even that which he hath." (Mark 4 : 25.) 
 "He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath 
 not the Son of God hath not life." (I John 5:12.) 
 
 If then Christ be born in us, we shall have 
 life indeed, as he says in John 5 : 26 : "For as 
 the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given 
 to the Son to have life in himself." 
 
 SECTION 32. Most of us have at some time 
 or other found difficulty in the conception of the The spiritual 
 spiritual oneness of the Father and the Son. ^TanY* 
 Perhaps we may by reference to the Gospels Christ 
 attain to a clearer conception of it. 
 
86 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 We find in John i : 14, "And the Word was 
 made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld 
 his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the 
 Father), full of grace and truth." In John 
 i : i we find, "And the Word was God." 
 
 Instead of having to comprehend only Christ's 
 identity with the Word, we have to comprehend 
 God's identity with the Word also. This seems 
 to make the matter more difficult, but in reality 
 renders it simpler. For instance, we find in 
 John 5 : 30, "I and my Father are one." Thus 
 we have in these three verses direct statements 
 that Christ is identical with the Word ; that God 
 is identical with the Word, and that Christ and 
 God are identical. Now this identity of Christ 
 with God is unquestionably made more conceiv- 
 able to our reason by the identity of each of 
 them with the Word. 
 
 Let us, for instance, consider Abraham Lin- 
 coln. What was his real self ? Was it the giant 
 body, six feet four inches tall? Was it the 
 physical body that was Abraham Lincoln's real 
 self? or was it that inward individuality 
 which made him think and act as he did ? Surely 
 the real self of the man was the inward man. 
 In our case likewise the spirit which is in us, 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 87 
 
 that inward man which dictates all our thoughts 
 and actions, is our real self. 
 
 The real self of Christ Jesus is the spirit of 
 Christ, the Holy Spirit, which is God. Jesus 
 says in John 4 : 24, "God is a Spirit, and they that 
 worship him must worship him in spirit and 
 in truth." 
 
 Where John says in the first verse of his 
 gospel, "In the beginning was the Word, and 
 the Word was with God, and the Word was 
 God," he might have said with equal truth : In 
 the beginning was the Spirit and the Spirit was 
 with God, and the Spirit was God; but if he 
 had done so we would not be able to know so 
 certainly where to go to find God. "The Word" 
 truly does not mean the spoken symbols which 
 came from the mouth of Jesus ; it means rather 
 the spirit of Jesus, and to find out what manner 
 of spirit this is, we can do no better than to 
 study and think about the words which he spoke 
 and the perfectly harmonious deeds which he 
 did. Where our consideration of his words 
 fails to make plain to us his spirit the Word 
 then oftentimes his deeds and life supply the 
 essential spiritual comprehension, the meaning 
 lacking. "And the Word was made flesh, and 
 
88 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 dwelt among us." The Word was made mani- 
 fest by deeds as well as by words, the deeds 
 which Jesus did. 
 
 It is worthy of note that we have an absolute 
 guarantee of the truth of Christ's sayings by 
 their perfect harmony with each other, by their 
 harmony with his deeds, and by Christ's promise 
 to his disciples in John 14: 26: "But the Com- 
 forter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father 
 will send in my name, he shall teach you all 
 things, and bring all things to your remembrance, 
 whatsoever I have said unto you." 
 
 Our love for SECTION 33. Christ has left to us two com- 
 o.ur ne ^ hbor mandments, in the perfect observance of which 
 
 is to be ex- v 
 
 pressed in the entire will of God would in us be fulfilled. 
 
 terms of our J esus sa j d unto hi m -J^OU s h a lt loVC the Lord 
 love for God J 
 
 thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, 
 and with all thy mind. This is the first and great 
 commandment. And the second is like unto it, 
 Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On 
 these two commandments hang all the law and 
 the prophets." 
 
 There are some eminent divines who appar- 
 ently make the greater commandment subordin- 
 ate to the lesser, who practically say to us that 
 if we* fulfill the lesser to love our neighbor as 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 89 
 
 ourselves we also fulfill the greater. But is 
 this necessarily so? Is it not possible for a 
 man to love his neighbor as himself, and yet 
 neither love himself or his neighbor on a spiritual 
 plane, with reference to the things of God? Is 
 it not possible for a man who finds his pleas- 
 ure in the things of this world, to take an 
 equal pleasure in seeing others do likewise? 
 He may wish the best for himself and his neigh- 
 bor that he is able to see, and still not fulfill the 
 first and great commandment to love the Lord 
 with all his heart, and soul, and mind. 
 
 Jesus says that on the observance of both 
 these commandments hang all the law and the 
 prophets, and we are, therefore, not justified in 
 saying that the observance of the lesser is all 
 that is necessary. In John 15:12 we find, 
 "This is my commandment, that ye love one 
 another, as I have loved you." Here it is ap- 
 parent that the words "as I have loved you" 
 imply a love from the spiritual plane, and that 
 this commandment, therefore, includes both the 
 commandments we have mentioned. 
 
 We find the same to be the case in John 13 : 34, 
 where Jesus says, "A new commandment I give 
 unto you, that ye love one another, as I have 
 
90 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 
 
 loved you, that ye also love one another." The 
 possibility of inadequate interpretation is evident- 
 ly in Jesus' mind when he adds, "as I have 
 loved you, that ye also love one another/' It 
 is plain that in loving one another as Christ 
 loved us, we must love with reference to spiritual 
 things, with reference to the eternal welfare of 
 each other, for such was the manner of his 
 love for us. 
 
 With regard, therefore, to the two great com- 
 mandments, we are not justified in twisting the 
 word of Christ from its true meaning, which 
 clearly is, that the lesser commandment is with 
 reference to the greater ; that wherever there may 
 be a seeming conflict in the application of these 
 two commandments, the conflict is to be decided 
 with reference to our love for God and his 
 righteousness, rather than with reference to our 
 love for our neighbor. 
 
 In reality there can be no actual conflict be- 
 tween these two commandments, for they are in 
 perfect harmony. But there are times when 
 we are called upon to make a decision as to a 
 seeming conflict. In such cases it will be found 
 that this apparent conflict is caused by our failure 
 to reconcile the well-being of our neighbor out- 
 
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 91 
 
 wardly and inwardly, spiritually and physically. 
 Suppose a situation where we could obtain food 
 or shelter for our neighbor only by committing 
 robbery, perjury, or some other sin against the 
 spiritual man. We are not commanded to love 
 our neighbor more than ourselves. If we would 
 not do this for ourselves we should not do it for 
 our neighbor, and if we would commit such acts 
 for ourselves, it is evident that we do not love 
 God with all our heart, and soul, and mind. 
 Our love and care for the inward welfare of our 
 neighbor is to be placed above that for his out- 
 ward welfare, the same as for ourselves. 
 
 In this connection it is also true that every 
 proper and righteous expression of love for our 
 neighbor in regard to material things is also an 
 expression of our love for his inward welfare, 
 and is, therefore, also an expression of our love 
 for God and his righteousness. As such we can 
 none of us afford to neglect these things. They 
 are of the first importance, both to our neighbor's 
 welfare and to our own. Yet let us assign to 
 the first and great commandment its proper 
 place, the place which Christ assigned to it. 
 
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