This Is Eternal Life

By Seth Nathan Polk

People search for meaning and purpose in life in all sorts of ways. Jesus made a powerful and important statement in His prayer to God the Father in John 17:3: This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and the one you have sentJesus Christ. This Is Eternal Life explores how Jesus described eternal life from the perspective of the Word of God and shows how it impacts ones quality of life in the here and now.

Presented in a Bible study format, This Is Eternal Life discusses what it means to be saved by grace, empowered by the Spirit, and set apart by God for service. It covers four life essentials for Christian living: fellowship, the Word of God, prayer, and stewardship.

This Is Eternal Life weaves the authors personal experiences with insights from Scripture, and connections to illustrations and daily life. It offers a practical look at salvation and eternal life and describes how one can live life to the fullest by trusting God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Feb 2, 2016
• ISBN: 9781512701418

Seth Nathan Polk

Seth Nathan Polk is the Lead Pastor of Cross Lanes Baptist Church in Cross Lanes, West Virginia, where he has served since 2003. He is passionate about leading people to faith in Jesus, and teaching them to become fully devoted disciples. His wife is Emilee, and they are blessed with three children. www.sethpolk.com

Book preview

Introduction

MY SPIRITUAL JOURNEY

God alone satisfies.

—Thomas A. Kempis

G od has blessed me with many life opportunities and a spiritual journey that continues to humble and amaze me. I stand in awe of God’s grace and His providential hand in my life. My passion is that you would know the same presence and power of God in your life through Jesus Christ. This book represents the heart of my theology and understanding about God, the way to know and walk w ith Him by faith, and how this impacts our lives now and into eternity. It is designed to be read and studied for personal devotion, or it can be implemented in a group setting. I trust that the instruction included will be a blessing in your walk with God.

Jesus made a powerful and important statement in His prayer to God the Father in John 17:3. Jesus said, This is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and the One You have sent—Jesus Christ.¹ We will explore together from the Word of God how Jesus described eternal life. It impacts your quality of life in the here and now. Your eternal destination depends on your understanding of and response to this truth.

Everyone has a story, and each story is remarkable in its own right. Our lives are deeply and permanently impacted by our place of birth, families of origin, educational opportunities, relationships, and life experiences. All of these elements come together to shape and mold who we are. They affect how we navigate through this world that is our temporary home, and they help us to make sense out of it. Most importantly, they influence how we understand and relate to God.

I want to share with you the story of my spiritual journey, because I believe it provides context for how my life has been shaped. It reflects my understanding of eternal life. It gives glory to God, who has faithfully brought me to where I am today.

My roots run deep in Central Florida. I was born in Lake Wales, Florida, on June 6, 1971. Both sides of my family settled as pioneers in Florida in the 1800s. My parents brought me home from the hospital to the farm, where I would spend the first twenty-six years of my life in the rural community of Bereah, located in south Polk County, outside of the town of Frostproof. We were a farm family, raising citrus, cattle, and vegetables to market commercially. As a child, I knew the freedom and adventure of roaming the farm, with little thought of any danger I might encounter along the way.

From an early age, I spent as much time outdoors as I possibly could. I often miss those days and catch myself reminiscing about them from time to time. My memories take me back, and I can feel the warm sun on my face, smell the sweet fragrance of orange blossoms in the air, and see the cattle grazing in the pastures.

I learned many lessons from farm life. Among them are a deep respect and appreciation for God’s creation, the value of a strong work ethic, the importance of perseverance when times are difficult, a faith that realizes that God is sovereign, and the security of a strong family. My father, who is retired now and no longer lives on the home place, farmed for all of his working life. My mother stayed at home, took care of my older brother and me, and assisted with things that needed to be done for the farm.

I am deeply grateful for the spiritual heritage I have. All of my grandparents knew the Lord, and my parents do as well. My maternal grandfather, Reverend John K. Manley, was a rural mail carrier and a Southern Baptist pastor for many years. Some of my earliest memories are of my mother reading Bible stories to me. I recall having a keen interest in spiritual matters. My family attended West Frostproof Baptist Church for several years when I was very young. From an early age, I knew the basics of the gospel from the testimony of my family and time spent in church.

At the age of seven, I met Jesus, and my life has not been the same since. It was at a Sunday evening service, and we were seated five rows from the back, on the left side of West Frostproof Baptist Church. The pastor preached the evening message, and it came time for the invitation and altar call. God moved in my life that night, and I was deeply convicted of my sin and need for Jesus. With the faith of a child, I stepped into the aisle and made my way to the front. The pastor received me and asked me why I had come forward. I told him I wanted to be saved, I didn’t want to go to hell, I wanted to go to heaven, and I needed Jesus in my life.

Salvation is based on the sovereign work of God in our lives and is founded in truth, not any particular emotions that we may or may not feel. What I can tell you, though, is that I was overcome with emotion that night. I was broken, and the tears flowed. I repented of my sins and trusted in Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord. I followed Jesus in believer’s baptism soon after I came to faith.

Sadly, the church in which I was saved no longer exists. The building is there, but there is no church. On a visit to Florida in recent years, I went by there. The facility was used for a Pentecostal congregation for a while and then later as migrant housing in the back part of the building. Upon my visit, I found a kind Hispanic lady outside the decaying building, cooking over an open fire. I asked her if I could go inside the building, and she opened the door for me. Even though it was only a brief visit, I was moved at being there and going back to where it all began for me spiritually.

A few years after I was saved, my family moved their church membership back to First Baptist Church of Frostproof. First Baptist would quickly become my spiritual home. It was the place where I would grow in spiritual formation into adulthood, and I would eventually receive a call from God to the ministry. By God’s providence, Reverend Mike Perry came to be the pastor of First Baptist Church of Frostproof in 1981. The Perry family faithfully served First Baptist from 1981-1991. Their oldest daughter was a classmate and good friend of mine during those years.

I never really gave much attention to the youngest daughter of the Perry family, Emilee. We knew each other from church but were acquaintances at best. When I was a senior in high school, we took an elective course together. For the first time, I noticed this very sweet and beautiful young lady, who would later become my wife and partner for life. We went on our first date to Project Graduation, the after-party of my high school graduation—and the rest, as they say, is history.

It was through Emilee’s influence that I became more involved in church. The youth pastor of our church at that time resigned. I was in my sophomore year of college and became very involved with the ministry. I sensed a call from God to a greater surrender, but I ignored it. I had made my plans. My intentions were to complete a four-year degree in business, get married, work with my family in farming, and enjoy life.

As I look back now, I wonder what my life and ministry would be like today had I not ignored and delayed the call of God when I was nineteen years old. It would take seven more years before I finally answered the call and fully surrendered. I continued my involvement with the youth ministry, serving in a volunteer interim capacity as the youth director for a time, until God sent a new youth pastor to serve our church.

One year before I completed college, I asked Emilee to marry me. I surprised her, getting down on one knee in the living room of the parsonage where her family lived, and when I asked her, she said yes. I finished college the next year, and Emilee and I were married on June 13, 1992.

I would like to be able to tell you that my spiritual life has been an unfettered, upward trajectory of constant growth and development. Unfortunately, that would not be accurate. Somewhere along the way, by no fault except my own, I became stagnant in my faith. We lived on the farm, and I worked with my family. I grew more and more distracted as I drifted from church life to the point that I attended only on Sunday mornings—and sometimes not even then. I was selfish and satisfied with where I was spiritually.

One Sunday after church, a lady who had been one of my Sunday School teachers when I was a child approached me. She was leading the AWANA children’s ministry of our church. She asked me what I thought about getting involved in AWANA and possibly leading it. It was a question that would prove to be a significant turning point in my life. God convicted me of my need to be more involved, and I agreed to take the position.

I began to serve in the AWANA ministry, young adult Sunday School, church council, and the visitation ministry of the church. I began to sense the leading of God in my life again and believed that He wanted more from me. The call I had experienced as a simple prompting when I was nineteen began to come more and more into focus. Reverend Lonnie Norris was our pastor at the time, and I asked him if we could meet. I walked into his office, sat down, and told him that I thought God was calling me into the ministry. He told me he already knew and was waiting for me to figure it out.

On a Sunday morning not long after that, I made my call from God public. The call that I had wrestled with was compelling, and Emilee and I stepped out from where we were seated that Sunday morning and made our way to the front of the church. I felt the same emotions that I had experienced when I was saved—and a sense of stepping into the river of the will of God, with absolutely no turning back.

My pastor was willing to do what it took to prepare me for ministry, and I am eternally grateful to him for it. He told me that a call to ministry is also a call to prepare. Very soon after that, I began to have opportunities to preach and to serve the church. The church licensed me to the gospel ministry, recognizing the call that God had placed on my life, and they later ordained me.

In the fall of 1997, I started seminary classes at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Extension Center at First Baptist Church of Orlando, Florida. Every Monday I would drive to Orlando for a full day of classes. It was a great introduction to seminary life. I was still farming and working at the time. Through a series of very difficult financial circumstances, God was loosening my grip on the life that I had always known and dreamed of, and He was preparing me for what was ahead. I was given the opportunity to go on staff as an Associate Pastor at First Baptist Church of Frostproof. It was understood at the time that it would be for the purpose of preparing me for ministry.

I learned much during those days. I was an extension of the ministry of my pastor. I learned the basics of what it means to serve a church as a pastor. Emilee and I made the determination that we needed to move where I could take classes full-time. After much prayer and deliberation, we made plans to move to Wake Forest, North Carolina, so I could attend Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. We packed up all our earthly belongings in a moving truck and made our way to Wake Forest in August of 1998.

In the meantime, we had begun to pray about an opportunity to serve a church while in seminary. God opened the door for me to begin discussions with Red Mountain Baptist Church in Rougemont, North Carolina located less than an hour from Southeastern, about becoming their pastor. Red Mountain Baptist Church had experienced its first major split in more than 117 years of ministry—just ten months before our arrival. It was painful, and the wounds were deep. More than sixty people literally walked out of the church on the day it happened, never to return. The details of why the split took place are not important, but what God was about to do next is very important.

I preached on a Sunday morning that September in view of a call, and the church voted on me in a business