[Mr. Joe Handley] Here we are celebrating God's Feast of Tabernacles, the feast of temporary dwellings. There are many lessons God wants us to learn by living in temporary dwellings for eight days. One lesson is the fact that life and the things in this life are very temporary, very short-lived. Many years ago, I went back to the town where I grew up. The elementary school that I had attended had been torn down, I didn't even realize that it had been torn down. The giant trees I played under were all long gone. And the people who lived in all those so familiar-looking houses were almost all strangers to me. And just two years later, a massive flood from the remnants of Hurricane Agnes would destroy much more of that world that I had known as a boy.

It's amazing how much things change over a relatively short period of time and the things in our lives that seem so permanent now will also disappear. Isn't that what God tells us through the mind of Solomon as recorded in the first chapter of Ecclesiastes, let's turn there. Ecclesiastes 1. Ecclesiastes 1 and we'll read, we'll start in verse 4.

Ecclesiastes 1:4 "One generation passes away, and another generation comes, but the earth abides forever."

Ecclesiastes 1:9-11 "That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done. And there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it may be said, See, this is new? It has already been in ancient times before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come by those who will come after."

Yes, one generation passes away and another one comes. And again, there is no remembrance of those things that came, those former things. We are all like players on a giant stage that make their entrance and exit. And then every so often the entire scenery on this giant stage changes. That's just the way life is. But have you ever stopped to ask yourself, "What am I now producing that will last? What have I really built in this life that's going to endure?" Perhaps I look at life from a slightly different perspective than most. Two fires and a flood have enabled me to see firsthand just how temporary this life really is.

About 40 years ago, I came across a poem that started me pondering that all-important question of what I was producing or building that would endure or last. The author of the poem was unknown to those who published it. And so it said anonymous. Here are the words that caught my attention way back then.

"Each is given a bag of tools,

a shapeless mass,

a book of rules.

And each must make,

ere life is flown

 a stumbling block

 or a stepping stone."

I can think of three important areas of life to which the concepts... I'll put this light up here, it's actually putting a glare on my notes.

I can think of three important concepts to which the...three important areas of life to which the concepts contained in this little poem apply. And it outlines the parameters of each of those areas very well. Anyone employed in any of the trade certainly knows the importance of the poem's phrase, "a bag of tools." Even pens, calculators, smartphones, and computers are tools used in a variety of professions today. The shapeless mass mentioned would translate into a piece or a pile of wood, a blank piece of paper, or a blank canvas, or a quantity of some multiple materials. The book of rules corresponding to our education and training in a particular discipline.

The phrase in the next line, "And each must make, ere life is flown" conveys the sense of something having to be produced within a definite certain timeframe. The last line tells or describes what we produce. In other words, the end result of the tools and the rules and the time and the material. And so, the poem ends with the words, "A stumbling block, or a stepping stone," a disaster, or something useful, valuable, or beautiful.

This little poem caused me to ask myself that question I mentioned, "What am I now producing that will last on this job as an accountant?" I didn't like the answer because all the work I produced every day, day in and day out, year in and year out, were stored in an attic for 10 years and then thrown away, just destroyed. What we each produce in this area of vocation will last for a while. If you produce cars, maybe 20, 30 years useful life of that product. If you build houses, they will last way beyond your lifetime. But in less than a couple hundred years, most things are reclaimed by the relentless process of decay and destruction. Again, that's the way life is as described in Ecclesiastes.

The second important area of our lives this poem speaks to is out of our families. What we produce in this area will last far beyond our lifetime, because what you and I are now producing there and what we finally build there in their minds and lives will live on long after us and has the potential to keep on producing good for many generations. In a sense, part of you lives on in their lives, your beliefs, your values, your very way of life and thinking. The poem's bag of tools is all that God has given you mentally to work with, abilities, talents, insights, personality traits, as well as those mental qualities you acquire from your life's experiences. And also in our case, the Spirit of God. God gave us those things to help us produce godly children.

The poem's “shapeless mass” is that precious little baby boy or baby girl that comes into your life that God has entrusted to your care. In “The Book of Rules” is God's law and God's Word and all the principles of child-rearing that flow from both of these. How very apropos the next phrase in the poem. And as it so applies to our beloved children in our lives, "And each must make, ere life is flown." So apply describes that time from their birth until the day they leave home. Most of us in this room know that that precious period of time really did fly by, didn't it? At the time we were going through it, it seemed like, it's not like it flew by back then, but when we look back, it's just like, where did that time go?

And again, notice the words, "Each must make, ere life is flown." Something important must be produced during those fleeting, yet formative years, something valuable, something beautiful in the sight of God and man. When that day comes, when your children leave home, the few meager physical possessions they will be carrying away are nothing, absolutely nothing compared with what they will take with them in their minds. Those beliefs, those values, that truth and maturity of thought and understanding that you have built there over all those precious years will serve them well all their life long. "And each must make, ere life is flown a stumbling block or a stepping stone." In other words, a son or daughter attaining adulthood with all kinds of problems that trip them up to their own hurt. Or one who is able to successfully step out into an exciting life of reaching their full potential as a result of being well-equipped to handle all the tests and trials of this life. Well-equipped to handle those.

My children and grandchildren have sometimes made poor decisions to their hurt. And when God's laws are broken in the lives of those we love, to our hurt as well. It's at times like these, that God really has our attention. And if you've gone through things like that, you know what I'm talking about. He has our attention because we love them dearly and we hate to see them hurting. We hate to see the effect on their lives and their happiness. Again, God really has our attention and we're given the capacity to grow in a deeper love and respect for God and His law. We may not have been able to attain that, just by reading God's Word, but again, when we internalize it in our own family, we get it very deeply. We understand and it stays with us.

The third and certainly the most important area this little poem outlines is out of our spiritual lives. The poem originally caught my attention because it captures or crystallizes the real essence, the real purpose of life for us as Christians. It shows it all, time, talents, laws, purpose, and goals. And so, let's go through it a third time. "To each is given a bag of tools." What a perfect description of the mental and physical talents we were each born with. We each have a different mix of those tools that God has given us. Again, as well as the additional tools, God gives us through His Holy Spirit. Think of them as power tools because that's exactly what they are, power tools. Love, joy, wisdom, patience, faith, discernment, and so on. "A shapeless mass," our life in its potential. We were that shapeless mass. Spiritually speaking, when God started working with us, we were like that uncut block of wood, that unsculptured piece of stone, or that unmolded lump of clay. “The Book of Rules,” that was God's law and all the other principles of life we would learn out of the Maker's handbook of life.

"And each must make, ere life is flown." Yes, we each have with the help of God's Spirit, a definite timeframe in which to produce something in our mind and heart, that is valuable, that is useful, that is beautiful in the sight of God. The last part of this line, "Ere life has flown," illustrates in a word picture that for us, time is of the essence and it reminds us of our brief sojourn on this earth, our brief window of opportunity. In describing this life, we each have been given, Bible writers use such phrases as I quote "A breath that passes away, a fleeting shadow, a short pilgrimage, a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away." And these are just four or five of many descriptions in there of life and how short it is.

Let's now complete the thought or message of this last line of the poem. "And each must make, ere life is flown a stumbling block or a stepping stone." The goal or end result for every child of God is to have developed over a lifetime that godly mind that can have an eternity with those that made it possible, God, the Father, and Jesus Christ. So many started on that journey of a lifetime only to allow deception, bitterness, and lethargy or neglect to rob them of the greatest gift this universe will ever know, the greatest gift. And some of them became a real stumbling block to others taking them away from this way of life, leading them away.

But those who continue on to the end in a spirit-filled life of overcoming, will be empowered and enabled to one day step up from flesh to spirit and to step out into eternity. God uses the same analogy of work to teach us... One other thing, "A stumbling block or a stepping stone" is an apt analogy here. God uses the same analogy of work to teach us truths about what He expects us to accomplish in our spiritual lives. Let's notice that in 1 Corinthians 3. We'll read verses 10 to 13.

1 Corinthians 3:10-13 It says, "According to the grace of God, which was given to me," and I'm cutting into a whole thought here. I'm only going to read the middle section of it. It says, "According to the grace of God, which was given to me as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation and another builds on it. But let each one take heed to how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now, if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw," and here's the important thing I want to emphasize, "Each one's work will become clear." The Old King James says, "Manifest." It means made known. "Each one's work will become clear, for the day will declare it because it will be revealed by fire. And the fire will test each one's work of what sort it is."

This is the same concept brought out in the poem, a specific timeframe in which work must be performed to produce something with the instruction and the tools given followed by a judgment of what was actually accomplished. It's very clear, the quality of what each of us has built or produced is going to be tested. And time and trial will reveal how much work spiritually speaking we've really accomplished before God. There's nothing like a funeral to bring us face to face with our own mortality. Again, this is the theme of temporary dwellings and it really hits home when we think about our own mortality. It's a time such as funerals that even the non-religious people think about the big questions of life and death. What is the purpose for my existence? What really lies beyond the grave? All mortal minds try to make sense of life and death.

Back in the summer of 1963, I wrote a poem entitled "A Matter of Life and Death." And it illustrates a certain aspect of human nature from the perspective of a funeral. The church had just come into a fuller understanding of the spirit in man back in early 1963 and had published several articles on the subject. And this poem was as a result of my thinking about this topic. I wrote this in the summer of 1963. I was taking a summer course, a four-credit course. After my freshman year, I wanted to not be taking 18 credits every semester. I thought that would ease the load. And it was a course in world literature. And so I wrote a lot of things that summer, poems and stories and all. But again, it was as a result of my thinking about this topic.

This is only the third time I've read it publicly in those 54 years. The first time was 20 years ago was asked to do a funeral for a good friend of mine in the United Church of God. And I read it to the people there. There must have been 10 different Church of God groups represented at that funeral. But everyone loved and respected this man back in the Baltimore, Maryland area. And so I read it at his funeral. And after...again, that was the first time. And after I read it this third time, you may be sitting there thinking, "3 times in 54 years is 3 times too many." And that will be okay. You know, that'll be okay. So, "A Matter of Life and Death."

"When life's breath has departed taking with it all that's real. Then the mourners gather sadly respectfully showing how they feel. When the hand of death descends on who formally was our friend, we paused to think, to muse, to plan of when, of where, of how our end. Then when our life's busy rut steals the passing time away, we, deceived, are kept from our plan, and old by this time there we lay. Now, death's stillness shadows us and forms the counterfeit of a man. Our pastime friends gather once again and pause to think, to muse, to plan."

I know that's some pretty heavy stuff from the mind and pen of an 18-year-old boy, but it does describe the ongoing story of generation after generation coming into the presence of the sobering reality and finality of death. Perhaps even resolving to change their ways, but never getting around to doing it. We can't be like that. We can never be found rationalizing that somehow God will understand that this is just the way I am. We can never be thinking that way. There's also a certain dynamic that operates on the human mind. One of complacency and lethargy, one of procrastination, one of shoving things we'd rather not face and deal with to the very back of our minds. And so, we never get around to making those needed changes in our thinking and our behavior, work we know that we must accomplish.

We all know that there are certain things in our thinking that we must change and that the allotted time for that to be accomplished is relentlessly running its swift course. Yes, "Each must make, must make, ere life is flown." All of this ties in with one of the Bible's main themes. And that is the heart of man, the heart of man. I first noticed this theme about a year and a half ago, and it runs from the Old Testament right to the end of the New Testament all the way through the Bible. You know, it's like there's several themes that go all through the Bible. One is that God is working out His plan and purpose that He started with Abraham and the family of Abraham, that's continued right on into the New Testament. It's all about the family of Abraham.

And yet, if you don't understand that, millions of people read and they'll read things in Revelation about the 12 Tribes and, you know, being on the walls of the New Jerusalem, and they'll read about David's throne and they read about so many things there and they don't make the connection. And yet that's a theme. Also the kingdom of God, it's allied with the family of Abraham. It's Abraham's family grown great, spiritual Israel, all of that is the same thing as the kingdom of God that starts in the book of Daniel and continues all the way through the book of Revelation.

God puts a major emphasis on the subject of the heart of man. Notice what God told Samuel in 1 Samuel 16. 1 Samuel 16, we'll start in verse 1. Now, this whole...you know, God starts back in Genesis, I suppose, when Cain killed Abel and He starts with His emphasis on the mind back then, and you can follow it, but I want to at least start right here. It's something very important. 1 Samuel 16, and we'll begin in verse 1.

1 Samual 16:1 It says, "Now the Lord said to Samuel, how long will you mourn for Saul, seeing that I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons."

1 Samual 16:6-7 "So it was, when they came, that he looked on Eliab and said, surely the Lord's anointed is before Him. But the Lord said to Samuel, do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord, does not see as man sees for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

A very important concept, God looks at the heart. The heart is more than just a mind. It's a mind along with what has been built there over time, either good things or bad things. And in Matthew, you don't have to turn there, but in Matthew 12:35 Christ tells us, "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things. And an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things." At the very core of our being, we are a mind in all that has been built there over a lifetime both mentally and emotionally. So that's why God says He looks at the heart. He's looking at the very core of what we are as a human being. That's our mind and our heart. God knew what was in David's mind and heart. Even as a youth, He knew that, that's why He chose him back then. He wasn't very old at the time. And even though he would go on to make many mistakes in his life, many serious mistakes, he would learn the importance of being wholehearted and seeking God's righteousness.

You don't have to turn there, but Psalms 51, he asked God to create a clean heart in him, a clean heart. And this is after saying, "Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts. And in the hidden part, you will make me to know wisdom."

In Psalms 139 David says, "Search me, O God, and know my heart." David knew he must not be living with any hidden corners in his mind or his life. Let's look at some other Old Testament verses showing God's desire to know the condition of the hearts of His people, both back then and now. Because these words were also recorded for us to consider, for us to understand, for us to implement in our lives. And it's only in that workshop of the human mind and heart in conjunction with the Spirit of God, where that kind of work can actually be accomplished. It can't be accomplished anywhere else in any other circumstances, that's the workshop we work in. Please turn to 1 Chronicles 28.

1 Chronicles 28:9 It says, "As for you, my son Solomon," this is what David told his son, "Know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts." Just want to end right there. Jeremiah, you don't have to turn there, but Jeremiah 17:10 echoes the same truth.

Jeremiah 17:10 It says, "I, the Lord search the heart, I test the mind."

Jeremiah 20:12 says, "O, Lord of hosts, you who test the righteous, and see the mind and heart."

Psalm 7:9 adds, "For the righteous God tests the hearts and minds."

These are just a few of the Old Testament verses where God says basically the same words. He might say it a little differently, but it's the same concept. Long before David and Jeremiah, you know, the two writers that I just quoted, long before they lived on this earth, God told their ancestors the very same thing, along with the reason this was so important to Him. Turn to Deuteronomy 8:2. Deuteronomy 8:2. I'm just going to read one section here. Deuteronomy 8:2. I'll give you a few seconds to get there.

Deuteronomy 8:2 God says, "The Lord, your God led you all the way these 40 years in the wilderness to humble you, and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not."

So again, He uses the same words, but He shows the reason why. He wanted to know if we would keep His commandments, if they would keep His commandments. Doesn't that sound a lot like our lives in our spiritual journey? At baptism, we had little or no idea of all the trials and difficulties we would encounter on the way to our promised land. Not to mention, all the weaknesses we would be shown that we had all along the way. Please turn over a few more chapters to Deuteronomy 13:3.

Deuteronomy 13:3 It says, "The Lord, your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul." Yes, to know what is in our hearts. To know whether we truly love God. God has to know the answers to these questions when it comes to us and the future He has planned for us. Just as the ladies were singing, you know, God has something in mind for us. Something big. Something bigger than Joseph even understood until it happened. He knew that God's promises were real, but again, a life opened up for him and life will open up for us as well. Let's continue following this theme right into the New Testament. Please turn to Luke 2. Luke 2. I think you're going to look at this verse a lot as it's a verse I'm going to read a lot different than you ever read it before. I know I do now. You know, here only a few weeks into the life of Jesus Christ. He's still a baby at this point. This same important theme is introduced. And as we will see, continued all the way through the New Testament. Let's pick up the story in Luke 2:22.

Luke 2:22 It says, "Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him," meaning Christ, "to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord."

Luke 2:25-28 "And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And this man was just and devout waiting for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Spirit was upon him." So again, it shows God was going to inspire what he said. Verse 26. "And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ." Verse 27. "So he came by the Spirit and into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child, Jesus to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God, and said..." and I'll just skip down to verse 34. He says certain things here but verse 34 and verse 35 is what I want to concentrate on.

Luke 2:34-35 ”Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, His mother behold, this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for a sign, which will be spoken against." And verse 35, it's easy to read right over these words in verse 35 and never comprehend the real meaning imported of these words. It says, "Yes, the sword will pierce through your own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed."

"That the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed." That's the same theme that God started way back then with the children of Israel and through David and Jeremiah. And you know, we can just read right over, like I said, and not even understand what this is saying. God, through Simeon's prophetic words here, is speaking about us. Not only us, but ultimately all of humanity and their time of judgment. Again, this is a very far-reaching prophetic utterance by this elderly gentleman.

Again, it shows God's consistent focus on the human heart. This same theme was found in Matthew 5. Let's turn there, Matthew 5:8, very short. An aspect of it, but it goes right to the heart of what He wants. This is like the essence of it all. Matthew 5:8. I'll give you a few more seconds to get there.

Matthew 5:8 Says, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

"They shall see God." This is one of the most powerful things ever stated on what it is that we must accomplish in this workplace that is our mind. And it was stated by Jesus Christ Himself very early in His ministry. The Apostle John also writes of this purity of heart in 1 John 3:1-3. Let's turn there. 1 John 3. 1 John 3, we'll read verses 1 through 3.

1 John 3:1-3 Says, "Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the children of God. Therefore, the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we shall know that when He's revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure."

Just as Christ is pure. And then turn over to1 Thessalonians 3:13.

1 Thessalonians 3:13 says, "So that He may establish your heart's blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints."

So it's saying we have to have that accomplished by then. If we want to be a part of that, we have to be sure that we are doing that in our lives. As this verse states, that God will empower the process in us. It's not anything we can do on our own, although we have a vital part. And again, each of us is ultimately responsible to accomplish it. Please turn over to 1 Corinthians 4:5. 1 Corinthians 4:5. When I hear pages turning, I know enough to wait. There's nothing worse than trying to get there and the minister's already off reading it.

1 Corinthians 4:5 says, "Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts."

Now I'll just stop there. This last phrase, "And reveal the counsels of the hearts" are almost the same words Simeon used in his prophecy that we just read in Luke 2. Simeon said, "That the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." You have the same three words in each one except hearts...I mean thoughts and counsels are the same words, you know, different word used but meaning the same thing. You know, the one says in Luke 2:35, "The thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." Here it's saying, let's see... "And reveal the counsels of the hearts." So again, it's the same thing.

Paul may well have had Simeon's words in mind when he wrote this letter to the Corinthian church. Also the first phrase in this verse, "Judge nothing before the time until the Lord comes." You know, Paul was writing to a church, the Corinthian church, a church with deep divisions, they were judging each other. They were making accusations and judging one another. And Paul's telling them that's Christ's job at His coming. Four or five different New Testament scriptures say that the Father has given all judgment to the Son. And it's very clear that it's Christ that's going to judge us at His coming.

We can all be very thankful that with each of us, Christ will evaluate and judge the finished product, not the process. He's not going to judge the process, but He's going to judge the finished product. What you and I have brought forth in our minds and in our lives since baptism is what Jesus Christ will judge. This theme of God searching and knowing our mind and heart and the ultimate responsibility each of us holds for a spiritual condition is reinforced by many New Testament scriptures. First, let's go to a scripture that describes the heart of man. Mark 7, we'll read verses 21 to 23.

Mark 7:21 says, "For from within, out of the heart of man, proceed evil thoughts, adultery, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man."

Now, God didn't create our minds that way originally, but, you know, hearts become that way from early in life, you know, they gradually just accumulate all that's around them. And that's the world God called each of us out of. Years ago, one of our ministers was asked...this man came up in back of him and I guess he put his hand on his shoulder and he said, "Brother, have you given your heart to the Lord?" The minister turned to him and he said, "He doesn't want it. It's so rotten." He said, "You see, He wants to give me His heart."

Well, that's a great biblical answer because that's exactly God's desire. You don't have to turn there, but Philippians 2:5 says, "Let this mind be in you, which was in Jesus Christ." So that was a great biblical answer. You and I could not have grown up in 20th-century society and not have ungodly things still in our minds. Or if you're young, if you're a teenager, you and I could not have grown up or I mean... But you could not have grown up in these first, almost 2 decades of the 21st century and still not have those things affect you because society has become so much more lawless in your life, in your age. 2 Timothy 2:22 I won't turn there. I'll just read it for a lack of time.

2 Timothy 2:22 tells us, "Flee also youthful lusts but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Out of a pure heart."

Someone once said our words and actions are but a reflection of the thoughts and intents of the heart. When we sin in word or in deed, it's our heart expressing itself. To correct our speech, we must first correct our heart. And likewise, any permanent change in our behavior requires a very deep course correction in our thinking. Have you ever heard the saying, "Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bear bad fruit and man is his own gardener?" I like that. It takes a lifetime to launder wrong ideas and concepts out of our thinking. It's not only a matter of God calling a person, but also giving them ample time to grow and overcome.

He gave most of us in this room here today, the greater part of a lifetime for this process to be played out in our lives. Maybe you've never thought of that, but He's given us a long, long period of time. And when you look back through 20 centuries of church history, you see the same pattern. There have been times when God has called many, multiple, tens of thousands of people in a certain area. Usually in periods of peace and prosperity, usually in periods when trade is going on without disruption of war, usually in times of stability, yeah.

You know, right in the 1st century, the apostles went out and evangelized to the whole world. And so you saw many, many tens of thousands of people come into the church. The Pax Romana or the "Roman Peace" enforced a period of stability on that part of the world. And then after that, some of those...a lot, in fact, I think seven of apostles went to the British Isles. And so you saw it there, the Celtic church in the British Isles. They kept the Sabbath and holy days. They evangelized the world. They said they took the gospel to the known world that they knew of. And again, it was at a time of peace and prosperity for a number of centuries until the Vikings came in there and disrupted things. Around the 7th century the first Viking raid started. But even in Medieval Europe, there was a time when 50,000 people were called in one area of Europe. And God raised up able leaders who had gifts to evangelize. And so you had a period of prosperity there and you had, you know, multiple generations be a part of the church of God.

You know, between these times, the visible church just about disappears. There are people who carried those truths forward unseen. It's almost visualized like big valleys. And then you have these little things through the mountains between the valleys. Think about that like through time, because several generations, when God calls multiple, tens of thousands, several generations are raised up who go this way of life. And until severe trial, usually in the form of persecution, leaves only a remnant to carry those truths forward. But think of it as the Father and Jesus Christ, planting large fields of first fruits all down through time in these wide valleys and big fields that they bring to maturity and harvest. That's what He's doing with us. That's why He's given us a long time and children and grandchildren with us in this marvelous journey. Turn to Romans 12. Romans 12. I'm a little slow with this Bible here. I usually don't use it. My other one, every few months the binding goes out on it and I get Super Glue and I put it in there. And it's good for another few months. Romans 12, we'll read verses 1 and 2.

Romans 12:1-2 Says, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

Yes, renewed in our minds. Newness of life. And that doesn't come from ourself, it comes from God. It comes from a higher power, that power to change our thinking. And again, this verse contains one of the central truths of our converted lives that we must be constantly being renewed in our minds. The fact that we must always be growing and overcoming right to the end of our days, we must never stop doing that. As I mentioned, you and I are ultimately responsible before God, to make sure that this all-important task is actually accomplished. Turn to Revelation 3. Revelation 3, we'll read verses 14 to 18. Notice this description of the condition of the minds of those living in this last era of God's church. A condition they're not even aware of. That's what God's telling them. You're not even aware of the condition of your heart and mind.

Revelation 3:14-18 it says, "And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, these things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness. The beginning of the creation of God. I know your works." He says I know your works to all seven of the areas of God's church, "That you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth." Now, the New King James has another word there. I don't like that word because that word comes from the stomach. I think it's talking about somebody drinking something and then just spewing it out because it's lukewarm, I think that's a better translation. "Because you say, I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing, and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich, and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed. And anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent."

Revelation 3:21 says, "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him here what the Spirit says to the churches."

Again, to him who overcomes, Christ makes again that same statement. Not only I know your works to all seven churches, but he says to he who overcomes or to him overcomes, it uses different phraseology there. But again, he makes that statement to all seven churches showing that the bottom line for all Christians was, is, and always will be to be overcoming. God mentions this an 8th time in Revelation 21:7, where He states, "He who overcomes shall inherit all things and I will be His God and he shall be my son."

Turn back just one page here to Revelation 2:23. I mentioned that God has this theme all through the Old Testament, New Testament. And He brings it right up to the end of the Bible here in the last book of the Bible in Revelation. Revelation 2:23. He's talking to Thyatira here.

Revelation 2:23 He says, "I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know..." Now not only Thyatira. This must be important. He says, "All the churches shall know, all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts." And then he goes on "I will give to each one of you according to your works."

"I am He." Now that's an interesting phrase there, "I am He who..." Just turn back, hold your place here, but turn back to Revelation 1:18, He uses that same phrase there as well.

Revelation 1:18 He says, "I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forever more."

So when He says "I am He," it's a reference back in time, because He could just say, "I," and then, you know, whatever He was going to say, but He says, "I am He who..." Again, He uses the same phrase to reflect our thoughts back in time. And now back to Revelation 2:23.

Revelation 2:23 He says, "I am He who searches the minds and hearts. I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you, according to your works."

He's reminding us that He is the same one who originally said those words in the first place. That He is the same one who had those inspired all through the Old Testament and New Testament. You know, the same basic thought. He wants us to realize that He's repeating it here for our benefit. And now here one last time, the God of Israel and the Savior of all mankind lovingly reminds us of this all-important spiritual work that must be accomplished by each of us. Accomplished before this temporary existence of ours comes to an end. Righteousness dwelling in human hearts before God finally folds up to tent.

Someone once wrote "Those who have searched their hearts and changed their thinking and behavior to reflect God's way of love will inherit eternal life." I'm going to repeat that, that's important. But I'm going to add one other line from another author. I don't remember who said it. I thought I did. It's a recent like, in the last year or two I think it was in a book. I was thinking Mr. Dick had said that at a conference and I called him on the phone and he said, "No," it wasn't him. So I don't know who it was. I think it was in a book now that I think of it. But anyways, I'm going to repeat it again. Then I'll add this last part.

It says, "Those who have searched their hearts and changed their thinking and behavior to reflect God's way of love will inherit eternal life. It is in the crucible of each and every heart as to what we become." It's been said and I quote, "We become what we fill our minds with. Our thoughts become our actions, which become our habits, which become our character, which become our destiny." It all comes back to our minds, doesn't it? All comes back to our minds. You don't have to turn there but write down Proverbs 23:7, it reveals the basic truth about each of us, maybe one we don't like to admit, but it's true.

Proverbs 23:7 says, "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he."

"As he thinks in his heart, so is he." This verse plainly tells us that what we're really thinking and feeling is what we really are. Or as someone else once said, "You are what you think, not what you think you are." We're all laughing because that's a common deception. And that's a revelation when that happens. And maybe somebody points that out saying, "You know, you said this and that's not right." Or, you know, "What were your motives or whatever, you know?" God has given us His Spirit of truth and deep introspection. The power, not only to examine and understand our true spiritual condition but the power to change and grow, a power to be a workman who never needs to be ashamed. It really all comes down to human hearts journeying through temporary dwellings. The two main themes are woven all through this sermon.

I can't give you any more important message having to do with the aspect, the theme of temporary dwellings at this Feast of Tabernacles. Because these concepts go right to the heart of all that we are and all that we aspire to as Christians. Just as in Solomon's day, everything in this physical world is temporary and passing away. Ultimately, all that you and I really have is what we have through the help and grace of God built into our minds and hearts. A mind containing that unique character, personality, and potential that is you, and that is me.

This is all we'll be able to take out of this temporary existence. Very much like what our children took with them in their minds on that day they left home to enter their new world, their new life. And God is now preparing His children for that next stage in life, just as we did with our children. I’ll end this sermon as I began, with the truths conveyed by that little poem with its backdrop reality of our temporary sojourn on this earth. What you build or produce in your vocation has the potential to produce good fruit over a lifetime. What you build or produce in your family has the potential to produce good fruit during and beyond your lifetime. And what you build or produce in your spiritual life has the potential to produce good fruit now and for all eternity.

I gave a sermonette based on this poem at the Feast of Tabernacles in Sweden in 1993. When I arrived at the feast at the hall that day where I was to speak, there were copies of the poem on the literature table and I thought, "How'd they get there?" Well, the feast's coordinator must have put them there because he was the only one that knew what my topic was. But it wasn't until the moment that I actually walked up to that literature table and looked down and saw the stack of the poems there that I learned who actually wrote the poem. Up until this time, it said anonymous. His name was R.L. Sharpe, Sharpe with an E on the end.

And you know, I would later learn that R.L. Sharpe or R. Lee Sharpe had been a storekeeper here in the state of North Carolina back in the 1800s. I think he was born in...I forget 18-something. But the much bigger revelation that day was the fact that I had only seen and known the last half of the poem, only the last four verses of an eight-line poem. And as I stood there reading the first half, it confirmed what I had always suspected. And I had always...that's why I gave a sermonette based on it. I had suspected that its author was touching on things beyond this present reality. Beyond the mundane existence of man. And again far beyond that realm.

And in that sense, this simple, yet profound little poem, really soars. And so, one final time, the poem in its entirety, all eight verses. All eight lines, I'm sorry. "Isn't it strange that princes and kings, and clowns that caper in sawdust rings and common folk like you and me are builders for eternity. Each is given a bag of tools, a shapeless mass, a book of rules. And each must make, ere life is flown a stumbling block or a stepping stone." What are you and I now building that will last?