Known but to God

Well, aloha! It's great to be with all of you on the afternoon surface of the last great day, the eighth day. Before I forget, I'd like to thank the choir for all of the hard work that they provided for us, the entire feast. My wife and daughter and son-in-law have been members of the choir, so I know their schedule and I know how hard all that the choir has worked in order to provide us beautiful and inspiring music for this feast of tabernacles this year.

Special thanks to each and every one of them.

Well, since I was a small child, I've always had a rather mysterious fascination with cemeteries.

I usually feel solemn, yet energized and excited when I walk through cemeteries. I can remember as a little child running around cemeteries as we would visit the grave sites of my relatives, and of course, being small, I didn't understand there was cemetery etiquette. For example, I would walk on graves and I would be lectured that you weren't supposed to do that. That never made any sense to me. What are they saying down there? Ouch! Somebody stepped on me, right? But even as a little child, I would run around the cemeteries and I would be excited about them, and now that you know that I have a rather bizarre hobby, you may appreciate more fully my message today.

For many years, even as a regional sales manager, when I would travel around the country, oftentimes I would visit cemeteries. Well, let's go to Leviticus chapter 23 in verse 39 this afternoon and read a scripture from the book of Leviticus, the original instruction of the Holy Days to the nation of Israel, and see here that God did not provide to Israel an understanding of what this day was all about.

And it's for a very simple reason, and that is that this was an old covenant relationship between God and the people of Israel. It was based on physical blessings for obedience. And the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ had not yet come, and only His coming revealed and made this day significant. Leviticus chapter 23 in verse 39 is very simple. It says, also, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days.

On the first day there shall be a Sabbath rest. And we did that, and that was the Feast of Tabernacles, and that ended yesterday. And then it says, and on the eighth day is a Sabbath rest. That's all it says. It doesn't give any more detail about what the eighth day, what we traditionally call the last great day, means. And certainly the sermonette speaker today, and earlier in the first service, and also Mr. Dowd's sermon shed a lot of wonderful light and understanding on the meaning of this day.

The emphasis of this day is on the multiple billions who have never known God or had an opportunity for salvation. And after 1,000 years have ended, an enormous resurrection will occur. And all of those throughout history who were never called or offered genuine salvation will be raised from the dead and will live again. I'll read from Revelation chapter 20 verse 6. It was read this morning by Mr. Dowd, so I'll leave it up to you whether you want to turn there.

But it says in Revelation chapter 20 and verse 6, And I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it from whose face the earth and heaven fled away, and there was no, there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. The books were opened, these books right here, and another book was opened, the book of life.

And the book of life records those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, and whose sense had been forgiven, and because of that, their names are written into the book of life. And it says, And the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books.

And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one according to his works. And at this time, each one was resurrected from the dead and never understood God's plan, never was called, never accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, they will be told, you're guilty, but you have an opportunity. The books here say that you sinned, that you violated God's way of life, that you broke his law.

Your name is not written in this book of life, but because there was a Savior whom you never knew about, whom you never understood, you will be given an opportunity for salvation.

In the year 19, or the year 2008, I should say, while at the Feast of Tabernacles in Italy, I took a side trip to the American Cemetery at Anzio. It's a very beautiful cemetery. It's 77 well-manicured acres. And in that cemetery are 7,861 white crosses and some stars of David in gentle arcs across a very broad green lawn. On top of that, when you go into the chapel, you see the names of 3,096 missing. For a total of 10,956 young men are memorialized at this one American cemetery at Anzio, Italy. The battle at Anzio occurred on January 22, 1944. That's when it started. It was an amphibious landing known as Operation Shingle in the Italian campaign against German forces around the cities of Anzio and Netuno, Italy. And the operation was commanded by an American general, John P. Lucas, and was intended to outflank the German forces and enable an attack on Rome. But things went terribly wrong. It was clear that Lucas's superiors expected some kind of an offensive action from him, but he just sat there. The point of landing was to surprise the Germans and to panic them into retreating northwards towards Rome. However, Lucas, for reasons still unknown to this day, just sat there and didn't go on the offensive. He poured more men and materials into a very tiny beachhead, and he just strengthened his defenses. And these poor boys were just pounded by German artillery. Winston Churchill was clearly displeased with this action. He said, I had hoped for that we were hurling a wildcat under the shore, but all we got was a stranded whale. So he was very displeased. After a month of heavy but inconclusive fighting, Lucas was relieved of his duties, and he was sent home. And he was replaced by another general. And finally, by May, the American and Allied forces broke out, but the carnage on the American troops was horrendous. 10,956 young men. The average age was about 21 years old. What were their dreams? What kind of hopes did they have? What were their talents? Did some of those young boys hope someday to take over their father's farm? How many of them had a girlfriend back home waiting for them? How many of them wanted to have careers as a craftsman or to do something to develop their talents? Who knows the individual potential and the hopes of each and every boy, every young man who died there? Only God knows. Turn with me to Job 14, verse 47. Job understood that this life that we live can be hard at times. As you get older, you struggle with chronic diseases. Sometimes, just to make ends meet, can be a struggle financially. We can have relationship issues. We can have job issues. Life can be very difficult. But here's what Job said. He said, if a man dies, shall he live again?

All of those young men at Anzio who are dead, died in the prime of their life. Will they live again?

Job continues, all the days of my hard service I will wait till my change comes. You shall call and I will answer you. You shall desire the work of your hands. For now you number my steps. You know every step that I take. You know everything that I'm doing in my life. But do not watch over my sin. Job knew he had a Savior. My transgression is sealed up in a bag and you cover my iniquity. So Job reminds us here that it is intended as part of God's plan that people die. And he says, will they live again? And he says here very clearly that you will call that in my grave I will hear your voice. You will say, rise! Now is the time to come out of your grave.

And I will answer you. The translation of New Century Version says, if a person dies, will they live again? All my days are a struggle. And I will wait until my change comes. You will call and I will answer you. You will desire the creature your hands have made. Brethren, throughout human history, billions of people created in the image of God have lived and they have died. And most were in human cultures that never heard of the Bible. They never heard of the concept of even a single all-powerful God that we know of as a creator. They never heard of Jesus Christ or heard the good news of the gospel of the kingdom of God. They were born, they lived, they died. They had unfulfilled skills and talents. They had personal goals. They had hopes. Yes, they had dreams. And yet for those who lived in civilizations with a written language, we at least know that many of them had a name. But do we appreciate the fact that 99 percent of those who have ever lived and died, we have no record of their life. There is no headstone.

We don't even know their name. Who knows? Only God knows. And each and every one of them are precious and important in God's sight. Who and what they were is known but to God.

Turn with me, if you would, to the 32nd chapter of Job. Why, we're in the book of Job. Job, chapter 32. Job reveals to us that there are two components to this human life. There is the spirit in man that we have that gives us consciousness, that helps us in the image of God to have the abilities of creation, to have a recognition of the world around us. It encapsulates our character, our personality, our strengths, our talents. And then there is just a physical body, this tent that we heard about earlier in the phase during one of our sermonettes. That was only meant to be temporary. Job, chapter 32, verse 8, but there is a spirit in man and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding. When God made man in his own image, he provided humankind with the God-like ability to comprehend our own existence, to create, to grow, to learn, to pass on knowledge to another generation. Within this spirit of man are also a person's innermost desires. All of our deepest hopes, our wants, our needs, who and what a person is, including personality and individual characteristics. They are all contained within this spirit in man. And that death, this unconscious spirit, is separated from the physical body and is preserved by God. To give you an analogy, I think many of you can understand, if you own a PC or a laptop, a lot of you have laptops with you today, there are two components that provide animation for your laptop computer or your PC. There's hardware and there's software. And when you don't combine the hardware and the software, what you basically have is a dark screen, don't you? It takes the combination of software and hardware for that computer to provide animation and to do the things we want it to do. A few days before the feast this year, my wife, Vijay, and I visited Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, and we took a boat trip out to see the memorial to the USS Arizona. I'm sure many of you have also taken the same trip. The USS Arizona is the final resting place for many of the ship's 1,177 crewmen who lost their lives on December 7, 1941.

The 180-foot-long memorial structure spans the mid-portion, about the middle, of the sunken battleship. There were 37 sets of brothers assigned to the USS Arizona on December 7, 1941. How would you have liked to have been the government soldier who went to mom's house and told her that her two sons died at the same day, at the same battle, on the USS Arizona? A few quarts of diesel oil still weep from that sunken ship every day, leaving a little telltale smell and oily film floating on the water after 73 years. The Japanese aerial bomb that struck the forward section of the USS Arizona ignited the forward magazine, where all of the weapons were, including the explosives that the ship had. And that explosion sank that battleship in nine minutes. Those poor boys that were trapped below never had a chance. Their remains are still there under the sea.

What were their dreams? What were their hopes?

What were their individual talents? How about their potential? Was there a mathematician, potential mathematician, athlete, teacher on board? We'll never know.

Only God knows, and he has not forgotten a single one of them. These soldiers at Anzio and Pearl Harbor are actually rare and unique in world history. At least we know their names. They're inscribed in marble, or they're on white crosses at Anzio. Across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., is a very large plot of land. It was owned after the American Revolution by the descendants of George Washington, named the Custis family. And in 1802, they began construction of a beautiful mansion called the Arlington House. This house was later occupied by Mary Custis, and her husband, Colonel Robert E. Lee. But sadly, there was a civil war in the United States. And General Lee decided to fight for his beloved Virginia and the Confederacy, and the family abandoned Arlington House and the land that surrounded it.

Well, Union troops occupied Arlington House immediately thereafter, and it was officially confiscated by the United States federal government for unpaid taxes. They didn't want the Lees to ever move there again, so immediately they began to bury soldiers in Mrs. Lee's rose garden, to keep her from ever returning to the home. And it worked. About six months before she died, she visited the home one more time and became so disgusted by seeing those graves in her rose garden that she went home back to Virginia and died a few months later. Today, Arlington National Cemetery has over 400,000 graves. Almost in the center of Arlington National Cemetery is something that's very special. It's called the Tomb of the Unknowns, and it's one of the most popular tourist sites. The tomb contains in it the remains of an unknown American soldier from World War I, one from World War II, one from the Korean War, and originally one from the Vietnam War that was removed in 1998 due to DNA testing. It was discovered actually who that individual was. The tomb is guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days per year by specially trained members of the third United States infantry, also known as the Old Guard. The idea behind the tomb is simple. Inside are people whose identities are unknown. Like you and I, they were people who had hopes and dreams and desires, but theirs went unfulfilled. We know nothing about who they were. We don't even have a name for them. We know that they existed because of their remains, but we don't know who they are. Here's what's inscribed on it. It says, Here rest in honored glory an American soldier known but to God.

The truth, brethren, is that the overwhelming number of human beings who have ever lived and died have no headstone, have no memorial. Their legacy is lost. We have no name. So many generations have passed that no one even knows they ever existed if it were not for a fragment of a fossil, of a part of their skull, or a part of their body. For many of them, their remains have turned to earthen soil. Now, actually, this was part of God's plan. Let's read about it in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 17. From human understanding and human civilization, they are lost forever. They have no hope. Their identities are forever gone.

But, brethren, they are known but to God. Genesis chapter 3 and verse 17, then Adam, to Adam, he said, because you have heeded the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, saying you shall not eat of it, cursed is the ground for your sake. In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life, both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you, and you shall eat of the herb of the field. Kind of reminds us what Job said in chapter 14, all my days are a struggle. Life will be hard, God said, because you chose the wrong tree. Verse 19, and in the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken, for dust you are, and the dust you shall return. Unknown, unrecognized, lost, in need of a Savior. This Hebrew word for dust is afar, and it means clay, mud, ashes, or rubbish. Ecclesiastes chapter 12 and verse 6, if you'll turn there with me, Ecclesiastes chapter 12 and verse 6.

Author of Ecclesiastes was inspired to remind us of taking our lives seriously, getting the most out of the gift of life that God has given us. He wrote in chapter 12 verse 6, remember your Creator, before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher shattered at its fountain, or the wheel broken at the well, then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the Spirit will return to God who gave it. Once again, a warning, acknowledgement that our lives are temporary, that upon our last breath that our physical bodies die, and they become dust, and this Spirit in man that makes us truly unique and encapsulates who and what we are returns to God, unconscious, un-anopated, until it is once more united with a body. And hopefully, in our case, certainly, we pray for a spiritual body. This very day, the eighth day, added immediately after the Feast of Tabernacles, is part of God's great plan for the billions of people who lived and died and are known but to God. Now, for those of us who accepted Christ and received His Spirit, our faithfulness will be rewarded at the return of Jesus Christ. Paul talks about the first resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15, but for the vast majority of those who have lived and died, this day in God's plan shows that God loves all of His potential children, and He has not forgotten a single one of them. He has not forgotten anyone who died on an island, anyone who died in a battle, anyone who died in a city, anyone who died at sea. We read in Revelation how even the sea will give up the dead, the great white throne judgment.

Let's go to Isaiah chapter 26 and verse 17. God has a plan, and that plan of the eighth day is revealed, and we are reminded of it each and every last great day that God wants His children, His creation, to live. He wants every opportunity to be given to those, to learn about Him, and to learn His way of life, to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, and to allow the righteousness of Christ and His shed blood to forgive them of their sins. Isaiah chapter 26 and verse 17. As a woman with child is in pain and cries out in her pangs, and this certainly represents what our world has gone through for six thousand years, labor pains. Our civilizations, our own governments, and our own religions have created nothing but labor pains for the human race. When she draws near the time of her delivery, so we have been in your sight, O Lord. We have been with child and have been in pain. We have, as it were, brought forth nothing worthwhile. It says, we have, as it were, brought forth gas.

That's what, compared to God, humanity, and our civilizations, and our languages, and our educational systems, and our science, has brought forth nothing but wind. We have not accomplished any deliverance in the earth. We haven't saved one human being in this earth. With our technologies, with our civilizations, our governments, our religions, we have saved no one. Nor have the inhabitants of the world fallen. The world still goes on, but verse 19 is very encouraging. Your dead shall live. Isaiah says, together with my dead body, they shall arise, awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust. For your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. This day represents a time when the earth will cast out its dead, and everyone, the named and the unnamed, the known and the unknown, will come out of their graves and have a precious opportunity for salvation, to be part of God's family.

The aspirations and personal desires of billions cry out in the dust. Most died thinking that their hopes and dreams were forever lost. Remember what it said in Ezekiel 37, verse 11, that was mentioned this morning by Mr. Dowd. The dry bones said, our hope is lost. We are ourselves cut off. We have no salvation. But God never forgot his children. He knows every one of their names. He remembers every hope, every goal, every desire everyone has ever had.

Brother, this Holy Day reminds us that the greatest collection of human knowledge, human talent, and human wisdom is not in our libraries. It's not in our think tanks. It's not in our universities. It's located in our cemeteries.

And God is going to bring all of that back to be used in a positive and beautiful and wonderful way.

Are we allowing God to prepare us today for service to these billions who will need comforters, teachers who will need someone to love them, someone who didn't live in just some fairyland, isolated world, but someone who was physical themselves and suffered from disease and experienced disappointment, who knows what loss feels like, who fought discouragement like we do, who overcame the world like we've had to? You see, their teachers will be real people. We have an expression. We say, been there, done that. And that's the way we will be as servants in the world tomorrow. Let's take a look at Daniel chapter 12 and verse 1. Daniel chapter 12 and verse 1.

Another very encouraging scripture about you. Daniel chapter 12 and verse 1. Daniel was inspired to write near the end of his book, At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people, and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time, and at that time your people shall be delivered. That time we know of, prophetically, is the great tribulation and the day of the Lord. Everyone who is found written in the book.

Verse 2. And many who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, those who come out of the white, great white throne judgment and accept salvation, accept Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and His shed blood for the forgiveness of their sins and transgressions, and who go on a path of righteousness, of living lives, of quality, living lives, of developing good works and abundant fruits, developing the fruit of the Holy Spirit. So some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Sadly, there will be some who will just simply reject Jesus Christ, reject the opportunity for salvation, and reject God's way of life.

And those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars, forever and ever.

Are you ready to turn many to righteousness? Are you ready for the role that you are preparing for right now in this lifetime? The translation New Century Version says this about verse 3, the wise people will shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who teach others to live right will shine like stars forever and ever.

That's your calling. That's my calling. Do you understand and appreciate that there is a prophecy about your future? Prophecy about my future? Isaiah chapter 60 verse 1, if you'll turn there with me. This is a prophecy about future Zion scholars who don't get the fact that Zion is the church. I think this prophecy is limited to discussing the city of Jerusalem. In fact, what it does is what it describes what it will be like to be in the first resurrection.

You and I have been called to be part of that first resurrection, the better resurrection, so that we can work during those thousand years to prepare a world for the billions of people who will be resurrected at the Great White Throne Judgment. So we can be side by side with Jesus Christ as his saints, working with him, serving him, preparing to serve the entire world. Isaiah chapter 60 and verse 1. Notice what it says. Arise, shine, for your light has come as our feet leave this earth, and as we ascend into the heavens, the meat, the coming Jesus Christ, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people. That will be the condition of the earth after the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord. But the Lord will arise over you, and his glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light. And Jesus emphasized his first ministry as he walked into this earth, the importance for us to be lights that are not hidden under bushel baskets, but to be lights to the world, because lights attract.

And the Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising, left up your eyes all around, and see. See in a perception that you never saw before. See in a way that transcends the limitations of this physical life and our own senses, our human senses. See our own reality. See what God has planned for us in a way that we cannot comprehend as physical human beings. Lift up your eyes all around and see. They all gather together. They come to you. Your son shall come from afar, and your daughters will be nursed at your side. Your immediate family will be able to be mentored and loved by you. Your physical family, whom were not called and didn't understand God's way of life, will be able to be with you. Families will be brought together again, and you will be able to love them and care for them. Then you shall see again a dimension in which we are incapable of experiencing now in this limited human form. Then you shall see and become radiant, and your heart shall be swelled with joy because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you. The wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you. Jesus Christ said we would inherit all things, all that the Father has He's giving to us. We are the inheritors of all that He has. Drop down to verse 8. Who are these who fly like a cloud? Who are these beings who travel at the speed of thought and are in Jerusalem in one second and in Hawaii a second later? Who are these beings?

And like doves to their roost, surely the coastland shall wait for me and the ships of Tarshish will come first to bring your sons from afar. God is bringing families back together again. Are you separated from your families? God will bring families back together again.

It says here, to bring your sons from afar, their silver and their gold with them, to the name of the Lord your God and to the Holy One of Israel, because He has glorified you. So I hope you can grasp that the glory of God will radiate from us.

And the good things that we learn in this life will be magnified. The individual skills and talents and abilities that God has given us were given to us for a purpose. And that purpose is so that they can be expanded and multiplied and used by God as a servant, as a teacher, as a compassionate and caring being, as someone who loves the brethren and understands those who faced life's challenges and those who chose to remain steadfast to the end of their lives. These are those who will serve by the side of Jesus Christ for all eternity. So brethren, we will be resurrected into the glorious family of God. The lovingly serve and rule the nations of the world. All of our life's experiences, good and bad, happiness and sorrow, will have prepared us for the task we are given to do to bring the message of salvation to the world. And that message will provide healing and teaching and compassion. And where do we get that training? We get that training each and every day. Every time you face a difficult day and maintain the values of God, you are preparing to serve in the kingdom of God. Every time you face a world of doubt with faith and confidence, you are preparing to serve in the kingdom of God. Every time you see a need somewhere and you provide a service, you provide a solution, you are preparing to serve in the kingdom of God. Every time you encourage another person, or you visit a widow, or you call someone that you know is lonely, you mail a card with love, you are preparing to serve in the kingdom of God. Every time you rein in a selfish thought or an attitude and you replace it with the fruit of God's Holy Spirit, you are preparing for service in the kingdom of God. Every time you overcome a sin or a negative habit, you are preparing for service in the kingdom of God. God is preparing us each and every day to serve Him and, by extension, to serve others for all eternity. Don't get discouraged about what God is doing through you. You are God's building project.

You, too, are a great work. Yes, He has the great work of preaching the good news of the kingdom of God to all the world, but you also are God's great work. You're His temple, and like any new construction site, there may seem to be a lot of rubble and waste around your life right now. But I want you to trust in God and to stay with the face and to stay close to God, because if we do, He will help you to clean it up before your grand opening. God has a great future planned for each and every one of us, and we should grasp it and appreciate it and understand it.

The frightened and confused humanity who live in the world tomorrow will need teachers who have been there and never quit. They will need instructors who can encourage and empathize with them, because they also experience pain and discouragement in their lives. They will need friends who walked through the valley of the shadow of death and trusted God to the very end. They will need love from those whose love was refined through the fiery trials of affliction.

They will need spiritual brothers and sisters who never stopped believing and never stopped preparing for a better world—that world we know of as the kingdom of God.

These billions that we talk about who will be resurrected on the eighth day, they need someone just like you. As the elective God, I encourage you to draw upon God's Spirit to make a difference in your life beginning right now, and a difference in your family, a difference in your church area. Remember that God is doing a work in you, and the best is yet to come. I want to encourage you to realize that everything you experience in your life is for a purpose, especially the disappointments and painful events. Those are what burnish us. Those are what strengthen us and refine us and help us become all that God wants us to be. Everything that occurs in your life is preparing you for service in the kingdom of God. You might say, oh, Mr. Thomas, what about the mundane things I do? I don't like the wash dishes. Mr. Thomas, I hate my job.

Well, brethren, even the seemingly mundane things you are required to do are teaching you patience and consistency until something else comes along, until another opportunity arises. Don't put off what you can do today, because each day is a gift from God. None of us are promised a tomorrow.

Our Father wants each and every one of his beloved creation to reach their God-given potential. First, he's interested in his first fruits, in those whom he called in their physical lifetimes, who chose to follow his way of life, who chose to become living sacrifices and to serve and to learn how to serve now. Then he also wants those who are awaiting the great white throne judgment to reach their potential, their dreams, their desires, to develop the talents that they were originally given in the first place. Psalm chapter 20 and verse 1, if you'll turn there with me, Psalm chapter 20 and verse 1. This is what God desires for all of his creation, beginning with you and I.

Psalm chapter 20 beginning in verse 1.

The great psalmist wrote, may the Lord answer you in the day of trouble, may the name of the God of Jacob defend you, may he send you help from the sanctuary and strengthen you out of Zion, may he remember all your offerings and accept your burnt sacrifice, Now let's focus on verse 4. May he grant you according to your heart's desire and fulfill all your purpose. We will rejoice in your salvation and in the name of our God we will set up our banners. May the Lord fulfill all of your petitions.

It's been about 20 years since I stood before the open coffin of Emil.

His son Gary turned to me and said, I think he's finally at peace now.

I think he's at peace for the first time in his life. Perhaps no other words could have more appropriately described Emil's life.

Emil was born in 1917 to a large family. His father Tom had emigrated from Wales around the turn of the century, around the year 1900. Emil's father, like himself, was a very talented and gifted man. For example, Tom was musically gifted and considered a very accomplished piano player. He played a Comrades performance before Queen Victoria, but there was little opportunity for success in South Wales. So around the turn of the century, he emigrated to the United States.

Tom, Emil's father, was a restless man. About the age of 40, Tom decided to retire and stop working. He wasn't financially able to retire. He just got sick and tired of the drudgery of employment, and he stopped living for a living. He had no visible means of support.

And so for the next 30 years of his life, he basically lived off of other people. When Emil and his brothers reached the ripe old age of 13 years old, Tom threw them out of the house and said, you're a man now. Go out and make it on your own.

Sadly, Tom was an alcoholic.

Then his son, Emil, after the war, married and began a family, and he seemed to have it all. By the 1940s, as they ended, he had a prestigious job as a tool and die maker. He was very talented musically. He had a good income. He had a family. But Emil's restless spirit, much like his father's, beckoned. And something was missing in his life. He just couldn't seem to get all the puzzle pieces of what this life was all about together. He began to drink heavily and consistently, and it changed his personality. And sadly, it changed his life. He became violent and abusive. His young wife divorced him to protect their three children, and she took sole custody of their children. Emil became bitter at these circumstances, and on purpose, he traveled from state to state to avoid paying child support payments for his children. He completely abandoned his children, and by the age of 35, Emil was an alcoholic with a broken family, shattered dreams, and a broken life. He would never marry again for the next 40 years until his death at age 75. He lived alone.

Late in his life, he attempted to establish a relationship with his children and with his grandchildren. Even at that, he just couldn't seem to get the puzzle pieces together. He struggled. His restless spirit would usually cause him to arrive unannounced at the home of one of his children for a brief visit. His nephew described Emil in one word. He said, Emil was a lone wolf, and indeed he was. Emil smoked most of his life, and about five years before he died, he was diagnosed with throat cancer. It was a very, very, very, very, very, it was successfully treated, but a few years later, he was diagnosed with lung cancer.

And as most things in his life, instead of asking for help, he decided to go it alone, and he received radiation treatment, but they only made him more sick. One night in the spring of 1993, alone and in pain, knowing he would never feel any better, Emil put a revolver to his temple, and he pulled the trigger. He was discovered two days later by his nephew.

Emil's life isn't really that different from most who have ever lived. He was born with so much potential. He was a man of incredible talents, yet he never achieved very much in his life.

His life had so much promise, yet he never seemed to be able to put those puzzle pieces together to find fulfillment or to figure out what this life is all about. He could never seem to find personal fulfillment or lasting happiness. Most of the hopes and dreams and desires and potential that Emil had never were attained and went to his grave with him. Is Emil's life really that much different than most people who have ever lived? Not really. The story is a little different, maybe, than most people who have ever lived. But the bottom line is the seeds of unhappiness, unfulfillment, unachieved potential, wasted talents. Most people don't understand the holy days or their meaning, and they have no idea or understanding of the beauty, the majesty, the encouragement behind the eighth day. I'm looking forward to the fulfillment of this day in God's great plan. I know that the time will come after a thousand years when billions who have not known God will live again. And at that time, I'm looking forward to the resurrection of Emil when I can say these words to him. Hello, Dad. This is your son, Greg. I know right now that you're anxious, confused, that you don't know what any of this is about. But I want you to know that I love you, and I want you to know that God loves you. Let the past be the past. You have a tremendous opportunity. With an open heart, I encourage you to accept the salvation that is being offered to you by Jesus Christ, to change your life, to allow the Spirit of God to reside in you and make you a new creature, and allow you to reach the potential that you always had but could never find in your physical life. Allow yourself this opportunity. Allow yourself this chance to grow and the reach to potential that our great God always had planned for you.

This is your destiny. This is what God wants you to do.

Dad, welcome to the kingdom of God.