Temporary Versus Permanent

Well, good afternoon again, brethren. It's delightful to be able to get together every Sabbath. And it's wonderful to be able to read and study, to think about and meditate on the Word of God. Because, you know, I know that that's not only what God wants for us, but what each and every one of us need. And if we're going to grow, if we're going to be the people that God wants us to be, then that needs to be a primary focus in our lives. I know that most of you are familiar with what it says in Romans 6, 23.

Speaking to the church in Rome, because it's written to Rome, written to the Roman congregation, Paul summarizes life in this way. He's concluding a longer section, of course, in chapter 6, and this is at the very end of chapter 6 of Romans, but he says in verse 23, the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now, I would imagine almost any of us could have quoted that and know that particular verse. But what I want to point out is how that Paul summarizes life. He says as a human being, if we sin, then we're dead. Death as opposed to God's gift of eternal life. So he contrasts life as death or, through the gift of God, eternal life.

We also could quote, and many people who are professing Christians could quote, John 3 16. Actually, you find many people are familiar with John 3 16, whether they attend any kind of church, because you see it advertised at football stadiums and all kinds of stuff on television. But John 3 16 says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish. So here he's making a different kind. John, of course, is writing this. He's making a different type of a comparison.

Shall not perish, but have everlasting life, or, as it says in some translations, eternal life.

So we see the contrasts in those verses between death and eternal life, or perishing and everlasting life.

Now, the Bible makes an important distinction between two types of human existence.

The descriptions themselves are really pretty simple to understand.

Not only the ones that I just mentioned, but you read in Paul's writing. He describes physical life as perishable, and then he contrasts perishable with unperishable.

Now, whenever I think of perishable or, you know, perishable, you know, I think of a banana. Doesn't take very long for it to perish. Now, if you even apple out a while, it'll stay there a while. But as it is with most vegetables, after a short period of time, you know, even though, you know, they are perhaps good for you at a point, after a while they just die. After a while they're no good, except for two avocados that Pat bought the other day. Great big avocados. I looked at those and I thought those are going to be really great tomorrow.

And then I thought tomorrow, and then I thought tomorrow, and then I thought tomorrow. And they're still there, and I don't know when we're ever going to be able to eat them. I don't know if they are going to ripen up or not, but those are not the unparishable avocados.

We have perishable, and we have unparishable as a contrast. You also see Paul writing about being sown in dishonor, but raised in glory.

He follows that up by saying sown in weakness. And certainly we realize that as human beings. You know, we're not superman or superwoman. We're weak.

And so he contrasts sown in weakness with being raised in power.

He also describes a physical body and a spiritual body.

Other words that are used are corruptible, which we certainly have been.

This world has been corrupted by the devil and by his deception.

Corruptible in contrast to incorruptible. You also see written about a natural body and a spiritual body. And you can think of it as a mortal soul or a mortal body. And in contrast to that, immortal or immortality.

See, those are all contrasts that the Bible gives of existence of life.

Human life, referring to humans. And I think you could summarize that and see how that the first category that I spoke of, the category of death, of perishing, of being in dishonor, in weakness, physical, corruptible, natural, and mortal. I would summarize that to be a temporary existence. And we can see described a temporary existence. And then also, on the other hand, as I mentioned, eternal life, everlasting life, glory, imperishable, incorruptible, immortal. What's that? Well, that's permanent. Temporary as opposed to permanent.

See, that's what I want to cover today in our sermon. The fact that all of us, in this physical form, we're all temporary. We live in a world that is very physical, as Ken was describing the sermon at. And yet, I'd like for us to think about what it is to have permanent existence. See, what is God really offering us when He offers eternal life?

See, it's really important that we understand that, that we comprehend the depth of what He is saying. Because many people have read that, and in many ways they've assumed, because of, again, Satan's deception. Now, that means I'll go to heaven. That means I'll float around on a cloud. That means I'll play a harp. That means whatever their perception is of being with God in some way, at some time, somewhere in the future. But see, I ask you the question, what is God offering us when He offers us eternal life? What does it mean to be a child of God?

Because that's also what He says. He says, I want you, I want each of you to be a child of God. Do we really consider what it would be like to be permanent? See, and that would be a title, if you like to write down titles, temporary versus permanent.

Now, as we think about, first of all, the temporary existence we have, we realize in Genesis 1, and in Genesis 2, you read about the creation of mankind, of Adam and Eve being placed on the earth.

And God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness, according to our likeness.

And so, in verse 27 of chapter 1, God created man in His image. In the image of God, He created them male and female. He created them. And in chapter 2 of Genesis, He said, then the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and He breathed into His nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul or a living being. Now, what kind of a being was that? That was still a temporary being. That was not an immortal being or an immortal soul, because in verse 17, it says, if the man sinned, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall die. Talking of the tree that was forbidden, and man was not given an immortal soul, but a soul that could die. And so, when we talk about the temporary existence that we have, you know, we have to think about how limited we really are.

See, now, over in Matthew 10, you also see Jesus pointing out again what we read in Genesis was, of course, in the very beginning. It was as people were beginning to populate the earth.

And yet, what Jesus said here in Matthew 10, in verse 28, He told this to His disciples. He said this about being persecuted. He says, don't sweat it. Don't worry about being persecuted. You don't really need to be worried about that, because in verse 28 of Matthew 10, do not fear those who can kill the body, but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. See, here He was saying, you know, people can kill you because you're subject to death. You're temporary. See, we all cannot.

And we all may die. We hope that Christ would return before that time for most of us, but that's up to God. But see, we're all going to die. We could die of older age. We could die of illness. We could die in accidents. You know, all of us drive around in somewhat precarious situations, in a little car that can have accidents. And so, you know, what Jesus says here is, you know, don't worry about those who can kill the body, your temporary existence, but fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. And so, He said, you need to respect the fact that, you know, God has the prerogative and the power to extinguish our lives.

And so, He says in verse 31, don't be afraid. You're more valuable than many sparrows. Everyone who acknowledges Me before others, I will acknowledge before My Father in heaven. In verse 32, in verse 33, whoever denies Me before others, I also will deny before My Father in heaven. So, I make this point, and of course it is a pretty simple point, and clearly something each of us can comprehend. You know, we're not immortal right now. We don't have a spirit body as yet. We're not incorruptible or imperishable right now. We are all subject to death. Even as, again, Ken mentioned in the sermon, Ed Lazarus, he was raised from the dead.

Now, what happened there? Well, if you read John 11, you see, you know, this was to display the power of God. This was to display, it was to teach people who Jesus was. That was one of the things that was to be taught, because we read in John 11, we read that, he says about how it was that He prayed to His Father in verse 41. John 11, 41, they took away the stone, and Jesus looked upward, and He prayed to the Father. He said, Father, I thank You for having heard Me. I know that You always hear Me, but I'm saying this for the sake of the crowd standing here, and that they may believe that You sent Me. See, this was a part of the miracle that Jesus was going to perform. He was going to do a work of God. He said, you know, the works that I do are the works that the Father does through Me. And He said, when He said this, He cried out, Lazarus, come out, and of course, Lazarus walked out of the tomb. The dead man came out, the hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, his face wrapped in a cloth, Jesus said, unbind him and let him go. And so, that was, you know, a terrible defeat to the Pharisees. You know, they were dumbfounded by what they could see had just happened that Jesus had resurrected this man from the dead. And yet, He was simply brought back to physical life. You see Him in chapter 12 eating a steak dinner. He's with Mary and Martha and others. He's with Jesus. They're enjoying a dinner there in Bethany, I guess it is. And in verse 9, when the great crowd of the Jews learned that He was there, they came not, learned that Jesus was there, they came not simply because of Jesus, but also to see Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. And so, the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, since it was on His account that many of the Jews were deserting and many were believing in Jesus. See, that's amazing. You know, He was brought back to physical life and He again lived out His life and died and was buried and again awaits a resurrection in the future. But see, that's the physical, temporary existence that we live in today.

See, that's just the state of affairs. That's the form and shape that God gave to Adam and Eve and that they've passed on through the human race down to us. And we're still subject to those same parameters. We are subject to death. And I think it's amazing when you look in Revelation 21.

Revelation 21 is, of course, a very optimistic chapter because it's talking about the conclusion after Jesus returns, after the millennial rule of Christ, and into a time of a new heaven and a new earth in verse chapter 21 and chapter 22 talk about an entirely different world. And yet, how is it that temporary life, which is what our physical life is today, how is it described in verse 4?

Revelation 21, verse 4, he says, verse 3, he says, God will dwell with people. Verse 4, he will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Death will be no more. Morning and crying and pain will be no more, for the former things have passed away.

See, that's the description that's given of the former existence, the temporary existence of mankind. That's quite the summary, isn't it? What is life made of? Now, God allows us to enjoy our lives. He allows us to, in our case, live in an abundant land. You know, we have many blessings and we have, you know, families we can be thankful for. We have a lot of things that could be joyous in our lives, but ultimately it's still a temporary physical existence. And the way in which that's described here is with tears, with death, with mourning, with crying, with pain. You know, that's man's temporary existence. And so that's, you know, if people have no hope, then, you know, that's not real promising. But it is something we have to think about because all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And so if we get what we deserve, then we simply would just die. And God wouldn't have to think of us again.

That's the second thing I wanted to point out, the temporary existence. The second thing is that, of course, Jesus says He was sent to the earth reveals the Father, and He reveals eternal life to us. It's through Jesus Christ. That's what we read in Romans 6. You know, even though the wages of sin is death, the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. In John 17, verse 3, and another prayer of Jesus, and this was a prayer He was praying, John 17.3, this entire chapter, a prayer where He prays to the Father. And He says in verse 3, this is eternal life, that they come to know you, that they know you, talking about the Father, the only true God, and that they know Jesus Christ, whom you've sent to the earth.

How can you have eternal life? What is it to be able to seek or obtain eternal life? Well, that's going to be through an understanding of the Father, and an understanding of the Son, an understanding of their purpose, an understanding of their life. See, because they have a life that's different. They have a life that's totally different than ours, and yet they're offering us hope, hope through Jesus Christ.

Here in Matthew 11, Matthew 11 gives us insight into this because it says in verse 25, at that time Jesus said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you've hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and you've revealed them unto babes.

He was talking, in this case, to his disciples. He was thanking God for what God had begun to do in the lives of these disciples. And he said, yes, Father, in verse 26, for such was your gracious will, or such was well pleasing in your sight. That's what God chose to do. And in verse 27, all things have been handed over to me by my Father.

No one knows the Son except the Father. So how is it that you can know the Father? It's got to be through the Son. And he goes ahead to say, no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

It's an incredible delight to be able to think about the plan of God and to think about eternal life, to think about what it is to be a part of God's family and His kingdom. You see numerous other verses that mention Jesus revealing the Father.

I won't go through all of these. I do want us to look at 1 John chapter 5, though. 1 John chapter 5 gives us an incredible insight here into how it is that it is through Jesus Christ that we can have eternal life here in 1 John chapter 5. In verse 11, he says this is the testimony. 1 John 5 verse 11. This is the testimony that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. The only way to have anything different than a temporary existence is through Jesus Christ.

Whoever, in verse 12, has the Son has life. So if you have the Son, if you have the Spirit living in you, then you have the hope of eternal life. Whoever does not have, the Son of God does not have eternal life. So again, he makes it pretty clear. He says in verse 13, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

See, are they already in eternal existence? No, we're in temporary existence right now. But see, it is through Jesus Christ that we can have eternal life. In verse 19, we know that we are God's children and that the whole world lies under the power of the wicked one, the evil one.

Verse 19, this is as Paul is, or excuse me, John is concluding this short letter. We know that we're the children of God. We know the whole world is under the power of the evil one, and we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true in His Son, Jesus Christ. Of course, He is the true God, and He is eternal life. See, that's what God is, and that's what God is offering. That's an incredible blessing to realize exactly what it is that God is offering.

The third thing that I want to focus on here in the remainder of the sermon is what it says. We've talked about temporary life. We've talked about how that it is through Jesus, that He reveals the Father and eternal life. And then finally, I want to talk about permanent life, because see, that's what eternal life is. Eternal life in the family of God is permanent. See, as I said, many people may have some kind of concept of whatever they might think heaven is, but see, God is offering something far more than that. He's not wanting us to simply just have no clue about what He's going to do. He is offering us a permanent existence as the children of God. And so let's look at Revelation 20. Revelation 20 is an amazing chapter because it covers a time after Jesus returned. Jesus returns in Revelation 19, and then in chapter 20, it starts talking about the devil being bound. And in verse 4, He said, I saw thrones, and those seated on them were given authority to judge, and I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus, and for the Word of God, and they've not worshiped the beast. Or its image, and it not received its mark on their foreheads. So it has a lot of connecting information with the rest of the book of Revelation. But what I focus on is simply the last very last part of Revelation 20 verse 4, where He says, they came to life, so that was a resurrection, they came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. And then He says in the latter part of verse 5, this is the first resurrection. And so He points out how that, you know, there are a sequence of resurrections, how it is that being a part of the first resurrection is our hope, since we're reading this and we are understanding it today, we desire to be a part of that first resurrection.

But what does it say in verse 6? It says, blessed and holy are those who take part or share in that first resurrection. And over these, those who are changed at that time, at the time of the first resurrection, over these the second death has no power. But they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him a thousand years. Now, what's so incredible about that? Well, you read about the second death later on there in verse 14.

You know, that second death is describing a complete extinguishing of an individual who is temporary and who is incorrigible, who refuses to accept the plan of God and who refuses to be in submission and subjection to God's will in their lives.

But it's encouraging in verse 6 to say, you know, over those who rise in that first resurrection, the second death has no power. Why is that? Well, because they will have been given, they will have been given a permanent existence. And that's what God calls eternal life. That's what He calls everlasting life. That's what He calls being a child of God in His divine family. It's fascinating to me to read Isaiah 57 verse 15 because it describes God's existence.

Isaiah 57 verse 15 is describing God. He's describing His throne. He's describing where He lives. It describes what He's like. Isaiah 57 verse 15. See, it describes God living in a permanent condition. See, God is eternal, obviously. He's a spirit, obviously. He's permanent. He is uncreated. He does not have any beginning or end. And yet it says in verse 15, thus says the high and lofty one.

See, even that is impressive to see. We see a few descriptions about the throne of God. And Pat and I were talking about this the other day, how amazing it is to think about the throne of God. It's described in Revelation 4, a majestic throne and angelic beings around it, and a lot of singing and glorifying of the great God and of His Son at His right hand. And you see a few descriptions, a high and lofty place. You see the description of being... Paul uses the word for the throne of God as paradise. We can deduce that it's in a third heaven because it's not this physical universe around us or physical earth and atmosphere, and it's not the outer space. It's beyond that. Another description says beyond the north. That's why I always like to look at the north star. If I can figure out where it is, you can never see it here in town because there's too much light. But I'm sure Dale and Karen can see it out on their farm. And any of you are outside from light, you know, you can figure out where the north star is. It's pretty prominent. But I like to think about beyond the north being where the throne of God is. And yet here he describes it as, as says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity. See, how incredible is that? That's a description of God's permanent existence. He has always been, he is, he always will be. He has no beginning. He is uncreated.

Who inhabits eternity and his name, whose name is holy. And he says, I dwell in the high and in the holy place. So I guess you could say that would be God's throne or a description of God's throne, the high and holy place. And also, this is incredible, absolutely incredible. He says, I dwell in the high and holy place. I inhabit eternity. I exist in permanence. And yet he says, also, I'm willing to dwell with those of a contrite and humble spirit.

To revive the spirit of the humble who revived the heart of the contrite.

See, here he's talking about, he's willing to help people who are in a temporary existence, to comprehend what it is to be permanent. And it's amazing to realize that when God holds out before us eternal life, that this is what he's talking about. He's talking about no longer being temporary, no longer being subject to our own limitations, our human limitations, but actually being permanent in his family. Now, in 1 Corinthians 15, you see Paul describing this.

And of course, 1 Corinthians 15 could be called the resurrection chapter.

And you read through it and you see a number of different things about the resurrection and about Jesus rising from the dead as the very first of the first fruits. And you see that others are going to be rising to be a part of a resurrection. And we've already talked about that in Revelation 20. You know, those who rise and become permanent, then the second death has no power over you. It just doesn't. So, here in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul was asked a question because he's talking about the resurrection and says in verse 35, someone might ask, well, how were the dead raised? What kind of body do they have? See, I guess maybe people in Corinth didn't quite understand what he was talking about, but he was bringing up the fact that, well, some may want to know more about this, and now I'll tell you what I know. He says in verse 36, fool, what you sow does not come to life and lefts the dies. And as for what you sow, you don't sow the body that is to be but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen each kind of seed to its own body. So, here he starts talking about several different types of grain and several different bodies. And when you plant a grain of wheat in the ground, that particular kernel of wheat dies, but then new life starts to sprout and the plant grows. And ultimately, it grows to where you've got a stalk and you've got a head. And finally, you've got green and then golden wheat. He talks about that, but in verse 42 he says, so it is with the resurrection of the body.

What is sown in verse 42 is perishable, but what is raised is corruptible. What is raised is imperishable. It is incorruptible. What is sown in dishonor, in verse 43, is raised in glory. What is sown in weakness is raised in power.

What is sown in physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. And just as we have borne the image in verse 49, just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, the temporary existence that God gave to Adam and Eve and then to all of us by extension, we've been borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven, as you read there in verse 49. See, when we talk about a permanent existence, here he's describing that in terms that, you know, there are a lot of different words here, imperishable, incorruptible, glory, power, a spiritual body.

See, that's what he says he will give us at the resurrection. Now, in Romans chapter 8, and a chapter that, again, you can categorize as a Holy Spirit chapter, a chapter that has a great deal of information about the Holy Spirit and about the contrast between our carnal nature, our hostile nature toward God in verse 6 and 7, and how it is that we need a different nature, we need a different spirit, and that spirit that God offers us is the Holy Spirit. But here in Romans 8, he says in verse 9, you are not in the flesh, you are in the spirit if the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. See, that's important. That's so significant. See, and I think all of us, as we look back upon our baptism, whether that was many years ago or just a few months ago, we realize I need the Spirit of God. I need to be forgiven. I need what the Bible says you cannot do without. In order to be growing toward a permanent existence, I need the Holy Spirit. In verse 16, he says it is that very spirit bearing witness with our spirit. See, that we are the children of God. And if we are then children, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. If, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may be glorified with him. See, what might we expect in our temporary existence? Well, we may suffer at times. We surely will suffer some of the time throughout our lives.

And then he goes ahead to describe, in verse 18, down through the next several verses, he describes how incredible this is. How important is this to the Father? How important is this to the Son? To those who are going to bring about the children of God? Well, he says in verse 18, I consider that the suffering of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is about to be revealed in us. Because the creation waits with eager longing in verse 19 for the revealing of the children of God to the whole earth. You know, this is a glorious globe that God has created and placed in the perfect location, just the right distance from the Son, just the right difference on the rotation of it so that we've got day and night, so we've got months and years, just the right amount of oxygen so that we can breathe.

See, this is not the case, and you know, you go up very far. Higher in the atmosphere, you know, you don't want to jump out of the plane at 35,000. You can't breathe. That won't work. But here on earth, God set this into motion for us, and yet He says the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God. It's not just that God wants to see that. The whole earth needs it. For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but of the will of the one who subjected it in hope, that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. And we know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now, and not only the creation, but in verse 23, He says, not only the creation, but we ourselves. See, Paul was saying this to the Corinthians, you, if you understand the spirit of God living in you, then we ourselves who have the firstfruits of the spirit. Here he mentions a concept of the firstfruits of how it is that he chooses to give the firstfruits or the spirit to some first, and some, of course, later. That's up to him. He's the one who chooses that.

But he says we ourselves who have the firstfruits of the spirit grown inwardly while we wait for sonship, the adoption, the redemption of our bodies. It should more correctly, I think, be understood as sonship because we're not simply adopted, we are the sons and daughters of God.

And so these are verses that talk about the permanence of eternal life. See, in contrast to the temporary, in contrast to the very limited, God is going to give us a permanent existence.

Now, you might say, or you could think about, well, what about the angels? Don't they have a permanent existence? Well, they were created as spirit beings. And from what we see in the Bible, you know, some of them defected clearly. It talks about the angels who sinned.

But how is it that God deals with those angels? Well, He can clearly contain them. He can do whatever He chooses and whatever He's going to do in the future. That's yet for Him to reveal. But, see, talking about His children, talking about those who would be granted the Holy Spirit of God and who would be growing to spiritual maturity and at the time of the return of Christ be changed to a permanent existence. These are individuals that are far different than angels.

See, God mentions in one place here in 1 Corinthians 6 that, you know, Paul points out, talking to the Corinthians, don't you realize you're going to judge angels? And I will say I have no idea what that means. I don't know what type of judgment God has in store for the angels, but I would say the children of God would be involved in whatever kind of judgment needs to be taken place in the future. But, see, He wants us to recognize how limited and temporary we are and how much we need Him, how much we need Jesus Christ, and how much we need the permanence that He offers. I want to conclude here in reading some of what we find in 1 Timothy 6, because in 1 Timothy 6 you see Paul writing to Timothy, and of course he's tried to encourage Timothy to understand how to be, you know, a minister, how to be a servant of God, what it is he needs to teach. He points that out more in chapter, I guess 2 Timothy, but here in 1 Timothy 6, he says in verse 11, as for you, O man of God, shun all of this and pursue righteousness, godliness, and faith, and love, and endurance, and gentleness. See, what do we pursue? What do we want to pursue? Well, those are all qualities to pursue. He says in verse 12, fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life.

See, our goal is to become permanent. Our goal is to accept the gift that God offers, which is permanence in eternal life. Take hold of eternal life to which you were called, and for which you made the good profession in the presence of many witnesses. See, what's God's purpose of calling us? Why was he even bother? Well, he wants us to have eternal life. He wants us to have permanence with him. See, it's very important to him. It's important to us, but he understands it better. He knows more about what he's preparing, and yet Paul continues in describing how it is that, verse 13, in the presence of God who gives life to all things, and in the presence of Jesus Christ, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession. See, Jesus has led the way. He's the one that we can easily follow. He says, I charge you to keep the commandments without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will bring about at the right time. So we don't know when that's going to be. We pray for that to be soon, but we don't know exactly when it will be, but it's going to come at God's time. He who is the blessed and only sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. In verse 16, it is he alone who has immortality and who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen to him be honor and eternal dominion. See, now, as we described earlier a little bit about God's throne, we can kind of envision, at least from what the Bible tells us, where the throne of God is. You know, what does it look like? It's very, very bright. Very bright. How many superlatives can you use for light and for bright and for radiance and for brilliance and for crystalline? You know, I don't have all the words. That would be who dwells in unapproachable light. You know, that's, you know, it's obviously a contrast between the darkness of this world, the darkness of sin, the darkness that Satan brought into the world.

But he says he wants us to fight the good fight and lay hold on eternal life. He says in the concluding verses, for those in verse 17 in this present age who are rich, command them not to be haughty and not to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather set your hopes on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future so that they may lay hold on. And I'm pretty sure you're, if you're reading the King James or the New King James, it says eternal life. This Revised Standard Version that I'm usually reading translates this, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of life that is really life. Life that is really life is a difference between temporary existence and death and eternal life, permanent life in the family of God. He wants us to be His children. He's going to bring that about if we are in subjection to Him. If we are yielding to Him, if we are growing in His nature, if we are learning more about how He is bringing to pass His plan and how it is, and of course, this is revealed in the Holy Days. You know, the Holy Days give us a picture, an overview of the plan of God, an overview of the hallmarks of that plan that ultimately leads to eternal life. So I hope that we can think about on this Pentecost weekend, and as we think about the value of having been blessed with the Holy Spirit, the difference between temporary existence, temporary life, and permanent life with God for all eternity.