Through A Glass Darkly

Actually, this was the one that I was going to give next, back much, much earlier. And then, my plans didn't quite work out, did they? But if you'll go to 1 Corinthians 13, chapter 13 and verse 12. 1 Corinthians chapter 13 and verse 12.

We will read the subject and the title of this message. For now, we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known. For now, the present time, we see. Yeah, we see, but we see through a glass darkly.

Those four words through a glass darkly is the subject and the title. Because that expresses a reality and a perspective that we have to realize and have to face, and that we have to deal with. That phrase through a glass darkly. What does that automatically translate into? Through a glass darkly. How could you paraphrase it, in a sense? Or let's say in terms of a take away, or takeaways. What would you take away from that? Well, one of the things that I would take away from that is, I don't know it all.

If I see through a glass darkly, how could I know it all? I don't know it all. I don't know everything. I can't see all there is to see. There's more to see than I can see. Whatever I see, it's not all that there is to see. Because I'm looking through a glass darkly. And then, that brings up an operational question for human beings, who have human nature, and have certain drives and motivations.

Can you live with the idea, can you live with the realization that you cannot know everything you'd like to know? Think about that for a moment. Can you live with the idea? Can you live with the realization that you cannot know everything that you'd like to know? Is that a trial? Is that a trial for you? Over the years, my growing up in the church, teenager in the church, young man in the church, trainee, elder, pastor through the years, there have been numerous times whether it was making an observation in life, whether it was reading something in Scripture, been many times where I would have questions that I had no answer for.

And remember these county fairs and circuses where you would go and they would have these games, and maybe it was the game where there was a pegboard at the back of the booth, and there were hooks on it, and you would buy so many rings, and you would throw the rings at the hooks, and if you hooked the ring, you got to pick a prize.

Well, I learned long ago, look at a question mark. Look at how a question mark is made. What happens if you reverse a question mark? Just flip it upside down. It makes a hook. There are 100 years ago that have had questions.

Just treat them like a hook. Flip it, hang on to it, don't throw it away. Just make a hook out of it. Because lo and behold, a year later, five years later, ten years later, that that I had a question about, oh yeah, there's the answer. There's the answer. And I hang it on that hook. I got the answer. People want answers. People want knowledge. They don't want unsatisfied questions. But the reality is that you and I live with, and that human beings live with, is through a glass darkly.

And just because you are called of God, and you have God's Spirit, doesn't mean that oil no longer do I see through a glass darkly. And we'll look at more proof of that as we go through. But through a glass darkly, you think about it. Who wrote this? Paul, an apostle. He says, for now we, he includes himself. We, the church, including himself, we see through a glass darkly. He includes himself. Well, if Paul saw through a glass darkly, don't we also? Well, Paul, I don't see through a glass darkly.

I see everything there is to see. Oh, that would be some of the heights of arrogance, wouldn't it? And personal self-deception. The glass we have to look through as humans is never going to be totally clear. I came to realize that a long time ago, and it kind of stopped or lowered certain frustrations. And I became at peace with that. The glass we have to look through as human beings is never going to be totally clear. The vision is always going to be impaired.

It's always going to be limited to some degree. Maybe not a whole lot in certain areas, but still to some degree. That means that many times we may not see, we may not understand everything as much as we'd like to or as quickly as we'd like. We're living in a time of prophecy.

Not that any time has never been a time of prophecy, because there's always prophecies. But there's a lot of prophecy that we would like to understand. And I served on the Prophecy Advisory Committee, a subcommittee of the Council Committee, for 10 years. And we would get prophecy papers where someone would think, well, I have found the answer to this prophecy. I know dates, maybe. I know who this is talking about, etc., etc. And yet, when it was put up against authoritative Scripture, the case fell apart.

But it's interesting how right now, and I understand it, it's not an issue for me. I mean, it's not a major concern by any means, because it is natural for us to want to know, where are we in prophecy? And what does this prophecy mean? And how will this one be carried out? And is this one being carried out? Those are things we would like to know. But you know what? There's a lot of that kind of stuff that, beyond a certain point, you can't nail it down beyond a certain point.

And that's why the focus has to be beyond just knowledge. Your focus and my focus has to be beyond knowledge alone. It has to be beyond the facts alone. It has to be beyond just bits or bytes of info, answers per se. And what do I mean by that? What kind of mode of operation do you operate in? What kind of pattern? What are your patterns in how you approach things and think and study and live? What are the approaches? Those have to be in place, because a proper perspective on things has got to be kept in mind.

See, knowledge alone has never been the answer. Never, ever been the answer. Knowledge alone. It's never been, certainly not, the full answer. I go back to what we would call prehistory before man. Lucifer never was short in knowledge. He never failed in knowledge. Knowledge was not a failure with him. He had knowledge, but he didn't have the winning ways. He didn't take on the winning ways. He didn't want the winning ways. Winning ways, involving winning concepts, have always been part of the successful package. Again, through a glass darkly is an undeniable reality. It's just the way it is. And again, that's why Paul addresses this. Because it's something that affects how we function. And how we process that, that reality can be a positive for us, or it can be a negative. It can be a help, or it can be a hindrance. I know that we gather here because it's the Sabbath. And we give up the Sabbath, we lose out. We've got to keep the Sabbath. That's bedrock. That's foundational. Holy days, bedrock, foundational. Ten commandments, bedrock, foundational. All of that is foundational. But within these parameters of God's laws, we have to learn how to process our own thinking, and operating, and doing in a way that we maximize the positives and diminish the negatives. Now, it can vary from individual to individual. And there may be various reasons, but regardless as to the degree or variance, it is there nonetheless, the reality that we see through a glass darkly. And because it is there, there is a need made obvious by the inherent lacking. In other words, if I realize that at best I see through a glass darkly, what does that do to me? If I realize that at best I don't see everything, that at best I see through a glass darkly, what does that do to me? How does that translate to me? What effect does that have? Well, I see I have need. I see I have need. I don't ignore that. I see that there are things, yet things to learn. I don't take the approach that, well, I've learned enough truth, I don't need to learn anymore, I don't, you know, what I've got is totally sufficient, and I just sit back on my lapel, so to speak, and not even be concerned about learning more.

And that would be disastrous, as to see that there are yet things to learn. I realize I don't know it all. I don't know it all.

Somebody might, even in discussion with me about a point of Scripture, mention something that I hadn't thought of. And I add that to my knowledge, something that God has inspired them to see and realize, that He hasn't inspired me to see and realize. And all of a sudden, I've added to what I know, because whereas if the member said, you know, I've wondered about this with this Scripture, I don't worry about it, I know everything, and what you've got in mind is something I already know anyhow, so don't tell me. Shut them down.

No, I realize I don't know it all. Most important, I realize that I will never come to a point where I know it all. God, You've given me an extension of life.

If you could make that extension reach out to age 100, assuming this age goes on that long, by then I could know it all. God would say, if He answered, you're losing ground already.

No, I'll never arrive, in that sense, for the meaning of the word in this life, but if I am in an arriving mode, if my mode is an arriving mode, it's active. I'm always in the process of arriving, moving, going forward. If I'm in a proper perspective, then I will meet with sufficient success because I am in what I call a winning way, a winning pattern, a winning mode, a winning operation. To realize the reality of throw glass darkly and to properly accept it, deal with it, recognize, acknowledge it, again, there's the constant awareness that, oh, there's room in me for growth.

There will always be room for growth. And that's why the perfect companion, Scripture, for 1 Corinthians 13, 12, for now we see through a glass darkly what Paul says, including himself, that's why the perfect companion Scripture, to go along with that, is 2 Peter 3, 18.

His sign off Scripture, but grow.

But grow. He wanted to leave his three epistles with this sign off, grow in grace, grow in grace, and grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The mind of Christ, as mentioned in the sermon at Philippians 2, 5, the mind of Christ, can you save it? Well, I understand Christ's mind so thoroughly there's no more for me to learn about the mind of Christ. Or I have Christ's mind so thoroughly in me, there's no need to make any more effort to take on more because I have fully have it fully in me. How could any human ever take that approach and say that? Maybe some have, maybe some would, maybe some will. I don't know. That's definitely their problem if they do.

But I know that I will never come to a point where there's not room to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So important. Blending those two scriptures together shows me what a great need that you and I, each and all of us have. And keeping that in mind, it translates into a spiritual safeguard. A spiritual safeguard. I do not want to be of a Sardis mindset. You have things that are dying in you. Strengthen those things that are dying in you, lest they die. Lest I have to blot your name out of the book of life. I never want to fall into the Sardis mindset. I don't want to fall into the Laodicean mindset.

I'll turn to Revelation 3.17. I don't want to fall into this mindset.

Revelation 3.17. See, there is a spirit, and there is an attitude, and there is an approach that has lost sight of that need. And it's expressed tersely in four highlighted words in Revelation 3.17. Because you say, I am rich and increased with goods, and here are the four words, have need of nothing. In light of what I've covered, that attitude clashes with 1 Corinthians 13.12. It clashes with 2 Peter 3.18. It clashes. It doesn't blend. It clashes. Because how in the world can any person, truly actively exercising the Spirit of God, say, I have need of nothing? They are ignoring the reality. We have need of nothing. When do we come to the point again where we now know it all? Where we know and everything there is to know and that there's nothing else to learn? We're always on a quest.

God called us and put us on a quest. The calling of God placed us on a quest. Speak you first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. We're put on a quest. Race to the crown. It's a lifelong thing. The camp theme. It's a lifelong thing. It's lifelong.

He called us. He put us on a quest. A quest to know. A quest to increase. A quest to realize.

There is always additional to learn about me. Ourselves, that is. That's what I'm saying. There's always, always additional to learn about our selves, that we need to know about ourselves, that we need as knowledge of ourselves where we're operating fine and where we're operating not quite so fine and adjustments we need to be making in the conversion process.

There's always additional to learn about the truth. We live in a day and an age where there are so many voices out there and contradictions and so many people that are building their dogmas not on Scripture, not on the authority of Scripture, but their personal opinion. And the woodwork is full of them. And I'll probably address some of those in time. And how about just about how to better live? To better live? To know more how to literally put the things of God as a way of life into practice to where our lives are so much better?

Again, through a glass darkly, it tells me that at any given time, I won't know all there is to know.

That there will never come a time when there isn't something else for me to learn.

That there will always be something else that I could know. And again, I go back to the man, Herbert W. Armstrong, in the last year of his life. He lived to be 93 and a half. And I go back to what he said in the last year of his life. And he said it more than once. He said, as long as I draw breath, I must grow. He practiced that. Again, when you take 1 Corinthians 13-12, you take 2 Peter 3.18, you can reconcile those two together simply because they blend.

But you cannot reconcile 1 Corinthians 13-12 and Revelation 3.17. They clash.

And it should tell us part of the heart and core problem that Christ has with Laodicea.

Because that's one of the giveaways comparing those two Scriptures which won't blend, but they clash in the sense of the content. What 1 Corinthians 13 is bringing out in the words of Paul under inspiration, what he is bearing out indicts the attitude of the Laodiceans.

Again, the reality of Thruglass starkly tells us that we must always be in a learning mode.

A learning mode. That's about ourselves. That's about the truth. That's about life.

And in one sense, to put it another way, the approach is better than the amount.

Because if you have that approach, the amount will always increase. It will continually increase. If you focus on the amount only, it's like one man said one time, don't tell me any more truth, I've got all the truth I need. He didn't want any more.

He had amount, but sadly he didn't realize that focusing on the amount and having an improper approach, what he had would start fading. And we've seen that over time, where the amount fades. You can't sit on it. You've got to keep going forward. So the approach, in that sense, obviously, the approach is better than the amount. Now, let me further illustrate it like this. Haven't we all known in our lifetime, somewhere, here, there, among friends, sometimes relatives, co-workers, whatever? Haven't we all known some know-it-alls? You're smiling? We've all known some know-it-alls. They knew everything.

They knew it all. You couldn't tell them anything. And you know what? They weren't very much fun to be around either. As far as the amount, as far as they were concerned, they had it all.

And you couldn't tell them anything. Christ dealt with that in His time on earth. They were called Pharisees and Zajisies. Think about it. Their trademarks were self-righteousness and spiritual vanity. Christ couldn't tell them anything. Nobody else could tell them anything.

It's just a sad reality that they thought they had every single thing right.

And I guess the approach also went into the zone that even if they weren't sure of what was right, or didn't absolutely know what was right on a point, the fact that they would take a position made it right. That's how far gone they were. During Revelation 3 verses 15 through 17, Christ expresses their know-it-all attitude and frankly that they weren't fun to be with.

But on the other hand, when the approach is the focus and one remains in a learning mode, what are they? They're humble. They're reachable. They're teachable. And you know what? They're fun to be with. They're enjoyable to be with. 1 Corinthians 13, 12.

It's one of those, you might say, inserts that got inspired to be put in there, which is the reality of life. And if we understand it, it can make our life better.

And it's designed to make our life better because of the realization that comes from it.

It's there to help us keep a proper perspective. It's there to help us properly format our feelings at no time in this life. Now, I'll come to that point in just a minute.

It's to help us. I have known some individuals in my lifetime who were, I don't really know how to say it other than to say they were kind of frustrated out of their gourd because they couldn't know what they wanted to know. They couldn't know what they wanted to know, so they were just frustrated. And it just burned them up that they couldn't know what they wanted to know. And again, there's times when somebody seeks an answer that they can't know or they can't handle, it's not time for them to know.

That's kind of like when we're trying to call our relatives or a co-worker. And we dump a load on them that a load of hay that buries them, you know, we overload them and they go screaming the other way. But that's another subject. It plays into a degree, but that's another subject another time.

At no time in this life could God give us all that He has to give. You ever thought of it that way?

At no time in your life, at whatever age, my life, could God give us everything that He has to give. Why not? One simple reason. We simply could not contain it all. It's as simple.

I look back through the years, the things I've learned and grown in. There are times and things where I'm thankful that I came to certain realizations at this age, not five years previous or ten years previous. And even as I realize I'm thankful that I've come to this understanding that God has given me this, now, rather than five years ago, I also realized with it that I'm better able to take it and live it and do it. I'm better able to receive it. I'm better able, because of what's happened over these five years, I'm now in a better position for truly receiving that. I'm going to give you a sample. When I say that at no time in this life could God give us all that He has to give, we simply cannot contain it all. Notice 2 Corinthians 12.4.

2 Corinthians 12 and verse 4. Paul talking about his visions and revelations of the Third Heaven, speaking in the Third Person, and basically saying that he knew academically he was not physically in the Third Heaven. He knew that. But the impact on his senses, his sight, his hearing, his mind, was so vivid that by the senses alone he could not judge that he was not.

That's how real it was too and how powerful that vision was. And he says here in verse 4, how that he was caught up in the paradise and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful or is better rendered, it is not possible for a man to utter.

It was overwhelming. Just what he was given to see and observe and hear in vision was so overwhelming he couldn't put it truly into words. It was beyond his ability to contain it and express it. Now, out of that, in one sense, we might say, as a corollary, Romans 8, 18, we might say that we could see how Paul with such credibility could say, for I reckon, Romans 8, 18, for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. What he was given to see, he could not fully contain it.

But he knew that with what he saw and what he would be a part of, that he could not fully express. There were not words possible to really convey to others what he had realized at the same time. He knew that he was going to go through whatever he had to go through in order to be a part of that someday. And yet, this man, at the same time, this man of God acknowledged we see through a glass darkly. At best, we are limited. We're finite. We are finite. God is not. And even as you and I are flesh infused with God's Holy Spirit, and even our teens back here who are not infused with God's Spirit, yet God's Spirit is with you. There's a difference. It is with you. It guides, it directs, it helps, it strengthens. When you are baptized someday and through the laying on of hands, it will then not just be with you, it'll be in you. With our teens. It is with our teens.

And someday it will be in. But even as flesh infused with God's Holy Spirit, we are finite. We're limited. Our capacities are limited. God's are not. And God's knowledge and understanding is unlimited. It's infinity. I want to go back to Psalm 147 verse 5. Psalm 147 and verse 5.

David said, Great is our Lord and of great power. His understanding is infinite.

Now, it also can be rendered. It could have been also translated, of His understanding.

There is no number. Same thing. There's no number. You can't number it. It's infinity.

Infinity is something that is beyond being numbered. It's kind of like you can't write the largest number. There's no way to write the largest number. Put a one on paper. Put a zero after it. You want a big one? Add another zero. Add another zero. Add another zero. You can forever add zeros. It's infinity. Isaiah 40 verse 28.

Isaiah 40.

And verse 28. Isaiah 40.

Have you not known? Have you not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is weary. There is no searching of His understanding. God's knowledge is infinity. I'm going to turn to 1 Corinthians 2. God's knowledge is infinite.

And there is no way that God can take infinity and put it in us as containers in terms of knowledge and understanding. Although He shares with us, there is a difference. And He will forever share with us. And He will forever teach us. And He will forever lead us. And guess what? Forever will be in a learning mode. There will be no more sin. There will be no more pain, sorrow, suffering. That will all be history someday. But we will forever grow and develop in knowledge and depth of understanding and breadth. God will be able to teach us forever. And He will. 1 Corinthians 2 verses 9-11. But God does share with us right now. He shares of what He has in terms of infinity, His thoughts, His knowledge, His wisdom. But it's written, I has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love Him. But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit.

Through His Spirit, He does convey to us. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. And over time, as you do your meditation, as you do your Bible study, as you observe life, especially in light of the principles and laws of God, don't you find that the depth of your understanding of the things of God gets deeper and broader?

For what man knows the things of a man save the spirit of man which is in him? And I gave a sermon on that some time ago. Even so, the things of God knows no man but the Spirit of God.

God conveys to us. He shares with us. And He continues to share. That said, look at Deuteronomy 29.29. That said, Deuteronomy 29.29, as inspired through Moses, this is what this says, the sacred things belong to the Lord our God. There are some things we cannot know, will not know, until the future time. Period. And there are some things that are simply going to be beyond us. I can live with that. The sacred things belong to the Lord our God. But those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever.

That we may do all the words of the law. Again, God's purpose goes beyond just giving us knowledge. If He could, if it were possible, God's purpose, point, and purpose is not to give us all knowledge in this life. And as important as knowledge is, and answers and understanding, it's just as important, and even more so, is the pattern in which they are received.

In the Scripture, in one such case and point as Romans 8.14, the pattern by which we operate, Romans 8.14, this speaks of a pattern. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God, we have to be willing to be led. Hold on. My position is I'm going to rock back on my heels and dig in my heels, and if you want me to move along, you're going to have to drag me. And sometimes people do that.

But on the other hand, yes, Lord. Okay, I'm open to being led. You show me? Yeah, great.

I certainly choose to yield to that and follow, because as Christ told the disciples on that last night with Him in John 16.13, He said, how be it, when if the Spirit of truth is come, it will guide you into all truth.

If you're guiding somebody, they have to be willing to follow.

Does it say it will force you or drag you? It will guide you into all truth. It always points not towards less truth, but more truth. It doesn't mean you'll get all truth in this life.

You'll get the truths that are necessary. There's nothing missing in our knowledge and understanding given to us from the Bible and God's Spirit that's a deal-breaker on our salvation. What I mean is, there's nothing missing that because we don't know it, we can't have salvation.

We do have sufficient knowledge and understanding of God's expectations and all of that to have salvation.

You're guided. You're willing to follow. You'll move in the direction of learning more. I know more now than I did last year. I can say that I did six months ago. And if I didn't, there'd be something wrong with the patterns in my life.

But the fullness of that truth that we're guided into will not take place in the life. I said the fullness. Back in 1 Corinthians 13-12, you have two tenses used.

1 Corinthians 13-12, for now is present tense, present time. We see through a glass darkly. Then you have another tense, future time. Future time. But then, of course, the then is referring to when we are spirit beings, when we are eternal with God. But then, face to face. Now, look, these are Paul's words.

I know in part. Paul realized he didn't know everything there was to know.

Now I know in part, but then shall I know even as though so I am known.

That's a wonderful statement. But that's a future time.

And maybe, in part, because we do see through a glass darkly, we are told in Hebrews 10.38, and I will turn there, Hebrews 10.

In verse 38, maybe because we see through a glass darkly for the present, it's even more applicable that we obviously apply this. Now the just shall live by faith, not by sight. God gives us plenty to look at to go by, but at the same time, it's not the Christian walk has to involve a lot of faith. And maybe, in part, because answers don't come as fully or quickly, always, as we want them.

We find patience and faith admonished together, because here in Hebrews 6, verse 12, look at this plain statement, Hebrews 6, verse 12, that you be not slothful, but followers of them who through, and it combines these two, faith and patience inherit the promises.

In the last five years of my life, let me just confess something to you folks.

I'm a type A personality, if that's any surprise to anybody.

I am not just naturally, genetically a patient person.

I've always admired patient people, but I can exercise patience, and I have exercised a lot of patience through the years.

But I have to, you might say, realize I need to exercise patience, and exercise it when I do, because I'm just not naturally a patient person.

But I can tell you, if there's one virtue that I have been blessed to grow in more naturally these last five years of my life, it is patience.

I just find I am a much more patient person just naturally.

I don't get bugged as easy.

Some things just don't bother me anymore. They used to.

Don't deal with certain frustrations that once frustrated me.

And I know that's growth, and I'm very thankful for it because it makes my life better.

And it can make others' lives better, too. And it makes me a better tool in God's hands.

And certainly, we can appreciate and utilize the light that comes through. See, we see through a glass darkly.

We don't see fully. We don't see 100% clearly. But are we thankful for the light that comes through?

Are we thankful for what we do see? And again, the things we do see are important and necessary.

And what we may not see is not necessarily a deal breaker, as long as we're in the right modes of operation.

And certainly, do we have an opportunity?

Do we play a role in any sense in how much light does come through? Okay, I speed through the glass darkly, but is it possible for it not to be as dark as it is? Is it possible for me to see more light than what I'm seeing? Yes. Can we enhance the amount of light that's coming through?

Yeah, we can do that through a spirit of obedience. In other words, and I'll just quote this Scripture, Psalm 111, verse 10.

Psalm 111, verse 10 says this, A good understanding have all they that do his commandments.

So through a spirit of obedience, we actually can cause extra light to come through that glass.

And again, never forget, God can turn up the amount of light coming through the glass anytime He wishes. Sometimes He may, sometimes He may not. Sometimes He may not crank it up because of where you are at that point in your life.

And again, five years down the road or one year later, God says, I'm going to crank up additional light through the glass. They need to see more than what they're currently seeing, and based on what they have been doing and obeying, they can handle more and I'm going to give them more light. Yeah, yeah, that process does happen too.

But one major consideration to always keep in mind is that never, never is the amount of light coming through the total amount of light that could come through.

Never.

Whatever the light is that's coming through right now for me, as I see through a glass darkly, it is not the amount of light, the total amount of light that could come through.

And with each year that passes, I obviously pray for additional to come through and try to do my part in helping that light to come through. But our present reality in this life will always be to one degree or another through a glass darkly.

That's going to vary from time to time and with different subjects, but it's always going to be present in some form or format.

And here's something to think about, too. It may be. It may be that God learns more about us individually by letting us operate through a glass darkly than he otherwise would, because he sees how we process that.

He sees how we handle that.

Because what is our reaction when we can't see what we want to see?

Or as fully as we want to see it? Have you ever been talking with somebody and you've got a certain point of view that you want to get across to them and they just can't seem to understand what your point of view is or where you're coming from? And you get frustrated and you want them to see what you see and they just can't see it? Of course, we've all had that experience when we took certain light about the Sabbath, the Holy Days, Christmas, whatever, to friends, co-workers, relatives who didn't want to have that point of view and we try to get them to see why it was relevant that you come out of paganism, why it's relevant that you keep the seventh-day Sabbath. Many of us have had very frustrating experiences with that. But again, what is our reaction when we can't see what we want to see, or as fully as we want to see it? Or as fast as we want to? How does it affect us? I think there's a lot of times that God learns a lot about us. And it doesn't take long in the Christian walk to realize there are some spiritual things that are relatively easy to understand. And there are some spiritual things that are very difficult to understand. And there are some spiritual things you cannot understand. There are some things you cannot understand. For instance, He was a member of the church, baptized member. He was faithfully there, every Sabbath.

And one day He voiced to me that He was having a problem. So we discussed it.

And His problem was He could not understand how it is possible for God to always have existed.

That God has no beginning. And He couldn't wrap His mind around that. He was trying to figure out how is it that God has always existed, has no beginning, has no starting point, and it was throwing Him. He was striving to understand the un-understandable, the non-understandable.

If anyone of you tells me that you understand how God has always existed with no beginning, fine, I'm not going to argue with you, but I probably am not going to believe you.

Because when you try to wrap your finite mind where we live in a world where everything has beginnings and endings, including ourselves. So even when we're changed to spirit beings as sons and daughters of God, younger brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, it will always be a fact that we had a beginning. Now from that point on, we'll have no ending. We'll have no ending. But it will be a fact. It'll be part of the reality of eternity that we have a beginning. But God the Father and Jesus Christ have no beginning. And what He was caught up in wasn't necessarily bad, but when He or you or me or anybody takes it upon ourselves to try to figure out how God could always have been to wrap our finite minds around infinity, it's just an exercise in futility. And you know what? He got frustrated. He got frustrated because He couldn't understand the how, then He rejected the is up to a point. In other words, since He could not understand how it is that God has always existed, He denied the authority of the fact that He is there. I'm talking about a baptized member.

He was attending, very faithfully attending. But He told me, He said, basically because I can't understand how He could always have been, I'm not sure He exists. And the man became, the closest label you could put on him, would be a type of agnostic. You know, I don't know agnostic. So I pointed out three things to Him, and I would point them out to us. You know, the illustration in this through a glass darkly, I would have pointed out three things. Number one, God exists. We're dealing with three issues here.

And the first one is, number one, God exists.

Number two, I know what He expects of me. All I got to do is read His Word. I know what God expects of me. Number three, He has always existed. He has always existed. Those three things.

Okay, the first one. The first one. Number one, God exists. That is given to me.

It is given to my mind. It is given to my finite mind, converted or unconverted.

To know God exists. That's what Romans 1 tells us. Romans 1 tells us. You know, whether you're called or uncalled, Romans 1 tells us that God's existence can be proven. So number one is given to us. There's no excuse for not knowing that. Number two, I know what He expects of me.

That is given. That's given for me to know because His Word tells me what His expectations are of me. All I have to do is read the Bible. And I know, oh man, what does the Lord require of you? I mean, Scriptures such as Michael 6-8. I know because I just read it. Number three, He has always existed.

That is not given to me. Infinity cannot be fully understood by the finite.

Two out of three is not bad. One and two are the important and necessary issues for me.

Guess what? Number three can wait. Someday, I won't have a finite mind. I, you, we, as Spirit beings, will understand certain things that we cannot understand now.

But think about the rank foolishness. It is rank foolishness to scrap one and two because you don't have your way with number three. To scrap one and two because you don't have your way with number three. You want to talk about seeing through a glass darkly with number three.

Boy, is the glass dark there because you cannot fully grasp infinity. God is Spirit. He transcends all the physical dimensions we're familiar with and operate in. We're bound in them. Spirit is not subject to the law of physics. We are. We're bound in them. God is not. And there's no way we can or will fully understand that. Here's the point of advice that is very solid. Never let what you don't know cause you to give up what you do know. Think about that for a moment. Never let what you don't know cause you to give up what you do know. I have never met a person who did not want to see.

I have never met a person who did not want to see and see well. It's a troubling thing to have your vision impaired when cataracts cloud up the eye like a dirty window pane that you can't clean. It's frustrating. And if you can do something about it, you do it if you can because you desire and enjoy good sight. When the spiritual vision isn't as clear as you'd like, it too can be a frustrating thing. And yes, there are things you can do. But the bottom line is, at best, even under the best circumstances, it's going to be through the blast darkly. I want to turn to a couple of scriptures and closing a couple of illustrations. The first one was in Daniel 12. Daniel 12.

Others before us have had to accept the reality that Paul points out. Maybe knowingly. Maybe knowingly. Had to accept it knowingly. Like Daniel 12, verses 8, 9, and 13. Verse 8. Daniel 12, verse 8. And I heard, notice, but I understood not. Then said I, O my Lord, what should be the end of these things?

In verse 9, he said, Go your way, Daniel. Go your way. Keep doing what you know to do. Be responsible. Obey. You could write a lot into that. For the words are closed up. I've given you certain words that are closed up and sealed to the time of the end. They're closed up. They're sealed. You're not going to truly understand them. You're not going to know them.

Verse 13. But go you your way to the end be. And it gave him this comforting statement, for you shall rest. You're going to die. You're going to be at peace. And you're going to resurrect. You're going to be resurrected. And stand in your light. To stand again. Resurrection. To stand again. And stand in your light at the end of days. Because Christ returns to be resurrected. But Daniel wrote some things that he knew what he was writing as far as write this down, Daniel. And he wrote these things. What does this mean, Lord?

And what does this mean? Don't worry about it, Daniel. It's closed up. You'll have to go to your grave and rest and stand again someday. Then you'll have those answers. Then you can know. And I said sometimes maybe he knew he didn't know. And he knew he wasn't going to know certain things.

That threw the glass darkly. Until the future time. And he'd be a spirit being when he did. But then, maybe sometimes not known. Unknowingly, 1 John 2, 18. 1 John 2, verse 18. 1 John 2, verse 18, little children. Now, notice what John said in the 90s A.D. 2,000 years ago, basically. Little children. It is the last time. Oh, is it? No. That wasn't the reality. That was almost 2,000 years ago.

It wasn't the last time. It just means that John thought it was because of what he saw happening. He wasn't seeing clearly through the glass, was he? He wasn't understanding the times in that regard, clearly. He was seeing through a glass darkly when he thought that at least this aspect was coming through clearly. And as you have heard, that Antichrist shall come, even now are there many Antichrists whereby or therefore we know that it is the last time.

No, it wasn't. That doesn't mean anything bad against John. It just means he was seeing through a glass darkly and he didn't realize to what degree or in which way he was seeing through the glass darkly. From prophets to apostles to angels, there has always been a measure of through a glass darkly. 1 Peter 1, verses 10 through 12. Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you? Searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow?

And to whom it was revealed that not to themselves, but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel to you? With the Holy Spirit sit down from heaven, which things the angels desire to look into? Just in brief to say that from prophets to apostles to angels, not everything that was there to be understood was truly understood. Now, obviously, the things that mattered most were.

There were no issues of salvation deal-breakers. There was no knowledge missing that would cost them their salvation. But there were aspects that they didn't understand. That's not a new experience. What is new is when, as 1 Corinthians 13, 12 says, but then, then, that's another reason I want to be there.

It's not the only reason, obviously, by a far cry. Is it not the only reason? I don't want to be there with loved ones, friends, family, you folks. But that is one of the reasons that I do want to be there. But then, shall I know, even as also I am known, because then the glass will be totally clear.

We, as spirit beings, will not see through a glass darkly. That will be something left behind in this life. I will repeat my advice. In the meantime, and especially in the times we are living in, in the meantime, never let what you don't know cause you to give up what you do know. Never let what you don't know get in the way of what you do know.