The Triangle Of Life

This is the most famous and infamous area of water on Earth. Depending on where the outer boundaries are drawn, it covers an area of water ranging from 500,000 square miles to 1.5, or 1.5, or 1.5 million square miles. It's an area that is very, very heavily traveled. In fact, it is one of the most heavily traveled waterways on the planet. The area has been popularized for years and years by articles, books, movies, and it's become a mix of myths, facts, and speculations.

And the area that is roughly marked off is marked off as a triangle. The triangle is formed by drawing three lines. You can draw a line from Miami, Florida to Puerto Rico, then you can draw a line from Puerto Rico to Bermuda, and then you can draw a line from Bermuda to Miami.

And these three lines form the triangle. In the 1960s, this area was given the name, and if I were to ask you to tell me what the name is, some of you could tell me the name that was given to this area. It's three words, the Bermuda Triangle. It rings a bell because we've heard that term, the Bermuda Triangle. Now, people like a good mystery, don't they? There are a lot of mystery books. There are a lot of mystery movies. And this area, the Bermuda Triangle, has definitely provided more than its fair share. That particular area is noted. It's noted for a very, very high incidence of unexplained losses of ships, small boats, and aircraft.

Let me just give you some of the basic history in that regard. Two of the most famous are Flight 19. Flight 19, sometimes called the Lost Squadron, and also the USS Cyclops. Now, Flight 19 was a squadron of five US Navy TBM Avenger torpedo bombers, five of them, on a training flight out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on December 5, 1945. They disappeared without a trace, all five of them. A Navy search and rescue seaplane that went in search of them was also lost and never found. So the five, no trace of them.

And then the search plane disappeared, too. No trace of it ever found. The USS Cyclops was a 500-foot US Navy freighter with 309 passengers and crew. And shortly after leaving Barbados for Baltimore on March 6, 1918, they vanished without a trace. And despite the capability for such, there was no wireless or radio communication received from them. Then, of course, there have been additional famous accounts, which include a Douglas DC-3 aircraft containing 32 people that went missing in 1958. No trace of that aircraft was ever found. And then, mysteriously, a yacht that was found in 1955 that had survived three hurricanes.

This yacht. It had survived three hurricanes, found in 1955, but was missing all of its crew. And the accounts continue. Some have an explanation, some don't. And, of course, due to the nature of this area, it has also been called by another name. The Bermuda Triangle has also been called the Devil's Triangle. That name has been applied both because of number one, the mystery surrounding some of the situations, and number two, the number of deaths involved over the years. In fact, there is a third name that is sometimes applied to the area, the Triangle of Death.

The Triangle of Death. So, the Bermuda Triangle, the Devil's Triangle, the Triangle of Death. They all three go together, but especially the second and third one, in my opinion, the Devil's Triangle and the Triangle of Death because the Devil deals in death.

Death and the Devil go together. Now, I'm not saying that the Devil's behind all of that. You know, there's, again, some of those situations and many of the others, some of them, because there are a lot of other situations, too, but in that area, some of them are explainable and some of them aren't.

Some of them, as we say, as Paul Harvey would say, getting the rest of the story. In this case, the rest of the story, we will have to get that someday when Christ returns and God, who has seen everything that happens and knows all that has happened, can fill in the gaps for us. But death and the Devil go together.

Spiritually speaking, now, you're physical human beings, and I'm a physical human being and all, and we're involved in physical activity. We have jobs, we have responsibilities, we have things to do. We're very physically attached to physical life, but you and I also, and some others like us, are also involved very much spiritually in spiritual life, and we know that the true life is the spiritual life, because this life someday does pass on.

It fades away. Yes, we fade even while we are flesh and blood as the years go by. But we're looking towards spiritual life of eternity, and we realize that there is spiritual working in us that has to take place in the meantime so that we've got that to go on to. So spiritually speaking, we certainly understand that there is a triangle of death, and also that there's a triangle of life.

There is a triangular configuration that if you will live in it, is a triangle of life. Outside this triangle of life is failure and is death, the triangle of death. So that's what I want to talk about, and I'm going to lay out that triangle. So if you want a title, the title in the subject is one and the same, it's the triangle of life.

And that's what I'm going to talk about, because the triangle of life is a configuration that contains life, that life can be poured by God into. It's a configuration that Satan wants broken. He wants it broken because if it can be broken, it means death. And you'll see what I mean as we go through it. If it can be broken, it means death.

Death lies outside this configuration. And death is what Satan wants for us, not life, because his is the triangle of death. And this particular triangle of death, or devil's triangle, is a whole lot bigger and more far ranging than that physical one down there that's called the Bermuda Triangle, because everybody that disappeared in those waters, for whatever reason, they will come up in the general resurrection, and they will be given an opportunity to take on the triangle of life, the triangle of life that we're given now.

So I'm going to focus on those two triangles, the triangle of death, with the greater and prime focus on the triangle of life. So first, let's talk briefly about triangles. In a triangle, by the way, you don't have to have taken geometry, do you, to understand squares, rectangles, triangles. Though those are common things in life.

You look at the front of this lectern. You're looking at a rectangle. That is a rectangle. You know, a square, all the sides are equal. We see squares and rectangles all around us.

With a triangle, each side, and this is one of the aspects of a triangle, each side, because there's only three sides in a triangle, each side connects fully and equally with all the other sides, which happens to be two. Each side connects fully and equally with the other two. This is not true of any other design. It's not true of any other design, but with a triangle, each side connects fully and equally with all other sides, which happens to be two, obviously.

Also, something about the triangle is it is the strongest design. Of those designs, squares, rectangles, etc., the triangle is the strongest design. Now, let me interject. The hexagon, which is what a beehive is, if you look at the cells of a beehive. Who taught those little critters to know that and to do that? A beehive is a complex of hexagons, which the hexagon is the best combination for both strength and volume.

But the triangle for pure strength wins hands down. Again, I spent my summers in construction with my dad and brothers. In construction, whether of buildings, bridges, or whatever, bracings have to be used for securing and maintaining. The most often seen design for securing, for bracing, for maintaining, is the triangle. Look at bridges and how many triangular aspects there are as far as the bracings. Notice how roofs are a type of triangle. Load-bearing. Look at trusses. You see a house being built, and they've got a machine out there, and they're lifting trusses into place.

That's the rafters and the ceiling joists, and everything is one piece. Each section of the rafters, the ceiling joists, they're fastened together. It's one piece. It's lifted up, set into place, and fastened on the top plate of the walls. But look at the triangles. Look at how they're put together. They're a series of triangles. It's amazing the amount of strength. Okay. God. God is a builder. Come with me to Hebrews 3, verses 1 through 6, please. Hebrews chapter 3, verses 1 through 6. God is a builder. He's a physical builder in the sense that He has built physical things.

The universe out there around us is physical. So far, it has not been made permanent of spirit, but it's physical. He's built that. He's built this earth that we live on. I might have said 6, but it's Hebrews 3. If I said 6, it's Hebrews 3, and it's verses 1 through 6. Okay. And most of all, and most importantly for us, He is a spiritual builder. We're for a holy brethren, verse 1, Hebrews 3. We're for a holy brethren. Partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him that appointed Him, as also Moses was faithful in his own house.

For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who has built the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by some man. My dad built many, many houses. I worked on quite a few myself. For every house is built by some man, but he that built all things is God. It's interesting, it speaks of him as a builder. And Paul is drawing that analogy, because it is so true, and wanting them to grasp that aspect of God, to kind of visualize Him as a builder.

And Moses truly was faithful in all his house, verse 5, as a servant for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after, but Christ, as a son over his own house, over his own house, whose house are we, were kind of viewed like a house, in a sense. We're viewed like a house, the house of God. We can use words like temple, etc. But here Paul chooses to use that word house, and we all, you know, it's a very simple analogy that's very powerful, really. Whose house are we?

If we hold fast, if things are secured, if the bracing is good, hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm, and to the end. Now, let's go to Ephesians 2, verses 19-22. Ephesians 2, again following up on the house analogy, Ephesians 2, verses 19-22. Verse 19, And prophets Old Testament, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly frames together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are built together for habitation of God through His Spirit. I have always thought it very interesting that Christ's livelihood experience, God who came and became flesh, came here and became flesh for a time, that His livelihood experience, the Father, the stepfather that He had, and what He would have been involved with, with His stepfather and His younger siblings, Christ's livelihood experience for 30 years was in construction as a carpenter.

And, of course, the way carpentry was in those days, it involved everything from woodwork to stonework. I mean, it was a whole range of it. He's had... Think about it. He's had building experience, obviously, as God in the Godhead, with the power to... authorized by the One we know of as the Father to create the vast universe, to create the planet, to create us, etc., etc.

but also chose building experience to be His physical experience when He came to earth while He was waiting in the wings, so to speak, and preparing to carry out His official ministry. So in building a spiritual house, would He not know how to properly brace it up in order to secure it and maintain it? And that's just what He does. We're part of that building, that spiritual temple, yes. We're also in the process of being further built, and we have to be properly and securely braced, don't we?

If you take notes, I mean, obviously, that's up to you whether you take notes or not. I mean, it's not something that, quote, required by any sense, but either if you're taking notes, draw a triangle on your paper, and if you're not taking notes, that's fine. Just picture it in your mind. It's not difficult. Just draw a triangle, either physically or a mental picture of it. We're going to call this the triangle of life, and we're going to fill it in, because this is the securing bracing that must be maintained on us.

So, you've got three legs. Keep in mind, each leg, no matter what particular type, I won't get into geometry other than to say triangle. There's various triangles, but no matter what the way they're shaped and put together, they all carry one common shape. It's three legs joined together, be it this type of triangle, that type, or whatever. They're all triangles, and there are certain things that are common, and they have three legs, and each leg fully joins the other two. So, what is the first leg of the triangle that God would, you might say, nail into place? What would be the first leg? You're going to build a spiritual triangle. What would be the first one?

It starts with A. Now, again, keep in mind, the spiritual triangle of life, the triangle of life, God the Builder, is going to help us to put a triangle in place that helps to secure us and maintain us, brace us up to where we don't collapse or fold or break. First one, first leg. If you've drawn out a triangle, label one of those legs, it doesn't matter where you start, just label one of those legs, attitude. Attitude. So, if God is going to secure us, and He's going to brace us up with a triangle of life that contains life, that yields life, that leads to life, what's the first leg of that triangle that has to be put into place? It's the attitude. And when we talk about attitude, aspects of it like teachable. Can God go anywhere with any of us if we're not teachable? Can He give us anything if we're not receptive? Do we not have to be yielded? Do we not have to say, Lord, I'm open to You? Lord, I'm yielded to You? God, Father, I am teachable, I am receivable, I'm receptive, I'm teachable, I'm yielded, I'm open. I want to be worked with by You. I want to be taught by You. I want to be led by You. Without that, God can build nothing in us and with us. Let's go to John 4. This very familiar verse in John 4, verses 23 and 24 is very crucial to the spiritual triangle of life. John 4, verses 23 and 24. Christ here toed the Samaritan woman.

Verse 23, He said, But the hour comes, and now it is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father. And you could mark this off in quotation marks if you wanted to, in spirit and in truth. That phrase, in spirit and in truth. For the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is a spirit, verse 24, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Take that part of the phrase, in spirit. That is the attitude area. That involves the attitude area. And many times we will talk about that as attitude.

That area in spirit or the attitude area, that is a necessity that above all things must be maintained. It's not optional.

If the triangle of life is to be in place, life is to be poured into it and through it, and the building of God is to take place. And you have to have that triangle of life. This leg is absolutely indispensable. It is not optional. Back in Psalm 51, verses 10 through 12, David acknowledges this because one reason David acknowledges this is because David, that leg of the triangle, was being broken. It was being lost. And when he was brought to his senses and he realized it, he notated once again just how crucial that leg of the triangle is. In Psalm 51, verses 10 through 12, verse 10, he says, He says, Let me express attitude this way. The attitude is the window that the light comes through. There are no windows, if you look, there are no windows over here on the sides. No light comes into this building from the sides. There are no windows there. If we wanted light from outside to come in through the wall, a window would have to be cut into the wall, built into the wall for light to come in through these side walls here. Attitude is the window that the light of God comes through. It talks about life and light from God through Christ in John 1. And for light to come through, there has to be that window of the attitude.

And that window needs to be clean. It needs to be clear, unobstructed. You could take a window and you could so dirty it up and mess it up that light wouldn't come through it. When the window of your lens in your eye gets opaque enough, and that light can hardly come through the lens of your eye to your eye, you have cataract surgery to take out the old lens and to put in a lens that lets the light come through. For God to do His work in us, He must come inside, deep into our mind, deep into our heart, deep into our fiber. God's work with each of us is an inside job. That's why God cannot force character into us. He cannot force His righteousness into us. He cannot force conversion. You can get people to comply, but you can't convert them through force. God has to come deep into our mind and our fiber. It's an inside job. Attitude is the entry point. That's the entry point. That's why the frame of mind, the mindset is so important. And that's why the first leg of the triangle of life to be laid in place is this. Attitude is the wind of the mind, but then attitude alone is not sufficient. Because as with the triangle where there's just one leg, you can't form a triangle from one leg itself without the other two. You just have a straight line. That's all you have. You just have a straight line. Attitude alone cannot be complete of itself. So that brings us to the second leg of the triangle.

And I reference John 4, verses 23 and 24 because there's a second leg that's mentioned here. In fact, two legs of the triangle definitely are mentioned in John 4, verses 23 and 24. And I'll read verse 24 again. God is the Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truths. So the attitude is put in place. The entry point is put in place. That first leg of the triangle is put in place for God to begin to do an inside job. So what is the second one? Well, there's a word we can use, knowledge. Because isn't that what truth is? As we begin to learn the truth? Somebody can begin... God can call someone. He can work with them. He can help generate in them the attitude through which He can work. And obviously He begins to give them a certain amount of knowledge in order to help produce that attitude. Yes, but the attitude can be brought to a point with the person yielding to God where they're ready to really, really, truly receive knowledge. And then there's just so much more that they are given and they learn and they know. And as the years go by, as long as that entry point, that attitude is kept in place. More and more knowledge can be granted. Knowledge must go with attitude. See, attitude is not an end in itself, is it?

No, it has a purpose. The attitude has to be set into place so that knowledge can truly be received. Because the knowledge that is received, which is so necessary for us becoming what God wants us to be, not all of it is easy to apply. But as long as the attitude is in place, that knowledge can be fed to us through that attitude. Let me put it this way. Attitude without knowledge is incomplete in itself even as sincerity without direction is incomplete. I mean, you could meaningfully, sincerely, go down a dead-end street. Not know you were on a dead-end street but have to do a U-turn and come back. Have you ever gone down a street that wasn't marked as a dead-end? We're like shortcuts, and you try to take these shortcuts, and so you turn down this road or this street. I went down a country road at midnight one night down in East Texas. I was trying to cut across country to a main road on my way back home, and all of a sudden my headlights hit water. And I'd break down. I was on this two-lane road. The road just ended where a light began.

There was this shimmering surface of water that my headlights were glancing, you know, reflecting off of. I don't know what happened. I don't know if somebody built a dam and made a lake, and it just covered up the road, and they closed the road. But there was no signs or anything. And I was very sincerely going down that road, but I wasn't getting anywhere to where I needed to be. So I had to turn around. I'm glad I didn't run into the water, but I just had to turn around and go back the other way.

You could, meaningfully, go down a dead-end street. You could sincerely follow a misprinted map. Or if you were going someplace where there were signs, you know, there was a sign, you know, you've seen it in the movies where, you know, there's these... the signpost, and it's pointing to this town and pointing to that one, and some person... some young guy that... no young guy, I know, would ever do anything like that, but twist the sign around to make them point the wrong way. And a person turns following the sign, and, oh, I thought I was headed to Louisville. No! I'm in Lexington.

No! No, you could have a great approach, but no direction. No, knowledge is absolutely essential. Notice Hosea 4-6. And in the book of Hosea, chapter 4 and verse 6, this is spoken to so absolutely. Hosea 4 and verse 6. Now, this first statement stands on its own as far as the reality of it. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Now, we could explore it more if we wanted to, but it says, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. How much knowledge, good, sound, solid, basic, moral knowledge is being lost by our nation.

I started to say slowly but surely, but I maybe should say rapidly and surely, are destroying ourselves in this nation. We see destruction going on, and we see also how lacking in good, sound, solid knowledge this nation is. And whether we apply it to the nation, or we apply it to any individual, be they in the church or not, if there's a lack of knowledge, what's the result many times? When people say ignorance is bliss, no, that's not exactly. People say, what you don't know can't hurt you. Oh, yeah. Do you know that that's a grizzly bear over there in the bushes that's kind of hungry?

And you have no idea he's there, but since you don't know he's there, he can't hurt you. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Knowledge is absolutely essential. Somebody might say, well, my attitude is good. I've got great attitude.

Well, fine. Good. Great. I'm glad you got a great attitude. But it doesn't stop there. There's more to it than just that. Again, and not having to turn back to John 4, but I'll go back to John 17 this time. In truth, in truth, with knowledge, John 17, 17, set them apart, sanctify them.

Set them apart through your truth. Your word is truth. It's knowledge. It's full of knowledge. In this Bible, there is scientific knowledge. There is knowledge of psychology. There is knowledge of nutrition. There is knowledge of astronomy. There's what would be called medical knowledge. There's all kinds of knowledge in this book. Not that it is a book that has to contain every law of physics or any of that, but you'd be surprised what's in this book. But most importantly, there's knowledge that has to do with eternal life and how to live this life in a physically good way, which is also a spiritually viable way.

But in 2 Timothy 3, when we read John 17, 17, and we talk about your word is truth, and God's word is expressed here in 2 Timothy 3 verses 15 through 17, where Paul says to Timothy, and that from a child you have known the holy scriptures, God's word, which sets us apart, which makes you wise to salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.

And he says all scripture is given by the inspiration of God, He who is our builder, and it's profitable for what? Well, for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, it's profitable. It's profitable for instruction in righteousness, that the result be that the man or the woman of God may be perfect, that is, may be complete, may be mature, thoroughly furnished, and to all good works. And you think about...I'm going to go to 2 Peter 3. You think about Peter writing what I'm sure he knew was his last written communication to the church and his final words, which had to have meant a lot to him because as he sat there with the quill thinking, how do I want...what would be the best way to finish this, my final writing to the church before they take me and kill me?

Verse 18, But grow in grace, which obviously makes sense to us. Also, the next makes sense, too. He says, Grow in grace, but what else to grow in? Grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To him be glory, both now and forever. Amen. Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So obviously, knowledge is so crucial.

And yet, as with only two legs or sides, you can't make a triangle. It's not possible. If you've got two sides, I don't care how you...unless you bend them and break them, but if you've got two sides, two straight lines, no matter what you do, you cannot create a triangle. There's still one more leg that's needed. It's crucial. It makes the difference in it being just two straight lines of attitude and knowledge, or creating a triangle that is the strongest geometric figure for bracing and is the strongest spiritual figure arrangement for bracing. So this brings us to that third and final and completing leg of the spiritual triangle of life, and that's motivation. Motivation.

Motivation. If I were to ask you, what is love? L-O-V-E. What is...and we use the word agape, A-G-A-P-E. We use that to express the purest love of all. But what is it? I guess there's more than one way to express what it is, but it is the force in God. What kind of force in God is it? It's the motivating force. If you want to know what motivates and moves the being we call God the Father, and what actually pushes and motivates and moves the one who sits at His right hand, His Son, our Savior, Jesus the Christ, it's love. This is why when John wrote in 1 John 4.8, and I'm right back here in that area, 1 John 4, verses 8, 1 John 4, verses 8 and 16, twice, which is for emphasis, because it's so important to really emphasize it. He says in these two verses, in each of these two verses, the three words which are very powerful, God is love. That means love as a force of movement, as a motivation, as a motivating force. That personifies God.

It's what pushes Him. It's what powers Him. It's what drives Him. It's what moves Him. It's what causes Him to do what He does. It's fuel. This is why John 3 may be the most famous Scripture in the Bible, or maybe the one that's most often quoted, read, or used, for God so loved the world.

He was so moved, pushed, driven, motivated by His pure, outgoing love, which fuels what He does, fuels everything He does. Every act that God ever does has love, outgoing concern behind it. And if somebody were to challenge me to show that, yeah, I can show that.

That's behind all that He does, His plans, His purposes. But sometimes, to really grasp that, you have to keep the big picture in mind. But notice, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. And that only begotten Son was moved by the same force. That's why He was willing. He voluntarily, willingly offered to come long before. Sometime previous, that decision was made before humans were created.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. That's what moved Him. That's what moved Him to say, we want to save all mankind. And again, to be clear, we do not believe in universal salvation. We do not teach it. We do not teach that in the ultimate, every single human being will be in the family of God, including the return of the devil and the fallen angels. We do not teach that. We do not teach universal salvation.

But we do teach universal opportunity for salvation. This is why, as the Scripture so plainly shows, that a few are called in this age, and then there is the millennial rule of Christ when the humans of that time will be offered salvation under the rule of Christ directly here, and the resurrected saints. And then the dead of this age who have not had true opportunity will come up in the general resurrection in the eighth day, or as we call it, the last great day, and have their opportunity then. But it's the love of God that pushes His plan.

It's the love of God that devises His plan. It's the love of God that carries it out. When we talk about motivation, motivation is the urge or the compulsion to move on the things you know. Now, you think about that. Okay, that second leg is knowledge. You've got to have the right attitude. God feeds us through that. He feeds us knowledge. But we've also got to have the strong enough urge and compulsion to move on the things we know. Motivation is the desire, and it's the need to maintain what we have. It's like an internal pressure in us to do.

We want to do. Now, there's something inside us called the stomach. When it gets empty enough, it pushes you to find something to put in there. You know, you get hungry, you're definitely motivated to eat and drink. Well, that's good, and that's fine. But there also has to be a type of heart hunger. That, you know, hungering and thirsting after the righteousness of God to be motivated, to act on the knowledge, to use it, to apply it, to really want to take it on in the deepest sense, to go forward.

Motivation is the power that propels us, and when this leg is in place, the triangle of life is complete. And just as with a triangle where each and every leg supports and relates to the other two, so it is with this one.

Think about it. Attitude, knowledge, motivation. All are interrelated to support and strengthen each other. Again, attitude, window into the mind, into the deep fiber, entry point. Knowledge, nourished and fed with that knowledge, and motivation, moving on it, accomplishing, using it. This is the triangle of life. I didn't create this. I did not design this. God designed it, and He ordered it. This is the triangle of life that has to be maintained. Again, bear something in mind that's crucial about a triangle. Remove one leg, and you don't have a triangle anymore. Remove one leg, and you no longer have a triangle. Remove one leg from the triangle of life.

It is no longer a triangle of life, but a death. If you remove one leg from the triangle of life, you've turned it into a triangle of death. For instance, let me illustrate. Take the first leg, the attitude. Haven't we all heard the saying that goes like this?

Well, I'll tell you. When the attitude goes, boy, so does everything else. Isn't that true? When the attitude goes, everything else follows suit. When the attitude goes, everything else follows suit. I think when I make a statement like that, which again is a statement of reality, and I've had to see that happen up close and personal over the years, of course in my position working with what I'm called to work with as far as responsibilities and people, I've seen that. I've seen the reality that when the attitude goes, everything else follows suit. And I think of what Paul told Titus in Titus chapter 1 verses 15 and 16. Titus chapter 1 verses 15 and 16.

See, a bad attitude has the power to spoil everything. And so he tells Titus here, verse 15 of chapter 1, he says, The pure, all things are pure. But unto them that are defiled, an unbelieving is nothing pure, but even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess that they know God, but in works they deny Him being abominable and disobedient, and unto every good work, reprobate. And take the second leg, knowledge. A lack or loss of knowledge, ignorance, has the power to destroy.

Again, in Isaiah 4.6, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Let me make a statement about knowledge, and this is something to be part of your personal marching orders that you apply to yourself. I apply it to myself. Never give up what you do know because of what you don't know.

Never give up what you do know because of what you don't know. If I were to ask for a show of hands, which I'm not going to do, but if I were to ask for a show of hands, how many of you in here have certain questions about certain areas of knowledge that you just don't know what you want to know or feel you should know, need to know? How many of you have questions about certain things that you would like answered?

Probably maybe most of our hands would, I think, maybe all of our hands would even go up. But never give up what you do know because of what you don't know. Because what you don't know, if you hang on to what you do know, then what you don't know is going, those gaps are going to be filled in in due time. Even if some of that is not filled in until, as some of it will not be filled in, until the resurrection.

See, denial and rejection feeds ignorance and brings destruction and death. I have had people tell me, and you know, just in dealing with the many people that I've dealt with over the years, there have been cases where somebody has told me, Well, I'm not going to do such and such until I know such and such. And I say, well, do you know what you should be doing here? Well, yeah, I do. But I'm not going to do it until I can understand that over there. And I've said, well, if you won't do what you do know, how do you expect or why do you expect God's going to give you more if you won't do what He has given you?

If you want to know or have a chance to know more, then do what you do know. And sometimes they would do such, and they would then grow in knowledge. And then some never came along because they wouldn't operate on what they did know because of what they did not yet know. So again, it goes back all three legs, attitude, knowledge, and motivation. With the third leg motivation, when the godly motivation of love and zeal is lost, the life truly does have a way. Revelation 2.4, as we wrap this up, in the message to the church in seven messages that make an overall message. But in Revelation 2, in verse 4, with the third leg motivation, when the godly motivation of love and zeal is lost, the life truly does have a way.

God, in this first message to the church called the message to Ephesus, He says in verse 4, I guess it would be good to read the whole thing beginning in verse 1, to the angel of the church of Ephesus write, These things says he that holds the seven stars in the right hand who walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. I know your works. And again, keep in mind, John's writing this, Apostle John, he's in his nineties.

He's writing this in the nineties A.D. The church has been around for sixty-something years, and the church is being addressed. He that holds the seven stars in his right hand who walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. I know your works. You know, reaching all the way back to 31 A.D. on the day of Pentecost when the church began. I know your works, your labor, your patience, how you can't bear them which are evil.

You've tried them which say they're apostles and are not and have found them liars. I know your works. I know what you've done. I know how you've put out and you've sacrificed and you've hung in there and you've been zealous and all of that, see? And you've borne and you've had patience. And for my namesake, you've labored and you've not fainted. You've not quit. I understand. I see all of that. Nevertheless, I have somewhat against you because you have left your first love. You're not motivated like you've lost so much of your motivation.

It's not there like it was. Remember therefore from when you're fallen and repent, do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and I will remove your candlestick out of his place except you repent. One final scripture and I'm not going to turn back there.

I'll just reference it. I've commented on this before and shall do so again in the future. Daniel 7.25. A prophecy speaking of a time where things will come to a head. There is an evil one that works behind the scenes. There is a phrase used in that verse of Daniel 7.25 in that prophecy about wearing out the saints. None of us are naive to the fact that life has a lot of wear and tear. None of us are naive to the reality that in life, the life you and I live, it is like being on a treadmill.

And the treadmill that we're on is cranked up faster and faster and faster as time goes along. And it's also elevated. The incline of it is elevated more and more. And it seems to be harder and harder to keep up, to do, to meet the challenges. There's a lot of wear and tear. Keep in mind, Satan will try to seduce you away from the truth of God. He'll try to seduce you away.

But you know, he finds out that for some people, he cannot seduce them away. There is nothing they want more than they want the kingdom of God. And they cannot be seduced away, not with whatever he offers. He can't seduce them. But he knows we're made of flesh and blood. And those he can't seduce, then he tries to pull the tactic of, well, just wear them down and out. I'll just wear them out. Just wear them out. Just pound and pound and wear and tear. And, of course, as long as we do fight to maintain that triangle of life and watch your attitude and continue to seek the knowledge of God and ask God to help us with zeal and love and movement and keep that triangle in place, as long as it's not broken, it is a triangle of life.

It's only when it is broken, has a broken side, that it becomes a triangle of death. And as long as we maintain the triangle of life, we will have life. And God's life and light from the Father through Christ will be there in us. And in due time, in due time, we will be eternal forever with God the Father and Jesus Christ and their family.

And there will be a house built that eternally stands with the great builder, God the Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ.