Value Your Potential

We have a time limit since we have an exciting activity today, so we will get started. Have you ever had something stolen from you? Have you ever had someone come in to your home or your car, break in and steal something from you? It doesn't feel very good. A few years ago, I had friends who were traveling for the feast, and after the feast they had a post-feast trip. And someone smashed the back of the vehicle that they had rented to get the luggage and the suitcase and the computers out of the back. And when something is stolen from you, you feel pretty violated. It does not feel... There's something about it that just tears into you. Your private possessions were violated. In 1992, my parents saved up all they could to buy me and my two brothers new bikes. And we didn't have a lot. And so, for my parents to go out and buy us brand new bikes, I mean, this was something spectacular. We were absolutely stoked to have these new bikes. A bike meant freedom, it meant transportation, it meant fun. And, you know, the world was opening up to us with these brand new bikes. We couldn't really afford a lot, and so my parents saved up all their money they could. And they took us down to the local bike store called The Cyclery. This is the bike that I chose. Now, this is my personal one.

This was a beautiful bike. In 1992, this was the pinnacle of cool. Check out those black mag wheels. For those of you who can't see in the overflow room, it's shiny stainless steel chrome bike. It was one of these trick bikes where you can turn the handlebars all the way around and the cables don't tangle up because of the way it was designed.

I spent hours on this bike. It was beautiful. And, you know, my parents, they put aside this money and they bought me and my two brothers about three brand new bikes. This was a dyno air. I was so thrilled to have this bike. And back then, even me, a young man, the sacrifice that my parents made to get us these bikes, it was not lost on me, even back then.

I knew what they were doing. I rode this bike everywhere. One summer day, I came home, I came inside for a quick bike. We had a privacy fence in our backyard. And I always tucked my bike right below our steps. So you couldn't even really see it from the gate if you were walking by on the sidewalk.

I came out after lunch, and my bike was gone. It was gone. I never replaced that bike. I turned 16 just a few years later, and that was it. That was the end of my beautiful dyno air. Right before the start of seventh grade, my parents took me school shopping, another incident I had.

And it was a big deal, because the start of middle school, for those of you who remember, it's kind of a big deal. I was going to Kula Junior High. It was right on the main strip of the town. They had just built a brand new Dairy Queen across from it. This is where things were happening.

I talked my mom into buying me a brand new pair of shoes. Not just any pair of shoes. These were Nike Air Flights. These things were fresh. We're talking about the 90s, so I can use that word and still be okay. Suede leather. They had the air. They had the swoosh on the side. These things were amazing.

If I hadn't reached the pinnacle of cool yet, these were going to take me up a notch.

I talked to my mom to get into these shoes. I was so happy with these shoes that I didn't wear them in gym class. Because I was like, I don't want to mess up these beauties. So I would wear my old tennis shoes and I would put these in my gym locker.

One day after gym class, I came back in and before I even got to my locker, I saw my broken lock on the floor.

And I walked up and my shoes were gone. Somebody in my gym class stole these shoes from me.

Let's go to Matthew 6.

I bring these up because this can happen to anyone. Young people, you can have things stolen from you from school. You can have things taken from you. And it hurts. It absolutely does hurt. Let's see what it says in Matthew 6. Let's read two verses. Something we are familiar with, but let's set the stage here today. Matthew 6, verse 19. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. Don't lay up for treasures for yourself like this, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Isn't that one of the major themes that we have? Talking about the feast. We talk about things that we treasure. What is it that you treasure?

It doesn't matter what age you are. We can be easily distracted by things, can't we? We can easily be distracted by the things that we think, oh, this is going to change my life today. We can easily be distracted. It doesn't matter what age. But we're here celebrating a hope for the future. We're here because God has promised us, and eventually all of mankind, something fantastic. And I yearn for that future. I yearn for that future. Even more than I yearn for that beautiful dino air bike and those super slick Nike Air flights. It's a beautiful future. This morning I'd like to consider what we have in store for us. Something that cannot be taken away from us. I'd like to talk about some of the things that we treasure as we look forward to this period of time. This 1,000 year reign of Jesus Christ and even beyond into the kingdom of God. So let's take a look at a few today. Number one, right now, you and I, we are susceptible to physical ailments. Not so in the future. Not so in the future. Let's start off with a story. Let's go to Acts 3. We will not be susceptible to physical ailments in the future. And you know what? You cannot take that away. I hope for that day. Any of you who are struggling with physical ailments, you know that it's painful. You know that there are times that it can bring you down. Not so in the future. Acts 3. I should turn there as well. At this point, Peter and John are there in what's called Solomon's porch. It's located outside of the outer quarter of the temple. Let's start in verse 19. Acts 3, verse 19.

This is speaking here. We look forward to this time of restoration. We look forward to this time of refreshing. And he gives specifics to prepare for that time. He says, repent. Because this time is coming. This time is coming. And those who are listening to this, they are speaking with boldness. Repent. Be converted. Your sins can be blotted out so that you can witness this. Time of refreshing. And what is it of? It's for all things. Restoration. All things. That gives me chills. That gives me chills. What sparked this call of action? You know, we jumped right here in the middle of the story. What sparked this? Here they are. Repent. Be blotted out. There is a time coming that we are all looking forward to. I studied video production. I work in the video production part of the home office. And so I did what one of my favorite directors does. He dropped you right in the middle of the story. Let's go back and see what sparked this call of action. And let's see what he's talking about. Go back to the top of the chapter, verse 1 of Acts 3. It says this. Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a certain man laying from his mother's womb was carried whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, which is called beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple. Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms, and fixing his eyes on him with John, Peter said, look at us. So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. He was expecting some money. And Peter said, Silver and gold, I do not have, but what I do have, I give you. Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise and walk. And he took him by the right hand, lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood up, and walked, and entered the temple with them, walking, leaping, and praising God. What happens next is this man goes into the porch, and the people are amazed. They're like, who is this guy? Wait, we know him. We've seen him. We've seen him carried to the gate. And people set him there so he can ask for alms all day long. And then Peter says, why are you amazed? You know, it was Jesus who did this. Jesus, the one you traded for a murderer, has this power. This man was lame from birth, and everyone there, they knew it. They knew it. He was carried to that gate. God is going to bring about a time of restoration. When Peter and John were there, and they were saying, repent, God was showing his power. Peter preaches about this time of restoration and refreshing, and God showed his power by restoring a man's legs in front of everyone.

Many times over, God shows his power over the impossible. He shows it over the elements. He shows it over death by resurrection and over restoration, over healing in this traumatic event. And that gave them the power to go in there and say, you know what, it's time to repent. Look what is possible. Look what is possible. Jesus, through his life, showed the power of God over creation, over elements, and over this dramatic event. When John the Baptist knew, had heard about Jesus Christ, he sent some disciples because he was in prison, and he said, go, ask him and say, hey, are you the one we're waiting for? And Jesus Christ said, when the two came to him, they said, well, tell him what you see. Tell him what you see. The blind see, the deaf can hear, the lame can walk. People are rising from the dead, I'm the one. I'm the one you were waiting for. God has the power of restoration, and he shows us in this traumatic event. That is something we can treasure. That is something that cannot be taken away from us. Let's go to Philippians. Philippians 3.

Philippians 3. Philippians 3. Verse 20. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait, and we do, we eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body, that it may be conformed into his glorious body, according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself. Our bodies are going to be transformed. Our bodies are going to be absolutely transformed. You know, before Israel went into the Promised Land, God had given them lots of promises. Did you know that one of the things that they promised was no miscarriages? If you look in Exodus 23, you don't have to go there, but God promised them, along with the physical blessings, actually health. He promised them health. He says, I will take away sickness from the midst of you. No one shall suffer a miscarriage or barren in your land, for I will fulfill the number of your days. That's Exodus 23, 25, and 26. God wanted to give them the Promised Land. He wanted to give them a land of milk and honey. He wanted to give them physical blessings, but he also wanted to give them health. How much more does he want to give that to the whole world? A time of restoration and refreshing. If you've had a miscarriage, you know it's painful. It is absolutely painful. That's not what God wants for us. He wants to bring a time of healing and refreshing, and that's what we look forward to. God wants this kind of health for His people. He wants to give us bodies that don't break. He wants to give us bodies that don't have to go to the dentist. I had a cavity that had to be redone since the 90s a few years ago, and I went to the dentist, and days later I was still in pain. And I went and I said, you guys did this wrong. You guys did this wrong, and they were like, no, you just have to suffer the pain. Sorry. God wants to give us bodies that don't break. This is your future. He wants to give you bodies that don't need blood drawn for testing. He wants to give you bodies that don't get broken bones, that don't need wheels to get around. He wants to give you bodies that don't need bodies that don't need lenses to see. Bodies that don't go bad. Bodies that don't have crippling arthritis. Bodies that don't have disease. Bodies that don't have to fight cancer.

This is something I treasure. This is something you treasure. That's why you're here. It's a beautiful future God has for us. And you know, at times, we don't see this now. We don't see this now. We see our physical weakness, but we can't get discouraged by that. We can't. And there are times that it's hard. We see family and friends suffering and dealing with broken bodies. It's hard.

But you know, I always think about Job in those situations. Job was an interesting person who had to deal with, that we can learn a lot from. But when Job had everything taken away from him, and his sons and his things, and his wife was like, just curse God and die. Just stop dealing with this. Just curse God and die. He didn't do it. In fact, he said something profound.

And Job, Job 2, he said, first he says to his wife, you speak as one of the foolish women. Good for him for not actually calling her foolish, but just says, you're speaking as a foolish woman. You know, this is a man who has lived and has a little bit of wisdom.

You are speaking as one of the foolish women. Shall we accept good from God, and shall we not accept diversity? In all this, Job did not sin with his lips. We have a beautiful future ahead of us with bodies that don't break.

Do you treasure that future? One of the things that we can treasure is being free of pain and suffering, physical handicaps. God shows us through his word the power that he has over this. And when we are glorified, we shall have glorious bodies that don't break. Number two. Right now we're susceptible to sin. We're on an ongoing struggle and battle with sin. Spiritual brokenness is what we deal with. Not so in the future. Not for ourselves.

It's easy to read about the life of Jesus Christ, and I know sometimes I tell my kids about him and think he was a superhero. In fact, he's better than a superhero. My son always wants to know if we're going to fly in the kingdom. And I said, well, when Jesus returns, it says that we will meet him in the air. What does that sound like to you? He's like, we're going to fly!

But it's the spiritual part I want to talk about at this point. Let's go to 2 Peter. Jesus Christ displayed power over the elements, yes, but he was also able to withstand sin. And man, that is encouraging for us to read about, isn't it? Because he came down, he lowered himself to become a man. He was able to withstand sin. But in 2 Peter, chapter 1, go to verse 4, we'll jump right into the middle of the thought here. It says, By which we have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Now corruption through lust, that's the divine nature. Yes, physical, for lack of a better word. Our bodies will change. But this lust part, that's a spiritual matter. We're going to change our divine nature in a spiritual way. It won't just be our makeup, what we're made out of. One of our booklets says this in the Fundament of Beliefs. If some of you teens grab that today, you'll see. It says, Just as any child takes on the genetic traits of its parents, through a development process, we become more and more like God in terms of character.

While we are aimed toward the ultimate transformation involving our very essence and level of existence. We recently celebrated the Day of Atonement, and it's a future in the future during this period, this period that we're celebrating, this 1000 year reign of Christ, Satan won't be there. He won't be there. He's not going to be there. And then our nature will have changed. Our character will be that of this divine nature, and the people who are left will need teachers. And Mr. Cooper read it yesterday, but let's go ahead and read that. Isaiah 30.

Isaiah 30. Verse 20. And though the Lord gives you, let's see, let's just cut in the middle of the verse. Yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore. It's interesting, Mr. Phelps told that story about the high school girls. You know, they were teachers. They were teachers in a corner. They were noticed, but they were teachers in a corner. Your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, but your eyes shall see your teachers. Your ears hear the word behind you saying, this is the way. Walk in it. Whenever you turn to the right hand, or whenever you turn to the left.

This is you. This is you. You'll be a spirit being, no longer just a person off to the side, struggling with your sins. But you'll be a divine member of the God family teaching. You know, what makes you qualified to do this? What makes me qualified to do this?

You have spent a lifetime of overcoming. And once God gives you entrance into his family, we'll all be teachers. He's not going to say, okay, you're going to keep working on it. No. The forefront. Here, please, teach these people. Because you know how. You've had the most rigorous job training out there. You've been practicing this your entire life. No longer hidden, but seen and heard. You'll be the teachers. You'll have moved past a life of struggling with sin. All the spiritual struggles you have now, it's going to pay off. It's going to be part of your job.

Your job. We can get down ourselves. You know, I know there are times in the spring holy days, we read the scriptures and we say, I don't measure up. I don't measure up. Can God work with me? Absolutely. We are part of a process. We are part of a process. It's lifelong, on-the-job training. We are in the midst of purification. We're in a process. We're growing spiritually every day, putting off who we were when we were called and becoming something new.

And young people, those of you, you know, a lot of us grew up in the church now, and we know. It feels overwhelming. It feels overwhelming. Stick with it. Practice what Paul told Timothy. Stick with it. You'll get there. Let's go to Ephesians 4. Our battle with sin, on a personal level, will be a time of the past.

Ephesians 4, verse 11. We read this a lot of times talking about how we should grow as a church. Because it says here in verse 11 of Ephesians 4, and he himself gave some to the apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry. That's part of the process we're in right now. For the edifying of the body of Christ. Verse 13, Till we all come to the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, and the knowledge of the Son of God, and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

We're not there yet. I don't feel the fullness of Christ yet. But there is coming a time when we will. And we all have roles to play. This is a beautiful scripture about how the church should...we all have roles. We all have parts to play. And edifying and building one another up. Isn't it beautiful that God...He called us all individually, yes, but He called us to work together. He called us to work together for edification and for growth.

It's a beautiful work that He's doing. When we come to that new body, our fight with sin will be over. On a personal level, we'll be teaching those who will need to be overcome, but you will be professionals at that point. We will come to the fullness of the stature of Christ. You will be a spirit being, not succumbing to the temptations that you struggle with yet. Do you treasure that? Because if you do, it cannot be taken away from you.

It cannot be taken from your backyard or smashed out of your locker. It's beautiful. Number three. One of the things that I treasure, we will reach the potential that God had for humanity from the very beginning. We'll reach that potential. You know, we read many times that the Psalm, when David said, when I consider your heavens and the work of your fingers and the moon and the stars, what is man?

What is man? Why do you think about us? Why are you mindful of him? Did you come and visit him? You've made him lower than the angels. Somehow you've crowned him with glory and honor? I read that as a question, but Hebrews quotes this, and then adds a little bit more to that. Let's go to Hebrews 2, because we will reach the potential that God had for humanity in the first place, and that is something that we can absolutely treasure. Hebrews 2.

You see that it's being quoted here. Start in verse 8 of Hebrews 2. You have put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him. He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. But we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels, just like us. For the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, and he by the grace of God might taste death for everyone. Right now, we don't have everything under our subjection. God hasn't called us in the pinnacle of our humanity. Actually, unfortunately for us, we always jest about it, but he called the weak and the wise. He called the weak ones. But we see Jesus. We see the sacrifice he made for us. We see that there was an eternal plan for us from the foundation of the world. Genesis 1, we read that something that's very powerful in Genesis 1, when he created Adam and Eve. In verse 26, God said, let us make man in our image. Do you really stop to take that in? I want to make someone like me.

Let's make man in our image, in our likeness. God was making mankind, and his intention was to have him be more than what you see in the mirror every day. We've been created to become part of the God family. You know, and really this is a combination of the first two, to be divine in being and in character. That's what God was doing. And you know, there's something so personal about God saying, I want to start a family. And I want you to be a part of it. I want you. There's something just very personal about that. I want you. I want you to be a part of my family. You know, when you think of your family member, your unit, your team, you're very close. And God said, let's make man like us.

Let's go to 2 Corinthians as we're still thinking about this. 2 Corinthians 6.

We're getting there. We're going to be on lunch on time. We're getting there. 2 Corinthians 6. Verse 16. Nope, that's 1 Corinthians. I won't do it.

Breaking into the middle of the verse. You are the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them, walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Therefore, verse 17, come out from among them, and be separate. Says the Lord, do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters. Says the Lord Almighty, I will be a father to you.

God wants us to be a part of his divine family. How does that affect you? What does that change? Does it affect how you live your life? Does it affect the choices that you make? Knowing that this is your future? Does it affect how you see other people? Does it affect you so that you live peaceably with all men? When you realize this, it affects how you value human life.

When you realize that this is the future of not just us in this room, but God has this future for all of mankind, it will impact your broken relationships. It will affect your own family, your own family dynamic. Knowing this is what God thinks, and this is God's plan, helps us live our life. This is the potential of every human being. And will help us to be ambassadors of that. To say, you know what, God has a plan for you.

You can be a part of it, too. And what's amazing about all of this is that God has this plan for all of humanity, this salvation plan, but yet it's still very personal. Because He called you as individuals, didn't He? It's still very... I'm not just like, oh yeah, I want to save all the people.

No, I want to save you, and I want to save you. I want to save all the people. I think that's just beautiful. It's about you. This is beneficial to think about during this Feast of Tabernacles, because during the hustle and bustle, it's easy for us to forget we've got these fun activities coming, but these things that we talked about today are what we treasure, that what is in store for us in the future.

And we can't take that for granted. We cannot take that for granted, because you know what? When we remember this, it gives us purpose. It's not shallow, it's real, it's deep, it's for everyone. God called you here because He loves you. And in the future, we will have glorious bodies. Bodies that don't break. Bodies that don't have to fight disease.

In the future, we can treasure that we will be free from the weakness of the sin that we are trying to fight every single day. We'll actually be the ones teaching because of our practice. We'll finally come back to what God had intended to us from the very beginning. Members of His glorious family. Beings. And His likeness. And His image. Do you treasure these things? Because it's why you're here. It is absolutely why you're here. When I was young, I lost two things that I treasured.

And, you know, at 15, I can't say that, oh, I thought about all the things that God has in store for me. And I was crushing. But when you realize this, it does make some of these little things a little bit less.

When you realize that, you know, I just lost something small. But what I have, what I have now, it can't be taken away. And it can't rust. And moths can't eat it. Thieves cannot break in and steal.

These are the things that I treasure now. Young people, it's never too early for you to start treasuring these things as well. And I assure you, once you do, it will give you purpose and perspective on your life.

During those hard times, it will absolutely give you purpose and perspective. So think on these things this week. These three things that we can treasure. And as you go around, and you talk, and we see, and you consider the group that we have here today, celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles here in Lake George, you're not looking at a bunch of struggling people, trying their hardest, hanging on by a thread. Who you see are the potential sons and daughters, potential divine beings, and God's family.

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