What We Do Today Echoes an Eternity, Part 1

You know, sometimes truth is touched on in other avenues, venues. You'll read a poem, you'll read a line in a book or a novel, you'll see a movie and a piece of dialogue will say something that kind of resonates and stays with you, and you remember it because it speaks to something that really hinges on truth. There's such a line from a movie that I know many of us have seen. I've seen it, I'll admit to seeing it several times. It came out about six or seven years ago, the movie Gladiator that starred Russell Crowe. It was one of these big blockbusters, I think it was a summer blockbuster, and it involved the story of Roman general, played by, of course, Russell Crowe. The story of his life is he was betrayed and sent into exile and slavery and then had to make his comeback as being a gladiator in the Roman Forum, set during the Roman Empire. And before, when he was still a general, when he was rallying his troops, sending them in the battle, he made this statement that has always stayed with me.

And he said that what we do today echoes through eternity. What we do today echoes through eternity. And he used that line to build up his troops as they were fighting for the glory of Rome and all the physical temporal things that that meant. But as I said, sometimes words and lines and phrases will speak to certain eternal truths that I think can be good for us to kind of hang certain things on. And though the story involved in this particular area was fiction based on fact, at least as I say some lines we can cling to and they can stay with us and help us to understand certain truths. In this line, what we do today echoes through eternity has with me in terms of our life and our calling and what it is that we are involved with in our day-to-day lives, living for the kingdom of God, preparing for the kingdom of God, in this process that we call conversion or Christianity.

I gave a sermon a few weeks ago on the process of salvation and we went through the basic scriptures of this very important teaching that explained exactly what the process of salvation is all about, this thing that we all hope for, yearn for, and work toward eternal life called salvation. We walk through the scriptures to show exactly what the Bible teaches on it.

Concurrent with that topic is this matter and the subject of conversion because as I showed you at that time, we are baptized, we receive God's Spirit through repentance and baptism, and we are not saved at this time. We know that salvation in terms of the actual change to immortality is what will happen at the resurrection. The scriptures are very plain on that. We are not saved at this time, though we do enter into a relationship as the Son of God and as holders of God's Spirit, begotten with that Spirit. We are in a very special relationship as part of the Church, but we are not yet fully saved. We could fall away. We could turn our back on God through any number of different circumstances. The scriptures show that very clearly.

But we have to, year by year, from the point we're baptized to whatever point in our life when we will die, either through the actual...we will die one way or the other. Even if Christ's coming comes while we are still alive, we're still going to die in the sense of being resurrected because this physical life will cease and maybe we won't be put into a physical grave, but we will die physically even as we are changed to Spirit beings, whoever's alive and Christ coming at that point.

But there are years and sometimes decades, in the case of many of us sitting here this morning, of a process of living as a Christian, overcoming, working against ourselves, against our own poles, the poles of the flesh, the poles of human nature, the poles of this world that are thrown at us by the daily activities and issues and challenges that come at us, as well as the direct attack that Satan puts upon us as well. And we are expected to deal with it. We are expected to resist. We are expected to live righteously and to obey God's laws. I talked in that sermon a few weeks ago as we worked off of the scripture in John, chapter 7, and let's just turn to John 7 again and begin here this morning where Jesus stood on that last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. The last great day of the Feast of Tabernacles, not the last great day in itself.

We have a study paper on that. You can read that to go into all that issue, but it was the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles when Jesus stood and cried out, saying, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. And I explain that God's Spirit flows through our lives. Once we receive the gift of the Spirit at baptism, as it works in our minds, in our hearts, and in our lives, it is to flow, indeed, as a body of living water. And it's like a channel of water rushing down through a mountain stream, through a meadow that we can picture in our minds to show the stream of God's Spirit working in through our lives. And there are the banks of the stream on either side to channel that stream. And of course, water is a symbol of God's Spirit, but that helps us to understand as if God's Spirit flows down in and through our lives as a channel. But if we could carry that analogy or that picture a little bit further and realize that even a stream is going to have certain obstacles in its way that will divert its course or that it will have to flow over and there will be rocks and sometimes trees fall into the river and block its flow or impede its flow.

And there are rapids that they may have to go over and to deal with as well. So you could draw all kinds of things off of that. But in a sense, our life will encounter various obstacles and fallen trees will come into the midst of our life and things will happen. Life is not just completely a bowl of cherries, is it? Conversion, living righteously, living as a Christian has its challenges. And sometimes those challenges will trip us up. And it's why people sometimes will think that when they will see a Christian sin, they will think he or she is a hypocrite and may throw that accusation at you, a co-worker or a family member who knows that you claim to be a Christian and not just a Christian but the or a true Christian of God's church and with different ideas. And if you trip up, you may be labeled, well, I thought you were a Christian. Or I thought you were, you know, isn't that hypocritical? Those things can happen. And yes, we can sometimes see that in our midst, see that in and amongst ourselves in terms of those challenges. But that's part of life.

On the other hand, we can and will be looking at our lives through ourselves at times and especially those of us who have been in the church of God for decades. We measure our time here by decades, not years. And we can sometimes get rather weary and we can look at our life and wonder how much progress we are making. And if we're not making any progress or might grow discouraged or whatever, we might even find ourselves tempted by other doctrines and teachings which say that you don't have to do anything. That is just the faith of Christ in you and just let go and let Christ. And quit trying to be climbing up into the kingdom of God or climbing up by your own efforts into heaven, things like that. And we could succumb to that type of thinking and think, yeah, that's really what it does say. And all this overcoming bit and all this putting sin out and all of this, yeah, that's legalism. That's for the Jews. That's for those that are trying to earn their salvation. Or is it? What is this process of conversion? That's what we want to go through here this morning. This is what I want us to understand because it is important to understand the timing of the chart of evolution. That's a way for you. That's important to listen to.

What is it? What is this process of conversion? That's what we want to go through here this morning. This is what I want us to understand because it is important to understand this as we have received God's Holy Spirit. In Romans 8, we read that that Spirit is a benchmark to define ourselves as a Christian. The Bible says that if you don't have God's Holy Spirit, you are not even at the starting line on the story. In Romans 8 and verse 9, Paul writes that you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. You and I are in the Spirit. Does that mean we are spirit beings? No. It hopefully means we are spiritual-minded. It hopefully means we are spiritually oriented in our life rather than fleshly oriented, physically oriented totally, but we are more spiritually oriented. This is what he says. Look at what he says. You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. So we should be spiritually oriented in our life. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. He is not Christ's. So that is the starting line for being a Christian. You must have the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, sometimes called as to hear the Spirit of Christ. Or we are not His. We can say we are. We can take the claim. We can appropriate the name. But if we don't have the Spirit, as all the other scriptures show dwelling in us through baptism, through repentance, through the laying on of hands, and all those matters that I covered really in the last sermon more, we are not Christian. That is a hard statement, but it is the true statement. And it must be understood, must be accepted in the whole discussion of salvation and especially in the discussion of conversion. Verse 10, he says, if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. And so these two verses here touch on this truth that with God's Spirit we have a different life within us. And that should be reflected in our activities, in our thoughts, in our actions. The fruits of the Spirit should be more demonstrated in our life. We should be more spiritually minded. We could go completely off, you know, or down the path of any of those scriptures. But salvation is not complete at this point. The life of God is in us, but we are not perfect. But we are to live perfectly or to attempt to live perfectly. Perhaps that's the better way to put it, isn't it? And that may be a question for all of us to think. Do we attempt to live perfectly? Do we give it thought?

Do we give it consideration? We really understand it. We know it. We may have heard it. We may have written it down in a notebook that we took notes in ten years ago or twenty years ago and we've been told it a few times. But again, do we really think about it in terms of wanting to live toward that goal, toward that end? Why again, another question, why would God do it this way? Why wouldn't God just give us the guarantee and save us right at that point? Why do we have to receive the Spirit and continue to live in this flesh, in this world, throughout our life? Why is it done this way? And why is the Bible explain it this way? Again, I'm assuming that I'm speaking to an audience that understands that you're not saved. But you are in a very special relationship when you have God's Spirit. And God's Spirit in us and connects us with God, makes us His children, and that is a very special relationship. But why do we have to endure? And why do we have to become converted?

What is this life of Christianity all about? Well, part of the answer lies in a very important truth that we should review as well, and that is because of the gospel of the kingdom of God. Because of the nature and the teaching behind the true gospel of the kingdom of God.

That's why, and when we understand what the gospel really is and the totality and the fullness of the gospel of the kingdom of God, then we have the answer to those questions that I put of why we have to live and endure, overcome, and strive to be converted. Because of the teaching that Christ came. His teaching focused on this key truth. In Mark 1 and verse 14, I won't turn to it, but he said, Christ said that, or Christ, it is said there in Mark 1.14, He came announcing the gospel of the kingdom of God, saying, The kingdom of God is at hand, repent therefore, and believe the gospel.

A central scripture on the subject, but central to Christ's teaching, was the kingdom of God. And that permeated all of His teaching. He came teaching that that kingdom was something that was going to come to the earth. It was not yet at His time to be established in Israel and Judea of the first century, that the kingdom of God, as the Old Testament scriptures had taught, was going to be indeed an earth-ruling kingdom that was going to supplant all the kingdoms of the world.

His followers who heard that from his own lips during that three and a half year period of his ministry didn't yet fully understand and grasp all of that. They thought that He was going to establish the kingdom then. And on that last trip that He made to Jerusalem before He was done, He was crucified, the fervor and the excitement among His followers was such that the rumor spreading among all of them was that He was going up to Jerusalem and the kingdom was going to be established.

The kingdom that was promised in the scriptures, the return of the throne of David, the United Kingdom, and all of those prophetic scriptures was going to happen through Him now. You want to be there, folks. And that's why there were throngs with Jesus when He came up on that week before and came into Jerusalem. The word had spread from His followers and probably others who had not been with them all during that period of time.

And they wanted to...this is where the action was. This was the big event, what was one that they held last week in all the multiple places, the live earth. This was the live earth event of 31 A.D. and they were all coming in. And so when we turn to Luke 19, we see what Jesus did to pour water on that idea. Luke 19, beginning in verse 11, this parable we're going to spend a minute with, explains a few things about this whole issue.

Verse 11 says, as they heard these things, He spoke another parable because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately. They thought it was going to come then. And this was...you have to imagine some who had been with Him for a number of years and I could well imagine some who had just joined in a few days before. And people who heard some good news, they were excited about it and they thought that they just didn't understand what was going to take place. And they thought the kingdom of God and all the Scriptures. Understand what this would have meant for them.

The oak of Rome would have been thrown off. And the Jews would then have the ability to run the whole show. The messianic Scriptures of a perfect society from Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel would be fulfilled. This was their thinking. This is what it meant for the kingdom of God to appear as they understood and had heard the Scriptures. And so they were hungry for it and they were looking for it and they thought that it was going to happen then.

And so he gave a parable which was convoluted teaching to hide certain of the truth. But in this case, he actually wanted to make it clear that it wasn't going to happen now. And so he tells it in a parable, shame on him, to confuse or to hide a part of the whole picture.

And he tells the story that is repeated in Matthew chapter 25 and the parable of the Talents. Here they're called minas, but it's the same principle. It's the same story. And in this parable is anchored an understanding of why we today, why every one of us, understand what this would have meant for them.

The yoke of Rome would have been thrown off and the Jews would then have the ability to run the whole show. The messianic scriptures of a perfect society from Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel would be fulfilled. This was their thinking. This is what it meant for the kingdom of God to appear as they understood and had heard the scriptures. And so they were hungry for it, and they were looking for it, and they thought that it was going to happen then. And so he gave a parable, which was convoluted teaching, to hide certain of the truth. But in this case, he actually wanted to make it clear that it wasn't going to happen now. And so he tells it in a parable, shame on him, to confuse or to hide a part of the whole picture. And he tells the story that is repeated in Matthew chapter 25, in the parable of the Talents. Here they're called minas, but it's the same principle, it's the same story. And in this parable is anchored an understanding of why we today, why every one of us strive to be converted, and why we have to live in the flesh waiting for the kingdom to come, waiting for our change. Because as this parable will show us, this is God's plan, according to the gospel of the kingdom of God. Beginning in verse 12, a certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. And this nobleman is a type of Christ in this parable here. And the far country is heaven where God's throne is, or in the presence of God where Christ was going to return after His crucifixion and resurrection. And He was going there to receive a kingdom and to return. So the kingdom would not be given to Him for some time, and then He was going to return, obviously, with that kingdom. And so the nobleman then calls ten of His servants. And He delivered to them ten minus. Matthew 25 talks about ten talents.

It's a measure or a weight of value, of money. We could extend it to talk about talent or ability as well, but the principle is given here of taking and giving, you could say, ten dollars or whatever to bring it into our period of time today. They were given a sum of money, ten minus, and He said to them, do business till I come. Carry on with what you have been taught, the way that I taught you, with what you have been shown in the business of the kingdom, which became focused within the church after His death. Carry on with that business of preaching the gospel, as Matthew 27 shows, to preach the gospel into all the world. I'm sorry, Matthew 28.

And sent a delegation after Him, saying, we will not have this man to reign over us.

And thus speaking of the general feeling of the world, of the unconverted that do not want to be under the authority of the government of God, the kingdom of God, the law of God. Paul later wrote about that in the first chapter of Romans, where he said that they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, and He gave them over to reprobate minds. And that's a fundamental trait of human nature. So they were, you know, we will not have this man to reign over us. And so it was that when He returned, having received the kingdom, and so time shift way forward to the time of the return of Christ, or as in this story when this nobleman returns, he came back to where he had received the kingdom. He then commanded his servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. So the individuals, having been given something, and by that we understand as we translate that into our experience, we've been given the Holy Spirit, which is the power of God, which is the mind of God, which is a help to remember all things, as Jesus said it would be, to be a comforter, an encourager, the very power of God. That number one is probably on the list of the things we have been given. We could talk about the truth of God, the doctrines, the teachings, the heritage of our calling and of the church as well. But implied, implicit in this, is that every man who is called to give an account of what he has done with that by trading, which means that you, as the analogy brings it through, you get a certain amount of money, and money is not static. And that principle does apply in global economics, micro-macroeconomics, that money by itself is not static. It needs to be put to work, either in just a simple interest-bearing account of three, four, five percent, whatever they're giving right now, or if one is knowledgeable, then investing it in other instruments, bonds, stocks, invest it in a business, invest it in yourself, one's education. There are many different ways to take money and to invest it so that it works and it increases in value.

That's a whole study in itself, and it's important to realize because it is found in so much of the teaching of Christ about the kingdom of God and about Christianity. Notice how many parables, how much of His teaching dealt with money as a means of explaining spiritual principles and spiritual values. This is just one, but it's dozens that He uses. Money is used in that way.

And here He's talking about the matter of character, the matter of our calling and what we have been given, and gaining something by effort, by work. What is it that we gain?

Is it salvation? Or is it something else? I showed you in the sermon on salvation that we don't earn our salvation. In a way, we can gain and earn our salvation. That's a free gift of God.

The Holy Spirit is a free gift of God. Faith is a free gift of God. Repentance to even accomplish the step of preparation for baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit is a gift of God. God grants repentance, we're told. So we can't take credit for anything in the whole process. Salvation and all that it entails is a gift. You can't earn it. You can't buy it. You remember the story of Simon Magus in Acts 8 or 7? He thought he could buy the gift to the Holy Spirit when he saw that it was given by the laying on of hands. Peter said, you can't do that. You and I can't buy the Holy Spirit by just repenting of everything and being a perfect person on our own. Sometimes people get that misinterpretation that you have to be perfect before you can be baptized. If you did, then that's another form of simony of trying to buy the Holy Spirit, buy our works, and you can't. No part of the process of salvation can we earn. So what is he talking about here? What is it that Christ is talking about in this parable of the talents or minas that we have in something that has to be gained? Verse 16, then came the first saying, Master, your mina has earned ten minas. And so he doubled it. He went from ten to twenty.

And the answer to the sermon was, well done. The nobleman is probably saying, I wish I had given him twenty or twenty-five. Well done, good service, because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities. And so he has given authority over ten cities. And here we begin to see that there is a reward promised that goes along with salvation. And that by trading, by overcoming, by dealing with the gifts that we have been given, there is something that comes that is labeled well done, good servant. And the second came saying, Master, your mina has earned five minas. So he increased his five fold. And he said to him, you also be over five cities.

So his increase earned him the ability here to be a steward over a greater amount than he had been originally given. Sometimes we maybe should just focus on not ten cities, five cities, or whatever, but the principle is here, is we work to understand in our life that we've been given stewardship and we do need to increase. And whatever that reward is will be up to God.

It's not up to us. And we can make our statements about, well, I want ten cities or five cities or two cities or whatever. And this is an illustration of a deeper spiritual principle that we need to understand that. But it is dealing with authority. It is dealing with rulership. It is dealing with something that has been given to us and what Christ is going to then expect us to do with that and on into the future. And so, verse 20 says, another came saying, Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief. For I feared you, because you are an austere man.

You collect what you do not deposit and reap what you did not sow. And he said to him, out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. Why then did you not at least put my money in the bank that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?

So this person took one talent, one sum of money, and he buried it in a coffee can in the backyard.

He didn't even earn 2% interest by having, you know, depositing it in the temple or whatever.

The temples of the ancient world, including unfortunately the temple of God in Jerusalem, were essentially the banks of the day, the treasuries and the clearing houses of the day.

So there were means and ways by which a person in this period of time could have taken money and deposited it someplace and others put it to work for them. And the temples were used in that way, so he could have done that, but he didn't. He just let it set. And I think we all realize that if we've got money, you take $100, you fold it up in a $100 bill and you just put that away someplace in the back of the closet, there may be a time and place to hold something like that just for having ready cash and things like that. That's fine, but it's not earning any money.

And in fact, with the dollar today, it's decreasing each day in value. But that's the principle. And he's really addressing a frame of mind of doing nothing, a frame of mind that didn't really understand the whole business of the nobleman and of the king. And that's why he said, do business till I come back in verse 13. And he's castigating an attitude that didn't fully understand the business of the kingdom. And that business is conversion. That business is growth.

That business is forward movement and development toward a better life, a deeper, richer, spiritual life. That's the business of the kingdom and that we grow in grace and knowledge, that we are more converted Christians with each year, with each decade. That we can say we are more spiritually minded in our lives. That we know how to make better choices, spiritually speaking, physically speaking, with the days and the hours of our lives. That we indeed are more knowledgeable about this word, the Bible, and how it applies in our life. We are hungrier each year for righteousness. We have a deeper thirst each year for knowledge and understanding of spiritual matters. That is one way to measure that. To finish this off, he said in verse 24, he said to those who stood by, take the mind from Him, give it to Him who has ten minas.

And they said to a master, he already has ten. But I say to you that everyone who has will be given, to everyone who has will be given, from Him who does not have, even what He has will be taken away from Him. But bring here those enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them and slay them before Me. So Luke's account, verse 27 here, really gets down to some hard things in terms of the nobleman and the approach and the matter that is being dealt with here. But the whole principle is telling us that our life and our work today, the business of the kingdom of God, in our life at this period of time, is increasing the talent we have been given, increasing the spiritual responsibility that has been placed on us, growing and understanding, becoming more spiritually minded. Because we are in training to rule over cities, people within the business of the kingdom of God. We are really in training to rule with Christ to help and to hold offices of some kind, whatever that may be. We could say it's an office of service and duty within the coming kingdom of God at Christ's return. That's what this parable, the parable of Matthew 25, of the talents, tells us. This is central to the teaching of the kingdom of God, not just in the parables of Jesus, but from the prophecies of Daniel as well as in Revelation. Let's turn back to Daniel chapter 2 and look at what we're told here in Daniel's prophecy regarding the kingdom of God. Daniel 2 and verse 44. We're coming in this chapter all the way down to the end of an explanation of this giant image that Nebuchadnezzar had had a dream of. Daniel's interpretation of that dream, and it comes down to the time period represented by the feet of this image that was iron mixed with clay and would be destroyed by this stone cut out without hands. But in verse 44, in the days of these kings represented by the ten toes of the two feet, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. This is speaking of the kingdom of God.

Daniel's prophecies here in Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 speak of four empires that were to come from Babylon through Persia, Greece, and Rome. We all should remember that. But really verse 44 speaks of the fifth kingdom. The fifth kingdom is the kingdom of God. The days of the kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom shall not be left to other people. This kingdom is going to be given to the saints. It's not going to be left to others.

It shall break in pieces and consume all those kingdoms and it will stand forever. So in this description of the time setting and the period of the coming of the kingdom, it says that it's not going to be left to other people. This is one of my favorite verses and it should be one we always remember that we're going to be the recipients. It's not going to be given to others. The Gentiles and all other earthly kingdoms will have had their time to prove that man's way does not and will not bring about utopia, will not bring about the kingdom of God on the earth. God will set His kingdom here after all the events that are prophesied yet to come, and that kingdom will not be left to other people. It will be given to the people represented in the parable of the talents who took their talent, who took the Spirit of God and increased it.

Either one fold, five fold, or ten fold. It will be given to those. And that's why Christ said you will be given authority over cities. Turn over to Daniel 7 in verse 18.

Daniel 7 and verse 18. Again, this was a central part of these prophecies. In one sense, the most important thing to focus on. I still say we all, myself, the church, you, we all make a mistake when we get caught up in trying to interpret all the minute details of all the prophecies of Daniel 11 and become the prophetic guru and understanding of all the details that are the areas where we get hung up on. But these you don't get hung up on. These particular points of these prophecies you don't get hung up on. They're very, very clear. Focus on those. All the other things will take care of themselves. This is the why. This is the why of prophecy. All the rest is details. Why prophecy? Why beasts? Why a false prophet? Why two witnesses?

Who are they? When will they arise? Where will they come from? Those are details. And some details we can start to figure out, and some we just haven't yet. And we make mistakes when we try to put names and faces and dates and times on them. But these, this is the why. This is really the purpose of it right here in Daniel 7, verse 18. But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever. The saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom. Those who were given by the parable of Luke 19 the talent to go into work and to do, and to live righteously and to overcome and to be converted. Those who then die in the faith, whether it was in the first century, the second century, the twelfth century, the twentieth century, or the twenty-first century. Those are the saints who will receive the kingdom. And in verse 22, verse 21, let's just pick it up. I was watching, and the same horn was making war against the saints and prevailing against them until the ancient of days came and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.

So again, in these two verses, 18 and 22 of chapter 7, are inserted once again the whole purpose and the whole reason, all the whys. This is why it all takes place. This is why you watch.

This is why all of these other things are important to get us to this point because there will be a time when the saints of God, the people of God who have been Christians, true Christians, having received the Holy Spirit, lived a lifetime of overcoming, will receive that kingdom. And what it will mean as you and I enter into that kingdom is something that even the details that we have here and the things that are said don't even begin to tell the story of. Turn back over to Revelation chapter 2.

And let's just look at verse 26.

Revelation 2 and verse 26, and specifically in this message to Thyatira, but it applies again to all the churches as do all the other messages applied to all the churches. This is a message for God's church for all time. But in verse 26, it summarizes this principle very clearly.

He who overcomes and keeps my works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations.

He will rule them with a rod of iron. They shall be dashed to pieces, like the potter's vessels, as I also have received from my father.

We could go on to Revelation 20 and verse 5. It talks about the fact we will be rained and rule with Christ for a thousand years. But those are all part of the whole picture.

But again, just notice, just looking at verse 26, that we hold, verse 25, hold fast to what you have until I come, same type of language that we find from the parable in Luke 19.

Hold on. Conversion is a process of holding on, isn't it? It really is. Because there are so many temptations. There are times when we are fatigued. And we may just wonder and think, why have I done this? Why did I do this when I was 25 years of age?

Why did my parents do this? Why have I stayed with it?

To be honest, you've asked that question in your mind.

I think everyone has. And if you haven't, then you will.

It's human to do so. We have to hold fast. That's why we get these encouragements throughout the Scriptures to hold fast to what we have. Because conversion is tough. You know, you say old age is not for sissies? Well, true Christianity isn't for sissies. Conversion isn't for sissies.

It is tough at times. It's also very encouraging. It's also very glorious. It is also very refreshing.

I'd rather do that than bang my head against the wall with the dead-end streets of life that we could walk down without God, without His truth. I shudder to think where I would have wound up had I not, my mother had not, drug me along to the then radio Church of God, later worldwide Church of God slash Church of God. I thought about that over the years and where I would have wound up, what I would have done. Would I have made more money? I don't know. Would I have been happier in another job? I don't know. I sometimes think that what I would have done probably would be a history teacher, maybe wound up as a high school history teacher. And if I'd really worked hard, maybe a college history professor, and got lucky there, or done something else. And then maybe I would have married somebody that would have worked out just like so many of my other cousins and family members, married people that we didn't work out for. I don't know what streets I would have walked down.

I don't really want to know. Like another poem, I took the road less traveled. It's made all the difference. And that's where we all are. That's what conversion is. And it's a process of time.

And then he says here in verse 26, he who overcomes and keeps my works. And again, the thought even here is it's not our works that are involved in the whole process.

The works of overcoming that we actually do accomplish.

We have to give God the credit for. We can't even take credit for that.

It's my works. It's Christ's works as Christ works within us by His Spirit. Go back to what we read in Romans 8. We have the Spirit of Christ. And so at some point in our life where we can dare to lift the veil of our life and say, you know, I have a little bit more compassion for somebody than I did when I 20 years ago. And I pray for someone a little bit more today who may be sick than I did when I heard that announcement 15 years ago because...

Because why? Because you're better? Because you're wiser? Because you're more spiritual now?

Or is it because Christ has done more of His work within you?

And you understand that and you give Him the credit and you've done what you kept His works until the end. You see, you never forget we keep the Sabbath not to earn anything, because this is the day when Christ really should be allowed to do His work in us, because we stop doing ours. We turn off everything that busies us through the life, through the week, and we let Christ do His work through us on this day. He can't do it.

Let's be honest. When we're rushing and, as we say, running and gunning at our jobs throughout the week, we're busy. I'm busy. And we're not focused spiritually to the degree that we can be when we really truly properly keep the Sabbath as the Sabbath should be kept, and is why we should work to make sure we get rid of all the things that distract us. And we use the time of the Sabbath to rest, to reflect, to think, to fellowship, and to use it in that way, because this is the day when really Christ can begin to do His work through us, and the hose can be opened up a whole lot more. And it's not just a garden hose supplying us, it's a fire hose on this day, if I can use that analogy. You know, if you want to go fight a fire, your house goes on fire, or your neighbor's, and you've got enough lawn hose to stretch next door, that little lawn hose of ours is not going to do very much. Maybe it might get the storage shed out back under control, maybe. But you and I know it's not going to do anything else until that fire truck comes up, and they latch onto that fire hydrant out front, and, you know, they've got, what is it, six or eight inches of water coursing through that. Well, on the Sabbath, we should kind of let it open up a little bit more, and hopefully get a six or eight inch hose of God's Spirit, Christ's Spirit working through us, moving through us at a larger volume, at a larger force and rate within our life, if we use this day properly and do His works. Because it is those works then that will be rewarded in the time to come when the nobleman returns. This subject of conversion is going to require more than just this sermon this morning. This is just an introduction to it, and I'll have to come back and finish it next time, next week. But think about that, and ask yourself, is the business of the kingdom something that you are engaged in?

And if so, what is it that we are working toward and building toward? We'll come back and we'll talk more about that when I'm able to finish this next time, but let's keep that in mind.

The kingdom of God is not of this time. The kingdom of God is yet to come. But this life, this period of conversion is merely a preparation for all eternity. As I said, the thoughts sometimes expressed in literature, in various media, and the line from a movie, The Gladiator, that I opened with, can help us tie on to a deeper spiritual truth and understand something.

Indeed, what we do today will echo down into eternity. We'll come back and finish those thoughts and that subject in next week's sermon.