Arise, Shine; For Your Light Has Come!

Well, thank you again, Mr. Lee and Mr. Graham, and special thanks to all of you.

It worked so hard to provide such awesome special music for us. The two songs by the Cleveland chorale were very beautiful, and of course, special music by Don Evans was very beautiful as well. Thank you so much. It adds so much to worshiping our great God on his festival day. I don't know if you've ever thought about it, but the festival of trumpets is perhaps the most symbolic holy day in God's plan, because it represents so many different but connected events at the same time.

Let's go back to Leviticus 23, verses 24 and 25. That's the origin of why we keep this day. Of course, we keep it in a New Covenant way. This was also observed by the early New Covenant Church of God after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but back here in Leviticus 23 were the original instructions that God gave to ancient Israel. So let's make sure that we begin our sermon today by taking a look at this. Leviticus chapter 23 and verse 24, after outlining the other holy days that preceded this, speak to the children of Israel, saying, in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a Sabbath rest, a memorial of the blowing of trumpets. And trumpets there, of course, is plural. A holy convocation. In other words, you don't work that day. You take the day off and you come and you worship the Creator God. You fellowship with the congregation. A holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. Now, we didn't make an offering by fire to the Lord today, but we had a holy day offering, and our presence here shows that we are living sacrifices, that we've accepted our calling to be the disciples of Jesus Christ. I want you to notice the Scriptures do not call this day Rosh Hashanah. The term Rosh Hashanah literally means the head of the year, and the Jewish people believe it's the beginning of the new year. First of all, that's a made-up name for this day Rosh Hashanah. The biblical name for this holiday was Yom Teruah, which literally means a day of shouting or blasting. But if you do not accept Jesus Christ as a Messiah and understand and appreciate His return, then you make up days. You create the names for days in the calendar. So we do not call this Rosh Hashanah. We call it the Feast of Trumpets. Again, in the original Hebrew, Yom Teruah. There were two different types of trumpets actually blown on this day. The first one you've already heard. Mr.

Lee impressed all of us with his mastery of the shofar. That's a ram's horn, and that was blown on this day. It had a piercing alarming blast, and you could sense that with the sound that Mr. Lee had. There were also two silver trumpets that were used to announce all of the feast, and that's mentioned in Numbers chapter 10. Anciently, this day was considered holy because of the Scriptures, and it really was a series of blowing of trumpets. Most people don't realize that the trumpets were to be blown throughout the land. And here's how it worked. First, trumpets were blown in the temple. Then, that would be heard, and trumpets would be blown on the Mount of Olives. And then a little while later, somebody heard that, who was designated, and trumpets were begin to be blown throughout the Judean desert. And then north and south, and eventually as a wave, the trumpet was blown throughout the entire land. That's anciently what happened, and what signified the festival of trumpets. Anciently, the blowing of trumpets signified a number of things. It could be an alarm, a warning system of an appending event like war. Sometimes, trumpets were blown as a signal for the tribes to gather together and be prepared to march, ready to break camp and move forward. Trumpets were also used, as I just mentioned, as a sound for war.

And in Revelation, chapters 7 through 11, Jesus Christ opens the seventh seal in the book of Revelation, and the seven trumpets comprise that seventh seal that he is worthy to open. And this includes destruction of the earth's environment.

There's coming a time when the trees, and the grass, and sea creatures, and fresh water, and there will be a reduction of light. All of these things will happen upon this earth as a result of war going on within this world. And three woes that actually describe a world war, fought by European and Islamic, and finally, Asian regional powers. Those are called the three woes. The third woe itself is comprised of seven last plagues. And part of this alarm for war will be the fact that there's going to be one climatic battle between Jesus Christ when he returns to earth, and the nations that are at war with him. And they'll be angry. And their perception of Jesus Christ is that he's an alien who's come to dominate the earth, and take rule away from the spoiled humanity who's been ruling itself dysfunctionally for 7,000 years. And they're not going to like that. And they're going to want to war against Jesus Christ. Let's read about that. In Joel chapter 3 and beginning in verse 9, part of what is often referred to as the Battle of Armageddon. Joel chapter 3 and verse 9.

Here's what the Prophet said about war. That final climactic war also pictured through those series of trumpets, those seven trumpets leading up to the seven trumpet itself. In Joel chapter 3 beginning in verse 9, proclaim this among the nations. Prepare for war! It's time to have at it, the Prophet says.

Wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near. This is the big one.

Alright, you want to fight against Jesus Christ? This is your big chance. Let me have your best shot. Let them come up, beat your plowshares into swords. Make more weapons. Make more armaments of destruction. And your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, I am strong. Field your army with as many people as you can. Children, whoever you want to field that army to battle against Jesus Christ, go for it. Assemble and come all you nations and gather together all around. Cause your mighty ones to go down there, O Lord. Let the nations be awakened and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. For there I will sit to judge all of the surrounding nations they've assembled together to fight against Christ at his return. Verse 13, put in the sickle for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down for the wine press is full. The vats overflow. Seven thousand years of human evil and dysfunction and it's come to a breaking point. And God's going to settle this issue once and forever. The vats overflow for their wickedness is great.

Multitudes, multitudes in the Valley of Decision. It's a Valley of Decision because each and every individual there has to decide whether they're going to fight the returning Jesus Christ or whether they're going to support him.

Repent and support Jesus Christ and worship him. For the day of the Lord is near in the Valley of Decision. The sun and the moon will grow dark and the stars will diminish their brightness for the Lord will roar out of Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem. Of course, we know that his feet will land in the Mount of Olives and then he will turn his direction towards these armies to have this climactic final battle. The heavens and earth will shake but the Lord will be a shelter for his people and the strength of the children of Israel. So you shall know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion my holy mountain then Jerusalem shall be holy and no aliens shall ever pass through her again Jerusalem had been conquered Jerusalem had been a war zone because of conflicting armies that were battling around Jerusalem again this is often what is referred to is the Battle of Armageddon the word Armageddon only appears once in the Greek New Testament in Revelation chapter 16 and verse 16 its name is a transliterated into this Greek name Armageddon from a Hebrew word which means harmigetto and that means a range of hills and it was located about 80 miles northwest of Jerusalem the tell still exists today so Jesus Christ touches upon the Mount of Olives and then he turns his direction with his armies towards this hermigetto which is a short distance from Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives to begin this incredible battle and here the final battle between Jesus Christ and the nations of this world occur for the supremacy of the earth this battle doesn't last very long Zachariah chapter 14 and verse 11 you see human beings only have human implements to fight with whatever our minds can create that's all that we have to have war and battle with but God has supernatural skills and abilities and here it's going to be described as a plague which is something so quick and so horrendous so horrible that it's something human beings are not even capable of understanding Zachariah chapter 14 and verse 11 and the people shall dwell in it this is referring to a time of peace after the battle had occurred and no longer shall there be utter destruction but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited but before that occurred beforehand let's pick it up here in verse 12 and this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem their flesh shall dissolve while they stand in their feet their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths it shall come to pass in that day that a great panic from the Lord will be among them everyone will seize the hand of his neighbor and raise his hand against his neighbor's hand so even those who came to fight against Christ will fight against each other and kill each other because of the terror of seeing individuals liquefied in front of their eyes I mentioned before the only movie that I ever saw in my lifetime that I thought kind of brought this home if you've ever seen the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark when the Nazi soldier opened the Ark of the Covenant and he looks in he says something like oh it's so beautiful it's so beautiful and then the cinematography of him literally being liquefied down to his skull in his flesh falling off of his face like water and the horror that he experiences it's maybe in human cinematography the closest thing that we've ever come to something like that verse 14 Judah will also fight at Jerusalem so the remnants of ancient Judah will be there fighting and supporting their own cause and the wealth of all the surrounding nations shall be gathered together gold silver apparel and great abundance such also will be the plague on the horse and the mule on the camel and the donkey and on all the cattle that will be in those camps so those camps will all receive a complete plague everything they owned everything that was part of them will be subject to this plague so shall this plague be and it shall come to pass that everyone who was left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the king the Lord of hosts and to keep the feast of tabernacles it is not very wise to challenge God or abuse his incredible patience and grace God will not be mocked and though he is patiently dealt with humanity for nearly seven thousand years and our sins and dysfunctions and constant evil there is coming a time of severe punishment when all of the madness that we can call human cultures all of the madness must end some of the events represented by the seven trumpets of Revelation as I mentioned a few minutes ago do include environmental catastrophe and it includes world war then the seventh angel sounds let's go to Revelation chapter 11 verse 15 I believe mr.

scapura mentioned this in his sermon at Revelation chapter 11 and verse 15 Revelation chapter 11 verse 15 and the seventh angel sounded that's a trumpet and there were loud voices in heaven saying the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever and the 24 elders who sat before God in their thrones fell in their faces and worshiped God saying we give you thanks Oh Lord God Almighty the one who is and the one who was and who is to come because you have taken your great power and reign the nations were angry and indeed in that battle of Armageddon they are angry and your wrath has come and we just read in the book of Zachariah how God's wrath is unbending your wrath has come and the time of the dead that they should be judged and that you should reward your servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear your name small and great and should destroy those who destroy the earth and he certainly does that those who destroyed our environment and those who were involved in a series of world wars against a super-european powers and the Islamic world and Asiatic armies they created a lot of devastation on the earth but the majestic return of Jesus Christ is the final conclusion to all of this catastrophe this universal destruction this world war and all of these things that fulfill end-time prophecies and the worst is over that's the darkest before the dawn but from this time forward universal restoration and healing begins that was just the introduction to my sermon today because I would actually like to spend most of my sermon today talking about a monumental event that occurred shortly before this battle and that monumental event includes you these are the kind of things that we read that's going to happen to everyone else going to happen to everyone who is in this world without God's protection those who were not called by God but for those of us who are called by God the feast of trumpets have a totally different meaning not one of war not one of fear not one of being alarmed but one of the most incredible events that will ever take place in history let's take a look see what Jesus himself said in Matthew chapter 24 and verse 30 turn there if you would with me Matthew chapter 24 and verse 30 and to begin talking about the first resurrection Matthew chapter 24 verse 30 the then the sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven and when all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they'll mourn because they know that their time is just about up when they see Jesus Christ appearing in heaven the nations become angry frustrated bitter resentful and the world will mourn and they will see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and he will send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet represented by this very day we can't say that Jesus himself will arrive on the Feast of Trumpets whatever year that happens to be but we do know symbolically what the Feast of Trumpets represents and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other so again the peoples of the earth will mourn because of the impending doom that's going to fall in everyone who resists the return of the Messiah at the sound of the trumpet represented by this very day that we are worshiping God on the elective Jesus Christ the dead and the living at that time will leave this earth to meet the returning Jesus Christ in the clouds above Jerusalem and join him as he first sets foot on this earth and the Mount of Olives let's allow Paul to give us a few more details first Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 14 we read these verses recently at Karen's funeral service and it was actually her funeral service that kind of inspired me to talk about and focus on what I want to talk about today on this Feast of Trumpets first Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 14 scriptures that many of us are very familiar with Paul says but I do not want you to be ignorant brethren concerning those who have fallen asleep lest you sorrow as others who have no hope and of course Paul understood that we cease our consciousness and that's why he used the term sleep that's what death is a loss of consciousness is we wait in our graves for the calling of Jesus Christ for if we believe that Jesus Christ rose again even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus so he'll bring with him back to this earth those who sleep in Jesus he's about to explain to us exactly how that happens he didn't want the brethren at Thessalonica to lose faith or hope in God's plan and God's promises for his people so he goes on to explain how the faithful dead will be resurrected first and they'll meet the returning Jesus Christ in the air let's read about that verse 15 for this we say to you by the word of the Lord that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep for those who previously died for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God there's that trumpet blast again same one that Jesus Christ spoke about in Matthew chapter 24 that we read just a few minutes ago and with the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ will rise first so this helps us to connect the words of Jesus that we just read in Matthew chapter 24 with what Paul is talking about let's go to first Corinthians 15 and connect some more of the dots together that Paul gives us through his instruction first Corinthians 15 and verse 51 Paul wrote to the brethren in Corinth behold I tell you a mystery something that ninety nine point nine percent of the people in this world today don't understand because they've bought into a culture that wants to offer them instant gratification when you die you immediately go to heaven it's interesting no one seems to ever go to hell anymore but when you die you just instantly are in paradise and you instantly go to heaven so this is a mystery two thousand years after it's written it's still a mystery for most people in this world hopefully it's not a mystery for his church behold I tell you a mystery we shall not all sleep and some would be alive at his return so not everyone's going to be dead when Jesus returns there will be a final generation doing the work and they'll still be alive but we shall all be changed no longer physical no longer burdened by this tent of flesh that we have with its aches and pains and its limitations verse 52 in the moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet same trumpet Paul was talking about in first Thessalonians chapter 4 same trumpet Jesus Christ talked about in Matthew chapter 24 we just mentioned a few minutes ago at the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed for this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality so when this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal is put on immortality then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written death is swallowed up in victory when you're immortal you no longer fear death it has no control over you when you were incorruptible you no longer fear death it has no power it has nothing over you anymore you've you now exist in victory over the concept of death combining the various scriptures that we've just taken a look at Jesus returns in the clouds at the trumpet blast and the shout of an archangel the angels gather his saints dead and living from all over the world wherever they were buried wherever they may be alive at that time to join him in a triumphal return to earth to establish the kingdom of God the elector transformed from mere mortal into immortal eternal spiritual children the spirit beings of the family of God as it states in Zachariah chapter 14 and verse 4 in that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives which faces Jerusalem on the east so Christ and his elect will land on the Mount of Olives and face off against those armies we talked about a little bit earlier who resist the rule of the Savior angels will return with Jesus Christ but sometimes we don't think about often enough is we shall as well revelation chapter 19 verse 14 we not only return with Christ but we are part of his conquering armies revelation chapter 19 and verse 14 says and the armies in heaven clothed in fine linen white and clean followed him and white horses out of his mouth goes a sharp sword that with it he should strike the nations and he himself will rule them with a rod of iron he himself treads the winepress of his fierceness and the wrath of Almighty God again this are on those nations that gathered against him for war those who are clothed in fine linen if you'll take a look back at verse 8 those who are clothed in fine linen are the righteous acts of the saints so who's it talking about here these armies and revelation chapter 19 those who are clothed in fine linen this same who are clothed in fine linen back in verse 8 that is the saints and their works their righteous acts and from this time forward into eternity everything changes as the kingdom of God is established starting at Jerusalem until it includes the entire earth so is there a scripture that helps us to understand what it will be like to be resurrected is there a scripture that will describe what it'll be like to be spiritual and immortal and incorruptible God gives us many beautiful prophecies they become illustrations of what it'll be like in the world tomorrow we call these illustrations prophecies one such prophecy God gives us to help us to understand to give us a foretaste of what it will be like to be spirit what it will be like to be a spirit being in his family in the kingdom of God mr.

Skipura touched upon it today I have the luxury of time so I'm going to be able to go into Isaiah chapter 60 a little more detail than he had the opportunity to today this is a prophecy in Isaiah chapter 60 that's about Jerusalem well at first glance it's about Jerusalem if you look at a few scriptures then it says that it's really about Zion and if we know what Zion means Zion is different than Jerusalem is a physical city Zion is God's spiritual city Zion is God's church Zion is the elective God gathered together as his church so what we're about to read is much more than simply a prophecy about the future of Jerusalem though indeed it is a prophecy about that city he wrote a very beautiful number of scriptures here in chapter 60 that's a metaphor about Zion and again more than just Zion being the city of Jerusalem there's a lot more in these verses that we can understand and I'd like to take a look at some of these verses they're very encouraging and they're very insightful but before we get into chapter 60 let's draw a little context Isaiah chapter 59 and verse 20 and again we want to have a context and understand that this is more what we're about to read than a prophecy regarding the physical city of Jerusalem in the world tomorrow Isaiah writes the Redeemer will come to Zion and those who turn from transgression in Jacob says the Lord as for me says the Lord this is my covenant with them so God's going to give them the new covenant just like we've had the opportunity to live under the new covenant my spirit who is upon you and my words which I put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth nor from the mouth of your descendants nor from the mouth of your descendants descendants says the Lord from this time and forevermore the Holy Spirit was not graciously offered to everyone in the old covenant but it will be under this covenant that God is establishing with the world the return of Christ and God's promise to give his spirit to the family of man for generations is very encouraging and something that we should look forward to and hope for giving a spirit to all peoples is what will help make the kingdom of God so successful so it states here that Christ will come to Zion let's take a look at another verse we're going to fast forward a little bit the chapter 60 and verse 14 because again I want to focus I want us to think beyond a prophecy about the city of Jerusalem and realize that this is a prophecy about Zion spiritual Zion Isaiah chapter 60 verse 14 in the center of the verses we're going to be looking at it says also the sons of those who afflicted you shall come bowing to you and all those who despised you shall fall prostrate at the soles of your feet and they shall call you the city of the Lord Zion the Holy One of Israel now Bible scholars themselves have understood for generations that the name Zion is very special here's what Holman's Bible dictionary says about this term the name Zion it says the name Zion was mentioned first in the account of David's conquest of Jerusalem Zion was used by biblical writers in a variety of ways many of the soul mist used the term to refer to the temple built by Solomon but God has a spiritual temple his spiritual temple are his people his spiritual Zion or his elect those who he called out of this world those who were transformed those who were changed at the second coming of Jesus Christ continuing the most common usage of Zion was to refer to the city of God in the new age and Holman's Bible dictionary refers to Isaiah chapter one verse 27 chapter 28 verse 16 chapter 33 verse 5 continuing Zion was understood also to refer to the heavenly Jerusalem the place where the Messiah would appear at the end of time the glorification of his messianic community will take place on the holy mountain of Zion so now with this context let's go back to verse 1 and take a look for the rest of our sermon we're going to be looking primarily at these 20 verses in the book of Isaiah chapter 60 and hopefully pull from this metaphor what God wants us to understand about our future Isaiah chapter 60 beginning in verse 1 rise and shine for your light has come leave that grave leave the earth as you're if you're still alive at the return of Christ in your feet leave this earth arise be changed allow the glory of God to become your glory as you're transformed from mortal to immortal from corruptible to incorruptible reflecting the literal goodness and grace of God and shining bright your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you it's not our glory it's not something we do it's a gift given to us because we are forgiven and accepted and welcomed into the family of God upon our resurrection for behold the darkness shall cover the earth the earth has been through tremendous great tribulation and the day of the Lord and all kinds of horrible things have happened just before this event and deep darkness the people but the Lord will arise over you and his glory will be seen upon you so God's glory will shine on us as members of his family will radiate the brilliance and energy of God as his children will be glorified and the majesty of God will be reflected on us and towards others the glory of Jesus Christ will rise over us at the literal resurrection as those who have died in the faith leave their graves and are changed in the twinkling of an eye from mortal to immortality verse 3 the Gentiles shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising after those horrendous battles that occurred the final battle of Armageddon between Jesus Christ and the nations of this world the world will be humbled and people will finally have died upon them that we need to learn about this God we need to understand these laws that this God teaches Gentiles will come to pay honor and respect to us as the resurrected and glorified members of the family of God those who survived the end time Holocaust will be attracted to us as their teachers they'll want to learn about God and we will be assigned the role the governed cities and the teach and to be priests and leaders in the world tomorrow and teach them about God's way wherever we serve in the world people will be attracted to our glory they will be attracted to the native love that we have for them verse 4 lift up your eyes all around and see they all gather together they come to you your son shall come from afar and your daughters shall be nursed at your side our physical families and relatives who are alive at that time including some who may mock us now and ridicule us at this time they're going to come and may include some of our children our grandchildren but they'll come and they will be still loved and welcome and nurtured by us they will desire to come to us to be loved and to be taught about God let's take a look now at verse 5 verse 5 then you shall see and become radiant and your heart shall swell with joy because of the abundance of the sea so even the natural resources of the sea will be given to us at our command and shall be turned to you the wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you the multitude of camels shall cover your land the Domidiaries of Midian and ifa and all those from sheba shall come as far away from the four corners of the earth they shall bring gold and incense they shall proclaim the praises of the Lord they will come and say we are giving this to worship Christ we are given this to honor the Lord I'm going to read this from the translation God's word for today then you will see this and rejoice in your heart will be thrilled with joy because of the riches of the sea and it'll be brought to you the wealth of the nations will come to you many camels will cover your land young camels from Midian and ifa everyone from sheba will come they will bring gold and incense and they will sing praises of the Lord so our hearts will leap for joy as we realize that we've been changed into a new spiritual form of existence will be given incredible wealth and be able to rejoice as God's very own children the wealth brought to us will not be for selfish reasons the wealth that's brought to us will not be for our personal benefit we won't need any material wealth you're a spirit being you have inherited the universe so the wealth isn't brought to us for our own benefit the wealth will be given to rebuild a better world for the benefit of all humanity natural resources like the sea and all the material wealth from the four corners of this world will be at our command to construct a better world that benefits everyone verse 8 Isaiah asks a question here and I'm not sure even he was able to describe what he saw going on who are these who fly like a cloud and like doves to their roofs gonna read this from again the translation God's word for today who are these people that fly like clouds like doves to their nests those people will be you as spirit beings flying like the wind traveling the world traveling at the speed of thought able to return from worshiping Christ in Jerusalem and in seconds being in the other end of the globe to teach and serve others this was even difficult for the prophet Isaiah to describe or understand what he saw verse 9 surely the coast land shall wait for me and the ships of Tarshish will come first again from the far reaches of the globe to bring your sons from afar their silver and their gold with them to the name of the Lord your God into the Holy One of Israel because he has glorified you God owns everything and he will share both his glory and his wealth with his faithful servants all of God's children will return to him from all over the world wherever they were scattered first will be his spiritual children his elect who were gathered by the angels at the second coming of Jesus Christ afterward the physical descendants of Abraham of Israel will begin to return back to the Palestine area back towards their homeland first ten the sons of foreigners shall build your walls and their kings shall minister to you in my wrath I struck you in my favor I had mercy on you therefore your gates shall be open continually they shall not be shut day or night but men may bring to you the wealth of the Gentiles and their kings in procession for the nation and kingdom that will not serve you will perish and those nations shall be utterly ruined to the people who live through the latter days will share in rebuilding a new and exciting civilization the new world isn't going to be rebuilt by instantaneous miracles God could do that no one would appreciate it people would have a sense of entitlement the world tomorrow is going to be built by sweat equity hard work and hard labor the old-fashioned way is going to be the way that the world tomorrow is going to be rebuilt it'll be done again with strong effort former worldly titles and rank will mean nothing it says their kings will become servants for you those who had celebrity status in this world and those who were millionaires and billionaires and hot all of these wonderful titles that means nothing they will come and say to us to God's people how can I help what can I do so I think these are things for us to consider and understand the people who live through the latter days will build homes and cities and places of work temples and places of worship in a culture of love and caring for others verse 13 the glory of Lebanon shall come to you the cypress the pine and the box tree together to beautify the place of my sanctuary and I will make the place of my feet glorious let's not forget that Jesus Christ dwells in Zion that means that where he dwells and where we will reside at times the most beautiful woods and gems and precious stones will be used for those dwellings we will enjoy the accommodations of the highest quality that befit the very presence of God because Jesus Christ himself is there verse 14 also the sons of those who afflicted you shall come bowing to you and all of those who despised you shall fall prostrate at the soles of your feet and they shall call you the city of the Lord Zion the Holy One of Israel whereas you have been forsaken and hated so that no one went through you I will make you an eternal excellence a joy of many generations and you shall drink the milk of the Gentiles and the milk of the breast of Kings you shall know that I the Lord am your Savior and your Redeemer the mighty one of Jacob you know even though we were considered small and unimportant in this age even though some of us experienced persecution I know people in my lifetime who lost their jobs for keeping the Sabbath I was talking to someone just before services who told me he used to be at a union meeting and to humiliate him in front of the union meeting the union leader would say well Bob are you going to keep the feast of horns again this year ha ha ha well they won't be laughing then so even though we are considered unimportant in this age and we have persecution we are mocked sometimes by our own family members mocked by our employers because of our faith at that time in God's kingdom we will be respected and honored as part of the family of God and we will gather the wealth of the nations to share it to rebuild a new world we're not going to hoard it like the powerful do in this age everything that we do is the spiritual children of God will be excellent will be righteousness everything that we do will be to point to God to bring glory to God verses 17 and 18 what will it be like in Zion well there be no cheap accommodations there instead of bronze I will bring gold only the best where the King Jesus Christ resides only the best where God resides instead of bronze I'll bring gold instead of iron I'll bring silver instead of wood bronze and instead of stones iron and I will make your officers peace it will be peacemakers and your magistrates righteousness violence shall no longer be heard in your land neither wasting nor destruction within your borders but you shall call your walls salvation and your gates praise I'm going to read these verses from again the translation God's word for today I will bring gold instead of bronze I will bring silver instead of iron bronze instead of wood and iron instead of stone I will appoint peace as your governor and righteousness as your ruler so as governors and as rulers we will represent the will of God and we'll be respected for that we will be honored to have that role to serve in whatever number of cities that Jesus Christ assigns us to serve in no longer will you hear about violence in your land or desolation or destruction within your borders you will call your walls salvation and your gates peace so we will bring peace and God's righteousness to the cities we rule we will be known as peacemakers all law will be administered fairly and in righteousness you know more partisan politics no more bloated government bureaucracies no more drugs on the streets wasting millions and millions of lives no more terror in our cities and people living in fear no more diseases consuming us no more dysfunctional families no more starving children no more suicides because of hopelessness because God's people God's elect will be there as rulers and his peacemakers as teachers and his mentors teaching them the right way to live verses 19 but the Sun shall no longer be your light by day nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you but the Lord shall be to you an everlasting light and your God your glory your Sun shall no longer go down nor shall the moon withdraw itself for the Lord will be your everlasting light and the days of your morning shall be ended the glory of being in the family of God and God's glory reflected from us to reflect upon others will outshine the Sun and because we will be part of the family of God spiritual immortal incorruptible we will also reflect God's glory there no longer be a need for sunshine no longer be a nighttime all the problems and trials we face in this physical life will become simply a faded memory something we can barely remember anymore all of our days will be filled with vigor and purpose and service to help others we will not grow old nor will we grow tired nor will we mourn live in discouragement live in frustration like we do as human beings today all of that will be in the distant past forgotten Isaiah chapter 60 verse 21 also your people shall be righteous they shall inherit the land forever the branch of my planting the work of my hands that I may be glorified a little one shall become a thousand and a small one a strong nation I the Lord will hasten its time the people whom we serve will be blessed everywhere our presence is in this world anywhere upon this earth as mentors and teachers many will be able to grow in greatness in the world tomorrow everything will be the work of God's hands and according to his will little things small things will be blessed and become great we will plant the seeds of godliness and righteousness around the world and that godliness and that righteousness will grow and grow and become something great what a grand and fantastic future we have and it's our future if we continue to grow and endure unto the end it's our future if we remain faithful disciples of Jesus Christ keep that hand on the plow and keep looking forward and not trying to relive our past mistakes or the past mistakes of churches or the past mistakes of individuals but if we keep growing and looking forward faithful to our calling this is our future one final scripture today first Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 9 you'll turn there with me final scripture 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 9 but as it is written I hath not seen nor ear heard nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him but God has revealed them to us through his spirit for the Spirit searches all things yay yes the deep things of God what we've been able to take a look at is just a small foretaste in the book of Isaiah of serving within the family of God for eternity God has things planned for you that are so wonderful so awesome that they can't even be described in a human language things that are so wonderful that we can't even conceive it in our vision we can't conceive it in our limited human minds because we've never been there we haven't done it so we need to remain faithful brethren and understand that we are closer than ever to being in God's kingdom we are closer than ever to hearing that trumpet blast this festival pictures a time that God's people all long for we've been given the greatest of callings the greatest of missions and the greatest possible future that anyone could possibly imagine or hope for we have all been through so much I've almost been in the Church of God for 50 years attending the Church of God I've seen a lot of wonderful people die I've seen a lot of things that were unhappy and uncomfortable I've seen a lot of people lose jobs and suffer financial collapse people have their spouses walk out on them people have some of the most horrendous diseases and things happen to them we have been through so much but we've almost arrived we're almost there so with all of your might I encourage you to cling to your faith in Jesus Christ the cornerstone of Zion and keep that hope in your heart that hope that is reflected by that wonderful holy day that's part of God's plan that we know of as the festival of trumpets have a wonderful holy day