Destination

Well, let's get into a message here. I'd like to share with you because next week I'm going to be gone individually, but the week after that, Susie and I are going to be gone. And that's a little bit what I'd like to talk about with you today. Don't worry, we're coming back. I saw a set. That's nice when you see a set. We're coming back to you, okay? But I'd like to share a few thoughts with you. Two weeks from now, our extended family, all those girls of ours and granddaughters, we're going camping. And we're going up to one of the most beautiful spots on all of God's earth. It's called Yosemite Valley. Perhaps when I even mention the word Yosemite, a picture comes to mind. A postcard, a mental postcard. You can begin to see that lush forest down below. You see the gray walls going up of the canyons. And you think of those ribbony, watery falls coming down from the cliffs up above. All of our family, all four families that are gathered together, our extended family, we've been saving our pennies all year long. The pennies that don't go into the penny jar. We've been saving our pennies all year long and planning a lot to experience this jewel of God's creation. What we're going to do when we're up there, actually, we're going to take a part of the family with us. And then, Suzy and I are going to go on with the older granddaughters for a couple more days and just really focus on those girls. But we're all going to be up there as a family, extended family. It's going to be really neat. And we are going to leave the world behind on the other side of those looming canyon walls. How many have you ever been to Yosemite, just to get a feel for it? How many of you have seen a picture of Yosemite? Well, now we've brought everybody into the picture that I want you to think about. Well, we're going to think of those walls as barriers to leave this world out there. And what a world we leave behind. And you know what? When Suzy and I are with the kids and the grandkids, that world is not going to be invited in to the Yosemite Valley. We're leaving behind troubling news of expanding oil spills, stagnant economies, Iraq, Iran, the nuclear tension that is Iraq, the conflict between the Koreas. We're going to leave behind the seemingly unsolvable dilemma between the Israelis and the Palestinians. We're going to be leaving behind an America which more and more is becoming secular and leaving behind the very basic founding principles of what made this nation great. To realize that today the medal that we carry in our pockets, it says, in God we trust, but we recognize the rest of the story. Now while there, while we leave that world behind, we are going to be there and we are going to have a feast for our eyes. We're going to give all of our senses a workout. If you've never been to Yosemite, that's fine. There's other mountains. We have the Kweimakas. I won't say the Kweimakas or quite the Sierras. But think of being on a stroll and what it's like to be out in nature for a moment. When we're up there, our sensory panels are going to go on overload. We're going to smell the pines. It's just a great smell to just be able to inhale those pine trees. We're going to be able to hear the waterfalls. When you're in Yosemite this time of year, and that's why we plan it because the falls are at their height, is at nighttime you go to bed, and because the cool night air, that's all you hear, is you hear that dull, constant, thundering roar of the falls coming through the night air.

Then when you wake, guess what you hear in the morning? Because the air is still cool. You hear that thundering, constant, dull roar of the waterfalls. It's just great. So we're going to see a lot. We're going to hear a lot. We're going to feel a lot. We're going to be up on some of those pathways that are cut into the granite as we go up the cliffs. And all you look up is, you see more and more cliff, and up above that you see the sky. So our ears, our eyes, our senses are all going to get a feast. Perhaps there is no more dazzling spot to feast your eyes on Yosemite than when you come out of Inspiration Tunnel. I'd like to talk about that for a moment. And for those of you that have not been to Yosemite, to understand what Inspiration Tunnel is like, you're kind of moving up and down through the front range of the Sierra, and you're kind of winding, you're kind of winding, and you're already in the National Park, and you always say, are we ever going to get there? This doesn't look like Yosemite, and we are in Yosemite National Park. So you have to travel for about an hour, and all of a sudden you start moving down, and all of a sudden there is a whole cut right in the middle of the granite. And it goes for about a mile to a mile and a half. You're going through sheer mountain. And that's really neat. And trust me, it's really hard to hold your breath that long for those of you that try to hold your breath in tunnels like we did with the kids when they were growing up. It's a good thing. I pass out as the driver. But you go through, and then by the time that you're at the other end, you're at a slant, you're going down, you're going down towards the valley. All of a sudden you begin to see this opening up. This opening up. This opening up. And you see the Green Valley floor, and then you're getting more towards the end of the tunnel. And all of a sudden there is just a scene that explodes in front of your eyes, and there it is, Yosemite Valley, in all of its glory. And there before you lies that green carpet on the valley. There before you lay the granite behemoths of El Capitan, the captain. You see Half Dome in the distance. You see Bridalveil Fall coming over the cliff. You look off in the distance, and you see clouds rest beyond Half Dome. And you just sit there, and it just takes away your breath. You just got to stop there. And that's why they call it Inspiration Tunnel.

The point that I'm leading up to is not to give you a Chamber of Commerce tour of Yosemite Valley. I'm sharing this for a reason. Even as exquisite as that moment is to stand at the opening of Inspiration Tunnel, get out in the parking lot, and look over that and experience all the things that our family is going to experience for the days to come.

The bottom line is simply this. It is going to end. It is going to end. All of that beauty and all of that natural majesty is going to come to an end. And Susan and I, ultimately, are going to have to come home. We're going to have to return home. And we are going to have to continue our daily vocation of being a follower of Jesus Christ. In this lifetime, vacations only last so long. And it's good to take a vacation. It's good to change your life rhythms. It's good to get out there under the clouds and under the night stars and to be able to smell the pines and to be able to enjoy all of that and for a moment to just leave the troubles that are behind. But we are going to have to come back. And I am going to have to think about what I am going to do next.

What I'd like to share with you is simply this. Because my thought is not just simply to have you think a little bit more about Yosemite today. And that is simply this. All of you are not going to be able to come with Susie and I, as much as we would like, to Yosemite. You know, always bring your work with you, right? No.

There is simply this else I want to draw your mind to. Because Yosemite is going to come and go and we have to come home. But there is another destination and there is another spot. Remember just how when I mentioned Yosemite, there was probably a picture that came into your mind. And it's like you had been there, even if you had not been there, that image came to the fore.

Well, that's a little bit why I am giving this message today. Because there is another spot that I want to talk to you about today that you are all invited to come to. And that's Jerusalem. Jerusalem. Now, even as I mentioned the term Jerusalem, I am sure again other mental pictures come into mind. But the trip that you and I are going to experience in the future and that we are going to take, the major difference is we are not coming home.

Jerusalem is going to be our home. Now, often times we hear messages like this, perhaps during the Feast of Tabernacles or during the time of the Feast of Trumpets. But I thought, here we are at the beginning of summer. And to be able to focus, not just simply on the Weber's summer trip to the Sierras, but to move beyond that and to recognize that there is something greater that you and I have been called to and to experience than simply that of a vacation in this life.

Because we are on more than a vacation. We are about a vocation. And the vocation that you and I are undertaking ultimately is to lead us to none other than Jerusalem, which is going to be home. And that's the major difference. When God invites you to Jerusalem and you take Him up on that invitation and you prepare and you save yourself for that cause and that purpose.

And one day when you are there, it is going to be so fantastic. It's going to be so glorious. It's going to be so awe-inspiring. But the only difference is you're not going to have to go home. That's going to be home. Remember what I mentioned about inspiration tunnel? Well, that's what prophecy is like. Prophecy is like inspiration tunnel. It takes us from the past or the present into the future. Prophecy kind of opens up and allows us to see what God has in store for us.

But I call it this way, that prophecy is like postcards from the future that God sends to us to show us what it's like. I just want to share some good news with you this afternoon. I'm not here to bring you prophecies that must at times be brought. Prophecies about where mankind is going because of his actions and his departure from God's ways. But prophecy is not just about the demise of human civilization. It is also the good news of what God is bringing and what our future home is going to be like.

And not only for ourselves, but for everybody else. I'd like to just share that with you for a few minutes. We're just going to go through some verses to really inspire us to say, I want to be there. I want to be a part of that. And more than that, to recognize God wants us to be a part of that. And when he invites us in, it's not going to be a round trip going back to where he first met us. When you think of Yosemite Valley and you think of that picture, and there's El Capitan on the north, and there's Half Dome way down in the distance, and you see Bridalville, and you see the valley floor underneath you, they're all distinct, but they all kind of come together.

You say, that's Yosemite Valley. Well, that's a little bit about the verses that are about Jerusalem and the future. There are very distinctive features that all come together in a seamless picture of how beautiful and how inspiring it is going to be to be a part of Jerusalem. Let me first of all invite you to Isaiah 52. Join me if you would there. Isaiah 52. Just as much as El Capitan is a monumental feature of Yosemite Valley, there's a monumental feature in store for us when we come to that future Jerusalem that God has in store for us. The most noticeable feature about Jerusalem's future landscape is dominated by simply this. If you want to jot it down, there is going to have one heart towards God.

One heart towards God. And we find that over in Isaiah 52, and I just want to share some of this good news with all of us today. Let's read through it together. How beautiful upon the mountains, and we're not talking about the Sierra Nevada, are the feet of Him who brings good news, who proclaim peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaim salvation, and who says to Zion, Your God reigns. Your watchmen shall lift up their voices, and with their voices they shall sing together. For they shall see eye to eye. And when the Lord brings back Zion, bring forth into joy, sing together.

You waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted His people, and He has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has made bare His holy arm, and in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth, are going to see this. They're going to see the salvation of our Lord. What an incredible thing it is going to be to leave man's world behind. This Jerusalem is not the Jerusalem that's occurring today, a Jerusalem that is being fought over between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

It's not the Jerusalem of today that is segmented even between the various Christian religions, the Orthodox, the Catholic, the Armenian, the Ethiopian, that jealously guard each and every one of their religious sites to make sure that the other one doesn't intrude. Jerusalem today is a very troubled territory. Jerusalem is indicative in the environment of the entire world. Notice the promises that are here. Just a couple things that leapt out at me as I was going through this this morning. Notice verse 8 for a moment. It says in that day when God is on this earth, isn't that what we're looking forward to?

Is that not what we are hoping for, praying for, longing for, living for, planning for? Not just saving up our pennies, but directing our heart. Notice what it says here. It says that people that are in this Jerusalem, they're going to see eye to eye. You think about our nation today, television, social media, political parties, labor unions, management, family members, even friends. We don't always see what? Eye to eye. In fact, sometimes people are so busy today, they don't even look you in the eye.

They're too busy. That just struck me when I saw that today, that these are people that are going to see things. Eye to eye. Notice down here too in verse 9, it says that when you come into this Jerusalem, when you come through the inspiration tunnel of prophecy and see what God has in store for us, it says that people are going to be singing together. Christians have always sung. When you open up the book of Acts, you find Christians singing. Why is that going to be? Because Jerusalem is going to be redeemed.

It means it is going to be made right. It's going to be made correct under Messiah, under Jesus Christ. Not every man is going to be doing that, which is right in his own eyes, doing his own thing. And what's marvelous about this verse 10, The Lord has made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth are going to see it.

I can't, Susan can't, Susan would probably like to, maybe, bring all of you along, but we can't. We can't fit you all on the top of our car to go to Yosemite. But God says what he has in store for humanity, everybody is going to be a part of. Everybody is going to have that vision.

Everybody is going to be directed to one thing. One thing is going to capture everybody's attention. Jerusalem. See, Jerusalem is not only the bullseye of biblical prophecy leading up to the return of Jesus Christ. It is the bullseye of what the world will be like under Jesus Christ, because Jerusalem is going to be his capital. I'd like to share a verse with you in Isaiah 26. Join me there for a moment. In that day, for those of you that are just awakening to prophecy, and you see that term, that day, that doesn't mean today.

That means that day, not today. That means in the future. In that day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah. We have a strong city, and God will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks. I thought about that this morning as I was considering the walls that encompass Yosemite Valley. When you're on the valley floor, it's about 4,000 feet in elevation. The walls that surround Yosemite, that picture of that valley, are basically 3,000 to 4,000 feet in height. Now, I've got to tell you something. Those are walls, and they're granite. They are formidable. I'm hoping and hoping that they are going to, to a degree, keep that world out for a few days on the other side, except for the world that the rest of the tourists bring in with them as they come and visit Yosemite.

But have you ever noticed before that we have a strong city? Speaking of Jerusalem, God will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks. These are going to be virtual walls of salvation. The salvation that is being talked about here as all of the world, with Jerusalem as its capital, is going to have one heart towards God, and they're going to be, as Doug said, they're going to be asking God for protection. Those walls that you now see and think of in Jerusalem, as you think of looking down from the Mount of Olives, and you see those walls that were put up in the 16th century by the Turks, and you see the Dome of the Rock, if you can get that postcard in your mind for a moment.

Walls are built to keep people out. The only difficulty is there has never been any wall made by humanity that has kept people out forever, just as the Chinese with their experience with the Mongols. With the longest wall that has ever been created on earth, the Great Wall of China, it didn't work.

The Mongols ultimately got over the wall. These are different walls. These are walls that you can't mount. These are walls that you can't necessarily see with your eye. These are the walls of salvation, to whom God says to me, I want your trust, I want your confidence, as much as when Doug gave that prayer, when the Santa Ana winds were wild, and the fire was coming his way.

He didn't put any walls around his house. There's a greater wall. There's the wall of the one that brings us salvation. What a wonderful world, friends, that you and I are being invited into, that all of us can be a part of. Just as Yosemite is not just dominated by one landmark, Allah A, an Al-Kapitan, there's also Half Dome and clouds rest, and others. Jerusalem is neither dominated just simply by one thing. There's another thing I'd like to show you over in Isaiah 60.

Come with me to Isaiah 60, verse 13. Isaiah 60 and verse 13. We're going to find another notable feature. Isaiah 60 and verse 13. This is the world that all of you are being invited to. And this is a prophecy, a promise, a postcard from the future to put into our minds, to put into our hearts, to add color to our existence, to understand now why we struggle, now why we pray, now why we hope. The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the cypress, the pine, the box tree together to beautify the place of my sanctuary.

That's the holy spot. That would be speaking of Jerusalem. For that's where the sanctuary was. And I will make the place of my feet glorious. Where God's presence is. Think of, but for a moment, Zachariah 14 and verse 4, when it says that when Messiah comes, it says that He will plant His feet where?

On the Mount of Olives. It will be in Jerusalem. And I will make the place of my feet glorious. So these are promises that God gives that He's going to bring quality. These are, when you talk about Cyprus, Cyprus in the ancient world was the quality-building material. When you go back and you read in Kings or Chronicle and you recognize the alliance that Solomon had with Hiram, Phoenicia, that the cedars of Lebanon, which was called Phoenicia anciently, this was quality.

The best was brought to the temple. Cyprus was used. And it goes on. It says down here below. Let me pick up the verse here. In verse 17, Instead of bronze, I will bring gold. Instead of iron, I will bring silver. And instead of wood, bronze. And instead of stones, iron. And I will also make your officers peace and your magistrates righteousness. Notice verse 18. Violence shall no longer be heard in your land, neither wasting nor destruction within your borders. Notice the end of verse 18. But you shall call your walls, again, salvation. Let's think about this for a moment, friends.

What God is promising to bring to humanity that is going to stop humanity in its tracks is a world of excellence. It's a world of excellence. A world of quality. We live in a world of planned obsolescence. We live in a world where people get by on things that are made to break. God is saying that when He comes to this earth, He is going to bring an excellent existence. He's going to bring the best. I remember growing up as a boy in the Church of God community.

I remember how it was instructed all the time that not all of us could buy the best. But buy the best that you can buy. Go for the excellence that you can afford. Learn that while something might seemly for a moment be a little bit more expensive, most likely it will last a little bit longer.

Why? Because you get what you pay for. God is bringing a world of excellence. Now, while you and I cannot qualify for that world because that's only going to be God's grace, that you and I can enter the gates of that future Jerusalem. Are we willing to give our God excellence in everything that we put forward in our lives?

Excellent thoughts, excellent feelings, excellent love, excellent communication. I know I was reading one of the nominee papers, and it kind of struck me by a phrase that was used that one of the things that he wanted to incorporate as a key theme throughout permeating our church organization was excellence. Excellence in all that we do, all that we are able to bring forward. Now, your excellence might be different than my excellence. Susan's excellence might be different than my excellence. Walter's excellence might be different than my excellence.

But whatever we do, we do our best. We are an excellent people because we are chosen by God to bring forth praises and to bring excellence in thought and word and in deed. Excellence is going to be everything. And not only that, but because Jerusalem is going to be redeemed. And notice the excellence that we're going to have in government. It says, I'm going to make your officers peace and your magistrates righteous. We know that the same Scripture talks about the unjust judge.

We know how people buy political favor. We know how backroom deals can be done. We know how organizations or communities can be shut down for political gain. That's going to go out of the way. And when God provides excellence, He's not only going to provide excellent surroundings, He's going to grant us to have an excellent heart. You know, what you and I have seen over the last 30 to 40 years in America is the failure of urban renewal.

What happens with urban renewal is that people build beautiful buildings with the best of intentions. But then people are moved into those buildings and what happens after just a few years? The buildings look like from whence the people came from. See, the difference that's going to happen in the New Jerusalem is that God is not just going to deal with physical ruins and create habitats for humanity. And I think that's a very worthy organization.

I'm not there to down habitat for humanity. I think it's a great volunteer effort. I'm using a point, though, is that God is not just going to take people and move them into environments that they're not prepared for. What you and I are preparing for now as firstfruits as to what God is going to be in Jerusalem, God is not going to take people out of ruins.

Christ is going to go into the heart of people that are ruined in their hearts. He's going to deal with the ruin that is in their hearts. He's going to go into those dark spots and those crumbling existences. And then when mankind is taught to deal with the ruins that are in his own heart, he'll take himself out of the ruins and be prepared to have, as God says here, gold rather than bronze, silver rather than iron. It's going to remain. There's going to be a quality. There's going to be an excellence. Can we think about that right now, brethren, as we are preparing to enter this prophetic postcard?

Can we more than ever dedicate ourselves to a life of excellence spiritually, emotionally, physically, verbally, communicationally, how we act in an excellent manner, and to be prepared for this new home that God is calling us to? That's very important. Let's take you to another scripture here for a moment. Let's go to Zechariah 8.

Zechariah 8.

Here's another noticeable feature of this destination that God is calling all of us to, this Jerusalem that's in the future.

Zechariah 8.

This excellence is going to spill right over into the streets. Again, the word of the Lord of Hosts came saying, Thus says the Lord of Hosts, I am zealous for Zion with great zeal, with great fervor, I am zealous for her. Thus says the Lord, I will return to Zion. That's another name for Jerusalem.

Zion is one of the mounts that is in the environs of Jerusalem. And I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth. No, it's not going to be the Big Apple. It's not going to be the Big Orange. It's not going to be the Big Easy. For those of you that know where the Big Easy is, I'll let you look that up in an almanac.

It's going to have a name. It's going to be called the City of Truth. The mountain of the Lord, the Holy Mountain. We're not talking about Half Dome. We're not talking about El Capitan. We're not talking about the Sierra Nevada. We are talking about what is going to be the central throne of God's way of life in Jerusalem. And thus says the Lord of Hosts, Those old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each one with a staff in his hand, because of great age. Everybody's going to have a full and hopefully an abundant life, because all of humanity is going to have one heart now towards God, and God is going to provide an excellent existence for them, not only by what's over their head, but what is in their heart as Jerusalem is redeemed to God. Each one with a staff in his hand, great age, and the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets. This is what we're living for. This is what we're preparing for to go to. This is what I'm saving my spiritual pennies up for. Forget Yosemite. That's going to come and go. I'm going to have to go back home. I'm going to have to come back and be a part of that vocation that Christ has called us to, and you too. And just notice what God says in verse 6, Thus says the Lord of Hosts, If it is marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, Will it also be marvelous in my eyes, says the Lord of Hosts? You know, it's like this. When you're at the parking lot outside of Inspiration Tunnel in Yosemite, you kind of sit there for a moment and you start saying, Psst! Psst! Come over here! Maybe I do that. I'm always a tour guide wherever I go. Susan knows that. I'm always seeing something that I don't want anybody else to miss.

Come on over here. Have you seen that yet? Everybody's eyes go up. Everybody's looking. It's marvelous! God is having this conversation with His people right now. Is this not going to be marvelous to be in a people-friendly society whose goal is excellence, inward and outward, who all worship God? Where there are no more quarters of the city in Jerusalem, and I grew up and I'm a history major, I would learn that in Jerusalem there was a Latin Quarter, there was an Armenian Quarter, there was a Jewish Quarter, and there was an Arab Quarter which was then called the Old City. Jerusalem's no longer going to be divided down into quarters. One city, one heart, one God, one Savior, one theme of excellence, human-friendly, children in the streets, people not worrying. Let me talk to you ladies for a moment. And I know you that are fathers have had the same experience. Have you ever been in a big department store, especially the last 10 to 15 years, and you think your kid is by you, and all of a sudden they're not by you? Think how big a super Walmart is. And all of a sudden your little three or four year old that you trained so well to be right by you is not by you, and it is just crowded, and minutes go by, and you don't see Mikey. What are you thinking? Are you just kind of there saying, oh, don't come back? Oh, everything's all right. Oh, last time I saw Mikey was 10 minutes ago, and it was in the parking lot. I don't know about you, but I'll tell you how this guy feels. I'm on the move. Whether it be for our daughters when they were young or for our granddaughters, I want to know where they are. I want to hold them. I want them close to me. This will probably happen up at Yosemite, Susan, you know, knowing how number two is. That we're always looking for her and wondering. We love her. That you want them close because this is not a child-friendly world. Are you ready to enter this destination spot with me? Christ stands at the door of this world and says, I want you to have this as your home. It's going to be child-friendly. There's going to be seniors that are on the porches with a staff in their hand. That means that they're going to have a full life. That means that they're not going to be worrying about where their next penny's coming from. They're not going to worry about their Medicare being cut or wondering when the next check comes in. Because their abundance and their life and their excellence is all devoted to God Almighty. I'm going to take you to one more verse here that I'd like to share with you. Join me if you would in Micah 4 and verse 2. Micah 4. We're almost done. Like I said, there's many, many features of Jerusalem, just like there's many, many features of Yosemite. They're distinct, they're notable, they're monumental, but they all kind of blend in together for a purpose. Just like that one picture that you can think of when you think of the picture of Yosemite Valley. Join me if you would in Micah 4, which is actually parallel to Isaiah 2, but sometimes I just like to go to Micah so people will know where it is. Micah.

Micah 4.

The next monumental feature, and we're going to conclude this one, of this future Jerusalem is the diversity of its visitors. It is the diversity of its visitors. That's so different than today. Today, there are many people that boycott going to Jerusalem. There are nations that boycott even having their embassies in Jerusalem, lest they be thought of as being pro-Israeli. They're simply staying away. On the other hand, there are other people that come to Jerusalem in droves to see the glories of Jerusalem past. They want to see the Roman and the Greek and the Byzantine and the Crusader and the Turk and the Jewish monuments of past civilizations, of that which has come and gone. This is going to be completely different. Stay with me if you would for a moment. People are no longer going to Jerusalem in the future to see what the past is like. They're going to Jerusalem to find out what their future is going to be like. They're going to come, as the queen of Sheba did long ago, who said, I have come to see if all that I have heard truly is so. Notice what it says. Now, in those days, the latter days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains. Mountains is just another term for kingdom or government. And shall be exalted by the hills, and many people shall flow to it. Many nations shall come and say, come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He's going to teach us His ways. He's going to help us to walk in His paths. For out of Zion, the law shall go forth in the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. People are going to come not to read ancient scrolls, not to dig up artifacts, not to get sweaty in some hole underneath the walls of Jerusalem. They are coming to become living instruments to serve God the Father and Jesus Christ, and to learn about His ways. Now, you think about this for a moment. Basically, this is telling you and me that there is going to be a human traffic jam around Jerusalem. Let me tell you about traffic jams in Yosemite for a moment, having been there several times. Whenever all of a sudden you get back up with a traffic jam, you go, I'm from L.A. And I'm in a traffic jam here in the middle of the glory of creation. Whenever there's a traffic jam in Yosemite, that means somebody has spotted a bear. One bear and 300 cars later, waiting for the bear to cross with all the photographers out. This is going to be a different traffic jam. Different. People are going to come. They're going to want to get in. They're going to be the spot, the in-spot, the destination. And you and I have an advanced ticket, as it were, to be there, to be a part of that, to, as it were, to be a tour guide, to show people that this is the way. This is the way to walk. Christ is not going to be doing it all by himself. He's giving us the honor to be a part of his family and of that team of instructors. And what's really interesting, if you'll just join me in Isaiah 19, then we'll give you just one more verse. Isaiah 19. It's not only going to be a traffic jam, but it's amazing who you're going to see in your rearview mirror. Join me in Isaiah 19. 25.

In that day... Isn't that a beautiful phrase? Might be a title for a good column. In that day, there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians. In that day, Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria, and a blessing in the midst of the land, whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, blessed is Egypt, my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel, my inheritance.

The entire world is going to come. How amazing! When you think of the turmoil and the trouble that is happening in the Middle East right now, Assyria is where, or was, where Iraq is today. Egypt, of course, is to the southwest. For Assyria to get over to Egypt, for Egypt to get over to Assyria, they would have to go what was called the way of the sea. And Jerusalem is the X that marks the spot. These people cannot help but congregate around Jerusalem. All peoples are going to come to Jerusalem.

All are going to be in a godly alliance under Christ working together. What does that mean to you? Do we have a godly alliance right now working with Iran? North Korea? Other nations that you can put in that list? We're being called to a world that is going to have one heart towards God. A world that's being called to excellence. A world whose defense and walls is going to be God's salvation for them. A world that's going to be human-friendly. A world that is not just going to be for people that talk like you or look like you, but all of God's people, all the races, all the languages, all the ethnic groups coming, just like the queen of Sheba and old, to learn and to be taught at Jerusalem.

That's what we're preparing for. That's what we're saving our spiritual pennies to visit. I hope I've made it a little bit clearer. I hope I've given you an exciting vision of the inspiration tunnel of prophecy. I'd like to just share one more thought with you. Last night, I sent our girls to share with some of our younger granddaughters, where Grandma and Grandpa are going to be taking them. I sent them a shot of Bridalveil Falls coming out of the high reaches of the Gossimides. Four-year-old Cameron responded, I want to go there. She saw the picture. She just simply told her mother, who conveyed to us, I want to go there. I want to see that.

Is that not what our life is about, friends, as the children of God? That God sends us these postcards from the future of the most ultimate destination spot that anybody can be invited to and not have to return from? This is it. This is the goal. This is where we're traveling towards. This is why we put away our human nature and we put on the life of Christ in us so that you and I will be there teaching these people.

I know right now I can barely, barely contain myself. I'm really looking forward to leaving in a week. But my restlessness is nothing like God's. Would you join me in conclusion in Isaiah 62? I hope I've made you a little restless today for that future Jerusalem. God says in Isaiah 62 and verse 1, For Zion's sake I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest.

Welcome. You are now introduced to the restless God. He is on fire for what He wants to bring to you and to me. Until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation is a lamp that burns at the Gentiles, shall see her righteousness, and all kings your glory. You shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will name. And you shall be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. As we leave this assembly today, I hope you'll take this postcard that I've shared with you, tuck it in your heart, and just be like our granddaughter, who once she saw what she was headed toward, said, I want to go there.

I want to see that. Not destination, Yosemite. I'm speaking to you of destination, Jerusalem.