Climbing Mount Zion

Jim Jamieson

Feast of Tabernacles Sermon – 2013

Welcome, family, to another day of the Feast of Tabernacles 2013. Today's split sermon is entitled Climbing Mount Zion.

A song was written years ago that we can use to compare to our way of life here in God's Church and the title of that song was 'Climb Every Mountain'. Today we're going to go through each verse in the chorus of that song and look at scriptures that will help us to 'climb' to live God's way of life.

So let's read through the song before we start to apply it to our climbing Mount Zion.

Climb every mountain,

Search high and low,

Follow every byway,

Every path you know.

Climb every mountain,

Ford every stream,

Follow every rainbow,

'Till you find your dream.

A dream that will need

All the love you can give,

Every day of your life

For as long as you live.

Climb every mountain,

Ford every stream,

Follow every rainbow,

Till you find your dream....

So brethren, how are we climbing Mount Zion? How are we living our lives in Mount Zion, God's Mountain, His Church?

Let's start: 'Climb every mountain' - we in God's Church face trials that seem to be mountains at times, but with God's help we can climb them. Many of us are dealing with money problems, whether it be because of unemployment or underemployment as some have said, with things like unconverted mates, and that can just last for years in a lot of cases where you have to live with that turmoil. People are going through problems even with divorce and the anguish and turmoil that that brings into your life. People are fighting health problems and have been for years. But they're there, and there are things that we can learn by going through those problems, climbing those mountains.

So let's start by turning to 2 Timothy 3:12 – Yes, and all who desire to live Godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. So there it just tells us as we do enter into this way of life that we're going to have trials, they're going to come along and we're going to have to go through them, we're going to have to climb over them. You know, when we turn a corner and there is this trial, this mountain in front of us we have to go forward, we have to climb it. So with that we just have to look to God for our inspiration and our help as we do climb these mountains.

To the next verse, let's look at 1 Peter 4:12, (give you a little bit of time to get there and turn to it), 1 Peter 4:12 - Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, there again, it's to try us, to build that Godly character in us that God is trying to create in each and every one of us, as though some strange thing happened to you: So we should know that those things are going to come along in our lives...and there again, God gives us the tools to fight them and to overcome them. But rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings; that, when His glory is be revealed you may also be glad and exceeding joyful. So again, it's pretty hard when you're going through trials, especially those real tough ones that last sometimes into the years, to be exceedingly joy, but if we look to see what the outcome and the overall product of going through those trials will bring. That's where we can get the exceeding joy.

Alright, we're staying in 1 Peter. Let's go to 1 Peter 1:3 and we'll read through to verse 7 - Blessed be the God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, well, that inheritance is eternal life, and undefiled, and does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, and there again, it's just to build that character again. We have to go through trials, and they come...sometimes we get a little bit of breaks, might look at it as climbing that mountain and get to go through a little valley and have a little break for a while, but then you have to climb again. ...if need be you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith be much more precious than gold; you know, Christ talked about when He returns will He find faith. He's not looking for gold, that's what we are, and the dross comes through trials, but He's looking for faith, it's more precious than gold. And just like gold when you go out... I've known some people that have gold mined before and they just don't come back with bags of gold every time they go out, it's hard to find, and that's what Christ's saying, be much more precious than gold, and He talks about, will He find faith when He returns.

Anyway, repeating that... that genuineness of your faith be much more precious than gold that perishes, though it be tested by fire, the dross brought to the top, and it just helps us build that character through trials, may we be found to praise, honour and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ: As we live in Mount Zion and we see people going through trials, whether we're going through them at that time or not, we need to be willing to look and help others that are going through a trial. There have been many of us that have been in God's Church for quite some time. I know some people that 30-40 years have been in God's Church, and I think they probably have thought they've climbed every mountain from the Mexican border to the Canadian border, but they've learn by those trials, and then we see someone going through a trial let's be sure to look back and give encouragement, but even more so that we can pray more intently for them, because we may have gone through that same trial and know how hard it is to get through them, overcome them.

Some trials are brought by disobedience...and even when we're obedient we go through trials. We think of how many people that are unemployed, and as we were talking about, because of the Sabbath, because of their obedience to the Sabbath. And then there are people who are going through trials because of problems they have in their lives, weaknesses. I know just after the wife and I got married and we'd had our first child and we came on our first 3rd Tithe year, and well, that was a trial, and it came down to the point money was tight, I went to two different people for advice, and unfortunately I took the advice that I wanted. One person said, "No, you pay your tithes no matter what." The other person says, "Well, you've got to take care of your family." Well, long story short – I stole from God. You might say, "How'd that work out for you?" Well, it didn't, but God taught me something by going through that – is that God's the one that's going to take care of us. You might think of that instance where Christ fed the thousands of people with just a few loaves of bread. You can look at your paycheque and it just might...well, there isn't enough there to get the job done, but with God in the picture there is. And so we have to continue to rely on God, especially when we're going through these trials. And again, they're tough, the mountains that we have to face can be just overwhelming at times.

Let's turn to Hebrews 12:11, we'll read through verse 13 -  okay, starting in verse 11 - Now no chastening seems to be joyful for present, but painful: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness, in other words, growth, to those who have been trained by it. And the word is 'chastened' – trials – trained by it - we learn, like I was just talking about what I went through, learned that doing it my way didn't work out. When I started doing it God's way things started to work out. And I'm sure there are a lot of people out there that can tell you stories about just that subject of tithing, that it just doesn't look good on paper, but when they obeyed God amazing things happened in people's live – and it did in mine, but I had to learn the lesson and I learned it the hard way. And there again, God can teach when we're disobedient and He can teach when we're obedient. Hopefully we choose to be taught by being obedient.

Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees that make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated but rather be healed. Again, that we learn by our mistakes and we're healed, start obeying God, doing it His way.

So now let's turn to 1 Corinthians 10:12...1 Corinthians 10:12 and we'll go through verse 13 - Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. Again, back to when we think this is the way to do something we need to be careful, because, find out we're going to fall. It goes back to blessings and cursing's. No temptation has overtaken you except is common to man: I wasn't the first one that had to go through the tithing lesson. People have gone through it before, and there again, looking back to someone that might be fighting that now I can look at it and go, "You just got to obey God and trust Him and just allow Him to work things out in your life." And that's where we built faith, is by just going through these trials and seeing the outcome of them. ...but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able; but with the temptation will also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it. In other words, there again, if you can just listen to some of the stories that people have gone through, whether it's jobs, tithing, health, you get to the point where you just think that, "When's this going to end? When are we going to get through it? Am I going to get through it?" And there again, we rely on God and go to Him and just put all our cares on Him and He is not going to put us through something that we can't bear. So just remember, when you turn that corner, and we turn that corner and that great big mountain, that mountainous trial is there in front of us, the first thing we need to do is just look to God for the strength to start climbing it.

Alright, let's move on in the song to the rest of the first verse: 'Search high and low.' How do we search? The best way to start searching when we're looking how to go down the paths, climbing that mountain, which is the best way to go, is to start on our knees and just ask God for the strength and the help to make sure we take the right path, the easiest way – which is obeying God.

The word 'search' can also be gone to 'seek out'. The Church webpage has been updated constantly to keep up with the present truth. You can get on there and look at the FAQ, there will be topics added, even the topics that have been there for years are updated when we, God give us more of the present truth. So we constantly need to be going there to the FAQ. I mean, if you've got a question about something that's going on in your life and you can go there and no only it might have something written but it also lists sermons that you can listen to and just get the encouragement from it and just apply it to our lives and just use that tool God's given us. And then also on the Church webpage is the 57 Truths that we've been told, the trunk of the tree, to stay so close to that. The truths are there and if one is true, they're all true...and they are all true. And we just have to stay close to that, we have to learn to use that webpage so we know it inside and out because that's where we get, you know, what God has given us.

It reminds me of the two trees that we've been told about so many times. You know, when we log on the internet, basically we have two trees sitting in front of us; you can look at one that's the 'tree of life', God's Church, God's website where we can get the knowledge on how to live this way of life, how to climb Mount Zion, or we can look at the other tree where the garbage is, where you can find Mr. Armstrong's been dead for almost 30 years and you can still find hate there. This little tiny Church and you can find all this hate on the website there. Which way are we going to look? Which way are we going to go? Which way are we going to search, seek out?

So let's use the Church website, the positive part, the 'tree of life', so to speak, and just use that so that we can live this way of life.

So let's turn to Matthew 6:33, we're going to read just one verse out of there but we'll come back to it later. So Matthew 6:33 - But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. I mean, that says a lot there, is that we put God first and we seek His Kingdom all these other things, they're going to come along in time, you know. Doesn't mean that well, start keeping the Sabbath this week I should be getting a new car next week. Well, it doesn't work that way. But if we put God first, His Kingdom, His righteousness, living this way of life, then those things will come in time – not so much the physical, it's the spiritual that's important, building that character that this way of life builds.

So let's go to Isaiah 55:6 – Seek the LORD while He may be found; you know, brethren, we live in perilous times. We don't know when we're going to lose the internet – I mean, they're talking about the capability of having a 'kill switch' where they just control it and it's gone. You look at the news and all these scandals and corruption that are out there, they're looking to have the ability to do that with the technology they can.  But, 'Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.' So again, we have just got to use what God's given us, to seek out, to go down these paths in our lives and that's where we will stay safe, so to speak, as we climb this mountain.

Alright, moving on here, let's look at Proverbs 8:17 - I love those who love Me; God says, 'If you love Me you'll keep My commandments', His way of life, and those who diligently... that seek Me diligently will find Me. Again, if we want to live this way of life, if we want to use the power and the tools God has given us, the power of the holy spirit and just the tool of prayer to seek God and to draw closer to Him, as it says, 'and those who seek Me diligently will find Me'. So we have to continue to do our part to search high and low and to look with what we've got to search and God's going to be there and He's going to provide the answers for us so, again, we can live this way of life.

Alright, let's continue in Proverbs and turn to Proverbs 3:5 and I'll read through verse 6. So Proverbs 3:5 - it says, Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding. You know, you look at so many people, and tragically those that have left us here recently, when you start leaning on your own understanding that's where we get in trouble and it's just, again, back to the 57 Truths – that's what we have to stay close to and truly believe that those are from God. So Trust in the LORD with all your heart; put your heart in it, everything that you live and breathe and live in this way of life, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths. And that's what it is when we climb this mountain of Zion, God's got to lead us, He's got to show us the paths. We can't lean on our own understanding or basically we're going to get lost. Unless God's guiding us, and then, you know, talk about Jesus Christ being our shepherd, He's the one that leads us, and if we're not following Him and not leaning on our own understanding but God's way, acknowledge Him and He will direct our paths.

So let's go to Isaiah 26:9...alright, Isaiah 26:9 – With my soul I have desired you in the night; yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early: there again, when we start into trials we're back on let's not lean on our own understanding but seek God early when we go into these trials, and we live this way of life, if there is some question we have you can go to the tools, you can go to the ministry, but what He's given us on the website is so handy there that you can go to that right away, and then if you have a question that you don't understand you can ask the ministry, an elder in your area, and if they can't give you an answer they'll get an answer for you. And we're a family, we all have to live and work at this together...and talk about the scripture where it says, 'Two were rarely defeated...' – and I'm probably not quoting it quite accurately, '...but three are rarely defeated.' We have to stick together as a family and just go through this and share each other's burdens. When you see somebody going through something, like we talked about earlier, be there for them – if it's nothing but a hug, a smile, and then pray for them, and God says He answers those prayers. I think everybody praying just about the one thing, you know, God hears them all, but it's just that I think it's just the desire that He sees that we stay together as a family and we're stronger because of it.

Finishing up on that verse......when your judgments are on the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. So you know, when God's... when He's teaching us, this world, and that's what we're looking forward to with this climbing Mount Zion, is the day that, you know, God's righteousness encompasses the whole world, and then the world will learn and find true happiness.

Let's look at Colossians 3:1 through 4. Colossians 3:1-4 - If then you are raised in Christ, seek those things which are from above... I want you to hold your place there and let's go to Philippians 4:8-9, we're going to come back to this but I'd like to read that.

Philippians 4:8-9 – what we just read, when it talks about thinking that 'when you are raised in Christ seek those things which are from above', so now in Philippians it says, Finally, brethren, whatever things are true; What is true? God's word is the truth, you know, John 17:17, whatever things are noble, you know, living this way of life and trying to overcome, trying to be good to people even if they're not good to you. And in this world, sometimes that can be a pretty tough thing out on the job and people just seem to like to be miserable and want to make you miserable too. ...whatever things are just; you know, in other words, again, living this way of life, being true to everyone. ...whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue, and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. These things, which you learned and received, and heard, and saw in me, do, these do: and the God of peace will be with you. So the thing from above, you know, that holy spirit that we're given, and then to think on these things and apply these things and live this way of life can be pretty tough at times because we're human beings and sometimes people can push our buttons, but there again, sometimes that can be a mountain in itself there too.

So let's go back to Colossians 3 and finish up there, starting in at verse 1 – And then if you are raised with Christ seek those things which are above where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on these things; in other words, finally, brethren, whatever things are true. Set your mind on these things from above, not on the things of the earth, you know, the way this earth thinks and the get way of life, as Mr. Armstrong always used to tell us. For you died, at baptism, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, (excuse me) – When Christ who is our life appears, at His return, then you will also appear with Him in glory. In other words, all those people that God's worked with down through time, that 144,000, they're about to appear on this earth, we don't have much time left. We know it's going to be on a Pentecost and we all hope very soon, but we wait on God and it'll happen, it's going to happen. This world can't last much longer; it's a sick, sick, sick place right now.

Alright, let's look at 1 Peter 3:11... 1 Peter 3:11 - Let him turn away from evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and pursue it. That is just, you know, we have to seek it and we have to pursue it, and we have to constantly every day look and see, "Well, maybe I'm falling short here and I need to work on this," and we go back to God and just ask for that help and that strength to get down the path that's in front of us.

And going on with the song: 'Follow every by way', every path we know. What paths do we know? God's way of life – again back to the 57 Truths, back to the website, all the sermons that are there. That's where we get our paths and which path to take. If you've done any backpacking in the country a lot of times you can come to a point on that mountain that you're not quite sure which way to go – well, we in God's Church, in Mount Zion, we do get shown the path to go. You know, like it's told us, when we're told to turn left, turn left, we're told to turn right, turn right, that way we stay on the right path.

So as we go forward and continue in this way of life...can't say enough that we need to use the tools that God's given us as long as we've got them there to be used. And we get proficient at it too, to be able to ... you almost get to where you know what's on that thing if we visit it often enough, then we will, and sometimes we think, "Well, I already read that," well, again, it's back to it's being changed constantly, but it's like reading a post three or four times, every time you read it you get more and more out of it. Every time you listen to the same sermon you get something more out of it that you didn't get two weeks ago, and it's just amazing! There again, that's God's holy spirit working in us.

Alright, let's go to Psalms 119:33 and I'll read through to verse 37. Psalm 119:33 - Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes; God's law, just what we're given in Leviticus 23, God's plan for mankind. It's just, I mean, think of the statutes, it's how we live our lives just diet wise, clean and unclean means. I mean it's just God's way of life, of how He teaches us so that can not only live a good physical life but more importantly that our spiritual life is in order and that we are ambassadors for God and for this way of life. To be those ambassadors we have to, you know, be schooled in those statutes and His way of life so that we can live it.

So anyway, Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, and I shall keep it to the end. Give me understanding; there again, just to ask that... a lot of times we don't understand a sermon or a topic on the FAQ and it's hard to get it in our head, but if we ask for understanding that's where it comes...you know, whatever we ask we ask for those things, not new cars, new houses, but that God's holy spirit works within us and we understand God's law and His statutes. ... and I shall keep Your law; indeed, I shall observe it and with my whole heart. Make Me walk in the path of Your commandments; for I delight in it.  And that's... this way of life... we're going to get into that here just a little bit later, is we have to love it to delight in it. Incline my heart to Your testimonies, and not to covetousness. Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things; there again, back to that website. We've got so much positive to look at, why look at that garbage? So anyway...Turn my eyes from looking at worthlessness, and revive me in Your ways.

Alright, staying right there in Psalms 119, let's turn to verse 105. Verse 105, Psalms 119 – Your word is a lamp unto my feet; God's laws and statutes and His commandments, they're a light to our feet, they're the one...like it says, Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path. If we didn't have, you know, God's understanding and Him showing, we'd be stumbling down the trail and good chance of getting lost if that light isn't there so we can clearly see which way we're supposed to be going.

So again, it's just relying on what God's given us and how to live our lives and how to climb this mountain. It's a lifetime thing and we're coming to that too, so we just keep going on.

Let's go to Proverbs 2:9, it says, Then you shall understand righteousness, and justice, equity and every good thing/every good path. (Excuse me). When wisdom enters your heart and knowledge is pleasant with your soul direction will be preserved you... discretion I should say, will preserve you, understanding will keep you to deliver you from the way of evil. You know, that path of evil – again, two ways of life, two trees ...from the man who seeks perverse things. From those who leave the paths of the unrighteous to walk in the ways of darkness.

Alright, now we're at the chorus where it says: 'Climb every mountain' - those trials, we have to climb them, and 'ford every stream'. We're climbing that mountain and there is that obstacle – you're going through a trial and you think you've seen the worst of it, well, now you've got to ford a stream. And we have to, we've just got to take on those trials... and the hard part is the trial, too.

And 'follow every rainbow'. What's a rainbow? It's a promise. God gave us a rainbow that He would never flood the earth again. We could spend a study just in promises that God's given us. "I promise you a helper," the holy spirit.  "I promise My Son will return." I mean, the promises... "Honour your father and your mother," it's a promise. And what will happen when you do that, "...Your days will be long upon the land." It's just... just to remember as we live this way of life it's just to put our lives in God's hands...'until you find your dream'.

And in verse 2...and this is...this verse here is the one that we really...really need to meditate on probably the most, 'a dream that will need all the love you can give every day of your life for as long as you live'. This has got to be our life! It has got to encompass us all day long. I think of a sermon Mr. Matthews gave on how to pray and it's just that there is so much time in the day that we could spend praying, whether it's driving down the road, or walking down the sidewalk – you know, it's just time that you can spend just communicating with God and getting closer, to know Him on an individual basis, that He so much desires that, that we go to Him in prayer and build that personal relationship, that there are things that are just between ourselves and Him, they're personal – how we feel, what we're fighting, the frustrations we have, as making the same dumb mistakes that I made last week, "Here I am again..." You know, and just going to Him and just asking for that strength and building that relationship.

You know, people talk about having a best friend...well, the reason that friend is your best friend is you probably spent quite a bit of time with them, and that's how we build friendships and whatnot. But God wants us to build a friendship with Him, and we do it through obedience, through prayer, through living this way of life, desiring to live this and just looking to Him to help us down these paths in our lives.

But anyway, 'a dream that will need all the love you can give every day of your life for as long as you live'. So what is our dream? Our dream, our vision, how much do we love, love that dream, love that vision? How much love do we give it? What is most important in our lives? Is God's Family, His Church, Mount Zion first in our lives? Well, it needs to be, we need to put it first. We need to... the highlight of our week has got to be the Sabbath. There are some people that are isolated and they're just by themselves, you know, there are some people that are in groups of two or three, then there are some that have a pretty good amount of people, but is that the highlight of our week, that we get together with God's people in His Church, in Mount Zion, and we're taught by God on a weekly basis, and then when the Holy Days come around? You know, the highlight of the year has always been the Feast of Tabernacles where we can just get out of this world for eight days...eight days living together really as a family because you're... especially some of these Feast sites where everybody is in the same motel now. It's like you're living in the same house, you all got your own bedroom but you're living there as a family for eight days, eating together and just spending the time.

So anyway, let's make the most of the Feast this year. It's just that we don't know, as Mr. Harrell mentions sometimes, our world can change in an hour, so when we have the chance to get together, whether it's on the Sabbath or whether it's the Holy Days...and some of you people that are blessed to live real close together, you can actually see each other during the week. Let's cherish those moments, and again, get to know each other as God wants us to build a relationship with Him.

And that's something we have to do, is we have to see this dream – you know, God's Kingdom. It's just... it's is...it is almost like a dream – you hope for it, you wait for it, you wanted it, we wanted it this last year and the year before, but God says, "No, you've got to wait," and it's all in His timing. But we still have to see the dream, we still have to see that, that that is coming, it's a promise. It's just like the rainbow. "I said My Son is going to return," and God can't lie. So we have to see that dream and make that a big part of our life every day of our life for as long as we live. Like Mr. Weinland said here recently that there will be people who die in the faith – you know, it's just...it's just a lifetime commitment and we can't put a timeframe on it, we have to wait on God.

So let's turn to Luke 18:18, and I'd like to look at this in a little bit different light than maybe... we probably looked at before, but anyway, as applying to this song. Luke 18:18, and we've heard this story so many times. Now a certain young ruler...Now a certain ruler asked Him saying, Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? The dream. And Jesus said to him, Why do you call Me good? No one is good but one, and that is God. You know the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour your father and mother. And the young ruler said, These things I've kept since my youth. So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, You still lack one thing: he lacked putting God first. Sometimes we look at this story and it's like, Christ says, sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven: and come and follow Me. A lot of times we go, "Does that mean I'm supposed to sell my house, and have a garage sale and sell everything and have one set of clothing and follow Christ...? No, he didn't see the importance that his physical things weren't important but the dream was, putting God first, following Jesus Christ, looking forward to that Kingdom. That's what's most important, the spiritual treasures that we can have, that God gives us as we seek Him and follow Him.

But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful: didn't see the dream, for he was very rich. We have to love this way of life! It has to be the first and foremost thing in our lives every day.

Alright, let's go back to Matthew 6:33 and we're going to read another verse there. We'll read the one that we did read but we'll read the next one and it pretty much says what we've been talking about. So Matthew 6:33 – Again, But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow; none of us can add a day to our lives unless God gives it to us. We don't know what's around that corner, what mountain is there. There is nothing we can do about it until it gets here and then we deal with it as we've been talking about. ...for tomorrow will worry about its own things; Sufficient for the day is it's own trouble. In other words, we just deal with what's with today. It's not that we shouldn't plan for tomorrow – I mean, we've been told, Mr. Armstrong was always saying 5 years, 10 years... again, we see how close things are but we still... we can't do anything about tomorrow. We can plan for it but we can't do anything about what happens.

When going through trials, climbing, focus on the dream of God's Kingdom. It's just what we have to... it's our hope, it's what keeps us going, it's what motivates us.

So let's go to Hebrews 11; let's start in verse 1, we're going to jump on down but I wanted to hit this, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for; we hope for that Kingdom and we're waiting to see the evidence of that. And remember that, you know, Christ, "Will I find faith," and "Faith is more precious than gold," so let's continue on in faith and just knowing that that promise is going to be fulfilled someday and we just have to have the faith and hope in God that that day is coming...but it's coming in His time, we have to wait on Him.

Let's drop down to verse 8...verse 8 of Hebrews 11 - By faith Abraham obeyed; we can go back in Genesis and when God says, "Pick up and you leave this society," that he was in, probably the most advanced society for that period of time, "and go live in tents." Abraham obeyed. When he was called to go out to a place which he would receive for an inheritance, he went out, when he was told to turn left, this is the path you need to go on, he went; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in a land of promise, as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with his son Isaac and Jacob his grandson, and heirs with them of the same promise: For he waited...he waited... for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. And that's just it, we have to wait on God. We have to have the faith in the promises He's given us, those rainbows. We have to wait on God and He... this will be fulfilled. Yes, we're sick of this world, we want it to be over with and whatnot, but there again, it's... it's just a learning experience and how much we've been given. I mean, you go back through the four posts on the 'Extraordinary 4½  Years', and what we saw, what we witnessed, what we lived through. You know, it's an incredible thing to look back and see this little group was called out and went through that and got to experience it.

A lot of times I'm sure you all had the same thoughts too, is that...can hardly wait to meet these people in the 144,000 and ask them what it was like to go through... you know, Noah, what was it like to go through the flood. And Daniel...what was that lion's den like? But Daniel, I think he's going to want to talk to a few people that went through this end-time and what happened, because he wanted to know what happened and God told him he had to wait... and we have to wait, and we have to do it in faith and just know that those promises are there. But Abraham saw the dream of God's Kingdom.

Alright, in conclusion let's turn to 1 Corinthians 15:58 – Therefore my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. This way of life is tough, we have mountains to climb, but it's not in vain, we have to just continue on in it, we have to live this life, and Mount Zion and the dream is going to come true some day.

So, climb every mountain, the trials in life; ford every stream - when the trials get tougher, well, that's when we need to be closer to God; and follow every rainbow, every promise that God has said to us He will fulfill; until we live our dream, and that dream is the Kingdom of the Most High God.

~~~end