Would you take your Bibles this morning and turn in them to Zechariah chapter 6? and we're gonna get there in just a moment, but before we do, I just wanna say a few things. Number one, I wanna give a public thanks to Lizzie Feaster for stepping in to play the piano after Baby Shower Gate last week, and I'm very grateful for her desire to serve this church, and she did so very beautifully. Secondly, I wanna Say hi to my boys and my wife. We're watching from home. Conan, Caleb, hello. I love you, can't wait to see you a little bit later. Until then, listen to daddy and listen to your queen. She'll give me a full report when I get back. And then thirdly, I just wanna say, because our nursery is not open this morning, that parents, the little squeaks and songs and tears from your children do not bother us at all, so I don't want you to feel bad about any noise that's being made. Many times throughout redemptive history, God's people have been loud as his servant has been preaching, and we understand that it's a process to train your children, and we encourage it, so I don't want you to feel bad at all. We totally understand. This morning, we are continuing our exposition of the night visions of Zechariah, and this is actually the last night vision in the book. So before we read the text, I just wanna let you know, barring any providential hiccup, we are gonna come back to Zechariah next week to look at the coronation, the coronation that really speaks of the coronation of Jesus Christ and the rest of Zechariah chapter six. But this morning we're going to hear from Zechariah 6 verses 1-8. And this is the seventh and final night vision of the prophet Zechariah. So let's give our attention to the reading of God's word. Zechariah 6 verses 1-8. Prophet says, again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains. And the mountains were mountains of bronze. The first chariot had red horses, the second black horses, the third white horses, and the fourth chariot dappled horses, all of them strong. Then I answered and said to the angel who talked with me, what are these, my Lord? And the angel answered and said to me, these are going out to the four winds of heaven, after presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth. The chariot with the black horses goes toward the north country, the white ones go after them, and the dappled ones go toward the south country. When the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go and patrol the earth. And he said, go, patrol the earth. So they patrolled the earth. Then he cried to me, behold, those who go toward the north country have set my spirit at rest in the north country. Thus far the reading of God's word. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of our Lord stands forever, and we are grateful for it. Are we not, congregation? Would you bow your heads with me this morning and ask the Lord's help as we come to the ministry of his holy and inspired word? Bow your heads with me. Father God, we thank you that once again you have brought us together, your people. In fact, Father, the very concept of the church is those who are assembled, those who are called out and assembled, those who are gathered together. under the banner of the name of Jehovah. And Father, this morning as we worship, even though it is not ideal, as some of our brothers and sisters are in the parking lot, others are in overflow rooms, others are at home, I just pray, Father, that you would remind us all of the exquisite and real and lasting promises that you have given us, even in this vision. And that, Father, we would own them this morning, we would own them this week, we would own them, Father, as we stand at the mountains, as it were, of trial and tribulation. And that, Father, we would proclaim with great audacity, yes, that Christ is King of all, that there is not one square inch in this whole world over which Christ does not declare mine. And though, Father, though there be wicked men and women who seem to have sovereignty over these square inches, Father, we know that that is only for a time. As we heard this morning, the fires of judgment are ratcheting up. And Father, you will one day send your Son from heaven and there will be judgment. And Father, as we consider that this morning in this vision, I pray that we would anticipate the day when with all of the church, in all times, in all peoples, in all places, we declare that the Lord will send his son from heaven who will judge the living and the dead. And we will always and evermore be with him in the eschatological new heavens and new earth. Father, give us hope, help us declare this, believe this, relish this, we pray in Christ's name, amen. Mountains are a big deal in the Bible. In fact, there is a monograph or a book by one of my favorite theologians where he has mapped out the covenant theology that is in the warp and wolf of the Bible by mountains. He's telling the story of redemptive history through mountains, and it is a beautiful story. Mountains are, among other things, places and metaphors and ideas and concepts where God reveals himself. Perhaps the first mountain that you think of is Mount Sinai, when God revealed himself to Moses. Of course this is an accommodated revelation. It is anthropomorphic. It is not God's full blazing glory. For no man, woman, child, beast can stand in the presence of the full Shekinah glory of God. But God makes covenants with people on mountains. God gives blessings and curses from mountains. Mountains are where God reveals things to people. Mountains communicate things. And that is precisely what we see in Zechariah's final night vision this morning. This night vision is going to remind us of two things, and I want you to mark them. And whether or not we're gonna get through those two things this morning, I don't know, I'm just gonna say that at the forefront. I have a full and heavy and joyful heart this morning, and I wanna declare these things to you. But if we do not finish it this morning, come back tonight, and I will finish it tonight. But there are two main things that this vision of chariots coming out of the two bronze mountains is communicating. It is this, number one, the presence of God. And number two, the judgment of God. And actually I'm gonna add a third. Number three, the rest of God, the Sabbath rest of God. So the presence of God, the judgment of God, and the Sabbath rest of God. And I wanna communicate those things to you this morning. I've really tried hard to break this up, to break these stones up as it were into three or four palatable ideas or thoughts. But the fact of the matter is everything in this text really hangs together. So what I'm going to do is I'm just going to lay out everything and then as I go along I'm going to make reference to these three things, the presence of God, the judgment of God, and the Sabbath rest of God. And you'll forgive me if I don't put them in three buckets, if you will, that are helpful. But the first thing I want you to see is that this is about the presence of God. Look at verse 5. The angel answered and said to me, these, speaking of the chariots, are going out to the four winds of heaven, that is, this is global, after presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth. Now what I want you to see here is that these chariots are coming out from these bronze mountains And whatever these bronze mountains are describing or depicting or standing as a metaphor for, and we'll get to that in a minute, one thing is very clear from verse five, they represent the presence of God because these chariots and the horses, these are war chariots by the way, these war chariots that are going out are going out from the presence of the Lord. They were in the presence of the Lord and the Lord was in their presence before going out for judgment. So these two mountains indicate the presence of God. Now, I'm going to talk about this morning three specific mountains, and I wanna give you one of those mountains this morning. Write it down, note it. It is called the Mount of Assembly. The Mount of Assembly. If you care, the one and a half Hebrew scholars in here, okay, and I'm gonna tell you in Hebrew because we're gonna come back to this at the end. It's Hach Moed. Har moed. Har, boys and girls, means mount or mountain. And moed here means assembly or the place where some people or some figures assemble. And we can see this if you turn in your Bibles to Psalm 48. Just very quickly turn to Psalm 48. The Mount of Assembly is a very important mountain in biblical revelation, and more importantly, it is important in all of the religions of the ancient Near East, because it comes up in the various writings of the different cultures and different religions of the ancient Near East. But in Psalm 48, Psalm 48 verses 1 and 2, a psalm of the sons of Korah. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God. His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth. Mount Zion in the far north, the city of the great king. Now I'm going to come back to this, but this is making reference to something called the Mount of Assembly. Now, what you need to understand is that in ancient Near Eastern religions, almost every religion had their own mountain that was like the equivalent of Mount Olympus. And Mount Olympus, in Greek mythology, was the mount where all of the lowercase g gods met, okay? Think of the place where the Avengers meet, boys and girls, okay, where all the superheroes meet. They have their headquarters, okay? I always get Marvel and DC mixed up, but maybe it was DC that's the Justice League, is that right? Is that Marvel? I don't know. It doesn't really matter, okay? For the DC, it's the Justice League, and for the Avengers, it's whatever that building is. Where all the superheroes met, they convened, they assembled there. Well, in Greek mythology, that was Mount Olympus where all the gods met. And that divine assembly, that divine mountain, was the place where they conjured up their ideas. Well, you need to understand that those were polytheistic peoples and religions. Religions and peoples who believed in more than one God. And you have to understand that the people of God in the Bible were monotheistic. And one of the things that God was always doing is he was taking ideas from popular culture and he was commandeering them and fitting them to the theology of the people of Israel, fitting them to the theology of Yahweh. And this Mount of Divine Assembly is one such example. Think for a moment of when God went down to judge the Tower of Babel. Notice that he says, if you go back, you can go back later and check it out, but he declares in the Genesis account, let us go down and confound their languages. Now, some theologians would say that that's inner Trinitarian dialogue, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are talking, maybe, but you have to understand, and this is where I live, I study texts in the ancient Near East, you have to understand that there was this concept of the Mount of Assembly in all other religions where all the gods would meet, Well, Yahweh had that same one. There was this divine court where his heavenly host met, not God's, but his heavenly host whom he created. And he said, let us go down and confound their languages. This is the Mount of Assembly. It is a very important mountain. It is the place where heaven and earth met. In other words, in ancient Near Eastern thought, if you think in terms of portals, okay, if I could think in that category, the portal to go from earth to heaven was through the Mount of Assembly. It's the place where man would go to rise up to God, and it's the place where God would filter his judgment and his word through. And this is, as you can even see with your imagination, what we're seeing in Zechariah 6. God met with his people there. Now, what I want you to notice here is that when we come to this image of two mountains, There's two things I wanna say here. Number one, you have to remember that in the Bible, sometimes two objects are put for one thing. And I'm gonna submit to you this morning that that's what's going on. This image of the two bronze mountains is basically talking about God's mount of assembly, where God meets with man. But it's going to do it in a very specific way by depicting two bronze mountains. Now, why is that? Why is he talking about two bronze mountains? Well, keep in mind, we are in the exilic period. It is in this period that the Jews are rebuilding the temple. It is in this period that they have many doubts, right? They were the religious and ethnic minorities in this new land, this old land, but new for them. They were hated by the majority, okay? Their efforts at rebuilding the temple kept getting them frustrated, and they were sidelined, and they were mocked. The building would start up, and then it would stop, and then it would start up, and then it would stop. And they needed to be reminded that God had not given up on them, that He was still with them, that His promises were still applicable to them. And before I go any further, isn't it interesting that I think for many of us, we feel like we're in a similar place. We feel like we're in a similar place where as we look at the political landscape outside of these four walls, we wonder, God, are you gonna take care of us? We wonder, God, are you going to preserve our religious rights? God, are you going to send us underground? God, are we going to be persecuted? We need a word from God. We need a reminder from God. But what's interesting is these mountains were bronze. And I want to remind you of something, something that these exilic peoples would have been reminded of as they were told the stories of what the great temple of Solomon looked like. long before they were sent into exile. You see, in Solomon's temple, if you went into the courtyard, this is very interesting, there would be the altar of sacrifice in the courtyard, and you could go there as an Israelite. You didn't have to be a priest. It would be the altar of sacrifice where the priest would make the sacrifice on behalf of the people, and then that priest would take some of that blood, and he would walk up to the steps of the temple, and if you wanted to as an Israelite, you could walk right up with him to those steps. But you see, when you got to the doors of the temple, that's where you could go no further. Because behind the doors of those temple was the first room, and that first room was the holy place. And only the priest could go there. And then behind that room was another room called the Holy of Holies, and only the high priest on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, once a year could go into that room. But the common Israelite could not go past those doors. It was cordoned, it was sectioned off. And what's interesting is, holding up the roof of that temple in front of those doors were two bronze pillars. Two bronze pillars that were huge as the Israelites gazed upon them. In fact, as they gazed upon those two bronze pillars, they were quite imposing. And these two pillars in 1 Kings 7 verse 21 are called Jachin and Boaz. They're the pillars of strength. They're the pillars that remind us, perhaps even, of mountains. And I want you to notice as you put this together, now, before I go any further, some of you are like, where is this guy going and what did he have for breakfast? Well, listen to me, okay? There's a few architects in this congregation, and what you will know if you're an architect is sometimes architects will build buildings to depict something. Let me give you an example. In the skyline in San Diego, for those of you who know San Diego, they call it the toolbox skyline. Because if you look at the buildings, as you're on the harbor there, if you look at the top of the buildings, the architects have built the buildings to depict certain tools that would be in a toolbox. One of the tops of the buildings looks like a Phillips head screwdriver. Another one looks like a flathead screwdriver. And there are other various tools that is depicted. See, only an architect's eye could see this. The person who does not have an architect's training might need to be shown it, but once they see it, they can connect the dots. Well, think about this temple, for example. This temple has on the front two bronze pillars, and it's where God and man meet, just like the Mount of Assembly in the Bible. It's the portal where God comes down from heaven to meet with his people. It is the place where, not only that, God dwells. Some of you say, well, God is omnipresent. He is everywhere. That's true, but you must put yourself in the sandals of the Israelite who believed, yes, God is omnipresent, but he chooses to dwell in a particular place, just like every other ancient Near Eastern religion. He dwells in a temple, and as we know and have heard, that temple throughout time will expand to fill the whole earth. Well, when Solomon prayed, if the dedication of the temple would happen, the Shekinah glory of God came like a whirlwind into that temple and dwelt there. This is the Mount of Assembly. This is the place where God resides. He later called it Mount Zion. So we see in this picture the presence of God. God is with us. Now for the Israelites, that meant that God was among them in the temple, but for us, beloved, can I just point one simple thing out? The glory of God and the person of the Spirit resides in us, the temple of God. You are the temple of God. If you ever need to know if God's presence is with you, you need only look inward. You need only look into your heart knowing that the Spirit of God dwells within you and assures you that He is there and He is not silent. Every child of God who has the Spirit of God dwelling in them knows this quite well. So first we see, in this depiction of a mountain, that the Spirit of God is with his people. But I want you to notice, secondly, that this vision is about judgment. Look at verses seven and eight, coming back to Zechariah 6. In Zechariah 6, verse 7 and 8, I'm going to get there in just a moment, but I want to remind you that this vision is really the fulfillment of the first vision that was given. If you remember way back in that first vision, remember boys and girls? There were these horses that were meeting, these patrol horses, if you will. There was one horse, one horseman, the angel of the Lord, who was on one horse, and he was sending out the other scouts, if you will, to patrol the earth. And those scouts came back, and what did they say? The report was, The whole world is at rest. And remember, that was not good news, that was bad news. Because the whole world was the wicked system of the evil one. The whole world were those who were in opposition to the people of God, and yea, verily, against God himself. And there was a promise that went out by God's servant Jeremiah that Israel would be at rest and the world would be churning up with turmoil because of the judgment of God. And as the exiles looked out into the land, that is not what they saw. They saw the opposite. So it was bad news that came to them, but God has been assuring us through these visions that judgment is coming. And as we come to the seventh vision, we see the fulfillment of that. we see that God is sending out his war chariots to judge all the earth. Now I want to point this out so that you see it because on the surface it is difficult to see. Notice in verse 7 that these horses are impatient. Another way to describe that is anxious. Just picture these horses, these war horses that are neighing, they are literally chomping at the bit to get out into the fray, to get out into the battle. These are war horses with chariots that are getting out into the battle to give and bring judgment on behalf of the Lord. But now I want you to notice verse eight, and this is where we see, this is where we see Judgment, verse eight, behold, those who go toward the north country have set my spirit at rest in the north country. Now what is that getting at? Listen, rest, peace, these two ideas are intertwined. And what is happening here is those who go out to the North Country, that is the four chariots, okay, or actually the three chariots, those that go out to the North Country are going out for battle, they're going out to judge, they're going out to gain victory, and once they do that, then rest can come. And the Spirit, and this is the third member of the Trinity, the Spirit will rest in enemy territory. and lay down and have rest amongst the people of God and with the people of God in territory that was formerly occupied by their enemies. In verse eight, we see the result of this war. Now, I wanna back up a little bit, because if this vision is about judgment, who is being judged? Who is being judged? Well, a few times in this text, you will see references to the north country, the north country, the north country, okay? And in verse five, excuse me, what is the north country? Well, this is where the Hebrew is gonna help us a little bit because when we look at this in the English, it's just, oh, it's the north country, okay? So something in the north, some entity in the north. But what you need to know is that the word for Hebrew in north here is zaphon. And the word Zaphon is a very interesting word because it happens to be, it happens to be the name of the mountain in Ugarit, which was to the north of Israel in the time of ancient Israel, that was, again, something of the... ancient or eastern equivalent for the people of Ugarit of Mount Olympus. It was the place where the gods met, okay? It was the place where the gods met. It's the place where heaven and earth met. It's the place where the gods would meet his people. But I want you to notice, and come back again to Psalm 48. I know we already went there, but I want you to come back. I want you to come back to Psalm 48. Psalm 48 does something very interesting. And this is again an example of how the authors of the Bible will take ideas from other religions and they will show their true nature in the religion of Israel. Psalm 48, a song, a psalm of the sons of Korah. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, his holy mountain. Beautiful elevation is the joy of all the earth. Now, I'm going to give you the correct translation, I think, because these things are in apposition. Mount Zion, the heights of the north, or Zaphon, the city of the great king. You know what the psalmist just did there? The psalmist just said, hey, all you pagan people, you wanna know what the true heights of Zaphon is? You wanna know the true place where the people can meet God? You wanna know the true portal of heaven and earth? It's Mount Zion, the city of God. These things are put in apposition. So there is no Mount Zaphon and Mount Zion. Mount Zion is the idea of Zaphon where God meets with his people, where the portal between heaven and earth is situated. This is Mount Zion. Mount Zion is the heights of Zaphon. Mount Zion is the city of the great king. But it is these imposters, listen, these imposters in that time from Babylon who were trying to ascend to the height of this mountain. And at this point I want you to turn in Isaiah chapter 14. Isaiah chapter 14. In Isaiah chapter 14, we have an oracle that Isaiah gives against the king of Babylon. An oracle against the king of Babylon. And what we're going to see here is that the king of Babylon is quite pompous in his attitude. He is audacious in what he thinks he can do. Look at Isaiah chapter 14. We're gonna look at verses 13 and 14. Isaiah 14, 13 and 14. Isaiah says, you said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven. Above the stars of God, I will set my throne on high. I will sit on the mount of assembly. That's Har Moed that we talked about. He's going to ascend the mountain of God and he's gonna rule there. And then he says, in the far reaches of the north. That is the same phrase that is used in Zechariah. It's the heights of the north. Mount Zion mouths off on he's going to ascend to the top of those mountains and he is going to rain I will make myself like the Most High I Will be God this is what the king of Babylon is saying and what Zechariah is doing is he is taking that spirit of Babylon that spirit of the Babylonian King which by the way is Probably a satanic influence behind the king of Babylon and he's saying this marks the people who oppose the people of God throughout all of redemptive history. They are those who want to reign in the place of God. They are those who call right wrong and wrong right. They are those who impose their false religion upon the world. They are those who are trying to ascend Mount Zion and occupy it. They are the northern aggressors. They are the northern occupiers. They are those who are trying to take over Mount Zion and Mount Zaphon. And this is a good symbol of all enemies, of all God's people in all times and in all places. And in fact, in Ezekiel chapter 38 and 39, we read this in our responsive reading this morning. We see another name who happens to also be from the land of the north, and his name is Gog, from the place of Magog. And Gog, in Ezekiel 38 and 39, the same language is used to describe him. He comes from the north, and he seeks to ascend to the heights. He seeks to impose on the people of God retribution and punishment. He seeks to make a name for himself. He presents this remarkable picture of this antichrist figure. And it is very interesting, listen, it is very interesting, that in the book of Ezekiel, the name Gog comes back. He comes back in the latter half of the book, chapter 20 of the book of Revelation, after the quote unquote millennium, Gog assembles all of his forces and they go to war against God, okay? And God comes in judgment against them. And it says in Revelation 16, 16, which is a description of that final battle, that that final battle will be, in Hebrew, at Har-Magedon. Now, let me tell you something about Har-Magedon, okay? That phrase has been, Something very difficult for scholars to decipher for a long time. They don't quite know what it means. And the best they could come up with is that it means mountain of Megiddo, because har means mountain, and Megiddo, Megiddon means, you know, plural. So the mountains of Megiddo. But the problem is, I've been to Israel, and I've been to Megiddo, and there's no mountains there. It's just a plain. And many scholars have noted this throughout time. So what does it mean? Well, I would submit to you that in Revelation 16, 16, when John says that that final battle with God will be fought on Har-Magedon, it's speaking of Har-Megon, which is Mount of Assembly. In other words, John, in his apocalypse, is giving a metaphorical depiction of how the enemy is trying to ascend to a place where only God can reign. And he is going to bring judgment against him in that place. So we see this in Revelation 16. We see this in Revelation chapter 20. But now finally that judgment has been spoken of, let me give this final, this third thing that is eschatological rest in verse eight. Again, come back to verse eight in Zechariah 6. Behold, those who go toward the north country, that is the war chariots of judgment, have set my spirit at rest in the north country. I want you to notice that this is a picture of eschatological rest. This is a picture of the new heavens and the new earth. This is a picture, listen, of that Sabbath rest that God promised he would enter into when he has made all things new. In fact, the seventh day of creation, way back in the Genesis account, was meant to stand, it is literal, but it was also meant to stand as a figure of the Sabbath rest. It is very interesting that if you go back to the account of creation, every day it says, there was morning and there was evening the first day. And there was morning and there was evening the second day. But when you get to the seventh day, it doesn't say that. It is meant to give you this depiction that it is unending. And that seventh day is meant to stand as a figure for the eschatological eternal age of the new heavens and the new earth. And what is interesting, and I want you to notice this, two things. The Spirit rests in the North Country. The Spirit rests in Mount Zaphon, as it were, and that land is land that was formerly occupied by God's enemies. The enemies of God and the enemies of God's people. Now, what does that have to do with us, beloved? You listen to me. Right now, even right, we don't need to wait. We don't need to wait to see the culmination of Babylon, the culmination of the northern aggressors, the culmination of northern occupiers that is going to mark the end of the age before God comes back in judgment. As time rolls on, we are seeing it escalate and culminate. Even in our age, we are seeing marks. from the top down of things that are oppressive to God's people. We are seen from the top down, whether it is in one of the three branches of government or in local government, right is being called wrong and wrong is being called right, and we tend to what? We tend to despair. What can help us to not despair? Well, here is an exquisite promise from the Word of God. The very land, the very land that the enemies occupied, the very land that the enemies took over, the very land in which the people of God were oppressed is going to be cleansed, it's gonna be purged, and the Spirit of God will rest there in that new heavens and new earth, and you will be there with Him. In the new heavens, the new earth, the northern aggressors and occupiers will be purged and you will enter into Sabbath rest. And I wanna show you this as we end this morning. Go finally to Zechariah chapter 14. I want you to see this, this is beautiful. Zechariah 14. Zechariah 14 is really the counterpart to Zechariah 6. Zechariah 6 speaks of two mountains, and from those mountains the war chariots go out in judgment, but Zechariah 14 talks about those mountains from an eschatological perspective. In Zechariah 14, we read of Jesus, this figure, coming and setting down on the Mount of Olives. I'm gonna pick up in verse three. Zechariah chapter 14, verse three. This is speaking of the end of days. Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day, his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley so that one half of the mount shall move northward and the other half southward. And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains "'for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Israel.'" This is a reverse of the Exodus into eschatological rest. Look at this. Out of Egypt, God made two mountains of water and the people passed through. And now Jesus is gonna come back, he's gonna split mountains. Here's the mountain figure again. Two mountains on either side, but now we are going through the valley between the mountains into the eschatological rest. Mountains is where God's judgment goes out and mountains are the place through which God's people come to eschatological glory. So it's in that time and in that place and in that way that the kingdoms of this world will have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. So beloved, this is the promise that we have to look forward to. This is the promise that we hold in our hearts. This is the promise that God has given us. And I just want you to keep in mind, I know that as you look around, I know that as you look around, You tend to get discouraged by what you see. I know that some of you are concerned about the virus. I know that some of you are concerned about our religious liberties. And some of you might be saying, well, what if they take our Bibles away? Because the way things are going, the things that are in our Bible are considered hate speech. So what if they take the script of what they deem to be hate speech away? Beloved, I don't want that to happen, but I will say this. Your word I have hidden in my heart that I shall not sin against thee. Can I ask you a question? It's not a question, it's a statement. Maybe now is a good time to start hiding God's word in your heart. Maybe now is a good time to start hiding God's word in your heart. Long before the Gutenberg press, the people of God hid God's word in their heart, and though they were cast in prison, though they had shackles put on their feet, though they were oppressed and afflicted, the one thing that the enemies of God could not do is take that promise of God's word out of their heart. You put that word of God, that promise of God, that blessing of God, that encouragement of God in your hearts and in the hearts of your children, parents. And if in our lifetime, jackbooted thugs break into our places of worship and they rip our Bibles out of our hand, they will not be able to rip the promises of God from our hearts. Blessed are those whose strength is in God and whose hearts are the highways to Zion. That's what the psalmist says. Let me ask you a question this morning. What is in your heart this morning? Do you have the highways of Zion in your heart? What are the highways of Zion? The highways of Zion are the promises of the eschatological kingdom. The highways of Zion are the characteristics of the kingdom of God. The highways of Zion are the kingdom of God. Do you have the highways of the Kingdom of God in your hearts or are the highways in your hearts the highways of a better America, a better nation, a better this and a better that, that there is no promise will ever materialize. What highways to Zion do you have in your heart beloved? "'Blessed are those whose strength is in God "'and whose highways to Zion inhabit their hearts.'" He said, well, what if under this new regime and down the line, they kill us for standing up for what we believe in? Well, Jesus says, "'Do not fear those who kill the body, "'but cannot kill the soul. "'Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.'" And I would make reference to the virus as well, beloved. Whether it is jackbooted thugs who may in the future break into our places of worship or our homes and try to kill us, or whether it is the virus, I'm not saying being foolish, I'm not saying be stupid. But I am saying we must have our priorities straight. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these other things shall be added unto you. So this morning, Feast your eyes on the promises that go forth from these two mountains, the promise of judgment, and feast your eyes on the promise of eschatological entrance into the new heavens and the new earth through the two mountains that Christ will split when he comes back. And this morning, if you are someone who does not know Jesus Christ, and you know nothing of these promises, and you are interested in these promises, you are interested in your sins being forgiven, you're interested in after you take your last breath, being taken up into heaven, then I wanna tell you this morning that that option, that offer is available to you. If you will turn from your sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and as the scripture says, you shall be saved. Let's pray. Father God, we thank you for the promise that comes out of these mountains and the promise that goes in. We thank you, Father, that the imposters that are our enemies will never be able, Father, to set up on the top of Mount Assembly. They will never be able to rip off the label Mount Zion and put in its place some other label. They will never, Father, be able to accomplish these things because you have determined their end. And Father, you have determined our end as well. And we pray that that end would be precious to us this morning. We pray that that end would be precious to us as we go into this week. And we pray, Father, that it would be precious to our children. Father, give us the audacity this week to go out into a world that is increasingly hostile toward us and to stand on the promises of that eschatological kingdom. For it is in Christ's name we pray, amen. Let's stand this morning and we are going to sing the doxology. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.