Take your Bibles, if you would, with me to the book of Psalms. We'll go to the 48th chapter, the 48th Psalm. Advertising is a multi-billion dollar industry. And most everything today is advertised, and most everywhere it is advertised. Don't worry about that. It may blink here and there. We're just going to enjoy it until we can get it fixed. It's in the process. We're working on it. But we haven't had an answer to that problem yet. So just if it dims, just enjoy it. It just keeps you awake. I noticed last Sunday night we had them turned off entirely. And people still sat in the back. So you must not have minded or you maybe thought I wouldn't see you sleeping. But anyway. Cute little baby Beatrice snuck in and I thought the dim lights were probably perfect for her. She just kept on sleeping. Anyway, Psalm chapter 48 is where we're at. We're talking about advertising and so much time and effort. I've seen there's advertising on curbs, there's advertising on professional athletes' jerseys. Everywhere you go, there's something being advertised. Cities are no exception to it. A number of years ago, we were downtown Chicago and we saw advertisements for Columbus. I guess people in Chicago never knew there was a city called Columbus, but it was encouraging them to move there. Obviously, some of them did. I think Columbus is the second largest city in the Midwest these days, bigger than some of the others that had been bigger through the years. We were at the State Fair not long ago, and they have a little section with the different counties and cities, and we picked out a Greater Lima, Ohio view book. We wanted to find out, what is there to do here? And there are plenty of things to do and a lot of exciting things. And anyway, there are cities that promote themselves, they advertise, they try to lure people in. We come to Psalm 48, we're going to see a city that's highlighted, but it's highlighted by God. It's a city. heart of what he wanted to do in the world and the life of his people, the Israelites. It says in verse 1, Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion on the sides of the north, the city of the great king. Let's bow together for prayer. Father, now as we look to your word for a few moments, I pray that our eyes would not only see a city. but the God of that city. I pray that we would turn our eyes, that we would have a great view of you. And by our lives, that we would give a watching world a great view of your son, Jesus Christ. In his name we pray, amen. This city, Jerusalem, is a city that points to God. In this psalm, we've been covering psalms, traveling psalms. These were psalms that were sung as people journeyed from their homes to certain seasons of festival and celebration in the city of Jerusalem. I think of our Lord Jesus Christ. We know that his family made such a journey, some 60 to 80 miles away. When he was 12 years old, he made his way to the city of Jerusalem. You remember the story where after three days, his mother realized he wasn't with her. Interesting, isn't it? Some of you have maybe thought about free range parenting before, but Mary practiced it. She let her 12 year old have a little space, obviously. But there he was in the temple about his father's business. And Jesus, no doubt with his family, would have sung psalms like this on their way to Jerusalem to worship God. The views that are described in this chapter are reminders. These are what people would have been seeing as they were coming to worship. God. You probably passed by some things this morning on the way to church. Sundays are usually a little quiet around town, but maybe there was some significant thing that you passed by, or maybe when you turned around the corner of Cole and you saw the church, and maybe your heart was filled with joy. I can't wait to get together with God's people and worship our Savior. Well, these people would sing such a song. It continues on in verse three, God is known in her palaces or her bulwarks or her castles is the idea for a refuge. We heard about a refuge in the song this morning. God is our refuge. It says in verse 4, for lo, the kings were assembled. They passed by together. And this is the idea of those who were looking to take over, to conquer Jerusalem. They observed her. But look what it says in verse 5. It says, they saw it. And so they marveled. They were troubled and hasted away. They didn't think that they could do it. It was not just the beautiful sight of the city, and it was not just the high walls. It was the testimony of a God who had protected his people. Verse 6 says, fear took hold upon them there, and pain as a woman in travail. Verse 7, he says, thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind. In the picture here, the strongest ships of the sea, the strongest military vehicles of the time. He says, God could take them and he could break them in two. God is protecting this city. Verse 8, it says, and we have heard, so have we seen the city of the Lord of hosts in the city of our God. God will establish it forever. God made a promise to David. God made a promise for the city of Jerusalem, situated just where it was. This city was a city that God promised that one day His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, would assume the throne and reign during the millennial kingdom for 1,000 years. This city of significance. He says, we have thought, verse nine, of thy loving kindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple. What made Jerusalem so special? It was a city certainly chosen by God, but it was a city significant because it was a place of worship. The tabernacle, then later the temple were there. This is a city of importance for Israel. It's a city of significance for us, the church. Well, God will keep His promise to Israel and to the city of Jerusalem. We know that God used the city of Jerusalem. It was there, not only that Jesus went as a 12-year-old boy, but it was the city where our Lord and Savior was taken outside of its gates and crucified, where He died to pay for my sins and yours. It was there that the gospel was first sent out. When he sent out his disciples, he says, begin in Jerusalem, from Jerusalem to Judea, to Samaria, to the uttermost part of the earth. So the gospel, the good news that we can be forgiven, that we can be saved, started there in Jerusalem. As we read this morning in our scripture reading, we know that there will be a new Jerusalem one day. Revelation chapter 20 tells us. It's a city that God has his eyes on, his sights set on. It's a city of significance for us. It's also a city of remembrance. It's a place for God to showcase his greatness, for God to demonstrate his faithfulness to us. He continues on in verse... 9. We have thought on thy lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of the temple, according to thy name, O God. So is thy praise unto the ends of the earth. Thy right hand is full of righteousness. Let Mount Zion, again, another name for Jerusalem, particularly the Mount where the temple is. Let Mount Zion rejoice. Let the daughters of Judah be glad because of thy judgments. The daughters of Judah here may very well have been speaking of women or may have been speaking of the surrounding communities around Jerusalem. We don't know for sure. But he says, let them rejoice. God has protected the city. There were those who wanted to take it over. and God had protected them. Verse 12, walk about Zion. Again, speaking of Jerusalem. Go round about her, tell her towers thereof, mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces, that ye may tell it to the generation following. For this God is our God forever and ever, and he will be our guide even unto death. God has put the city of Jerusalem as an object lesson this morning. And as this song was sung as people prepared themselves to go to the city of Jerusalem to worship God, it's a beautiful picture for us of a place set aside, a place of worship. Now, we worship in a building. This church is a building set aside, committed to the Lord for worship. But you remember in John chapter four, there was a woman, a woman at the well. And she dialogued with the Lord Jesus Christ. She was a Samaritan. And as she was speaking with him, she was clued in that he was speaking about God and worship. And she said, you know, we worship in that mountain, but you worship in Jerusalem. Jesus says there's coming a day that now is where we will, they that worship him will worship him in spirit and in truth. And while we gather in a place of worship, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit of God. We worship from our hearts. Our hearts are His throne room for our worship today. So God invites us in this passage to worship Him. Great is the Lord. Sometimes I can overuse adjectives. Sometimes I can be a little bit abundant in my words. Sometimes I've said things were great, but they're nothing compared to God. The idea of great is something of such size and magnitude that nothing can compare with him. And he's greatly to be praised. And this praise took place in the city of Jerusalem. This is a city that points to God. It's also a city that points to the gospel. So God is at work today in the world. There's a time when Nehemiah heard word that Jerusalem's walls were broken down. His heart was broken. In Nehemiah 1, we have a record of his response. This place, when Jerusalem was protected, when its walls were up, when the worship in the temple was taking place. Those sacrifices were being offered, pointing to the day when there'll be a Messiah, the Lord Jesus, who will come to this world. When it was taking place, it was actually what God intended to be taking place in the world. The outside nations were to look to Israel and see their love and devotion to God, to see their need for God. In verse 4 it says, and I came to pass when I heard these words, and he had heard that the walls were broken down, that the city of Jerusalem was in disrepair. He says, when I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned certain days and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven and said, I beseech thee, O Lord, God of heaven, the great and terrible God that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him, that observe his commandments. And he shares his concern, his broken heart for the broken walls of this city. This city is significant for God's work in the world. And Nehemiah gets permission by God's provision. He gives him opportunity to go. We find in chapter two, he wakes up in the night and he tours around the city of Jerusalem. He says, I and some few men with me in verse 12 of chapter two. He says, "'Neither told I any man what God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem, neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.'" He talks about walking through, looking and examining the city, seeing the damage that had been done. In verse 17 he says, "'Then said I unto the people here,' he's saying, "'Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. Come and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.'" And in 52 days time, Nehemiah led this group of people in the city of Jerusalem to rebuild the walls. Worship was restored. And for a time, God was being glorified in that city. But then disobedience came and they were distracted again and Jerusalem was taken. Psalm chapter 48, these are reminders of what God wants to take place. It's a place of God's protection and provision. So long as His people were trusting Him, were looking to Him, were resting in Him, they would be protected. Like the city of Jerusalem, you and I, Jesus called cities, right? In Matthew chapter 5, He indicated that we were to be like a city that is set on a hill, Matthew chapter 5. And down in verse 14, he says, ye, Christian, ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. In the same way that Jerusalem was to showcase the greatness of God, Christian today, guess what? We are to showcase the greatness of God by our life, by our testimony, by our obedience, and by our love. He says in verse 16, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father, which is in heaven. So we're called to be lights, not a light unto ourselves, not stepping into the spotlight for our own glory. You and I are called to be lights to radiate the brightness of God, the glory of God in heaven. Matthew chapter 16 and verse 18, in the same way that God protected the city of Jerusalem, we were promised that he will protect his church. And I say unto thee that thou art Peter and upon this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Just as God had protected the city of Jerusalem, he has promised he will protect his church. It will continue to grow and to do His will. God has a significant place for you and I in His plan. As we go back to Psalm chapter 48, verse two, it says, beautiful for situation. The aesthetics of the city were beautiful to look on. They pointed to the greatness of God. It says in verse two, the last few words there, he says, the city of the great King. Verse three says, God is known in her palaces. We continue on. He says in verse nine, he says, we have thought of thy loving kindness. So God, in the midst of thy temple, the city was to be a reminder and evidence of the greatness of God. Verse 10, according to thy name, O God, so is thy praise. What an interesting expression. According to thy name, so is thy praise. The idea is every time God's name is spoken, the first thought that comes to your mind is to praise and to worship him, wherever God's name is spread. We live in a world that thinks very little of the name of God, that uses it so casually, intentionally, spitefully, cursing God. But when you hear the name of God, what is your first thought? Is it to praise him? Is it to thank him? A number of years ago, I was walking on the bike path with my family and somebody shouted out the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And my first response was, is Lord of all. Jesus Christ is Lord of all. I asked the person about it and they didn't want to talk about the subject. But God's name is to be valued and to be praised. We are to praise it. We're to value it. He says in verse 11, let Mount Zion rejoice. Let the daughters of Judah be glad. It's a place of protection. It's a place of praise. He encourages us in verse 12, walk about it, examine it, study it. He says, consider her palaces that she may tell it to the generation following. Well, the church is not Israel and Israel is not the church. Galatians tells us in a sense, we are God's Israel. We are valued by God. Individually as believers and as a local church, we have our place in the world. We are appointed by God and we're to point to the world who God is. We're to give them a view of who he is in the world today. What are we to do? In John chapter 13 and verse 34, You see, in the Old Testament, the outside watching nations were to look to Jerusalem to see God. In the New Testament, we're commissioned by God, by the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not just to shine so the world can see us and marvel and then maybe get an idea of God. We are called to go to the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We're called to go with the good news of salvation. But as we go, how do we go? He says in verse 34, a new commandment I give unto you that you love one another as I have loved you, and that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love toward one another, if you have love to one another. There's such a quality, such a drastic contrast in the kind of love that Christians show to one another that the world steps back and marvels. They're eager to hear, they're hungry to hear the message of the gospel because they're seeing such a demonstration of love in the church. In John chapter 15, Jesus said it's his will, his desire is that we would bear much fruit. He says in verse 8, Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples. Then he says in verse nine, as the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Continue in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love. Even as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love, verse 11, these things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, that your joy might be full. Verse 12, this is my commandment, that ye love one another. as I have loved you." The love of Christ has been put in our hearts. It tells us that in Romans 5, in verse 5, God is put within you and me by the cross of Jesus Christ. If you're a child of God, he's put within you his very own love. He says, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. And you say, there's people that are difficult for me to love. I'm not sure that I could be what this passage says I'm to be. Friend, if you're a Christian, if you're a true child of God, God, by His Holy Spirit, has put His love in your heart. That's the love that's to be evidenced. It's to be observed by a watching world. And so when we go to them with a gospel, they're not going to put up their hands and say, I don't want that. You guys are just a bunch of hypocrites. They're going to say, I have seen. I have seen such a character of love in you as I've never seen anywhere else. I want what you have. I need what you've got. Our message is powerful. The God who protected Israel will protect you and I. He doesn't leave us alone and he goes with us with the gospel, with his presence and with his power, we're told. Matthew 28, Acts 1, verse 8. He sends us with his presence and he sends us with his power as we go before a world. But how do we go? With a spirit of love, with a spirit of light. 1 Corinthians 6, verse 19, we're told that we are the temple. We've become the temple of the Holy Spirit. It says, what? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own, for you are bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. God wants to radiate his light from you. And He'll do that as we live a godly life, a holy life, a life of light, and of course a life of love, self-sacrificial love for one another. That's the evidence of our faith, the evidence that Christ is our Lord and our King. The prayer is prayed, the commitment given. He says, to the church, Peter writes, but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It's an interesting expression. Sometimes I, in the past, put the emphasis on the beginning and the end, growing and giving glory to God. But how do we grow? If you're growing, but you're not growing in grace, you're not maturing, you're just aging. As we grow, as we mature in our faith, love won't be difficult for you. Grace towards one another as Christians won't be difficult for you if you're growing the right way. But if your growth plan is leaving you cranky, critical, harsh, crude, and rude. My friend, you're aging, but you're not maturing. He says, but grow in grace. Notice this, in the knowledge of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Where does that transformation take place? It takes place in Jesus Christ. He's the one who changes us. He's the one who gives us grace. appropriate from time to time to ask ourselves as Christians and as a church, am I a Mary or a Martha? Is our ministry a Mary ministry or a Martha ministry? You know, there's gonna be work that needs to be done. There's gonna be things that need to accomplish. But if we're busy working but we're critical and harsh and we're angry and we're going to God saying, why don't you listen to me? Why are they doing this and why aren't they helping me? If that's your attitude, my friend, Jesus' words, he says, it ought not to be that way. Mary chose the good part. Our service should be an overflow of a heart of worship. It should come from a heart that's focused on, centered on Jesus Christ. You say, yeah, a lazy, good-for-nothing ministry? No, a biblical, God-honoring ministry. Because what are we here for? To get the work done or to glorify God? He said, well, getting work done will glorify God. Not with that attitude, it won't. God is pleased when we serve him with a heart of humility and sacrifice and service. The next page over in my Bible from Psalm chapter 48, it says in chapter 51, verse 17, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. Oh God, thou wilt not. despise. Not only is the city of Jerusalem a city that was set aside for God, but we find out in the New Testament, the church was bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. It's set aside. The church is sanctified. It's the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ who he's purifying today. He's preparing us to spend forever with him. He's preparing the bride, the church, but he's also preparing the individual believer. He's working in us. And just like the city of Jerusalem, we find God's glory was expanded because it was attacked. God's name was praised because it had an opportunity to show his strength. Some of you are going through some difficult times today. There's some attacks that are taking place in your life. And you might say to yourself, God could really work in my life. God could be glorified if it wasn't for these problems. My friend, we learned something from Psalm chapter 48. It's through those challenges, through those problems that God can be most glorified in my life and yours. God often brings us to a place of weakness. You're familiar with the thorn in the flesh that Paul experienced. For a number of years, he had seen a vision. He wasn't able to tell anybody about it. How did God keep Paul humble after taking him to heaven and back again? He allowed him to experience pain. And Paul came to the point in his life where he realized, I would much rather have the pain and God's grace that comes with it than to not have the pain at all. Joseph is another example of somebody in the Bible who was given great knowledge, and he didn't really handle it well as a young man. But God allowed Joseph to be not only sold into slavery, but to go through many years of difficulty and trial so that he could not only save his people, but God could be glorified. And God might be allowing you to experience some discomfort, some pain, some challenges, because he wants to be seen in your life. He wants you to show him, not to show you. Romans chapter 12 and verse 10 tells us what we the church together are to be. Romans 12 verse 10 says, be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love and honor, preferring one another. Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer, distributing to the necessity of the saints, given to hospitality. God has called us to be one. In fact, in John chapter 17, Jesus is, we could say, the true Lord's prayer. As Jesus prayed for his disciples, and actually he tells us, he's praying for us. John chapter 17, verse 20. He says, neither pray I for these alone, his disciples, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word. That's us, those who will be saved. We've heard the message of those disciples that was passed on to other disciples, to other disciples came to us. And Jesus here is praying for us, for them which shall believe on me through their word. Look at verse 21, that they all may be one as thou father art in me and I in thee. that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." In other words, the unity we have as believers with one another is an evidence, it's a proof of God's unity, but also of God's love. He says in verse 22, and the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them that they may be one, even as we are one. How do we protect the church? We follow God's commands. We answer Jesus's prayers. We love one another. We serve one another. We give ourselves to one another. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. He says, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, your attitude, which are God's. 2 Corinthians 3 verse 2, we're told that we are epistles. This is what Paul said to the church at Corinth. He's giving evidence of what had taken place in their church and in their lives. And he says, you're walking letters, you're books, evidence in God's work in your life. And you are our epistles written in our hearts, known and read of all men. That's what we're to be. We're a temple. We're to be living books that the world can read about God from our lives. Then in 2 Peter 2, verse 9, we find we are a royal priesthood. God has a plan for me and you to demonstrate his glory by our lives. Just as in the Old Testament, the city of Jerusalem was such a place of significance and prominence. It was a place that was to point people to God. So we are the priesthood today. He says in 1 Peter 2 verse 9, but you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people that ye should show forth the praise of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. The city of Jerusalem had A simple creed, great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised. It's a reminder for us, it's an object lesson for us as you read Psalm chapter 48, that God seeks still yet today for his name to be known in this world. Oh, Jesus Christ is coming, and there will come a day when Jesus will set his feet in Jerusalem and take the throne of David. But until that time, as we await that time, God's light needs to shine through us. His love needs to show through us. He wants his name to be praised, not by tremendous advertising schemes, but by a people who love one another. Father, help us now to live your calling in our lives. Help us to be a light, a city set on a hill so that others might see you. I pray that you would give us grace in the difficulties and the challenges. We're thankful that you are our refuge, and you are great. Oh, Father, be honored in our lives. If there's one here today, Father, who has never personally received Jesus Christ as their Savior, help them to see that the Lord Jesus, who stepped outside of the city of Jerusalem and there died on that cross for our sins, paid the price for their sins. And I pray that today they would come to Him and be saved, be forgiven, be redeemed. In Jesus' name, amen.