the really famous cities in the Roman Empire, and it was blessed to have the distinction that if you were born in that city, you were born a Roman citizen. Mark Anthony and Cleopatra both lived in Tarsus at one point in time. Cicero, the great Roman orator, served as the governor of Tarsus at one time. It was a really prominent city. And being a Roman citizen within the Roman Empire was really special. You could buy a Roman citizenship for a large sum of money. or you could be born either in Rome itself or in one of the few select cities that were given citizenship birthright. And Paul was a Roman citizen, and Paul identified himself as a Roman citizen. In fact, at least three times in his life that we know of, he used his Roman citizenship to either escape from an unjust and cruel punishment, like a flogging, or to avoid death when he appealed to Caesar, which he had the right to do as a Roman citizen, which saved him from a plot of people who were conspiring to take his life. And yet, the same Paul, who three times used his Roman citizenship, he said to the Philippians, which by the way, Philippi was another one of those rare cities where you were born there, you were a citizen, so he wrote to the Philippians, and this is the only place in any of his letters where Paul uses the term citizenship, and what he as a Roman citizen writes to this church of Roman citizens, what he writes in Philippians 3.20 is he says, but our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And in Galatians 4.26 he wrote, but the Jerusalem above is free and she is our mother. For Paul, as for all Christians, our earthly citizenship and our earthly place of birth is not the highest and truest aspect of who we are. We have a citizenship in heaven, the Jerusalem above, the heavenly Mount Zion. I love the way the writer to the Hebrews puts this in Hebrews 12 when he speaks of Mount Zion. He says, but you have come to Mount Zion. and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn, who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant. and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel." That's Hebrews chapter 12, verses 22 to 24. Now, there's a sense in which this dual citizenship has always been the case for God's people. Jerusalem, the earthly city, which stands on Mount Zion, the earthly mountain, was never intended to be the final home, the ultimate destination, the goal and the longing of the hearts of God's people. I read to you from Hebrews 12. The previous chapter, Hebrews 11, the great hall of fame of faith, talks about the great patriarchs and their faith, and it says of them, they were seeking an eternal city. If they were seeking the land that they'd come from, they could have gone back to it. But instead, they were looking to that city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. So earthly Jerusalem was always meant to point people to heavenly Jerusalem. It was always meant to be, as it were, an earthly outpost of the heavenly Jerusalem. And that is the role the church has today. And that is why we take this parallel. We say that what Jerusalem was for God's people in the Old Covenant, the Church is today for God's people in the New Covenant. We are the earthly outpost of the heavenly city. We are, as it were, an earthly embassy of the heavenly kingdom. Just as if you're ever in a foreign country and you get yourself into a bit of trouble, you might go running to the American embassy. Like if you're ever in a foreign country and you ever lose your passport, Don't ever do that, by the way. Keep your passport on you at all times. Duct tape it to your chest or something. But if you ever lose your passport in a foreign city, where are you going to go? Where's the American embassy? Where's the American consulate? Why? Because that's a little piece of America that exists in a foreign land. And so you go there because that's where you have your citizenship rights and where you can talk to them about your lost passport and they'll yell at you and, you know, tell you what a terrible citizen you are. But they'll take care of you, right? Here at the church, we're not going to yell at you and tell you what a terrible citizen you are, but this is like an embassy of the heavenly city on earth. And so we read a psalm, like Psalm 87, as believers, and we rightly read into it the gospel fulfillment for which the earthly Jerusalem stood. The Earthly church is the royal outpost of the heavenly Jerusalem. And as Christians, we are always, always being challenged to live our lives primarily oriented by, driven by, motivated by our heavenly citizenship. That's why Paul wrote to the Philippians and said, but our citizenship is in heaven. And he wrote to the Galatians and said, but the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. Because we're always tempted to live the other way around, to live primarily by our earthly citizenship, and only on Sunday mornings do we think about our heavenly citizenship, or only every once in a while, right? And this is nothing new. The early church struggled with this, too. After many, many years of persecution, In the year 313, the Roman Empire finally legalized Christianity and allowed Christians to worship freely. And then soon after that, the Roman Empire actually took on sponsorship of the church, and then Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. And that led to a time where, within a few generations, Christians went from being a persecuted minority who, like the Apostle Paul, may be Roman citizens, but they saw themselves as outcasts within this empire, to being the favored people within the empire, and they got rather complacent. And then in the year 410, just about a hundred years after Christianity was legalized, something terrible happened. The Eternal City, as it was known, Rome was destroyed, sacked by barbarians. Barbarian tribes from what's today Germany, that area, came down and they ransacked Rome, completely devastated the city. And even Christians wondered, what are we gonna do if even Rome is not secure? And the pagans started saying, well, you know why Rome isn't secure anymore. It's because you Christians got everyone to stop worshipping the pagan deities, and they're the ones who protect Rome, and so it's your fault, Christians, that the barbarians sacked Rome, because you stopped paying homage to the gods, and the gods are the real protectors of Rome. So out of that Augustine of Hippo, one of the great influences in the history of the church, wrote one of the greatest books in the history of the church called The City of God. And The City of God covers a lot of things, a lot of topics, but in one very, very important section, he lays out for us this understanding of what it means to live as a dual citizen. He says, there is a city of man. Rome is a city of man. Carthage, where Augustine was in Hippo, is a city of man. Bel Air, Baltimore, Washington DC, Kabul, these are cities of man. And a city of man serves the purposes of man. It serves the glory of man. And it fades away because the grass withers and the flower fades. But the word of our God endures forever. And there is a second city, a better city, a higher city, the city of God. And that's the eternal city. Rome is not the eternal city. The heavenly Jerusalem is the eternal city, and so we need to live with our eyes fixed on the heavenly city, and that's what Psalm 87 helps us to do. It opens by proclaiming that it is on the holy mount stands the city he founded. So the first thing we see about this holy city is that God founded it. and that he loves it. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob. God founded his city on the holy mountain. Now what's interesting is actually in the original Hebrew, it's plural. on the holy mountains. And there's a lot of debate over whether or not it should be translated singular or plural. We're not going to get into all that. I think there's a specific reason why it's plural in the original. And that is because there are actually two mountains that are really important. And they both have for us compelling gospel pictures and gospel promises. And these are Mount Zion itself and then Mount Moriah. These two mountains were next to each other, and when Solomon expanded Jerusalem and expanded the walls around the city, he filled in the valley between Mount Zion and Mount Moriah and made kind of one mountain out of it, which all became known as Mount Zion. But there are actually two mountains, Mount Zion and Mount Moriah. So they're holy mountains, which became a holy mountain. Why are they holy? Well, because God was there in the temple. How was God there? Well, it wasn't just in the temple. God had chosen to show himself to his people and make profound promises to his people on those mountains in several different ways. One, the earliest, we go back to almost a thousand years before King David reigned, to almost 2000 BC, and we find an old man His name was Abram, but God changed his name to Abraham. And he had a son whose name was Isaac, who was the son of promise, the son of his old age, the son born to him when he was 100 years old. and they're going up Mount Moriah. God called him specifically a three days journey away. He called him to go to Mount Moriah and there offer up your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, on Mount Moriah. And so we see Abraham and Isaac going up the mountain. Isaac is carrying wood on his back. the wood that he will be laid on top of when he is made a sacrifice. And he asks his father Abraham, Father, here is the wood and the fire, they would have carried the fire and the torch, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice? And Abraham said, God himself will provide the lamb. And he wasn't just being nice to his son, he was speaking as a prophet of what God would do. God spared Isaac, we know. God provided a ram that day on the mountain. Not a lamb, not yet. God provided a ram as a substitute for Isaac, and so Isaac was spared. And when God spared Isaac, we read this, Abraham called the name of that place, The Lord Will Provide. As it is said to this day, on the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided. Now, in Hebrew, I'm now going to share with you the most exciting moment of all of my three semesters of Hebrew study in seminary. In the Hebrew, this word, you may know it as Jehovah-Jireh, Yahweh-Hira, Yira does not mean provide in the sense that we would use that word. It actually means to see. And in this case, it's in the passive, so it's to be seen. So a more literal translation of this verse would be, Abraham called the name of that place, the Lord will see to it. as it is said to this day, on the mount of the Lord he shall be seen." So the idea of he'll see to it is provide, and so we go with provide. But there's a gospel promise, even in the language, that when God sees to it, it'll be when the Lord appears on this holy mountain. as the promised lamb that God would provide. A thousand years after that scene, Solomon builds the temple on Mount Moriah. And all the sacrifices for a thousand years are offered up on Mount Moriah. And Jesus, just outside of the city walls, in the shadow of that mountain, carries his cross up a hill. that is really on the slopes of Mount Moriah, where he is crucified as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It's also interesting that it was after Abraham offered up Isaac and God spared Isaac that God actually clarified and expanded his covenant promise that he had made to Abraham, in that he said in Genesis 22.18, in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. That was the first time God had specifically spoken of an offspring, singular, through your offspring, singular, shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. God will provide a lamb, the Lord will appear, and through your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. You see all that rich gospel imagery is there. Well, on Mount Zion, right next door, A thousand years after Abraham, about fifty years before Solomon builds the temple, maybe twenty-five years before Solomon builds the temple, God makes a promise to David in 2 Samuel 7, and we call it the Davidic covenant, the covenant of David. He makes a promise to David that someone from his line would sit enthroned as king forever. So we have the Davidic covenant promise, someone from the line of David will sit as king forever. We have the Abrahamic covenant renewed and expanded, through your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. We have kingship and we have sacrifice on the holy mountain. That is why Psalm 87 says, on the holy mount stands the city he founded. And John Newton interprets that as on the rock of ages founded. Because Jesus, the rock of ages, is the fulfillment of all of those gospel promises. And so this city is a foreshadowing of the one who would come to fulfill all of God's promises. And for the church, We stand, the foundation of the Church is laid on the cornerstone of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is prophet, priest, and king, who is sacrifice and high priest, who is Savior and Redeemer and Lord forever. Verse two then says, the Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob. And we could read that as all the scattered dwelling places of Jacob. And what this is telling us is that God loves the gathering place of his people, where they gather in worship to hear his word, than all the scattered places where they live. Yes, God loves you when you're at home. Yes, God is with you when you're at home, when you're praying, when you're reading the word. God is with you and God can speak to you and God can move in your heart and God can show you himself. But verse two is telling us it's the gates of Zion. It's the gathering in of God's people. It's surrounded by the walls of salvation in the city of God as we gather together and we praise his name and we hear the gospel and we are reminded of the truth here God loves and God is present and God blesses even more than He does in all of our scattered places. And then verse three, glorious things of you are spoken, O city of God. And this is, of course, the title to the hymn. So what glorious things are spoken of Zion? Well, even in this summer series, I hope you've heard some of the glorious things spoken of Zion by the sons of Korah. Particularly, I'd point out to you three Psalms. We have learned about this summer, Psalm 46, Psalm 48, and Psalm 84. Psalm 46 tells us that God is in the midst of the holy city. And because God is in her midst, she shall never be moved. It also tells us that there is a river whose streams make glad the city of God. And part of Newton's hymn draws on that imagery from Psalm 46. There's a river, the river of life, the Holy Spirit, the grace of God, who makes glad the city of God. Psalm 48 says, 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. Which is what we read in verse four when we talk about Rahab and Babylon and Philistia. It's the joy of all the earth. Because, why? Because in your offspring, Abraham, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. Why do we know the Lord? My ancestors, Swedish, Dutch, Scots, Irish, German, French. That's basically my whole ancestry. You know what all of my ancestors have in common? When God was making his precious promises, and these scriptures were being written, whether you go to a thousand years before, or when Psalm 87 was written, or a thousand years later. All of my ancestors had one thing in common. They were all as pagan as the day is long. They were all tree-worshipping, spirit-fearing, human-sacrificing. Yes, almost all pagan cultures in Europe practiced human sacrifice. Human-sacrificing, pagan people living in utter darkness. Why should I know the God of Israel? Why should I know the God of Abraham? Why should I know the God who made a promise to David? Why should I be brought into this story? Because of what the king accomplished on the holy mountain for me. Because of the sacrifice he offered, because of the kingship he received, because of the church he founded, I am brought in. Psalm 84 declares then that God's dwelling place is so lovely, so dearly loved, that those who have a heart set on pilgrimage to the holy city are blessed and are refreshed. They go from strength to strength, even through the Valley of Baca, even through desert places and dry places. Glorious things of you are spoken. What glorious things? Well, the citizens of this holy city have a glorious citizenship. If you travel abroad, you will find out that there are real benefits to being an American citizen. You do have respect by being an American citizen. But you know, we have a much more glorious citizenship in a kingdom that will never fall or fade, but it stands for eternal glory. The Holy City enjoys glorious benefits which flow from the presence of God in her midst. We are guided by God. We are protected by God. We are well supplied by God. We are dearly loved by God. We have glorious benefits. We have glorious blessings, spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Every spiritual blessing, Ephesians 1.3 says, and we can think of forgiveness of all of our sins and adoption as the children of God being the Chiefest among those. So we get real benefits in this life, but we get eternal spiritual blessings. The Holy City has been given glorious promises. Jesus said to Peter, on this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. In Romans 16, 19, Paul says, the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. So on the days when you're frustrated by the devil and his machinations in the world or his working in your own life or in your own family, you can remember, the gates of hell shall not prevail against Christ's church, and the God of peace will soon crush Satan under our feet. We have glorious promises, and finally, we've been given a glorious future. Just read the last two chapters of the book, Revelation 21 and 22. This perfected holy city bride, the new Jerusalem, has no need of shut and locked gates. It doesn't need a security force because there's no evil there. There's no darkness there. There's no night there. There's no weeping there. There's no sorrow there. And it is filled with the light that comes from the Lamb of God in our midst as our light. We have a glorious future. Such glorious things are spoken of the holy city of God. How do we respond to those things? We think about them every once in a while. We should be constantly thinking about, believing, speaking, living in the light of these wonderful promises. I have glorious benefits. I have glorious blessings. I have glorious promises. I have a glorious future because of Christ. Verse four, to the original readers, would have been very shocking. It says some stunning things about some very dark places in the world. Verse four, among those who know me, I mention Rahab and Babylon, behold Philistia and Tyre with Cush. This one was born there. Now, why am I saying Rahab? Don't I know that that's Rahab? Because it's not Rahab. This is not the woman, Rahab, who sheltered the two spies. This is Rahab, which is the ancient way of referring to Egypt. Rahab is actually a mythical monster that devours, and it was associated with Egypt. These are five countries, Geographically, they surround ancient Israel. Rahab is to the south, Babylon to the north, Philistia to the southwest, Tyre to the northwest, and Cush even further south than Egypt. So these surround north, south, northwest, southwest, further south, and they were all, at one time or another, fearsome enemies to the people of God. Rahab, Egypt, was the first enemy of the people of God, holding the people of God in bondage, in slavery, when God called them out and made them a nation in the Exodus. Babylon was probably the current enemy at the time that this psalm was written. Babylon had come and had laid waste to most of the cities of Judah and was either about to or had already conquered Jerusalem. It's possible that this psalm could have been written by the sons of Korah as they are either surrounded by the armies of Babylon or they've already been ransacked by the armies of Babylon, which is quite a statement of faith if that's when they wrote it. But Babylon is the enemy of God's people. Philistia, boy, how many times had the Philistines harassed and attacked and oppressed God's people? Tyre to the northwest was a very educated, very wealthy, very prosperous people. And then Kush, even further to the south of Egypt, they were, that's present day Sudan and Ethiopia. And these were fierce warriors who had a fearsome reputation in battle. In fact, Kush even conquered Egypt for over a hundred years. You know what? All of these nations, pagan warriors, fierce enemies of God's people, they're all named as those who know God and his holy city, and of those who have some in them, at least, that were born there. This one was born there, they say. How can someone from Cush or Philistia or Babylon be born in Zion, in Jerusalem? because this isn't talking about your physical birth, it's talking about divine spiritual birth. This verse is a prophecy, it's a foretelling of the spiritual fulfillment of the Holy City in the Church of Jesus Christ, which has present-day children among the Egyptians and the Cushites and the Philistines and the Babylonians. Indeed, the Gospel of Jesus Christ has spread throughout the whole world so that you can hardly go to a country on the face of the earth and find that there are no believers there. There are believers, there are children of God, there are children of Zion, there are children born in Zion in just about every nation on the face of the earth. And so, verse four should be an encouragement to us, and it should reorient us to say, if I am a citizen of Zion, than I am a fellow citizen with all of my brothers and sisters around the world. I have more in common with my brothers and sisters in Afghanistan who are being attacked and terrorized by the Taliban right now than I do with my next-door neighbor who doesn't know the Lord or my relative who doesn't know the Lord. I may have blood in common with them, I may have a physical street address in common with them, but I have an eternal citizenship, I have an unfading inheritance, I have a blood-bought adoption as a child of God, I have every spiritual blessing in common with all of my brothers and sisters in Christ all around the world. They are our true family. That is our true country. It should also motivate us to want to see that holy city populated to the fullest, because there are still, while there are very few nations where you could go and find no people of God, there are still tribes and tongues and people groups where there are very few, if any, believers, unreached peoples, and they need the gospel because King Jesus has people in those people groups as well, and they need to be brought in. And Jesus tells us that he's not coming again until they're all brought in. All the ones who belong to him are brought in to his holy city. So it ought to motivate us to get out there and get the gospel to the places that don't have the gospel yet. The last part of Psalm 87 describes the city of God and her children and our joy. Of Zion, it shall be said, this one and that one were born in her. For the Most High himself will establish her. The Lord records as he registers the people, this one was born there, Selah. Singers and dancers alike say, all my springs are in you. Now what's interesting is we go to these five pagan nations and we hear this one was born there, this one was born there. We come back then to Zion, we're back in Jerusalem, and it's this one and that one were born in her. You know what that tells us? It tells us that not everyone who is in the church has been born of God as a true citizen of the church. As Paul would write later in Romans 9, not all who are of Israel are Israel, but it is the children of the promise who are saved. So even within the church, children, this is for you, You might be in church, and your parents, some of you, your parents have been bringing you to church here just about every single Sunday since we opened the doors, or maybe for the last four years, and some of you have been in church every Sunday of your whole lives. That in and of itself doesn't make you a true citizen of Zion, a true child of God. You have to be born in Zion spiritually. You have to be born again. Jesus said, unless you are born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God. It is those who are born from above who are the children of God. And so, you must be born again. How do you know if you're born again? Well, those who are born again have true and saving faith in Jesus Christ. So the question for you is not, do you come to church? Do you enjoy coming to church? Do you like the singing? Do you like the food table? Do you like talking to the people who are here? Do you think the pastor talks for way too long? He probably does. It's not any of that. It's this one simple question. Do you know Jesus and do you love him? Because if you know him and you love him, that is the sign that you have been born again and that you are a true citizen of the eternal city of God and that you will have your home in that city forever. You're not just a temporary alien resident passing through. You belong if you've been born again. The Lord records as he registers the people. There's a registration that God records. Malachi calls it the Book of Remembrance and the Book of Revelation calls it the Lamb's Book of Life. If you believe in Jesus, your name is written in the book. Second Timothy 2.19 says, God's foundation stands firm. The Lord knows those who are his and let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. The Lord knows those who are His. Another way to think about this is, on Judgment Day, Jesus is going to say, you've got to hear this, on Judgment Day, Jesus is going to say to every professing Christian, either, well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master, Or he will say, depart from me, I never knew you. Read Matthew 7 when you get home and read that story. Jesus is talking about people who profess to be Christians. They say, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? And in your name do many great things. And Jesus says to them, depart from me, I never knew you. So does the Lord know you? Do you know him? Circle back to the important question. Do you love Jesus and are you trusting in him? Or are you just going along with the show because it's what's expected of you? You have to trust. You have to say, I know I am his and he is mine. I trust in him. And day by day as you walk with him, your trust in him will grow deeper and your assurance of his love for you will grow deeper. and your life will reflect this changed heart and loyalty as you belong to him. I'll give you a very simple way of understanding this, because I've said a lot of words, but I'll see what God says now in Romans 10. Romans 10 says this, if you confess with your mouth, that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the scripture says, everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. For the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord. Believe in your heart, God raised him from the dead. Call upon the name of the Lord, and you will be saved. So we come to the final verse. Singers and dancers alike say, all my springs are in you. Now, some of you might be here and you're thinking, I'm not a very good singer, and I'm really not a dancer. So does this apply to me? Well, God doesn't call us to be good singers, but he does call us to sing. He actually commands us to sing. Lift up your voices, sing praises to the Lord. Singing praises to the Lord is fitting. If that's intimidating, another version of the command says, make a joyful noise to the Lord. I'm not a great singer, but we're all called and commanded to do that. So if you're here in worship and you're not singing because you're like, Not a very good singer. It's not about what a good singer you are. It's about make a joyful noise to the Lord. Sing because it is fitting to him. And this word dancers could actually be translated as all those who make music. Singers and music makers say together, all my springs are new. Or it could be dancers. It's a little bit of an ambiguous word in terms of its flexibility of what it could mean. But what is singing and dancing or singing and making music have in common? We sing. We make music. to express our joy, our longing, and our satisfaction. We are called to come together in worship and sing and make music as an expression of our joy in the Lord, of our longing for the Lord, and of our satisfaction in the Lord. And as we do, we say, what do we say? All my springs are in you. Now, some of your translations will say, all my springs of joy are in you. The of joy is supplied by the translators. It's just all my springs are in you. What's a spring? What's a spring? It's a source of fresh water in an otherwise dry place. What does fresh water do when you're thirsty? It satisfies you. fills you with joy, it refreshes you, right? So here's my closing question for you. Where are your springs? When you're thirsty, because we all get thirsty, when you're tired, we all get tired, where do you turn for refreshment? Where do you turn for satisfaction? Where do you turn for renewal? Television? Sports, vacation, all those things are good. They're all given to us by God as good gifts. But don't mistake the gift for the giver. All my springs are in you. The worship in the holy city of God with his people reminds us that the only place in this world where we find fresh water for thirsty souls is in the Lord. Let's pray. Father, you have by your grace made us citizens of your heavenly kingdom. And so we can say, Savior, if of Zion's city I through grace a member am, let the world deride or pity, I will glory in your name. Fading is the worldling's treasure, all his boasted pomp and show, solid joys and lasting treasure, none but Zion's children know. All of our springs are in you. You are the giver of living water. You are the giver of life. I pray for those who are here who don't know you, who've heard about you, but who've not come to know you. I pray that you, by your Spirit, would bring them to know you. And I pray for the rest of us, that we would see ourselves first and foremost as part of your church, part of your kingdom, part of your bride, part of your holy city, part of your people. And that we would live our lives in this world with intentionality, a joyful, gracious intentionality to be on mission for King Jesus and to be looking to you and longing for our heavenly home. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Our closing song is a call to the church to get up and get going as the church of God in this world. O church, arise. Let's stand and sing this together.