Beholding the Glory of Christ's Church

I see you Margie. 2025. Somebody's excited I'm preaching. 2025. I remember thinking about the year 2000. And I remember thinking, boy, that's going to get here one day. That'll be a long time. And then now we're 25 years from the year 2000.

What a world we live in today. I think about the things that have happened this week. And I hope that you are staying up with the news to an extent we should think about what's happening in our world today.

And the terrible events as the year has started, the terrible events of terrorism that have already happened in our own nation. What a time to be alive. And so I think about that. And I think about what is the most important thing happening in the world today?

I think about, well, some might say maybe it's cryptocurrency. And is that going to usher in a new revolution of monetary value or whatever the case may be with that? Or maybe it's the inauguration is coming up in just two weeks from tomorrow.

We'll usher in a new president of our country. And I know that we're grateful for that. Or maybe you're afraid or you think about, well, maybe the most important thing that's happening today is somewhere.

There's like a Mission Impossible mission happening where terrorists are constructing some sort of bomb. But maybe the CIA or other organizations are working to stop that. A lot of important things are happening in the world today.

But I'm going to submit to you this morning, unequivocally, I believe, that the most important thing that's happening in the world today is the gathering of God's people in local churches. The local church is the most beautiful thing on Earth.

And I don't mean to minimize these other things that are happening. I just mean to maximize that there is nothing more consequential, truly, happening in the world today than what's happening in places like Perryville, Arkansas, El Pechote, Mexico, Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Azle, Texas, Ontario, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

These are local churches, and God loves them more than anything else in the world. Maybe that's a bold statement. Let's let the text speak. Psalm 87. Would you stand with me as we consider beholding the glory of Christ's church?

Just a pastoral note. The little line at the top, not the bold line, not the bold editorial line heading, but the little line that says, A psalm of the sons of Korah, a song. That's actually scripture.

That's actually God-breathed scripture. So a psalm of the sons of Korah, a song. On the holy mount stands the city he founded. The Lord loves the gates of Zion. More than all the dwelling places of Jacob.

Glorious things of you are spoken, O city of God.

Selah.

Among those who know me, I mention Rahab and Babylon. Behold, Philistia and Tyre with Cush. This one was born there, they say. But 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. Father, we need help today. There is a beautiful song written about the glory of your church. And we don't hear it well enough. We don't know it well enough.

We'd much rather sing about all these other things in our life sometimes. About our children or maybe our family. Maybe even about other things. We don't sing a lot about the church. And yet here we have this beautiful, inspired song.

That shows us the glory of the church. Father, forgive us for not prizing her enough. For not loving her enough. For not understanding her beauty enough. Because she doesn't end in and of herself. It's not that we just see her beauty.

It's that the more we understand the church, the more we understand and see and bask in the glory of the Gospel. And what our Lord Jesus has done. Oh God, be with the preaching of the word this morning.

Help us to understand. We need you, Holy Spirit, to be in our midst. I need you. I'm not prepared enough. I'm not ready enough. I'm not holy enough. I can't do any of these things in and of myself. If you leave me alone, I'm sunk.

So be with me.

Help me.

And the same to the hearers. May they hear. We need Christ. We need to see the church rightly. We need to behold her glory. In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. This psalm breaks down pretty nicely with the Selahs.

So you have verse 1 through 3, Selah. Verse 4 through 6, Selah.

Verse 7.

So we'll go that as our outline. Point number 1, the city. On the holy mount stands the city he founded. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob. Glorious things of you are spoken, O city of God.

Now, a question to ask here, and it's going to lead us to a little bit of interpretive translation issue, is what is this city? Now, in verse 1, the word city is actually the Hebrew word there. It's not in the text.

This is reflected in the King James and also the LSB. They both just say this in verse 1. I think actually it's the way our psalm was in verse 1. His foundation is in the holy mountains. So why does the ESV choose to use the word city?

Well, one, because it is the context of 87. But two, the word translated, the Hebrew word translated for foundation in the text, I actually think it should be translated with the word city. It implies city in the context.

So I'm not actually in love with the King James, the LSB, or the ESV in the translation. So if you will, I'm going to say it something like this. His city foundation. His city foundation is in the holy mountains.

But if you're like, I don't know about all that. Well, then you can at least look at verse 3, and you can see in verse 3 that the Hebrew word is explicitly used of city there in that verse. So glorious things of your spoken, O city of God.

But the question we haven't answered, right? The question we are asking right now is, what is this city? Of course, in the immediate historical context, it's unquestionable that we are talking about Jerusalem.

In 2 Samuel 5, 7, this happens around 1000 BC. David takes Jerusalem from the Jebusites, and the verse says, Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David. Now, we can argue maybe about what the word Zion means.

Different people have different thoughts. But apparently, the word was originally a name for one of these high points, these high places there of Jerusalem. And then the word Zion becomes synonymous with the city itself.

So what is this city? Well, I'm telling you, in the immediate context, we think of Jerusalem. However, you may have imagined, you may have seen, even as we just sang that song, surely you thought, man, there's something more going on here.

And you're absolutely right. Without a doubt, it's unquestionable that this city also points us to the church. And I know, oh, come on now, really? Well, let me give you three reasons. I'm going to give you three reasons.

I'm going to prove to you why.

Three reasons.

I'm going to give you an exegetical reason that is from this text. Secondly, I'll give you a biblical reason. I'll show you some other verses. And then thirdly, I'll give you a theological reason. So number one, an exegetical reason.

And that is if you go down to verse 5 and 6. So just think about verse 5 and 6 with me.

Let me read those.

But 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 peoples, this one was born there. Now, we're going to discuss this more at length later in the sermon.

But for now, just note this. The text is speaking of those from other nations. And those from other nations are now being said to have been born in Zion. So there is something that can happen to a person whereby no matter what country of origin they derive from, they can be said, according to the text, to have been born in Zion.

Now, if you're already from another nation, you can't be born in two places, right? Where was I born? I was born in 1986 in Killeen, Texas. That's the only place I was born. Why were you born there? I wanted to be close to my mother, right?

I was born in Killeen, Texas. I can't be born anywhere else, right? So how is it that these people are born in Egypt and Philistia and Tyre, but they're also born in Zion? What's the answer? The text has talked about being born again.

And so we understand from the text itself that it's impossible that Psalm 87 is just pointing to a physical city. It's pointing to something greater, whereby people will be said to have been born again in this place, or at least by this place's activity.

So, exegetical, from the text. Secondly, a biblical reason. And by biblical, I mean that was biblical too, right? But by biblical, I mean there are other places in the Bible that would help us to see that more is going on here than just physical Jerusalem.

So, a few places. One, Matthew 5 .14. You've heard this verse your whole life, and I would say that you might not have ever made the right connection here. Matthew 5 .14. Jesus says this to his disciples.

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. That's Jesus' metaphor. His disciples, metaphorically, are, his church is, metaphorically, a city on a hill. That's what Jesus is saying.

Well, that's, oh, you know, Jesus, you just came up with that right there. Well, yes, he did come up with that, but he didn't just come up with that right there, did he?

Right?

Jesus is instructed in his humanity in the Old Testament.

He understands.

This isn't a metaphor out of thin air. It's a metaphor from the Psalms. Your disciples, you're a city on a hill. And that also means that when Jesus says you're the light of the world, he's not just talking about you individually, though that's important.

Let your light shine. Yes, that's good.

That's right.

But it's also together. That's the point. Okay, there's more in the Bible. So Hebrews, Hebrews 12, 22, it's, she can't get around it. It says, but you have come. Now, have come. That's important. Not will come.

You have come. You have come to Mount Zion.

You can't get, right?

He's telling the believers, he's telling the churches, you have come to Mount Zion. The church is Mount Zion because that's where you've come from. That's what he's saying. You've come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God.

You've come to Mount Zion. You've come to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem and to innumerable angels and festal gathering. Now, it's interesting, but I'm going to just say it to you this way.

In one sense, we'll never talk this way. This will never catch on, and that's okay. I don't know that it necessarily should because it's just a metaphor. You say, you could say, when you get up Sunday morning, where are you going?

You could say, I'm going to church, or you could say, I'm going to Zion, right? I'm going to Zion, right? Because in a way, we are.

We're gathering.

That's what the text is saying because in Psalm 87, the text is speaking more than only a physical city. And then thirdly, I'll mention Revelation 21 too. And I just want you to hear how the church is described.

John says, and I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. I'm just saying to you, bride is a metaphor for the church. We get that.

But you know what another metaphor for the church is from that text and others?

City.

So there's a sense, certainly, that we're looking ahead to the city that is to come. But there's also a sense that we've seen from these passages that the city is now. The city is the church. So that's an exegetical and a biblical argument.

And let me just offer one more argument here, a theological argument.

Verse three. Sorry, verse two.

The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob. So here's a theological argument. Does God's love change? Does God change?

God's immutable.

Does his love change? Is he on a whim? Is he like a high school young man, that blasphemous thing of God? Has God gone from loving the physical city of Jerusalem? So he used to love that, but now he loves the church.

Or some would actually try to say this. It's very odd and I would say dangerous. Does God love the church less than Jerusalem? Of course, the right answer to all of those questions is no. And it's actually very simple to understand.

It's very simple.

God's love for the gates of Zion never terminated in a geographic location or in ethnic heritage or in specific measurements. God's love for the city of Zion is about his people and his worship. That's what it's always been about.

So the physical city of Jerusalem represents something that transcends the city itself. It is the place where God's people were gathered. It is the place where people came to worship and where God's presence dwelt with his gathered people.

So the question we have is, what is this city? And I'm saying the psalm is ultimately in our Bibles.

Don't miss this.

This psalm, Psalm 87, is ultimately in our Bibles. We're not meant to sing it to just be longing for physical Jerusalem. Let's take a trip over and see.

No, no.

This psalm is in our Bibles because it is pointing us to the very heart of the glory and beauty of the church. Glorious things of you are spoken, O city of God. Now, here's another question. Why is the city so glorious?

Is it because her walls are bigger? Is it because she's had great kings? Well, she's glorious, first of all, because she's God's. Verse 1. His city foundation. On the Holy Mount stands the city he founded.

God's city is the church. And because the church is God's, it makes her glorious. And because she is God's, God is there. God dwells there. The mountains are holy because our triune God is present. But the church is also glorious, not only because of who she is, whose she is, but also because of how she is built.

What does Jesus say in Matthew 16, 18?

It's very interesting.

I wonder if you can even really understand Matthew 16, 18 if you don't understand the Old Testament background. What is Jesus saying? Like, it just comes out of nowhere if you don't understand. And he just doesn't explain himself.

He just says. What's he saying in Matthew 16, 18? I think it's very interesting in light of Psalm 87. Jesus says to Peter in Matthew 16, 18. You know the verse. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

The church, that is the city, is built on a mount. That is, it's built on a rock. And don't count me as rude for saying this, but how unintelligent does a person have to be to believe that the rock the church is built on is the Pope?

Of course, you read the Bible, of course Jesus is not saying that at all. The church is built upon the rock of the confession that Jesus is the Christ. And the church is built upon the confessors. That is, those who, like Peter, say in faith, you are the Christ.

Those who follow the king of the city. The church is glorious because of who she is. And she is glorious because of how she is built. Don't listen to me now. Jesus built the church with his own sweat and blood.

Jesus beautifies the church at great cost to himself. The beauty of the church came at a cost to the Son. We are the stones Jesus uses to build his temple church. And how did he purchase these materials?

Acts 20 verse 28 says, with his own blood. Sweat equity and blood price. The plan of God from before the foundation of the world was to build a city where he would dwell with his chosen people forever.

And this is what the work of Christ is about. This is what, you hear me this morning, Providence, this is what the work of Christ is about. Entering into humanity with this singular focus. The glory of God in the building of the church.

That's what's happening. But, for God to dwell with the people, of course, they must be righteous. And you have passages, we'll get to in Romans. Romans 3 verse 10. None is righteous, no not one. So the city builder comes to fulfill all righteousness.

He has to secure a righteousness for his people by his law keeping, by his obedience to God. And then, we know the gospel, Jesus had to pay the penalty due for our law breaking, for our sins. He bled and died under the just wrath of God.

The chief cornerstone was then laid in a borrowed tomb. And on the third day he rises again from the dead in triumph. Hear me church, God crushed the sun in order to build a city. So that this city would be inhabited by those declared righteous by what Jesus has done.

And forgiven of their sins by what Jesus has done. Or in case you're not understanding this, let me put it very very plainly. The gospel alone builds the church. It's the gospel. Glorious things, verse 3, of you are spoken, O city of God.

Glorious things are spoken of the city because of who she is and how the city was built. And after saying all that, we have this word that we don't say a lot, but it's there.

Selah.

Some people think it just means like a climax of the music. Others think it means like a pause, a reflective word to stop and think. Either way, I'm good. But boy, isn't this a great place to pause, reflect, to think.

This is the church. Behold Christ's church.

This is the city.

Now secondly, first, the city. Secondly, the citizens. Verse 4, among those who know me, I mention Rahab and Babylon. Behold, Philistia and Tyre with Cush. This one was born there, they say. But 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. Honestly, this is probably one of the most underrated passages in all of the Bible. It's actually quite beautiful.

Before we get to that, let me lay some Bible history for us. God builds a city. You know, men build cities too. Men build cities too. In fact, the first time that the Hebrew word for city is used is actually in Genesis chapter 4.

And it's in Genesis chapter 4 when Cain, after he's killed Abel, his brother, and now he's gone away from the presence of the Lord, east of Eden to the land of Nod. And you know one of the first things he does is build a city.

Hey, that's why we should live in a rural area, right? Now, there is something to be said about the maximizing of sin when a bunch of people get together in a city. But we see the first city is built as Cain leaves the presence of the Lord.

Then we have another city in Genesis, Genesis 11. And this is important enough I want to read from verse 4. So this is Genesis 11 verse 4. Then they said, Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.

I find that fascinating. Why? Because God has a city to build. He's going to build a city. That's his plan. But here in Genesis 11, men have this idea, we're going to build a city. And the city that men build is a challenge to God's city.

I mean, not a real challenge, but it is challenging. It's seeking to challenge the city of God. Man's city is a direct act of defiance to God. Your own work, take note, will never build God's city. So what does God do at Babel?

You know the story. He scatters the city. He confuses the languages. He disperses the people from there over the face of all the earth. But that doesn't stop people from building cities, does it? You can look in archaeological records, actually.

So I think that the Tower of Babel is probably like a ziggurat type thing. Because all over the world you have those kind of structures. So it seems to me like God dispersed the people and they kept trying to build towers.

So God disperses the people and they keep building cities. And I'm going to use that figuratively. Alliances, groups, false religions, idolatry, opposed to God. Men continue to rage. In fact, think about Psalm 2.

So you're there in Psalm 87, you've got to flip a lot. But go to Psalm 2 for just a second. So you get all the way, so you think about Babel, what happened in Genesis 11. But that didn't stop, that didn't stop.

God judged the nations at Babel. But that doesn't stop the nations from continuing to build their little cities and to rage against God. And so Psalm 2 says, Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointing, saying, Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us. The nations are raging, they're still raging.

If God is going to have a city, men are not going to build it. Men want a name for themselves. Men want to overthrow God and His anointed one, the text says, His Messiah, King Jesus.

Okay?

So men aren't going to build a city, God's going to build a city.

Problem.

If God builds a city, who's going to be there? Because the nations are raging against Him. All you have is these unrighteous people.

Right?

All you have is these unrighteous nations. Who could possibly be the citizens of God's city? And you might say, well, don't you understand? That's the whole point of the Old Testament. God chose the Jews and the Jews are going to...

No, no, no.

You misunderstand the Old Testament if you read it that way. God did choose the Jews, but the Jews were unrighteous too. That's Paul's argument in Romans 3. And so now you come here and you're like, okay, well, who's going to inhabit the city?

And then we come to the text. And the text in verse 4 says this. Among those who know me, I mention Rahab.

That's Egypt.

And Babylon. Behold, Philistia and Tyre with Cush. This one was born there, they say. But 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. Okay, so these nations. Egypt, Babylon, the Philistines, Tyre, Cush. These both represent the enemies of Israel and the nations of the earth as a whole.

So think for just a moment. What is God going to do with these rebellious nations? What is God going to do with His enemies? What is God going to do with these nations that are raging against Him? They're shaking their fists at Him.

They're plotting against Christ. What is God going to do? Now, Psalm 2 is right. He who sits in the heaven laughs. So surely He's going to bring judgment. Surely they deserve judgment. Yes, they deserve judgment.

And don't miss this. Judgment is coming. Judgment will come. But before judgment comes, God is going to reverse Babel. He's going to... What is Babel? Babel is the scattering of the nations. What would be the reversal of Babel?

The ingathering of the nations into the city of God. The city that Christ builds. God, in His sovereign grace, builds His city.

Not with righteous people.

Not with people who are good and He brings them in. But people who are rebels.

People who are unrighteous.

God justifies who? Not the godly, but who?

The ungodly.

But He doesn't leave them that way. Remember verse 6? The Lord records as He registers the people. This one was born there. So this is what's being said. This is what's being said. This one from Rahab.

And this one from Babylon. And this one from Philistia.

And this one from Killeen, Texas. And this one from Arkansas. And this one from Mexico. And this one from Germany. And this one from Kenya.

They are now members of Zion. Through the gospel. They're born again. By grace. And they're collected into God's city. They are citizens of a new country. I want our nation to be a Christian nation. But I just want you to know something.

That's never promised. It's never promised in the scriptures. But what is promised. Is that God is building a holy nation. The church. 1 Peter 2 .9. But you are a chosen race. A royal priesthood. A holy nation.

A people for His own possession. That you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. God is taking from among the rebellious nations. And He is creating one new holy nation.

One new people. One glorious city in the church. Mercy reigns. Ephesians 2 .22 says,. In Christ you also are being built together. Into a dwelling place for God. By the Spirit. God dwells in this city.

The gospel is going forth. The good news of Christ. The good news that He is equal with the Father in His divine essence. The good news of His virgin birth. The good news of His righteous life. Obedient.

Fulfilling the law. The good news of His obedience going all the way to the point of death. Even death on the cross for sinners. The good news of His victorious resurrection. The way to be reconciled to a holy God is declared.

We preach. It is finished. And with this gospel sounds forth the call to all persons. Repent of your sins. And lay hold of Christ by faith alone. That is Christ is offered to all freely. But as this is happening.

The Holy Spirit of God is working.

He is with us.

And He is causing sinners to be born again. 1 Peter 1 .3 says, According to His great mercy. And through the heralding of Christ's gospel. And what is happening. The church is being built. This is the church.

This is true eschatological Israel. This is God's holy nation. This is God's city. And this is fulfilling with Psalm 86. So you just go back one Psalm. This is fulfilling with Psalm 86.

Verse 9 says,.

All the nations you have made. Shall come and worship before you O Lord. And shall glorify your name. This is the city. And these are the citizens. The nations who by grace alone. Are born again through the gospel.

United to Christ. And united to one another. And then the psalmist gives us that word again.

Selah.

Stop.

And think about that for just a moment. Think about this rebellious world. Think about what happened in the days of Noah. And God judged the whole earth through a flood. And think about it was after the days of Noah.

That you have the days of Babel. And then it's after the days of Babel. You've had all the ugliness of the world. And people driving their cars into places. And shooting people up. And blowing people up.

And bombing people. And all the things that we've created. And even the corruption sometimes in our food industry. Or maybe in the medical industry. Or the corruption in our government. All these wicked things happening in the world today.

And what is God doing about all this? He's gathering the nations in His mercy.

What a glorious God.

What a gracious. Sovereign.

Holy. Wonderful God.

And that leads us to this last point. And then some applications. So you have the city. And you have the citizens. And now you get verse 7. And you have the celebration. Singers and dancers alike say.

All my springs are in you. Well it's clear one thing. It's clearly a celebration. Maybe what's not clear.

What's being said.

All my springs are in you. I actually changed the. Gunner doesn't know probably. Because he was singing and it was up on here. But I changed a word in the psalm that we sang. It's just a capital letter.

But at the end of the psalm we sang. At the end it said all my springs are in you. And it had a U capitalized. I changed it to a lower case. Because a U capitalized would indicate what? All my springs are in Yahweh.

All my springs are in the Lord. Well there's truth in that. Okay. Absolutely. In one sense it's true. But here's something interesting about the text. So the U in verse 7. Verse 87. Chapter 87 verse 7.

The U is feminine. So that means that the U. Like we don't have nouns like that in English.

Pronouns. U can mean whatever.

But a feminine noun has to be. A feminine pronoun has to be attached to a feminine noun. So what's the feminine noun? It's not Yahweh. Yahweh is not a feminine noun. It's masculine. So it says all my springs are in you.

The feminine noun that the pronoun is the antecedent of is the city. Interesting, isn't it? Interesting. All my springs, in other words, are in the church.

Okay.

But what does that mean? All the springs of life are flowing in and through the church. It's not minimizing Christ. And it's certainly not exalting the church to an equal status with our Lord. Rather, this is seeing the church like God sees her.

This is seeing the church through God's eyes. The springs of life flow through the church because the church stands as an emblem of God's redemptive work and the fountain of His grace. And the springs of joy and hope and new life and eternal life flow through the church because the church alone is the one charged with the heralding of the gospel.

Which is the means by which God converts sinners from among the nations. Singers and dancers alike say all my springs are in you. All my hope, all my joy, all my solace, all my peace, all my focus, all my priority.

All my springs are in the church. Not as equal to Christ and not above Christ. But insofar as she is the expression and result of the love of God and the work of Christ in the world today. So when I sing about the church, I'm looking past the church to her creator, to her builder, to her sustainer, to her founder.

I love the church because I love Christ. Maybe similar, if you praise my children, I'm behind them receiving the glory. Right? You understand? You want to encourage a parent? Praise their child. Because when you praise their child, who's being praised?

The parent. Just maybe an analogy there off the top of my head. But the point is the citizens of this great city celebrate the city as it is the work of God and the glory of King Jesus. Psalm 87 is a song celebrating the church.

So that's the city, the citizens and the celebration. I ask for a few more moments to give you some very important application. I understand that's I kind of feel like that was a lot of heavy lifting, maybe in a sense.

But let's talk about the application. There is nothing that God loves more in this world today than when his people from among the nations assemble for corporate worship in local churches. That sounds strong.

It is strong.

It's what verse 2 is telling us. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob. Before I press that a little further, let me just ask you this. How can what God loves most be considered so low a priority for us?

I'm not saying there aren't reasons that we miss church. I get it. But how could we let such paltry things get in the way of this glorious thing? Gathering with God's people. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.

Now, let me be clear about something. We're not setting the tents of Jacob in opposition to Zion in this way. So let me just let me back up. Let me just make it real plain. Bottom shelf here. God loves individual Christians.

Amen.

God loves when you wake up in the morning and you open your Bible and you spend time with him. God loves that. God loves your times of prayer. Does God even care about my prayer? Yeah, he does. And he loves it.

He loves when you come and you ask him things and you break open your heart to him. He loves the time when your family gathers together in the living room before bed or around the table before bed and you sing and you do family worship and you pray.

God loves these things. He loves when men are with men in the church and discipling one another and when women are with women in the church and discipling and sharpening one another. God loves these things.