Unmistakable Priorities

[0:00] Well, we're going to turn to our Bibles and to our reading for this morning, which once again is in Psalm 48. We've been looking at this for the last few weeks and dissecting it together.

[0:14] Psalm 48, page 472. We're going to concentrate particularly today on verses 12 and 13, but once again we'll read the whole psalm, which we're told at the top there is a song, a psalm of the sons of Korah.

[0:30] The sons of Korah are responsible for many of the psalms in the Psalter, obviously a gifted group theologically as well as musically.

[0:41] And here is the song that they led the Lord's people in singing. 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.

[0:56] Mount Zion in the far north, the city of the great king. Within her citadels, God has made himself known as a fortress.

[1:07] For behold, the kings assembled. They came on together. As soon as they saw it, they were astounded. They were in panic. They took to flight. Trembling took hold of them.

[1:17] Their anguish as of a woman in labor. By the east wind, you shattered the ships of Tarshish. As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God, which God will establish forever.

[1:34] We have thought, we have meditated on your steadfast, your covenant love, O God, in the midst of your temple. As your name, O God, so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth.

[1:50] Your right hand is filled with righteousness. Let Mount Zion be glad. Let the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgments. Walk about Zion.

[2:01] Go around her. Number her tiles. Consider well her ramparts. Go through her citadels. That you may tell the next generation that this is God.

[2:12] Our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever. Amen. May God bless to us his word.

[2:26] Brother, turn with me, if you would, to Psalm 48. And this morning we are going to focus on verses 12 and 13 and the unmistakable priorities that they give us.

[2:43] We'll get to that eventually. But we're going to think a little bit of a prayer. We're going to think a little of this psalm as a whole first of all. It's our third week looking at Psalm 48.

[2:54] And we're seeking to read and to mark and to learn and to inwardly digest as thoroughly as we can. Some of the great truths that this psalm has to teach us about God, about his salvation, and about what it means to belong to God as his people.

[3:12] Of course, that is the concern of the whole Bible. The Bible is not just a random, disparate collection of verses like many religious texts are.

[3:23] No, the Bible is a coherent whole. And that's in terms of both telling a coherent story of how God's plan and purpose in salvation unfolds from the very beginning of creation.

[3:37] But also in terms of giving us a complete and a comprehensive revelation of God and his nature and his being and his works.

[3:51] And also, of course, of his requirements from his people in terms of response to what God has done for us. So whenever we open the Bible, whenever we read God's word, we'll find that the text bears witness to that great story of God's salvation.

[4:06] And also, we'll find words that reveal truths about God which are utterly consistent with every other part and every other truth that's revealed all through the Bible.

[4:21] It's a bit like our human bodies, if you like, and our DNA. We take a biopsy from any part of our body, from our brain, from our gut, from one of our major organs, from our skin for that matter.

[4:32] That biopsy will tell a part of the story of your whole body's health, your whole body's development. But also, if you drill right, right down into the tiny microscopic detail, wherever that biopsy comes from, inside every one of those cells is the same DNA that will tell you everything with absolute consistency, whether that comes from your brain, your fingernail, your big toe, or your belly button.

[5:03] Your DNA is the same. And that's the way it is with the Bible. Every single portion of every single chapter reveals to us, if I can put it this way, the divine DNA.

[5:14] The truth about God, his nature, his ways, his wonders, his gospel revelation to human beings. Of course, we need to examine something properly to really see and examine its DNA.

[5:31] We need to do that with the Bible. My father used to say the scriptures will not yield their treasures to chance inquiry. And so we've been carefully inquiring of this psalm now for three weeks, because we're trying to harvest every last ounce of truth to nourish our lives.

[5:49] We're trying to pick every little morsel off the bone, if I can put it that way, cherishing everything that we learn from this psalm for our nourishment. And we've seen right here in this psalm something that, yes, we find all the way through the Bible.

[6:04] And that is the unashamed confidence of the true Christian believer. That is the person who knows that they have found absolute security in life and in death because they know that they have become a citizen of the city of God.

[6:22] That is the place, and as this psalm says, the only place where the one true and living God dwells, where he's made himself known in this world of human beings.

[6:33] Now that unashamed confidence rests on that absolute claim. Look at verse 3. Within her citadels, God has made himself known as a fortress.

[6:46] There and only there. And the place of safety and salvation from all earthly enemies is there.

[6:57] That's the absolute claim of the Bible, that God has revealed himself in human history. He has acted in human history to rescue his people. And it's this place, verse 8, his own city that God is going to establish forever.

[7:16] God's city is unassailable. Because of what he is and because of who he is. Verse 8 says he's the Lord of hosts, the Lord of the hosts, the armies of heaven.

[7:28] That's who he is. And he promises to guard and keep his city. And that's why the true believer can have such confidence.

[7:40] It's not because safety and salvation in any way depends at all on the Christian believer's pedigree or their performance. But it's because it all depends in every way solely upon God, upon his strength, upon his power, upon his promise.

[7:55] But not so, therefore, for the unbeliever. For the one who refuses God's protection. The one who remains outside God's city, against God's city.

[8:07] An enemy of God's city, therefore. Well, we saw last time in verses 3 to 11, the undeniable contrast there is between those who are safe inside God's dwelling place and those who are outside it, who are against it.

[8:22] Look at verse 5. Those who are outside, opposed to God's city, they're in panic. They took to flight. Trembling took hold of them. Anguish like a woman in labor.

[8:35] Undeniable contrast, isn't it? Between those who are in the serenity and the calm of verse 9, for example. Inside God's city, in his dwelling place, in his temple. Meditating on his steadfast love.

[8:46] Praising his name. A total contrast between them and those on the outside. Both in the present and forever.

[8:59] Between those inside and those outside. The place where God himself dwells. Now, lest there be any confusion about that and about what this means. Let us be very, very clear what it means to be a member of that city of God.

[9:15] Because some people, in fact, some Christians, perhaps many Christians, can be quite confused about the significance of the city of God. The city of Jerusalem. The city of Zion. Here's what the Bible teaches.

[9:28] From the very, very beginning, the earthly city of Jerusalem was prophetic. It was a tangible living prophecy that pointed from the very start to the eternal city of God.

[9:44] In just the same way as the earthly land of Israel prophesied and pointed to, and only foreshadowed, the eternal heavenly country, which God promised as the true inheritance of his people forever.

[9:58] That's very, very important to understand. So I want you to turn with me just to be clear about this, the letter to the Hebrews in the New Testament.

[10:09] Hebrews chapter 11. It's page 1007 if you have one of the church Bibles. Because this takes us right back to God's promise to Abraham.

[10:20] Hebrews chapter 11, verse 8. Very important. By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance.

[10:36] And he went out not knowing where he was going. By faith, he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land. Notice.

[10:46] Living in tents with Isaac and Jacob. Heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

[11:03] And you see that. God led Abraham to a land of promise, not a land of fulfillment. He promised him something far greater, didn't he?

[11:15] Verse 10. A city with foundations. An eternal city, not an earthly city. Right back in the time of Abraham. That's why, if you look down to verse 13, we're told that all of these patriarchs, even though they lived in the land of promise, they lived not having received the things promised.

[11:34] They saw them and they greeted them from afar. Having acknowledged that, they were strangers and exiles where? On this earth. So you see, they knew.

[11:44] Look at verse 16. They knew that what God had promised them was a heavenly country, not an earthly one. An eternal city. The same with Moses, if you look down to verse 26.

[11:58] He considered the reproach of Christ. That is, the Christ who was still to come long, long in the future. But he considered a share in that promise was greater than all the wealth of Egypt, the superpower of the day.

[12:13] Why? Because he was looking to the same reward. The heavenly city. And so it was for all the great ones of faith. Look to verse 39, the end of the chapter there.

[12:25] All of these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised. Since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us, they should not be made perfect.

[12:39] That is, in the language of Hebrews, that word perfect means complete, fulfilled forever. Not without us should they receive the inheritance in that heavenly country, that heavenly city.

[12:53] But now that Jesus Christ has come, there is fulfillment. Look down to Hebrews 12, verse 22. There's fulfillment with them and with all the faithful because we have come to Mount Zion and the city of the living God, which is the heavenly Jerusalem.

[13:16] The heavenly Jerusalem, you see? The real, enduring, eternal city of God. Which, for a time, until Jesus came, the earthly Jerusalem was a pointer to, was a prophetic foreshadowing of, but no longer.

[13:32] Because since the resurrection of Jesus Christ, no earthly city anywhere can be called the city of God, the holy city. If you want to read later on the Apostle Paul in the letter to Galatians, he's absolutely just as plain, isn't he?

[13:46] The earthly Jerusalem now, that is the Jewish capital of Paul's day, having rejected Jesus, Paul says, corresponds to the seed not of the promise, but of the persecutors.

[14:00] It's the place of slavery. But what does he say? Jerusalem above, the heavenly Jerusalem, she is free and she is our mother. The mother of all the faithful.

[14:12] And her citizens, Paul says, all of those, but only those, are those who have faith in Jesus Christ. The true seed of Abraham.

[14:23] The heirs of the same promise to him, through faith in Jesus Christ. If you're Christ, says Paul, then you are Abraham's offspring. You are the heirs according to that promise.

[14:36] Heirs of the city with foundations. Heirs of the everlasting city of God. The heavenly country. The whole new creation in Jesus Christ.

[14:47] The inheritance of God's promise from the beginning. And so that is the city, to come back to our psalm, that's the city that this psalm is ultimately speaking about when it speaks of the city of God.

[15:01] And that's the contrast that it's proclaiming between those who are inside and outside that heavenly city. It's the contrast between eternal safety and security and eternal shock and shattering.

[15:17] As is pictured in the middle verses of the psalm. Vividly. And that's just the consistent message of the whole Bible from beginning to end. The whole Bible, the whole of human history is a tale of two cities.

[15:32] The city of God and the city of man. Society without God. Society against God. Society in opposition to God.

[15:44] And the city of God. And all those that he's calling into it. A stark and total contrast. Of course, for our world, our pluralistic world, our relativistic world, that kind of language is deeply offensive.

[16:00] To talk about two stark alternatives. To talk of the arrogance of that kind of unashamed confidence. The anathema of these kind of utter contrasts.

[16:14] That's what our world thinks. But friends, be that as it may, that is the Bible's message. And only the most extreme contortions possible can hide that away or turn it into something else.

[16:31] Ultimately, the Bible teaches every human being must either heed the command of our Creator and Lord and swear allegiance to Him and to His city by buying the knee to Jesus Christ.

[16:42] Or by refusal of that, they consign themselves to being enemies eternally of His kingdom. So we can't deny that reality.

[16:58] Nor can we, nor must we deny the proper unashamed confidence that the Christian believer can have. And indeed must have. Or that unmistakable contrast there is between true belief and unbelief.

[17:10] It really is the contrast between those who are friends of God and those who are enemies of God. But, of course, and this is very, very important.

[17:22] That does not mean that there can ever be any kind of self-righteousness or superiority on the part of those who believe in Christ.

[17:33] It must be quite the reverse. Because they know, don't they, that their only safety, their only security in that privileged situation that they have inside God's city, inside His wall of salvation, is not at all to do with their strength.

[17:50] It's to do with His. It's not their faith and their ability to hang on to God. It's His ability and power to hang on to them and to keep them safe.

[18:03] That's the source of all the assurance that any Christian believer ever has. And that means that no real Christian can ever be somebody who's arrogant or who's smug or who's supercilious towards people who are outside the Christian faith.

[18:20] It's quite the reverse. They would be utterly humble people. And they'll be people whose focus is not on themselves for what they've done or what they have even. But they'll be people whose focus always is on God and the extraordinary rescue of His grace and mercy.

[18:40] That's what you see in verses 9 and 10 in this psalm. There are people who are taken up with God's steadfast love. And you see verse 10.

[18:50] Do you see they grasp also the purpose in God having saved them and having chosen them to have that unique revelation of God as Savior.

[19:02] They've grasped the purpose that through God's name and through God's praise, that salvation should reach to the very ends of the earth. As your name, O God, so your praises reaches to the ends of the earth.

[19:18] And the implication is clear, isn't it? That there will be people to the ends of the earth who will be joining in that praise of the one true God and His city. Don't be taken in when you sometimes hear people saying that, Oh, in the Old Testament there's no thought of evangelism.

[19:33] In the Old Testament there's no thought of anything outside the people of Israel or the people of the Jews. That is absolute nonsense. You'll need to read the psalms. Never mind elsewhere in the Old Testament to see that.

[19:46] To see how much there's a sense of the nations hearing about the one true and living God. We sang it in Psalm 67 at the beginning of the service. May God be gracious to us and bless us that your name may be known on earth.

[19:59] That your salvation goes to all nations. May the peoples praise you, Lord. May the peoples praise you. Or just look up to Psalm 47, the last verse of it, right above our psalm here.

[20:11] Do you see? Verse 9. The princes of the peoples, that's the pagan nations, gather as the people of the God of Abraham, of our God. Well, of course, God's purpose from the very beginning was that all peoples and nations should praise Him.

[20:28] That's why God gave His promise to Abraham in the first place. That through you and your seed, all the families of the earth would be blessed. So that brings us to our focus today in our psalm in verses 12 and 13.

[20:45] Because God's people, these privileged ones who've been called into the safety of His city, they have an unmistakable priority because of that, don't they?

[20:57] Just because they are citizens of Zion's city, God's people have been chosen to be the light to the whole world. To bring other peoples to praise Him too.

[21:10] To truly make Zion, as verse 2 says, the joy of the whole earth. And that has always been the unmistakable priority.

[21:22] The task that God assigns to His people. Rather rings a bell, doesn't it, with Matthew chapter 5 when you get there. Why do you think Jesus is telling His people, His followers, that you are to be the light of the world and let your light shine?

[21:37] Not changing anything. But God's people will only be like that, won't they? If their meditation, if their focus in all of their thoughts is, as verse 9 says here, they're focused on the steadfast love of the Lord.

[21:55] Now that term, steadfast love, it's almost a technical term in the Bible. It means His covenant love. It means His promising, saving love. It means His gospel. And of course, the tragedy was that the people of Israel so often lost that focus.

[22:11] You have to read through the Old Testament to see that. They turned their focus from God and His gospel. And turned it inwards on themselves and their own well-being.

[22:23] They became inward-looking and they lost that gospel. They lost all sense of their task, their priority to take that to the whole world. And friends, of course, the sad truth is that that's not just the Old Testament story, is it?

[22:40] So often, alas, that's been the history of the Christian church over the last 2,000 years. Losing a focus on this covenant love, the gospel of God, the unique and universal gospel.

[22:51] That's why the world has not yet heard and responded to the gospel of Jesus. That's why the church has so often been weak in its mission and feeble in itself.

[23:03] But that's what happens when God's people lose sight of that gospel, His everlasting covenant of grace, as their priority task. To carry that promise to the ends of the earth.

[23:15] To make the church of Jesus Christ the joy of the whole earth. Because only minds that are full of that preoccupation can keep balanced and safe in their thinking about the whole of life.

[23:31] So that we can rightly rejoice in God and His judgments. Look at verse 11. He speaks there about Judah rejoicing in God's judgments on His enemies and for His people. But you can only rejoice in that way if you truly understand and know the gospel.

[23:48] Because it's a gospel that tells us, doesn't it, that through Christ's triumph over His enemies, that's how He's accomplishing His great work, His proper work, which is to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.

[24:03] But it's only when we do grasp the reality of God's judgments and the fact that there must be an undeniable eternal contrast between those on the inside of salvation and those on the outside.

[24:17] It's only when we really grasp that, that we will grasp the urgency of our unmistakable priority to know and tell that gospel. Because heaven is real and hell is real.

[24:32] Let me put it this way. The whole Bible makes it clear and the psalm makes it clear. That you've only really grasped the meaning of the gospel of Jesus Christ yourself if you've grasped that this is a steadfast love of a king that must be told.

[24:50] That it must be told to the ends of the earth. That it must be told to the next generation. Look at verses 12 and 13. Walk about Zion. Go around her. Number her towers.

[25:00] Consider well her ramparts. Go through her citadels. Why? That you may tell the next generation that this is God. Our God forever and ever.

[25:14] He's there to look at. They're to feast their eyes upon their city of salvation. Not to see its innate strength. Its innate beauty. Jerusalem in fact wasn't so special as a city architecturally.

[25:28] But what they're seeing is that this city is absolutely unscathed. Remember the psalm is full of raging enemies. And here they are walking around their city and saying, Do you know what? There's not a bullet mark in the place.

[25:40] It's pristine. It can't be touched. Why? Because God, the Lord of heaven and earth, is here in our midst protecting us. Because his covenant love is surrounding us with walls of salvation.

[25:57] And when you see and when you understand that, well, you've got to tell. Just as when we fathom the far, far greater reality of the height and the depth and the length and the breadth of God's saving love to us in Jesus Christ.

[26:12] We have to tell people. It's what the New Testament tells us. We have to say, verse 14, This, this is our God, the eternal God forever and ever.

[26:24] This is the story of time and eternity. That's the language that the New Testament uses, isn't it? Exactly the same way. If you read Paul's letter to the Ephesians. He's talking about God's city, God's household.

[26:38] He's talking to those who were once far off, who were once aliens outside, but who've been brought near and brought in through the blood of Jesus Christ. And he's saying, you're no longer aliens.

[26:48] You are fellow citizens of his household, his temple, that's built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, that has Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone.

[26:59] You're part of that great city forever. And Paul's saying to them, look at that. Consider the greatness of your salvation. He prays for them, doesn't he, using those words. Think of the height and the depth and the length and the breadth.

[27:12] Walk around it. And understand the wonder of your unassailable position in Christ. And then he goes on in the rest of the letter to say, well, walk and talk in a manner of that wonderful calling that you have received as Christ's people.

[27:29] And he ends, as you know, in that well-known passage in Ephesians 6, saying, be strong in the Lord. Put on your armor. Go on the offensive. Tell people about this. Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and praying in the Spirit.

[27:42] Know and tell that this is our God. And pray for me, he says, that I'll get my mouth open and tell people all about this too. That's the unmistakable priority task for Christ's apostle.

[27:59] And he's saying for all Christ's people. It's only if somebody tells and talks and speaks, you can be actually sure that they know about the gospel.

[28:12] If you say to somebody, or somebody says to you, well, I know a lot of things. What are you going to say to them? All right, tell me what you know. I mean, somebody says, I know a lot of things.

[28:23] You say, tell me. And they can't tell you anything, or they don't tell you anything. Well, you assume what? You don't know much, do you? You show somebody who tells the gospel. Show me somebody who's sharing the good news all the time.

[28:36] Who's always looking for opportunities to do that. Who's always wanting other people to hear the gospel. And I'll say, well, there's a person who knows the gospel. There's a person who understands the gospel. As if you say, well, I know it.

[28:49] I've known it for years. But you're never telling it. You're never sharing it. And according to the Bible, here's the thing. You very probably haven't grasped the gospel properly yourself.

[29:05] So here's the question. Are we taken up with all these gospel landmarks and telling others about them as the people in this armor? The church is very often taken up with landmarks.

[29:17] But it's always the wrong kind of landmarks, isn't it? Buildings and things. So you get Simon Jenkins, you know, the Times journalist, writing books about all the best churches in England.

[29:29] What he means is the architectural beauties. And you read through and you find out there's churches that have been remodeled inside so people can hear the gospel. And he hates it. He thinks it's desecration of the landmarks. But very often in the church we're taken up with the wrong kinds of landmarks.

[29:45] And we forget about the real landmarks of the Zion of eternity. Revelling in the ramparts, the walls of our salvation.

[29:55] Rejoicing in the truths of the gospel of God that are everlasting. And if we do that, you see, if we forget that, then neither the next generation nor the world at large is going to hear about the things that really matter.

[30:13] It's a real danger, isn't it? Even for those who know the gospel. Because where we assume things, then very, very quickly things are just forgotten. We need constant reminders to refocus our eyes and our minds, to fill our vision with the ramparts and citadels of gospel truth so that we may tell.

[30:32] That is our unmistakable priority. Look at verses 12 and 13. It's not a suggestion, is it? It's a command.

[30:43] It's like the Great Commission. Jesus didn't say, well, I'll be away for a long time. Let me give you a few suggestions about how you might like to fill your time. He said, go into all the world and make disciples of all nations.

[30:58] Christians sometimes talk about waiting for God to give them a call on their life. Friends, God has given the call 2,000 years ago. It's a command to go and make disciples of every tribe and language and people and nation all over the world.

[31:13] We don't need to wait for a call from God. It's an unmistakable priority for the Christian church, for all of us together as a church and as individual Christians.

[31:24] And that is the reason why God has opened your eyes and brought you in to his everlasting city, if you're a Christian, into his church. That's the reason God's brought you into this city, this earthly city, to live.

[31:36] That's why this church is here. That's why we're having this church service this morning. So that we can know more of the truth of the gospel in order to share that gospel with others.

[31:48] It's our unmistakable task. It's a huge responsibility. It is our priority, according to the Bible. But notice what this psalm shows us.

[32:00] It's not going to happen by accident, is it? Well, we all know that. But the psalm makes it very clear. It demands effort. And it demands it from all God's people.

[32:12] First of all, that we teach ourselves the gospel. That's verse 9, isn't it? Our thinking, our meditation is to be full of God's covenant love. Our minds are to be being fed with the truth of the gospel so that it becomes part of us.

[32:28] We're to be thinking about his steadfast love, his eternal gospel love, as the driving force of our lives. That's where the apostle Paul says, worship begins, isn't it?

[32:39] We're not worshipping God if our minds are not being renewed through transformation by the gospel. And then the psalm shows us we're to train ourselves in the gospel and its communication.

[32:51] That's what verses 12 and 13 are saying. It's active. Walk about. Go around. Consider. Number. Train yourself in this.

[33:02] Become practiced in every detail so that you are somebody who can pass it on to others. As Christians, sometimes we say, well, I know that.

[33:12] I've known that a long time. And the Bible says, well, you'll only know something if you keep doing it, if you keep going through it again and again and again. And then, says verse 13, we'll be able to be tellers.

[33:28] Tellers to the whole world and tellers to the generation to come that this is God, that he alone is God. Teaching. Training. Telling.

[33:41] These are the unmistakable priorities that God commands to everyone, notice, everyone whom he has made citizens of his eternal city of salvation. So we have to ask ourselves, don't we, as individual Christians and as a body of believers here as a church, are we really taking that command seriously?

[34:02] Are we? Are we making these things the unmistakable priorities for our lives and for our corporate life as the church? And for our own lives in our city, here, in our work, in our homes, with our friends?

[34:18] And as we come together as a church in every gathering that we have, whether it's large or small, are we coming together ready, eager, to be taught more about our Savior and his eternal city?

[34:29] To be trained. To be able to share that knowledge with others. So that we can tell the next generation. So that we can tell the whole world about him, about his wonders, about the eternal God forever and ever.

[34:46] We mentioned the meeting in the notices about parents and schools. And if you're a parent, then the next generation is high up on your priority list, or it ought to be. You need to be asking yourselves, what are you teaching your children?

[35:01] What are you showing them is really important in life? Because the world is teaching our children that the most important thing in life is their grades at school, whether they get into university or college, what kind of job they get, what kind of future they have.

[35:16] How do they enjoy themselves? Will they be in the football team? Is learning their musical instrument really going well? Well, those things may be important things, but in the light of eternity, friends, those are trivial things.

[35:33] And we need to ask ourselves as Christian parents, what are we teaching our children? What are we demonstrating to our children about what we think is important for their lives and for our lives?

[35:44] They will only learn what we show them. And they'll learn in church. What we show them is important. Is it a place you come because you like to sing hymns, like to listen to a sermon, and like to meet your friends on a Sunday?

[35:58] But really nothing more than that. Or is it the center and the heart and the heartbeat of your whole life as a family and as a married couple or as a single person? We're demonstrating.

[36:11] We're like guides who are going around a historic building. And the question is, do we know anything about what it's really all about? Or have we just had a quick scout on Wikipedia so we can sound knowledgeable but really can't pass on anything about what it's really about?

[36:31] Bible tells us it's our unmistakable priority to know and tell this glorious gospel to the next generation and to make it the joy of the whole earth. Bible tells us it's our mission.

[36:43] I've been thinking a lot of late about our vision as a church together because without vision we perish. Without vision we will lose the plot of our Christian mission. And this psalm calls us back to meditating on the glorious vision of the eternal city of God.

[37:02] And it's the same vision that John the Apostle has right at the very end of the Bibles in the book of Revelation. In that city of God, the eternal city of glory, the new Jerusalem where he sees Christ reigning with his people forever in that holy city.

[37:18] And it's that vision, isn't it friends, that this psalm gives us, the whole Bible gives us, that John's revelation gives us. It's that vision of the heavenly city that gives us our purpose here in this earthly city.

[37:32] To join wholeheartedly with Christ gathering his people through the gospel together. Who will one day reign with him in that glorious city forever.

[37:42] So let's resolve together, shall we, to make that our unmistakable priority as a church, as Christian families, and as Christian believers here today.

[37:55] To teach ourselves the glories of our salvation in Christ. To train ourselves in communicating that to others. And to tell this gospel more and more and better and better.

[38:09] So that the praises of our Lord Jesus Christ will ring out from this city. And from every nation more and more and more. To the glory of God our Father.

[38:25] That's our calling. And that's our priority. And for our response to that, one day every one of us will stand before the judgment seat of Christ, won't we?

[38:39] So let's help one another. So that on that day, we stand unashamed. Let's pray. Walk about Zion.

[38:52] Go around her. Number her towers. Consider well her ramparts. That you may tell the next generation that this is God. Our God forever and ever.

[39:03] Lord, would you fill our minds and hearts with a vision. The Lord Jesus Christ reigning with his people forever in his city.

[39:17] And so fill our lives together in this city with purpose for eternity. As we join with the Lord Jesus Christ.

[39:27] Gathering his people through the gospel today. So that on that day, none of us will have lost the reward that you hold before us.

[39:42] And we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.