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A Study in Psalms - Psalm 87 · CCC West Covina

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So tonight, I don't want to begin.
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Everybody who was born in the United States raised their hand.
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Yeah. I can't raise my hand because I
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wasn't born in the United States.
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Not bad. Not bad.
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OK. Who was born outside the United
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States? Will you tell me tonight?
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Tell me the country of the city, El Salvador.
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Praise the Lord. Belize, Vietnam.
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Who else? Mexico, Mexico.
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Costa Rica. OK, Back Mexico, Philippines,
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Nicaragua, Korea, where Mexico, praise the Lord of the lot.
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OK, I wasn't born in the United States.
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I was born in Khartoum, Sudan, Africa.
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My parents were missionaries and I don't remember anything about
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Sudan because when I was one years old they moved over the
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mission board moved them to Ethiopia.
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So I remember Ethiopia, but my father was a Canadian at the
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time and my mother was American. So they went to the embassy and
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they registered me as a United States citizen, even though my
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dad was Canadian. So I always thought I wasn't
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able to be the president of the United States because to be the
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president of the United States, you have to be born in America.
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But I have since learned that you can be a natural born
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citizen. You can be born overseas as long
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as your parents register you, you can be the president.
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Well, I never was the president, not because that reasons, but
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but I became a natural. I wasn't a natural born citizen,
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but of course I was AUS citizen. And our Psalm tonight is Psalm
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87. It's a really short one.
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Follow Psalms 86 that we looked at last week.
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By the way, who did their homework last week?
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Anybody who memorized Psalm 8615?
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I already had Bill chalk to me tonight.
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Anybody else? OK, so you have to complete that
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homework assignment. But Psalm 86, nine verse 9 says
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all the nations whom you have made shall come and worship
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before you. So our Psalm tonight, Psalm 87,
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is a special one because it tells us that God welcomes the
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nations of the world as natural born citizens of Zion.
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Psalm 87 might be the best statement in Scripture of God's
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love for all people and his intentions to save the nation's.
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One commentator called it the greatest missionary Psalm in the
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book of Psalms. Here is a vision, not of
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destruction of the enemies, which we usually see in Psalms,
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right? David is always calling him
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preparatory prayers on his enemies, but here we're going to
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see the the enemies conversion. God promised Abraham in Genesis
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12 that in you all the nations of the world will be blessed.
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We have a superscription and it says a Psalm of songs, of Korah,
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a song. So let's read Psalm 87.
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On the holy mount stands the city he founded.
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The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling
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places of Jacob. Glorious things of you are
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spoken. O city of God, Among those who
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know me, I mentioned Rahab and Babylon.
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Behold, Phyllis stop and tire. And with Kush.
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This one was born there, they say, and of Zion it shall be
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said, this one and that one were born in her, for the Most High
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himself will establish her. The Lord record records as he
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registers the people. This one was born there.
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Singers and dancers alike say, all my springs are in you.
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Let's pray. Father, we love and thank you
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for what you're doing at Christ Community Church this morning
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with VBS and now a chance to study God's Word.
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May we leave here tonight knowing more of you and your
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plan for each of us in our lives.
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In Jesus name, Amen. The type of Psalm.
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This is called a song as it says in a superscription, or it could
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be called the songs of Jerusalem.
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There's about five of them. Psalms 46 Psalms, 48 Psalms 8487
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and 122 are often called Songs of Jerusalem, and it's written
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by the sons of Korah. They wrote 11 Psalms, and we've
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already looked at, I think we looked at 44 earlier this month.
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But according to the predictions of God through Moses, that the
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Israelites, while they were still in the wilderness,
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Jerusalem was going to become the central city of Israel, the
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place where the temple would be built, and it would be a visible
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expression of God's presence with his people.
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Is there any history behind this Psalm?
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A lot of the commentators and I noticed that a lot of
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commentators skipped this Psalm, but a lot others think that it
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was written after King Hezekiah's victory when the when
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the Assyrian army was wiped out. We talked about that last week.
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Remember 185,000 soldiers, The Angel of the Lord came in one
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night and killed them all. But just a couple verses later
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in Second Chronicles 3223, it says, and many brought gifts to
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the Lord to Jerusalem. Who are those?
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Those would be the enemy nations.
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They brought gifts to the Lord in Jerusalem and precious things
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to Hezekiah, king of Judah, so that he was exalted in the sight
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of all nations from that time onwards.
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So following that great victory, you know those enemy nations
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would hear about 185,000 people from the the largest army in the
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world and the most vicious army in the world were killed in one
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night. Well they, they brought tribute
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to King Hezekiah. So it's possible that this Psalm
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was written after that great victory.
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Hope you have an outline. We have three simple points.
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The city that the city built by God verses one to three.
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The city inhabited by his children 4 to 6, and the city
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that enjoys his abundant blessings.
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Let's look at point #1 the city that's built by God.
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What does the Bible say about Mount Zion or Zion?
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So let's just talk about the word for a minute.
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The word Zion appears in my translation, the ESV here 163
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times. OK, That's 156 times in the Old
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Testament and only seven times in the New Testament.
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It's listed in the history book 6 times.
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It's listed in the poetry books 40 times, of which 39 are in
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Psalms, once in the Song of Solomon, but then the Major
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Prophets 79 times, the Minor Prophets 31 times, and we'll
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talk about why that's important later In the New Testament,
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Zionists listed seven times, in the Gospel in Acts 2 times, but
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both those occurrences are quotes from the Old Testament.
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Paul quotes it twice, but both times his quotes are from the
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Old Testament and the General Epistles. 3 * 1 of which is an
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Old Testament quote. So the importance of Zion in
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Psalms. It's 39 times we hear about Zion
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in Psalms. Psalms 129 five says let all who
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hate Zion be put to shame and turn backward.
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As I was preparing this Psalm the last couple weeks, missiles
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were raining down on Zion and I'm thinking this Psalm let all
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who hates Zion be put to shame and turn backward.
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And boy did Israel have a stupendous victory.
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Psalm 13213 says For Yahweh has chosen Zion, He has desired it
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for his habitation. And Psalms 13521 blessed be
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Yahweh from Zion who dwells in Jerusalem.
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So let's talk about be the greatness of Zion.
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The Bible describes Zion as the city of David, second Samuel 5
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Seven First Kings 81. By the way, I'm going to give
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you a lot of verses tonight. So if you want to write them
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down. 11 Wednesday night when we were in the Book of Revelation,
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I counted Lance quoted over a 100 passage of scripture.
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I'm not going to break that record tonight, but I might get
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half of it. So just write these verses down.
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It's the Bible describes Zion as the city of David, Second Samuel
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5, seven First Kings 81, the city of Jerusalem, Isaiah 3320,
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Psalm 5118 the entire Jewish nation, Isaiah 3314, Zechariah
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913 the millennial Jerusalem, Joel 232, Isaiah 2 verses 2 to 3
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and the eternal heavenly Jerusalem, Hebrews 12/22.
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Why is Zion so great? You know, most powerful cities,
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and when you look through the history of the world, they're on
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riverbanks or they're on oceans and, and because they need
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water, and so very rarely is there a city like Jerusalem, one
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commentator said. Archaeologists and historians
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have long wondered why Jerusalem should have been established
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where it was and why it should have become great.
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It enjoys none of the physical features which favored the
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advancement and prosperity of other important cities in the
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world. It stands at the head of no
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great river. It overlooks no great harbor.
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It commands no great highway and no crossroads.
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It is is not close to abundant sources of water, often the
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major reason for establishment of a settlement.
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The one main natural springs offered a modest supply.
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It possesses no mineral riches. It's off the main trade routes.
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It held no strategic key to conquest of vast areas prized by
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the ancient warring empires. Indeed, it was blessed with
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neither special economic nor topographical virtues, which
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might explain why it should have ever become more than a small,
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anonymous mountain village with a fade any different from that
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of most of the contemporary villages which have vanished
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from sight. The reason for its greatness, of
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course, is that it was chosen by God.
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He founded it upon the holy mountain, and He loves its gates
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more than all the other cities or towns in the land.
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And its greatest glory is still future, when it will be the
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capital of the Messianic Kingdom, a royal city of the
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long-awaited king. This Psalm looks forward to that
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day when glorious things will be spoken of Zion, the city of God.
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Let's look at numbers some point.
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See the Mount Zion, the mountain.
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Our text says on the holy mountain stands the city.
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You know, upon this mountain, the sacred land.
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There was a lot about scripture even before a lot about
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Jerusalem even for Zion. The name Zion came up in Genesis
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14/8. Remember the battle 5 Kings
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verse the four kings and Abraham had to go rescue Lot.
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And it says in Genesis 14-8 after the battle of the kings of
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Abraham, he met Melchizedek the king priest of Salem.
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And we know that Salem in Genesis 14 is Jerusalem before
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it became Jerusalem because Psalm 76 two says so.
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His Tabernacle is in Salem. His dwelling place is in Zion.
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And then you just go a couple more chapters in Genesis,
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Genesis 22, and you know the story God told Abraham.
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Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to
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the land of Moriah. And there Abraham agreed to do
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the unthinkable. He bound his only son.
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He prepared to sacrifice him, having faith that God would
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instead provide a lamb for the burnt offering.
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And it says in verse 14. So Abraham called that place the
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Lord will provide. And if you go to Second
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Chronicles 31, it says Solomon began to build the House of the
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Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah.
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So God provided a lamb instead of Isaac to be offered.
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And many years later God would not let His son go.
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He sacrificed his only son on the cross on Mount Moriah and
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First Chronicles 21 verses 14 to 18.
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You remember David had sinned when he did the census.
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He getting prideful, he wanted to count all his troops and God
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told her, Nathan told David that you need to go to the threshing
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floor of Orn and the Jebusite and and that is where Solomon
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built the temple there. So even before the word Zion
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comes up and we'll talk about it in second Samuel 5 seven, why is
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Mount Zion important? Mount Zion is not just an
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important historical or spiritual landmark for Israel.
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From the time the Ark of the Covenant was moved into the city
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of David, then later into the temple that Solomon built, Zion
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became the hub of worship that represents the presence of God.
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Psalms 50 verse one and two says the Mighty One, God the Lord,
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speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to
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where it sets from Zion. Perfect in beauty, God shines
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forth. It's also called a holy
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mountain, Psalms 26 says, But As for me, I have installed my king
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upon Zion, my holy mountain. Isaiah 11/9 says they shall not
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hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain.
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Isaiah 56 seven. These I will bring to my holy
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mountain and make them joyful in my House of prayer.
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It's also D Zion is a strong city.
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It says he founded that means God founded it, the creator of
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the universe, the omnipotent Almighty God.
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So the first time the word Zion is found in our Bible is second
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Samuel chapter 5 verses six to seven.
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And you remember the story it says, and the David and his men
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went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of
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the land, who said to David, you shall not come in here, but the
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blind and the lane will ward you off thinking David cannot come
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in here. Nevertheless, David captured the
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fortress of Zion, that is the city of David.
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So remember this is a strategic city, a strong city.
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Remember Nebuchadnezzar in 586, it took him two years with the
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most powerful army in the world to conquer Jerusalem.
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So Zion is a strong city. E Zion is a beloved people.
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It says the Lord loves the gates of Zion.
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The gates of Zion is the city of Jerusalem, and it's the people
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of Jerusalem. Isaiah 3314 says the sinners in
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Zion are afraid, trembling has seized the godless.
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So that's talking about the Jews in the city of Zion.
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Zechariah 913 says, For I have bent Judah as my bow, I have
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made Ephraim as its arrow. I will stir up your sons of Zion
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against your sons, O Greece, and wield like a warrior's sword.
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So the word Zion is first found in Second Samuel 5 seven.
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And it's not a a word that today it's often used negatively.
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You see these protests from these people in mostly, you
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know, sometimes downtown LA. But in New York, they don't like
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the word Zion and they'll have they'll have bad things to say
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about Zionism. So the movement of Zionism where
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we get the word Zion. It began in the year 1897 with
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the First Zionist Congress in Basil, Switzerland, organized by
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Theodore Herzl. It took years of struggle, but
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eventually they became the nation of Israel and established
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the State of Israel in 1948. The fundamental distinction
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between Judaism and Zionism is that Judaism is a religion and a
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cultural identity, while Zionism is a political ideology focused
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on Jewish nationalism and statehood.
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But today, many people hate Zion.
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They hate Zionism and you see it all over, but God loves the
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people of Zion. Number F Zion is a beloved city.
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It says in verse two, the first part, the Lord loves the gates
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of Zion. So what's it talking about here?
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Some commentators think it could be the other cities that the the
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Ark of the Covenant was at. The Ark of the Covenant was at
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Gilgal, it was at Shiloh, it was at Knob, and it was at Gibeon
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before David brought it into Jerusalem.
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So the better translation might be God loves above all the
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cities in the Holy Land. And I'll just give you a few
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verses because there's so many of them.
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But Second Chronicles 6, verses 5 to 6, you see the love that
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God has for Jerusalem and Zion. It says Second Chronicles 6
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verses 5 to 6. Since the day that I brought my
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people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the
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tribes of Israel in which to build my house, that my name
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might be there. And I chose no man as Prince
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over my people Israel. But I have chosen Jerusalem that
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my name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over my
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people Israel. Zachariah one verse 14 says so
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the Angel who talked with me said to me, Cry out.
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Thus says the Lord of hosts, I am exceedingly jealous for
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Jerusalem and for Zion Psalms one O 2 verse 13 you will arise
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and have compassion on Zion for it is time to be gracious to it.
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God loves Zion. You know who hates Zion?
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Satan. And I think you see that today
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with these college students and the anti-Semitism.
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I watch these videos by by Charlie Kirk and others and
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he'll ask some of these why do you hate Israel?
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And they, they, they say because of apartheid, which is so
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ridiculous because there's over 1,000,000 Muslims living in
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Israel, but Satan hates Zion. Which might explain why
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Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, has endured multiple
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conflicts and wars over the thousands of years since
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Jerusalem was founded. It has been attacked 52 times,
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recaptured 44 times, completely destroyed twice, yet it endures.
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So God loves Zion and he loves the people of Zion.
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And then verse 3 some point G the glory of Zion.
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It says glorious things of you are spoken.
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We just sang this song OK about that's what it's called.
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The Hebrew word for glorious things is only here in no other
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part of Scripture. And Scripture is full of
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beautiful poetic verses about Zion.
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And one of them with Psalms 48 I think mentioned Zion three
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times, which is more than any other Psalm.
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But Psalms 48 reveals the kind of things spoken about Zion when
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our verse here says glorious things are spoken of.
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Psalms 48 verses one and two says greatest the Lord and most
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worthy of praise in the city of our God, His holy mountain,
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beautiful in its loftiness, the joy of the whole earth, like the
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heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the great King.
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God is in her citadels. He has shown her to be our
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fortress. So last week we looked at Psalms
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86 and I called that a Psalm of grace and we sang Amazing Grace
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last week. And you know who wrote Amazing
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Grace, right? John Newton well John Newton
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wrote the song we sang tonight glorious things are spoken of
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you and that might be the first time that's ever sung at Christ
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in the church. But it was a very popular hymn
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in the 18th and 19th century and the verse we we sang one of the
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verses says glorious things of the are spoken holy city of our
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God form thee for his own abode on the Rock of Ages founded.
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What can shake thy sure repose with salvation?
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Walls surrounded, Thou mayest smile at all thy foes.
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What are the glorious things that are spoken?
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Well, Jesus Christ died and rose again outside the walls of
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Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit descended on the
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day of Pentecost in Jerusalem. The early Jewish believers were
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scattered from Jerusalem to take the gospel outside, and
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Revelation prophesied that there will be a New Jerusalem, a New
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Zion, and a Heavenly Jerusalem Zion.
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So you have a hymn that was written by John Newton about the
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first line in verse 3, glorious things are spoken of you.
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Then the second line says O City of God, and that might ring a
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bell for some of you. O City of God is the place where
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God has chosen to dwell. And Augustine, one of our early
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church fathers, wrote the most important book in the 1st 100
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years of Christianity and that was called The City of God.
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And he got that from Psalm 87, verse 3.
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Saint Augustine was the Bishop of Hippo.
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He was one of the great early church fathers and he chose
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verse 3 of Psalm 87 as the theme for his great masterpiece, The
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City of God. And some, most commentators
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would say that's one of the greatest theological books ever
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written. It's also called My City.
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Isaiah 4513 God says I have stirred him up in righteousness,
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and I will make all his ways level.
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He shall build my city. God says it's also called a holy
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city. Isaiah 48 Two, for they call
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themselves after the holy city and stay themselves on the God
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of Israel. The Lord of hosts is his name.
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Isaiah 52 one says, awake, awake, put on your strength, O
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Zion, put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy
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city. It's also the city of the king.
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Matthew 21 five, which is a quote from Zechariah 99 says,
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say to the daughter of Zion, behold, your king is coming to
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you lowly and mounted on a donkey on a colt, the foal of a
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pack animal. And you know, that's when Jesus
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rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The last time Zion is mentioned
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in the Bible is Revelation 14 one.
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And it says then I looked and behold, the Lamb that's Jesus
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Christ was standing on Mount Zion with him 144,000 having his
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name and the name of his father written on their name.
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So that's a lot about Zion, mostly the current Zion.
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Let's look at verses 4 to 6, the city inhabited by his children,
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and it says among those who know me, I mentioned he's going to
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mention five world powers, Rahab, Babylon, behold Philista
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and Tyre with Kush. So the Lord here is taking a
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census. He says that one and this one in
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verses 4 to 6. What's what's remarkable here is
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these are Gentile nations, most of them hostile at times against
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Israel, But God is saying that he's going to make these nations
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his own children. So he's taking a census on them.
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And usually, as I mentioned, these cities are enemies of
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Israel. The first two names were world
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powers, Rahab. Now, our text doesn't tell us
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what Rahab is, but the Bible tells us that Rahab is Egypt.
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And you know, Egypt, Egypt put Israel in slavery for over 400
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years and Egypt which is mentioned as Rahab in Isaiah 30
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verse 7 says Egypt's help is worthless and empty.
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Therefore I have called her Rahab who sits still.
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And there's other verses like Psalm 8910, Isaiah 51, nine.
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Rahab means arrogant and boisterous.
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So a country, Egypt, that enslaved the nation of Israel,
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yet is going to share in its citizenship in Zion the 2nd.
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And by the way, Egypt is a power to the South.
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Then you of course have Babylon. And Babylon was one of the great
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empires that God would use to punish Israel and actually
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destroy Jerusalem in 586. But because Babylon did not rise
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to power until the later kings of Judah.
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That's why a lot of commentators think that this Psalm is after
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the time of Hezekiah. But we mentioned last week,
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Psalm 137, verses 189 is in preparatory prayer by the
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captives. And they're they're, they're
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asking God to destroy Babylon, to pay back Babylon.
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Here, we're seeing the opposite. OK, so Babylon is to the east,
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Egypt's to the South, Babylon's to the east.
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Philista, you all know Goliath with the Philistine.
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And they were constantly at war with especially Saul and King
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David. And so Philista is to the West.
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And then you have Tyre. Tyre is a powerful city state to
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the north. Now, Tyre was not necessarily
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hostile to Israel. You remember the king of Tyre
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helped King David build his house.
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But Tyre was a filthy rich city consumed with with wealth and
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worldly success that would tempt Israel in many ways to go the
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way of the world. So the first four names
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encompass NE, South and West. They're all covered.
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And then you have Cush. Cush would be Ethiopia.
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The name Cush is often used to represent distant nations below
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Egypt. And you remember that one time
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Zara the Ethiopian, he came out against King ASA with 1,000,000
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soldiers and God wiped them completely out.
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So all these places here, it says in verse 4, the last second
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part, this one was born there, they say.
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So the people of these nations will be given a new birth
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certificate that says they were born in Zion.
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So they were born in Egypt, but they were born again in Zion.
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They were born in Babylon. They're going to be born again,
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born, born again in Zion. They were born in Philista.
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They'll be born again in Zion. They were born born in Tyre.
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They'll be born again in Zion, born in Cush, they'll be born
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again in Zion. And you know that's in the
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future. But it's already happening,
26:05
isn't it? Through the preaching of the
26:07
gospel that happens today. Remember what Paul said in
26:10
Ephesians chapter 2 verses 11 to 12 He says.
26:14
Therefore, remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh
26:19
called the uncircumcision by what is called circumcision,
26:22
which is made in the flesh by hands.
26:25
Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ,
26:29
alienated from the Commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the
26:32
covenant of the promise, having no hope, and without God in the
26:36
world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who
26:40
are once far off have been brought near by the blood of
26:43
Christ. So from Acts 2 to now, they're
26:47
having people from these nations coming to the Lord.
26:50
But there's really more of a future where many, many, many
26:54
will come to the Lord. There's that beautiful verse in
26:57
Habakkuk 214. For the earth will be filled
27:00
with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover
27:04
the sea. So we have a vision here of the
27:07
Gentiles joining the Jews in Jerusalem to worship the one
27:11
true God. And you know, it's almost
27:13
shocking. That's why as I'm preparing
27:15
this, there is verse after verse after verse in the Old
27:18
Testament. Now we know the Old Testament is
27:20
law, and we know the Jews were chosen by God and they were to
27:23
be the source of salvation for the world, but they disobeyed
27:27
God and God punished them. And we know that now is the time
27:30
of the Gentiles. But there are so many verses in
27:33
the Old Testament that I don't think I ever realized that that
27:37
Israel was to be the light of the Gentiles.
27:39
It says in Psalms 22, verse 27, All the ends of the earth shall
27:44
remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the
27:47
nation shall worship before you. Isaiah 2 two.
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It shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain
27:55
of the House of the Lord shall be established as the highest of
27:58
mountains, and it shall be lifted above the hills, and all
28:02
the nations shall flow to it. Isaiah 56, verse six and seven.
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And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to
28:10
minister him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his
28:13
servants, Everyone who keeps the Sabbath, and does not profane
28:17
it, and hold fast my covenant, these I will bring into my holy
28:21
mountain, and make them joyful in my House of prayer.
28:25
And their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be
28:27
accepted on my altar. And my house shall be called the
28:30
House of prayer for all peoples. Micah 41.
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And two, it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the
28:36
mountain of the House of the Lord, it shall be established as
28:39
the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted above the
28:42
hills, and peoples shall flow to it.
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And many nations shall come and say, Come, let us go to the
28:50
mountain of the Lord, to the House of the God of Jacob, that
28:53
he may teach us his ways, and then we walk in his paths.
28:57
For out of Zion shall come forth the law and the word of the Lord
29:01
from Jerusalem. Zechariah 211 And many nations
29:05
shall join themselves. To the Lord in that day shall be
29:09
my people. Zechariah 822 Many peoples and
29:12
strong nations shall come and seek the Lord of hosts in
29:16
Jerusalem, and entreat the favor of the Lord.
29:19
Malachi 111 From the rising of the sun to its setting, My name
29:23
will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will
29:27
be offered to My name, For My name will be great among the
29:31
nations. So it always was God's plan that
29:34
all the nations would come and worship at Jerusalem.
29:37
But here in Psalm 87, we're going to see some point B, that
29:41
these nations will become natural born citizens.
29:45
Maybe some of you were born in a foreign country, many of you
29:48
tonight, and you became a citizen of the United States of
29:51
America. But many of these countries,
29:54
they will become natural born citizens of Zion it says in
29:58
verse 5 to 6. And of Zion it shall be said
30:01
this one and that one were born in her, for the Most High
30:05
himself shall establish her. The Lord records as He registers
30:09
the peoples, This one was born there.
30:13
So you're going to see three times.
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Verse 4, it says this one was born there.
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I'm sorry. Verse 4.
30:19
This one was born there. Verse 4.
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This one and that one were born in her, Verse 5.
30:25
This one was born there, verse 6.
30:29
So it's you see that word born, born, born and it's not on
30:33
physical born birth. It's a new birth mostly as I
30:37
mentioned, some of the people now and the last 2000 years
30:41
since the day of Pentecost. But mostly it's talking about
30:44
people in the future glorious Kingdom will experience a new
30:48
birth and they'll belong to the family of God.
30:51
Isaiah. I'm sorry, it's it's a quote
30:54
from Isaiah 2816. First, Peter 26 says, behold, I
30:59
lay in Zion, a choice stone, a precious cornerstone, and he who
31:04
believes on him will not be put to shame.
31:06
We know that cornerstone was Jesus Christ.
31:09
And you know in John three, you know the story, Nicodemus came
31:12
to Jesus by night. Nicodemus was probably the most
31:15
righteous, upright man in Israel at that time.
31:18
History tells us he was a very rich man and he saw the
31:22
miracles. And it says that there was a man
31:24
of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
31:27
This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we do
31:32
not know. We know that you are a teacher,
31:35
come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless
31:38
God is with him. Jesus answered him and said,
31:41
truly, truly. I say to you, unless one is born
31:44
again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.
31:47
Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born when he is old?
31:50
Can he enter a second time into his mother womb and be born?
31:54
Jesus answered truly, truly. I say to you, unless one is born
31:57
of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.
32:01
That which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of
32:04
Spirit is spirit. So we have had nations since the
32:07
day of Pentecost coming to the Lord, but they had to be born
32:10
again in knowledge of Jesus Christ.
32:12
So it's really remarkable that this Psalm is so different than
32:16
most of the Psalms we've looked at.
32:18
We've looked at 7 psalms, not all of them, but most of the
32:21
Psalms. David asks for deliverance,
32:23
right? He's always in a predicament.
32:26
There's at least fourteen psalms where David is being chased by
32:29
enemies and that we have history stories about him, but there's
32:33
also a lot of other Psalms that we don't know the history behind
32:35
it. So David is always asking for
32:38
deliverance from his enemies and he's always calling down in
32:40
preparatory prayers on his enemies.
32:43
Yet this Psalm tells us that the children and generations of
32:49
generations from all the nations of the world, some of them
32:52
enemies of Israel, will be natural born citizens of Zion.
32:57
Let's look at some point #3 verse 7.
33:00
And as usual, mostly usual, the Psalm ends with praise.
33:05
Almost every Psalm, with the exception of Psalm 88 and Psalm
33:08
137, in with some type of chorus or crescendo of praise.
33:14
And ours does tonight are short. Psalm means with joy and their
33:18
singing and their satisfaction. It says singers and dancers
33:23
alike say 69 times in the 44 Psalms we see the word sing,
33:29
singers and singing. And here it's a picture of Jews
33:33
and Gentiles. They will not only live
33:36
together, they will sing together, play musical
33:39
instruments together as they rejoice in God's blessing.
33:43
If you have time tonight or sometime, Google Jewish
33:48
Christians and Arab Christians worshipping together.
33:51
And there's a just a absolutely beautiful video out there and
33:54
it's in Jerusalem and there are Arab Christian pastors and
33:59
Jewish Christian pastors worshipping together.
34:02
And it's absolutely beautiful. And it's a picture of what I we
34:06
read last week, Revelation 79, when there will be people from
34:09
every nation, every tribe, every language and every people.
34:12
But sometimes we think, you know, Arabs, all Arabs hate
34:15
Jews, but there are many Christian Arabs.
34:18
Zechariah 210 says, Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for
34:23
you, behold I come, and I will dwell in your myths, declares
34:26
the Lord. So there's going to be a lot of
34:28
singing and dancing, celebration with joy, and then there's
34:31
satisfaction. Our Psalm ends with just a
34:34
simple words. All my springs are in you.
34:38
What does that mean? Well, Warren Weirsby says the
34:40
word fountains or springs refer to living water and not water
34:45
brought up from a well. And John 7.
34:48
Jesus would say, and John 737 to 39 on the last day of the feast,
34:54
the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, If anyone
34:58
thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
35:01
Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, out of his
35:04
heart will flow rivers of living water.
35:07
Now he said this about the Spirit, whom whom those who
35:11
believed in him were to receive for as he has.
35:14
Yet the Spirit had not been given because Jesus had not been
35:17
glorified. 1 commentator says just as natural springs are
35:21
essential for the life of many in a village and a town, so
35:25
Jerusalem, the city of God is here being depicted as a source
35:29
of all that's essential to God centered life.
35:32
The bubbling over with all the good things that God gives.
35:35
You know, we began tonight by asking where you were born.
35:38
Were you born in the United States?
35:40
Were you born in a different country?
35:42
But if you have Jesus Christ in your heart tonight, you belong
35:45
to the city of Zion. You are registered in the city
35:48
of Zion. It's both our origin and our
35:50
destiny. Regardless of where you're born,
35:53
if you have Jesus Christ in your heart tonight, Augustine said
35:57
only Zion is established by God. And Augustine said all earthly
36:02
cities will fade and fall. God's city, however, endures.
36:07
Glorious things are spoken of her because God himself
36:10
establishes hers. If you have Jesus Christ in your
36:13
heart tonight, you may have an American passport.
36:16
We have 19 people going to Argentina in just about two to
36:18
three weeks and they all have AUS passport to get into
36:22
Argentina. Doesn't cost anything, but you
36:25
have it. If you have Jesus Christ in your
36:26
heart, you have a passport of heaven.
36:28
Philippians 320 says our citizenship is in heaven from
36:33
where we await A Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
36:36
So what do we learn from this short 7 verse Psalm?
36:39
Well, there's a current Zion, right?
36:41
Jerusalem is loved and chosen by the Almighty God.
36:46
Missiles may be raining down. I think they're some type of
36:49
peace treaty now. anti-Semitism is increasing all over the
36:54
world. It's almost shockingly that I
36:56
was listening to a sermon by Jack Hibbs last week and he was
36:59
talking about, you know, it's just World War Two.
37:02
We had the Holocaust, so it's almost shocking today, the
37:05
anti-Semitism, the Holocaust deniers and the hatred and the
37:09
increase and I guess we might even have a Muslim mayor of New
37:12
York if that happens in the next few weeks and there's so many
37:15
Muslim immigrants coming United States.
37:17
So but just remember when those missiles are raining down,
37:21
Jerusalem is loved, beloved by God.
37:25
Psalms 122 six says we're to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
37:30
God loves Zion and he's not finished with it yet because
37:33
Romans 11/26 is some great day. It's going to probably be in the
37:36
tribulation. All Israel will be saved because
37:40
that verse says the deliverer will come from Zion and that
37:43
delivers our Lord Jesus Christ, and he will banish ungodliness
37:47
from Jacob. And this will be my covenant
37:49
with them when I take away their sins.
37:51
So someday in the tribulation, even though many Jews will die,
37:55
there will be a remnant that will be saved.
37:58
So there's a current Zion today, then there's a millennial Zion.
38:02
And remember I said of the 163 times Zion is mentioned in
38:06
scripture, 110 of those are in the minor and major prophets.
38:12
So that tells you right there, there is a lot of of Zion to
38:16
come and there'll be a millennial Zion.
38:20
This Psalm must be read in 2 levels.
38:21
It's a prophecy of a future Kingdom when all the nations
38:25
will come and worship at the millennial Kingdom.
38:29
And we read last week Psalms 86.9.
38:31
All the nations you have made shall come and worship before
38:35
you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.
38:38
There's, there's 59 Islamic countries in the world when you
38:41
look on a map, right? And there's that little tiny
38:44
spot of Israel right there. There's not many nations that
38:47
are coming to worship with Israel.
38:49
One or two of them might have made a peace treaty, but they're
38:51
not worshiping Israel. But Isaiah chapter 2, verse one
38:56
to five. And this is in the millennial
38:58
Kingdom. It says that it shall come to
39:00
pass in the latter days, that the mountain of the House of the
39:03
Lord shall be established as the highest mountain, and it shall
39:07
be lifted above the hills, and all the nations shall flow to
39:10
it. And many people shall come and
39:12
say, Come, let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the
39:16
House of the Lord, the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his
39:18
ways, and then we walk in his paths.
39:21
For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord
39:26
from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the
39:28
nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples.
39:32
And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their Spears
39:36
in the pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword
39:38
against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.
39:42
So the Gentiles who know God are going to be included among His
39:46
people. You know, we read many verses
39:48
tonight and I could have given you almost 50 more that that
39:53
Israel was to be the light of salvation for the nations of the
39:56
world. Jesus Christ came in came into
40:00
Israel in John 111. It says he came into his own.
40:03
His own were the Jews and his own people did not receive him.
40:08
And then John 112 says, but to all who did receive him, who
40:12
believed in his name, He gave the right to become children of
40:15
God. Then on Acts 2, on the day of
40:18
Pentecost, it lists 15 different languages, 15 different cities
40:23
or countries. That that would become one many
40:27
of the 3000 who came to Christ that day.
40:30
But in Acts one to seven, it's almost all about Jews, right?
40:35
But then you get to Acts chapter 8, the church is persecuted and
40:38
scattered from Jerusalem and it says many Samaritans believed in
40:42
Jesus. And then in Acts 8, we have an
40:45
Ethiopia from Cush who comes to the Lord, right?
40:49
Then in Acts 9, of course, the apostle Paul is a Jew, comes to
40:52
the Lord, and then in chat Acts after 10, we have a Roman
40:56
centurion coming to the Lord. And then when you get to Acts
40:59
13, Paul, who found Christ in Acts 9, begins the first
41:04
missionary journey. And that work would continue for
41:08
the last 2000 years. It continues today at VBS, Try
41:12
to talk to some of the parents and grandparents bringing their
41:15
kids today. We want them to know Jesus
41:17
Christ. We want their children to know
41:19
Jesus Christ. So VBS is emissions outreach.
41:22
We going to Argentina and then splitting the team.
41:25
When we get to Argentina, there'll be two places where
41:27
we'll be doing ministry. We'll be 6 hours apart from each
41:30
other. But salvation is for those who
41:34
were born not of blood nor the will of flesh, but of God.
41:38
And this precious gift of his presence is not limited to those
41:41
of Jewish descent. When we accept Jesus Christ as
41:44
our Savior, we're grafted in to the inherence of Zion as our
41:48
place of refuge, protection, and communion of God.
41:52
So I asked you where you were born.
41:54
It doesn't matter where you're born, but it matters.
41:57
Are you born again? That's what Jesus said to
42:00
Nicodemus, a righteous, upright man, the Pharisees.
42:04
Are you born again? Is your name written in the
42:06
Lamb's book of life? So there's a current Zion,
42:09
there's a millennial Zion, and there's going to be a heavenly
42:13
Zion. This is a picture of heavenly
42:16
Zion, and we see that in Hebrews 12/22 where it says, But you
42:22
have come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the
42:26
heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon
42:29
thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the Church of the
42:33
first born whose names are written in heaven.
42:36
You have come to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of the
42:39
righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of the new
42:43
covenant, and to the sprinkled blood.
42:45
That speaks of a better word of Abel.
42:47
I was thinking, I have not been to the current Zion, but I'm
42:51
going to go to the millennial Zion and I'm going to go to the
42:53
heavenly Zion. So don't worry if you haven't
42:55
been to Jerusalem yet. So what what the commentator
42:58
said there about Hebrews 12/22. Remember in Exodus 19, the Lord
43:05
began to give Israel His covenant on Mount Sinai,
43:08
remember, and only Moses could go up to Mount Sinai and anybody
43:13
who came near Mount Sinai, including the animals, could be
43:16
killed. So they were when you, when it
43:19
was Mount Sinai, you were separated from God's presence as
43:22
the Israelites were. But here on Mount Zion, we have
43:27
full access to God. That's what Hebrews 12/22 is
43:30
saying. We have full access to God and
43:33
we get all His blessings. We can fully or be fully
43:36
confident that we can enter God's presence and dwell with
43:39
Him because He's forgiven us our sins.
43:42
So we're going to Mount Zion, OK, if you have Jesus Christ in
43:45
your heart. So let's pray tonight, Father in
43:48
Heaven, we do want to lift up the nation of Israel and we pray
43:50
for the peace of Israel. Father, we know that now is the
43:54
time of Gentiles. And because of that, everyone
43:56
here that's probably not Jewish has Jesus Christ in their heart
44:00
because it's the time of Gentiles.
44:02
But we pray for the peace of Jerusalem because we know you,
44:05
Yahweh, you love Jerusalem, you love the gates of Zion, you love
44:09
the people of Israel, even though they have rejected your
44:11
Messiah. So we pray for the peace of
44:13
Israel, that the the the missiles would stop raining
44:16
down, that Israel could make peace with those nations.
44:20
And we do pray for all the Messianic Jews, all the
44:22
missionaries, and all those who are working for salvation among
44:26
the Jews, that they could reap a bountiful harvest.
44:28
But Father, we pray that that day would come soon when all
44:31
Israel would be saved. And Father, we pray that every
44:35
person in here would not just be born a citizen of America or the
44:39
countries we listed, but that they'd be born again, that they
44:43
would understand that salvation is through grace alone in Jesus
44:46
Christ alone. And no works can get you into
44:48
heaven. You must be born not just a
44:50
physical family, but into a spiritual family.
44:53
And that's done through faith in you, Jesus, by believing what
44:56
you did on the cross and asking for forgiveness of sins.
44:59
So Father, we pray for the parents, the grandparents, the
45:02
children of EBS. We pray for those in Villa Maria
45:05
and those in San Jose to Argentina where we'll be sharing
45:08
the gospel in just a few weeks. And I pray if there'd be one
45:11
person here tonight that doesn't know of Jesus Christ and His
45:15
plan of salvation or is unsure that today would be the day of
45:18
salvation, now would be the time of God's favor.
45:21
May we leave here tonight excited about Zion, ready to go
45:25
to Zion and telling the unbelievers and other people
45:27
about Zion in Jesus name, Amen.