All right, Psalm 87. Let's read this together. There's only seven verses. I hope to be able to get through these verses tonight. We could spend a lot of time on this psalm, but I just want to go through it. He says in verse one, his foundation is in the holy mountains. So you can see that in the very first verse of this psalm, it's talking about a foundation, and it's God's foundation, and it is fastened and located in the holy mountains. We'll get into that. He says in verse two, the Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God, Sila. I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me. Behold, Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia, this man was born there. And of Zion it shall be said, this and that man was born in her. And the highest himself shall establish her. The Lord shall count when he writeth up the people that this man was born there, Selah. As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there, all my springs are in thee. All right, a very short psalm but a very full psalm. Now in verse three, the words glorious things are spoken of thee actually are the same as the words in a song that was written by John Newton. John Newton wrote a song with the same title as those words. And in that hymn that we often sing, it says, glorious things are spoken of thee, Zion, city of our God. He whose word cannot be broken formed thee for his own abode on the rock of ages founded. What can shake thy sure repose with salvation's walls surrounded? Thou mayest smile at all thy foes. So you can see, and I just refer you to that hymn. You can keep that in your thoughts. as we go through this psalm because the hymn is a good summary of the things taught in this psalm. The first thing I want to do is look at some of the words in this psalm that God uses to describe his view of his people. So from this very psalm, we see the words in verse three. Notice he says in verse three, glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. So God's people are described as a city, and this is called the city of God. Also, notice in verse 1, he says his foundation is in the holy mountain. So God's city is founded by God on a foundation, and it's called Zion. He says that in verse 2, the Lord loveth the gates of Zion. And then, in verse five, he says that Zion, it shall be said of Zion, this man was born in her, and the highest himself shall establish her. So you can see twice in that verse, Zion, the city, which is built on God's foundation and God's holy mountains, is called her. So it's a female, or feminine, and so that's something also to take note of. And then, in verses four through five, he talks about these different nations, Rahab, Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, and Ethiopia, and he speaks of people from those nations being born in Zion. He says, this man, in verse five, it shall be said of Zion, this and that man was born in her, of those different places. And then in verse 6, he talks about God's counting. He says, the Lord shall count when he writes up the people that this man was born there. So the people in God's city built on the foundation God has laid, and they themselves are built up, are called Zion. They are called, in the feminine form, her, and they're born in this city, and they are also called, in verse 6, I mean, it also says in verse 6, they're counted. So those are the things from the psalm directly that are spoken of these people, counted. a city founded by God, built on a foundation called Zion. And this is a place of God's favor, God's dwelling place. And so the Lord himself is there and God's name is there. And so all these things are reflecting the greatness of God's view of his people. And then I want to also look at the outline of this psalm so that you kind of can organize the way that God has delivered it to us. You can see in this an organization. So first of all, we see in this psalm, in the first three verses, God's glorious city. See how in the first verse he talks about the foundation and the holy mountain. It's God's foundation, his foundation, and it's in his holy mountain and mountains is in plural. And then he also says in verse two, the Lord love at the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. In verse three, glorious things are spoken of the city of God. So this is a glorious city. It's God's city. It's built by God. And what we find when we look in the New Testament, When we take the New Testament language and apply it to this verse, or when we take this verse forward into the New Testament, what we find is that this city is the people themselves. It's not that there are, and normally in a city there is an organization, there are streets, it's laid out in a certain pattern. There's a business center, there's a dwelling place in the city for the people who work there or the people who live there and call it their home. And there's an organization, there's a government structure there, and all these things. And there's a physical structure to the city as well. There's a construction that takes place according to a plan. All these things are true of a city. And the same thing is also true of God's city. But God's city is not a physical city. It's a spiritual city. And it's not a city on earth. It's a city in heaven. And it's not a city made up of physical walls and physical stones or a physical foundation. And that's, but what we find in the New Testament is that the city is built on a foundation that is Christ himself. And the walls of the city are actually salvation. And the stones of the city are the people that God has saved. He has chosen and redeemed and birthed them by his spirit. And and this is the place where God dwells. God himself dwells in the city. And this city is glorious. As it says in verse three, glorious things are spoken of the In verse three, he says, glorious things are spoken of the city of God. So this city has a glory. So that's true of this city. And that's what the first three verses are talking about, is talking about God's glorious city, which God built on the foundation that God laid. And and that's in verses three, one through three. The second point you see in this psalm is that the people of God, of God's glorious city. They're called in verses four, five, and six, they're called people who became citizens of this city, counted by God, that were not originally from this city. In fact, they were from a foreign place, places that were by nature enemies of God. Look at verse 4. I will make mention of Rahab. The name Rahab is applied to Rahab the harlot who was saved when Joshua came to the city of Jericho. concealed the spies, and the spies told Rahab that if she hung the scarlet cord out the window, that her and all those in her house would be spared. And God speaks of her in Hebrews chapter 11. It's Rahab the harlot who believed God. So we know that she was saved. In fact, she was in the lineage of the Lord Jesus Christ. So not that Rahab is what is spoken of here. This is a different Rahab. But the name Rahab is associated with this city of ill repute. And it's really referring to Egypt, the country of Egypt. And that's spoken of in various places in scripture. But that's what it means here. It's referring to Egypt as a city of ill repute, a city of shame, of idolatry. And he goes on, he mentions Babylon. Remember Babylon is that place where Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, who was a proud man, who ascribed glory to himself for his dominion and power and glory. and God humbled him, greatly humbled him. And so Babylon was a place where God's people were taken captive, and it was a place of idolatry. And then also he speaks of Philistia. Philistia means the Philistines. And the Philistines were constant enemies of Israel. And then of Tyre. Tyre was located on the coast. It was a place of idolatry. And there was mention made of Tyre and Sidon in the New Testament. A woman who was from Tyre and Sidon came to Jesus and asked Jesus to heal her. her daughter, who was possessed by devils, and the Lord did. He healed her. That's in Matthew 15. So Tyre was also associated with a sinful, idolatrous city because they had wealth. They were a trading port where lots of money was going in and out because things were traded there. And they were content to be without God. They had no consideration of God. And then there's Ethiopia. So these places, Egypt, Babylon, the Philistines, Tyre, and Ethiopia. Ethiopia, remember, it was a place that was also an enemy of Israel. There was a time when I think a million, was it a million? I question the number because it's so many. I think there are a million people who came to war against the country of Judah and God gave the king of Judah victory over them at that time. But Ethiopia is most memorable to me because remember the Ethiopian God sent Philip, the evangelist, to the Ethiopian, and he was reading from the book of Isaiah in Acts chapter 8. Why was the Ethiopian coming to Jerusalem? Well, because first of all, that's where God revealed himself through the sacrifices. That's where people came to offer the sacrifices. That's where the gospel of Christ was preached through those ceremonies and those sacrifices. And so the people came to Jerusalem because that's the only place the gospel was preached. And in the Old Testament, it was preached through the ceremonies and the sacrifices, the law given by Moses. God revealed Christ and him crucified then to his people in those things. In the New Testament, God doesn't have sacrifices and ceremonies. What does he have? How is the gospel preached to us? How is Christ preached to us in the New Testament? Through the gospel. The gospel of Christ is the only way God preaches Christ to us in the New Testament. So the Ethiopian came to Jerusalem because there was no gospel in Ethiopia. The light was in that place in the Old Testament called Jerusalem. And in the New Testament, the Old Testament Jerusalem was just a shadow of the New. In the New Testament, the only place the gospel is found is in the church. The church is the only place where Christ is preached, and it's preached from the revelation God has given from His Word. And so Ethiopia had no gospel. The Ethiopian was sent to Jerusalem, corresponding to the church, to hear the gospel. And he came away from Jerusalem reading Isaiah 53, and the Spirit of God sent Philip to preach the gospel to that Ethiopian. And so you can see in all these cases, the point here is that, in the second point of this outline, is that God's glorious city is made up of citizens who were formerly born and raised and dwelt in a city which was opposed to God. You see that? So Egypt, Babylon, Tyre, the Philistines and Ethiopia, those all represent places where people were born and raised and lived and they were enemies of God's people. And yet they were born in Zion. Now, how can you, how can that be? How can you be born twice? Well, the first birth, obviously, was being born of the flesh and by nature. And the second birth, that's spoken of here in verses four and five, is that they were born of the Spirit. They were born of God. That's the way, that's the only way you become citizens of this city, the city of God, is to be born spiritually into the city. Everyone who is in this city is born of God. The only way into this city is to be birthed. of the Spirit. And the evidence from the New Testament, we know this, that the evidence, the work of the Spirit of God when He births His people, what is the one thing that identifies them and gives evidence that they are the Lord's people? The one thing is faith in Christ, crucified. Remember John chapter 3 verse 13 through 15? Jesus told Nicodemus, No man has ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. So the culmination, the conclusion of the sermon Jesus gave to Nicodemus, that inquisition he had there with Nicodemus in John chapter 3, it concluded with this, the birth that is brought about by the Spirit of God, a sovereign God-given, being born as a child of God, comes about when the Spirit of God presents Christ to the person that he births in such a way that that person looks with spiritual eyes and sees in the crucified a savior, their own salvation from the bite that brings death, from which there's no remedy except in Christ and him crucified, the bite of sin and the curse of God's law. There's no remedy for that, but there is in the Lord Jesus Christ. The work of the Spirit is to bring us to trust Christ and Him alone. And not just trust Christ as an abstract thought, but trust Christ as the Lord of glory who was crucified for our salvation. He bore our sins in His own body on the tree. That's the object of our faith, Christ and Him crucified. That's the gospel preached to us. And this This is what the Spirit of God presents and persuades and uses to give life to those give birth and creates in Christ those who are in this city. All of the citizens in God's city are born of the Spirit through the gospel preached to them, the gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. All right, so that's the second point here. The first point in this psalm, the first three verses is God's glorious city, which is built by God on the foundation of Christ in the holy mountains. And we'll talk about that in a minute, the holy mountains. The second point here is that the people of this glorious city become citizens by the grace of God because he births them into this city and they themselves make up this city. So this city is comprised of things. Just like a physical city has identifiable structural things like a foundation, streets and so on, this city also has structural parts. The foundation is Jesus Christ. And the walls are salvation and the stones are the people in this. The temple is the city itself. The glory of this is God's glory. It's Christ's beauty in his salvation of his people given to them. And they are the ones who make up this city. God dwells in them individually. Their bodies are members of Christ's body, and they themselves collectively make up this general assembly, the congregation of the Lord. All right. Then the third point in the outline is that in verse seven, it says, as well, the singers as the players on instruments shall be there. All my springs are in thee. What is this saying? This is saying in this third point of the outline is that in this city, in this place where God has put his people, has made a foundation, fixed that foundation, so that all of God's people are established upon and rest upon Christ in this city. They can't be moved because Christ can't be moved. They're not going to fall because Christ can't fall. And so in this city, that God has provided for himself to dwell in and reveal himself here, where his people are all born of God, in this city, God brings his people to worship him. And that's why it says here, as well, the singers and the players on instruments worship him with joy, worship him in a way that that brings them into a city that has a consummation of them being in heaven in glory with the Lord Jesus Christ and confessing and owning that their being there is all of God's doing. All my springs are in thee, the source of life, the source of light, the source of truth, the bedrock, the foundation, God's purposes, all of it are of God. All of our springs are in Him. And the singers and the players on instruments represent all of God's people joyfully, thankfully, praising God, thanking Him, expressing their dependence upon Him and their thanksgiving to Him in worship and in praise. God does that. He does that now. Before I get to the final point of this, the outline here of this psalm, I want to mention this, is that in this city, notice this, in this city is the collection of God's people. It's the gathering of God's people. And if you look at the second verse of the psalm, it says, the Lord loveth the gates, the plural word, gate, The Lord loveth the gates of Zion. Now, that word gates, if you look it up in the Cacordians, what it means is mass gatherings. Mass gatherings. Not single gathering, but a mass gatherings. There's a couple of things to point out here because of that word gates and how it's used here in verse two, that the Lord loveth the gates of Zion. First of all, do you realize, and I hadn't really thought about this until I was thinking about this as I studied this psalm, do you realize that the church on earth meets together in local assemblies? But the church that meets in local assemblies collectively are part of a large single general assembly. Isn't that what we read in Hebrews chapter 12? The general assembly and church are the firstborn. I'll go to those verses in a minute here. So what you see here is that God's people on earth gather in local assemblies. Those are these individual dwelling places, but collectively they're gathered into Zion and the Lord loveth the gates of Zion. So God views his people as a general assembly meeting together in these local assemblies. And I think of those as the gates. It's the public gathering of God's people where they meet to hear Christ preached. Because that's what this city is about. It's built on Christ. That's where the gospel is published from this city. The gospel comes out of Zion. And that's where God's people are birthed because they hear the gospel and the Spirit of God uses that gospel to birth them there. So they're born in her through the gospel preached from there. Okay, so what I wanted to point out here, though, is when you think about this collective gathering of God's people in local assemblies, and then those local assemblies making up the general assembly of God's people, which is the church for which Christ gave himself to redeem them, What you see is that God is using this time in our lives, in this world, his people, he's building this church. Remember Matthew chapter 16, verse 18, I will build my church. You think of a structure, right? I will build my church. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Remember? So what you see here is that God is saying that the people of God are gathered together, these mass gatherings through local assemblies into one general assembly. And in this time, during this time of our history on Earth, this gathering of God's people is real. It's where God meets by by his spirit, with his people, in his people, through the preaching of the gospel, he meets with them. And there's a special presence of Christ with his people. But even their meeting together now on earth is but a shadow of their ultimate meeting together in glory around the throne of God. And that's something that we need to see from this psalm, is that this psalm is speaking, and this is the fourth point of the outline here. This psalm is speaking of the gathering of God's people together to formulate God doing the building. God's gathering them. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Father gave his people to him. He bought them. Then he sought them. Then he brought them. And he put them in the fold, that one fold, the one shepherd, the one group of sheep called the City of God, the Flock of God, the Fold of God. They're all brought together. And what he's showing us here in this psalm is that this gathering together of God's people is a work that's performed by God throughout time. But primarily, primarily this occurs after the Lord Jesus Christ ascends to glory and takes his place at the right hand of God. So this church is built up by Christ himself. I will build my church. the Lord Jesus said, and the way he builds it is he sent his apostles into the world to preach the gospel. And so primarily, mostly, not exclusively, because in the Old Testament, this church was also being assembled, but primarily the assembling of God's people is through the preaching of the gospel of Christ given to the apostles. And so that the apostles themselves laid the foundation through the preaching of the gospel that the church is built upon. Now remember in Revelation when God describes the city, he says the city had 12 gates and 12 foundations and all that. And he numbers those with the 12 tribes of the children of Israel and also the 12 apostles. So by calling out the 12 tribes of the children of Israel and the 12 apostles, he's showing us that the church is actually made up of Old Testament saints and New Testament saints. So I want to point that out there. So let's review the outline. First, the outline is talking about God's glorious city. God built it. God laid the foundation of it. It's established by God and it's to God's glory. It has God's glory because it reflects what he has done. It's his work. It's his building, his workmanship, and so it has God's glory. And it's not a physical city in any way. It's entirely spiritual. Although we have bodies, our bodies will someday be spiritual bodies. only their physical and Christ dwells in them by his spirit. So that's the first part, the glorious city built by God upon Christ, the foundation made up of his elect, his redeemed people, born of God. The second part of the outline is that this is God's glorious city and the citizens of it are born of God. They're born into this city. It's a second birth because they were born elsewhere. By nature, they were children of wrath. As others, their minds and their works were wicked, and the Lord brought them into this city through the preaching of the gospel. The third point is that these people give worship. They worship God by the grace of God. God has enabled them to worship Him. They own and ascribe all glory to Him. All of our springs are in Him, and they're joyful in their praise and their worship. And this work of God is a work that occurs primarily in the end times. And when I say the end times, the last days, I'm referring to the time from when Christ finished the work of our redemption, when Christ came into the world, he finished the work of our redemption, he ascended to glory, and now he's building his church. All right, so that's the outline of this psalm, and I just want to go through a few verses here to show you how these things are established by the scripture. First of all, look at Hebrews chapter 12. In Hebrews chapter 12, we find a very plain statements that relate to Psalm 87 and explain it. And they're all spoken about God's church. Notice in Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 12 and verse I'm going to read from verse 18, Hebrews 12, verse 18. Now, If you think of the context here, it's the entire book of Hebrews. And what is Hebrews talking about? It's talking about Christ as the fulfillment of the Old Testament and the one who is himself the covenant God has made with his people. All of the promises of God are given to him, but not for himself alone, but for himself with his people. That covenant God made with Christ and his blood made this covenant. God established his covenant from everlasting. It is an eternal covenant. It will it will endure to everlasting. And Christ is the covenant in he personifies the covenant and he's the one who fulfilled it in his own blood. So this is what the book of Hebrews is about. It's about Christ and Him crucified as our everlasting covenant through which God has given us all of the blessings of eternal life and eternal glory, our eternal inheritance. OK, I can establish that by referring to certain verses in Hebrews, but I won't do that right now. I want to look at Hebrews 12. He contrasts the old covenant and the new covenant here in this section. And the old covenant was the law, the works by which we were under obligation to provide what God required of us and to meet the demands of both his law in terms of obedience and his law in terms of justice. We could do neither one. We could not fulfill the obedience of the law. We were under the curse. We couldn't satisfy the justice of God. And so that covenant required from us in order for God to bless us, we couldn't do anything. The covenant was weak because it depended upon us and we're sinful. So that covenant could not bring us to glory. It could not bring us to life. It could only minister death. And yet it was a glory. It had some glory. But the new covenant, rests entirely upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything in the new covenant is given to us in Christ. Nothing is given to us outside of him. All of the promises of God in Christ are sure. They're yes and amen. And in Galatians 3, he says that the promises were made to Christ, the seed, in Galatians 3, 16 and 19. But here, notice in Hebrews chapter 12, he's going to contrast these. He says in verse 18, For you are not come unto the mount that might be touched. So it's physical. You're not come to that. and that burned with fire, terrible, terrible to think about, nor into blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words, which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more. That was Sinai, wasn't it? For they could not endure that which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touched the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart. So terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake." OK, you're not come to that. That's the old covenant. And the Spirit of God, through the writer to the book of Hebrews, to the Hebrews here, is warning them, don't go there. That was death. That was terror. That was horrible. Because God treated, he dealt with those people. entirely upon what they did and who they were in themselves by nature. And that was nothing but sin. And so nothing but dread and fear and wrath. Terror. And they were all affrighted. Moses himself was terrified by it. OK. And but in verse 22, he tells us what we are come to the new covenant. He says, but you are come unto Mount Zion. That's exactly what Psalm 87 is about. Zion to the city of the living God. The heavenly Jerusalem. OK, so right or right away, we see we're not come to a place on Earth. And the place we're come to is in heaven and is where God dwells. It's what God has built. That's what we're come to. And he goes on the heavenly Jerusalem to an innumerable company of angels. These are the elect angels, an innumerable company. What are they doing? Well, they're learning, they're looking, they're observing and they are admiring what God has done. in Christ to create such a city out of these people through the purchase of his own blood by his spirit, building them up as his dwelling place. The angels are worshiping God with the saints, with the church, and they're taking, as it were, a place further from the throne than the people of God themselves. They're there They weren't redeemed by blood, but they were chosen in Christ to be preserved by God from falling as the other angels, the demons, did. But here we have this innumerable company of angels. They're in themselves much stronger than we are. Mighty angels. And they're God's host, they're God's army. Christ's own angels. His ministers, his servants to serve the heirs of salvation. That's what they're there for. They're giving all honor to the Son. He says in Hebrews 1, worship the Son. And that's what they're doing. He says now in Hebrews 12, 23, he says, you're also come to the general assembly. That's the church. Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. The general assembly, all of God's elect. He died to save them. And they're called the Church of the Firstborn because Christ is the firstborn. And they themselves are called the firstborn because remember in Egypt, God destroyed the firstborn. God spared all of his elect in Christ, therefore they're called the firstborn. They're the first fruits to God. They're the firstborn because they were preserved by the blood of the Lamb. All right, and then he says, which are written in heaven. That's the counting in Psalm 87. He says, the Lord shall count in verse six. Here he says they're written in heaven. What's written? Well, their names are written. They're established by God, and when were they written? Well, they were written by God in what's called the Lamb's Book of Life, because they were predestinated to life by the Lord Jesus Christ, by His precious blood, the Lamb slain. And when did this writing take place? Well, they were written in heaven before the foundation of the world. So the writing is not a physical writing. You know, we always want to think in terms of physical activities and things like that. But when God writes, it's expressing God's own mind. His purpose is established as if it were written. Scripture is written, and that's an expression of God's mind, God's will. It's a revelation of God's heart, the way God thinks, what God has done. And so what God has written is what is written on His heart. His people are written there. They're written in heaven. where God is, on God himself, on Christ, the one that was chosen to be our Redeemer. So their names are written, he says, in verse 23, he goes on, and to God, the judge of all. Now, God is going to judge all people and God will judge the wicked for their works. But he's going to judge his people for their works, but not the works they personally performed, but the works Christ has performed, because all of our works are in Christ's work. The work that God accepts, the only obedience that God accepts is the obedience of his son. And faith itself is called the obedience of faith because it ascribes to Christ all of my obedience. It returns, according to the truth and the wisdom of God, it returns to God praise and dependence and worship because everything required by God, God provided in Christ who performed the work of my salvation and all of my obedience to take away my sins. What a wonder that is. The judge of all judges all, but he judges the wicked for their own works, he judges the elect for Christ's work, and he justifies them. And so we come to the judge of all. God justified his elect. Who can lay anything to their charge? It is God who justifies them. So the judge of all has justified his people. And when did he justify them? Well, he justified them when Christ shed his blood, because it's the blood that justifies. And when did that happen? Well, it happened at the cross. But even before the cross, even before time, God justified his people. As early as they were God's elect, Christ was the Lamb slain for them. And they were washed from their sins in the blood as soon as the Lamb was slain. So before the foundation of the world, from eternity. God justified them as early as they were his elect. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? There was no time when anyone could lay anything to the charge of God's elect, because they were chosen in Christ, who is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He's the one who loved the church and gave himself for it, and that occurred even before time. In 1 Peter 1, verse 20, talking about the redeeming blood of Christ, he says, who was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. So here we have in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 23, we come to God, the judge of all who justified us and to the spirits of just men made perfect. Well, that includes everyone because every every one of God's people was made perfect in the offering of the blood of Christ, according to Hebrews 10, 14. But some Some of these in the General Assembly have already shed their sinful body and are now with the Lord. Remember, to be absent from the body, according to 2 Corinthians 5.8, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. And no one is present with the Lord unless they're perfect, unless they're in Christ, unless they're covered and clothed in the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so these spirits are just men, righteous God's saints who have been delivered from their body on earth. They're with the Lord in glory. But this is also true. The spirits of just men includes those who are on earth. It's just that now they dwell in the sinful body. They're all one. And then he goes on in verse 24. And we're come to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant. OK, so the Lord Jesus Christ is our high priest. He's our surety. He's the one who obtained all blessings for us when he offered himself to God, just as Judah came to Joseph pleading his father's love for and his agreement with his father to be a surety for Benjamin. to Joseph and he, Judah, offered himself, as it were, to Joseph to answer Joseph's demands for Benjamin. So the Lord Jesus Christ had made an agreement with his father for his elect people to answer every demand with himself on their behalf. He's the surety of this new covenant. That's what the covenant means. that Christ is a surety of it. OK. And so we're come to him finally to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. Abel's blood cried from the ground for God to take vengeance. Abel's blood shed by Cain required God separate Cain from himself. But Christ's blood cries for justification. Christ's blood cries for access. We come into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Christ's blood does everything for God's people. It washes us. It clothes us. It justifies us. It makes the remission of our sins. It's the cause of our forgiveness. It's the reason we're reconciled. It's the reason we're born of God. Everything is in the blood of Christ. We're sanctified by the blood. and were brought to glory because of the blood of the Lamb. So you can see all these things now in Hebrews 12 expand on Psalm 87 to tell us the city God's describing here are the people of God redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and were brought to a heavenly place. God's own presence. God dwells in his people as a temple. And the city is made up of God's people. Look at another verse of scripture here. Look at Isaiah chapter 26. I said we're gonna try to finish this psalm tonight, but we're not. Isaiah 26. It's just too much here to get to run through this. Isaiah 26, he says, verse one, in that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah. We have a strong city. See that in Isaiah 26, one in that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah. We have a strong city salvation. Will God appoint for walls and bulwarks? Normally we think of like Jericho, what was their salvation while they trusted in their walls, the walls of Jericho, what happened? They fell down. What what are the walls of God's city? salvation. It's not that God's city has walls that are used by God to protect them and save them, but salvation in Christ is the wall. And that's the wonder of the description God gives of this city. And so look at another scripture in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, 1 Corinthians, so we can get these things solidly in our understanding from the rest of scripture. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, I'm turning there. He says in verse, Now this section of scripture is the Apostle Paul describing how futile it is to try to build the church out of bad things and build it upon a bad foundation. So he says in 1 Corinthians 3, verse 6, He says, I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So there's something about this that is a living city, right? So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither is he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase. Now, he that planteth and he that watereth are one. Everyone, everyone shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. We are laborers together with God. You are Christ's husbandry. So you're a farm, a plant. You are God's building. You see the connection between a vineyard, for example, and a building, a city. He tries to bring us up to God's view. It's a living, fruit producing, bountiful, productive husbandry, but it's also a building. He goes on talking about the building. He says, according to the grace of God, which is given to me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, which is what? Well, we're going to find out. And another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. You see that? OK, so we're going to have to stop there for tonight. But so take these things and as you read this psalm and and see if you can gain the the view that God has of the glory of this city. It's glorious because his glory is put on it. His name is there. His son is there. His people are there purchased by the blood of his son. And He has clothed them in the beauty of His own Son. And they have the Spirit of God. They worship God in spirit and truth and all this. And the Gospel goes forth from the city to bring His people into it. Not one sheep is left out for whom Christ died. All right, let's pray. Father, thank You for the wonder of Your revelation of how close and how dear and how great and glorious your people are to you in the Lord Jesus Christ. Having chosen them in Christ, having redeemed them by his precious blood, having made them accepted in the Beloved, in the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and then having brought them into fellowship with Yourself by Your Spirit of life and truth and light and grace, and having given us faith in Christ, now we worship God in spirit and truth, we see who You are in Your Son, and we are compelled to cry out, all of our springs are in thee. And we know, Lord, that this is all true of Christ, but it is also true that it's through the proclamation of the gospel, which went forth by the apostles chosen by Christ and those even now who preach the gospel, we thank you for this grace given to us. Build us up according to your grace and your might and your purpose to the glory and honor of your son, in whose name we pray, amen.