Our Great City
The meaning behind our name is simple and yet profound. Simple because it basically means God’s people (the church) are forming a city of praise throughout the nations. However, it is profound in the sense that until God establishes New Jerusalem (His capitol city) upon the new earth in the Kingdom of God the church is literally His city. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:16, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?” Therefore, today the church as the Body and Bride of Christ, is where God dwells with His people and brings them prosperity and peace. As a result, Metro Praise International means, “God’s city of praise for the nations!”
SERIES SCRIPTURE
Psalm 48:1-14, “1 Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise, in the city of our God, his holy mountain. 2 Beautiful in its loftiness, the joy of the whole earth, like the heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the Great King. 3 God is in her citadels; he has shown himself to be her fortress. 4 When the kings joined forces, when they advanced together, 5 they saw her and were astounded; they fled in terror. 6 Trembling seized them there, pain like that of a woman in labor. 7 You destroyed them like ships of Tarshish shattered by an east wind. 8 As we have heard, so we have seen in the city of the Lord Almighty, in the city of our God: God makes her secure forever.
9 Within your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love. 10 Like your name, O God, your praise reaches to the ends of the earth; your right hand is filled with righteousness. 11 Mount Zion rejoices, the villages of Judah are glad because of your judgments. 12 Walk about Zion, go around her, count her towers, 13 consider well her ramparts, view her citadels, that you may tell of them to the next generation. 14 For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.”
TERMS
- GREAT: As in, “Great is the Lord” and “Great King,” means, “God is the best and most excellent in all His ways.”
- GOD: The God of Israel, the one true God, known as, “Yahweh,” which means, “self-existent and eternal one.” Yahweh is the, “Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit,” Matthew 28:19.
- CITY OF OUR GOD: The psalmist used this term to relate to Jerusalem and its poetic name, “Mount Zion.”
- MOUNT ZION: An ancient name for various aspects of Jerusalem, Judah, and the whole country, and also a metaphor for the people of Yahweh. Eerdman’s Dictionary.
JERUSALEM
- CAPITOL OF ISRAEL: Jerusalem (“foundation of peace”), was conquered by David in 2 Samuel 5:6-7 and then made the capitol of the Israelite nation. It was also central in worship because the Jewish Temple, along with the arc of covenant, was located there.
- METAPHOR: Immediately David, writer of most of the poetic psalms, began to associate Jerusalem with “Zion” as a place of praise and great joy. Psalm 2:6, 9:11, 14:7, 48:2, 53:6, 76:2, 87:2, 99:2, 102:21, 132:13, 135:21, & 149:2.
- NEW JERUSALEM: After the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. by the Roman General Titus, John the apostle received inspired prophecies that Jesus would establish a “New Jerusalem” in Revelation 3:12, 21:1, & 21:10, which also coincided with Old Testament prophecies found in Isaiah 65:17-19, Jeremiah 33:9, & Ezekiel 40-48.
APPLICATION
- Be born again and become a citizen of the “New Jerusalem.”
- Join Metro Praise International church’s discipleship program to be effective in God’s Kingdom.
- Go and preach the gospel to invite others to become citizens of the “New Jerusalem.”
Jeremiah 33:9, “Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things I do for it; and they will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I provide for it.”