Scripture

Great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, His holy mountain.

~Psalm 48:1, LSB

Quote

It is typical of God to use the insignificant. He gets greater glory when He makes the insignificant significant.

~John Goldingay

I don’t know if you have been to Israel or not, but if you have, it is likely that you were unimpressed. Mount Zion is not a lofty majestic mountain. It is more like a craggy hill. The city of Jerusalem is not one of the wonders of the world. The ancient Jew loved Mount Zion, the city of Jerusalem and the Temple. They believed the Temple and city were indestructible. They had an unbelievable reverence for the city and the Temple. The same kind of reverence that we have for Christ who we believe is the indestructible TEMPLE, the real thing. The Jews worshipped the shadow; we worship the Substance, the reality that created the shadow. Reading Psalm 48 and reading John Goldingay’s commentary created a spark or flash of thoughts. This is one of the passages that inspired Augustine’s city of God. Augustine wrote the CITY OF GOD in the fifth century and it took him twelve years. Augustine was a Postmillennialist which is the most optimistic view of the end time. Postmillennialism is the view that things will get better and better until the world becomes Christian and every knee bows to Christ. When Constantine merged the church with the state, postmillennialism became the view of day. Augustine changed his views after the fall of the Roman Empire and his new view inspired him to write the CITY OF GOD which is a contrast between two cities: the heavenly city New Jerusalem and the earthy city which would be the world or Babylon.

The City of God is heavenly and founded on humility and love for God leading to contempt of self. The City of Man/World is earthly and founded on pride leading to contempt for God. The heavenly city praises God, the earthly city praises man. The City of God is a place of peace with harmony and unity. The Earthly City is a place of strife, conflict and dog-eat-dog competition. The City of God is eternal, the City of Man is temporal. The City of God is focused on a Person {Christ} while the City Of Man is focused on gaining power and possessions. In the City of God, the citizens love and serve one another. In the City of Man, men subjugate and use each other. The City of God is governed by love, justice and virtue whereas the City of Man is governed by lust and the need to control.

Ironically, one of my pastor friends brought the subject of postmillennialism up Monday. I told him it was a thing of the past and he said, “No, there has been a rebirth of Postmillennialism.” I have not had the time to research it, but this is very interesting. For postmillennialism to become revelant again, Trump would have to be elected. The postmillennialist believe that things will get better and better until the millennial reign of Christ is ushered in. I am not convinced but postmillennialism is very attractive.

Extra

I’ve been reading the CITY OF GOD for more than a year and I am not finished yet. I am on page 499 with about 50 pages to go. Augustine chases a lot of rabbits. I wish someone would write a summary that features the contrast of the two cities. Those above are just a few: there are more. One that just popped into my mind: The City of God is a place of perfect order: the City of Man is a place of disorder. It is a hard read.

Mrs. Leona Burden’s COLS is Saturday at 1:00. Visitation 11:00-1:00.

Communion and Baptism Sunday.