“A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid” (Matthew 5:14)

When John Winthrop led a group of Puritan colonists from Southampton to establish the Massachusetts Bay Colony in New England in 1630 he offered a speech which two hundred years later became famous after it was discovered. It was a speech designed to remind the travellers of their purpose. They were fleeing a land which had been greatly favoured with gospel blessings in the past. Now under Charles I and Archbishop Laud the precious Christian freedoms of these people were under threat. They decided to travel for the glory of God following others who had taken the same route establishing little settlements in New England. As Winthrop prepared his people for a dangerous voyage to establish a settlement in a wilderness where they would learn new skills to eke out a living, he reminded them that they were a Christian people. He powerfully used the words of Matthew 5:14 as a warning:

“as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us”

His meaning was solemn. They had entered into a solemn covenant with God promising to honour Him, keep His law and do His will. As a city on the hill, the world was watching…would they honour God or would they fail Him? And if they sinned?

“So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken and so cause him to withdraw his present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword through the world”

John Winthrop’s metaphor from the Sermon on the Mount has been employed by a succession of American Presidents such as John F Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama – who saw America as a great country, a city on a hill which the world looked up to.

Winthrop, however, had nothing of the sort in mind. There was no human pride in his speech. It was an act of humility and solemn self-examination before God. It was not America, which was the city on the hill but a God fearing people – the Church of Christ who under God could influence the world for good.

The city on the hill is one of the great pictures of the Church in Scripture. It is one we ought to pay heed to.

1: The Siting of the Hilltop City

God establishes His people as a spiritual community in a prime location. He makes His people the preeminent society on earth. The Church is no mere club or institution. The Church is the body of Christ – a society under the direct headship of the King of Kings is not only preeminent but predominant in the world. As the city on the hill the Church is the sole representative of Christ and His interests in the world.

We are therefore His ambassadors in this community where the Lord has placed us. It is such an immense privilege being a Christian. Grace teaches us that the city is sited by God alone. He chose us before the foundation of the world. He sent His Son to purchase us, to redeem us, by the shedding of His precious blood, and He has sent His Holy Spirit to give us new life. We are kept in this location by the power of God. We must realise our immense privilege, our amazing honour – to represent Christ and His cause. This honour has been given us by God alone.

God does not just bring us into the Church as an international and eternal collective. This is the whole company of the elect, truly united to Christ, known perfectly to God, defined as the invisible church by theologians.

God also brings us to the visible Church. This outward manifestation of believers serving and witnessing in a local community. The denomination and the local assembly of believers of which we are a part, is the outworking of the visible church in our own individual experience. We can only realise and fulfil our place as the city on the hill when we fully embrace and are committed to the church in which God has placed us. God has sited us here, individually and collectively that we might fulfil a noble purpose. We can only be individually what God wants us to be when we learn to work collectively as a fellowship of Christians.

A city is designed with streets and buildings. It is a place of order and discipline. There are rules and there is organisation. It must be so or all would be chaos.

2: The Spectacle of the Hilltop City

The hilltop gives security; God protects His Church.

A hilltop was often th chosen place for cities in ancient times. This served the purpose of defence. The enemy’s advance could be seen, preparation could be made and defending was easier on higher ground. There is no doubt that Christ had Jerusalem in mind in relating this metaphor. Jerusalem is often a type of the Church, which has become the spiritual Jerusalem.

Jerusalem on the hilltop was difficult to attack, besiege and conquer. Though Jerusalem was repeatedly conquered and its people carried into captivity, Israel was never extinguished. God preserved the children of Jacob in the unfolding of His redemptive purpose. In like manner the hilltop may well represent God’s constant preservation of His church throughout history – “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).

The hilltop gives visibility; the Church is observed.

There is another more pertinent application we draw from the hilltop city. For the Jew – Jerusalem on the hill, with the temple rising splendidly above the walls, was easily seen. The view of the city on the hill inspired them with hope. This was the city where God dwelt among His people.

The visibility of the Church demands vigilance. The world is watching. Let us give no just occasion to the enemies of the Gospel to mock the name of Christ. Let us maintain clear consciences and lives of evident godliness, that men may see our good works and glorify our Father which is in heaven.

The hilltop gives hope; the Church can be seen from afar.

The Church of Christ as the city upon the hill represents hope for a suffering and broken world. Only the gospel can save men and women and transform the city.

That hope exists because of our witness and testimony. This was Christ’s central argument and became His key challenge. The city on the hill cannot be hid. We have a message that is so remarkable we need to keep teaching, preaching, exhorting, applying – doing so with prayer and faith – because we have nothing else. The visible city does not merely warn the world; it tells the world that there is another kingdom, another King and another way of life.

As God’s city on earth we have a civic duty to our fellow men and women and the society of which we are a part. We must present God’s law and the accountability of man to his creator. In this day of moral decadence faithfulness is required. We must declare God’s law, man’s accountability to his Creator, and the righteousness, justice, mercy and truth which ought to characterise society.

Both Isaiah and Micah speak of a day, yet future, when all nations will move upwards towards Jerusalem. This cannot be the physical earthly city because the old covenant is gone with the priesthood, the temple and the sacrifices.

All nations will flow towards Christianity, abandoning their sin, their false religions and their atheism. They will move spiritually upwards as the world is brought to a place of unparalleled blessing:

¹ The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
² And it shall come to pass in the last days,
that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains,
and shall be exalted above the hills;
and all nations shall flow unto it.
³ And many people shall go and say,
Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
and he will teach us of his ways,
and we will walk in his paths:
for out of Zion shall go forth the law,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
⁴ And he shall judge among the nations,
and shall rebuke many people:
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruninghooks:
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more (Isaiah 2:1-4; also refer to Micah 4).

3: The Splendour of the Hilltop City

In Revelation 21 John saw a sparkling manifestation of this New Jerusalem:

¹ And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. ² And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. ⁴ And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. (Revelation 21:1-4)

The city which could once be seen upon the hill is finally revealed in all its splendour, coming down from God out of heaven into the renewed creation. The Church which was often despised, persecuted and apparently weak is shown at last as the glorious Bride of Christ. Those who are part of the Church have an eternal future with Christ forever – “the sky not the grave is our goal” – Forever with the Lord”.

As we struggle through this world, like the salmon battling against the current, let us keep Christ and glory before our our eyes. We are not wandering aimlessly. We are travelling upward; we are travelling home.