“Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” [1]
This world is not my home I'm just a-passin’ through
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore
Roy Acuff popularised the song, but the words of the old song have brought joy to multiplied saints for years. And yet, too often we Christians don’t feel as if we are “just a-passin’ through.” We have become mighty comfortable with this world. If we are careful not to rock the boat, if we tiptoe around issues arising from the Faith, if we avoid mentioning such matters as salvation, people treat us tolerably well. The conveniences we accumulate now ensure that we don’t need to be overly concerned with the conduct of our days here. We don’t bother anyone, and no one bothers us. That ensures that things remain comfortable for us.
And yet, it remains true that we who follow the Christ are exiles on the earth! This world—comfortable though it may be—truly “is not my home” if I follow Christ. We who worship in Spirit and in truth are temporary residents of this world. We who are twice born are not destined to spend eternity here. However, so long as we are here, we are appointed to serve as ambassadors of Heaven. As emissaries of the Lord Jesus, we must always remember where our allegiance lies. We serve the Risen Lord of Glory; thus, we must not permit our lives to be co-opted by the world.
During the days in which the Prophet Jeremiah ministered, the people of God became exiles from the land which God had given Israel. To be sure, Israel brought the judgement they were experiencing upon themselves through their deliberate choice to sin against the LORD, embracing the paganism of the nations around them. However, when disciplined by the Lord GOD, we see that discipline worked.
An unknown writer, citing the Proverbs, testified, “Have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?
‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.’”
[HEBREWS 12:5-6]
That same writer would continue his focus on the positive aspects of discipline when it is applied judiciously and with a view to correcting the tendency of God’s people to stray from the path of righteousness.
Listen as that writer continues, for what is said is for our benefit. “It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” [HEBREWS 12:7-11]. Thus, God’s people, Israel, were not cast off, though they were exiles. And Jeremiah was addressing them as God’s people, though they were being disciplined.
By asking us to study the words Jeremiah penned for Israel after the people had been sent into Babylonian captivity, I’m not suggesting that we who follow Christ have been disciplined by being compelled to remain in this dying world. Living in this present world is not because we are being disciplined. Rather, the Lord has left us here so that He may be glorified in us. God is revealing His grace through our presence. We who are saved are called to demonstrate the power of God to save despite our broken condition. We are given the opportunity to live to the praise of the Lord, always demonstrating His power at work in our lives.
Thus, though we are not being disciplined by being left in this world, we are nevertheless in exile from our home. Paul speaks to this point when he cautions followers of the Master to be wary of those deluded souls who imagine they can use religion to somehow coerce God into receiving them. Listen as he brutally dissects such foolishness by pointing to the disparate destinies of the self-deceived and the redeemed.
“Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself” [PHILIPPIANS 3:17-21].
There were false teachers even then, and they drew many who thought they could use religion to make themselves acceptable to God. The Apostle exposed such teachers when he wrote, “I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles” [2 CORINTHIANS 11:3-5].
Paul then goes full beast mode to strip away the glittering façade masking these pretenders when he writes, “what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds” [2 CORINTHIANS 11:12-15].
Though you are not yet dwelling in the homeland for which you are destined as children of the Living God, you are exiles in the world because you are given opportunity to serve the Master. Paul emphasises this truth when he writes in the Ephesian encyclical, “You are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” [EPHESIANS 2:19-22].
So, we who are the redeemed of God, have been purchased by the blood of His own Son. We are awaiting the return of Christ our Lord, at which time we will be transformed into His image. Indeed, the Apostle of Love encourages us when he writes, “Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever it is revealed we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as he is. And everyone who has this hope focused on Him purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure)” [1 JOHN 3:2-3 NET BIBLE 2nd].
For the moment, we are exiles in the earth, not as punishment, but as opportunity to serve and to glorify Him Who saved us. We are to conduct ourselves as exiles, and Jeremiah instructs us even as he instructed the Jewish exiles in Babylonian captivity.
EXILES! JEREMIAH WAS WRITING EXILES! “These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem” [JEREMIAH 29:1-2].
The Prophet Jeremiah wrote this missive to God’s people after they had been carried into captivity. The people had been removed from their homes, carried away into a strange and foreign land where they were forced to live as foreigners, compelled to live in the midst of people that had no respect for their Faith and people who were known for their violent and brutal lifestyles, lives that were notable for wickedness and disregard of that which was holy and righteous.
Our presence in the earth at this time is not punishment, but opportunity. Nevertheless, we Christians are in exile from our homeland. It is by the Lord’s determinate will that we are left here after we are born from above. We are not immediately transferred into the heavenly realms. One writer deals with this truth when he writes, “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.
“These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city” [HEBREWS 11:4-16].
This writer was looking back over the sweep of biblical history that was recorded before the death and resurrection of Christ our Lord. However, just as those earlier saints of whom he spoke “acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth,” so we who follow the Risen Saviour in this day acknowledge that like them, we are “strangers and exiles on the earth.” Heaven is our destination, but for a brief while we are serving Christ on this earth where we have been appointed. And the place we serve can be a hostile environment because the world itself is hostile to the Saviour.
It may be helpful for us to recall that Peter opens his first missive in this fashion: “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
“To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:
“May grace and peace be multiplied to you” [1 PETER 1:1-2].
Peter addresses those suffering saints to whom he writes in this missive as “exiles.” “Elect exiles” is the precise phrase he chose; and this choice of terms is critical. I suppose someone could object to the connection I am making by arguing that those of the diaspora to whom Peter was writing were in fact exiles. These suffering souls had been dispossessed of their houses and driven from their natal lands by people who were hostile to the Faith of Christ the Lord. However, the Apostle to the Jews was careful to note that their situation had been permitted by God—a Father too wise to make a mistake and too good to needlessly hurt His child.
In identifying these saints as “elect exiles,” the Big Fisherman is affirming that the Father knew where the harried people were and He knew their situations. The same truth holds for you if you are born from above and into the Family of God. God knows who you are; and He knows your situation. He knows the opposition you face; and He knows the longing for home that always resides in your heart. He knows the pain you feel when you think of the estrangement from Him of those you love; and He knows how you desperately want to be able to speak to lost loved ones. He knows your desire for peace with those who wish to hurt you; and He knows your love for Him.
Your Father knows you, and He knows where you are because you occupy that place in which you now reside “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.” Your Father knows where you are because He has allowed you to be in that place for His own purpose. There, in that place, God knows you will glorify His Name. But wait! There’s more! You are where you are “in the sanctification of the Spirit.” God is using your situation as a means of glorifying His Name because the Spirit of Christ is working to make you holy in this present age. There is yet this amazing reality that must never be overlooked. God chose your present place “for obedience to Jesus Christ.” In other words, God chose where you are as a means of equipping you to obey Christ.
In this same opening chapter of his first letter to the saints of the diaspora, the Apostle Peter counselled those to whom he wrote, and thus he counsels us even in this present day, “If you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God” [1 PETER 1:17-21]. In short, take this godly view of your days on earth—you are in exile. However, this is not an indefinite exile, for when your days are finished, whether through the portals of death or because of Christ’s return, your exile will be complete and you will be going home.
Peter was not finished with this theme of exile. Shortly, the powerful Preacher of Pentecost would write, “ Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to keep away from fleshly desires that do battle against the soul, and maintain good conduct among the non-Christians, so that though they now malign you as wrongdoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God when he appears” [1 PETER 2:11-12 NET BIBLE 2nd]. Because you are now in exile from your heavenly home, remember who you are and remember Who you represent on the earth. Understand that by conducting your life as a foreigner and living as an exile, you are glorifying God. Non-Christians are compelled to witness your life—especially the good deeds that mark your life, and they will be forced to glorify God when He appears.
I dare not pass by this point too quickly. Non-Christians will glorify God when He appears. This is precisely as the Apostle to the Gentiles testifies when he writes, thanking God for saints in Thessalonica who were growing in faith and love. Their steadfast progress in the Faith permitted Paul to boast of them, confessing, “This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed” [2 THESSALONIANS 1:5-10].
WHO SENT THESE EXILES INTO EXILE? “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” [JEREMIAH 29:7]. The people to whom Jeremiah wrote were in captivity because God Himself had sent them away from their own land. God had placed them in Babylon. This is vital information, for it reminds the reader that where we are is not an accident.
There is a persistent perception that the Lord just waits to pounce, taking away joy from those who stray from the path of righteousness. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Early in the Proverbs, we witness a contrast between the righteous and the wicked. The Wise Man writes,
“The LORD gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
guarding the paths of justice
and watching over the way of his saints.
Then you will understand righteousness and justice
and equity, every good path;
for wisdom will come into your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
discretion will watch over you,
understanding will guard you,
delivering you from the way of evil,
from men of perverted speech,
who forsake the paths of uprightness
to walk in the ways of darkness,
who rejoice in doing evil
and delight in the perverseness of evil,
men whose paths are crooked,
and who are devious in their ways.”
[PROVERBS 2:6-15]
That is quite a contrast! God watches over His people; He seeks good for them, not evil. Even when they are disciplined, it is for their good and for His glory. And that was the case for Israel when God at last called the nation to account. He delivered them into the hand of the Babylonians, but He did not desert them even when they were disciplined. In the same way, even when we know we are in exile from our heavenly home, we understand that we are left on earth to glorify the Lord.
Despite his sorrows, could testify,
“I trust in you, O LORD;
I say, “You are my God.”
My times are in your hand;
rescue me from the hand of my enemies
and from my persecutors!”
[PSALM 31:14-15]
And that can be our testimony as well— “My times are in your hand.”
I well recall the first time I heard this biblical testimony used in a message. Doctor James L Higgs was preaching the morning message in the Trinity Temple Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas. I had been a follower of the Master for only a few months at the time I heard the message. And though more than fifty years have passed since I heard that message, the illustration that was a critical part of the message remains bright in my memory to this day.
The illustration Doctor Higgs told was of a missionary who was serving in China shortly after the Communists under Mao Zedong had driven the Nationalists from the mainland. In one village where that American missionary served, the Communists had demanded that everyone must cease worshipping the Son of God. The missionary, respected by so many from that village, stood in their way. So, the commissar determined that he would make an example of this man, thus coercing the Christians in the village to forsake their adherence to the Faith of the Son of God. The missionary was placed in isolation, fed a restricted diet, deprived of sleep, and treated brutally. He had been subjected to mental and physical torture designed to break his will, thus forcing him to renounce his Faith.
After days of deprivation and beatings, the missionary was brought before the commissar and told that if he would but renounce his Faith, he would be fed and the brutality would cease. The missionary struggled to speak, but he managed to say with a weak voice, “My times are in His hands.”
The commissar was enraged at this. He stormed out of the room, returning shortly with a tattered Bible which he threw down on the table in front of the wearied missionary. “Show that to me. Show me that in your precious book,” demanded the commissar. “If you cannot show me, I will shoot you and be done with you.”
The missionary’s eyes were swollen from lack of sleep and his vision was blurred as result of the beatings he had endured. He allowed the Bible to fall open, and weakly jabbed his finger to a page that lay open in the frayed and ripped book. When the commissar looked at where the missionary’s finger rested, he read,
“I trust in you, O LORD;
I say, “You are my God.”
My times are in your hand;
rescue me from the hand of my enemies
and from my persecutors!”
[PSALM 31:14-15]
At that, the Communist commissar fled from the room without a word. The guards were confused, uncertain what they should do. After an extended period when the commissar didn’t return to the room, the missionary was trundled away to be returned to his cell.
A few days later that missionary was transported to a port city where he was put on a steamer to be returned to the United States. He was informed that he was being expelled from China and that he was not to ever seek to return. Indeed, for the child of God, it remains a truism that the redeemed saint can say, “My times are in Your hand.” God watches over His child for their good and for His glory.
Though we who follow the Master are now living in exile, this does not mean that we who are saved are deserted by our God. The Psalmist has spoken truthfully when he writes, “The LORD watches over the sojourner” [PSALM 146:9a]. And we who follow the Master are living as sojourners, living as resident aliens, in this fallen world. We are here, living as foreigners in this dying world, because we serve Christ here.
We who are twice born serve a vital role in this world. The world does not appreciate our role in the world; indeed, those identified as belonging to this world cannot understand what we are doing in this world because they do not know the One Whom we serve. Our role in the world is defined by the Apostle Paul as he writes the Church of God in Corinth. Recall how Paul has written, “We regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
“Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain” [2 CORINTHIANS 5:16-6:1].
There it is! We, as was the case for the Apostle Paul, are ambassadors for Christ. We are proclaiming His salvation for all who are willing to receive that gift of life. We reveal the grace of God working in our lives as we live holy and righteous lives. We represent Christ Jesus, the Son of God, pointing the lost to Him.
Paul would speak of the panoply of the saint as he penned the Letter we have received as Ephesians. Listen as the Apostle tells us what the well-dressed Christian is wearing this season. “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” [EPHESIANS 6:10-17].
When you have donned all these accoutrements required to fulfil your service for the Master, you are instructed to be “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak” [EPHESIANS 6:18-20]. Did you notice that although he was bound in chains, the Apostle asked for prayer that he might boldly declare the Gospel. His circumstances are immaterial, as are your circumstances.
I know that some who hear my voice are experiencing pressure from those they love. Even family members can exert incredible pressure to give in to their pleas to stop serving the Lord. In my days of service as a minister of Christ the Lord, more frequently than I care to remember I have witnessed loved ones attempt to turn new believers from their service to the Saviour. Some have been deserted by wives because they would not cease worshipping Christ the Lord. Some have seen their husbands leave them because they had become followers of Christ Jesus. I have witnessed parents who ridiculed their children when those children received the grace of God.
Did not Jesus warn us, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved” [MATTHEW 10:16-22].
Soon after delivering this warning, we witness Jesus amplifying His words when He instructs those who dare follow Him, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” [MATTHEW 10:34-39].
Are you a follower of the Risen Saviour? Then you are an exile in the earth. I cite the passage so frequently, your Bible should almost fall open to this chapter. Jesus said, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me” [JOHN 15:18-21]. Embrace your exile and rejoice in the knowledge of God’s love for you.
WHAT TO DO WHILE IN EXILE — “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” [JEREMIAH 29:7]. The LORD commanded His people to pray for the city where they were living in captivity. He did not tell them to condemn the city or to rebel. He did not tell them to adopt the ways of the pagans among whom they were then living. He did not tell them to adapt to keep from making their captors uncomfortable. God commanded His people to pray for the city in which they now found themselves. What is implicit in the command given is that these captured Jews were to pray for the welfare of the Babylonians.
What are you to do as an exile in the earth? The instruction given to the Jews while in exile in Babylon applies to us in this day during our own exile. Seek the welfare of the nation in which you have been placed. For in the welfare of this nation you will find your own welfare. The principle has not changed. We are to fulfil our mandate, doing precisely what the Master commanded us to do.
Preparing His disciples for His exodus, Jesus charged them, and thus He has charged us who follow Him in this present hour, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” [MATTHEW 28:18-20]. The charge we have received as followers of Christ is to disciple others, baptising them and teaching them all that the Master has commanded.
Shortly after giving this charge to those who would follow Him, the Risen Lord said, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” [ACTS 1:7-8].
What must be acknowledged is that this work is assigned to each Christian. Each one who follows the Master is charged to be His witness while we are exiled in the earth. Each of us who are redeemed is responsible to share in the work of discipling those of this earth. When we have discipled others, we are to share in introducing those who are newly saved to obedience, encouraging them to take a stand in open identification with the Master in the act of baptism as a follower of the Lord Jesus. Then we are to encourage all who have openly identified with the Saviour through baptism to grow in faith and in knowledge of the will of the Lord as we teach them His commandments and instruct them in the will of the Lord as recorded in the Word God has given us.
This is an ongoing work, as should be evident. Each of us who follow the Saviour can dedicate ourselves to be good citizens of the nation in which God has placed us. This means that we seek to obey the laws of the land wherein we dwell, and that we participate in the advance of the nation through righteous lives that glorify our Master. As we saw earlier, we are responsible to live as Christians so that those of this dying world have no standing to charge us with evil. Peter urges us, “Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and exiles to keep on abstaining from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul. Continue to live such upright lives among the gentiles that, when they slander you as practicers of evil, they may see your good actions and glorify God when he visits them” [1 PETER 2:11-12 ISV].
In living in this manner, you are doing nothing less than fulfilling the teaching Jesus delivered when He spoke of us who follow Him as “the salt of the earth” and as “the light of the world” [see MATTHEW 5:13-14]. Because you are thus identified, grasp the intent of the Master when He said, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” [MATTHEW 5:14-16]. Always be aware that how you live reflects who you are. And you are a child of the Living God, a follower of the Risen Son of God. Living openly as a follower of the Lord Jesus, you are glorifying His Name.
Remember that our Lord said of His followers, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” [JOHN 15:7-8].
Jeremiah urged the Jewish exiles to seek the welfare of Babylon, and to pray for the nation. I can only guess the impact we will have as we pray for the welfare of our nation, seeking God’s blessing. I don’t say we should pray for the evil perpetuated by those who govern with an agenda, but surely we can pray that God would give us godly leaders. Surely we can pray that the Lord will direct the heart of those who govern. Is that not what we witness when the Wise Man said,
“The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD;
he turns it wherever he will.”
[PROVERBS 21:1]
Surely each Christian can pray that God will frustrate the wickedness that those who govern seem often committed to advance. Surely each one who follows the Saviour can pray that our Lord will raise up men and women committed to living righteous and holy lives, and that He would refresh His faithful people even in this day late in the Age of Grace. And above all else, surely we can pray that the Spirit of Christ will empower His people to fulfil his will today. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
