WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.500 So the first reading is from Acts chapter 2 verse 42, 00:00:04.500 --> 00:00:08.800 and that's on page 911 of the Church Bible. 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:11.339 And they devoted themselves to the Apostles' teaching 00:00:11.339 --> 00:00:14.780 and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 00:00:14.780 --> 00:00:18.480 And all came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:21.019 were being done through the Apostles. 00:00:21.019 --> 00:00:25.920 All who believed were together and had all things in common. 00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:28.600 And they were selling their possessions and belongings 00:00:28.600 --> 00:00:32.800 and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. 00:00:32.800 --> 00:00:36.000 And day by day, attending the temple together 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:38.439 and breaking bread in their homes, 00:00:38.439 --> 00:00:42.100 they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 00:00:42.100 --> 00:00:45.439 praising God and having favour with all the people. 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:48.380 And the Lord added to their number day by day, 00:00:48.380 --> 00:00:51.480 those who were being saved. 00:00:51.480 --> 00:00:56.320 And the second reading is Jeremiah chapter 29 00:00:56.320 --> 00:01:02.320 from verse 1, and that is on page 656 of the Church Bible. 00:01:04.599 --> 00:01:06.599 These are the words of the letter 00:01:06.599 --> 00:01:09.599 that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem 00:01:09.599 --> 00:01:12.299 to the surviving elders of the exiles 00:01:12.299 --> 00:01:16.539 and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people 00:01:16.539 --> 00:01:19.539 whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile 00:01:19.539 --> 00:01:22.319 from Jerusalem to Babylon. 00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:25.879 This was after King Jecuniah and the Queen Mother, 00:01:25.879 --> 00:01:29.119 the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, 00:01:29.119 --> 00:01:31.859 the craftsmen, and the metalworkers 00:01:31.859 --> 00:01:34.619 had departed from Jerusalem. 00:01:34.619 --> 00:01:37.759 The letter was sent by the hand of El-Asah, 00:01:37.759 --> 00:01:41.659 the son of Shappan, and Gemariah, the son of Hilkiah, 00:01:41.659 --> 00:01:45.099 whom Zedekiah, King of Judah, sent to Babylon, 00:01:45.099 --> 00:01:47.239 to Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. 00:01:47.239 --> 00:01:48.799 It said, 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:51.179 Thus says the Lord of hosts, 00:01:51.179 --> 00:01:53.780 the God of Israel, to all the exiles 00:01:53.780 --> 00:01:58.540 whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 00:01:58.540 --> 00:02:00.780 Build houses and live in them. 00:02:00.780 --> 00:02:03.620 Plant gardens and eat their produce. 00:02:03.620 --> 00:02:06.620 Take wives and have sons and daughters. 00:02:06.620 --> 00:02:10.560 Take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:13.520 that they may bear sons and daughters. 00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:16.560 Multiply there and do not decrease. 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:19.259 But seek the welfare of the city 00:02:19.259 --> 00:02:21.699 where I have sent you into exile 00:02:21.699 --> 00:02:24.439 and pray to the Lord on its behalf. 00:02:24.439 --> 00:02:28.679 For in its welfare, you will find your welfare. 00:02:28.679 --> 00:02:33.219 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel. 00:02:33.219 --> 00:02:35.780 Do not let your prophets and your diviners 00:02:35.780 --> 00:02:37.780 who are among you deceive you, 00:02:37.780 --> 00:02:40.979 and do not listen to the dreams that they dream. 00:02:40.979 --> 00:02:44.219 For it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name. 00:02:44.219 --> 00:02:47.599 I did not send them, declares the Lord. 00:02:47.599 --> 00:02:49.459 For thus says the Lord, 00:02:49.460 --> 00:02:52.540 when seventy years are completed for Babylon, 00:02:52.540 --> 00:02:56.740 I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise 00:02:56.740 --> 00:02:59.439 and bring you back to this place. 00:02:59.439 --> 00:03:02.680 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. 00:03:02.680 --> 00:03:05.719 Plans for welfare and not for evil. 00:03:05.719 --> 00:03:08.319 To give you a future and a hope. 00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:12.319 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, 00:03:12.319 --> 00:03:14.100 and I will hear you. 00:03:14.100 --> 00:03:15.960 You will seek me and find me 00:03:15.960 --> 00:03:18.920 when you seek me with all your heart. 00:03:18.919 --> 00:03:21.759 I will be found by you, declares the Lord. 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:23.859 And I will restore your fortunes, 00:03:23.859 --> 00:03:27.500 and gather you from all the nations and all the places 00:03:27.500 --> 00:03:30.779 where I have driven you, declares the Lord. 00:03:30.779 --> 00:03:33.479 And I will bring you back to the place 00:03:33.479 --> 00:03:35.879 from which I sent you into exile. 00:03:38.279 --> 00:03:40.079 Let's pray together. 00:03:40.079 --> 00:03:42.679 Lord, we just ask now that as we look at this passage 00:03:42.679 --> 00:03:47.560 for a few minutes, that your Holy Spirit would be with us. 00:03:47.560 --> 00:03:50.599 So Holy Spirit, living breath of God, 00:03:50.599 --> 00:03:54.219 come and speak to us now as we consider your Holy Word, 00:03:54.219 --> 00:03:56.000 especially from Jeremiah. 00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:58.420 So we ask for that help in Jesus' name, amen. 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:01.520 All right. 00:04:01.520 --> 00:04:04.840 We are finishing our vision and value series today. 00:04:05.860 --> 00:04:09.020 And the very last line of our vision statement says 00:04:09.020 --> 00:04:11.960 that we exist to seek the peace of the city. 00:04:13.080 --> 00:04:16.920 Now we've been in Acts 2, 42 to 47 for a few weeks, 00:04:16.920 --> 00:04:19.439 and that really is the DNA heartbeat 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:21.680 of who St. C's wants to be. 00:04:22.860 --> 00:04:26.480 And at the very end of 42 to 47, verse 47, 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:30.600 it says that the first church in the first century, 00:04:30.600 --> 00:04:33.120 right when the Holy Spirit had come down upon them, 00:04:33.120 --> 00:04:35.700 had favor with everyone in Jerusalem. 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:39.040 And that means that they didn't just share their stuff 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:41.660 with Christians, but also non-Christians. 00:04:41.660 --> 00:04:43.460 They were kind not only to the Christians, 00:04:43.460 --> 00:04:45.639 but also to the non-Christians. 00:04:45.639 --> 00:04:48.839 And then it says that God then added to their number 00:04:48.839 --> 00:04:51.479 every single day, those who were coming, 00:04:51.479 --> 00:04:52.919 that were not part of them. 00:04:52.919 --> 00:04:54.800 They were believing, they were converting, 00:04:54.800 --> 00:04:56.839 they were coming to Christ. 00:04:56.839 --> 00:04:58.800 Now favor, that's the word. 00:05:00.039 --> 00:05:02.919 The best place, maybe in the whole Bible, 00:05:02.919 --> 00:05:06.819 I think to explain what it means to have favor with all 00:05:06.819 --> 00:05:08.079 is in Jeremiah 29. 00:05:08.959 --> 00:05:12.279 Very famous, seek the peace of the city, 00:05:12.279 --> 00:05:15.479 God says, to the exiles, to the Israelites in Babylon. 00:05:16.439 --> 00:05:19.039 And he says to them, don't just seek the peace 00:05:19.039 --> 00:05:21.319 of the believers, the welfare, 00:05:21.319 --> 00:05:23.439 seek the peace of Babylon, the whole city. 00:05:24.519 --> 00:05:27.479 What's happening in this story in Jeremiah 29? 00:05:27.479 --> 00:05:29.039 What's the context? 00:05:29.039 --> 00:05:32.639 This is the sixth century BC, the 500s. 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:36.399 And this is sometime around the year 597, 596. 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:41.159 Nebuchadnezzar has sacked Jerusalem for the second time, 00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:43.000 the great king of Babylon. 00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:46.000 He went in, he tore the place apart. 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:48.280 He went into the temple, he stole the furniture 00:05:48.280 --> 00:05:52.200 out of the temple, he stole the altar 00:05:52.200 --> 00:05:53.520 and melted the gold around it 00:05:53.520 --> 00:05:56.960 to bring it back to the great city of Babylon, to use it. 00:05:56.960 --> 00:05:58.840 When he did that, you can read all about this 00:05:58.840 --> 00:06:00.560 in First Kings 24. 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:02.960 He brought back, and our text tells us this, 00:06:02.960 --> 00:06:05.480 the nobility, the craftsmen, 00:06:05.480 --> 00:06:09.280 and then First Kings 24 says, the mighty men of valor. 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:13.679 He left the poor people, and he left them in Jerusalem 00:06:13.679 --> 00:06:16.479 to work the land as slaves. 00:06:16.479 --> 00:06:18.000 So what he did was, he went to Jerusalem, 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:20.919 he took all the people with high education, 00:06:20.919 --> 00:06:23.839 any type of skill, brought them to his great city 00:06:23.839 --> 00:06:25.599 because he wanted to use them to make his city 00:06:25.599 --> 00:06:27.599 even better, his empire. 00:06:27.599 --> 00:06:30.039 And he left everybody else as his slaves. 00:06:30.039 --> 00:06:33.559 And he had, he longed to assimilate the best of the best 00:06:33.559 --> 00:06:36.239 in the city of Jerusalem into the city of Babylon. 00:06:36.239 --> 00:06:37.799 Now today, if this was to happen, 00:06:37.800 --> 00:06:41.160 if Nebuchadnezzar was to come to Edinburgh in 2024, 00:06:41.160 --> 00:06:43.480 he would definitely not take the pastors. 00:06:44.439 --> 00:06:47.000 He would take the robotics engineers. 00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:48.520 He would take the doctors. 00:06:48.520 --> 00:06:50.920 He would take the construction managers. 00:06:50.920 --> 00:06:53.439 He would take the military professionals, 00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:56.639 anybody who could actually add strength, wealth, 00:06:56.639 --> 00:06:58.400 capital to the great city. 00:06:58.400 --> 00:07:00.040 That's what he did. 00:07:00.040 --> 00:07:01.920 And so we open up Jeremiah 29, 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:04.800 and the Israelites are exiles. 00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:07.560 They are in the great city of Babylon, 00:07:07.560 --> 00:07:09.879 and they're not at home anymore. 00:07:09.879 --> 00:07:14.240 And God writes a letter through the prophet Jeremiah, 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:18.879 a scroll, to say essentially to the people, 00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:23.639 how do you live as a Christian in a pluralistic context? 00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:27.079 How do you live as a Christian in a city, 00:07:27.079 --> 00:07:28.959 as a believer in the Lord, in a city 00:07:28.959 --> 00:07:30.399 where overwhelmingly most people 00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:32.720 do not believe what you believe in? 00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:37.600 How do you go into Babylon and live as a believer? 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:39.680 And the answer that he gives to that question 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:41.440 really is the heartbeat of our vision. 00:07:41.440 --> 00:07:43.000 It summarizes all of it. 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:43.920 It brings it all together, 00:07:43.920 --> 00:07:46.480 and so that's why we're finishing our series with it. 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:47.840 This is what he says. 00:07:47.840 --> 00:07:51.360 He says, first, you gotta know that you're in exile. 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:53.240 You are in exile. 00:07:53.240 --> 00:07:55.840 Secondly, he says, go and be a human. 00:07:57.160 --> 00:07:59.440 Third, seek the peace of the city. 00:07:59.440 --> 00:08:01.360 Those three things is what God says 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:02.720 to the Israelites in Babylon. 00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:04.480 First, he tells them, 00:08:05.840 --> 00:08:08.240 Jeremiah 29, it matters so much for us 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:11.199 because God says, Christian, if you're a believer today, 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:15.080 know that you are in exile in this world. 00:08:15.080 --> 00:08:17.720 So here we've got the people of God, 00:08:17.720 --> 00:08:20.360 and they are dragged into Babylon. 00:08:21.480 --> 00:08:24.120 This man took everything from them, Nebuchadnezzar, 00:08:24.120 --> 00:08:26.080 this evil wicked king, 00:08:26.080 --> 00:08:28.240 to this evil wicked but truly great city. 00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:30.160 So you know that the ancient city of Babylon, 00:08:30.160 --> 00:08:33.120 Nebuchadnezzar city, is one of the seven wonders of the world, 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:35.560 the hanging gardens of Babylon. 00:08:35.560 --> 00:08:38.639 We have a map of it from this exact century. 00:08:38.639 --> 00:08:42.279 It's in the British Museum in London on a clay tablet. 00:08:42.279 --> 00:08:44.120 You can go and see it. 00:08:44.120 --> 00:08:48.240 Absolutely massive urban center for its time. 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:50.600 He's drug them into this place. 00:08:50.600 --> 00:08:54.160 They are exiles, and if you look down at verse seven, 00:08:54.160 --> 00:08:55.879 seek the peace of the city, the welfare, 00:08:55.879 --> 00:08:57.000 we'll come back to that, 00:08:57.000 --> 00:09:00.360 where I have sent you, God says. 00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:03.600 So the most important thing that God tells them 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:06.039 is that you need to know that you're in Babylon 00:09:06.039 --> 00:09:07.399 and I put you there. 00:09:08.600 --> 00:09:10.960 I put you in that wicked city. 00:09:10.960 --> 00:09:14.480 I put you in the throes of Nebuchadnezzar's hands. 00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:17.519 The exile that you're experiencing is because I've done that. 00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:18.960 I've given that to you. 00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:22.960 Now, in the Old Testament, Israel is in exile 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:25.840 because they basically became Babylonians 00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:27.639 in their own hearts in Jerusalem. 00:09:27.639 --> 00:09:30.960 They worshiped idols, and so God sent them to Babylon. 00:09:30.960 --> 00:09:34.480 So he basically said, if you want to be Babylonian 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:36.680 in your behavior, in your worship, 00:09:36.680 --> 00:09:38.399 I'll give you to Babylon. 00:09:38.399 --> 00:09:40.759 But in the rest of the Bible, 00:09:40.759 --> 00:09:45.280 the Bible takes that idea of Babylon, this metaphor, 00:09:45.280 --> 00:09:49.440 and uses it to describe exactly who we are as Christians 00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:52.560 in the new covenant era after Jesus Christ has come. 00:09:52.560 --> 00:09:54.400 And so in the New Testament, 00:09:54.399 --> 00:09:56.319 we have the same exact language that you, 00:09:56.319 --> 00:09:59.000 if you're a believer today, you are living in exile 00:09:59.000 --> 00:10:04.000 just like the Israelites were in Babylon in the sixth century. 00:10:04.840 --> 00:10:07.039 And the language that's been used for this 00:10:07.039 --> 00:10:08.959 is by many, many people, 00:10:08.959 --> 00:10:10.720 I'm certainly not the first to say this, 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:13.639 is that the best way to think about the Christian life 00:10:13.639 --> 00:10:15.519 framed right out of the Old Testament 00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:18.419 is that we are resident aliens. 00:10:19.519 --> 00:10:21.600 So the Israelites here were resident aliens, 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:23.000 meaning what does it mean to be in exile? 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:26.200 That means that you are, on the one hand, a resident. 00:10:26.200 --> 00:10:28.840 God says, verse seven, I put you there. 00:10:29.840 --> 00:10:31.720 He put you here in Edinburgh. 00:10:31.720 --> 00:10:35.320 You're a resident, and yet at the same time, you're an alien 00:10:35.320 --> 00:10:38.720 because you are not yet in the home that you were made for. 00:10:39.919 --> 00:10:41.639 You're a resident alien, that's what it means to be 00:10:41.639 --> 00:10:44.519 in exile, and so in the New Testament, 00:10:44.519 --> 00:10:48.519 1 Peter 2, 11, Peter says, church, 00:10:48.519 --> 00:10:51.840 we are sojourners and exiles in this world, 00:10:51.840 --> 00:10:54.759 picking up on this language, Hebrews 3, 14, 00:10:54.759 --> 00:10:57.240 here we have no lasting city, 00:10:57.240 --> 00:10:59.440 we await the city of God that is to come. 00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:02.280 The book of Revelation, in some sense, 00:11:02.280 --> 00:11:05.040 frames the entire picture of salvation 00:11:05.040 --> 00:11:09.280 as the destruction of the Babylonian order of this world 00:11:09.280 --> 00:11:11.560 and the recovery or the bringing of the city of God 00:11:11.560 --> 00:11:14.120 into this world, and so St. Augustine, 00:11:14.120 --> 00:11:16.200 one of the most important Christian thinkers 00:11:16.200 --> 00:11:19.400 of the entire church history, fourth century, 00:11:19.399 --> 00:11:22.240 he said, he described this as saying, 00:11:22.240 --> 00:11:25.840 if you're a Christian, you are a citizen of the city of God 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:29.720 living in the city of man, and the city of man, 00:11:29.720 --> 00:11:33.519 for him, was this word Babylon, and for him, 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:36.199 that meant the Bible, for the Bible, that means, 00:11:36.199 --> 00:11:39.279 Babylon reigns in any city, any village, 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:44.159 any town, any space, where sin, death, destruction, 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:49.159 disaster, disease, disorder, chaos, brokenness resides. 00:11:49.639 --> 00:11:51.519 Have you ever been to a place like that? 00:11:52.839 --> 00:11:56.039 Peter says, you are an exile, you're living in Babylon, 00:11:56.039 --> 00:12:00.159 your resident, God put you here, yet you're an alien, 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:02.879 this is not yet the home that you were made for, 00:12:02.879 --> 00:12:06.959 the very presence of God in the city of God that is to come. 00:12:06.959 --> 00:12:10.000 Babylon was a very wicked place, a very evil place, 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:13.480 and so let me ask you, what do you expect God 00:12:13.480 --> 00:12:17.680 to write in this scroll to the Israelites in exile? 00:12:17.680 --> 00:12:20.440 And here's what had happened, in the previous chapter, 00:12:20.440 --> 00:12:23.840 a man named Hananiah, and you read about this in verse eight 00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:25.560 and nine in our passage, Jeremiah 29, 00:12:25.560 --> 00:12:28.480 a man named Hananiah was a prophet who had said, 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:32.600 listen, God is about to come and rescue us very quickly. 00:12:32.600 --> 00:12:35.120 So the best thing we can do is hunker down, 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:38.639 build a suburb where all the people of God live. 00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:41.240 You go out into Dalkeith or wherever, 00:12:41.240 --> 00:12:43.680 and you build a St. Columbus suburb, 00:12:43.680 --> 00:12:46.799 you have to be a member to purchase a house there. 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:48.440 That's how they were living, 00:12:48.440 --> 00:12:50.120 they were on the other side of the K-bar and a canal, 00:12:50.120 --> 00:12:53.039 and the prophets were saying, do not go into the city, 00:12:53.039 --> 00:12:55.240 God is gonna come and rescue you very soon 00:12:55.240 --> 00:12:57.159 and bring you back to the place you belong. 00:12:57.159 --> 00:13:00.120 And in verse eight and nine, thus says the Lord, 00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:02.360 the God of Israel, don't listen to the prophets 00:13:02.360 --> 00:13:05.159 and the diviners who are among you and deceiving you 00:13:05.159 --> 00:13:07.320 and telling you they've dreamed dreams, 00:13:07.320 --> 00:13:10.159 they are telling you lies, they're prophesying in my name, 00:13:10.159 --> 00:13:14.559 meaning the guys who are saying, live outside the city, 00:13:14.559 --> 00:13:16.360 away from anybody who doesn't believe 00:13:16.360 --> 00:13:17.959 the exact same thing as you, 00:13:17.959 --> 00:13:20.559 don't participate in the city and just wait 00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:22.240 because God is coming to rescue you, 00:13:22.240 --> 00:13:24.000 those are the false prophets, 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:25.399 they are telling lies to you. 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:27.319 What do you expect? 00:13:27.319 --> 00:13:28.799 Well, you expect exactly, 00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:31.759 if you have been brought to the wicked city of Babylon 00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:32.879 and you're a believer, 00:13:32.879 --> 00:13:36.000 I think we naturally, people have been doing this century 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:37.639 after century after century, 00:13:37.639 --> 00:13:41.159 saying how do you live in a Babylonian pluralistic context? 00:13:41.159 --> 00:13:46.039 Stay away, protect yourself, protect your kids, 00:13:46.039 --> 00:13:48.639 don't let their souls get corrupted by the city, 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:50.879 stay as far as way as you possibly can, 00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:53.679 build a suburb and put all the Christians there, 00:13:53.679 --> 00:13:55.879 all the believers there and stay out of it. 00:13:55.879 --> 00:13:57.759 And this has been said for centuries. 00:13:57.759 --> 00:14:01.319 So we started this series with the words of Thomas Guthrie, 00:14:01.319 --> 00:14:04.279 our founding minister, his face is right there 00:14:04.279 --> 00:14:06.240 in the foyer, right when you walk in the door, 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:08.680 you see the statue, he wrote a book about this, 00:14:08.680 --> 00:14:11.440 he was talking about Edinburgh and Glasgow, 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:12.680 and this is what he says, 00:14:12.680 --> 00:14:16.360 great cities, many have found to be great curses. 00:14:17.639 --> 00:14:21.039 It has often been the case that an honest country lad 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:23.200 and many an unsuspecting young woman 00:14:23.200 --> 00:14:26.360 with hopes of higher wages and the opportunities of fortune, 00:14:26.360 --> 00:14:29.560 whose feet once lightly danced upon the heather 00:14:29.560 --> 00:14:31.240 or bushed the dewy grass, 00:14:31.240 --> 00:14:34.120 has weirdly trodden in darkness and guilt and sin 00:14:34.120 --> 00:14:36.000 on these city pavements. 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:37.440 The rural is very good, 00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:39.639 stay away from the darkness of the city. 00:14:39.639 --> 00:14:42.919 That's what Guthrie, he was offering a caricature there, 00:14:42.919 --> 00:14:44.480 he actually loved Edinburgh. 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:47.639 That's been, let me take you across the Atlantic, 00:14:47.639 --> 00:14:50.559 Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers 00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:52.639 of my home country, the United States, 00:14:52.639 --> 00:14:56.799 he says, cities are pestilential, pest, can I say this? 00:14:56.799 --> 00:15:00.440 Pestilential, there it is, to the morals, the health, 00:15:00.440 --> 00:15:01.960 and the liberties of all men. 00:15:01.960 --> 00:15:05.519 The more you pack people into a space like a city 00:15:05.519 --> 00:15:08.120 with Babylonian hearts, sinful hearts, 00:15:08.120 --> 00:15:10.800 the more Babylonian it tends to get. 00:15:10.800 --> 00:15:12.400 And that's why you would expect God to say, 00:15:12.400 --> 00:15:13.600 look, you're doing the right thing, 00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:17.240 stay where you are, honk her down, protect your family. 00:15:17.240 --> 00:15:18.600 And in verse four to seven, 00:15:18.600 --> 00:15:21.120 God says, unroll the scroll Jeremiah 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:22.639 and say this to the people, 00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:26.320 go into the city of Babylon, build houses and live in them. 00:15:28.280 --> 00:15:30.639 And he says, don't stay out, 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:34.480 the more you seek the welfare of the center of that city, 00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:36.600 the more you will find peace in your life. 00:15:38.120 --> 00:15:41.240 Love Babylon until she becomes lovely, 00:15:41.240 --> 00:15:42.240 that's what he said. 00:15:43.080 --> 00:15:47.199 Love the city in its most unlovable places 00:15:47.199 --> 00:15:52.199 until it becomes lovable, wow, exactly our calling. 00:15:53.039 --> 00:15:54.879 Secondly, let's get specific. 00:15:55.879 --> 00:15:57.720 What does he say even more specific than that, okay? 00:15:57.720 --> 00:15:59.200 What's the command in verse four? 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:01.840 And we're focused on verse four to seven today. 00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:04.879 He says, go into the city, don't stay outside the city. 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:09.200 And he basically just says, be a normal person. 00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:10.720 That's the first thing. 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:15.080 Verse four, thus says the Lord of hosts to the exiles. 00:16:15.080 --> 00:16:17.680 Verse five, build houses, live in them, 00:16:17.680 --> 00:16:19.960 plant gardens, eat their produce, 00:16:19.960 --> 00:16:22.560 take wives, get married, have sons and daughters, 00:16:22.560 --> 00:16:25.759 tell your sons and daughters to get married as well, 00:16:25.759 --> 00:16:28.440 and stick around, you're gonna be here for a while. 00:16:28.440 --> 00:16:33.440 So bed in, get married, have children, eat, work, 00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:37.320 plant gardens, vineyards, invest in the local real estate, 00:16:37.320 --> 00:16:41.160 build a house, stick around, live in it, that's what he says. 00:16:41.160 --> 00:16:43.000 Now the expectation again, as I've just said, 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:47.840 is not only be separate to protect yourself, 00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:50.880 but what we could do is send the best, 00:16:50.880 --> 00:16:54.000 the holiest people into the city, 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:56.400 send the holiest people into Babylon, the missionaries, 00:16:56.399 --> 00:16:58.639 they can handle it, you know? 00:16:58.639 --> 00:17:00.919 The normal people among us won't be able to do it, 00:17:00.919 --> 00:17:03.319 but the missionaries, those are the ones 00:17:03.319 --> 00:17:04.680 that will be able to do it. 00:17:04.680 --> 00:17:06.279 And that's not at all what we get. 00:17:06.279 --> 00:17:09.160 Instead he says, get in there, get stuck in, 00:17:09.160 --> 00:17:11.160 invest in the local real estate, 00:17:11.160 --> 00:17:13.839 and then if you could summarize the whole of it, 00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:18.119 he says, be a human being right in the heart of the city, 00:17:18.119 --> 00:17:21.359 before the place that God has put you by being a human. 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:25.680 Now listen again, where is God quoting from 00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:27.480 in Jeremiah 29 verse five? 00:17:28.519 --> 00:17:33.519 He says, people of the Lord, go into this place, 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:39.160 build plant gardens, cultivate those gardens, 00:17:39.240 --> 00:17:43.799 eat from the fruit of the vine, be fruitful, and multiply. 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:47.039 This is a quote from Genesis chapter one. 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:50.000 This is exactly the three-fold command 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:52.160 that God gave in Genesis one when he first created 00:17:52.160 --> 00:17:54.480 Adam and Eve, and he said to Adam and Eve, 00:17:54.480 --> 00:17:58.920 build, plant a garden, organize that garden, 00:17:58.920 --> 00:18:00.720 and be fruitful and multiply. 00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:02.039 And you see what he's saying? 00:18:02.039 --> 00:18:04.559 He's saying, you need to go to the wicked city of Babylon 00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:07.799 and treat it like you are cultivating the Garden of Eden. 00:18:08.960 --> 00:18:11.720 You need to love it that much, the place that much. 00:18:11.720 --> 00:18:14.000 You need to go all the way in. 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:15.440 What does it mean to be a Christian 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:17.240 in a pluralistic context? 00:18:17.240 --> 00:18:21.000 It means to glorify God first by being the image 00:18:21.000 --> 00:18:22.759 of God you are, and what does it mean 00:18:22.759 --> 00:18:23.880 to be the image of God you are? 00:18:23.880 --> 00:18:25.560 Step one, go to work. 00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:30.640 Go to work, get a job, build a house, buy a house, 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:34.600 rent a house, live here, be a human in the way 00:18:34.600 --> 00:18:36.880 that we all share, all the same things that we all have 00:18:36.880 --> 00:18:41.080 to do, make a meal, plant a garden, cultivate a space, 00:18:41.080 --> 00:18:44.200 make something more beautiful than it used to be. 00:18:44.200 --> 00:18:46.640 That's what God gives the command to the first human beings, 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:48.800 and then he repeats it here in the midst 00:18:48.800 --> 00:18:51.000 of this Babylonian exile. 00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:55.079 Go to parent-teacher conferences, go to football matches. 00:18:55.079 --> 00:18:57.119 This is my week, this past week. 00:18:59.039 --> 00:19:00.519 What does it look like to be a Christian? 00:19:00.519 --> 00:19:03.440 Well, step one, as it's been famously said 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:05.839 by another pastor, what does it look like 00:19:05.839 --> 00:19:07.599 to be a Christian and a pilot? 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:12.319 Land the plane, do great work, be a human being, 00:19:12.319 --> 00:19:13.880 be a normal person, that's the very first thing 00:19:13.880 --> 00:19:15.160 we're told here. 00:19:15.160 --> 00:19:20.119 So sometimes we operate with a clergy laity distinction, 00:19:20.119 --> 00:19:22.559 even though as Protestants we don't actually believe 00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:24.199 that in our theology. 00:19:24.199 --> 00:19:27.559 So we don't think there is a clergy and a laity. 00:19:27.559 --> 00:19:29.719 No, there's no, we're all priests. 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:33.399 And instead we think that way, we think, 00:19:33.399 --> 00:19:38.399 I do normal secular work and the ministers, 00:19:38.759 --> 00:19:42.919 they do the holy stuff, the elders, the deacons. 00:19:42.919 --> 00:19:44.359 Oh no, not the ministers, the elders, 00:19:44.359 --> 00:19:46.439 they can note the missionaries. 00:19:46.439 --> 00:19:48.439 They do the holy work, not even them. 00:19:48.440 --> 00:19:50.720 The missionaries who go to the hardest places in the world. 00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:52.720 Those are the big time ones. 00:19:53.640 --> 00:19:57.000 And the Bible does not accept that distinction. 00:19:57.000 --> 00:19:59.880 And it says, no, you've been given a vocation 00:19:59.880 --> 00:20:03.160 and called to do God-glorifying work as a normal human 00:20:03.160 --> 00:20:06.279 in the normal ways that humans have to live. 00:20:06.279 --> 00:20:09.480 So glorify the Lord as you pick fruit from the trees 00:20:09.480 --> 00:20:12.640 in your back garden and make meals out of it. 00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:13.799 That's the very first thing he says. 00:20:13.799 --> 00:20:18.240 You remember Eric Liddle, 100 years ago, 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:23.039 the Flying Scotsman, 1924, Paris, 00:20:23.039 --> 00:20:26.960 the great sprinter, Scottish sprinter, what did he say? 00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:28.400 When he went to the Olympics, he said, 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:30.759 I believe God made me for a purpose, 00:20:30.759 --> 00:20:32.640 but he also made me fast. 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:37.240 And so when I run, I feel the pleasures of God on my face. 00:20:38.319 --> 00:20:41.279 Go to work, do what God has called you to do in your life, 00:20:41.279 --> 00:20:43.120 and glorify God every step of the way of it 00:20:43.120 --> 00:20:44.559 and feel the pleasures of the Lord 00:20:44.559 --> 00:20:46.440 and what he's called you to do. 00:20:46.440 --> 00:20:47.680 That's why here at St. Columbus, 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:52.200 actually we tend to put less, 00:20:52.200 --> 00:20:55.240 we try to put less on the schedule in our local church 00:20:55.240 --> 00:20:57.680 than sometimes it's often done in ministry, 00:20:57.680 --> 00:21:00.080 because God says, know your neighbors, go to work, 00:21:00.080 --> 00:21:03.400 do great work, plant a garden, these are the ways, 00:21:03.400 --> 00:21:05.360 these are the first steps in glorifying the Lord, 00:21:05.360 --> 00:21:07.240 being the person that he made you to be. 00:21:07.240 --> 00:21:10.400 Now at the same time, and before we move to the final point, 00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:14.320 at the same time, be a human, don't feel guilty about it. 00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:19.319 And he's telling them, but inconvenience yourself. 00:21:21.159 --> 00:21:23.319 So he's saying, what does he say? 00:21:23.319 --> 00:21:25.799 Verse seven, seek the welfare of the city, 00:21:25.799 --> 00:21:28.159 it's literally the word peace in Hebrew. 00:21:28.159 --> 00:21:32.079 He says, seek the peace of the city to which I've sent you. 00:21:32.079 --> 00:21:36.559 He doesn't say, seek your personal peace in the city, 00:21:37.599 --> 00:21:41.119 but seek the peace of the city that I've sent you. 00:21:41.119 --> 00:21:43.159 Meaning, don't go to the city, 00:21:43.160 --> 00:21:44.840 don't go to the place where God has put you, 00:21:44.840 --> 00:21:47.840 where people are to say, this is the place I can do my best 00:21:47.840 --> 00:21:50.640 by building my biggest retirement portfolio possible. 00:21:51.480 --> 00:21:53.880 He says, no, actually this is going to inconvenience you, 00:21:53.880 --> 00:21:58.080 because he's not saying build your personal prosperity. 00:21:58.080 --> 00:21:59.720 That's not step number one, he says, no, 00:21:59.720 --> 00:22:02.160 at all costs seek the peace, the prosperity, 00:22:02.160 --> 00:22:05.160 the welfare of the place I've put you. 00:22:05.160 --> 00:22:06.880 So in other words, he's saying, do all that, 00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:09.120 be a normal person, go to work, 00:22:09.120 --> 00:22:11.320 but get outside of yourself as you do it. 00:22:11.319 --> 00:22:16.319 Inconvenience yourself, it has to cost, it has to be harder. 00:22:16.679 --> 00:22:19.319 I bet you that it was more expensive 00:22:19.319 --> 00:22:22.200 to live in the heart of Babylon than outside of it. 00:22:22.200 --> 00:22:24.159 Real estate in the middle is a lot more expensive 00:22:24.159 --> 00:22:25.599 than the outside. 00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:30.319 And he says, and go, get stuck in wherever God has put you, 00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:32.960 with the people God has sent you to, 00:22:32.960 --> 00:22:35.159 be in them and of them and for them, 00:22:35.159 --> 00:22:37.159 and that's going to mean losses. 00:22:37.159 --> 00:22:38.759 That's going to mean inconveniences, 00:22:38.759 --> 00:22:41.599 that's going to mean a lack of comfort. 00:22:41.599 --> 00:22:42.720 Let me put it this way. 00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:48.000 Edinburgh is growing very fast at the moment. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:49.960 I was out yesterday walking around, 00:22:49.960 --> 00:22:53.039 I know it was a Saturday, but there were so many people 00:22:53.039 --> 00:22:56.879 in the Old Town, Princess Street, George Street yesterday, 00:22:56.879 --> 00:22:57.720 when I was out. 00:22:57.720 --> 00:23:01.079 I moved to the city 11 years ago, the first time, 00:23:01.079 --> 00:23:04.299 and I just remembered that there were less people. 00:23:04.299 --> 00:23:07.079 There are more people, it's just an empirical experience, 00:23:07.079 --> 00:23:09.159 but it's also proven statistically. 00:23:09.159 --> 00:23:11.000 And that just simply means, friends, 00:23:11.000 --> 00:23:15.799 that we need more Christians, more Christians in the city, 00:23:15.799 --> 00:23:18.919 because more people are coming to the city all the time. 00:23:18.919 --> 00:23:20.319 And we've got to keep up with that. 00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:23.359 We've got to have more Christians where more people are. 00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:26.399 So let me ask you to pray in your life right now, 00:23:26.399 --> 00:23:27.240 a couple things. 00:23:27.240 --> 00:23:31.059 One, where has God called you very specifically? 00:23:31.059 --> 00:23:36.059 And are you for that place totally? 00:23:37.259 --> 00:23:38.419 And two, let me ask you, 00:23:38.419 --> 00:23:40.139 especially if you're a university student 00:23:40.139 --> 00:23:42.339 or a younger person in the room, 00:23:42.339 --> 00:23:43.940 but this could be for anybody. 00:23:43.940 --> 00:23:47.139 Would you pray and consider sticking around, 00:23:48.059 --> 00:23:51.579 being here long term, asking, is God calling me 00:23:51.579 --> 00:23:53.579 to stay in a place that does feel 00:23:53.579 --> 00:23:55.339 a little more inconvenient to live? 00:23:56.859 --> 00:23:57.700 For the heart of the city, 00:23:57.700 --> 00:24:00.899 for the citywide movement of the gospel that we long for. 00:24:00.900 --> 00:24:01.920 Thirdly and finally, 00:24:03.300 --> 00:24:05.340 He tells us then more specifically, 00:24:05.340 --> 00:24:06.900 seek the peace of the city. 00:24:06.900 --> 00:24:09.700 So verse four, five and six, be in Babylon, 00:24:09.700 --> 00:24:13.220 be in the city for the place God has put you. 00:24:13.220 --> 00:24:15.220 But then in verse seven, 00:24:15.220 --> 00:24:17.019 just to focus on that as we close, 00:24:17.019 --> 00:24:19.920 there is the conjunction right at the beginning of verse seven. 00:24:19.920 --> 00:24:21.500 If you look down, you'll see it, 00:24:21.500 --> 00:24:25.500 but seek the peace of the city where I've sent you. 00:24:25.500 --> 00:24:27.900 Now, why does he have to stick the but there, 00:24:27.900 --> 00:24:31.340 the although nevertheless there, 00:24:31.340 --> 00:24:32.980 why is there a contrast? 00:24:32.980 --> 00:24:35.100 Build houses, invest in the real estate, 00:24:35.100 --> 00:24:37.420 get stuck in, plant a garden, 00:24:37.420 --> 00:24:40.460 beautify the spaces God has put you into His glory, 00:24:40.460 --> 00:24:43.500 but also seek the peace of the city. 00:24:44.580 --> 00:24:47.820 You see, the reason that that negative conjunction 00:24:47.820 --> 00:24:50.340 is there is because He's saying, 00:24:50.340 --> 00:24:52.660 to really seek the peace of the city, 00:24:52.660 --> 00:24:55.380 there can't just be a go into the city 00:24:55.380 --> 00:24:58.020 and be part of it as normal. 00:24:58.020 --> 00:25:01.460 There can't just be an utter assimilation into Babylon. 00:25:01.460 --> 00:25:05.660 Now, the but is there because there has to be confrontation. 00:25:05.660 --> 00:25:08.100 There can't just be assimilation. 00:25:08.100 --> 00:25:09.100 And so in other words, he's saying, 00:25:09.100 --> 00:25:11.380 if you're really gonna go into a city like Edinburgh 00:25:11.380 --> 00:25:13.180 and seek its true peace, 00:25:13.180 --> 00:25:15.060 it will not just mean being a regular person 00:25:15.060 --> 00:25:17.660 like everybody else, it will mean confrontation 00:25:17.660 --> 00:25:20.740 and the denial of total assimilation. 00:25:20.740 --> 00:25:23.260 It will be to confront the idols of the culture. 00:25:23.259 --> 00:25:26.140 It will be to say no in every place that God says, 00:25:26.140 --> 00:25:26.980 you must say no. 00:25:27.900 --> 00:25:31.099 It will be to expose things about the city 00:25:31.099 --> 00:25:32.819 that are not right and not healthy and not good. 00:25:32.819 --> 00:25:35.859 Now, he uses the word shalom. 00:25:35.859 --> 00:25:39.299 And shalom is such a wide ranging term. 00:25:39.299 --> 00:25:40.900 It means peace, shalom. 00:25:40.900 --> 00:25:42.980 It's a word that probably everybody that, 00:25:42.980 --> 00:25:44.299 even though you never studied Hebrew, 00:25:44.299 --> 00:25:46.019 you know that word shalom, peace. 00:25:46.900 --> 00:25:49.019 This is what Philip Reichen says about it, 00:25:49.019 --> 00:25:52.379 quoting from a scholar named Clifford Green. 00:25:52.380 --> 00:25:55.940 More than the absence of conflict and death, 00:25:55.940 --> 00:25:59.460 this rich term fills out the word community 00:25:59.460 --> 00:26:03.020 by embracing wellbeing, contentment, wholeness, health, 00:26:03.020 --> 00:26:04.980 prosperity, safety, and rest. 00:26:04.980 --> 00:26:08.260 Shalom means ordered harmony and happiness. 00:26:08.260 --> 00:26:10.460 It means that everything is right 00:26:10.460 --> 00:26:12.380 with the city of Babylon. 00:26:12.380 --> 00:26:15.660 Complete perfection is what the word actually entails. 00:26:15.660 --> 00:26:18.780 Now, the first thing that that means is go into the city, 00:26:18.779 --> 00:26:22.980 be a person, a human, Genesis one, and do good works. 00:26:22.980 --> 00:26:25.099 Seek the peace of the city, do good works. 00:26:25.099 --> 00:26:28.420 So it is good in the name of the Lord Jesus 00:26:28.420 --> 00:26:30.019 to go out and to help prevent crime. 00:26:30.019 --> 00:26:31.700 It is good in the name of the Lord Jesus 00:26:31.700 --> 00:26:34.700 to pick up litter that you did not throw in the ground. 00:26:34.700 --> 00:26:37.099 It is good in the name of the Lord Jesus 00:26:37.099 --> 00:26:42.099 to be kind to the stranger that is mean and rude to you 00:26:42.319 --> 00:26:45.779 on the street because you do not know the shame, 00:26:45.779 --> 00:26:47.099 the guilt, and the circumstances 00:26:47.099 --> 00:26:49.139 that are underneath that meanness. 00:26:50.259 --> 00:26:52.019 And so you might turn their anger 00:26:52.019 --> 00:26:54.319 and break its cycle in that moment. 00:26:54.319 --> 00:26:56.779 It is good in your local neighborhood, 00:26:56.779 --> 00:26:59.019 in your local school, in your local university 00:26:59.019 --> 00:27:01.899 to let the train of gossip that's running through 00:27:01.899 --> 00:27:04.859 the year you're in to stop with you. 00:27:04.859 --> 00:27:06.980 That's seeking the peace of the city. 00:27:06.980 --> 00:27:08.480 It's good to show compassionate mercy 00:27:08.480 --> 00:27:12.879 to those who are materially poor and to feed people. 00:27:12.879 --> 00:27:15.419 All contained in shalom, all contained 00:27:15.420 --> 00:27:18.779 in seeking the justice, the peace of the city. 00:27:18.779 --> 00:27:21.460 One illustration I found out recently 00:27:21.460 --> 00:27:25.360 that there is a plumbing company in Edinburgh 00:27:25.360 --> 00:27:27.700 that not only will come and fix your drains, 00:27:27.700 --> 00:27:30.259 fix your pipes, fix your toilets, 00:27:30.259 --> 00:27:33.620 but will give tours of the history of plumbing 00:27:33.620 --> 00:27:35.700 in the city of Edinburgh as well. 00:27:35.700 --> 00:27:38.180 And I am eager to get signed up for this. 00:27:40.660 --> 00:27:42.460 One of the plumbing, piece of plumbing history 00:27:42.460 --> 00:27:45.080 that probably everybody in here knows 00:27:45.079 --> 00:27:45.919 that I think I have right, 00:27:45.919 --> 00:27:48.500 is to say that Princess Street Gardens 00:27:48.500 --> 00:27:50.819 was once Norlock, right? 00:27:50.819 --> 00:27:53.000 And in Norlock from the 18th century forward, 00:27:53.000 --> 00:27:56.539 it was basically the sewage system for the city. 00:27:56.539 --> 00:27:58.099 And boy, what does it look like 00:27:58.099 --> 00:27:59.259 to seek the peace of the city? 00:27:59.259 --> 00:28:03.500 Whatever person said in a meeting in 1760 00:28:03.500 --> 00:28:06.419 and said, we need to turn this sewage dump 00:28:06.419 --> 00:28:09.019 into Princess Street Gardens, that was shalom. 00:28:09.019 --> 00:28:12.699 That was seeking the peace of the city, right? 00:28:12.699 --> 00:28:14.460 That's what it means. 00:28:14.460 --> 00:28:17.980 And yet, just a 30 second family discussion 00:28:17.980 --> 00:28:19.539 for the Christians in the room. 00:28:20.700 --> 00:28:22.980 Evangelicals have often fought 00:28:22.980 --> 00:28:25.700 and are fighting sometimes about, 00:28:25.700 --> 00:28:28.019 is it the call of the church to go seek the peace 00:28:28.019 --> 00:28:30.420 of the city with good works, with showing mercy, 00:28:30.420 --> 00:28:33.620 with doing justice, with loving kindness to people? 00:28:33.620 --> 00:28:37.860 Or is it the mission of the church to preach the gospel, 00:28:37.860 --> 00:28:40.220 to take the great commission seriously, 00:28:40.220 --> 00:28:42.100 to share the story of Jesus with people? 00:28:42.100 --> 00:28:43.740 And the answer in Jeremiah 29 00:28:43.740 --> 00:28:46.059 and Acts chapter two is yes. 00:28:46.059 --> 00:28:47.740 These are not in conflict. 00:28:47.740 --> 00:28:51.500 Seek the holistic peace of the city, do good works, 00:28:51.500 --> 00:28:54.539 and the only way the city of Edinburgh or Babylon 00:28:54.539 --> 00:28:57.380 would ever find real peace. 00:28:57.380 --> 00:29:01.680 True peace is the fact that that conjunction is negative. 00:29:01.680 --> 00:29:04.299 Build houses, but seek the peace. 00:29:04.299 --> 00:29:05.220 And if you're gonna seek the real peace, 00:29:05.220 --> 00:29:06.500 you gotta confront. 00:29:06.500 --> 00:29:10.420 Meaning the idols of the culture have to be exposed 00:29:10.420 --> 00:29:13.900 with love, gentleness, kindness, and faithfulness. 00:29:13.900 --> 00:29:15.620 And you have to tell somebody about Jesus 00:29:15.620 --> 00:29:18.980 if they're really gonna find true shalom, true peace, 00:29:18.980 --> 00:29:22.019 in the midst of a great city like the city of Edinburgh. 00:29:22.019 --> 00:29:23.620 What are you being asked to do? 00:29:24.820 --> 00:29:29.220 You're being asked to love people who don't agree with you. 00:29:30.320 --> 00:29:32.860 What were the Israelites being asked to do in Babylon? 00:29:32.860 --> 00:29:34.220 Love your enemies. 00:29:34.220 --> 00:29:36.860 Nebuchadnezzar, who ripped you away from your home, 00:29:36.859 --> 00:29:40.779 you go and love him until he is lovely. 00:29:40.779 --> 00:29:43.139 Inconvenience yourself. 00:29:43.139 --> 00:29:45.139 Lose some of your personal property. 00:29:45.139 --> 00:29:47.919 Lose some of your space to be for the place 00:29:47.919 --> 00:29:49.259 that God has put you. 00:29:49.259 --> 00:29:50.619 What does that sound like? 00:29:52.099 --> 00:29:55.819 You know, there is one, there is one person 00:29:55.819 --> 00:30:00.819 in human history who was willing to lose comforts, 00:30:00.819 --> 00:30:05.819 who was willing to give away his utter personal peace 00:30:06.299 --> 00:30:08.779 in the heavenly bodies, in the heavenly realm. 00:30:10.259 --> 00:30:13.779 The one who can offer true shalom to the city and to you, 00:30:13.779 --> 00:30:17.779 he came down from heaven, boy, and I bet it was very spacious. 00:30:18.779 --> 00:30:22.779 And he incarnated himself, he became flesh. 00:30:23.859 --> 00:30:26.700 And Philippians chapter two says that in that act, 00:30:26.700 --> 00:30:28.700 he humbly accepted the truth. 00:30:28.700 --> 00:30:32.900 Chapter two says that in that act, he humiliated himself 00:30:32.900 --> 00:30:34.660 to the point of great loss. 00:30:35.600 --> 00:30:36.420 What are you being asked to do? 00:30:36.420 --> 00:30:40.960 You're being asked to love Edinburgh like Jesus loves you. 00:30:42.380 --> 00:30:44.180 And the only way that you're gonna have the power 00:30:44.180 --> 00:30:46.180 to do that in your life is to say today, 00:30:46.180 --> 00:30:47.819 is to say every morning, 00:30:49.580 --> 00:30:52.019 I am the Babylon that he came for. 00:30:53.620 --> 00:30:55.100 You see, the calling here is tonight, 00:30:55.100 --> 00:30:57.180 go out into the wicked city, 00:30:57.180 --> 00:30:58.779 because you're the good guy. 00:30:59.940 --> 00:31:02.920 The calling here is to see every single one of us 00:31:02.920 --> 00:31:05.060 is the Babylon Jesus came for. 00:31:05.980 --> 00:31:08.740 I'm the Babylonian heart he died for. 00:31:08.740 --> 00:31:11.580 You're the Babylonian heart he died for. 00:31:11.580 --> 00:31:14.960 And it's only in that reality that we'll find the power 00:31:14.960 --> 00:31:16.140 to live like this for Edinburgh. 00:31:16.140 --> 00:31:17.740 Let me close with these words. 00:31:17.740 --> 00:31:21.539 The last thing we're told here in verse seven is Christians 00:31:21.539 --> 00:31:25.700 believing Israelites, pray to the Lord 00:31:25.700 --> 00:31:28.620 on behalf of Babylon, on behalf of Edinburgh. 00:31:28.620 --> 00:31:31.700 For in its peace, you will find peace. 00:31:31.700 --> 00:31:34.940 This is repeated in 1 Timothy chapter two, 00:31:34.940 --> 00:31:39.140 where Paul says, pray to the Lord for everybody in Rome, 00:31:39.140 --> 00:31:41.140 in all the places in the Roman Empire, 00:31:41.140 --> 00:31:43.700 even the kings, he says, all types of people, 00:31:43.700 --> 00:31:45.580 because if they were to find peace, 00:31:45.580 --> 00:31:48.100 you too, church, will find peace. 00:31:48.100 --> 00:31:50.740 So this is the principle that a rising tide 00:31:50.740 --> 00:31:52.900 raises all the ships, right? 00:31:52.900 --> 00:31:56.100 He's saying pray for, what are they being asked to do? 00:31:56.100 --> 00:32:00.100 Pray for Nebuchadnezzar, that wicked man 00:32:00.100 --> 00:32:03.860 who destroyed your life, because if he could come 00:32:03.860 --> 00:32:08.100 to repent and believe, boy, you could find peace 00:32:08.100 --> 00:32:10.259 in the city, and what happened? 00:32:11.460 --> 00:32:14.500 Nebuchadnezzar came to repentance and belief, 00:32:14.500 --> 00:32:15.460 later in the story. 00:32:17.019 --> 00:32:20.860 And so you're being asked, the priesthood of all believers, 00:32:20.859 --> 00:32:23.899 pray for the place that God has put you. 00:32:23.899 --> 00:32:27.299 If you don't like your boss, pray for your boss. 00:32:28.339 --> 00:32:31.779 If you don't like your neighbor, pray for your neighbor, 00:32:31.779 --> 00:32:34.379 because the first way that you will be drawn in love 00:32:34.379 --> 00:32:38.099 to somebody is by praying for them, 00:32:38.099 --> 00:32:39.979 even when you really don't like them. 00:32:39.979 --> 00:32:42.139 That's what's being asked of us here, 00:32:42.139 --> 00:32:45.179 because Jesus has loved our Babylonian hearts, 00:32:45.179 --> 00:32:48.139 be the chaplain, be the priest, 00:32:48.140 --> 00:32:51.460 pray and seek the place, the peace of the place 00:32:51.460 --> 00:32:52.460 that God has put you. 00:32:52.460 --> 00:32:54.060 May the Lord bless the city, 00:32:54.060 --> 00:32:56.780 may the Lord bless our church as we seek the peace 00:32:56.780 --> 00:32:59.620 of Edinburgh, and may God give us 00:32:59.620 --> 00:33:01.380 in all the churches of the city, 00:33:01.380 --> 00:33:03.860 a city-wide movement of the gospel. 00:33:03.860 --> 00:33:04.700 Let us pray. 00:33:04.700 --> 00:33:07.180 Father, we thank you for this great passage, 00:33:07.180 --> 00:33:11.180 and we ask, Lord, that we would find, 00:33:11.180 --> 00:33:14.300 we would find in the midst of our Babylonian hearts 00:33:14.300 --> 00:33:17.259 the grace that comes from outside of us. 00:33:17.259 --> 00:33:19.660 Jesus is grace for Babylonians, 00:33:19.660 --> 00:33:23.220 and that we would turn and seek to make this city lovely. 00:33:23.220 --> 00:33:48.220 And so we pray for that in Jesus' name, amen.