God’s Will for Young Believers

Addressing matters related to family life can present challenges, because everyone comes from a different background, and family life is a very delicate matter. Sometimes, especially when sermons are preached, they are delivered from an idealistic perspective, and people may begin to wonder whether this view truly accounts for the difficulties and challenges that exist. As a result, we can sometimes feel isolated when dealing with issues related to family life, or even with understanding God’s will for a person’s life.

I am not unaware of the realities. I am not unaware that things do not always work out as expected. Some of the things I will say this morning, as I present them to you, reflect what God generally intends. I am aware that this is not how life unfolds for everyone. Yet, even though it does not always unfold as God’s Word generally describes, this does not mean that there is nothing God has to say about what we should generally expect and how we should pray for the future, especially in regard to young people.

And so I want to read from Jeremiah 29. The focus of our attention will be verses 4 through 7. Though much of what I say will be related to a certain demographic, I want everyone else who may feel that this is far in the future, or that these matters are behind them in some way, to realize that we all have an obligation to pray for one another and to pray for the next generation. So I hope we take that on board, and that the Lord will help us with this.

Jeremiah 29. Let’s hear God’s Word from verse 1.

“Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon;

“After that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem;

“By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon saying,

“Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon;

“Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;

“Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.

“And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.”

Amen. We will end the reading of God’s Word at verse 7. This, beloved, is the word of the eternal God, which you are to receive, believe, and obey. Amen.

Let us pray.

Father, Your Word is open before us, and all its power depends upon the ministry of Your Spirit. We ask that You come, knowing where each of us is, in each life, in each heart. We pray that You will lead each of us through this passage and help us to consider how it applies, what it says, and how we may better obey. We ask that each child of God would willingly embrace the vision You have for Your people. Though we may have our own limitations that hinder our understanding, let us embrace this vision and pray for it on behalf of others. Hear our prayer. Send Your Holy Spirit to minister with power and extend Your kingdom. We ask this in the name of our Savior. Amen.

One of the challenges that prophets and preachers of any kind always face is that they can only communicate the message. They cannot control the outcome. This was true for Jeremiah, just as it is true for me today. It is also true for anyone in a position of instruction. We can communicate the thought, the idea, the instruction, or the command, but we are not in control of the outcome. We should always be fully aware of this. We cannot control the outcome.

I was reading this recently and was struck by a particular line found here. I will note it in just a moment. But it struck me in light of the context of the day in which we are living and some of the observable signs that indicate the need for a passage like this to be brought to the forefront and the attention of the church.

We are living in a time of falling birth rates, especially in the developed world and particularly in the West, where this is catastrophic for the future. The very things we value and feel are worth fighting for may not be enjoyed by the people we care about most, simply because there are not enough children being born. Other nations, which I could name, are in an even worse condition due to years of insufficient births to replace their populations, and they are on the brink of collapse. Nations of historical significance and power are nearing complete devastation due to the lack of children being born.

We see this even within the church. Generally, conservative Protestant churches have fared better, and they do continue to do so. Yet I am certain we can all observe that things are not as they once were, even compared to just a generation ago. It seems increasingly difficult for young people to marry and settle down, and there is a growing tendency to delay these decisions. In the worst cases, there is a retreat from responsibility and from adult life, resulting in an extended period of adolescence.

All of these factors are compounding the problem, in addition to the widespread damage caused by pornography, which I believe makes it extremely difficult for young people to understand how to form meaningful connections or to love in a healthy way. We are living in this reality, and the church is not immune. This is precisely why God’s Word to the exiles in Babylon has application for us today.

Now, we are not in exile in the same way, and our circumstances are not precisely the same, but I believe there is strong application. I think there are things for us to take away. The end of verse 6 was particularly striking to me. This is not an unfamiliar passage, at least not to me, but it was the way the end of verse 6 affected me: “that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.” In this period, which is not where you want to be forever, I do not want you merely to survive. I do not want you merely to endure. I do not want you merely to exist. I want you to do the very thing that you know to be the will of God in your homeland—to multiply, to increase, to not be diminished.

Jeremiah was sent to provide clarity. God did not want the errors that might easily have arisen. One would have been to revolt in this foreign land, to cause trouble and strife, and to adopt a warfare posture toward the Babylonians. Such a stance would have distracted from the basic responsibilities, especially in times of peace.

Warfare brings disruption. If they carried this mentality into the land, if they attempted to revolt and fight against it, they would find that they would suffer setbacks. They would not advance, they would not prosper, and they would not experience what God truly intends for this moment.

On the other hand, they could fall into despair. They were away from their homeland, away from what was familiar, and they could reach a point of asking, “What is the point?” They could raise their hands and say, “It is pointless.” But we are to build where God has placed us in the land that He promised us. There is where this matters, not here. And since we are here, there is no reason not to try.

So those errors are addressed by the prophet. His message leaves no room for foolish expectations or a sense of hopelessness. God reveals a message to be sent, and that message, which we are considering this morning, is found in verses 4 through 7. He calls them to be spoken to, all who are carried away captives: build houses, dwell in them, plant gardens, eat their fruit, take wives, and so on.

I am certain this was not meant to apply in exactly the same way to every individual. The message was generally directed to all, but as in every generation, not every person follows the same path in detail. Some may have all these things, some may have some, and some may have none. Yet this does not diminish the command given by God through the prophet, which sets forth the objective and goal for the community.

I now ask us to take this to heart. My emphasis, which I will state shortly, is more toward the young. But we must pray for them. We do not need to pray for them only in the way they ask, though that is acceptable if it aligns with God’s will. Even if we do not know the specific requests they might make, we can pray through this passage. Lord, fulfill this in this day, in this generation, in this community.

Some may look at this passage and say it belongs to the Old Testament, and that such a vision has been replaced by the Great Commission, which calls the church to go and preach the gospel to every creature. But the fact remains that the Great Commission is neither contrary to this vision nor possible without it. It is not opposed to it, and it is unlikely we will fulfill it if we ignore it. Therefore, I hope that each of us will pray over this passage.

Now I must issue a warning before I get into the specifics, because as I read over this passage, if I focus only on the details, which will be my emphasis, it will be practical. I will state this clearly at the outset. It will be practical.

But if you consider it solely from a practical perspective, there is a clear warning that comes from the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, “For as in the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away.” They were occupied with daily life. Therefore, I issue this warning: all that is done without the gospel, all that is done without living for Christ, all that is done without giving our best to the Master, is meaningless.

It should not be viewed merely as a practical vision for society. The gospel must undergird every aspect of life. The glory of God must be the motivating principle. And we must always keep in mind the purpose of extending the church and displaying His glory in that way. We must not fall into a worldly mindset.

Let us now consider these verses and what I wish to examine with you: God’s normative will for young believers. God’s normative will for young believers. This is the standard. There are exceptions. It does not always unfold in this way. But this is what we should generally expect as God’s will for the young.

Clearly, when you consider the language used—“Take ye wives,” and so on—there is a sense in which this presents a vision for the next generation, those who will rise up. The older generation may pass on, and they will begin to build houses, dwell in them, and plant gardens. But there is also a specific focus on the youth who are coming up. They are to enter the land, take wives, have children, and carry on in this way.

So I want to see this in three main ideas. First, cultivating. Second, multiplying. And third, influencing. Cultivating, multiplying, and influencing.

First, cultivating. Verses 4 and 5: “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon; Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.” Cultivating.

First of all, cultivating a hopeful vision. Cultivating a hopeful vision. This preamble of verse 4, the setting that is placed, the audience that is addressed—those carried away captives—comes with detail that reminds them of the fact that God is behind this. He is not being blindsided. This is not outside of His intent or will. This is not something that He is looking at and saying, “Just give me a minute till I figure out what to do.” God has been behind this. He has brought this about. “I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon.”

Now that single truth reshapes how they view everything. It causes them to be conscious of the fact that this is no accident. God is behind this. The darkness of the day has been appointed by God. The very environment in which they find themselves is under His sovereign guidance. Therefore, they can be hopeful, because they did not leave God behind in Jerusalem. He has brought them right here to this place and is with those who will seek His face.

The difficulty of the circumstances, of which we can only begin to imagine what it must have felt like, must be seen in this context, interpreted in this light. They are captives, they are exiles, and yet still God is to them the God of Israel. You have not left the God of Israel there in Israel, in Judah. He is with you, and He is still your God, and you are still to look to Him because He has brought all of this about. This is where we must begin.

You read a passage like this, and immediately I am sure some of you are looking at it and saying, well, I do not know if this will ever happen to me. I do not know if this is possible for me. I do not know if this is God’s will for me. But I want you to realize that all the fears you have about your current situation can be understood in the same way as those who were exiles, feeling the turmoil and uncertainty of the future. What I want you to take from this is that the way you are in this moment is no less under the sovereign guidance and control of God.

He is in control. But the difficulty of the circumstances does not remove the duty that is required. His providence always assigns us a task to perform, and it is whether or not we are willing to work toward what He has planned for us. We can never avoid responsibility or the command of God by saying, look at the difficulty of the surroundings, look at the impossibility of my circumstances. God is in that.

And He is no less capable of blessing, leading, and advancing you in this difficult environment than at any other time or place. So we can remain hopeful. I mean hopeful because God is in control. And you can say that to your own heart: God is in control. He is in control of my life right up to this point. Nothing is a surprise to Him. And so I can cultivate a hopeful vision for the future because I know God is with me. He has not abandoned me.

Cultivate not only a hopeful vision, but a domestic vision. Verse 5: “Build ye houses, and dwell in them.” Build ye houses and dwell in them.

This is perhaps especially directed to the men. You know, there are men—not all men—but there are many men who could survive on their own for their entire lives with very little. I mean, very little. Some of them could even justify not having a house at all. They are very resilient to the elements, they know how to survive, and they…

There is no real need for houses. Others who may see the need for a permanent dwelling and rationalize the importance of having an address and so on may also be able to avoid what makes a house a home.

I knew a man who never married. He was older when I first met him and came to know him. He was a dear saint of God, deeply devoted to the Lord, and the Lord was first in his life—there was no question about that. But it was very clear that there had never been a feminine influence in his life or in his home. I will not go into details. I could describe things, but it would be amusing, and I will leave it for another occasion. It was evident that this had not been part of his experience or life. Men can do without much and survive in their circumstances with very little.

There is a sense in which this is a call to men and to this domestic vision. There is also a certain ordinariness in what has been said: “Build ye houses, and dwell in them.” Why would you need to be told this? Because there could be a temptation to ask, what is the point of building something? What is the point of having a vision like this? We will not be here forever.

But what God is telling them is this ordinary thing: I want you to do it. I will not rescue you. I am giving you the responsibility you would have in Jerusalem, right here in Babylon. I am giving you permission to live as those of Zion in Babylon.

God has a domestic vision that transcends every context and almost every circumstance. He calls us to build houses and dwell in them, to have residences, to settle in a location. I know we live in a manipulated economy, increasingly trying to rob people even of this basic thing.

It ought not to bring any delight to any of us here to see the values of property rise in Greenville the way they have. This is a very narrow and short-sighted way to view the community. It discourages the next generation. There is little that most of us can do about it. The manipulation of this situation, robbing people of such a basic need, making it almost an exclusive privilege of the elite, goes against God’s intention. He intends for His people to have a place to live. By this, He implies that His people ordinarily ought to pursue the path that leads to such an outcome.

Build ye houses and dwell in them. These become the foundation and the setting of this world, a place of discipleship, a place of hospitality. When He says, “Build ye houses,” it is a call to resist laziness and idleness. It is God telling His people: do not simply stand there with your arms folded. Build houses.

Everything necessary to build houses—this includes not only the physical construction of placing bricks and mortar, raising and erecting a structure, but also all that leads up to that final result. Everything required to have a completed and secure place.

I know it is not easy. My wife and I were married 15 years before we were able to have a place we could call our own. And even now, it is not entirely ours. The bank can still claim it if we fail to meet the terms of the mortgage. But during those 15 years, we were not standing with our arms folded doing nothing. We were building. We were building toward it, saving money, ordering our steps, and being careful in everything we managed. We were building toward it.

And so this applies regardless of circumstances. Each of our young people here and all of us must be building houses, working toward that goal. God desires a place for you to be settled. This is home. This is where we disciple our children. This is where we show hospitality and Christian charity to our community. This becomes a hub of our labor, the place of our rest.

Cultivate a domestic vision. And also cultivate a productive vision. “Plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.” Plant gardens and eat the fruit of them.

Of course, I could speak of having a small farm, growing food, and so on. Some of you do that, and some of you do it very capably. That may be the case, as far as I am concerned. I am not certain it would be the best use of my time, nor am I certain what it would ultimately look like. It might be like hitting my head against a wall. I am sure you can learn. I am sure you can learn to keep plants alive—this is a step in the right direction.

But the point is this: the point is this sense of productivity, a vision of planting something that takes time. You are planting trees, looking years ahead. And this is what the Lord, undergirding all of this, is calling us to. Settle. Stop with this restless spirit. Stop with the feeling of wanting to flit from place to place, going in every direction. No, just be where you are. This is where you are. Put down roots, build houses, plant, and eventually enjoy the fruit of your labor.

This implies a long-term vision. Set down your weapons, take up your trowel, your shovel. Give yourself to this kind of work. Do not postpone. Do not live in the hope of change and returning to Jerusalem in the near future. It will not happen. Do not dream of Jerusalem and do nothing. Get to work. Build something. Do it here while in exile.

This is a shift from the mindset of consumption. There is a place for consumption, is there not? For Scripture tells us so, does it not? Plant gardens and eat the fruit of them. But it must come in the proper order: production first, then consumption. Apply oneself to labor, and then enjoy the fruit of that labor. This requires time.

Therefore, whether you understand this as actually building a garden, planting fruit trees and other productive trees, or simply living carefully according to your means, building something that will be enjoyed in the future—God willing—the point remains the same. The Babylonian soil was not the people’s choice, yet God placed it beneath their feet and said, “Do something with this.”

This moves us away from a mystical view of the Christian life, such as a Gnostic perspective in which we are merely going to heaven and nothing in this world truly matters. It suggests that what we build does not matter, that what we achieve or accomplish is insignificant. That is incorrect. That is wrong.

Never adopt a Gnostic mindset in which the material is considered evil and the spiritual is good. God created the material world. God’s Son took on material form in human flesh. I know we can become fleshly and worldly, and I trust you understand by now that I am not encouraging merely living for one’s own desires in this world. But God uses this framework. This is part of how one builds, as we will see, influence that will be used even for gospel purposes.

Have a productive vision. How can you multiply toward the future? How can you save now, as a man saves seeds so that he may sow them and produce a better crop and harvest? How can you do that? What does that look like today? It may mean delaying pleasures, refraining from certain actions, and holding back on various things because you have a long-term perspective. If you do not understand this, you will not grasp how God uses patient labor to multiply influence in the future.

Avoid the consumption mentality. We live in it, do we not? Advertising is everywhere. It is a form of manipulation. There are few people outside the church—indeed, few people with no connection to the church—who understand the doctrine of human depravity better than advertisers and marketers. They know how to sell something to you because they understand your corrupt, fallen nature. They have not been taught the doctrine of total depravity or studied the Bible’s teachings about humanity. Yet they recognize this reality and exploit it. They seek to take what you have and convince you that this is the best use of your resources right now. Resist this.

Cultivating.

In the second place, multiplying. Multiplying. Verse 6: “Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters.” You can see how even my own personal circumstances apply. Not everything applies to everyone. I have no son. The vision laid out is general for all, to strive toward it, even though specific aspects may not be fulfilled in our lives. Yet we must not ignore what God has called us to do.

“Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.” Multiplying.

So in the first place, pursue a suitable marriage. Pursue a suitable marriage. Take wives. Take wives. Marriage is not to be delayed in exile. It is not to be ignored. We are not to use the circumstances of the environment or the excuses that arise from them, as if we might say, this is for another time, another period, another generation. God says, here in exile in Babylon, this is what I want you to do. Take wives. Take wives.

He is not calling the community to live in a culture of dating that lacks commitment. That is not the case. Oh, that is not the case. This should not need to be said. I hope there is no one here who uses those applications. I do not know the details, but I know they exist. These applications, as far as I can understand, appear to promote relationships that lack depth.

God have mercy on you. God’s will is to take a wife. This is commitment. You are not to delay the formation of a household until the world is better, until it is safer. The covenant community must continue. The obligation rests upon every generation. If any generation fails in this, everything collapses, everything is lost. There must be an embracing of God’s vision. Take wives.

So everything required to take a wife is implied: preparing to provide, to protect, to lead, to labor, to govern your appetites, and to carry responsibility. These things are implied.

If you are going to take a wife, the same applies to the young woman: preparing to strengthen and be resourceful, not wasteful, and to learn skills related to homemaking and a supportive role. I am not saying, by the way, that you cannot have other skills that are valuable in the economy. I am not saying that at all. What I am saying is embracing this vision: that when you become a wife, there is a supporting role—helping your husband, aiding him, joining in the vision.

Learn humility now, learn repentance now, learn forgiveness now, learn communication now, learn commitment now, and learn spiritual and emotional steadiness now, not later. Before you take a wife, before you join in marriage.

Once you are prepared and are in the process of preparing, then at the appropriate time, you will know when it is time to pursue. And you ought to pursue. “Take ye wives” sounds like pursuit to me. Do not just sit back and wait for it—pursue.

There are simple ways to pursue, ways you may not have considered. One way to pursue is to attend every church meeting. You might say, “How is that pursuing?” Well, it communicates priority, does it not? A young person who is present at every opportunity to be at God’s house shows a certain priority in life. It does not tell me everything about their private life of prayer and reading God’s Word, but it does indicate that they value being at the place of worship. That is a good signal. It is not everything, but it is a good signal. And a young spiritual woman will see that, or a young man will see it, and it will be an attractive message.

Be present at meetings even when it is difficult to be there. Perhaps when you feel that the meeting does not benefit you, you say things like, “Oh, I don’t really get anything out of that.” Then you ask, “Why don’t you go to that meeting?” And you reply, “Well, I don’t really get anything out of it.”

That response tells me something about you as well. You believe that every meeting must serve your needs, and if it does not meet your expectations, you will abandon it. Apply this same attitude to marriage, and you will not go far. If a relationship does not always serve you in the way you expect, you will leave it.

There are many messages communicated through a person’s presence or absence at the house of God. Be spiritual. Be prayerful. You seek God, and He will prepare you. This is His vision. Sanctification is His work. You seek Him, and He will help you. There is no doubt in my mind.

I have previously recommended—though I do not know if anyone has acted on it—that single members of the church should meet regularly to enjoy fellowship and to pray specifically about their singleness, asking God to provide a spouse for them. If you are unable to do this, you are telling me that you do not truly care about this matter.

Can I be more direct? There must be seriousness about God’s call: “Take ye wives.” If this is not the time, if God is testing your faith and making you wait, then how are we to wait? In indifference, or in prayer?

Pursue a suitable marriage. Raise a family. Beget sons and daughters. Beget sons and daughters.

I have addressed this topic somewhat in the past. I will not go into all the details about the quiverful mindset or related views. I have significant concerns about certain perspectives held within conservative circles, which I am happy to explain if you have not heard me discuss them previously.

But the language here is looking for increase, is it not? That is how it ends in verse 6: “that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.” So it is simple math. At least aim to have three children, minimum. It may not always work out. I am very aware of that. But we are to embrace this. This is God’s vision. Children are not interruptions or threats to the life that we ought to live. They are nothing but a blessing. If it is part of God’s vision, it must be part of yours and mine.

We must confront the anti-child spirit of our generation. As soon as you have four children, people often raise an eyebrow. We live in a world that worships autonomy. Children are seen as a threat to our autonomy. You understand the context, do you not?

Because you may be thinking to yourself, on a dark day, that it might be best not to have children or to have fewer children. This was a dark day. This was Babylon. It was a time of fear. They were walking out their doors each day, wondering about the environment. What threats might be around the corner? What might be done? How their lives might be destroyed by the opposing force that surrounded them. Babylon was no longer just a threat out there. It was at their front door. They were living in it.

And God says, “Do not live in fear, either for yourself or for your children. Multiply. Have children. Do not be afraid.”

Pursue a suitable marriage. Raise the priority of children. Increase your presence as a people. Increase your presence as a people. “Give your daughters to husbands that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.” Increase.

Now God’s way of increase may not look like ours, right? It is helpful to remember this. God sometimes is slow in the matter of increase, sometimes. He gives to Abraham a vision. It was not as though Abraham had a large family of children early on, with God immediately prospering that aspect of his marriage to Sarah. Children were not born one after another. That was not his experience. Then Isaac and Rebekah struggled; they waited for twenty years, and still no child was born.

Jacob later became the father of twelve tribes, and before long, not in Babylon but in Egypt, God multiplied them. So greatly did they increase that their growth became a threat to the Egyptians, who feared their influence.

Therefore, do not misunderstand. It was not as though Abraham, if he had considered the matter from a practical standpoint, could have concluded that since he was to be the father of many nations, he should therefore father many children. God did not allow this to happen for him. There was a limitation on Isaac as well.

But it is the vision, beloved, it is the vision that ultimately, by and by, you may be increased, not diminished. The Bible may speak of Zion decreasing, and she does diminish. The church may be diminished, and the influence of God’s people may be reduced. But God commands increase. He requires His people to aim, to seek, to multiply, so that they may be increased, not diminished. Increased, not diminished.

Finally, influencing. Influencing, very quickly. Verse 7 says: “And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.” Two things: work to improve your community. Seek the peace of the city. Seek the peace of the city.

Do not merely endure it, do not merely survive it, and do not fight against it. Seek its blessing. Seek its blessing. You desire Jerusalem to be blessed. But seek the blessing of the place where you live. Pray for your employer, that the blessing of God would be upon the company where you work. Pray for our city. Pray for our community, that the blessing of God would be upon it, even though there may be unbelievers. Pray for blessing.

Blessing would include justice, would include the God-fearing being raised up, and may include other unintended aspects that come about through prayer. But seek, begin nearby, the peace of the city, the peace of the place where you are—your home, your church, your workplace, your town and city. Seek its peace.

It is easy to speak about society and all its disorder, to complain about what has happened, and to overlook dysfunction within our own homes, where we have influence. We must pray and seek to influence that which is near to us, that which we can reach.

Therefore, we must give ourselves to this task: to clean what is dirty, to repair what is broken, to bring calm where there is agitation, to strengthen what is weak, to feed those who are hungry, to visit those who are lonely, and to defend those who are vulnerable. These are the things we do to seek the peace of the city. Undergirding all of this is the gospel that we bring.

The greatest peace you bring is not only in your actions, but in how your actions reflect the Person who lives in your heart—the Prince of Peace Himself, who can command peace not only in lives and in society, but in the hearts of those among whom you live.

No, we are not to fully assimilate into Babylon. We are not to become worldly or morally confused by its dictates and perspectives. But we bless Babylon by being as Christian as possible, if I may use that expression. You bless your society by being the best Christian you can be, by the grace of God. You seek the peace of the city where God has caused you to dwell, full of the Holy Spirit.

Work to improve your community and intercede for God’s blessing on your community. It is not only about your work and your labor, but also about how you pray. “And pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.” Pray to the Lord for it. Yes, exiles must pray for the place where they find themselves. They must, surrounded by those who do not fear God, surrounded by those who hate the name of Jesus Christ, and surrounded by the ungodly, pray. Not desiring Greenville to be destroyed by judgment, but praying for the peace of the city. Praying that God would govern. Praying for the leaders, that He gives order and justice and restraint of evil.

They are to use their influence for positive outcomes. Do not complain. Intercede. This is what God says. Pray to the Lord for it. Washington may not care for Greenville, but we must care for Greenville. We pray for Greenville. We pray for the conditions in which it may flourish. We pray for God’s hand and favor upon it. “For in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.”

This is God’s normative will. This is God’s normative will. And I am serious—I want each of us to look at this passage and make it a matter of prayer.

Young people, do not delay. Get married. Do not hold in your mind that there may be someone better, or that this will not work out. Do not carry the hurt from your own childhood or the things you have seen, and do not let them lead you to doubt, for you see how it does not always work out. But if you consider every possible negative outcome, you will never do anything.

Do businesses fail all the time? Then you would ask the entrepreneur, why ever start a business? The likelihood of failure in the first five years is high. But what happens to a society when people live this way? It lives in fear. It loses many benefits and blessings. So we must overcome our fears.

I am not sure I would make a good spouse. I am not sure I have learned what I need to learn. So then, learn it. Go to those who have more wisdom than you. Seek their counsel. Prepare. Build houses. Plant gardens. Take wives. Raise children. Seek the peace of our community, so that the positive influence of God’s people may be strong, not only in this generation but also in the generations to come if the Lord delays His return.

This is the vision. May God write it on our hearts.

Let us bow together in prayer.

Do not lose hope, Christian. Some of you have prayed, and I do not think it is wrong to assume that you have prayed about areas where these things have not yet been accomplished in your life. I do not dwell on such matters. I do not claim to know. All I present to you here is God’s Word. Let us all take it to heart, pray over it, and ask the Lord to answer for His own glory.

Lord, bless Your Word. Let what is Yours prosper. Let it shape and influence. Let it guide and counsel. Let what is human fall to the ground, like chaff carried away by the wind.

But, O Lord, accomplish Your purpose in this generation. O God, work through each of our lives. May we embrace Christ and live for Him, and may we fully follow all that You have called us to do. Forgive us where we have fallen short. Teach us Your way, and be patient with us, Lord. Enable us by Your grace to see the Prince of Peace rule and reign in every heart, in every household, in this city, in this nation, and beyond. We pray for Your honor and glory. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be the portion of all the people of God, now and evermore. Amen.