Please turn in your Bibles to the prophet Jeremiah, chapter 29, which is in the church Bible on page 656. I have to say that the preaching from this chapter is always deeply personal for me because God has used some of these verses in such a significant way in my life, particularly in my sense of understanding my calling as a pastor to the city. I first learned Jeremiah 29.11 in college. I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. That's a promise that Lisa and I claimed at a number of significant points of transition in our lives. First of all, coming out to Philadelphia for seminary, then going overseas for graduate study, then returning to the United States and ultimately to Philadelphia, seeking some place of calling for ministry. God has been faithful to those promises in our lives, as he always is, for all his people. He's a good God. He's a sovereign God. He knows the plans he has for his people. Yet I didn't really understand the wider implications of this passage until we moved back here to Philadelphia in 1995. It's a verse that we had In fact, to this day, we still have on our wall at home a kind of family verse, but the problem with just putting one verse on the wall is you don't always remember the full context of the passage. I was here at the church one evening in the Delancey Lobby, and I was reading through a book on urban ministry, and somebody was commenting in the book about this very verse, Jeremiah 29.11. noted that he had seen this verse up on the wall of his daughter's home with a kind of scene behind it, pine trees and a crystal clear lake and snow-capped mountains, and then this verse, Jeremiah 29, 11, printed in gold. And the man observed, it's a magnificent biblical promise, it's one of my favorite promises of Scripture, but that promise was not made among pine trees or crystal clear lakes or snow-capped mountains. This was a promise made in a city and given to an urban people of God. Well, that caught me a little bit by surprise. In fact, I think I could say I was shocked to read it. It never really occurred to me that Jeremiah 29.11 was a kind of urban promise. If you look at the Bible, you can hardly miss it, can you? Because verse 11 comes shortly after verse 7, and that verse says, seek the peace and prosperity of the city where I have sent you." These promises of the goodness of God are promises for urban missionaries. As I considered the fuller implications of these verses, it was as if the Lord was saying to me, see, now this is why I have given you this scripture. It's not just because it's a promise for going to a new place, but particularly because I have called you to serve in the city. Now, 10th Presbyterian Church has that same calling. From the very beginning, when God first called us to be this people in this place, we have always been a city church. And that is something for us to consider, something important for us to consider during this time of renewing and refreshing our vision for our calling as a church. When we were first planted here by the Philadelphia Presbytery, it was with the goal of reaching a new city neighborhood where people needed to hear the gospel. This is where God has put us. This is where we have remained. If you know anything about the history of the evangelical church in America, you know that in the intervening years, many churches have moved out of the city. Yet by the grace of God and by the faithfulness of our fathers and mothers in the faith, we have stayed where God put us. And what better place to serve God than at the center of a huge metropolis of some six million people? I say I have to laugh every time I think about the settlements that we made with our former denomination 25 years ago when they made us promise not to leave the city for at least 50 years. Oh, that everyone would want to make me a promise I want to keep as much as that promise. Reminded a little bit of the story of Brewer Rabbit and the Tar Baby. Please don't throw me in the briar patch. That's what Brewer Rabbit said. Well, this is the place where we've been born and bred. Throw us in the city. This is where we are called to serve. And when we say in our vision statement that we have a total commitment to advance the kingdom of God in our neighborhood, our city, and our world, our neighborhood is Center City. Our city is Philadelphia. And of course, the world is the whole world. And this, too, is the place where we are called to serve. Now, our calling to the city comes with extraordinary opportunities. Here we are, nearly at the heart of so much that is happening in Philadelphia. What is happening politically, socially, economically, educationally, artistically, professionally. And as a city church, we are strategically positioned in a place of spiritual influence. And at the same time, we're also a regional church, drawing people from all over the metropolitan area, and that gives us a strategic concern for the region as a whole. That's important because when we talk about the city, even in its biblical terminology, we're not just talking about a line on a map. We're not just talking about a group of people who happen to pay a certain unpopular wage tax. Really, we're talking about everything that makes greater Philadelphia a center of cultural influence. Do we not have extraordinary opportunities? And is it not also the case that our calling to the city comes with unique challenges? It is not always easy to live, or to work, or to worship, or certainly to serve in the city. Back in the 19th century, the Reverend John Todd gave this warning, let no man who values his soul or his body ever go into a great city to become a pastor. Advice I guess I've ignored. Do you know where Todd's church was? It was right here in the city of brotherly love. Or, consider the words of one of our other famous residents, at least for a time, Thomas Jefferson, who said that cities are pestilential to the morals, the health, and the liberties of men. I suppose if you had been one of those faithful people of Jerusalem living in Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar, you probably would have agreed with Mr. Jefferson. Because in the year 597 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar carried Jerusalem's ruling elite off to Babylon. You see that in verses 1 and 2. It's a kind of ominous phrase, isn't it? The surviving elders. It's a way of saying that not all of the leaders of that community even made it. But those that did were carried off to Babylon. And what terrible things they suffered from the Babylonians in those days. the destruction of their beloved city of Jerusalem, the walls torn down, the temple ransacked, many people killed in the streets, and the rest of the people enslaved, particularly the leaders who went off to Babylon. And it's not surprising then that the great theologian Augustine viewed Babylon as a symbol of evil. If you're familiar with his classic work, The City of God, you know that Augustine described human history as a conflict between two great cities, if you will, or two great societies. That's what Augustine meant by a city, a community of people. And he said one city consists of those who live according to man, the other of those who live according to God. And these we call the two cities, the two communities of men. Augustine went on to speak of the destiny of those two cities, one destined to reign eternally with God, the other to suffer eternal punishments with the devil. Those are the two societies in the world today. And for Augustine, the primary biblical symbol of the city of man was Babylon. And if you read Jeremiah 29 with that kind of idea in mind, these two cities, you recognize that sometimes the people of God's city are called to live in the city of man. That was the calling of these people from Jerusalem who had been carried off to Babylon. And these things are instructive for us in part because the world's great cities today in so many ways are like Babylon. An urban area like Philadelphia is a city of man. that Satan is trying to turn into a suburb of hell. You can see it in the violence in the streets, the prostitution. You can see it in the abandoned buildings, the the racial dividing lines of the city. You can see it in the slow shuffle of the poor. You can see it in the great buildings built for human pride, not for the glory of God, but for the prosperity of human beings. These are some of the things we see in the city, and these kinds of issues are an urgent concern for every Christian because the world in so many ways has an urban future. Already half the people in the world live in some city. By the middle of this century, it will be 80% of the world population. People talk about a global village. It's really a global city. It is the metropolis of man. And these problems and concerns of the city, the opportunities and the challenges, are surely a special concern for us, because we too are living in one of the cities of man. Now, what should God's people do? when they find that they have a Babylonian zip code. Well, it's tempting to retreat. It's tempting to withdraw. It's tempting to pull back from the surrounding culture. It may even be tempting to move out altogether if you're able to do it. And yet, Jeremiah 29 tells the people of God to do exactly the opposite. Oh, I think this must have been a shocking prophecy for the people in Babylon to have received from Jeremiah. They were living in Babylon. among the Babylonians who did so many things that were odious and hateful to God. And the people of God had every reason to hate them. These were people who had destroyed their city, who had killed their friends and family members, who were putting them in slavery and captivity. And they would have hoped for some prophecy of divine deliverance, maybe a prophecy to rise up in rebellion and revolution or some prophetic promise of escape. But what God does instead, is tell them to make themselves at home. Oh, there would come a time when they would go back home, but for now their home was to be in Babylon. Look again at the prophecy that Jeremiah gives, and this will be the focus of our attention this morning. This is what the God of Israel says to all of the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. The prophecy comes beginning in verse 5. Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there and do not decrease. But 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." Now that is a very optimistic perspective on the city of Babylon, is it not? God almost sounds here like the ad man for Babylonian Realty. If you've tried to purchase a house, you know how these things go. Charming, the ad will say. Well, what does that mean? It's about the size of a telephone booth. That's what it means. Needs some work. Bring your own wrecking ball. I once read an ad for a home in Center City that said luxurious library. If you know my sort of scholarly temperament, you know my imagination easily ran wild with that one. It turned out to be a walk-in closet with bookshelves. Well, you know, how luxurious do you want it to be? Well, imagine when Jeremiah's prophecy was read in that Jewish ghetto back in Babylon. There they were. They were languishing in captivity. They were complaining about religious discrimination, maybe about the Babylonian school system, living with all of those pagans. And here God is, and He starts to give them the hard sell. Oh, you're going to love this place, He says. Wonderful place to raise a family. Great opportunities for small business. Marvelous location, right in the heart of the fertile crescent. You begin to get the sense of God's passion for urban planning, and yet He's talking about the city of Babylon of all places, and here is His very surprising plan. He is going to build His city, the city of God, the community of His people. That society is going to be built right in the middle of the city of man. And here in the Old Testament, we have a kind of glimpse of God's plan for His people in the world. Not just for people in cities, although that will be the focus of our own application, but it's really the calling of the people of God in the whole world. His plan is not to rescue us from the world, not yet anyway, but to rescue us from sin and then send us out into the world to be His servants. And I suppose that when the people of God in Babylon talked about their time in that city, They used words like banished, condemned, abandoned. They were thinking in terms of their captivity. But that's not how God describes things. Oh, He knows that they're in exile, and He says that in these verses, but He views this exile also as a mission. Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you. You see, these exiles were not just captives. They were also missionaries, and they would find God's blessing in seeking the good of the city where God sent them. What is the place where God has sent you? What is the place where you have been sent on a mission? Our situation is similar in so many ways to the situation of the exiles in Babylon. This is the situation of the church in the world. You look at what Peter said in his first letter. He said, you are living as exiles in the world. If you are a believer in Christ, you are one of the exiles of humanity. The world is not your home. You are living for the day. when your exile will be over, and you will make your long-awaited journey home to your King. And yet, even though this is not our permanent place of residence, we have been sent here on a mission. And Jesus himself has sent us into all the world to preach the gospel. He has said, just as the Father sent me, so now I am sending you into the world. Just as I was sent to do my saving work on the cross, now you are sent to do your reconciling work of proclaiming the message of that cross. And there is then an important sense in which every believer is a missionary. It's a principle so essential we've included it in our mission statement. Tenth Church seeks to advance the kingdom of God worldwide. by engaging every member in mission. And we expand on that idea in what we're calling our generational imperatives. Tenth will cultivate a global vision for the kingdom of God by engaging every member in the missionary work of the gospel. In part, that means having some part that we will play in the work that missionaries are doing in other places, but even more deeply, it's a way of understanding that we ourselves have been sent to be missionaries. The phrase we use to describe this principle is total missions. It's the heading you'll find it under if you look at our generational imperatives. It was inspired in part by my own watching of the World Cup back in June. I was thinking about the marvelous Dutch soccer team of the early 1970s and the wonderful way they played the game of soccer. It was called in those days total football. And what it meant was that instead of playing only one position and focusing on one narrow set of skills, the scorers scoring, the defenders defending, that was the old way of playing soccer. But the new way was for every player on the team to have the ability and the flexibility to play anywhere on the field. Depending on the game situation, every player knew how to attack and how to defend. That was total football. Total missions means that in effect every member of the church is a missionary, has that aspect of their life and calling which is directed toward the missionary work of the gospel. Missions is not a specialized task for a certain kind of Christian. but a basic part of what it means to be a member of God's team. You can't just say, yeah, no, our missionaries are the ones scoring the goals and God bless them for doing it, but we're back here and we're staying on the defense. No, the idea is that you too are part of that missionary work of the gospel. It's always tempting for us to think of missionary work as something that someone else does in some place else, when in fact every one of us is called to do the work of God wherever God sends us. Wherever we are, this is the place where we have been sent. And in the case of Tenth Church, God has sent us to Philadelphia. If you ask who are the missionaries that God has sent to Philadelphia, the answer is we are those missionaries. Now, if we are on a mission, then there are some important things I think we can learn from Jeremiah 29 about being sent on a mission, and particularly an urban mission. We resonate with the themes of this passage because of the urban context. Let me just briefly show you three things that God sent his people to do with the thought that these are things that you can continue to discuss and apply in the vision groups this coming week. And may I say, if you're not in one of those groups, we would love for you to be in one, and there's still time to do that. You might just speak to anyone around you at church today. They might be able to point you in the right direction. But certainly, if you call the church office or get on our website, we can put you in a group in your neighborhood. But here are three things God sent his people to do. First, establish a presence in the city. That's described in verses 5 and 6. Then, to seek the peace of the city. To seek the peace of the city, that's at the beginning and end of verse 7. And then thirdly, to pray for the prosperity of the city. That's in the middle of verse 7. And so first, God told his people to establish a presence in the city. And you get the sense here that he is thinking in terms of some serious community development. He says at the beginning of verse 5, build houses and live in them. Well, this was important for the exiles to hear. They really thought that their exile would end any minute. These were people who still had their bags packed to go back to Jerusalem. They were working part-time jobs, so to speak. They were renting. They weren't buying. They had a sort of temporary mindset about their life in that city, and they weren't really committed to doing the work that God wanted to do there, the kind of city building He was calling them to do. But you see, God was planning for them to have an extended stay, and so there wasn't any sense in their renting. They might as well build. I think a good phrase to use to describe these people is one we would also use to describe Christians in the world today. We are resident aliens. Aliens because we are not living in our home. Our ultimate home will be in the city of God, the eternal city of God in the New Jerusalem. But we are residents. We are living where God wants us to live. We are resident aliens. And that's the example we see in Jeremiah 29. What else did God want his people to do in the city? Not just build homes there, but get involved in business. The business of agriculture in this case. Plant gardens, eat their produce. And he tells his people to do some matchmaking. I imagine them perhaps starting a singles group at the local synagogue. They're speaking here of taking wives and having sons and daughters and giving their sons and daughters in marriage so that they may have children of their own. Multiply their, do not decrease, God says at the end of verse 6. You see, in short, he wants them to live life to the full, to go about their business as usual. Yes, it's true. They're living in a godless city, but they are to lead full and normal lives. They are to plan for the future. They are to live in the hope of what God will do. And in their communal life together, they will grow as the community of the people of God, the city of God in that sense. At the same time, they will be serving God in the city of man. I think these verses are reminding us of the importance of community life for the redemption of the city, the construction of the house, the planting of the garden, the raising of the family. All of these things are helping to build the city of God in the city of man. And you may think that some of the things that you are called to do are very ordinary. You may look at something like the vision film that we showed on Friday night and get a sense of the grand scope of that vision, but then look at the things that you're called to do. They may seem very ordinary, particularly if you're doing something like raising children. It has a lot of mundane day-to-day duties. But you see here, you see the blessing of God on those simple acts of daily life and how those things, too, are part of the work that God is doing. Now, let me just say a few words here about a calling to serve the city, to establish a presence in the city. For some of us in this congregation, it will include a call to live in the city, specifically to live within the city limits of Philadelphia, for some of us even to live in Center City. Now, there is no biblical command that everyone should do that. There are many different reasons for living all of the places where we live. Each of us should live with joy and with a sense of purpose in whatever place where God has called us to live. There is not one community in the world that would not benefit from a stronger Christian presence. Nevertheless, as we think about our ministry as a church, surely establishing a presence in the city for some of us will mean more than worshiping here and ministering here, but also living here and answering God's call to do that. Is there a better way to establish a presence in the city than to live there and to become part of its community? And as we think about that, how sad it is that in the 20th century so many evangelical Christians abandoned the city. And yet how wonderful it is that in so many ways that trend seems to be reversing as Christians recognize the strategic significance of the city. I praise God that for the last decade, and more than that, our own denomination of the PCA has put a priority on church planting in the urban centers of North America. Surely that is where the needs are greatest and where the strategic opportunities are the greatest. We're living in a time now when people are not moving out of the city, but into the city, and what a difference it will make for our country. What a difference it is already making to our city. One of the reasons we want to be intentional about church planting is because we are committed to the city as a whole. Surely the best way for us to have a presence in Philadelphia is to establish new congregations, thriving churches in every neighborhood, churches committed to Christ-centered preaching, churches committed to God-centered worship, churches committed to servant-hearted mercy. I'm reminded of the way that Dr. Boyce used to challenge this congregation in talking about what a blessing it would be to have a church member living on every street in the city, somebody to pray very specifically for the people on that block, to reach out to people in that neighborhood with the gospel. And very possibly the best strategic way for us to reach that goal is to plant local churches in all of these communities all across the city. sending out church planters and church planting teams to establish that kind of spiritual presence in the city. And of course, at the same time, we want to have a spiritual presence right here in Center City. It means having a concern for this community, developing strategies for ministry that will touch the needs of our neighborhood. We're doing that in a small way on Wednesday night when we have an opportunity to invite our neighbors in for a musical concert with a gospel testimony. It's a way of inviting people into this community. That's what we're hoping to do in our strategic vision as we reach out to the residential and business and artistic and student communities of Center City. All of these communities of people, all of them needing to hear the gospel. What are the strategic ways God is calling us to have a presence in the city that he can use for the sake of gospel ministry? And what is your part in the ministry of Tenth Church to the city of brotherly love? I think when God calls people in life, He doesn't just call them to a career, although He does that. He doesn't just call them to a husband or wife, although sometimes He does that as well, but He calls them in many cases to churches and even to cities. What commitment is God calling you to make to 10th Church and to the city where He has sent you? All of us who are members of this church or who regularly attend here are called to worship here. We're establishing a worshiping presence in the heart of the city. Some of us are also called to live here, to establish a physical presence in our neighborhoods. Some of us are called to work or to study here. And we then have an opportunity to establish a kind of Christian presence in our field of endeavor, in our area of academic pursuit, whether it's medicine or education or the arts or labor, whatever field it is, we have an opportunity to establish a presence for Christ as we do our work in the city. Some of us will be here longer than others. Some of us will be here for a lifetime, and our involvement in Tenth Church will be a significant part of our life's work. It's a challenge I often give to the elders of this church. Others may be here only for a little while and then will go somewhere else. And that too is part of our calling as a church. We're always sending people out to do gospel work around the world. It's all part of our sense of calling as a church. But will you consider how long you may be able to stay? Will you ask the Lord to give you an opportunity to do something significant through the ministry of this church and your calling to this city? Will you go to school here? Maybe apply for an internship here, do a fellowship here, take your first job here and pray that God will give you an opportunity to be in Philadelphia and be part of what He is doing at Tenth Church. Will you begin to raise a family here perhaps? Will you do whatever you can to get involved in the ministry of the church, come closer into the work that we are doing? I was speaking only this morning following the service to someone who lives a little further out and is wrestling with God's calling for her life and She was wondering if it counts if she is involved in the ministry of Alpha Pregnancy Services. That's exactly the way to think. Think about the needs of unwed mothers in the city and their children and ask yourself, how can I be involved in that kind of ministry in the city of Philadelphia? Even if I'm not living directly in Center City, I can be involved in that kind of ministry. Whatever calling God gives you to work or to live or to worship, or to serve in the city, or maybe E, all of the above. Answer the call of God. See His love for the city. Let His heart for the city become your heart for the city, and ask God to make you a blessing to the people of this community. There is a second reason God sends His people to the city, not just to establish a presence there, but to seek its peace, to seek the peace of the city. The English Standard Version says it like this. Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. But that word for welfare is the Hebrew word for shalom. We could say it like this. Seek the shalom of the city. Its shalom is your shalom. And of course, shalom is a word for peace. It's a word for peace in its most comprehensive sense. It means order, health, safety. harmony, well-being, wholeness, and completeness. Maybe we could even say happiness. Shalom for the city means that all is right with the city. And here God is telling His people to do anything and everything they can to further the public good. I think we have a wonderful example of that in the ministry of John Calvin. Do you know how much good his gospel ministry did for the city of Geneva? Not just spiritually, although of course it did that through the preaching of God's Word, but also medically, socially, economically, educationally. Calvin said, God has filled my mind with the zeal to spread his kingdom and to further the public good. You see, he was seeking the peace of the city. He was pursuing the public good. He helped to start schools and hospitals. He was reaching out to the poor. He was promoting the sound practice of business. He even cleaned up the city streets by designing an urban sewer system. That's a good example to follow. That's somebody seeking the peace of the city. And should it not be said that Christians are the very best of citizens, that we are good neighbors, that we are doing even the simple things, obeying the law, picking up the trash, planting a tree, We are involved in mercy in the city, that we are feeding the poor, as we will have an opportunity to do this very day. It means volunteering at a local school to having a concern for the neediest children in the city. It means giving people a friendly greeting, embracing people from every ethnic background with the love of Christ. It means becoming the go-to house on your street for people in need. Or maybe the go-to apartment in your building, or the go-to room in your dormitory. Being the place where people are drawn, that they see, this is a place where I will receive help and prayer and encouragement. This is what it means to seek the welfare of the city. It means doing your job in an excellent way so that people are actually served by whatever kind of service that you offer through your daily employment. But let me say, we could do all of those things, both individually and as a church, And we could still fail to bring shalom to the city in its biblical sense, because in and of themselves, even the best acts of kindness cannot bring the kind of peace that endures. God does not call us merely to good works, but to gospel good works, to works that are explicit in their intention of bringing people to faith in Christ. The Bible says that the way to have peace with God is through Jesus Christ. The only real and lasting shalom is established through the work that Jesus was doing on the cross. The city cannot be at peace until it knows Christ crucified and Christ risen. Because in its sin, the city and all of us who live in the city are at war with God. We are under his wrath and curse until we come and find safety in Christ. You see, Jesus came to make peace for us with God. He went into the city to die on the cross for sins, and He was bearing all of our guilt upon Himself. And in doing that, He was making peace with God. And now anyone who believes in Jesus will be at peace with God forever. And so whatever Shalom, the children of Israel, offered to Babylon, we have a much greater peace to offer our own city. an eternal peace with God through the work of Christ on the cross. And that's the basis for everything we try to do for the city. It's what makes us neighborly. We have a Savior who told us that we should be good neighbors, to love our neighbors as ourselves, and demonstrated that when he loved and forgave even his bitterest enemies. This is the peace that makes us compassionate. We're able to comfort others with the comfort that we ourselves have received from God in Christ. It's what makes us charitable, doing works of mercy in the city. We have a Savior who gave Himself for us, and now He calls us to give ourselves to others. You see, it's only when the city finds that kind of peace, the peace that comes from the work of Christ, that it will finally reach its true shalom. And then there is a third and last thing. God tells His people to do in these verses, and that is to pray for the prosperity of the city. It's in the middle of verse 7. Pray to the Lord on its behalf. In its welfare you will find your welfare. Or the New International Version says it like this. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper. It's the biblical version of the proverb that a rising tide lifts all boats. You see, believers in Christ have a vested interest in the welfare of the city. When the city prospers, the church also will prosper. And you see, the reverse is also true. When the church is prospering spiritually and understands its ministry to the city, then it will be a blessing to the city and the city will prosper. I think it's worth noting here that God does not tell His people to seek peace in the city. You know, as if you might be able to find some place of retreat, some place where you could find some peace within the city, but to seek the peace of the city. See, we're not just in the city, but with the city and for the city. It is for the sake of the city that we are to pursue this peace. God never intended to establish a ghetto, always a kingdom. And this means extending His grace to people outside the Christian community who still need to know the gospel. And one of the main ways we do this, one of the main ways we seek the peace of the city is through prayer. It is our civic duty to pray. I'm not going to say more about that now by way of application because I'm going to devote a whole sermon to it two weeks from now. But understand that this is one essential part of what it means for us to be sent to this place. And as we establish a presence in Philadelphia seeking the city's peace, we are also called to pray for its prosperity. So let me ask you again this morning, what is your calling? What is our calling to the city where God has sent us? What is our calling as a church in the heart of the city of brotherly love? I came back to Philadelphia in 1995. Someone put a note in my box in my early days here at Tenth Church. It was a note intended to encourage me in my calling to the city. It was an excerpt from a sermon by Charles Spurgeon called Blessing in the City. There's a sermon based on this text from the book of Deuteronomy. If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, blessed shalt thou be in the city. Spurgeon's message was meant, of course, for London at the dawn of the 20th century, but I think his words are just as appropriate for Philadelphia at the dawn of the 21st century. He said, the city is full of care. And he who has to go there from day to day finds it to be a place of great wear and tear. It's full of noise and stir and bustle and hard work. Many are its temptations, its losses, its worries. But to go there with the divine blessing takes off the edge of its difficulty, and to remain there with that blessing is to find joy in its duties and strength equal to its demands. God's blessing in this city may not make us great, but it will keep us good. It may not make us rich, but it will preserve us honest. And whether we are porters or clerks or managers or merchants or magistrates, the city will afford us opportunities for usefulness. It is good fishing where there are shoals of fish, and it is hopeful to work for our Lord amid the thronging crowds. Oh, what an encouraging message that is. Spurgeon was surely right that the city is a place for usefulness, a place for usefulness to God. And was he not also right in saying that we will find our blessing in the city if we are doing our work, as Calvin did it, with zeal for the kingdom of God and to further the public good? And will God not also, by His Spirit, give us the strength that will be equal to the city's demands, the strength that will enable us to fulfill the city's opportunities? Our Father in heaven, we pray for your blessing in the city. We pray that you would pour out the blessing of your spirit on the ministry of your word and on the ministry of mercy, on the ministry of evangelism, whatever you call us to do in this city. Lord, help each one of us to know our part. And will you give us your blessing for the sake of Jesus and in the name of his eternal kingdom? Amen.