Well, good evening. Please turn in your Bibles to the book of Genesis, Genesis chapter 9. And we will be considering Genesis chapter 9 in a moment in one of the points of the sermon. But for now, let's read Genesis chapter 9, verses 8 to 11. Genesis 9, 8 to 11. This is God's word. Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, Behold, I established my covenant with you and with your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the field with you, as many as came out of the ark. It is for every beast of the earth. I established my covenant with you that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood. to destroy the earth. So ends the reading of God's word. Let us pray together once again and ask the Lord to bless the preaching of the word to our souls. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for this word that must have been a great word of comfort to Noah and his family and his offspring, this great promise that you would preserve the natural order. And Lord, as we'll consider you, your word is full of promises, even promises concerning that redemptive kingdom and the salvation of our souls. And so, Lord, we pray that as we dig into your word this evening, that we would mine from it great riches that would be to our edification and your glory. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, this evening, we're going to continue to consider our study of two kingdoms theology. This morning we saw how God gave Adam a mandate to subdue the Earth. Adam was tasked with extending the boundaries of Eden so that it covered the whole globe. It was his dominion mandate, or cultural mandate. And he was to do this through ordinary cultural labor. And so there really was no distinction between secular and sacred. It was all to be brought into what was sacred. It was all one earthly kingdom. But we saw how instead of obeying God, Adam disobeyed. And as a result, God cursed mankind. He cursed him in every area of the cultural mandate, making it impossible now for man to attain. So the kingdom of heaven cannot be realized. It cannot be brought about by cultural progress. Yet we also saw how Christ fulfilled the cultural mandate. He did this through his obedience. He earned the glory of the world to come for his people. So we know how the story began with God creating all things in the fall. We know how it ends. Christ has earned glory for us. That's our destination. What about the middle of the story? Because that's where we are right now. How are we to live post-fall but pre-glory? How are we to live and interact in the world around us? How does the church, as an institution, interact with culture? Now most Christians tend to respond in one of two polar opposite ways. On the one hand of the spectrum is what we might call an escapist sort of attitude. The escapist attitude is one of withdrawal. So on the one hand, they rightly recognize that culture is corrupt, that we live in a fallen world, that there is great evil, evil that we're not to take part in. But then from that, they respond by completely abandoning culture. They would take the view that Christians shouldn't be involved at all in culture. They shouldn't take part in institutions like the government. They shouldn't serve in the military. They shouldn't hold public positions or offices of any kind. Well, who might hold this view? Well, this view is held by groups like the Anabaptists. So that's one extreme, one end of the spectrum. Then on the other end of the spectrum is that of triumphalism, what we might call triumphalism. It's the attitude of transformationalism and theonomy, if you're familiar with those terms. Now, they begin by rightly recognizing that God has placed Christians, believers, strategically in the world to be salt and light. And there's a purpose God has placed us where we are. And we are to care about culture. We are to care about the world around us. But then they go a step further. And they say, not only are we to engage in culture, but we're to conquer culture. Not only are we to redeem individual sinners, for Christ, also to redeem institutions. So our goal is to Christianize the government, it's to Christianize schools, it's to Christianize all of culture around us, universities, newspapers, and so on. Now while I believe there is some truth to both positions, and we can learn and we can love brothers and sisters who hold those positions, I think there are ways that both of those extremes fall into error. Well, in contrast to both of these positions at either end of the spectrum, I would argue that a doctrine of the two kingdoms is the right biblical balance that helps us avoid the mistakes of both extremes. Again, just as a summary, the two kingdoms doctrine recognizes Christians as having dual citizenship. On the one hand, Christians are citizens of heaven. We are citizens of the redemptive kingdom through faith in Jesus Christ. And the redemptive kingdom is spiritual. It's eternal. It has no expiration date. It lasts forever. And that's ultimately where our hope is fixed. And yet at the very same time, Christians are also citizens of this common kingdom. A kingdom that is this present fading age And God has established the common kingdom to include the institutions of marriage, the family, commerce, government, all these things. And because God has established these things, even though they are temporary and they're belonging to this present fading age and not the age to come, they're still legitimate. They're still important for us to involve ourselves in and to partake of these common pursuits alongside our unbelieving neighbors. Well, that's a very brief sketch of Two Kingdoms theology. This evening, my intention is to fill this out quite broadly. We'll start by considering, first, the common kingdom. Secondly, then, we'll consider the redemptive kingdom. And then third, we'll consider how it is we are to live as citizens of both of these kingdoms. So let's start with how God establishes and rules the common kingdom. And what do I mean by the word common? What does common mean? Well, by common, I mean something that is shared, a shared experience, a shared state, something that we can all relate to, something that we all experience in common. For example, in the fall, God curses humanity in common, meaning that it isn't only unbelievers who are under the curse, Even unbelievers fall under the curses of the fall. It's something that affects all of us. And yet alongside the common curse is also common blessing. So yes, both unbeliever and believer will know the pains of childbirth. But at the same time, both believer and unbeliever will also know the joy of childbirth, having children, having families. Yes, both will still experience the thorns and thistles of their labor, and yet at the same time, both will enjoy the common blessing of daily bread, as Jesus taught in Matthew chapter five, verse 45. For he makes his son to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. This is what we mean by common. This is what we call common grace. And it is in God's covenant with Noah, in Genesis chapter eight and nine, that we see God formally establishing this common grace covenant, what we call the common kingdom. And it's according to this covenant that he rules his common kingdom. And so we're gonna consider that now, in Genesis chapter eight and nine. So again, if you have your Bibles open to that place, might be helpful for following along. Let's consider this Noahic covenant. And we'll do so by asking a number of questions. Well, first we must ask, with whom is this covenant made? Whenever a covenant is made, God enters into it with another party. So you might think of God's covenant with Abraham, for example. It is God, and it has Abraham. But who does God covenant with here? Well, in Genesis 9, chapter 9, verse 9, God says, Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you. So it is with Noah that he establishes this covenant and with everyone after him. In other words, it's all human beings. It's us in this room. Well, God continues. and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. It is for every beast of the earth. So it includes, as well as humans, it includes animals, livestock. Verse 11 shows us that it even includes the earth itself. So from this then, we see that it is a universal covenant. God makes this covenant in common with all of creation, without distinction. What this means is that it doesn't distinguish between believer and unbeliever. It is with both. It is with all of creation. Well, next, what does God promise in this covenant? Again, you might think of God's promise to Abraham. He promises Abraham an offspring. He promises Israel a land. So what does God promise here? In Genesis chapter 9 verse 11, God promises not to flood the earth again. And chapter 8 verse 22, while the earth remains, sea time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease. So what God promises is to preserve the natural order of things. In other words, he promises to keep the earth spinning, the sun shining, the rain falling, and all the things that are required to sustain life on this planet. Now let me ask another question. What doesn't God promise in this covenant? Notice that it doesn't promise a king. It doesn't promise a messiah. It doesn't promise us the seed that will crush the serpent's head. It doesn't promise us the forgiveness of sins. It doesn't tell us how we as sinners can be made right with God. And this is key. It doesn't promise us the age to come. Instead, God only promises to preserve this present world for a time. And therefore, that's why we recognize it is not a covenant of grace. It is a common grace covenant. And that becomes even clearer when you consider the sign of the covenant. In verse 16, God establishes the non-bloody sign of the rainbow to be the sign of the covenant. And what's different about this sign is that every redemptive covenant has a bloody sign. The sign of the Abrahamic covenant was the sign of circumcision, a bloody sign. The sign of the Mosaic covenant was the bloody Passover. Even in the New Covenant, baptism and the Lord's Supper remind us of the blood and the death of Christ. Hebrews tells us, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. And so then we see with the Newaya Covenant, it doesn't deal with sin. It doesn't deal with blood. It doesn't promise us redemption. It only deals with the preservation of the common natural order. Well next, what does this covenant require of us? You know, covenants always demand a response. The response here, well it doesn't call us to faith, it doesn't call us necessarily to obedience in that sense. It simply calls us to partake in common cultural activities. And essentially God establishes three institutions here. The family, the economy, and justice. God affirms the institution of marriage and the family. Twice we are told to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. And this statement, though brief, implies everything else that's needed for the raising of children and entering into families. It implies the diapers we need for children. It implies the nurture and care that children need to be raised. It implies clothing, education, protection. And what else do you need to grow families? Well, you need food. So God again affirms our dominion over the plants and the animals for food. Of course this implies common economic activity, trading with one another, working alongside one another. Third then, God grants humanity the authority to take judicial action against injustice. In the middle of verses five and six it says, From his fellow man, I will require a reckoning for the life of man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image. So what's this teaching? It's teaching that justice must be proportionate. We must not be like Lamech in Genesis, Genesis chapter four, who demands the death of another man just for bruising him. No, justice must be proportionate. It must be fair. It must be an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. And who is it who carries out justice here? Who does God envision will carry out justice? Does God promise to send angels from heaven with flaming swords like he did back in the fall? Well, no, God doesn't promise that. Instead, God gives mankind in common the authority to act judicially, He delegates this authority to man on the basis of verse six, that God made man in his own image. That's significant, this statement again, that God made man in his own image. Let's remember from this morning's sermon, what does it mean to really bear God's image? Well, it means to act like God. It means to do the kinds of things that God does. And so just as Adam was to image God by working and then resting as God worked and rested, now post-fall, God judges evil, he did so through the flood, and now he gives man this prerogative, this authority to image him through judicial action. I could say a lot about this, but one implication of this is that our government doesn't give us authority. Instead we, as a society, give our government authority. We recognize them. Rights flow upwards, you might say, not downwards from the government. We, as a people, form our governments. And so what that means is that the government is just as accountable to the law as we, the people, are. The law that God gives here is the standard, that is the basis and foundation of even a common society. Well, the final question then is, what is the duration of this covenant? How long will it remain in effect? Is it something that's going to last forever? Is it eternal? Well, no, that's where we see this covenant is temporary. Temporary it has kind of like that the meat in your fridge. It's not going to leave it It's not going to last forever. You don't want to leave it there for a long time. It has an expiration date in Genesis chapter 8 verse 22 God says while the earth remains Seed time and harvest cold and heat summer and winter day and night shall not cease so in other words what God is promising here is that so long as this age exists that He will preserve and maintain the natural order of the universe. And we know from 2 Peter, when this age will end, it is when Christ returns and all things will be burned up. And so to summarize then this first point as we've looked at this common grace covenant that forms the basis of the common kingdom, we recognize that it is a universal covenant. Meaning, God doesn't only make this covenant with Noah and his family, but makes it with Noah and his family, and the family after that, and the family after that, with all generations of humanity. He even makes it with the plants and the animals, inanimate things. We also see that God gives a common charge to humanity, to be fruitful, to engage in the institutions of the family and commerce and justice. We also see in this covenant that it's not like God's covenant with Abraham. It's not even like the covenant he makes with Israel or David. It doesn't promise anything redemptive in that sense. It doesn't promise salvation. It doesn't promise the world to come. It only promises the preservation of this natural order until the return of Christ. So in summary then, it's universal, it's non-redemptive, and it's temporary. So that's God's common kingdom that he rules by this common grace covenant, the Noahic covenant. Secondly then, let's consider God's redemptive kingdom. Well, alongside God's common grace flows a stream of God's special grace. No sooner had man fallen in Genesis chapter three than God had promised this seed that would crush the head of the serpent. And there, in that promise of the seed, we have the promise of Christ, the King who will bring about his kingdom of heaven. And as scripture unfolds, little by little, that faraway promise of Christ grows clearer and clearer to our eyes. In the words of our confession, it gets closer and closer, step by step. And whereas the common kingdom is universal in scope and it's non-redemptive, we see that Christ and his kingdom is special and it is redemptive. We see that, don't we, in God's choosing and calling of Abraham. God sets Abraham apart and his line to be a special people. In Genesis chapter 17, verse six, God covenants with Abraham and promises him, I will make you exceedingly fruitful And I will make you a nation and kings shall come from you. So God promises Abraham that he will be this conduit of grace. He will be this conduit from whom kings will come and a mighty kingdom. He promises him even a kingdom people and a kingdom land. The author of Hebrews tells us that Abraham knew ultimately that this wasn't just a promise of a plot of land in Palestine in the Middle East. No, Abraham looked at this promise and he realized it was pointing forward to that city whose builder and founder is God, that unshakable kingdom. Well, this promise of a kingdom continues to unfold through David. In 2 Samuel 7, God promises David that kings will come from him, and even that one of his sons will build the kingdom of God. He will build God's temple. And children, who is this promised son of David? Who is this seed of Eve that we've been waiting for? Well, you know, don't you? It's Jesus. The very first words of the New Testament, open, declaring, the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. And so we see then that Jesus is the promised seed who crushes the serpent's head. He is that second Adam. He is that promised king of Abraham and of David, the one who will build his father's house. And it's there, especially in the Gospels, that we see this redemptive kingdom and its nature. unfold more and more as it's unpacked by Christ. Matthew's gospel especially focuses on Christ's kingdom. Matthew 4.17 tells us that Jesus began his ministry by preaching the kingdom, saying, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. But something we see very clearly in the gospels is that Jesus' kingdom wasn't the kind of kingdom people expected. And Jesus wasn't the kind of king people wanted. What the Jews wanted, and even what his own disciples expected, was a king who would be great in the eyes of the world, a Caesar kind of figure, one who would be victorious over his enemies in a very physical and tangible way. What they wanted was an earthly kingdom that would overthrow and replace the Romans. But little by little, throughout Matthew's gospel, Jesus reveals more and more about the true nature of his kingdom. Matthew 5, it is a kingdom whose citizens are marked by humility, peace, mercy, purity, and love. Matthew 12, it is the kingdom of God's Holy Spirit. Matthew 13, it grows like a mustard seed. It's like a treasure hidden in a field and a pearl of great price. And at this point, the careful reader of Matthew's gospel should be asking the question, well, Jesus, where is this kingdom? Show us your kingdom. Where is it to be found? And then finally, in Matthew chapter 16, Jesus reveals the nature of his kingdom. He tells us that his kingdom, this heavenly kingdom, the age to come, is present in the world through his church, through his church. The church is the present manifestation of the new creation, and it is therefore the gateway to the redemptive kingdom. And Matthew 16 is a very significant passage for understanding both the nature of the church and also the authority of the church. Every institution established by God has authority. God establishes marriage and the family, And he gives you as parents the rod of instruction and discipline to teach your children. And only you have that rod. The church does not have that rod. We as pastors do not bear that rod for you. The state does not have that rod. You do. God gives the state the sword. The sword is for justice. It's for enacting justice on those who commit great evil. But to the church, God gives the keys of the kingdom of heaven. God gives the church its own distinct authority. We see that in Matthew 16, verse 19. Jesus says, I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Well, what do these keys represent? What authority do they grant? Well, Jesus tells us it's a very significant authority. It's the authority to open and close the gates of the kingdom of heaven itself. And what are these keys? Well, in other places in the gospel this is filled out more by Christ, but essentially it includes the preaching of the word, the sacraments, and church discipline. And what this means is that if you want to be part of the redemptive kingdom, if you want to be part of the kingdom of God, It's not through common institutions like marriage or the family. It's not through government. It's only through the church of Jesus Christ. Dear friend, do you want to enter the kingdom of heaven? Do you want to be part of the glory of the world to come? Do you want to have the assurance of the forgiveness of sins? Then it is the church that holds the keys. There is nowhere else to go to find life and salvation. So avail yourself of the keys of the Kingdom. Avail yourself of the ministry of the Church. Commit yourself to the Church. Pray for the Church. Serve the Church. And since it is through the exercise of these keys that the Church grows, it is through the keys that Christ promises to build His Kingdom, that us as a Church keep these keys as the focus of our ministry, the focus of our efforts. You know, common societies advance through all sorts of means. It advances as population grows through procreation. It advances through military conquest. It advances in science and medicine and engineering. But the Church does not advance through any of these means. Instead, she grows through what appears foolish to the world, the preaching of the gospel. But since the foolishness of God is wiser than men, we ought to dedicate ourselves to what He has prescribed. Because this is what makes the Church unique in the world. Only she holds the keys of the kingdom. It's a privileged responsibility. And as the Church is faithful to these things, Christ promises, I will be with you. even to the end of the age. Well, we've considered how God has established two separate kingdoms. One is common for the preservation of this world. The other is special and redemptive. It's for the salvation of a special people. And it's important to note that it isn't that the common kingdom belongs to Satan and the redemptive kingdom belongs to Christ. No, they're both Christ's kingdoms. and he rules the world and his church according to both of these covenants, these kingdoms. As Christians, we're in an unusual place, in a place of tension, because we are citizens of both kingdoms. Unbelievers are only citizens of the common kingdom, but we as Christians are citizens of both kingdoms. We have an allegiance to the common realm and to the age to come. the redemptive kingdom of Christ. And so under this third point, I want us to consider how we're to think of our relationship to both kingdoms. How does living in both kingdoms work itself out in practice? And there are numerous places I could go to show this, but one of the clearest images that scripture uses to portray this tension is the language of that of a sojourner and an exile. The Apostle Peter writes in 1 Peter 1, verse 1, to those who are elect, exiles. And in chapter 2, verse 11, he calls us sojourners and exiles. And what the Apostle Peter is doing is he's using Old Testament imagery and language and he's picking it up and he's applying it to New Covenant Christians today. And he's saying, in some ways, your experience today is like that of the exiles and sojourners of the Old Testament. So starting with sojourning, what does it mean to sojourn? Well, children, if you're a sojourner, it's kind of like being a traveler. It's like you're not at home. You're away. You're traveling in a faraway place. You're in somewhere that isn't your true home. And as we think about this, who was the quintessential sojourner of the Old Testament? Well, it was Abraham, wasn't it? In Genesis chapter 12, God called Abraham to leave his home and to sojourn in a foreign land. God entered into a special covenant with Abraham, and Abraham was justified by faith. So by faith, Abraham was part of this special kingdom, the redemptive kingdom. So he was different from the pagans he sojourned with. And yet, at the same time, we see Abraham engaging in the culture around him. We see him engaging in commerce. At one point, he buys a field, I think, from the Hittites so that he can bury his wife, Sarah. He, of course, engages in family life. He engages in the justice system. He fights wars. In other words, he's taking part in all of the common institutions of the Noahic covenant. And yet at the same time, he recognizes that the land of his sojourning is not his true home. It's not his final home. For as Hebrews tells us, he was always seeking a better country, that is a heavenly one. And so the basic point here with Abraham is we see neither a mentality of escapism where he's trying to avoid the pagans around him, we also Nor do we see an attitude of transformationalism. Instead, we see an attitude of sojourning. Well, what about Peter's language of exiles? Why does he call us exiles? Well, the exile, of course, refers to that time in Israel's history when they were taken away by a foreign power, by the cruel King Nebuchadnezzar, and they were taken away to a foreign land. And imagine what exile must have been like for these Israelites. Because in Israel, they really were living a one kingdom kind of existence. Church and state was one thing. There was no division that way. But now they're in a foreign land. They're separated from the temple. They're separated from the promised land. They're separated from the monarchy and all that they knew. How were they to live now this kind of two kingdom lifestyle in exile in a foreign land? The Holy Spirit, through the prophet Jeremiah, wrote a letter from Jerusalem instructing them how they were to live. And in summary, they're called to live much like Abraham, as sojourners. Jeremiah chapter 29 verses 5 and 6 instructs them to 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." What does this sound a lot like? It sounds a lot like the Noaic Covenant, doesn't it? It's the common, ordinary stuff of a common kingdom, things like marriage, food production, commerce, family. But how are they to interact politically while they're there in Babylon? Are they to work to subvert Babylon? Are they to turn Babylon into a new Jerusalem? Or are they to completely disengage from Babylon? After all, Babylon is this horrible pagan place. Are they to just avoid holding any public office? neither of these extremes. Jeremiah 29 verse 7 says, 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. Isn't that interesting? Despite the horrible injustice of this wicked city, The exiles in Babylon are called to seek the good of the city. They're called to pray for the city. They're to seek the justice of the city, the peace of the city, prosperity. And they're told that as they do this, they're also working for their own welfare, for their own benefit. Because as life in the city improves, your life will improve. And again, notice what they're not called to do. They're not called to turn Babylon into a new Jerusalem. They're not called to wage a holy war on their neighbors. They're not called to build a new temple. They're not called to Judaize every institution. They're simply called to be good neighbors and to be faithful believers. And why is this? Well, it's because Babylon is a common kingdom, and therefore, it's not their true home. They don't have an obligation to turn it into the new Jerusalem. Jerusalem already awaits them. Because even as they're supposed to settle down and plant gardens and build houses and have families and do the ordinary stuff of life, they're to do so as exiles, as sojourners, always with an eye to their true home. Jeremiah 29, verses 10 and 11, the Lord says, When 70 years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. That's important language, isn't it? A future and a hope. Where is the future and hope of those exiles in Babylon? Well, it's not in Babylon. Their future and hope isn't that maybe someday, one day, if we pray hard enough and we pray for revival, Babylon will turn into Jerusalem. No, the future and hope is that they will one day be taken back from Babylon and that they will be brought back to Jerusalem, to the land that God has promised. And friends, doesn't this just perfectly describe our own experience in the world? I mean, Peter is not making a mistake. He's not just throwing words in here for the fun of it when he describes us as exiles, as sojourners. The exiles were to live in a land that was not their ultimate home. Their future and their hope was not tied to the progress of Babylon. It was tied to the kingdom of God. And yet, at the same time, they're not called to ignore or abandon Babylon. They're called to pursue the welfare and well-being of Babylon through the ordinary stuff of life alongside their pagan neighbors. And we have the same calling here, in this place. In God's providence, He has placed each one of you exactly where you are. He's placed you in the family you're in. He's placed you in the town you're in, in the state you're in, in the country you're in, in the part of the world and the planet you're in. He's placed you in your workplace, in your community. And he calls you to seek the good of that place. And as we seek the good of this place, as we seek the good of Virginia, as we seek the good of the United States, we're doing something that is worthwhile. And even though this good, you know, praying for peace, praying for prosperity, praying for justice, even though it won't lead to the salvation of the nation, it's still something we're called to do. Because we're called to love our neighbors. We're called to pursue the welfare of the city, for in that way we love our neighbor and we love our God. And yet at the same time, there is a tension, isn't there? Because even as we're doing these things, we must at the very same time, as we're engaged in culture, as we wave our hands to the plow, we must have our eye to a different place. We feel that tension because our future and our hope is not tied to this common kingdom. As I mentioned this morning, It can be all too easy for us, can't it, to place our hope in this kingdom? I think when things get better around here, we kind of get a little bit more comfortable, and we tighten our grip a little bit more on this world in a way that perhaps isn't so helpful. But at the moment, I think, especially in these recent times, as we look at the state of our nation, we look at the state of our politicians, those who represent us, we look at our laws, Laws like abortion, laws that limit our freedoms, freedoms to worship, freedoms to assemble. There isn't much hope to be found here. For you who are older folks, I know you've seen a lot of change in your lifetime. Probably in very drastic ways you've seen our society change for the worse. Maybe that grieves you. And you wonder, what will life be like? What will this nation be like after you go? What will it be like for your children or your grandchildren? For those of us who are a little bit younger, perhaps we worry how we'll raise our families, raise our young children in a world that's so dark, in such uncertain times. And certainly these are things that should concern us, because we desire the good of our society. And yet at the same time, when we reflect theologically on this, and we reflect historically on this, we realize the world has always been a dark place. There never has been a golden age on this planet, and there never will be one in this age, because God has not promised it. But what God has promised is that he will preserve this age until Christ returns. That doesn't mean that life will be easy in the days ahead. I cannot stand up here as a minister and proclaim to you that your life will be easy, that it will get easier. It may get much harder to be a Christian. It may be much harder to just live your life as a citizen of this nation in the years to come. There is no national promise that we can proclaim or cling to. But instead, be comforted by the fact that you have something far better far better than a promise that is tied to this passing, fading age. You have the promise from God that he will never leave you nor forsake you. He promises to be with us to the end of the age. And God has promised that he is building his redemptive kingdom as he draws in his elect to himself by the Spirit through the preaching of the gospel. You see, Christ's kingdom has no flag. It's not tied to a nation, it's not tied to an ethnicity or to a culture. No, it is made up of every tribe and tongue, and it knows no boundaries. And you know, we can apply Jeremiah 29 verse 11 to ourselves. God does have a plan for us to give us a future and a hope. As with the exiles, your future, your hope, is not tied to the progress of this nation. Instead, it is secure in the good, wise, sovereign plan of God's redemption. Your future and your hope is secure in Christ, who by His life, by His death, by His resurrection, by His ascension to the right hand of the Father, has secured the glory of the world to come. For where we look around us, And we do not see all things in subjection. We look around us, and we see failure. We see misery. We see injustice. We see oppression. We see tyranny. Instead, again, as the author of Hebrew says, but we see Jesus. That's where hope is found. That's where our future is found. We see Christ, the victor, the risen, ascended, and reigning King, our King who has promised us. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and I will take you to myself, that where I am, you may also be. Friends, pray for this land. Seek its welfare, but do not place your future or your hope in this land. Economies boom and bust, empires rise and fall, but your citizenship is safe in heaven. from where you await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is coming soon to take us to that heavenly land where righteousness dwells. That's great. Our Heavenly Father, again, we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for that wonderful plan of redemption that begins at the very house of the Father. For where we made a complete mess of your glorious and wonderful world and that glorious blessing held out to Adam, where we made a mess of all of that, you have redeemed and restored us through Christ our Savior. We thank you for saving us. Cause us to be a people eager to live and do all things to your glory in both kingdoms as your kingdom citizens. whose citizenship is secure in Christ Jesus. In his name we pray, amen.