guide his faithful people even in exile.” Since the New Testament does not change this message, we can make the textual theme the sermon theme—except for one phrase. The “even in exile” raises several questions: Is the church today “in exile” the way Israel was? We have seen above that Paul teaches that God’s people are in exile because they live in a sinful, evil world: “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Phil 3:20). Peter also addresses the New Testament church as “the exiles of the Dispersion” (1
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