In Dr. Joel Beeke's sermon, 'Exiles Living Before the Face of God,' believers are compared to sojourners or pilgrims, like the exiles in Babylon from Jeremiah's time. They are encouraged to model their lives on building, dwelling, and planting, as emphasized in Jeremiah 29:4-6. Dr. Beeke urges Christians to approach daily life with purpose and intentionality, asking how they can build, dwell, and plant in their personal life, family, work, and church for God's glory. This approach, referred to as living 'Coram Deo' or in the presence of God, involves giving total allegiance to God, seeking His will, and grounding oneself in His Word. Believers are reminded to maintain an eternal perspective, keeping one eye on eternity while navigating the world as temporary residents.

Well, just as the exiles in Jeremiah's day were sojourners in Babylon, so we believers today are sojourners. We're pilgrims. We're passing through Vanity Fair on our way to our everlasting inheritance. So what that means is in every area of our lives we should be walking in this model of building and dwelling and planting that Jeremiah 29, 4-6, I think it is, stresses. So whether it's in my family life, whether it's in my personal soul life, whether it's in the church, whether it's at my work, I'm to ask myself, how can I build as a pilgrim?

How can I dwell as a pilgrim? How can I plant as a pilgrim? So it's like the patriarchs. They were strangers, and sojourners here, but they were looking to God as their builder and their author and then they follow God in what He's calling them to do. So when we're strangers in pilgrims, We don't give allegiance to the world, but we give total allegiance to God.

And our burden is to do exactly what Jesus did with his life. He said, my meat and drink is to do my Father's business, So to do my father's will. So my goal as a Christian is to get up every morning and say, Lord, how do you want me to build and dwell and plant in my personal life, in my family, in my work, in my church today, and then go out and with God's help seek to live that out. Now that's purposeful, intentional daily living for the glory of God. The performance of Puritans called it, living in Coram Dale, living in the face of God, living in the presence of God, living as if God is in this room right now because He is.

He's everywhere. And so, as Robert Murray McShane said, when you live that way, you're not adhering to all the clamor of all the voices of the world telling you to go in a thousand different directions, but you're grounded in the Word of God. You're looking for the glory of God, and you're listening to the voice of God. And you're saying, how can I live as a pilgrim today, always remembering I'm just a renter here and my dwelling place is here after? So you're always keeping one eye on eternity when you're a pilgrim because this is not your homeland.