SERMON: Esther 1:1-12 (Empire Of Dirt)

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A sermon on Esther 1:1-12

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Thank you for subscribing to the Shepherds Church podcast. This is our Lord's Day Sermon We pray that as we declare the
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Word of God that you would be encouraged Strengthened in your faith and that you would catch a greater vision of who
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Christ is May you be blessed in the hearing of God's Word and may the Lord be with you
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Back in the 12th century a group of Italians decided that they wanted to show off a bit
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Pisa was going to have a bell tower that would make all the other city -states green with envy Marble was quarried plans were drawn and the
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Masons went to work with great zeal The problem was they skipped the boring part the foundation
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They built this massive stone tower on soil that was far too soft as if you could simply tell the dirt to behave itself
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And it would comply and so by the time they had finished only a few stories the whole thing started to list like a toddler's birthday balloon in a stiff breeze and Now the leaning tower of Pisa is world -famous, but not because it is a triumph of architecture
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It is famous precisely because it advertises failure It's an eight -story monument to what happens when you try to leap leapfrog past the first principle
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You can't cheat gravity and you can't build heavy things on weak soil and the lesson is straightforward
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What seems solid enough in the calm will prove laughably unstable when pressure comes
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Our lives our families our churches our nations. They can be beautifully decorated admired by tourists photographed for Instagram and yet still be crooked to the core and No amount of cosmetic straightening will fix what was compromised at the start if the foundation is wrong
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Then every brick above it is preaching the same sermon collapse is only a matter of time
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And this morning that's precisely the sermon that I'll aim to preach to you as we consider Esther chapter 1 Together as we begin to make our way through the narrative and we'll see that the setting of this book
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Though adorned on the outside with wealth and power is riddled with disorder and ailments on the inside that while it looks beautiful There's a failure of leadership that will present great danger to the health of the
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Empire And so with that Let's begin by reading our text to see how this great book of Esther opens and the unfolding of the providence of God Begins this morning.
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We'll be considering chapter 1 verses 3 through 12 We'll read all we'll read 1 & 2 as well as we see how this scene unfolds
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Hear the word of the Lord this morning Now it came to pass in the days of a
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Hoshua Eris This is a Hoshua Eris which reigned from India even unto Ethiopia over a hundred and seven and twenty provinces
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That in those days when the king of Hoshua Eris sat on the throne of his kingdom Which was in Shushan the palace in the third year of his reign
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He made a feast unto all his princes and his servants The power of Persia and Medea the nobles and princes of the provinces being before him
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When he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom in the honor of his excellent majesty many days even a hundred and four score days
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And when these days were expired the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace
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Both unto great and small seven days in the court of the garden of the king's palace
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Where were white green and blue hangings fastened with corn cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble the beds were of gold and silver upon a pavement of red and blue and white and black marble and They gave them drink in vessels of gold the vessels being diverse one from another and royal wine in abundance according to the state of the king and The drinking was according to the law none did compel for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house
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That they should do according to every man's pleasure Also Vashti the Queen made a feast for the women in the royal house, which belonged to King of Hoshua Eris on The seventh day when the heart of the king was married with wine
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He commanded mehman bizta harbana bigta and a bagta Zethar and Karkas the seven chamberlains that served in the presence of a
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Hoshua Eris the king To bring Vashti the Queen before the king with the crown royal to show the people and the princes her beauty for she was fair to look on But the
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Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by his chamberlains Therefore was the king very wroth and his anger burned in him.
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Let us pray Father we do. Thank you for your word this morning Lord And we thank you for this great book of Esther and the things that you will teach us within it
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We ask your help today that you would Again, give us the ears to hear the things that you would have for us or the things that you would have us to learn as a community here
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Lord as Families here as individuals here that you would strengthen us Lord and help us to receive all it is that you'd have for us
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May your spirit move mightily in this place at this time through the ministry of your word. We ask in Jesus name and amen
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Now it's obviously a relatively larger chunk of text this morning that we often deal with but Do not be dismayed.
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This will not correspond to the length of time for our sermon today Instead and this is the beauty and the tension of working through a narrative through a story
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All right We're encountering this story one scene at a time and trying to pull the threads within it as we go
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But we never want to get so caught up with the threads that we lose the story as a whole and so we're dealing with Larger passages, but God willing still able to appreciate the intricacies within while never forgetting the bigger picture without And so today as we make our way through this scene
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There will be two areas in particular that we're gonna spend some time on first we're gonna look at the state of things in the
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Empire in the setting of this great feast and Second and we'll spend more time here
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We're gonna consider the the first major intrigue in the book and that being the defiance of Queen Vashti Towards her husband
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Ahasuerus. What happened? Why you know, how should we understand this today in all the while?
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We're gonna look at the sermon that's being preached about this Empire within these pages It's instability beneath the surface from these foundation setting verses
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And so with that again, let us look at the state of things in Persia our story begins with a high right the kingdom is thriving
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The people are celebrating again in verses 3 and 4 in the third year of his reign
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He made a feast unto all his princes and his servants the power of Persia and Medea the nobles and princes of the provinces
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Being before him when he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom in the honor of his excellent majesty many days even a hundred and four score days
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Because we know how the story ends We could be tempted to take for granted Some of the aspects of it that come here in its earliest pages and what's more because we know that God though not mentioned was
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At work throughout the story we can forget that what the characters saw was far less clear than what hindsight has granted to us
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Instead of the sense of inevitable deliverance that we can approach the Bible with especially living on this side of the resurrection
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We would do well to try to put ourselves in the shoes of those who we read about here Especially when the scripture takes such pains to convey the idea to us
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We note here in these early verses that this is not just a king with some wealth and some land
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Instead it is very much impressed upon the discerning reader that this ahasuerus is Indeed that he is a great
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Shah. That's what ahasuerus means a great king this isn't You know, this isn't chalice for town hall right there.
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We're talking about here He is he is a ruler over a kingdom over an empire that stretches all the way
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India to Greece and down to parts of Egypt Ethiopia we read in the first few verses
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This is only the third year of his reign succeeding his father. He's ruling over a hundred twenty seven provinces within his kingdom
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It's a massive kingdom and these notes are included in here for two reasons One they want it's to make clear to us that this is referring to a specific
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King. This is not some Allegorical story. It's not just some potential King some some rule or some, you know
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Just amalgamation of a bunch of different rulers these these things really happen these these facts are included in here to impress that upon us that this is a true story and Second these specifics are meant to impress upon us.
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Just how great this kingdom was again This is more like the United States of America than it is
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Chelmsford or Massachusetts even right it is a very large very wealthy and very powerful
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Kingdom and these points which can seem so insignificant Are meant to intimidate the reader, right?
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Because this again, it's a massively powerful kingdom that the people of God are living under Right. It's an important thing for us to know as we consider this story that what the
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Holy Spirit is meaning to communicate to us Is that God's people are in exile and they are underneath this kingdom.
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It is it is a daunting task They are an underdog for sure And what is what does one do with that kind of wealth right if you're an empire of this size and stature
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What do you do with that? Probably many people would say there are a few things better to do than have a very large feast
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Right and not just a one -day thing but for a hundred eighty days six months of feasting
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Now there are two instances in the scriptures where we encounter the phrase eat drink and be merry and the first is in the positive
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Sense, it's in Ecclesiastes 8 15 where the wise King Solomon commends pleasure to us as we navigate the toils of life
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He writes then I commended mirth because a man hath no better thing under the Sun than to eat and to drink and to be
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Merry for that shall abide with him of his labor the days of his life, which God giveth him under the
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Sun It would seem that God in his wisdom would have us to find comfort in the pleasures of life, right?
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He wants us to enjoy those things and yet there's not a universal Endorsement in fact the second instance of the phrase eat drink and be merry is cast in a far different and a far more negative light than the
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First in Luke chapter 12 verse 19 The Lord Jesus tells the crowds a parable detailing a rich man whose land was very productive
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And having no place to store his crops the man decides to tear down his barns and build a lot build larger ones to keep
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His harvest and to feast on it for the rest of his life Saying to a soul soul thou hast much goods laid up for many years take thine ease eat drink and be merry
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And yet this man with the same mindset it would seem comes under judgment for his slothfulness and ingratitude and So which is it as we look at this feast here in the
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Persian Empire? Is it good and wise to enjoy the pleasures of life to eat drink and be merry or is it not right?
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I think it depends This is what we should take note of for ourselves, but also as we consider Chapter one of the book of Esther how we enjoy the pleasures of life and enjoying them in faith
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Is something that is important for us to to not lose to not lose sight of right in many respects
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This is the scene again in Esther chapter one In all of its glory this meadow Persian Empire is closing out the final week of what has been over six months of feasting
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They have an abundance of wealth But is it being celebrated in the faith of the one true God, of course not right we know this is a
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Pagan Empire and so we what we witness in this situation is the human impulse to celebrate accomplishment
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But to do so divorced from truth Forgetting to acknowledge the hand that feeds them.
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It's not bad to celebrate accomplishments not wrong to do that, but when we lose sight of Truth within it we forget ourselves and we forget our
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God So may it never be said of us that we have forgotten the many kindnesses of our God the one who pours out blessings
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Upon his people and from whom every good gift comes But again, this is a wealthy
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Empire And the king is taking these six months to show the riches of his glorious kingdom the honor of his excellent majesty to the princes
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To the military leaders to the nobles and even as we read in verse 5 to the people of the city
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It says and when these days were expired So when the 180 days expired the king made another feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace both unto great and small seven days in the court of the garden of the king's palace and In this way,
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I think we see a king who does value his people Right. He values celebrating even with those who'd otherwise never have the opportunity this maybe it doesn't to you
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But it certainly does to me. It has an air of generosity to me really radical generosity even Extending the celebration to include all of the city great and small for a week in the court of the garden of the king's palace
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And even as we see in verse 7, he gives it gives everyone drink in vessels of gold Right.
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Everyone had a unique glass. There's not a not something where people are sharing cups. It's not they didn't break out the Plastic red solo cups for the party.
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Nothing's anything wrong with that, but it's just it speaks to how exemplary the generosity in this
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Celebration was poured them the royal wine in abundance the very same even that the king was enjoying and Allowed for them to drink as much as the king drank, right?
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It wasn't kind of a bring your own beer situation It wasn't a potluck Again, not that there's anything wrong with that But it's again speaks to what was the the generosity and the wealth of this kingdom and this king
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I think it's a great positive that we don't want to miss in our anticipation of what is to come this King Though seemingly a bit vainglorious also seems to have an admirable affection for his people for his empire
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That's a good thing Something worth celebrating and I think it might even make us a little uncomfortable, right?
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We're so hesitant to acknowledge good in anyone that isn't a Christian I think of like, you know President Trump, you know
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And how so many Christians either would have never voted for him or their apologized for it You know because he's not or at least he hasn't been for most of his adult life a
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Christian But he's done some good things and he seems To love his country and his countrymen and that's that's worth celebrating
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That's something worth being thankful for as a nation. And so I think this speaks well to a hush awareness here as well
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And so in these first few verses of the book of Esther It seems like everything's kind of coming up a hush awareness like just man
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What a life, you know the money power land love of the people kind of seems to have it all in many respects but It's it's not all perfect for King Ahasuerus There are leaks in the foundation cracks in the foundation that are soon to be exposed as we read on in verses 8 to 12
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The drinking was according to the law None did compel for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house that they should do according to every man's pleasure
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Also Vashti the Queen made a feast for the women in the royal house Which belonged to King Ahasuerus on the seventh day when the heart of the king was merry with wine
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He commanded mehman bizta harbana bigta and a bagta Zethar and Karkas the seven
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Chamberlain's that served in the presence of Ahasuerus the king to bring Vashti the Queen Before the king with the crown royal to show the people in the princes her beauty for she was fair to look on But the
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Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by his Chamberlain's Therefore was the king very wroth and his anger burned in him
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Although the king was generous in his celebrating and as we just read did all this drinking even according to the law, right?
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He didn't compel anyone to partake beyond their own pleasure again a good thing, right? It wasn't forcing people to to drink or drink unto drunkenness
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But it seems that he perhaps overindulged on the seventh day We read that his heart was merry with wine and it's in that state in that state of merriment that he calls for his wife
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Vashti the Queen to leave the feast that she had made for the women to be presented not to her husband
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But to the people and the princes that would see her beauty And what a shame it is
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I think a warning it should serve to each of us that honor can be so easily lost When we lose our inhibitions and self -control
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There was much to celebrate a hush whereas for even in just these few verses and yet he had eaten and drank himself
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To a merriment just far enough that he squandered that goodwill There are many situations in life when we're called to honor those above us
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And so we should write full stop fifth commandment is the fifth commandment. It's the basis for much of that requirement
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But that is not merely a command for those lower in the hierarchy for the children to honor their parents only for example
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In fact for those higher up the org chart, there is a great responsibility to be honorable parents husbands bosses pastors kings
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The requirement of the fifth commandment is not only that those under them should honor their leadership But that their leadership should be worth honoring and following And so when we see a king like a hush awareness lose himself like this
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It is far more significant than if John Doe at the feast did the same thing There is great responsibility in being the king and by stumbling in this way he compromised his own ability to lead and for his people's ability to honor trust and follow him and To be clear.
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This is not because his wife refused him. It's not because she said no to coming into his presence
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His failure is in that he asked her that asked this of her at all Matthew Henry and his commentary on Esther writes that he dishonored himself as a husband who ought to protect but by no means expose
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The modesty of his wife who ought to be to her a covering of the eyes And he diminished himself as a king and commanding that from his wife
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Which she might refuse much to the honor of her virtue It was against the custom of the Persians for the women to appear in public and he put a great hardship upon her
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When he did not court but command her to do so uncouth a thing and make her a show
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If he had not been put out of the possession of himself by drinking to excess He would not have done such a thing but would have been angry at anyone that should have mentioned it but when the wine is in the wit is out and men's reason departs from them a
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Hush awareness brought great shame upon himself not because he threw a big party nor because his wife refused him
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But because he exposed to all who would see that though he be a great king who ruled a large and wealthy kingdom
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He did not rule himself He was controlled by the drink to call her into his presence for a show for other men
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And he was controlled by his anger in response to her refusal and a lack of self -control is a failure of leadership
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It's a noble ambition to desire to lead to rule to take dominion to bring order to chaos
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However, you'd like to say it but far too often the men who express those desires fail the first test themselves
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They want to find a godly wife, but they can't stop watching porn They want their children to stop acting out, but they can't control their own anger
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They want more opportunity at work, but they can't stay focused They want more responsibility, but they haven't stewarded well what they currently have and so it's a fool's errand
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The idea that a man who can't handle his current situation will necessarily get better at it by adding more weight to it is absurd
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And it's even worse when these men are already husbands fathers leaders in some form or another
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Because they're out of control leadership brings calamity upon their people. It breeds more and more issues with self -control
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Drama and chaos follow the man who doesn't rule himself well into every place where he leads unhealthy marriages disobedient children and so on But if we're to lead well in our different spheres
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There must first be a repentance for the man who needs to grow in these things a change of heart mind and action towards righteousness wherein a man puts his own flesh in captivity to the
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Spirit of God by grace and through faith and in that repentance if we'd have Any reasonable confidence that he can handle more going forward
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We should see the fruit of a man walking by faith bearing the fruit that comes with repentance peace strength and self -control
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And yet this is a hush where's his failure? He doesn't rule himself well And that signals to all that witness this failure that the kingdom itself
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Would be in trouble because the weight of it will surely crush a man unable to steward even himself in his own home
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And inside that's even why you know, you look at the qualifications for an elder in God's Church is that he manages his household
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Well, right there is a requirement that a man is able to demonstrate these things before we add additional
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Responsibility to him, right? We're not making projections when we add when we add responsibility at least we shouldn't be which we
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Investing or vesting that responsibility that power in the men that we know can handle it and wield it.
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Well Now on the other side you have Queen Vashti refusing her husband's command to come before him
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Verse 12 is abrupt terse almost scandalous in a way It reads but the
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Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by his Chamberlain's The king for all his gold and glory is suddenly undone by a woman who simply won't show up And so how would how should
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Christians think about this was Vashti noble and courageous was she that first feminist hero? or was she
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Defiant and unsubmissive right sowing chaos in the royal household Well The first point is this
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I'd say no to all on that just to be clear But the first point is this a hush awareness was not calling his queen to her wifely duties
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He was not summoning summoning her for covenantal companionship or for marital intimacy He was demanding that she display herself before a mob
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Again, the text tells us that the heart of the king was married with wine This was not a solemn moment of royal dignity in marital bliss
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It was an invitation to the world to his wife Now biblically a husband does have authority in his home
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Ephesians 5 22 to 24 reads that wives Submit yourselves under your own husbands as unto the
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Lord For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church and he is the Savior of the body
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Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ. So let the wives be to their own husbands in everything a
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Husband is the head of his wife and he so carries a certain authority in his home and yet that authority is bound by the law of God a
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Wife is called to Smith's or her husband as unto the Lord verse 22 and That little phrase is crucial because if a husband commands what is contrary to God's law or treats his wife as a mere object of Lust and public ridicule then obedience in that moment would not be obedience as unto the
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Lord Right Vashti's refusal in this sense has a kind of grim dignity to it.
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She was not refusing to be a wife She was refusing to be a prop and yet wives are not free to only honor their husbands and submit to them when they're perfect and So in this sense that crucial phrase as unto the
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Lord has two meanings Not only should wives not submit if it means disobeying the Lord but they also should submit to their own husbands just as they should submit to the
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Lord and We read in first Peter 3 1 through 6 that likewise you wives be in subjection to your own husbands
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That if any obey not the word they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives while they behold your chase conversation coupled with fear
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Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plating the hair and of wearing of gold or of putting on of apparel
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But let it be the hidden man of the heart in that which is not corruptible Even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God a great price
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For after this manner in the old time the holy women also who trusted in God Adorned themselves being in subjection unto their own husbands even as Sarah obeyed
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Abraham calling him Lord Whose daughters he are as long as you do well and are not afraid with any amazement
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Like Vashti the Christian woman does not adorn herself with the wearing of gold or the putting on of apparel
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Her beauty is not merely in her appearance Rather for the Christian woman. It is the meek and quiet spirit and it's accompanying modesty
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Which is precious in the sight of God just as Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him Lord Again, Matthew Henry notes of this feast up to this point that quote while the king showed the honor of his majesty
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She and her lady showed the honor of their modesty, which is truly the majesty of the fair sex
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There's a certain majesty and glory that accompanies a woman who protects her modesty
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And yet in all this I don't I do want us to be careful. Excuse me not to over inflate Vashti's defiance, right?
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That's not the point of Chapter one of Esther the lesson here is not that wives may toss off biblical submission when they find it inconvenient
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But rather the lesson is that even great kings and leaders in any place who pervert their authority who wield it for vanity and sin
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Will find that God himself arranges their downfall by his invisible hand of Providence the king wanted to flaunt his glory and his power and God wrote him into the script as the fool and In in that Vashti does read as a sort of victim in this narrative because she doesn't seem to do anything wrong here necessarily
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At least not glaringly or uniquely so But it furthers the earlier point that the failure in leadership from a hash awareness has not only corrupted himself
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But his marriage he's failed to demonstrate a proper headship of his own home And again, he's exposed the cracks in the foundation of the palace presenting a threat to the longevity of the kingdom
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Now when we look at the contrast we should think immediately of the gospel Ahasuerus called for his wife to display her beauty before the masses
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Christ the true bridegroom Adorns his bride with beauty and presents her to himself in splendor
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And so when we read Vashti's refusal We ought not to recruit her into modern squabbles over whether or not a woman can just can disregard her husband's requests instead we should see the story as God's sovereign satire showing us the hollowness of Pagan pomp the limits of human authority and the need for a husband who will never misuse his bride and in this way
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Vashti's defiance Reminds us of the true king human power when her forsakes the foundation of God's Word will always be exposed as hollow an
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Empire of dirt a house of cards, but Christ our bridegroom is faithful He does not summon his bride to shame but to glory and in him
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No refusal is necessary for his commands are never cruel his authority never demeaning and his reign never vain
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And so the cracks in the foundation have been exposed in Persia Right from the outside looking in this kingdom is is great, right?
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It's vast It's covering a massive amount of land They're incredibly powerful
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They're getting ready even to to go to war with the Greeks in this there's a there's and that's part of the speculation
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Even as why is this feast happening perhaps to win favor with his military leaders to go to war? But they're incredibly powerful and incredibly wealthy.
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We see that in the way that this feast is carried out But if we look closely enough at its leadership
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It's susceptible and when a kingdom is susceptible It can mean one of three things for the people of God under its charge really anything not just kingdoms
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But we can even bring that that greater principle down to lesser places into into local communities families
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When the leadership is susceptible when the institution is susceptible it is
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There's a lot of potential for chaos for the people of God underneath their charge So there's really three things that would that would tend to come about three possibilities that would tend to come about one is that there's
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Opportunity ahead to become a part of the solutions, right? So it's good for Christians. I want to be a part of solutions
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It's good for Christians to see issues see a vacuum of leadership and say I want to try to fix that I want to be a part of fixing that that's a good thing.
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That's a good impulse And where we have opportunity we should do that The second thing is that when there is that vacuum of leadership
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There's also the risk that the wrong people will come into leadership and it puts the people of God a great threat, right?
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There's great risk to them as as there is susceptibility in a kingdom this is why the word tells us to want to live at peace with all men and even seek the peace of The kingdom that we're a part of right that we would live quiet and peaceable lives in all dignity
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There is a there's a value to that that kind of static nature of life and When there's not so much volatility at the top
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There is something good about that that allows for Christians to build quiet and peaceable lives
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And so when there is susceptibility It's a it could present a threat to the people of God and the third is and this is really what we're headed with Esther Is that both opportunity and threat lie ahead for the people of God when we see susceptibility again apply this to our time today
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We live underneath a government that is has a lot of issues It is a bit of a house of cards
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It's there's a lot of trouble It would seem afoot within it. And so how should
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Christians expect things to play out? There should be opportunity We see this with the Secretary of Defense's a reformed
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Christian man, and we should be thankful for that But there's also a great threat as in living in Massachusetts and even in New Hampshire There is there is threat from you know, liberal governments that would seek to impinge the freedoms of God's people
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And that's the point of this passage again Not that wives should defy their husbands when they feel like it
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But that this Empire is not all that it seems to be and it's in here
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The reason why we see this at the beginning of this book is that again, although God is not mentioned in the book
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He is revealing to us by his spirit. This is where he's going to make his way This is where he will come in to redeem his people.
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This is where God will work Salvation for his people and so we praise
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God right even in the midst of our own uncertainty because because his invisible hand does move
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Not only in Persia But in all places and at all times to uphold direct dispose and govern all creatures actions and things
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For his glory and our good we take heart in that even as he exposes our own sin our own
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Shortcomings that he's working in us a salvation that leads to a gloat to glory and a glory in and with and for him
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Right, so we shouldn't what we confess our sin every week We should not be a people that try to tuck our shortcomings and our sins away and pretend that they're not there
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Right, we should be a people who are in in those things being exposed are driven to Christ in our weakness that he would shore
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Up the foundation that is crumbling underneath us because if we try to build our houses upon sand we will surely fall and So when we we find these moments of exposure when we are exposed our weakness and sin is exposed
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May it be something that is a catalyst to us Unto Christ to his bosom and not to running away or hiding
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From the realities of our of our own shortcoming the consequences that come with it The Lord Jesus as we begin to close this morning
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Lord Jesus closes the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 7 with a stark warning from verses 15 to 27.
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He says Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves
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You shall know them by their fruits to men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit a
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Good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit. Neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire
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Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them Not everyone that saith unto me
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Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven But he that doeth the will of my father, which is in heaven
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Many will say to me in that day Lord Lord Have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works
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And then I will and then will I profess unto them. I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity
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Therefore whosoever here at these sayings of mine and do with them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock and the rain descended and the floods came and the
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Winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell not for it was founded upon a rock
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And everyone that here at these sayings of mine and and do with them Not shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and It fell and great was the fall of it
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Every man is building a house some build on the rock some on the sand But everyone is building and everyone will face the storm and that's the point
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The storm is not optional the rains to send the floods rise and the winds blow against both houses alike
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The only question is whether the foundation will hold Now Jesus begins that section with a warning about about false prophets wolves and sheep's clothing and why?
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because smooth talk and outward appearances are the most common substitutes for a solid foundation a
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False prophet offers you the illusion of strength the appearance of stability and all the while the structure is rotting underneath but Christ says the true test will come when the weather hits by their fruits you shall know them a
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Diseased tree will not bear good fruit in a house without a foundation will not stand And the same goes for our families our churches in our communities
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If Christ is not the bedrock, then everything else is play acting You can pile on wealth like a hush where's did in Esther chapter 1 you can throw a feast that lasts 180 days
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Pour out the wine and golden cups hang the walls with fine linens and purple draperies You can command all the pomp and circumstance that earthly power can purchase but the moment you take away the foundation obedience to the
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Living God The whole edifice is hollow Hush awareness could command a feast for six months but he could not command himself nor his own wife to appear in the banquet hall and That was the crack in the marble the leaning of the tower the exposure of sand beneath the gilding
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And so here is Christ sober warning or sober word word for us, excuse me build on me
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Build your household on me build your church on me build your nation on me
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Anything else wealth power talent or charm is sand in disguise and when the storm comes and it always comes the house
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Without Christ will fall and Jesus says great will be the fall of it
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And so let us not be content with appearances with leanings that we pretend aren't there with crooked walls propped up by cultural applause
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Let us dig down to the rock himself the only foundation laid Jesus Christ our
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Lord and believed that he will bless our faithful labors and strengthen us to persevere
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For when the floods rise and the winds howl the house built on him will stand and not only stand it will stand as a shelter
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A fortress and a testimony to the watching world that Christ is the cornerstone that cannot be moved and all other ground