Mr. Spurgeon once told of a young
boy, I presume about the age of my grandson, sitting on the
front row right down in front of him. And he noticed that the
boy sat with his hands cupped behind his ears, leaning forward,
just like this. And Mr. Spurgeon met him at the
door one Sunday morning and asked him, he said, son, are you having
trouble hearing me? He said, oh, no, sir. No, sir.
He said, I can hear you just fine. He said, well, I just noticed
you are set in every service just like this. And I thought
maybe he was having trouble hearing me. He said, oh, no, no. He said,
my mama told me that if God speaks to me, he's going to speak to
me through you as you preach his word. And if God speaks,
I don't want to miss his voice. I spoke to Audre Grace and Will
yesterday. and said to them, as you prepare
to go hear Brother Todd tomorrow morning, you be sure to ask God
to speak to you by his word. If God speaks to you, it'll be
through his word preached to you. Let's open our Bibles to
Esther, Chapter 8. Esther, Chapter 8. Our text will be the first few
verses of chapters 8 and 9 in the book of Esther. Esther chapter
8. My subject is two pillows for
my soul. Nobody knows this except my wife
over there on my side of the bed. I have two pillows on which
I sleep all the time. I don't like a big pillow and
I don't like a little pillow, so I take two fairly medium-sized
pillows and put them together. And I sleep so comfortable. And
when I go to another bed, I miss my two pillows. Well, here are
two pillows for my soul. The providence of God and the
grace of God. The providence of God and the
grace of God. Both are marvelously portrayed
for us in the book of Esther. Esther chapter 8, verse 1. On that day did the king Ahasuerus
give the house of Haman, the Jews, in a man unto Esther, the
queen. Haman hated the Jews. And he finally obtained a decree
from the king. We're told twice this king's
decree, the law of the Medes and Persians once made could
not be altered. Well, we'll see about that. We'll
see about that. The law was made and the king
said to Haman, said, you do what you want to. You do what you
want to. Haman built the gallows on which
to hang Mordecai. and appointed a day when every
Jew in the captivity would be executed, man, woman, and child. But here we come to the end of
the book. And on that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house
of Haman, the Jew's enemy, unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai,
the man the gallows were built for, came before the king, for
Esther told what he was to her. Mordecai was her uncle. And the
king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and
gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over
the house of Haman. Chapter 9, verse 1. Now in the
twelfth month, that is in the month Adar, On the 13th day of
the same, the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be
put in execution. In the day that the enemies of
the Jews hoped to have power over them, though it was turned
to the contrary. How do you like that? Haman said,
we'll kill them all. Appointed a day. We're going
to execute every blessed one of them. We won't have anything
to do more with these Jews. But it was turned to the contrary,
that the Jews had rule over them that hated them. The Jews gathered
themselves together, verse 2, in their cities throughout all
the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought
their hurt. And no man could withstand them,
for the fear of them fell upon all. And all the rulers of the
provinces and the lieutenants and the deputies and officers
of the king helped the Jews because the fear of Mordecai fell upon
them. For Mordecai was great in the
king's house and his fame went out throughout all the provinces.
For this man Mordecai waxed greater and greater. In that day, the enemies of the
Jews hoped to have power over them, but it was turned to the
contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them. This book is intended by God
the Holy Spirit to show us a marvelous picture, great words of instruction
concerning two distinct things, but two things that are never
separated, the providence of God and the grace of God. The Apostle Paul, when he came
to the end of the book of Romans after discussing the marvelous
transactions of God's mercy and of God's judgment, of God's goodness
and God's severity, at the end of the 11th chapter, when he
speaks of the casting off of the Jews and the gathering in
of the Gentiles, the casting off of Abraham's physical seed
and the gathering in of Abraham's spiritual seed. the casting off
of those who were gods in name only and the gathering in of
those who are one with Christ from eternity. He says, Oh, the
depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God,
how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out
for who hath known the mind of the Lord or who hath been his
counselor. or who hath first given to him,
and it shall be recompensed unto him again. For of him, and through
him, and to him are all things, to whom be glory for ever and
ever. Amen. The Book of Esther beautifully
gives us a very simple history, very simple narrative of the
events that took place in the king's palace in Shushan in Persia. This was during the days of Nehemiah,
Esther, and Ahasuerus, and Ezra the scribe. God's name is not
found in this book. For that reason, many have suggested
that the book certainly is not inspired and does not belong
in the book of Holy Scripture. But if that's the case, there
are many chapters that would have to be eliminated. The book
of the Song of Solomon would have to be eliminated. God's
name is not seen in the book, but God is everywhere in the
book, standing in the shadows, unseen by men, but seen everywhere
in all his works, because the Lord God Almighty Sovereignly
is behind the scenes manipulating everything for the accomplishment
of his purpose to bring these Jews in the captivity back to
the place where he settled his name in Jerusalem that they might
worship him again in spirit and in truth. And that purpose of
God represents all God's purpose of grace with regard to all his
elect. He has sworn from eternity that
he will gather his own out of the four corners of the earth,
out of every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue. And he arranges
all things in providence to bring it to pass. Now, let me give
you the story. I hope you've read this book
this week. Perhaps you can read it again
before you go to bed tonight. There are four principal characters
in the book of Esther. Hazarus, the king, the king of
Persia. His name means venerable father. Mordecai, Esther's uncle, his
name means little man, little man. He is perhaps the least
of men in the Persian empire at this time, a Jew of insignificance. But this man, Mordecai, was raised
up by the king, the venerable father, so that he is placed
higher than any man in the kingdom. Esther, her name means star. She's the bright star throughout
the book, showing us pictures of God's grace, of God's son,
of God's mercy, of God's providence. And then this wicked man, Haman,
his name means magnificent. He thought he was somebody. Ah,
Haman thought that nobody quite like me and the king couldn't
have picked anybody better to exalt in his kingdom. But this
man who thought himself magnificent is brought down by his own pride.
Now, this is how the story goes. I can't read it all. I'll just
give you some highlights. Ahasuerus had a big party. He wanted to show off his greatness. We're told according to the state
of the king. This party he had lasted for
many, many days. Folks from everywhere came. When
the old king had just a little too much to drink, he called
for his wife Vashti. Her name means beautiful. He
wanted to show her beauty to all his guests. He wanted to
bring Vashti out and parade her before everybody so that all
his guests at his great party could see what a beautiful woman
he had for a wife. Vashti refused to come. She refused the king's request.
Now, she may have been the first feminist, but it wasn't a good
idea, not in Persia. The king's request was a little
bit more than a request. All the king's men were enraged
by Vashti's impudence. They thought to themselves and
expressed it. If the king's wife, the queen Vashti, can get by
with disobeying the king, then all our wives will follow suit
and we'll have anarchy on our hands. They'll all want to vote. So King Ahasuerus divorced Vashti. And after a little while, he
began to miss female companionship. And in Chapter 2, they held a
beauty pageant. They had a Miss Persia pageant. Esther won the pageant hands
down. Ahasuerus couldn't have been
happier. Oh, this old king, about to marry the most beautiful young
woman in all Persia. The most beautiful young lady
in all of Persia. Look in chapter 2 verse 17. The
king loved Esther above all the women and she obtained grace
and favor in his sight more than all the virgins so that he set
the royal crown upon her head and and made her queen instead
of Vashti. Then the king made a great feast
and all his princes and his servant, even Esther's feast. And he made
a release to the provinces and gave gifts according to the state
of the king. Then in chapter three, the king
promoted a man by the name of Haman. He made Haman to be prime
minister of Persia, this great empire. And everybody oohed and
aahed when Haman walked by. Everybody bowed down and did
reverence to Haman. They'd see Haman coming and they'd
just, oh, there's Haman, and they'd bow down. Here comes the
man next to the king. He's the prime minister. Everybody
except Mordecai, this Jew. We read in chapter 3, verse 5,
when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence,
then was Haman full of wrath. He said, I'll get you, boy. Mordecai
had a lot of hard bark on him. He was a man with some backbone.
He was stern, relentless, a man who believed God and who would
bow to no man, especially to a Persian prime minister, an
idolatrous prime minister. Mordecai, however, was looked
upon by this haughty man, Haman, who thought he was, like his
name, magnificent. And Haman determined to kill
him. He hatched a plan to destroy
all the Jews, Mordecai included. And connivingly, he managed to
get Ahasuerus to go along with it. A letter was written and
sealed with the king's ring and sent throughout all the land,
declaring that at a set time, the Jews, all of them, every
Jew in the land, man, woman, and child, no matter how old,
no matter how young, all of them were to be slaughtered and their
spoils taken by Haman. When Haman was exalted even more
greatly, he built a huge high gallows and said, when the day
comes, This is where I'm going to hang Mordecai. And that gallows
stood there. The Jews were aware of the decree.
Mordecai was aware of the decree. Esther was aware of the decree.
Everybody was filled with terror. Haman has now a letter written
by the king's own hand, sealed with the king's own ring, with
the law of the Medes and Persians. And once it's been sealed, it
cannot be broken. This is the law of the Medes
and Persians. Everything was set. The hated
Jews were about to be eliminated. That meant that God's promise
must fall to the ground. God's purpose must be broken. Jesus Christ, God's Son, could
not come, the seed of Abraham, as God promised he would come,
that one through whom all the nations of the earth would be
blessed. The promised seed would not come because the king had
made a decree that the Jews must all be destroyed. Fat chance
of that happening. Fat chance of that happening.
Oh, no. So first, I want you to see this
sweet, sweet, comfortable pillow upon which to rest our souls.
God's providence. God's wise, adorable, good providence. God teach me to believe what
I'm telling you. His providence is always wise,
good, and adorable. He never errs. He never makes
a mistake. What is God's providence? It
is God's eternal purpose of grace Being worked out in time for
the accomplishment of the salvation of his people Hold your hands
here in Esther and turn to that very familiar passage in Romans
chapter 8 Look at it one more time Romans the 8th chapter verse
28 Most everybody quotes a little
portion of Romans 8 28 We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God. That's not all Romans
8, 28 says, is it, Ron? We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are thee
called. They work together for a people
who love God. Those who love God are those
who are called by his grace. Nobody else. And these things
all things work together for good to them who are called according
to God's purpose According to God's purpose Brother Bob I couldn't help but
think of this when I saw you coming in this morning There
you sit with one less leg. You've had been through five
years of great difficulty And we wept with you and wouldn't
wish it for you for anything. If I could have, I wouldn't allow
it to happen. Would you? If I could have stopped
it, I'd have stopped it. Well, you think you're wiser
than God? No, I'm a dummy. God's doing good. And he has
done this. He gave you the leg and he took
it away. That's God's doing. Why'd he do it? He does everything
according to this purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called,
them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. He who loves you infinitely more
than I can has done what he's done because of his infinite love
for you. Whatever your pleasure, whatever your pain, whatever
your prosperity, whatever your adversity, if you're God's, this
works together for your good, for the ultimate end of your
everlasting glory with Christ Jesus in heaven. Back here in
Esther. Divine providence is the direction
God gives to everything, animate and inanimate, good and evil. It's the sovereign rule of God
in the determination of history. Providence is the hand of God
in the glove of history. Our God is at the steering wheel
of the universe. Providence means God is there
when you can see Him and when you can't. God is there though
unseen by men. God is there though unseen by
you. God is there working, not idle,
not just there, but working, working all things together for
your everlasting good. Providence. is the way God secretly,
sovereignly forces all things to do His will. You mean God
forces men to do things? Of course He does. Of course
He does. You may or may not know it, but
of course He does. He fixes it so you can't make
another turn. He fixes it so Pharaoh can't
do anything but harden his heart. He fixes it so Pharaoh can do
nothing but pursue Israel into the Red Sea and be drowned in
the sea. God sweetly, graciously forces
everything in creation to do His will all the time. Now, learn
that and be at peace. Learn that and rest your soul. Learn that and let nothing disturb
you. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again,
I say rejoice. Let your moderation be known
to all men. Let the ease of your heart be
evident to everybody. The Lord's at hand. The Lord
God's here. God's doing this. Let me give
you five simple, brief lessons concerning God's providence.
Here are five things I hope We can learn. Number one, look at
chapter four, history four. God always puts the right person
in the right place at the right time to accomplish his purpose. I have a little interest in Tuesday
night watching to see what happens in Wisconsin. We may just get
rid of that barbarian who's sitting in the White House. I have a
little interest. But if we don't, it'll be all
right. If we don't, it'll be all right. Because God always
puts the right person in the right place at the right time
to accomplish his purpose. Always. He has his servants exactly
where he wants them. And though few understand it,
Everything in the universe, every man, every angel, and every devil,
all the righteous and all the wicked are God's servants. Some willingly, some unwillingly,
some delightfully, some ignorantly, but all serve Him. All. Look at Esther chapter 4. And
he has his servants exactly where he wants them. Verse 14. Mordecai gives Esther counsel.
He urges her to go and pray, beseech the king on behalf of
Israel. If thou altogether holdest thy
peace at this time, then shall their enlargement and deliverance
arise to the Jews from another place. Mordecai said, God's going
to accomplish his purpose whether you do what I'm asking you to
or don't. Somebody else is going to come
and deliver us. God's going to accomplish his purpose. But thou and thy
father's house shall be destroyed. Now watch this. And who knoweth
whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Who knoweth? Whether thou art
come to the kingdom for, oh man, Maybe God's raised you up and
put you where you are for the good of his kingdom right now.
Oh, what a prospect. Who knows? Maybe God's put you
where you are right now to deliver his people. Here's the second
thing. God restrains evil and governs
even his enemies and ours to perform his good pleasure. I love to read the huffing and
puffing and blowing of Lucifer in Isaiah 14. I will be God. I'm going to take over and rule
the world. I will ascend to the most high
throne. I'm taking over. And God said,
what am I going to do? What's going to happen now? He
said, this is the purpose that's purposed in all the earth. Don't fret yourself, Eddie. This
is the purpose that's purposed in all the earth. This is exactly
how I intended things to be. This is exactly how I intended
things to be before anything was. God restrains evil and governs
even his enemies and ours. in the performance of his good
pleasure. Number three, our God wisely
arranges the smallest, most minute things as they are to accomplish
his purpose. Our Savior sends his disciples
out to preach the gospel. And he said, now, don't be afraid
of anything. Don't be concerned about how you're going to live.
Don't be concerned about where you're going to get food or where
you're going to sleep or what you're going to wear. Don't be
concerned about those things. Don't be concerned when men oppose
you. Don't be concerned because men mock you and scorn you and
deride you. Don't be afraid of that. The
very hairs of your head are all numbered. Adam, Kibbe, God, your
father, ordained the number of hairs on your head every second
you live in this world. That's called minute care. That's
called. Oh, that's that's minute care. Whoever counted somebody's hair.
Now, I'm getting a place that wouldn't be a big job, but for
most folks, it is whoever counted somebody's hair. My heavenly
father did before the world was. And if he so cares for me, that
not one hair falls from my head without his decree and his will
and his performance. I reckon everything else is all
right. I reckon everything else is all right. When Esther decided
to go into the king's court uninvited. Remember the law. Nobody's allowed to come to the
king unless the king says you come here. Nobody. Nobody. You go in and look at the king,
you walk into the king's court, you're a dead man. Unless the
king should stretch out his golden scepter and say, it's all right
for you to be here. But when Esther decided to go
to the king's court uninvited, Ahasuerus just happened to pass
by. Now, you've got to remember,
Esther is the king's new bride, and she's the prettiest thing
in the land. And I got a feeling that Esther
was at her best when she went to go see the king. I just got
a hunch that she put on the finest apparel that rich Persian king
could provide for her. She wore the sweetest perfume
that could be made available in her day. She had her hair
just right and had that jeweled crown just right on her head
and wore just exactly what she knew that king would like to
see. And she walked into the court and had it. Why, Joe, he
just happened to be there. He just happened to be walking
by himself and saw her. Look at chapter five. Look at
chapter five. You'll see it. First verse, she's walking through
the king's court in a hazardous Caesar. Then in chapter six,
let's read this, chapter six. One night, the king just couldn't
sleep. He just couldn't sleep. So he
got one of his servants to bring out the chronicles of the kingdom. Man, if anything on this earth
would put you to sleep, Have you tried reading the first few
chapters of 1st and 2nd Chronicles when you were tired at night?
How about when you're wide awake in the morning and had your third
cup of coffee? If anything puts you to sleep, it's reading Chronicles,
Chronicles of the Prophets. Well, this servant read the Chronicles
of the Kingdom to the king. And the Chronicles contain the
records of 127 provinces of the Persian Empire. That ought to be a good, interesting
read. But the servant just happened to read the Chronicle of Shushan
and a specific thing. Look at verse what? Chapter 6.
On that night could not the king sleep? And he commanded to bring
the book of records of the chronicles, and they were read before the
king. And it was found written that Mordecai, insignificant, Mordecai, little
man, Mordecai had told of Big Phana and Teresh, two of the
king's chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay
hand on the king Ahasuerus. Mordecai found out that these
two doorkeepers in the king's palace had planned to kill him.
They planned to kill him. And Mordecai exposed them. And
the king said, verse 3, what honor and dignity hath been done
to Mordecai for this? And his servants said, the king's
servants that ministered to him said, there is nothing done for
him. About that time, Haman walked
in early in the morning, and the king had this on his mind.
He said, what shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth
to honor? And Haman thought, boy, this
is my chance. I've got him now where I've been. I've been buttering
up for this all my life. And the king couldn't find anybody
in the realm more suitable to give such great honor to than
me. And so Haman told him how to honor such a man. He gave
him counsel that would ultimately destroy him and exalt Mordecai,
whom he hated. He said, King, I'll tell you
what I'd do if I were you. Tell you what I'd do. A man like that,
buddy, he deserves everything you can do for him. I would set
him on the king's horse, and I'd put the king's apparel on
him. And I'd have somebody to parade him through the streets
so that the whole of Persia will know this man is the one the
king has exalted above everybody." And he thought, well, I'll go
home and take a bath. It'll be me tomorrow. Now, watch this. Chapter 4, verse 16. When God's
about to do a great work, He's about to do a great work
for us, or with us. He'll cause His people to pray. When God's about to do a great
work for us, or with us, He'll cause His people to pray. 16 chapter 4 Esther says to Mordecai go gather
all the Jews that are present in Shushed and fast ye for me
and Neither eat nor drink three days night nor day. I also and
my maidens will fast likewise and So will we go will I go in
and to the king? Which is not according to the
law And if I perish I perish Here's the fifth thing. God always
accomplishes his purpose. God's purpose is to do you good.
That's what he'll do. God's purpose is your everlasting
salvation. If you're his. He'll do it. God's God says, give me your
heart, my son, give me your heart. And Ron would, if I'm his, he
will sweetly force me to give him my heart. God intends that we look to Christ
and love Christ and follow Christ. And if I'm his, it shall be done
by whatever means it takes. No, that's just not exactly right. David, whatever means he uses
is the best means possible for me and you together for him to
accomplish this purpose. The best means. God doesn't just
say, well, this is the best I can do. Oh, no. Whatever he does
is the best means possible for the accomplishment of his purpose.
Oh, what wonders then are unseen. How safe we are. What a guardian we have in the
king's palace. Now here's the second pillar.
The book of Esther gives us several instructed pictures of God's
grace. Types of grace. Look at chapter four, verse 16
again. Here's Esther's intercession
for Israel. Here is a woman, one who is willing, willing to
sacrifice her life for her people, making intercession for them.
Who can read that and not think of our Redeemer? He wasn't just willing to sacrifice
his life. He did. And he did it willingly. He said, I have a baptism to
be baptized with and I'm straightened to be accomplished. He said this,
I thirst for, I thirst for this. This is the prize set before
me, the redemption of my people. And willingly he went to Calvary,
determined to suffer all the fury of God's wrath on our behalf. And on the basis of that sacrifice
made for us, He constantly makes intercession at the right hand
of the majesty on high for his people. In verse 2 of chapter
5, we read about the king's golden scepter. And it was so when the
king saw Esther the queen standing in the court that she obtained
favor in his sight and the king held out to Esther the golden
scepter that was in his hand. So Esther drew near and touched
the top of the scepter. Now I can just picture some young
husband thinking to himself, well, that's a good way to do
things. I don't suggest you try it. And I don't think it'd make
for a very good marriage, but it is intended for a wonderful
picture. We come to Christ and we urge sinners to come to
Christ. And we sometimes say, like Job,
that Though he slay me, yet will I trust him. Or we say, like
Esther, when we come to the Lord Jesus, as she came before Ahasuerus,
if I perish, I perish. But that's impossible. That's
impossible. This picture gives us assurance.
Assurance of acceptance. You come to Christ. You come
to Christ. And the golden scepter of his
grace is stretched out for you. You come to Christ and the golden
scepter of His grace is there for you. Let us therefore come
boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and
find grace to help in time of need. The first article in the bulletin
today, I believe it's the first one. How can I know I'm one of
God's elect? I got a letter from a young lady
in Ireland. She'd been concerned since I was there. She'd written
to me a couple of times and she asked me that question. How can
I know if I'm one of God's elect?" And I wrote to her, took some
time to write to her the other day, and I said to her, that's
not a question that should concern you. That's of no concern to you,
none whatsoever. The question is, do you believe on the Son
of God? Because Skip, if you believe
on the Son of God, that reads election loud and clear. How can I know I'm one of God's
elect? I believe on the son of God and believing him. He stretches out his golden scepter
and says, welcome home, son. This is why I made the world.
This is why I died. This is what I've been doing.
The sinner comes to God by faith in Christ Jesus and is accepted
of him and your faith in him is the fruit and evidence of
your election. Not only so, but as we come to
him and our day-by-day needs, we pour out our hearts before
Him, and we understand that He hears us. He hears us. He hears the cries
of His needy children. Which of you fathers Stand and
tell me, which of you fathers have a son or a daughter? No
matter who they are, what they've done, no matter how they've sullied
your name, how they've injured you, which of you fathers has
a son or a daughter? When they come crying to you,
you slam the door in their face and say, I don't want to see
you. Which of you? Which of you? I couldn't do that. I couldn't do that. And you're
just a sinful man. Our Heavenly Father's ear is
always open to the cry of His children. He hears with sympathy,
with tenderness, with compassion. Through Christ Jesus, our Redeemer,
He answers the cry of His children meeting our needs. Here's the
third thing about God's grace. The decree of God is the decree
of the king of the universe, sealed with his seal that cannot
be broken and cannot be altered. We're told twice, Exodus or Esther
1.19 and Esther 8.8, that the seal of the king, Hazarus, cannot
be altered. It cannot be altered. Well, let's
see. Let's look at verse 8, chapter
8. write ye also for the Jews as it liketh you in the king's
name and seal it with the king's ring for the writing which is
written in the king's name and sealed with the king's ring may
no man alter or reverse but in chapter 1 verse 19 Ahasuerus
had given an order of exactly the opposite exactly the opposite he is a picture a type Certainly
as king on his throne of the triune God sitting on his throne,
but remember he's just a type. And the types are all faulty
pictures. He who is king of the universe has a decree fixed that
cannot be altered. He says, I will do all my pleasure. I will do all my pleasure. He said, my covenant will I not
break nor alter the thing that has gone out of my lips. He who is God, his decree, his
order, his purpose, his predestination, his purpose of grace cannot and
shall not be altered, not by any man or by God himself. Number four. of the chapter 9,
verse 1. We see the Jews whom Haman thought
to destroy ruling over their enemies, even Haman's household. Now in the 12th month, that is
the month Adar on the 13th day of the month of the same, when
the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be put into
execution. in the day that the enemies of
the Jews hoped to have power over them. This is just about
time. Haman had planned on back in
chapter 1, verse 19. This is the thing. Oh boy, the
day's coming. Can't wait for it to come. But
we're told, though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews
had rule over them that hated them. God's elect are made to rule
over their enemies by His grace. The sin that rages in our members,
that wars against our spirits, the evil that's in us, that by
which we were all our lives taken captive by Satan at his will,
now God rules over it. from within and gives us temperance. Temperance. That's not temperance
like the temperance society. That's nonsense. That's temperance. Bill, it means control from within
so that the believer is ruled by the spirit of God dwelling
in him. And soon. The God of peace shall
brew Satan under your feet, and when he's finished, he's finished,
God our Father, by Christ Jesus our Redeemer, shall utterly wipe
the slime of the serpent off the face of creation. And nothing shall be harmed because
God's grace is triumphant. And then the last thing, chapter
10, verse 3, We see Mordecai, the Jew, greatly
exalted, seeking the good of his people. Mordecai, the Jew,
was next unto King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and
accepted of the multitude of his brethren. He's the great one. All his brethren
accepted him. What's he doing, this great Mordecai?
This great Mordecai, what's he doing? Seeking the wealth of
his people and speaking peace to all his seed That's my Redeemer
That's my Redeemer. He's sitting on his throne Seeking
the wealth of his people Seeking our good And speaking peace to
all Israel And in chapter 9 verse 4 we're told that Mordecai waxed
greater and greater. Mordecai waxed greater and greater. He who is my Redeemer must increase. God would have it so. I would
have it so. And you who are His would have
it so. And so it shall be. Christ, our
Mordecai, waxes greater and greater until at last every knee shall bow and every
tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
God the Father. That's the two pillars upon which
I rest my soul. God's providence and God's grace
in Christ Jesus. Amen.