Can you force following? - Esther 1:10-22 - Sunday Sermon

My name is Mati Scaring

and if I haven't met you, I hang out for

a while after the service. Would love to

meet you. Um, if you are interested in

Thank you very much, Bill. If you're

interested in uh getting connected more

with Boon's Ferryy, that's what we use

our welcome cards for. Give us whatever

information you're comfortable with and

we'll get in contact with you. Uh, you

can also get subscribed to our e-

bulletin that way. And we also use them

as prayer request cards and pray every

single Wednesday. So, if you got

something to pray for, go ahead and put

that down. And then you can drop those

off at the connection card table. And I

need to silence my phone here.

Evidently,

you put a calendar update just now.

That's funny. I remember someone was

doing announcements at a large church

and I was good friends with him and so I

just continued to call him over and over

and over again while he was doing the

updates. He called me out like Matise,

stop it.

All right, that's not my name, by the

way. But anyway, um I went by Matise for

years in high school and college, but uh

my parents uh pronounce it Matis. So,

and uh yeah, there you go. Um, all

right. We I guess one announcement just

remember there's going to be a men's

meeting um on March 14th. Uh that is a

Saturday and it's going to be in the

morning. An evilton will be going out

for that this week for more information.

Um and uh so you'll know more about

that. But just mark that on your

calendars if you're interested in

coming. I'd love to see a great turnout

among the men. In a way, it's kind of a

restart of our uh men's ministry and and

we're not going to discontinue after

that. We're going to be meeting on a

more regular basis and I'm excited about

that.

So, let me pray and we'll get right into

Esther. We are um in Esther just started

last week and um we'll be in Esther

Esther 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1 10 through 22 today and uh let

me pray and we'll get into it. Heavenly

Father, thank you

for the story of Esther.

Thank you for the story of Mori as well

and everything you're wanting to teach

us through this book. There's just a lot

of lessons here that are extremely

relevant for our day and age. I pray

that I would get out of the way that

your Holy Spirit would speak through me

and that what he says uh we would hear

and uh if it requires conviction, I pray

that you would convict, challenge, then

challenge. If people need to be

encouraged or consoled or whatever they

need spiritually, Lord, your word is the

answer to it. And I pray um that you

would would answer our prayers regarding

those things when it's for

transformation especially. Lord, we want

to be remade in the image and likeness

of your son Jesus Christ. And we pray

these things in Jesus name. Amen. I

forgot to mention last week. I just want

to do a couple of thank yous. And if

your name's not mentioned, that doesn't

mean I'm not thankful, but there's um

more than one person that's really been

helping me uh study Esther. I want to

mention Vern and Ben uh Vern Crowley and

Ben Jansen. Those are the two other

elders other than me at our church, and

we've been studying Esther, and they've

had lots of really interesting comments

and helpful ideas in terms of what the

scriptures are actually saying. I also

want to mention Greg Folk and Rebecca

Egg. Uh Greg is a co-leader in the Bible

study or we call them disciplehip

communities um that used to meet in our

house. We're currently meeting at the

church um on Wednesday nights at 6.

That's that's our Bible study ministry.

If you're considering joining those,

we're just studying Esther in advance.

So had you been there just this last

week, you would have studied uh and

discussed together the exact verses that

we're going through now. I think that's

a great way to study the Bible where

you're in it first and the sermon's not

the first thing you hear. God's word is

the very first thing you hear and then

um you also get to hear a sermon uh and

exhortation and conviction from that as

well. I think it's a really good pattern

to be in. Um but uh Rebecca Egg is our

uh women's director and so um we've been

working as a team to develop those

questions for the Bible study and also

to study through Esther and uh they've

been they've been really helpful. I just

there. So, in other words, there are

things that I will be teaching here that

are not necessarily my discoveries.

They're discoveries of a group of Bible

students here at the church. Um, I'm

also mentioning those names because I'm

going to be saying some controversial

things today because I have to cuz the

word brings it up and so they can share

the blame for that. Um, which is nice.

So, um, just to introduce a concept that

may be helpful for you to remember the

sermon, but also understand what's

really being said. Um, I'm assuming that

the vast majority of us that drive a car

these days are using some kind of smart

device for GPS navigation. You know, I

have a iPhone and so sometimes I'll say,

"Sir, navigate me home." or something

like that. And so, uh, she acts like a

an assistant and then I don't even have

to type it into, um, Google Maps or

Apple Maps in this case. Uh, you might

be using Google Maps and you, so you

type in an address and it takes you

there. Um, and I've been asking people,

how often do does the GPS mess up if you

cut out all human error? So, you didn't

mess up putting the address in or

something like that. And most people say

it still it still messes up sometimes

and in different various ways. So, it

might might navigate you to the wrong

side of a property where the entrance

actually is isn't. I've seen that happen

before. Uh my experience, however, is

that more often than not, even when my

intuition is that this is taking me the

wrong way, if I just follow the GPS

pathway lined out, um I get there and I

usually get there faster.

But GPS is not 100% reliable, right? Um

and and that's that's a reality. Uh,

however, if you take a wrong turn, it

will ren you the fastest way in general

to the exact same destination. And

that's an interesting concept, too. What

we're really talking about here is God's

providence or God's sovereignty. Uh,

that works in a similar way. Where the

metaphor breaks down is that God will

never misdirect you. And so, if you're

feeling misdirected, it's always user

error, right? And that takes some

humility. Um, but just a short story

about user error on on uh navigation

issues. I was going to a birthday

out at a place called uh social goods

and I was driving off on I5. GPS said

that would be the fastest way. And then

uh it was going to be like 3540 minutes.

And I popped on like a Joe Rogan podcast

that was about uh a guy that um I think

he's an American that lives um I think

it's Brazil and he he his goal is to buy

as much land in the Amazon as he can to

preserve it. which reminded me a little

bit about how when we um like create

national parks in the Redwood Forest or

Yellowstone National Parks and that kind

of conservation I think is actually a

good thing and it was just really

fascinating the kinds of things

especially it actually made me want to

go on a vacation Amazon someday. He

painted the picture of being there at

night around a fire with friends and I

think his words were like just the con

the cacophony of jungle sounds. you ever

been at a zoo and they have like an

Amazon exhibit and they pipe in the

sounds or maybe the sounds are actually

from monkeys and it's like I can imagine

what that was like and he said it was

magical and I thought that would be kind

of magical in that sense. Uh and and so

I was just totally wrapped attention on

what this guy was saying about his

conservation efforts in the Amazon and

blew right past my exit and on I5 you

don't necessarily get an exit for a

while. So, uh, 20 minutes ago it was

before I missed the exit. There were,

uh, about 5 minutes to go. I missed the

exit and all of a sudden it's 20 minutes

to go. So, there's no faster pathway, a

faster pathway back to where I need to

go because I've blown past my exit. And

I'm just saying that to illustrate that

when you're not paying attention to

God's commands, you can sometimes miss

the exit ramp. And uh sometimes it takes

a while to get back uh to the place that

that you could have been. He does also

restore the years the locusts of Eden,

which is really an idea about how God uh

can work all things together for your

good in a way that's faster than you can

even imagine. Um but at the same time,

it's really an illustration of how there

are consequences to disobedience, even

if it was just the kind of disobedience

that comes from not paying attention.

Right? In this case, the consequence was

not that big a deal. I was just late to

the birthday dinner. Um, which was a

bummer. But, uh, so that wasn't the

GPS's mistake, though, you know. So, I

would guess that user error is probably

more common than the GPS making a

mistake. And I know it's that way in

relationship to God because God does not

mistake make mistake uh make a single

mistake in navigating us to the to the

right destination. And before we even

get into Esther, I want to make a point

that will really help in relationship to

understanding what God's saying through

this passage. And that is that God's

destination is always the foot of the

cross. So, doesn't matter where you try

to navigate yourself, God will navigate

you as a Christian to the foot of the

cross over and over and over again.

You might think, "Oh, I'm going to

Tarses." Well, no, he's taking you back

to Nineveh,

you know. So,

God is sovereign and will providentially

direct you to the foot of the cross.

However, when it's against your will,

when when he's doing so and you're not

listening, whether it's just that you're

not paying attention or you know exactly

what he's telling you to do and you

don't do it, there will be pain

involved. And sometimes there will be

consequences that he doesn't just take

away as well. And those can be avoided

by just being willing to submit in

advance and actually pay attention. And

and when he says take a left, take a

left. When he says get off on this umpra

off-ramp, even if it just really doesn't

seem right, you do it. Um there is also

pain in following God's will. We ought

to be honest with that.

Pain and following God's will is all

over the book of Esther.

So you're not getting out of pain uh by

not following God's will. In fact,

you're you're going to be certain to

experience more pain than if you were.

Uh but there there is suffering involved

in actually surrendering to God's will

as well. Uh we're going to be talking

about that too. But if you think about

God's sovereignty in terms of GPS

navigation, but a perfect one that never

errors and he's outlined the maps in the

scripture and the directions there. But

if you think of the destination as

always the cross, uh that's really going

to help in understanding the concepts

here in Esther. And I want to give you

my main point here from the very

beginning. We'll have it up on the

screen. Trusting God completely empowers

us to lead without force and follow

without contempt.

And you might say, is that really what

this is saying? Well, actually, what is

reported to us in 10 through 22 is

really basically the opposite. uh where

leaders are leading by force, coercive

force, and they're doing so because they

believe that uh without that force,

there's going to be wrath and contempt

against them. Right? So, what we're

looking at and how I constructed this

main point is what would God have us do

compared to what King Aasso, his

princes, Vashi, and anybody else is

doing in this case? And then also what

is the right way to be in relationship

to authority?

King Xerxes Aasaweras was not in right

relationship to authority. He was the

supreme authority on earth at least in

that region. But there is really no

other superpower at that time. But he's

not in right relationship to God is he?

Remember we talked all about vain glory

seeking the glory of created things and

disconnection from God which always

ultimately is just about our own glory.

When you worship an idol, uh what you're

really worshiping is yourself and not

God. And since all glory actually truly

belongs to God, when you disconnect

worship related things from God and

attach them to created things, it's in

opposition to his glory. So, Aasawa was

in opposition to God's glory. There's no

question about it. So, you're going to

see all kinds of negative things about

what he's doing. He's not a great

example to follow. is not even a good

example to follow in terms of

leadership. Um, we're going to apply

that very same thought to Vashi. Was

Vashi in right relationship to God's

authority? And I'll make some

conclusions there. There'll be more

sense like this is my sense, this is my

intuition about that one because there's

just very little information about it.

And so drawing two strong conclusions

without proper biblical support is not a

good idea. But um you'll have to make up

your own mind about what you think

intuitively biblically about about Vashi

in this thing. What we what we do know

for certain is that Morortei and Esther

were in right relationship to God's

authority and right relationship to

governing authorities.

Just to sort of uh wet your appetite for

interesting conversation about this,

Morai disobys the king in not bowing

down and paying homage to Hmon. So, how

can I say Morai was in right

relationship to God's authority and to

human authority?

The reality is you cannot be in wrong

relationship to human authority and

claim that you're in right relationship

to God's authority.

You can disobey human authority and

still be in right relationship to God's

authority and like that's double speak.

How does that work? I will show you how

that works scripturally.

But again, if we put our main point up,

all of us are going to have authority in

some area and influence in some area.

You think, I'm not a leader. Well, if

you're a mother, you definitely are.

Leader of your children, right? Every

single Christian is commanded to model

the faith to others, to influence others

towards God, to admonish one another.

Remember the Steve sermon? you know that

even our worship has an admonishing

effect on one another as we sing psalms,

hymns, and spiritual songs. And so you

can't get around the idea that to some

degree you're a leader in some context

of your life. And that ought to not be

by force. And the very same thing, no

one can get out of following. There's no

such thing as a human being that is

under no authority, whether they want to

be or not. There there are authorities

that you are under. And so the question

is, are we in right relationship to

God's authority? Are we in right

relationship to God's authority in the

way that we lead? King Aasseras was not

actually let's say question mark. Morai

Esther definitely yes. Um why does that

matter so much? Well, you will not

glorify God if you're in wrong

relationship to his authority. But and

here's where we start delving into the

the controversial things. you will also

not glorify God if you're in wrong

relationship to the human authorities

he's established. There is some nuance

and some complexity there and we'll get

into it. Um but that that's a fact. And

so if we're going to be not like

Aasawera seeking his own vain glory, if

we're going to be submissive like Morai

and Esther were, if we're going to

humble ourselves and therefore be

exalted like they were, then we need to

consider, are we at a heart level in

right relationship to authority both as

leaders? Are we leading in a way that's

under God's glory in the right way?

Well, then it won't be by force.

Are we following in a way that's under

God's authority? Well, then it'll be

without contempt towards the leaders.

Okay, so let's get into the passage and

I'll show you how how this is really

what God is after biblically and what

they were doing wrong is a contrary

example for us that helps us to

understand just how much damage happens

when you're not as a king relating to

God's authority correctly or whether

you're not doing that or doing that as

as a queen. We'll we'll decide together

on that. You'll make your own decision.

Esther when she became queen was

definitely related to God's authority

and even the king's authority in a way

that was right and so she glorified God

and she could be used by God to save his

people.

So verse 10 starting out on the seventh

day when the heart of the king was merry

with wine he commanded Mehuman Bistha

Harbona bigtha Abagtha Zethar and Carcus

the seven unix who served in the

presence of the of King Asaware to bring

Queen Vashi before the king with her

royal crown in order to show the peoples

and the princes her beauty for she was

lovely to look at

just right off the bat I think it's

really important to not go beyond what

the scriptures are saying. It's also

important to not stop short of what they

are saying. Okay? So in this case, it

doesn't say the king was drunk.

We might think, well, this like he just

established 180 days of partying and

then there was no compulsion and he's

vain glorious and he uh has emotional

issu regulation issues like anger. We'll

see that here in a moment. And so are we

really going to claim that he wasn't

drunk? Well, maybe he was. Maybe you

feel that's a likelihood. But it just

says that he was married with wine. He

was affected by alcohol. Whether that

got to the point where God saw that as

drunkenness or not, I don't know. I

don't know. We know that he was affected

by alcohol. Was he affected by alcohol

in a sinful way on this day? I'm not

sure.

So, however, you might think, well, he's

not even uh a Jew. He's not even part of

God's people. Um, he's not a God-fearing

Gentile either, clearly. Uh, you might

think, and this is kind of like, I don't

know, another word other than

anacronistic. It's like against the

history of how it works, but he's not a

Christian, you know, and so how can we

expect him to do what's right? Well, I

want to establish something. There's no

excuse for doing what's wrong. uh

regardless of whether you have faith or

not. And I want to show you that. And so

let's go to Romans 2. And this will be

true. Romans 2:14-16. This will be true

Romans 2:14–16

for everyone in this story. All the

Unix, all the princes, the king, Vashi,

and anybody in the Persian kingdom. For

when Gentiles do not have the law by

nature do what the law requires, we're

talking about God's law. They are a law

to themselves even though they do not

have the law. Next verse.

They show that the work of the law is

written on their hearts while their

conscience also bears witness and their

conflicting thoughts excuse or accuse or

even excuse them. God has written a form

of the law on every human heart. It's

not the same thing as when he writes the

law on the hearts of those where he's

given them a brand new heart, replaced

the heart of stone, the heart of flesh,

and now the law is written on tablets of

human hearts. Um, that's related to the

Holy Spirit coming and indwelling us.

And that's not true for those who have

not placed repented and placed their

faith in Jesus. But there's a form of

the law, a conscience that has been

given. Um, and so the Gentiles, which

includes Persians and me, those are

Gentiles. Anyone other than the Jew

ethnic Jewish people in this case would

be Gentiles that they they know what

they're doing wrong. They have no excuse

for it.

So you might think the very first thing

that is mentioned here that's wrong is

the way that it treats Vashi, but

there's a thing before that. And I I see

kids and so I'm going to speak about

this in code if you want to explain it

to your kids later. But you know what

kings did to Unix.

I'll admit

there may be a way in which this is

going beyond scripture because I I don't

believe that we can say that every

single unic was made a unic. There may

have been ones that weren't. But if you

do your historical research, which again

it's not authoritative, it's not it's

outside the Bible. So there can be error

in historical counting, but just about

every unic in the Persian Empire was was

made so on purpose. Even before they

came into that service, they were taken

into slavery. Uh they were made Unix and

then that made them way more valuable to

be sold. Unix were highly sought after.

Why were they made Unix? Well, because

they'd be more trusted with the herum,

you know. So adults, you know exactly

what I'm talking about. kids. I'm

intentionally limiting how much I'm

saying because I want to respect your

parents and when they want to introduce

you to those kinds of things. But the

point is um

that's obviously sinful to do that to

men.

So already there's a sin mentioned here

just by virtue of these kinds of unics.

It's it's basically impossible that none

of these Unix were made Unix because

that's just not the way the Persians did

things.

So, however, it may also, so in our

offense, rightful offense that

a megalomaniac womanizer temper tantrum

god king would do that to people. Maybe

one of those is your sons and your son.

Now, I'm not saying get over the fence.

That ought to be offensive to us that

men treat other men that way. However,

we ought not to think that like that

they had it all bad. Some of these Unix

were the most trusted adviserss in the

kingdom, had the highest positions of

authority. Well, maybe not the highest,

but very high positions of authority.

And so, I'm not saying that's like

somehow balances out the evil that was

done to them, but you have to realize

they were highly respected men in the

kingdom.

Um, another thing about them, I'm going

to continue speaking in code here. If

you think about the reason why men that

were made Unix are trustworthy around

all the king's wives, right? Think about

that concept. Um, there's a reason for

that because they can't do a certain

thing. And so

obviously the king

had this skepticism about any kind of

man being trusted around his wife,

right?

And so there's this hypocrisy to begin

with.

That's a sin as well before the

objectification of Vashi. I don't know

if you thought about this, but who is

going to report to her that he wants to

go parade her around in front of all

these men because of her beauty?

Objectif fire in front of other people.

The Unix was the purpose of the Unix

that all of these wives were before the

king only. All their beauty,

everything that belongs to marriage,

even when it's polygamous marriage,

belongs just to the king. And yet he's

sending the very men that were made Unix

so that they would not do what you you

know to go and tell Vashi, hey, I want

to come and have all these other men

lust after you. It's hypocrisy.

So there's just a bunch of sin here. We

can all agree uh Hasseris is in in deep

wrong here. He's affected by alcohol.

He's doing something foolish. It's

sinful towards his his queen wife.

So there's a bunch of sin. There's no

question about that. It's a bunch of sin

of sin. Verse 11 again, to bring Queen

Vashi before the king with her royal

crown in order to show the peoples and

the princess her beauty for she was

lovely to look at. If you think about

how much we talked about vain glory

before, he's using his wife here just as

another extension of his vain glory.

It's fertile ground for application.

And I'll move on quickly from it. But

husbands can do that.

You've got an agenda,

a fleshly one, selfish ambition, looking

to advance yourself. You're telling

yourself, "I'm doing it for my family."

But you're not even there for your

family. Just always at work. And then

your wife starts complaining about the

fact that you're always at work and

you're not prioritizing her or the

family and you're never helping. And

what she's kind of doing in your mind is

undermining your plan for greatness. You

might not say it to yourself that way,

but she's seemingly not helping you

advance your career here because, well,

she's always complaining. And so, you

get you get angry.

You get angry. When when your family is

just being used as an extension of your

vain glory, you will harm them. harm

them with that

because that's not where we're supposed

to lead our family. We're supposed to be

first and foremost led to the cross and

then lead our family to the cross.

There's no selfish ambition there, is

there? And that's where we glorify the

Lord. When our flesh is surrendered to

the killing, when it's crucified, that's

when we can discern God's will for us.

That's when we're in right relationship.

There's no right relationship to the

authority of God if you're away from the

foot of the cross. If you're not

surrendered to him.

So yeah, there's plenty Xerxes type

leaders out there today, not just

husbands. Think of the political arena.

This question has an obvious answer, but

do you see some political leaners

just seem the only it seems like the

main thing that they're there's the

reason for why what they decide is that

they're seeking their own selfish

ambition, vain glory, making themselves

look great. And then the very people

they're elected to serve in this case

are the ones that get harmed.

Happens all the time.

So we we have to think about not just oh

this evil monarch back then uh vain

glorious desires desires to use others

as an extension of your own vain glory.

The the objectification for of women for

that very purpose. It's all over our

society. And we're not to be conformed

to the world, but we're in a world where

that is what we're marinating in unless

we're paying attention to God's word.

So we have to think about that. So

at a minimum, so you you'll get scholars

that say basically he had commanded her

to just come only in her crown, right?

Naked in front of everyone. Uh that's

not what the scriptures say. Uh it all

it says is to bring Queen Vashi before

the king with the royal crown in order

to show the peoples and the princes her

beauty for she was lovely to look at. Is

is it possible that that what was meant

was that she'd come naked? It's possible

but it's not what it says. Okay. So I'm

not going off of that in

considering and discerning things about

okay how should Aasaweris as a husband

have related to Vashi and how should a

Vashi related to him? I'm just looking

at those words. If if she was naked,

that's a dramatically different

discernment tree. I think we can all

agree on that. Can we also all agree

that at a minimum

the king was sinfully objectifying his

wife?

Right. At a minimum, you may feel more

strongly than that.

You don't need a a show show of hands,

but just I'm going to be talking to men

and to women and to husbands and to

wives. Uh just to the women here, uh is

Vashi a sympathetic character to you?

Are you offended for her? I I don't like

asking trick questions. I'm never trying

to trick you unless I'm trying to be

funny, but not at your expense. But in

this case, it's not a trick question.

I'm offended for her. A husband ought

not to do this. It's an evil thing to

do. Parade your wife around other men.

I've never seen a red carpet event like

the Oscars without men doing that. By

the way, it's all over our culture. The

stars, the heroes, the politicians,

everybody noteworthy seems to be doing

it. Almost everybody seems like rare

that that's not happening.

So, so are you offended for I'm offended

for this is wrong. It's wrong. Okay. So,

we have to admit what he's doing is

wrong. There's no question about it.

Objectifying women is not okay.

objectifying your wife is sinful. You

should be protecting her from that very

thing. So that's that's absolute.

That's clear to me.

However, what started happening when I

was studying this with the elders and

with Greg and Rebecca is I started

comparing Esther Dashi.

What God is providentially doing here in

terms of just his guiding control over

all things is he's removing Vashi and

installing Esther for his own purposes.

That's there's no question about that.

That's that's uh part of the narrative

setup of the story. Here's what happened

here. How Esther came to be queen. But

you see how it says for she was lovely

to look at.

Um it says the very same thing in

chapter 7 verse chap chapter 2 verse 7.

I I don't didn't give it the team so not

even look at it but it says uh he Morai

was bringing up Harasa that is Esther

the daughter of the of his uncle for she

had neither father nor mother the young

woman had a beautiful figure and was

lovely to look at

you'll find zero evidence that aasoeres

had any kind of transformation in his

character between the time he just vashi

and then makes uh uh Esther queen In

fact, you'll have all the evidence that

he was just continuing in his arrogant,

womanizing, vain, glorious ways.

It's an odds thing reading between the

lines. It's not totally authoritative,

and I wouldn't ever put it that way. But

what are the odds he didn't objectify,

at least in his heart, Esther,

also lovely to look at, the king hasn't

changed. The queen ends up changing.

Literally changing persons.

So, so there's that. So, then I asked

myself, what would have Esther done in

this situation?

And that that just brings up a a a deep

often controversial, I don't think it

ought to be

discussion about what is the limit

to a husband's authority in relationship

to his wife. What is the limit of a

wife's submission or following?

You know, if a husband is leading

coercively

knew that Hassaweras was was coercive,

you know, is it's all coercive power.

Coercive power. You see that right with

the Unix from the very beginning.

Coercive power, not actual trust. So

what should have she done? So let's

consider some scriptures. And I want to

say from the beginning, I will draw

conclusions, but it's meaningless for me

to draw conclusions um in terms of your

own conviction. They may be a guide for

you, but you have to you have to come to

your own conviction. And I'm trying to

balance this between talking about how a

husband should lead and how a wife

should follow and not just focus too

much on one or the other. Um this will

also not you think, well, I'm not

married, so how does this apply to me?

Well, at at a minimum, anything about

marriage will apply in terms of

preparation for you, but we're also

going to be talking about uh

relationship to authority in general. In

fact, that's that's where I want to

start. So, if you're if you're um a unic

and you've been terribly mistreated by

the king, how should you relate to the

king? Um if you're American citizen and

you feel like our politicians are

telling you to do wrong stuff, how

should you relate to them? What does God

want? What are the limits

of what it looks like to be in right

relationship to authority? So, right off

the bat, let's go to 1 Peter chapter 2

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

13-20.

You can turn there if you want to, or

you can just read it off the screen with

me, but 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 13- 20.

1 Peter 2:13–20

All right. says this, "Be subject for

the Lord's sake to every human

institution, whether it be to the

emperor as supreme or to governors sent

by him to punish those who do evil and

to praise those who do good."

If I remember correctly from a study

from first first Peter, the emperor at

this time was Nero. Don't quote me on

that, but he was a very evil man. Uh

almost no um uh Roman emperors at the

time weren't. So,

we can take that off off the table right

away that God would say, "Well, submit

to them unless they're evil." No, the

emperor was most certainly not a

god-fearing man at this time and did a

bunch of evil things historically. So,

be subject to the Lord's sake for every

human institution, whether it be to the

emperor as supreme or to the governors

as sent by him to punish those who do

evil and to praise those who do good.

For this is the will of God that by

doing good you should put to silence the

ignorance of foolish people. Can we put

our main point back up again?

Am I not right to say that that being

able to obey this starts with trusting

God completely?

Not every state and not every not every

governor is a godless governor.

We happen to live in a state where

that's to be the case.

very clearly.

And so, you really have to trust God

completely if you're going to accept in

your heart,

his will's good for me,

even if I have to submit to a godless

leader.

Uh, the way that Rebecca put this, I

want to give her credit for that. It's

like, what's your trust factor?

She did put on a scale from 1 to five,

but like if it's not a five, are you

really going to continue to submit when

things get really hard? No human being

wants to submit. That's not how we

that's not our base model, right? The

flesh like no hard no submitting.

So it says though, for this is the will

of God that by doing good you should put

to silence the ignorance of foolish

people.

So that's one benefit of actually

submitting. Did you know that God will

use that to put to silence the ignorance

of foolish people?

Says, "Live as people who are free, not

using your freedom as a cover up for

evil, but living as servants of God." So

again, the headarters of all right

relationship

um to authority is first,

and I wouldn't even say foremost, just

first submitting to God. That's where it

all comes from. Do what he says. He says

submit to the governing authorities. So

you can't be in right relationship if he

sees that in your heart you're not

actually submitted to the the uh

authorities. And by the way, maybe not

just as Americans, but we tend to like

anti-heroes who are rebels. I'm not

going to submit to that. And it's like,

yeah, get him, you know, but that's not

the character God's looking for.

Honor everyone, love the brotherhood.

Fear God. Honor the emperor. Now,

speaking of people like Unix or a wife

that's married to a husband that's not

following God's will, maybe he's also um

the kind of guy that objectifies her and

has the wrong relationship to alcohol

and all these different kinds of things.

Look what it says. Verse 18, servants,

be subject to your masters with all

respect, not only to the good and

gentle, but also to the unjust.

For this is a gracious thing. When

mindful of God, one endures sorrows

while suffering unjustly.

I doubt there's a person in this room

that doesn't understand what God's

saying.

It exactly how it sounds. That's what it

means.

For it is a gracious thing when mindful

of God, one endures sorrows while

suffering unjustly. Apply that concept

to Vashi with me. If she was not forced

to disrobe in order for this to happen,

could she have obeyed her king even

though he was wrong and allowed herself

to be paraded in front of these men?

Let's start with the very first limit.

If what any human being is commanding

you, asking you, or leading to you to do

is sin, you can't do it. Period.

because that would make you then in

wrong relationship to the ultimate

authority, the first authority, which is

God.

So if you want to be in right

relationship to authority, you no matter

what the consequences, you have to say

no to sinning as a result of following

someone's command.

Let me show you an example of that.

Let's go. We're skipping forward here.

No, it's actually the next verse. Acts

Acts 5:27.

Acts 5:27

The apostles modeled this to us. And

when they had brought them, this is the

the Sanhedrin, the council of Pharisees

and Sadducees with the high priest, they

set them before the council and the and

the high priest questioned them. Does

the high priest have authority? Oh yes,

he does. That is an even though these

high priests were like Pharisees in both

the ancient and modern sense of that

word. Uh God established that

institution. So they do have authority

and the high priest questioned them.

Next verse saying, we strictly charged

you not to teach in this name. Yet there

ha here you have fulfilled or excuse me

yet here you have filled Jerusalem with

your teaching and you intend to bring

this man's blood upon us. So they

commanded them to stop doing evangelism,

stop speaking in Jesus' name. Verse next

verse, what does Peter say? But Peter

and the apostles, all of them answered,

we must obey God rather than men. Next

verse. And the God of our fathers raised

Jesus whom you killed by hanging him on

the tree. Just hold like

they just got done reiterating the

command not to do it. Peter says we got

to obey God. And does it again.

So he's definitely disobeying human

authority

because God's commands always trump

human authority. That's another

established point. We're talking about

limits here. Do we have another verse

there? God exalted him at his right hand

as leader and savior to give repentance

to Israel and forgiveness of sins. I

think we have a couple more at least one

more verse. And we are witnesses to

these things and so is the Holy Spirit

whom God has given to those who obey

him. And maybe one more. And they heard

when they heard this they were enraged

and wanted to kill them.

It's like no different than what's

happening uh in in Esther. Uh sometimes

obeying God puts you in terrible harm's

way even up to a threat to your life.

So sometimes you have to obey God and

sometimes you have to disobey God. Um

excuse me. So disobey human uh authority

to obey God. Uh

but then what is happening here in verse

19 back to 1 Peter 2:10.

1 Peter 2:10

For this is a gracious thing when

mindful of God when endures sorrows

while suffering unjustly. For what

credit is it if when you sin and are

beaten for it you endure.

But if when you do good and suffer for

it you endure. This is a gracious thing

in the sight of God.

We're going to go 21 through 25 because

that's the whole answer. You want to you

want to see scripture prove that the

cross the foot of the cross is always

the right destination in relationship to

whether you're in authority or under the

authority of someone else. You'll see

Christ as the trailblazer of that and he

is who we are to imitate. But

when you still do good in the context of

submitting to a leader who's being

unjust and you suffer for it and you

endure under that, that's a gracious

thing in the sight of God. Let's go to

now. So that's that's authority to

everyone. So you really have to consider

can I obey here because as God

finds that to be of high esteem. It's a

gracious thing. He sees that you can

only do that with his power and it

glorifies him when you do that. But you

have to stop short of of sinning because

sin never glorifies him. That's wrong

relationship to authority. So yeah, you

really do have to obey God no matter

what. And you really do have to obey

human beings, but not no matter what.

But in my experience, just looking out

at our world and as a pastor, people are

so quick to be like, "Well, he's telling

me to sin." When actually, no, not

necessarily. You just really don't want

to do it. Can we all agree that if we

were Vashi, we would not want to be

paraded in front of a bunch of men.

What do you think Esther would have

done? What do you think Esther would

have done? Do you think she would have

submitted in this situation

if if all it was was being paraded

around with clothes,

objectified in that way? Could you Could

you still submit? It's unjust. It's

wrong.

You're not going to want to do it. It's

going to harm you to some degree, right?

Didn't we just get done seeing that?

That sometimes following the way that

God wants you to follow will cause

suffering. For this is a gracious thing.

When mindful of God, one endures sorrows

while suffering unjustly.

You have to have a lot of trust in God

to be willing to do that. that following

someone who's telling you to do

something that will not seem to be good

on this from an earthly perspective and

and is going to cause you pain

and yet you're still going to like

positionally submit to them.

You don't in that case, by the way, have

to agree that they're right. That's it's

unjust. The Bible says it's unjust what

they're doing in this situation. What

Xerxes did was unjust. It's wrong.

Can you still follow?

I'll give I'll give you my answer. I

believe that Esther would have submitted

to this ugly command. I think she would

have. You may not be convinced of that

yet, but man, when we start going

through Esther's character in the next

couple chapters,

she's painfully submissive. I don't mean

painfully as in wrong, but I put myself

in her shoes and I'm like just against

your will taken into a herum as a

teenager. Was that a teenage woman's

dream

to be one of many wives of to a god king

who has a reputation a bad one?

Still her behavior towards him is so

respectful

and submitted.

So I I it seems to me she would seems

seems I don't know. There's not enough

information, but I'm thinking about

these things. I'm I'm not a wife. I'm a

husband. And yet I'm under all kinds of

authority. I'm under the authority of

the elders. I'm under the authority of

um first responders like policemen. I'm

I'm uh I'm under the authority of the

governor. I'm under the authority of the

mayor. I'm under the authority of the

courts.

I'm under the authority of the principal

of the school we have our kids at. I

can't just be like, "No, you can't

lead."

And I mean, when do you ever agree with

any everything a leader says? So, I'm

thinking like, "Am I as submissive as

Esther?" And I'm like, "I want I want to

be, but man, it will be painful

sometimes."

So, let's go to husbands and wives here.

Verse chapter 3:1 of First Peter. Again,

we're just talking about how to relate

to authority correctly here. Likewise,

wives be subject to your own husbands,

so that even if some do not obey the

word, they may be one without a word by

the conduct of their wives when they see

your respectful and pure conduct. Is

that really saying what it sounds like

it's saying? Let me read it again.

Likewise, wives, be subject to your own

husbands, so that even if some do not

obey the word, they may be one without a

word by the conduct of their wives.

Again,

the limit is simple in a way. If your

husband tells you to sin, don't. Because

remember, your ultimate allegiance is to

God. But God said here, be subject to

your husbands. In other places, wives,

submit to your husbands. So,

to some degree, this husband's not

obeying God's word. And he's obviously

making decisions based on not obeying

God's word because there's no such thing

as a married couple that doesn't have to

make any decisions,

right?

And yet there's something so far beyond

is it right or wrong for me? What's that

gracious thing that God's looking? He's

looking for,

in this case, wives that he can use to

bring their husbands to repentance. And

isn't that what you want anyway?

If you're just under the authority as as

a man, if I'm under the authority of

another man and I I can't break the

positional authority because that

disobys God and I want to live my whole

life to glorify him. So, I need to

submit, but they're telling me to do

something that really isn't biblical.

But but is it sin for me to accept it

and remain in submission? That's the

question. And if it's not, you have to

submit anyway. And then God can use that

respectful conduct, whether you're a

wife in a marriage or uh a man or a a

kid being parented wrongly, whatever it

is,

God's after not just is it right or

wrong for you, is it going to feel bad,

he's after using your witness to bring

the person in authority to repentance.

It's a greater calling when you think

about marriage in the first place

according to Paul in Ephesians 5. It is

an image of Christ's relationship to the

church. So when a husband and wife are

in right relationship to each other,

they glorify God's plan for salvation in

relation Jesus in relationship to the

church. That passage does say submit to

one another in reverence for Christ. And

so there are times, Christine's sitting

right here, where she's right and I'm

wrong.

Guess whether I always do what she says,

even when she's right.

No. Sometimes it takes me a while

because I'm not being humble.

So what does she then have to do? Think

about it as husbands. Think about it how

horrible it is for your wife to have to

continue following you when you're not

obeying God's word. terrible position to

put your wife in.

In spirit, not that much different than

what Hassaweris was doing. Putting Vashi

in a terrible position, not protecting

her and her purity. Also, he's leading

other men into sin on top of it.

Objectifying women is sinful. Period. So

man,

if the off-ramp for Vashi was like I

intuit it was to actually do it anyway.

That's the offramp every one of us wants

to blow by. Is it not?

And God's like, "Take it. Trust me. Take

it."

I want to show you something. We'll come

back to the first Peter chapter 3

1 Peter 3 · chapter mention

passage regarding marriage. I want to go

back to the passage and back to Esther

and I want to show you something because

in God's sovereigns, God was removing

Vashi and installing Esther for his

purposes. However, God did not need

Esther.

Didn't work like that. He decided to use

her, but he did not need her. Uh,

chapter 4 shows that in Morcai's words,

chapter 4:14. I think I've got that one.

We're in like the middle of the conflict

of the whole book, like kind of

climactic here. And here's what Mordei

says to to her. For if you keep silent

at this time,

relief and deliverance will rise for the

Jews from another place. But you and

your father's house will perish. And who

knows whether you have not come to the

kingdom for such a time as this? There's

a there's an off-ramp. Or maybe you

ought to think about it. Don't take the

off-ramp. Don't take the easy way. Keep

driving straight ahead. you got to speak

up. Initially, she'd been commanded by

Morai, not just guided, commanded not to

make her ethnicity known. Don't tell

them you're a Jew. Now, he's saying,

"Yagada."

What does she say? Let's just skip down

to verse the end of verse 16. If I

perish, I perish. She puts her life on

the line. But had she not, deliverance

would have arisen from somewhere else.

So God didn't need Esther. I love

Esther. She's a heroine of faith. She's

she's awesome. But she wasn't actually

like absolutely necessary.

So if you if you look at that like could

have God used Vashi to advise the king

that he's being fooled by Hmon so as not

to destroy us. he if she had been

willing to submit say, "Well, she's not

even like a person that submits to God

in the first place." Yeah. Still no

excuse. Remember Romans 2.

So the way that I read the story is that

God God could have used any queen that

was willing to submit to him and put her

life on the line to go tell the king

what's happening is terribly wrong.

do something.

It's a what if. I just don't want to go

beyond scripture. But what if the reason

God wasn't using Vashi is because she

wasn't willing to actually submit to the

king. It's a what if. What if? Maybe we

get to heaven and God says, "No, Vashi

wasn't in the wrong here." Maybe that's

how you feel. But it's a worthy

discussion to consider, isn't it?

Because it's going to come up in your

life over and over and over again.

So when a queen doesn't submit, when a

wife doesn't submit,

when a subordinate of any kind, when a

son or daughter

or an employee

doesn't submit, what do you do? Well,

you make a law against that, don't you?

That's what they do. This is how the

world works. Listen to this. We'll

continue reading, and I'll probably read

most the rest of the story here because

it's all just kind of one big chunk.

Verse 12. But Vashi refused to come at

the king's command delivered by the

Unix.

At this the king became enraged and his

anger burned within him.

Let me take just a couple minutes.

I I believe that one of the greatest

temptations or like context for

temptation is when your will is being

thwarted. You ever get angry when your

will is being thwarted? My mom used to

hate when my dad did this. My dad

conquered a lot of the anger that was

kind of falling through the generations.

Uh Garings have had anger problems all

the way through. And the only way to

overcome that as a son of an angry

father is to repent and to let God be in

control of your emotions. Um uh but

every once in a while it slipped out and

like he would trip on one of our shoes

and he'd kick it across the entire room.

In addinate object rage is what I call

that. And I inherited that. Uh, I don't

know if you did or whether you just

experienced this, but it's like you're

getting upset at an inanimate object for

thwarting your will. Did it do it on

purpose?

No. How much more angry are you going to

be when someone thwarts your will on

purpose?

Kids are so good at that

by nature.

>> I'm good at that. Thwarting people's

will. I find myself in little fantasies

about how I might thwart somebody's will

that's in the wrong. Not the right

attitude, is it?

Not what God wants from people in

positions of followership. I don't know

followership, leadership and

followership. I don't know if that's

even a word, but I think you know what I

mean by it. Like he he's not looking for

us to find ways to thwart the will of

the people in authority.

There are extreme cases, not the sermon

for it, where that may may be the only

faithful thing to do. So, but anyway,

let's continue here. So, Vashi or Aseras

is enraged. So,

you're going to have to be under the

control of the spirit when anybody

that's under your charge that you're

supposed to be leading is intentionally

thwarting your will cuz it will make you

upset.

And then that's where the peace and the

self-control of the spirit, the

gentleness and the kindness. Can we put

the main point up again? When you

completely trust God and someone's not

following, it will empower you to lead

without force. Anger will make you want

to be forceful though, won't it? with

your children, with your wife, as a

mother to your children, as a father to

your children, to employees, to anybody

you have any authority in relationship

to.

When your will is being thwarted, you

want to enforce. It's just human nature.

And you might do that in different ways.

You know, you can do it manipulatively.

You can do like a full frontal assault

kind of thing, like must throw

everything at this person to overcome

their will. But it's not God's way. It's

by the spirit, not by force.

And so, you got to you got to trust him

in those situations as a leader because

sometimes there's terrible consequences

for people not being willing to do what

you're telling them. Sometimes they have

to get fired at at work, you know, and

maybe you really care about them and you

don't want them to get fired and so

you're trying to manipulate it so that

they'll do what you that's not the way.

Verse 13. And then the king said to the

wise men who knew the times, for this

was the king's procedure towards all who

were versed in the law and judgment.

Okay, so they're called wise men. Um

they're called versed in the law. And

next verse 14, the men next to him were

Carina, Shethar, Admatha, Tarses, Meis,

Marcina, and Meican, the seven princes

of Persia and Media, who uh saw the

king's face and sat first in the

kingdom. like a whole bunch of powerful

men under the rulership of Hasaweras

according to the law. What is to be done

to Queen Vashi? Because she did not ha

has not performed the command of King

Hassaweras delivered by the Unix

like what are we what are we going to

do?

How are we going to coercively force

this situation to be right? Verse 16.

Then mechan said in the presence of the

king and the officials not only against

the king has queen Vashi done wrong but

also against all the officials and all

the peoples who are in all the provinces

of King Aasaweres for the queen's

behavior will be made known

to all women causing them to look at

their husbands with contempt since they

will say King Aoseres commanded Queen

Vashi to be brought before him and she

did not come this very day the noble

women of Persia and media who have heard

of the queen's behavior will say the

same to all the king's officials and

there will be contempt and wrath in

plenty.

What is what is Meicanin is kind of the

spokesperson for the wise men for the

for the princes here saying

all our wives are going to disobey us

too.

Was that a phantom fear? Was that a real

fear? Did Vashi have that kind of

influence with all the noble women? I

mean there is just a little bit of

evidence that she had some Queen Vashi

verse 9 also gave a feast for the women

in the palace that belonged to King

Aasaweres.

I think that the noble women kind of

liked her. That's my guess. I don't

know. But whether it's a phantom fear or

whether it's a real fear, it's a fear.

And what are these princes actually

afraid of? They're afraid of being

treated with contempt and wrath and

plenty.

Put the main point up again. Did you

know that men in leadership are afraid

of the contempt and wrath of women,

especially their wives? Do you know that

husbands are afraid of that?

We don't like it. Scary. Not fun.

What is it? Hell hath no fury. Those

those truisms come from somewhere, you

know, so they're afraid.

A housewares is angry.

You mix fear with angry and out comes

force.

There's almost no other way. You're

going to try to control the thing that

makes you angry and afraid, aren't you?

It's not the way of the spirit. It

doesn't require trusting God completely,

does it? Let's continue.

So, there'll be this contempt and wrath.

They'll follow Vashi's way. That can't

be. There ought to be a law against that

wife's behavior. You know, there ought

to be a law. That's Greg's line. Uh,

have you ever had that attitude in

relationship to your wife or husband?

Like, basically, you're saying, "I wish

that was illegal, how you just treated

me."

You know, when the law seems to be in

your favor, even it's wrong. A lot of

people go along with it. Not a good

thing.

Verse 19. If it pleased the king, let

the royal order go out from him, and let

it be written among the laws of the

Persians and the Mes, so that it may not

be repealed that Vashi is never again to

come before King Aasaweras.

I'm not sure if this equals divorce, but

in spirit, it's pretty close.

Maybe she remained a wife. She gets the

title queen's taken from her. She's

known as Vashi after this and she never

sees him again. So it's at least in

spirit breaking God's law and every

husband knows better. That's your wife.

It's to to death do us part. You made

vows

a tree thwarts your will one time and

you know

I was going to say off with her head but

not not quite out of my sight. Never

come into my sight again. Not God's

will. not God's will at all. In one

sense, it is because God is

providentially working it out so that uh

so that Esther ends up rising to the to

the throne. But his revealed moral will.

It's not the right way to treat your

wife. Not ever.

If it pleased the king, though, and let

the king give her royal position to

another that is who is better than she.

Here's another thing.

Both husbands and wives

in the flesh when they're not sewing to

the spirit will exclusively focus on

each other's sin.

You need to change. No, you need to

change. No, you need to change. No, you

need to change. The destination is the

foot of the cross. When you get there,

and if you're the leader, the husbands

are in the marriage. There's a real

headship there. It doesn't matter what

people say. That's what the Bible says.

It should not be controversial. It's

pretty straightforward. The leader that

gets first to the cross stops saying,

"What about the wife you gave me? Oh my

gosh, you died for all of my sin. And

now you can lead from grace." And you go

and instead of saying, "Wife, you need

to apologize first."

And vice versa. Not until you apologize.

You know who's right with the authority

of God first? The person who gets to the

foot of the cross first. And that's not

always going to be the husband, but if

you're a leader, it should be regularly.

Where are you leading your family?

Where's the destination to the cross? If

you're not there, you're not leading

them there.

So, yeah, it's painful.

This is also true. Like, not all sins in

a fight are totally equal. Like if you

say, "Well, um,

you don't care about me and uh, you

don't you don't even pursue me." This is

a husband talking to a wife. And then

the wife says back, "Escalated

things meant to hurt the husband cuz

she's hurt by that." Those escalated

things are worse. Maybe not in the sight

of God because I think God holds the the

leader to a higher standard, but like

then the husband will be like, "Well,

look how much wrong she did compared to

the wrong that I did. She needs to

apologize first. wrong. Again,

if God's convicting you that you've done

something wrong, go to the cross first.

Otherwise, you'll have no power granted

through his Holy Spirit to lead your

wife at all. Have you ever tried to lead

someone spiritually while you're not at

the foot of the cross? How did that work

out for you? Hasn't worked out well for

me. There's no power.

So, again, these men are trying to make

laws. is not the main thing that we

learned from Galatians that you can't

cause spiritual change as a result of

the law. Did not God say righteousness

doesn't come through the law. Did he not

like let's actually go there. This is

Galatians 2 3 2 through3.

Not just about initial justification and

salvation like you're never made

righteous through the law. It was never

its intent. It's not even God's law's

purpose from him to make you righteous.

It's to point out your unrighteousness.

Do we have Galatians 3:2? Maybe I didn't

Galatians 3:2

give you guys that one. I'll go to it

myself if you want to turn there in your

Bibles. Um Galatians 3:2 says this.

Galatians 3:2

Oh goodness. There it is. Galatians

Galatians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2-3. Chapter 3 2-3. Let me ask

you only this. Did you receive the

spirit by works of the law or by hearing

with faith? Verse three, are you so

foolish having begun by the spirit,

you're now being perfected by the flesh,

works of the law? No. So can you by law

decree in an effective way that women's

would not women's that wives would not

have contempt and wrath for their

husbands?

Zero effect

to their spirit.

That's not where honor

and respect come from

they come from the heart and the law

will always only point out what's wrong

with the heart and the behavior but it

cannot does not will not and doesn't

even have the intent from God to

transform human hearts that's by faith

through grace that Paul hammered that

with a sledgehammer through Galatians so

they cannot achieve the solution to what

they're angry and afraid about through

the law and mo they still try. It's the

way of the world.

Verse 20. So when the decree made by the

king is proclaimed throughout all his

kingdom for it is vast. All women will

give honor to their husbands high and

low alike. No they won't.

No they won't. They might be acting like

it because they are afraid of the

consequences,

but they're not giving the honor a

husband actually desires or God actually

uh sees as obedience.

You can't do it by force.

You can't do it by force. Let's just as

a reiteration, put the main point one

back up. We're we're close to done here.

We're going to go back to some of the

New Testament passages that talk about

what we should actually be obeying.

Trusting God completely empowers us to

lead without force and follow without

contempt. Every husband wants a wife to

follow without contempt and every wife

wants to be led without force. And you

say not every wife.

Yes. This what the Bible shows. Women

want their husbands to be protective,

nurturing, cherishing, loving, and they

want them to lead. And so what do you do

if they're not being that way? You know,

I think one of the fears too is not

just, oh, my husband's leading in a

control of course of way. One of the

fears is like, I don't think my

husband's leading at all. I want him to

lead. I don't know if some of the wives

here feel like that, but let's go back

to chapter 3.

Likewise, wives, you subject your own

husbands of first Peter, sorry. subject

you husband so that even if some do not

obey the word they may be one without a

word by the conduct of their wives when

they see your respectful and pure

conduct. Would you trust God enough as a

wife, as an employee, as a child? Honor

your father and mother. It says, would

you trust God enough to remain

respectful even when your husband, your

parents, your boss

is not in line in his leadership with

God's word? Would you trust him enough

to offer him that suffering because it's

a gracious thing in his sight?

Do not let your adorning be external,

the braiding of hair and the putting on

of gold jewelry and the clothing you

wear, but let your adorning be hidden

per the hidden person of the heart with

the imperishable beauty of a gentle and

quiet spirit which in God's sight is

very precious. For this is how the holy

women who hoped in God used to adorn

themselves by submitting to their own

husbands. As Sarah obeyed Abraham,

calling him Lord, and you are her

children. Did Sarah.

Did Abraham always lead in a godly way?

No. He made her lie. By the way, that's

a sin. She should not have obeyed. She

did. But what this is highlighting is

her godly character of how she really

did follow Abraham. Not a perfect

husband.

As Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him

Lord. And you are her children if you do

good. And do not fear anything that is

frightening. Do not fear anything is

frightening. It's frightening to submit

to a husband you know is a sinner. And

if you don't know your husband's a

sinner, you've got your anthropology

wrong. He is.

My wife Christine sitting right here. Uh

when we were dating, she said, I don't

even know what brought the conversation,

but she said, "I'm looking for a husband

who's worthy for me to submit to." And

it just convicted me so deeply. I'm

like, "I don't I don't think I am." and

I think there's some serious ways I need

to grow. And but then I realized, yeah,

I really do need to grow in those ways.

But I came back to her and I said,

I'm never going to be worthy of your

submission.

The only reason you should ever submit

to me is because God said so, not

because I'm perfect. The origin has to

be complete trust in God. I will fail

you. I will do wrong. I will not grow

fast enough. There's all these things.

It ought not to be an excuse.

God's given us everything we need for

life and godliness.

But is your reason for obeying someone

because they're a good person? No such

thing, first of all, and secondly, that

ought not to be the reason. The reason

ought to be God.

Likewise, husbands, live with your wives

in an understanding way, showing honor

to the woman as the weaker vessel, since

they are heirs with you of the grace of

life, king and queen, so they so that

your prayers may not be hindered. God

opposes husbands who do not live in an

understanding way with their wife. And

every husband knows what it's like to be

under the authority of a jerk,

who doesn't listen to you, and then you

still have to or you lose your job

basically, and it's just a slog every

day. So then, are you treating your wife

that way? It's not understanding, and it

will hinder your prayers. You're praying

for a promotion. Good. I pray for your

promotions. I get excited when when

people get promoted in their careers and

and yet part of it is being in right

relationship to authority, your own

authority as a leader in this case, but

ultimately God's authority. And he says,

"Live with your wife as an understanding

way." Do you understand that it's

frightening to your wife when you don't

obey God's word and she so has to

submit. Do do you understand that makes

her afraid?

If you don't understand that, it's

topheavy leadership. And man, I don't

think I'm sitting here like above the

crowd. I'm right there in the pews with

you

in my heart.

So it is really as hard as it sounds. In

fact, it is actually impossible. You

have to trust God completely.

You have to trust him completely.

Hebrews also says this in regard one

thing we haven't discussed and just for

very short before I conclude here with

why the cross is the only way you can do

this. Hebrews uh chapter 13:17

says that it's it's unbelievably

important to submit to leaders in the

church too. Verse 17, obey your leaders

and submit to them for they are keeping

watch over your souls as those who have

to give an account. Let them do this

with joy and not with groaning for that

would be of no advantage to you. Any

leader in the church has to ultimately

give an account to God.

Right?

So, you know, looking back at first

Peter about how like you endure unjust

leadership, suffering unjustly, and it's

a gracious thing in God's sight. You

know, it reminds me of that idea, no

good deed goes unpunished. And I'd said

that, I don't know who said it to the

family, and Ezra is kind of an

absolutist like me. He's like, is that

really true? And Isaiah is sitting right

here who's just absent mindly focusing

on something else, but has the brain

power to listen halfway on something.

and he goes, "Yeah, that's true, but you

still have to do good anyway." And then

just walks by with a sigh, you know. So

12 years of vast experience and the

conclusion is yes, when I do good, I get

punished and I have to do good more and

then I will get punished more and such

is life.

And there's some truth to that even

biblically. We also know it's not

ultimately true because God will reward

uh even as after the grave all good

works. So every good deed will be

rewarded. That's the real truth.

So I I want you to consider that idea

that it's going to cause pain to follow

the right way. It's going to cause pain

to lead the right way. You can't control

your wife. And and you know if I if I

had to say something here just towards

the end in terms of something that may

be convicting for husbands. I don't

think in the church today male

aggression is the primary problem. I

believe male passive passivity is. I see

that way more often. Uh men will hide

behind the idea of like well I'm not

supposed to lead with force but they'll

never even say the thing they need to

say their wife because it rocks the

boat. I heard a comedian say and I don't

remember the punch line so this won't be

funny but it's the core of what he was

saying. He goes, "My dad also always

used to tell me, son, you got to pick

your battles." And then I watched him

never pick a battle. And now he's

wearing a sweater vest he hates. I guess

that was the funny part after all. Uh

there's truth in that that you ought to

pick your battles. Not everything is

worth having a conflict over. But if

what you really mean is, "I'm just going

to mellow out and never lead," that's

not godly either. You you got to say

what you need to say and then you got to

leave it in God's hands.

That comment, by the way, was true for

both partners in any authority

relationship. Got to say what you need

to say.

So let's go to the destination which is

the foot of the cross and let's consider

how Jesus perfectly exemplified

the concept of being right in right

relationship

to the cross. And then before I forget

what we're going to do is we're going to

come to communion considering that

ourselves. Do we need to repent of the

way that we've been relating to

authority? Do we need to repent of the

way that we've been leading? Do we need

to repent of the way that we've been

following? Remember, it's not the

outward, it's the inward. You got a bad

attitude and contempt towards leadership

or you're being coercive towards someone

in your charge. That's all that's all

sin that needs to be forgiven and you

can take that to the the table and we're

going to do that corporately today. So,

that means I'll be coming up after the

next couple songs. So, grab your

elements, come back. Uh, but during that

time of worship, really be considering

what the Holy Spirit's saying to you.

specifically about First Peter chapter 2

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

starting in verse 21. That whole idea of

enduring suffering unjustly while still

remaining submitted. For to this you

have been called because Christ also

suffered for you, leaving you an example

so that you might follow in his steps.

He committed no sin, neither was deceit

found in his mouth. When he was reviled,

he did not revile in return. When he

suffered, he did not threaten, but

continued entrusting himself to the one

who judges justly. He himself bore our

sins in his body on the tree, that we

might die to sin and live to

righteousness. By his wounds, you have

been healed. For you were straying like

sheep, but have now returned to the

shepherd and overseer of your souls. No

person who's ever lived has had a

greater claim to say that's unfair. I

should not have to submit to I'm

perfect. I've never done anything wrong

and now I have to bear the sin

of everyone who believe. I have to face

your wrath.

It was unbelievably painful for Jesus to

submit to that in the garden.

sweat like blood,

overwhelmed the point of death. But he

did and it was because of the joy set

before him. And so he is our model. You

will never have to face a submission as

terrifying,

dreadful, and excruciating as bearing

the wrath of God. But had he not done

it, none of us would be saved. He was

willing to be used in that way.

He laid down his own life.

So trusting God completely empowers us

to lead without force and follow without

contempt. Heavenly Father, thank you for

this message. I pray that you would

transform us accordingly.

You know the work that you want to do in

our hearts. I pray that that would work

would have its fulfillment even in a way

today in Jesus name. Amen.