The Local Christendom Podcast With Aaron Ventura podcast

The State of the Church 2025 Sunday, January 5th, 2025 Christ Covenant Church – Centralia, WA John 21:15–25 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true. And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. Prayer O Father, from the rising of the sun unto its going down, your name is to be praised. Make our prayers to ascend to you as incense, as a pure offering, so that your name shall be great among the heathen. Show forth the power of your Word, as we receive it now into ourselves, for we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Introduction On August 24th, 2012, the idea of planting a reformed church in Lewis County was being contemplated by a certain Joe Stout, and that idea was also expressed (via email) to a certain Dave Hatcher, pastor of Trinity Church (CREC) in Kirkland. However, seven years would go by before that idea would start to take shape, and that idea become a gathering of men, called Reformation Roundtable , which met for the first time in January of 2020. Another year went by and then in January of 2021, those men and their families began to worship together, practicing the liturgy on Sunday evenings. And then finally, five months later, on Pentecost Sunday, May 23rd, 2021, Christ Covenant Church was born. There were 59 people in attendance, many of whom are still here today, some who are not. Fast forward to January of 2025 (today) and we are a 3.5-year-old toddler of a church. And yet we have a building we can now call our own. We have a young and growing classical Christian school (also known as our children’s church and youth ministry, for those wondering). And last week we had 199 people who came here to “rise and worship the Triune God.” Who are we but those who have received grace upon grace upon grace? God’s mercy and provision has been so abundant towards us, that while Joe planted, and Dave watered, and many of you have given of yourselves, your time, your prayers, and your resources to build up this body, we all say with one voice, the words of Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 3, “we are not anything, it is God who gives the growth.” It is God who planted us, and it is God who waters us. It is God who has loved us, and established us, and shall never abandon us. And we want God increase so that He may be all and in all. It is a marvelous work in our eyes, that God sent Christ to deliver us from ourselves. From our sins of self-absorption, our selfishness, our thinking far too highly and far too frequently of ourselves. Christ died and rose and ascended to heaven, to draw you up and out of yourself into God. And what’s more, God has gathered us out of ourselves so that we can be woven together, this particular body of saints, to be one body. A body diverse in so many ways, in age, in vocation, in background, in skill and learning, and yet united in our common confession of faith, in our shared hope of heaven, and in our fervent love for the Savior. We have the great privilege and challenge of sojourning together on our way to heaven. So make no mistake, it is God’s grace that has built this church, and it is God’s grace that shall continue to build us and make us glorious if we will cooperate with His Spirit. Now it has been our custom to have around the beginning of the New Year, a “State of the Church” sermon. And these sermons are a kind of memorial to what God has done for us in the past, so that we can be encouraged to trust Him and run even harder after Him in the year ahead. This is keeping with Paul’s words in Romans 15:4 , where he says, “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” How are you hope levels? How is your “rejoicing always, praying without ceasing, and giving thanks in everything” going? This sermon is given to replenish our tanks, and to remind us of what we signed up for when said to Jesus, “I will follow you, come what may.” And so there are Five Lessons I want to draw from our text. Five Smooth Stones from how The Gospel of John ends (and the Apostolic Church begins). So let us walk through this text and gather those lessons along the way. Lesson #1 is a question – Do you really love Jesus? Verse 15 15So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee… Recall that Peter had boasted earlier about how even if all the other disciples fall away, Peter would not. Peter’s name after all means Rock , and he thought he would be that rock immovable, who would lay down his life for Christ when nobody else would. We read in Matthew 26:35 , his boastful words, “’Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!’ And so said all the disciples.” And yet we know how the story goes. All the disciples, including Peter, are scattered and run for their lives. Peter lies, he denies knowing Christ, and he does this three times in bold contradiction of his profession of love for Jesus. Peter talked a big game, but when the game was on, he faltered and was humiliated. However, after Christ’s resurrection, that fear of death is conquered in Peter. And unlike Judas who betrayed Jesus and then committed suicide, Peter betrayed Jesus but then sought to be restored by Him. And this is the difference between a true Christian and a false one. What do you do after you sin? What do you do after you fall? Do you humble yourself, run to Christ, own up and confess that sin to Him? Or do you just feel bad for yourself, and conclude, what’s the use of even trying? It says in Proverbs 24:16 , “For a righteous man may fall seven times And rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity.” Likewise, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 7, there is a worldly sorrow that leads to death, but there is a godly sorrow that works repentance unto salvation. So what do you do after you sin? Because you should feel sorrow. You should feel bad. But the question is, What do you do with that sorrow, with that sadness? Do you let it eat you into the grave, or do you cast those sorrows before the cross of Christ, and by His grace rise again? That is the mark of a true Christian, not that we never stumble, but that when we stumble, we rise again. We do not make excuses, we do not blame our circumstances, or our spouse, no, the mark of a true Christian is that we own up to our failures honestly before the Lord and plead with Him to restore us. Three times Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me? And three times a now chastened Simon Peter replies, “Yes Lord, you know that I love you.” So this is the first lesson and the most important question: Do you really love Jesus? And do you love him not only in word and in tongue, but in deed and in truth? Jesus says the greatest of all commandments is to love God, and then your neighbor. And Paul says in 1 Corinthians 16:22 , “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maran-atha.” If you would like to live a blessed life not only in 2025, but for all time, you must really love the Lord Jesus, and you must seek forgiveness from Him whenever you sin. That is the first lesson and without it you cannot go further. As Paul says, without charity we are nothing. Now if we have charity, if we have authentic love for the Lord, then we should want to manifest that love according to our unique calling, vocation, and season of life. Paul says in Galatians 5:6 , that “faith works by love.” And so Lesson #2 derives from Christ’s threefold command to Peter as an Apostle to, “feed my lambs, feed my sheep, feed my sheep.” If you really love me, then feed my sheep. And so for those of us who are sheep, what is our job? To eat! Lesson #2 – Feed on God’s Word. How did Jesus fast for 40 days and overcome the devil in the wilderness? He had the law of God upon his lips. As a man he lived not by bread but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God. How does the Apostle Paul say we can have peace in our hearts? By letting “the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” ( Col. 3:16 ). Who is the man we read about in those Psalms, whose leaf does not whither, and whatsoever he does prospers? He is the man who meditates/chews upon the law of God day and night. So the Shepherd has his job, he must feed the sheep. A preacher must give milk to newborn lambs, and meat to the strong. But the sheep also have a job if they would follow the Good Shepherd. They must receive His Word. James 1:21-22 says, “Lay aside all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” Paul says likewise in 1 Thessalonians, “For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe” ( 1 Thess. 2:13 ). So are you hearing God’s Word with a noble mind, like the Bereans, of whom it says in Acts 17:11 , “they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” What kind of soil is your mind? Is it noble, fertile, ready to receive? Or has it been hardened by ignorance and sin. Or worse, do you have no spiritual appetite anymore because the cares of this world have choked you out? The Good Shepherd wants to feed you. He wants to make you lie down in green pastures, and lead you beside the still waters. The Lord wants to restore your soul and lead you in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. But you must follow Him and you must eat with thankfulness what He puts in front of you. That means committing to reading, hearing, and knowing the Scriptures, and paying close attention to the Word as it is preached from this pulpit. So that is Lesson #2, “Feed on God’s Word.” And we find in Lesson #3 some added motivation. Lesson #3 – All Sheep Must Eventually Die Jesus says to Peter in verses 18-19 (NKJV), “Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.” This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.” Tradition holds that Peter was bound and then crucified upside down. And whether that specific form of execution is what actually took place we don’t know for sure, but what is certain is that Christ guarantees to Peter some 30 years before it will happen, a death that no man would naturally choose for himself. And then with that promise of a painful death, Jesus says to Peter, “Follow me.” To follow Jesus is to follow him into the grave. For Peter as an apostle, it meant certain painful martyrdom by which he would glorify God. He would be dressed and carried where he did not want to go, and yet at the same time, God would be carrying Peter, to a place that He had prepared in advance for him, a place in the Father’s House, where there are many mansions. This is the great challenge of following Jesus. Eternal life, abundant joy, is offered to us, but only through death. In this life we must die daily unto ourselves, we must put to death our own passions and sinful desires. And all of that dying in faith is meant to culminate in our eventual putting off of this mortal flesh, so that we can put on a body incorruptible. All sheep must eventually die. And no man knows the day or the hour in which that judgment shall come upon him. But every man can be certain that such a day shall come, and you do not want to be caught unawares. Moses prays in Psalm 90:12 , “Teach us to number our days, That we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” And Solomon likewise testifies in Ecclesiastes 7:2 , “It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.” Have you taken to heart that you must die? And are you ready to give an account for what you have done in the body? You cannot truly live in freedom, until you have reckoned with that absolute inescapability of your death. And while probably none of us are worthy of the glorious crown of martyrdom, all of us should desire to be. We should all desire to glorify God in life and and in death. Paul says in Romans 14:8 , “For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.” If you are following Jesus, you are following the one said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it” ( Luke 9:23-24 ). Summary: Lesson #3 is that All Sheep Must Eventually Die, therefore make your plans accordingly. Number your days and become wise. Now we see in our text that Peter’s response to Jesus is to then inquire about John’s future. What about the disciple whom Jesus loved, what about him? Verses 20-23 (NKJV) Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.” Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?” So even after Peter is restored to the Apostleship, and his love has been confirmed by Christ, and his glorious martyrdom foretold. He somehow still finds a way to get rebuked. And this leads us to Lesson #4… Lesson #4 – Mind Thy Own Business Followers of Jesus are not immune to distraction. If an apostle can stumble here, so can we. Peter thinks it is somehow relevant to his life and ministry to know John’s destiny. But Jesus says otherwise. “What is that to you? You follow me.” These are words from Jesus that you must hammer into your soul. It is a question you must learn to hear from Christ whenever peace and joy is lacking. “1) Do you know your business? and 2) Are you doing it faithfully?” Paul puts it this way in Romans 14:4 , “Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls.” You will be tempted this year to expend time, energy, and attention on things that God has not asked you to expend any time or energy on. Some of you are like Paul, a high-functioning over-achiever. And your temptation is to eat the bread of anxious toil (or to not eat at all), to rise early and sit up late, and to forget that unless the Lord is building through you, your labor is in vain ( Ps. 127 ). For those who love and delight in hard work, you must learn to stop and rest, to find true Sabbath. Some of you on the other hand are a little too leisurely (that is my nice way of calling you lazy). Perhaps you lack ambition or focus, or perhaps you are just disorganized. Or perhaps you lack diligence and never finish anything because you procrastinate. There is only one path to faithfulness but many paths to ruin. It says in Proverbs 24:30-31 , “I went by the field of the slothful, And by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, And nettles had covered the face thereof, And the stone wall thereof was broken down.” Whereas it says in Proverbs 22:29 , “Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings.” So wherever you fall on that spectrum of labor and laziness, all of us should want to aim at being able to say what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:10 , “But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” The sign that you are minding your own business, working hard with God’s grace, is that you have peace. You have joy. You have the fruit of the Holy Spirit coming out of you, not fear and anxiety. By the way, this comes from heeding Lesson #3 and numbering your days and counting yourself dead to the world already. So when the next controversy arises on the internet. Hear the words of Jesus, “What is that to you? You follow me.” Or, when you are tempted to compare yourself to that person or this one, to envy her, or covet his stuff. Hear the words of Jesus, “What is that to you? You follow me.” Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:11 , “aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you.” That is your calling: Mind Thy Own Business. Finally, we will close where John’s gospel closes. Verses 24-25 24This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true. 25And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. The fifth and final lesson is… Lesson #5 – Become A Good Book John wrote only a tiny fraction of the things that Jesus did. And when you receive Jesus into your heart, you become a book written by Him. So what kind of book do you want to be? What kind of testimony to Christ will your life have? What will the chapter of your life for “2025 Year of our Lord,” read like in heaven? The Author and Finisher of your faith is ready to write. That is to say, He is overflowing with grace and truth and wants you to receive His Spirit in greater measure. So will you receive Christ anew, will you walk in that Holy Spirit, will you keep in step with the Spirit of Christ into and out of the grave? May you ever be, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.…

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The King’s Feast Sunday, November 24th, 2024 Christ Covenant Church – Centralia, WA Esther 1:1-8 Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces:) That in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace, In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him: When he shewed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honour of his excellent majesty many days, even an hundred and fourscore days. And when these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace; Where were white, green, and blue, hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black, marble. And they gave them drink in vessels of gold, (the vessels being diverse one from another,) and royal wine in abundance, according to the state of the king. And the drinking was according to the law; none did compel: for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do according to every man’s pleasure. Prayer O Father, we thank you for the mystery of Christ’s kingship, that is concealed in the Old Testament and revealed in the New. Teach us to hunger and thirst for righteousness, for the justice of your throne, so that the glory of our land might be brought into your heavenly kingdom. For we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Introduction Well for the last two weeks we have been studying the historical context in which the book of Esther takes place. And this morning we begin our exposition of these opening 8 verses. By way of review, recall that this story takes place in Shushan/Susa which was the royal capital of the Persian Empire. And we said that the When of this story is a ten year span from 519-509 BC, which is within the broader Era of Restoration in the history of Israel. So while the books of Ezra-Nehemiah, Haggai and Zechariah describe the Jews rebuilding in Jerusalem, Esther describes the simultaneous happenings of the Jews living in Shushan, 1,000 miles away. So we said that in order to rightly interpret and understand Esther, we need to understand those other books as well, and so we’ll continue to bring in material from those other books whenever it has relevance or bearing on our passage. Now our text this morning focuses on King Ahasuerus (also known as Xerxes, or Darius the Great). And there are three questions I want to ask of these 8 verses which will be crucial for understanding who Ahasuerus is and why he does what he does throughout this book. Those three questions are: What is the king’s biggest problem? What is the king’s solution to that problem? What do these opening verses reveal about the king’s character? So our focus this morning will be on assessing the character of Ahasuerus as Scripture presents him. By the way, if you look at the back of your bulletin, you can see a famous carving of this Ahasuerus in what is known as the “Behistun Inscription.” This is a cuneiform carving authored by Ahasuerus, written in three languages: Old Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian. If you look closely at the image, you can see Ahasuerus with his foot on the neck of rival king Gaumata, and behind him nine other kings and/or pretenders to the throne, that he conquered all in a single year. Later I’ll read you some of the contents of this inscription, but it is amazing that in God’s providence we have an actual carved image and words authored by Ahasuerus so we know (kinda) what he looked like, and more importantly, what he thought about himself as king of the world at this time. I will post in my sermon notes a link to the full translation of the inscription if you want to read it for yourself: https://www.livius.org/articles/place/behistun/behistun-3/ So there is your illustration for this week, let’s now consider our first question. Q1 – What is the king’s biggest problem? The answer to this question is found in verse 1. Let’s read it again and see if you can spot the king’s problem. Verse 1 1Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces:) Put yourself in Ahasuerus’ shoes. If you are Ahasuerus, your biggest problem is that you are king of 127 different provinces that span 3,000 miles from India to Ethiopia, amongst whom are diverse peoples speaking different languages who have their own local customs and ways of living. And what’s more, you live in an age without cars, without airplanes, without drones or satellites, there are no cellphones, no internet, no television, no radio, you don’t even have newspapers yet. The fastest way of communicating your laws and wishes is by a handwritten decree that gets sent on horseback. And it will take weeks and in some cases months, for such a decree to travel from your capital in Shushan to the borders of your empire. So that is the world you live in and somehow, you have to maintain law and order and unite in your empire. How are you going to do that? So the king’s biggest problem is how to unite and make peace amongst so many different peoples, nations, languages, and customs, who are geographically spread out with (in some instances) thousands of miles between them. How do you make peace and unity in such a sprawling diverse empire? In modern day terms we might ask, how do you make peace between Democrats and Republicans, between upper class and lower class and everyone in between. How do you make laws that are just and righteous so that both the city mouse and the country mouse can get along? The problem of empire is diversity, and the big question for whoever rules that empire is: What is going to be my principle of unity? Diversity is only good insofar as each member makes some contribution to the one body-politic. The king as head of the state must find a way to assimilate all its members so that they serve the common good. This is the great problem Ahasuerus must deal with. And we find the first stage of his solution in verses 2-4. Q2 – What is the king’s solution to this problem of unifying his empire? Verses 2-4 2That in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace, 3In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him: 4When he shewed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honour of his excellent majesty many days, even an hundred and fourscore days. The first stage of the king’s solution is to throw a great feast for all the governing officials beneath him: his princes, his servants, the nobility, all the movers and shakers of those 127 provinces. The invitations go out, and all the important and respected leaders of those provinces are invited to attend. And this is not just a weekend party, it is a six-month, 180-day all-inclusive festival, so you have plenty of time to travel there, see the sights, and enjoy the luxuries of Shushan. You can imagine the king is inviting all the important celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, senators, judges, CEOs, and so forth to this great party. This is the greatest feast the world has ever seen, and everyone who has influence in the kingdom is invited. This is the kind of party that everyone would want an invitation to, because everyone important is going to be there, not to mention the free food and drink. So what is the intended effect of this 180 day feast? The text tells us in verse 4, it is to show forth and display the glory, riches, and majesty of the king and his kingdom. More practically this would mean giving the leaders of those 127 provinces ample time to mingle and celebrate and feel like they are part of this great empire. The King’s glory is their glory. The king’s riches are their riches. The King’s majesty is their majesty. This is how Ahasuerus intends to unite competing and conflicting interests. He wants to gather them under one glorious banner and give them a banqueting table to feast around. Ahasuerus understands Proverbs 14:28 , “In the multitude of people is the king’s honour: But in the want of people is the destruction of the prince.” What makes a king truly glorious is not mere gold, silver, and precious stones, but rather it is to have a multitude of virtuous people (men and women of hayil ) who love his rule, who wish his reign lasts forever, who toast to his health and say, “long live the king, may his years endure.” This is what Psalm 72 foretells of God’s messiah, “In his days shall the righteous flourish; And abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, And from the river unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; And his enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: All nations shall serve him…His name shall endure for ever: His name shall be continued as long as the sun: And men shall be blessed in him: All nations shall call him blessed.” Remember that at this stage in Israel’s history, Ahasuerus is God’s appointed king of the world empire (oikumene). He is successor to the Cyrus of whom Isaiah 45 prophesied saying, “Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, Whose right hand I have holden, To subdue nations before him; And I will loose the loins of kings, To open before him the two leaved gates; And the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, And make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, And cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, And hidden riches of secret places, That thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.” So in this Era of Restoration, when no Son of David sits in Zion, God ordained that these gentile kings would govern his people until the time that Jesus Christ comes. This is what Daniel explains to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2. Four kingdoms shall arise: Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. And in the days of Rome a stone from heaven, cut without human hands, would crush and consume all those kingdoms. And that is the kingdom of Christ and His saints (the age in which we now live). So what I want you to notice as we consider Ahasuerus’ and his reign, is that He is both a forerunner and type of the King Jesus who is to come, and he is at this stage in history the actual divinely appointed ruler of the world. God had given him supernatural help and victory over his enemies, and Ahasuerus knew and acknowledged that. If you read that Behistun Inscription, you will discover that Ahasuerus gives all glory to the Creator God on High. And while not a Jew himself, He is a gentile God-fearer who worships the Most-High God. I’ll read you a sample of how he summarizes his position as king: “This is what I have done. By the grace of Ahuramazda have I always acted. After I became king, I fought nineteen battles in a single year and by the grace of Ahuramazda I overthrew nine kings and I made them captive. [Then he lists the nine kings and why he conquered them.] Who is this Ahuramazda, he speaks of? Ahura is the Persian word for Lord , and Mazda is the Persian word for Wisdom . So he is literally the Lord of Wisdom . Recall that Daniel served in Cyrus’s court and was the 2nd highest in command (everyone knew who Daniel was. And so it is possible that Ahasuerus learned about this Creator God and Lord of Wisdom from Daniel himself. If you study the timeline and the ages of these men, Ahasuerus (born in 550 BC) would have been in his mid-late teens when Daniel was still active. And if you read the full inscription, it essentially describes the biblical religious cosmology just in Gentile/Persian terms. To read you a few more lines from that inscription: [iv.53] These nine kings did I capture in these wars. [iv.54] As to these provinces which revolted, lies made them revolt, so that they deceived the people. Then Ahuramazda delivered them into my hand; and I did unto them according to my will. This is what I have done in one single year; by the grace of Ahuramazda have I always acted. Ahuramazda brought me help, and the other gods [likely referring to the angelic beings which we see in Daniel], all that there are. On this account Ahuramazda brought me help, and all the other gods, all that there are, because I was not wicked, nor was I a liar, nor was I a despot, neither I nor any of my family. I have ruled according to righteousness. Neither to the weak nor to the powerful did I do wrong. Whosoever helped my house, him I favored; he who was hostile, him I destroyed. [And then finally he describes a rebellion he put down in the 2nd and 3rd year of his reign, right before this great feast we read about in Esther.] “Those Elamites were faithless and Ahuramazda was not worshipped by them. I worshipped Ahuramazda; by the grace of Ahuramazda I did unto them according to my will. [v.73] King Darius says: Whoso shall worship Ahuramazda, divine blessing will be upon him, both while living and when dead.” So that is a first-hand account, written by Darius/Ahasuerus as to how he conceived of his rule and position as king. Over and over again he gives glory to the Lord of Wisdom, worships this Lord of Wisdom, and acknowledges that he rules because of the grace of this Lord of Wisdom. He knows the Lord of Wisdom blesses in this life and the life to come. Now that does not mean the king was morally blameless, but it harmonizes with everything we learn about Ahasuerus in the book of Esther. So hopefully that historical rabbit trail helps you understand that this problem of unity was indeed a big and live problem, it was fresh in his mind, and Ahasuerus had that inscription written also on parchment and sent to all the province to be read. And so the book of Esther opens in the third year of his reign with hopes of peace on the king’s mind. How do you create the kind of love, loyalty, and righteous dominion of Psalm 72, if you are Ahasuerus? Well Phase 1 is a 180 day feast, where he tries to win over all those who might be tempted to envy the king, or subvert his authority, or rebel against him. What Ahasuerus must do is get all those subordinate rulers and provinces to have an aligned and vested interest in the king’s success. If they feel like the king’s glory is their glory, the king’s riches are their riches, they will want to keep that good thing going. There is famous maxim in economics that, “when goods do not cross borders, soldiers will.” In other words, when there is not mutual trade and some shared benefit between nations, war is inevitable. And so you want as many positive and shared interests within the empire to strengthen the common good. That is the purpose of this long feast. It is vision casting for a golden age of Persian rule (a feast that never ends). It is a chance for networking, wining and dining, and bringing together the most influential people in the world. Now if that is Phase 1 of Ahasuerus’ plan for unification, Phase 2 goes a step further. We read in verses 5-8… Verses 5-8 5And when these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace; 6Where were white, green, and blue, hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black, marble. 7And they gave them drink in vessels of gold, (the vessels being diverse one from another,) and royal wine in abundance, according to the state of the king. 8And the drinking was according to the law; none did compel: for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do according to every man’s pleasure. So after the king has thrown this long feast for the elites in the empire, He tops it off with a 7 day feast for everyone who is Shushan, great and small, rich and poor, masters and servants, doesn’t matter who you are, all are welcome. And what are they allowed to do? They are essentially allowed to live like the king for a week. They get to walk in the king’s palace. They get to stand in his court. They get to smell the flowers of his personal garden. They get to recline on his gold and silver couches, and drink from his golden cups, as much or as little as they want. Ahasuerus is not just benevolent to the princes and nobility, he shows favor to the poor. This is a king who invites the lowliest in Shushan to experience living like royalty for seven days. And so this brings to our third and final question… Q3 – What does all this reveal about the king’s character? In almost every modern commentary that I have read, Ahasuerus is presented as a drunken, proud, and angry fool. This is in large part because they identify him wrongly as a later Persian King who was conquered by Alexander the Great, and that is why you have to be careful to not let extra-biblical sources cloud your reading of the biblical and inspired text. There is nothing in these opening verses to insinuate the king is proud or boastful or foolish. If anything, it shows us the exact opposite. Given the position the king is in, a great feast for all the nobility is about the wisest and most prudent action he could take. I cannot think of a better way of uniting a vast empire than this. Can you? And then a second feast for everyone else shows that this king desires to share his glory with everyone alike, great and small. Although the king is rich and glorious and majestic, he is also humble and generous. Ahasuerus is heeding the words of Christ in Luke 14:13-14 , “But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.” If we take a snapshot of this seven-day feast, we see that it signifies in many ways the eternal feast that Christ speaks of in the gospel. The number 7 is of course the number of fullness, rest, and completion. And like Ahasuerus, Jesus invites to his eternal feast everyone great and small. He says in Matthew 11:28-30 , “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” What is the yoke and burden that Jesus offers? It is submission to his reign as King. It is the grace of faith through which you freely enter his kingdom. Recall that the context of this offer of rest comes right after Jesus is accused of being too festive, too much of a party animal. He says in Matthew 11:19 , “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.” It is ironic that Jesus, like Ahasuerus, is accused of being too extravagant, too lavish, a glutton and a drunkard. The commentators and historians read 180-day feast. “No way.” And then a seven-day feast for everyone in the city. “Not historically accurate.” But this says more about the commentators than the actual king. What was Jesus’ first miracle? Turning water into wine at a wedding. What does Jesus say the kingdom of heaven is like? He says in Matthew 22, it is like a certain king who makes a great wedding feast for his son and invites everyone to come to it. The scandal of the gospel is that it is over the top. It is too much. It is too universal. Everyone is invited. How can both great and small live like kings? How they can drink from his golden cups, and recline on the palace furniture? This is not fitting, this is not right, says the Pharisee. But that is the feast that King Jesus offers to the world. Like Ahasuerus, Jesus welcomes us all into his garden palace, His new Eden, a new heavens and new earth. And what is the only law at this feast? Esther 1:8 says, “And the drinking was according to the law; none did compel: for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do according to every man’s pleasure.” This is the king’s festal law: Drink until you are satisfied. In the words of the Apostle Paul, do not be drunk with wine, but rather be filled with the Holy Spirit. Do as Psalm 116:13 says and, “take up the cup of salvation, And call upon the name of the Lord.” Much more could be said about the parallels between this feast and Jesus’ feast. But let me close with the words of Christ, and the invitation he leaves us at the very end of Scripture. Conclusion It says in Revelation 22:12-17 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen.…

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