Well, good morning. It's good to see you here again this morning. I trust that you were able to get a good night's sleep. I understand some of you got to hear the rest of the story, as it were, of the Walden's vacation this past summer and all of its excitement. But now I trust that we're ready to hear again the Word of God. I would ask that you take your copies of God's Word and turn to the second chapter of the book of Esther. Esther chapter 2. Knowing that some of you were not able to be with us last night, let me just quickly review something of what we considered together, because in our study together last night, we did not consider anyone who is even mentioned in the book of Esther. And what we did was we looked at the one who was behind the scenes, working in all the events that transpired throughout this book. And of course, that would be God Himself. And we saw that God was at work, and we saw His fingerprints, and in particularly, we saw His sovereignty, we saw His wisdom, and we saw His love. And now, this morning, I want us to focus our attention upon the One who is the namesake of this book. this woman whose name is Esther, and Esther means star. We know that she was an orphan, and we know that she was raised by her cousin whose name was Mordecai. Now, I will say, before we actually begin to consider various traits of this woman's life, that there are some things that are somewhat mystifying as you read through the book of Esther. For example, when Visti was cast out of the king's court because she would not parade herself in front of the king and show off to all those gathered together at that banquet what a beautiful wife the king had, why in the world would Mordecai allow Esther to marry such a man? And I don't know the answer to that. And it is not addressed in the Scriptures. I don't know why Esther would allow herself to be married to such a man. Again, that's not addressed or considered in the Scriptures. There are some commentators that go after Esther and go after Mordecai with regard to this point. But as you read through the book of Esther, There's something about this woman that is very attractive. There is something about this woman that she stands as an example, in many ways, for us to follow. And it is that that I want you to consider with me even this morning. You see, the Word of God says in Proverbs chapter 27 and verse 1, Do not boast about tomorrow, for you don't know what a day is going to bring forth. Most of our days are probably filled with uneventful things. We get up, Perhaps some of you get the children up and get a breakfast ready, and then watch your husband as he goes out the door to work, and then you spend the day with dirty clothes or vacuum cleaners or whatever the case might be, and then they all come home and you get supper together and you go on and so forth and so on. Pretty uneventful. But who knows what a day may bring forth? And Esther, on one particular day, was probably going through her normal routine when events begin to take place that will change her life forever. Look at verse 1 of chapter 2 of the book of Esther. And after these things, when the anger of King Hasherus had subsided, he remembered Vesti and what she had done and what he had decreed against her. And the king's attendants who served him said, Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king. And let the king appoint overseers in all the providence of his kingdom, that they might gather every beautiful young virgin to Susay, the capital, to the harem, into the custody of Hige, the king's eunuch, who was in charge of the women, and let their cosmetics be given to them, And let the young ladies who pleased the king be the queen in place of Vesti. And the matter pleased the king, and he did accordingly." And so they notice that the king is now lonely. In fact, he misses the former queen. And so his men gather around him and come up with this plan. Let's get all the beautiful young virgins. And let's make sure they're as beautiful as we can possibly make them be. And let them come before the king and the one that pleases the king. Let her take the queen's place. And in verse 5, we read these words. Now there was a Jew in Susay, the capital whose name was Mordecai. And then we read on that Mordecai was taking care of one of those beautiful virgins that would now be brought in and prepared to go before the king. And that virgin's name was Esther. Esther. And so, we begin now to hear about this woman. And throughout this chapter and throughout the book, we find different character traits about this woman that we might want to imitate. And so, in our time together this morning, it is my desire that you consider with me several of those traits. and examine your own lives to see if there's something of them even within you. So we will note seven of them together this morning. The first one that I would have you note with me is that she displayed grace. Look there at verse 8. And so it came about that when the command and the decree of the kings were heard, and many young ladies were gathered in Susa, the capital, into the custody of Hege, that Esther was taken to the king's palace into the custody of Hege, who was in charge of the women. Now the young lady pleased him and found favor with him, So he quickly provided for her with her cosmetics and food and gave her seven choice maids from the king's palace and transferred her and her maids to the best place of the harem. Esther comes in and meets the man who's in charge of all the ladies who are now going to be paraded before the king. And it is noted that whatever Esther had, the one thing that was particularly noticed by this man was that she was a woman of kindness. Or, as it says here in verse 9, she found favor with him. Literally, it means this, she lifted up grace before him. She lifted up grace before Him. There was something about being around her that was very pleasant. Now that's somewhat striking when you stop and consider something of this woman's life. Remember, she has lost her parents at a young age. She is living in a land of captivity. She is raised by her cousin. She is now, and the wording is such, that she was taken, almost forced to be a part of this pageant. It wasn't necessarily something she was seeking to do. She did not hear about the edict that was pronounced and thought to herself, oh, I hope they pick me. I hope I'm one of the young ladies that gets the parade. No, in all likelihood, the language that's used here is they had to coerce her. They had to force her to now become a part of all that is going on. I would imagine that if we had opportunity to say something like this to Esther, Esther, is there anything about your life that you would change? She might say, oh yeah. I wish my parents hadn't died. I wish I was able to be raised by my mom and dad. I wish I was able to go back with some of the others who are now back in Jerusalem, but I still have to remain here in captivity. I wish I didn't have to participate in this parade. I wish I didn't have to participate in this pageant. I wish it was different. She could have been a very bitter woman. She could have been a woman that was complaining and grousing because of her lot in life. How unfair it seemed! She could have been a woman who had bitter thoughts She could have been cantankerous. She could have been a very unpleasant woman in light of her circumstances. And some of us may have stepped back and said, Esther, I understand. Man, look at what you've had to go through. No wonder no one wants to be around you. But that's understandable. But you see, we don't sense that in Esther, do we? Hegai, when he meets her, finds her to be a very pleasant woman. She lifts up grace before his face. And even further on down in the chapter, when Esther goes before the king, we read in verse 17 of chapter 2, And the king loved Esther more than all the women. Now, why? Now, at first you might think, well, because if you know anything about what goes on, it takes them a year to prepare to go before the King. The next time your husbands complain about you spending an hour in the bathroom getting ready, you take them to Esther. For a year, they're primping. Wanting to look very nice. Now, I don't know what you can do in a year, but they did it. So there's no doubt in my mind When it comes to physical beauty, every woman, I mean, in a year you can do a lot, every woman must have been beautiful in appearance. I can't imagine one of them walking before the king with their hair all messed up and bags under their eyes and sloppy clothes on. I mean, what's the king... I gave you a year! What is this? So I can only imagine that every one of those women that paraded in front of this man was absolutely gorgeous. Physically. In appearance. So when we come to verse 17 and it says, the king loved Esther more than all the women. What was it about Esther that would stand out? And we're told, notice, and she found favor and kindness with him more than all the virgins. It doesn't say she was more beautiful. It doesn't say she was more sensual. It says that as she stood before the king, he found grace. and kindness in that lady. Now, dear ladies, I really believe that you play a dominant role in the environments of your home. Here's the question I would ask. When your family members come to your house, do they find it to be a place of kindness and pleasantness? A place they want to enter into? I know of some husbands who live in a situation in which when they get to the front door, they almost hesitate and think, okay, if she's had a bad day today, when I open this door, it's all going to come. And he comes home to a place filled with tension. He comes home to someone who wants to complain because things haven't gone the way She wanted them to go. She comes home to someone that seems somewhat unhappy in her God-given role there in the home. It's just an unpleasant situation. We have those verses. You can keep your fingers at Esther 2, but go to Proverbs 19 and verse 13. Speaking about some of the hardships that a man may have to face in his life, Proverbs 19 and verse 13, a foolish son is destruction to his father. The contentions of a wife are a constant gripping. That word contention means strife. It even means the idea of brawling. It's a type of thing that one faces, and in the midst of facing it, you really look for some relief someplace. And here the Proverbs says, the man who has to constantly come to a home in which there is living under that roof a wife who is in contention. She's constantly brawling or fighting or there's constant strife. It's like the constant gripping. It can become annoying. And a man simply thinks, I need to get a break from this. I need to get out of here. And then what happens? He goes to work. And there's some lady in the office who begins to speak very kindly to him. And he finds that attractive. And pretty soon, as she continues to speak to him in a kind way, in a respectful way, and he finds himself enjoying her company, his heart begins to go out to her. And then there's trouble. And then the dear woman comes to the pastor and says, I think my husband may be going out on me. I don't understand why. I fix him his meals. I iron his clothes. I wash his dirty laundry. I clean his house. I don't understand. I'm doing all this for him. But she's not made it a pleasant place to live. There's no joy in that home. Because she's constantly complaining or grousing or just being miserable. It's not that she's not doing her duty as far as domestic things go. But that man finds it to be a place that's unpleasant to come home to. You may say to me, Pastor Walden, how about him? Doesn't he have a responsibility to make our home a pleasant place as well, an environment that's good to live in? How about him? Or may I say, I'm speaking at a ladies conference. Have a men's conference and invite me back. I'll go after them. Listen, let me ask you. Are you seeking to make your homes a place where the environment is pleasant? Where he doesn't want to go out with the guys afterwards. He wants to go home. They're sort of scratching their heads. Come on, let's go out. Let's go do... I'm going home. You want to go home? Yeah. Is your wife out of town? No, she's there. And you still, yeah. Would you be willing to go home this afternoon and ask your husbands, do I make this a pleasant place? Are you glad to come home? You see, Esther, there was just something about her that those who had contact with her found her to be very pleasant and kind, even when her circumstances may dictate differently, left to herself. She displayed grace. Now, moving on from that, we notice several other things that I would have you note with me. Secondly, she displayed a spirit of self-control. She displayed a spirit of self-control. If you know the story of Esther, of course, the king loves her and picks her to be the next queen. Verse 17, the king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she found favor and kindness with him more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen in the stead of Vashti. She is now recognized to be the queen. But here's something you must know. No one knows Esther's background in the palace. They do not know that she is a Jew. Why is that? Why is it that no one knows those things? Well, again, I would have you take notice, verse 10 of chapter 2. Esther did not make known her people or her kindred. For Mordecai had instructed her that she should not make them known." Mordecai tells Esther, Esther, you're not to let anyone know that you're Jewish. That's the instruction she received. And therefore, in a time in which she might have wanted to speak out, she was the one selected to be the queen. She kept her mouth shut. She governed her tongue. She was able to control herself and not speak in light of the instruction that she had received. I mean, you think there might have been a point where she wanted to have said, listen, out of all you ladies, I'm the one who's the queen and I'm Jewish. She reigned in her tongue. Look over to chapter 5. Esther has to go in before the king. And she sort of risks her own life. We'll look at more of that later on this afternoon. But she goes in before the king. And the king sees her. And the king noticed that something's troubling her, verse 3. And the king said to her, what is troubling you, Esther? And what is your request? Even to half the kingdom, it will be given you. And Esther said, if it pleases the king. Esther goes before the king. The king notices something's troubling her. The king says, listen, what is it that you need? And then he makes quite an offer. I'll give you up to half my kingdom." Now, that's quite an offer. This guy had a big kingdom. He was quite wealthy. Now, Esther could have thought, man, this is an opportunity. Half the kingdom. I could line my own pockets quite well right now. But she showed restraint. She did not come to the king at this occasion in order to get something of material wealth. She came to plead with him on behalf of her people. And she kept that in mind. She reigned in her thoughts. She reigned in her own natural greed. And she asked him only for what she needed with regard to her own people. Of course, if you read on here, you know that what she asked for is a banquet, that she might talk to the king and Haman and so forth. But here, it's an interesting thing. Here's this offer. It's a huge offer. But she governs her own emotions and doesn't take advantage of someone, but simply, in the end, wants to plead for her own people. See, she seemed to be a woman who was able to control her tongue. She seems to be a woman who was able to control her own anger. What you find is, pretty soon she's going to be in a room with Haman. Haman's the one who has plotted to kill all the Jews. Now she's in a room with him. And she's able to control her anger, her own spirit of revenge. She deals with things properly, in a right way. She demonstrates that she's a woman of self-control. Proverbs 25 and verse 28 says, like a city that is broken into and without walls, is a man who has no control of his spirit. We need to learn to control our spirits, our appetites. We need to learn to govern our own desires. D.G. Kyle describes self-control as the ability to avoid excesses and to stay within reasonable bounds. The ability to avoid excesses and to stay within reasonable bounds. Jerry Bridges writes, self-control involves a much wider range of watchfulness than merely the controlling of our bodily appetites and desires, we also must exercise self-control of thoughts, of emotions, and of speech. And so the challenge is to be women who have self-control in the area of what I allow to enter my mind, what thoughts I entertain, It means I will control what comes out of my mouth and what I will say to others. I want it to be appropriate speech. I want it to be speech that will build up and not tear down. I want my speech to be under edification. I simply don't want to blurt something out and then be, sorry I said it. I want to watch what I say. It's an interesting fact that once words come out of our mouths, you can't take it back. I know there's been times in which many of us wish that there was somehow some time delay between when it leaves my mouth and when it reaches your ears, so that somehow I could reach out and even grab it before it arrives. But we can't. And therefore, we've got to govern what we say. Be careful what you say with your tongue. Proverbs 20 and verse 19 says that we're not to associate with a gossip. A gossip. Someone who can't control their tongues. And even our emotions. We've got to learn to govern our emotions. Now, I know God made you different than He made us. I still don't understand the logic in the fact that I need to have a good cry. I've never had that desire. Believe me, she's here, she can bear witness. I've never said to my wife, leave me alone, I need a good cry. And there's not something in and of itself wrong with a good cry, but we've got to learn to control those emotions. There's a proper way of expressing even our emotions and a proper place. And we need to learn to control and govern those things as well. and even the spirit of anger and revenge. I want to get back with you. I want to get back. I want them to know something of what I've known. We've got to guard against that. Watch our anger. She displayed a spirit of self-control. She displayed a willing submission to God-given authority. She displayed a spirit of willing submission to God-given authority. We see that again here in chapter 2 and verse 10. Mordecai says, don't let this be known that you're a Jew. And Esther took heed to that instruction. She listened to what he had to say and she was submissive to it. She found herself willingly listening to her cousin when he told her what to do. Submission is not a bad thing. It's a good thing. It is a thing that is helpful to you and your life. And so whether you're here and you're under the authority of your parents, or whether you're here and you must submit to your husband, submission should be an attribute, a trait that is seen in your life, even as we see it displayed in Esther's life. But that leads us then, fourthly, to notice She displayed a grace of faithfulness. Faithfulness. She was a woman that could be trusted. When she gave you her Word, she would follow through. That's especially illustrated, I believe, in chapter 4. In chapter 4. Mordecai has learned about the plot of Haman. And Mordecai knows that the Jews are now going to be subject to extinction. They're going to be annihilated. They're going to be killed. I mean, it's amazing to me exactly how that edict is worded. We want to kill them and we want to annihilate them. And I'm wondering, what's the difference? But the idea is we want them wiped out. We want them destroyed. And Mordecai finds out. And therefore, Mordecai gets word into the palace to Esther the Queen. And Esther the Queen is a bit hesitant because what Mordecai wants her to do is, and we'll look at this next session, but he wants her to go in before the king. And going in before the king could mean her death. In all likelihood, it would mean her death. If the king would not accept her, then she would be put to death. You didn't just go before the king. But Mordecai talks to her. Verse 13, chapter 4, then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, do not imagine that you are in the king's palace can escape any more than all the Jews. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not obtained royalty for such a time as this. And then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, go and assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me, and do not eat or drink for three days, night and day, and I and my maidens will also fast in the same way, and thus I will go to the king. I will go to the king, which is not according to the law, and if I perish, I perish. So Esther gives her word. I will go before the King. And for three days though, they're praying and they're fasting. Three days have passed since Esther said, I will go before the King. Now, Esther's a woman just like all of you. She has all the emotional tendencies. She has all the fears. She doesn't like to live with all the uncertainty. And no doubt that in those three days, there must have been times where she wondered, what am I doing? I'm living in a palace. I'm doing quite well. I could die if I go in before that man and he doesn't hold out that scepter. It's over for me. And I wonder if there were not times when she thought to herself, maybe I ought not to do this. But if in the end she realized, you know what? I gave my word. I said I would go before the King. And so then we read in verse 1 of chapter 5, And it came about on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king's palace in front of the king's room. And the king was sitting on his royal throne in the throne room opposite the entrance of the palace. She does what she said she was going to do. She was faithful to her word. She didn't say one thing and then go off and do another. She didn't try to excuse any reason for not... She was a faithful woman. As you read through the book of Esther, and you see her life, it's interesting to note that in many ways, she was much like Daniel. Living in a land that wasn't her own. She's a captive. She's young. And yet, there are few that could raise an accusation against her. Remember Daniel? When those men were trying to find out something against him that they might accuse him of, some wrongdoing. We read there in Daniel 6 and verse 4, Then the commissioners and the satraps began trying to find grounds of accusation against Daniel in regard to government affairs, but they could not find no ground of accusation or evidence of corruption in so much as He was faithful and no negligence or corruption was to be found in Him. He could be trusted. Do we live our lives in such a way that people can trust us? They can trust us with regard to the things that we say. They can trust us with regard to the things that we do. We're dependable. We're dependable. I'm reminded of the Proverbs 31 lady. The heart of her husband trusts in her. She is a faithful woman. That leads me then to notice the fifth thing about Esther that I would point out. Fifthly, she displayed a teachable spirit. She displayed a teachable spirit. She was not one to flaunt her independence, but she exhibited a spirit of listening and learning. Again, going back to chapter 2. Chapter 2 and verse 10. Esther did not make known her people or her kindreds, for Mordecai had instructed her that she should not make them known." Look over to verse 20. Esther had not yet made known her kindred or her people, even as Mordecai had commanded her, for Esther did what Mordecai told her as she had done when under his care. She still had a teachable spirit. She still was doing what she was instructed to do. I'm reminded of the verse of Scripture in James chapter 1 and verse 19. This you know, my beloved brethren, that everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger. We must be quick to listen. We ought to have a spirit that says, I need to be taught and I want to be taught. I don't know it all. A know-it-all is not someone that is very pleasant to be around. Someone who refuses to listen and always wants to talk, always wants to lead, always wants to teach and will not sit and be a student is not a very admirable trait. Robert Johnstone put it this way, One should be ready and eager to avail himself to all the opportunities of increasing his acquaintance with the Word of Truth. I want to be taught. I want to learn. When you stop to consider the principle that Christ laid out, when He said, for everyone who has been given much, much will be required. And to whom they entrust much, Of Him they will also ask all the more." And when you stop and consider that principle, to whom much is given, much will be required. And when you consider how much of the teaching and preaching of the Word of God you set under, the question is, as you set under that teaching, do you have a spirit that wants to learn and apply that Word to your life? To be instructed for good. We need to have a spirit of Cornelius and his household who said, we are all here in the presence before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord. We're here to listen. We're here to be taught. Or with Samuel, we ought to say, For your servant is listening." The hymn writer put it this way, teach me. Teach me, O Lord. Thy holy word and give me an obedient heart. Be careful of rising up and wanting to be a teacher. Wanting others to follow you. But may you have a teachable spirit. Sixthly, We see that in Esther, she displayed sincerity. Sincerity. What do I mean by that? She was real. She was real. She didn't put on pretenses. Again, going back to chapter 2, starting in v. 12. Now, when the turn of each young lady came to go in to King Hasheras, after the end of the twelve months under the regulations for the women, For the days of their beautification were completed as follows. Six months of oil and myrrh, and six months with spices and cosmetics for the women. And the young women would go in to the king in this way. Anything she desired was given her to take with her from the harem to the king's palace. In the evening, she would go in. In the morning, she would return to the second harem to the custody of Sheahashkah, to the king's eunuch who was in charge of the concubines. She would not again go into the king unless the king delighted in her, and she was summoned by name. Now, when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abiahel, the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his daughter, came to go into the king. It's her turn to go. Again, she can get anything she wants. anything she needs. Before she goes into the king, she can have whatever she wants. It's now her turn to go in. Notice, she did not request anything except what Hegai, the king's eunuch, who was in charge of the woman, advised. And she found favor in the eyes of all who saw her. She wasn't out to somehow falsely impress the king. One can only imagine that as those ladies got ready to go in, you can take anything you want. If you need something, just let us know. And they're all thinking, okay, what else do I need in order that I might look beautiful before I appear before this man? But this woman, she said, I don't need anything. I want to be real. I want to be sincere when I stand before this man. I don't want to be hypocritical. I don't want to pretend I'm something I'm not to somehow impress him. You know, a hypocrite is a play actor. Plays the part of something he's not. My son, I have a son who loves drama. And maybe he likes it so much because it gives him an occasion to be somebody he's not. He was recently a king. with power and authority. And when he spoke, people had to listen. He doesn't have a whole lot of that at home. When he walks into the room, neither his mother or I bow. He walked across the stage and people bowed. He was a play actor. He was a hypocrite. That wasn't who he really was. How often are we guilty of the same thing? Pretending to be something we're really not. Not sincere, not real. So it's time to sign up for oversight meetings. And there's a whole list of days in which you can sign up for the oversight meeting and you pick the last possible date on the calendar so that you might get things to look a little better before he arrives than it really is. You might play the part of a loving wife and a submissive wife for just a few months before he arrives. A hypocrite. Playing a role. Are you real? Are you real? Take anything you want. I don't need a thing. She was sincere. She was sincere. And finally, she displayed humility. She displayed humility. You know, what a contrast between Esther and Haman. Esther never seems to be wanting to thrust herself forward. Haman, on the other hand, I mean, he immediately... What should I do for someone that I want to honor, the king asked. And who does Haman immediately think of? Oh, he's talking about me? Who else? Who else would the king want to honor more than me? We don't find that spirit in Esther. In fact, we find very much the opposite, a very humble spirit. Even look over to chapter 7. This is the banquet in which Haman's at, and the king's at, and Esther's at. And we read there in verse 2, And the king said to Esther on the second day also, as they drank their wine at the banquet, What is your petition, Queen Esther? And it shall be granted. And what you request, even to half the kingdom, it shall be done. Notice Queen Esther's answer. She doesn't say, well, you know, I am the queen now. I have a position in this kingdom. And therefore, I demand..." Now, notice what she says. "...the Queen answered and said, if I have found favor in your sight, O King, and if it please the King, let my life be given, me as my petition and my people as my request." It pleases you. I'm not going to allow my position to dictate my actions. But I'm going to stand before you and if it pleases you. Now, the king has no idea what she's talking about. What do you mean? Take your life. Who wants to kill you? Who wants to kill your people? And then the whole plot of Haman is exposed. But notice, she doesn't go in there with a puffed up spirit. But she seems to be a woman who is clothed in humility. Chapter 8. Chapter 8, verse 5. This time she's going before the king. Haman's been hung on the gallows. He's dead. But because there's been an edict that says all the Jews would be annihilated and killed, an edict cannot be reversed. And so, while Haman is now dead, the edict still stands. And on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, all the Jews would be destroyed, annihilated, and killed. So Esther now, in chapter 8, comes before the king, and now we find her pleading with the king. Notice verse 3, "...and Esther spoke again to the king and fell at his feet, wept, imploring him to avert the evil scheme of Haman." She's pleading with him. "...And the king extended to the golden scepter. So Esther arose and stood before the king, and then she said, if it pleases the king..." Now again, even in a time of desperation, We are all set to die. She still expresses a spirit of humility. If it pleases the King and if I found favor in Him that the matter seems proper to the King, and I am pleasing in His sight, let it be written to revoke the letter devised by Haman. Reverse the edict. Now, he can't do that. It's an impossibility. There is deliverance. God will provide deliverance. God willing, we'll look at that tomorrow night. So if you're not going to be here tomorrow night, and you don't know, read chapters 8 and 9. See what God does behind the scenes to bring deliverance to His people. But again, I can't help but notice the disposition of this woman. Spirit of humility. Hodges writes, Christian humility does not consist in denying what there is good in us. That it is an abiding sense of ill dessert. And in the consciousness that what we have of good is due to the grace of God. Whatever I have, whatever I've accomplished, it's only by God's grace. I don't deserve it. To Him be the glory. The spirit of humility. There are occasions when God has been very kind to us And my wife and I will be talking about something that God has done in which His kind providence was just extraordinary. And she may say something to me about, well, it doesn't seem fair that God would be so kind to us. To which I often will reply to her, honey, do you really want God to be fair and give us what we deserve? His grace and His gifts are just an expression of His kindness. And to Him be the glory. A spirit of humility. Well, here we see the different character traits of this woman. And may God help us, because of who we are, to even be found identified with these traits. In closing, look over to Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3. Verse 12 says, Colossians 3 and verse 12, And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against you, just as the Lord forgave you, So also should you. You know, oftentimes when we read that, we tend to really focus in upon those traits. I need to have a heart of compassion. I need to have kindness. I need to have humility. I need to be gentle. I need to be patient. And we tend to focus on those things, those things that Jerry Bridges describes as garments of grace. Things we ought to be wearing. Garments of grace. But let me just encourage you to begin by really taking notice of how He introduces those things. And He begins it all by saying, you who have been chosen of God, you who are holy, you who are beloved in light of your identity and who you are in Christ, these things ought to be a part of your life. If you're going to be a Christian, act like a Christian. How is that displayed? Well, here Paul sets down these different traits. When we look at a woman like Esther and we see that she was a woman who displayed grace and kindness. She was a pleasant woman. There ought to be something that rises up within you that says, listen, as a Christian lady, I ought to have an environment in my home which is pleasant. Grace. ought to be lifted up in their faces when they walk into this home. I ought to have a spirit of self-control. I ought to govern my desires. I ought to be willingly submissive to God-given authority. I ought to have the grace of sincerity, the grace of humility. These things ought to be a part of my life because of who I am in Christ Jesus. You see, none of us can say, well, God just hasn't made me that way. And oftentimes, that's the excuse. Listen, I would live a life of submission, but God's just given me a spirit that wants to rise up and decide things on my own. That wants to rise up and do my own thing. And I can't argue with that. You may be that way by nature. But doesn't the grace of God do something that changes us from what we are by nature? Isn't that what the grace of God is supposed to be doing? I have a hard time controlling my tongue. That's just the way God made me. And I've met women who I can't argue with that. In fact, I'd probably say, I think you've got a point. But that's what the grace of God does. It changes us from what we are by nature. So that I'm able, by the help of the Spirit and by the grace of God, to control my time. I really tend to be a man pleaser. I want people to like me. And so if I have to put on pretense to do that, I do that. The grace of God changes all that. So that even in the end, This world that we live in will see our light shine and then glorify our Father who is in heaven. So that's the purpose, isn't it? Is that God would be glorified through my life. That His name would be exalted by how I live and the way I behave. That I would not bear reproach upon my great God. May God help us. Let's pray. Father, thank you again for the opportunity to consider these things together. And we pray that you would take them and use them in the lives of each one of us gathered here for good. Father, we pray that we might be clothed with these character traits that would all the more demonstrate to this world that our God is a great God and that His grace is sufficient to make me holy and godly through Christ Jesus. Father, where there are areas that we need to work on, where there are areas that we have failed, how we pray that You would help us and give us the grace we need to ever be increasing in these traits. But Father, we also give You thanks that You're a God of mercy. You're a God of forgiveness. And so even this morning, as perhaps there are areas in our lives that are not pleasing to You, that we can come before You, confess our sins, knowing that as we confess, You're faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Father, we pray that none of us would leave here, even this morning, with a sense of failure, with a sense of discouragement, but that, Father, if there have been things that need to be dealt with in our lives, that would bear reproach upon Your great name, that we would quickly deal with them, that our lives may be marked by joy and satisfaction, even as we confess and forsake. So help us, we pray, as we ask these things in Christ's name. Amen.