Ezra 4:14 Now because we have maintenance from the king's palace, and it was not meet for us to see the king's dishonor… I. WE ACKNOWLEDGE A VERY GRACIOUS FACT. 1. We have been maintained from the King's palace — (1) In things temporal. (2) In things spiritual. 2. Our maintenance from the King's palace has cost His Majesty dear. He spared not His own Son. 3. We have had a bountiful supply. 4. We have had an unfailing portion. 5. The supply has ennobled us. 6. How cheering it is to have such a soul-satisfying portion in God. II. HERE IS A DUTY RECOGNISED. By every sense of propriety we are bound not to see God dishonoured — 1. By ourselves. 2. By those who dwell under our roof. 3. By those with whom we have influence; particularly those who desire to unite with us in Church fellowship. We must not receive into our membership persons of unhallowed life — those who know not the truth as it is in Jesus. 4. By the mutilation and misrepresentation of His Word. 5. By a neglect of His ordinances. 6. By a general decline of His Church. 7. By so many rejecting His gospel. We cannot prevent their doing so, but we can weep for them, pray for them, etc. III. A COURSE OF ACTION PURSUED. "Certified the king." It is a holy exercise of the saints to report to the Lord the sins and the sorrows they observe among the people and to plead for their removal. ( C. H. Spurgeon.) Parallel Verses KJV: Now because we have maintenance from the king's palace, and it was not meet for us to see the king's dishonour, therefore have we sent and certified the king; |
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