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The Four Wives

by Paul Taylor
01/20/21
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 2 Corinthians 11:2  (2) For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

The sermon deals with the subject of your 4 wives. I wrote this sermon using the short story of a man with four wives and used scripture to bring the point home of how we are so obsessed with materialistic and worldly pleasures we fail to see the future consequences which our present actions will bring in the future.

 Children love to hear stories as they tend to open and train the mind to think and analyze a subject.

.Jesus ministry was filled with stories to get his point across in a simpler, and better understood manner. The Bible records 43 stories, which we call parables that Jesus’s told to his followers, and to the large crowds who came to hear His messages. Jesus knew that the people could better relate  to a story and could be more easily understood by the masses.

 I presented this as a lead-in story to our Sabbath program, and later revised it into a sermon. My intentions were to awaken each of us to the reality of life, and how we fail to look at, or take life seriously as we dangerously place our priorities in the wrong order, and  in so many instances realize too late, the agonizing results associated with those poor choices.

 The book of Ecclesiastes is an excellent source in highlighting the results of poor choices and bad priorities, as King Solomon reflects on his poor choices warning us to avoid the pitfalls and snares of this life.

 Some of you may have heard of Cecil the Lion, and the Dentist who illegally hunted and killed him?

 Surely you have seen or heard of the undercover recordings of the planned parenthood execs negotiating and bargaining the selling prices of human aborted babies.

 The news media, social media and other outlets are up in arms for the slaughter of this Lion and are calling for in some cases death to the Dentist. He and his family had received so many death threats that he was forced to close his practice  and go into hiding until the storm blew over.

 Now the surprising part of this story is the fact that the news outlets, social media, or the public in general are not even uttering a groan for the millions of human babies killed each year for profit in the abortion mills of this nation. The undercover investigators that released the financial bargaining for aborted baby parts have been threatened with death as well as criminal charges for uncovering the truth.

 So, it seems the death of an unimportant wild animal is of a higher priority than the malicious killing of innocent babies by the millions.

 I am not going to get into politics, but I just wanted to use this as an illustration   of where we as a nation and a people put our priorities and sadly most of the time in the wrong place, and as this message points out we realize too late of the results of our choices.

 There was at one time a rich and popular King who had four wives.  Now this King was very well respected in all the lands as a fair and honest king who looked after the welfare and best interest of his subjects.

 The king loved his 4th wife more than all the rest, and adorned her with the finest clothes, jewelry, the finest delicacies, anything her hearts desired and the king spared no expense to see that her   desires were met. He gave her nothing but the best.

 He also loved his 3rd wife very much and was always showing her off, putting her on a pedestal, never missing an opportunity to brag about her or to show her off to all his friends and neighboring kingdoms, and if the occasion arose and it were possible, he would take her on trips to show off his prized possession. The king feared that one day she may get tired of him and abandon him for another.

 Now his 2nd wife, he also loved, she was his confidant, always kind, considerate, compassionate, and patient with him. She was always there whenever the King faced a crisis or a serious problem, became despondent she was there, and he could confide in her knowing  that she would give him honest and good council to help him through  the difficult times, or when major decisions had to be made.

 The King's 1st wife was his very loyal partner and had made great  contributions in maintaining his wealth and  his kingdom. However, he didn’t  love her, and  although she loved him deeply, he hardly took notice of her!

 Life rolled on and as the years passed, the King grew old and fell ill. The king was now aware that his life was ending knowing his time was short. He began reflecting  on his past, the luxurious life he had led, his kingdom, and his four wives. The thought struck him that he had these four wives now, but when I die, “I will be alone."

 Thus, he called for his 4th wife, pleading his case to her, he said "I have loved you the most, more than all the rest, I have endowed you with the finest clothing and showered great care over you. I have given you all that your heart desired or asked for, without hesitation, sparing no expense to satisfy your desires, wants and needs, but Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?

  Without hesitationshe replied, "No way!", , and she walked away without another word. Her answer cut like a sharp knife deep into his heart.

This was a devastating blow to the Kings  ego and he wept bitterly for hours.

 He then decided to ask his 3^rd wife, ”I know she will go with me.”

 The sad King then asked the 3rd wife, "I have loved you all my life. I Have been immensely proud of you, bragging and boasting to all my friends about you, showing the world how proud I am of you, but now I have come to the end of my life and I'm dying, I fear the thought of being alone, will you follow me and keep me company?"

 She replied with a very terse "No!", "Life is too good she exclaimed! When you die, I'm going to remarry! “The kings  heart sank to the bottomless pit of agony as her answer stunned him into silence. This was another deadly cold stab to the heart, and the King didn’t know if he could handle another  let down from another love of his life.

 After a short period of mourning, he called for his 2^nd wife. Surely, she would not abandon him, she had always stood by him  through good times and bad times, laughing when he laughed and crying when he cried, always there to cheer him up in his hours of sadness and to brush off the bruises  after an emotional  fall.

 He then spoke to the 2nd wife, mercifully  pleading " You have always been there for me, I have always turned to you for comfort and encouragement, you’ve always given me the strength I needed in my weakest hour with your wise advice and encouragement, and now that I am dying, I don’t know how to face the loneliness and darkness of death that awaits me, so will you please follow me keep me company, and give me the courage I need at this crossroads in life?"

  With a gentle tone of sadness in her voice the 2^nd wife, replied, " Yes, I have always been there for you, in all your happiness, your griefs, and your trials,  and was able to give encouragement when you faced life’s trials and I'm  truly sorry, but as much as I desire to be with you, this time it’s impossible to  help you" "At the very most, I can only walk beside  you to your grave."

  Her answer was like a bolt of lightning tearing through his very soul.  The King was devastated.

He flung himself about weeping bitterly, even more bitterly than he had ever wept before.

 He now realized he would have to make this trip alone; All the delicacies and love he had shown to his 4^th wife was of no concern to her.

 The pride of having a wife like the 3^{rd ,} and the boasting of her to all of his friends and family, was to her of little consequence as she had also refused to accompany him, instead remarrying, and enjoying life without him.

The confidence he had in his 2^nd wife was not of little importance even though she had always been there providing  encouragement and strength  in his roughest, darkest, and weakest moments.

 As he wept in his agonizing misery,  he caught the faint sound of a small weak voice calling out: "I'll go with you, and I’ll follow you, no  matter where you go."

 The King was shocked to say the least as he looked up, and there standing before him was the thin and malnourished first wife he had so deliberately neglected over the years. 

  Greatly grieved, and saddened at the sight now before him, the King moaned, "I should have taken much better care of you, I should have shown more interest when I had the chance!" I ignored you even though you were the most important part of my life, all the other wives should not have mattered, but I was too blind to see or understand the important role you played in my life, and now you, of all my wives have agreed to accompany me, I am saddened for the neglect and abuse I inflicted on you, please forgive me.  The king continued in his misery to weep for the terrible choices he had made.

 That is not the end of the story, but it is true, that we all have four wives in our lives.

 YOU DIDN’T REALIZE THAT DID YOU?

 Let me explain, and pay close attention to what I am saying.

You see each wife plays an important role in our lives, though none is more so than the other

  Now let me explain them one at a time.

 Our 4th wife Whom we spend immense amounts time and effort on, as we lavish her with fine clothes, jewelry, makeup, and cosmetic surgeries to enhance the appearance for show, is our body and  it will leave us when we die as it returns to the earth from which it came.

Ecclesiastes 12:7   Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

 Job 7:9-10 As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more. 10  He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more.

 Our 3rd wife , whom we are so proud of, love to brag about and show off to anyone interested, is our possessions, our status in life, and our degree of wealth. Also our cars, houses, paintings, and collections. GUESS WHAT?  When you die, all those things you are so proud of ; will marry another, taking residence with others, who will enjoy getting rid of it, more than you enjoyed having it, as it doesn’t mean the same to them   Matt: 6:19-21 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

 Our 2nd wife who is always there offering counseling, support, and encouragement in the bad  times as well as the good times is our family and friends. No matter how much they have been there for us, through the good times or the bad times, no matter how much they love us, the furthest they can go with us is up to the grave.   Matt.10:37-38  He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

 And finally, our 1st wife, the one we so blatantly neglect, and fail to nurture, is our Soul, so often neglected as we pursue wealth, materialistic goods, power, and the pleasures of this world.  However, our Soul is the only thing that will follow us wherever we go.   So, cultivate it, strengthen  and cherish it now, for it is the only part of us that will follow us  to the grave to be resurrected at the return of Jesus, and if we have fine-tuned it to the frequency of the redeeming blood of Jesus, then it will accompany us through eternity. Ezek.18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die.         Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

  As you reflect on this story it is my hope and prayer that you will take a closer look at your life and see just where your priorities lie! Choose today whom you will follow, JESUS or THE WORLD?

 Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

©  2016-2021 Copyright by Paul Taylor all rights reserved worldwide All scripture from KJV unless noted.