The sermon discusses the life of Louise de Coligny, daughter of Huguenot admiral Gaspar de Coligny. Louise grew up in a family deeply devoted to the Protestant movement in France. Her father instilled in her a strong faith and understanding of the Reformed doctrines, which guided her through many adversities. After marrying Charles de Tellenay, a leader in the Huguenot movement, Louise faced great personal loss during the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, where both her husband and father were killed. Despite her hardships, including being orphaned, widowed, and exiled by the age of 17, Louise remained steadfast in her faith. She later married Prince William of Orange, becoming a trusted advisor and mother figure to his children. Louise played a significant role in the political and religious landscape of her time, contributing to international relations and the education of her stepchildren. Her life was marked by resilience and dedication to the Reformed faith, even in the face of pressure from influential Catholic figures. Louise's legacy as a 'pillar sculptured in palace style' is a testament to her strength and the influence of her father's vision.

If you have your Bibles with you and you would like to, you can turn with me to Psalm 144. Psalm 144. It's a prayer of David or a song of David in regards to God who preserves his people. And in the midst of this psalm in verses 11 and 12 he says, rescue me and deliver me from the hand of foreigners whose mouth speaks lying words and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood. That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth that our daughters may be as pillars sculptured in palace style It's always been a very interesting comparison to me.

One would think that you would write that our daughters may be as plants and that our sons may be as pillars. But here David is praying that God would deliver him from the enemies. And I think that from the enemies is the bondage that they would be under, the regimen that they would be under, under these invaders. And this is the reason that our sons may be as plants and that our daughters may be as pillars. Well, one such pillar that was sculptured in palace style was Luis de Coline.

Luis was the oldest of four children born to the great Huguenot admiral, Gaspar de Colenay. De Colenay had a great love for God and for the fledgling Protestant movement in France. So we move having seen the Luther's there in Germany. This is at the very end of Katie's life. And we see the Decolonais family there in France.

Well this love that Admiral Decolonais had for the church brought him into many wars physical wars That brought the Huguenots into those wars with the Roman Catholic Church and the Huguenots were a persecuted people because they stood for the truth. And so you have this picture of Luis's father being a man of the faith, A man who fought for truth. That's the family that she grew up in. Now Admiral de Colonne and his wife Charlotte sought to bring their family up in this truth. The reform doctrines being very very precious to them and even while the Admiral was away at war He took time to write letters to his dear daughter, Louise.

Encouraging her in her faith, but also reminding her of the treasure of Jesus Christ, that treasure laid up for Christ for eternity. That was treasure that she would never lose. Because these were times where people lost all that they had. The Roman Catholic Church would come in in times of persecution and just take it all. And so he wrote to his daughter to keep her faith but also to lay up eternal treasure in Jesus Christ.

Well, Louise married her father's emissary, Charles de Tellenay, in 1571. Charles had arisen as a leader in the Huguenot movement in spite of the fact that he was actually a very young man. But this was the advice that the Admiral Decolonais gave to his daughter, Louise. You have other suitors rich and titled, but I advise you to choose Telany as your husband, on account of his rare and good qualities which I know him to possess. I give you this counsel because I think it will contribute to your happiness in life, which we ought rather to seek in all things than great possessions and dignified titles.

So just note that loving advice from a father who knew much of titles who knew much of wealth and said there are other suitors but marry Charles de Tellany. Why because you will be most happy And note that this happiness flows out of the fact that he knows the man on account of his rare and good qualities. Young ladies, that's what makes for a happy marriage. It is not riches, not wealth, not having it all, but who it is you marry. It's important.

Well, she listened to her dad. But their marriage would not last long. In August of 1572, Louise, with her husband and her father, so the three of them, Louise, Charles de Tellany and Admiral de Colony, all left for Paris. They were going there to attend the wedding of Henry de Nevar to Marguerite, France. And while they were there in Paris, at midnight on August 24th, 1572, a church bell began ringing.

The ringing of that church bell was to carry out an awful murderous plan that the Catholics had in place for the Huguenots. That night or early that morning, Louise lost her husband and her father. It is said that the men came into, knowing exactly where he was, he was staying at the home of the De Gease family and they knew where he was and in fact he was part of the plan. He had orchestrated much of it And the men who were with the colony ran down the stairs and held the men back for a while, but they came up and they said, We're outnumbered. We won't last.

So Admiral the colony sent Charles to tell any and his own personal pastor because as an admiral he had a man who oversaw the army and preached to the army and he was there at his side. He sent those two men away and they escaped And he sat there in a chair when the men made it up to the top of those stairs. He died that night. They threw him out of the window, not dead yet, but threw him out onto the street. And that was the start of the massacre known as St.

Bartholomew's Day. Well, Louise by the providence of God escaped Paris. Most likely She did this alone and most likely on foot. She made it back to her home, the Decolonais home, but it was not a safe place to be with all that was going on. The family that was gathered there, knowing what had happened, they thought it best to split up and to go to separate places rather than all together.

Luis with her cousin fled to Geneva, moving on from there to Bern and then to Basel. Rebecca van Doudawarden, and I'll show you the book here, it's a very good book, It's just come out. It's printed by Reformation Heritage Books, Joel Beeke's publishing place. It's Reformation Women. And in this, Rebecca Van Dodoerd writes, Dodeword writes, and let this sink in young ladies, so at 17 years old, at 17 years old, Luis was orphaned, widowed, exiled, and in poverty because the Roman Catholics had confiscated all her father's property.

Put yourself in her shoes at 17 years old. Well the Catholics offered the property back to Louise, but only if she renounced her protestant she refused choosing to suffer poverty and remain faithful to christ Little is known about the next 10 years of her life, but that life of anonymity was about to change. On April 2, 1583, Louise became the wife of Prince William of Orange. Prince William's third wife had passed away the year before, Charlotte de Bourbon, another woman of the Reformed faith whose life is worth studying. But the new French wife, Louise, of the Dutch Prince William was not received with open arms.

There were doubts, there were suspicions, Louise being from a predominantly Catholic nation, but they soon came to love her, as did Prince William's children. Rebecca Van Doordt makes the following observation. William's daughter Louise was pleased with her father's wife. She said the new mother loves us all and takes very good care of us. Louise was also an able wife for William, who found her to be a reliable counselor, a loving wife, and capable mother.

Well, the following year, the following year, 1584, a Frenchman named Gerard came to Delft there in the Netherlands and under a false name worked himself into a position working for Prince William. Although Prince William had no suspicions, Luis certainly did. Who is that sinister looking man and what does he want? You ever heard of a woman's intuition? Just things just...

Luis just look and this man was from France she was from France. This man was from the southern part of France and some of that control was in Spain and William was at war with Spain. But something just didn't sit well with her. Who is that sinister looking man and what does he want? Well, Gerard had an answer for her.

He actually wants a passport. Well, Gerard needed Prince William to sign the passport so that he could do the travels that he said he was planning. And so he came to the house and they were dining. Prince William excused himself and went there in the hallway, there by the stairs. In one hand, Girard extended the passport, but in the other hand was concealed a pistol.

And he fired the shots. He hit him three times with that pistol. Luis and Williams sister were at his side within seconds coming from the dining room where they had been dining. It was evident to them that William was dying. And there as he sat there on those steps, he prayed for all the people whom he led.

William's sister asked him if he commended his soul to Jesus Christ. His response was the very last word that he uttered, Yes. At the age of 32, Louise had lost her father and two husbands, all killed in cold blood. One biographer said the following of Louise, she had the advantage to be sprung from the greatest man in Europe and to have had two husbands of very eminent virtues, the last of whom left behind him an immortal reputation. But she likewise had the misfortune to lose them all three by hasty and violent deaths, her life having been nothing but a continuous series of afflictions able to make any sink under them.

But a soul like hers had resigned itself entirely to the will of God. Being left a widow after just 15 months of marriage, Louise found herself once again with no means of income, but this time with many stepchildren as well as her own six-month-old baby. Well, God provided for her needs through the generosity of the Dutch people who provided her a yearly allowance. Because the death of William left her 18-year-old stepson Maurice, the leader of the Dutch people. Louise had a greater need of being an advisor and an educator.

You dads, you look at your sons, your daughters, you think about your duty as in overseeing their education. Here was a woman who lost her husband, whose 18 year old son just got put in charge of the Dutch people. Like never before was it time to roll up the sleeves and to get involved with her stepson. She even spent time building international relations with countries like Britain and France, as well as writing many letters to the Dutch Estates General and their own Secretary of State. But although Louise involved herself with these diplomatic affairs, she also spent enormous amount of times in the education of these other five stepchildren who remained at home with her.

There were others who went with other family, but she was left with five stepchildren from the previous marriages of William. Her interest in the lives of these stepchildren went so far as helping with the arrangements of marriages and involvement in the lives of grandchildren as well. Well in 1589 Henry de Navarre became King of France which came as a relief to the Huguenots living in the country. And so, Louise returned home. But controversies back in the Netherlands caused Louise to return in 1603.

At this time, she founded a French Reformed Church, and they called a man to come and be a leader of what came to be known as the Armenian Party. The party who was in controversy at that time with the Calvinists. Although the specifics are not known as to how and why, Louise actually came down on the side of the Armenians, but she didn't like the controversy at all. Well these controversies and disagreements rose to a level that Louise felt it necessary to return to France in 1620. A short time after her return to France she became deathly ill.

Author Rebecca van Doetewaert again records the following deathbed story. Listen to this. Even on her deathbed, strong as ever. At Fountain Blue Palace, Louise became sick. When news of the seriousness of her illness got out.

The Roman Catholics tried their best to win her back to their faith. Cardinal Richelieu, hard and manipulative, was sent to do the task. When he entered Luis's room, he found a reformed pastor on one side and a Protestant friend on the other. Richelieu said, Madam, take care of your soul. You have two evil spirits beside you.

And then Cardinal Richelieu professed deep anxiety for her spiritual condition, urging her to save herself by returning to the Roman Catholic Church. But the Cardinal who shaped French history found his match in the dying reformed woman. She was not de Colonais' daughter and William of Orange's widow for nothing. Though unhappy with the division between Calvinists and Armenians, Luis was a strong believer. She declared herself unshaken in the principles of the Reformed faith and in her hope of heaven through Christ's merits.

And she asked to be spared Cardinal Richelieu's intrusion. Richelieu left defeated, and her pastor comforted her with Christ's all sufficiency Till she died at 67 years old on October 9th 1620 Her will stated as you can see there that she commended her soul to God and to his son Jesus Christ having lived and wanting to die in the Reformed religion. So as we as we study as we study these women tonight and tomorrow, we're not just setting examples to you and say, Go do that. Be like that. Be the next Katie Luther.

Be the next Luisa Coloney. Because that's not what they did. That wasn't their focus. They became what they were by the grace of God. So don't let your focus be fixed on what it is you want to be.

Don't fix it on what it is you want to be. It's not wrong, it's not wrong to have dreams and aspirations, but don't let that be what you strive for. Louise de Colenay did not know the hardships that she was going to face. She had no idea. You do not know, young ladies, what hardships God has in store for you.

So let your focus be this prepare yourself for any circumstance. Prepare yourself for any circumstance. To be a mighty and strong pillar of support and stability by the grace of God. You see, the focus is being on a pillar. David's focus was not on what it was the pillar was going to be supporting, what the pillar was going to be holding up.

The focus was on being a pillar. Being a pillar. And dads, these are pillars that are to be sculptured. Pillars don't carve themselves out. It's by the hand of one's sculpting.

And so if our daughters are going to be sculptured in palace style, we're going to have to be involved. We're going to have to be involved. We're going to have to be involved. So are you men preparing your daughters, sculpturing them as pillars fashioned in palace style? Louise was a pillar, yes, by God's grace, but she was a pillar also because of the vision of her godly father.

And so we return to those words, rescue me and deliver me from the hand of foreigners. And this would have been a prayer of Admiral Decolonais many days of his life. Rescue me and deliver me from the hand of foreigners. And it was God's will at that point in Luis's life that God would remove Admiral de Colonne. But he was around long enough to see his daughter as a pillar sculptured in palace style.

And little did he know that she would go on having lost him and her husband Charles de Telenay who was but an emissary for her dad. He probably never dreamed that his daughter would be married to Prince William of Orange. She's buried there in the church, almost cathedral, indelped in the Netherlands in the same area as her husband William of Orange. So young ladies, are you seeking to be a pillar? Strong, stable, unmoved, no matter the circumstances.

If you are, no matter what circumstances come to you in life, you can be like Luis. Father, we thank you for your goodness to us and giving us so many examples both in your word and throughout church history. Oh, Father, we thank you that we can be a part of such a wonderful history of your grace and your glory. Lord, I pray for all of the daughters here. Oh, Father, that they might be truly pillars for you.

For the good of our future families and for the good of your church in coming years and generations. Lord give us as fathers visions for our daughters and may you receive all the glory from their lives in Jesus name. Amen.