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[music]

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So, I had a great,
interesting, helpful, hopeful,

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painful conversation
with a woman recently.

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She came up and was visiting
one of the Mars Hill churches,

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and she couldn't
look me in the eye.

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She was really discouraged,
and when she started speaking,

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she started crying,

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so it was obvious
something was troubling her.

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And I asked her,
"What's wrong?"

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She said, "I'm so frustrated.
I'm so discouraged.

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I'm so sad."

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I said, "Why?"

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She said, "There's so much sin
in my life and there's so many

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"idols in my heart,
and the more that I study,

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"and the more that I read,
and the more that I pray,

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the more that I realize all
the problems that I have."

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And she seemed really sweet,
and sincere, and tender-hearted,

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and seemed like she loved
the Lord and her intentions

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were good and noble.

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So, I asked her, "Could
you please look at me?"

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She looked at me and then she
just started really crying.

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I have that great gift
of making people cry.

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And so she starts
crying, and I said,

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"Is there any progress in
your life, looking at,

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"let's say, the last year?

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"Anything to be encouraged by?

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Anything that you
should celebrate?"

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She said, "Well, my husband
left and I had to go find a job,

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but I found a job,
and I became a Christian."

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I'm like,
"Well, that's a big deal."

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"And I got baptized
to identify myself with Jesus,

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"and I went through
the membership class

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"at Mars Hill,
so I'm part of the church.

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"And now I have
Christian friends,

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"and I'm in a Community Group,

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"and they're helping me
with my struggles and kids.

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"And I'm praying every day

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and I'm reading the Bible
every day."

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I said, "How's that going?"

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She said, "I love
the Scriptures and I love Jesus,

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and I'm talking to him a lot
and I'm learning a lot."

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She said, "So, I've signed up
for Redemption Group to work

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through some real abuse
issues in my past."

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I looked at her, I said,
"Why are you discouraged?

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"You are growing so fast.

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Like, you're making so
much progress so quickly."

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She said, "Yeah, but Jesus
says we should be perfect."

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I said, "Oh.

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"Let me tell you
why he said that.

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"He said that to frustrate you.

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"So that you would try
for a while

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"and then come to a place
where you realize,

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"'I'm not perfect
and I can't be perfect,'

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"and then you would realize
that he's your perfection

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"and that you'd receive grace
from him and rest in that.

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"You wouldn't be like
the Old Testament Jews who

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"were looking for every speck of
dust in the house.

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"'I know it's here somewhere!
Where is it?

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"'There it is!

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"'There's always something
that's unclean.'

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"We tend to do that
with our own soul.

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"'I know there's dirt
and filth here somewhere.

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"'Let me find it!
Let me find--I did.

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I knew.
I knew I wasn't clean.'"

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I said, "Jesus was perfect.
You're not.

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"And Jesus told you to try to
be perfect so you'd realize you

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"can't do it, and that you'd
receive his perfection,

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and his grace, and his mercy."

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And I looked her in the eye
and I said, "Hear me in this.

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"Jesus is so pleased with you.

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Jesus is so pleased with you."

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She said, "But I'm not perfect!"

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I said, "Neither am I,
but he's pleased

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because he sees progress."

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He's pleased because
he sees progress.

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Until we die, and rise,
and see Jesus face to face,

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we're not going to be perfect.

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It doesn't say
in the Scriptures that we

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should have a lackadaisical
attitude toward our sin,

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or not deal with it,

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or give ourselves
lots of excuses.

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But we need to understand that
Jesus alone is perfect

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and he is our perfection,

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and we need to celebrate
progress in our life

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and progress in
the life of others.

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Well, this woman--I had this
great honor of serving her.

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She looked at me, she said,

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"Do you think he's really
pleased with me?"

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I said, "I'm sure he is.

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"I'm your pastor;
I'm really pleased with you.

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"I mean, look at all of
this progress in 1 year.

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It's amazing.
Your heart's very tender."

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And she smiled and I got to
hug her and pray for her.

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Here's the big idea as
we get into Esther 4,

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as we look at
"Jesus is a Better Mediator"

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in Esther 4:1-17.

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As we look at the story
of Mordecai and Esther,

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they're not perfect.

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Despite what they might
have told you in some class,

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or study, or curriculum,
these are not perfect people.

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But starting in chapter 4,
it's like a hinge,

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and the whole story
swings on it,

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they start making progress.

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And I'll give you an analogy.

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I'll just preface it by saying
it's a terrible analogy,

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and Grace pointed this out last
night, but it's all I have.

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And so think of
a 100-yard field, okay?

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And it can be a soccer
field or a football field.

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Whatever.
It doesn't matter to me.

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We don't judge or evaluate
someone by where they are,

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but by where they started

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and what direction
they're going.

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I've got a friend.

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He's a pastor.

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I won't use his name, but he
was raised in a poor family;

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sexually assaulted
repeatedly as a young man;

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grew up to be obese,
way over 300 pounds

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and had heart problems
as a result;

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was addicted to
pornography;

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living in his car.

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And then he met Jesus, and now
he's got a beautiful family

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and pastors
a very wonderful church.

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And every once in awhile, he'll
say something he shouldn't say,

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not nearly as bad as things
that I say regularly.

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And people will really freak--
"He shouldn't say that."

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I'm like, "This guy, he didn't
get the ball on the one.

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He got the ball in
the parking lot."

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Right?

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I mean, his life started
in a horrible--and now,

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look at all this progress.

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Look at all this
progress in his life.

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Some of you, you
were born on the 50,

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some of you were born on the 1.

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The question is, are you making
progress and what direction

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are you going?

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And today, with Mordecai
and with Esther,

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we're gonna see that they got
the ball, let's say, on the 2.

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Life is hard, circumstances
are rough, it's not easy,

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and for many years,
they don't make any progress.

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At this point in the story,

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Esther's married to Xerxes
for 5 years,

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and the reason it doesn't
tell us anything is

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nothing really happened.

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Not a lot of progress, but then
in Esther 4, for both of them,

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progress starts.

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For those of you who haven't
made progress in awhile,

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spiritually speaking, it's
a great encouragement and hope.

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For those of you that
are making progress,

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don't get discouraged by judging
yourself on the standard of

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perfection, but look at yourself
through the eyes of progress.

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Are you making progress?

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Here's where the story begins.

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First, we're going
to look at Mordecai,

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and we're going to treat
Mordecai, Esther, Haman,

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and Xerxes, the four major
characters in the story,

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as kind of like case studies.

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Two of these people,
they don't make any progress.

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They're not God's people,
they don't change.

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That's Haman and Xerxes.

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Two of these people are God's
people, they do make progress.

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It takes them awhile,
but they do start going forward

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spiritually in chapter 4.

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That's Mordecai and Esther.

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Here's Mordecai.

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Mordecai makes progress.

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Esther 4:1-3.

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"When Mordecai learned
all that had been done."

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Alright, if you're new, I've got
to catch you up on the story.

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There's a king named Xerxes,

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rules over a kingdom
called Persia.

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He's the most
powerful, influential,

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affluent man
on the earth in his day.

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He sits on a throne.

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He rules like a god.

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He gets upset with his wife

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because she disobeys
one of his orders

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to parade before a drunken
party that he's hosting,

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so he divorces her.

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And then some 4 years later, he
holds an enormous competition.

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Hundreds of women are in it,
and they are given a year of

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spa treatments, and the winner
becomes the queen of Persia.

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It's a really horrible,
sick man that oversees

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this entire process.

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One of the young women that was
in the competition to become

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the queen of Persia was
a young woman named Esther.

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She's Jewish by descent,

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but she's not necessarily
walking with God.

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And she was an orphan girl.

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Her parents died when she was
little and she was adopted by

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her older cousin, Mordecai, who
served like a father figure

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in her life.

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That's Mordecai.

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Mordecai, at this point,
is kind of a coward.

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Nobody knows that he's Jewish,
he's one of God's people.

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He's working for a pagan king,
and when it comes time

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to hand off his
adoptive daughter,

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he does so without putting up
a fight,

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which is a horrible
sin of omission.

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What he does do, however, is he
decides that he's going to die

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on the hill of not bowing
to a ruler named Haman.

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So, there's Xerxes, the king,

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and one of his right-hand men
is Haman.

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And Haman's this egomaniac,
loves power, glory,

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and public recognition,
and the decree is made from

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the king everyone needs
to bow down to Haman.

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Now, Haman likes this, as you
and I would as well, right?

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Wouldn't it be awesome if
everybody bowed

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in your presence?

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I'm not saying they should,
but it would be nice.

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All of a sudden, you would walk
into a room

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and everyone would bow.

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Anyone came to meet with
you, they would bow.

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This was an official recognition
of his power and authority.

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It's kind of like a curtsey
in the British Empire,

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or like bowing in
an Asian culture,

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or saluting in
a military context.

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Everybody bows to Haman
except for one guy, Mordecai.

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Mordecai won't bow.

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So, you have these enormous
events where lots of people

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are bowing and one guy's not,
and it's a bit obvious, right?

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He's just sort of giving
Haman the stink eye, like,

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"I'm not bowing."

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We don't know exactly why,
but we do know, historically,

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these two families, Haman's
family and Mordecai's family,

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hundreds of years prior
in the Old Testament,

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they're fighting and feuding.

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In fact, Haman's family is
the first people group to attack

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the family line of Abraham,
of which Mordecai is a part.

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Well, what happens then,
Mordecai keeps doing this.

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He keeps instigating
the seething rage of Haman.

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Doesn't bow,
doesn't bow, doesn't bow.

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This goes on for a long time.

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Finally, Haman
escalates and says,

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"I'm going to have
Mordecai killed,

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"and everyone who's of
the Jewish race with him.

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All of God's people."

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The historians will
tell you, at this point,

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this is maybe 15 million people.

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So, the punishment
does not fit the crime.

241
00:11:29,792 --> 00:11:32,875
One guy doesn't bow,
so 15 million people die.

242
00:11:32,958 --> 00:11:35,833
Haman's going to become Hitler
and he's overseeing genocide

243
00:11:35,875 --> 00:11:37,417
and a holocaust.

244
00:11:37,500 --> 00:11:40,000
It's really escalated.

245
00:11:40,083 --> 00:11:43,167
"When Mordecai learned
all that had been done."

246
00:11:43,250 --> 00:11:46,000
Now everything is
out of control.

247
00:11:46,042 --> 00:11:49,667
"Mordecai tore his clothes
and put on sackcloth and ashes,

248
00:11:49,750 --> 00:11:52,000
"and went out into
the midst of the city.

249
00:11:52,083 --> 00:11:55,417
And he cried out with
a loud and bitter cry."

250
00:11:55,500 --> 00:11:58,708
This is public mourning,
public weeping.

251
00:11:58,792 --> 00:12:02,000
This is also a bit
of a public protest.

252
00:12:02,083 --> 00:12:04,292
The decree's been sent out,

253
00:12:04,333 --> 00:12:07,000
death sentence has been
put into effect.

254
00:12:07,083 --> 00:12:11,417
The date has been set
and Mordecai is powerless,

255
00:12:11,500 --> 00:12:13,208
but he's going to protest.

256
00:12:13,292 --> 00:12:17,000
He's going to publicly identify
himself with God's people.

257
00:12:17,042 --> 00:12:18,917
At this point in the story,

258
00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:22,292
he's only privately counted
among God's people.

259
00:12:22,333 --> 00:12:25,375
He's going from
silent to speaking.

260
00:12:25,458 --> 00:12:28,208
He's going from
passive to active.

261
00:12:28,292 --> 00:12:30,208
We're seeing him make progress.

262
00:12:30,292 --> 00:12:33,417
At this point, Mordecai--I
don't know when he gets saved

263
00:12:33,500 --> 00:12:35,417
or becomes a believer.

264
00:12:35,500 --> 00:12:39,000
Up until this point, he's not
walked faithfully with God.

265
00:12:39,083 --> 00:12:42,625
He's far away from Jerusalem, no
praying, no Scripture reading,

266
00:12:42,667 --> 00:12:46,125
no tithes and offerings,
no sacrificial system,

267
00:12:46,167 --> 00:12:49,417
nothing that indicates
he's walking with God.

268
00:12:49,500 --> 00:12:51,500
And he's very, very passive.

269
00:12:51,583 --> 00:12:54,500
He comes off as a cowardly,
timid man who worships

270
00:12:54,583 --> 00:12:58,417
comfort and convenience,
not God.

271
00:12:58,500 --> 00:13:01,417
And now he gets active.
Right?

272
00:13:01,500 --> 00:13:04,125
There's hope for those of
you who've been passive.

273
00:13:04,167 --> 00:13:06,333
There's hope for those of
you who've been cowardly.

274
00:13:06,375 --> 00:13:09,208
There's hope for those of
you who've been silent.

275
00:13:09,292 --> 00:13:11,417
And some of you,
it's been a long time.

276
00:13:11,500 --> 00:13:14,500
Mordecai, at this point,
he's already raised Esther.

277
00:13:14,583 --> 00:13:16,833
She's been married some 5 years.

278
00:13:16,875 --> 00:13:19,125
I mean, this has been
a long time coming.

279
00:13:19,167 --> 00:13:21,000
Some of you, it's been that way.

280
00:13:21,083 --> 00:13:23,417
It's been a long time coming.

281
00:13:23,500 --> 00:13:26,125
But there's hope here.
He does get active.

282
00:13:26,167 --> 00:13:28,792
He starts making
spiritual progress,

283
00:13:28,833 --> 00:13:33,000
and he does so publicly, and
he does so through mourning.

284
00:13:33,083 --> 00:13:35,417
"He went up to the entrance
of the king's gate,

285
00:13:35,500 --> 00:13:37,875
"for no one was allowed to enter
the king's gate

286
00:13:37,958 --> 00:13:39,292
clothed in sackcloth."

287
00:13:39,333 --> 00:13:41,000
You can't be sad
before the king.

288
00:13:41,083 --> 00:13:43,208
"The king only wants
good news, not bad news.

289
00:13:43,292 --> 00:13:45,625
Tell me all the victories,
not the defeats."

290
00:13:45,667 --> 00:13:47,083
Some of us are like that.

291
00:13:47,167 --> 00:13:49,583
We don't like bad news,
we only like good news.

292
00:13:49,667 --> 00:13:52,000
That's why some of you
don't even watch the news.

293
00:13:52,083 --> 00:13:55,208
Like, "Oh no, if I turn it
on, they're going to tell me

294
00:13:55,292 --> 00:13:57,417
"something bad, so here's
what I'm going to do.

295
00:13:57,500 --> 00:13:59,625
"I'm going to flip over
and watch a comedy.

296
00:13:59,667 --> 00:14:01,167
That's what I'm going to do."

297
00:14:01,250 --> 00:14:03,917
We tend to be like the king
where if it's unpleasant,

298
00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:05,417
then we don't want to know.

299
00:14:05,500 --> 00:14:08,417
So, only good news and happy
people get to see the king.

300
00:14:08,500 --> 00:14:11,000
And so Mordecai is not allowed
entrance into the palace

301
00:14:11,042 --> 00:14:14,000
because he's grieving,
and wailing, and mourning.

302
00:14:14,042 --> 00:14:16,292
"And in every
province," verse 3,

303
00:14:16,333 --> 00:14:18,375
"wherever the king's command
and his decree reached,

304
00:14:18,458 --> 00:14:20,292
"there was great
mourning among the Jews,

305
00:14:20,333 --> 00:14:22,083
"with fasting
and weeping and lamenting,

306
00:14:22,167 --> 00:14:25,000
and many of them lay in
sackcloth and ashes."

307
00:14:25,083 --> 00:14:27,792
Now, let me say
one thing briefly,

308
00:14:27,833 --> 00:14:29,833
pastorally and practically.

309
00:14:29,875 --> 00:14:33,667
In the west, particularly
men, we don't grieve well.

310
00:14:33,750 --> 00:14:35,333
Right?

311
00:14:35,375 --> 00:14:37,333
We don't.

312
00:14:37,375 --> 00:14:41,125
In the Bible, it's a more
eastern than a western culture,

313
00:14:41,167 --> 00:14:43,500
particularly in
the Old Testament.

314
00:14:43,583 --> 00:14:47,667
When something bad happens,
they let you know, right?

315
00:14:47,750 --> 00:14:50,125
They change their clothes,
they put ashes on their head,

316
00:14:50,167 --> 00:14:53,917
they go out in public, they
scream, and cry, and wail.

317
00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:59,917
The Psalms, the majority of
which are psalms of lament,

318
00:15:00,042 --> 00:15:04,708
are words of song and prayer for
God's people to express their

319
00:15:04,792 --> 00:15:10,500
grief, and their sadness,
and their hardship.

320
00:15:10,542 --> 00:15:12,000
We don't do that, right?

321
00:15:12,083 --> 00:15:15,167
I mean, here's how we do it
in the west: "How are you?"

322
00:15:15,250 --> 00:15:16,667
"Fine.
How are you?"

323
00:15:16,750 --> 00:15:18,083
"Fine."

324
00:15:18,167 --> 00:15:19,583
"We're both fine.
Great.

325
00:15:19,667 --> 00:15:21,000
Have a nice life."

326
00:15:21,042 --> 00:15:22,708
And then we each go a
separate direction.

327
00:15:22,792 --> 00:15:24,708
Meanwhile, he's getting
divorced and she's got cancer,

328
00:15:24,792 --> 00:15:26,125
and they're "fine."

329
00:15:26,167 --> 00:15:28,125
They're not fine.

330
00:15:28,167 --> 00:15:29,875
"Well, I don't want to lose it."

331
00:15:29,958 --> 00:15:31,292
Why?

332
00:15:31,333 --> 00:15:34,292
Where in the Bible does it
say, "Thou shalt not lose it"?

333
00:15:34,333 --> 00:15:37,125
There's lots of people
in the Bible who lose it.

334
00:15:37,167 --> 00:15:39,125
"Well, I don't want
to get all emotional."

335
00:15:39,167 --> 00:15:40,500
Why not?

336
00:15:40,583 --> 00:15:42,625
It doesn't say,
"Thou shalt not get emotional."

337
00:15:42,667 --> 00:15:44,625
"Well, I don't want to
burden other people."

338
00:15:44,667 --> 00:15:47,375
Well, what you're not allowing
them to do is know you

339
00:15:47,458 --> 00:15:51,333
or love you.

340
00:15:51,375 --> 00:15:55,625
Here's a couple of reasons why
learning to mourn and be honest

341
00:15:55,667 --> 00:15:58,792
is good, letting people
know, "It's a hard season,

342
00:15:58,833 --> 00:16:00,833
I'm not doing well."

343
00:16:00,875 --> 00:16:03,500
Family, friends,
Community Group,

344
00:16:03,583 --> 00:16:05,583
whatever the case may be.

345
00:16:05,667 --> 00:16:08,417
Number one, it's just
telling the truth.

346
00:16:08,500 --> 00:16:11,333
I mean, the Bible says,
"Thou shalt not lie."

347
00:16:11,375 --> 00:16:13,625
If all you ever
say is, "I'm great,"

348
00:16:13,667 --> 00:16:15,625
or if you always turn
the question to,

349
00:16:15,667 --> 00:16:17,000
"Well, how are you?"

350
00:16:17,083 --> 00:16:19,333
you're lying.
You're not telling the truth.

351
00:16:19,375 --> 00:16:24,917
Number two, God himself weeps.

352
00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:26,917
We see this as
early as Genesis 6,

353
00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:29,625
that God was grieved in
his heart that he made man.

354
00:16:29,667 --> 00:16:31,708
We see Jesus weeping
over Jerusalem.

355
00:16:31,792 --> 00:16:33,833
God weeps.

356
00:16:33,875 --> 00:16:37,167
God expresses his sadness.

357
00:16:37,250 --> 00:16:39,333
When Jesus' friend
dies, Lazarus,

358
00:16:39,375 --> 00:16:42,833
the shortest verse in the
whole Bible is that Jesus what?

359
00:16:42,875 --> 00:16:44,500
He wept.

360
00:16:44,583 --> 00:16:46,708
Some of you go, "Well,
that's not very tough."

361
00:16:46,792 --> 00:16:49,708
Well, that's because you went
to Mars Hill and I've not done

362
00:16:49,792 --> 00:16:52,417
a very good job teaching,
so let me round it out.

363
00:16:52,500 --> 00:16:54,417
Jesus is a very masculine
construction worker dude

364
00:16:54,500 --> 00:16:56,208
who cried when
his friend died, okay?

365
00:16:56,292 --> 00:17:00,708
So you can grieve
and cry in a masculine way.

366
00:17:00,792 --> 00:17:03,833
Like, when Grace miscarried
and we lost a child,

367
00:17:03,875 --> 00:17:08,000
I grieved and I wept, because
I'm a dad and I miss

368
00:17:08,083 --> 00:17:11,000
who was supposed to be
our sixth kid.

369
00:17:11,042 --> 00:17:16,292
Somebody's missing at
the dinner table every night.

370
00:17:16,333 --> 00:17:21,292
In addition, if you don't
grieve, you will break.

371
00:17:21,333 --> 00:17:24,417
When hard circumstances
come--it's cancer,

372
00:17:24,500 --> 00:17:26,708
you lost your job,
I want a divorce,

373
00:17:26,792 --> 00:17:28,917
our kids have
betrayed the faith.

374
00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:32,500
What?

375
00:17:32,542 --> 00:17:36,208
Your friend undermined you.

376
00:17:36,292 --> 00:17:39,208
There's a lot of stress and
pressure that comes with that,

377
00:17:39,292 --> 00:17:41,375
and if you don't have
a release valve,

378
00:17:41,458 --> 00:17:43,000
you'll explode.

379
00:17:43,042 --> 00:17:44,667
We call it stress.

380
00:17:44,750 --> 00:17:47,500
It's why people in
the west are very depressed,

381
00:17:47,583 --> 00:17:50,667
because they internalize
all of their hardship.

382
00:17:50,750 --> 00:17:53,333
Then we go to a counselor
and we get a prescription

383
00:17:53,375 --> 00:17:55,125
and we medicate.

384
00:17:55,167 --> 00:17:57,000
And I'm not saying
it's always a sin,

385
00:17:57,083 --> 00:17:59,625
but I'm saying
lamenting is sometimes

386
00:17:59,667 --> 00:18:02,292
a much better route to take.

387
00:18:02,333 --> 00:18:06,833
And if you don't have
a release valve, you'll break.

388
00:18:06,875 --> 00:18:08,917
So much pressure.

389
00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:12,500
Lamenting, grieving,
crying, singing out to God,

390
00:18:12,583 --> 00:18:18,792
doing so with others, it
helps to relieve the pressure.

391
00:18:18,833 --> 00:18:25,792
And thirdly, it invites other
people to know you and love you.

392
00:18:25,833 --> 00:18:27,500
To know you and love you.

393
00:18:27,583 --> 00:18:30,333
And you may not know this:
it's a gift for them.

394
00:18:30,375 --> 00:18:34,917
I just had a friend of mine
recently sit down and explain

395
00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:39,583
a cancer battle
in their family.

396
00:18:39,667 --> 00:18:42,125
It allows me to
know and love them,

397
00:18:42,167 --> 00:18:44,833
and for me it's a great
gift because it becomes very

398
00:18:44,875 --> 00:18:48,083
clarifying because we can get so
myopic and narrow with our life,

399
00:18:48,167 --> 00:18:49,917
and our issues,
and our troubles.

400
00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:52,583
All of a sudden, what we're
dealing with seems cataclysmic,

401
00:18:52,667 --> 00:18:58,583
and you know, someone tells us
what's really going on in

402
00:18:58,667 --> 00:19:02,708
their life, and all of a sudden
reality gets adjusted,

403
00:19:02,792 --> 00:19:05,417
and what we're dealing
with is not apocalyptic,

404
00:19:05,500 --> 00:19:11,292
it's a minor trouble.

405
00:19:11,333 --> 00:19:13,500
As a church,
let me encourage you,

406
00:19:13,542 --> 00:19:16,667
it's good to learn
to grieve together,

407
00:19:16,750 --> 00:19:21,000
and that's an act of worship as
much as singing and rejoicing.

408
00:19:21,083 --> 00:19:23,625
The Bible says that God rejoices
with those who rejoice

409
00:19:23,667 --> 00:19:26,083
and he weeps
with those who weep,

410
00:19:26,167 --> 00:19:28,917
and God's people, similarly,
need to rejoice with those

411
00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:33,125
who rejoice and weep
with those who weep.

412
00:19:33,167 --> 00:19:38,417
And here, Mordecai's faith,
it gets activated

413
00:19:38,500 --> 00:19:41,333
in mourning and weeping.

414
00:19:41,375 --> 00:19:46,708
And here's the big idea
in faith: faith is

415
00:19:46,792 --> 00:19:53,667
an internal conviction that
leads to an external action.

416
00:19:53,750 --> 00:19:56,500
Faith is not just what you
believe, it's how you behave.

417
00:19:56,583 --> 00:20:01,583
Sometimes you can really tell
who has faith by what they do.

418
00:20:01,667 --> 00:20:03,208
I'll give you an example.

419
00:20:03,292 --> 00:20:06,417
You go to a pool, you see
a little kid on the ledge,

420
00:20:06,500 --> 00:20:09,000
you know, swim diaper,
looking nervous.

421
00:20:09,042 --> 00:20:10,500
You see dad in the pool,

422
00:20:10,583 --> 00:20:12,833
"Trust me, I'll catch you.
Jump!"

423
00:20:12,875 --> 00:20:15,583
How do you know whether or not
the child has faith

424
00:20:15,667 --> 00:20:17,208
in their father?

425
00:20:17,292 --> 00:20:22,083
Not if they do a theological
tome on the Greek word "faith."

426
00:20:22,167 --> 00:20:25,000
If they what?
Jump.

427
00:20:25,083 --> 00:20:28,333
If the kid jumps,
they trust their dad.

428
00:20:28,375 --> 00:20:32,667
Faith is demonstrated in action.

429
00:20:32,750 --> 00:20:34,875
You see a young man
and a young woman.

430
00:20:34,958 --> 00:20:37,083
When they show up to
their wedding day, right,

431
00:20:37,167 --> 00:20:40,708
the doors open, she walks
down, and he's there.

432
00:20:40,792 --> 00:20:42,875
Him being there is
an act of faith,

433
00:20:42,958 --> 00:20:45,083
her walking toward him
is an act of faith.

434
00:20:45,167 --> 00:20:47,500
The two of them standing
together, holding hands,

435
00:20:47,542 --> 00:20:49,000
it's an act of faith.

436
00:20:49,042 --> 00:20:51,792
It's each of them
saying, "I trust you,"

437
00:20:51,833 --> 00:20:54,708
and everybody gets to see it,

438
00:20:54,792 --> 00:20:58,708
because faith is demonstrated
in what you do.

439
00:20:58,792 --> 00:21:01,792
I don't know whether or not
Mordecai had faith

440
00:21:01,833 --> 00:21:03,208
at this point.

441
00:21:03,292 --> 00:21:05,625
I don't know.
He may be like some of you.

442
00:21:05,667 --> 00:21:08,375
He's not an atheist, he
would say he belongs to God,

443
00:21:08,458 --> 00:21:10,333
but he's not really
walking with God.

444
00:21:10,375 --> 00:21:13,000
We don't know where he's
at, like some of you.

445
00:21:13,083 --> 00:21:15,417
This is how I was
up until age 19.

446
00:21:15,500 --> 00:21:18,625
When I met Grace at 17, she
asked me, "Are you a Christian?"

447
00:21:18,667 --> 00:21:21,375
I said, quote,
"I believe in God."

448
00:21:21,458 --> 00:21:23,333
What does that mean?

449
00:21:23,375 --> 00:21:25,500
Not very much, just so you know.

450
00:21:25,583 --> 00:21:28,167
It says in James,
"Demons believe in God."

451
00:21:28,250 --> 00:21:31,500
I mean, so, that's not
a huge bar to jump over.

452
00:21:31,542 --> 00:21:32,875
Amen?

453
00:21:32,958 --> 00:21:35,083
You're like, "And I believe
what the demons believe."

454
00:21:35,167 --> 00:21:37,500
That's not a huge
accomplishment.

455
00:21:37,542 --> 00:21:40,000
"I believe there's a God."

456
00:21:40,042 --> 00:21:41,708
Are you a Christian?

457
00:21:41,792 --> 00:21:44,417
"Uh, I don't know.
Yeah.

458
00:21:44,500 --> 00:21:46,875
I try to be a good person."

459
00:21:46,958 --> 00:21:49,333
That was it.

460
00:21:49,375 --> 00:21:53,833
At 19, I met God
in a saving way.

461
00:21:53,875 --> 00:21:57,625
I went into
a new season of life.

462
00:21:57,667 --> 00:22:03,000
Like a hinge, my whole
life swung in that season.

463
00:22:03,083 --> 00:22:04,875
Some of you are like that.

464
00:22:04,958 --> 00:22:06,917
You don't know when
you became a Christian.

465
00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:09,125
You don't know when your
faith got activated.

466
00:22:09,167 --> 00:22:12,083
You don't know if you were a
believer living hypocritically

467
00:22:12,167 --> 00:22:14,500
or you were an unbeliever
and then became a believer.

468
00:22:14,583 --> 00:22:15,917
You don't know.

469
00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:17,417
We don't know that
with Mordecai.

470
00:22:17,500 --> 00:22:21,000
But here's what we do know:
something changes in him here,

471
00:22:21,042 --> 00:22:23,833
and it starts with him mourning,
and grieving, and lamenting.

472
00:22:23,875 --> 00:22:26,708
And for some of you, that's
where you need to start.

473
00:22:26,792 --> 00:22:29,208
Looking at your sin, looking
at your situation, grieving,

474
00:22:29,292 --> 00:22:30,875
mourning, weeping, wailing.

475
00:22:30,958 --> 00:22:34,208
"I need to talk to God.
I need to talk to his people.

476
00:22:34,292 --> 00:22:36,208
"Life is hard.
I'm not going to lie.

477
00:22:36,292 --> 00:22:39,167
I can't fix it by myself.
I'm in real trouble."

478
00:22:39,250 --> 00:22:43,125
That's okay.
That's okay.

479
00:22:43,167 --> 00:22:46,000
So, the question for you to
think about and discuss with

480
00:22:46,042 --> 00:22:48,500
your Community Group:
Where have you been passive

481
00:22:48,542 --> 00:22:51,083
and need to get active?

482
00:22:51,167 --> 00:22:52,625
Nobody knew he was a believer,

483
00:22:52,667 --> 00:22:54,500
now everybody knows
he's a believer.

484
00:22:54,583 --> 00:22:57,208
We was silent,
now he's speaking.

485
00:22:57,292 --> 00:22:59,208
He was passive,
now he's active.

486
00:22:59,292 --> 00:23:01,417
There's progress.

487
00:23:01,500 --> 00:23:04,708
Now, admittedly, you know,
he got the ball on the 2.

488
00:23:04,792 --> 00:23:07,000
He's living far away
from Jerusalem, you know?

489
00:23:07,083 --> 00:23:09,500
The prophets haven't
spoken in Susa.

490
00:23:09,542 --> 00:23:11,500
There's no miracles,
there's no angels.

491
00:23:11,583 --> 00:23:13,667
It's a dark time.

492
00:23:13,750 --> 00:23:17,125
He's multiple generations
of lukewarm-at-best,

493
00:23:17,167 --> 00:23:21,417
kind-of-spiritual-but-not-
red-hot-for-God people.

494
00:23:21,500 --> 00:23:23,000
But now he's making progress.

495
00:23:23,042 --> 00:23:24,375
Now he's moving.

496
00:23:24,458 --> 00:23:27,375
For you, where have you been
passive and need to get active?

497
00:23:27,458 --> 00:23:30,708
You say, "I know I'm supposed
to read the Bible, but I don't."

498
00:23:30,792 --> 00:23:32,417
Get active, start reading it.

499
00:23:32,500 --> 00:23:35,000
"I know I need to pray,
but I don't pray."

500
00:23:35,083 --> 00:23:36,500
Then get active
and start praying.

501
00:23:36,583 --> 00:23:39,208
"I know I need to be in
community with God's people

502
00:23:39,292 --> 00:23:40,625
and join a group."

503
00:23:40,667 --> 00:23:42,333
Then do so.
What is it?

504
00:23:42,375 --> 00:23:45,792
I'm trusting, I know for a fact
that Jesus loves you and he sent

505
00:23:45,833 --> 00:23:50,125
the Holy Spirit to provide you
opportunities to make progress

506
00:23:50,167 --> 00:23:53,917
spiritually, and if you'll
avail yourselves to them,

507
00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:56,500
you will make
progress spiritually.

508
00:23:56,583 --> 00:23:58,292
And it's not about perfection.

509
00:23:58,333 --> 00:24:01,208
I don't want to talk about all
the things you haven't done

510
00:24:01,292 --> 00:24:02,708
and all the ways you've failed.

511
00:24:02,792 --> 00:24:04,792
Let's acknowledge those,
but let's mourn those

512
00:24:04,833 --> 00:24:07,417
and let's move beyond
those in the grace of God.

513
00:24:07,500 --> 00:24:09,292
And that's what
happens for Mordecai.

514
00:24:09,333 --> 00:24:11,875
He could spend the rest
of his life just sitting in

515
00:24:11,958 --> 00:24:14,500
"I haven't walked with God.
My dad didn't walk with God.

516
00:24:14,583 --> 00:24:16,208
"My granddad didn't
walk with God.

517
00:24:16,292 --> 00:24:18,208
"We said we were believers.
We're all hypocrites.

518
00:24:18,292 --> 00:24:20,208
"I didn't get married.
I don't have kids.

519
00:24:20,292 --> 00:24:21,625
"I'm a total coward.

520
00:24:21,667 --> 00:24:23,833
"I raised one girl
that I got to adopt,

521
00:24:23,875 --> 00:24:26,833
"and I handed her off to a guy
who thinks he's God

522
00:24:26,875 --> 00:24:28,333
"and is a total nasty pervert,

523
00:24:28,375 --> 00:24:30,500
"and now 15 million people
are going to die

524
00:24:30,583 --> 00:24:32,167
because I'm
an arrogant, stubborn man."

525
00:24:32,250 --> 00:24:33,583
Right?

526
00:24:33,667 --> 00:24:37,333
If he wants to just sit there,
and "Pour me another drink,"

527
00:24:37,375 --> 00:24:40,417
and "Somebody please find
the country western station,"

528
00:24:40,500 --> 00:24:44,208
he could do that for
the rest of his life, right?

529
00:24:44,292 --> 00:24:49,833
Lots to be bummed about,
but instead, progress.

530
00:24:49,875 --> 00:24:53,417
What opportunities has God
given you for progress?

531
00:24:53,500 --> 00:24:56,667
Avail yourself to them
and God's grace will show up

532
00:24:56,750 --> 00:24:59,208
to help you make progress.

533
00:24:59,292 --> 00:25:01,333
That's the story of Mordecai.

534
00:25:01,375 --> 00:25:03,500
Now, what about Esther?

535
00:25:03,583 --> 00:25:07,083
Well, Esther has an opportunity
to make progress.

536
00:25:07,167 --> 00:25:09,083
Chapter 4, verse 4:

537
00:25:09,167 --> 00:25:11,833
"When Esther's young women and
her eunuchs came and told her,

538
00:25:11,875 --> 00:25:14,167
the queen was
deeply distressed."

539
00:25:14,250 --> 00:25:18,375
Here's what's going on outside
of the palace: Haman has decided

540
00:25:18,458 --> 00:25:22,125
to be Hitler 1.0 and commit
genocidal holocaust

541
00:25:22,167 --> 00:25:24,500
on 15 million Jews.

542
00:25:24,542 --> 00:25:27,500
Meanwhile, Esther is in
the palace, has no idea.

543
00:25:27,583 --> 00:25:30,500
Here's the big point: don't
assume the leaders know much.

544
00:25:30,583 --> 00:25:31,917
Alright?

545
00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:33,625
A lot of times, people are like,

546
00:25:33,667 --> 00:25:35,375
"I can't believe they made
that decision."

547
00:25:35,458 --> 00:25:37,000
They didn't have
the information.

548
00:25:37,083 --> 00:25:40,000
A death sentence goes out,
this is big public news,

549
00:25:40,083 --> 00:25:42,417
people are in
the streets wailing,

550
00:25:42,500 --> 00:25:44,625
mourning all over
the Persian Empire,

551
00:25:44,667 --> 00:25:48,333
and she's in the palace,
clueless.

552
00:25:48,375 --> 00:25:51,000
Don't assume,
if you're in business,

553
00:25:51,042 --> 00:25:53,000
that your boss knows
everything that's going on.

554
00:25:53,083 --> 00:25:55,083
Don't assume,
if you're in ministry,

555
00:25:55,167 --> 00:25:57,708
that the pastors know
everything that's going on.

556
00:25:57,792 --> 00:26:01,125
You need to do what Mordecai
does and that's let people know

557
00:26:01,167 --> 00:26:02,917
what's going on.

558
00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:05,333
And sometimes, leaders don't
know all that's going on.

559
00:26:05,375 --> 00:26:07,167
So, word comes to Esther.

560
00:26:07,250 --> 00:26:09,583
"They're going to
kill your cousin,

561
00:26:09,667 --> 00:26:14,708
your adoptive father figure,
and 15 million Jews."

562
00:26:14,792 --> 00:26:20,375
Here's a crisis, but a crisis
becomes an opportunity.

563
00:26:20,458 --> 00:26:23,125
A crisis becomes an opportunity.

564
00:26:23,167 --> 00:26:26,333
Most of the time, our
spiritual progress is

565
00:26:26,375 --> 00:26:29,500
during seasons of duress.

566
00:26:29,583 --> 00:26:31,500
You get that?

567
00:26:31,583 --> 00:26:38,000
Spiritual progress usually
happens in seasons of duress.

568
00:26:38,083 --> 00:26:40,125
There's a crisis.

569
00:26:40,167 --> 00:26:43,375
This is why, when people will
go through hard, difficult,

570
00:26:43,458 --> 00:26:45,333
arduous seasons
and circumstances,

571
00:26:45,375 --> 00:26:47,708
they'll say things like,
"I wish it never happened.

572
00:26:47,792 --> 00:26:49,208
"I wouldn't pick it.

573
00:26:49,292 --> 00:26:51,000
"I wouldn't want it on anyone,

574
00:26:51,042 --> 00:26:53,375
"but I never grew
so much in my life.

575
00:26:53,458 --> 00:26:55,583
"I never felt closer
to God in my life.

576
00:26:55,667 --> 00:26:58,625
"I would have never learned
the lessons I learned had I not

577
00:26:58,667 --> 00:27:01,917
"gone through cancer, divorce,
betrayal, suffering, poverty,

578
00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:03,875
unemployment, bankruptcy,

579
00:27:03,958 --> 00:27:08,167
you name it, the tragedy."

580
00:27:08,250 --> 00:27:12,125
Oftentimes, our opportunities
for spiritual growth are in

581
00:27:12,167 --> 00:27:17,625
the hardest,
most desperate seasons.

582
00:27:17,667 --> 00:27:20,167
And she learns that
there's a crisis.

583
00:27:20,250 --> 00:27:22,167
"So, she sent garments
to clothe Mordecai,

584
00:27:22,250 --> 00:27:24,167
"so that he might take
off his sackcloth,

585
00:27:24,250 --> 00:27:25,667
but he would not accept them."

586
00:27:25,750 --> 00:27:27,167
Now, this sounds weird to us.

587
00:27:27,250 --> 00:27:29,375
We're like, "Millions of
people are going to die.

588
00:27:29,458 --> 00:27:31,125
Would you like a new suit?"

589
00:27:31,167 --> 00:27:33,917
I mean, it's like--it seems
a little off-topic, right?

590
00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:35,833
"Let's go to the mall."

591
00:27:35,875 --> 00:27:39,333
What this really is is she
has not been in contact

592
00:27:39,375 --> 00:27:41,333
with Mordecai.

593
00:27:41,375 --> 00:27:44,292
She's in the palace,
he's out in the city of Susa.

594
00:27:44,333 --> 00:27:47,417
He's weeping, wailing,
mourning, protesting, right?

595
00:27:47,500 --> 00:27:48,917
The media's showed up.

596
00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:51,000
He's got a little
bit of a crowd.

597
00:27:51,083 --> 00:27:52,500
He's trending on Twitter.

598
00:27:52,542 --> 00:27:54,125
They've started
a Facebook page, right?

599
00:27:54,167 --> 00:27:56,500
It's getting
a little traction,

600
00:27:56,583 --> 00:27:59,417
and so she tells him,
"I want to meet with you,

601
00:27:59,500 --> 00:28:02,000
"but you can't come into
the palace in mourning attire.

602
00:28:02,083 --> 00:28:04,208
"You need to get
changed to get access,

603
00:28:04,292 --> 00:28:06,000
so let me send
you some clothes."

604
00:28:06,083 --> 00:28:08,417
And what he says is,
"No, it's too premature."

605
00:28:08,500 --> 00:28:09,833
Right?

606
00:28:09,875 --> 00:28:11,208
"The cameras finally showed up.

607
00:28:11,292 --> 00:28:14,083
"We're finally starting to get
a little attention here for our

608
00:28:14,167 --> 00:28:17,708
"'Please don't murder
us all' cause.

609
00:28:17,792 --> 00:28:20,917
"It's too early for me to
sort of put down my mourning

610
00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:25,375
and to pick up my relationship
with you."

611
00:28:25,458 --> 00:28:28,208
So he says no.

612
00:28:28,292 --> 00:28:32,500
"Then Esther called for Hathach,
one of the king's eunuchs,

613
00:28:32,542 --> 00:28:34,500
"who had been appointed
to attend her,

614
00:28:34,583 --> 00:28:36,833
"and ordered him to go to
Mordecai to learn

615
00:28:36,875 --> 00:28:38,500
"what this was and why it was.

616
00:28:38,583 --> 00:28:40,000
"And Hathach went out
to Mordecai

617
00:28:40,083 --> 00:28:43,208
in the open square of the city
in front of the king's gate."

618
00:28:43,292 --> 00:28:45,583
This was all very public.

619
00:28:45,667 --> 00:28:48,208
"And Mordecai told him all
that had happened to him,

620
00:28:48,292 --> 00:28:51,208
and the exact sum of money,"
it was a large amount,

621
00:28:51,292 --> 00:28:54,000
"that Haman had promised to pay
into the king's treasuries

622
00:28:54,083 --> 00:28:56,333
for the destruction
of the Jews."

623
00:28:56,375 --> 00:28:58,917
Now, behind all of this,
it's demonic.

624
00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:02,917
Satan always wants to
destroy God's people.

625
00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:04,708
He just does.

626
00:29:04,792 --> 00:29:06,792
He does it with
sin in the Garden.

627
00:29:06,833 --> 00:29:09,208
He does it in
Sodom and Gomorrah.

628
00:29:09,292 --> 00:29:12,333
He does it in Egypt
with the Pharaoh.

629
00:29:12,375 --> 00:29:14,583
He does it in Babylon
with the exile.

630
00:29:14,667 --> 00:29:17,500
He does it here in
Susa with Xerxes.

631
00:29:17,583 --> 00:29:21,667
It's why Herod tried to
destroy the Baby Jesus.

632
00:29:21,750 --> 00:29:23,833
It's why there's persecution
of the early church

633
00:29:23,875 --> 00:29:25,333
in the book of Acts.

634
00:29:25,375 --> 00:29:27,917
It's why there's martyrdom
into the Christian era.

635
00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:31,208
Our war is not against
flesh and blood, but powers,

636
00:29:31,292 --> 00:29:34,625
and principalities, and
spirits, and Satan, and demons,

637
00:29:34,667 --> 00:29:39,625
and power, whole groups of
people to destroy God's people.

638
00:29:39,667 --> 00:29:43,417
This is two kingdoms colliding.

639
00:29:43,500 --> 00:29:47,792
This is darkness declaring
war on the light.

640
00:29:50,667 --> 00:29:55,125
"Mordecai also gave him a copy
of the written decree issued in

641
00:29:55,167 --> 00:29:59,083
"Susa for their destruction,
that he might show it to Esther

642
00:29:59,167 --> 00:30:02,333
"and explain it to her and
command her to go to the king

643
00:30:02,375 --> 00:30:04,375
"to beg his favor
and plead with him

644
00:30:04,458 --> 00:30:06,125
"on behalf of her people.

645
00:30:06,167 --> 00:30:11,125
And Hathach went and told
Esther what Mordecai had said."

646
00:30:11,167 --> 00:30:15,083
Mordecai is active
with his faith.

647
00:30:15,167 --> 00:30:17,792
He's making process.

648
00:30:17,833 --> 00:30:22,875
The intermediary is sent,
this servant who has access to

649
00:30:22,958 --> 00:30:26,500
Esther, and he says,
"Haman's going to kill us all.

650
00:30:26,583 --> 00:30:28,875
"Haman is going to
pay off the king.

651
00:30:28,958 --> 00:30:31,708
"It's going to happen soon.
The day is set.

652
00:30:31,792 --> 00:30:34,125
"Here's the decree
that was sent forth.

653
00:30:34,167 --> 00:30:36,333
"Here's our execution date.

654
00:30:36,375 --> 00:30:38,333
"Tell Esther to do something.

655
00:30:38,375 --> 00:30:40,625
Tell Esther to say something."

656
00:30:40,667 --> 00:30:43,208
And here's the key:
at this point in the book,

657
00:30:43,292 --> 00:30:45,667
Esther has been passive,
not active.

658
00:30:45,750 --> 00:30:47,833
She's been silent,
not speaking.

659
00:30:47,875 --> 00:30:49,792
Others have made
decisions for her,

660
00:30:49,833 --> 00:30:53,625
she's not made
decisions for herself.

661
00:30:53,667 --> 00:30:57,292
How easy is it for us to look
at the circumstances of our life

662
00:30:57,333 --> 00:30:59,500
and say,
"It's out of my control.

663
00:30:59,583 --> 00:31:01,625
"Everything's big, I'm small.

664
00:31:01,667 --> 00:31:05,667
"The current of culture is like
an enormous river and I'm just

665
00:31:05,750 --> 00:31:08,917
"a little leaf being carried
along by the current.

666
00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:10,833
There's nothing I can do."

667
00:31:10,875 --> 00:31:14,208
Esther appears like that up
until this point in the story.

668
00:31:14,292 --> 00:31:16,000
Everything's
happening around her,

669
00:31:16,083 --> 00:31:17,625
decisions are
being made for her,

670
00:31:17,667 --> 00:31:19,417
people are speaking
on her behalf.

671
00:31:19,500 --> 00:31:21,500
She's not active.

672
00:31:21,583 --> 00:31:25,833
She's not making
progress spiritually.

673
00:31:25,875 --> 00:31:27,667
There's no indication
at this point,

674
00:31:27,750 --> 00:31:30,167
no hint that she's prayed,
read the Scriptures,

675
00:31:30,250 --> 00:31:33,500
worshiped with God's
people, none of that,

676
00:31:33,583 --> 00:31:35,708
offered a sacrifice for her sin.

677
00:31:35,792 --> 00:31:37,667
None of that.

678
00:31:37,750 --> 00:31:41,125
Again, she's like so
many of you and us.

679
00:31:41,167 --> 00:31:44,208
She knows things
that she doesn't do,

680
00:31:44,292 --> 00:31:47,083
and her faith is a private
matter, not a public matter.

681
00:31:47,167 --> 00:31:50,875
Nobody knows that Esther
is among God's people.

682
00:31:50,958 --> 00:31:54,583
It's a secret because she
doesn't want her life

683
00:31:54,667 --> 00:31:56,125
to be inconvenienced.

684
00:31:56,167 --> 00:31:58,792
And Mordecai informed her,
"Let's not tell people

685
00:31:58,833 --> 00:32:00,583
"that we belong to God.

686
00:32:00,667 --> 00:32:04,167
Let's just try and fit in and
go with the proverbial flow."

687
00:32:04,250 --> 00:32:06,917
How many of you,
that's your story?

688
00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:09,125
And now, circumstances have
you in a position

689
00:32:09,167 --> 00:32:11,708
that's very difficult.

690
00:32:11,792 --> 00:32:14,208
You shouldn't have married them,
you shouldn't have got pregnant

691
00:32:14,292 --> 00:32:16,583
with them, you shouldn't
have taken out that debt,

692
00:32:16,667 --> 00:32:19,000
you shouldn't have got into
that business or regimen,

693
00:32:19,083 --> 00:32:20,583
you shouldn't have
bought that house.

694
00:32:20,667 --> 00:32:23,625
You shouldn't have, and now
you're in a really complicated,

695
00:32:23,667 --> 00:32:28,083
difficult, hard place,
and the answer is:

696
00:32:28,167 --> 00:32:30,417
you need to get active.

697
00:32:30,500 --> 00:32:32,500
It's time to go public
with your faith.

698
00:32:32,583 --> 00:32:34,000
It's time to say something.

699
00:32:34,083 --> 00:32:35,500
It's time to do something.

700
00:32:35,583 --> 00:32:37,708
It's time to get moving.

701
00:32:37,792 --> 00:32:40,333
Now, let's be
reasonable with Esther

702
00:32:40,375 --> 00:32:42,500
and say she's born far away from

703
00:32:42,542 --> 00:32:45,000
the really devout Jews
who are living up in Israel.

704
00:32:45,083 --> 00:32:48,375
She's still part of the
not-so-devout living down in

705
00:32:48,458 --> 00:32:52,833
Susa in disobedience to Isaiah's
commands to go to Israel.

706
00:32:52,875 --> 00:32:54,417
Her parents died.

707
00:32:54,500 --> 00:32:56,292
She's an orphan girl,
probably poor,

708
00:32:56,333 --> 00:32:58,667
and Mordecai's not getting
"Dad of the Year" nominations.

709
00:32:58,750 --> 00:33:00,500
Okay?

710
00:33:00,583 --> 00:33:03,208
So, she gets the ball on the 2.

711
00:33:03,292 --> 00:33:07,083
But she's been married 5 years,
she's still on the 2.

712
00:33:07,167 --> 00:33:09,333
No progress.

713
00:33:09,375 --> 00:33:13,333
Mordecai's saying,
"Tell Esther to get going.

714
00:33:13,375 --> 00:33:16,083
I'm making progress, she
needs to make progress."

715
00:33:16,167 --> 00:33:18,708
And here's the truth:
some of you, your community,

716
00:33:18,792 --> 00:33:21,333
your family, friends,
the people you spend time with,

717
00:33:21,375 --> 00:33:26,917
you're all stuck, and if
one of you gets going,

718
00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:30,083
you can help motivate
the others to get going.

719
00:33:30,167 --> 00:33:33,667
Mordecai gets going and he is
here encouraging Esther

720
00:33:33,750 --> 00:33:36,708
to get going and to make
spiritual progress.

721
00:33:36,792 --> 00:33:38,792
So, here's the next question
for you

722
00:33:38,833 --> 00:33:40,208
and for your Community Groups.

723
00:33:40,292 --> 00:33:43,333
What opportunity has God given
you today to make some progress?

724
00:33:43,375 --> 00:33:46,125
Today.

725
00:33:46,167 --> 00:33:48,917
There's a sense of urgency
that's in the Scriptures here.

726
00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:52,333
There should be similar sense
of urgency in our lives.

727
00:33:52,375 --> 00:33:55,833
Some of you are like,
"It's in my to-do list down."

728
00:33:55,875 --> 00:33:59,083
No, relationship with God should
be at the center of everything,

729
00:33:59,167 --> 00:34:01,125
not at the top of
a to-do list.

730
00:34:01,167 --> 00:34:03,875
Not something that is completed,
but something that is constant

731
00:34:03,958 --> 00:34:07,500
and affects everything else.

732
00:34:07,542 --> 00:34:09,125
What is it for you?

733
00:34:09,167 --> 00:34:12,625
I know the Holy Spirit's
been telling you something.

734
00:34:12,667 --> 00:34:14,625
Is it time to start
reading Scripture?

735
00:34:14,667 --> 00:34:16,583
Is it time to start
confessing sin?

736
00:34:16,667 --> 00:34:18,208
Is it time to start praying?

737
00:34:18,292 --> 00:34:21,083
Is it time to pursue the people
that are godly

738
00:34:21,167 --> 00:34:23,083
and you have an opportunity
for friendship with?

739
00:34:23,167 --> 00:34:25,417
Is it time to serve
and use your gifts?

740
00:34:25,500 --> 00:34:28,500
Is it time to start reordering
your budget and your schedule

741
00:34:28,583 --> 00:34:31,708
so that your relationship with
God is not just internal

742
00:34:31,792 --> 00:34:34,500
and personal, but it's
external and public?

743
00:34:34,583 --> 00:34:36,583
What is that for you?

744
00:34:36,667 --> 00:34:39,500
And so Mordecai's getting
active and he's making progress,

745
00:34:39,542 --> 00:34:44,583
and he's urging Esther to get
active and to make progress.

746
00:34:44,667 --> 00:34:48,792
I want to urge you to get
active and to make progress.

747
00:34:48,833 --> 00:34:50,625
The question is:
What will she do?

748
00:34:50,667 --> 00:34:53,500
She has a decision to make.

749
00:34:53,583 --> 00:34:55,833
Well, this is a great
encouragement and hope

750
00:34:55,875 --> 00:34:59,208
for all of us because Esther
makes progress.

751
00:34:59,292 --> 00:35:02,125
Esther 4:10-17.

752
00:35:02,167 --> 00:35:05,333
"Then Esther spoke to Hathach
and commanded him to go to

753
00:35:05,375 --> 00:35:07,917
Mordecai and say--"
Let me just say this:

754
00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:10,000
Esther commanded somebody.

755
00:35:10,083 --> 00:35:13,125
We haven't seen that.

756
00:35:13,167 --> 00:35:15,000
She's taking charge.

757
00:35:15,083 --> 00:35:16,833
She's acting as a leader.

758
00:35:16,875 --> 00:35:19,417
She's taking initiative.

759
00:35:19,500 --> 00:35:21,833
She's no longer just
concerned with herself,

760
00:35:21,875 --> 00:35:25,417
she's concerned
with God's people.

761
00:35:25,500 --> 00:35:28,000
She's really coming into an--I
don't know when she gets

762
00:35:28,042 --> 00:35:29,708
quote unquote "saved."

763
00:35:29,792 --> 00:35:31,208
I don't know.

764
00:35:31,292 --> 00:35:33,500
Again, like Mordecai,
like some of you, like me,

765
00:35:33,583 --> 00:35:35,500
it's hard to say,
"She was saved here."

766
00:35:35,583 --> 00:35:38,208
Because some of you are going to
have these dramatic experiences.

767
00:35:38,292 --> 00:35:40,417
You'll be like, "I was
walking down the street,

768
00:35:40,500 --> 00:35:42,167
"Jesus showed up,
said, 'Knock it off,'

769
00:35:42,250 --> 00:35:43,917
and I have never
been the same."

770
00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:45,333
That's your day.

771
00:35:45,375 --> 00:35:47,000
Put that on the calendar,
circle it,

772
00:35:47,083 --> 00:35:48,833
buy yourself
a muffin every year.

773
00:35:48,875 --> 00:35:50,208
That's your big day, right?

774
00:35:50,292 --> 00:35:52,000
You got that one nailed.

775
00:35:52,042 --> 00:35:54,125
Some of you, you're
like, "I don't know.

776
00:35:54,167 --> 00:35:56,083
"I kind of went to church,

777
00:35:56,167 --> 00:35:58,125
"and my parents kind
of believed in God

778
00:35:58,167 --> 00:36:01,292
"but kind of not, and I wasn't
an atheist but I wasn't

779
00:36:01,333 --> 00:36:03,417
"walking with God, and then
I started changing.

780
00:36:03,500 --> 00:36:05,000
But I don't--it's
in there somewhere."

781
00:36:05,042 --> 00:36:07,000
That's more her story.

782
00:36:07,083 --> 00:36:10,000
If she were to stand up,
you know, in church,

783
00:36:10,042 --> 00:36:13,833
what she'd say is,
"Here's what I do know.

784
00:36:13,875 --> 00:36:16,125
"I really started growing here.

785
00:36:16,167 --> 00:36:17,500
"I really started changing here.

786
00:36:17,583 --> 00:36:19,625
"I really started
making progress here.

787
00:36:19,667 --> 00:36:23,125
It was that season of my life."

788
00:36:23,167 --> 00:36:26,000
She starts commanding people.

789
00:36:26,083 --> 00:36:27,500
Verse 11.

790
00:36:27,583 --> 00:36:30,208
"All the king's servants and the
people of the king's provinces

791
00:36:30,292 --> 00:36:32,917
"know that if any man or woman
goes to the king

792
00:36:33,000 --> 00:36:34,708
"inside the inner court
without being called,

793
00:36:34,792 --> 00:36:37,292
"there is but one law--
to be put to death,

794
00:36:37,333 --> 00:36:40,625
"except the one to whom the king
holds out the golden scepter

795
00:36:40,667 --> 00:36:42,333
"that he may live.

796
00:36:42,375 --> 00:36:45,333
"But as for me, I have not been
called to come to

797
00:36:45,375 --> 00:36:47,125
king--to the king, rather,
these thirty days."

798
00:36:47,167 --> 00:36:48,500
Here's what she's saying.

799
00:36:48,583 --> 00:36:51,375
"I want to do something
but it's dangerous."

800
00:36:51,458 --> 00:36:54,208
That's what faith is.

801
00:36:54,292 --> 00:36:59,583
Faith is action
in the face of opposition.

802
00:36:59,667 --> 00:37:03,917
And she's looking
at her situation.

803
00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:05,583
She's saying, "Okay.

804
00:37:05,667 --> 00:37:08,875
"The only way to get the king to
reverse Haman's decree to kill

805
00:37:08,958 --> 00:37:14,208
all our people is this: I
need to go before the king,"

806
00:37:14,292 --> 00:37:16,208
her husband.

807
00:37:16,292 --> 00:37:18,625
She says, "Here's the problem.
He sits on a throne.

808
00:37:18,667 --> 00:37:21,500
He tends to drink while he
sits on the throne a lot."

809
00:37:21,583 --> 00:37:23,500
That's what we've
learned so far.

810
00:37:23,583 --> 00:37:29,125
And if you just go up to
the king, they kill you,

811
00:37:29,167 --> 00:37:32,333
and so there's no repeat
offenders with this situation.

812
00:37:32,375 --> 00:37:34,208
You're not like,
"Yeah, three times I--"

813
00:37:34,292 --> 00:37:36,625
Nope, just once.

814
00:37:36,667 --> 00:37:40,417
There was an ancient
archeological dig that showed

815
00:37:40,500 --> 00:37:43,625
this with an ancient picture.

816
00:37:43,667 --> 00:37:46,083
It showed the Persian king
sitting on his throne,

817
00:37:46,167 --> 00:37:52,000
and behind him was a soldier
with an enormous axe.

818
00:37:52,042 --> 00:37:53,708
Can you imagine that?

819
00:37:53,792 --> 00:37:56,208
You're like, "I've got
to see the king, but no.

820
00:37:56,292 --> 00:37:58,708
No, no, no."

821
00:37:58,792 --> 00:38:01,917
Whatever your issue is,
it's not that big.

822
00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:06,917
A guy with a hood on, and a big
axe, and a place for your neck.

823
00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:09,125
You're like, "I'd like
to meet with the king."

824
00:38:09,167 --> 00:38:10,708
"Well, okay.

825
00:38:10,792 --> 00:38:14,708
First, put your head there."

826
00:38:14,792 --> 00:38:16,583
"Why?"

827
00:38:16,667 --> 00:38:19,292
"We're going to take
it off your body.

828
00:38:19,333 --> 00:38:21,792
"The king doesn't like to be
interrupted while he's sitting

829
00:38:21,833 --> 00:38:25,125
on his throne
drinking his wine."

830
00:38:25,167 --> 00:38:27,500
Now, this is wrong,
but very effective.

831
00:38:27,583 --> 00:38:29,500
Right?

832
00:38:29,583 --> 00:38:32,292
How many of you are in
management positions at your job

833
00:38:32,333 --> 00:38:34,500
and all of a sudden,
I just lost you.

834
00:38:34,542 --> 00:38:38,208
You're like,
"What a policy that might be.

835
00:38:38,292 --> 00:38:43,000
"My workload would
go down so fast,

836
00:38:43,042 --> 00:38:48,500
"and no more office politics
or 'I have a problem.'

837
00:38:48,583 --> 00:38:52,208
No, nobody has a problem big
enough to lose their head for."

838
00:38:52,292 --> 00:38:53,625
Okay?

839
00:38:53,667 --> 00:38:55,583
It's wrong, but effective.

840
00:38:55,667 --> 00:38:57,917
The king can't just
always be interrupted,

841
00:38:58,000 --> 00:38:59,833
and so they make this rule.

842
00:38:59,875 --> 00:39:03,333
You're only allowed to see
the king if he invites you.

843
00:39:03,375 --> 00:39:06,833
So, let's say you wanted to
meet with the king and you got

844
00:39:06,875 --> 00:39:12,875
entrance into the palace, you
would stand off at a distance,

845
00:39:12,958 --> 00:39:15,708
and if he lowered his
staff--this is signifying

846
00:39:15,792 --> 00:39:17,708
his sovereign rule.

847
00:39:17,792 --> 00:39:19,917
If he lowered his
staff toward you,

848
00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:23,625
you would walk up to it and
you'd put your hand at the end

849
00:39:23,667 --> 00:39:26,667
of the scepter, and that meant
that he welcomed you

850
00:39:26,750 --> 00:39:28,792
and you were welcomed
to meet with him.

851
00:39:28,833 --> 00:39:32,333
If he kept his scepter up, then
they would chop your head off

852
00:39:32,375 --> 00:39:34,500
and kill you.

853
00:39:34,583 --> 00:39:36,500
Is this a risk?

854
00:39:36,583 --> 00:39:37,917
Yeah.

855
00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:39,833
See, it's amazing
how cowardly we get.

856
00:39:39,875 --> 00:39:42,417
We're like,
"What if I lose my job?"

857
00:39:42,500 --> 00:39:44,625
Well, you still got your head.
You know?

858
00:39:44,667 --> 00:39:47,208
Like, "What if I
lose my boyfriend?"

859
00:39:47,292 --> 00:39:52,167
You still got your head.
Right?

860
00:39:52,250 --> 00:39:57,167
Like--I'm just saying.

861
00:39:57,250 --> 00:39:59,208
"And they told Mordecai
what Esther had said.

862
00:39:59,292 --> 00:40:01,208
"Then Mordecai told them
to reply to Esther,

863
00:40:01,292 --> 00:40:03,792
"'Do not think to yourself that
in the king's palace

864
00:40:03,833 --> 00:40:06,500
you will escape any more than
all the other Jews.'"

865
00:40:06,583 --> 00:40:08,500
This may be
a thinly veiled threat.

866
00:40:08,583 --> 00:40:11,500
At this point, there's only one
person who knows she's a Jew.

867
00:40:11,583 --> 00:40:12,917
That's Mordecai.

868
00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:15,417
Mordecai says, "If they kill
all the Jews, you're Jewish,

869
00:40:15,500 --> 00:40:17,917
they'll kill you too," but they
would only kill her

870
00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:19,333
if he told them.

871
00:40:19,375 --> 00:40:21,083
I'm not saying he's
manipulating the situation,

872
00:40:21,167 --> 00:40:24,208
but this is not a very nice
thing for a dad to say.

873
00:40:24,292 --> 00:40:26,625
He may be manipulating
circumstances saying,

874
00:40:26,667 --> 00:40:29,375
"You'll die too," and he's
putting her neck on the line.

875
00:40:29,458 --> 00:40:30,917
I don't know.

876
00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:33,167
"For if you keep
silent at this time,

877
00:40:33,250 --> 00:40:35,167
"relief and deliverance
will rise for the Jews

878
00:40:35,250 --> 00:40:36,625
from another place."

879
00:40:36,667 --> 00:40:38,375
We'll get into that in a moment.

880
00:40:38,458 --> 00:40:40,375
"'But you and your
father's house will perish.

881
00:40:40,458 --> 00:40:43,125
"'And who knows whether you have
not come to the kingdom

882
00:40:43,167 --> 00:40:44,625
"'for such a time as this?

883
00:40:44,667 --> 00:40:46,625
Then Esther told them
to reply to Mordecai."

884
00:40:46,667 --> 00:40:48,125
She's active.
She's making progress.

885
00:40:48,167 --> 00:40:50,000
She's got
a hard decision to make.

886
00:40:50,083 --> 00:40:52,500
It's like some of you.

887
00:40:52,542 --> 00:40:54,375
You've got
a hard decision to make.

888
00:40:54,458 --> 00:40:57,792
"Am I going to take the risk
to live out my faith and endure

889
00:40:57,833 --> 00:41:00,500
whatever consequences
might come to me?"

890
00:41:00,583 --> 00:41:03,583
And let me say this:
I'm not some naive, rosy,

891
00:41:03,667 --> 00:41:06,708
it's all bunnies, hugs,
and muffins preacher.

892
00:41:06,792 --> 00:41:09,208
I'm not going to tell
you, "Do what God says

893
00:41:09,292 --> 00:41:11,125
and it's going to be great!"

894
00:41:11,167 --> 00:41:13,333
There's other guys in
the Bible, they get beheaded,

895
00:41:13,375 --> 00:41:15,333
like John the Baptizer.

896
00:41:15,375 --> 00:41:18,875
And even if you read the rest of
the story--and I don't want to

897
00:41:18,958 --> 00:41:20,583
give it away too fast.

898
00:41:20,667 --> 00:41:23,625
It's not like it all ends, "And
they lived happily ever after.

899
00:41:23,667 --> 00:41:26,708
"Xerxes got saved, went to Bible
college, planted a megachurch,

900
00:41:26,792 --> 00:41:28,375
"and Esther ran
the Women's Ministry,

901
00:41:28,458 --> 00:41:31,375
"and they had 27 kids who all
grew up to be missionaries

902
00:41:31,458 --> 00:41:33,875
"to China, who are bilingual,
and they can speak Persian

903
00:41:33,958 --> 00:41:35,292
"and Hebrew and Greek,

904
00:41:35,333 --> 00:41:37,292
and oh, you'll find
them in the concordance."

905
00:41:37,333 --> 00:41:42,583
It doesn't go like that.
It doesn't go like that.

906
00:41:42,667 --> 00:41:45,333
And so sometimes, through our
sin, and the sin of others,

907
00:41:45,375 --> 00:41:47,000
and the difficulty
of circumstance,

908
00:41:47,083 --> 00:41:49,292
we get ourselves in
a situation where it's like,

909
00:41:49,333 --> 00:41:53,000
"I'm in a bad place, and if I
make a decision to obey God,

910
00:41:53,042 --> 00:41:56,375
it could get worse,"
and sometimes it does,

911
00:41:56,458 --> 00:41:59,500
or it could get better for
awhile and worse forever,

912
00:41:59,542 --> 00:42:02,333
or it could get better
for them or worse for me.

913
00:42:02,375 --> 00:42:03,833
That's where Esther is.

914
00:42:03,875 --> 00:42:07,167
This is where we live,
and faith is action.

915
00:42:07,250 --> 00:42:10,583
It's doing, risk-taking.

916
00:42:10,667 --> 00:42:12,333
What's she going to do?

917
00:42:12,375 --> 00:42:14,000
Well, she matures.

918
00:42:14,083 --> 00:42:16,000
She makes progress.

919
00:42:16,083 --> 00:42:18,583
Whether or not she knew
the Lord, I believe here,

920
00:42:18,667 --> 00:42:21,167
she's demonstrating
faith in the Lord.

921
00:42:21,250 --> 00:42:24,208
She's demonstrating
faith in the Lord.

922
00:42:24,292 --> 00:42:26,125
So, here's what she says.

923
00:42:26,167 --> 00:42:28,833
"Then Esther," verse 15, "told
them to reply to Mordecai,

924
00:42:28,875 --> 00:42:31,417
'Go, gather all the Jews
to be found in Susa.'"

925
00:42:31,500 --> 00:42:35,208
She's bringing God's people
together like a church.

926
00:42:35,292 --> 00:42:37,292
You need God's people.

927
00:42:37,333 --> 00:42:39,792
Sometimes we in the western
world, we read the story,

928
00:42:39,833 --> 00:42:42,167
it's like Esther,
this lone figure.

929
00:42:42,250 --> 00:42:44,000
She's not.

930
00:42:44,042 --> 00:42:45,708
Mordecai's there.

931
00:42:45,792 --> 00:42:49,000
She'll say in a moment the gals
that are with her are there.

932
00:42:49,083 --> 00:42:51,000
God's people are there.

933
00:42:51,083 --> 00:42:53,208
Here's the truth:
there are leaders,

934
00:42:53,292 --> 00:42:55,417
but we're all in it together.

935
00:42:55,500 --> 00:42:58,292
You need God's people.

936
00:42:58,333 --> 00:43:00,792
We're in it together.

937
00:43:00,833 --> 00:43:04,917
"Gather all the Jews to be found
in Susa and hold a fast on my

938
00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:08,708
behalf, and do not eat or drink
for three days, day or night."

939
00:43:08,792 --> 00:43:12,208
She's saying, "I need
God's people to help me.

940
00:43:12,292 --> 00:43:14,125
"I don't know what's
going to happen.

941
00:43:14,167 --> 00:43:18,375
"I'm scared that I
could be killed.

942
00:43:18,458 --> 00:43:23,000
"The only reason I am queen
is Vashti didn't obey a rule,

943
00:43:23,083 --> 00:43:29,417
and now I'm going
to disobey a rule."

944
00:43:29,500 --> 00:43:32,708
In the Scriptures,
when God's people fast,

945
00:43:32,792 --> 00:43:35,667
it's usually preparing their
hearts for something that

946
00:43:35,750 --> 00:43:40,125
could be difficult: a ministry
calling, a mission opportunity.

947
00:43:40,167 --> 00:43:42,833
That's why the Lord Jesus
himself spent 40 days praying

948
00:43:42,875 --> 00:43:46,417
and fasting before his
public ministry began.

949
00:43:46,500 --> 00:43:49,833
And almost every time
the Bible speaks of fasting,

950
00:43:49,875 --> 00:43:53,125
it does so by including prayer.

951
00:43:53,167 --> 00:43:55,583
Here, prayer is
curiously omitted.

952
00:43:55,667 --> 00:43:58,125
Maybe we're too infer it
or maybe these are not

953
00:43:58,167 --> 00:44:01,000
really mature believers.

954
00:44:01,083 --> 00:44:04,917
Maybe these are just kind of
spiritual folk

955
00:44:05,000 --> 00:44:10,083
whose faith has been dormant
for a really long time.

956
00:44:10,167 --> 00:44:12,417
Maybe they've even
been regressing.

957
00:44:12,500 --> 00:44:15,292
They were born Jews,
God's covenant people.

958
00:44:15,333 --> 00:44:18,875
They got the ball on the 20, but
they've slipped back to the 5,

959
00:44:18,958 --> 00:44:21,000
and now they're starting
to make progress.

960
00:44:21,042 --> 00:44:23,917
But it might not be this
eruption of complete, total,

961
00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:26,000
perfect obedience immediately.

962
00:44:26,083 --> 00:44:29,167
Maybe like us, it's one step
at a time, a little bit,

963
00:44:29,250 --> 00:44:34,000
let's get started.

964
00:44:34,083 --> 00:44:37,417
And she says this,
"Then I will go to the king."

965
00:44:37,500 --> 00:44:40,333
That's faith.

966
00:44:40,375 --> 00:44:42,500
I don't know when
Esther comes to faith,

967
00:44:42,583 --> 00:44:45,875
but by this point in
the story, she has faith,

968
00:44:45,958 --> 00:44:48,208
and faith is action.

969
00:44:48,292 --> 00:44:52,208
And when people meet the God
of the Bible, they change.

970
00:44:52,292 --> 00:44:55,167
So, what you're going to see
in chapter 4, Esther changes,

971
00:44:55,250 --> 00:44:57,125
Mordecai changes.

972
00:44:57,167 --> 00:45:00,500
They're not perfect,
but they're making progress.

973
00:45:00,542 --> 00:45:02,125
That's a believer.

974
00:45:02,167 --> 00:45:04,625
That's a believer.

975
00:45:04,667 --> 00:45:08,625
You can't meet God
and not change.

976
00:45:08,667 --> 00:45:12,625
As they did, you might
have a season of rebellion,

977
00:45:12,667 --> 00:45:15,792
you may have a season of
backsliding, but ultimately,

978
00:45:15,833 --> 00:45:17,583
God's people make progress.

979
00:45:17,667 --> 00:45:20,375
The only characters in the book
who don't make progress are

980
00:45:20,458 --> 00:45:22,000
Haman and Xerxes.

981
00:45:22,083 --> 00:45:23,500
They don't make any progress.

982
00:45:23,583 --> 00:45:26,500
They're the same at the end
as they are in the beginning.

983
00:45:26,583 --> 00:45:29,000
That's how it is with
people who don't know God.

984
00:45:29,083 --> 00:45:30,417
They don't change.

985
00:45:30,500 --> 00:45:32,875
People who do know God,
they change, there's progress.

986
00:45:32,958 --> 00:45:34,583
Esther here is changing.

987
00:45:34,667 --> 00:45:36,833
"I'm going to go to the king."

988
00:45:36,875 --> 00:45:39,500
She's getting very brave
and very courageous.

989
00:45:39,583 --> 00:45:41,583
There's great faith here.

990
00:45:41,667 --> 00:45:44,292
"Though it is against the law."

991
00:45:44,333 --> 00:45:47,833
We believe that over human laws,
which Romans 13 says are to be

992
00:45:47,875 --> 00:45:52,625
obeyed, is God's unchanging,
perfect, and timeless law,

993
00:45:52,667 --> 00:45:55,375
and when the government is
telling us to do something that

994
00:45:55,458 --> 00:45:58,792
violates God's law, we need to
practice what is called

995
00:45:58,833 --> 00:46:02,125
civil disobedience
and say yes to God's law

996
00:46:02,167 --> 00:46:05,333
and no to wrong laws
instituted by men.

997
00:46:05,375 --> 00:46:08,417
Here, the issue is
"Thou shalt not murder."

998
00:46:08,500 --> 00:46:12,000
Haman's going to murder
15 million innocent people

999
00:46:12,083 --> 00:46:16,500
because he's bitter against
one Jewish guy.

1000
00:46:16,583 --> 00:46:18,917
The punishment does
not fit the crime,

1001
00:46:19,000 --> 00:46:22,500
and so Esther is going to
disobey the law in an effort

1002
00:46:22,583 --> 00:46:27,125
to obey the law of God, which
is "Thou shalt not murder."

1003
00:46:27,167 --> 00:46:31,500
And here's the line:
"'If I perish, I perish.'"

1004
00:46:31,542 --> 00:46:33,708
"Mordecai then went away
and did everything as Esther

1005
00:46:33,792 --> 00:46:35,125
had ordered him."

1006
00:46:35,167 --> 00:46:37,833
Now Esther is making decisions.

1007
00:46:37,875 --> 00:46:39,792
Now Esther is
acting with wisdom.

1008
00:46:39,833 --> 00:46:42,208
Previously, she didn't
share her faith,

1009
00:46:42,292 --> 00:46:45,125
she didn't let anybody know
she was one of God's people

1010
00:46:45,167 --> 00:46:47,625
because Mordecai
told her not to.

1011
00:46:47,667 --> 00:46:50,125
Here, she assumes her own faith.

1012
00:46:50,167 --> 00:46:54,417
She comes into her own
public relationship with God,

1013
00:46:54,500 --> 00:46:57,333
and she's making decisions
and she's leading.

1014
00:46:57,375 --> 00:47:00,542
She's taking responsibility.

1015
00:47:03,583 --> 00:47:09,083
Two very important
statements in this section,

1016
00:47:09,167 --> 00:47:13,167
the hinge section
for the whole book.

1017
00:47:13,250 --> 00:47:15,500
One is by Mordecai,
one is by Esther.

1018
00:47:15,583 --> 00:47:18,375
These are the most
quoted, memorable,

1019
00:47:18,458 --> 00:47:21,917
beloved Scriptures in Esther.

1020
00:47:22,000 --> 00:47:24,208
The first is from Mordecai.

1021
00:47:24,292 --> 00:47:28,125
He says this in Esther 4:14,
"For if you keep silent at this

1022
00:47:28,167 --> 00:47:32,167
time," he tells Esther, "relief
and deliverance will rise for

1023
00:47:32,250 --> 00:47:35,625
the Jews from another place."

1024
00:47:35,667 --> 00:47:40,208
Mordecai's basically saying
this: "I don't know how we're

1025
00:47:40,292 --> 00:47:42,333
"going to get out of this.

1026
00:47:42,375 --> 00:47:45,292
"I don't know how we're going
to be saved and spared.

1027
00:47:45,333 --> 00:47:47,625
"I don't know.

1028
00:47:47,667 --> 00:47:51,833
"Here's what I do know: If you
don't do something, Esther,

1029
00:47:51,875 --> 00:47:54,500
help's going to come
from somewhere."

1030
00:47:54,583 --> 00:48:00,917
Now, some would say that this
is the first intimation of God

1031
00:48:01,000 --> 00:48:02,417
in the book.

1032
00:48:02,500 --> 00:48:04,417
God's name is not
mentioned, nobody prays,

1033
00:48:04,500 --> 00:48:07,000
nobody reads Scripture,
nobody repents, nobody sings,

1034
00:48:07,083 --> 00:48:09,667
nobody offers a sacrifice,
no angel shows up,

1035
00:48:09,750 --> 00:48:12,833
no miracle occurs,
no prophet declares.

1036
00:48:12,875 --> 00:48:15,000
They would say here,
"another place"

1037
00:48:15,042 --> 00:48:16,417
is a reference to God.

1038
00:48:16,500 --> 00:48:18,583
Maybe, or he could be saying,

1039
00:48:18,667 --> 00:48:22,333
"God always shows up
for his people."

1040
00:48:22,375 --> 00:48:27,875
Here's the truth: God will
never leave us nor forsake us.

1041
00:48:27,958 --> 00:48:31,625
That's what he says.

1042
00:48:31,667 --> 00:48:34,708
Friends, you may not walk with
God, but if you're a believer,

1043
00:48:34,792 --> 00:48:36,917
God walks with you.

1044
00:48:37,000 --> 00:48:39,625
You may say,
"I've walked far away."

1045
00:48:39,667 --> 00:48:41,875
I'll tell you what, you
turn around in repentance,

1046
00:48:41,958 --> 00:48:44,708
he's right there because
the Bible says even when

1047
00:48:44,792 --> 00:48:46,833
we're faithless, he's what?

1048
00:48:46,875 --> 00:48:50,500
He's faithful.

1049
00:48:50,583 --> 00:48:55,167
The most common command in
the whole Bible is "Fear not,"

1050
00:48:55,250 --> 00:48:58,208
because there's a lot
of reasons to be afraid.

1051
00:48:58,292 --> 00:49:01,000
Mordecai here has a lot
of reasons to be afraid.

1052
00:49:01,083 --> 00:49:06,875
His stubbornness could lead to
the murder of 15 million people.

1053
00:49:06,958 --> 00:49:10,375
And every time that I have
studied that the Bible says,

1054
00:49:10,458 --> 00:49:13,417
"Fear not," it
immediately then says why?

1055
00:49:13,500 --> 00:49:15,500
"For I am with you."

1056
00:49:15,583 --> 00:49:18,333
God is with his people.

1057
00:49:18,375 --> 00:49:21,333
God is always with his people.

1058
00:49:21,375 --> 00:49:23,708
God is with his people
when they're in sin.

1059
00:49:23,792 --> 00:49:26,000
God is with his people
when they're in rebellion,

1060
00:49:26,083 --> 00:49:29,000
when they're in Susa
and they should be in Israel,

1061
00:49:29,042 --> 00:49:31,417
when they're working for
King Xerxes and they should be

1062
00:49:31,500 --> 00:49:34,333
working for the King of kings,
when they're private with their

1063
00:49:34,375 --> 00:49:37,333
faith and they should be public,
when they're disobedient and

1064
00:49:37,375 --> 00:49:40,208
they should be obedient, when
they're in circumstances

1065
00:49:40,292 --> 00:49:43,708
that they shouldn't be in like
married to a Gentile pagan

1066
00:49:43,792 --> 00:49:47,917
who thinks he's God.

1067
00:49:48,000 --> 00:49:50,500
Esther's in a hard place too.

1068
00:49:50,542 --> 00:49:53,167
She says, "I've not even
seen my husband for 30 days."

1069
00:49:53,250 --> 00:49:56,875
They've only been
married 5 years.

1070
00:49:56,958 --> 00:50:01,208
Don't be under any sort of
Christian Sunday School illusion

1071
00:50:01,292 --> 00:50:04,333
that this is a loving marriage,
and they're holding hands,

1072
00:50:04,375 --> 00:50:08,083
and singing songs,
and going for walks every day.

1073
00:50:08,167 --> 00:50:10,208
She hasn't seen him in 30 days.

1074
00:50:10,292 --> 00:50:12,833
She can't even come
into his presence.

1075
00:50:12,875 --> 00:50:14,500
He's busy with a harem.

1076
00:50:14,583 --> 00:50:16,500
He's moved on.

1077
00:50:16,583 --> 00:50:19,708
Mordecai and Esther are both
in very dire, very difficult,

1078
00:50:19,792 --> 00:50:24,667
very distressing circumstances,
but God is with them.

1079
00:50:24,750 --> 00:50:27,208
Even though they're
where they should not be,

1080
00:50:27,292 --> 00:50:29,917
doing what they should
not do, God is there.

1081
00:50:30,000 --> 00:50:33,500
And this is our hope, not that
you're going to get principles

1082
00:50:33,583 --> 00:50:36,417
to fix your life and it's
all going to be great,

1083
00:50:36,500 --> 00:50:39,417
and you can be a conqueror
and everybody can be an Esther,

1084
00:50:39,500 --> 00:50:42,208
but that God is with us,
that God never leaves us,

1085
00:50:42,292 --> 00:50:45,000
God never forsakes us,
God never betrays us,

1086
00:50:45,083 --> 00:50:47,375
God never abandons us.

1087
00:50:47,458 --> 00:50:50,583
God is not a Father
who walks out on his kids.

1088
00:50:50,667 --> 00:50:53,208
Dad's always there.

1089
00:50:53,292 --> 00:50:56,917
And Mordecai's starting
to come to his senses.

1090
00:50:57,000 --> 00:50:59,292
He says, "I don't know
what's going to happen,

1091
00:50:59,333 --> 00:51:04,625
but he's going to do something
because we can't do anything."

1092
00:51:04,667 --> 00:51:08,000
And that's always the portrait
of salvation in the Bible.

1093
00:51:08,083 --> 00:51:11,625
People are destined for
death, and they cannot deliver

1094
00:51:11,667 --> 00:51:15,333
themselves, and God,
God needs to come

1095
00:51:15,375 --> 00:51:18,792
or he needs to send
someone to serve.

1096
00:51:18,833 --> 00:51:22,500
And then his next line is:
"And who knows whether you have

1097
00:51:22,583 --> 00:51:25,875
not come to the kingdom for
such a time as this?"

1098
00:51:25,958 --> 00:51:29,000
He's saying, "Esther, who knows?

1099
00:51:29,042 --> 00:51:32,000
"We're not supposed
to be in Susa.

1100
00:51:32,042 --> 00:51:33,417
"You shouldn't have
married that guy.

1101
00:51:33,500 --> 00:51:35,625
"I shouldn't have let
you marry that guy.

1102
00:51:35,667 --> 00:51:38,500
"He shouldn't be
the kind of husband

1103
00:51:38,542 --> 00:51:40,625
"you can't even go talk to.

1104
00:51:40,667 --> 00:51:43,708
"Haman shouldn't have put
out a death sentence.

1105
00:51:43,792 --> 00:51:47,417
"I shouldn't have been so
stubborn not to honor him.

1106
00:51:47,500 --> 00:51:49,708
This is all a nightmare.
It's a mess."

1107
00:51:49,792 --> 00:51:52,208
How many of you, emotionally,
you're connecting with the story

1108
00:51:52,292 --> 00:51:54,792
now going,
"That sounds familiar."

1109
00:51:54,833 --> 00:51:57,875
You look at your life and you're
like, "It is really complicated.

1110
00:51:57,958 --> 00:52:00,375
"Some of it's my sins,
some of it's their sins,

1111
00:52:00,458 --> 00:52:01,833
"some of it's our sin,

1112
00:52:01,875 --> 00:52:04,625
some of it I don't even know
what's going on."

1113
00:52:04,667 --> 00:52:08,625
And he pulls back and he
intimates so subtly

1114
00:52:08,667 --> 00:52:12,875
at the providence of God.

1115
00:52:12,958 --> 00:52:18,833
He could have been in mourning,
loathing, self-contempt,

1116
00:52:18,875 --> 00:52:23,000
and shame, condemnation,
and disgrace for his whole life

1117
00:52:23,083 --> 00:52:26,625
and then just died.

1118
00:52:26,667 --> 00:52:30,125
Instead, he lifts his eyes up.

1119
00:52:30,167 --> 00:52:35,167
"Okay, let's assume that the
God of the Bible really exists.

1120
00:52:35,250 --> 00:52:38,000
"Let's assume that the God
who got all kinds of people

1121
00:52:38,042 --> 00:52:42,375
"out of terrible situations
still loves us.

1122
00:52:42,458 --> 00:52:45,708
"Let's assume that maybe, even
though we're not in the place

1123
00:52:45,792 --> 00:52:49,375
"we're supposed to be,
we're part of his plan,

1124
00:52:49,458 --> 00:52:52,000
"and that he might use us.

1125
00:52:52,042 --> 00:52:55,625
"And in the providence
of God, Esther,

1126
00:52:55,667 --> 00:53:01,625
maybe you being queen is
the key to this whole crisis."

1127
00:53:01,667 --> 00:53:06,000
Let me tell you a little bit
about the providence of God.

1128
00:53:06,042 --> 00:53:10,000
The providence of God is
not fatalism or determinism.

1129
00:53:10,042 --> 00:53:13,833
Fatalism and determinism is
where you would believe that

1130
00:53:13,875 --> 00:53:17,625
everything that happens
is just as God wants.

1131
00:53:17,667 --> 00:53:20,708
I don't believe that.

1132
00:53:20,792 --> 00:53:22,375
I don't believe that.

1133
00:53:22,458 --> 00:53:26,375
I had a young woman come up to
me just in the last 2 weeks,

1134
00:53:26,458 --> 00:53:30,500
"Pastor Mark, why did God
have me sexually assaulted?"

1135
00:53:30,583 --> 00:53:33,500
I looked her in the eye,
I started crying, I said,

1136
00:53:33,583 --> 00:53:35,917
"I'm a dad who loves his kids.

1137
00:53:36,000 --> 00:53:37,833
"God's a Dad who loves his kids.

1138
00:53:37,875 --> 00:53:40,083
"Just like I don't
make those plans,

1139
00:53:40,167 --> 00:53:42,125
"God doesn't make those plans.

1140
00:53:42,167 --> 00:53:47,208
Just as that destroys
me, that devastates God."

1141
00:53:47,292 --> 00:53:51,708
She was under this misnomer
of fatalism and determinism.

1142
00:53:51,792 --> 00:53:53,667
When the Bible says
that there's sin,

1143
00:53:53,750 --> 00:53:57,333
that means that's
not what God wants.

1144
00:53:57,375 --> 00:54:00,208
That's why God grieves.

1145
00:54:00,292 --> 00:54:03,625
That's why we grieve.

1146
00:54:03,667 --> 00:54:08,125
But providence is this:
despite all the sin,

1147
00:54:08,167 --> 00:54:13,000
God is still in
control and he's good.

1148
00:54:13,083 --> 00:54:17,000
God is sovereign, he's
in charge, he's good.

1149
00:54:20,167 --> 00:54:22,667
If you only think he's
good but not sovereign;

1150
00:54:22,750 --> 00:54:25,417
he means well but he can't help.

1151
00:54:25,500 --> 00:54:27,833
If you only think he's
sovereign but not good;

1152
00:54:27,875 --> 00:54:30,917
he's in charge but like Xerxes.

1153
00:54:31,000 --> 00:54:32,500
He's sovereign and good.

1154
00:54:32,583 --> 00:54:34,333
A. W. Tozer has an analogy.

1155
00:54:34,375 --> 00:54:36,000
He was an old Bible teacher.

1156
00:54:36,083 --> 00:54:38,917
He said, "Envision a ship where
there's a captain determined

1157
00:54:39,000 --> 00:54:41,292
"to get that boat to port,

1158
00:54:41,333 --> 00:54:43,208
"to take it on
a long journey

1159
00:54:43,292 --> 00:54:47,167
"across a very rough sea, but
he's determined to get it

1160
00:54:47,250 --> 00:54:50,125
"into its destination port.

1161
00:54:50,167 --> 00:54:53,125
"Ultimately, that captain is
in charge, he's in control,

1162
00:54:53,167 --> 00:54:55,792
"he's the sovereign.

1163
00:54:55,833 --> 00:54:59,417
"Now, on the ship, let's say
there are many, many passengers.

1164
00:54:59,500 --> 00:55:03,292
"Those passengers make
lots of decisions,

1165
00:55:03,333 --> 00:55:06,333
"and they're free to
make those decisions.

1166
00:55:06,375 --> 00:55:10,125
"They interact and they can
do all kinds of things,

1167
00:55:10,167 --> 00:55:13,125
"but ultimately, that captain
will get that ship

1168
00:55:13,167 --> 00:55:15,125
"to its intended port.

1169
00:55:15,167 --> 00:55:18,333
"It means that all the decisions
that are made by those who are

1170
00:55:18,375 --> 00:55:23,833
"along for this voyage,
they're morally responsible.

1171
00:55:23,875 --> 00:55:26,583
"If they're sinning,
rebelling, causing mutiny,

1172
00:55:26,667 --> 00:55:29,500
"harming one another,
whatever they do,

1173
00:55:29,542 --> 00:55:33,333
"they're responsible for that,
but the captain's will

1174
00:55:33,375 --> 00:55:37,333
"cannot be overtaken, that
the captain will get the ship

1175
00:55:37,375 --> 00:55:39,708
to its intended port."

1176
00:55:39,792 --> 00:55:41,417
We talk of
the providence of God,

1177
00:55:41,500 --> 00:55:42,833
that's what we're talking about.

1178
00:55:42,875 --> 00:55:45,375
People make decisions
and we're responsible for them.

1179
00:55:45,458 --> 00:55:47,792
So, Esther and Mordecai
are going to make decisions.

1180
00:55:47,833 --> 00:55:50,000
They're going to make some
bad ones that they're

1181
00:55:50,083 --> 00:55:52,500
responsible for; they're
going to make some good ones

1182
00:55:52,542 --> 00:55:55,167
that they should be thanked for.

1183
00:55:55,250 --> 00:55:58,208
But ultimately, God's
will will be accomplished.

1184
00:55:58,292 --> 00:56:00,292
God will get us home.

1185
00:56:00,333 --> 00:56:02,333
He's going to get
us to his kingdom.

1186
00:56:02,375 --> 00:56:04,167
He's going to get us to Jesus.

1187
00:56:04,250 --> 00:56:06,292
He's going to get us to his Son.

1188
00:56:06,333 --> 00:56:09,000
He's going to get us to
the place that he intends

1189
00:56:09,083 --> 00:56:11,500
for us to be.

1190
00:56:11,583 --> 00:56:17,417
What he's saying here is,
"Esther, God's still in control.

1191
00:56:17,500 --> 00:56:21,083
"And there's been a whole
bunch of bad decisions made,

1192
00:56:21,167 --> 00:56:26,500
"and there's a lot of sin,
but if God's still in control,

1193
00:56:26,542 --> 00:56:31,375
maybe he would use you and you
could be part of his plan."

1194
00:56:31,458 --> 00:56:34,125
Is that not hopeful to you?

1195
00:56:34,167 --> 00:56:37,375
How many of you, you look at
your life, you say, "Yeah.

1196
00:56:37,458 --> 00:56:40,625
"It feels like that, like I've
got myself in a situation

1197
00:56:40,667 --> 00:56:44,500
that is horrendous, or
difficult, or compromised"?

1198
00:56:44,583 --> 00:56:48,792
God could use you,

1199
00:56:48,833 --> 00:56:52,417
and God's providence
is still in tact.

1200
00:56:52,500 --> 00:56:54,625
Esther's statement.

1201
00:56:54,667 --> 00:56:56,000
Esther 4:16.

1202
00:56:56,083 --> 00:56:58,000
We just read it.
We'll read it again.

1203
00:56:58,083 --> 00:57:01,125
Esther says, "Go, gather all
the Jews to be found in Susa,

1204
00:57:01,167 --> 00:57:02,625
hold a fast on my behalf."

1205
00:57:02,667 --> 00:57:04,333
This is like
a big church service.

1206
00:57:04,375 --> 00:57:07,333
"And do not eat or drink for
three days, day or night."

1207
00:57:07,375 --> 00:57:08,708
Isn't that interesting?

1208
00:57:08,792 --> 00:57:10,708
It takes 3 days
to deliver the people.

1209
00:57:10,792 --> 00:57:12,500
How long was Jesus
in the grave?

1210
00:57:12,542 --> 00:57:15,208
Three days.

1211
00:57:15,292 --> 00:57:17,208
"Night or day.

1212
00:57:17,292 --> 00:57:18,833
I and my young women."

1213
00:57:18,875 --> 00:57:21,083
So, she's got her Community
Group with her, okay?

1214
00:57:21,167 --> 00:57:22,708
You always need your
Community Group.

1215
00:57:22,792 --> 00:57:25,083
Yes, I'm encouraging
you to sign up for one.

1216
00:57:25,167 --> 00:57:26,583
It's right there in the Hebrew.

1217
00:57:26,667 --> 00:57:28,792
"I and my young women in our
Community Group

1218
00:57:28,833 --> 00:57:31,708
"will also fast as you do.

1219
00:57:31,792 --> 00:57:34,917
"Then I will go to the king,
though it is against the law,

1220
00:57:35,000 --> 00:57:36,333
and," what?

1221
00:57:36,375 --> 00:57:39,417
"If I perish, I perish."

1222
00:57:39,500 --> 00:57:43,333
Here's what Esther is saying:
"My greatest treasure is

1223
00:57:43,375 --> 00:57:46,875
"my life, but my greatest
treasure is no longer

1224
00:57:46,958 --> 00:57:48,875
"my greatest treasure.

1225
00:57:48,958 --> 00:57:54,625
"My greatest treasure is God,
and I'm willing to lose my life

1226
00:57:54,667 --> 00:57:58,375
because they can't take from
me my greatest treasure."

1227
00:57:58,458 --> 00:58:00,583
If your life is your
greatest treasure,

1228
00:58:00,667 --> 00:58:05,000
all people have to do is
threaten you to control you.

1229
00:58:05,042 --> 00:58:09,375
"I will take your life," or "I
will make your life very hard."

1230
00:58:09,458 --> 00:58:11,917
"Oh, then you be
like a sovereign God,

1231
00:58:12,000 --> 00:58:15,500
"tell me what to do, and I will
obey you because my

1232
00:58:15,583 --> 00:58:18,500
greatest treasure is my life."

1233
00:58:18,583 --> 00:58:21,292
Once the God of the Bible
becomes your greatest treasure,

1234
00:58:21,333 --> 00:58:27,417
people can't threaten or
bully you into obeying them.

1235
00:58:27,500 --> 00:58:29,500
You're free.

1236
00:58:29,583 --> 00:58:32,208
Esther just got free.

1237
00:58:32,292 --> 00:58:34,792
"If I live, I live.
If I die, I die.

1238
00:58:34,833 --> 00:58:41,333
I just want to do what's right."

1239
00:58:41,375 --> 00:58:44,417
Here's what God is doing at
this time:

1240
00:58:44,500 --> 00:58:46,833
he's working in two places.

1241
00:58:46,875 --> 00:58:51,125
He's working with his
disobedient people in Persia.

1242
00:58:51,167 --> 00:58:53,917
He's working with his a little
more obedient people

1243
00:58:54,000 --> 00:58:56,208
up in Israel.

1244
00:58:56,292 --> 00:58:58,208
And there are
three contemporaries at work

1245
00:58:58,292 --> 00:59:01,375
at this time: Ezra,
Nehemiah, and Esther.

1246
00:59:01,458 --> 00:59:04,417
If you look at your
Bible, they're there,

1247
00:59:04,500 --> 00:59:06,792
books named after them.

1248
00:59:06,833 --> 00:59:08,833
Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.

1249
00:59:08,875 --> 00:59:10,917
And what God is
doing at this point,

1250
00:59:11,000 --> 00:59:13,167
he's working in multiple
nations through multiple people,

1251
00:59:13,250 --> 00:59:14,625
with multiple backgrounds.

1252
00:59:14,667 --> 00:59:17,625
This should be such
a great hope for you and I.

1253
00:59:17,667 --> 00:59:20,833
There's Nehemiah,
he's a business guy.

1254
00:59:20,875 --> 00:59:23,083
He's got an MBA,
he went to business school,

1255
00:59:23,167 --> 00:59:25,208
he's a CEO of a company, right?

1256
00:59:25,292 --> 00:59:27,125
He runs the numbers.

1257
00:59:27,167 --> 00:59:29,125
He knows how to put together
projects,

1258
00:59:29,167 --> 00:59:31,000
and spreadsheets, and plans.

1259
00:59:31,042 --> 00:59:32,792
He's that kind of guy.

1260
00:59:32,833 --> 00:59:34,708
He's an urban developer.

1261
00:59:34,792 --> 00:59:36,333
That's what he does.

1262
00:59:36,375 --> 00:59:37,875
He's a land developing guy.

1263
00:59:37,958 --> 00:59:40,167
That's Nehemiah.

1264
00:59:40,250 --> 00:59:41,833
He knows how to raise money.

1265
00:59:41,875 --> 00:59:43,667
He knows how to
recruit volunteers.

1266
00:59:43,750 --> 00:59:45,625
He knows how to
build an org chart.

1267
00:59:45,667 --> 00:59:49,333
And so God has called him to be
at work up in Israel rebuilding

1268
00:59:49,375 --> 00:59:51,500
the city of Jerusalem.

1269
00:59:51,583 --> 00:59:54,167
Now, working with him
is a guy named Ezra.

1270
00:59:54,250 --> 00:59:55,708
Ezra went to seminary.

1271
00:59:55,792 --> 00:59:57,333
Ezra's a Bible teacher.

1272
00:59:57,375 --> 00:59:59,208
Ezra doesn't know
how to raise money.

1273
00:59:59,292 --> 01:00:01,333
He doesn't know how
to make a chart.

1274
01:00:01,375 --> 01:00:03,500
He knows the Scriptures
and he's a Bible teacher.

1275
01:00:03,583 --> 01:00:05,292
He's a Bible preacher.

1276
01:00:05,333 --> 01:00:07,417
Now, Nehemiah doesn't
get up to preach.

1277
01:00:07,500 --> 01:00:09,292
He's like, "No thanks.
That's Ezra's job.

1278
01:00:09,333 --> 01:00:11,917
I'll build the stadium,
but he's the yeller."

1279
01:00:12,000 --> 01:00:13,500
So, they work together.

1280
01:00:13,583 --> 01:00:15,208
That's how it works for them.

1281
01:00:15,292 --> 01:00:17,500
So Ezra, at this time,
he's the Bible teacher,

1282
01:00:17,542 --> 01:00:19,500
the spiritual leader,
he's the pastor.

1283
01:00:19,542 --> 01:00:21,000
Who else is God using?

1284
01:00:21,083 --> 01:00:23,167
Esther.

1285
01:00:23,250 --> 01:00:26,000
He's using Esther
to save his people.

1286
01:00:26,083 --> 01:00:29,625
Here's who God uses: old, and
young, and male, and female,

1287
01:00:29,667 --> 01:00:33,167
theologically trained,
theologically untrained,

1288
01:00:33,250 --> 01:00:37,000
those with business backgrounds,
those who are orphans,

1289
01:00:37,083 --> 01:00:39,333
those who are in
positions of power,

1290
01:00:39,375 --> 01:00:41,875
those who are in
powerless positions,

1291
01:00:41,958 --> 01:00:46,083
those who have been walking with
God faithfully for a long time,

1292
01:00:46,167 --> 01:00:48,625
and those who've been walking
with God faithfully

1293
01:00:48,667 --> 01:00:51,000
for a couple of days.

1294
01:00:51,042 --> 01:00:55,292
Wherever you're at,
you're part of God's plan,

1295
01:00:55,333 --> 01:00:58,083
you're part of God's mission.

1296
01:00:58,167 --> 01:01:00,833
How encouraging is this?

1297
01:01:00,875 --> 01:01:03,875
So, here's my
question for you:

1298
01:01:03,958 --> 01:01:07,125
What is your part
in God's mission?

1299
01:01:07,167 --> 01:01:08,917
What's your part?

1300
01:01:09,000 --> 01:01:11,333
We're seeing Esther's
part, there's Ezra's part,

1301
01:01:11,375 --> 01:01:13,917
there's Nehemiah's part,
there's Mordecai's part.

1302
01:01:14,000 --> 01:01:16,208
They're all part
of God's mission.

1303
01:01:16,292 --> 01:01:18,875
What's your part?

1304
01:01:18,958 --> 01:01:23,000
And ultimately, the whole
story, it leans, it yearns,

1305
01:01:23,083 --> 01:01:27,125
it longs for Jesus.

1306
01:01:27,167 --> 01:01:31,083
At the end of Luke's
gospel, Jesus, we are told,

1307
01:01:31,167 --> 01:01:34,000
went through the Old Testament
and showed how all of it

1308
01:01:34,083 --> 01:01:37,875
was pointing to
and pertaining to him.

1309
01:01:37,958 --> 01:01:39,875
So, this story is a little story

1310
01:01:39,958 --> 01:01:42,208
that's part of
a really big story.

1311
01:01:42,292 --> 01:01:46,167
Here, 15 million people are
going to be saved and it's not

1312
01:01:46,250 --> 01:01:49,000
an ultimate salvation.

1313
01:01:49,042 --> 01:01:52,292
Ultimate salvation's going to
come with Jesus who saves not

1314
01:01:52,333 --> 01:01:56,000
millions, but billions; not
just from Xerxes, but Satan;

1315
01:01:56,042 --> 01:01:58,708
not just from death,
but from the wrath of God.

1316
01:01:58,792 --> 01:02:01,500
And the whole story leans and
it yearns in the direction

1317
01:02:01,542 --> 01:02:03,292
of the coming of Jesus.

1318
01:02:03,333 --> 01:02:07,000
And this is where Esther,
here, she's a type of Christ.

1319
01:02:07,042 --> 01:02:11,500
Because here's the problem:
there is conflict between

1320
01:02:11,583 --> 01:02:15,583
a Persian kingdom
and the people of God,

1321
01:02:15,667 --> 01:02:20,833
and a death sentence has been
decreed for the people of God.

1322
01:02:20,875 --> 01:02:24,167
And so what they
need is a mediator.

1323
01:02:24,250 --> 01:02:27,500
Now, the problem is no one
has access to the king.

1324
01:02:27,583 --> 01:02:32,500
No one has a right to come
before the throne

1325
01:02:32,542 --> 01:02:34,833
but Esther.

1326
01:02:34,875 --> 01:02:40,000
She alone is the only possible
mediator because she's

1327
01:02:40,042 --> 01:02:42,708
Persian royalty
and the people of God.

1328
01:02:42,792 --> 01:02:44,625
She's both.

1329
01:02:44,667 --> 01:02:48,417
So she can reconcile the Persian
Empire and the people of God

1330
01:02:48,500 --> 01:02:53,208
because she is both.

1331
01:02:53,292 --> 01:02:57,375
And what she says is,
"If I perish, I perish.

1332
01:02:57,458 --> 01:03:03,208
If I have to die to save my
people, that's what I will do."

1333
01:03:03,292 --> 01:03:05,500
Sound familiar?

1334
01:03:05,583 --> 01:03:07,083
Here's our problem.

1335
01:03:07,167 --> 01:03:10,708
It's worse than their problem.

1336
01:03:10,792 --> 01:03:13,500
Now, they were under
the judgment of Haman.

1337
01:03:13,583 --> 01:03:15,375
We're under the judgment of God.

1338
01:03:15,458 --> 01:03:19,875
Haman wrongly judged,
but God rightly judges.

1339
01:03:19,958 --> 01:03:21,875
And we're all under
a death sentence

1340
01:03:21,958 --> 01:03:23,667
because of sin and rebellion.

1341
01:03:23,750 --> 01:03:26,833
We've not bowed down to
God in worship, and honor,

1342
01:03:26,875 --> 01:03:28,333
and obedience.

1343
01:03:28,375 --> 01:03:31,208
We've rebelled against him,
and the sentence is death

1344
01:03:31,292 --> 01:03:34,833
and it's sentenced for all.

1345
01:03:34,875 --> 01:03:39,000
We can't--we can't
save ourselves.

1346
01:03:39,083 --> 01:03:41,000
We can't deliver ourselves.

1347
01:03:41,042 --> 01:03:47,333
We have no access to
the king's throne.

1348
01:03:47,375 --> 01:03:50,000
So, what does God do?

1349
01:03:50,083 --> 01:03:54,000
Well, he gets off his throne,
the one thing Xerxes doesn't do,

1350
01:03:54,083 --> 01:04:00,125
and he comes down as
the man, Jesus Christ,

1351
01:04:00,167 --> 01:04:02,083
and he lives without sin.

1352
01:04:02,167 --> 01:04:07,375
See, we can make progress
because Jesus is our perfection.

1353
01:04:07,458 --> 01:04:13,125
And Jesus says, "If I perish,
I perish," and he perishes.

1354
01:04:13,167 --> 01:04:15,333
And he dies in our
place for our sins,

1355
01:04:15,375 --> 01:04:18,833
and what he does is he
reconciles man to God

1356
01:04:18,875 --> 01:04:23,000
because he's God become a man.

1357
01:04:23,083 --> 01:04:27,375
Jesus, being fully
man and fully God,

1358
01:04:27,458 --> 01:04:32,125
is able to reconcile God
to men and men to God.

1359
01:04:32,167 --> 01:04:34,292
He's the bigger, better Esther.

1360
01:04:34,333 --> 01:04:37,000
That's why it says
this in 1 Timothy 2:5:

1361
01:04:37,083 --> 01:04:39,000
"There is one God,

1362
01:04:39,083 --> 01:04:40,833
and there is one mediator."

1363
01:04:40,875 --> 01:04:43,333
Just like there was one
mediator for the Jews,

1364
01:04:43,375 --> 01:04:45,708
there is one mediator for us.

1365
01:04:45,792 --> 01:04:49,500
"And that mediator is
between God and men."

1366
01:04:49,583 --> 01:04:52,625
How do we bridge this conflict?

1367
01:04:52,667 --> 01:04:55,708
"The man Christ Jesus."

1368
01:04:55,792 --> 01:05:00,708
God became a man to mediate
and reconcile God to men

1369
01:05:00,792 --> 01:05:06,000
and men to God, and the whole
story of Esther shows us

1370
01:05:06,042 --> 01:05:08,833
the terrible plight we're in.

1371
01:05:08,875 --> 01:05:11,333
So, I want you to read
the story and ask,

1372
01:05:11,375 --> 01:05:14,000
"How, apart from the grace of
God, am I like Xerxes?

1373
01:05:14,083 --> 01:05:15,792
"All about control,
and power, and fame,

1374
01:05:15,833 --> 01:05:17,292
"and comfort, and luxury.

1375
01:05:17,333 --> 01:05:20,125
"Apart from the grace of
God, how am I like Haman?

1376
01:05:20,167 --> 01:05:23,000
"I love to be in charge,
I love to be obeyed,

1377
01:05:23,042 --> 01:05:25,208
"and if anyone dishonors
me, it's wrath for them.

1378
01:05:25,292 --> 01:05:26,917
"How am I like Mordecai?

1379
01:05:27,000 --> 01:05:29,000
"A bit of a coward,
a quiet believer,

1380
01:05:29,083 --> 01:05:31,917
"someone who's not public with
their faith and is not willing

1381
01:05:32,000 --> 01:05:34,125
"to do the right thing.

1382
01:05:34,167 --> 01:05:37,500
"But look, there is hope for me.
Jesus is my perfection.

1383
01:05:37,583 --> 01:05:41,292
"I can make progress.
Am I like Esther?

1384
01:05:41,333 --> 01:05:44,000
"Someone who, yes,
the circumstances of life

1385
01:05:44,083 --> 01:05:46,625
"would give me plenty of excuses
to justify

1386
01:05:46,667 --> 01:05:48,500
"disobedience and lukewarmness.

1387
01:05:48,583 --> 01:05:51,000
"But in the grace of
God, I can change.

1388
01:05:51,042 --> 01:05:52,708
"I can make progress.

1389
01:05:52,792 --> 01:05:55,208
"I can, because of
the perfection of Jesus,

1390
01:05:55,292 --> 01:05:58,208
make progress in my life."

1391
01:05:58,292 --> 01:06:01,292
And there's so much hope here
for you and I need you

1392
01:06:01,333 --> 01:06:03,125
to have that hope.

1393
01:06:03,167 --> 01:06:06,792
And the hope is not in Esther
and the hope is not in Mordecai.

1394
01:06:06,833 --> 01:06:10,333
The hope is in their God
as he is the hope for us.

1395
01:06:10,375 --> 01:06:14,708
So, let me close with this on
why Jesus is a better mediator.

1396
01:06:14,792 --> 01:06:18,375
Esther identified with her
people by disclosing her race,

1397
01:06:18,458 --> 01:06:22,792
but Jesus identifies with
us by joining our race.

1398
01:06:22,833 --> 01:06:25,708
Esther had to come to
King Xerxes on his throne,

1399
01:06:25,792 --> 01:06:30,000
but our King Jesus got off
his throne to come to us.

1400
01:06:30,083 --> 01:06:33,333
Esther only had access
to King Xerxes once,

1401
01:06:33,375 --> 01:06:38,625
but Jesus gives us constant
access to his throne of grace.

1402
01:06:38,667 --> 01:06:41,833
Esther's cousin, Mordecai,
could not conceal his grief,

1403
01:06:41,875 --> 01:06:46,500
but Jesus actually
sweated blood in anguish.

1404
01:06:46,583 --> 01:06:48,875
Esther's cousin, Mordecai,
trusted that salvation

1405
01:06:48,958 --> 01:06:51,875
would come, quote, "From
another place," but Jesus,

1406
01:06:51,958 --> 01:06:56,708
our great God and Savior,
came down from another place.

1407
01:06:56,792 --> 01:07:00,500
Esther served as a mediator
between her people and Xerxes,

1408
01:07:00,542 --> 01:07:06,250
but Jesus serves as a mediator
between his God and his people.

1409
01:07:07,958 --> 01:07:11,917
And Esther was willing to die
for her people.

1410
01:07:12,000 --> 01:07:15,125
Mars Hill, Jesus actually died
for his people.

1411
01:07:15,167 --> 01:07:17,000
Amen?

1412
01:07:17,042 --> 01:07:21,667
And he's alive.

1413
01:07:24,167 --> 01:07:27,125
And he's alive
and he's seated on a throne.

1414
01:07:27,167 --> 01:07:30,125
And what we're going to do right
now with tithes, and offerings,

1415
01:07:30,167 --> 01:07:32,125
and Communion, and singing,

1416
01:07:32,167 --> 01:07:35,292
we're going to do
like Esther did.

1417
01:07:35,333 --> 01:07:39,500
We're going to come before our
King knowing this:

1418
01:07:39,583 --> 01:07:41,208
he will not kill us.

1419
01:07:41,292 --> 01:07:45,375
In fact, he's died for us
and he welcomes us always

1420
01:07:45,458 --> 01:07:47,625
into his presence.

1421
01:07:47,667 --> 01:07:51,167
Father God, thank you so
much that I have the great

1422
01:07:51,250 --> 01:07:54,625
distinguished, enjoyable honor
of teaching the Bible

1423
01:07:54,667 --> 01:07:56,333
at Mars Hill Church.

1424
01:07:56,375 --> 01:08:00,708
It's a glorious, sacred honor.

1425
01:08:00,792 --> 01:08:04,500
Lord God, on days like this
where I get to teach the Bible,

1426
01:08:04,583 --> 01:08:11,167
I am so happy, and so excited,
and so overwhelmed at how much

1427
01:08:11,250 --> 01:08:14,125
grace you give people like me.

1428
01:08:14,167 --> 01:08:20,792
Lord God, I'm like Haman,
Xerxes, Mordecai, and Esther,

1429
01:08:20,833 --> 01:08:26,500
and apart from the Lord Jesus,
nothing would change.

1430
01:08:26,542 --> 01:08:31,500
Jesus, I thank you for being my
perfection and our perfection.

1431
01:08:31,542 --> 01:08:35,292
I thank you that because of
you, we can make progress,

1432
01:08:35,333 --> 01:08:38,000
and I ask that for
my friends right now.

1433
01:08:38,042 --> 01:08:40,000
In Jesus' good name.
Amen.