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[music]

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Howdy.

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Well, it was about
23 years ago Jesus saved me,

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I became a Christian,
and immediately I got

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a strong appetite for the Bible,
wanted to learn and study.

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And recently, as I was looking
at the story of Esther

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and sort of pulling back to look
at the story of the whole Bible

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of which it's a part, I
noticed three major themes.

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And I see in the Bible
sin, and I see suffering,

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and I see stewardship.

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And different books deal with
different aspects of this

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three-fold narrative.

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Certain books like Romans are
going to deal a lot with our

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sin, and certain books like Job
are going to deal a lot with

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our suffering, and certain books
like Proverbs are going to deal

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a lot with our stewardship.

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And what happens is if you're
a prophet, you read the Bible,

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you're going to immediately see
all the sin parts just jump up,

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and if you're a priest,
you're going to see

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all the suffering parts jump
up, and if you're a king,

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you're going to see all
the stewardship parts jump up,

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and they all bring
us to the Lord Jesus.

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And I would say,
as you're studying,

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be consciously thinking,
"Where am I weak?

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"Do I tend to gravitate towards
certain kinds of Scriptures,

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"or as I study are certain
things more obvious to me

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"and I need to pay careful
attention to those things

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that I'm more prone
to overlook?"

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But they all bring us,
invariably, to Jesus Christ.

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The whole Bible is
ultimately about him,

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and he died on the cross,
in our place, for our sins,

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and on the cross, he
identified with our suffering,

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and on the cross, God so
loved the world that he gave,

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and he was stewarding.

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So, it all brings us to Jesus.

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And as we open
the book of Esther,

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I see these
three themes working together.

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Early in the book,
it's a lot about sin.

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We see King Xerxes, the great
Persian king, and Haman,

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his right-hand man,
and they're sinful men.

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I mean, Xerxes, we've
seen he's a drunken man,

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he's a perverted man,
he's an irresponsible man,

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and then he delegates
his authority to Haman,

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who's a godless man,
and a violent man,

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and a proud man.

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A lot of sin.

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And then the storyline shifts to
really focus a lot on suffering.

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Esther's married to a horrible
man that sometimes

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she doesn't see for,
in so far as we can tell,

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upwards of 30 days at a time
because he's got a harem,

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and a bunch of other wives,
and he's worshiped like a god,

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and he's a drunken
powermonger.

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So, she's suffering, and
Mordecai, her adoptive father,

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who, to some degree,
is complicit

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because he didn't fight her
marriage to this godless king,

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he's suffering as he's trying to
keep an eye on his daughter

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that he's handed off to be
in a dangerous situation.

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And Haman sends out a decree
that he decides he's going to

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murder all of God's people,
and the death sentence is set,

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and the date is put
on the calendar,

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and the clock is ticking, and
God's people are emotionally

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suffering, and they are about
ready to suffer physically

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through genocide of
a whole people group.

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And then today,
in Esther 8:1-17,

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where we see that Jesus
is a better missionary,

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a lot of the focus
shifts to stewardship.

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What are Esther and Mordecai
going to do with the power

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that they now have, with
the money, and the influence,

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and the affluence
that they now steward?

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What are they going to do?

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Because Haman, in a great
reversal in chapter 7,

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he built an enormous gallows
in his yard and he was

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going to hang Mordecai on it,
75 feet high in the air,

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and in a great reversal, Haman
was crucified in his own yard,

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and he is put to death,
the enemy of God's people.

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And then Mordecai,
as you'll see today,

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is going to take his place,
but the death sentence

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still lingers over God's people.

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Mordecai's life has been spared,
but the death sentence for all

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of God's people is still in
effect and it cannot be reversed

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because of something called

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the Law of the Medes
and the Persians,

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which is that once the king
makes a sovereign decree,

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it is irreversible,

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and so though Haman is dead,
the death sentence remains.

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And so what we're going to do,
we're going to look at

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three questions in chapter 8
of the story of Esther.

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The first question,
in verses 1 through 8 is:

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What makes Mordecai and Esther
great leaders?

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And we see here that God
gifts both men and women with

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leadership gifts and that he
brings them into influential,

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powerful positions.

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Those here are
political in nature,

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and we're going to see that
Esther is the queen and that

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Mordecai has assumed Haman's
position in authority.

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And so here we go.

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Chapter 8, verse 1,
we see three things

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that make them great leaders.

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The first is their acceptance
and exercising of authority.

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"On that day King Ahasuerus,"
that's his Persian name,

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Xerxes is his Greek name,
"gave to Queen Esther,"

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and this is important.

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Esther here is in her position
of king--queen, rather.

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She is in this
position of authority.

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I want you to see that.

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"The house of Haman,
the enemy of the Jews.

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"And Mordecai came
before the king,

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"for Esther had told
what he was to her.

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"And the king took
off his signet ring,

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"that he had taken from Haman,
and gave it to Mordecai.

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And Esther set Mordecai
over the house of Haman."

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Here's what's happened:
Haman was in authority,

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and then in a reversal, Haman
was crucified in his own yard

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on the impaling rod that
he built for Mordecai,

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and then Esther tells the king,
"Mordecai's my adoptive father.

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"A death sentence was
put out on his head.

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"Haman, who you empowered
to sentence him to death,

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"is a godless and evil man.

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You need to destroy him."

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And he's destroyed.

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And then, we see a reversal
where Mordecai

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takes Haman's position.

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Now, Haman is
like--in our context,

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he'd be like the vice president.

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He's the second in command.

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And he now has a great deal of
wealth because what happens is

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that not only does Haman die,

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all of his estate
goes to Mordecai.

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So, Mordecai just went from
being powerless to powerful,

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not having access to the king
to having access to the king,

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and from being,
in so far as we can tell,

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fairly poor to being very rich,
and from a very low-level job

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near the city gate working for
the government to being

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the vice president, in a day.

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That's the favor and grace of
God on the life of Mordecai.

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And importantly, the story is
told that he is given

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the signet ring of the king,

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and the signet ring is
exceedingly important.

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In our day, this
is the equivalent

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of the legal power of attorney.

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Alright?

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If someone is sick, or elderly,
or struggling, or dying,

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they will give power of attorney
to someone who is trustworthy

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and will look after their
affairs and their estate.

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They then have the legal right
to make decisions on behalf of

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that other person.

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Giving the signet ring to
Mordecai means that he now has

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the legal authority of Xerxes,
the most powerful man

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on the earth.

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And I want you to see here
that they, Esther and Mordecai,

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God's people, they accept
their position of authority.

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Here's my question to you:
what authority do you have?

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What authority do you have?

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Every one of us has some
degree of authority.

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And here's what God wants
you to do: humbly accept it.

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That's what they do.

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Now, they would have had
innumerable excuses

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why they would have not felt
fit for this role.

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Esther could have said,

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"Well, I don't come from
a royal bloodline.

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I'm not ready to be the queen.
I'm young."

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She's probably in her early-
to mid-20s at this point.

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"I don't have
an MBA in leadership.

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I'm not ready to be the queen."

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Mordecai, all we know of
him is he's a bad leader,

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and that's all he's done so
far is lead kind of badly.

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And now all of a sudden,
he's vice president,

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he's ruling over the nation,
he's got the power

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and the authority to decree
life and death.

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It could have been easy
for Mordecai to say,

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"I don't really feel like I'm
the best person for the job."

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We'd all say, "Yeah, we
sort of see that too."

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But if you're humble, you
love God, you love people,

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you do your best, in the grace
of God, it'll be alright.

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Some of you have resisted
the positions of authority

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and leadership that God
has opened for you,

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and maybe God wants you
to assume those positions

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because it's not about you
and your fear of failure.

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It's about people
and an opportunity to help them.

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And sometimes the people
who feel least qualified for

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leadership are most qualified
because they have

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the first prerequisite,
which is humility.

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Humility.

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So, number one, what makes them
great leaders is they

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accept their authority.

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Number two, we
see great passion.

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People don't just believe
what a leader believes,

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they get excited about what
a leader's excited about.

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Chapter 8, verse 3:

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"Then Esther spoke
again to the king.

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"She fell at his feet and wept
and pleaded with him

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"to avert the evil plan of
Haman the Agagite and the plot

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he had devised against
the Jews," God's people.

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"When the king held out
the golden scepter to Esther,"

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that's accepting him--or her,
rather, being accepted by him.

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Kind of like knighting
in a British court.

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"Esther rose
and stood before the king.

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And she says," and notice
how respectful she is.

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A woman can be very powerful
and very respectful,

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and sometimes by
being very respectful,

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that helps her be very powerful.

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"If it please the king, and if
I have found favor in his sight,

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"and if the thing seems
right before the king,

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and if I am pleasing in his
eyes," lots of respect, right?

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Then the powerful request.

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"Let an order be written to
revoke the letters devised by

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Haman the Agagite,
the son of Hammedatha."

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Like I always say, read it
fast, read it competent.

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Nobody else knows
how to say it either.

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"Which he wrote to destroy
the Jews who are in all

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the provinces of the king,"
the whole nation.

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"For how can I bear to see
the calamity that is coming

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"to my people?

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Or how can I bear to see
the destruction of my kindred?"

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You see her passion?

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Esther, up until this point, has
not been a very emotional woman,

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at least as revealed
in the story.

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She doesn't cry a lot, she
doesn't fall to people's feet

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all the time begging for things.

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So, what I love about Esther
is she's not been an incredibly

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emotional woman, but
at the right time for

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the right reasons, she's very
passionate in the right way.

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She throws herself
at the king's feet.

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Wow.

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She doesn't do this.

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This must be very
urgent, very important.

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Here's my next question for you

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and for your Community Group
discussion.

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What are you passionate about?

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What are you passionate about?

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She's very passionate
about God's people,

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about God's people.

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See, her life is safe.

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She's the queen.

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She's rich, she's powerful,
she's famous, she's safe.

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Why is she so emotional?

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00:11:42,750 --> 00:11:44,500
Well, she's not
concerned about herself.

239
00:11:44,542 --> 00:11:48,583
She's concerned
about God's people.

240
00:11:48,667 --> 00:11:53,083
There are only two things that
are going to spend eternity

241
00:11:53,167 --> 00:11:59,250
with us in the kingdom of
God: God and his people.

242
00:11:59,333 --> 00:12:01,250
That's it.

243
00:12:01,333 --> 00:12:03,750
All the stuff we have,
we're not taking it.

244
00:12:03,833 --> 00:12:05,458
All the things
we've accomplished,

245
00:12:05,500 --> 00:12:06,958
they'll come to an end.

246
00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:09,625
All the pursuits that
we're striving toward,

247
00:12:09,667 --> 00:12:12,333
they will cease.

248
00:12:12,417 --> 00:12:15,208
The Lord and his people
will be together forever.

249
00:12:15,292 --> 00:12:17,042
You know what really matters?

250
00:12:17,125 --> 00:12:18,792
People.

251
00:12:18,833 --> 00:12:22,875
Things are fine,
people really matter.

252
00:12:22,958 --> 00:12:29,667
People really matter, and
they really matter to Esther.

253
00:12:29,750 --> 00:12:32,375
She cares about God's people.

254
00:12:32,458 --> 00:12:38,000
She has passion for
the well-being of God's people.

255
00:12:38,042 --> 00:12:40,292
What do you have passion for?

256
00:12:40,333 --> 00:12:42,500
What are you excited about?

257
00:12:42,542 --> 00:12:46,292
What, when you speak of it, your
voice changes, your eyes open,

258
00:12:46,333 --> 00:12:51,458
your tone becomes obvious?

259
00:12:51,500 --> 00:12:54,167
Some of us get very
excited about sin,

260
00:12:54,208 --> 00:12:57,750
some of us get very
excited about folly.

261
00:12:57,833 --> 00:13:01,542
She gets very excited about
the well-being of God's people,

262
00:13:01,625 --> 00:13:04,208
and that's the mark
of a great leader.

263
00:13:04,292 --> 00:13:07,333
Number three, what also
makes them great leaders,

264
00:13:07,375 --> 00:13:10,458
Esther and Mordecai, is love.

265
00:13:10,500 --> 00:13:12,542
Chapter 8, verse 7:

266
00:13:12,625 --> 00:13:14,458
"Then King Ahasuerus
said to Queen Esther

267
00:13:14,500 --> 00:13:16,208
"and to Mordecai the Jew,

268
00:13:16,292 --> 00:13:18,792
"'Behold, I have given
Esther the house of Haman,

269
00:13:18,833 --> 00:13:20,792
"'and they have hanged
him on the gallows,

270
00:13:20,833 --> 00:13:23,000
"'because he intended to
lay hands on the Jews.

271
00:13:23,042 --> 00:13:26,000
"'But you may write as you
please with regard to the Jews,

272
00:13:26,042 --> 00:13:29,167
"'in the name of the king, and
seal it with the king's ring,

273
00:13:29,250 --> 00:13:31,667
"'for an edict written in
the name of the king

274
00:13:31,750 --> 00:13:33,875
and sealed with the king's ring
cannot be revoked.'"

275
00:13:33,958 --> 00:13:35,292
She's very passionate.

276
00:13:35,333 --> 00:13:36,792
She's saying,
"What about the people?

277
00:13:36,833 --> 00:13:38,792
"What about our people?
What about God's people?

278
00:13:38,833 --> 00:13:40,167
I'm passionate
for God's people."

279
00:13:40,250 --> 00:13:42,375
And the king says,
"What else do you want?

280
00:13:42,458 --> 00:13:46,500
"I crucified Haman in his yard
and I gave Mordecai

281
00:13:46,542 --> 00:13:48,667
"all of his wealth.

282
00:13:48,750 --> 00:13:51,167
"Now he's rich.

283
00:13:51,250 --> 00:13:54,000
"And I put him in
a position of leadership,

284
00:13:54,042 --> 00:13:56,583
"and so he's the vice president
and you're the queen,

285
00:13:56,667 --> 00:13:59,458
"and now you guys are going
to be powerful, and rich,

286
00:13:59,500 --> 00:14:01,458
"and famous, and safe.

287
00:14:01,500 --> 00:14:03,458
What else do you want?"

288
00:14:03,500 --> 00:14:08,542
And Esther says, "It's not
about me, it's about the people.

289
00:14:08,625 --> 00:14:15,208
"They're not safe,
they're not blessed.

290
00:14:15,292 --> 00:14:20,583
They're in danger
and there's a curse on them."

291
00:14:20,667 --> 00:14:22,833
Now, she's a young woman.

292
00:14:22,917 --> 00:14:25,500
She's probably early- to mid-20s.

293
00:14:25,542 --> 00:14:28,375
I mean, she's an orphan girl,
didn't grow up with her parents.

294
00:14:28,458 --> 00:14:30,667
She doesn't even have a mom.

295
00:14:30,750 --> 00:14:34,292
We hear about Mordecai,
we don't hear about any mom.

296
00:14:34,333 --> 00:14:38,083
You see where she's come into
a real transforming

297
00:14:38,167 --> 00:14:40,167
relationship with
the God of the Bible,

298
00:14:40,250 --> 00:14:42,042
and she's growing
and maturing,

299
00:14:42,125 --> 00:14:46,167
and unlike so many 20-somethings
who come from broken,

300
00:14:46,208 --> 00:14:51,167
dysfunctional homes, she's not
thinking about herself anymore.

301
00:14:51,250 --> 00:14:55,333
She's thinking about God's
people and she loves them.

302
00:14:55,417 --> 00:14:57,958
She loves them.

303
00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:02,917
Next question for
you: Who do you love?

304
00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:05,042
Who do you love?

305
00:15:05,125 --> 00:15:07,833
Who do you love?

306
00:15:07,875 --> 00:15:10,250
I would beg you, I
would plead with you,

307
00:15:10,333 --> 00:15:12,667
I would invite you
to love God's people.

308
00:15:12,708 --> 00:15:15,750
To love other people,
to love all people,

309
00:15:15,833 --> 00:15:20,583
but to have a particular
affection for the family of God.

310
00:15:20,667 --> 00:15:22,542
She does.

311
00:15:22,625 --> 00:15:27,458
She loves God's people.

312
00:15:27,500 --> 00:15:33,875
And let me tell you this: I love you 
more than I've ever loved you.

313
00:15:33,958 --> 00:15:38,250
And I think that's the heart of
God, that he loves his people.

314
00:15:38,333 --> 00:15:41,250
And what we see here in
Esther is the heart of God.

315
00:15:41,333 --> 00:15:43,833
She loves God's people.

316
00:15:43,917 --> 00:15:47,167
And I could tell you, I've
not probably said it enough,

317
00:15:47,208 --> 00:15:49,542
but I love you.

318
00:15:49,625 --> 00:15:51,083
I don't want to go anywhere.

319
00:15:51,167 --> 00:15:53,042
I don't want to
do anything else.

320
00:15:53,125 --> 00:15:55,375
And I would ask you:
who do you love

321
00:15:55,458 --> 00:15:57,750
and do you love your church?

322
00:15:57,833 --> 00:15:59,875
Do you love the brothers
and sisters in Christ?

323
00:15:59,958 --> 00:16:03,333
Do you love the family of God?
Do you love the people of God?

324
00:16:03,417 --> 00:16:06,125
And what I particularly
appreciate here about Esther--

325
00:16:06,167 --> 00:16:08,125
and she could have
said, "You know, hey,

326
00:16:08,167 --> 00:16:10,333
"I've got a hard life,
my husband's a jerk,

327
00:16:10,375 --> 00:16:13,500
"I don't have a mom, my family's
a wreck, I'm in my 20s.

328
00:16:13,583 --> 00:16:14,917
It's about me."

329
00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:18,167
She says, "No, it's
about God's people."

330
00:16:18,250 --> 00:16:22,042
And a good leader is one who
exercises authority humbly,

331
00:16:22,125 --> 00:16:24,750
they demonstrate
passion appropriately,

332
00:16:24,833 --> 00:16:28,042
and they love people genuinely.

333
00:16:28,125 --> 00:16:31,167
And that's what we see.

334
00:16:31,250 --> 00:16:34,042
Second question: Were Mordecai
and Esther justified

335
00:16:34,125 --> 00:16:35,792
in killing God's enemies?

336
00:16:35,833 --> 00:16:38,833
This will be an emotional shift.

337
00:16:38,917 --> 00:16:42,375
We went from love and hugs to
murder the women and children.

338
00:16:42,458 --> 00:16:44,000
Okay?

339
00:16:44,042 --> 00:16:46,667
Now we're going to talk about
something very complicated.

340
00:16:46,750 --> 00:16:49,875
By way of preface, how
many of you have had

341
00:16:49,958 --> 00:16:53,042
a non-Christian family, friend,
coworker, neighbor,

342
00:16:53,125 --> 00:16:58,958
college professor mock
the Bible, critique the Bible,

343
00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:02,042
judge God, saying,
"It's a horrible book.

344
00:17:02,125 --> 00:17:04,833
"God tells his people to
kill women and children.

345
00:17:04,917 --> 00:17:06,958
"It sanctions genocide.

346
00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:10,125
"It's filled with racism,
and sexism, and nationalism.

347
00:17:10,167 --> 00:17:13,250
"It's an outdated,
horrendous book,

348
00:17:13,333 --> 00:17:16,333
that Bible you proclaim
to believe in."

349
00:17:16,417 --> 00:17:18,167
Have you ever heard that?

350
00:17:18,208 --> 00:17:21,292
More softly suggested or
more loudly proclaimed,

351
00:17:21,333 --> 00:17:23,458
how many of you have heard that?

352
00:17:23,500 --> 00:17:25,167
Alright, maybe you're
a new Christian.

353
00:17:25,250 --> 00:17:27,792
You're like, "I don't know.
Jesus loves me, I'm forgiven.

354
00:17:27,833 --> 00:17:30,292
"Sounded good, I signed up.
I'll go get a Bible.

355
00:17:30,333 --> 00:17:32,500
Okay, let me see what's
in the Old Testament."

356
00:17:32,542 --> 00:17:34,000
You start reading,
you're like,

357
00:17:34,042 --> 00:17:36,875
"Golly, that is a complicated
section right there.

358
00:17:36,958 --> 00:17:40,167
"Wow.
Yeah, I missed that.

359
00:17:40,250 --> 00:17:43,833
Kill them.
What?"

360
00:17:43,917 --> 00:17:46,458
How many of you have
been on your heels then?

361
00:17:46,500 --> 00:17:48,083
You're like,
"Gosh, I don't know.

362
00:17:48,167 --> 00:17:51,292
That is sort of tough.
I don't know what to say."

363
00:17:51,333 --> 00:17:54,792
We arrive at one of those
sections of Scripture today.

364
00:17:54,833 --> 00:17:57,167
And let me say, it comes
in an election season,

365
00:17:57,250 --> 00:17:58,958
it comes around Veteran's Day.

366
00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:03,542
I didn't think about it all, but
God's providence brings us to

367
00:18:03,625 --> 00:18:09,667
chapter 8 at a very appropriate
time on the calendar.

368
00:18:09,708 --> 00:18:13,542
And at Mars Hill, we like to
go through books of the Bible,

369
00:18:13,625 --> 00:18:16,333
and it means sometimes I have
to deal with things that

370
00:18:16,417 --> 00:18:18,083
I would not normally deal with.

371
00:18:18,167 --> 00:18:21,250
I would not do a topical series
on all the times that God's

372
00:18:21,333 --> 00:18:23,875
people were given jurisdiction
to kill women and children.

373
00:18:23,958 --> 00:18:25,833
Part 11, bring your friends.
You know?

374
00:18:25,917 --> 00:18:28,792
I wouldn't necessarily do that.
You know?

375
00:18:28,833 --> 00:18:31,583
So, as we go through
books of the Bible,

376
00:18:31,667 --> 00:18:34,958
we hit sections where you'll
go, "Wow, I didn't see that.

377
00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:36,375
Nobody's ever
talked about that,"

378
00:18:36,458 --> 00:18:38,167
or "I haven't really
considered that."

379
00:18:38,208 --> 00:18:40,167
But here's our conviction:
all Scripture is God-breathed

380
00:18:40,208 --> 00:18:41,542
and profitable.

381
00:18:41,625 --> 00:18:42,958
That's what it says.

382
00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:45,458
And so everything in the Bible
is from the Lord

383
00:18:45,500 --> 00:18:46,833
and it's important.

384
00:18:46,917 --> 00:18:48,833
And when you come to
sections like this,

385
00:18:48,917 --> 00:18:50,333
you have a couple of options.

386
00:18:50,417 --> 00:18:51,750
You can ignore it.

387
00:18:51,833 --> 00:18:54,375
You can say, "I don't know,
I just ignore those parts."

388
00:18:54,458 --> 00:18:55,875
You can change them
and say,

389
00:18:55,958 --> 00:18:58,333
"Well, I'm sure we could find
a scholar educated beyond

390
00:18:58,417 --> 00:19:00,417
"their intelligence with more
degrees than Fahrenheit that

391
00:19:00,500 --> 00:19:02,625
"gives us an interpretation
that isn't what it means

392
00:19:02,667 --> 00:19:05,250
but makes me feel better."

393
00:19:05,333 --> 00:19:07,958
Or, you can apologize
for what God said.

394
00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:09,958
Say, "Well, you know,
that's the Old Testament.

395
00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:11,667
"We now live in
the New Testament

396
00:19:11,708 --> 00:19:13,667
"and those were like God's
junior high years.

397
00:19:13,708 --> 00:19:15,417
"You remember what
junior high was like,

398
00:19:15,500 --> 00:19:17,167
"and thankfully you're
not like that anymore.

399
00:19:17,208 --> 00:19:19,875
"That's like this for God.
This is God in 7th grade.

400
00:19:19,958 --> 00:19:22,083
"And, you know, I'm
sorry he was like that,

401
00:19:22,167 --> 00:19:23,792
"but he's really
gotten a lot better.

402
00:19:23,833 --> 00:19:26,000
"By the time you get
to the New Testament,

403
00:19:26,042 --> 00:19:27,375
"it's hugs, muffins, and angels.

404
00:19:27,458 --> 00:19:28,792
It's way better."

405
00:19:28,833 --> 00:19:32,375
The other things you
can do is teach it.

406
00:19:32,458 --> 00:19:37,583
Just say, "God said what he
said, God did what he did,

407
00:19:37,667 --> 00:19:42,375
and we need to study and learn."

408
00:19:42,458 --> 00:19:47,167
So, my job today is to teach,
and I want you to hear, pray,

409
00:19:47,250 --> 00:19:50,667
study, consider, get into your
Community Group, kick it around,

410
00:19:50,750 --> 00:19:53,042
do additional homework.

411
00:19:53,125 --> 00:19:58,250
But, before we judge
God, let's listen to him.

412
00:19:58,333 --> 00:20:00,792
Chapter 8, beginning in verse 9,
here's the question:

413
00:20:00,833 --> 00:20:04,250
Were Mordecai and Esther
justified in killing enemies?

414
00:20:04,333 --> 00:20:06,792
Some say this is
the longest verse in the Bible.

415
00:20:06,833 --> 00:20:08,750
We're going to read
it and then continue.

416
00:20:08,833 --> 00:20:10,750
"The king's scribes were
summoned at that time,

417
00:20:10,833 --> 00:20:13,250
"in the third month, which
is the month of Sivan,

418
00:20:13,333 --> 00:20:14,667
"on the twenty-third day.

419
00:20:14,708 --> 00:20:17,125
"And an edict was written,
according to all that Mordecai

420
00:20:17,167 --> 00:20:19,583
"commanded concerning the Jews,
to the satraps and the governors

421
00:20:19,667 --> 00:20:23,000
"and the officials of
the provinces from India

422
00:20:23,083 --> 00:20:26,708
to Ethiopia," religious leaders,
"127 provinces."

423
00:20:26,792 --> 00:20:29,708
Huge nation, most powerful
nation on the earth,

424
00:20:29,792 --> 00:20:32,625
3 million square miles.

425
00:20:32,667 --> 00:20:35,917
"To each province in its own
script and to each people in its

426
00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:39,417
"own language, and also to
the Jews in their script

427
00:20:39,500 --> 00:20:41,417
"and their language.

428
00:20:41,500 --> 00:20:44,417
And he wrote in the name of
King Ahasuerus," Persian name.

429
00:20:44,500 --> 00:20:46,292
His Greek name is Xerxes.

430
00:20:46,333 --> 00:20:49,000
"And sealed it with
the king's signet ring.

431
00:20:49,042 --> 00:20:51,583
"Then he sent the letters by
mounted couriers riding on

432
00:20:51,667 --> 00:20:54,167
"swift horses that were used
in the king's service,

433
00:20:54,250 --> 00:20:55,792
bred from the royal stud."

434
00:20:55,833 --> 00:21:02,833
This is their postal system, and
they're using the good horses.

435
00:21:02,917 --> 00:21:06,542
This is an important message
and it's an urgent message.

436
00:21:06,625 --> 00:21:09,583
"Saying that the king allowed
the Jews who were in every city

437
00:21:09,667 --> 00:21:12,667
"to gather and defend their
lives, to destroy, to kill,

438
00:21:12,750 --> 00:21:18,625
"and to annihilate any armed
force of any people or province

439
00:21:18,667 --> 00:21:22,208
"that might attack them,

440
00:21:22,292 --> 00:21:28,167
children and women included."

441
00:21:28,208 --> 00:21:32,000
"And to plunder their goods,
on one day throughout

442
00:21:32,042 --> 00:21:34,875
"all the provinces
of King Ahasuerus,

443
00:21:34,958 --> 00:21:36,875
"on the thirteenth day
of the twelfth month,

444
00:21:36,958 --> 00:21:38,542
"which is the month of Adar.

445
00:21:38,625 --> 00:21:42,000
"A copy of what was written was
to be issued as a decree in

446
00:21:42,042 --> 00:21:44,000
"every province, being publicly
displayed to all peoples,

447
00:21:44,042 --> 00:21:46,500
"and the Jews were to be ready
on that day

448
00:21:46,542 --> 00:21:48,000
"to take vengeance
on their enemies.

449
00:21:48,042 --> 00:21:50,583
"So the couriers, mounted on
their swift horses that were

450
00:21:50,667 --> 00:21:53,250
"used in the king's service,
rode out hurriedly,

451
00:21:53,333 --> 00:21:54,958
"urged by the king's command.

452
00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:57,667
And the decree was issued
in Susa the citadel."

453
00:21:57,708 --> 00:22:01,833
Let me explain.

454
00:22:01,917 --> 00:22:05,750
Haman set forth a decree.

455
00:22:05,833 --> 00:22:10,667
On a particular day, all of
God's people could be killed,

456
00:22:10,708 --> 00:22:15,667
men, women, and children, and
all of their goods plundered.

457
00:22:15,708 --> 00:22:19,750
And then their enemies
were preparing.

458
00:22:19,833 --> 00:22:22,417
They're getting their
weapons, their battle plans,

459
00:22:22,500 --> 00:22:25,458
who's going to kill that family,
who's going to kill that family,

460
00:22:25,500 --> 00:22:27,333
who's going to rape that woman,

461
00:22:27,417 --> 00:22:29,833
who's going to take
those children,

462
00:22:29,917 --> 00:22:31,458
who's going
to get that land,

463
00:22:31,500 --> 00:22:33,167
who's going to get
that livestock.

464
00:22:33,250 --> 00:22:35,250
The plans are being made.

465
00:22:35,333 --> 00:22:39,875
God's people know it.

466
00:22:39,958 --> 00:22:44,083
This shows the utter depravity
of the human heart

467
00:22:44,167 --> 00:22:46,167
when it's unrestrained.

468
00:22:46,250 --> 00:22:49,375
Part of the goal and function
of law, according to the Lord,

469
00:22:49,458 --> 00:22:52,250
is to restrain evil.

470
00:22:52,333 --> 00:22:56,500
That we are evil, we are
sinners by nature and choice.

471
00:22:56,542 --> 00:23:02,250
And here,
the human heart is unleashed

472
00:23:02,333 --> 00:23:04,542
in its full capacity of evil.

473
00:23:04,625 --> 00:23:06,042
Some of you would say,

474
00:23:06,125 --> 00:23:07,958
"I just don't think people
are that bad."

475
00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:10,625
This is kind of
like Nazi Germany,

476
00:23:10,667 --> 00:23:15,750
where the Jewish people were
targeted for genocide and their

477
00:23:15,833 --> 00:23:21,333
goods were literally plundered
to fuel the war machine

478
00:23:21,417 --> 00:23:22,750
of their enemies.

479
00:23:22,833 --> 00:23:24,208
It's like that.

480
00:23:24,292 --> 00:23:25,958
This didn't just happen once.

481
00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:28,417
It happens over,
and over, and over.

482
00:23:28,500 --> 00:23:31,833
It's happening today in
places like Syria and in Egypt,

483
00:23:31,917 --> 00:23:36,417
where the enemy of God's people
is rising up to harm them,

484
00:23:36,500 --> 00:23:39,917
to burn down churches, to
threaten violence, to try and put

485
00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:43,458
in Sharia law so that God's
people can be arrested for

486
00:23:43,500 --> 00:23:47,542
evangelism or serving Jesus.

487
00:23:47,625 --> 00:23:52,042
Persecution and martyrdom still
continues against God's people.

488
00:23:52,125 --> 00:23:54,708
And this death sentence
is issued,

489
00:23:54,792 --> 00:23:57,667
and because it is issued with
the signet ring of the king

490
00:23:57,708 --> 00:24:01,000
that was, at that time,
on the finger of Haman,

491
00:24:01,083 --> 00:24:03,875
it's, according to the Law of
the Medes and the Persians,

492
00:24:03,958 --> 00:24:06,333
irreversible.

493
00:24:06,375 --> 00:24:09,708
And so now, Mordecai
and Esther, they cannot reverse

494
00:24:09,792 --> 00:24:13,625
that decision, but they can
put out another law,

495
00:24:13,667 --> 00:24:17,708
again with the ring of the king
now on the finger of Mordecai,

496
00:24:17,792 --> 00:24:20,792
and it allows God's people
to defend themselves

497
00:24:20,833 --> 00:24:24,333
against their attackers.

498
00:24:24,375 --> 00:24:30,333
And the question, then,
is: Was this justified?

499
00:24:30,375 --> 00:24:33,458
You'll hear of things like,
"just war" and "self-defense."

500
00:24:33,500 --> 00:24:38,542
This fits in the rubric of that
philosophical understanding of

501
00:24:38,625 --> 00:24:43,667
whether or not what was done was
permissible in the eyes of God.

502
00:24:43,708 --> 00:24:47,958
My great honor today is
to teach you the Bible.

503
00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:50,833
I love teaching
the hard parts of the Bible.

504
00:24:50,917 --> 00:24:54,625
I never want to ignore, change,

505
00:24:54,667 --> 00:24:58,667
or apologize
for the Word of God.

506
00:24:58,708 --> 00:25:01,833
I want to teach it, and so
I want to give you, now,

507
00:25:01,875 --> 00:25:07,667
eight reasons why killing of
the enemies was justifiable.

508
00:25:07,750 --> 00:25:10,000
You ready?

509
00:25:10,083 --> 00:25:12,292
Number one:
Haman was an Agagite,

510
00:25:12,333 --> 00:25:15,000
a people determined to
eradicate God's people.

511
00:25:15,042 --> 00:25:16,833
We know Haman is a bad man.

512
00:25:16,875 --> 00:25:18,500
Just say his name.

513
00:25:18,542 --> 00:25:19,917
Agagite!

514
00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:23,000
It just sounds like somebody
who doesn't come with

515
00:25:23,042 --> 00:25:25,000
hugs, and muffins,
and good intentions.

516
00:25:25,083 --> 00:25:26,500
Amen?

517
00:25:26,542 --> 00:25:29,208
If somebody knocks on your door:
"Hi, I'm with the Agagites,"

518
00:25:29,292 --> 00:25:31,417
you'd be like,
"I need to shut the door.

519
00:25:31,500 --> 00:25:33,417
Alright?
This is not going to end well."

520
00:25:33,500 --> 00:25:36,500
Okay, now, the Agagites are
first mentioned all the way back

521
00:25:36,583 --> 00:25:38,750
in the book of Exodus,

522
00:25:38,833 --> 00:25:41,042
and the story is this:
that God comes to

523
00:25:41,125 --> 00:25:44,167
a man named Abraham
and he tells him,

524
00:25:44,208 --> 00:25:47,250
"I'm going to bring
a people from you."

525
00:25:47,333 --> 00:25:49,667
It's these people, God's people.

526
00:25:49,708 --> 00:25:55,333
"And from your people will come
one who is Savior, Jesus Christ,

527
00:25:55,417 --> 00:25:59,250
one from the family line
of Father Abraham."

528
00:25:59,333 --> 00:26:03,208
And then God declares, "Those
who bless you, I will bless.

529
00:26:03,292 --> 00:26:05,167
"Those who curse
you, I will curse.

530
00:26:05,250 --> 00:26:07,500
You're my people,
I will protect you."

531
00:26:07,583 --> 00:26:09,708
It's like a dad looking
at his family, saying,

532
00:26:09,792 --> 00:26:12,417
"You're my kids and you're
going to be safe because Dad

533
00:26:12,500 --> 00:26:15,208
will look after you."

534
00:26:15,292 --> 00:26:17,667
And I want you to know that
God's desire

535
00:26:17,750 --> 00:26:19,667
has always been
to have a people.

536
00:26:19,750 --> 00:26:22,375
The Bible uses the language that
God's people are a people

537
00:26:22,458 --> 00:26:24,625
for his own possession.

538
00:26:24,667 --> 00:26:27,625
God says it this way, repeatedly
in the Old Testament:

539
00:26:27,667 --> 00:26:31,917
"I will be your God and you
will be my people."

540
00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:34,667
This is like a dad walking
into an orphanage and saying,

541
00:26:34,708 --> 00:26:38,250
"I'm going to be your dad and
you're going to be my kids."

542
00:26:38,333 --> 00:26:40,000
That's something
that God desires,

543
00:26:40,083 --> 00:26:41,625
that's something
that God declares,

544
00:26:41,667 --> 00:26:45,458
that's something that God
does through Jesus Christ.

545
00:26:45,500 --> 00:26:48,667
And what happens is as
soon as God has people,

546
00:26:48,708 --> 00:26:53,125
God's people also have enemies,
and those enemies are empowered

547
00:26:53,167 --> 00:26:56,917
by Satan to destroy
God's people,

548
00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:01,875
ultimately so that they would be
eradicated and that Jesus

549
00:27:01,958 --> 00:27:06,625
could not come through
the people of God.

550
00:27:06,667 --> 00:27:10,375
This is about
the salvation of the nations.

551
00:27:10,458 --> 00:27:13,208
Yes, people's lives are at stake
and their eternal lives

552
00:27:13,292 --> 00:27:15,833
are at stake as well, because
if Jesus doesn't come,

553
00:27:15,875 --> 00:27:18,417
there is no Savior.

554
00:27:18,500 --> 00:27:21,000
Now, what we see, then,
is in Exodus--let me get

555
00:27:21,042 --> 00:27:23,333
the reference right--
chapter 17,

556
00:27:23,375 --> 00:27:25,500
the Agagites rise up.

557
00:27:25,583 --> 00:27:31,500
They're a people who are intent
and determined to eradicate,

558
00:27:31,583 --> 00:27:36,667
genocide all of God's people.

559
00:27:36,708 --> 00:27:38,958
All of God's people.

560
00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:42,458
And some of you would
say, "Well, these people,

561
00:27:42,500 --> 00:27:45,333
"I'm sure they're good people.

562
00:27:45,417 --> 00:27:48,042
"They have good hearts.

563
00:27:48,125 --> 00:27:50,625
"If we just give them time,

564
00:27:50,667 --> 00:27:53,167
"they'll stop hating
God's people.

565
00:27:53,208 --> 00:27:55,500
They'll start loving
God's people."

566
00:27:55,583 --> 00:27:58,167
From the first appearance
of the Agagites in Exodus

567
00:27:58,208 --> 00:28:02,125
to the days of Esther,
it's been 1,000 years.

568
00:28:02,167 --> 00:28:04,625
Patient, yes or no?

569
00:28:04,667 --> 00:28:06,167
Yeah.

570
00:28:06,250 --> 00:28:08,625
If somebody lived next
door to you and they said,

571
00:28:08,667 --> 00:28:11,625
"We're going to kill
your whole family,"

572
00:28:11,667 --> 00:28:14,792
and they tried and failed,
and then their kids grew up,

573
00:28:14,833 --> 00:28:18,375
got the house, tried
and failed, and then died,

574
00:28:18,458 --> 00:28:21,000
and then their grandkids
grew up, and tried and failed,

575
00:28:21,083 --> 00:28:24,292
and you waited 1,000 years, I
think it would be reasonable

576
00:28:24,333 --> 00:28:27,000
to say, "I don't think
they're coming around.

577
00:28:27,083 --> 00:28:29,708
"I don't think, ultimately,
this is going to be a real

578
00:28:29,792 --> 00:28:31,417
"peaceable coexistence.

579
00:28:31,500 --> 00:28:34,042
"Because all they do is they
teach their kids to kill

580
00:28:34,125 --> 00:28:36,833
"our kids, and if they fail,
then their kids grow up

581
00:28:36,875 --> 00:28:41,625
and teach their grandkids
to kill our kids."

582
00:28:41,667 --> 00:28:45,833
It's a hatred.

583
00:28:45,917 --> 00:28:48,708
These are the kind of people
you can't negotiate with,

584
00:28:48,792 --> 00:28:51,042
you can't mediate with,
you can't arbitrate with.

585
00:28:51,125 --> 00:28:53,458
Because if you ask them,
"What do you want?"

586
00:28:53,500 --> 00:28:54,833
"I want you dead."

587
00:28:54,917 --> 00:28:57,333
"Well, it's hard to find
a middle ground where we

588
00:28:57,375 --> 00:29:03,083
can come together,
because I'm voting for living."

589
00:29:03,167 --> 00:29:05,708
And so you guys need to
understand the context,

590
00:29:05,792 --> 00:29:08,000
because sometimes, we
can pull back and say,

591
00:29:08,042 --> 00:29:10,417
"God's a cruel God.
That was a long time ago.

592
00:29:10,500 --> 00:29:12,000
"They were a primitive people.

593
00:29:12,042 --> 00:29:14,167
We have now evolved."

594
00:29:14,250 --> 00:29:17,208
C.S. Lewis calls that
"Chronological snobbery."

595
00:29:17,292 --> 00:29:20,917
Chronological snobbery.

596
00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:23,417
And so the Agagites were
a people that were supposed

597
00:29:23,500 --> 00:29:25,708
to be eradicated in 1 Samuel 15.

598
00:29:25,792 --> 00:29:28,500
Again, they declared war on
God's people

599
00:29:28,583 --> 00:29:29,917
and tried to kill them.

600
00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:31,667
This happens over,
and over, and over.

601
00:29:31,750 --> 00:29:35,042
And God tells King Saul,
"Get rid of the Agagites.

602
00:29:35,125 --> 00:29:36,958
"Destroy them.
Get rid of them.

603
00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:39,833
"If they live, they're going
to continue to multiply.

604
00:29:39,917 --> 00:29:41,542
"Eventually, they're
going to get an army

605
00:29:41,625 --> 00:29:43,917
"and they're going to try
and kill your descendants,

606
00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:45,917
so you've got to
get rid of them."

607
00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:48,417
It's one of those situations
where they pull their gun,

608
00:29:48,500 --> 00:29:49,833
you pull your gun.

609
00:29:49,875 --> 00:29:51,333
Somebody's going to get shot,

610
00:29:51,375 --> 00:29:53,333
so pull the trigger
to protect your family.

611
00:29:53,375 --> 00:29:55,042
King Saul, he sins
against the Lord.

612
00:29:55,125 --> 00:29:56,667
He disobeys.

613
00:29:56,708 --> 00:30:00,208
He plunders them but he
doesn't kill them all,

614
00:30:00,292 --> 00:30:02,500
and so the Agagites
continue until,

615
00:30:02,583 --> 00:30:04,958
in the day of Haman--Haman,
we're told repeatedly in

616
00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:07,750
the book of Esther,
he's an Agagite.

617
00:30:07,833 --> 00:30:11,542
It tells us repeatedly that
Mordecai and Esther are Jews.

618
00:30:11,625 --> 00:30:12,958
They're God's people.

619
00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:14,333
The war continues.

620
00:30:14,417 --> 00:30:18,833
It continues 1,000 years
into the days of Esther.

621
00:30:18,875 --> 00:30:25,333
And so defending oneself against
the Agagites is acceptable in

622
00:30:25,375 --> 00:30:28,333
the eyes of God because these
are people who've been trying to

623
00:30:28,375 --> 00:30:30,833
kill you for 1,000 years.

624
00:30:30,917 --> 00:30:32,667
Number two: Mordecai
and Esther's decree was

625
00:30:32,750 --> 00:30:34,167
an exact reversal of Haman's.

626
00:30:34,250 --> 00:30:36,167
If you look at their
decree and say,

627
00:30:36,250 --> 00:30:37,875
"That doesn't seem
very loving and fair.

628
00:30:37,958 --> 00:30:40,083
It mentions women, and children,
and plundering of goods."

629
00:30:40,167 --> 00:30:43,167
All it is, it's a direct
reversal of the edict

630
00:30:43,208 --> 00:30:46,167
given by Haman the Agagite
in chapter 3, verse 13.

631
00:30:46,250 --> 00:30:49,000
A careful reading of Scripture
answers a lot of questions

632
00:30:49,042 --> 00:30:50,875
most of the time.

633
00:30:50,958 --> 00:30:54,667
Over in Esther 3, Haman sent
forth a decree to all

634
00:30:54,750 --> 00:30:57,542
the Agagites telling them what
they could do to the Jews.

635
00:30:57,625 --> 00:31:00,333
Esther and Mordecai come along,
they take the exact language

636
00:31:00,375 --> 00:31:02,833
of Haman's decree,
and they reverse it, saying,

637
00:31:02,917 --> 00:31:07,042
"If the Agagites attack,
God's people can defend themselves.

638
00:31:07,125 --> 00:31:09,833
"They can defend themselves
against women, and children,

639
00:31:09,917 --> 00:31:11,833
and they have the right
to plunder goods."

640
00:31:11,917 --> 00:31:14,250
All this is is justice.

641
00:31:14,333 --> 00:31:17,167
If you're going to do this,
then we get to do that.

642
00:31:17,208 --> 00:31:22,625
We get to meet your
assault with equal justice.

643
00:31:22,667 --> 00:31:25,167
Number three: the violence
was limited to one day

644
00:31:25,208 --> 00:31:26,958
to reduce injustice.

645
00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:29,958
It says here that they gave
one day for God's people

646
00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:32,083
to defend themselves.

647
00:31:32,167 --> 00:31:34,833
It's not that this continues
for weeks, or months,

648
00:31:34,917 --> 00:31:36,667
or years, or generations.

649
00:31:36,750 --> 00:31:38,750
It's not like
the Hatfields and McCoys

650
00:31:38,833 --> 00:31:41,167
where it just goes on forever.

651
00:31:41,208 --> 00:31:44,667
They had a decree that said
they could attack God's people

652
00:31:44,708 --> 00:31:46,583
on one day.

653
00:31:46,667 --> 00:31:48,667
God's people are
given a decree saying,

654
00:31:48,708 --> 00:31:51,458
"You can defend yourself,
but only on that day."

655
00:31:51,500 --> 00:31:54,375
This gets rid of vigilantism,

656
00:31:54,458 --> 00:31:59,292
this gets rid of an abuse
of authority.

657
00:31:59,333 --> 00:32:01,667
This means if they
attack you today,

658
00:32:01,708 --> 00:32:04,667
you can defend yourself today,
and if tomorrow you wake up

659
00:32:04,708 --> 00:32:09,958
and you're very angry, you
can't go out harming people.

660
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:12,750
Number four: the Bible
distinguishes between

661
00:32:12,833 --> 00:32:14,458
killing and murder.

662
00:32:14,500 --> 00:32:16,458
This is important because
most people don't understand

663
00:32:16,500 --> 00:32:17,833
the difference.

664
00:32:17,917 --> 00:32:19,333
The Bible
in the Ten Commandments

665
00:32:19,417 --> 00:32:21,333
does not say,
"Thou shalt not kill."

666
00:32:21,417 --> 00:32:23,542
It does say,
"Thou shalt not murder."

667
00:32:23,625 --> 00:32:25,708
They're different.

668
00:32:25,792 --> 00:32:31,042
Haman wanted to murder Mordecai.

669
00:32:31,125 --> 00:32:34,167
The Agagites want to
murder God's people.

670
00:32:34,250 --> 00:32:37,000
If God's people
defend themselves,

671
00:32:37,042 --> 00:32:40,833
they're not murdering,
they're defending,

672
00:32:40,917 --> 00:32:43,542
and that may include killing.

673
00:32:43,625 --> 00:32:46,875
But killing is different
than murdering.

674
00:32:46,958 --> 00:32:50,167
If someone tries to murder you
and you spare your life

675
00:32:50,250 --> 00:32:52,167
and your family's life
and the innocents,

676
00:32:52,250 --> 00:32:53,875
including women and children,

677
00:32:53,958 --> 00:32:55,375
you're not murdering.

678
00:32:55,458 --> 00:32:59,292
You're killing a murderer,
and that's justice.

679
00:32:59,333 --> 00:33:01,208
That's justice.

680
00:33:01,292 --> 00:33:03,958
This is like a police officer
gets out of their car,

681
00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:06,542
and all of a sudden they
come under heavy fire,

682
00:33:06,625 --> 00:33:09,625
and they're ducking
behind the door.

683
00:33:09,667 --> 00:33:14,333
If they return fire and they hit
the person who's trying to kill

684
00:33:14,375 --> 00:33:19,500
them--murder them,
they're not guilty of sin.

685
00:33:19,583 --> 00:33:26,000
That person was a murderer and
they were defending themselves.

686
00:33:26,083 --> 00:33:29,417
Similarly, a soldier
going off to war.

687
00:33:29,500 --> 00:33:35,500
If someone comes upon them,
ambushes them, fires upon them,

688
00:33:35,583 --> 00:33:39,458
first soldier to return
fire is not murder.

689
00:33:39,500 --> 00:33:41,500
Someone is trying
to murder them,

690
00:33:41,583 --> 00:33:45,458
they're defending themselves
and that may include killing.

691
00:33:45,500 --> 00:33:48,333
Now, because human life is made
in the image and likeness

692
00:33:48,375 --> 00:33:51,750
of God, we value
human life greatly,

693
00:33:51,833 --> 00:33:55,333
and it is sad when anyone
has to die, but sometimes,

694
00:33:55,375 --> 00:33:59,417
the most just thing is to kill
the murderer before there is

695
00:33:59,500 --> 00:34:02,333
atrocity for the multitudes.

696
00:34:02,375 --> 00:34:08,500
Sometimes the only way
to protect people is by

697
00:34:08,542 --> 00:34:12,708
engaging evil,
and that's not evil.

698
00:34:12,792 --> 00:34:17,000
That's holy.

699
00:34:17,083 --> 00:34:21,208
Here, the decree
has been sent forth.

700
00:34:21,292 --> 00:34:24,583
All of God's enemies who've
been making plans now know,

701
00:34:24,667 --> 00:34:28,000
if you show up, they
will defend themselves.

702
00:34:28,042 --> 00:34:29,458
It's very loving, right?

703
00:34:29,500 --> 00:34:31,500
This decree went out.

704
00:34:31,542 --> 00:34:32,875
Everybody knows.

705
00:34:32,958 --> 00:34:34,667
All the guys making
plans now have

706
00:34:34,708 --> 00:34:36,042
an opportunity to rethink it.

707
00:34:36,125 --> 00:34:38,792
"Well, we were going to go
slaughter them and take all

708
00:34:38,833 --> 00:34:40,792
"their stuff, but now they
can defend themselves.

709
00:34:40,833 --> 00:34:43,500
I think I'm going to back
out of that commitment."

710
00:34:43,542 --> 00:34:45,500
And if you don't,

711
00:34:45,542 --> 00:34:50,333
the families need
to be protected.

712
00:34:50,417 --> 00:34:54,042
Number five: only
self-defense was permitted.

713
00:34:54,125 --> 00:34:58,333
It doesn't say, "Go out in the
streets and look for Agagites."

714
00:34:58,417 --> 00:35:01,167
It doesn't say that.

715
00:35:01,208 --> 00:35:04,458
It says, "If they show up at
your house and they're trying

716
00:35:04,500 --> 00:35:08,000
to harm your family, you can
defend yourself in that moment."

717
00:35:08,083 --> 00:35:09,375
That's different.
It's only self-defense.

718
00:35:09,458 --> 00:35:10,833
That's all that it is.

719
00:35:10,917 --> 00:35:13,500
God's people aren't to be out
looking for people to hurt,

720
00:35:13,583 --> 00:35:17,000
they're to defend themselves
if people come to hurt them.

721
00:35:17,083 --> 00:35:19,833
There's a difference, right?

722
00:35:19,917 --> 00:35:22,667
Number six: though defense
against women and children

723
00:35:22,708 --> 00:35:24,833
was permitted, there is no
report that it occurred.

724
00:35:24,917 --> 00:35:26,833
If you read the Scriptures here,
it says,

725
00:35:26,875 --> 00:35:31,542
echoing in chapter 8 the decree
given by Haman in chapter 3--

726
00:35:31,625 --> 00:35:35,167
chapter 3 it said that you
could attack women and children,

727
00:35:35,208 --> 00:35:36,917
and you could
plunder their goods,

728
00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:40,667
and so then the reverse decree
to help negate the first decree

729
00:35:40,708 --> 00:35:43,833
comes and it says, "And you can
defend yourself against women

730
00:35:43,875 --> 00:35:46,542
and children
and plunder their goods."

731
00:35:46,625 --> 00:35:49,208
But there's no report that women
and children were harmed

732
00:35:49,292 --> 00:35:50,625
in any way.

733
00:35:50,667 --> 00:35:52,833
In fact, if you jump
forward to chapter 9,

734
00:35:52,875 --> 00:35:54,542
you can look at it this week.

735
00:35:54,625 --> 00:35:57,292
The body count for the men who
died does not include

736
00:35:57,333 --> 00:35:59,292
a body count for the women
or children.

737
00:35:59,333 --> 00:36:00,833
There's no indication,
there's no evidence,

738
00:36:00,917 --> 00:36:02,250
in or outside of Scripture,

739
00:36:02,333 --> 00:36:03,958
that any women or children
were harmed.

740
00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:07,333
But what it does permit is if
a guy shows up with his wife

741
00:36:07,417 --> 00:36:10,833
and his kids and they're going
to kill your family

742
00:36:10,875 --> 00:36:13,167
and steal your stuff,

743
00:36:13,208 --> 00:36:18,667
you can defend yourself against
whoever shows up to harm you.

744
00:36:18,750 --> 00:36:24,042
Number seven: God's people
did not plunder their enemies.

745
00:36:24,125 --> 00:36:26,375
Again, the decree given
to the Agagites was,

746
00:36:26,458 --> 00:36:28,792
"You can plunder them
and steal all their stuff."

747
00:36:28,833 --> 00:36:31,792
And then the report is given
in chapter 9 that when

748
00:36:31,833 --> 00:36:34,667
certain Agagites did attack
the Israelites,

749
00:36:34,708 --> 00:36:37,375
the Israelites did not
plunder their goods.

750
00:36:37,458 --> 00:36:39,167
You can read ahead in chapter 9.

751
00:36:39,250 --> 00:36:40,667
They didn't plunder.

752
00:36:40,708 --> 00:36:42,083
They didn't take
their possessions,

753
00:36:42,167 --> 00:36:43,917
they didn't take anything
from their estate.

754
00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:46,667
And what this shows you is it
wasn't about the money,

755
00:36:46,750 --> 00:36:49,500
it wasn't about greed.
It was only about self-defense.

756
00:36:49,583 --> 00:36:53,542
Only about self-defense.

757
00:36:53,625 --> 00:36:56,042
Would you do me a favor
and pray for those

758
00:36:56,125 --> 00:36:57,625
who are in law enforcement?

759
00:36:57,667 --> 00:37:00,833
Would you pray for soldiers,
that they would act in ways

760
00:37:00,875 --> 00:37:03,583
that are just, like this?

761
00:37:03,667 --> 00:37:06,208
That's why we have Military
Mission and we give lots of

762
00:37:06,292 --> 00:37:08,125
resources away to soldiers,
and their families,

763
00:37:08,167 --> 00:37:10,000
and those in the field.

764
00:37:10,042 --> 00:37:12,708
We know that they are put in
very difficult, hard situations,

765
00:37:12,792 --> 00:37:15,875
police officers and soldiers,
where they're having to make

766
00:37:15,958 --> 00:37:19,125
these kinds of very
complicated, philosophical,

767
00:37:19,167 --> 00:37:22,583
theological decisions in
an instant, under duress,

768
00:37:22,667 --> 00:37:26,000
with their lives in danger.

769
00:37:26,042 --> 00:37:28,667
And sometimes, those of us who
are idealistic and pacifistic,

770
00:37:28,750 --> 00:37:32,167
we can stand back and sort of
pretend that the world is a lot

771
00:37:32,250 --> 00:37:35,833
more simple, but it's not
the world that we live in.

772
00:37:35,875 --> 00:37:37,708
It's the world that
others live in,

773
00:37:37,792 --> 00:37:40,125
and we stand back to criticize.

774
00:37:40,167 --> 00:37:42,917
And in this instance, God's
people act in a godly way.

775
00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:44,417
They don't plunder
their enemies.

776
00:37:44,500 --> 00:37:45,917
It's not about the money.

777
00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:47,625
They're just trying to
protect their family,

778
00:37:47,667 --> 00:37:49,625
and then they bless the other
families with

779
00:37:49,667 --> 00:37:51,000
the inheritance and the estate.

780
00:37:51,083 --> 00:37:52,833
Number eight: God does not
establish this

781
00:37:52,917 --> 00:37:54,250
as normative behavior.

782
00:37:54,333 --> 00:37:55,833
It doesn't say,
you know,

783
00:37:55,917 --> 00:38:00,917
"Therefore, go find Agagites
and bury them.

784
00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:03,208
"Go ye and do likewise.

785
00:38:03,292 --> 00:38:05,417
Destroy all your enemies."

786
00:38:05,500 --> 00:38:07,500
This is not talking
about holy war,

787
00:38:07,542 --> 00:38:12,083
and trying to conquer others,
and incarcerate innocents.

788
00:38:12,167 --> 00:38:15,417
It's not doing or
saying that at all.

789
00:38:15,500 --> 00:38:18,667
This is a very unique
situation in history.

790
00:38:18,750 --> 00:38:22,708
This is a very complicated
moment for God's people.

791
00:38:22,792 --> 00:38:26,583
What's at stake is their
survival and the family line

792
00:38:26,667 --> 00:38:30,375
that leads to
the coming of Jesus.

793
00:38:30,458 --> 00:38:32,208
So, this is not normative.

794
00:38:32,292 --> 00:38:35,417
We're not to get from this,
you know, "Go to the gun range,

795
00:38:35,500 --> 00:38:37,833
"boys, and get ready for
the end of the world,

796
00:38:37,875 --> 00:38:40,833
"and tell your wife to churn
more butter and fill up your

797
00:38:40,875 --> 00:38:42,208
"crawl space with canned goods.

798
00:38:42,292 --> 00:38:45,000
The end is near and we're
going to kill them all."

799
00:38:45,042 --> 00:38:47,417
That's not what I'm saying,
just to be clear.

800
00:38:47,500 --> 00:38:49,750
Just to be clear,
I'm not condoning

801
00:38:49,833 --> 00:38:52,833
irresponsible violence.

802
00:38:52,875 --> 00:38:56,167
I'm not condoning or in any way
encouraging

803
00:38:56,208 --> 00:38:58,833
sinful harming of anyone.

804
00:38:58,875 --> 00:39:01,792
I'm not talking about
escalating a conflict.

805
00:39:01,833 --> 00:39:06,125
All I'm saying is soldiers have
a right to defend themselves,

806
00:39:06,167 --> 00:39:08,917
police officers have
a right to defend themselves,

807
00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:11,375
citizens have a right
to defend themselves,

808
00:39:11,458 --> 00:39:14,292
and it's sad when they have
to, but when they have to,

809
00:39:14,333 --> 00:39:15,667
they have to.

810
00:39:15,750 --> 00:39:17,292
Amen?

811
00:39:17,333 --> 00:39:19,708
That's exactly what's happening.

812
00:39:19,792 --> 00:39:21,833
And so what happens
is in one day,

813
00:39:21,875 --> 00:39:23,917
you're going to
see it in a moment,

814
00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:26,333
there is mourning and rejoicing.

815
00:39:26,375 --> 00:39:30,500
And when justice comes, there
is simultaneously mourning

816
00:39:30,583 --> 00:39:36,500
and rejoicing for all
those who died,

817
00:39:36,583 --> 00:39:39,917
and there's a big
body count in chapter 9.

818
00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:43,917
There are funerals where
mothers, and fathers,

819
00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:45,875
and sisters,
and brothers, and wives,

820
00:39:45,958 --> 00:39:50,917
and girlfriends are mourning.

821
00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:54,375
Meanwhile, you'll see in
a moment, there are parties,

822
00:39:54,458 --> 00:39:56,292
and feasts, and festivals
because God's people

823
00:39:56,333 --> 00:39:58,333
are rejoicing.

824
00:39:58,375 --> 00:40:01,500
When justice comes, there is
simultaneously rejoicing

825
00:40:01,583 --> 00:40:03,500
and mourning.

826
00:40:03,583 --> 00:40:06,000
So it is at the cross
of Jesus Christ.

827
00:40:06,042 --> 00:40:09,167
Jesus is God, lives without sin,
dies on the cross in our place

828
00:40:09,250 --> 00:40:11,583
for our sins.

829
00:40:11,667 --> 00:40:13,833
As we think of that,
there is mourning.

830
00:40:13,875 --> 00:40:15,500
We killed God.

831
00:40:15,542 --> 00:40:17,125
There's rejoicing.

832
00:40:17,167 --> 00:40:20,917
He died for us and for our sins.

833
00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:24,125
So it will be upon the second
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ

834
00:40:24,167 --> 00:40:26,125
to judge the living
and the dead,

835
00:40:26,167 --> 00:40:29,125
and you'll stand before him
and give an account, as will I.

836
00:40:29,167 --> 00:40:32,625
For some, it will be a day of
mourning as they remain in

837
00:40:32,667 --> 00:40:35,875
the spiritual heritage of
the Agagites, enemies of God,

838
00:40:35,958 --> 00:40:40,000
doomed for death and justice,
and their eternity is

839
00:40:40,042 --> 00:40:42,500
a hellish funeral.

840
00:40:42,542 --> 00:40:45,667
For the people of God, it'll be
like the spiritual descendants

841
00:40:45,750 --> 00:40:49,167
of Esther and Mordecai, a day
of feasting, and gladness,

842
00:40:49,208 --> 00:40:51,708
and joy, and rejoicing.

843
00:40:51,792 --> 00:40:55,542
We are forgiven and our
enemies of Satan, sin,

844
00:40:55,625 --> 00:40:58,333
and death have been
forever conquered,

845
00:40:58,417 --> 00:41:01,000
and we now live in peace
without any threat against

846
00:41:01,042 --> 00:41:04,792
the people of God.

847
00:41:04,833 --> 00:41:09,125
Third question: why were
Esther and Mordecai

848
00:41:09,167 --> 00:41:12,375
successful missionaries?

849
00:41:12,458 --> 00:41:18,083
Esther 8:15-17.

850
00:41:18,167 --> 00:41:21,000
Let me unpack this
for a moment.

851
00:41:21,083 --> 00:41:25,292
Let me preface
the reading of Scripture.

852
00:41:25,333 --> 00:41:28,083
Mars Hill is a missional church.

853
00:41:28,167 --> 00:41:30,583
We've been using that language
since the mid-'90s

854
00:41:30,667 --> 00:41:32,333
when we started,

855
00:41:32,375 --> 00:41:37,500
and that is that God sends
missionaries into pagan cultures

856
00:41:37,583 --> 00:41:41,417
to bring justice, and love,
and mercy, and truth,

857
00:41:41,500 --> 00:41:44,333
so that people who don't know
God will come to know

858
00:41:44,375 --> 00:41:45,792
the God of the Bible.

859
00:41:45,833 --> 00:41:47,333
That's a missionary.

860
00:41:47,417 --> 00:41:49,625
Sometimes a missionary is
intentionally sent by

861
00:41:49,667 --> 00:41:51,208
God's people.

862
00:41:51,292 --> 00:41:53,167
So, some of you, maybe
you're thinking,

863
00:41:53,208 --> 00:41:55,625
"Okay, I want to go to
Bible college or seminary.

864
00:41:55,667 --> 00:41:57,333
"I want to qualify
as a missionary.

865
00:41:57,417 --> 00:41:59,542
"I want to be sent out
by the church

866
00:41:59,625 --> 00:42:01,000
"or a missions organization,

867
00:42:01,083 --> 00:42:03,500
"and I want to be relocated
to another place where

868
00:42:03,583 --> 00:42:06,708
"it's a bunch of pagans that
don't know Jesus so I can tell

869
00:42:06,792 --> 00:42:08,500
them about Jesus
and plant a church."

870
00:42:08,583 --> 00:42:10,167
That's one way missions
is done.

871
00:42:10,250 --> 00:42:13,125
Sometimes the way missions is
done is, in the providence of

872
00:42:13,167 --> 00:42:16,583
God, God's people are already
scattered in pagan places,

873
00:42:16,667 --> 00:42:20,708
like Portland, or Albuquerque,
or Seattle, hypothetically.

874
00:42:20,792 --> 00:42:23,083
They're already scattered
in pagan places,

875
00:42:23,167 --> 00:42:24,917
like Orange County.

876
00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:27,667
And God's people are there,
and they're there on divine

877
00:42:27,750 --> 00:42:29,917
assignment and appointment.

878
00:42:30,000 --> 00:42:32,792
Acts 17 says that God determines
the times and the places

879
00:42:32,833 --> 00:42:34,917
in which we live.

880
00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:37,500
We're there not by happenstance,
or circumstance, or chance,

881
00:42:37,542 --> 00:42:39,167
but by providence.

882
00:42:39,250 --> 00:42:42,208
Now, Esther and Mordecai, they
should have been in Jerusalem.

883
00:42:42,292 --> 00:42:44,125
They shouldn't
have been in Susa.

884
00:42:44,167 --> 00:42:46,750
They're supposed to be with
God's people near God's presence

885
00:42:46,833 --> 00:42:49,042
in the temple and instead
they're living far away.

886
00:42:49,125 --> 00:42:52,250
But even then, God comes to be
with them and uses them

887
00:42:52,333 --> 00:42:53,667
as he would you.

888
00:42:53,708 --> 00:42:56,417
Some of you are in places
you should not be physically.

889
00:42:56,500 --> 00:42:59,167
Some of you are in places you
should not be relationally,

890
00:42:59,208 --> 00:43:02,792
but God can meet you there and
God can use you if you'll repent

891
00:43:02,833 --> 00:43:06,333
and grow to be a missionary,

892
00:43:06,375 --> 00:43:08,583
to see others meet
the God of the Bible

893
00:43:08,667 --> 00:43:11,917
and have a life change
and for a people of God to come

894
00:43:12,000 --> 00:43:14,833
into a place where there are
not yet a people of God.

895
00:43:14,875 --> 00:43:17,333
We call that the church.

896
00:43:17,375 --> 00:43:22,208
One way to examine mission
is to look at the story

897
00:43:22,292 --> 00:43:24,833
of Esther and Mordecai.

898
00:43:24,875 --> 00:43:30,125
They're God's people in
a pagan place, Persia.

899
00:43:30,167 --> 00:43:32,708
They're in a pagan culture.

900
00:43:32,792 --> 00:43:37,292
They've not revealed their
identity that they worship

901
00:43:37,333 --> 00:43:39,000
the God of the Bible.

902
00:43:39,083 --> 00:43:41,292
They've sort of concealed
it for a long time.

903
00:43:41,333 --> 00:43:43,667
And then they come out
of the proverbial closet

904
00:43:43,750 --> 00:43:46,750
and identify themselves with
God's people.

905
00:43:46,833 --> 00:43:49,125
And they're not
doing so as clergy,

906
00:43:49,167 --> 00:43:52,833
they're doing so as politicians.

907
00:43:52,875 --> 00:43:57,333
And some of you will do this as
business leaders or professors.

908
00:43:57,417 --> 00:44:01,917
It's a man and a woman, working
together as the people of God

909
00:44:02,000 --> 00:44:06,333
for the glory of God
and the good of God's people.

910
00:44:06,375 --> 00:44:11,125
And so as we see how Esther and
Mordecai behave as missionaries

911
00:44:11,167 --> 00:44:15,833
in culture, let's just say
they're not exactly like Daniel,

912
00:44:15,875 --> 00:44:17,583
a counterpart.

913
00:44:17,667 --> 00:44:19,875
They don't start amazingly
godly from beginning to end.

914
00:44:19,958 --> 00:44:22,792
They start off like some
of us: pretty compromised,

915
00:44:22,833 --> 00:44:25,583
a bit worldly,
and not super impressive.

916
00:44:25,667 --> 00:44:28,917
But, in the grace of God, they
grow and mature and they become

917
00:44:29,000 --> 00:44:34,833
very gifted, utilized,
mature missionaries.

918
00:44:34,875 --> 00:44:36,917
Read with me, chapter 8.

919
00:44:37,000 --> 00:44:39,833
"Then Mordecai went out from
the presence of the king."

920
00:44:39,875 --> 00:44:42,000
And Mordecai gets
a wardrobe upgrade.

921
00:44:42,083 --> 00:44:44,083
Alright?

922
00:44:44,167 --> 00:44:46,625
He gets to go shopping.

923
00:44:46,667 --> 00:44:49,500
"In royal robes of
blue and white."

924
00:44:49,583 --> 00:44:52,750
I mean, he's got
a chariot now with rims.

925
00:44:52,833 --> 00:44:56,000
I mean, he's rolling
hip-hop style.

926
00:44:56,083 --> 00:44:59,333
I mean, he's looking good.

927
00:44:59,375 --> 00:45:01,917
"With a great gold crown

928
00:45:02,000 --> 00:45:03,917
and a robe of fine
linen and purple,"

929
00:45:04,000 --> 00:45:06,500
which is the color of royalty.

930
00:45:06,542 --> 00:45:08,500
"And the city of Susa
shouted and rejoiced."

931
00:45:08,583 --> 00:45:10,333
He's a rock star.

932
00:45:10,375 --> 00:45:12,000
He's like a war hero.

933
00:45:12,083 --> 00:45:13,833
Everybody knows this guy.

934
00:45:13,875 --> 00:45:16,583
These are now the two most
famous believers in

935
00:45:16,667 --> 00:45:19,625
the whole Persian Empire,
Esther and Mordecai.

936
00:45:19,667 --> 00:45:21,417
I mean, Twitter's
blowing up with them,

937
00:45:21,500 --> 00:45:23,375
they're on the cover
of "Time" magazine,

938
00:45:23,458 --> 00:45:25,625
they're getting all the late-
night talk show interviews.

939
00:45:25,667 --> 00:45:28,625
They've went from nobody to
somebody, from poor to rich,

940
00:45:28,667 --> 00:45:31,417
from unknown to well-known.

941
00:45:31,500 --> 00:45:34,167
Everything's changed for them.

942
00:45:34,250 --> 00:45:37,833
"The Jews had light and
gladness and joy and honor."

943
00:45:37,875 --> 00:45:40,292
God's people,
it's a holiday, right?

944
00:45:40,333 --> 00:45:43,000
Somebody find a kazoo,
get a casserole.

945
00:45:43,042 --> 00:45:45,625
We're the people of God,
we need to have a potluck.

946
00:45:45,667 --> 00:45:47,500
It's a holiday for them.

947
00:45:47,583 --> 00:45:49,500
"And in every province
and in every city,

948
00:45:49,583 --> 00:45:52,000
wherever the king's command and
his edict reached, there was,"

949
00:45:52,083 --> 00:45:53,417
what?

950
00:45:53,500 --> 00:45:56,167
"Gladness and joy among the
Jews, a feast and a holiday."

951
00:45:56,208 --> 00:45:57,958
Again, when justice comes,
there's mourning for

952
00:45:58,000 --> 00:46:01,625
the unrepentant, there's
rejoicing for the people of God.

953
00:46:01,667 --> 00:46:03,875
There's no excuse
for those who died,

954
00:46:03,958 --> 00:46:06,708
because the decree was given:
"Don't attack God's people.

955
00:46:06,792 --> 00:46:10,167
They will defend themselves,"
yet some remained unrepentant,

956
00:46:10,250 --> 00:46:13,292
continued forth with their evil,
and paid the ultimate price,

957
00:46:13,333 --> 00:46:15,833
giving their own life.

958
00:46:15,875 --> 00:46:17,792
And God's people are rejoicing.

959
00:46:17,833 --> 00:46:20,625
"We were spared in
the grace of God."

960
00:46:20,667 --> 00:46:23,083
"And many from the peoples of
the country declared themselves

961
00:46:23,167 --> 00:46:26,500
Jews, for fear of the
Jews had fallen on them."

962
00:46:26,583 --> 00:46:28,625
There it is.

963
00:46:28,667 --> 00:46:30,917
Careful reading of the text.

964
00:46:31,000 --> 00:46:33,000
Don't read it too fast.

965
00:46:33,083 --> 00:46:37,875
It sounds like a minor detail,
but it's of major importance.

966
00:46:37,958 --> 00:46:39,292
"Many people."

967
00:46:39,333 --> 00:46:41,417
How many people?
Many people.

968
00:46:41,500 --> 00:46:43,375
How many people does
God want to save?

969
00:46:43,458 --> 00:46:44,792
Many people.

970
00:46:44,833 --> 00:46:47,500
How many people does God
want to bring to Mars Hill?

971
00:46:47,583 --> 00:46:48,917
Many people.

972
00:46:49,000 --> 00:46:50,917
How many churches does
God want to plant?

973
00:46:51,000 --> 00:46:52,333
Many churches.

974
00:46:52,375 --> 00:46:54,833
How many Community Groups
does God want us to have?

975
00:46:54,875 --> 00:46:56,208
Many Community Groups.

976
00:46:56,292 --> 00:46:58,708
How many people does God want
in those Community Groups?

977
00:46:58,792 --> 00:47:00,167
Many people.

978
00:47:00,250 --> 00:47:02,167
How many deacons does God want?
Many people.

979
00:47:02,250 --> 00:47:04,167
How many elders does God want?
Many people.

980
00:47:04,250 --> 00:47:07,208
Friends, again, only two things
are going to be entering

981
00:47:07,292 --> 00:47:10,417
the kingdom of God:
Jesus and his people.

982
00:47:10,500 --> 00:47:13,167
Many people.

983
00:47:13,958 --> 00:47:15,417
Many people.

984
00:47:15,500 --> 00:47:17,917
That's God's heart.
Mars Hill, that's my heart.

985
00:47:18,000 --> 00:47:21,000
I hope, I trust, I
pray that's your heart.

986
00:47:21,042 --> 00:47:25,625
"Many people identified
themselves with the Jews."

987
00:47:25,667 --> 00:47:28,833
Now, some may have just
identified culturally.

988
00:47:28,875 --> 00:47:31,000
"Okay, we've got
a Jewish vice president,

989
00:47:31,083 --> 00:47:33,333
"we've got a Jewish queen.

990
00:47:33,375 --> 00:47:35,333
"The Jews get to
kill their enemies.

991
00:47:35,375 --> 00:47:37,000
Yay, Jews!"
You know?

992
00:47:37,042 --> 00:47:39,500
They may have just culturally
identified for less than

993
00:47:39,542 --> 00:47:42,417
spiritual reasons.

994
00:47:42,500 --> 00:47:48,667
But at least some,
let's say many,

995
00:47:50,500 --> 00:47:53,458
got converted.

996
00:47:53,500 --> 00:47:59,417
They started worshiping
the God of Esther and Mordecai.

997
00:47:59,500 --> 00:48:01,667
"Tell us about your God
who saved your life.

998
00:48:01,750 --> 00:48:04,917
"Tell us about your God who
changed your character,

999
00:48:05,000 --> 00:48:07,000
"because we've seen you change.

1000
00:48:07,083 --> 00:48:10,292
"Tell us about your God who has
you treat us in a way

1001
00:48:10,333 --> 00:48:11,833
"that our king doesn't.

1002
00:48:11,875 --> 00:48:14,208
"He uses us and you love us.

1003
00:48:14,292 --> 00:48:16,625
"Tell us about this God.

1004
00:48:16,667 --> 00:48:23,417
We want to know him."

1005
00:48:23,500 --> 00:48:26,625
The question for you this day
is: who are you evangelizing?

1006
00:48:26,667 --> 00:48:29,208
If you're a Christian,
you're a missionary.

1007
00:48:29,292 --> 00:48:32,500
You're sent into school,
or work, or business,

1008
00:48:32,583 --> 00:48:36,875
or neighborhood, and you're
there as a missionary.

1009
00:48:36,958 --> 00:48:39,417
Some of you say, "But, I'm
not in vocational ministry."

1010
00:48:39,500 --> 00:48:42,375
Neither were Esther
and Mordecai,

1011
00:48:42,458 --> 00:48:44,875
but they were effective
missionaries because they were

1012
00:48:44,958 --> 00:48:46,958
in the pagan culture.

1013
00:48:47,000 --> 00:48:49,333
God calls you into
the pagan culture,

1014
00:48:49,375 --> 00:48:52,542
and to be a missionary is to be
simultaneously faithful

1015
00:48:52,625 --> 00:48:59,625
to the Word of God and to be in
the context of pagan people.

1016
00:48:59,708 --> 00:49:02,625
If you're only in the context
of pagan people but you're not

1017
00:49:02,667 --> 00:49:05,375
faithful to the Word of God,
you're not a good missionary,

1018
00:49:05,458 --> 00:49:06,792
you're a sinner.

1019
00:49:06,833 --> 00:49:10,000
And if you're only faithful to
God but you're not in the world

1020
00:49:10,042 --> 00:49:13,333
with the pagan people, you're
a sinner of a different kind.

1021
00:49:13,375 --> 00:49:15,333
The first is just
a wicked rebel;

1022
00:49:15,375 --> 00:49:18,875
the second is a self-righteous
religious person.

1023
00:49:18,958 --> 00:49:22,625
God wants you to be faithful to
the Scriptures and absolutely

1024
00:49:22,667 --> 00:49:25,667
involved in the lives
of the culture in which

1025
00:49:25,750 --> 00:49:28,708
the pagan people live so
that many might come to know

1026
00:49:28,792 --> 00:49:32,500
the God of the Bible.

1027
00:49:32,583 --> 00:49:37,500
Now, what I'm going to do now
is I'm going to explode

1028
00:49:37,583 --> 00:49:41,292
a very common evangelical myth
and give you an alternative

1029
00:49:41,333 --> 00:49:43,625
for how culture changes.

1030
00:49:43,667 --> 00:49:46,208
Missionaries are concerned about
two things: people meeting

1031
00:49:46,292 --> 00:49:49,708
the God of the Bible,
and cultures changing.

1032
00:49:49,792 --> 00:49:52,125
It's both things.
Right?

1033
00:49:52,167 --> 00:49:54,333
Because let's say you have
a culture where women

1034
00:49:54,375 --> 00:49:55,917
are oppressed and mistreated.

1035
00:49:56,000 --> 00:49:57,417
If everybody
becomes a Christian,

1036
00:49:57,500 --> 00:49:59,625
but all the women are still
oppressed and mistreated,

1037
00:49:59,667 --> 00:50:01,625
that's not good enough.

1038
00:50:01,667 --> 00:50:04,917
You want people to meet the God
of the Bible and the culture

1039
00:50:05,000 --> 00:50:08,208
that surrounds them to change
to reflect the love, the grace,

1040
00:50:08,292 --> 00:50:11,583
the mercy, and the Father
heart of the God of the Bible.

1041
00:50:11,667 --> 00:50:16,125
Okay, so how does this happen
with Esther and Mordecai?

1042
00:50:16,167 --> 00:50:19,333
Now, the prevailing evangelical
cultural myth is this:

1043
00:50:19,375 --> 00:50:22,500
that culture is the outflow of
the individual human heart.

1044
00:50:22,583 --> 00:50:25,208
It's a prevalent myth, and it's
particularly powerful

1045
00:50:25,292 --> 00:50:28,667
in the west where we tend to
believe this narrative myth

1046
00:50:28,750 --> 00:50:31,667
that one person fully devoted to
a cause

1047
00:50:31,750 --> 00:50:34,375
can change the whole world.

1048
00:50:34,458 --> 00:50:37,500
It doesn't matter if in one
generation it's the Lone Ranger,

1049
00:50:37,583 --> 00:50:39,500
and in another
generation it's Rambo,

1050
00:50:39,542 --> 00:50:41,167
or in another generation
it's Iron Man.

1051
00:50:41,250 --> 00:50:42,583
It doesn't matter.

1052
00:50:42,667 --> 00:50:45,333
It's a prevailing cultural myth.

1053
00:50:45,375 --> 00:50:48,208
The one person with a heart
fully devoted to a cause can

1054
00:50:48,292 --> 00:50:51,042
change the world, because change
starts here and it infects

1055
00:50:51,125 --> 00:50:52,917
and affects everyone
and everything.

1056
00:50:53,000 --> 00:50:55,625
Not true.

1057
00:50:55,667 --> 00:51:00,792
Not true.

1058
00:51:00,833 --> 00:51:07,375
See, Mordecai had been wailing,
weeping, mourning, protesting,

1059
00:51:07,458 --> 00:51:10,208
fasting, praying,
sackcloth and ashes.

1060
00:51:10,292 --> 00:51:14,000
Nothing changed until he got
into a different

1061
00:51:14,083 --> 00:51:18,208
cultural position.

1062
00:51:18,292 --> 00:51:20,500
What happens then
is some say,

1063
00:51:20,583 --> 00:51:23,333
"Well, all we need is more
hearts to change and then

1064
00:51:23,375 --> 00:51:24,833
"the culture will change.

1065
00:51:24,875 --> 00:51:27,208
"Let's just do mass evangelism
and not worry about

1066
00:51:27,292 --> 00:51:30,708
the social structures, just
the individual hearts."

1067
00:51:30,792 --> 00:51:33,083
Well, the problem is that
the culture didn't change

1068
00:51:33,167 --> 00:51:38,292
because people were in
agreement with Xerxes.

1069
00:51:38,333 --> 00:51:41,083
The truth is people were in
disagreement with Xerxes

1070
00:51:41,167 --> 00:51:43,000
in large numbers.

1071
00:51:43,042 --> 00:51:46,000
When he gave the permission for
Haman to send forth the decree

1072
00:51:46,083 --> 00:51:49,625
of genocide, we read in
chapter 3, verse 15 of Esther,

1073
00:51:49,667 --> 00:51:53,000
"The city of Susa was
thrown into confusion."

1074
00:51:53,083 --> 00:51:54,708
Chapter 4, verse 3:

1075
00:51:54,792 --> 00:51:56,833
"In every province,
where the king's command and his

1076
00:51:56,917 --> 00:51:59,333
"decree reached, there was
great mourning among the Jews,

1077
00:51:59,375 --> 00:52:01,375
"with fasting
and weeping and lamenting,

1078
00:52:01,458 --> 00:52:04,125
and many of them lay in
sackcloth and ashes."

1079
00:52:04,167 --> 00:52:07,417
Mordecai's individual human
heart was broken

1080
00:52:07,500 --> 00:52:09,083
and the culture didn't change.

1081
00:52:09,167 --> 00:52:11,417
God's people's collective heart
was broken and the culture

1082
00:52:11,500 --> 00:52:13,125
didn't change.

1083
00:52:13,167 --> 00:52:16,000
The Persians who lived in
the city of Susa were broken

1084
00:52:16,083 --> 00:52:19,208
and the culture didn't change.

1085
00:52:19,292 --> 00:52:21,125
And then others come
along and say,

1086
00:52:21,167 --> 00:52:23,333
"Well, then we need to
change the human hearts

1087
00:52:23,375 --> 00:52:25,500
"by affecting law
and by imposing laws

1088
00:52:25,583 --> 00:52:28,083
"that force people
to act in moral ways so that

1089
00:52:28,167 --> 00:52:31,833
they'll have a heart change."

1090
00:52:31,875 --> 00:52:34,417
And the law never changed.

1091
00:52:34,500 --> 00:52:37,000
It was the Law of the Medes
and the Persians.

1092
00:52:37,083 --> 00:52:38,917
The decree of death
was never eradicated.

1093
00:52:39,000 --> 00:52:41,667
Another more just law was
brought along to help negate it,

1094
00:52:41,750 --> 00:52:43,500
but the law was unchanged.

1095
00:52:43,542 --> 00:52:45,917
I'll tell you a few
things about law as well.

1096
00:52:46,000 --> 00:52:50,625
Number one: law does not
follow--let me say it this way:

1097
00:52:50,667 --> 00:52:55,333
law does not change
people, law follows people.

1098
00:52:55,375 --> 00:52:59,417
Here's how it works:
everybody's doing something,

1099
00:52:59,500 --> 00:53:01,375
even if it's wrong.

1100
00:53:01,458 --> 00:53:03,833
We then vote for somebody who's
going to represent us

1101
00:53:03,875 --> 00:53:06,417
and make it right.

1102
00:53:06,500 --> 00:53:08,333
That's it.

1103
00:53:08,375 --> 00:53:10,083
And then Christians
get all frustrated.

1104
00:53:10,167 --> 00:53:11,625
"It's wrong!"

1105
00:53:11,667 --> 00:53:14,000
Yeah, that's what
the majority of people want.

1106
00:53:14,042 --> 00:53:16,875
That's why they voted for the
person who changed the law

1107
00:53:16,958 --> 00:53:19,625
to permit what God forbids,
but that's what sinners do.

1108
00:53:19,667 --> 00:53:23,417
And so laws tend not
to change people,

1109
00:53:23,500 --> 00:53:28,917
laws tend to follow
people who are unchanged.

1110
00:53:29,000 --> 00:53:31,708
Number two: even good
laws are disobeyed.

1111
00:53:31,792 --> 00:53:34,125
I'll tell you what:
do you guys know this?

1112
00:53:34,167 --> 00:53:36,125
The first 5 books
of the Old Testament,

1113
00:53:36,167 --> 00:53:37,708
the Pentateuch,
more than 600 laws.

1114
00:53:37,792 --> 00:53:39,375
Perfect, good, God-given laws.

1115
00:53:39,458 --> 00:53:41,583
You know what we do?
Disobey them.

1116
00:53:41,667 --> 00:53:44,000
Even if you get good law,

1117
00:53:44,083 --> 00:53:48,958
there's defiance against it.

1118
00:53:49,000 --> 00:53:51,667
That's why, even in culture,
if a good law is passed,

1119
00:53:51,708 --> 00:53:53,208
people don't obey it.

1120
00:53:53,292 --> 00:53:56,667
Even God's people
don't obey good laws.

1121
00:53:56,708 --> 00:54:00,417
So, how does
cultural change come?

1122
00:54:00,500 --> 00:54:07,083
Let me transition to
a sociological perspective.

1123
00:54:07,167 --> 00:54:09,167
Some ask, "Pastor Mark,
how come you're not

1124
00:54:09,250 --> 00:54:10,667
"more involved politically?

1125
00:54:10,750 --> 00:54:13,417
"How come you're not, you know,
one who's a moral crusader?

1126
00:54:13,500 --> 00:54:16,417
How come you don't, you know,
go to war on certain issues?"

1127
00:54:16,500 --> 00:54:18,792
Well, it's not
because I'm a coward

1128
00:54:18,833 --> 00:54:22,125
and it's not because I'm afraid
of controversy, right?

1129
00:54:22,167 --> 00:54:27,917
My job is to teach the Bible,
and to be a good missionary,

1130
00:54:28,000 --> 00:54:30,917
seeing people meet Jesus, and I
need to pastor people regardless

1131
00:54:31,000 --> 00:54:34,708
of their political
affiliation or persuasion.

1132
00:54:34,792 --> 00:54:38,708
In addition, I do want to
effect cultural change,

1133
00:54:38,792 --> 00:54:41,208
and I'm not afraid to say that.

1134
00:54:41,292 --> 00:54:44,000
And I think sometimes, God's
people need to stand up for

1135
00:54:44,042 --> 00:54:48,458
just laws and they need to vote
out of biblical conviction,

1136
00:54:48,500 --> 00:54:54,333
but I want us to be wise and I
want us to look at things from,

1137
00:54:54,417 --> 00:55:00,208
I would say, a more powerful,
biblical, gospel perspective.

1138
00:55:00,292 --> 00:55:01,625
Okay?

1139
00:55:01,667 --> 00:55:04,125
And I'm going to take this
from a man named

1140
00:55:04,167 --> 00:55:05,500
James Davison Hunter.

1141
00:55:05,583 --> 00:55:07,708
He wrote a book called
"To Change the World."

1142
00:55:07,792 --> 00:55:09,667
He's a sociologist,
and he is a Christian,

1143
00:55:09,708 --> 00:55:14,375
and he's looking historically
at how cultural change happens.

1144
00:55:14,458 --> 00:55:18,292
And he says that it is not
the majority who define

1145
00:55:18,333 --> 00:55:22,333
and shape culture, it's
a powerful minority;

1146
00:55:22,375 --> 00:55:24,708
that in the history of
the western world, hundreds,

1147
00:55:24,792 --> 00:55:27,500
maybe thousands of people--I'm
summarizing a very complicated

1148
00:55:27,542 --> 00:55:30,833
argument--are responsible for
the totality of what is

1149
00:55:30,875 --> 00:55:34,000
western civilization.

1150
00:55:34,083 --> 00:55:38,500
He goes on to illustrate his
points by saying things like,

1151
00:55:38,583 --> 00:55:40,917
"Most Christians would agree
that the culture's

1152
00:55:41,000 --> 00:55:43,208
"getting worse, right?

1153
00:55:43,292 --> 00:55:45,417
"The way it treats
women with pornography,

1154
00:55:45,500 --> 00:55:47,208
"and sex trafficking,
and sexual assault.

1155
00:55:47,292 --> 00:55:50,125
"You'd say it's getting worse,
that the murder of the unborn,

1156
00:55:50,167 --> 00:55:52,833
"the fact that 50 million people
can't vote this election

1157
00:55:52,917 --> 00:55:55,833
"because they didn't make
it out of the womb.

1158
00:55:55,917 --> 00:55:58,333
"That culture's getting worse
and darker, and what's on TV,

1159
00:55:58,417 --> 00:56:00,625
"and what's in movies,
and what's on the Internet,

1160
00:56:00,667 --> 00:56:02,125
"and what's happening
to children,

1161
00:56:02,167 --> 00:56:03,500
"and how men are irresponsible.

1162
00:56:03,583 --> 00:56:06,000
"It's getting worse, yet
the majority of American's

1163
00:56:06,083 --> 00:56:07,917
"would say, 'I believe in God.

1164
00:56:08,000 --> 00:56:10,292
"'I believe the Bible
is God's Word.'

1165
00:56:10,333 --> 00:56:13,333
"The majority would say they
believe in the God of the Bible,

1166
00:56:13,375 --> 00:56:15,833
"and the question is, well, how
can the majority believe

1167
00:56:15,875 --> 00:56:19,333
one thing and everything
becomes worse?"

1168
00:56:19,375 --> 00:56:23,292
Conversely, he will use
certain minority groups,

1169
00:56:23,333 --> 00:56:25,167
by percentage of population,

1170
00:56:25,250 --> 00:56:27,500
and show that they have
inordinate influence.

1171
00:56:27,583 --> 00:56:29,583
So, in
the United States of America,

1172
00:56:29,667 --> 00:56:33,000
about 3% of people are
Jewish, but they're powerful.

1173
00:56:33,083 --> 00:56:36,000
What percentage of people,
according to the more recent

1174
00:56:36,083 --> 00:56:38,208
Gallup polls, do you think
identify themselves

1175
00:56:38,292 --> 00:56:39,833
as homosexual?

1176
00:56:39,875 --> 00:56:42,167
3.4%.

1177
00:56:42,250 --> 00:56:45,500
That's not a huge
number of people,

1178
00:56:45,583 --> 00:56:49,458
but that's a very influential
community of people.

1179
00:56:49,500 --> 00:56:52,542
And so he uses these
illustrations to point out

1180
00:56:52,625 --> 00:56:56,750
this fact: it's not one human
heart that changes culture.

1181
00:56:56,833 --> 00:56:59,500
It's not a whole bunch of human
hearts that change culture.

1182
00:56:59,583 --> 00:57:02,292
People shape culture depending
upon where they're

1183
00:57:02,333 --> 00:57:04,333
positioned in culture.

1184
00:57:04,375 --> 00:57:09,917
He uses this analogy:
we each have different

1185
00:57:10,000 --> 00:57:12,708
financial capital, right?

1186
00:57:12,792 --> 00:57:17,000
Some of you, your net worth
is far greater than others.

1187
00:57:17,083 --> 00:57:19,500
As it is financially,
so it is socially.

1188
00:57:19,583 --> 00:57:22,083
Some of you have
much social capital,

1189
00:57:22,167 --> 00:57:24,667
some of you have
little social capital.

1190
00:57:24,750 --> 00:57:27,292
And what he's saying is
it's not just one person,

1191
00:57:27,333 --> 00:57:30,917
but where they're positioned
culturally who is able to effect

1192
00:57:31,000 --> 00:57:32,708
the most change.

1193
00:57:32,792 --> 00:57:34,708
I'll give you an analogy,
a simple analogy.

1194
00:57:34,792 --> 00:57:37,000
If you've been around
Mars Hill, you've heard it.

1195
00:57:37,083 --> 00:57:39,708
Many of you are new so
I need to repeat it.

1196
00:57:39,792 --> 00:57:42,917
I went to India some years ago
to meet with a church planter

1197
00:57:43,000 --> 00:57:44,917
of ours we've partnered
with for many years,

1198
00:57:45,000 --> 00:57:47,917
a very great man of God,
and we got in a rickshaw,

1199
00:57:48,000 --> 00:57:50,667
which is kind of like a car
made by Jack Kevorkian

1200
00:57:50,708 --> 00:57:53,625
out of a bicycle
with a motor on it, okay?

1201
00:57:53,667 --> 00:57:55,333
And so we get in a rickshaw,

1202
00:57:55,417 --> 00:57:57,542
and we're following the path
of this river.

1203
00:57:57,625 --> 00:58:01,708
And the river starts toward it's
head more up toward a mountain,

1204
00:58:01,792 --> 00:58:04,792
and it's pretty clean up there,
but then the further you drive

1205
00:58:04,833 --> 00:58:07,000
along this river for hours,
and hours, and hours,

1206
00:58:07,042 --> 00:58:10,500
it gets dirtier, darker,
grosser, and stinkier,

1207
00:58:10,583 --> 00:58:13,375
because it's open sewers.

1208
00:58:13,458 --> 00:58:16,125
Everybody flushes their toilet,
it flows through an open sewer

1209
00:58:16,167 --> 00:58:18,500
in the street, and goes where?

1210
00:58:18,542 --> 00:58:20,375
Into the river.

1211
00:58:20,458 --> 00:58:22,417
And people throw their
garbage in the river.

1212
00:58:22,500 --> 00:58:24,917
Anything you don't want, you're
like, "Man, this is nasty.

1213
00:58:25,000 --> 00:58:26,667
I don't want this
near my house,"

1214
00:58:26,750 --> 00:58:28,167
you throw it in the river.

1215
00:58:28,250 --> 00:58:29,583
You're like, "Oh, it's gone."

1216
00:58:29,667 --> 00:58:31,333
There are dead animals
in the river,

1217
00:58:31,375 --> 00:58:33,500
people are going to
the bathroom in the river,

1218
00:58:33,583 --> 00:58:35,000
trash is going in the river.

1219
00:58:35,083 --> 00:58:37,583
What this means is as you
follow this river downstream,

1220
00:58:37,667 --> 00:58:42,375
pretty soon it does
not smell well.

1221
00:58:42,458 --> 00:58:44,208
It's like Satan's breath.

1222
00:58:44,292 --> 00:58:46,208
I mean, that's what
it smelled like.

1223
00:58:46,292 --> 00:58:49,042
I don't know what else to
compare it--it was horrible.

1224
00:58:49,125 --> 00:58:52,167
I was like, "Oh my gosh.
This is horrible."

1225
00:58:52,208 --> 00:58:54,042
And people live there.

1226
00:58:54,125 --> 00:58:58,333
Culture is like that.
Alright?

1227
00:58:58,417 --> 00:59:02,000
It has a source
that it flows from,

1228
00:59:02,083 --> 00:59:05,292
and it flows downstream.

1229
00:59:05,333 --> 00:59:10,000
Now, to use my analogy, if you
wanted to clean up that river,

1230
00:59:10,083 --> 00:59:14,208
the key would be to start as
far upstream as possible, right?

1231
00:59:14,292 --> 00:59:16,875
If you're down at the end
of the river saying,

1232
00:59:16,958 --> 00:59:20,417
"Oh, I gotta fish all of this garbage
and sewage out of the river,"

1233
00:59:20,500 --> 00:59:22,667
it's never going to change,

1234
00:59:22,750 --> 00:59:26,417
and everyone along the way is
going to be sick.

1235
00:59:26,500 --> 00:59:29,708
So, to effect change, you get
as far upstream as you can,

1236
00:59:29,792 --> 00:59:34,417
and try to stop that flow
of filth.

1237
00:59:34,500 --> 00:59:36,833
So it is culturally.

1238
00:59:36,875 --> 00:59:39,625
So it is culturally.

1239
00:59:39,667 --> 00:59:44,500
Esther and Mordecai
were downstream.

1240
00:59:44,542 --> 00:59:49,583
She's an orphan, he's a single
guy raising a young girl with

1241
00:59:49,667 --> 00:59:53,333
just a regular old job.

1242
00:59:53,375 --> 00:59:59,167
They couldn't
change the culture.

1243
00:59:59,250 --> 01:00:03,500
They could fast, they could
mourn, they could protest.

1244
01:00:03,583 --> 01:00:06,375
Others could fast,
and mourn, and protest,

1245
01:00:06,458 --> 01:00:11,208
but God's people needed to get
upstream and change things at

1246
01:00:11,292 --> 01:00:13,917
the highest levels.

1247
01:00:14,000 --> 01:00:17,208
If you want to change law, have
people who love Jesus be

1248
01:00:17,292 --> 01:00:19,833
the professors at the law
schools who train the lawyers

1249
01:00:19,875 --> 01:00:22,000
who go into practice
and become the judges.

1250
01:00:22,083 --> 01:00:23,500
Upstream.

1251
01:00:23,583 --> 01:00:25,375
Similarly, I'll use
another analogy.

1252
01:00:25,458 --> 01:00:28,000
Let's say, hypothetically,
there's a suburban grandmother

1253
01:00:28,042 --> 01:00:32,833
who doesn't like rap
because it denigrates women.

1254
01:00:32,875 --> 01:00:35,875
She can get very frustrated,
but the truth is she won't

1255
01:00:35,958 --> 01:00:40,125
effect change unless she
can get upstream,

1256
01:00:40,167 --> 01:00:43,208
or maybe her grandson who
owns a record company,

1257
01:00:43,292 --> 01:00:46,750
if she can drag him to church
and he meets Jesus and repents,

1258
01:00:46,833 --> 01:00:49,958
he has an opportunity to now
change what is distributed

1259
01:00:50,000 --> 01:00:53,625
and sent out on the airways.

1260
01:00:53,667 --> 01:00:57,667
Culture is made
upstream in cities.

1261
01:00:57,708 --> 01:01:00,500
That's why we've heard
repeatedly that they were in

1262
01:01:00,542 --> 01:01:03,500
Susa, they were in Susa, they
were in Susa, the most powerful,

1263
01:01:03,542 --> 01:01:07,917
affluent city in the world.

1264
01:01:08,000 --> 01:01:10,500
Cities are places where
there are universities,

1265
01:01:10,583 --> 01:01:12,833
there are lawyers,
there is banking,

1266
01:01:12,875 --> 01:01:16,333
there are culture-shapers
and makers.

1267
01:01:16,375 --> 01:01:20,625
It's why culture, and education,
and art, and transportation,

1268
01:01:20,667 --> 01:01:24,417
it emanates in the city and then
it goes out to the rural areas.

1269
01:01:24,500 --> 01:01:27,667
It's why if you're a great
musician and you live on a farm

1270
01:01:27,750 --> 01:01:30,167
somewhere and you want to make
it in country-western music,

1271
01:01:30,250 --> 01:01:33,125
you have to move to a city,
because that's where the clubs

1272
01:01:33,167 --> 01:01:35,125
are, and that's where
the record labels are,

1273
01:01:35,167 --> 01:01:36,917
and that's where
the media is,

1274
01:01:37,000 --> 01:01:38,417
and culture goes
from that place.

1275
01:01:38,500 --> 01:01:39,917
The river doesn't flow
two ways.

1276
01:01:40,000 --> 01:01:41,583
It doesn't flow
downstream-upstream.

1277
01:01:41,667 --> 01:01:43,000
It flows upstream-downstream.

1278
01:01:43,042 --> 01:01:44,375
Cities are upstream.

1279
01:01:44,458 --> 01:01:46,333
Cities are two things:
density and diversity.

1280
01:01:46,375 --> 01:01:48,750
More people, more
kinds of people.

1281
01:01:48,833 --> 01:01:51,250
And the infrastructure for
transportation and communication

1282
01:01:51,333 --> 01:01:53,000
is in the cities.

1283
01:01:53,083 --> 01:01:55,833
They're in Susa,
a city, they get upstream,

1284
01:01:55,917 --> 01:01:57,958
it's the queen
and the vice president,

1285
01:01:58,000 --> 01:02:03,833
and then change happens
and people's lives are spared.

1286
01:02:03,875 --> 01:02:05,500
It's why Paul,
in the New Testament,

1287
01:02:05,583 --> 01:02:08,625
as you read the book of Acts,
his missionary journeys are from

1288
01:02:08,667 --> 01:02:11,333
city, to city, to city,
to city, to city, to city.

1289
01:02:11,375 --> 01:02:12,833
Wayne Meeks, Rodney Stark,
ancient historians,

1290
01:02:12,875 --> 01:02:14,917
they'll investigate this
and they'll say he avoided

1291
01:02:15,000 --> 01:02:16,333
the rural areas.

1292
01:02:16,375 --> 01:02:20,000
In the early days of the church,
the "pagan" literally meant

1293
01:02:20,042 --> 01:02:23,125
the one who lives on the farm.

1294
01:02:23,167 --> 01:02:26,208
But the people who lived in the
cities tended to be Christians.

1295
01:02:26,292 --> 01:02:29,500
They were trying to get upstream
and make a cultural difference.

1296
01:02:29,583 --> 01:02:32,917
What we see with Mordecai
and Esther is this:

1297
01:02:33,000 --> 01:02:37,208
getting upstream allows God's
people to effect change that

1298
01:02:37,292 --> 01:02:40,000
would otherwise not be possible.

1299
01:02:40,083 --> 01:02:45,625
So, let me say this: you need
to examine how upstream you are.

1300
01:02:45,667 --> 01:02:48,333
What influence, what authority,
what opportunity has God given

1301
01:02:48,417 --> 01:02:53,333
you to effect change at whatever
point you live in the river?

1302
01:02:53,417 --> 01:02:56,125
Along that continuum of culture,
where are you and what change

1303
01:02:56,167 --> 01:02:58,000
could you effect there?

1304
01:02:58,083 --> 01:03:01,208
Number two: how could
you get further upstream?

1305
01:03:01,292 --> 01:03:04,125
Some of you don't need to
go into vocational ministry,

1306
01:03:04,167 --> 01:03:07,708
you need to be bankers,
and lawyers, and politicians.

1307
01:03:07,792 --> 01:03:10,500
You need to be musicians,
you need to run record labels,

1308
01:03:10,583 --> 01:03:13,750
you need to do the nightly news,
you need to be the reporters

1309
01:03:13,833 --> 01:03:15,667
who are telling the stories
about God's people.

1310
01:03:15,750 --> 01:03:19,500
You've got to try and get as far
upstream as you possibly can.

1311
01:03:19,583 --> 01:03:22,500
And for those of you who are
upstream and you don't yet

1312
01:03:22,542 --> 01:03:24,625
know God, or you're one
of God's people,

1313
01:03:24,667 --> 01:03:27,708
but you've lived in the closet
because you resist the kind of

1314
01:03:27,792 --> 01:03:30,625
opposition that could come to
you as Mordecai and Esther did,

1315
01:03:30,667 --> 01:03:33,500
will you come to repentance and
know that God has providentially

1316
01:03:33,583 --> 01:03:34,917
placed you upstream?

1317
01:03:35,000 --> 01:03:37,708
Not for your own wealth,
not for your own fame,

1318
01:03:37,792 --> 01:03:41,625
not for your own comfort--that's
what Haman thought,

1319
01:03:41,667 --> 01:03:43,500
and look at what
happened to Haman.

1320
01:03:43,583 --> 01:03:46,958
He's crucified in his own yard
because he got upstream

1321
01:03:47,000 --> 01:03:50,958
but he didn't love God and he
didn't serve God's people.

1322
01:03:51,000 --> 01:03:53,917
If God has placed you upstream,
will you go public with

1323
01:03:54,000 --> 01:03:56,042
your faith and will you
fight for justice?

1324
01:03:56,125 --> 01:03:57,958
Will you give a voice
to the voiceless?

1325
01:03:58,000 --> 01:03:59,833
Will you empower the powerless?

1326
01:03:59,917 --> 01:04:02,917
Will you use your money and your
opportunity to do good

1327
01:04:03,000 --> 01:04:06,708
for all people, but firstly
for God's people?

1328
01:04:06,792 --> 01:04:10,083
That's the question.

1329
01:04:12,167 --> 01:04:16,333
And Mars Hill, this is why
we plant churches in cities.

1330
01:04:16,375 --> 01:04:18,917
It's strategic,
and it's missiological,

1331
01:04:19,000 --> 01:04:23,417
and it's biblical, and it's why
I'm encouraging, I'm exhorting,

1332
01:04:23,500 --> 01:04:29,000
I'm inviting you to raise
your kids to get upstream,

1333
01:04:29,083 --> 01:04:32,000
to take your opportunities
to get upstream.

1334
01:04:32,083 --> 01:04:35,125
And when you get there, don't
act like Haman and get offended

1335
01:04:35,167 --> 01:04:37,333
because it didn't go
the way you wanted.

1336
01:04:37,375 --> 01:04:39,833
Act like Mordecai and Esther
and do what's right in

1337
01:04:39,875 --> 01:04:42,500
the eyes of God and good
for the people of God.

1338
01:04:42,583 --> 01:04:45,208
Mars Hill, some of
you are very powerful,

1339
01:04:45,292 --> 01:04:48,167
some of you are very rich,
some of you are very gifted,

1340
01:04:48,208 --> 01:04:50,333
very talented,
and very successful.

1341
01:04:50,417 --> 01:04:52,708
Those are all gifts
that God has given you.

1342
01:04:52,792 --> 01:04:55,042
"Of whom much is given,
much is expected."

1343
01:04:55,125 --> 01:04:58,417
Secondly, some of
you are on your way.

1344
01:04:58,500 --> 01:05:02,125
There are many young people and
new Christians at Mars Hill.

1345
01:05:02,167 --> 01:05:06,208
I want you to see your vocation
as part of your mission.

1346
01:05:06,292 --> 01:05:09,667
I want you to study
hard, to work hard.

1347
01:05:09,750 --> 01:05:11,792
I want you to grow
your business.

1348
01:05:11,833 --> 01:05:15,833
I want you to maximize
your opportunities.

1349
01:05:15,875 --> 01:05:18,417
And for those of us who are
praying for them

1350
01:05:18,500 --> 01:05:21,333
and serving them,
let us not judge them.

1351
01:05:21,375 --> 01:05:23,917
Let's wait to see what
they do with the money

1352
01:05:24,000 --> 01:05:26,708
that they receive,
and the power that they enjoy,

1353
01:05:26,792 --> 01:05:28,667
and the position
that they are given.

1354
01:05:28,750 --> 01:05:31,375
Perhaps we could just have
another few missionaries like

1355
01:05:31,458 --> 01:05:35,375
Mordecai and Esther
in our own ranks.

1356
01:05:35,458 --> 01:05:38,875
And ultimately, this all points
to the Lord Jesus who himself

1357
01:05:38,958 --> 01:05:42,500
comes into a pagan
culture on the world.

1358
01:05:42,542 --> 01:05:45,500
He leaves heaven
and comes to earth.

1359
01:05:45,583 --> 01:05:49,250
He joins a people,
he speaks a language,

1360
01:05:49,333 --> 01:05:51,833
he goes to feasts and festivals.

1361
01:05:51,917 --> 01:05:53,750
He's without sin but
he's a missionary,

1362
01:05:53,833 --> 01:05:56,833
calls people to repentance,
and they try to kill him,

1363
01:05:56,875 --> 01:05:59,333
and they do kill
him, and he dies.

1364
01:05:59,375 --> 01:06:02,167
And it's a day of mourning
and a day of rejoicing

1365
01:06:02,250 --> 01:06:04,125
because we killed God
but he saved us.

1366
01:06:04,167 --> 01:06:06,833
And then Jesus rises from
the great city of Jerusalem.

1367
01:06:06,875 --> 01:06:09,000
It's interesting that
Jesus started rural,

1368
01:06:09,083 --> 01:06:12,417
but to really go upstream,
he had to go to Jerusalem.

1369
01:06:12,500 --> 01:06:15,292
He died, he rose,
he ascended into heaven,

1370
01:06:15,333 --> 01:06:20,000
and right now Jesus is as
upstream as it gets, Mars Hill.

1371
01:06:20,083 --> 01:06:22,083
Jesus is a better missionary.

1372
01:06:22,167 --> 01:06:24,125
People could not
save themselves,

1373
01:06:24,167 --> 01:06:26,500
so Mordecai acted as
their earthly savior,

1374
01:06:26,542 --> 01:06:29,667
but Jesus serves as
the heavenly Savior for sinners

1375
01:06:29,750 --> 01:06:32,000
who cannot save themselves.

1376
01:06:32,083 --> 01:06:35,375
Mordecai was sentenced to death
but rose up to save people from

1377
01:06:35,458 --> 01:06:39,417
death and rule like a king, but
Jesus actually died and rose up

1378
01:06:39,500 --> 01:06:42,333
to save people from eternal
death and rule

1379
01:06:42,375 --> 01:06:44,208
as the King of kings.

1380
01:06:44,292 --> 01:06:47,000
Mordecai wrote down a message
of life and had it translated

1381
01:06:47,083 --> 01:06:49,500
into many languages
and sent to the people,

1382
01:06:49,583 --> 01:06:52,708
but Jesus has sent his perfect
Scripture and had it translated

1383
01:06:52,792 --> 01:06:55,417
into thousands of languages.

1384
01:06:55,500 --> 01:06:58,833
Mordecai allowed God's enemies
to be killed for their sin,

1385
01:06:58,875 --> 01:07:03,292
but Jesus came to die for our
sin, though we were his enemies.

1386
01:07:03,333 --> 01:07:06,708
The death of enemies allowed
God's people to live,

1387
01:07:06,792 --> 01:07:11,333
and Jesus died in the place of
his enemies that we might live.

1388
01:07:11,375 --> 01:07:13,667
The sentence of death
could not be reversed,

1389
01:07:13,750 --> 01:07:15,917
but it was rescinded for some.

1390
01:07:16,000 --> 01:07:19,375
Likewise, through sin,
all die, but through Jesus,

1391
01:07:19,458 --> 01:07:22,708
some have their death
sentence rescinded.

1392
01:07:22,792 --> 01:07:26,583
Death came to Persia only to
those who did not turn from

1393
01:07:26,667 --> 01:07:29,583
their sinful ways,
as the problem was not racial

1394
01:07:29,667 --> 01:07:33,417
or national but moral
and spiritual.

1395
01:07:33,500 --> 01:07:37,125
Likewise, Jesus only destroys
the unrepentant and will forgive

1396
01:07:37,167 --> 01:07:41,667
anyone and everyone for
anything and everything

1397
01:07:41,750 --> 01:07:44,625
from every race and nation.

1398
01:07:44,667 --> 01:07:48,000
Without Mordecai, people would
have endured deadly wrath,

1399
01:07:48,083 --> 01:07:53,958
and without Jesus, people will
endure deadly, eternal wrath.

1400
01:07:54,000 --> 01:07:56,625
And just as God's enemies
were destroyed in one day,

1401
01:07:56,667 --> 01:07:59,750
so will all of God's enemies
be destroyed on the one day

1402
01:07:59,833 --> 01:08:02,708
of the second coming of
our great God and Savior,

1403
01:08:02,792 --> 01:08:06,500
the King of kings,
the Lord Jesus Christ.

1404
01:08:06,583 --> 01:08:09,625
Father God, I pray
for us as a people.

1405
01:08:09,667 --> 01:08:13,625
God, first I pray for those
who are not yet your people,

1406
01:08:13,667 --> 01:08:19,833
that as we saw in the days of
Esther, many became your people.

1407
01:08:19,875 --> 01:08:24,000
May today, and every day,
many become your people at

1408
01:08:24,083 --> 01:08:27,833
Mars Hill Church and in all
the churches that love you.

1409
01:08:27,875 --> 01:08:34,417
Lord God, we pray for our
enemies that, Lord God,

1410
01:08:34,500 --> 01:08:41,167
you would allow us to love
them, to influence them,

1411
01:08:41,250 --> 01:08:44,208
to evangelize them.

1412
01:08:44,292 --> 01:08:48,250
God, we pray for the law
enforcement officers

1413
01:08:48,333 --> 01:08:51,750
and the soldiers who defend our
freedoms and liberties.

1414
01:08:51,833 --> 01:08:54,667
We pray for their
families as well.

1415
01:08:54,708 --> 01:08:58,333
And Lord God, help us to be
good missionaries as we go after

1416
01:08:58,417 --> 01:09:02,792
cities, hard places where there
are not a lot of God's people.

1417
01:09:02,833 --> 01:09:06,167
Allow us to be good missionaries
who are faithful to Scripture

1418
01:09:06,250 --> 01:09:08,625
and connected to culture.

1419
01:09:08,667 --> 01:09:12,000
Allow us to get as far
upstream as we possibly can,

1420
01:09:12,042 --> 01:09:15,833
to make as big a difference
as we can so that as many as

1421
01:09:15,875 --> 01:09:19,417
possible would be saved
and as much cultural change

1422
01:09:19,500 --> 01:09:22,417
as is possible would occur.

1423
01:09:22,500 --> 01:09:25,417
God, it's a sober word,
but it's a hopeful word.

1424
01:09:25,500 --> 01:09:29,917
Everything changed for God's
people in Susa, and so, God,

1425
01:09:30,000 --> 01:09:33,333
we find much comfort that even
though the day may be dark,

1426
01:09:33,375 --> 01:09:35,500
it's certainly no darker
than a death sentence

1427
01:09:35,583 --> 01:09:37,417
for all of your people.

1428
01:09:37,500 --> 01:09:39,708
And even though we may
struggle with leadership,

1429
01:09:39,792 --> 01:09:44,500
our leaders are nowhere near as
horrendous as Xerxes and Haman.

1430
01:09:44,542 --> 01:09:47,875
That Lord God, your people
upstream can make a difference,

1431
01:09:47,958 --> 01:09:50,708
so we pray for your people
upstream: the rulers, the kings,

1432
01:09:50,792 --> 01:09:53,292
the authorities, those who
run businesses, and companies,

1433
01:09:53,333 --> 01:09:56,417
and media outlets,
and universities.

1434
01:09:56,500 --> 01:09:58,375
And we pray for your
people, Lord God,

1435
01:09:58,458 --> 01:10:00,792
that love you that they would
get upstream and that

1436
01:10:00,833 --> 01:10:03,333
they would do good
in the name of Jesus, amen.