Oct 15, 2023 Pastor Harlow Esther 5:1-15

I need [Music] you [Music] you [Music] I [Music] you [Music] ch for [Music] for [Music] yeah [Music] than [Music] h [Music] [Applause] oh thank you so much Miss Judy it's always a blessing to be together in the house of the Lord amen and it's good to see so many of you and I'm just so thankful to be able to be here with you my name is Cody I'm the pastor here and welcome to First Baptist Church if you're a guest with us if you could just fill out one of those connection cards and drop that in the offering plate as it goes by that'd be huge and us being able to connect with you also if U maybe you've got prayer requests I know I'm I'm peppered on Sunday morning Pastor can you pray about this pastor can you pray about that and I do my best to put those in my app by the way if you don't have a good way to pray and have a good list to pray there is a wonderful app that I use it's called prayer notebook and it sends a little reminders into me so that way I can like you know oh yeah I need to pray for that person you can set them for daily weekly reminders or what have you and so that's just what I use to pray for you and it's my honor and my privilege to do so

Hey we got new members classes coming up next week so if you've been here for a while and you're like you know I see what God's doing and I want to be a part of it as a member be sure to I don't know see me or sign up you can sign up by calling the church office and get put on the list also we got Trunk or Treat that's coming up of course we got we got 1,200 people to 1,700 people we don't know what the Lord's going to bring but we always see a lot of people will show up that week after and so be sure to bring a lot of candy and I know that cand is going up so far we've received 72 and half pounds and we need a lot more so be praying about how you can give to that this upcoming Saturday is a hunting rifle site in typically our Men's Ministry last year we started doing this hunting rifle site in and you know some guys that we know and love that own a gun shop they said that's a great idea so we said well let's let's cook breakfast for you guys and so we're going to go out to the Camden County shooting range and we're going to provide breakfast and also get to know people in our community some men that are looking to get their hunting rifles cited in if Nathan can they just talk to you about helping okay all right so the guy that just gave us a thumbs up go talk with him if you want to make hash browns or something okay and so that's going to be at 8 AM we're GNA probably meet out there around 7 a.m. To get everything going right all right and so that's going to be great and we're looking forward to that now trunk Retreat trunk or Retreat actually starts at 5:30 okay it'll go from 5:30 to 7:30 and so if you could be here and set up by about like 510 515 or so we're going to circle up pray give directions all that kind of stuff it's just a couple weeks away also if you're an artist we want you to come and show off the FBC art show

November 12th that's it's also the same day as our business meeting that we're doing and so be sure to sign up you can contact Steve Warren for information about that his contact information is in the bulletin as well as there's all sorts of other fun things that's going on in our church good Ministry things please be sure to continue to bring things for aana if you've got gently used like stuffed animals that are just laying around your house even like you know pens and pencils and things like that go a long way if you got new ones sitting around your house and you just want to donate items to the aana store that would go a really far away be sure to talk with Christine Morrison or Shelby Brammer about that church I love you so much I think at this time we're going to just kind of do our meet and greeting so maybe if you can find a friend someone that you haven't seen in a while shake their hand say welcome to First Baptist Church [Music] for [Music] for I [Music] [Applause] h [Music] h [Music] that [Music] Grand this [Music] your father [Music] for [Music] [Applause] go [Music]

[Applause] [Music] when [Applause] good morning family I just want to Echo the very last slide that Jeff put on there and say thank you family for sending us we have an ongoing partnership with vision 316 as you know it's been going on for several years quite a number of people have been involved involved and I just thank you to everyone who prayed everyone who washed a glass donated a pair of eye classes everyone who give gave financial support because it wasn't just this group on the stage that went on Mission it's all of us together couldn't be done without a team a family behind us and it just means so much that our church family believes in the ministry of missions of Outreach Jesus would want us to do that right so thank you for being our team and for allowing us to reach out on behalf of First Baptist Church and Jesus Christ Randy and Jeff are gonna tell you a little bit about this specific trip thank you Diana going off of what she said I want to give you a little bit of background on what vision 316 is for anybody that doesn't know what it is it's a Ministry that was started by Larry Mary after he retired from his full-time job he started this it is a mission to reach the less fortunate and give them eyeglasses but most importantly show them the love of Christ and spread the Gospel it's pretty cool it's a it's a it's a cool thing that he set up that I didn't even understand when we left to go on the mission trip you know that I didn't really have a full understanding of it until we got back but he works with a family out of TK toek Mexico Ubaldo Alita Giovani and Alejandra that is kind of their hub for the missions in

What it would be hard to make it work without them he keeps their he keeps his van there he keeps the trailer he keeps his supplies he keeps everything there with them and then the other churches throughout Mexico or throughout the southern part of Mexico they contact them to inquire about them coming to do an eyeglass clinic in their town and so and so they are a very crucial part that I think and they don't get quite enough credit sometimes for how important their part is in that they're a good family they are but and so it's good you know we go down there we meet up with them they are our tour guides while we're there you know they pick us up from the airport they take us into their home they feed us they show us where to go and how to drive in Mexico and not mess up but so yeah and I want to thank even though Larry's not here I want to thank Larry Mary for the mission that he has done and for spending his time you know to do that and so and I want to thank Diana too for going and being the doctor and the knowledge that we need to go on all that good morning church if you paid attention to the slides you'd note they let the guy who loves food put it together it's a pleasure to be here to speak with you all about the missions trip the one that you prayed for and supported thank you to Randy and Diana for providing the synopsis of how it works I want to take a minute to share with you what it was like to be able to work for the Lord and to see God work in the world and his Spirit move I often reflect on Colossians 3:23 whatever you do work with all your heart is working for the Lord not for human Masters as a working age person I lean on this verse quite often to find motivation to do my best at work or to get done with a task

I might not enjoy but the truth is before I went on this trip I could only imagine what it was like to work for the Lord just you know an idea in my head now thanks to the privilege of going on this eyass mission trip I can truly say I have a pretty good idea of what it's like to work for the Lord and I'm grateful seeing the lifted Spirits the tearful thanks the looks of exhaustion turned into exhilaration Comfort relief and for some a new life in Christ unfold before me was an experience that's hard to capture and convey in words thanks to the work of our partners in Mexico and this team right here acting as the hands and feet of Christ in the world the Lord's presence was clearly made known in Waka Mexico lives were transformed it's all inspiring to be part of something like that the days work in the clinic were long hot light on breaks there'd be times following our afternoon break that you'd feel the exhaustion you'd think about how smooth the day was already going and how close you were to finishing up only to stop and see an incredible amount of people still waiting the thing of it was though this site would contrary to all of my life's prior experience elicit a sense of excitement to be able to continue to serve no matter how incredibly busy it was or how tired I felt the desire to keep working hard and keep serving the Lord and serving people was all I could think and feel I attribute this to the spirit the power and the love of God working through me and the rest of this team you see here it was beyond gratifying and all inspiring to experience to work serving the Lord and to serve others like that say that also while noting that the purpose of us going wasn't about what I was going to get out of it or what I would feel but working for the Lord and serving others was the goal the whole time and being able to do that and see the Lord works so powerfully is

Definitely a blessing Beyond most I've ever experienced I'd like to finish by saying that almost 18% of the people we served came to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior or recommit their lives to Christ that means that almost two out of every 10 people we had the pleasure of serving stepped onto the path of Salvation just want to thank you for the support you gave us church we were blessed to go on this trip and we're blessed to come back to call this church home thank you [Applause] well what a wonderful opportunity it is to hear about God's work being done through this church not just here but across the world we've we've come to the part of our service where we like to just take a moment to prepare our hearts and our minds for corporate worship so I'd invite you to Bow your heads close your eyes and just spend some time asking God to prepare you here because you've called us here God we have come here to praise your holy name in one voice in one heart as the body of Christ God I pray that you would help us to put aside the distractions the hurts and Lord to know that you are God and Lord It's not that because you're God the distractions no longer exist or the hurts feel less hurtful but Lord we can be confident that you're in charge and that you have a good plan for us Lord help us to Rejoice together help us to praise you together it's in Jesus name we pray amen I'd invite you to stand and join us as we [Music] Singa Andy Our God the father of our

Lord in Christ he has in heav his Blessing for pure and in his sight he destined us to [Music] be through his ET to the praise of your glory to the praise of your mercy and gra to the glory you are the God who saves come praise and glorify Our God who gives his grace in Christ in him our are washed away redeemed through sacrif in him God has made known to us the mystery of his will that Christ should be the head of all his purpose to fulfill to the praise of your glory to the praise of your mercy and grace to glory you are The God Who save come praise and glorify Our God for we believe the word and through our faith we have a seal the spirit of the Lord the spirit guarantees Our Hope until redemption's done until we join Jo in Endless praise to God the three in one to the praise of your glory to the praise of your mercy and grace to the glory you are The God Who save to the praise of your glory to the praise of your mercy and gra to the praise of your glory you are the God who [Music] saves that's who we worship this morning the God who saves the God of all [Music] creation [Music] what is Our Hope in life and death Christ Alone Christ Alone what is our own confidence that our souls to him belong who holds our days within his hand what comes

Aart from his command and what will keep us to the end the love of Christ in which we stand oh sing Hallelujah Our Hope Springs Eternal oh sing hallelu now and ever we confess Christ Our Hope in life and [Music] death what truth can Cal the TR God is good God is good where is his gra and goodness known in our great Redeemer blood who holds our faith when fears arise who stands above the stormy Tri who sends the waves that bring us theore the rock of [Music] Christ oh sing Hallelujah our hopes bring Eternal oh sing [Music] hallelu now and ever we confess Christ Our Hope and life and unto the grave what will we sing Christ he Liv Christ he lives and what reward will Heaven bring everlasting life with him there we will arise to meet the Lord then sin and death will be destroyed and we will feast in Endless Joy when Christ is our forever [Music] more oh sing high hallelujah our hopes brings ET etal oh sing hallelu now and ever we confess Christ Our Hope in life and [Music] death oh sing [Music] hallelu our hopes bring

Eternal oh sing Hallelujah now and we confess Christ Our Hope in life and now and ever we confess Christ Our Hope and life [Music] and you can be seated as our ushers come forward to take up the offering good morning let's pray Father in heaven we thank you Lord for your goodness and your grace we thank you Father for how you continually provide for us both physically emotionally spiritually father and Lord that was as an opportunity for us to take this time of offering worshiping you through giving we ask God that you would use these gifts to bring the Gospel in our neighborhood and around the world in Jesus name amen like to read from Isaiah chter 43 verses 1 and two but now thus says the Lord he who created you oh Jacob he who formed you oh Israel fear not for I have redeemed you I have called you by name you are mine when you pass through the waters I will be with you and through the rivers they shall not overwhelm you when you walk through fire you shall not be burned and the flame shall not consume you that God's blessings be added to his word well as we talked about last week the month of October is Reformation month where we celebrate at the at the very end the legendary nailing of the 95 thesis on the door of Wittenberg Cathedral by Martin Luther and so we like to talk about some of the kind of the Hallmarks of the re the reformation and last week we talked about how the Reformation solidified what we believe that Scripture alone is the word of God and Scripture alone is sufficient for salvation and this week I want to talk about this next one Solus Christus Christ

Alone and what we're saying here is what we are proclaiming as we sing and what we Proclaim as we hear the word of God preached to us that there is no other name by which we must be saved there's no other thing that we have to do except believe on Christ he paid the penalty for our sins do you believe that today he paid the penalty he bore the punishment that we deserved so that if we believe in him we will dwell with eternally so he gives us Mercy in that we deserved punishment but that punishment has been commuted he we also receive Grace because we do not deserve Heaven by ourselves we are CH we are children of Wrath people who have chosen the opposite of God over and over and over again but in his great grace he's provided a way for us to dwell with him isn't that amazing isn't that something to celebrate this [Applause] morning so we're going to continue singing this morning about who Christ is and what he's done for [Music] us please stand and join us as we sing Come behold the wondrous mystery in the dawning of the king be the theme of Heaven's Praises robed in fra [Music] Humanity in our longing in our Darkness now the light of life has come look to Christ to condescended took on flesh to Ransom [Music] us come behold the wondrous mystery be the perfect son of man in his living in his suffering never Trace nor stain of s see the true and better Adam come to save the Hellbound man Christ The Great and sure fulfillment of the law in him we

Stand come behold theous myy Christ the Lord upon the tree in thead of Ruin sers hangs the lamb in Victory see the priz of our Redemption see the father plan Untold bringing many sons to Glory Grace unmeasured love Untold come behold the wonderous slain by death the God of life but no grave could a restrain him praise the Lord he is alive what a foraste of Deliverance how uning our hope Christ in power resurrected as we will be when he comes a for Taste of Deliverance how unwavering Our Hope Christ in power [Music] resurrected as we will be when he comes what a foraste of Deliverance how unwavering Our Hope Christ in power [Music] resurrected as we will be when he [Music] comes I'd like to close this portion of our service this morning just singing the chorus of this next song Hallelujah all I have is Christ [Music] Hallelujah all I have is Christ Hallelujah Jesus is my life sing it again Hallelujah all I

Have is Christ [Music] Hallelujah Jesus Is My [Music] Life can we sing it one more time just our voices proclaiming to each other and to our Lord that he's all we need [Music] Hallelujah all I have is Christ Hallelujah Jesus is [Music] my amen dear Lord help us to sing that Anthem day after day Lord remind us of the great mercy and Grace that we have received through Christ help us to be enamored help us to be in wonder about the great grace and mercy that we can't even fully comprehend Lord help us to turn that into worship because you are so deserving it's in Jesus name we pray amen praise the Lord amen I'm very thankful for Steve thank you for preaching the word last week man it's always a blessing it's good to be in a church where it's not just the pastor doing all the preaching I think that makes us a healthier Church it makes us a stronger Church to equip men and women for Ministry to send them out on mission trips Halfway Around the World praise the Lord it's awesome and just have lay people filling the pulpit and preaching the word you know that's the thing about Ministry is that we're all called to it in Christ you know you don't you don't have to have a REV before your name if you are in Christ you're a minister you're a missionary it's what you are called to

Do and yeah good news did you see the letters from the admin team are those out Nancy are those out the letters aren't okay all right next week all right well there goes that part of my introduction all right if you have your Bible and I hope that you do please turn with me to Esther 5 that's where we're going to be today Esther 5 picking up where brother Steve left off last week anybody ever watched the show 24 kefir southernland show okay all right yeah it was it was a great show you know and it always left off on a cliffhanger didn't it and then you know this was before the time of streaming so you had to wait a whole another week before before it came out it's not like you know you privileged youngans today where you get all the seasons at one time but it was always a cliffhanger and last week we left off at quite the Cliffhanger at the end of Esther chapter 4 Esther she had changed her mind she resolved herself to use her position of influence her position of power and Prestige to try and save her people from the wicked Hon's plot to destroy the people of God and she devotes herself to fasting she devotes herself to praying she gets her handmaids all the Jews that were located in Susa everyone that she can think of that would intercede she gets them praying and they are refusing to eat and drink for three days now it's Baptist that goes against our nature doesn't it I'm I'm joking but we are going to talk about prayer we're going to talk about fasting today and it's a good thing for us to practice the reason why she does this is because she's about to go into the king and she is in extreme danger of death and not just in Death from hmon you know actually she's in danger of

Dying even before Hon's plan can come to fruition in fact she's in danger of her own husband depending on his mood from her perspective it's a flip of the coin whatever mood they's in right to enter into the presence of the king without his permission was an offense punishable only by death and actually we see this in a relief that was discovered not too long ago about 30 years ago this relief was discovered that is either King Darius or King hazus and you'll see right there that he's holding out his scepter right there okay and he's he's sitting on his throne now this guy over here I don't know if you noticed that but he's on his left hand right there he's carrying a sickle and that is used for beheading people that do not come in and approach the king and he holds out the scepter to them right if the king does not hold out the scepter he busts out that thing and off with her head that's why that guy I don't know if you can see his position very well but he's kind of bowing down a little bit because he's terrified he does not know what's about to happen to him you got the cup Bearer there you got a guy that's holding weights right there and here is the Executioner ready to swing the blade that is the scene that our lovely Esther walks into couple of men ready to cut off her head today we're going to look at Esther and we're going to notice a contrast not just between not just our life in Esther but we're going to see a contrast between the life of Esther and this really really really bad guy named hmon and we're going to cover all of Esther chapter 5 today so if you would please stand with me in honor of God's word as we read Esther chapter 5 verses 1-4 God's word says this on the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner Court of the king's Palace in front of the

King's quarters while the King was sitting on his Royal Throne inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the Palace when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court she won favor in his sight and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter and the King said to her what is it Queen Esther what is your request it shall be given you even to H to the half of my kingdom and Esther said if it please the king let the king and hmon come today to a feast that I have prepared for the king then the king said to then the king said bring hmon quickly so that we may do as Esther has asked so the king and hmon came to the feast that Esther had prepared and as they were drinking wine after the feast the king said to Esther what is your wish it shall be granted you and what is your request even to the half of my kingdom it shall be fulfilled then Esther answered my wish and my request is if I have found favor in the sight of the king and if it please the king to Grant my request and fulfill my request let the king and hmon come to the feast thou will prepare for them and tomorrow I will do as the King has said and hey went out that day joyful and glad of heart but when hmon saw Mori in the king's gate that he neither Rose nor trembled before him he was filled with wrath against Mori nevertheless hmon restrained himself and went home and sent and brought his friends and his wife Zares and hmon recounted to them the Splendor of his riches the number of his sons all the promotions with which the king had honored him and how he had Advanced him above the officials and the Servants of the king then hmon said even Queen Esther let no one but me come with the King To The Feast she prepared and tomorrow also I am invited by her together with the King

Yet all this is worth nothing to me so long as I see Mori the Jews sitting at the king's gate then his wife Zares and all his friends said to him let a Gallows 50 cubits High be made and in the morning tell the king to have morai hanged on upon it then go joyfully with the King To The Feast this idea pleased hmon and he had the Gallows made and so God we do thank you for your word help us Lord God to apply it rightly to our lives to really just let your word divide our hearts light from darkness and truth from error help us to see the glory of Christ even In this passage Lord God I pray that we wouldn't just cause our heads to gain information Lord but that our hearts would be transformed we ask that you The Sovereign king of all things would rule fully in this pulpit in this church and in our world God we love you in Jesus name amen well this is a big event in Esther's life while it's not explicitly stated Esther she spends time praying to the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob fasting for three days and what happens during this season is that she puts herself in a right spiritual mindset that God is the only person the only being the only hope that she has to set all of her hope and all of her trust in that's why she said in the previous passage if I perish I perish if I die I die and it happened because morai reminded her in kind of a roundabout way reminding her that what we have around us the things that we can see and touch taste and hear all these things okay we might view them through a very Western almost secular worldview if we're not careful that the world is just comprised of stuff but what he does is he reminds her that she was placed there for such a time as this that there is a sovereign God that is controlling everything to bring about

And reconcile the world to himself at one great point in time and for Esther she was appointed by the Lord okay to become the queen of Meo Persia far beyond her wildest imaginations as a Jewish girl growing up it probably wasn't even a part of any of her aspirations yet that's where she finds herself for what purpose apparently this to be the method the person the Catalyst for deliverance for the Jewish people and Christian I want to remind you that life is more than just stuff my prayer for you is that you would look at Esther's life as an example to follow and it's also important to note that this Deliverance occurs on the third day not to not to you know put too much of you know like you know put it on the nose too much but for us as Believers we should recognize that the third day of Deliverance points to Christ it's not just happen stance all right it's not just oh well you know we see actually we see in Hosea chapter 6:2 after two days he will revive us on the third day he will restore us that we may live in his presence that's a promise from the Lord and so what we're going do today is we're going to look at four ways that Esther is an example and then we're going to kind of contrast that with two ways that hmon is shows us kind of not what to do with our lives first thing that we need to look at is how Esther is an example of looking for guidance Esther is an example of looking for guidance look back at chapter 6 verse chapter 4 verse 16 it says go gather all the Jews to be found in Susa and hold a fast on my behalf and do not eat or drink for three days night or day I am my young women will also fast as you do and then I will go to the king and though it is against the wall and if I perish I perish let me ask you this where do you turn to when you need

Counsel when you need guidance I remember one time as a teen I was looking anybody on Lake Area happenings in here it's just it's a wild place isn't it's crazy in there but you know you got these fortune tellers that are kind of in our area now which is just mindblowing to me but growing up as a teenager right I watched the news I was a news watching teenager it was an NBC 12 and this car drove into a fortune teller's place of business right I mean it was it was crazy and I love what the newscasters said they said they asked her did you see it coming [Laughter] it was awesome you know people people think are going to look for guidance for all sorts of different things right they're going to look spiritual energies crystals crystals are big now tarot some people just trust in their own gut feeling whatever that means but as Believers you know what we are called to do we are called to look to the Lord to get Godly counselors around us praying for us interceding for us even asking them to fast on our behalf I personally I have several Godly men that I can turn to for counsel that I can call up at any point in time night or day hey this is what's going on in my life can you give me advice My Hope and my prayer for you is that your first gut instinct when you're faced with a big life decision or something like that is to turn to the Lord and get some advice from godly people that is one of my big prayers for you I know people that have made major life decisions without discussing it at all and it was to their detriment they didn't want wisdom they felt like they you know made pretty good decisions and they had it all figured out and it wound up being disastrous for them but as Christians we're called to live in community with one another and I know

That at least half of you don't believe that why because the half of you don't come to community groups it's true what happens is that either you're robbing someone of the wisdom and The Godly influence that you might have in their life by not being in a community group or you're robbing yourself but I digress Church remember one of my one of my jobs as a pastor is to admonish you and so receive that admonition with love not a sassy attitude and you need to do better but for us we need to not live life independently we are called to be dependent upon the Lord and to have fellowship with one another so get people praying for your business get people praying for your Investments get people praying in interceding on your behalf for your health have people that are willing to intercede for that broken relationship in your family have people interceding for that sin that you're wrestling with get Christian brothers and sisters is praying and fasting on your behalf for Clear guidance for your life Esther did this she did it for three days she got herself together probably in one of the best spiritual mindsets that she had been in years and she gets herself together she wears the robes that the king likes and she presented herself to him and Esther she also provides this example of trusting in the Lord's protection she trusts in the Lord's protection king of hazaras he holds out the scepter to her and I want to ask you what does that mean why is that important well the scepter is a symbol of authority it's a symbol of sovereignty that he has in his hand life death if he doesn't hold out for that scepter for her to Bow Low and touch the tip of it she will be put to death and so why did he hold out the scepter well the Bible answers that

Question look at verse two with me in chapter 5 says when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court she won favor in his sight you know what we call undeserved favor in the Christian World Grace Grace he hadn't called that woman for 33 days at that point I can't imagine having a marriage like that 33 days he doesn't even call on his wife doesn't even check in to see how she's doing but you know what she walks in she presents herself he holds out the scepter because of Grace really the answer is and we know this looking back the Lord had answered the people's prayers the Lord answered their their prayers of petition and fasting and seeking him God we are doomed if you do not work right now and he answered the prayers and it happened through the king's choice to have Fai to have favor on Esther but this also proves the sovereignty of God over the hearts of men yes the king held out the scepter but the Lord held the king's heart this is the same man that slaughtered a bunch of construction workers simply because it was a massive storm and they were delayed crossing the Hell's Point to get to Greece this is not a reasonable man and we can we can look back on this story right we have the Good Fortune of having the whole story and we can say we clearly see God's protection here but you know what often times we don't feel that we don't feel protected when things are going wrong like we might know it we might be able to grasp onto the promises of God and what a sure Foundation that is for us but I want to ask you when's the last time that you intentionally prayed for strength when is the last time that you intentionally sought the Lord for help when we sing that song How firm a

Foundation ye Saints of the Lord listen this it comes directly from oh sorry we need to look for God's strength and help excuse me I'll let yall write that down that's the next point I was getting ahead there you guys got it awesome strength and help Isaiah 41:10 says fear not for I am with you be not dismayed for I am your God I will strengthen you I will help you I will uphold you with my righteous right hand and what brother Craig read from Isaiah chter 43 verses 1 and two we have this promise as well but start there with that quote fear not for I have redeemed you I have called you by name you are mine God he calls you his own in spite of your sin in spite of your rebellion in spite of the fact that you were at one time children of Wrath dead in your sin he called you out of darkness and into light by His Marvelous grace and mercy and when you pass through the waters he's with you that's why Jesus is called Emmanuel he is God With Us and through the rivers they shall not overwhelm you and when you walk through fire you shall not be burned and the flame shall not consume you and we have these promises from God that he will strengthen us when we're weak that he will uphold us with his righteous right hand and that he will give us help when we look to him but many times you know what happens is that we neglect to approach the throne of grace for whatever reason we think well if I just work harder at this then finally I will see God doing something when in fact God's just waiting for us to wait on him to trust in him and he invites you to do that to know him to know the power of his resurrection to strengthen you and to help you and fourthly and finally we see Esther as an example of trusting in the Lord for wisdom Esther she relied upon the wisdom of God she hadn't seen her husband for 33

Days and yet here she is welcomed in his presence and instead of immediately launching into this decree of disaster that he's made she invites him to a feast and she doesn't just invite him but his number one advisor the man who's the source of all of this hmon why did she invite him to a feast or a banquet well it's kind of the king's thing we've seen him over and over again throughout this whole book of Esther attending a banquet I mean that's that's some wisdom right there you know you've heard it said that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach it's true why is why is there this Feast let me put just a very fine tip on it okay all right she's buttering him up that's what's happening here she's setting the hook she's placing herself in a position for this request for three days she's been fasting she's been praying and apparently preparing food I think that's a tremendous display of self-control many of us we you know get 15 minutes late for lunch and we're just ready to rip someone's head off I think it's a dis tremendous display and of self-control and she feasts with her husband and not only that but she's feasting with the man that desires her people's destruction she's waiting for the right time to disclose the pain and the danger that she is in because of Hon's actions but yet she doesn't she doesn't go launching into the request the second time that the King asks I mean you know he's he's wellfed he's got a happy heart that's made cheerful with wine and yet she delays not because she's scared not because she's nervous but because she has been waiting on the Lord and she knows the value of God's timing the king he knows that she wants something he's not stupid he knows

That's why he's constantly offering what can I do for you up to half of my kingdom if it's within my power he's not he's not saying that he's going to give her half of the Kingdom all right that's just a customary way of saying with if it's if it's within my ability to do so it will be granted to you and yet the timing still wasn't right and so she says you know come to the feast tomorrow and I will tell you know when we get in a rush we tend to get ahead of the Lord don't we that's when we can make mistakes and messes I mean how many times have you seen that in your own life because I know I see it a lot of times in my own we react instead of respond we run our mouth instead of remaining silent oftentimes we you know are become unkind or reactive in the things that we say but when we wait on God's timeing when we wait on the one who orchestrates everything together it goes together so smoothly and so wonderfully that we just have to stand there in shock sometimes and go God I see you I see your hand at work and I think that's a good a good spot for us to maybe stop just momentarily and note that this is the Christian walk when we walk by faith Romans chap 1:1 17 tells us that the just shall live by faith we can we can even understand that and when we rephrase that a little bit that the by faith they shall be justified oftentimes Christians when we walk it's it's not a walk filled with faith but it's a walk filled with drudgery because we're we're we're in a routine we're checking our boxes we're fulfilling our obligations instead of walking with abundant joy and faith in adventure wouldn't it be wonderful if Christians stopped speaking in platitudes and theories and began taking steps of faith in their work taking steps of faith in their relationships their finances their service their

Time the Christian walk is one of faithful obedience seeking the Lord seeing his hand waiting upon him seeing what his will is for our lives and oftentimes it's full of surprises isn't it Esther is a great example she's a Jewish girl she's raised up surpris your parents are dead it's not the happiest of surprises but still a surprise surprise you're going to be married to a pagan King it's not the best surprise in world you know Esther you're going to be used to deliver my people but before you can get to that place you have to change the way that you think think you have to be selfless you got to even be willing to die Esther maybe you're in a difficult marriage and your spouse is really the problem and so you start seeking the Lord and you start seeking his hand and all of a sudden you start to realize you know I've got this major sin of unforgiveness in my own heart and you start to realize that your spouse is not actually the biggest problem the biggest problem is you surprise and so then you have to do the hard work of repentance and counseling and you know apologizing or maybe you got a rebellious child and surprise God starts to reveal something in your own heart where maybe that the reason why there's rebellion in your child's heart is because there's been rebellion in your own heart in your own life and then you got to do that heavy great work which is just so hard maybe you feel great work is going fine and you're in a season of peace and prosperity and surprise your health is taken or your job gets terminated I mean are you okay with walking by faith and relying on the Lord even during those Seasons well the just shall live by

Faith by faith in the only one son of God Esther she was very wise in the way that she handled this she receiv received this plan through fasting through intercession of the previous days but this isn't just an example that Esther sets for us this is an example that our own Christ Our Own Lord sets for us he was the one who withdrew often times to fellowship and communion with the father that's where he had that full cup with which he could go out and pour himself out on at that evening before his crucifixion he was in the garden interceding praying and he asked his friends around him the disciples that he had poured himself into for the last three three and a half years stay awake and pray with me his whole Ministry was marked by prayer and pouring himself out but yet there's a contrast here too and so we look at Esther's U response it's an encouragement to us but we look at hmon and there is a warning here for us and the first thing is with it when it comes to two warnings from hmon firstly is a warning of Pride I mean look at what hmon says in verse 11 hmon recounted to them the Splendor of his riches the number of his sons all the promotions with which the king had honored him and how he had Advanced him above the officials and the Servants of the king then hmon said even Queen Esther let no one but me come with the King To The Feast she prepared wow hmon must have thought remember that King was Marduk or not King the God of Meo Persia the main King was Marduk wow Marduk must really favor me I must be in really good with the with the MEO Persian Gods I have lots of wealth I have a lineage that's secure with 10 Sons I'm highly honored by the king I've been promoted to prime minister things are really great he's even honored by Queen Esther who kind of gave him the VIP treatment and hmon he reminds me of

The fool he reminds me of the fool that Jesus told this parable about in Luke 12 says the land of a rich man produced plentifully and he thought to himself what shall I do for I have nowhere to store my crops and he said I will do this I will tear down my Barns and build larger ones and there I will store all my grain and my goods and I will say to my soul you have ample Goods laid up for many years relax eat drink and be mered but God said to him fool this night your soul is required of you and the things you have prepared whose will they be so is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God your blessings okay that God has given to you are not for you to squander on your own kingdom God he may have blessed you with abundance he may have blessed you with children may have blessed you with promotions at work or maybe you're just favored by people I don't know but here's what I do know we are not blessed to build up our own kingdom Christians are blessed to build up the kingdom of God and we must avoid the I me my mentality and remember that all of these blessings are from God and they are for the benefit of the kingdom of God it's all God's and the thing about pride is that it makes everyone else sick except for the person that has it pride it's the first and most dangerous of all the sins it was Pride that caused Lucifer to rebel against his King it was Pride that caused the Heavenly Host to make war in heaven so don't take confidence in your life don't trust in the things that you can see and taste and touch and all those different things we must remind ourselves that for all of our greatness and all the things that Humanity has accomplished we're all still simply creation and we are indebted to our creator there's a warning of pride but there's also a warning of

Wrath a warning of Wrath it says in verse 10 that hmon he was filled with wrath against morai so much so that even though he recounted all of his wealth all of his children all of his Prestige all the favor that he has in this life nothing was good enough as long as morai alive and so his wife and his friends they made a suggestion to kill Mor by hanging him up on a 75t pole this was a punishment this is impaling okay you take a big post and you run someone down onto it and the body's up there for everyone to see it's a brutal agonizing terrible death the Romans actually modified it because it was so wonderful but they said you know that goes way too quickly for war criminals and traitors and people like that we're just going to start mailing people to Wood that's where they came up with the crucifixion as I said it was for traitors and for war criminals and I don't really think that morai fits that description at all not at all but we must remember that hmon story is a story of a man that's completely left to his own devices and to his own nature he is opposed to God he is opposed to God's work he's opposed to God's people and therefore God gives him up to a totally depraved mind and listen to this description in Romans chapter 1 of those that God gives up he says and since they did not see fit to acknowledge God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done they were filled with all manner of unrighteousness evil covetousness malice do you see characteristics of hmon in there they were full of envy murder Strife deceit maliciousness they gossips slanderers haters of God insolent hauy boastful inventors of evil disobedient to parents foolish faithless heartless ruthless note that this is the full

Nature of man when God is not present man is not inherently good they are not morally neutral man is wicked and evil until the graciousness of Christ illuminates the mind and the Heart Of The Sinner and that only happens through the proclamation of the Gospel in Galatians chapter 5 veres 19-2 it says now the works of the flesh are evident listen to the hate that's in here okay sexual immorality impurity sensuality idolatry sorcery enmity Strife jealousy fits of anger rivalries dissensions divisions and it goes on from there I mean look at the hatred that oozes from that page from that passage friederick nii he said that revenge is the greatest Instinct in the human race now I don't agree with him but it is an interesting observation I Le I see that in sometimes my kids own lives so I see them wanting to get they don't get mad they get even right and we better be careful because we might see that in our own lives too and so what so we've gone through this passage we've learned a lot so what well today Christian you might be tempted to live in anger and hate and Division and jealousy your life might be marked by complete confidence in your own abilities which is called Pride or you might be hatred be full of hate towards people or a person that you just refuse to forgive that is not the way that a Believer lives their life that's not what you are called to do that is not who you are in Christ so you must repent of those sins and return to Christ even as a Christian not to be resaved but to get that relationship right perhaps you're here and you realize that there is maybe a bit more to hmon in your own life than you would care to admit the solution is never in doing better

Amen the solution is coming to Christ being reconciled to God because we need the righteousness of Christ and maybe you're here and you're not a Christian maybe you're not sure and you want to make sure today is the day of salvation that's what the Bible says so how do you get saved you turn away from sin and you trust in Christ that's it's as simple as that the just shall live by faith the way to be saved is to ask God to save you to come to him believing in Christ as your only hope it's not complicated you don't have to pray a prayer but sometimes that's how it starts but the biggest need that you will have and that all of us have is to know God who reconciles us to himself so search for the Lord search for the Lord while he may be found and if you see pride if you see wrath cropping up in your life and increasing increasingly so those might be warning signs that there's not that there's something off in your soul you need to talk to someone about that now head heart hand head I want you to know that you can look to the Lord for all of your needs every single need that you have you can look to him in fact it's the first place that we should go when we're faced with big decisions or small ones but your biggest need will always be to know the Lord and to enjoy the closeness with him and he invites for you to come heart I want you to believe that as you seek the Lord he will keep you from pride and Wrath as you grow in him as you search for him he will guide you and keep you on that narrow path and hand I want you to consider praying and fasting for your situations that you might come across in the coming weeks as you spend time seeking the Lord hopefully and I believe it will help you to be more God oriented

In your decision making and put you in the right mindset to make wise and God honoring choices church I love you very much perhaps you're here and you just don't know where you're at with the Lord I want to encourage you to talk to someone about that you don't have to go through me okay I'm I'm a sinner Redeemed by Grace but you do have to come to Christ you do have to go through the Lord and if you're kind of wondering how do I do that talk to someone talk you can talk to me you can talk to whoever brought you or maybe you're here find a find a Believer and say how do I become a Christian we would love to share with you how that happens let's pray God we love you we thank you for this day and we just ask that you would watch over us Lord help us to live lives of faith and obedience always seeking you and your will never being content to just Coast through life or even just re react by our own gut and our own nature Lord but help us to depend on you Lord keep us from things like pride and wrath and help us to depend on your grace and your mercy every day we thank you Lord in Jesus name amen let's stand and let's worship together I once was lost in Darkest Night yet thought I knew the way the sin that Pro is joy and life had led me to the Grave I had no hope that you would own a reel to your will and if you had not loved me first I would refuse you [Music] still but as I ran my help B race indiff to the cost you looked upon my helpless St

And led me to the cross and I beeld God's love displayed you suffered in my place you bore the Wrath reserved for me now all I know is great [Music] Hallelujah all I have is Christ Hallelujah Jesus is my life now Lord I would be yours alone and live so all might see the strength to follow your commands could never come from me oh Father use my ransomed life in any way you choose and let my son forever be my only most is you Hallelujah all I have is Christ Hallelujah Jesus Is My Life Hallelujah all I have is Christ Hallelujah Jesus is my amen let's pray together dear Lord thank you for this day that you've given us thank you for this opportunity that we have to meet together freely to sing your Praises loudly God help us to as we leave this place help us to continue to speak your praises to preach your

Word to reach this dark and Dying World with the Light of Christ it's in Jesus name we pray amen you