Oct 29, 2023 Pastor Harlow Esther 6:14-7:10

Do the do your announcement after nandas or not nandas Heidi Heidi I talked to Austin he says yes Kathy Heidi me I don't know what's after me I'll come up you'll be ready by that time yep cuz all I got to do is just rip these off and put on my sweater you don't need the hand though I may not I may not turn it okay thank you e it's crazy yeah but you don't want to be in North Dakota in Winter did they get some good snow a I'm no I love snow so the most snow I've ever seen was probably about 18 in that was in Virginia and so you know that was that was the be most snow I've ever seen I miss it yeah she's like oh yeah I've seen it five six seven feet all right can you yell at me when it's 10:30 2 minutes roughly something like that oh yeah it leaks in the crutch a little bit that's why I got these on so yeah you might you might be going commando I don't know I you know I was wearing khakis that day too so you know I was like listen guys I did not see my pants the waiters just so and she tried stitching them up real good but had to get these so what I'll do is I'll I'll go down welcome everyone and then I'll introduce you and when I'm introducing you it's your last okay while I'm introducing you I will that's when you can make your way down be careful right here CU sometimes the sleeves can get caught if you're not careful because of this weird slope and then you caught and we've had people

Fall oh good I've got a mic yeah don't worry about it I think we'll be good woo yeah hey church can y'all hear me okay awesome woohoo that's your alert good seeing you here this morning we're going to celebrate baptism [Applause] today couple of things real quick I did tell him all right so we've had a part on order to get our baptistry like heated again it's been on orders since June okay we called them and we said guys we need it they said well we're still working on orders from earlier this year so but I talked to this young man his name is Desmond and he said you know what we dealt with unheated baptistries for years so why delay let me go and profess my faith openly today and so I'll wait to call him in because it is so cold but he said his testimony is that he got saved through a YouTube video by you guys know it's Jim Turk right Frank Turk there we go and Frank Turk he's a Christian apologist someone who reasons with folks regarding the truths of the Gospel and through that Ministry he prayed to receive Christ and got plugged into our church said this is the church I want to be at and so we thank the Lord for that I want to introduce to you Desmond Campbell deep breath breath buddy deep and there he is okay all right we're so thankful for your parents being able to be here and it's it's constants right and what's your dad's name again Sammy Samy Sammy We're so thankful that you guys are able to be here and celebrate with us church I'm going to ask him a few questions and y'all can listen closely Desmond have you prayed to receive Christ and

Repented of your sins yes are you here today declaring your faith in Jesus Christ Alone yes are do you believe that you can be saved by any other means other than by faith alone in Jesus Christ all right that's pretty good guys amen Desmond it's my honor and my privilege as your brother in Christ to baptize you in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit buried in the likeness of his death woo and raised to all can New Life praise the Lord well guys at this time I want to ask Kathy B to come up she's got some announcements for you and I'm going to go dry off and warm up yes Tim this year the women on Missions International Mission study is focusing Zambia y all women and men are invited to attend the study on Monday November the 6th that's a week from tomorrow at noon in the gym we always eat at our meetings so this one's no different bring a dish or two of your choice to share J N you will eat be entertained anded educated about God's work being done in Zambia yesie Juan Tima plan on coming and enjoying an early afternoon learning about world missions with others Lea mola yand I'm I know I'm massacring all of these but it means yes Jesus Loves [Applause] Me Hello I'm green and we are having our 115th Church anniversary coming up it was October 4 four anyway we're gonna actually celebrate it on November 5th so don't worry about the other date November 5th which is next Sunday 4 pm in here we're going to have a celebration service then we're all going to go down to the gym and do pie and ice cream I have to say that word slowly so if anybody wants to make home made pies they would be welcome and or you can buy that and if anyone still makes homemade ice cream where's

Suttin okay maybe they'll watch this online if you make homemade ice cream please bring that too because that's way better than storeboughtslime I want to announce the art show coming up in two weeks November 12th it's an art show for all of us all of us members and visitors that come here not a sale nothing's for sale here but just a show to bring in your art or craft whatever whatever it is that you sew or make or put together paintings drawings leather work Rock work anything that's your homemade work of art part that you want to bring in we'll set up the show November 11th on a Saturday in two weeks from 3:30 to 6 o'cl I believe that notation is in the bulletin please look in the bulletin so we'll set it up on Saturday and have the show on Sunday from 9 to 1:30 and right at 1:30 is followed by the business meeting that's set up on the 12th so and the carrying lunch also on the 12th so you'll come and enjoy several festivities of things of carrying lunch and art show and business meeting please bring all those things the show your churches show is open to all of you all age groups any Elementary person grade school high school youth adults senior adults any age there's no limitation there who can bring what even if you've brought some things before in years past and think oh I don't have anything new to bring you don't have to bring new things we have new faces new members new attendees that can still view your old things so bring in your things that you've made and perhaps ready to display on Saturday and we'll look at those things on Sunday November 12th thanks a couple more things real quick today is communion Sunday and so if you did not pick up one of these communion cups they're found at each one of the entrances during our meet and

Greet time it's a great time for you to just sneak over and retrieve them you do not have to be a member of our local church to partake in communion but you do have to be a member of the body of Christ that means that you have to be saved you have to know that you know that you know that you know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior otherwise don't don't partake just kind of move past it and maybe May maybe you could talk to me a little bit about what it means to receive Christ as your Lord and Savior also huge announcement and this one's a big one guys and so I figured that finished on big one on the back of your bulletins you will see a picture of this greatl looking couple back here this is Thomas and Deanna gertson and Thomas has been meeting with the Personnel team and with the admin team and with several others and we said you know this would be a really good candidate for us to present to this church to be our new director of Children and Family Ministries and so I just wanted to make you aware that we as a admin team are presenting him to you on that November 12th day so don't miss November 12th that's a big day for us as a church it's going to be huge and so that morning at 8:15 I know it's early but we really wanted you guys to get an opportunity to meet them to talk with them to ask them some questions and yet we also have that potluck and we got business meeting it's a busy day and so that's going to be an open invitation to you to come Grill him get to know his family and his wife ask him any question that you can think of okay and so we're going to be doing that on November 12th it's going to be a fantastic day they are local they live in Lebanon and so praise the Lord for that because housing is a huge deal and they've already got that all squared away so be thinking praying for them and

We'll see Lord in that at this time I would like to ask for each one of you to maybe stand up find a neighbor and greet them in the name of the Lord [Music] e [Music] for [Music] my name is yadina Hazen and I'm from the former Soviet Union I grew up in a poor and dysfunctional family after my father went to prison my mother left and she never came back my sister and I we were left to fend for ourselves we kept wandering the streets until we were put into an orphanage some opening just were nice others teachers were mentally and physically abusive in the year of 2000 missionaries began to enter my orphanage they told us how I can pray to God anytime and he would hear me and one of those missionaries was Operation Christmas Child I still remember the day I received my shoe box it was a beautiful sunny day as I began to open my shoe box I discovered a coloring book and markers I was 12 years old and I was just so excited about those items because I love to color I began to hope for a family that would come and take me in as their own into their family years went by and no one seemed to be interested I began to give up on God until one day a social worker called me over and said girls I don't know how but both of you are getting adopted and you were going to America in that moment I knew With God all things are possible God not only blessed me with good Christian parents but he also blessed me with loving husband to children and we enjoy packing shoe boxes as a family those simple shoe boxes bring so much hope and joy to the children around the world like me in Jesus mighty

[Music] [Applause] name Well church we've got a lot going on don't we amen but we're gonna add one more thing to the lot going on and I'd like to invite our elders to come up here just momentarily so Steve and Jim and Cody if you wouldn't mind to come up to the stage please if you didn't know October is Pastor appreciation month and so we just want to tell our pastors that we appreciate them and our students our kids ministry has a little a little something for us so let's let's tell our elders that we appreciate them we appreciate the work that they do now I'm going to tell them myself a little bit as they're going back the love and God team also put together a little card drive for them many of you contributed to and I left all those cards down in the office so they'll get those after service today that's my bad but we at this point we've come to the time of our service where we just want to take a moment to prepare our hearts and our minds for corporate Worship in fact we've already been worshiping today right we've been fellowshipping we've been learning about who God is and what he's done for us but I'd invite you now to bow your heads and close your eyes and ask God to prepare your hearts for worship maybe you had a hard time getting in this morning had a hard time waking up had an argument with a family member maybe you're just going through some sort of Crisis right now with your health with a family member's Health ask the Lord to help you to worship through that ask the Lord to help you not to be focused on the hardships of this life but to be focused on who he is and what he's done for

You and so Lord we come before you to praise your holy name God you are the Lord of the universe you are the Creator and sustainer of all things and God we are but Rebels but in your great grace in your love for your creation you reached down into your creation to save us from sin and death and to reconcile us to you Lord help us to be in awe of that and help us to turn that into worship it's in Jesus name we pray amen well now I'd invite you to stand and join us as we sing praises to our Lord I was bued my shame who could car that kind of [Music] wait it was my till I met you I was breathing but not alive all my failures I tried to hide it was my Tom till I met you called my name and I ran out of that grave out of the darkness into your glorious day you called my name and I ran out of that grave out of the darkness into your glorious day now your mercy has save my soul now your freedom is all that I know the old Jesus when I met you called my name and I ran out of that grave out of the darkness into your glorious day you called my

Name and I ran out of that grave out of the darkness into your glorious [Music] day I needed resue my sin was heav but chains break at the weight of your glory I needed shelter I was an or now you call me a Cien of heaven when I was broken you are my healing now your love is the air that I'm breathing I have a future My Eyes Are Open cuz when you call my name I ran out of that gra out of the darkest into your glorious day you call my name and I ran out of that grave out of the darkness into your glorious day you called my name and I ran out of that grave of the darkness into your glorious day you called my name and I ran out of that grave out of the darkness into your glorious [Music] day amen what can be more exciting on such a dreary Sunday morning than that he called us out of sin and darkness and Into His Marvelous Light amen church are we still that tired are we getting it [Music] today let's continue to sing his praises praise the Lord his Mercy is more stronger than Darkness you every morning our sins they are many his Mercy is more what pain could remember NOS we there into a sea without bottom our sins they are many his Mercy praise the Lord his Mery is

More strong Darkness to every our sins they are many his Mercy [Music] what patience would wait as we constantly Ro what father so tender is calling us home Hees the weakest the vi the our SS they are many his Mercy is praise the Lord his Mercy is more stronger in darkness every our sins they are many his Mercy [Music] is [Music] what Riches of kindness he on us his BL a pment his life was theost we stood the we could never our sins they are many his mer he more praise the Lord his Mercy is more stronger than Darkness every our they are many his Mercy is more praise the Lord his Mercy is more stronger than Darkness you every morning our s they are many his Mercy is more our s they more you can be seated as our ushers come forward to take our offering are sins there are many his Mercy is more God's forgetting every forgotten everything I remember wish it was other way around thank you let's pray Lord we thank you so much for loving us the way you do caring for us and blessing us with so many blessings many times more than what we need Lord we thank you for this opportunity now to give back to you part of what you've blessed us with that your kingdom might grow and that your church might be a light in the community and we thank you for that Lord we ask these things in Jesus name amen

My name is Dan dial I'll be reading the Scripture this morning Romans 14 vers 10 through 12 but you why do you judge your neighbor or your brother or you again when do you regard your brother with contempt for we are all stand before the Judgment seed of Christ for it is written as I live says the Lord every knee shall bow to me every tongue shall confess or give praise to God so then each one of us shall give account to him of himself to God thank you well as you might know the last several weeks we've gone through the tenants of the Reformation sometimes called the five solos and today we're going through our last one which is Sola gratia which means grace alone we've talked about Scripture alone being the very word of God we've talked about how we are saved through Christ alone and through faith alone today we're talking about grace alone you see it's not just some magical recipe that if we have faith it saves us it's that God has ordained to save us through his great grace do you believe that this morning that though we are totally undeserved in God has shown Mercy to us in taking our the punishment that we deserve away and he's shown us great grace in giving us things that we don't deserve the greatest of which is eternal life with him but something I think we forget all too often about Grace is that it's not just a future reality Grace is a present reality there are the common Graces the fact that you got up this morning and took a breath in that's a grace of God because you deserve death that's what the Scriptures teach us right the wages of sin is death that's what we have earned for ourselves but he graciously allows us to have life here on Earth in his good creation isn't that something to Rejoice over he's given us

The grace of sunshine and the grace of dreary rainy days as well those are all gifts of God to us that we do not deserve it's his great grace in our lives this next song we're going to sing is Come Thou F of every blessing and in it we ask God to teach us to sing of his Graces to sing of the mercies that he's poured out on us we also ask we also say here I raise my Ebenezer which is a reference to an Old Testament passage talking about how the Israelites raised a monument to remind them of the great work that God has had done for them that's what we're saying here today I Will Remember The Graces that you've poured out on me and then in the last verse we say oh to Grace how great a debor daily I'm constrained to be I am bound daily by Grace let thy Grace like a Fetter bind my wandering Heart To Thee you know what a Fetter is it's handcuffed ankle cuffs we're asking God to chain us up to the goodness of his grace and so I'd invite you to stand as you're able and to join us as we sing Come Thou Fountain of Every Blessing come th of Every Blessing tune my heart to sing thy gra streams of Mercy never ceasing call for songs of loudest praise teach me some me [Music] by flaming Tong above praise the M fixed upon it of thy [Music] redeeming here I raise my never KNE by thy help I and I by thy good pleasure safely to AR at home Jesus me when a stranger wondering from thefold of God he to resue be from danger

Interos his [Music] precious oh to gra how great a daily iin to be let thy Grace Lord like a find my wondering Heart To Thee prone to wonder Lord I feel it to leave the God I Love's My Heart Lord take and seal it seal it for thy cours of [Music] prone to wonder Lord I feel it prone to the God I Love My Heart Lord take and seal it seal it for th [Music] Amazing Grace How Sweet the Sound the like me [Music] I was lost [Music] but was but I see Lord let us Forever sing of the great grace that you've shown us the great grace that you do show us every day God help us to be overwhelmed with who you are and what you've done Lord let help us to have your Praises Forever on our lips it's in Jesus name we pray amen well if you have your Bible and I hope that you do please turn with me to Esther CH 6:14 we are going to be going through that chapter there where we see God's judgment very clearly on this very Wicked man named hmon now hmon as you guys know he is described here as the enemy of the

Jews we see Esther and Mori they have been relying on the Lord and Esther is in a very dangerous spot and as we will see today hmon he gets snatched up in his own snare that he had set and that's one of the things that David was always he would write about in the Psalms and he would he would pray about you know like Let The Snare that my enemies have set in snare them and we see that over and over again throughout the Psalms and here we see it play out in a very real and tangible way today we're looking at three Gospel facts that you need to know because a as we will see judgment it comes this passage is what we might consider in our very American Western culture to be the climax or the Turning Point it's where we see the end of hmon in literature this is this is called a the peripety It Means A reversal of the circumstances but it doesn't happen here remember we said that happened last week not at this Feast but through the king's insomnia and how it is where there at that moment that we see everything changing we see that God protected morai it was an action from the Lord that caused all of those other events to come all together into this one final moment we're going to see this passage unfold we're going to see God working to preserve his people but we are also going to see several warnings for people that don't know the Lord and so it's with that in mind that I would ask for you to please stand with me in honor of God's word as we read Esther chap 6:14 through the end of chapter 7 God's word it says this while they were yet talking with him the king's Unix arrived and him in that passage is hmon he'd been gloating and all that kind of stuff but then he comes back to his home after being put to open shame and he's begun to fall right while they were yet

Talking with him the king's Unix arrived and hurried to bring hmon to the feast that Esther had prepared so the king and hmon went in to Feast with Queen Esther and on the second day as they were drinking wine after the feast the king said to Esther what is your wish Queen Esther it shall be granted you and what is your request even to the half of my kingdom it shall be fulfilled then Queen Esther answered if I have found favor in your sight O King and if it please the king excuse me if it please the king let my life be granted for me be granted me for my wish and my people sold and my people my request for we have been sold I am my people to be destroyed to be killed and to be annihilated if we had been sold merely as slaves men and women I would have been silent for our Affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king then King azerus said to Queen Esther who is he and where is he who has dared to do this and Esther said a foe and an enemy this wicked hmon then hmon was terrified before the king and the Queen the king arose from his wrath from the wine drinking and went into the palace Garden beamon's de to beg for his life from Queen Esther for he saw that harm was determined against him by The King The King returned from the palace Garden to the place where they were drinking wine as hmon was falling on the couch where Esther was the king said will he even assault the queen in my presence in my own house as the word left the mouth of the king they covered Hon's face then harbona one of the unic in attendance on the king said moreover The Gallows that hmon had has prepared for Mori whose word save the king is standing at Hon's house 50 cubits High and the King said hang him on that so they hanged hmon on The Gallows that he had prepared for morai then the Wrath of the King was Abad let's pray and so God we do thank you so much

For this day we thank you for your word and Lord May these words be warnings to every person that doesn't know you Lord about Sin Lord we pray that today that you would transform Hearts transform hearts and minds and that you would just be blessed above everything else help us God to have open minds and Open Hearts thank you for the things that we have gotten to celebrate through Fellowship through baptism through work worship corporately Lord now through your word and then through communion God we just ask that you would be blessed through it all in Jesus name amen well then quick reminder hymon he had this awful humiliating thing happen to him totally erve though right he was morai he was refusing to bow down before hmon and hmon even though he was blessed in many ways he said you know as long as morai is alive it doesn't matter how much money I got how much power I got how much Prestige I got how many sons I've got none of that matters as long as morai is alive and so he sets about this plan to impale morai now when we think of Gallows most of us we think about you know the old western you know hanging of you know the Noose and all that kind of stuff but this is actually a relief showing the MEO Persians impaling actually Judes that's the nation of Israel people from Juda and you can see these poles right here where they would go up right into the body and that's what they would do here's the soldiers down here one of them is carrying a shield right there and that's exactly what Mori was facing that's what hmon wanted to do to this righteous innocent guy and moreover it was 75t tall we look at this and we think H what do you think that is 12 15 feet tall maybe somewhere in that range and then you think about just how tall how massive a 75t foot pole would be

With a body very just right at the Pinnacle of it that's something that's reserved for treason something that's reserved for the worst of the criminals and so hymon he goes to get the king's permission because what is one man in an Empire of millions and little did hmon know that God used a sleepless night to protect morai from this and instead changed the entire day humiliating hmon throughout the entire city of sus and we don't know what morai was thinking but we do know that hmon he was so humiliated he covered his face he ran home he told his wife and his friends about everything that had happened and those same people that just a few hours earlier were encouraging hmon to kill morai they were also the same ones just a few hours later saying well you won't be able to come overcome morai you're going to fall it's terrible advice from terrible friends and then suddenly there's a knock at the door oh I've got a I've got a lunch with the King and his wife finally I can get back to a little bit of normaly I can get back to the way that life was it's been an awful morning I'm just going to go I'm going to drink I'm GNA have a good feast and everything's going to get back normal unfortunately for him though he doesn't really have a lot of time to process all of this because he's life can be like a roller coaster right where it's just one event happening after another event and we kind of just feel like passengers on a roller coaster getting twisted and turned in every sort of Direction and I like to think that hmon may have felt that way as well you see the thing is that hmon he is not the author of his own fate God is God is the one that has designed and orchestrated all of this and he is in the control of in control of the fate of his people now the First Gospel fact

That you need to know is that sin punishment for sin comes unexpectedly hmon has no clue about what's about to happen to him think about all of the life changes that hmon has just encountered in a few brief hours everything was great every he was full of wealth full of prestige full of Honor full of power last night his life was wonderful it was amazing it was awesome it was great except for this issue with Mori and they say they give him that advice do what makes you happy that is demonic advice guys that is our culture over and over again just do what makes you happy if it feels good do it that is a lie Straight From Hell and it will it will lead you down a dark road down a dark path that is not Christ path for you for us we need to look Proverbs 14 says this there is a way that seems right to a man but its end is the way to death hmon is proof of this hymon he thought yeah what a great idea I'm just gonna I'm just gonna hoist them up my enem is gonna be gone and everything's GNA be great I don't have to worry about morai ever again and yet death is what awaited hmon none of us not one of us knows when God will judge sin this is an idea called retribution Theology and if we're not careful we can air on the side of extremism here so I want to kind of get a balanced view of this because what a lot of people do is they'll say everything that's negative in my life is because I've got some type of sin in it you know and so like he got car trouble well it's because I got sin in it or you know I my health is declining it's because I've done something wrong okay listen we live in a fallen world and sometimes those awful things just happen because we are sinners and we live in a fallen World okay and God yes he has a purpose in it but it may not be because of ongoing sin in your life okay let's be clear sometimes God does bring judgment because of sin okay if God brings judgment because of sexual sin and so he might allow an STD that judgment for a lie it might be a broken relationship that judgment for idolatry may be God giving you over to a debased mind that's what Romans said you might have a secret sin that you're not repented of and someday punishment for it will come and it will come swiftly it will come unexpectedly for example God he gave very specific laws about how he was to be worshiped in the Old Testament very specific laws okay and we read this in Leviticus chapter 10 it says now D naab and Abu the sons of Aaron each took a sensor and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord which he had not commanded them and fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them and they died before the Lord then Moses said to Aaron this is what the Lord said among those who are near me I will be Sanctified before all people I will be glorified and Aaron held his peace is that Justice absolutely do you know why it's because it's God is God and God makes the rules and yet how many times do us as his children commit presumptuous sins it can lead to disaster so hon and is relaxing he's sitting down everything seems to be returning to normal they finished a great meal it's a great feast Ester is a great cook she's a beautiful woman the king is there they're drinking good spirits but you're also curious for hmon he has heard at least on three occasions the king asked Esther or on two occasions King ask would ask Esther what is it that you want what is your desire

What is your request and it will be given to you up to half of the kingdom and so you're kind of curious what is it that she wants to ask Esther she's she has this extremely risky and this very subtle task of bringing Hon's plot to light Without accusing the king you see it's the king who allowed all this to happen it's the king who brought who used his own signant ring actually gave his Signet ring over to hmon to approve everything he just trusted him and it was because of that this decree of death went out across the entire Meo Persian Empire and so she must convince the king to get rid of and Destroy hmon his second in command while also not accusing the king of the situation that they're in that's that's a tough place to be she has to be a master Wordsmith and so ever so masterfully equipped with some experience in the palace now that she's been there for several years and also the wisdom from fasting she starts out by pointing out the favor and the pleasing of her King she that's her husband right you got to think maybe she's going to ask for a precious Jewel maybe she's going to ask for a new Citadel or a new Palace but no she asks for her life now that must have put everyone on edge at that point everyone's even the guards around the room that are watching this whole situation like did she just ask for her life what does she mean by that what's going on look at verse four for we have been sold I am my people you don't sell a queen you cherish her you value her I like to assume that hazus has learned his lesson from objectifying women from Esther chapter 1 and this is Esther's big moment because all of her professional life she has been told don't identify yourself with God's chosen people don't let people know that you're a Jew and yet

Here she is publicly declaring yourself saying I am Jewish I have been sold me and my people to be destroyed to be killed to be annihilated and she quotes verbatim the decree that hmon composed and sealed with the king's own signant ring look at Esther 3:3 she quotes it says letters were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces with instruction to destroy to kill and to annihilate all Jews young and old women and children in one day now remember this is the king his word is law anyone that attacks his people people anyone that attacks his property his family is guilty of treason and so this incites the king to be very angry to be defensive who would dare think to do this to my Queen who would try to kill you who would try to destroy you or annihilate you and this is the climax guys for us as westerners this is the AHA gotcha moment look at verse six and Esther said a foe and enemy this wicked hmon and hmon was terrified before the king and queen and the first and the second Gospel fact that you need to know is the shity that all sin will be exposed all sin will be exposed imagine hmon choked on his wine at this point me I'm the guy the most wicked and the most depraved things will be brought to light and either they will be judged or they have been judged either we give atonement for them or by us trusting in Christ they have been atoned for see Jesus he testified in Luke 12 Beware of the leav of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy nothing is covered up that will not be revealed or hidden that will not be known therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light and what you have whispered in the private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops and many of us just went not that thing not that

Sin if you want your business broadcasted just tell your children right like oh earlier this year after I had my appendectomy they said Mr harow your blood pressure is really high and you know so we started talking about that around the house changing diet exercise all that kind of stuff and my daughter Abby that's kind of how she would introduce me this is my dad he has high blood pressure thanks awesome you know in heaven in heaven we don't have personal business okay you don't have any secrets everything's laid bare everything's exposed before God and one day every single thought Every Idle Word every deception every hateful act we brought before the Eternal God that goes for me that goes for you listen to the testimony of Scripture in Hebrews chap 4: 12-13 for the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing to the division of soul and of spirit of joints and of marrow and discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart and no creature is hidden from his sight but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account and so this leads to a big question okay and I think that we need to we need to wrestle with this a bit because how is it true both simultaneously okay that all our sins are forgiven in Christ which is 100% true and we must give an account to God for the life that we lived how are those things simultaneously true and I'm so thankful for Tech glitches and for 1 Corinthians 3 here's what it says for no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid which is Jesus Christ now if anyone Builds on the foundation with gold silver precious stones wood hay straw each one's work will become manifest

That means revealed for the day will disclose it talking about the day of judgment because it will be revealed by fire and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done if the work that anyone is built on the foundation survives he will receive a reward if anyone's work is burned up he will suffer a loss though he himself will be saved but only as Through Fire and so we see this truth simultaneously here in this passage one is that when you are saved you are saved you are sealed for that day of redemption that your Eternal home is secured because of faith alone in Jesus Christ however this is also true that one day we will be judged according to our actions and we will receive reward or loss based upon what we have built Our Lives on so those acts of faith that you do did you do them for the Lord or did you do them for yourself I can't answer that I can't judge that's not my position that's that's between you and the Lord and even some of us we may deceive ourselves because our hearts are so desperately wicked who can understand them and so the things that we do that we think are pretty good we might find out oh man that was because I just wanted to be liked by people I mean what a warning for Christians what a warning for you and for me as a pastor you know I'm not I'm not exempt from this how many times do I do things just for the sake of the congregation as opposed to the Lord that one day I'll have to give an account for we all are in this some of you might be saved you might you might be saved and I prayed to the Lord that you were saved today that before you leave this place that you know the Lord where your Eternal destination is I pray that's true some of you just play at church some of you come in you know you do your two hours maybe and you live like a demon the rest of the week but you know you might go you might get to the you know the Twilight years right and you might realize that the first 40 50 60 years of your life that you've you've just really been wasted all of that time spending it for your own kingdom and your own hopes and your own dreams and then you kind of go I've wasted so much time thankfully we've got some wonderful people that are in our congregation that don't have that testimony that for decades they've been Faithfully serving the Lord and I give God all the thanks for it but everything will be brought to light as brother Dan read after the offering prayer each of us will give an account of himself to God that's me and that's you I like to watch YouTube videos anybody any other YouTubers in here I just I love watching YouTube videos and I like watching sports highlights reels and stuff like that and I came across this story from 1988 it was an Olympic story about a guy named Ben Johnson from Canada who he the gates open up and immediately he is from the very like half second he is in the lead and everyone is just oh my gosh it's Ben Johnson look at him go Ben Johnson and everyone's just amazed at how quickly not only did he get out of the gate but he sprinted so far so fast he set a new world world record and everyone is celebrating that everyone is cheering that he gets the medal he's standing on the podium he takes his Victory lap he's waving at everyone's everyone's chanting his name yeah Ben johnon yeah and then something happened the these doctors came up and they said we need to test your blood and so they took him and they tested him and they found out that he was doped up on steroids like something

Fierce and yeah during the race everyone was cheering his name everyone thought that he was great everyone thought that he had set a new world record everyone thought that he was a champion and a Victor but after the race they tested to find out what was actually in him and his reward was taken away he actually went to back home totally disgraced don't let that happen to you don't let that happen to you on that day many of us we will think that we've done so many great things for the Lord and then you know what we might find out something completely different I'm not talking about eternal security here I'm just talking about the rewards at this point the question is do you know the Lord that's the big question and the life that you live do you live to the Lord that's the big question the king he had to walk out you see he's in a pickle he wasn't Accused by Esther but he also knew that he had approved it this whole coming destruction how on Earth do you think that he can save his reputation without destroying the confidence of his subjects at this point he had approved the edict it had his own Royal seal on it how could this be done well this is a tricky dilemma azerus he had trusted the wrong person hymon he knew that theing goto solution was off with her head and so he threw himself down at the feet of Esther and she controlled his fate now and you have to wonder as we had talked about so many so many weeks ago at this point we talked about that history between the Jews and the agagites and many of us we might read this and we might go you know what I think that Esther probably should have had mercy on him can you imagine what kind of allies he would have been if she would have shown some mercy and spared them would it would have wouldn't it be strength for her as the queen to show pity but we must also remember that it was pity and our own thoughts that got him into the situation with Saul way back in the day remember that was pity that did that caused this whole debacle and so rather rather than showing and extending Mercy Esther she shows strength and great Courage by being devoted to Justice and protecting God's chosen people as hmon Falls onto the couch where Esther is laying the king he returns and he sees hmon collapsing onto her now that's a no that's just a no and azerus he needed that he needed that moment right there one scholar he writes in Herm protocol it dictated that no one but the king could be left alone with the woman of the Haram much more so the queen hmon should have left Esther's presence when the king retreated to the Garden but where could he have gone his choice was either to follow the king who had bolted an anger from his presence or to flee the room suggesting guilt and inviting Pursuit Haram hmon is trapped even in the presence of others a man was not to approach a woman of the king's heram within seven steps that hymon would actually fall on the couch where Esther is reclining is Unthinkable so the king he sees hmon doing this he assumes that hmon is assaulting the queen and the guards come they restrained hmon and they covered his head his fate is sealed judgment does come swiftly the only payment for him is death and then one of the king's servants points out hey hmon has actually erected this massive Pole to kill Mori the same guy that we had honored just a few hours ago apparently word had gotten around remember that morai he had protected the king he proved his loyalty

Twice over and so azerus he instructs the guards to impale hmon and leave him on him and the third Gospel Truth for us today is the promise that all sin will be punished all sin will be punished John Cal and he said man falls according as God's Providence ordains but he falls by his own fault I mean isn't that true of hmon here and it's true of us too the difference for us is that for the believer our judgment falls upon the Lord Jesus Christ it was Christ who atoned for our sins he paid the in debt so that when we Face God on Judgment Day in spite of all of the evidence that might be brought out before us the Lord will righteously declare us as innocent because our debts are paid in full are yours are your sin debts paid by Christ the atonement of Christ is yours when you turn away from those sins and you trust in him by faith and you can't say that your sins are paid for until that moment until you turn to Christ and believe the Gospel and you can do that today you can do that right now you can ask the Lord to save you to make your heart new to turn away from sin and I pray that you would do that today two more points and then we're going to receive communion these are kind of little sub points real quick when it comes to the promise that all sin will be punished I want you to know this that we reap what we sow we reap seow Paul writes in Galatians chapter 6: ver 7-9 anyone has built on the foundation survives he will receive a reward if anyone's work is burned up he will suffer loss though he himself will be saved but only as Through Fire excuse me I think that one's wrong sorry do not be deceived God is Not mocked for whatever one SWS that will he also reap for the one who SWS to his own flesh Will from The Flesh reap

Corruption but the one who SWS to the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life let us not grow weary of doing good for in due season we will reap if we do not give up it's interesting to note that in this chapter we have two people pleading for their lives we have Queen Esther casting herself down at the mercy of her husband asking for deliverance while also simultaneously at the same time we see hmon asking for his life one gets it and the other doesn't why because God is righteous and he does not allow for sin to go unpunished and many people they might look at our world today and they go well what about that guy what about people like Jeffrey Epstein what about people like Hitler what about these people that they escaped the punish M that we thought would be just listen that only works in a secular worldview okay if everything is just living and dying then you know then they got off got free but as Christians we don't believe that we believe that there is a good and righteous judge who will judge all sin and he will judge it fairly he will judge it severely I mean how on Earth could we the these Souls that pass on into eternity that have committed these atrocities and have never turned from their sins and trusted in Christ what do they get they get Eternal punishment in Hell apart from the love and the joy and the wonderfulness of the Savior if we were to travel this whole world and we were to find the most friendless the sickest the most depressed most exhausted the most stressed person and we were able to find them and our hearts would have so much pity on that person but that person with all of their issues and all of those those awful things are infinitely better

Than the best sinner in hell don't think that people just get off because they die God is Not mocked and he won't be Hon's life it proves that evil is so self-deceptive it allows evildoers to believe themselves justified in their evil actions hey if I'm clever enough I'm not going to get caught hmon he had all the resources of the Empire on his side he schemed he plotted he had all of his power all of his wealth all of his Prestige but it came to nothing because of one unforeseen event the king's insomnia that's what causes his downfall and praise the Lord for it second thing real quick is that we Face judgment for our works not our not our Salvation okay very clear about this once we come to Christ we are saved okay but we I want to I want to summarize this because we're getting a little late here in Corinthians 5:10 it says for we must all appear before the Judgment seat of Christ it's all of us so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body whether good or evil all of us we will give an account to God you and I and so let's live today tomorrow let's live the rest of our days with eternity in mind so that we will not be put to shame when we stand before God Head hand heart well head heart hand head I want you to know that everyone will give an account for their sin unless they come to Christ unless they come to Christ Christ he perfectly forgives us past present and future praise the Lord for that but if you do not know Christ you will give a full account and you will have to give atonement don't do it don't think that you're strong enough or wise enough trust in Christ today heart I want you to believe

That your sin is Forgiven once you believe in Jesus's death for you at the moment right now you can be like that thief on the cross you can ask God to forgive you and in that moment he does when you when you turn away from that sin and you trust in Christ he takes us from Death to life from Darkness to light and he does that because of his great love he's not vengeful he's not Desiring for people to be separated from him he loves you and he wants you to trust in him in hand I want you to ask the Lord to forgive your sin to turn away from it and to trust in Christ so do it do it today do it now at this time we're going to be moving into our communion time as I said before you don't have to be a member of our church but you do have to know that you know that you know Jesus as your Savior and if at this time you haven't had an opportunity to go and retrieve one of these now would be a time for you to go to any one of our entrances to receive the elements for the Lord's [Music] Supper [Music] one of the things that we know from Scripture is that Christ he gave us communion it is our common Union our common Union is not through the bread or the juice that we partake it's in Christ and this is a representation of what we get to join together and celebrate you see when we as Believers when we receive Christ we are partakers in his body and in his blood we are partakers in that suffering and this acts as a as a symbol as a joyful symbol that we are redeemed that yes Christ was bruised and he was crushed for us for our sin and as we partake in the juice we remember that Christ he shed our blood and we are covered by his blood and thank the Lord the punishment for our

Sin does not rest on us anymore and so with that in mind would you just pray and spend some time with the Lord asking him to Search Your Heart point out some different things maybe you're just not walking with the men just say God I just want to I just want to be close to you I want to know better can you help [Music] me [Music] so God we do thank you for this time that we get to remember your body and your blood these are symbols of what you've done for us and I just pray that today we would remember that and as we go through this week Lord and as we've talked about sin and its hidden effects and how everything will be brought to light Lord help us to conduct ourselves in such a way not through fear but through love God knowing that you have that you have saved us and that you've called us to walk in your ways God help us to do that with great joy with great privilege knowing that we are redeemed and we get to God we get to just be with you help us to conduct ourselves as your children thank you for your body thank thank you for your blood that redeems us God in Jesus name amen the Scripture says this for I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and said this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me take the bread and eat with me [Music] this juice is a symbol of Christ's blood it's what we partake in to remind us that he has given us New Life by his blood that he's called us out of darkness and into His Marvelous Light

And that he's given us his own light and life into our souls that's what this juice repres presents how glorious that is I why don't you just take a moment and just thank the Lord for the new life that you have through Jesus [Music] Christ [Music] Lord we are just so thankful that you have called us to know you to love you to serve you that you haven't abandoned us down here by ourselves but that you've given us a helper where we can discern what your will is for our lives God and Lord I just pray that you would Find Us Faithful but Lord even when we are faithless God you remain faithful and we just thank you for that and Lord we thank you for the new life that we've received by the power of your blood and I just ask father that you would help us to always seek out your will and your way for our lives we commit ourselves to you in Jesus name amen Scripture says in the same way also so he took the cup after supper saying this cup is the New Covenant in my blood do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me take the cup and drink with [Music] me for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes and so God we do thank you for this day that you've given to us we thank you for each person that's here and Lord I just pray that you would help us to walk out of here with renewed minds and renewed Hearts seeing ourselves not just as people that come to church but as your bride help us to walk Faithfully before you seeking out your will in Jesus name amen