WEBVTT 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:01.630 I'm going to invite you to the Book of Esther. 00:00:01.840 --> 00:00:04.280 We're going to start a new series today in the Book of Esther. 00:00:04.520 --> 00:00:11.780 The major theme of the Book of Esther is for such a time as this, and it's, I think, a very fitting phrase for 00:00:11.780 --> 00:00:14.090 us to think of when we read the Book of Esther. 00:00:14.760 --> 00:00:22.000 Esther is a book written almost 2,500 years ago, a little over 400 years book for the time of Jesus. 00:00:22.720 --> 00:00:26.420 And Esther, like a lot of the Old Testament, is a book of a hot mess, right? 00:00:26.720 --> 00:00:33.880 And so when you live your life and you think life doesn't always go the way that you want, and you're looking for the hand 00:00:33.880 --> 00:00:38.690 of God to sort of direct you in a moment that seems complicated and difficult. 00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:46.880 You're looking for the Lord in the phrase that's very similar to Esther for such a time as this, God, like if you're ever going to show up, let it be in this moment. 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:48.840 And that is the Book of Esther. 00:00:49.040 --> 00:00:56.280 In fact, a lot of the Old Testament, if you're doing our yearly Bible reading and you're in the Old Testament, we're somewhere in the middle of the Book of Genesis somewhere, I 00:00:56.280 --> 00:01:01.000 think, chapter 35, 36, something like that in the book of Genesis, if you're reading through the Old Testament. 00:01:01.380 --> 00:01:07.800 And already you should have, if this is even your first time through the Bible, look at it and you should be able to see first 35 chapters. 00:01:08.360 --> 00:01:13.300 Man, life was messy then just like today, right? 00:01:13.360 --> 00:01:17.060 If you ever want to feel good about yourself, just read the Old Testament, right? 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:23.460 It is a hot mess in motion, and sometimes if you look at your own life, look at the Old Testament, you kind of see some correlations. 00:01:24.160 --> 00:01:29.140 Like my family life feels, the dynamics feel broken and messed up. 00:01:29.180 --> 00:01:31.040 You read the Old Testament and you're like, ah, my tribe. 00:01:31.220 --> 00:01:36.260 There's some connection here and God still loves them, cares about them, moves forward with them. 00:01:36.760 --> 00:01:38.890 And the same's true in the Book of Esther. 00:01:39.000 --> 00:01:44.370 You read this book and you see there is a lot of things to talk about that go wrong. 00:01:45.380 --> 00:01:50.580 And what's interesting about this book is that God has not mentioned specifically though. 00:01:50.580 --> 00:01:52.480 I think the Lord is certainly implied. 00:01:53.440 --> 00:02:00.480 And I find a lot of correlation to our lives that way that we think about the things of God, we read versus like 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:05.960 Matthew 10:29, the Bible tell us that God cares even about the sparrows of the sky. 00:02:06.260 --> 00:02:09.919 And if God cares about the sparrows of the sky, how much does he care for you? 00:02:09.919 --> 00:02:13.180 Even the hairs on your head, God knows every hair on your head. 00:02:13.260 --> 00:02:14.740 That's how much God cares about you. 00:02:14.880 --> 00:02:21.920 And you read verses like that, and you think, that's great for everyone else, but I feel like the anomaly to what God says, where is God and his 00:02:21.920 --> 00:02:23.180 presence in my life? 00:02:23.180 --> 00:02:27.540 And I think the Book of Esther relates to us in that way. 00:02:27.940 --> 00:02:32.060 God's people are going through a hard moment, and they really need the Lord to show up. 00:02:32.080 --> 00:02:35.680 And if they feel distant to the Lord, they're going to be asking the question, God, how do I find you? 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:37.560 How do I meet you in this chaos, this mess? 00:02:38.440 --> 00:02:45.380 And the Book of Esther shows us, reveals to us how the Lord intervenes for his people in way sometimes we're not even aware. 00:02:46.100 --> 00:02:52.920 And so you see the providence of God in collision here with human responsibility. 00:02:53.720 --> 00:03:01.060 And God has not specifically spoken about here though his presence is implied. 00:03:01.140 --> 00:03:08.040 And anytime you go through an Old Testament book, I'd like you to see just how it lays out in correlation to the Old Testament. 00:03:08.100 --> 00:03:15.120 If reading the Bible is something new to you, picking up the Bible feels a little overwhelming to you, sometimes having an understanding of how the Bible 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:17.320 fits together works for us. 00:03:17.400 --> 00:03:21.100 We call the first portion of our Bible, the Old Testament,. 00:03:21.160 --> 00:03:23.600 We divide our Bible in two sections, old Testament, New Testament. 00:03:23.600 --> 00:03:25.520 We call the first portion of the Old Testament. 00:03:25.980 --> 00:03:29.400 Unless you're Jewish, referring to it as old is an insult, right? 00:03:29.400 --> 00:03:31.740 The Jews refer to the old Testament as the TaNaKh. 00:03:31.760 --> 00:03:34.160 There is no New Testament, it's just the Testament. 00:03:34.200 --> 00:03:35.080 It's the TaNaKh to them. 00:03:35.420 --> 00:03:35.940 It's not old. 00:03:35.980 --> 00:03:38.560 But for us, we separate it between the Old and New Testament. 00:03:38.700 --> 00:03:44.300 If you were to pick it up and start reading it today, the Old Testament is not written in chronological order. 00:03:44.540 --> 00:03:46.880 That's not how it flows from beginning to end. 00:03:46.880 --> 00:03:49.260 You'll find some books repeat themselves. 00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:55.690 If you get to 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, a lot of those stories are intertwining. 00:03:56.940 --> 00:04:04.140 And so when you open up the Old Testament, it's to understand the Old Testament is broken down according to literary genre. 00:04:05.020 --> 00:04:12.140 And so if you grab some notes this morning, some sermon notes, you'll see on the back of those notes, this little cheesy chart that I drew for you with 00:04:12.140 --> 00:04:13.410 all of my artistic abilities. 00:04:14.780 --> 00:04:20.839 But you'll see there's, on the left hand side, this column of how the literary genres are broken up in the Old Testament. 00:04:21.600 --> 00:04:24.580 The first 17 books are the historical books. 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:29.360 The next five books are poetic and proverbial books. 00:04:29.460 --> 00:04:36.770 If you were to find, for example, the Book of Esther this morning in the Bible, if you flipped generally to the middle of the Bible, you'd find the Book of Psalms. 00:04:36.820 --> 00:04:42.010 And if you go back two books, the next book place that would be Job and then previous to that would be Esther. 00:04:43.780 --> 00:04:46.700 The Book of Psalms is usually right in the middle of the Bible. 00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:48.290 That's one of the five poetic books. 00:04:49.080 --> 00:04:53.280 And the Book of Psalms spans about 1,000 years of written history. 00:04:53.980 --> 00:04:59.040 And then the 17 books that end your Bible are the prophetic books. 00:04:59.760 --> 00:05:02.800 And the prophetic books, you can even them break into various sections. 00:05:03.460 --> 00:05:05.950 I've broken them down into three for you in this chart. 00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:13.540 The ones that are before Israel goes into captivity, then there's a few books written in captivity and the few books after captivity. 00:05:13.980 --> 00:05:20.830 And so if you want a general timeline of how the Old Testament breaks down at the very bottom, you'll see that there's God in creation. 00:05:21.560 --> 00:05:25.810 Then through the time of Abraham and then to Moses, which is in the Exodus. 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:28.960 God brings Israel out of slavery in the Exodus. 00:05:29.300 --> 00:05:34.460 And then they go into this conquest stage where they take over the promised land that God had provided for them. 00:05:34.460 --> 00:05:39.940 And then into a kingdom stage where they have Kings ruling and reigning, and then the kingdom is divided. 00:05:40.700 --> 00:05:42.210 And then they start to be conquered. 00:05:42.620 --> 00:05:45.480 The 10 Northern tribes of Israel. 00:05:45.780 --> 00:05:50.560 Israel has 12 tribes, the 10 Northern tribes separate from the two Southern tribes. 00:05:50.680 --> 00:05:56.600 The 10 Northern tribes go into captivity by Syria and 722 BC. 00:05:56.600 --> 00:06:00.240 The Northern tribes never return. 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:06.060 The Southern tribes go into captivity in 606 into 586. 00:06:06.060 --> 00:06:10.160 There are three waves of captivity that they go into by the Babylonians. 00:06:10.340 --> 00:06:13.800 And they're in captivity for 70 years before they're able to return. 00:06:14.400 --> 00:06:21.680 And then the last three books after captivity are the books we're going to find ourself in today, the Book of Ezra, Esther, 00:06:21.840 --> 00:06:22.600 and Nehemiah. 00:06:23.520 --> 00:06:31.080 Those books are the last recorded historical books that you have in the Old Testament before they go into 400 years of silence, and 00:06:31.080 --> 00:06:31.640 then Jesus. 00:06:32.540 --> 00:06:36.740 So, the last book of the Old Testament, the book of Malachi is also the last prophetic book written. 00:06:37.320 --> 00:06:43.450 After Malachi is written, there's nothing written for hundreds of years until you get to the New Testament. 00:06:43.500 --> 00:06:44.720 Over 400 years of silence. 00:06:45.240 --> 00:06:47.610 And then you get to the New Testament with the gospel. 00:06:47.980 --> 00:06:51.810 So, that gives you a little bit of a layout into the Book of Esther. 00:06:52.620 --> 00:06:58.200 But the beautiful part of Esther is that it's written really for regular people. 00:07:00.120 --> 00:07:08.240 And it explains to us really for Israel and for us, how they came to celebrate the holiday of Purim, a 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:11.140 translation means the rolling of the dice. 00:07:13.080 --> 00:07:17.180 God's people, their life hung in the balance by the rolling of a dice. 00:07:18.260 --> 00:07:19.880 There was a man that hated Israel. 00:07:20.660 --> 00:07:23.220 He wanted to see them all massacred and killed. 00:07:23.640 --> 00:07:26.500 He decided up on a day in which that would take place. 00:07:26.520 --> 00:07:28.180 He persuaded the king to do that. 00:07:28.580 --> 00:07:35.660 And the way that he decided up on the day was he just threw some dice and where it landed, that was the day that he encouraged the king to create a law to kill 00:07:35.660 --> 00:07:36.500 God's people. 00:07:38.060 --> 00:07:45.080 And so it Israel finds themself turning to the Lord and seeking his protection and his 00:07:45.080 --> 00:07:48.080 guidance for such a time as this. 00:07:49.100 --> 00:07:56.260 And this story doesn't start without the king of Persia or Mito Persia, I'll deal with it in chapter 00:07:56.260 --> 00:07:57.340 one verse one. 00:07:57.360 --> 00:07:58.060 This is how it starts. 00:07:58.360 --> 00:08:06.380 It says, "Now it happened in the days of Ahasuerus," some of your translations, rather than say Ahasuerus would say, Xerxes. 00:08:06.400 --> 00:08:08.060 I find Xerxes easier to say. 00:08:08.080 --> 00:08:10.230 So, sometimes I will not say Ahasuerus. 00:08:10.460 --> 00:08:13.560 I'll just throw in the word Xerxes, where Ahasuerus is. 00:08:13.900 --> 00:08:18.960 Xerxes is his Greek name, Ahasuerus is his Hebrew name. 00:08:19.020 --> 00:08:22.720 It's the in person, but he's reining over the Mito Persians as king. 00:08:23.040 --> 00:08:30.540 It happened the days of Xerxes that Xerxes who reigned from India to Kush over 127 00:08:30.540 --> 00:08:31.820 provinces. 00:08:32.299 --> 00:08:38.480 In those days as King Xerxes sat on his Royal throne, which was at the Citadel in Susa. 00:08:39.659 --> 00:08:42.240 When you study about this guy, he was a piece of work. 00:08:42.919 --> 00:08:46.520 He was born into royalty silver spoon in mouth. 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:53.310 He ruled, it tells us from India to Kush, which is about the modern day size of the United States of America. 00:08:53.540 --> 00:08:54.910 It gives you some kind of a correlation. 00:08:55.660 --> 00:09:02.750 Went as far east as India, and as far west, all the way into Africa, into the Northern parts of Egypt. 00:09:03.640 --> 00:09:07.830 He dominated what was at that time, the known world. 00:09:07.940 --> 00:09:11.400 And this guy thought so highly of himself. 00:09:11.500 --> 00:09:15.780 Wherever he went, especially as they went into military battle, this guy didn't walk. 00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:17.640 This guy had people carry him on his throne. 00:09:18.100 --> 00:09:21.010 I mean, he was all about himself wherever he went. 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:28.300 I think he's depicted, I believe in the movie, one of the popular movies, and I'm not endorsing this, but I think he's in the movie 300. 00:09:28.840 --> 00:09:36.470 At the end of it being carried on a throne with his soldiers going into battle against the Spartans. 00:09:36.880 --> 00:09:43.000 But wherever he went, he just thought he was the best thing since sliced bread. 00:09:43.320 --> 00:09:48.490 And his kingdom in this part of the story, it tells us in verse verse one and two is in Susa. 00:09:49.240 --> 00:09:54.510 And it's in modern day Iran, just north of the Persian Gulf. 00:09:54.980 --> 00:09:57.260 So, he had actually two castles. 00:09:57.260 --> 00:10:00.000 He had his summer home and his winter home. 00:10:00.360 --> 00:10:02.160 And Susa is his winter home. 00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:07.860 It says in the area of Susa that it was hotter than eighties in the summertime, but in the wintertime, it was a great place to vacation. 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:12.000 If you were to compare it to somewhere in America today, we're talking about Phoenix, right? 00:10:12.380 --> 00:10:19.520 You don't want to be there in the middle of summer, but in the wintertime, it's a great place to get away from the snow, if you ever want to take 00:10:19.520 --> 00:10:19.920 a break. 00:10:20.460 --> 00:10:26.290 And so that is where Caesar Xerxes is ruling and reining at this point. 00:10:26.700 --> 00:10:33.100 And then in verse three, it goes, "And he's in the third year of his reign." So, he is about middle to upper thirties at this point. 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:40.540 "And he held a banquet for all of officials and his lieutenants, the army officers of Persia." And this looks like, 00:10:40.640 --> 00:10:44.840 I know it looks like media, but it's pronounced Madai. 00:10:44.900 --> 00:10:52.080 The nobles and the officials of his province in his presence at that time, he displayed the riches of his royal glory. 00:10:52.460 --> 00:10:59.480 So, you think 127 provinces and he's carrying out a time of celebration, 00:10:59.500 --> 00:11:07.120 of a great banquet for all of his leaders and officials and parts of his army to come to his place 00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:10.390 of residence in Sasa, his castle, where he's ruling and reigning. 00:11:11.240 --> 00:11:17.260 People estimate that this number would've been easily tens of thousands, some say as high as 50,000. 00:11:17.600 --> 00:11:23.560 He's leading this banquet to celebrate and to invite people around him. 00:11:23.560 --> 00:11:24.600 And here here's what's interesting. 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:31.800 When he talks about his army and royal officials, this guy had, it said, that the army that 00:11:31.800 --> 00:11:34.300 protected him was as numerous as 10,000. 00:11:36.440 --> 00:11:40.060 I've seen presidential motorcades. 00:11:40.080 --> 00:11:47.120 I was just in another country a few weeks ago and I saw the motorcade of their leader in that country. 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:52.790 Every time you got a leader of a country going somewhere, there's always a group that goes with them to protect him. 00:11:53.020 --> 00:11:55.750 You got a few dozen cars, at least. 00:11:56.580 --> 00:12:03.030 Sometimes some countries, if it's a little bit more concerning for the protection of their leader, you might find more than that. 00:12:03.960 --> 00:12:08.800 Nobody is rolling as deep as the king of the Mito Persians, right? 00:12:09.650 --> 00:12:10.100 10,000. 00:12:10.100 --> 00:12:17.300 And here's the deal breaker in all of it that just trumps, I think, any motorcade or any protection you'll ever see against some governing 00:12:17.300 --> 00:12:18.450 leader. 00:12:18.880 --> 00:12:23.750 The group that protected this guy, 10,000 is about half the size of the jazz arena. 00:12:24.980 --> 00:12:28.100 They were referred to in history as the Immortals, right? 00:12:28.140 --> 00:12:32.240 If you're going to think of, what kind of secret service do you want behind you? 00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:33.060 Do you want some Vikings? 00:12:33.400 --> 00:12:34.100 Do you want some samurai? 00:12:34.920 --> 00:12:35.580 Do you want some Spartans? 00:12:36.160 --> 00:12:37.340 I'm not taking any of those. 00:12:37.560 --> 00:12:40.500 I'm taking the group called the Immortals, right? 00:12:40.520 --> 00:12:43.760 That is an incredible group of people to protect you. 00:12:43.760 --> 00:12:46.100 And that's who Xerxes had guarding him. 00:12:46.120 --> 00:12:53.260 And Xerxes invites this group, the political leaders of all of his provinces to come to 00:12:53.260 --> 00:12:55.860 celebration this banquet that he's holding. 00:12:55.880 --> 00:12:59.260 And it tells you in verse four, what is his motivation in this? 00:13:00.900 --> 00:13:06.540 Is it because he's a king that loves to serve his people and just wants to show his appreciation for them? 00:13:07.820 --> 00:13:08.420 No. 00:13:08.560 --> 00:13:08.920 Not Xerxes. 00:13:10.980 --> 00:13:14.700 His motivation is to his glory. 00:13:16.680 --> 00:13:19.460 His motivation is all about himself. 00:13:22.020 --> 00:13:27.880 Xerxes in this time period, the ruler of the Mito Persians was looked at as basically God in the flesh. 00:13:29.260 --> 00:13:30.500 And he was worshiped as such. 00:13:32.520 --> 00:13:38.200 And his interest is that people continue to promote his glory. 00:13:39.820 --> 00:13:42.160 And I'll often remind my boys of this. 00:13:42.200 --> 00:13:49.980 Something as a father I just repeat to them frequently is, when you live life for 00:13:49.980 --> 00:13:56.080 your glory, it'll treat other people as tools and inevitably hurt them. 00:13:58.600 --> 00:14:06.240 But when you live life for God's glory, it will see the blessing of who other human beings are and 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:07.220 you will bless them. 00:14:08.460 --> 00:14:08.640 All right. 00:14:08.640 --> 00:14:15.660 Life for your glory will just leverage people and things all for you, and it will diminish the image of 00:14:15.680 --> 00:14:16.650 God and others. 00:14:16.680 --> 00:14:21.140 But life for God's glory will elevate the image of God and other people, and you will live your life to bless them. 00:14:24.020 --> 00:14:27.240 And here in the story, you see the kind of person that Xerxes is. 00:14:27.320 --> 00:14:33.860 His interest isn't for the wellbeing necessarily of his people, unless the wellbeing of his people is what promotes him. 00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:41.460 And so we invite him banquet if in the end for that banquet, it's not about them, but rather it's all about him, and people think that he is great. 00:14:42.500 --> 00:14:45.860 And so his purpose in life is very selfish in its motivation. 00:14:46.260 --> 00:14:51.320 And you see within these first four verses the selfish heart of Xerxes. 00:14:51.400 --> 00:14:56.480 But what you find through the selfish heart of Xerxes, then point number two, is the destructive life of Xerxes. 00:14:56.500 --> 00:15:03.500 Look at this, the second half of verse four goes on this way, "And the splendor of his great majesty for many days, he did 00:15:03.500 --> 00:15:06.730 the celebration 180 days. 00:15:08.100 --> 00:15:12.940 180 days, Xerxes leads a celebration with tens of thousands of people. 00:15:13.300 --> 00:15:20.320 If there is one job in this providence that is going to be secure, it's the chef, and the bus boys that are taking care 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:21.190 of all of this. 00:15:21.400 --> 00:15:26.430 But if there's one job that I am sure I do not want during this time period, it has to be those positions. 00:15:27.340 --> 00:15:31.160 Thousands of people for 180 days that you're constantly serving. 00:15:31.240 --> 00:15:36.560 Some of us, we get through the Christmas holiday and we're like, Ooh, I am so glad that is done. 00:15:36.760 --> 00:15:38.970 We don't have to do that again until next year. 00:15:39.140 --> 00:15:43.400 And for them, it's the Christmas celebration every day for half of the year. 00:15:43.760 --> 00:15:50.780 And when these days were finished, the king held a banquet lasting seven days for all the people who are present at the Citadel Susa 00:15:50.780 --> 00:15:56.770 from the greatest to the least in the courtyard of the garden of the King's palace. 00:15:58.260 --> 00:16:00.540 What is he creating a picture of is this is? 00:16:01.000 --> 00:16:06.500 This is the image of Vegas meets Madrigal meets frat party. 00:16:06.540 --> 00:16:12.160 That's what's happening here with Xerxes in his leadership, inviting all these people, 180 days. 00:16:12.160 --> 00:16:13.820 It's just absolute chaos. 00:16:13.820 --> 00:16:18.440 And there's really no concern other than seeking after your own pleasure. 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:25.800 And it gets so big that people say, at its pinnacle point especially these last seven days, some estimate as many as 50,000 00:16:25.800 --> 00:16:28.710 people at one time at this celebration. 00:16:30.280 --> 00:16:37.580 Just for future knowledge when reading a text like this, I want to identify for you in verse five when it talks about 00:16:37.580 --> 00:16:41.520 the courtyard of the garden of the King's palace. 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:43.090 The very end of verse five. 00:16:44.700 --> 00:16:51.270 The word for the courtyard of the garden is actually, in the new Testament, it's the same word for the word paradise. 00:16:52.460 --> 00:17:00.100 When Jesus hung on the cross and he looked at the thief and he said to him, "You will be with me this day in paradise." That 00:17:00.100 --> 00:17:03.360 word for paradise became a picture of heaven. 00:17:05.260 --> 00:17:12.560 When this idea of this garden in Persia became so influential of people's understanding of heaven, that Jesus 00:17:12.560 --> 00:17:17.700 and Jews in the first century would use that word interchangeably with the celestial kingdom. 00:17:18.819 --> 00:17:25.200 That the Persian word for paradise was the same Jewish word for the celestial kingdom of God. 00:17:25.260 --> 00:17:33.340 And they viewed these paradises, these gardens, these menageries as this place of tranquility, this place of peace, 00:17:33.340 --> 00:17:35.340 of comfort, of luxury. 00:17:35.340 --> 00:17:37.010 It was a place only the wealthy possess. 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:43.180 It wasn't just at the King's castle, but it was in other locations among the wealthy as well. 00:17:44.020 --> 00:17:51.320 But their view of heaven was described much that way, that it was that place that welcomed you in that you found comforting 00:17:51.320 --> 00:17:54.700 to your soul and refreshing to your life. 00:17:55.460 --> 00:17:59.340 And Jesus looking at thief at the cross, he correlated heaven that way to him. 00:17:59.660 --> 00:18:06.660 Paul in 2 Corinthians 12, first four verses connected the celestial kingdom of God to the idea of the Persian 00:18:06.660 --> 00:18:07.850 word for paradise. 00:18:10.020 --> 00:18:15.100 And this is Xerxes throwing his party in these Royal areas. 00:18:15.160 --> 00:18:22.330 And then it goes on and says in verse six and seven, describes to us just how elaborate Xerxes was and his lifestyle. 00:18:22.540 --> 00:18:30.040 It says, "There were curtains of fine white and vile linen held by chords of fine purple linen on silver rings." 00:18:30.600 --> 00:18:37.840 And you think in Xerxes day, and even up until Jesus' day, if you could own something purple, 00:18:37.840 --> 00:18:39.900 you were considered the rich of the rich. 00:18:40.260 --> 00:18:42.340 These are the Rolls Royce people of life, right? 00:18:42.560 --> 00:18:49.640 And so he had these purple, and not just purple linens, you think in a castle how many windows you're going to have and all of this purple just hanging in 00:18:49.640 --> 00:18:49.800 there. 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:51.160 But it's not just purple. 00:18:51.400 --> 00:18:53.120 It's hung on silver rings. 00:18:53.120 --> 00:18:57.940 How many of you, when you look at your windows you're loaded up with these silver rings, right? 00:18:58.120 --> 00:19:03.120 And then it's marble columns on couches of gold and silver. 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:07.300 Not so much one for comfort, but definitely lavish lifestyle, right? 00:19:07.880 --> 00:19:15.000 Couches of silver and gold on mosaic floor, porphyry of marble on, I love saying it this way, sweet mother 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:16.440 of Pearl, right? 00:19:16.440 --> 00:19:22.400 And then mineral stones and drinks were served in golden vessels of various kinds. 00:19:22.660 --> 00:19:25.760 And the royal wine was principle and proportion to the king's [inaudible 00:19:26]. 00:19:26.020 --> 00:19:27.920 This is not just wine in a box. 00:19:28.060 --> 00:19:29.380 This is King's wine, right? 00:19:29.720 --> 00:19:36.780 And you can imagine if you're the bus boy of these parties, 50,000 people, and you've got to clean the cup for every meal, and you're doing multiple 00:19:36.820 --> 00:19:37.840 meals a day. 00:19:37.920 --> 00:19:44.460 You would be like, okay, washing golden cup, 49,999, 50,000. 00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:44.840 Good. 00:19:44.840 --> 00:19:45.500 They're all here. 00:19:45.500 --> 00:19:46.400 No one's stolen. 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:49.180 Let's get them back out and start this over again. 00:19:49.880 --> 00:19:54.320 And this is the kind of luxury of this kingdom. 00:19:54.320 --> 00:20:02.100 And in verse eight, "But the drinking was done according 00:20:02.100 --> 00:20:03.540 to the Royal law. 00:20:04.920 --> 00:20:12.080 There was no compulsion, so the king had driven orders to each official of his household that he was 00:20:12.080 --> 00:20:19.920 do as each person pleased." What 00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:23.420 it's saying in this passage is there's no moral compass. 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:28.080 I'm going to throw a party and I don't care what happens. 00:20:28.540 --> 00:20:33.320 You feel like bar fight, bar fight, you take advantage of something or someone, take advantage of someone or something. 00:20:33.500 --> 00:20:34.760 There's no compass. 00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:36.940 There's no limit to the drinking. 00:20:37.280 --> 00:20:43.380 You just get as crazy as you want, and that's the kind of party that Xerxes is leading here. 00:20:43.400 --> 00:20:46.320 Whatever is best for you, that's what we want. 00:20:46.320 --> 00:20:48.900 That's the theme of the party. 00:20:50.700 --> 00:20:57.440 Some people read the first eight verses of Xerxes' life and conclude, this is exactly what I want, right? 00:20:58.600 --> 00:21:03.720 No responsibility, take everything I've got, just show off who I am so people think I'm great. 00:21:04.340 --> 00:21:06.420 And everyone just do what you. 00:21:06.500 --> 00:21:07.960 That's the whole theme of life. 00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:09.480 Whatever makes you happy. 00:21:09.520 --> 00:21:12.500 There's no limit to that and just go for it. 00:21:12.740 --> 00:21:17.300 And whatever's best for you, that's not just the theme of Xerxes. 00:21:18.760 --> 00:21:21.190 I mean, that's kind of the general idea of America. 00:21:23.740 --> 00:21:25.920 The whole point of life is you. 00:21:27.240 --> 00:21:35.660 Whatever's best for you, that's what you should pursue because as long as you're happy, because you're king of life, then 00:21:35.660 --> 00:21:36.920 that's what you need. 00:21:36.940 --> 00:21:41.500 And you should justify any purpose in which to achieve that goal. 00:21:41.500 --> 00:21:44.620 What I want is most important. 00:21:47.740 --> 00:21:51.680 That's Xerxes' idea that's many people's idea today. 00:21:54.080 --> 00:22:01.420 But when you read about Xerxes' kingdom, what you find is inevitably it leads to destruction. 00:22:03.820 --> 00:22:11.060 And truthfully what we want is not what's most important, rather what we should find 00:22:11.060 --> 00:22:15.400 ourselves seeking is what God desires, because what God desires is best. 00:22:15.900 --> 00:22:23.000 When you consider just these eight verses of Xerxes' life and where this leads, just 00:22:23.000 --> 00:22:24.240 think about it. 00:22:25.520 --> 00:22:32.500 180 days of neglecting your responsibilities. 00:22:32.500 --> 00:22:38.380 For Xerxes, this was just the tip of the iceberg on the debauchery of his life. 00:22:38.520 --> 00:22:44.840 In fact, some people say the last 15 years of life, he really paid little attention to anything related to governing. 00:22:44.840 --> 00:22:48.160 He only indulged himself in his pleasures. 00:22:50.320 --> 00:22:58.460 But in this case, 180 days of neglecting his responsibilities, the theme of the party is get wasted 00:22:58.460 --> 00:22:59.160 and drunk. 00:22:59.220 --> 00:23:02.780 There's no repercussions for your actions. 00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:09.310 And inevitably in this type of environment, decision making just starts to go out the window. 00:23:09.620 --> 00:23:16.860 And when you read about the lifestyle of these parties during the Mito Persians, what happens is women 00:23:16.860 --> 00:23:23.920 were treated as tools, and taken advantage of and used as sources of entertainment for the 00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:24.900 men's pleasure. 00:23:25.740 --> 00:23:30.780 No one cares about what happens to the wealth as long as it's just used for selfish purposes. 00:23:31.760 --> 00:23:38.160 And what you find is that Xerxes' behavior ultimately really ends up hurting his kingdom, his people. 00:23:40.680 --> 00:23:43.800 Human beings are devalued at the party, especially women. 00:23:45.180 --> 00:23:51.240 And what you're not reading in these 180 days outside of this party is, what about the people in the kingdom that have needs? 00:23:53.040 --> 00:23:53.800 What about the poor? 00:23:54.860 --> 00:23:55.620 What about the broken? 00:23:57.000 --> 00:23:57.620 What about the homeless? 00:23:58.980 --> 00:24:00.980 What about the orphan? 00:24:02.460 --> 00:24:03.180 What about the sick? 00:24:04.880 --> 00:24:05.690 What about the elderly? 00:24:07.920 --> 00:24:14.940 You're going to use all of this wealth for you just to show that you could throw a great party, so people think you're great at the expense of 00:24:14.940 --> 00:24:16.550 the people that you're responsible for? 00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:19.900 What kind of king is that? 00:24:22.520 --> 00:24:23.680 What kind of life is that? 00:24:25.680 --> 00:24:32.920 If we draw all tension away from Xerxes for just a moment, realize we may not have the expanse of a kingdom that Xerxes has, but all of us represent 00:24:32.920 --> 00:24:33.960 some sort of kingdom. 00:24:33.960 --> 00:24:41.080 It may just be a little place that you call home, but you have responsibility and 00:24:41.080 --> 00:24:42.000 that responsibility influences. 00:24:44.380 --> 00:24:50.700 But if you just use that for your glory, inevitably it comes at the expense of others. 00:24:50.720 --> 00:24:53.520 And how do we ultimately know it leads to destruction? 00:24:53.580 --> 00:24:56.090 Verse 12 starts to show a hint of this. 00:24:56.440 --> 00:25:03.580 We're going to talk more about this next week, but it says," Queen Vashti refused to come to the King's order delivered by the union." So, at one 00:25:03.580 --> 00:25:07.520 point, the king said, bring me Vashti, we'll talk about why next week. 00:25:07.520 --> 00:25:09.920 But she refused. 00:25:11.220 --> 00:25:15.360 And no one tells God, no, or at least Xerxes as he says he sees himself God. 00:25:16.400 --> 00:25:23.420 And because he thinks the world is all about him, when someone tells him no, his response is to become destructive in 00:25:23.420 --> 00:25:27.220 his behavior because life is all about him being at the center. 00:25:27.220 --> 00:25:31.210 When people disobey him at the center, then he's seeing them as tools for his entertainment. 00:25:31.620 --> 00:25:34.400 He has the opportunity to then react to that. 00:25:35.600 --> 00:25:36.880 It's the same thing for us. 00:25:37.840 --> 00:25:42.660 When we think the purpose of life is all about making me happy, because I'm the king of my world. 00:25:42.680 --> 00:25:50.000 When someone tells you no, the type of response in that interaction then is to become vindictive 00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:57.120 or aggressive towards is another person, because they didn't serve the interest that you desired, because life is all about you. 00:25:57.120 --> 00:25:57.920 Not you specifically. 00:25:58.140 --> 00:26:01.720 It sounds very accusatory, but someone. 00:26:02.080 --> 00:26:05.660 If we get selfish and see the motivation about us. 00:26:05.660 --> 00:26:12.900 And so it says, "So, the king became very angry and his wrath burned within 00:26:12.900 --> 00:26:15.660 him." Destruction. 00:26:18.240 --> 00:26:21.100 I can't get what I want, I will make it happen. 00:26:22.940 --> 00:26:28.330 You're supposed to serve me because life is about me. 00:26:30.100 --> 00:26:37.300 When you read this book, one of the sorrowful things that you find is no 00:26:37.300 --> 00:26:44.420 one talks about God, no one prays, no one confesses. 00:26:46.460 --> 00:26:50.850 It's all about self glory and self glory leads to destruction. 00:26:52.500 --> 00:26:56.280 Xerxes is accountable to no one. 00:26:57.840 --> 00:27:01.100 He answers to no one because he sees himself as God. 00:27:02.300 --> 00:27:07.180 So, let me ask you, just some thoughts to ponder as we just consider Xerxes. 00:27:07.280 --> 00:27:14.140 What would you do differently if you had no accountability? 00:27:16.200 --> 00:27:16.640 No law. 00:27:18.300 --> 00:27:25.060 If you had all the power and resources in life like Xerxes, who would you be? 00:27:27.740 --> 00:27:30.350 Would you be different than the person that you are now? 00:27:33.660 --> 00:27:34.100 What would change? 00:27:36.100 --> 00:27:42.520 For some of us, that's a scary thought because our character might be dictated by our accountability. 00:27:42.800 --> 00:27:50.540 It's not really the genuineness of our heart, it's just who we find ourselves being simply because there's an authority over us. 00:27:51.160 --> 00:27:58.260 I mean, Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked." A quick way to know the kind 00:27:58.260 --> 00:28:06.840 of person that we might be if we are not governed by anything or have no responsibilities, maybe simply ask this question, what 00:28:06.840 --> 00:28:12.110 kind of person are you when you're all alone and no one else is in the room? 00:28:13.960 --> 00:28:14.470 Where do you go? 00:28:15.580 --> 00:28:16.350 What do you do? 00:28:18.420 --> 00:28:19.090 What do you think about? 00:28:20.700 --> 00:28:22.440 Or maybe we could say it like this. 00:28:24.060 --> 00:28:31.200 If everyone in the room was able to see your thoughts, if your thought life could be exposed, the kind of things 00:28:31.200 --> 00:28:33.160 that you think, desire and gravitate towards. 00:28:33.300 --> 00:28:40.760 If the people in this room could see it, would they be shocked by the things that you think, 00:28:41.640 --> 00:28:45.970 the places that you go in your mind and what you desire? 00:28:47.220 --> 00:28:54.320 For some of us, the only reason we aren't like Xerxes isn't because we lack the desire, 00:28:56.220 --> 00:28:57.700 simply because we lack the opportunity. 00:29:00.280 --> 00:29:05.760 What I mean is, we talked about Xerxes taking advantage of women at this party. 00:29:05.800 --> 00:29:10.440 It's known and documented that Xerxes had a very extensive harem in his life. 00:29:10.440 --> 00:29:13.760 And he devoted a lot of attention to that harem. 00:29:15.160 --> 00:29:18.480 Some of us may not have a harem, right? 00:29:18.580 --> 00:29:22.600 I don't want to endorse that or encourage any stretch of the imagination. 00:29:22.600 --> 00:29:29.620 You may not have a harem like Xerxes, but maybe you have a hard drive at home that 00:29:29.620 --> 00:29:31.750 would shame anything Xerxes has done. 00:29:33.500 --> 00:29:41.000 Maybe you wouldn't get wasted drunk like these parties that Xerxes leads, but maybe you watch television 00:29:41.000 --> 00:29:43.720 shows that endorse that type of behavior. 00:29:45.300 --> 00:29:51.860 Maybe you don't have the type of addictions that are described here in alcoholism, but maybe you do struggle with addiction to something. 00:29:56.740 --> 00:30:04.560 I know sometimes it's easy for us to say, well, if I won the lottery and I got 10 million, I 00:30:04.560 --> 00:30:08.760 would give so many millions to charity, right? 00:30:09.620 --> 00:30:13.760 But I can't do it now because I don't really have that much. 00:30:13.820 --> 00:30:18.460 So, it only can come when I get to that point in life where I have that much wealth. 00:30:18.460 --> 00:30:25.480 Then when I have that much wealth, then I'll start to do the godly things that I know that I should do with the resources 00:30:25.480 --> 00:30:27.960 God gives me in life. 00:30:29.460 --> 00:30:33.620 You know the encouragement in the Bible is never about the amount that you have. 00:30:36.940 --> 00:30:42.240 The reality of scripture talks to us about whether or not we're faithful with what God has given. 00:30:44.880 --> 00:30:48.460 Your faithfulness to what God has given as an indicator of where your heart truly is. 00:30:50.340 --> 00:30:55.500 When you have more, it doesn't all of a sudden necessitate that you will be more godly with those things. 00:30:56.820 --> 00:31:01.620 But rather when you have little, it's an indication of where your heart will go when you have more life. 00:31:01.920 --> 00:31:09.440 In fact, Jesus said as much in Luke 16, he says this, "The one who is faithful in a very little thing, is 00:31:09.440 --> 00:31:16.650 also faithful and much." And the one who is unrighteous in a very little thing is also unrighteous in much." 00:31:18.200 --> 00:31:25.850 He said, you don't all of a sudden become godlier when you have more, in fact, your problems might grow bigger. 00:31:26.960 --> 00:31:28.550 You might become even more ungodly. 00:31:28.560 --> 00:31:29.710 It works kind of like this. 00:31:30.120 --> 00:31:36.100 When you parent your children, the Bible tells us in the book of Proverbs 22:6, "Train up your child in the way you should go. 00:31:36.160 --> 00:31:39.460 Even when he is older, he will not abandon it." So, it works like this. 00:31:39.940 --> 00:31:44.160 Don't wait to start training your children when they're older in life and how to pursue a godly life. 00:31:45.260 --> 00:31:46.700 Because by that point, it's too late. 00:31:46.720 --> 00:31:48.860 You want to see success in your kids, you got to start when they're young. 00:31:50.120 --> 00:31:57.140 You want to start to help them understand the disciplines of what it means to follow after the Lord and living a life that's not about them, but about using 00:31:57.140 --> 00:31:59.130 the things that God has given them to bless others. 00:32:00.460 --> 00:32:03.800 Because when they're little, their problem are little. 00:32:06.080 --> 00:32:12.520 Little kids, little problems, but when they get older, their decisions have bigger consequences. 00:32:14.240 --> 00:32:16.380 You don't all of a sudden become more godly because you have more. 00:32:17.440 --> 00:32:24.440 You display the godliness now, so that if God ever blesses you with more, you can use it for his glory, but in either way, you're using 00:32:24.440 --> 00:32:25.120 it for his glory. 00:32:26.180 --> 00:32:33.180 Maybe I said it in a different way for Luke 16, "Don't wait until tomorrow to be 00:32:33.180 --> 00:32:35.080 the person God calls you to be today. 00:32:36.520 --> 00:32:42.540 Be who God calls you to be right now." So, how do you find a better way forward? 00:32:42.840 --> 00:32:49.920 All that negative talk of Xerxes and the challenges of our own heart, how do we find a better 00:32:49.920 --> 00:32:50.640 way forward? 00:32:50.640 --> 00:32:56.860 There's the type of kingdom that Xerxes builds, but we don't want to live for that kind of kingdom. 00:32:58.100 --> 00:32:59.640 And we want to build that kind of kingdom. 00:33:01.800 --> 00:33:04.880 How do we build the kind of kingdom that God calls us to? 00:33:04.900 --> 00:33:08.480 The kind of kingdom that's not for our glory, but for his glory and blesses others. 00:33:10.400 --> 00:33:17.540 Proverbs 4 says it like this, "Above all else," meaning here comes the priority of 00:33:17.540 --> 00:33:18.530 what we should make. 00:33:19.980 --> 00:33:27.260 "Above all else, guard your heart for everything 00:33:27.280 --> 00:33:34.320 you do flows from it." Above all else, guard your heart for everything you 00:33:34.320 --> 00:33:36.170 do flows from it. 00:33:36.760 --> 00:33:39.310 So, he tells us to guard, but he gives us a reason that we should guard. 00:33:39.340 --> 00:33:41.840 And the reason we should guard is that God has given you something sacred. 00:33:44.500 --> 00:33:45.560 God has given you something sacred. 00:33:46.160 --> 00:33:47.360 And what has he given you? 00:33:48.160 --> 00:33:48.560 Your heart. 00:33:51.180 --> 00:33:55.180 It's the core of who you are, it will determine how you live. 00:33:55.640 --> 00:34:00.560 It is so essential to the type of life that you will produce. 00:34:00.960 --> 00:34:05.380 God's desire right here, above all else, guard your heart. 00:34:05.880 --> 00:34:11.480 And when he uses this phrase of guarding, he really creates an image in our mind of how we're to guard you. 00:34:11.780 --> 00:34:14.659 You're guarding like a soldier at the city gates. 00:34:15.739 --> 00:34:16.540 Guard your hearts. 00:34:16.540 --> 00:34:20.570 What you're protecting in your city is the core of who you are. 00:34:20.920 --> 00:34:23.219 It is your heart at the center of this city. 00:34:23.280 --> 00:34:26.120 Guarded it like a soldier responsible for the gates. 00:34:26.159 --> 00:34:30.679 And the soldier responsible for the gates, he dictates what comes in and what comes out. 00:34:30.900 --> 00:34:38.080 And knowing that he cares for that city, what he wants in is the things that are going to bless that city and what then he lets out are the things 00:34:38.080 --> 00:34:39.239 that will bless this world. 00:34:40.199 --> 00:34:47.320 What he provide in nurtures the health of the community and therefore what he lets out nurtures the health of everything 00:34:47.320 --> 00:34:47.960 around it. 00:34:49.580 --> 00:34:54.219 Guard your heart that way, protect it. 00:34:54.219 --> 00:34:55.080 It is sacred. 00:34:55.540 --> 00:35:01.820 It is a gift because from it will flow something. 00:35:03.840 --> 00:35:10.190 And what will flow from it is determined by what you let into it. 00:35:11.920 --> 00:35:17.200 Guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life. 00:35:18.000 --> 00:35:23.760 When you look at the life of Xerxes, he didn't become the kind of man he was overnight. 00:35:25.900 --> 00:35:28.080 He became this kind of man over time. 00:35:30.500 --> 00:35:36.100 He invested certain things into his heart, into his life that determined his steps. 00:35:38.240 --> 00:35:39.500 And the same's true for us. 00:35:41.600 --> 00:35:44.540 When I think about being a Christian, being a Christian isn't about rules. 00:35:47.660 --> 00:35:48.940 Being a Christian is about relationship. 00:35:51.440 --> 00:35:53.480 Knowing God, walking with him. 00:35:54.120 --> 00:35:58.080 But in knowing God and walking with him, we're also called to be a disciple. 00:35:59.760 --> 00:36:02.360 And the root word for disciple is discipline. 00:36:03.000 --> 00:36:10.890 It means we follow particular disciplines in our lives that shape our hearts to better follow our king, who is Jesus? 00:36:10.980 --> 00:36:18.380 So, how do we nurture a heart that from it flows blessing rather 00:36:18.380 --> 00:36:19.500 than destruction? 00:36:20.480 --> 00:36:22.560 Can I end by just giving you quickly five things? 00:36:23.900 --> 00:36:25.320 Just five things, it's at the bottom of your notes. 00:36:25.320 --> 00:36:32.440 You can fill these in quickly as we go along, but five things to nurture a healthy heart that help us in a pattern of discipline, that 00:36:32.440 --> 00:36:36.000 makes us a better disciple that blesses in this world. 00:36:36.040 --> 00:36:39.100 These are not hard, fast rules. 00:36:39.100 --> 00:36:43.900 These are proverbial thoughts that if you think to yourself, you're right, there are pieces of me that are like Xerxes. 00:36:44.220 --> 00:36:47.520 I don't want to be like Xerxes, but rather I want to be like Jesus. 00:36:47.680 --> 00:36:48.540 And here he goes. 00:36:48.860 --> 00:36:53.620 Point number one, give God the first hour of the day. 00:36:56.240 --> 00:37:02.660 When you start your day, align your heart with a thing that will produce the fruit that Jesus desires. 00:37:03.060 --> 00:37:06.480 Start your day by giving God the first hour of it. 00:37:07.260 --> 00:37:14.480 Point number two, give God the first day of the week, Psalm 63:1 says, "Early will I seek you, 00:37:14.500 --> 00:37:21.900 my soul earnestly desires you." Hebrews 10:25 says, "Do not forsake the assembling of ourselves together." Meaning as 00:37:21.900 --> 00:37:25.500 God's community, there's not a law that we say that we have to worship on Sunday. 00:37:25.500 --> 00:37:26.620 That is not New Testament. 00:37:26.640 --> 00:37:28.290 There is an Old Testament law for Sabbath. 00:37:28.680 --> 00:37:29.790 There's not a New Testament law. 00:37:30.700 --> 00:37:37.840 But for us, what is important is that God's community still finds a way to gather because we're supposed to spur one another on according to Hebrews 10:23 to 00:37:37.840 --> 00:37:39.510 love and good heeds. 00:37:39.640 --> 00:37:43.060 And we should not, verse 25, for safety assembling of ourselves together to do that. 00:37:43.060 --> 00:37:45.400 God, we thrive in community before the Lord. 00:37:45.880 --> 00:37:50.140 And point number three, give God the first consideration in every decision. 00:37:50.240 --> 00:37:53.260 Rather than saying, life is about me, recognize life is about his glory. 00:37:53.680 --> 00:37:57.740 Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart. 00:37:57.880 --> 00:38:04.340 Don't lean in your own understanding, and in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths." Just to ask the question before you make a decision. 00:38:04.820 --> 00:38:10.280 There might be what I want, but what is it that God desires, and does my heart align with what God's heart is? 00:38:10.860 --> 00:38:15.230 Point number four, give God the first portion of your resources. 00:38:15.440 --> 00:38:21.580 1 Corinthians 10:31, "Whether you eat or drink, whatever you do it all to the glory of God." It's to recognize this. 00:38:23.040 --> 00:38:25.960 The world looks at their possessions and they say that I own them. 00:38:27.300 --> 00:38:30.580 Christians look at their possessions and say, the Lord owns them, I steward them. 00:38:32.340 --> 00:38:37.050 What it means is everything that God has given me, God didn't have to give me. 00:38:37.380 --> 00:38:43.580 I could have been born anywhere else at any other time, but God let me be born here and with the things that I have. 00:38:44.600 --> 00:38:45.140 And they're a gift. 00:38:46.140 --> 00:38:46.520 They're a gift. 00:38:46.520 --> 00:38:53.560 My talents, the abilities God gave me, the way I think, the things that I can do, they're all a 00:38:53.560 --> 00:38:53.660 gift. 00:38:55.060 --> 00:38:58.300 A gift that I'm responsible for, a gift that I steward for his glory. 00:38:59.660 --> 00:39:05.820 And I give God the first portion, because it indicates that my heart goes to him first and all things and the way that I live for him. 00:39:05.820 --> 00:39:10.660 And point number five is this, give God first place in your heart. 00:39:10.660 --> 00:39:11.980 Mark 12:30-31. 00:39:12.620 --> 00:39:20.760 "Love the Lord, your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind." What kind of kingdom do 00:39:20.760 --> 00:39:22.330 you desire to build? 00:39:24.840 --> 00:39:25.820 Who do you desire to be? 00:39:27.880 --> 00:39:31.860 The investment you put in today will determine the kind of person you are tomorrow. 00:39:34.060 --> 00:39:39.860 There is a Xerxes of life that lives life for his glory, his purpose that leads to destruction of others. 00:39:41.060 --> 00:39:44.560 But then there's a type of life that blesses, a type of life that mimics the Lord. 00:39:44.560 --> 00:39:51.600 And quite honestly, it's a representation of the kingdom that our 00:39:51.660 --> 00:39:52.840 God already possesses. 00:39:54.100 --> 00:39:56.430 What you see this morning is really two kingdoms. 00:39:57.640 --> 00:40:00.360 A kingdom like Xerxes' or a kingdom like God's. 00:40:01.440 --> 00:40:05.150 And the question of our heart each day is which kingdom will I live for?