WEBVTT 00:00:00.340 --> 00:00:03.820 I want to invite you to Esther chapter six, is where we're going to be together today. 00:00:04.340 --> 00:00:07.420 Esther chapter six, where we'll be reading the book of Esther. 00:00:07.460 --> 00:00:12.190 If you want to find it, all you have to do is open up to the middle of your Bible, that's going to put you in somewhere in the Psalm. 00:00:12.380 --> 00:00:18.260 Psalms is the biggest book in the Bible, and you just flip back two books and you'll find Esther chapter six. 00:00:18.620 --> 00:00:24.220 And today we're going to be talking about the God of the gallows, which is kind of an ominous title, isn't it? 00:00:24.220 --> 00:00:31.300 Anytime you refer to gallows, a little timid in its discussion, but it's a perfect introduction to where I 00:00:31.300 --> 00:00:31.920 think we're going to be. 00:00:32.100 --> 00:00:39.520 I told you a couple weeks ago, Esther 14:14,16, are probably the most popular 00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:40.880 verses in the Bible. 00:00:40.920 --> 00:00:47.540 This is where in verse 14 where Mordecai recognizes the Esther was put into her position for such a time as this. 00:00:47.560 --> 00:00:52.110 That God had kind of orchestrated some things to put her in a position to help spare her people. 00:00:52.500 --> 00:00:55.700 So that's kind of the famous verses of this book. 00:00:55.700 --> 00:01:01.810 And then verse 16 is where she says, "If I perish, I perish." She's willing to lay down her life and step into faith in the Lord. 00:01:02.460 --> 00:01:04.340 Beautiful verses in the Bible. 00:01:04.360 --> 00:01:11.440 But I would say out of all the chapters in the Bible, if someone went to one chapter to highlight this is where you get the theme 00:01:11.440 --> 00:01:16.250 idea expressed in the book of Esther, for me I think it's chapter six. 00:01:16.760 --> 00:01:23.760 And the reason I think this chapter is so important is if I gave us a way to relate to this practically, there are 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:31.220 times in your journey in your relationship with God, where you might feel sort of like the anomaly to what scripture says and not 00:01:31.220 --> 00:01:32.000 in a good way. 00:01:32.020 --> 00:01:39.520 What I mean is sometimes we read God's word and we see God expressed in beautiful ways and God's promise to God's 00:01:39.520 --> 00:01:41.210 people, and we think, "Man, that is incredible. 00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:48.940 That is amazing how God communicates Himself and how He's demonstrated Himself in history and the way He talks to His people." 00:01:49.000 --> 00:01:53.080 But we start to read those words on a page, it feels like it's for them. 00:01:53.080 --> 00:02:00.080 It's like, "I see God's promises and I'm so glad God made those promises for those people, but I'm kind of like the forgotten child and 00:02:00.080 --> 00:02:07.020 all often, no man's land." And you to see God's word and you want to think God's word's true, but then there's how you feel. 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:09.639 And how you feel doesn't always relate to what you read. 00:02:09.699 --> 00:02:13.730 And you struggle between the feelings of where you are and what God's truth says. 00:02:13.820 --> 00:02:19.980 And before long, you might start leaning into your feelings and you start believing your feelings over and above what God's word says. 00:02:20.340 --> 00:02:21.530 And we have that struggle. 00:02:21.820 --> 00:02:28.980 And chapter six is that perfect place where if you ever have experienced that in your Christian life, chapter six is your 00:02:28.980 --> 00:02:31.440 chapter in the book of Esther to encourage you along. 00:02:31.440 --> 00:02:37.940 Because I would think when you read this story, Mordecai and Esther would experience a similar struggle. 00:02:37.940 --> 00:02:44.440 You think about where they're at in the circumstance of the story where it seems like all the chips are just falling against them. 00:02:44.620 --> 00:02:51.820 The Xerxes seems distant to the care of God's people, the Jewish people under this Persian rule, and Haman 00:02:51.820 --> 00:02:53.020 certainly hates them. 00:02:53.180 --> 00:02:57.050 And Haman's been able to write a law against them, and now all of them are going to die. 00:02:57.580 --> 00:03:00.120 And you think in that moment, how you might feel. 00:03:01.380 --> 00:03:04.740 And Esther Mordecai, they could have stepped into that feeling. 00:03:04.740 --> 00:03:05.400 They could have thought... 00:03:05.640 --> 00:03:07.460 They could have sought, they could have just sat there. 00:03:07.480 --> 00:03:11.160 They could have just said, "Woe is me," and did nothing with their life. 00:03:11.180 --> 00:03:14.270 They just got into that depressive state and they didn't want to get out of bed. 00:03:14.500 --> 00:03:20.460 But rather than live that way, they chose to walk in faith. 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:22.290 They came to that position of how they feel. 00:03:22.860 --> 00:03:24.240 You saw how Mordecai felt. 00:03:24.240 --> 00:03:31.400 He goes out into the city in the middle of the town square, and he's just weeping and he's welling and he's fasting and 00:03:31.400 --> 00:03:32.040 he's praying. 00:03:32.320 --> 00:03:40.110 And Esther's doing the same thing in the state of this desperate feeling, but they choose still to walk by faith. 00:03:41.240 --> 00:03:47.400 And in Esther chapter six is where through their story, we start to see this encouragement in the storm. 00:03:48.620 --> 00:03:56.140 And if you grab the notes this morning, this is the first blank in your notes, this is the encouragement that we're going to find is; trust in God's 00:03:56.140 --> 00:03:56.240 providence. 00:03:58.300 --> 00:04:00.380 This is what we find here, is this trusting in God's Providence. 00:04:00.420 --> 00:04:05.580 It starts in chapter 6:1, it says, "During the night, the king could not sleep. 00:04:05.580 --> 00:04:10.180 So he gave an order to bring the book of records, the Chronicles, and they were read before the king. 00:04:10.200 --> 00:04:17.339 And it was found written what Mordecai had reported about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's Eunuchs who 00:04:17.339 --> 00:04:24.930 were doorkeepers, that they had sought to a king or Ahasuerus," which is also king Xerxes. 00:04:27.080 --> 00:04:31.420 When I read this, initially when the story starts out, the king can't sleep at night. 00:04:31.500 --> 00:04:34.220 And I don't think this is any sort of surprise that king can't sleep at night. 00:04:34.540 --> 00:04:40.600 I would think the majority of kings probably struggle to sleep at night because kings tend to have a lot on their shoulders. 00:04:41.080 --> 00:04:48.080 And then especially when I think about Xerxes, some of the things we talk about Xerxes, we say things like, history records that Xerxes may have had as 00:04:48.080 --> 00:04:50.500 many as a thousand plus women in his helm. 00:04:51.560 --> 00:04:56.000 And you think with that many women, there's got to be a lot of kids running around too. 00:04:56.760 --> 00:05:04.060 I would expect it should probably say something like this, that rather than tell us that there's nights Xerxes doesn't sleep, it should tell us in victory if Xerxes 00:05:04.060 --> 00:05:05.400 ever got a night of sleep. 00:05:05.400 --> 00:05:06.500 You know how it goes? 00:05:06.780 --> 00:05:11.640 You think a thousand women in your helm, how many times in the middle of the night you're going to get poked in the back and says, "I heard a noise. 00:05:11.720 --> 00:05:18.940 Can you go check it out?" Or "Little Johnny threw up again, someone's got to take care of this." You're like, with that many people going on your kingdom you think 00:05:18.940 --> 00:05:22.260 this guy would be a pretty busy guy even in middle of the night. 00:05:22.860 --> 00:05:26.280 But we also know about king Xerxes that he's a selfish king. 00:05:26.360 --> 00:05:30.410 So he probably didn't have to deal with any of these on his own. 00:05:30.440 --> 00:05:37.580 But what you're seeing here is, as Xerxes is having the sleepless night, the story that began with 00:05:37.580 --> 00:05:41.940 Esther and Mordecai, really in particular chapter two, it's coming full circle here. 00:05:42.320 --> 00:05:47.700 Here you have a king sleepless in the night and he wants a bedtime story. 00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:51.300 Little warm milk, someone pat his little belly and read him a bedtime story. 00:05:51.840 --> 00:05:55.620 And when the king picks his bedtime story, what story does the king pick? 00:05:55.620 --> 00:06:00.020 Well, the king picks his favorite stories, stories about him and how great he is. 00:06:00.340 --> 00:06:03.380 And so he has the record of his life, which has been recorded. 00:06:03.760 --> 00:06:10.840 And by the way, when kings had stories recorded about themselves, they never wrote about the bad stuff, they didn't talk about their defeats in battle, they 00:06:10.840 --> 00:06:12.310 only wrote about the victories. 00:06:12.420 --> 00:06:14.170 No one was allowed to make the king unhappy. 00:06:14.940 --> 00:06:21.320 And so when he pulls out these records, it's all of the great stories about great things that happened to the king. 00:06:21.320 --> 00:06:24.840 And here the king has one of his favorite bedtime stories. 00:06:24.840 --> 00:06:29.970 And he opens up to a particular story that's read to him that night and it's about Mordecai. 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:38.220 And he reads about Mordecai and how Mordecai spared the king's life and how great now the glorious king gets to live. 00:06:38.320 --> 00:06:45.400 And then in verse three, the king asked the question, the king said, "What honor or 00:06:45.540 --> 00:06:52.640 dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?" And the king servant who attended him said, "Nothing 00:06:52.640 --> 00:06:59.820 has been done for him." When you put at this story chronologically as 00:06:59.820 --> 00:07:04.700 it's unfolded, chapter two, the end of chapter two is where it's told that Mordecai spared the king's life. 00:07:04.740 --> 00:07:09.350 Chapter six now, we see the king reflecting on this story and asking this question. 00:07:09.560 --> 00:07:16.740 It's been a number of years since Mordecai has spared the king to the point that now the king is starting to ask the question, has any honor ever 00:07:16.740 --> 00:07:18.000 been bestowed upon Mordecai. 00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:22.690 Because some say maybe five, six years have passed in this story. 00:07:23.140 --> 00:07:30.200 And some people, when they would read this, they would say this is great that this has happened for Mordecai, but that's as far 00:07:30.200 --> 00:07:31.350 as anything's recognized. 00:07:31.440 --> 00:07:33.250 They might call this random luck. 00:07:33.440 --> 00:07:40.580 They might refer to this as coincidence or somehow the stars aligned, or maybe he got the best fortune cookie out of the group that went to 00:07:40.580 --> 00:07:41.460 dinner that night. 00:07:41.480 --> 00:07:45.610 But whatever it is, for Mordecai some people see this as coincidence. 00:07:47.380 --> 00:07:54.540 But as we've looked at the story of Esther, we as God's people should see this as something far more than just simply 00:07:54.540 --> 00:07:55.440 coincidence. 00:07:56.800 --> 00:08:05.100 Is it random luck that Esther rose to power under 00:08:05.100 --> 00:08:06.560 Xerxes the king of Persia? 00:08:08.260 --> 00:08:14.780 Is it random that Mordecai has spared the king's life and never recognized for it? 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:18.690 And five years later, it's starting to be drawn to the king's attention. 00:08:18.820 --> 00:08:23.110 Is it random luck that Haman writes a law against the Jewish people? 00:08:23.420 --> 00:08:28.920 And now in the story we're going to find Haman is on his way to talk to the king about killing Mordecai. 00:08:30.520 --> 00:08:37.700 And it just so happens that when Haman is on his way to talk to the king about killing Mordecai, that it's the same night that the king just so 00:08:37.700 --> 00:08:40.280 happens to have a sleepless night. 00:08:40.280 --> 00:08:43.700 And in that sleepless night, the king decides he needs a bedtime story. 00:08:43.760 --> 00:08:50.960 And out of all the stories that the king could have read to him, it happens to be the random story of 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:53.000 Mordecai sparing the king's life. 00:08:54.700 --> 00:09:02.230 Is that coincidence or is that providence. 00:09:05.920 --> 00:09:13.080 God's people, when we see these things working about, it becomes easy for us to recognize that it's 00:09:13.180 --> 00:09:20.280 God behind these scenes orchestrating things by his sovereign hand to accomplish his goodwill 00:09:20.280 --> 00:09:24.800 for his glory to the benefit of his people. 00:09:26.140 --> 00:09:26.840 This is not random. 00:09:28.700 --> 00:09:29.600 This is a God who cares. 00:09:29.660 --> 00:09:36.700 And I love the way that Esther communicates this to us, because this is more realistic to the perspectives of our 00:09:36.700 --> 00:09:37.250 lives. 00:09:38.220 --> 00:09:45.280 When we're living our lives, you may look back on your life and think, "Have I ever experienced the providence of God working in my life this way?" 00:09:45.340 --> 00:09:50.600 There's no megaphone that comes down and says to you, "Look, this is the providence of God. 00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:52.880 Recognize this." That's not how this works. 00:09:53.000 --> 00:10:00.380 You can look back at your life and see that there's some evidence where by the grace of God, the Lord just intervened in a way that didn't 00:10:00.380 --> 00:10:05.500 seem natural to the circumstance, but it sure helped me with where I am and in my life in this moment. 00:10:05.500 --> 00:10:08.560 I am so thankful that God did that in the life of Esther. 00:10:08.660 --> 00:10:15.780 We never have God verbally talked about in this book, but you see the evidence of God's sovereignty, his providence 00:10:15.780 --> 00:10:17.260 taking place throughout it. 00:10:17.280 --> 00:10:24.280 This is not random that all of this has come to orchestrate to this particular moment where all of this would unfold the way that it has to spare 00:10:24.280 --> 00:10:24.880 God's people. 00:10:25.280 --> 00:10:29.820 This is God's hand behind all of the messiness of people and living their lives. 00:10:29.820 --> 00:10:36.960 And God's still loving, compassionately, showing up to demonstrate his merciful hand being expressed in his 00:10:36.960 --> 00:10:38.500 goodness and to their benefit. 00:10:38.540 --> 00:10:45.720 I think in my life, I ask the question, I don't know all the details of yours, but in mine, have I ever seen the providence of God show up in a way that in 00:10:45.720 --> 00:10:49.720 the moment it didn't feel like God was there. 00:10:52.180 --> 00:10:54.280 In fact, it felt like God was distant. 00:10:56.200 --> 00:10:59.870 But now looking back on it, his hand was all over it. 00:11:01.340 --> 00:11:08.660 I think about, when I moved to Utah, or first time I visited Utah, God put a burden 00:11:08.660 --> 00:11:11.360 and a desire in my heart to ultimately move back here. 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:14.990 And it took a couple years, but the Lord was able to lead me here. 00:11:16.660 --> 00:11:23.680 Growing up as a child, I grew up very hateful against God and I grew 00:11:23.680 --> 00:11:24.300 up very poor. 00:11:24.620 --> 00:11:27.100 I grew up with a single mom in West Virginia. 00:11:29.040 --> 00:11:36.440 And moving to Utah, I realized when I got here, it's strange to think that growing 00:11:36.440 --> 00:11:43.800 up poor that I would ever turn back and be like, "And God's hand was all over that." But coming to Utah and starting 00:11:43.800 --> 00:11:50.810 a church in Utah, for my wife and I to be successful here, it took years of just living on rice and beans. 00:11:53.000 --> 00:11:58.500 And for me didn't feel like much of a struggle because I still live better than how it was growing up. 00:11:58.660 --> 00:12:05.740 But I realized in looking back from my life that God had prepared me even as a child, to be able to endure and 00:12:05.740 --> 00:12:11.700 have some grit because of how He raised me and the what it took for me to come to know the Lord. 00:12:13.040 --> 00:12:20.420 Just the continued compassion and grace of God, just over and over, peppering my life as I grew up and how hard-hearted I was, 00:12:20.540 --> 00:12:24.260 and moving to Utah and wanting to talk to people about the Lord. 00:12:26.020 --> 00:12:33.150 It's not always easy, but the tenderness of Jesus in my life, God's hand was all over that. 00:12:34.220 --> 00:12:41.320 And as I even think about just our story as God's written it together as his community, we 00:12:41.320 --> 00:12:48.500 had the desire of building a church building in our city and seeing our city haves it's first church building that would just be here as 00:12:48.500 --> 00:12:51.540 a light that would outlive the people that were a part of it. 00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:58.400 And we had the economic crash in '08 and we were a small church with no money, but this building came available. 00:12:59.000 --> 00:13:06.260 And we spent some time even as a church coming around this building and praying, that God would just make a way for us to get a place like this, 00:13:06.440 --> 00:13:08.170 which was a big stretch for us at the time. 00:13:09.300 --> 00:13:11.780 And then it sat vacant for two and a half years. 00:13:12.180 --> 00:13:19.560 And then about the two and a half years of us praying and thinking, "We're about done, this is impossible." All of a sudden the bank that owned the building calls 00:13:19.560 --> 00:13:26.700 me and says, "Someone made an offer, but we know you guys have desired this building for so long, but we would just feel 00:13:26.700 --> 00:13:29.990 bad if we sold it." When does a bank talk about their feelings? 00:13:30.560 --> 00:13:33.560 "We would feel bad if we did it. 00:13:33.560 --> 00:13:40.740 So we want to help you get this, if you can pay what the other group has offered to pay." And I just remember on 00:13:40.740 --> 00:13:43.000 this phone thinking, "Oh, well, we have no money. 00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:50.200 This is not happening." And I just said back to the bank, "We have no money, unless you guys carry the loan for us, there's 00:13:50.200 --> 00:13:58.000 just no way that we'll ever afford this." and the bank says, "Okay, we'll do that." It's crazy to think. 00:14:01.260 --> 00:14:08.940 You step into a situation that just seems impossible, but you look to the Lord because 00:14:09.020 --> 00:14:14.780 you know God is great, and God loves you, and God is for you. 00:14:16.140 --> 00:14:21.080 And God desires his people just to lean into him, and just to trust in him. 00:14:21.400 --> 00:14:26.100 And the providence of God just works in all that. 00:14:26.120 --> 00:14:30.610 And I was going to pepper in this with the story of the time I met my wife. 00:14:30.740 --> 00:14:34.820 Even meeting her as a young kid, hating the Lord and just coming to him. 00:14:35.020 --> 00:14:39.560 I remember I went to a Christian camp up and I saw my wife for the first time on a stage doing a skit. 00:14:39.900 --> 00:14:44.240 And she was looking peanut butter out the armpit of another girl in the middle of this skit. 00:14:44.360 --> 00:14:45.140 It was love at... 00:14:45.320 --> 00:14:52.360 I was going to share that story, but I decided I'll just leave that there, cliffhanger, you don't know how that ends, but God's 00:14:52.480 --> 00:14:57.720 providence and how He works all those things together, it's weird, but He does it. 00:14:58.080 --> 00:15:05.680 And that's the story of Esther, chapter six, these first three verses, some people may look at this and think, "Man, 00:15:05.820 --> 00:15:08.940 he had great fortune," but it's more than fortune. 00:15:10.680 --> 00:15:11.820 It's much more than fortunate. 00:15:11.980 --> 00:15:19.100 It's under appreciative of the Lord to not take the time to recognize that even in your own life, how God brings that together and what has 00:15:19.100 --> 00:15:20.120 you here today. 00:15:20.160 --> 00:15:27.190 And so for us though, in the middle of these moments, it's important to recognize it's not always easy to trust in the providence of God, 00:15:29.020 --> 00:15:31.260 because what I'm an expert in trust in is and me. 00:15:33.100 --> 00:15:40.270 Because what I tend to want to default to as a person is to live life for my glory. 00:15:40.900 --> 00:15:43.340 And trusting in God's providence requires faith. 00:15:43.420 --> 00:15:50.520 But here's a part that I'm thankful and trusting in this providence is, when it comes to the idea of faith and this Christian walk, that God doesn't ask us to have a faith 00:15:50.520 --> 00:15:51.510 built on ignorance. 00:15:53.220 --> 00:16:00.320 There's been plenty of evidence even just for our lives today to still say when I cannot see the next step in front 00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:07.500 of me, just to lean fully into the Lord, because the evidence of God's goodness has already been demonstrated for God's people throughout 00:16:07.500 --> 00:16:07.820 time. 00:16:09.040 --> 00:16:16.840 And the most specific place we have to look at as God's people is, the hand of God made known on the cross That 00:16:16.840 --> 00:16:24.920 God would pursue us in that particular way, that the King of kings as Philippians chapter two would tell us, would become nothing, taking 00:16:24.920 --> 00:16:27.280 on the form of a servant for you and for me, in verse five. 00:16:29.020 --> 00:16:36.100 If I ever question the next step in my life and whether or not I should trust in God, the evidence of God for me to be able to put my faith 00:16:36.100 --> 00:16:43.180 in that moment is to look back at the hand of God in what he's already done in my life and for my life by dying for me on 00:16:43.180 --> 00:16:43.520 the cross. 00:16:45.880 --> 00:16:47.670 And so our prayer in this moment is easy. 00:16:47.820 --> 00:16:52.360 It becomes this, "God, I see what you say, I see the truth of your word. 00:16:54.240 --> 00:17:01.240 And then there's how I feel in this moment, but God, give me the strength 00:17:01.240 --> 00:17:05.020 to step into this by faith. 00:17:06.260 --> 00:17:13.540 God, let me lean fully into you, and Lord hold me and guide me through it." 00:17:13.940 --> 00:17:21.380 So not only in verse three do we begin to see this unfolding, but then it starts to tell us in these next verses, 00:17:21.599 --> 00:17:22.300 how that looks. 00:17:22.300 --> 00:17:26.579 And so the next point in your blank would be this, experience God's plan. 00:17:26.849 --> 00:17:32.880 It comes to this place when you step by faith, you start to then experience God's plan, which also involves his power and his protection. 00:17:33.080 --> 00:17:36.780 But you could also put that in the blank as well, but I can give you that big enough a spot. 00:17:37.180 --> 00:17:38.300 So experiencing God's plan. 00:17:38.360 --> 00:17:39.120 And this is how it happens. 00:17:39.380 --> 00:17:42.420 That Ephesians 3:20, gives us a reminder of this promise. 00:17:42.660 --> 00:17:48.980 "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us. 00:17:49.080 --> 00:17:56.300 It's saying, "Look, when you trust in the Lord, when you follow after God, whatever you think imaginable that God can do, it is far beyond that." 00:17:58.200 --> 00:18:01.180 And so in verse four, then it starts to describe how that lays out. 00:18:01.600 --> 00:18:09.000 It says, "So the king said, "Who is in the courtyard?" Now, Haman had just entered the outer courtyard of the king's palace in 00:18:09.000 --> 00:18:16.590 order to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the wooden gallows which he had prepared before him." Remember how chapter five ended? 00:18:18.990 --> 00:18:23.630 Haman and Xerxes were invited to a dinner party put on by queen Esther. 00:18:24.240 --> 00:18:28.700 Xerxes obviously should be invited, he's the king, but Haman was invited. 00:18:28.820 --> 00:18:32.040 And he thought he was just the most privileged human being in all the kingdom. 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:35.320 And he walks away in chapter five, thinking he's just so great. 00:18:35.600 --> 00:18:38.430 But then as he's leaving, he sees Mordecai once again. 00:18:38.640 --> 00:18:42.280 And Mordecai just makes him so angry because Mordecai wouldn't bow to Haman. 00:18:42.860 --> 00:18:47.000 And so Mordecai, even in all these great things that have happened in his life, he still finds no joy because... 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:48.600 Excuse me. 00:18:48.600 --> 00:18:51.040 Haman finds no joy because of what Mordecai has done to him. 00:18:51.300 --> 00:18:52.380 He won't bow to him. 00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:56.850 And so he's just eaten by this anger to the point that he goes and builds these gallows. 00:18:57.620 --> 00:19:04.040 And now after he's built these gallows to kill Mordecai upon, Haman goes to the king in order to talk to the king about it. 00:19:04.680 --> 00:19:08.580 And in verse four, it says this, that he goes to speak to the king. 00:19:08.600 --> 00:19:14.420 And the way the Hebrew text was written it says it like this, he's not going into the king to ask the king whether or not he can kill Mordecai. 00:19:15.220 --> 00:19:21.960 I mean, he's already written a law that says he can kill the Jews, but he's going in not to ask the king if he can kill Mordecai, but rather he is saying, "Look.. 00:19:22.040 --> 00:19:27.850 " He wants to tell the king, he's going to say to the king, "Look, I know I wrote these laws, but we're going to just get a little bit of a headstart here. 00:19:28.700 --> 00:19:31.860 I'm going to go ahead and kill Mordecai." He's not there to ask the king. 00:19:32.140 --> 00:19:35.760 He's there to declare to the king that's what's going to take place. 00:19:35.840 --> 00:19:42.340 And then in verse five it says, "So the king servant said to him, behold, Haman is standing in the court courtyard. 00:19:42.580 --> 00:19:47.980 And the king said, have him come in." This is interesting I think, in the story. 00:19:48.440 --> 00:19:50.460 Remember the king is up in the middle of the night. 00:19:51.360 --> 00:19:53.300 It doesn't tell us morning has arrived yet. 00:19:54.200 --> 00:20:01.240 And Haman is so anxious about getting his killing done, I guess, early in the morning that he shows up to the courtyard to talk 00:20:01.240 --> 00:20:03.020 to the king before anyone else gets there. 00:20:03.020 --> 00:20:10.080 He just wants to make sure he's the first in line because he realizes later in the day, he's already been invited to another dinner party with Esther and the 00:20:10.080 --> 00:20:10.760 king again. 00:20:10.840 --> 00:20:13.640 So he wants to care of his business early and get back to that. 00:20:13.640 --> 00:20:16.220 So he enters the courtyard before the sun's even up. 00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:21.340 And he's there to declare to the king how he's going to spend the early morning of the day. 00:20:21.360 --> 00:20:26.220 Maybe he's even going to say the king, "I might be a little late, I've got some business to care for, and this is what I'm going to do. 00:20:26.500 --> 00:20:32.780 So just expect me maybe 15, 30 minutes past when this dinner party is supposed to start." That's what he shows up for. 00:20:32.780 --> 00:20:40.140 But in verse six, Haman then came in and the king said to him, "What is to be done for the man whom the king desires 00:20:40.140 --> 00:20:47.540 to honor?" Whenever you enter in the king's presence, even if you have something that you want to say to the king, out 00:20:47.540 --> 00:20:51.020 of respect for the king, it's always important to let the king go first. 00:20:52.180 --> 00:20:56.500 And so the king gets to share what he desires before you get to share what you desire. 00:20:56.780 --> 00:21:04.000 And the king asks this question, "When there's someone I want to honor, what do I do with that?" And you got to think, in Haman's state of mind in this moment, Haman left 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:08.000 the dinner party yesterday, thinking he's the thing this kingdom's ever had. 00:21:08.860 --> 00:21:14.950 And so when king Xerxes asked this question, Haman's thinking, "Oh, I know who this guy's talking about. 00:21:15.280 --> 00:21:22.340 I mean, the celebration of my glory is not over yet?" And so Haman thinks this the king wants 00:21:22.340 --> 00:21:25.100 to ask him about what's good to honor him. 00:21:25.100 --> 00:21:32.820 In fact, it tells you that much at the end of verse six, "And Haman said to himself, "Whom would the king desire to honor more than 00:21:32.820 --> 00:21:40.300 me?" Can I tell you some of the worst decisions 00:21:40.300 --> 00:21:44.420 we make as human beings are built on pride? 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:49.920 And this is exactly where Haman is. 00:21:51.660 --> 00:21:54.520 And you can just see how the chips are about to fall. 00:21:56.400 --> 00:22:03.500 And then in verse seven to nine, Haman just wants to open up his mouth to show us just how good he 00:22:03.500 --> 00:22:07.220 is about thinking of his own glory. 00:22:07.240 --> 00:22:14.340 And he starts to describe for the king what he feels like the answer would be to honor this mysterious person that he thinks 00:22:14.340 --> 00:22:16.240 is obviously himself. 00:22:16.340 --> 00:22:23.780 So he says in verse seven, "Therefore Haman said to the king, "For the man whom the king desires to honor, have them bring a royal robe 00:22:23.780 --> 00:22:30.820 in which the king has worn, and the horse on which the king has ridden, and on whose head 00:22:30.820 --> 00:22:32.960 a royal turban has been placed. 00:22:33.360 --> 00:22:40.600 Then order them to hand the robe and the horse over to one of the king's noble officials, and have them dress the 00:22:40.600 --> 00:22:47.200 man whom the king desires to honor, and lead him on horseback through the city square and proclaim before him. 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:54.620 "So it shall be done for the man whom the king desires to honor." He's just thinking, "Man, what would be the 00:22:54.860 --> 00:23:02.040 best thing that could happen in anyone's life that they would talk about for the rest of their life and everyone around 00:23:02.040 --> 00:23:09.080 them would continue to bring this up as the pinnacle moment of all of life." And this is what he comes up with, wearing 00:23:09.080 --> 00:23:14.980 the king clothes, on the best of the king's horses and he gets paraded through the street. 00:23:14.980 --> 00:23:22.060 And all of the leadership of the kingdom declares how great this guy is, that would be phenomenal." And that 00:23:22.060 --> 00:23:25.800 exposes what Haman desires in his pride. 00:23:25.900 --> 00:23:29.370 And then verse 10 happens. 00:23:31.380 --> 00:23:38.380 And in an instant, he goes from a place of pride to a 00:23:38.460 --> 00:23:39.930 place of incredible humility. 00:23:40.420 --> 00:23:41.690 And this was how the king responds. 00:23:42.140 --> 00:23:49.260 He says, "Then the king said to Haman, "Quickly, take the robe and the horse just as you have said, and do so 00:23:49.260 --> 00:23:56.640 for Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king's gate; do not fail to do anything of all that you have said." 00:23:56.700 --> 00:24:03.960 So Haman took the robe and the horse, and dressed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the city square, and proclaimed before him, "So it shall 00:24:03.960 --> 00:24:09.920 be done for the man whom the king desires to honor." You think how incredible this is? 00:24:10.680 --> 00:24:17.360 Haman goes from planning to kill Mordecai, to leading a parade for Mordecai. 00:24:17.580 --> 00:24:25.300 You think about, in this moment, that Mordecai and all of the Jews feel like they're in this place of doomsday and everything's over. 00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:32.500 And now all of a sudden, not only is, Haman, seeing him as the one who is going to deliver the death of the Jews, to going to 00:24:32.500 --> 00:24:39.670 be the one to celebrate his very enemy and having to lead him through the streets on a one-man parade. 00:24:40.180 --> 00:24:43.820 You cannot make up any better plan than this. 00:24:43.880 --> 00:24:50.940 If you took Mordecai and Esther and you said, "Imagine for yourselves the greatest thing that God could do." I don't think 00:24:50.940 --> 00:24:58.080 they could even top the idea of what just happened in these verses, where the enemy who has just built this 00:24:58.080 --> 00:24:58.740 gallow... 00:24:58.740 --> 00:25:02.480 I could imagine in the city, you could see this gallow from anywhere. 00:25:02.480 --> 00:25:04.400 It's 75 feet tall. 00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:05.900 Anybody could brag about it. 00:25:05.940 --> 00:25:08.520 You see all this construction going on at Haman's house. 00:25:08.920 --> 00:25:10.900 People passing by, "What in the world are you building? 00:25:11.500 --> 00:25:17.860 And why in the world does it need to be so tall?" And he gets to respond to the people, "Oh, this is where I'm going to hang Mordecai tomorrow. 00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:23.280 You should come and see what it's about." This man's hatred runs that deep. 00:25:23.280 --> 00:25:30.400 And he shows up to the king before the sun even comes up thinking that this is the last moments, I'll just wipe my hands clean, 00:25:30.560 --> 00:25:33.240 and then I'll go to the dinner party with Esther later in the day. 00:25:33.320 --> 00:25:40.320 And now all of a sudden, all of a sudden, he's the one picked by 00:25:40.320 --> 00:25:47.960 the king to lead Mordecai through the streets and declaring the 00:25:47.960 --> 00:25:53.070 goodness of what Mordecai has done on behalf of the king. 00:25:54.560 --> 00:25:58.060 Trusting in the providence of God. 00:25:58.520 --> 00:26:05.820 Guys, this story is just to remind us that God is for His people, that what He can do on 00:26:05.820 --> 00:26:12.820 your behalf is far greater than anything that you can imagine on your own, and far better than anything 00:26:12.880 --> 00:26:14.480 you can achieve in your own strain. 00:26:16.320 --> 00:26:21.860 Now, I'm not saying follow after God because every vindictive idea that you might have will be executed. 00:26:22.020 --> 00:26:23.950 That is not what I'm saying. 00:26:24.320 --> 00:26:31.320 But what I am saying is God's plan is far better, far better than yours. 00:26:33.340 --> 00:26:37.420 We see a story like this when you think about all the wrong that's been done in your life. 00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:44.580 You could say, "Well I find it a bit unbelievable that God will do this for me, just as 00:26:44.580 --> 00:26:47.690 He done it for Mordecai and Esther. 00:26:47.900 --> 00:26:52.550 And I would just say, "Guys, what do you think eternity is? 00:26:55.380 --> 00:27:02.380 This is just a small picture of the goodness of God made known in this world, but it's intended 00:27:02.380 --> 00:27:07.930 to illustrate the greater hand of God as his people are in his presence for all of eternity. 00:27:10.500 --> 00:27:17.580 When you see God face to face and you bring before God all the wrong that's ever been done against you in your life, 00:27:19.000 --> 00:27:26.100 what you're seeing in the life of Mordecai Esther in this moment is but a shadow of 00:27:26.140 --> 00:27:29.980 all the goodness that will come in the presence of God in eternity. 00:27:31.680 --> 00:27:37.680 This is to help us see the evidence of how his glory will work out in our lives. 00:27:38.640 --> 00:27:41.920 God is much better at working things out than we are. 00:27:41.920 --> 00:27:49.020 And how many times do we have to learn this lesson before we learn that when we have the struggle of feeling, that we continue 00:27:49.020 --> 00:27:50.800 to walk by faith? 00:27:51.320 --> 00:27:58.500 And there is only one thing that stops us from experiencing that 00:27:58.560 --> 00:27:59.210 journey. 00:28:01.220 --> 00:28:04.440 It's pride. 00:28:04.940 --> 00:28:05.200 Pride. 00:28:08.140 --> 00:28:13.680 The opportunity we have to trust in ourselves over and above him, it's pride. 00:28:14.800 --> 00:28:18.960 I think it's just worth asking the question, how do I know? 00:28:19.120 --> 00:28:26.360 When it comes to God's sovereign hand, his providence and what I desire, how do I know that 00:28:26.360 --> 00:28:29.300 I'm not walking in my pride rather than trusting in him? 00:28:29.300 --> 00:28:31.600 Because Esther and Mordecai could have done the same thing. 00:28:31.600 --> 00:28:35.040 Even from a place of desperation they could have done the same thing. 00:28:35.060 --> 00:28:37.370 How do I know I'm not walking in pride? 00:28:37.500 --> 00:28:44.500 If I just use Haman for a moment as an example, just the last few verses of chapter five, it exposed to 00:28:44.500 --> 00:28:47.880 us ways Haman struggled with his pride. 00:28:48.360 --> 00:28:50.460 Pride will keep you from the providence of God. 00:28:50.740 --> 00:28:55.380 And the number one way that we know that we struggle with pride is one, is if we struggle with anger. 00:28:57.820 --> 00:29:04.960 If we struggle with anger, in verse nine, it expresses that to you in chapter five, when Haman after eating with Esther, he walks 00:29:04.960 --> 00:29:05.950 out of this dinner party. 00:29:06.180 --> 00:29:10.700 It describes his posture as one that's just elated and filled with happiness. 00:29:10.700 --> 00:29:15.730 And then all of a sudden he turns and sees Mordecai, and he instantly goes to that place of rage. 00:29:15.860 --> 00:29:19.960 He allows anger to eat him up to the point that he wants to kill somebody. 00:29:22.360 --> 00:29:30.340 And I know we can sometimes justify or soften our anger by saying, "Look, I look at Haman and he has 00:29:30.340 --> 00:29:37.480 gone far beyond anything that I would ever do in my life." But reality is, Jesus has told us if we've 00:29:37.480 --> 00:29:41.440 had anger in our heart, that is the root of murder. 00:29:43.080 --> 00:29:44.940 It is the root of killing. 00:29:47.060 --> 00:29:52.640 Anger becomes evidence, is that you don't lack the ability sometimes to kill, it may just be that you just lack the opportunity. 00:29:55.190 --> 00:30:02.360 And what I mean by that is, look, anyone in Haman's position, you think if you struggle with anger, Haman doesn't have to live by 00:30:02.360 --> 00:30:02.890 the law. 00:30:04.040 --> 00:30:05.540 Haman lives above the law. 00:30:05.920 --> 00:30:08.420 He's demonstrating this by how he's conducting himself. 00:30:08.720 --> 00:30:15.860 And when you have no accountability in life, eventually what those emotions that can control you, they just get more drastic and more drastic and 00:30:15.860 --> 00:30:16.380 more drastic. 00:30:16.960 --> 00:30:19.340 And an evidence of your struggling with pride is struggling with anger. 00:30:19.340 --> 00:30:24.860 Because the idea of anger is about putting yourself flirts and making a bully move in order to accomplish what you desire. 00:30:25.080 --> 00:30:25.660 It's all about you. 00:30:26.300 --> 00:30:30.860 Number two is that you tend to devalue people. 00:30:32.040 --> 00:30:33.720 And it's easy to get to in a place of anger. 00:30:35.920 --> 00:30:38.410 All that you want and what you desire becomes most important. 00:30:38.680 --> 00:30:43.760 And you see people as a tool to be leveraged in order to accomplish what it is that you want with your life. 00:30:44.740 --> 00:30:47.520 And rather than treat people as if they're image bearers of God. 00:30:47.540 --> 00:30:50.780 Whenever they've wronged you, what comes out? 00:30:52.060 --> 00:30:54.020 Do you begin to instantly devalue them? 00:30:57.340 --> 00:31:03.580 Treating people with disrespect, devaluing another human being is a struggle of pride. 00:31:04.020 --> 00:31:05.500 That's in verse 14. 00:31:05.520 --> 00:31:07.440 You see that in chapter five with Haman. 00:31:07.440 --> 00:31:11.480 And then in verse 13, you see this, there's this lack of thankfulness. 00:31:14.120 --> 00:31:22.020 Haman describes at the end of the chapter, all these great things that happen in his life, but because he still doesn't have one thing, Mordecai 00:31:22.120 --> 00:31:25.440 bowing to him, it destroys his joy in every anything. 00:31:27.360 --> 00:31:29.620 He has no thankfulness in his life. 00:31:29.640 --> 00:31:32.280 All he can think about is what he wants. 00:31:33.020 --> 00:31:37.220 Humble people tend to be thankful people. 00:31:38.320 --> 00:31:42.240 Proud people tend to be entitled people. 00:31:44.880 --> 00:31:49.780 And if we don't want to walk a life like Haman, ask the question, how do we avoid it? 00:31:49.780 --> 00:31:52.100 I think the answer is simple, it comes from humility. 00:31:54.800 --> 00:31:58.620 Humility recognizes that you're not in authority, but rather that you are under authority. 00:32:00.260 --> 00:32:04.120 But being under that authority in the Lord, it doesn't make you a coward. 00:32:05.040 --> 00:32:12.060 When you put yourself under the authority of God and you march to his beat in your life rather than your own, part of walking that path is to 00:32:12.120 --> 00:32:13.500 find your identity in him. 00:32:13.820 --> 00:32:17.220 And when you find your identity in him, it doesn't mean that you're worthless. 00:32:17.820 --> 00:32:22.840 It just means you think of yourself less because you recognize how great God is. 00:32:22.860 --> 00:32:26.700 And that in that position that you have beneath him, that God Himself is the one that elevates you. 00:32:26.880 --> 00:32:30.440 It gives you worth, value, meaning, a purpose in this life. 00:32:32.060 --> 00:32:36.770 And so humble people can walk in the Lord with incredible confidence because of the value they have in Jesus. 00:32:37.100 --> 00:32:44.180 That's why in these moments, Esther and Mordecai, when life seems like it's going against them, that they continue to move forward because they see God's hand all over them 00:32:44.180 --> 00:32:50.160 and trusted in his providence, that God has put them in a position that God has a plan for their lives, that the Lord hasn't given up his love on them. 00:32:50.160 --> 00:32:57.320 That even in the mess, even when they rejected God, even when Esther spent the night with the king, even when Esther denied Judaism, even when Esther 00:32:57.320 --> 00:33:02.940 ate food that wasn't kosher according to Jewish custom, God never stopped loving her. 00:33:04.860 --> 00:33:10.740 And in that place of humility before him, she continues to move forward. 00:33:12.840 --> 00:33:19.890 Pride is the greatest obstacle for people from pursuing what God desires in their lives. 00:33:20.460 --> 00:33:27.660 It's the struggle, "Is it me first or is it the Lord?" Pride could have prevented Esther and Mordecai. 00:33:29.220 --> 00:33:33.600 Even God's people can struggle with pride. 00:33:33.820 --> 00:33:40.860 In fact, if I just had to point out maybe one area that I find common in God's people and nobody here, because you guys are perfect, we're 00:33:40.860 --> 00:33:42.580 talking about other churches, all right? 00:33:45.540 --> 00:33:48.760 But I think sometimes God's people struggle with a fear of failure. 00:33:50.840 --> 00:33:52.680 And I think it comes from a place of pride. 00:33:54.400 --> 00:34:01.720 And what I mean is, we see what Jesus desires for us in life in this place of holiness, and 00:34:01.720 --> 00:34:06.180 sometimes we mistake the place of holiness with trying to step out and pursue the Lord and not make mistakes. 00:34:06.980 --> 00:34:07.580 "I don't want to make a mistake. 00:34:08.159 --> 00:34:10.659 That might look bad and I don't want to look bad. 00:34:10.719 --> 00:34:13.540 And if I look bad, it'll make me look bad." And then we struggle with pride. 00:34:13.940 --> 00:34:15.940 So because of that, we never take risks in the Lord. 00:34:17.840 --> 00:34:19.520 We never trust in God in that way. 00:34:21.540 --> 00:34:25.330 And we mask it for holiness, but it's not really holiness. 00:34:25.480 --> 00:34:30.360 It's just never really doing anything that has any risk to follow after God to begin with. 00:34:33.340 --> 00:34:40.639 Pride keeps us from continuing to experience His providence actively in 00:34:40.639 --> 00:34:41.500 our lives. 00:34:42.179 --> 00:34:49.400 Not that God's providence is restricted by us, but what I mean is experientially having walked with 00:34:49.760 --> 00:34:52.440 that hand, as we by faith trust in him. 00:34:54.139 --> 00:35:01.260 We're more confident in trusting in our abilities rather than in God's providence and our pride becomes that struggle. 00:35:03.600 --> 00:35:10.140 Point number three; the encouragement for you is to find gospel peace. 00:35:10.580 --> 00:35:16.480 When you trust in the providence of God, what we find in our lives is this place of gospel peace. 00:35:17.020 --> 00:35:24.180 And I realize in saying that, the timeline that we're in with Esther, Jesus has not fully come yet, and Jesus has not given his life yet. 00:35:24.200 --> 00:35:27.580 So the gospel is the death barrel and resurrection of Jesus. 00:35:27.860 --> 00:35:34.960 But we're continuing to see in the book of Esther, how God is orchestrating his plan among his people in order to bring the Messiah who will ultimately 00:35:34.960 --> 00:35:39.540 deliver, which inevitably brings us peace. 00:35:39.920 --> 00:35:46.940 In verse 12 and 13 it says this, "Then Mordecai returned to the king's gate while Haman hurried home mourning, with his 00:35:47.040 --> 00:35:47.650 head covered. 00:35:48.000 --> 00:35:52.660 And Haman informed Zeresh his wife and all his friends of everything that had happened to him. 00:35:52.720 --> 00:36:00.090 Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, "If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish origin, 00:36:00.360 --> 00:36:06.160 you will not prevail over him, but will certainly fall before him." That's encouraging news, isn't it? 00:36:07.140 --> 00:36:14.140 And I realize in reading verse 12 and 13, when I talk about gospel peace and you read verse 12 and 13, you say this is 00:36:14.140 --> 00:36:14.870 not peaceful. 00:36:15.700 --> 00:36:22.240 But all of this story of the life of Haman in chapter six is exactly what none of us should do. 00:36:22.580 --> 00:36:26.140 It's intended to encourage us to do the exact opposite. 00:36:26.420 --> 00:36:30.500 And in this story, what we're looking for then is not what Haman has. 00:36:30.520 --> 00:36:36.740 If you build a life of pride, you make life about self, you don't trust in the Lord, inevitably you find yourself with no hope and you end up bankrupt. 00:36:37.900 --> 00:36:38.480 We don't want that. 00:36:38.520 --> 00:36:39.440 We want the opposite of that. 00:36:39.700 --> 00:36:41.720 And that is to discover gospel peace. 00:36:41.780 --> 00:36:47.560 And so let me illustrate here in this story, the opportunity of the gospel where it should fall in our lives. 00:36:47.880 --> 00:36:55.000 And there is a common mistake Haman is making here and a common mistake I think people in general make in terms of their relationship with 00:36:55.000 --> 00:36:55.260 God. 00:36:56.020 --> 00:37:03.380 And that is, it's written, if you want to, 2nd Corinthians 7:10, we mistake worldly 00:37:03.380 --> 00:37:06.240 sorrow for Godly repentance. 00:37:08.420 --> 00:37:11.640 We easily mistake worldly sorrow for Godly repentance. 00:37:11.640 --> 00:37:14.800 So when I read this story, what I see as a man in worldly sorrow. 00:37:16.520 --> 00:37:19.400 And unfortunately what we do not find is a man in Godly repentance. 00:37:21.300 --> 00:37:28.400 And what I mean between those two things is that worldly sorrow is where you feel bad for the things 00:37:28.400 --> 00:37:28.960 that you've done. 00:37:30.160 --> 00:37:35.960 Matter of fact, part of you feeling bad might be driven by the fact that you've been caught and found out. 00:37:36.520 --> 00:37:44.080 It's like Haman in this moment, the king doesn't entirely know everything that he needs to know that Haman's about wants 00:37:44.080 --> 00:37:47.650 to kill all these Jews and Mordecai is a Jew and all that, how it's going to go his way. 00:37:48.780 --> 00:37:53.820 The king Xerxes doesn't know that yet, but Haman recognizes how all this is going to fall. 00:37:53.920 --> 00:37:56.700 His wife recognizes how all this is going to fall. 00:37:58.200 --> 00:37:59.210 And so what does Haman feel? 00:37:59.760 --> 00:38:00.200 He feels bad. 00:38:02.180 --> 00:38:03.340 He got found out. 00:38:04.420 --> 00:38:11.580 It's like when we do stupid stuff, and then gets exposed in front of people, we can feel bad, because 00:38:11.580 --> 00:38:12.600 we did dumb things. 00:38:13.760 --> 00:38:16.900 And then we could feel bad about how it affected other people. 00:38:18.780 --> 00:38:24.160 I don't like how it hurt you, but none of that's Godly repentance. 00:38:25.760 --> 00:38:28.940 I think it's okay to feel bad, you have a moral compass. 00:38:29.060 --> 00:38:36.100 I thank the Lord that you've got a moral compass, but worldly repentance is to recognize that before 00:38:36.100 --> 00:38:43.820 I ever sin against another human being, I have always violated first the nature of God, I 00:38:43.820 --> 00:38:45.700 have always committed offense against the Lord. 00:38:47.460 --> 00:38:50.620 Wanting to kill Mordecai, that anger, that was wrong. 00:38:51.480 --> 00:38:58.720 Haman feels bad about that, but before he brought an offense against 00:38:58.720 --> 00:39:05.900 Mordecai, he ultimately brought an offense against God because God is life 00:39:07.040 --> 00:39:08.450 and God is the giver of life. 00:39:09.360 --> 00:39:12.400 And God made Mordecai in the image of God. 00:39:14.100 --> 00:39:21.320 And for Haman to desire to kill Mordecai is to first 00:39:21.320 --> 00:39:25.340 come against the creator who made Mordecai in his image. 00:39:30.080 --> 00:39:34.720 Worldly sorrow and godly repentance they can be interconnected, but they are not the same. 00:39:36.440 --> 00:39:43.640 There needs to come to this place before God where we acknowledge, "But Lord, in all of it, I have first offended you." And 00:39:43.640 --> 00:39:49.280 it's not until we come to the Lord this way to seek reconciliation through the cross that we find that gospel peace. 00:39:49.740 --> 00:39:56.690 To understand anytime we've done anything wrong in this world, it's always first been an offense against our creator. 00:39:58.220 --> 00:40:05.560 But here's the beauty of that, god doesn't want you to walk in guilt, and God doesn't want you to live 00:40:05.560 --> 00:40:05.960 in shame. 00:40:07.680 --> 00:40:09.900 God wants to make you a new creature in him. 00:40:10.980 --> 00:40:13.500 All things have passed, behold, all things have become new. 00:40:13.500 --> 00:40:14.820 That's what it says, 2nd Corinthians 5:17. 00:40:16.540 --> 00:40:21.220 That's God's hope for you, not to bind you in that, to make you feel bad the rest of your life. 00:40:21.240 --> 00:40:22.320 God has no interest in that. 00:40:22.520 --> 00:40:25.720 God wants to free you from that so you can walk in the newness of life and identity in him. 00:40:26.800 --> 00:40:28.100 That's where we find gospel peace. 00:40:28.360 --> 00:40:31.500 That is the hope of what Jesus has done to deliver us and set us free. 00:40:31.700 --> 00:40:38.100 That's why it's so much more important to find godly repentance over worldly sorrow because there is no escape in worldly sorrow, there is no ultimate forgiveness in it. 00:40:39.000 --> 00:40:46.320 You can just walk the rest of your life feeling bad about the things you've done, but in Jesus, he's paid for that on the cross to say free. 00:40:48.060 --> 00:40:55.400 Unfortunately, if you look at the story, and Haman never finds it because in verse 14 it says this, "And while they were still talking with him, the King's 00:40:55.420 --> 00:41:01.720 eunuchs arrived and quickly brought Haman to the banquet with Esther, which Esther had prepared. 00:41:03.280 --> 00:41:08.760 He just sat in the worldly sorrow, and never found freedom in the Lord. 00:41:10.100 --> 00:41:10.840 Let me close with this story. 00:41:12.920 --> 00:41:20.000 FeldKirch, Austria, this beautiful little towns, it's far west in Austria as you can 00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:20.500 go. 00:41:21.500 --> 00:41:28.200 But in 1799, Napoleon brought his army just over the hill, looking into this town. 00:41:29.880 --> 00:41:35.480 The towns people spotted Napoleon and his army just over the heights above them, preparing for battle against them. 00:41:37.660 --> 00:41:39.940 And they were curious as to how they should respond. 00:41:40.100 --> 00:41:48.580 They were concerned I should say, not curious about how they should respond, should respond, and they're debating between themselves, "Should we turn and fight or 00:41:48.600 --> 00:41:49.920 should we raise the white flag? 00:41:51.340 --> 00:41:58.520 What do we do?" And then the towns people decided, "Napoleon is just above us about to descend on us and destroy 00:41:58.520 --> 00:42:00.980 us, but tomorrow is Easter. 00:42:03.580 --> 00:42:10.490 And what we're going to do before we do anything is we're just going to worship." That morning, they went to the church. 00:42:11.040 --> 00:42:13.260 Imagine this is probably the church even pictured here. 00:42:13.260 --> 00:42:14.320 I don't know that for sure. 00:42:14.380 --> 00:42:20.420 But they went to the church and as the services were supposed to start, as the sun began to come up, they're celebrating Easter sunrise. 00:42:21.540 --> 00:42:24.780 They ring the bells of the church and they start to worship. 00:42:26.240 --> 00:42:33.300 And the story goes, before the service was over Napoleon's army broke camp and decided 00:42:33.300 --> 00:42:33.780 to leave. 00:42:34.860 --> 00:42:41.980 And the reason they decided to leave is because when they heard the bells, they assumed that the Austrian army had showed up in the darkness of night 00:42:42.560 --> 00:42:44.080 and was prepared to defend the city. 00:42:47.780 --> 00:42:54.800 I don't say all this to say to you, "Look, if you follow God, every battle that you have in your life, God's magically going to work it out the way that 00:42:54.820 --> 00:43:03.000 you want him to work it out." But I'd say all this to say, it's 00:43:03.000 --> 00:43:09.440 important to recognize in our lives, no matter where we are, that we just need to ring the bell. 00:43:12.480 --> 00:43:18.030 God's providence is far greater than anything that you can accomplish in your own power. 00:43:19.840 --> 00:43:27.020 And God loves you and God is for you, and God will work it all out for His glory and 00:43:27.020 --> 00:43:27.570 your good. 00:43:28.600 --> 00:43:35.800 If we His people would just surrender pride and walk in Him to see 00:43:35.800 --> 00:43:37.580 what the Lord will do.