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Standing Alone Msg 713 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: There's a wonderful verse of scripture that appears in Daniel.
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  Speaker 1: It tells us a great deal in few words. All
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  Speaker 1: the inhabitants of the earth are as nothing. And he
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  Speaker 1: does according to his will in the army of heaven
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  Speaker 1: and among the inhabitants of the earth. And no one
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  Speaker 1: can stay his hand or say to him, what are
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  Speaker 1: you doing? Several times in the music of the morning,
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  Speaker 1: we sang of those times when we cannot see our
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  Speaker 1: way through. Days when it is foggy and cloudy and
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  Speaker 1: dark and there's no light at the end of this
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  Speaker 1: long tunnel. Even though he may not appear before you
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  Speaker 1: in visible form, our God is sovereignly at work. which
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  Speaker 1: makes the book of Esther all the more interesting because
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  Speaker 1: the name of God does not once appear in the book.
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  Speaker 1: The only book in all the Bible where that's true. However,
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  Speaker 1: you can see his footprint. You can see his thumbprint.
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  Speaker 1: You can see his hand in the life of one
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  Speaker 1: who was called to stand alone when there was no
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  Speaker 1: one else who could do what she could do. She's
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  Speaker 1: the queen. Her name is Esther. I'll be reading for
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  Speaker 1: you several parts of the fourth chapter. If you've not
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  Speaker 1: yet opened your Bible to Esther chapter four, please do that.
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  Speaker 1: Earlier in our series, we spent a little time in
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  Speaker 1: a book named Nehemiah. Now in line is the name Esther.
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  Speaker 1: These are all individuals who lived in ancient days who
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  Speaker 1: played a significant role that no one else could play
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  Speaker 1: in their place. And so it is with Esther. Once
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  Speaker 1: you find this chapter out of respect for the word
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  Speaker 1: of God and the God of the word, will you
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  Speaker 1: stand please for the reading of the scriptures? Esther 4 begins,
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  Speaker 1: when Mordecai learned about all that had been done, he
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  Speaker 1: tore his clothes, put on burlap and ashes, and went
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  Speaker 1: out into the city crying with a loud and bitter wail.
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  Speaker 1: He went as far as the gate of the palace,
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  Speaker 1: for no one was allowed to enter the palace gate
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  Speaker 1: while wearing clothes of mourning. And as news of the
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  Speaker 1: king's decree reached all the provinces, there was great mourning
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  Speaker 1: among the Jews. They fasted, wept. and wailed, and many
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  Speaker 1: people lay in burlap and ashes. Verse 5. Then Esther
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  Speaker 1: sent for Hatak, one of the king's eunuchs who had
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  Speaker 1: been appointed as her attendant. She ordered him to go
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  Speaker 1: to Mordecai and find out what was troubling him and
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  Speaker 1: why he was in mourning. So Hatak went out to
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  Speaker 1: Mordecai in the square in front of the palace gate.
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  Speaker 1: Mordecai told him the whole story, including the exact amount
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  Speaker 1: of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal
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  Speaker 1: treasury for the destruction of the Jews. Verse 9. So
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  Speaker 1: Hathak returned to Esther with Mordecai's message. Then Esther told
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  Speaker 1: Hathak to go back. and relay this message to Mordecai.
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  Speaker 1: All the king's officials and even the people in the
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  Speaker 1: provinces know that anyone who appears before the king in
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  Speaker 1: his inner court without being invited is doomed to die
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  Speaker 1: unless the king holds out his gold scepter. And the
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  Speaker 1: king has not called for me to come to him
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  Speaker 1: for 30 days. Verse 13. Mordecai sent this reply to Esther.
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  Speaker 1: Don't think for a moment that because you're in the palace,
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  Speaker 1: you will escape when all other Jews are killed. If
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  Speaker 1: you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and
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  Speaker 1: relief for the Jews will arise from some other place.
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  Speaker 1: But you and your relatives will die. Who knows if
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  Speaker 1: perhaps you were made queen for such a time as this.
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  Speaker 1: Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai. Go and gather
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  Speaker 1: together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me.
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  Speaker 1: Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day.
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  Speaker 1: My maids and I will do the same. And then
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  Speaker 1: though it is against the law, I will go in
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  Speaker 1: to see the king. If I must die, I must die.
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  Speaker 1: So Mordecai went away and did everything as Esther had
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  Speaker 1: ordered him. In a very real sense, today's message will
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  Speaker 1: speak to individuals. It's not directed to groups or even
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  Speaker 1: to families. It's directed to you as an individual believer
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  Speaker 1: Because of your sphere of influence and the role God
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  Speaker 1: has set you apart for, you will face a time,
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  Speaker 1: if not now, later, when you must stand alone to
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  Speaker 1: do what is right. Don't miss the message today. Please
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  Speaker 1: be seated. It was the calling of Christ that brought
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  Speaker 1: him to this earth. Though he came as a baby
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  Speaker 1: in a manger, though he grew up in the obscure
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  Speaker 1: village of Nazareth, and though he was just another carpenter
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  Speaker 1: in that village, he later took the scepter of God's
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  Speaker 1: calling and stepped into a role of ministry for three
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  Speaker 1: plus years during which time he showed himself to be
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  Speaker 1: the Son of God, God in flesh, the only one
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  Speaker 1: qualified to bear the sins of the world. The cross
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  Speaker 1: that hangs in the most prominent part of this place
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  Speaker 1: of worship is a continued reminder of the fact that
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  Speaker 1: Jesus paid the price for our sins that we would
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  Speaker 1: never be able to pay for ourselves. It is your
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  Speaker 1: sin that separates you from the one who made you.
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  Speaker 1: The only way to find relief and forgiveness is to
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  Speaker 1: come to the Christ who paid it all that you
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  Speaker 1: and I might know what it is to have eternal life.
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  Speaker 1: As I lead us in prayer, it may be the
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  Speaker 1: perfect moment for you who have never trusted in Christ
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  Speaker 1: to turn to him now. May we bow. Make this
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  Speaker 1: day very significant, we pray, our Father, as you speak
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  Speaker 1: through print from a page out of an ancient book
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  Speaker 1: that most have never read in the midst of a
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  Speaker 1: story that most do not know. Show us the relevance
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  Speaker 1: of your word and reveal to us the deep message
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  Speaker 1: that would empower us to stand to stand tall, and
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  Speaker 1: even to stand alone in the days ahead. We don't
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  Speaker 1: know what a day will bring, but from the signs
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  Speaker 1: of the past and the present, we are not walking
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  Speaker 1: with you. We do not fear our God as a nation.
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  Speaker 1: We are not led by those who call us to
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  Speaker 1: fall on our knees and before the one and only
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  Speaker 1: Savior and Lord. Therefore, our times, while in your hands,
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  Speaker 1: bear with them the responsibility of your people. May we
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  Speaker 1: not shudder or quake or run from the responsibility. Just
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  Speaker 1: as the one who paid it all on our behalf
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  Speaker 1: carried out the mission, may we be willing to do
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  Speaker 1: the same, whatever that mission may be in whatever context.
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  Speaker 1: We give our gifts today, our Father, with gratitude for
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  Speaker 1: those this very past few days have come to Christ
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  Speaker 1: and those who served alongside to lead them to the Savior.
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  Speaker 1: May these gifts work in that same way in the future,
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  Speaker 1: that this ministry might hold the light and may it
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  Speaker 1: shine brightly in this community and across the state in
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  Speaker 1: which we find ourselves, and beyond our state into others
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  Speaker 1: of our nation and beyond the seas, that Christ may
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  Speaker 1: be seen as all. in all. We give our gifts
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  Speaker 1: for that purpose with gratitude in the name of Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: Everyone said amen. Everything I have to say can be
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  Speaker 1: distilled into four words. The power of The significance of
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  Speaker 1: each individual. In our ultra-busy and overpopulated world, it is
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  Speaker 1: easy for us to diminish the significance of each individual.
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  Speaker 1: It's easy to think about life en masse. Busy tollways
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  Speaker 1: and freeways. Busy stores. and avenues, all engaged in all
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  Speaker 1: different kinds of pursuits. And where does it say that
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  Speaker 1: one person can make all that much difference? In fact,
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  Speaker 1: probably the most common asked question that we ask ourselves is,
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  Speaker 1: who am I? What can I do? Well, at the
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  Speaker 1: risk of sounding rather silly, You are you and there
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  Speaker 1: is no other. You're an original. You aren't a copy.
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  Speaker 1: Even if you're a twin, you're the only you in
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  Speaker 1: all of life. You with your sphere of influence, you
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  Speaker 1: with your circle of friends, you with your training, your gifts,
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  Speaker 1: your abilities, your skills, your way of thinking, your attitude,
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  Speaker 1: you are the only you. Placed here on this busy
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  Speaker 1: planet for a purpose. I love the way that Edward
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  Speaker 1: Everett Hale put it back in the 19th century. I
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  Speaker 1: am only one, but still I am one. I cannot
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  Speaker 1: do but still I can do something. And because I
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  Speaker 1: cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the
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  Speaker 1: something that I can do. It's that last line I
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  Speaker 1: want you to remember long after my message ends. I
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  Speaker 1: will not refuse to do the something that I can.
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  Speaker 2: Do.
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  Speaker 1: The significant impact of one down through the centuries. Let's
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  Speaker 1: put them in categories. Artists. Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Disney. Military
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  Speaker 1: leaders like Lee, MacArthur, Grant, Eisenhower, Nimitz, Rickenbacker, Powell, Schwarzkopf.
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  Speaker 1: Statesmen like Lincoln, Churchill, Washington, Jefferson, Ronald Reagan, and a
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  Speaker 1: number of other presidents in our nation's history. Musicians like Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, Handel.
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  Speaker 1: Coaches like John Wooden, Vince Lombardi, Tom Landry, Don Shula,
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  Speaker 1: Chuck Knoll, Coach K. And the coach who helped you
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  Speaker 1: during your athletic years. Ministers like Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Savonarola, Wesley, Whitfield, Edwards, Spurgeon, Hendricks,
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  Speaker 1: Billy Graham. To name only a few, the list could
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  Speaker 1: go on and on. Individuals down through history that shaped
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  Speaker 1: their world. And when you stop to study their lives,
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  Speaker 1: you will be amazed how many of them came from nothing.
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  Speaker 1: And the most surprised person in the midst is they themselves. Biblically,
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  Speaker 1: God's book is filled with not mass movements and international
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  Speaker 1: reformations and citywide revivals and great evangelistic meetings. It is
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  Speaker 1: a book of people. You can in fact walk your
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  Speaker 1: way through the pages of these 66 books by naming people. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon,
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  Speaker 1: the prophets, the priests, the disciples, the apostles, the missionaries,
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  Speaker 1: and of course that one and only Lord Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 1: Each was only one who could not do everything, but
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  Speaker 1: he did not refuse to do the something that he
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  Speaker 1: could do. All of this brings us to the story
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  Speaker 1: of Esther, and I'm often surprised by how many do
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  Speaker 1: not know the story. It's one of the great heroic
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  Speaker 1: stories in all of time. It revolves around a woman who,
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  Speaker 1: as a little girl, was orphaned. and fell into the
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  Speaker 1: arms at home of an older cousin named Mordecai. She
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  Speaker 1: a Jewess, he a Jew. And they a family of Jews.
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  Speaker 1: We know very little about them. We know that she
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  Speaker 1: grew up in the busy capital city of Susa in
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  Speaker 1: the midst of the vast Persian Empire, which includes many
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  Speaker 1: countries I could name. It was huge. And here was
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  Speaker 1: this little girl who found her way into the arms
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  Speaker 1: and heart of a cousin whose compassion went out to her.
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  Speaker 1: As your mother and dad would say it, he raised
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  Speaker 1: her right. She grew up in this small monotheistic context
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  Speaker 1: surrounded by the pagan culture of Persia. Unlike Babylon, Persia
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  Speaker 1: became a comfort to the Jews. They were not mistreated
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  Speaker 1: among the Persians and the Persian leaders. In fact, one historian,
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  Speaker 1: Martin North, writes, at no time in its history did
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  Speaker 1: the biblical community of faith, meaning the Jews, exist under
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  Speaker 1: more optimum external conditions than during the years of the
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  Speaker 1: Persian Empire. That's the setting of Esther. Through a series
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  Speaker 1: of events that became ultimately what we would call today
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  Speaker 1: a beauty contest, she's entered as one who might qualify
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  Speaker 1: because the king was looking for a beautiful woman to
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  Speaker 1: be the queen. And wouldn't you know it, he chose Esther.
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  Speaker 1: probably knew nothing of her roots. You know more than
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  Speaker 1: probably Ahasuerus called here Xerxes knew. He was just looking
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  Speaker 1: for a beautiful woman to be the queen. He chose
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  Speaker 1: her and she moved from the little peasant home of
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  Speaker 1: Mordecai into the palace of Persia. And there she was
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  Speaker 1: surrounded by all of the comfort and pampered elegance of
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  Speaker 1: a queen. Totally removed from the life in the streets,
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  Speaker 1: her life became a life of protected luxury. She, being
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  Speaker 1: a Jew, becomes ultimately the queen of a Gentile king
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  Speaker 1: and of a nation. filled with Gentiles and a number
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  Speaker 1: of Jews. Esther doesn't even know it when a Hitler-like
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  Speaker 1: individual named Haman comes on the scene and decides it's
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  Speaker 1: time to get rid of these people who don't fall
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  Speaker 1: in line with the rest of us. You read of
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  Speaker 1: him in Esther chapter 3, just a brief snatch here,
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  Speaker 1: verse 8. Haman approached King Xerxes and said, there is
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  Speaker 1: a certain race of people scattered through all the province
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  Speaker 1: of your empire who keep themselves separate from everyone else.
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  Speaker 1: Their laws are different from those of any other people.
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  Speaker 1: They refuse to obey the laws of the king, so
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  Speaker 1: it is not in the king's interest to let them live.
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  Speaker 1: Listen to these words. If it please the king, issue
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  Speaker 1: a decree that they may be destroyed. Destroyed. And then
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  Speaker 1: he promises a large amount of money, which he would
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  Speaker 1: take after their destruction, stealing it from their dead bodies.
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  Speaker 1: Of all things, the king agreed, verse 10, and confirmed
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  Speaker 1: the decision. Verse 12, so on April 17, the king's
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  Speaker 1: secretaries were summoned and a decree was written exactly as
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  Speaker 1: Haman dictated. Verse 13, dispatches were sent by swift messengers
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  Speaker 1: into all the provinces of the empire, giving the order
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  Speaker 1: that all Jews, young and old, including women and children,
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  Speaker 1: must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single day.
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  Speaker 1: This was scheduled to happen on the 7th of March
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  Speaker 1: of the next year. The property of the Jews would
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  Speaker 1: be given to those who killed them. Think of it.
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  Speaker 1: In less than a year, the entire race will be
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  Speaker 1: wiped out, or so Haman planned. And so the edict read.
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  Speaker 1: Esther knows nothing of this. She's not involved in the
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  Speaker 1: writing and the passing around of edicts. Her life is
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  Speaker 1: the life of a queen. She lives behind protected doors
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  Speaker 1: and gates and guards. She knows nothing of it until
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  Speaker 1: a friend says to her, do you realize that your
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  Speaker 1: cousin is mourning out at the gate in front of
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  Speaker 1: the palace? We read of that in chapter four. When
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  Speaker 1: Mordecai learned about all that had been done, he tore
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  Speaker 1: his clothes and put on burlap and ashes. That's what
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  Speaker 1: ancient people did to reveal total bankruptcy, abject poverty. In
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  Speaker 1: other words, I've reached the end. Life is down to
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  Speaker 1: sackcloth and ashes. And he's crying with a loud and
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  Speaker 1: bitter wail, You know how life is in places in
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  Speaker 1: this continent like this? You've even seen funeral processions where
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  Speaker 1: to this day they carry coffins publicly from one place
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  Speaker 1: to the burial site and all the people follow along.
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  Speaker 1: Sometimes thousands of them mourning and wailing and waving their
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  Speaker 1: banners and pounding on the casket and feeling and expressing
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  Speaker 1: their grief. That's what's happening here. In fact, the end
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  Speaker 1: of chapter 3 tells us the city of Susa fell
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  Speaker 1: into confusion. It is mass confusion. When the word finally
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  Speaker 1: reached all the provinces and the Jews realized in less
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  Speaker 1: than a year we will be gone, annihilated, slaughtered, there
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  Speaker 1: was total confusion. So we aren't surprised to read verse 1,
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  Speaker 1: chapter 4, when Mordecai learned about all that had been done.
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  Speaker 1: He tore his clothes, put on burlap and ashes, which
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  Speaker 1: was a sign of total abject bankruptcy. Mourning at its
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  Speaker 1: highest level, he went out into the city crying with
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  Speaker 1: a loud and bitter wail. Esther wants to know why
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  Speaker 1: her cousin is weeping and wailing. So she sends a
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  Speaker 1: messenger and asks, what's going on? Why is that happening?
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  Speaker 1: She loves Mordecai. He's raised her. And she gets word
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  Speaker 1: regarding Mordecai's weeping and mourning and wonders, what is this about?
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  Speaker 1: Verse four, when Queen Esther's maids and eunuchs came and
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  Speaker 1: told her about Mordecai, she was deeply distressed. So she
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  Speaker 1: sent clothing. to him to replace the burlap. She wanted
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  Speaker 1: him to change clothes so that in better clothing he
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  Speaker 1: could come into the palace and perhaps visit with her.
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  Speaker 1: He refuses. He will not change those clothes. And Esther
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  Speaker 1: sent one of the king's eunuchs who had been appointed
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  Speaker 1: as her attendant, ordered him to go to Mordecai, find
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  Speaker 1: out what was troubling him, why he was in mourning.
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  Speaker 1: So Hatak went out to Mordecai in the square in
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  Speaker 1: front of the palace gate. What's wrong? What's the matter?
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  Speaker 1: What's going on? Verse 7, Mordecai told him the whole story,
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  Speaker 1: including even the exact amount of money Haman had promised
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  Speaker 1: to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of
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  Speaker 1: the Jews. Now notice, he doesn't stop there. Now the
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  Speaker 1: plot thickens. He says, no time for you to sit
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  Speaker 1: in your pampered palace and learn of what's going on
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  Speaker 1: among your people in the streets, Esther. Mordecai gave Hatak
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  Speaker 1: a copy of the decree issued in Susa, called for
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  Speaker 1: the death of all the Jews. He asked Hatak to
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  Speaker 1: show it to Esther and explain the situation. He also
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  Speaker 1: asked Hatak to direct her to go to the king,
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  Speaker 1: to beg for mercy, to plead for her people. These
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  Speaker 1: are not just distant Jews. These are your people. This
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  Speaker 1: is your race. These are your roots. Step up. Stand alone, Esther.
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  Speaker 1: Hatak returned to Esther with Mordecai's message. Now she's left
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  Speaker 1: with a dilemma. What you can appreciate is life as
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  Speaker 1: it existed at that time, you didn't simply walk into
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  Speaker 1: the king's presence even though you were the queen. And
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  Speaker 1: if the king hasn't invited you and you barge in,
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  Speaker 1: it could mean your death. She knows the rules. So
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  Speaker 1: she repeats them and Esther told Hatak to go and
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  Speaker 1: to relay the message to Mordecai, all the king's officials,
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  Speaker 1: even the people in the province know that anyone who
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  Speaker 1: appears before the king in his inner court without being
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  Speaker 1: invited is doomed to die unless the king holds out
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  Speaker 1: a gold scepter. And he hasn't done that. He hasn't
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  Speaker 1: asked me to come in. He's told me to leave
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  Speaker 1: him alone for 30 days uninterrupted. Haytack gave Esther's message
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  Speaker 1: to Mordecai. You know, folks, sometime some of the most
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  Speaker 1: eloquent truth in the Bible is found between the verses.
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  Speaker 1: This is one of those occasions. We don't read of
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  Speaker 1: the emotion. We don't read of the discussion that went
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  Speaker 1: on in Mordecai's brain. We don't read of the ponderings
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  Speaker 1: and the musings, the dire situation, not only of the
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  Speaker 1: family in which he was raised, but of all the
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  Speaker 1: Jews in all the land of Persia. We can only
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  Speaker 1: imagine he hears, she's not going to do this. It
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  Speaker 1: could mean her death. Esther sends back a message that
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  Speaker 1: tells Mordecai, I just cannot go on my own. I'm
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  Speaker 1: not free to just walk in. He has not allowed
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  Speaker 1: me that. He's told me to leave him alone for
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  Speaker 1: 30 days. Now between verses 12 and 13, I believe
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: There's an enormous amount of emotion. We can imagine in
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: our heads how Mordecai must have felt. She's saying, I
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: can't do it. It isn't appropriate. In fact, I would
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: lose my life if I barged in his presence having
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: been told not to do so. Mordecai thinks it through
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: He realizes that even though there are rules and protocol,
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: this is a time when you step beyond it and
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: do what is against the law, the law of the land.
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: Mordecai ruminates and decides it's time to press the issue further.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: So he sent this reply to Esther, This is one
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: of the great statements found in all the scriptures. Don't
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: think for a moment that because you're in the palace,
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: you will escape and all other Jews are killed. In
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: the days of the Nazis, Jews, even though they may
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: have been assisting Nazis, as soon as they were discovered
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: to be Jews, were marked and shipped off to the
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: death camp. In the days of Haman and Xerxes, you
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: need to know they will kill us. And they'll find
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: that you're Jewish. You will die. Now, I love the
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: fact that he doesn't stop there. He appears to her
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: with this intrinsic statement. If you keep quiet at a
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: arise from some other place. How could he say that?
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: Because God has promised never to annihilate the Jews. Even
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: though there are countries in our own day that live
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: for the annihilation of the Jews and the Jewish people,
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: they will not be annihilated. They are protected by God's
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: divine providence. His sovereign hand rests over the Jewish people.
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: The land of Israel is his land and their land
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: So you need to know, Esther, somehow, in some way,
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: God will work. But you need to know that you
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: and your relatives will die. And then he adds, who
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: a time. as this. Magnificent, magnificent thought. Esther, Esther, listen
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: to me. Think, Esther, think. Could it be that the
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: way the Lord has protected you through your orphan years
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: and growing up in the in our home and under
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: my tutelage and my mentoring, could it be that you
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: were prepared to have the kind of character it will
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: take to step up in a time like this? This
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: is your moment. This is your hour. You will never
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: face a greater moment in your life, or it may
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: be it's just such a time as this you were
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: made queen. Amen. when we all celebrated the fact that
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: you were chosen. And many of us even laughed to
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: ourselves that who would have ever thought this little Jewish
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: young woman would be the one selected to be the
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: queen in the land. And he reminds her with great
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: theology that God has a plan. Reminds me there is
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: nothing like a huge dose of sound theology to put
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: steel into our bones. That's why I often say to you,
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: learn to think theologically. Regardless of what is happening to you,
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: revert back to what you have learned from the scriptures
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: about your God and about his power and purpose and
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: his plan. And you will be given strength at the
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: time you need it. if you will rely on that teaching,
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: you see what this will do to this woman as
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: she thinks about it. You too, when you realize, before
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: I'm through today, that role you could play in some
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: significant part of this busy world that has lost its way,
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: you will realize that it may very well be that
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: you were born for that purpose. Remember some time ago
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: I mentioned There are two great days in everyone's life,
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: the day of our birth and the day we discover why.
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: Esther knows of her birth, knows all about it from
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: what Mordecai has told her. Now she thinks perhaps this
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: is why. What a difference that can make. That's the
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: reason Bonhoeffer could walk away to the gallows and never
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: once fight those that were going to to finish his
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: life off that dark day, April 9, 1945. That explains
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: how the reformers could be burnt at the stake and
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: never once recant, knowing that they were dying because of
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: what they believed. Killed by people who disagreed with them,
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: they stood alone. They stood strong. How else could our
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: Savior have died on our behalf and been willing to
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: take the cup of suffering and death on our behalf?
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: He realized that that was his purpose. He had come
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: for such a time as that. Esther pondered Mordecai's message.
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: Talk about in between the verses. Between verses 14 and 15,
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: you find a queen very silent. She's thinking. She's turning
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: over in her mind what this will require. just as
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: everyone does who stands alone in a situation that includes
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: great risk and sometime even the threat of losing a
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: job or losing stature in the eyes of others. She
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: weighs all of this in her head. She ponders Mordecai's message.
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: She realizes what he says Makes all the sense in
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: the world. So she steps up. This is where she
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: shows her true color. She weighed his words. She realized
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: her calling. Look at the verses that follow. And may
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: you never, ever forget them. Then Esther sent this reply
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: to Mordecai. Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa.
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: Fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days,
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: night or day. My maids and I will do the same.
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: Notice she's not doing it in her own strength. She said,
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: I need you to pray for me. I need you
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: to be there for me. I need you to fast.
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: I need you to represent me before the throne of God.
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: And then, though it is against the law, Love the
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: way that reads. There are times there is a higher
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: law than the law of the land. There are times
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: when it is appropriate to rebel. And this is one
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: of those occasions, though it is against the law, I
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: will go in to see the king. Here she shows herself,
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: a woman of enormous character and great courage, a true patriot,
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: a heroic individual. She can't do everything, but she is
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: willing to do the something she can do. She refuses
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: not to let that moment pass. And now she says,
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: I will go in to see the king. If I
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: must die, I must die. Your Bible may read, if
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: I perish, I perish. If it's my life, it's my life. That,
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: men and women, is standing alone. Whatever it takes, I'll
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: do it. Perhaps it's the same thing that happened at
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: Chordon High School in Ohio as a coach named Frank
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: Hall began his cafeteria duty that morning. It was this
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: sort of cold morning, February 27, 2012, As he was
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: having fun with the kids and enjoying the high schoolers,
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: he loved to coach and be around. All of a sudden,
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: he heard two pops. Pop, pop. In the distance, it
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: sounded like firecrackers. Coach Hall thought, hmm, must be one
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: of the kids. A little mischief going on down the hallway,
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: and all of a sudden, there were several other pops
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: and screams. The halls were filled with screams as students
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: ducked into classrooms and under desks. And this crazed teenager
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: puts in another clip and begins to shoot further and
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: he hits three boys in the head, killing them as
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: they fall into a pool of blood. Before he's finished
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: that morning, he shoots another one in the back, hits
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: him in the spine. He's going to be paralyzed for
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: the rest of his life. Coach Hall realizes I've got
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: to step up. And no one told him to. No
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: one even appealed to him. Suddenly he found himself screaming, stop, stop,
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: stop that. And the gunman looks at him, points his
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: gun at him, and suddenly they're 12 feet, 10 feet,
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: 8 feet apart. And Coach Hall states, when he looks
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: into his eyes, he realized those eyes are dead already.
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: No conscience. And he said, I realized my whole life
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: hung on the twitching of a finger. which for some
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: reason the boy chose not to pull the trigger, turned
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: and ran. He ran out the end of the hallway
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: and out the door and into the woods. As one
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: of the authors said, he chased him like a bull elephant,
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: making certain he'd get out of the hallway, yelling all
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: the way, stop, stop, quit. The boy runs into the woods,
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: hides for about 40, 45 minutes, and when the police
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: find him, He's wearing a T-shirt that reads, killer. He
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: came with plans to kill many of the students, and
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: he only got three of them before that strong-hearted, bull-like
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: man began to chase him. When the cops ask him,
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: why did you do that? As always is the answer,
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know. What made you run? Oh,
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: he said, Coach Hall was coming after me like a
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: bull elephant. He was chasing me. When you see a
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: picture of him on the front page of Sports Illustrated,
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: you do think of a bull. He's about six feet two,
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: weighs 300 pounds, lineman when he played football. But none
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: of that mattered to him. What mattered was the life
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: of the students he loved and the need to step up.
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: and do what was right. If he must die, he
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: will die. Because of Coach Frank Hall and his willingness
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: to put his own life on the line, he saved
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: the school from dozens of deaths. One man. No one
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: told him to do it. But down inside his being,
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: he knew, I cannot let these precious lives be taken
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: by that madman. That happened in February. All of us
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: know the name Newtown, which happened in December, same year.
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: Not three students, but 27 people were killed by that
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: savage who shot them. When after the slaughter had ended
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: and they had time to to gather their thoughts in Newtown,
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: they began to go through boxes and boxes of letters
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: and ribbons and statements and gifts and flowers and all,
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: and they came to one signed Frank Hall as he
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: expressed his compassion and sympathy. They were way up there
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: in the Northeast. He was in Ohio, but he understood.
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: They had to find out who he was. Because you see,
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: Coach Hall never granted an audience to Oprah Winfrey on
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: her program. He told Anderson Cooper, nope, not interested in
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: being on TV. All the major networks begged him for
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: an interview. He refused them all. He said he saved
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: his school from slaughter, and it wasn't about him. It
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: was about them. So when we read the words of Esther,
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: I will go in to see the king. And if
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: I must die, I must die. We understand it better.
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: Most of us have never been there yet. There's no reluctance.
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: There's no caution. There's no hesitation. She's determined now to
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: break the law, to open the door and push her
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: way in, and win the hearing of her husband, which
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: she does. The result, through an interesting series of events,
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: is that Haman winds up on the gallows that he
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: had built for those Jews he longed to see slaughtered.
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: Great poetic justice. Not really. great sovereign hand of God,
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: who does according to his will in the army of
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and no
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: one can stay his hand or say unto him, what
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: are you doing? Now that was then. That was then.
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: Most of you couldn't point out the borders of Persia
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: in this ancient day. That's understandable. You're not ancient historians,
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: but you know your world. You know your setting. If
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: I may, you know your government. You know your calling.
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: I hope. You know that you're a believer in Jesus Christ,
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: which puts you in a very unusual minority, but a
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: very vocal minority. If we have the courage to take
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: a stand on things that matter, When I got to
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: this part of my message in the first service, a
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: number of people walked out. I don't care. You may
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: choose to walk out. I have some more things to
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: say that the rest of us need to hear. It's
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: not my desire to offend anyone, but the one thing
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: I pull away from more than that is to keep
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: from telling you the truth. And I want to talk
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: truth now. I don't want to talk about Esther and
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: her ancient days and how great it was that she
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: stood alone. I do admire her and I salute her
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: and for the rest of my life will quote her words.
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: But I'm not talking about us in this 21st century era.
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: I want to give you two statements that I have
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: worked out very carefully in the wording. And I want
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: you to remember they have to do with four words
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: that I began with, the power of one. In this case,
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: it is you. It is not your spouse, if you're married.
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: It is not one of your children. It is not
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: your parent. It is not your best friend. It is you, Y-O-U.
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: You're the only you. And let's think of this as
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: just you and me in a room, and I'm telling
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: you this directly with no one else in mind but you.
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: And of course, my own self, I apply it. Here's
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: the first statement. If you don't mind, Write it down.
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: Not until you believe one person can make a difference
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: will you be willing to stand alone. Not until you
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: believe one person can make a difference will you be
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: willing to stand alone. Make a difference about what? Well,
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: look around. Open your eyes. Open your ears. I made
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: a list of needs and I wound up with a
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: full typewritten page and a half another knowing I couldn't
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: use all of that. I pulled it down to a
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: short list. Take your choice. What are you personally doing
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: about the issue of abortion? What child will live because
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: you choose to do what you have done? What about
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: the hungry and the homeless? You drive by them. You
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: walk past them. What have you ever done for one
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: hungry or homeless person? Probably nothing. How about those who
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: are addicted? Yeah, we open our church to those who
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: are in AA, and I'm glad we do. Three times
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: a day they meet. Seven days a week. 365. They're here.
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: Their place is open to them. But are you working
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: with someone, helping them through an addiction and helping them
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: find dignity and purpose? I had a father say to
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: me as soon as I finished the first service, he
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: walked up and said with tears, and he named the
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: relative in his family. He said, she has begun to
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: drink again. And I found myself earlier thinking, well, you know,
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: the Lord's going to really have to deal with her
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: this time. And I realized I'm the one that needs
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: to talk with her. I'm the one that should put
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: the words together, and I intend to do that this week.
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: How about those who are guilty of racial prejudice? Do
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: you stand against that? Do you look the person in
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: the eye and call it what it is? That's a
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: racially prejudiced statement, and I resent it and I'm offended
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: by it. How about pornography? Assuming you are not yourself addicted,
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: and that's a big assumption, since it is rampant. What
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: have you done to stand against the issue of pornography?
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: How about sex trafficking, abuses of all kind, incest, spouse battering,
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: absentee fathers, the mistreatment of the young, helping the disabled?
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: What about the loss of masculinity? The absence of manliness
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: among men. How about reaching out to the lost? When's
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: the last time you opened your mouth and spoke openly
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: of Christ? Kindly, graciously, personally, not in an offensive way,
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: but just very honestly spoken to them about their need
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: for the Savior. You may be the only gospel they
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: will read in their lifetimes. about reaching down to the fallen.
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: What do you do when you hear some brother or
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: sister has fallen? Do you take the name to your
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: next prayer group and gossip about them and call it prayer?
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: Or do you get a hold of them and say,
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: I understand you're having struggles. I want you to know
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: I'm here for you. I had Howie Hendricks tell me
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: years ago that his heart went out to an individual
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: who was a former student at Dallas Seminary and had
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: fallen into sexual sin. and it made a mess of
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: his life. And Dr. Hendricks said, I've never told anyone
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: else this, but since we're on the subject, Chuck, I'll
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: tell you I contacted him. I happen to have had
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: a number for him, and he answered the phone, and
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: his voice quivered when he heard my voice. And I said,
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: I'm calling to tell you that I love you. And
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: the man said to him, since I fell, I've not
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: had one call like this. He said, everybody else stands
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: on the seashore and screams words of shame and criticism
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: against me. And I have enough shame to last for
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: two lifetimes. You're the first one to throw out. out
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: a life preserver to save my life. It's your move,
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: it's my move, and I need to warn you it
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: will not be easy, it will be risky, and it
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: could get ugly. You could become a marked individual and
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: lose friends. So? How old must we be before we
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: concern ourselves less with those who want to have that
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: kind of friendship and serving the Lord Christ for whatever
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: may be the cause? Which brings me to the second statement.
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: The first was not until you believe one person can
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: make a difference will you be willing to stand alone.
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: Here's the other. Only when you move from the safe
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: harbor of theory to the troubled waters of reality will
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: you know what it means to stand alone. Only when
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: you move from the safe harbor of theory to the
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: troubled waters of reality will you know what it means
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: to stand alone. To stand alone. This is real, folks.
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: This isn't some ancient story about a people whose names
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: you can hardly pronounce who lived in a time and
• 50:46
  Speaker 1: place you'll never be. This is life. Standing alone is
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: not some theoretical thought. You face it as a parent.
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: Every time you look the other way and you know
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: wrong is happening, you're part of the problem. Every time
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: you know that you can make a difference by simply
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: saying something or at least attempting to make a difference
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: and you don't, you're part of the problem. Don't criticize
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: the youth. What we have today is a parent problem,
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: a grandparent problem. And I will tell you without in
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: any way appearing to be a prophet, we are in
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: for some hard days ahead. You and I, as we
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: know life today, quite likely will not be like that
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: by the end of our lives, certainly by the end
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: of your children's lives. I met one gentleman today who
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: told me they're from Austin. He said, we love to
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: come visit. And he talked about their lives in Austin.
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: He said, man, I want to tell you, I appreciate
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: your ministry and said some nice things. Then he got
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: around to important stuff and he said, you know what,
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: my wife and I have started two schools because we
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: decided to counteract the school system because it is so corrupt.
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: And when they're now starting to sell, you know, the
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: morning after pills to seven and eight year olds, for
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: God's sake, what's next? We decided it's time to start schools.
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: So they started two Both of them were about 800
• 52:36
  Speaker 1: in number, and they said it's the joy of our
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: life when we see them graduate knowing they were exposed
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: to a great education, but in a context where we
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: can know for sure it is controlled by those who
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: have convictions and stand for what is morally right in
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: a day of unrighteousness. Those people have chosen to stand alone.
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: Will you? When? Quick. Everything I have to say today
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: has to do with four words. The power of one.
• 53:14
  Speaker 1: You're the one. Bow with me, please. We live in
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: desperate times, our Father, but we do not panic. However,
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: we are passionate. We find ourselves restless through the night
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: when we read the stories of slaughters at schoolhouses, and rapes,
• 53:40
  Speaker 1: and acts of incest, and men locking up girls for years.
• 53:48
  Speaker 1: Extreme cases like that, but then there are so many
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: others who are around them. Forgive us for looking past them.
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: Break our hearts, our Father, over our world in which
• 54:01
  Speaker 1: we live. And move us from the safe harbor of
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: theory into the messy world of reality. Calm our fears.
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: May we operate knowing that we're going to do what
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: is right and what is best. And as a result,
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: we're going to make a difference. Guard us from watching
• 54:27
  Speaker 1: out for our own protections. rather than guarding your reputation
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: and the truth of your word. Guide us, great Jehovah.
• 54:41
  Speaker 1: We're pilgrims in a barren land. We are weak, but
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: you are mighty. Hold us with your powerful hand, bread
• 54:50
  Speaker 1: of heaven. Feed us till we want no more. I
• 54:57
  Speaker 1: set apart these who have heard the truth today May
• 55:01
  Speaker 1: it make a difference in lives, in families, in homes,
• 55:08
  Speaker 1: in neighborhoods, in cities, in this nation, in our world.
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: In the matchless name of Christ, our Savior, we pray.
• 55:20
  Speaker 1: Everyone said, Amen.
• 55:28
  Speaker 2: The preceding message, Standing Alone, was copyrighted in 2013, and
• 55:33
  Speaker 2: the sound recording was copyrighted in 2017 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.
• 55:38
  Speaker 2: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
• 55:43
  Speaker 2: commercial use is strictly prohibited.