Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Esther’s Finest Hour │ Msg 612 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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Esther’s Finest Hour │ Msg 612 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: When you wait on the Lord, you don't have to
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  Speaker 1: walk around in a day's humming sweet our prayer or
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  Speaker 1: some other old hen. You don't have to go out
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  Speaker 1: on some hillside and strum a guitar all by yourself.
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  Speaker 1: Mostly you keep up your regular activities, You go right
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  Speaker 1: on with your business. Your spirit, however, settles into a
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  Speaker 1: posture of trust as you prayerfully place your problem into
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  Speaker 1: the Lord's hands, and you wait for his timing and
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  Speaker 1: for his strength. That's right where we find Esther in
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  Speaker 1: today's account. When she accepted her mission to save her people,
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  Speaker 1: the Jews, she asked Mordecai to gather all the Jews
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  Speaker 1: in Susa to pray and to fast for three days.
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  Speaker 1: She and her maidens did the same. The three day
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  Speaker 1: fast was a quiet yet powerful interlude in the queen's life.
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  Speaker 1: Waiting on the Lord strengthened her resolve, so when it
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  Speaker 1: came time for her to act, she was prepared emotionally
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  Speaker 1: and spiritually, and she knew that God was with her.
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  Speaker 1: I want to read for you sections from the fifth
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  Speaker 1: chapter of Esther, which describes the precarious moment when Queen
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  Speaker 1: Esther goes before the King uninvited, I'm reading again from
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  Speaker 1: the New American Standard Bible. Listen please, as chapter five
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: begins at verse one. Now, it came about on the
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  Speaker 1: third day that Esther put on her royal robes and
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  Speaker 1: stood in the inner court of the King's palace, in
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  Speaker 1: front of the King's rooms, and the King was sitting
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  Speaker 1: on his royal throne in the throne room opposite the
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  Speaker 1: entrance to the palace. When the King saw Esther, the Queen,
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  Speaker 1: standing in the court, she obtained favor in his sight.
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  Speaker 1: And the King extended to ester the golden scepter which
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  Speaker 1: was in his hand. So Esther came near and touched
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  Speaker 1: the top of the scepter. Then the King said to her,
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  Speaker 1: what is troubling you, Queen Esther, And what is your request?
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  Speaker 1: Even to half of the kingdom, it shall be given
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  Speaker 1: to you. Esther said, if it pleases the King, May
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  Speaker 1: the King and Hayman come this day to the banquet
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  Speaker 1: that I have prepared for him. Then the King said,
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  Speaker 1: bring Hayman quickly, that we may do as Esther desires.
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  Speaker 1: So the King and Haymon came to the banquet which
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  Speaker 1: Esther had prepared. Now, at verse twelve we get a
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  Speaker 1: glimpse of Hayman's inflated ego. Don't miss that, although honored
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  Speaker 1: to be invited to the banquet, he was obsessed with
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  Speaker 1: rage toward Mordecai, and what he did next sealed his fate.
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  Speaker 1: Now listen closely as I began at verse twelve, Hamon
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  Speaker 1: also said, even as to the Queen, let no one
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  Speaker 1: but me come with the king to the banquet which
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  Speaker 1: she had prepared. And tomorrow also I am invited by
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  Speaker 1: her with the king. Yet all of this does not
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  Speaker 1: satisfy me. Every time I see Mordecai, the Jew, sitting
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  Speaker 1: at the Kink's gate. Then Zeresh, his wife and all
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  Speaker 1: his friends, said to him, have a gallows fifty cubits
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  Speaker 1: high made, and in the morning asked the King to
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  Speaker 1: have Mordecai hanged on it. Then go joyfully with the
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  Speaker 1: King to the banquet. And the advice pleased Haman, so
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  Speaker 1: he had the gallows made.
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  Speaker 2: When it comes to touching the heart, few things can
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  Speaker 2: be compared to a song or a story. We all
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  Speaker 2: know occasions where the right music mixed with the right
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  Speaker 2: lyrics wooed us back to God, or maybe a friend
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  Speaker 2: of ours, a song that our mother taught us, or
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  Speaker 2: sang or some song we heard in.
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  Speaker 1: A church service years ago.
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  Speaker 2: There is nothing quite like the nostalgia that brings us
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  Speaker 2: like a magnet to the heart of God. Seems to
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  Speaker 2: soften the soil of our souls. And a story will
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  Speaker 2: do the same when you have the right caaracters who
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  Speaker 2: carry out life issues in a plot that is mixed
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  Speaker 2: with adventure and surprise and some humor, along with purpose
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  Speaker 2: and an ultimate.
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  Speaker 1: Moral of the story.
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  Speaker 2: There's something about that story that sweeps us into a
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  Speaker 2: right state of mind. I don't know of a song
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  Speaker 2: that's found in the book of Esther, but what a story, huh.
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  Speaker 2: It's a story of adventure and suspense mixed with enough
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  Speaker 2: courage and hope and a little bit of humor and
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  Speaker 2: a measure of surprise, and it sort of holds our attention.
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  Speaker 2: I was thinking this past week how great it would
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  Speaker 2: be to make this story into a film, or to
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  Speaker 2: have it become a play where people who knew the
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  Speaker 2: lord of the story could carry out with passion words
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  Speaker 2: like Mordecai, as he says to Esther in Ester four,
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  Speaker 2: verse fourteen. If you remain silent at this time, relief
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  Speaker 2: and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place,
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  Speaker 2: and you and your father's house will perish. And who
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  Speaker 2: knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a
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  Speaker 2: time as this. And with incredible courage, Ester answers Mordecai's
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  Speaker 2: admonition with go and assemble all the Jews who are
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  Speaker 2: found in Sousa, and fast for me. Do not eat
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  Speaker 2: or drink for three days night or day. I and
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  Speaker 2: my maidens also will fast in the same way. And
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  Speaker 2: thus she answers, I will go to the king, which
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  Speaker 2: is not according to law. And if I perish, I perish.
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  Speaker 2: And I can just hear the audience applaud as the
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  Speaker 2: curtain closes, and this grand speech that prepares her to
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  Speaker 2: step into the place where she is not invited, and
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  Speaker 2: to do what the king.
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  Speaker 1: Had not expected. And she says, if I perish, so
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  Speaker 1: be it. What courage C. S. Lewis would have been
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  Speaker 1: proud of her.
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  Speaker 2: You may remember he is the one who said, we
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  Speaker 2: have people with heads, and we have people with hearts.
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  Speaker 2: What we need is people with chests. The old American
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  Speaker 2: word is guts. We need people with guts who will say,
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  Speaker 2: I will stand for this if I die reminded me
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  Speaker 2: when I read it first, of the immortal words of
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  Speaker 2: Rudyard Kipling, as he has put them to gather in
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  Speaker 2: a peace that has outlived him, entitled if you will
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  Speaker 2: remember these lines from your English literature class, huh. If
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  Speaker 2: you can keep your head when all about you are
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  Speaker 2: losing theirs and blaming it on you. If you can
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  Speaker 2: dream and not make dreams your master. If you can
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  Speaker 2: think and not make thoughts your aim. If you can
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  Speaker 2: meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors
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  Speaker 2: just the same. If you can talk with crowds and
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  Speaker 2: keep your virtue, or walk with kings, nor lose the
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  Speaker 2: common touch. If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
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  Speaker 2: If all men count with you, but not too much.
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  Speaker 2: Yours is the earth and everything that's in it, and
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  Speaker 2: which is more, you'll be a man, my son. I
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  Speaker 2: love those lines. Kipling is telling his boy to stand alone,
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  Speaker 2: to be courageous to vote his conscience and his convictions,
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  Speaker 2: even if it means being cut off from a major
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  Speaker 2: supply of support. Speaking of that, I was thrilled this
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  Speaker 2: past week with the telephone conversation I had with a
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  Speaker 2: longtime friend of mine He's been a member of our
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  Speaker 2: church for years, and he was telling me about his
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  Speaker 2: twelve year old grandson who recently resigned from delivering the
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  Speaker 2: San Francisco Examiner.
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  Speaker 1: Twelve year old boy cut off his only.
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  Speaker 2: Source of financial supply, and before he did it, he
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  Speaker 2: wrote a letter, and he dates the letter and he
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  Speaker 2: gives the proper statement at the top. The San Francisco
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  Speaker 2: Newspaper Agency, Agent of the San Francisco Examiner Circulation Department,
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  Speaker 2: Membriss is twelve year old boy, gentleman. I am a
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  Speaker 2: carrier for the Sanford Francisco Examiner, as provided in section
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  Speaker 2: fourteen A of the Youth Carrier delivery contract. I am
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  Speaker 2: giving the newspaper agency a minimum of thirty days written
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  Speaker 2: notice prior.
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  Speaker 1: To my resignation.
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  Speaker 2: Please note my resignation will go into effect Tuesday, and
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  Speaker 2: he dates it. I am quitting as a form of
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  Speaker 2: protest against the series you printed in early June entitled
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  Speaker 2: Gay in America and the very unprofessional and biased manner
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  Speaker 2: in which you report on touchy subjects like gay liberation
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  Speaker 2: and abortion issues. I could not in good conscience comply
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  Speaker 2: with all the terms of my contract as stated in
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  Speaker 2: paragraph three and solicit a paper that I personally disagree with, sincerely,
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  Speaker 2: and he signs it. His father is an attorney, I
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  Speaker 2: might add, and I applaud that boy's decision. Would you
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  Speaker 2: have written that letter? Would you have cut off your
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  Speaker 2: source of financial supply? Would you have stood alone against
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  Speaker 2: a company that stands for what you stand against? Would
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  Speaker 2: you do what a twelve year old has done. It's
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  Speaker 2: amazing what it does to the story of Esther.
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  Speaker 1: She says. If I perish, I perish.
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  Speaker 2: But my conscience will not let me do other than
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  Speaker 2: what I have decided to do. I'm reminded of another
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  Speaker 2: who did the same. His name was Martin Luther. The
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  Speaker 2: date was April eighteenth, fifteen twenty one, at the Diet
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  Speaker 2: of Arms, where he said, here I stand, I can
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  Speaker 2: do no other.
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  Speaker 1: God help me, amen.
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  Speaker 2: And the major prelates of the Roman Church despised him
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  Speaker 2: to the bone, and they would have killed him if
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  Speaker 2: they could. They excommunicated him, But there he stood. God
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  Speaker 2: helped him, and he struck the torch that lit the
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  Speaker 2: fire for the Protestant Reformation.
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  Speaker 1: Would you do that?
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  Speaker 2: Would you be excommunicated from your church that stands against
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  Speaker 2: the very things of scripture? Would you have that kind
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  Speaker 2: of guts. That's why we admire a woman like Esther.
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  Speaker 2: And she not only says she will do it, she
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  Speaker 2: does it. She doesn't talk theory and then deliver trash.
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  Speaker 2: She does what she says she will do, not knowing
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  Speaker 2: if she would live to see that evening sunset. Between
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  Speaker 2: chapter four and chapter five of this ancient book of Esther.
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  Speaker 2: There is a white space in my Bible, and there
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  Speaker 2: is in yours. Nothing is recorded. We began reading in
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  Speaker 2: chapter five of a woman who walks into the presence
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  Speaker 2: of the king, not knowing what the future held, literally
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  Speaker 2: breaking the law of the land to interrupt the king uninvited.
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  Speaker 2: And it's easy for us to pass over this white
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  Speaker 2: space and miss the significance of it. It represents a
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  Speaker 2: silent yet powerful interlude. How easy to forget the source
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  Speaker 2: of Esther's strength, How easy for us to believe that
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  Speaker 2: she was just sort of born with a joan of
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  Speaker 2: arc conscience, that she was a Florence Nightingale.
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  Speaker 1: Right out of the womb.
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  Speaker 2: Just as no one is born prejudice, no one is
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  Speaker 2: born courageous. Do you teach your children to stand alone?
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  Speaker 2: Are you teaching your grandchildren to be people of character regardless,
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  Speaker 2: that is the way they will learn it better. Still,
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  Speaker 2: are you modeling it that leaves the message permanently etched
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  Speaker 2: in their minds? You see, Esther did not come onto
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  Speaker 2: this earth with a courageous heart. She learned it from
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  Speaker 2: her mentor and adoptive father, Mordecai.
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  Speaker 1: He knew how far he could.
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  Speaker 2: Stretch her with his challenge, and she took the bait
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  Speaker 2: and said, I'll do exactly as you have taught me
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  Speaker 2: to do. But remember it isn't in her own heart.
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  Speaker 2: You may have already forgotten her request. She says in
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  Speaker 2: the fourth chapter, verse sixteen, you and all the Jews
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  Speaker 2: in Sousa fast for three days, and my maidens and
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  Speaker 2: I will do the same. I take it that implied
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  Speaker 2: in this time of fasting where they do not eat,
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  Speaker 2: is also a time of prayer.
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  Speaker 1: She is waiting on the Lord. That's what fasting is
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  Speaker 1: all about.
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  Speaker 2: She has challenged Mordecai to round up as many as
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  Speaker 2: he can find, who are the people of God in
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  Speaker 2: the streets of Sousa and the vast residential areas where
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  Speaker 2: the Jews lived, And she is saying, pray for me,
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  Speaker 2: fast for me and my maidens, and I will do
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  Speaker 2: the same, and we will see.
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  Speaker 1: What God will do. We will wait on the Lord now.
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  Speaker 1: Even though there is white space between these two chapters,
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  Speaker 1: don't think for a moment that God is whiling away
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  Speaker 1: his time busy with other things. During the period of
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  Speaker 1: no involvement. God is at work. That's the beauty of
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  Speaker 1: his invisibility. Not only is he invincible, he is invisible.
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  Speaker 1: He can be moving in a thousand places at the
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  Speaker 1: same time, working in circumstances that are beyond our control.
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  Speaker 1: You see, during a waiting.
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  Speaker 2: Period, God is not only working in our hearts. He's
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  Speaker 2: working in the hearts of other people. And all the
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  Speaker 2: while He is giving added strength. Hold your place here
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  Speaker 2: at Esther chapter five, and turn ahead to Isaiah forty,
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  Speaker 2: verse thirty one. For some of you, it is a
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  Speaker 2: favorite verse of scripture. Others, I'm convinced have never seen it.
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  Speaker 2: Let me introduce it to you. If you have not,
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  Speaker 2: Isaiah forty thirty one. Those who wait for the Lord
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  Speaker 2: will gain new strength. They will mount up with wings
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  Speaker 2: like eagles. They will run and not get tired. They
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  Speaker 2: will walk and not become weary.
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  Speaker 1: Even though Isaiah's.
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  Speaker 2: Penn put this on the manuscript centuries ago. That verse
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  Speaker 2: of scripture is as pertinent and relevant as what you
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  Speaker 2: read in the paper this morning, and far more trustworthy.
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  Speaker 2: Let me point out, if you like to mark certain
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  Speaker 2: things in your Bibles from this verse. Four things that
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  Speaker 2: happen when we wait. First, we gain new strength. Second,
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  Speaker 2: we get a better perspective, he says, we will.
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  Speaker 1: Mount up with wings like eagles. Eagles can spot fish
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  Speaker 1: in a late three four miles away on a clear
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  Speaker 1: day by soaring like eagles. While waiting, we gain perspective
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  Speaker 1: on what we have been dealing with. We wait, we
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  Speaker 1: gain perspective.
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  Speaker 2: We get new strength. Third, we store up extra energy.
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  Speaker 2: We will run and not get tired. Notice its future tense.
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  Speaker 2: When we do encounter the thing we have been dreading,
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  Speaker 2: we will encounter it with new strength. There will be
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  Speaker 2: extra energy. We'll run and not get tired. Fourth, we
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  Speaker 2: will deepen our determination to persevere. We will walk and
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  Speaker 2: not become weary. We'll deepen our determination to persevere, will
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  Speaker 2: gain new strength, will get better perspective, will store up
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  Speaker 2: extra energy, will deepen our determination to persevere. That's what
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  Speaker 2: happens when you wait, and you know what, During the
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  Speaker 2: period of waiting, nothing is happening.
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  Speaker 1: Nothing visible. You could easily teach yoursel or tell yourself.
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  Speaker 2: At the time, nothing is going to change. I am
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  Speaker 2: waiting in vain. It's not going to change. Don't you
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  Speaker 2: believe it. That's one of those times you can't believe
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  Speaker 2: the enemy's message that's coming into your mind. In fact,
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  Speaker 2: look down at forty one to ten still in Isaiah
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  Speaker 2: forty one ten, Do not fear, for I.
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  Speaker 1: Am with you.
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  Speaker 2: Do not anxiously look about you. That's what we do
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  Speaker 2: when we wait. If our eyes on on the Lord,
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  Speaker 2: do not anxiously look about you. I am your God.
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  Speaker 2: I will strengthen you. Surely, I will help you. Surely
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  Speaker 2: I will uphold you with my righteous hand verse thirteen.
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  Speaker 2: For I am the Lord, your God, who upholds you,
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  Speaker 2: who upholds your right hand, who says to you, do
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  Speaker 2: not fear, I will help you.
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  Speaker 1: See. It's those kind of thoughts that Esther poured over
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  Speaker 1: when she was waiting for three days. Mordecai followed, look
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  Speaker 1: back at Esther four seventeen. Mordecai did just as Esther
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  Speaker 1: had commanded, Because now the roles are reversed, He's no
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  Speaker 1: longer in charge. She is, or better still, the Lord.
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  Speaker 2: Is, and the Lord has her heart, and she is
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  Speaker 2: now unafraid of what she's going to be facing. It
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  Speaker 2: is a silent yet powerful interlude in the time of
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  Speaker 2: the queen's life. And may I pause and say, this
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  Speaker 2: may be one of those times in your life.
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  Speaker 1: You see, God.
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  Speaker 2: Hasn't recorded esther chapter four, in chapter five for us
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  Speaker 2: to learn the Little Persian history. God has recorded this
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  Speaker 2: book for us to apply it on a daily basis.
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  Speaker 2: Maybe it's time for you to fast, and for you
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  Speaker 2: to call upon a few close friends to fast with you.
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  Speaker 2: Maybe it's time for you to say, I'm not going
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  Speaker 2: to get involved in this unpredictable and unprecedented situation. I
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  Speaker 2: don't know my way through. I can't find the path
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  Speaker 2: to walk, So I'm going to wait. In the meantime,
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  Speaker 2: I'm going to give it to God. I'm going to
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  Speaker 2: listen with a sensitive ear. I'm gonna watch with a
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  Speaker 2: sensitive eye. Remember the psalmnst words for this, shall everyone
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  Speaker 2: that is godly pray unto THEE In a time when
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  Speaker 2: thou mayst be found surely.
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  Speaker 1: In the floods of great waters, they.
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  Speaker 2: Shall not come nigh to him. The Psalmist says, thou
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  Speaker 2: art my hiding place. Thou shalt preserve me from trouble.
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  Speaker 2: Thou has accompass me about with songs of deliverance and
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  Speaker 2: God answers. I will instruct thee and teach thee in
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  Speaker 2: the way which thou shalt go.
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  Speaker 1: I will guide thee with mine eye. I will guide
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  Speaker 1: thee with mine eye. Do you hear that the eye
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  Speaker 1: makes no sound when it moves. It requires a sensitive
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  Speaker 1: eye to watch the movement of God's directions. And all
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  Speaker 1: he may do is turn your attention in another direction.
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  Speaker 1: And that's all you may need. When you wait, you listen.
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  Speaker 2: You pour over a passage of His word that you love.
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  Speaker 2: You quietly give attention to His presence and to his direction.
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  Speaker 2: That's what happens in between these two chapters. You're going
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  Speaker 2: to love Esther's approach as she steps into the presence
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  Speaker 2: of the King.
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  Speaker 1: Your Bible has now open to Esther. Chapter five.
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  Speaker 2: You will find her introducing a calm, yet very wise plan.
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  Speaker 1: Now comes the moment of truth. The three days are over.
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  Speaker 2: She doesn't know if she's going to live through the
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  Speaker 2: first glance of the King. Watch closely came about on
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  Speaker 2: the third day that Esther put on her royal robes
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  Speaker 2: and stood in the inner court of the king's palace,
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  Speaker 2: in front of the king's rooms. And the King was
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  Speaker 2: sitting on his royal throne in the throne room opposite
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  Speaker 2: the entrance to the palace.
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  Speaker 1: And it happened.
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  Speaker 2: When the King saw esther, the queen, standing in the court,
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  Speaker 2: she obtained favor in his sight.
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  Speaker 1: Now look at that.
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  Speaker 2: She had no idea what would happen when she stepped
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  Speaker 2: into the courtroom of the king.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: She found favor in the king's sight. Put in the.
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: Margin of your bible. If you have a pen handy.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: Proverbs sixteen seven. Just trust me.
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: Proverbs sixteen seven. When a man's ways pleased the Lord,
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him,
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: which you'll love that verse. When my ways please the Lord,
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: God honors that by doing something in the.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: Heart of my enemy.
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: And in some period of time, and I don't know
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: how long he changes his heart toward me. You might
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: also put Proverbs twenty one one. The heart of the
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: king in the hand of the Lord is like water.
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: No king has ever made God sit up straight. God
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: is not intimidated, no matter how powerful the authority. God
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: is not chagrined in the presence of your enemy. He
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: can handle him. He can even handle your husband. He
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: can handle your wife, he can handle your kids. He
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: can handle your pastor he can handle the person that
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: gives you grief, your ex mate, that person who made
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: you all those promises and then went bad on him.
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: He can handle the most intimidating situation, because in the
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: hand of the Lord, any heart is like water. Look
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: at this woman, she walks in. She's not trembling, She's
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: confident in God. And when the King saw Esther standing
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: in the court, she not only obtained favor in his sight,
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: he extended to Esther the golden scepter. Remember she mentioned
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: this in chapter four earlier, when she was telling Mordecai
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: she wasn't sure she could follow through, and now confident,
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: the king extends the scepter, and.
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: She touches the top of the scepter, which.
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: Is making a connection with the king. And look at
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: his response. The King said to her, what is troubling you,
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: Queen Esther?
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: I love that.
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: I mean she didn't know what to expect. And he
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: says to her, what's on your mind? What's troubling you?
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: He goes further, what is it that you request? What's
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: your request?
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: Even to half the kingdom, it will be given to you.
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: Not only does she find favor, he says.
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: What do you want? Name it? It's yours now. This
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: is her moment to rip on Hayman. But she doesn't.
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: She could have said, I'm glad you asked. I've got
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: a list of complaints you will never believe.
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: She doesn't even tell him what's troubling her. This is
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: a wise woman. She isn't in a hurry. You know
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: why she has been waiting on the Lord. You get
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: in a hurry when you don't wait on the Lord.
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: You do rash things. You operate from your.
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: Hip pocket, You shoot off the top of your head,
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: you run off at the mouth, you say things you
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: wish to goodness you hadn't said a day or two later.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: But when you wait on the Lord, he's got a
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: hold of your spirit. He's got you under his control.
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: And look at her response. This is beautiful.
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: Esther said, if it please the King, may the King
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: and Hayman come this day to the banquet that I
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: have prepared for him.
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: Is that incredible? You say, what are you laughing at? Well?
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: When in the world. Did she prepare the banquet? I
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: thought she's been fasting. Well, she's been preparing the banquet
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: while she was fasting. That represents enormous control. If you
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: have ever dieted, you know what I'm talking about. Here
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: is a woman for three days has been working with
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: her maidens on this fabulous banqu which she's going to
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: serve her husband, the King, and her enemy Haman. And
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: she says, I have it ready. By the way, this
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: is a perfect time for me to say. When you
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: wait on the Lord, it doesn't mean that you do
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: weird things like walk around humming sweet our prayer. It
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: doesn't mean you go on a hillside and eat bird
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: seed and.
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: Strum a guitar.
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: It doesn't mean you wear a robe and look for
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: the closest monastery. You go right on with your business,
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: you go right on with your activities. You just focus fully.
• 28:28
  Speaker 3: On the Lord.
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: You can do that.
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: While preparing the banquet, she was thinking about how God
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: was working. He gave her the thought, serve a banquet,
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: invite Hayman, here's what you need to say. She began
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: to capture these fleeting thoughts.
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: It was an unusual surprise to her I'm sure. Will
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: you notice what she doesn't do. She doesn't tell everything
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: that's troubling her, doesn't point a finger in Hayman. She
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: doesn't play on the King's emotions by bursting into tears
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: and manipulating him to do what she wants him to do.
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: As you can do, ladies, you can do it, you
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: can turn it on, and we can two men. She
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: determines not to do it her way. She very calmly says,
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: no frenzy, no tears. She says, I planned a banquet.
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: I'd love to have you and Hayman attend.
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: Well. The King says, great idea, and banquets are my thing.
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: Verse five. Bring Hayman quickly, that we may do.
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: As Esther desires. Look who is in the driver's seat.
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: Oh wait, you're gonna say Esther, it's the Lord. The
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: Lord is having his way.
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: She is virtually invincible in the nucleus of God's plan.
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: That's the beauty of this whole story. Bring Hayman quickly,
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: that we may do as Estra desires. So the King
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: and Haymon came to the banquet, which Esther had prepared.
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: What a surprise. Two days ago they had no idea
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: it was going to work. And here they are in
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: the middle of a banquet, and Esther must must have
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: been sitting there thinking, isn't God great? I could have
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: lost my head a day ago, and here they are
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: at this banquet I prepared. It's working beautifully. What a surprise.
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: I say to you that God is still full of surprises.
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: But it takes a sensitive spirit. It takes the ability
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: to still be jolted when he reveals his surprises. You
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: haven't just begun to mouth all these Christian songs, have you,
• 30:58
  Speaker 2: and spout all these Christian verses from.
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: This Christian book.
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: You haven't become cauterized, have you?
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: Your Christian life hasn't gotten jaded, has it.
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: See when that happens, you become calloused and insensitive, and
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: you're in for a life of boredom and mediocrity. The
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: walk of faith is the most adventurous walk, filled with
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: periodic surprises you would never ever guess. Some man has
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: said it's easy for Christians to become like the people
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: who once greeted President Franklin Roosevelt at a gala ball,
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: tired of shaking hands and smiling his big smile and
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: saying all the usual inanities. At such occasions, Roosevelt tried
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: doing something outrageous. Convinced that no one was listening anyway,
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: he greeted each person by saying, I murdered my grandmother
• 32:05
  Speaker 2: this morning. Everyone smiled vacuously and said things like wonderful, lovely,
• 32:17
  Speaker 2: keep up the good work. One diplomat was listening, however,
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: he leaned over and whispered in Roosevelt's ear. I'm sure
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: she had it coming to her. Sometime. Christian talk drives
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: me crazy when it is marked by cliche and tired sayings.
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: Doesn't it just make you want to throw up, especially
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: when you look back a day or two and you
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: realize you were guilty of it.
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: You were guilty of it.
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: And I'll tell you, as long as that's going on
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: in our lives, that Christian life has lost it. Zip
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: We're no different from the lost person except for our eternity.
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: We're just as empty as they.
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: Esther has stepped.
• 33:12
  Speaker 2: Into a banquet because she was willing to trust God
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: to do the unexpected. Are you still open to the unexpected?
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: I mean, are you really waiting on the Lord to
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: do his will? Let's say you're single and you really
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: want to be married, and you're waiting on the Lord
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: to do what.
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: Find you a mate?
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: Are you ready for him to say, My answer is
• 33:43
  Speaker 2: that you find happiness in being single for the rest
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: of your life. Oh, he said, don't wait a minute.
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: That's not surprising. That's tragic for me to think about
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: something like that. You may be married and be in
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: deep water with your mate, and you may think, as.
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: You wait on Lord, God.
• 34:03
  Speaker 2: Take care of him, take care of her, and you
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: may be surprised to know in the waiting period the
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: Lord says, We've got to take care of you. You're
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: a greater part of the problem than your mate. You
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: may not have run, but you're a major reason that
• 34:21
  Speaker 2: mate ran. It's hard to hear that when it.
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: Could be.
• 34:29
  Speaker 2: Could be with a wayward child, that God uses the
• 34:32
  Speaker 2: waiting time for the parent to realize I'm part of
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: the reason the child is such a rebel. As I
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: look back on the way I reared that boy or
• 34:42
  Speaker 2: that girl, I realize almost too late, that I'm part
• 34:49
  Speaker 2: of the problem, not part of the answer. Or God
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: may be saying to you, my plan for you is
• 34:58
  Speaker 2: You're not stay in this area for ever like you
• 35:00
  Speaker 2: think you will.
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: Are you open to a move?
• 35:06
  Speaker 2: Are you willing to shift agendas for God to get
• 35:11
  Speaker 2: his way?
• 35:12
  Speaker 3: Oh?
• 35:12
  Speaker 2: I know your roots are deep, and I know you're set,
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: But not that set, are you.
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: I would have never guessed her plan would have been
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: like this or God's plan, But it was here.
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: She is at the banquet verse six, with the king
• 35:36
  Speaker 2: and with Hayman. By the way, she never told the
• 35:38
  Speaker 2: king what was troubling her. Remember up in verse three.
• 35:42
  Speaker 2: She didn't answer. She said, you got to come to
• 35:44
  Speaker 2: the banquet. So he comes to the banquet, and he
• 35:47
  Speaker 2: says to her, as they're sitting together at that feast,
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: what is your petition?
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: For it shall be granted to you? What is your request?
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: Even to half the kingdom, it'll be done? Tell me.
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: Look at her answer.
• 35:59
  Speaker 2: She said, my petition on my request is come to
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: another banquet. That's what verse eight is. If I have
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: found favor in the side of the king, and if
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: it please the King to grant my petition and do
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: what I request, May the King and Hayman come to
• 36:14
  Speaker 2: the banquet, which I shall prepare for them, And tomorrow
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: I will do as the king says. This lady is
• 36:20
  Speaker 2: into banquets, I mean, she says, this is a nice one. Tomorrow,
• 36:24
  Speaker 2: we'll have another one. So the king says, why not, Okay,
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: we'll go to that one.
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: Can you believe this? So convinced is she of God's
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: hand in the whole thing? I say this carefully.
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: She can almost toy with the situation. She says, let's
• 36:47
  Speaker 2: have another banquet tomorrow. She could have done everything tomorrow
• 36:50
  Speaker 2: that she did today, but she's trusting God. She said,
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: there's something I want to say, and I want to
• 36:57
  Speaker 2: wait till tomorrow, and you're gonna find out next message
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: we have on this what tomorrow would bring and why
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: in God's timing it required overnight. His plan is so
• 37:12
  Speaker 2: intriguing sometime my mouth drops open.
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: So he says, sure, let's do.
• 37:18
  Speaker 2: It now before tomorrow comes hamon verse nine. Remember Haman,
• 37:24
  Speaker 2: he's a guy you love to hate. Hayman went out that.
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: Day glad and pleased of heart. He is walking on
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: cloud nine. I mean, look at it.
• 37:32
  Speaker 2: When Hayman saw Mordecai in the King's gate, and that
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: and that he did not stand up or tremble before him.
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: Hayman was filled with anger against Mordecai. He controlled himself, however,
• 37:44
  Speaker 2: went to his house and sent for his friends and
• 37:46
  Speaker 2: his wife's areas.
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: He walks out of this.
• 37:48
  Speaker 2: Meeting thinking, for I was great. I was in audience
• 37:51
  Speaker 2: with the King and the Queen. I was the only
• 37:54
  Speaker 2: one invited to be there. They shared things that only
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: I got to hear. I mean, it was the ultimate
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: opportunity to draw names. Can you imagine Haman at the
• 38:02
  Speaker 2: office the next day? I was with the King and
• 38:04
  Speaker 2: queen last evening with a banquet for the three of us. Yes,
• 38:07
  Speaker 2: I was the only one invited. She personally sent me
• 38:12
  Speaker 2: an invitation. I mean, you can imagine that. And he
• 38:15
  Speaker 2: walks out and he runs into Mordecai, who will not
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: stand up or tremble before him. I love Mordecai. He
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: is a great kind of guy. By the way, he
• 38:25
  Speaker 2: is in the King's gate. Remember the last time he
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: couldn't go in the King's gate because he wore sackcloth
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: with ashes. I take it he's changed clothes because he's
• 38:35
  Speaker 2: now in the King's gate. He sends his gods at work.
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: He knows that something great is about to happen, and
• 38:42
  Speaker 2: he's still unintimidated by Haman. So great is Mordecai's god
• 38:49
  Speaker 2: Hayman walks out. Mordecai doesn't stand up or tremble. He instead,
• 38:54
  Speaker 2: Hayman comes to his home, invites a few friends and
• 38:58
  Speaker 2: his wife.
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: Look at versa left. Ever been at a party like this?
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: It is the pits.
• 39:04
  Speaker 2: Hayman recounted to them the glory of his riches, the
• 39:08
  Speaker 2: number of his sons, and every instance where the king
• 39:11
  Speaker 2: had magnified him, and how he had promoted him above
• 39:15
  Speaker 2: the princes and the servants of the king. Gag me,
• 39:19
  Speaker 2: can you imagine being in a group like that. Here's
• 39:23
  Speaker 2: the guy who says, now this is what I'm worth.
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: You can just see his wife. Oh boy, we've been
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: over this before. And my sons.
• 39:32
  Speaker 2: Chapter nine, verse ten tells us that he had ten sons.
• 39:37
  Speaker 2: A Jewish targum says Hayman had two hundred and eight
• 39:40
  Speaker 2: other sons in addition to his own ten. It's another story,
• 39:44
  Speaker 2: no need to get into it. But he has a
• 39:47
  Speaker 2: lot of kids. And so he reviews all of the sons,
• 39:50
  Speaker 2: not the quality he has with them relationship, but how many.
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: What kind of a guy is this?
• 39:56
  Speaker 2: And then he tells instance after instance where he is
• 39:59
  Speaker 2: promoted and exalted. Such arrogance you would think he had
• 40:06
  Speaker 2: enough to be satisfied. But people like this are never satisfied.
• 40:13
  Speaker 2: He's got one worry, Mordecai, who won't stand up or
• 40:18
  Speaker 2: tremble before him.
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: And you would think, if the guy.
• 40:22
  Speaker 2: Has the world with the tale, has over two hundred kids,
• 40:27
  Speaker 2: if he has all of these riches, and if he
• 40:29
  Speaker 2: has been invited to be in an audience with the
• 40:31
  Speaker 2: king and the Queen, that'd be enough. But what bothers
• 40:36
  Speaker 2: a person like this is that everybody doesn't vow to them,
• 40:41
  Speaker 2: and if one doesn't becomes his soul.
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: Worry. Look at how he puts it. He says.
• 40:50
  Speaker 2: He had been promoted and magnified verse twelve. Even esther,
• 40:55
  Speaker 2: the Queen let no one but me come with the
• 40:58
  Speaker 2: king to the banquet when she which she had prepared tomorrow.
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: I'm invited by her with the king.
• 41:04
  Speaker 2: Yet all of this doesn't satisfy me. Every time I
• 41:11
  Speaker 2: see Mordecai get it here the Jew, hear a little
• 41:18
  Speaker 2: anti Semitism. And then every time I see Mordecai the
• 41:22
  Speaker 2: Jew sitting at the king's gate, so his wife pipes
• 41:27
  Speaker 2: up and says, want you to do something about it?
• 41:30
  Speaker 2: I tired of hearing you complain about Mordecai. Zeresh's wife
• 41:38
  Speaker 2: and all of his friends said, have a gallows seventy
• 41:41
  Speaker 2: five feet high made, and in the morning asked the
• 41:47
  Speaker 2: king to have Mordecai hanged on it, and then go
• 41:50
  Speaker 2: joyfully with the king to the banquet. Hayman thought, hot
• 41:55
  Speaker 2: dog of an idea, and he put the guys on
• 41:58
  Speaker 2: the on the gallows detail, and they started building it.
• 42:02
  Speaker 2: And now I'd call that overreacting. Seventy five feet that's
• 42:07
  Speaker 2: seven and a half story, and it doesn't mean gallows.
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: You know what the word means. The original word here
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: means tree. In fact, literally it means pole or steak.
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: They didn't hang.
• 42:27
  Speaker 2: Them from a noose in Persia, they impaled them. The
• 42:33
  Speaker 2: pole was thrust into the body, and the body was
• 42:37
  Speaker 2: hung on a pole seven and a half stories high.
• 42:43
  Speaker 2: You know, the Romans got the idea of crucifixion from
• 42:46
  Speaker 2: the Phoenicians, who learned it from the Persians. That's why
• 42:50
  Speaker 2: Jesus was referred to.
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: As hanging on a tree or on a pole.
• 42:57
  Speaker 2: Romans developed the idea of driving nails in the hands,
• 43:00
  Speaker 2: but the Persians simply impaled.
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: The body on a pole. It was an anguishing torturous death.
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: You see, that's what you do with people you hate.
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: And that's why Jesus was put on a cross.
• 43:19
  Speaker 2: It pleased him to do that, and he went to
• 43:23
  Speaker 2: sleep that night listening to the thump and the bump
• 43:29
  Speaker 2: and the pounding of the construction crew through the night.
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: As they were building the pole on which his enemy
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: would hang. It's a great story.
• 43:46
  Speaker 2: It certainly isn't anywhere near over. But let me pause
• 43:51
  Speaker 2: here and say some things that are what I call
• 43:54
  Speaker 2: direct and timely advice for today.
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: Shore with you.
• 44:00
  Speaker 2: Three or four thoughts that I get as I read
• 44:03
  Speaker 2: through this passage regarding our lives and how we must
• 44:06
  Speaker 2: deal with difficult situations.
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: Here's the first.
• 44:12
  Speaker 2: When preparing for an unprecedented event, wait on the Lord
• 44:18
  Speaker 2: before getting involved. When preparing for an unprecedented event, wait
• 44:27
  Speaker 2: on the Lord before getting involved. Maybe I'll set it
• 44:34
  Speaker 2: too quickly earlier, so I want to repeat it now.
• 44:38
  Speaker 2: At least as important as the thing we are waiting
• 44:41
  Speaker 2: for is the work God does while we wait. He
• 44:48
  Speaker 2: works on us, He works on others. He works on
• 44:53
  Speaker 2: our circumstances. If we plunge in, if we run ahead,
• 45:01
  Speaker 2: as it were, his hands are tied and we frustrate
• 45:06
  Speaker 2: the better arrangement. You're on the verge of a big decision,
• 45:11
  Speaker 2: I suggest you wait.
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: You wait, don't.
• 45:15
  Speaker 2: Hurry, especially if it's unprecedented, if you have to cut
• 45:19
  Speaker 2: a new path, if you're walking a journey that you
• 45:23
  Speaker 2: you've never walked before, there's no map.
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: Better wait, better wait for the Lord. And I don't
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: know how long.
• 45:34
  Speaker 2: Could be three days, could be three weeks, could be
• 45:36
  Speaker 2: three months. But in the waiting period, don't get involved.
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: Wait on the Lord. Here's a second.
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  Speaker 2: When dealing with an unpredictable person, count on the Lord
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  Speaker 2: to open doors and hearts. When dealing with an unpredict person,
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  Speaker 2: I'm thinking here of the king.
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  Speaker 1: Count on the Lord to open doors and hearts.
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  Speaker 2: And remember Proverbs sixteen seven. When a man's waist please
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  Speaker 2: the Lord, he makes even.
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  Speaker 1: His enemies to be at peace with him. Count on
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: the Lord to do that.
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  Speaker 2: Amazing things happen to our courage while we're waiting. Rather
• 46:29
  Speaker 2: than getting more afraid, we become less afraid. The Lord
• 46:32
  Speaker 2: becomes more important. His presence overshadows the threatening, even intimidating
• 46:38
  Speaker 2: circumstances that would otherwise immobilize us or paralyze our thoughts.
• 46:45
  Speaker 2: When dealing with an unpredictable person, count on the Lord
• 46:48
  Speaker 2: to open doors and hearts. Here's the third thought. I
• 46:51
  Speaker 2: get it again from chapter five. When working through an
• 46:55
  Speaker 2: unpleasant situation, trust the Lord for enduring patience. When working
• 47:06
  Speaker 2: through an unpleasant situation, trust the Lord for enduring patience.
• 47:11
  Speaker 2: Realize the patience she had to carry out when she
• 47:14
  Speaker 2: was in the presence of Haman, the man who hated
• 47:17
  Speaker 2: her people. Realize the patience she had to have to
• 47:21
  Speaker 2: serve the banquet, only to serve another banquet, and to
• 47:25
  Speaker 2: wait for just the right time. Perhaps she sensed it
• 47:28
  Speaker 2: wasn't the right time. In situations that are unpleasant, timing
• 47:33
  Speaker 2: is as important as actions. Sometime more so, pace yourself.
• 47:42
  Speaker 2: It takes patience for the situation to become bearable and workable. Fourth,
• 47:50
  Speaker 2: and finally, when standing against an unprincipled enemy, ask the
• 47:59
  Speaker 2: Lord for invasncible courage. When standing against an unprincipled enemy,
• 48:07
  Speaker 2: asked the Lord for invincible courage. You know what occurred
• 48:15
  Speaker 2: to me when I was speaking on this earlier. Perhaps
• 48:20
  Speaker 2: in the midst of that first banquet, she sensed a
• 48:25
  Speaker 2: growing invincibility and courage, and she sends the need for
• 48:31
  Speaker 2: that to continue to build, for her to save. What
• 48:34
  Speaker 2: she's going to say has recorded in chapter six, when
• 48:39
  Speaker 2: standing against an unprincipled enemy, asked the Lord for invincible courage.
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  Speaker 2: The good news is God will grant you your request.
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  Speaker 2: It may not be as you plan, but He will
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  Speaker 2: give you the courage to see it through. I said earlier.
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  Speaker 2: Nothing touches the heart like a song, like a story.
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  Speaker 2: You know, the one to whom we sing more songs
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  Speaker 2: than to any other person who has ever lived, Jesus Christ.
• 49:14
  Speaker 2: There are more songs composed to the person of Jesus
• 49:18
  Speaker 2: Christ than to any other human being who ever lived.
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  Speaker 2: You know why, because his story is like none other.
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  Speaker 2: Did you know that they put him on a pole,
• 49:32
  Speaker 2: that they hung him up to die. Did you know
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  Speaker 2: that more people hated him than loved him? You know
• 49:39
  Speaker 2: that more cheered than wept. You know that when he died,
• 49:45
  Speaker 2: more applauded than side despised and hated by men and
• 49:53
  Speaker 2: women he died. Why do we sing to him then,
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  Speaker 2: Because like no other person who ever died, he came
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  Speaker 2: back from the dead alive, and he gave us a song.
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  Speaker 2: He arose from the grave, and he still lives Now
• 50:17
  Speaker 2: the question real question is is do you know why
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  Speaker 2: he died? Not because some hayman hated him and decided
• 50:24
  Speaker 2: to put him on a pole. He died because you
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  Speaker 2: and I are sinners. The only way to satisfy the
• 50:32
  Speaker 2: demand of a holy God in dealing with humanity was
• 50:36
  Speaker 2: to pay the penalty for sin, and that required the
• 50:41
  Speaker 2: price of blood from the unspotted lamb of God Jesus himself.
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  Speaker 1: I'd like us to bow together for a moment of reflection,
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: for some of us a time of gratitude, and for
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: others a time of decision. All the way through this message,
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  Speaker 1: I've talked.
• 51:06
  Speaker 2: About waiting on the Lord. Now I'm going to encourage
• 51:08
  Speaker 2: you to do just the opposite. If you do not
• 51:12
  Speaker 2: know this Lord, Jesus Christ, to whom I've referred here
• 51:16
  Speaker 2: at the end of the message, you don't need to
• 51:19
  Speaker 2: wait any longer. You can meet him today in the
• 51:26
  Speaker 2: sacred sanctuary of your heart, where he has built a conscience,
• 51:32
  Speaker 2: where you have been pouring sin.
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: And failure and hopelessness.
• 51:42
  Speaker 2: All the years of your life, and he has come
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  Speaker 2: to cleanse your heart and to give you a new
• 51:49
  Speaker 2: inner person, a new being on the inside. He's come
• 51:53
  Speaker 2: to forgive you and to release you from the grinding
• 51:58
  Speaker 2: prison of guilt. Today, the Lord Jesus Christ is knocking
• 52:07
  Speaker 2: on that door waiting for you to open it. Won't
• 52:17
  Speaker 2: you let him in?
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: Today?
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  Speaker 2: In a big church like this, it's easy to busy
• 52:24
  Speaker 2: ourselves with finding our cars and getting into our vehicles
• 52:28
  Speaker 2: and finding our way to home or to lunch, and
• 52:32
  Speaker 2: to miss the most significant part of a worship's service,
• 52:37
  Speaker 2: and that is coming face to face with the reality
• 52:41
  Speaker 2: of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. Come today, don't put
• 52:49
  Speaker 2: this off any longer. You're surrounded by people who, like you,
• 52:53
  Speaker 2: thought they could make up their mind later and finally
• 52:55
  Speaker 2: came to the realization the most intelligent decision they could
• 53:00
  Speaker 2: make was to give their life to Christ. Father, I
• 53:07
  Speaker 2: thank you today that in the incomplete story that we
• 53:10
  Speaker 2: are reading and learning, there is truth to live by.
• 53:15
  Speaker 2: Thank You for giving some this day courage to continue
• 53:18
  Speaker 2: to wait, for giving others the determination to stand alone,
• 53:24
  Speaker 2: even if it means personal loss and public misunderstanding. Thank
• 53:30
  Speaker 2: You for modern day Esther's women and men alike who
• 53:36
  Speaker 2: have stood up to be counted. They model for us
• 53:41
  Speaker 2: what the Christian life is all about. And Father I
• 53:46
  Speaker 2: pray for the person who, like Hayman himself, has blamed
• 53:52
  Speaker 2: others for his unhappiness and deserves the very gallows upon
• 53:58
  Speaker 2: which he would place Mordecai, that you'd bring us to
• 54:01
  Speaker 2: an end of our blaming, and bring us to an
• 54:05
  Speaker 2: end of our sinful lifestyle, and bring us face to
• 54:10
  Speaker 2: face with the claims of Jesus Christ. We this day
• 54:15
  Speaker 2: acknowledge his right to rule in our lives, and may
• 54:19
  Speaker 2: he be glorified with our decision to trust him and
• 54:23
  Speaker 2: him alone for eternal life.
• 54:27
  Speaker 1: We pray together in the name of Christ, our Lord. Amen.
• 54:33
  Speaker 3: The preceding message, Esther's Finest Hour was copyrighted in nineteen
• 54:37
  Speaker 3: eighty nine, nineteen ninety, nineteen ninety seven, two thousand and five,
• 54:41
  Speaker 3: twenty eighteen, and twenty twenty six, and the sound recording
• 54:45
  Speaker 3: was copyrighted in twenty twenty six by Charles R. Swindall Incorporated.
• 54:50
  Speaker 3: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
• 54:54
  Speaker 3: commercial use is strictly prohibited.