well I'm excited to be back with you<\/p>\n
today my name is Jake Thomas I'm one of<\/p>\n
the pastors here at Grace City U my wife<\/p>\n
and I Courtney she's in the back uh we<\/p>\n
recently uh returned from a trip uh to<\/p>\n
America where we welcomed our first<\/p>\n
child little girl named Olivia who's<\/p>\n
going to be making noise at different<\/p>\n
points during the service I think so<\/p>\n
you'll probably hear her so but we're<\/p>\n
excited to be back with everyone today<\/p>\n
and get to introduce everybody to Olivia<\/p>\n
and welcome her into this church family<\/p>\n
uh today we're going to be starting a a<\/p>\n
five week sermon series on the Book of<\/p>\n
Esther and so before we get started with<\/p>\n
that I kind of wanted to give a little<\/p>\n
back background um on Esther and where<\/p>\n
it begins you might know some of the<\/p>\n
like large details of the story of<\/p>\n
Esther already you know Esther is a a<\/p>\n
Jewish woman she eventually becomes the<\/p>\n
queen of Persia and the Lord saves the<\/p>\n
Jewish people through Esther but we kind<\/p>\n
of need to understand how they got there<\/p>\n
in the first place right so uh in order<\/p>\n
to understand why Esther and morai are<\/p>\n
even in uh Persia in Souza where the<\/p>\n
Book of Esther takes place the capital<\/p>\n
of the Persian Empire we have to go back<\/p>\n
about 150 years to 58 87 BC in 587 BC<\/p>\n
the Babylonians actually captured the<\/p>\n
kingdom of Judah and when they captured<\/p>\n
the kingdom of Judah they exiled the<\/p>\n
Jewish people from their Homeland and<\/p>\n
they took them back to Babylon several<\/p>\n
years later several Kings later you<\/p>\n
might remember in the Book of Daniel the<\/p>\n
Babylonians are captured or conquered by<\/p>\n
the Persians and then under King Cyrus<\/p>\n
uh some of the Israelites are allowed to<\/p>\n
go back to Jerusalem and they begin to<\/p>\n
rebuild Jerusalem under the guidance of<\/p>\n
Ezra and<\/p>\n
nemiah but this story takes place after<\/p>\n
that event so for some reason whatever<\/p>\n
reason that is Esther and Mori decided<\/p>\n
to stay in Souza when a lot of their<\/p>\n
people went back to their Homeland so<\/p>\n
they're still living as an exiled<\/p>\n
minority uh underneath the the direct<\/p>\n
government of their conquerors and<\/p>\n
they're treated as a exiled minority<\/p>\n
their pre udist their safety is always<\/p>\n
in question and so as<\/p>\n
we look begin to talk through this story<\/p>\n
you're going to see the ways that the<\/p>\n
Jewish people are still being persecuted<\/p>\n
even though some of them have been<\/p>\n
allowed to go back another important<\/p>\n
detail is that even though some of the<\/p>\n
Jews went back to<\/p>\n
Jerusalem they're still<\/p>\n
under the rule of the Persian Empire um<\/p>\n
so the story of Esther is not just about<\/p>\n
God saving a small group of Jews who<\/p>\n
still live in Souza the story of Esther<\/p>\n
is about how God Saves the entire Jewish<\/p>\n
race and why is that important because<\/p>\n
as early as Genesis 3:15 God has<\/p>\n
promised that a savior will come right<\/p>\n
Genesis 3:15 tells us that the serpent<\/p>\n
will bite the heel of this savior but<\/p>\n
the Savior will crush the Serpent's head<\/p>\n
and against later on to to Abraham and<\/p>\n
to David God promises that this savior<\/p>\n
is going to come from the Jewish people<\/p>\n
we know God keeps his promises so in<\/p>\n
order for that those promises to be kept<\/p>\n
the Jewish people can't be destroyed<\/p>\n
he's not going to allow his people to be<\/p>\n
destroyed by the Persians by anyone and<\/p>\n
so that's kind of where the context of<\/p>\n
this story as we as we start to look at<\/p>\n
the<\/p>\n
text now in this text there are quite a<\/p>\n
few difficult names so I want you to<\/p>\n
give me a little Grace as we read<\/p>\n
through this so let's turn uh to Esther<\/p>\n
now in the days of aashis the aashis who<\/p>\n
reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127<\/p>\n
provinces in those days when King aashis<\/p>\n
sat on his Royal throne in Souza The<\/p>\n
Citadel in the third year of his Reign<\/p>\n
he gave A Feast for all his officials<\/p>\n
and servants the army of Persia and<\/p>\n
media and the Nobles and governors of<\/p>\n
the provinces were before him while he<\/p>\n
showed the riches of his Royal glory and<\/p>\n
the Splendor and pomp of his greatness<\/p>\n
for many days 80 days and when these<\/p>\n
days were completed the king gave for<\/p>\n
all the people present in Souza The<\/p>\n
Citadel both great and small a feasts<\/p>\n
lasting for seven days in the court of<\/p>\n
the garden of the king's Palace there<\/p>\n
were white cotton curtains and violet<\/p>\n
hangings fastened with cords of fine<\/p>\n
linen and purple to Silver rods and<\/p>\n
marble pillars and also couches of gold<\/p>\n
and silver on a mosaic pavement of<\/p>\n
poery marble mother of pearl and<\/p>\n
precious stones drinks were served in<\/p>\n
Golden vessels vessels of different<\/p>\n
kinds and the Royal wine was lavished<\/p>\n
according to the Bounty of the king and<\/p>\n
drinking was according to this edict<\/p>\n
there is no compulsion but the king had<\/p>\n
given orders to all the staff of his<\/p>\n
Palace to do as each man desired Queen<\/p>\n
vashi also gave A Feast for the women in<\/p>\n
the palace that belonged to King<\/p>\n
aashis on the seventh day when the heart<\/p>\n
of the King was merry with wine he<\/p>\n
commanded mumin Biza harbona Biga and<\/p>\n
abaga Zar and carcass the seven Unix who<\/p>\n
served in the presence of King hasis to<\/p>\n
bring Queen vashti before the king with<\/p>\n
her royal crown in order to show the<\/p>\n
peoples and the princes her beauty for<\/p>\n
she was lovely to look at but Queen<\/p>\n
vashi refused to come at the King's<\/p>\n
Command delivered by the Unix at this<\/p>\n
the king became enraged and his anger<\/p>\n
burned within<\/p>\n
him then the king said to the wise men<\/p>\n
who knew the times for this was the<\/p>\n
king's proced procedure toward all who<\/p>\n
were versed in law and judgment the men<\/p>\n
next to him being Cara shethar aditha<\/p>\n
tarish Marys Marca and<\/p>\n
mukin the Seven princes of Persia and<\/p>\n
midia who saw the king's face and sat<\/p>\n
first in the Kingdom according to the<\/p>\n
law what is to be done to Queen vashi<\/p>\n
because she has not performed the<\/p>\n
command of King aashis delivered by the<\/p>\n
Unix then mukin said in the presence of<\/p>\n
the king and the officials not only<\/p>\n
against the King has Queen vashi done<\/p>\n
wrong but also against all the officials<\/p>\n
and all the peoples who are in all the<\/p>\n
provinces of King ahasuerus for the<\/p>\n
Queen's Behavior will be made known to<\/p>\n
all women causing them to look at their<\/p>\n
husbands with contempt since they will<\/p>\n
say King hashas commanded Queen vashi to<\/p>\n
be brought before him and she did not<\/p>\n
come this very day the noble women of<\/p>\n
Persia and media who have heard of the<\/p>\n
Queen's who have heard of the Queen's<\/p>\n
Behavior will say the same to all the<\/p>\n
king's officials and there will be<\/p>\n
contempt and wrath in<\/p>\n
plenty if it please the king let a royal<\/p>\n
order go out from him and let it be<\/p>\n
written among the laws of the Persians<\/p>\n
and the mes so that it may not be<\/p>\n
repealed that vashti is never again to<\/p>\n
come before King hueras and let the King<\/p>\n
give her royal position to another who<\/p>\n
is better than she so when the decree<\/p>\n
made by the king is proclaimed<\/p>\n
throughout all his kingdom for it is<\/p>\n
vast all women will give honor to their<\/p>\n
husbands high and low alike<\/p>\n
this advice pleased the king and the<\/p>\n
princes and the King did as mukin<\/p>\n
promised proposed he sent letters to all<\/p>\n
the Royal provinces to every province in<\/p>\n
his own script and to every people in<\/p>\n
his own language that every man be<\/p>\n
master in his own household and speak<\/p>\n
according to the language of the<\/p>\n
people since since I became a dad one of<\/p>\n
the things I find myself doing a lot is<\/p>\n
reading children's books with my<\/p>\n
daughter it's it's a lot of fun to get<\/p>\n
to see her look at all the colorful<\/p>\n
pictures and stuff like that and there's<\/p>\n
a lot of children's books today that uh<\/p>\n
start to explain the truths about God to<\/p>\n
to kids at a very young age I recently<\/p>\n
heard about one of these books titled<\/p>\n
the Moon is always round in the book A<\/p>\n
boy looks up at the at the moon at<\/p>\n
different phases and sees how it changes<\/p>\n
all the time but his his dad who's<\/p>\n
sitting next to him tells him the but<\/p>\n
the Moon is always<\/p>\n
round and<\/p>\n
the story follows the boy through happy<\/p>\n
moments and sad moments in his life and<\/p>\n
watch we watch the moon change during<\/p>\n
each of those moments the story follows<\/p>\n
the family finding out that the boy<\/p>\n
finding out he's going to have a little<\/p>\n
sister and tragically later in the story<\/p>\n
uh the the mother miscarries the<\/p>\n
baby<\/p>\n
and the story ends with the fathers<\/p>\n
standing uh at her funeral um and<\/p>\n
sharing with the people gathered that<\/p>\n
the Moon is always round and he asks his<\/p>\n
son what does this mean what does it<\/p>\n
mean that the Moon is always round and<\/p>\n
the sun answers that God is always<\/p>\n
good sometimes the night is really dark<\/p>\n
and stormy and cloudy and we can't see<\/p>\n
the moon at all sometimes we look up at<\/p>\n
the moon and it's just a sliver right uh<\/p>\n
sometimes we see the moon and it's we<\/p>\n
see half of the Moon and then other<\/p>\n
nights this moon is shining so brightly<\/p>\n
that it lights up the whole<\/p>\n
Sky here's the thing about the moon God<\/p>\n
is the exact same<\/p>\n
right no matter what God is<\/p>\n
doing no matter how hard it is to see<\/p>\n
God is stays the exact same God is<\/p>\n
always good no matter if we can see what<\/p>\n
he's doing or what if we can't there are<\/p>\n
times when God is working and we can see<\/p>\n
clearly that he's pointing us in a<\/p>\n
certain direction in our lives there are<\/p>\n
times when we see just part of what the<\/p>\n
Lord is doing in our lives and there are<\/p>\n
other times where we look up and we ask<\/p>\n
ourselves where is God how could God let<\/p>\n
something like this<\/p>\n
happen still there are other times where<\/p>\n
it's like the middle of the day and we<\/p>\n
don't even think about the moon but the<\/p>\n
Moon is still there it's still doing<\/p>\n
what it's supposed to be doing and the<\/p>\n
Moon is still<\/p>\n
round God<\/p>\n
is the one true constant in this<\/p>\n
world God does not<\/p>\n
change God is exactly who he says he<\/p>\n
is and God will do exactly what he says<\/p>\n
he's going to do it doesn't matter if we<\/p>\n
can see it or not he is always in<\/p>\n
control he's always there and he's<\/p>\n
always<\/p>\n
good even when it feels like he's not<\/p>\n
he's<\/p>\n
working in a world that seems to be<\/p>\n
falling apart more and more every day<\/p>\n
this should be an encouragement to us in<\/p>\n
the Book of Esther the night is very<\/p>\n
dark it's hard to see the<\/p>\n
moon we the Book of Esther actually is<\/p>\n
the only book in the Bible where God is<\/p>\n
not mentioned at<\/p>\n
all there is no mention of God there is<\/p>\n
no mention of Jesus there's no mention<\/p>\n
of the Holy Spirit there is no mention<\/p>\n
of<\/p>\n
prayer um no Prophet receives a word<\/p>\n
from God and shares it with the people<\/p>\n
in fact at the end of this chapter the<\/p>\n
people of God aren't even<\/p>\n
mentioned but God is still at<\/p>\n
work see in the Bible at different<\/p>\n
points we see God actively doing things<\/p>\n
for his people when his people are<\/p>\n
enslaved in Egypt God sends the plagues<\/p>\n
on the Egyptians when his people are in<\/p>\n
Peril as they run from the Egyptians<\/p>\n
after they've been liberated God Parts<\/p>\n
the Red Sea even after Exile when Daniel<\/p>\n
is thrown in the Lion's Den God closes<\/p>\n
the mouths of lions when Shadrach<\/p>\n
Meshach and abedo are thrown in the<\/p>\n
fiery furnace there is another person in<\/p>\n
there with them keeping them safe these<\/p>\n
are active things that God is<\/p>\n
doing but in the Book of Esther God acts<\/p>\n
in a different way God uses what seem to<\/p>\n
be<\/p>\n
coincidences many of them in the Book of<\/p>\n
Esther all culminating in the<\/p>\n
Deliverance of his people and a great<\/p>\n
victory for for his<\/p>\n
people when we see God part the Red Sea<\/p>\n
we're like wow look at what God did when<\/p>\n
Xerxes gets drunk at a party and asks<\/p>\n
his Queen to come parade in front of him<\/p>\n
and she refuses our response is not like<\/p>\n
man look at what God did<\/p>\n
right we just think that there's this is<\/p>\n
this guy is acting like an idiot right<\/p>\n
but God is at work God uses these things<\/p>\n
to bring about his<\/p>\n
will God uses the drunkenness of a king<\/p>\n
the rebellion of his Queen the beauty of<\/p>\n
Esther and the coincidence that morai<\/p>\n
happens to be in a certain place at a<\/p>\n
certain time to bring about the<\/p>\n
Deliverance of his people in this<\/p>\n
passage God uses the worldliness of<\/p>\n
Xerxes and the refusal of vashti to<\/p>\n
bring about the salvation of his people<\/p>\n
while pointing to our future hope in<\/p>\n
Jesus<\/p>\n
chapter one opens with an incredibly<\/p>\n
detailed look at the wealth and status<\/p>\n
of the most important most powerful man<\/p>\n
in the world at a time uh the author<\/p>\n
goes out of his way to say this is the<\/p>\n
Xerxes this is the Xerxes is the Greek<\/p>\n
name for a hashas which is the word the<\/p>\n
the name that's used in um in the text<\/p>\n
and xer is easier to say that's how I'm<\/p>\n
going to refer to him for the rest of<\/p>\n
sermon it looks at King Xerxes and and<\/p>\n
and the author points out how powerful<\/p>\n
he is it says he he rules over 127<\/p>\n
provinces from India to<\/p>\n
Ethiopia it talks about his wealth he<\/p>\n
spent the previous two years before this<\/p>\n
extending his Empire and and uh<\/p>\n
consolidating<\/p>\n
Power culminating in this Feast where<\/p>\n
his purpose of this Feast is to just<\/p>\n
show off how wealth he is<\/p>\n
um he spends 180 days parading his<\/p>\n
wealth in front of the princes and the<\/p>\n
governors and the politicians in his<\/p>\n
Empire and it takes him 180 days to do<\/p>\n
this he has 180 days worth of wealth to<\/p>\n
show off and then at the end of 180 days<\/p>\n
he's like well I you know I I could use<\/p>\n
a little bit more of a party you know so<\/p>\n
we we'll just throw a shorter Feast it's<\/p>\n
only seven days but we he invites all of<\/p>\n
the city of Souza and it talks about how<\/p>\n
he he uh makes a decree a law about how<\/p>\n
much everyone can drink and how much<\/p>\n
they can drink and what they can do<\/p>\n
because he wants control talks about his<\/p>\n
wealth it talks about him uh putting<\/p>\n
precious jewels in the floor to make a<\/p>\n
mosaic because he just has so many extra<\/p>\n
precious jewels that he just wants them<\/p>\n
in the floor talks about how everyone<\/p>\n
has a in in the ESV it says everyone has<\/p>\n
a different glass gold goblet that<\/p>\n
they're drink using to drink out out of<\/p>\n
I don't think that that really does<\/p>\n
Justice to What's Happening<\/p>\n
Here the the original text says<\/p>\n
something to the effect of like everyone<\/p>\n
has a glass that is so unique like a<\/p>\n
snowflake like like each individual<\/p>\n
glass is different no two are the same<\/p>\n
and everybody in the entire city gets<\/p>\n
one the purpose of this is to just show<\/p>\n
how wealthy he is the language here used<\/p>\n
is is only really used to talk about the<\/p>\n
the lavishness of Solomon's Temple<\/p>\n
anywhere else in the Old<\/p>\n
Testament and so the culmination of this<\/p>\n
Feast is him showing off his most prized<\/p>\n
possession his wife his beautiful wife<\/p>\n
he wants her to come uh when he's been<\/p>\n
binge drinking for 187 days he decides<\/p>\n
he wants his wife to come parade in<\/p>\n
front of him and that's when the story<\/p>\n
flips on its<\/p>\n
head in a stunning move vashti ref fuses<\/p>\n
the king's summons and the picture of<\/p>\n
power and control that xeri to spend<\/p>\n
1787 days crafting comes crashing<\/p>\n
down now vashi would have under we we<\/p>\n
don't get a lot of context for why she<\/p>\n
refused and so I'm not going to give a<\/p>\n
guess at why it was but she would have<\/p>\n
understood the ramifications of her<\/p>\n
actions right so she knows that this<\/p>\n
could lead to her death um but she<\/p>\n
refuses<\/p>\n
anyway so we see Xerxes all of a sudden<\/p>\n
for this worldly man that he<\/p>\n
is he's obsessed with power he's<\/p>\n
obsessed with control and then the rest<\/p>\n
of the chapter verses 10 through 22 is<\/p>\n
really meant to make him look<\/p>\n
foolish he goes out of his way to show<\/p>\n
how xery's response highlights how his<\/p>\n
priorities are in the wrong place he<\/p>\n
summons his most trusted counselors uh<\/p>\n
and gets their advice about what they<\/p>\n
should do now Timothy Cain in his book<\/p>\n
uh the god of great reversals points out<\/p>\n
why their decision about what they're<\/p>\n
going to do is is kind of funny first<\/p>\n
mukin is worried about everybody finding<\/p>\n
out that<\/p>\n
Xerxes uh was refused by vashi refused<\/p>\n
Xerxes so his plan is to send out a<\/p>\n
Royal Decree to every single province in<\/p>\n
every single language and tell everyone<\/p>\n
what happened<\/p>\n
that so what he's worried about is<\/p>\n
everyone finding out instead he just<\/p>\n
tells everyone what happened uh the<\/p>\n
second thing that happens is vashti gets<\/p>\n
banished and she's not allowed to be in<\/p>\n
front and see King uh King Xerxes<\/p>\n
anymore uh well that's what exactly what<\/p>\n
she wanted in the first place she didn't<\/p>\n
want to come before the king so she gets<\/p>\n
exactly what she wants and finally they<\/p>\n
think that the best way to make sure the<\/p>\n
men keep control of their wives is to<\/p>\n
make a law about<\/p>\n
it you know I don't think that's the<\/p>\n
best way to go about that uh best<\/p>\n
response to<\/p>\n
have you know maybe H just treat your<\/p>\n
wives with more respect but instead we<\/p>\n
just make a law about it and see what<\/p>\n
happens the last half of the chapter<\/p>\n
goes basically just undo everything that<\/p>\n
we learn about Xerxes in the first nine<\/p>\n
verses uh as the chapter draws to a<\/p>\n
close<\/p>\n
Xerxes looks powerless his advisers look<\/p>\n
foolish and the door is open for a new<\/p>\n
Queen to enter the picture there are<\/p>\n
three main takeaways that I want us to<\/p>\n
look at from this first chapter first<\/p>\n
we're going to talk about the emptiness<\/p>\n
of worldly pleasure second we'll talk<\/p>\n
about how Jesus is the opposite of<\/p>\n
Xerxes and finally we'll talk about how<\/p>\n
the ways that God's Providence is<\/p>\n
discreetly woven into this entire story<\/p>\n
so Xerxes is is the portrait of<\/p>\n
worldliness he spent 187 days building<\/p>\n
himself up to all of the most important<\/p>\n
people in his Empire and at the end of<\/p>\n
it he isn't happy he's left empty<\/p>\n
queenless and looking like a<\/p>\n
fool do you know what the other purpose<\/p>\n
of this Feast was uh Xerxes wanted to go<\/p>\n
to war with the Greeks um and he thought<\/p>\n
that the best way to inspire<\/p>\n
Army to be loyal to him was to show off<\/p>\n
his wealth to<\/p>\n
everybody well as we see at the end of<\/p>\n
this that might not have been the best<\/p>\n
way to go about that you know Xerxes and<\/p>\n
the Persians went to Greece and they<\/p>\n
they won some victories but in the end<\/p>\n
they were ultimately<\/p>\n
defeated he was worried about his image<\/p>\n
to his people above everything else he<\/p>\n
had to display an image of power and<\/p>\n
control and once that image fell apart<\/p>\n
he responded like the insecure person he<\/p>\n
really was<\/p>\n
his facade of wealth and<\/p>\n
riches I heard Tim Keller in a sermon on<\/p>\n
this passage joke that it would be a<\/p>\n
real shame to live in a society where a<\/p>\n
man is judged by the size of his bank<\/p>\n
account and a woman is judged by her<\/p>\n
dress size in case you didn't get the<\/p>\n
joke he was implying that we do live in<\/p>\n
that<\/p>\n
Society see we're not so different from<\/p>\n
the Persians we like to think that<\/p>\n
Society has evolved over the years but<\/p>\n
it's not really true is<\/p>\n
it you may not have 180 days worth of<\/p>\n
wealth to parade in front of your<\/p>\n
friends but we sure do like to show off<\/p>\n
what we have don't<\/p>\n
we we like to put our worth in things of<\/p>\n
this<\/p>\n
world what is it that you're putting<\/p>\n
your worth<\/p>\n
in what is it that gives you fulfillment<\/p>\n
or you think is going to give you<\/p>\n
fulfillment in this life what's going to<\/p>\n
fill the emptiness that you feel inside<\/p>\n
yourself is it status from a job or<\/p>\n
promotion is it that new house or<\/p>\n
apartment is it a relationship or<\/p>\n
marriage is it having<\/p>\n
kids is it some skill or knowledge that<\/p>\n
you have that you want to show off to<\/p>\n
people um is it losing that last 5 to 10<\/p>\n
pounds<\/p>\n
now don't get me wrong there's there's<\/p>\n
nothing wrong with self-improvement at<\/p>\n
its<\/p>\n
core but when our goal for<\/p>\n
self-improvement when our our hope for a<\/p>\n
better life uh supersedes our desire for<\/p>\n
God those things become an idol in our<\/p>\n
lives and all of those Idols are going<\/p>\n
to leave you empty they're not going to<\/p>\n
fill the void that you feel inside<\/p>\n
yourself they're not going to give you<\/p>\n
lasting Joy or<\/p>\n
peace there's only one way that we can<\/p>\n
really experience<\/p>\n
fulfillment and niron talked about it<\/p>\n
last week we live lives filled by the<\/p>\n
spirit when we allow the spirit to fill<\/p>\n
us up we can begin to experience true<\/p>\n
joy in 1st Samuel<\/p>\n
16 let's see<\/p>\n
in 1 Samuel 16 Samuel is going out uh to<\/p>\n
anoint a new king of Israel um the Lord<\/p>\n
has given up on Saul and he wants uh<\/p>\n
he's going to anoint a new king um he<\/p>\n
goes to the house of a man named Jesse<\/p>\n
um and Jesse starts to bring all of his<\/p>\n
sons out to see to to to walk in front<\/p>\n
of Samuel and as each one passes by<\/p>\n
Samuel thinks man this this guy looks<\/p>\n
like a king this guy looks handsome he<\/p>\n
looks strong this guy looks like a<\/p>\n
king and and God tells Samuel he says<\/p>\n
you may look at him and you see a king<\/p>\n
but I am not looking for the appearance<\/p>\n
of a king I'm looking for the heart of a<\/p>\n
king God<\/p>\n
says do not look on his appearance or<\/p>\n
the height of his stature because I have<\/p>\n
rejected him for the Lord sees not as<\/p>\n
man sees man looks on the outward<\/p>\n
appearance but the Lord looks on the<\/p>\n
heart after Jesse has brought all of his<\/p>\n
sons supposedly all of his son Sons<\/p>\n
before Samuel Samuel asks do you have<\/p>\n
any more Sons like this is where the<\/p>\n
Lord told me to come we haven't seen the<\/p>\n
one yet um and he says well I have the<\/p>\n
youngest he's out in the field tending<\/p>\n
the sheep and so he calls him in and God<\/p>\n
says this is him is King<\/p>\n
David and David is although he has his<\/p>\n
faults and he has his shortcomings he's<\/p>\n
known as the man after God's Own<\/p>\n
Heart and that's what we want to be<\/p>\n
that's what we want to be known as so<\/p>\n
what does the Lord see when he looks at<\/p>\n
you are you a whitewashed tomb as the<\/p>\n
Pharisees of Jesus day do you look great<\/p>\n
on the outside but your soul is rotting<\/p>\n
slowly or the Lord see his Spirit work<\/p>\n
in your<\/p>\n
life Jesus calls us to let his Spirit<\/p>\n
fill us and shape our innermost self he<\/p>\n
will change the desires of our<\/p>\n
hearts and renew Us by his<\/p>\n
Spirit are you storing up treasure on<\/p>\n
Earth or are you storing up treasure in<\/p>\n
heaven do not spend more time improving<\/p>\n
your outward appearance than you spend<\/p>\n
deepening your relationship with<\/p>\n
God deepening your relationship with God<\/p>\n
will have lasting effects don't allow<\/p>\n
yourself to become distracted by the<\/p>\n
fleeting pleasures of this world but as<\/p>\n
Paul says in Colossians 3 which is right<\/p>\n
before what we actually read earlier um<\/p>\n
set your minds on things that are above<\/p>\n
not on things that are on the earth<\/p>\n
because Jesus is better than whatever<\/p>\n
you're chasing<\/p>\n
after Jesus is better than whatever<\/p>\n
brings you fulfillment in this<\/p>\n
world in this chapter we also see that<\/p>\n
Jesus is a true is a true and better<\/p>\n
King than Xerxes Xerxes attempts to show<\/p>\n
how powerful he is by showing off his<\/p>\n
wealth and wielding his control and um<\/p>\n
glamorizing<\/p>\n
himself but Vash shows us his power is<\/p>\n
not real it's<\/p>\n
fickle in the gospels we see true power<\/p>\n
in<\/p>\n
Jesus at different times the the winds<\/p>\n
and the waves obey<\/p>\n
him demons obey<\/p>\n
him sickness and diseases obey<\/p>\n
him even death obeys him he conquers<\/p>\n
death that is true power and power that<\/p>\n
demands honor and respect from us yet he<\/p>\n
doesn't wield it flippantly like someone<\/p>\n
like Xerxes would he uses that power to<\/p>\n
help others and prove that he is<\/p>\n
God the comparison continues with the<\/p>\n
way that Xerxes treats his<\/p>\n
Queen Xerxes um in a in his drunkenness<\/p>\n
sends his servants to retrieve his<\/p>\n
bride and when she slights him he<\/p>\n
banishes her no room for forgiveness no<\/p>\n
room for Grace<\/p>\n
Jesus treats us very<\/p>\n
differently we are Christ's<\/p>\n
bride yet we didn't deserve to be<\/p>\n
summoned to him we didn't deserve to go<\/p>\n
before him our sin that darkens our<\/p>\n
hearts should have separated us from God<\/p>\n
permanently but Jesus doesn't summon us<\/p>\n
to<\/p>\n
himself he doesn't send servants to<\/p>\n
retrieve us what does he do he hum<\/p>\n
himself he leaves his throne on<\/p>\n
high he puts on flesh and<\/p>\n
blood and walks among<\/p>\n
us yet did we recognize him did we know<\/p>\n
him did we know our savior no we<\/p>\n
rejected<\/p>\n
him Jesus is a Man of Sorrows acquainted<\/p>\n
with<\/p>\n
grief we deserve<\/p>\n
banishment we deserve what Vash he got<\/p>\n
because we are sinful Romans 6:23 tells<\/p>\n
us that the wages of sin is<\/p>\n
death but the free gift of God is<\/p>\n
eternal life in Christ Jesus our<\/p>\n
lord everyone Us in the every one of us<\/p>\n
in this room deserves punishment for the<\/p>\n
sin that we have done in our lives and<\/p>\n
the sin that weighs so heavily upon<\/p>\n
us but the beauty of our King is that we<\/p>\n
have<\/p>\n
hope see Jesus did not simply take on<\/p>\n
flesh flesh and walk among us he became<\/p>\n
a sacrificial<\/p>\n
lamb for<\/p>\n
us he went to a cross and died the agony<\/p>\n
of a death on a cross for<\/p>\n
us he died that death so that we may<\/p>\n
life I'm reminded of the picture of<\/p>\n
Jesus washing the feet of the<\/p>\n
disciples the humility and sacrifice in<\/p>\n
that picture is humbling<\/p>\n
uh Peter is initially upall that Jesus<\/p>\n
would wash his feet would stoop to that<\/p>\n
level to wash his feet Jesus tells him<\/p>\n
unless I wash you you can have no part<\/p>\n
me I don't know about you but uh my feet<\/p>\n
are<\/p>\n
gross especially walking around Bangkok<\/p>\n
all the time my feet are sweaty and<\/p>\n
smelly and dirty and you know Jesus<\/p>\n
disciples would worn sandals all the<\/p>\n
time walked around Dusty Israel the feet<\/p>\n
would have been covered in in dirt and<\/p>\n
grime for me it would feel extremely<\/p>\n
vulnerable to allow Jesus to wash my<\/p>\n
feet but I want you to imagine right now<\/p>\n
that Jesus is washing your<\/p>\n
feet how would that feel<\/p>\n
can you imagine someone like<\/p>\n
Xerxes stooping to wash your<\/p>\n
feet our King did that for you and he<\/p>\n
would do it<\/p>\n
again let Jesus wash<\/p>\n
you so that you can take part in the<\/p>\n
gift that he<\/p>\n
offers Jesus didn't simply wash our feet<\/p>\n
with water but he washes our souls with<\/p>\n
his<\/p>\n
blood he didn't only become a servant<\/p>\n
but<\/p>\n
sacrifice Hebrews 13:12 tells<\/p>\n
us so Jesus also suffered outside the<\/p>\n
gate in order to sanctify the people<\/p>\n
through his own<\/p>\n
blood he suffered outside the gate he<\/p>\n
took our<\/p>\n
banishment he died the death that we<\/p>\n
deserved and was forsaken by the<\/p>\n
father so that when the father looks<\/p>\n
upon us we would be white as snow<\/p>\n
this is a king that should be<\/p>\n
honored this is a king that you should<\/p>\n
praised Jesus is better than whatever<\/p>\n
you're chasing after whatever you're<\/p>\n
trying to fill your heart<\/p>\n
with he offers the sacrifice as a free<\/p>\n
gift for all<\/p>\n
people you you need only reach out and<\/p>\n
take<\/p>\n
it don't be like vashti don't refuse<\/p>\n
your king because he he is here and he<\/p>\n
is worth<\/p>\n
it come to him and find<\/p>\n
peace there will come a<\/p>\n
day when we will be reunited with our<\/p>\n
King and on that day there will be a<\/p>\n
feast that far outshines the one<\/p>\n
described in Esther<\/p>\n
1 Isaiah 25638 tells us on this mountain<\/p>\n
the Lord of hosts will make for All<\/p>\n
Peoples a feast of well-aged wine of<\/p>\n
rich food full of marrow of aged wine<\/p>\n
well refined and he will swallow up on<\/p>\n
this mountain the covering that is cast<\/p>\n
Over All Peoples the veil that is spread<\/p>\n
over all<\/p>\n
nations he will swallow up death forever<\/p>\n
and the Lord will wipe away tears from<\/p>\n
all faces and the reproach of his people<\/p>\n
he will take away from all the Earth for<\/p>\n
the Lord has<\/p>\n
spoken Christ shall have his bride<\/p>\n
and we will be reunited with him at last<\/p>\n
and we will not simply Feast but we will<\/p>\n
be fully in the presence of our<\/p>\n
savior this verse says that that the<\/p>\n
veil that currently exists between us<\/p>\n
and God will be<\/p>\n
removed and we'll get to experience the<\/p>\n
presence of our Lord and King for the<\/p>\n
very first<\/p>\n
time everything that<\/p>\n
happens brings us one step closer to<\/p>\n
that beautiful end with with<\/p>\n
Christ God is always in<\/p>\n
control he is always on his<\/p>\n
throne and God is already at work in the<\/p>\n
Book of Esther at the end of chapter 1<\/p>\n
with the banishment of vas We Are One<\/p>\n
Step Closer to the reign of Queen<\/p>\n
Esther and the Deliverance of God's<\/p>\n
people I want you to think about if this<\/p>\n
happened today if a person who was in<\/p>\n
power spent six months throwing a party<\/p>\n
for himself and at the end of it he<\/p>\n
banished his his<\/p>\n
wife<\/p>\n
and made a law that you know all women<\/p>\n
have to respect their husbands at the<\/p>\n
end of it I think it would be pretty<\/p>\n
hard for us in that moment to think that<\/p>\n
God was still in<\/p>\n
control I think it would be really<\/p>\n
difficult to see the ways that God was<\/p>\n
working uh but God is never absent<\/p>\n
even in this story that seems like it's<\/p>\n
about a petulant Pagan<\/p>\n
ruler God is at<\/p>\n
work in your life there are going to be<\/p>\n
moments when it seems like God is not<\/p>\n
working when the events of this<\/p>\n
world seemed too difficult seemed too<\/p>\n
evil that the Lord could be<\/p>\n
there but let me assure you God is<\/p>\n
always there he's always working and the<\/p>\n
events of this this world will always<\/p>\n
work toward his<\/p>\n
will in First Kings 19 the Prophet<\/p>\n
Elijah has an encounter with<\/p>\n
God God says that he's going to pass<\/p>\n
before the mouth of a cave that Elijah<\/p>\n
is staying<\/p>\n
in uh and he says go out and stand<\/p>\n
before the<\/p>\n
Lord and the Lord passed<\/p>\n
by and first there is a a a strong wind<\/p>\n
that comes by and breaks apart the rocks<\/p>\n
but the God is but God is Not In The<\/p>\n
Wind then an earthquake<\/p>\n
comes but God is not in the<\/p>\n
earthquake then there's a<\/p>\n
fire but God is not in the<\/p>\n
fire then last there is a still Small<\/p>\n
Voice almost a<\/p>\n
whisper and God is in the whisper<\/p>\n
pay attention to that still Small<\/p>\n
Voice most of the time we want God to<\/p>\n
show up in our lives like strong wind or<\/p>\n
an earthquake or fire and fix<\/p>\n
everything but that's not how God always<\/p>\n
shows<\/p>\n
up more often than not God uh shows up<\/p>\n
in a<\/p>\n
whisper pay attention to that whisper<\/p>\n
because the world is loud it's<\/p>\n
distracting the world doesn't want us to<\/p>\n
hear the voice of<\/p>\n
God we have to learn to recognize that<\/p>\n
voice amid the<\/p>\n
noise see Jesus said his says his sheep<\/p>\n
know his<\/p>\n
voice do you know his voice<\/p>\n
can you hear it in the silence in The<\/p>\n
Quiet<\/p>\n
Moments can you<\/p>\n
recognize God speaking to you in your<\/p>\n
life he's in your life and he will never<\/p>\n
abandon<\/p>\n
you in a world that seems to be<\/p>\n
descending faster and faster into chaos<\/p>\n
the story of Esther should be a great<\/p>\n
encouragement to<\/p>\n
us God is in control today the same way<\/p>\n
that he was in<\/p>\n
control in the days of<\/p>\n
Esther we may not see him but we can<\/p>\n
know with confidence that he is<\/p>\n
there our lives are like great<\/p>\n
tapestries have you ever seen a<\/p>\n
beautiful<\/p>\n
tapestry the<\/p>\n
front displays a beautiful picture but<\/p>\n
if you flip it over if you flip it<\/p>\n
over the back is just a bunch of knots<\/p>\n
and loose strings and it looks like a<\/p>\n
mess most of the time in our lives we<\/p>\n
just get to see the back of the<\/p>\n
tapestry most of the time our lives feel<\/p>\n
like a mess they feel like a bunch of<\/p>\n
loose string and Knots and things are<\/p>\n
going in all different directions when<\/p>\n
you flip it<\/p>\n
over God is weaving a beautiful picture<\/p>\n
of your<\/p>\n
life it's hard to be satisfied with just<\/p>\n
seeing the back of the tapestry but<\/p>\n
that's what God calls us to for most of<\/p>\n
the time we live<\/p>\n
don't forget that the Moon is always<\/p>\n
round no matter how dark the night how<\/p>\n
difficult it becomes to see the moon is<\/p>\n
round God will remain exactly who he<\/p>\n
says he is today tomorrow and<\/p>\n
forever he will not forsake his people<\/p>\n
and he always keeps his<\/p>\n
promises I'm reminded of the words of<\/p>\n
the third verse of the hymn This Is My<\/p>\n
Father's World and it's there in your<\/p>\n
bulletin if you want to look at<\/p>\n
it um it says this is my father's world<\/p>\n
oh let me n forget that though the wrong<\/p>\n
seems off so strong God is the ruler yet<\/p>\n
this is My Father's World why should my<\/p>\n
heart be sad the Lord is King let the<\/p>\n
heavens ring there God Reigns let Earth<\/p>\n
glad let me tell<\/p>\n
you there are a lot of days where it<\/p>\n
feels like the wrong is stronger than<\/p>\n
everything<\/p>\n
else when what's wrong<\/p>\n
with life when the weight of sin weighs<\/p>\n
on us very<\/p>\n
heavily there are a lot of days in this<\/p>\n
world when it feels like the wrong is<\/p>\n
growing stronger every<\/p>\n
day but remember that God is the ruler<\/p>\n
of this<\/p>\n
world He Reigns and he always<\/p>\n
will amen let us<\/p>\n
pray father God in a world of turmoil<\/p>\n
and upheaval and evil remind us daily<\/p>\n
that you are the true<\/p>\n
king Lord you are on your throne and<\/p>\n
your<\/p>\n
Sovereign father today let our hearts be<\/p>\n
strengthened by the that<\/p>\n
declaration Lord thank you for the gift<\/p>\n
of your son and the sacrifice that he<\/p>\n
made for us on that cross Lord give us<\/p>\n
strength to persevere in a world that<\/p>\n
constantly tries to distract us from the<\/p>\n
truth as we long for the day that we<\/p>\n
will be reunited with<\/p>\n
you Lord fill us with your spirit and<\/p>\n
put within us a heart that longs for<\/p>\n
you Lord take away weigh the idols of<\/p>\n
our hearts and fix our eyes on you we<\/p>\n
praise you Lord for the gift of<\/p>\n
gathering together to Worship You amen<\/p>","english_search_text":"","":"","original_publish_date":"20240702","video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=6fOkkETmgOg","video_id":"6fOkkETmgOg","video_duration":"40:43","channel_name":"Grace City Bangkok"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=400"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":401,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400\/revisions\/401"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}