(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

In the first couple of weeks, we kind of covered about some historical lessons on the Persian Empire, then also on Xerxes. And last week, we talked about Haman, the psychopath reprobate. That kind of sets the scenes for the rest of this book here. And so you've got Haman, who's a really good picture of the Antichrist, he's a really wicked person. And then Mordecai and Esther are the ones that are the heroes in the story. But here we are in Esther chapter four. And remember here that Haman is basically the second most powerful man in the world at this time. And so they're basically standing against a very, very powerful man here. Now in verse number one, notice what the Bible reads. When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city and cried with a loud and bitter cry, and came even before the king's gate, for none might enter into the king's gate clothed with sackcloth. And in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment is to decree king, there is great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes. Now Mordecai is a very godly man. We know that from the book of Esther. But quite honestly, at this time, Mordecai is not the only one who's mourning in sackcloth. It's also basically all the Jews. Now here's the truth about this, that most people out there that are saved, they don't really care about living for God. But once trials actually come in your life, that's when you put on the sackcloth. That's when you're crying. That's when you start seeking out to God. And the truth is that sometimes God allows some terrible things to happen in our lives, because that's the only way He can actually get us to actually seek after Him. I remember during 9-11 in the United States, I don't know, like 18 years ago or something like that, when the United States bombed their own towers in the US. They bombed their own towers. And like Americans, every one of them put their flags up, and everyone was basically going back to church. And then for a year, basically, people started to really kind of mourn and pray after God, and I'm sure it was a godlier country that next year in terms of how people lived their lives in terms of not drinking as much, not committing fornication, these things, because people were afraid. And so you say, why did that happen? Well, because a disaster took place, and people ended up seeking after God. And the reality is, you do not want to wait until God has to destroy your life to get you to seek after God. It's better to actually seek after God when your life's not that bad. But you know, the truth is, especially as a soul winner, you do play by a different set of rules, and if you've faded out on the things of God, God might go to great extremes to get you back into the will of God. You say, why? Because a life dedicated to Him is going to lead tons of people to the Lord. Look, if you just win two people to the Lord a week, which in the Philippines, that is a very doable goal. That's not some extreme number. That's a hundred a year, and for ten years, that is a thousand souls saved. How important is it to God for a thousand souls to go to heaven? Look, if you decide to fade out on God, God might go to big extremes to get you back into the will of God. Now Mordecai, I don't believe he was ever out of the will of God at all in this story. He's a very godly person. But notice, he's not the only one who's mourning, though. Everybody is. They're fasting, they're weeping, they're wailing, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes. You say, why? Because they're about to be destroyed, and they're seeking after God in order to be spared. Now in verse number four, the Bible reads, so Esther's maids and her chamberlains came and told it her. Then was a queen exceedingly grieved, and she sent Raymond to clothe Mordecai and to take away his sackcloth from him, but he received it not. Now Esther's grieved about this situation as well. These are her people. These are the people that love the Lord and believe in the same God that she does. But she kind of does something foolish. She's giving Raymond to Mordecai, saying, why don't you put on a nice pair of clothes? Now look, putting on a nice pair of clothes isn't going to change the situation. And see, the first point we have tonight is this. A side must be chosen. A side must be chosen. Look, putting a band-aid on a problem doesn't fix it. Look, if I've got a big gash here, and I've got blood squirting out, and I just put on a suit over it so nobody can tell, and no, I don't have that. If I did that, that doesn't fix the problem. And putting on a nice pair of clothing so you're not having sackcloth and ashes, so you look really nice, look, that's not going to change the situation. You have to actually have something that changes, because look, putting on a sackcloth and ashes and trying to take that away, he's going to die in a short amount of time. What difference does it make how nice your clothes are when you die, if you're going to die? And so he puts on sackcloth and ashes because he's grieving out to God, he's calling out to God. And in this story, you see that Esther has a hard time choosing which side she's on. She's not sure what to do, and what she's trying to do is not actually picking a side. She's walking the middle ground to say, well, let's try to make you feel better. That doesn't change the situation. And when a situation like this rises up, you must choose a side. This reminds me of 2014 in the Philippines, because in 2014 in the Philippines, the pope visited. It was late 2014 in the Philippines, I believe that's the right time frame, but I remember it because my wife and I were processing our visa, and it was a very slow process because everybody kind of took, long vacation, the pope's here, so basically we're not going to work for a month. But I remember how there were kids on the streets, and they took them off the streets and put them in jail to make it look like this was a rich country. That's what they did when the pope was here. Look, that doesn't change the situation. Now look, the Philippines is by no means a super poor country, because it's mid-range in Asian countries, but let's not pretend like we're Singapore. And so why are you trying to look like Singapore, like you're a really rich country, if you're not? You can make it look one way. It doesn't change reality, and that's what's taking place in this story. You can put a nice suit on Mordecai, a nice barong or whatever you want to do. Look, that's not going to change the situation. That's not going to change the fact that he's mourning, and the reality is you need more than a Band-Aid in this situation. You need somebody to actually step in and do something. And since she's trying to give him nice clothing, what we're going to see is he rejects that, because he wants to show that he's mourning and grieving, and they're trying to call out to God. Verse number five. I then called Esther for Haytack, one of the king's chamberlains, whom he had appointed to attend upon her, and gave him a commandment to Mordecai to know what it was and why it was. So Haytack went forth to Mordecai onto the street of that city, which was before the king's gate, and Mordecai told him of all that had happened onto him, and of the sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the Jews to destroy them. Also, he gave him the copy of the writing and the decree that was given to Shushan to destroy them, to show it onto Esther, and to declare it onto her, and to charge her that she should go in onto the king to make supplication onto him, and to make requests before him for her people. And so Mordecai says, I don't want the clothing. What I want you to do is actually beg so we aren't killed. That's what he says. He says, you need to go in there, he's your husband, and request that we won't be killed. What is he saying? He's saying, hey, it's nice you want to give me a nice suit, but that doesn't make you on our side. You've got to actually pick a side, and in life sometimes, a clear side must be chosen. You can't walk this middle ground. You must choose either this side, or you must choose this side. You can't go in between on issues. I remember the first church I went to after I was saved, it was a Baptist church by name. It wasn't really a Baptist church, though. It was kind of a more non-denominational church with a type of music, lots of Bible versions. And we left over the King James Bible issue. And I remember we had a big meeting with the pastor and the assistant pastor, and at this meeting there was me and a lot of my friends. There's also other people from the church. So God's not the author of confusion, so I don't think God really was the author of this meeting because it was kind of a free for all. People that were King James only, people that were not King James only. And I remember my friends and I talked about this afterwards, and we should have just left the church anyway. But the King James topic was new. We realized it was perfect. We just didn't realize how important it was. And we were kind of scared to, I guess, find a new church, but we decided we need to find a new church. But I remember I called one of my friends on the phone, and this is what he told me. He said, well, he's like, I want you to know this, Brother Stuckey. He's like, I'm on your side about this. But he said, I'm going to keep going to Stonebridge Baptist Church. I was like, what? I was like, you're King James only. Why would you stay at that church? And honestly, I don't remember exactly what I said. I remember what he said. I remember my reaction because this was someone I consider one of my best friends, and it felt like just like a bullet wound. I mean, are you serious? I was like, there's a clear side here. You're saying, you know, I'm on your side, but I'm still going to go to the church that preached from the NLT, the New King James, the NIV, and all these versions. Look, you're not on my side. I said, what's that guy doing today? Well, he's not a soul winner. I'll tell you that. I'm not saying he's a bad guy. I'll see him in heaven. But if you're not able to decide to take the right side when the situation comes up, you'll never end up living for God. You must just decide when the situation comes up. You say, Brother Stuckey, I don't want this situation to come up. None of us want these situations to come up. You think that when I was at that church, I wanted this situation to come up. No, I was comfortable. I liked the people. I had a good time. Look, nobody wants these situations to come up, but when they come up, you must choose the right side. If you don't choose the right side, you can't say that you're on the other side. A great example of this is a lot of people that go to churches around this area that preach repentance of sins for salvation, but they're on our side. They don't come soul winning with us, but they're on our side. How are they on our side? You know whose side you're on is the devil's side. Look, you go to a church that preaches your repentance of sins. This is not an area where you can walk this middle line. There must be a clear separation. There's those teaching, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. There's those teaching, repent of your sins, and look, the ones in the middle, that side can have them. I don't care whether they're saved or not. We don't want them on our side. You say, why? How effective is somebody going to be if he's not even clear on salvation with soul winning? He's not going to win anybody to the Lord. You've got to be very clear, because unsaved people, they don't understand the gospel. We must make it clear, and look, if there's this middle area, we don't want those people, and they're not on our side, but those people will try to tell us they're on our side. It's like, I'm on your side. I agree, Brother Stuckey. It's just by believing, but you know, these are our brethren as well. No, they're not. They're not on our side either, and look, when there's situations like this that come up, you must choose a side. Turn to Exodus 32. Exodus 32. Look, this, you can use a million examples in the Bible of having to choose a side. I'm just going to Exodus 32, because we're going to go there a lot tonight, the story of the golden calf. This is a story we're all familiar with, but I want you to understand that, you know, I don't know what the situations are going to be in your life or in maybe even the future of this church where a situation is going to come up where you must choose, where there's two opposite sides, but when that situation comes up and you know what the right side is, you must choose the right side. A side must be chosen. Exodus 32, verse 19, and it came to pass as soon as he came nigh unto the camp that he saw the calf and the dancing, and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands and break them beneath the mount, and he took the calf which they had made and burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strutted upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. You say, Brother Stuckey, what are we going to do if we kick someone out of church? We're going to burn down a golden calf, and we're going to, like, drink this. That's what we're going to do. But this is a pretty interesting story here. Notice what it says in verse number 21, and Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? And Moses tells Aaron, it's your fault for bringing this sin upon them. You say, but Brother Stuckey, Aaron's not the villain. Aaron was a believer. He did a lot of good things for God. He's the leader. He's a leader. Yes, he is the villain. You say, Brother Stuckey, you know, who's to blame for this? The person who's in charge. You say, Brother Stuckey, if things go wrong at Verity Baptist Manila, who's to blame? I'm to blame. Look, when you're the leader, you take the blame. Even if it's not fully your fault, you must take the blame. Always you must take the blame. Look, the truth is that if you're going to be a good leader, you must be willing to take the blame when things go wrong, but you also must share in the credit when things go right. That's what you're supposed to do. And look, it's not being fake. It's just reality that if you're the one in charge and things go wrong, even if you're not the main culprit, yes, you are at least some to blame in the situation. And if you're even partially to blame, you should be willing to take the blame. Notice what it says in verse 26. Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, Who is on the Lord's side? Let him come on to me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together onto him. This is a famous phrase we have, who is on the Lord's side? And what we see is there's a clear line being drawn. And Aaron basically was walking this middle ground. And now all of a sudden it's like, hey, Aaron, choose your side, unless you want to get destroyed with them. There's a clear distinction between these two sides, those that are for God and those that are against God. And when these situations come up, you can't say, Brother Stuckey, I'm just going to hang out here. You know, I don't want to move from this spot. I don't want to have to go over here. I don't want to go over here. I just want to take the middle ground. No, you can't take the middle ground. There's some issues where it's either one side or the other. Look, in this room tonight, you are either saved or you're lost. You can't be in between. And in life, there are many situations where there are two opposite sides from one another. Look, you can't be pre-trib and post-trib. You're one or the other. You say, I want to be in the middle. You can't be in the middle. I guess you can be mid-trib. I don't know. But you can't be in the middle on issues. You've got to make a choice. And on this situation, you are either for the golden calf or you're against it. You say, I'm kind of in between. You can't be in between. And in life, you must make clear choices when situations come up. Turn to James 4. James 4. James 4. And look, by no means am I trying to tell you Esther was a bad woman because as we're going to talk about in the sermon and in this book, you know, she's in a tough situation and she does choose the right side. But look, if she had not chosen the right side, are we going to have a book named the Book of Esther? You know what we probably have is a book named the Book of Mordecai or whoever would have been the great character. You say, why? Because deliverance would have arisen from somebody else. The Jews weren't going to be destroyed. Obviously, in today's world, it's a different religion, so that's a different situation. But these were God's people and they were not going to be destroyed. And so she chose not to rise up. Somebody else would have risen up. James 4 verse 4. He adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. See there's two sides, God's side, the world's side, and then trying to be friends on both sides. When you try to be friends on both sides, you're the enemy of God. That's what it says here in James chapter 4 verse 4. And look, there are many Christians, in fact, most Christians, who they basically walk this middle ground. They try to be friends with the world and friends with God. I like some of the things over here. I don't really like Leviticus 20 verse 13, though. I'm with this side on Leviticus 20, 13, but I'm with you, it's John 3, 16, just by believing. I'm not really with you on Jonah 3, 10, where Repentive Sins is work style, but I just like this middle ground. It's like, yeah, we should read the Bible, but I also want to watch movies over here. It's like, yeah, I love the hymns on Sundays, but on Mondays through Saturday, I kind of like the rock and roll part. No, you can't be in between, and if you try to be in between, what you're doing is actually making yourself an enemy with God. Because in life, sometimes, a side must be chosen. Turn back to Esther chapter 4, Esther chapter 4. Your life is merely a multitude of choices that you make. You're going to come to a lot of choices you have to make in life, and quite honestly, some people make the right choices and some people make the wrong choices. The problem is that when you have these situations rise up and you choose the wrong side, it's going to basically derail you from living for God. You must always choose the right path. Look, very few people are soul winners because it's obviously not easy. Because along the way, something comes up and they just don't want to choose the right side. And you say, why is that? Well, you have to understand, quite honestly, the wrong choice is usually the easy choice. The wrong choice is usually the easy choice. Notice what it says in Esther chapter 4 verse 9. And Haytack came and told Esther the words of Mordecai. Again, Esther spake unto Haytack and gave him commandment unto Mordecai. All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces do know that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden scepter that he may live. But I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days. And she's saying, the law says, I can't enter in unless he calls me. Whether it's me or anybody else, unless the king calls you, you can be put to death. So look, she knows what the right side is, but it's not easy to choose the right side. You say, why? Because she is risking her life. And as the queen, from a logical perspective, she probably wouldn't have been killed if the Jews were killed, because they didn't know that she was a Jew. The king didn't exactly know her exact beliefs. She could have been spared from a logical perspective. God would have made sure it would have come. But she's thinking, you know, I don't have anything really to risk so much in this situation. But she goes in unto the king, and she could be killed. Now you say, Brother Stuckey, why was this the law? It seems like a very strange law to me. You know, I used to think this was a strange law as well, but I honestly really don't anymore. And this is my opinion, because the Bible does not specifically say. But here's why I believe this was the law. You remember back to when Mordecai spared the king's life because people wanted to kill the king? I believe that was put into the law because basically, it prevented people from being able to go in and kill the king. Well basically, unless the king personally called you, if you're coming in, assumption is you're an enemy. You say, why? A lot of kings throughout history were killed. And so quite honestly, in today's world, you got a lot of bodyguards around presidents. Back then, you don't have, you know, bodyguards with machine guns and stuff like that. So you would have bodyguards with swords and things such as that, but you're trying to be as safe as possible. I could be wrong, but I think that really makes logical sense that the reason why that was the law for anybody to come in was just for safety purposes, that if the king sees someone and he didn't call them in, it's like, wait a minute, what's this guy doing here? You assume that they're up to harm. I believe that's the reason why. It makes sense because of the fact earlier on, there was people that were trying to kill him. But realize this, she doesn't have a guarantee that he's going to hold out the golden scepter. She is stepping out there in faith a little bit because he could say, you know what, no, I don't trust you. I'm going to have you killed. She doesn't exactly know, and so she is basically having to decide between the wrong choice and the right choice. The very easy choice to do would be this choice. Do nothing. It's not really going to affect her. This choice, though, she has the possibility of dying, and what you have to realize is in life, sides must be chosen, and usually the correct choice is the difficult choice to make. That's the reality of the matter. Turn to Exodus 32, Exodus 32. One of the great examples was many people that left their old churches to come to this church when it started, and quite honestly, that was not the easy choice for you to make. And we've had people, and we still have people from time to time leave their old churches and they decide to come here. It's not the easy choice to make. Now, I personally know how that feels because I have left churches before over doctrine, and it's not easy when you're friends with everyone, and everybody loves you, and you know the people. You've had dinner with the people before. You've had lunch with the people before. You've done activities. Quite honestly, we get comfortable, and it's not easy to leave, but the reality is when that situation arises, even though this side's the easy choice, you must choose this side. You can't just say, well, I'm going to kind of stick it out. No, you've got to just choose the right choice. Notice what it says in Exodus 32 verse 21. And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my Lord wax hot. Thou knowest the people that they are set on mischief. For they said unto me, Make us gods which shall go before us. For as for this Moses, the man that brought us out of the land of Egypt, what not what has become of him? And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me. Then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. And so to sum up what Aaron said, the people bullied me and I'm a weak leader. That's what he's saying. He's like, you know, the people, it's their fault. Moses blames Aaron and Aaron says, Hey, it's the people's fault. They asked me to do this and I got bullied into it. That's what he's basically saying. Well, look, if you want to be the leader, you can't be bullied into situations like this. And look, Aaron honestly should have remembered this because look, this doesn't make Aaron a bad guy. Aaron's a good character in the Bible. He does a lot of good things. And one of the things that stands out to me is that when Aaron's sons are killed, he still serves God immediately afterwards. That's quite amazing because quite honestly, if my son died, you know, I don't know how I would react. That would be very difficult thing to do. I don't think he's a bad guy. I think Aaron's going to get a lot of rewards in heaven, but I don't think he was someone who was going to make a good leader. And look, I wasn't even planning to preach on this, but it kind of ties into what I've talked about recently when it comes to being a pastor. I don't believe God wants everybody to be a pastor. You say, why? Because some people would just do a better job serving God, not being a pastor. Honestly, some people would just be better just being a person really helping and would serve God. And quite honestly, you know, it can get to people's heads. It could get to my head when you have success and things such as that. Some people, God just did not give a desire to be a pastor. Now look, I understand it's a free will choice we make, but quite honestly, throughout the Bible, people are called for various things. And I think that if someone has not been given a desire by God, I will not try to push them into the ministry. You say, why? Because I think it's God showing them that, hey, I want you to serve God, but you know what? It's probably not to be as a pastor. And there's nothing wrong with that, and you can get more rewards in heaven without being a pastor. You don't have to be a pastor to get the most rewards. Look, we're part of a local body, and every part matters. Everybody has various skills that they have. Quite honestly, we don't specifically know how God's going to give rewards out up in heaven. Now obviously, a large part of that is soul winning, and quite honestly, everybody in this room goes soul winning. You say, Brother Stuckey, which person in this room is going to get the most rewards? I have no idea. I don't know that it will be me. I have no idea, because honestly, we're all serving God. We have absolutely no idea how much someone else is serving God compared to you. Look, if somebody works like 70 hours a week and they still go soul winning multiple times a week, that's quite impressive. You say, what if somebody's working 40 hours a week and they go for 10 hours, they go more? I don't know how God makes rewards. That's what I'm trying to say, because He doesn't specifically say, here's the calculator formula, type this in, and these are your rewards up in heaven. All we're told to do is go into all the world, and look, we're just serving God and doing what He says, and however God rewards people is however He rewards them. Aaron's a man who's going to get a lot of rewards, but quite honestly, he just wasn't the man who would have been the best as a leader. He would not have done as good a job as Moses did, and him and Miriam should have remembered that when they criticized Moses later on. It's like, buddy, you had your chance. You had your chance to lead the people, and you didn't do a very good job. Maybe just maybe it's okay to be the assistant to the pastor. You don't need that title. You don't need to be the head guy. It's okay to not be the leader, okay? You can still get rewards up in heaven. It is interesting in verse 24, how He says, they gave it Me, then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. Now, that's quite amazing that you can just throw something into that fire, and whoa, we got a calf. Who knows what's going to come out? No, I think you actually spent time making that calf, or you got other people to help you with that, and this is an example where people don't really like telling lies because they feel guilty, but what they'll do is they'll kind of go in between, and they're still lying, but they're not lying as much. Look, you're lying. Obviously, this calf didn't form itself. You obviously formed this calf, but he's trying to basically make excuses. Now, turn to 1 Samuel 13, 1 Samuel 13, you say, Brother Stuckey, what would you have done if you were Aaron in this situation? You know, I don't know what I would have done. You know, obviously, I don't think I'm as good of a leader as Moses, and Aaron was right there as being one of the best people to live during that time period, you would say. I don't know, because that's a lot of pressure where you're worried about your own personal life that you might be killed, and I haven't been in that situation, so I can't tell you exactly how I'd react. All I'm doing is looking on the outside and saying, it's pretty clear Moses is the man who should have been the leader, okay? 1 Samuel 13, verse 5, and the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude, and they came up and pitched in Michmash eastward from Beth haven. The Bible says, as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. Now, have you ever picked up, you know, a handful of sand before? How many different, I don't know, what do they call them, grains or something like that? How many different grains do you have in your hand of sand? Who knows? Quite a lot. And when it's saying the sand which is on the seashore, we don't really know exactly how many people this is, but it's basically almost like a never-ending sea of people. And basically, they're fighting an enemy that has a lot more than them. Verse number 6, when the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, for the people were distressed, and a strait, you notice the spelling there when it says strait? It's spelled like the bearing strait, which gets its name for being very narrow. You can cross-reference that in Matthew 7, where strait is the gate, narrow is the way which leadeth unto life. Strait and narrow are saying the same thing, just re-emphasizing the same point. So strait is the gate, narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few that find it. We can understand that because then it says broad and wide, so strait and narrow. And so what it's saying here, they were in a strait, they're basically in a narrow situation and they're basically kind of pinned in. They're kind of concerned for themselves. For the people were distressed, then the people did hide themselves in caves and in thickets and in rocks and in high places in the pits. And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was at Gilgal and all the people followed him trembling. And so the people are basically very afraid. They're worried they're going to be destroyed, they know they need to be faithful, Saul's in charge, and what he's doing is he's waiting on Samuel to make the offering. This is why when I listen to sermons now after I started preaching, I'm very lenient with other preachers when they make mistakes, because sometimes you just say the wrong name. But he's waiting for Samuel to make the offering. Now notice what it says in verse eight, and he tarried seven days according to the set time that Samuel got appointed, but Samuel came not to Gilgal and the people were scattered from him. And so Saul's got this big enemy to fight and now the people are afraid and they're leaving. Now I'm not really preaching on this, but a symbolic understanding here that we can talk about is the fact that when you have a church that has this sort of style, the people will leave. That's just reality. It's not going to bring in just the multitudes. That's just not the way it works. And so this kind of preaching, it can scatter people away. And what do most pastors do? Well, you know, let's just kind of, I don't know, this hymnal is a little bit outdated, isn't it? Not this one, but this one as well. But these hymnals are a little bit outdated. Maybe we should sing some contemporary music. Maybe we should kind of calm things down, shorten the sermons, change our stances a little bit. You say, why? Because of the fact people are scattering, so they change basically their methods. This is the reason why in today's world churches are very lame. You say, why? Because people used to like hard preaching. It wasn't controversial at one time to preach against the LGBT. In fact, if you didn't do that, you would have been considered weak or a loser, not a real pastor, right? But in today's world, it's not very popular. So what's taking place? Well, the Baptist churches are changing their stances to meet the world. And now they're becoming an enemy of God. That's what's taking place. And so look, this is a perfect kind of symbolism of this, because the people are scattering. And what does Saul do? Verse nine. And Saul said, bring hither a burnt offering to me and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering. Now, wait a minute. Saul doesn't have authority to do that. And as he sees the people scatter from him, he gets afraid and says, you know what? I can't wait any longer. And he does something he's not supposed to do. Now, as I said, I'm not in this situation either. So I can't tell you for sure how I would handle it in this situation. But look, Saul messed up. And there's a reason why Saul gets replaced by David. Now, turn back to Esther chapter four, Esther four. And so what we see here in Esther chapter four is sometimes there's two opposing sides and a side must be chosen. Quite honestly, and here's what I want you to realize is we had the story about Saul. The easy thing for him to do would be just do the burnt offering. Because they're waiting and the people are scattering. The easy thing is to compromise. And that's exactly what he does. The easy thing for Aaron to do is basically compromise to the people that are really angry and might want to kill him. The easy thing to do is compromise. And here's the thing. The wrong choice is the easy choice to do. That's the way it works. But even though the right choice is hard and the wrong choice is easy, what you must understand is the wrong choice results in destruction in your life. Here's what it says in Esther four, verse 12. You know what he's saying? He's like, you don't choose to help deliver us. You're not going to escape. What is he saying? He says, you're going to be killed if it's what you choose. You choose the wrong side. You're not willing to step out in faith. You will be destroyed. You will be killed. This is a man's opinion here, but I think his opinion is correct. Because when you look throughout the entire Bible, what you see is that when you choose the wrong side, it does result in destruction. Turn back to Exodus 32. Exodus 32. Now, even though the wrong side results in destruction, it doesn't seem like it's going to result in destruction. What seems like it's going to result in destruction is choosing the right side. You're thinking of everything that could go wrong. This is going to be messed up. This is going to be messed up. I'm stepping out in faith. In reality, though, when you're choosing God's side, he can protect you. When you choose the wrong side, even though it seems like it's the safe choice to do, which is what makes it so easy, in reality, this is the side that's going to destroy you. That doesn't necessarily mean you're going to be killed. It depends on obviously what choice you're making, but it will result in some sort of destruction in your life. Notice what it says in Exodus 32, verse 27. You say, Brother Stuckey, why are all these people being killed? Because choosing the wrong side results in destruction. Turn to Numbers 16. Numbers chapter 16. Numbers chapter 16. And look, when it comes to people that choose not to leave dead churches, they choose not to leave the Repentive Sins Church to go to a good church, they don't feel like they're destroying their life, but they are destroying their life. They're going to end up having a miserable marriage. They're going to end up probably not doing as good a job raising their kids. They're not going to win as many souls to the Lord. They're not going to live a life where God's actually pleased with them, is willing to bless them. And look, it is difficult to step out in faith. And here's what happens. When you step out in faith in the short term, it can actually seem really bad for you. That's why I always tell people when they're leaving their churches, you know, I don't tell them, hey, leave your church and you're going to be so happy and everything's going to be perfect. No, in reality, at first, it's probably going to be difficult. It's probably not going to be easy. You say why? Because when you make the right choices, sometimes in the temporary, it's very difficult. But you got to last through that. And on the other side, what's taking place is you're saving yourself from destruction that would have taken place if you didn't choose the right side. Notice what it says in number 16, verse one. Number 16, verse one. Now Korah, the son of Ishar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan, and Abiram, the sons of Eliab and On, the son of Peyleth, sons of Reuben, took men, and they rose up before Moses with a certain of the children of Israel, 250 princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown. And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said unto them, you take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy. Every one of them, and the Lord is among them, wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord. Now you say, Brother Stuckey, what would be the easy side to choose in this situation? The easy side would have been Korah's side. You say why? Because when you're in a congregation, everybody gets frustrated from time to time. And when somebody starts complaining, then you're thinking, well, these are the things I'm not happy about either. Look, the easy side would have been to go with Korah at this time, because they basically have the momentum. It'd be like showing up for a church service, and I've heard this situation actually taking place. I've heard of a pastor showing up for church before, and half the church left because there was a church split. And it's like, none of the members told them. It's like, oh yeah, they've been meeting for the last couple weeks talking about splitting the church. It's like, wow, gee, thanks. It would have been nice if you told me the fact that people are actually going to leave the church. But you have to realize in this situation, that's kind of what this is like. It's like showing up for church, and then basically a lot of your key people, which Korah and Dathan and Byron were, they're basically like, you know what, we're basically splitting the church. We're splitting the congregation. We say, you know, we all deserve to rule, not just you, Moses. Verse number 16, and Moses said unto Korah, be thou in all thy company before the Lord, thou and they, and err in tomorrow. And so we're going to have two sides that are going to be going at it, and in this situation, a side must be chosen. You say, Brother Stuckey, I love Korah and I love Moses. You can't love Korah and Moses. They're against each other in this situation. Now look, I'm not saying in every situation in life, you must choose a specific side. You say, why Brother Stuckey? Because oftentimes countries go to war and both sides are wrong. I'm not saying you must choose a side. Look, I'm not saying in every situation in life, but what I am saying is there are situations where there are two opposite sides. You can't choose both sides. Look, if you have two friends that get in a fight with one another, yeah, you can stay friends with both of them. I'm not saying choose one side and gang up on the other person, but what I am saying is in certain situations such as in this with Moses versus Korah, you can't be in between. You must choose a side here. Verse number 28, and Moses said, hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of mine own mind. If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men, then the Lord hath not sent me. What is he saying in verse number 29? These people die of old age, they die of natural causes, or they die 10 years from now because they got sick or whatever. He said, you know what, then the Lord hath not sent. Verse 30, but if the Lord make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth and swallow them up with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit, then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord. And he says the earth is going to open up, and these men are going to be destroyed. This is one of those things I wish I could see on DVD. You see all the reprobates just going down quick into hell. This is what it says in verse 31, and it came to pass as he had made an end of speaking all these words that the ground clave asunder that was under them, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, and their houses and all the men that appertained unto Korah and all their goods. They and all that appertained to them went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them, and they perished from among the congregation. And so these people are alive when they go down into the pit, and obviously they are killed when they go down there. Now I've never heard this before, but perhaps this could be a verse taken out of context to teach Abraham's bosom to teach, well these men were in paradise, they were alive in the pit. That's not what it's saying. What it's saying is they were alive, and then on the way down they were burned to death. And they physically died, and yet their soul remained down there in hell. And so that's what we see here, and what are we seeing in this story? We're seeing that the wrong side results in destruction in your life. Now it might not result in the earth opening up and killing you. It might not result in you getting in a severe accident or something like that. But look, you do reap what you sow. You make certain choices, and destruction will result out of this. Now turn to Esther chapter four. Esther four. Esther chapter four. And the last point we have here tonight is this, you know sometimes in life you get put in certain positions for a reason. And so there's a situation where a side must be chosen, and the wrong side's the easy choice, the correct side's the hard choice. Wrong side is what's going to result in destruction, even though temporary the easy side's the tough one to do. It might seem bad, in reality the wrong side, which is the easy side to choose, is going to result in destruction. But you have to realize sometimes God puts you in certain situations in life for a reason. And you say, I don't want to be in this situation, but maybe God wants you there for a reason. And this is what you see with Esther in this story. It says in verse 14, for if thou all together holdest thy peace at this time, this is Mordecai speaking, then shall their enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place. For thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed. And who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Now I love the way he words this, because he is rebuking her, and as we saw earlier, you can call Mordecai her father because he did raise her, but I want you to see this. He does end with sort of something to kind of encourage her a little bit, and he says, you know what, you might have come to this kingdom for this specific reason for such a time as this. You are brought here that you can deliver the people, not anybody else. And look, in life, when we're in tough situations, sometimes we have this attitude, why can't it be somebody else? I don't want to be in this situation. But maybe, just maybe, God put you in this situation for such a time as this. Turn to Genesis 45, Genesis 45, Genesis 45. I think back to our pastor, Pastor Jimenez, back in the protest, and look, I promise you that when the situation was going on, and in earthly setting, he would have said, man, I wish I wasn't in this situation. You say, why? Because we were basically having to leave our building, we're getting protested, people are threatening to kill his family and stuff like that. We couldn't find a new building. Nobody was wanting to rent from us in Sacramento. We had money. They're like, no, we don't want it. It's like, it wasn't a fun situation to be in. But maybe he was chosen for such a time as that. You say, why? Well, because you saw how he handled it. And quite honestly, it inspired a lot of people. There's even pastors in the movement that got into the movement because of the Orlando protest. And look, do you want to be in those sorts of situations in life? No, from a fleshly standpoint, we don't want to be. Look, none of us want to be martyr. Does anyone want to honestly say that their goal to martyr? I hope I get martyred. Nobody wants to be martyred. But perhaps you're in situations like this for such a time as this or such a time as that. Why is anyone in this situation for such a time as this? Genesis 45, another great example is Joseph. Genesis 45, verse three. And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph, doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him, for they were troubled at his presence. And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom he sold into Egypt. This is the first time he's actually revealed to them that he is their brother. He recognized them. They did not recognize him. Now part of this might be because he's younger than them. And when you're younger, you're going to change in your appearance over time, whereas his brothers were older. So probably the way they looked was pretty set in stone. But he recognizes them, and they don't recognize him. Now I love the story of Joseph, and the reason why I love it so much is you see a man who does not want to forgive his brothers. And when you read through the book of Genesis, when you're reading chapter by chapter, he doesn't want to forgive his brothers. And at first, he is mad at them. And that makes sense, because I would be too. But what's really encouraging about that story is the fact that even though he didn't want to forgive them, he ends up forgiving them 100%. Now I've heard people say before, basically, that Joseph is testing his brothers, and he is testing them. But when you're looking at him, he's not happy with them. He's obviously not, oh, it's my brothers, I just want to give you a hug, I'm so happy to see you. No, he doesn't want to see him. He's mad at them. The only one he wants to see when you read that story is Benjamin. That's the only one he wants to see. That's the only one he wants around them. He devises a plan so Benjamin will be with him and all the others will be gone. He doesn't want to forgive them, but he ends up forgiving them. And I think the reason why he ends up forgiving them is he realizes, maybe I was put in a situation like this for such a time as this. Notice what it says in verse five, now therefore be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that you sold me hither, for God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two years hath a famine been in the land, and yet there are five years, and to which there shall neither be earing nor harvest, and God sent me before you to preserve you of posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God, and he that hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all of his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. And so what Joseph realized is I needed to be in this situation in order to spare them. Now obviously his brothers were guilty, what they did was wrong, and you pay for your actions, but sometimes God uses sinful man to end up accomplishing his will. And God does make sure Joseph is in this situation. Now look, Joseph has pretty much spent half of his life in servitude or in prison and all these situations. Do you think anybody wants to go through that? Do you think I want to spend the next 35 years of my life behind jail? I don't want to do that. Do any of you want to do that? Absolutely not. None of us want to be in that situation, but what Joseph realizes is maybe God put me here for such a time as this. Now turn to Romans 8. Romans 8. I mean, in fact, we have all these great examples in the Bible, and what you're seeing with all these characters is they're put into certain situations for such a time as this. Job went through the storms of life more than any of us are ever going to go through, but the reason why he did was for such a time as that to be the great example that we can look at. I want you to notice here in Romans chapter 8 verse 28, it says in Romans 8 verse 28, And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Now this is a verse that's very misunderstood sometimes, because what it does not say is that everything in your life is going to be good. It doesn't say that. It says things are going to work together for good to them that love God. And what you have to understand is that this story in the book of Esther or this story and with Joseph or Job, these things do work together for good, and they work to accomplish God's will. But look, some people have been martyred for the cause of Christ. For Stephen personally, it didn't really work out for his good, but it worked out for God's good as it inspired Saul. Now obviously we don't want to be the ones that go through those major persecutions or trials, but you have to realize that you could be. And look, nobody in this room is particularly that old. I'm the oldest person in this room. I'm not that old. I've got over half my life ahead of me. And you know what? I hope that in 20 years we still have the free opportunity to preach the gospel in this country. But what if we don't anymore? What if, I don't know, somebody becomes a president who just is a hardcore Catholic. I mean, who knows what's going to happen? They're going to maybe persecute the true church. We don't really know what's going to take place, but you have to understand if situations like this rise up, you must choose the right side. Going back to Esther 4, Esther 4. You know, quite honestly, for my wife and I, I don't think I've ever mentioned this in a sermon, and I'm not really going to go into too much detail, but quite honestly, like moving to Manila, it was not really a good time for us when we moved. Quite honestly, for a couple very major reasons, it would have worked a lot better waiting a couple years. And you know, I'm not choosing to go into it. It's not really that big of a deal, because I don't regret the decision. I'm glad we moved. You say, why? Because when we had the missions trip here, you know, it's like such a time as this has arisen in our lives. It's like maybe from a fleshly standpoint, this situation works out better, but look, when such a time arises, you must be willing to make sacrifices to do what needs to be done. And you know, quite honestly, there's people waiting for a church, and you know, we're not a huge church by any stretch of the imagination. You know, we run 40 or in the 40s on Sunday, sometimes more, sometimes less, depending. But you know, look at all the souls that we've gotten saved, and that wouldn't have taken place unless this church was actually started. And look, you know, I don't know what's going to take place in your lives. I mean, some of the men in this room are interested in being pastors one day. And look, when you decide to start that church, it might not be the perfect timing for you. You might say, well, man, waiting, you know, and I'm not trying to rush you out. You know, you're going to start a mission next week. I want all of you guys, you know. I'm not saying that, but what I am saying is this, that, you know, if you've trained for it, and you're ready, and you know, everything's in place, you know, if you just keep putting off important decisions, then quite honestly, it might never even occur. Because when that time arises in your life, you must choose to rise to the occasion. Now notice what it says in Esther chapter four, verse 15, then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer. Go gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast see for me, and neither eat nor drink the days, night or day. I also and my maidens will fast likewise, and so will I go in under the king, which is not according to the law, and if I perish, I perish. That's a great statement there. If I die, I die. If I don't make it, if the king doesn't spare me, I die. So Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther had commanded him. Now look, I don't hold anything against Esther, because quite honestly, she's the only one who was in that specific situation, and quite honestly, she was safe if she didn't go in under the king. Now I don't really believe she'd be safe, because when you choose the side, what takes place? Destruction takes place, and Mordecai understood that, but this was the very easy side to choose. We don't hold it against her now, because she does rise to the occasion, but here's the thing about this. When a side must be chosen, and you're kind of in between, if you end up leading the wrong way, Esther wouldn't be a character we'd remember. She'd be someone who basically was a failure as a believer, and sometimes it's all about just deciding, I'll take that leap of faith. And look, if you're in the middle of a situation, and we're all in the middle of a situation sometimes, we're in a situation that rises up, and we don't really want to do what's right, look, if we choose to make the wrong choice, which is the easy choice, it will result in destruction, and you look at the end of Esther, and she's perfectly safe, and now she's got a book of the Bible named after her, because she was able to make the difficult choice and take a risk. Let's close in with a prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here in your house today, and help us to apply this sermon to our lives, and maybe none of us right now have to make a major decision in our life that there's two clear opposing sides, God, but one day that situation will probably arise for all of us, God, many times in our lives, God. Help us to always make the right choice, and it's not going to be easy. It's going to be difficult. Help us to remember this sermon, including myself, God, that when these difficult times arise in our life, that even though it's not going to be an easy choice, and even though everything looks like the odds are against you, if we know there's two clear sides, help us to choose the right side in our lives, God. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.