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Alright, we're here in Esther chapter 8, and we're continuing through the book of Esther, and next week will probably be the last sermon through the book of Esther, because chapter 10 is only three verses, so we'll probably combine the two chapters together. So this is going to be the second to last week here, and remember, at the end of chapter 7, Haman got what was coming to him. Haman was put to death, and generally when you think of the book of Esther, you kind of think of Mordecai versus Haman, and you kind of think of that as being the end of the book, but there are three more chapters after that. So we're here in chapter 8, and I want you to look at verse number 1. Verse number 1, where the Bible reads, On that day did the king of Hazaras give the house of Haman the Jew's enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was unto her. And the king took off his ring which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai, and Esther sent Mordecai over the house of Haman. And so as we know at the very beginning, Haman promotes himself, he lifts himself up, and he ends up coming down. Mordecai, on the other hand, was humble, and he rises up. And the first point we have in the principle throughout the Bible is this, that the way up is down. The way up is down. And the way down is up. You lift yourself up, you're going to come down. You humble yourself, you will be exalted. That's what the Bible teaches. Turn to Isaiah 14. Isaiah 14. This is what takes place with Haman. He elevates himself, and you're going to notice this in the Bible. It talks about Adonijah, how he exalted himself, and then he comes down very hard, and Solomon becomes the king. And so whenever you're seeing people exalt themselves, they're going to come down. And in your life, it's the same thing as well. If you exalt yourself, and you're prideful, and you're arrogant, you're going to come down hard one day. It's a better idea to just kind of slowly come down yourself, rather than having God just drag you down, and you just hammer straight into the ground. That's what we see here with the devil in Isaiah chapter 14, because I don't think there's anybody who's exalted themselves higher than the devil did. Nobody was more prideful. Nobody exalted themselves more. And in Isaiah 14 verse 12, the Bible reads, Isaiah 14 verse 12, How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations? For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the most high. He's basically saying, you know, I'm going to be God. I'm going to be just like him. You don't elevate yourself higher than that level. It doesn't get any worse than that. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. Nobody is going to burn in hell worse than the devil. You say, why? Because he exalted himself higher than anybody else. The higher you exalt yourself, the more you're going to come down. Nobody has ever exalted themselves higher than what the devil did. He said, I will be like the most high. When he said, I will ascend into heaven, and he says, I will ascend above the heights of the cloud. Remember the Bible says, no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the son of man which is in heaven. See, ascend basically means go up in your own power. People get confused on that, and they say, well, I guess nobody's ever gone to heaven before. Nobody's ascended to heaven. Nobody goes to heaven in their own power. So only God himself, Jesus Christ, had ascended up to heaven, but the devil says, I'm going to ascend into heaven. That is a very arrogant statement, because nobody could do that. Now turn to Philippians chapter 2. It's funny, when I was younger, people would always say that. They'd say Philippines when they go to Philippians, and I never did that. Now I've started to do that recently, and I don't know. But you see the contrary with Jesus Christ, because just like the devil exalted himself more than anyone who has ever existed, on the other side of the coin, nobody humbled themselves more than the Lord Jesus Christ, and nobody will be exalted higher than the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians chapter 2 verse 5, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Why is it that he thought it not robbery to be equal with God? Because he is God, right, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. You'll notice throughout the Bible that when Jesus Christ went places, he didn't just show up and say, hey, you know what, I'm Jesus Christ. I'm God in the flesh. You know, he actually told people when they got saved to just, hey, you know, don't repeat this to everybody. Just be quiet about it. He made himself of no reputation. He came down to earth, and not only was he crucified, but he was a servant when he was here. He endured on to all, and he humbled himself. We see that. He made himself of no reputation. But notice what it says in verse 8, in being found and fashioned as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name. And so Jesus Christ humbled himself, and he's exalted. The Bible says everyone that exalteth himself shall be humbled, and he that humbled, or everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbledth himself shall be exalted. Jesus humbled himself, and he is exalted. Notice what it says, and given him a name which is above every name. So the name of Jesus Christ is the name above every name. The next time you run into a Jehovah's Witness, you might want to let them know that, that the name Jesus Christ is above every name, and that includes the name Jehovah, okay? There's many names for God in the Bible, to suggest it's just one is ridiculous, okay? But his name is above every name. But notice that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord to the glory of God the Father. Do you realize that the most arrogant people in this entire world, the people that blaspheme God, that hate God, one day they will bow down and cry out to God? That's what the Bible's teaching here. Every single one of those arrogant people, you say, why? Because nobody wants to burn in hell forever. And once they realize that they're done, they have no chance, they're going to humble themselves. It's going to be too late though. You have your chance here on earth. That's why this idea that there's a second chance after you die is ridiculous, because everybody would end up believing on Jesus then. Nobody wants to burn in hell. And people can mock Jesus and say they don't believe in the Bible, but when the reality hits them, they're going to be like that man in Luke 16, who fared sumptuously every day, and he wore everything he wanted. He had everything in life he wanted. And what happens in Luke 16? He dies, he wakes up, and he's in hell. And that guy doesn't even seem to be a bad person, but he didn't believe. And look, nobody's humbled themselves more than Jesus Christ. Nobody will be exalted more. And see, in our lives, we worry so much about having a great reputation, and we should worry about keeping a good reputation, being a good person, having a good testimony. But people worry so much. What does so and so think about me? Why don't you worry what God thinks about you? Instead of making it a point that everybody knows how much you read the Bible and how much you love God, just focus on yourself, and if you live as a humble person, you will be exalted. That's what the Bible says. James 4, James chapter 4, James 4. But you know, it doesn't feel like that when you're going through trials. I mean, I'm sure Mordecai didn't really feel like he's going to be exalted above Haman. I mean, he's worried he's going to die. He actually has a lot of confidence that he won't, but I'm just saying, he's going through those trials, he probably isn't thinking, hey, you know what, I'm going to take Haman's spot. It's probably the last thing on his mind. And so look, when you're going through trials and stuff, you might feel like, I've got to make a name for myself, but the reality is, if you humble yourself, God will exalt you. That's what the Bible teaches. James 4, verse 6. But he giveth more grace, wherefore he saith, God resisted the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. The proud would be someone like Haman, and the humble would be someone like Mordecai. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, he sinners, and purify your hearts, he double-minded. Be afflicted in mourning, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Notice verse number 10. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. Does that say he might lift you up? If you humble yourself, it might happen. Maybe God's going to lift you up. No, he says he will lift you up. Now look, I'm not saying if you humble yourself, you're going to become a rich person. This is not a prosperity gospel, but the Bible says you will be lifted up, and obviously it starts with salvation because every single person before they get saved, they must humble themselves and admit they need a savior. It starts with that, but not just that area of your life. Even as a saved person, you must stay as a humble person. Turn back to Esther chapter 8. So one lesson we're reminded here from Esther chapter 8 is the way up is down. The way up is down. That's a phrase that stuck with me for a really long time. I hope it sticks with you guys as well. The way up is down in life as a Christian. Esther chapter 8, but the second point we have is this, that nothing is impossible with God. Nothing is impossible with God. Esther chapter 8 verse 3. And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite and his device that he had devised against the Jews. Now when it says mischief in the Bible, this is always referring to death. And she's asking, you know, put away the mischief, that he wanted to kill all of us, is what she's saying. That he's going to kill all the Jews, that he's going to kill all of my brethren. Then the king held out the golden scepter toward Esther, so Esther arose and stood before the king. Remember when she was coming before the king, or anyone was, if he doesn't hold out the golden scepter, she could be put to death. The reason why I believe is for safety purposes for the king, where basically, you know, unless he calls you in, you can't come. But she comes in, you know, earlier she came in to beseech him for her people, and here she beseeches him again. He holds out the golden scepter. Verse 5. And said, if it pleased the king, and if I have favor in his sight, and the thing seemed right before the king, and I'd be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hamadeth the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews which were in all the king's provinces. For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? For how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred? Now it might seem strange at first, like, why is she fighting so hard to get the king to say, I'm reversing what I said? Well turn to Daniel chapter 6, Daniel 6. Because you would think that he would just change the law and say, okay, we won't have any of you killed. But the problem was, that is not what they did in the Persian Empire. The Medes and the Persians, when a law was made, it was permanent. You did not change it for any reason, okay? Daniel chapter 6, let me actually turn there myself, Daniel chapter 6, Daniel chapter 6. And notice what it says in verse 12. Then they came near and spake before the king concerning the king's decree. Hast thou not signed a decree that every man that shall ask a petition of any god or man within 30 days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. So remember in Daniel chapter 6, that they basically tricked the king into basically signing Darius' or signing Daniel's death warrant. You say, how do they do that? Because they know that Daniel's going to pray three times a day like he always does. And so they basically make it into the law that no one can pray. What ends up happening, Daniel stays faithful even though the law is against what he's doing. And what happens, they say, well here he did it, now he should be put to death. Now Darius doesn't hate Daniel, okay? And notice how it says, which altereth not at the end of verse number 12. So basically when a law was made, it was permanent. You did not change it for any reason, okay? Verse 13, Then answered they and said before the king, that Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou assign, but maketh his petition three times a day. Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore just pleased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him, and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him. And so Darius is very sad because he signed Daniel's death warrant. But notice, he doesn't say we're going to change the law and he won't be put to death. Why? You didn't change the law once it was put in. That was part of their law, that was part of their system. It might seem easy to us to just change the law, but you never did that. And he did not want to do this to Daniel. Now turn back to Esther chapter 8. Now if you remember when we were talking about the Apocrypha, in the Apocrypha, they make some changes to this. Instead of Darius, it's Cyrus. Instead of Darius, they change it to Cyrus. But instead of getting tricked into doing this, they basically bully King Cyrus. King Cyrus the Great, they basically bully and say, you know, you're going to put him to death. He's like, okay, okay, we'll put him to death. It's like, man, the Apocrypha is such a dumb book. So many errors, so many mistakes, and Cyrus was the king of Persia, not of the Medes. He was the Persian king. And so he wasn't going to reign in Babylon, so that's ridiculous. But going back to Esther chapter 8, so realize once this is put into the law, it was never changed for any reason. Now kind of the closest thing I can think of, at least in the US, is when a president will pardon someone. So basically somebody's been put to jail, it's in the law, and you can't change it. It's been determined by the court, but every once in a while the president will step in and say, I'm going to pardon someone. Someone who is going to be in jail for 50 years, I've decided to put out my presidential pardon, and basically he gets to go out of jail. Whenever that takes place, it's a big deal on the news. They put it all over, like the president chose to pardon so and so. Why? Because he's basically saying the law is null and void, okay? It's not a common thing to do, and when you do it, it's a big deal. And whenever a president will do that, some will criticize him and some will praise him. It's considered a big deal. And so here it's kind of similar. Basically once it's enacted, you don't change it for any reason, okay? And so notice what it says in Esther 8, verse 7. Then the king has whereas said unto Esther the queen, and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows because he laid his hand upon the Jews. Write ye also for the Jews as it liketh you, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring. For the writing which is written in the king's name and sealed with the king's ring may no man reverse. And so in verse 8, he makes a pretty bold declaration. He says you can write whatever you want and seal it with my name, okay? Now this is a pretty bold thing for him to do because if you remember, he kind of did this with Haman and it got him into trouble. But he really trusts Esther, and he says whatever you want, we'll do it. It won't be altered, okay? Now this is a true story. This happened. There's a lot of symbolism as well. Before I hit the big symbolism, I want you to turn to Luke 1. I want to show you one thing quickly. I'll show you two examples of things that are impossible, but God changes the outcome. Two things. And one thing it mentions is when it comes to opening the womb, okay? When a lady is able to have a child, the Bible speaks about God being able to open the womb. Notice what it says in Luke 1 verse 36. And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. And so she's conceived a son in her old age. Basically she is too old to conceive a child, okay, in her old age. For with God, nothing shall be impossible. See the Bible says God can make the impossible possible. Even if you think it's impossible, God can change the outcome. Mary said, behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word, and the angel departed from her. And so what you see is God can make something that's impossible possible. And you've got to ask yourself the question, is anything too hard for the Lord? That was the context with Sarah as she's able to have a child past the childbearing ages. Is anything too hard for the Lord? Is anything impossible with God? And the answer to that would be no. Now turn in your Bible to Matthew 19. But if you remember what I said just a few weeks ago, I mentioned how King Ahasuerus, in a lot of ways he kind of symbols the Lord that we worship, okay, the Lord God. And so some of the symbolism that's being taught here is basically the fact that because she comes in and she beseeches Him because all of her people are going to be killed, it's already been decreed, this is what it says, no matter what, there's no pardon for them, they're going to be destroyed. But there's symbolism with salvation there. Because when it comes to us, every single one of us is guilty. The Bible makes it very clear. It says all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. All liars. Well, we've all lied. We're all guilty. As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. All of us are guilty. And the Bible says that, you know what, if you've sinned just one time, it says for as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, for it is written, cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. If you don't continue in all things, the Bible says you are guilty. But then in verse 13 of Galatians 3, 13, it says Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. And when you look at us when it comes to salvation, we are guilty, and there is no hope of going to heaven. And see, this wording is also mentioned in Matthew chapter 19. What takes place is that we are guilty, but then the king holds out the golden scepter and says, you know what, I'm going to declare you innocent even though you should be guilty. Matthew 19 verse 16, Matthew 19 verse 16. And behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? Now, this is a very misunderstood verse and misunderstood story in the Bible. It's very important that we understand exactly what's going on here, okay? Because you look at all the conversations with Jesus Christ, and it's not really that confusing. John 3, he says, if you believe, you're going to go to heaven. John 4, if you believe, you're going to go to heaven. He's very consistent. Throughout the Bible, he's saying you believe you're going to go to heaven. And then you come across this story, and it's like, do good works, and you're going to get to heaven? Now, look, the Bible doesn't contradict itself. Maybe just maybe you just don't understand what this story's talking about. And to understand this, you need to understand verse 16, okay? This man comes to Jesus, and notice how he says, Good Master, okay? Good Master. Does this person believe that Jesus is good? Yes he does. Does he believe he's God? No he doesn't. Those are the two problems. He believes that Jesus is good, but he's not God, okay? There's a problem with that, because there is none that doeth good, but one that is God. The only one that's good is God. And he comes to Jesus Christ, and he says, you're really good, and what good thing do I have to do to get to heaven? Because you're so good, and if I do that good thing, I'll go to heaven. There's a problem with that, because the Bible teaches there is none righteous, no not one. There's none that doeth good, no not one. Nobody's good. And so he does not understand the Gospel at all, right? What good thing shall I do, okay? Do you have to get baptized to go to heaven? No. Do you have to go to church to go to heaven? No. Do you have to live a good life to go to heaven? No. Do you have to quit drinking to go to heaven? No. Do you have to quit doing drugs to go to heaven? No. What do you have to do? Whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. And he does not understand this, because he's saying, what good thing shall I do? There's nothing you have to do. We don't have to give our life to God to be saved. He gave his life for us to be saved. All you have to do is believe. You don't have to do any good thing. And so he does not understand this. He thinks he has to earn eternal life. He does not understand who Jesus is, and he doesn't understand the way of salvation. And when it comes to salvation, it's kind of two things. You have to believe that Jesus is who he says he was, and that he do what he said he do. This man doesn't understand either one of these things, okay? Verse 17, and he said on to him, why callest thou me good? There is none good but one that is God. But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. Let's break this down phrase by phrase. Why callest thou me good? Why are you saying I'm good? And then Jesus says, there's none good but one that is God. The only one that's good is God, is what he's saying. Now, we know in this room that Jesus is God. No question about that. God was manifest in the flesh, okay? We know that. There's so many verses that point that out. God was manifest. This is the true God in eternal life, right? We know that the Son of God has come and hath given us understanding. This is the true God in eternal life. Jesus Christ is the true God, and even God the Father said, but unto the Son he saith thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. There's no doubt that Jesus is God. So Jesus is not saying, hey, you know, I'm not God, okay? That's not what he's saying, okay? What he's trying to tell him is this, no man is good. You have to either accept me as the Savior. You can't accept me as being a good person that's going to earn my way to heaven. And so this man's messed up on both these things. He's trying to help him understand you're not good enough to earn your way to heaven. When he says, if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments, we know that's not the way of salvation. John 3 16 says, whosoever believeth in him. What he's trying to tell him is, if you are trying to work your way to heaven, then you better keep the law perfectly. Look, before we show people the gospel, we show them that they're guilty and they need a Savior. Unless people believe they need a Savior, they won't get saved. If somebody does not realize that their building's on fire, they're not going to run out of that house. If somebody's not in the water drowning or don't realize they're drowning, they're not going to reach out for a Savior, okay? If this room was on fire right now and nobody realized it was on fire, let's say a fire started, I'd keep preaching, we wouldn't even think about it. Once we realized there was smoke, once we saw the smoke or smelled it, we'd all be out of here, right? We'd try to put out the fire and if we couldn't do that, we'd be out of here, right? It's the same thing when it comes to people that are unsaved. If they don't realize that they're in a burning building, if they don't realize they need a Savior, they won't get saved. They must understand they're guilty first. So Jesus starts at this first point saying, you are guilty. You have not lived a good enough life, okay? Now notice what it says here in verse 18. He saith unto them, which Jesus said thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness. So notice what he says, I have to keep the commandments, well which ones do I have to keep? I'll keep the ones I have to and the ones I don't have to, I guess I can do whatever I want. If I can steal, then I'll just keep stealing. He says, which of these do I have to keep? And Jesus just names a bunch, honor thy father and thy mother, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, okay? So some of these aren't that difficult, thou shalt do no murder. The guy probably had never committed murder. I'm sure he had probably been angry without a just cause, which the Bible says is murder in your heart. Probably never had actually committed murder, probably had never actually committed adultery. He probably had stolen, but let's say he hadn't stolen. But some of these, there's no doubt that he would have broken at some point in their life. Nobody has perfectly honored their mom and dad, nobody, except Jesus Christ. Nobody has honored their parents perfectly. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, come on. Nobody has perfectly loved their neighbor as theirself, okay? But notice what this guy's response is, the young man saith unto him, all these things have I kept from my youth up. What lack I yet? You've never broken any of these commandments, because I thought the Bible said foolishness is bound in the heart of a child. But all these things have I kept from my youth up. What are you looking at? You're looking at a man who is very arrogant. He has exalted himself, and guess what? As far as we know, this man never gets saved, and he'd be in hell today then. He exalted himself, and you know what? The first step to getting saved is humbling yourself and admitting, I'm guilty. It's kind of like just in life, just saying you're sorry when you mess up. It's not an easy thing to do. You mess up though, you just say you're sorry, and you move on, okay? But a lot of people, they don't want to admit that. I don't want to admit I deserve hell. Well, then you're never going to be saved, because first you must realize that you're guilty. He says all these have I kept from my youth up. So look, Jesus knows how to give the gospel. If somebody does not believe they need a savior, guess what you don't do? You don't go forward in your gospel presentation. You say why? Because at the end of that conversation, that person will pray, and you'll count a salvation that did not actually occur. They must first understand they're guilty and say, that's your opinion. No, this is what Jesus Christ did. If you don't have that opinion, then what is this story talking about? Was Jesus preaching work salvation? I think he's just showing someone that they're guilty, and this man doesn't get it. That's why at the beginning of the gospel, we give the bad news, and then you move to the good news. They must understand they need a savior. This man does not understand this. So verse 21, Jesus said unto him, if thou wilt be perfect. So basically, if you're going to be perfect, if that's the way you're going to try to get to heaven, because there's two ways to heaven. Live a perfect life, and you don't need a savior, or just believe on Jesus Christ. Now has anyone lived a perfect life? Let God be true, but every man a liar. And look, ladies, when it says every man, it's generic for mankind. It's like, well, I've never lied. No, no, no. Every man, every woman, everyone's lied. Let God be true, but every man a liar, the Bible says. Everybody's lied. So look, this man's saying, I've kept these for my youth up. It's like, man, good night. Before I got saved, before I heard the gospel, I was worried I was going to go to hell because I knew I had done things wrong, and I didn't know if God was going to forgive me. And it's just like, to think that you're actually just perfect, because most people think they're good enough to go to heaven. I understand that. I thought that as well, that I was probably going to go to heaven before I was saved. But I was still worried, and I would have definitely admitted, yeah, I've done some wrong things. I hope God's going to forgive me. This man says, I've done nothing wrong. You know who this reminds me of? Donald Trump. If you ever listen to him, this sounds exactly like Donald Trump. Donald Trump in an interview, and I don't want to go on too big of a rabbit trail, but it's sort of like, you know, almost kind of like a joke, like is he making this up? Like somebody interviewed him, and he said, you know, he asked him about talking to God and asking for forgiveness, and he's like, oh, I don't really like to ask for forgiveness. And people are kind of like thinking, because he tells a lot of jokes, they think he's just joking. He's like, I don't really like to ask for forgiveness. He's like, you know, that would be like admitting I did something wrong. And the guy thought he was joking. He's like, you know, so you've never asked God for forgiveness. He's like, no. He's like, because I like to think that I can do right, you know, I don't like to think that I do wrong. And he's being like dead honest, like, no, I've never asked God for forgiveness. You've never asked God for forgiveness in your life? It's like, what in the world? That's how this guy sounds here in this story. Verse 23, no, verse 21, Jesus said unto him, if thou wilt be perfect. So this is a guy who really thinks he's a really good person. Go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven and come and follow me. He's like, if you're really perfect, go and sell everything you have. If you're really perfect, just give it all away and just devote 100% of your life to God, okay? But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Look, it doesn't matter how good you think you are, you're still guilty. And every single one of us, we have areas where we're not following God 100%. This man has a lot of money. I'm not saying it's a sin to have money. But what Jesus is trying to say is, if you're 100% devoted, just give up. Just give it all in and just go 100% serving God if you're perfect. And he goes away sorrowful. Why? He's like, oh, man, I guess I'm not good enough. He just wasn't able to realize that he needed a Savior. Now, look, obviously, Jesus did not make a mistake preaching the gospel. Obviously, he's the best soul winner who ever existed. He knew exactly what to say. And look, when you're preaching the gospel, here's the thing. You have to realize that if, let's say, for example, that Brother Prince is preaching the gospel to someone. And let's say we're talking afterwards, we get done soul winning, and he tells me how his conversation went. I'm only going to be able to capture like 70% of that. Because a lot of preaching the gospel, or even less than that, is seeing their emotions and seeing their reactions and the way they answer statements. Unless you're there, then you won't fully be able to grasp that. When you're in there preaching the gospel, you can see their emotions. You can kind of see what they're thinking, especially if you have experience and stuff like that. In this conversation, obviously, Jesus can tell. And look, when I'm preaching the gospel, sometimes people give me the right answers, but I can tell they don't really believe. It's like, what do you have to do to get to heaven? They say, well, just believe. But the reason why they're saying that sometimes is because they've heard me say that over and over again. And it's like, well, do you really believe that? And then it's like, well, no, I still think you have to live a good life. And it's like, obviously here, if you were in that conversation, what you would see is a very prideful person that thought he was good enough to go to heaven. He obviously was not good enough to go to heaven. And it says in verse number 23, then said Jesus unto his disciples, verily I say unto you that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again, I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. Now obviously this is kind of metaphorical language here in verse 24. Obviously that's got to be a pretty big camel to fit through a needle, okay? And some rich people do get saved. But obviously he's using an example to say, you know what, it's very hard to get rich people saved. And isn't that what we found? All over the world it's the same too. Look, you know, I went soul winning at this complex just right over here one day and I spent five hours soul winning and had no, no salvations. Now in America that's not so strange. In the Philippines, five hours and only one person wanted to listen to the gospel and they didn't get saved. That is pretty dramatic. You say, why? Well, because everybody had nice houses and cars. People have money, they don't get saved. That's the way it works. The vast majority of the people that get saved are going to be people that don't have as much money. Okay? And I'm not saying it's impossible to have money and be humble because in the Bible there's exceptions to that. Obviously Job and other people as well. But in general, people that have a lot of money are less likely to get saved. Okay? That's what we found. And honestly, I know stories where people had a lot of money and basically to get saved they had to lose everything. And you hear these stories and you realize that, you know, honestly it's easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. Now I still think we should give it a shot. We should try to preach the gospel to everyone, especially around our church, he had every single door. But the reality is there's certain areas. You get that map on a Sunday, it's like, well, here's your area. You're thinking, oh, no, man, this neighborhood, everybody's rich, no one's going to get saved. And it's like you get the area, oh, go into the park, name it, yes. And so certain areas people are less likely to get saved. This is why the Philippines is more accepted than the United States of America. The United States of America, guess what, people don't get saved as easily. You say, why? Because they feel like they're rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing. And honestly, when you're growing soul winning in the US, and I promise you every soul winner, this is their same opinion, when you're knocking doors, you always are upset when a white person opens a door. And I'm allowed to say that since I'm white, you say, why? Because they're less likely to get saved because oftentimes they have more money. That's the reality. It's not the only one because in certain areas, some ethnicities, they have a lot of money. But it's just like in general, a white person opens the door, you're thinking, man, they're not going to get saved. Because that's usually the way it works. And you look at other areas where there's rich people, like in Sacramento, a lot of the people from India are very rich and they're not receptive at all. Generally, people with a lot of money, they're not going to be receptive to the gospel. The Bible teaches that. That's why it always starts with preaching the gospel to the poor. You say, but if you're only preaching the gospel to the poor, how are you going to be able to pay for your church building and expenses and things like that? How are you trusting God? God will provide. And look, we try to go so into everyone and honestly, we do have people at our church that do pretty well, other people, some do, some don't. God provides those for our needs. We're not going to just focus on the rich people. Now we're going to try to focus on everybody, preach the gospel to everyone, but we start with the poor and that's the principle found in the Bible. Verse 25, when his disciples heard this, they were exceedingly amazed saying, who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them and said unto them, with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. When it comes to the topic of salvation, look, with men this is impossible. We need God's help in order to get anybody saved, okay? But honestly, it's impossible for us to work our way to heaven. We're not good enough, okay? With God all things are possible and the way he made it possible is that Jesus Christ came, was obedient unto the death of the cross, humbled himself, the Bible says, and he died and paid for the sins of the world. He did live that perfect life and so basically he lived that perfect life. You believe on Jesus Christ and when you come before the king, he'll hold out the golden scepter and say, innocent, 100% innocent, I'll let you into heaven. But if you don't have the blood of Jesus Christ applied to you, when you come before king has awareness, which is symbolic of God, when you come before God, he's going to say, guilty. Why? Because of the fact you don't have your sins forgiven. That's the reality. So that's some of the symbolism here and so a couple of things where you see things that are impossible when it comes to people that are past the point of being able to have kids, but also with salvation. That in general because nobody's good enough to earn their way to heaven. Now we don't go to a crazy extreme like this because, now turn back to SRA and I'll explain. Because the Bible teaches we have free will, because it says, whosoever believeth, he that believeth, and the Bible is clear, he died for everyone. But the Calvinist will say, with men this is impossible, so God just has to force people to get saved. No, he gave us free will. But we can't work our way to heaven, we can't earn our way to heaven. The last point, let's talk about God's judgment here tonight and in Esther 8 verse 9, let's notice what it says in Esther 8 verse 9. Then were the king's scribes called at that time in the third month, that is the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth day thereof, and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded unto the Jews, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies, and rulers of the provinces, which are from India unto Ethiopia, and hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to the writing thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to the language. Our next, our next Bible memorization challenge is going to be this one verse. This is the longest verse in the Bible actually, Esther 8 and 9. For a Bible trivia question, Esther 8 verse 9, longest verse in the entire Bible, okay? Super long verse. But anyways, that's the only significance I see in that verse. On to verse 10. And let's talk about God's judgment destroys the wicked. Notice what it says in verse 10, and he wrote in the king Ahasuerus' name, and sealed it with the king's ring, and sent letters by post on horseback and riders on mules, camels and young dromedaries, wherein the king granted the Jews which were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause a parish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey. Now you have to understand with this story, these are wicked people that want to destroy God's people, okay? It'd be like, for example, people that hate our guts and want to kill us. If there was a bunch of people that wanted to kill us, and basically we had the death warrant given to us, like every Baptist in the Philippines is going to be killed, and then all of a sudden, you know, the king said, you can stand for your life, I'm rejecting that, then we would be fighting back against them, okay? This is not them being bloodthirsty or wicked people, and look, the next week what we're going to be talking about is Purim, the Jews' holiday, and we're going to see how they twist the scripture, how it's not what they say here, but this is God's judgment upon the wicked. Like I said, next week I'll go more in detail, but God is judging the wicked people, okay? These are the people that wanted to seek their life, and it says to stand for their life in verse 11, you say, why? They have to stand for their life because people want to kill them, okay? And so in verse, turn to James 4, actually, James 4. Now of these people that wanted to kill them, I certainly believe that some of them were reprobates and bad people. I don't believe all of them were. But here's the thing, if you link up with the world against God, you will be destroyed with the world. We don't know what percentage of them were bad people, what percentage were just, you know, worldly people, whatever, but I want you to understand that if you link up with the world, you will go down with the world. Notice what it says in James 4, verse 4, ye 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, the Bible says if you're a friend of the world, you're the enemy of God. Those are not my words. That is exactly what it said. I'm not even giving you my interpretation. Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. And look, James is written to believers. The context is believers. He's saying to save people, you become the enemy of God. Isn't the Bible teacher either with God or against Him? You're either helping, gather, or you're scattering. And let me tell you something, in today's world, most Christians are standing against the words of God. They're upset at the hard preaching, and what does the Bible say that makes them the enemy of God? If you become a friend of the world, the Bible says you're the enemy of God. And in Esther chapter 8, I'm sure there was many people that linked up with the world and they weren't all reprobates, they weren't all wicked people, but you link up with the world and you're going to be slain with them. Same thing will happen to you. Let me tell you something. Christians that are going to link up with the world, their lives are going to be destroyed. That's the way it's going to work. Turn to Esther chapter 8. What can we learn from that? Don't be a worldly person. Don't find enjoyment in the things of this world that are wicked and disgusting before God. Find enjoyment in God's word and serving God. That's one thing that's great about, you know, our church is not a mega church by any means. It's not a huge church. But you know, we have plenty of people in our church and we have lots of people that love the Lord and want to serve God and have fellowship and hang out. And so when you have a church like this, you know, honestly, you don't need to link up with the world and have friends with people that aren't godly people. And so that's why church is so important. Notice what it says in Esther 8 verse 12. Upon one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, namely upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, the copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people and the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. So the post that wrote upon mules and camels went out being hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment and the decree was given at Shushan the palace. And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white and with a great crown of gold and with a garment of fine linen and purple and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad. The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor. So we see God's judgment upon the wicked, okay? We'll go into more detail next week in the way the Jews have perverted the holiday of Purim. But I want you to see also God's judgment converts. God's judgment actually helps people get saved. Notice what it says in verse 17. And in every province and in every city whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews for the fear of the Jews fell upon them. Many people became Jews. Now obviously this is the Old Testament, okay? Don't you say, I'm really touched by this sermon, I'm going to convert to Judaism. It's like, no, this was before Jesus Christ, okay? This is when they have the right religion. But I want you to turn to Joshua 2 and what I want you to see, turn to Joshua 2. What you see in that story though is God's judgment actually converts people. Some people get saved due to God's judgment and there's a false belief. This is the problem with so many churches in today's world because they have this philosophy and this attitude, well if you preach so hard against sin, you're going to turn people away from the Lord. You're going to turn people away from God. You preach against the LGBT, you're turning people away from God. You preach on hell, you're turning people away from God. You preach against the NIV and worldly music, you're turning people away from God. Brother, should I just preach on patience and love? Look, we just finished love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance will be on Sunday. We just preached on the fruits of the Spirit, but there's more aspects than just the love of God. And look, if you read the Bible, it will be obvious to you it's not just the love of God. You say, how do you know that? Because we're reading Esther 8 where God allows this to take place to kill all of the wicked people. Those aren't my words. Those are God's words. You have to understand, there's heaven and there's hell. And the truth is the Bible talks about hell a whole lot more than it talks about heaven. And quite honestly, the Bible speaks of hard preaching, but what I want you to realize, this does not turn people away from Christianity. It actually helps bring people to Christianity. Notice what it says in Joshua 2 verse 9. And she said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land and that your terror is fallen upon us and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. And so basically Rahab the harlot, and this isn't really part of the sermon, but let me just say this, that Rahab was a harlot, a prostitute, and she's not told that she has to repent of her sins or change her lifestyle. She believes and she gets saved. It's that simple. She doesn't have to change anything. You say, why does she get saved? Because she believes. And that's what she's talking about here. She says she realizes the Lord hath given you the land. She realizes who the true Lord is. Verse 10, for we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt and what you did under the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other side, Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts did melt. Neither did there remain any more courage than any man because of you. For the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above and in earth beneath. What does she say? I heard about the judgment of God and you know what I realized? Your God is the true God, not the God that we're worshiping. Your God's the true God. You say, what are you saying, Brother Shuckey? I'm saying that when you preach hard about sin and preach about the judgment of God and his laws, it actually helps convert people. It doesn't turn people away from Christianity. Here's what you have to understand. Most people in this world do not want to know the truth. Most people in this world want to be lied to. That's the reality. Most people don't want to know the truth. Even among saved people, most saved people don't really want to live for God. That's the reality. So they don't want to hear preaching against their sin. Most people don't really want to know the truth. You have to realize that if we just changed our church, we just had rock music, we had electric guitars, and I don't know what the Christian rock is today or who the Christian bands are, or God is an awesome God, whatever's the current stuff. If we just played that music and just said, you know what, what we're going to do is just spend 40 minutes on music, we're going to shorten the sermons to 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and instead of preaching on God's judgment, I'm just going to preach to you an encouraging message. Your best life now. Your best life now. God wants you to have a great life now, and God's going to bless you, and the blessings are going to come from heaven, blah, blah, blah, like Joel Osteen would say. We would have a bigger congregation. There's no question about that. Because people like to come to church and be patted on the back, you're a great person. You're such a good Christian. But isn't the point of church to actually learn the things we need to change if you want to serve God? Look, before I ever started preaching here, I've been an independent fundamental Baptist since I was 19 years old, and the only reason why it took me until 19 is when I got saved at 18, I just didn't realize yet I was an independent fundamental Baptist. I believe salvation was by grace through faith and then eternal security. I knew I was a Baptist at the age of 18, and when I was 19, I realized I'm an independent fundamental Baptist once I realized about the King James Bible topic. But I want you to realize that when I started going to church, you know what I like to hear? I like to hear the preaching that hit on my sins. You say, why? It helped me make changes. When I got saved, I listened to hard rock music. I listened to Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Guns N' Roses, all the worldly trash, ACDC, all these bands that mock God, just stuff that no Christian should hear or anyone should hear. And that's what I listened to. You say, Brother Stuckey, why did you quit listening to that music? Did you just get saved and all of a sudden the music just hit the road immediately? No, I heard preaching against my sin and I changed it. And look, in this room, you're at a church that preaches the truth and you want to hear the truth, but you must realize you're an exception. Most people don't want to hear the truth. That's why they go to non-denominational churches. So here's what you need to understand. Yes, the non-denominational churches will bring in lots more people to their church than us. We're not trying to compete with them because we won't be able to compete with them. But here's the reality. The people they're bringing in don't want to serve God, and by and large, those people don't even get saved. See, we go out and we get soul winning. You say, what's the purpose of going soul winning? To get people saved, to win souls. Soul winning wins souls. You say, I thought the point was to build a church. Well, sadly, that doesn't help build a church. You don't build a church by going soul winning. What you do is you win souls and God's blessings upon your church. That doesn't build a church. Look, when we go soul winning, and look, we've had visitors from soul winning. We have people that regularly come on Sundays, people who have gotten saved in this community, but that's with a lot of soul winning. A few people have stuck around. And praise the Lord for it. Over the next year, we'll have a few more stick around. That's to slowly build the church. But the reality is, going soul winning is not just going to skyrocket the growth. We're going to double in attendance overnight. It doesn't work that way. Going soul winning, the purpose is to win souls. You say, Brother Stuckey, what if you realize that for the next year, your church would go soul winning for, put in 100 hours every week, 5,000 hours for the year, and not a single person would come and visit church. We would do just as much soul winning. You say, why? Because the purpose of soul winning is to win souls. And I'll tell you what, when you do that, you have God's blessing upon you. But what I want you to realize in this story of Esther 8 or Joshua 2 or 3 have the harlot, hearing God's judgment does not turn people away from the truth. And the reality is the people that will like this church are going to be people that want to know the truth. This kind of preaching will turn away most people. But it won't turn away people that want to live for God. That's the reality. Now, look, if I was in Joel Osteen's church, that preaching would turn me away. Why? Because it's lies. It's a bunch of garbage. He's not saying anything. They're not using the King James, you know, all the things. And Joel Osteen, I don't know if you know this, even though he doesn't do this publicly, the guy speaks in tongues. And he said that before. They're always discreet about it. Like all these people, like I didn't even know until I heard a sermon on it. But like all these people, they don't do it publicly because it's like, that's really weird. It's like, yeah, it is weird. But his dad was a megachurch Pentecostal pastor. And so I want you to realize this, though, that hard preaching does not turn away people from the truth that want to know the truth. But here's the reality. If an unsaved person visits our church, the hard preaching will not turn them away. You say, why? Because Leviticus is as much the Word of God and Esther 8 is as much the Word of God as John 3.16. Every bit of it. And if people hear the Word of God and see the verses and say, I don't like that, that's evil, blah, blah, blah, they would be turned away by anything the Bible says. They just don't believe who God is because, look, Esther 8 is who God is. Joshua chapter 2 is who God is. John 3.16 is who God is. This whole Bible is who God is. Now, look, I'm not saying when we go soloing you turn to Esther chapter 8. That's not what I'm saying. Obviously, we turn to John 3.16, Romans 6.23. But what I want you to realize is, like, don't be worried if somebody visits this church and you're like, oh, man, he visited and it was like the most hard course ever. We had visitors on Sunday, first time being here, and they really seemed to love the first sermon I preached on the violent psychopath. You say, why? Because people don't want to know the truth, just want to know the truth. And so don't feel like this preaching is going to turn people away. Now, what it's going to do is turn away people that don't really want to serve God. And that is why, honestly, you'd have to ask something, is something wrong with this church if we were, like, a lot bigger of a church? But for a church to slowly build, there's nothing wrong with that, okay? When you preach the truth, it's actually a really good thing because, honestly, we don't want our church filled with a bunch of people that don't love God. Here's the thing about this. It's not really where you are in your Christianity or how much you know. It's really which direction you're going. What we want is this church to be filled with people that want to go the right direction. You want to learn more, read the Bible more, be more zealous for the things of God. What you don't want is people that are just not really that interested in serving God. And look, the hard preaching, quite honestly, yes, it will turn people away that don't really want to serve God. It does not turn people away that want to serve God. That's what we see in Esther Chapter 8. And so remember that hard preaching, it actually helps people get saved. And honestly, I don't really want to go into it, not just for sake of time, but just personal stories I know of people, I don't know if they'd want me to talk about it, but I know people that honestly weren't really receptive to the Gospel. And quite honestly, what made them receptive is they listen to some pretty hardcore sermons and they're like, I've never heard preaching like this. Praise the Lord that somebody said the truth. And I know personal stories, it's just honestly, I didn't ask them if I could say these stories, so I'm not going to. But people that are kind of older, people that I know that got saved because of hard preaching, that opened them up to the Gospel. It does not turn people away from the Gospel. Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here in your house today, God, and just sing your great words, the book of Esther, and help us to apply this to our lives, Esther chapter 8, God. Help us to realize the things such as, you know, nothing is impossible with you. Help us to have an understanding of your judgment, God. Help us to understand all these things and help us to always remember that we need to be humble in our lives and you will exalt us, but also that the people that exalt themselves will be humbled and when there's people that we know maybe that aren't the best people, we feel like they're bad people or whatever, and they're really arrogant people, we honestly don't have to worry about it that much, God. You will humble them. That's a promise from your word, God. Help us to apply these things to our lives. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.