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Now, in Esther chapter 8, verse number 1, the Bible reads, On that day did the king Ahasuerus 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 set Mordecai over the house of Haman. So of course in chapter 7 we saw Haman's final downfall. He's hung on the gallows that he had made for Mordecai. He's killed and all of his possessions and all of his power and everything are given to his archenemy, Mordecai. So that shows obviously that God is able to turn the tables and avenge us on our enemies. That's why the Bible tells us not to avenge ourselves. But the Bible says vengeance belongeth unto me, saith the Lord, I will repay. So we don't have to take things into our own hands and think, well I've got to get these people back, I've got to pay them back, because God will take vengeance for us. And that's exactly what we saw in chapter 7. Now in chapter 8 here, there still have been these decrees that were made by Haman when he was in power. And the way the laws of the Medes and the Persians worked was that once a law was made, you couldn't change that law. I mean once it's made, it's set in stone, it does not change. And we'll get into that a little bit later in the chapter. So what I'm trying to say is that just because Haman is dead, that does not mean that the Jews are not still in trouble. That doesn't mean that they're still not going to be killed on that day when it rolls around in the 12th month and the 13th day. But let's keep reading the chapter and see how it ends up. It says in verse 3, 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 him. Then the king held out the golden scepter toward Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king. And let me emphasize to you verse 5, it says, and said, if it pleased the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and the things seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hamadath of the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews which are in all the king's provinces. Now what I want to point out about that verse is that before she asks him what she wants him to do, look at the four different statements that she makes by way of introduction to verse 5. She first says, if it pleased the king, then she says, if I have found favor in his sight, and the things seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, she's saying, if A, B, C, and D, then will you do this for me? And I was thinking about this, this is a great example of prayer in the Bible. Now obviously she's asking an earthly king to show favor upon her and to give her a request, and obviously we know that God is the king in heaven, He's the king of kings, and He is there to accept our petitions and our prayers. The Bible says, therefore let us come boldly under the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Go if you would to 1 John chapter 3. It's interesting because you can find all the same elements that were in those four statements that Esther made, you can actually find all of those same elements in the New Testament in regard to prayer, in regard to things that we should do if we're going to get God to answer our prayers and to give us our requests and to give us what we want. Because frankly when I pray, I don't just pray as a vain repetition or a ritual. And the Bible tells us not to just chant or just pray a vain repetition. You know when we pray unto the Lord, we should actually want something, we should actually be requesting something, and we should actually expect to get an answer and not just be going through the motions and shocked when something actually happens. Now there are people out there that believe in a false doctrine called Calvinism, and that false doctrine basically teaches that God just wills everything and we have no free will and we're all just almost like puppets or robots and we can't change anything and we can't, you know, it's just whatever God decided before the world began, that's how things are going to play out. But that's not what the Bible teaches because the Bible says you have not because you ask not. And that tells me that I can ask for something and get it and I would not have gotten it if I had not asked for it. And that means that prayer is not just an exercise or just a chanting or just a vain repetition, but rather it is actually me going to the God of the universe and telling him this is what I want, this is what I need, he hears me and he's going to give me my request. He's going to answer me and do for me what I ask. But does he just answer every prayer? Does he just, no matter what anybody asks, no matter who they are, no matter what their life is like, no matter what they're asking for, just ask and you shall receive, no. Because the Bible does give different prerequisites for getting your prayers answered and he explains who gets their prayers answered and why. Now truly ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be open unto you for everyone that asketh receiveth and he that seeketh findeth and him that knock and it shall be open. But keep in mind, who is he talking to? You know, he's talking to the disciples, they'd forsaken all and followed him. Look what the Bible says in 1 John chapter 3 first of all and find a key to getting your prayers answered according to the Bible. And this, this makes perfect sense once you understand it, but it says in 1 John 3 verse 22, and whatsoever we ask we receive of him, period, right? No. It says whatsoever we ask we receive of him because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. So that right there tells us that one way to get our prayers answered is to keep God's commandments and to do things that are pleasing in his sight. That tells me that if we're breaking God's commandments and not doing things that are pleasing in his sight, we're probably not going to get any prayers answered either. And if you look at what Esther said, she said, uh, if I have found favor in his sight. And then a little bit later in the verse she said, if I be pleasing in his eyes. See it's almost the exact same thing. She knew that if she's going to get the king to grant her request, she's got to be pleasing unto him. She's got to find favor in his eyes and God said that we will find favor in his eyes when we keep his commandments and when we do the things that he wants us to do. Now obviously we know that in order to be saved, we don't have to do any things. We just have to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved. The Bible says very clearly that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. But if we want to get prayers answered, if we want to prosper, if we want God to bless us and give us the desires of our heart, we need to keep his commandments and we need to do the things that are pleasing in his sight. Otherwise don't expect God to answer your prayers. So if there's something you need from God, keep that in mind. Go to chapter 5 and we'll see something similar in chapter 5 to what Esther said in chapter 8. So in chapter 3 we see the idea of Esther saying, you know, if I'm pleasing in your sight and if I've found favor in your eyes. But look at chapter 5 verse 14 of 1 John. It says, and this is the confidence that we have in him. That if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. And if we know that he hear us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. Now that's a great assurance to basically pray a prayer unto God. And praying just means asking. Praying is just an old word for asking. You know, people used to say, I pray thee, even to another human being, just saying, I'm asking you. I ask something of you. And wouldn't it be great to know that when you ask God for something, you just know that you have it? Even before it even shows up, you just know that it's coming just because you asked for it. The Bible says that if we ask anything according to his will, we know he heareth us. And if we know that he hear us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desire. He uses the present tense, we have. It's like, it's such a sure thing, we might as well already have it, is what he's saying. Even though it's coming in the future. Now this kind of ties in with what Esther said when she said, if the thing seemed right before the king. So she's asking the king to do something but she says, I only want you to do it if it seems right to you. And often times when I pray to God, and if you would go to John chapter 15, often times when I pray to God, and I'm not really sure what God's will is on a certain thing, and I don't really know what God wants in a certain area, I'll often pray to God and say, God, would you do this if it would be your will? If it's your will, God, please do this. Now there are a lot of times I know it's God's will, and then I just pray, God, do this. Because I know that it's something that lines up with the Word of God, I know it's his will. But aren't there a lot of times in our lives where we're just not really sure what we should pray and we don't really know what to say and we don't really know what God's will is. So I'll often pray and just say, God, let your will be done. And that's modeled in what's commonly referred to as the Lord's Prayer, what Jesus taught his disciples to pray when he said, our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. So they are praying for God's will to be done. Again, God's will is not just automatically done all the time. And that's what people that are Calvinists believe. They believe that, you know, God's will just always happens no matter what and it's just all foreordained. But that's simply not true. And so we should pray that God's will would be done in certain scenarios and in certain situations in our lives. Pray that God would intercede, pray that God would step in and cause his will to take place. Now, you don't have to turn there, but in Romans chapter 8 there's a similar idea. Because the Bible says in Romans 8, 26, likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought. So the Bible says there, we know not for what we should pray as we ought. We don't always know what to pray for. Sometimes we pray for the wrong things or we forget to pray for the right things. So the Bible says, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. So the Bible says that often times we're praying, we don't always use the exact right words. We don't always pray the exact right things. The Holy Spirit will make intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. So basically I pray for one thing and God's listening to my prayer and he says, you know, that's not really exactly what they really need. And then he kind of takes it and the Spirit will say, okay, here's what we really need to do. So sometimes your prayers might be getting answered, but they've just been really dramatically altered from the way that you prayed them. By the time the Spirit gets done with them and actually makes it be something that lines up with God's will, because a lot of times we pray for the wrong things or we just don't know what to pray. The Holy Spirit makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. And then the next verse says, and he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Now, if you study your Bible you'll find that he that searcheth the hearts is Jesus Christ. Because Jesus said in Revelation, for example, that all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reigns and hearts and will give every man according to his word. So the Bible says that both the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ are making intercession for us. And of course that lines up with also where the Bible says in Hebrews that Jesus Christ is our high priest and it says that he ever liveth to make intercession for us. So think about it. When you pray to God, not only is the Holy Spirit adding to your prayer things that you didn't think of or, you know, translating your prayer into something that lines more up with God's will, but also Jesus Christ, he knows the will of the Father, so he is also interceding for our benefit, for our best interests, before the Lord and basically Jesus Christ is telling the Father, hey, here's what needs to happen here. He's interceding for us. But look, if you don't pray you're not tapping into that. I mean think about that. When you pray, the Holy Spirit is praying with you and Jesus is praying with you when you pray. That's what the Bible says. And when you don't pray, you're missing out on a lot of blessings of God. We don't always know how to pray as we are. Think about the thief on the cross. His prayer didn't really make that much sense. Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom? I mean he wanted a little more than that I think. I don't think he just wanted to go to hell, pay for all of his sins, but that, you know, a few thousand years from now when Jesus comes into the kingdom he won't forget about that thief. He'll remember him. No, he wanted to be saved, right? But he just didn't know exactly what to say so he worded it the way he worded it. And Jesus Christ knew what he meant and he said, no, I'm not going to remember you when I come into my kingdom. He said, today shalt thou be with me in paradise. And you know that's why I think it's silly when people get really hung up on the words that they prayed when they got saved, like the exact wording. And they doubt their salvation because they didn't pray just right. I mean whatever you prayed, it probably made more sense than that. You know, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. But the main thing is, did you believe? And the main thing is, were you trusting on what Jesus did or were you trusting on your own works? Did you trust in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ? Did you put all your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ when you called upon the name of the Lord? Or did you have your trust in something else? So that's why I don't think that the words are really that critical because when you pray and you're praying according to God's will, I mean the Holy Spirit's there, Jesus is there praying right there with you and making intercession to the Father, and so on and so forth. I think I had you turn to John 15, didn't I? Let me get there myself, John 15. And the Bible reads in John chapter 15 verse 7, if ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you. So that right there is a promise for God to answer our prayers according to our own will if we're abiding in Christ and his words are abiding in us. You know, I firmly believe that this could also be accomplished by memorizing the Word of God. I mean, what better way to have Christ's words abiding in you than when you've memorized them? That's what Jesus meant when he said, thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. And that's why the Bible guarantees that you will prosper and have good success if you meditate on the Word of God day and night. The Bible says in Joshua 1,8, this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night. He said, then shalt thou make thy way prosperous, then shalt thou have good success. And here he promises to answer prayer according to your will if you abide in Christ and his words abide in you. So when it comes to getting your prayers answered, first of all you have to pray. And that was dealt with back in Esther chapter 4, because there was a time when Esther wasn't even going to ask the king. Remember she wasn't even going to approach the king. And that's where Mordecai had to admonish her in chapter 4 that she needed to ask the king. First of all, if you don't pray, you're not going to get your prayers answered. I know that seems obvious, but the Bible clearly says you have not because you ask not. You say, well I'm just not going to pray and the Holy Spirit and Jesus will make intercession for me. No, no, no. You need to pray to your ability and try to pray and try to pray according to God's will and ask him for the things that you need. That's where the intercession of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit kicks in, okay? But when you pray, number one, the first step that most people are missing is they're just not praying. So all these other criteria and prerequisites don't even mean anything if you're not even doing the praying. So number one, you've got to do the praying. Number two, you want to get your prayers answered? Keep God's commandments. Obey his commandments. Don't live a life filled with sin and then expect God to give you the desires of your heart and to answer your petition. Okay, keep his commandments. Do the things that are pleasing in his sight. Abide in him. Let his words abide in you. You see, the better of a Christian you are and the more in line you are with the Word of God, the more your prayers are going to be answered and that's a powerful thing because God can do anything. And God owns the cattle on a thousand hills and the wealth in every mine, the Bible says. And so we ought to take advantage of that and pray to God and our prayers should be similar. Go to Philippians chapter 4 is the last place I want to show you on this subject. Our prayers should be similar to Esther's prayer where Esther said, you know what, if it pleased the king, she's saying, look, I want to do what the king's will is. She said, I want to be pleasing in his sight. I want to find favor in his eyes. And if you would, look at Philippians chapter 4 because you'll notice that she was very humble when she approached the king. The Bible talks about her getting down on her knees before the king, right? And just to put those four qualifications in front of her request showed a great deal of humility and the word that the Bible uses to describe that kind of humble praying and asking for something is called supplication, okay? And if you would look at Philippians chapter 4 verse 6, it says, be careful for nothing. Careful there means, you know, you're worried about things. Care, you know, the cares of this world, the worries of this life. It says here, be careful for nothing. In modern vernacular that's saying, don't worry about anything. It's saying, don't worry about anything. Be careful for nothing. But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God and the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Now here's why prayer brings peace. Because if I pray to God for his will to be done, the Bible says if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. And if we know that he heareth us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. So if we ask something that's according to God's will, you say well it was going to happen anyway because it was God's will. Wrong. Because God's will does not always happen, that's why we pray for God's will to be done. For example, God's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. He will have all men to be saved to come into knowledge of the truth. That's why if I give the gospel to somebody and they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and I help them to pray to ask God for salvation, I know he will give them salvation. Why? Because I know it's God's will for every person to be saved. That's God's will. Now is every person going to be saved? No. But anyone who asks in faith, you know, how then shall they call on him in whom they've not believed? But if you believe on him and ask, he will save you. Anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Okay, why? Because it's his will. But there are other things that are God's will that we can pray and they will happen. Now I can't just pray for someone else to be saved and it's just going to happen, because guess what? That's got to be their decision to ask. I can't get someone else saved, they have to get themselves saved by praying and calling upon the name of the Lord. So I can't make that decision for them, God can't even make that decision for them, right? Because if he could, he'd save everybody, but he is chosen to put it up to them. He's chosen to allow man to make his own decision whether he believes or does not believe in Christ. But see, the reason that we get peace when we pray is that if I pray unto God, if I get on my knees, I know I've been keeping his commandments, I know I'm not perfect, but I've been doing the things that are pleasing in his sight, I've been abiding in him, his words have been abiding in me, and I get on my knees and I ask God, God, here's my situation, if it would be your will, God, would you please step in and do this? The Bible says after you do that, you shouldn't worry about it anymore. You shouldn't pray that and then walk away being like, oh man, I hope this turns out okay, you know, I'm staying up at night worrying about it. No, no, because here's the thing, either God's going to answer, if it's God's will, he will answer that prayer, he will fix that situation, and we will have what we required of it. And if it doesn't happen, then the Bible's telling us, then it wasn't God's will, and that God has something better planned for us. You know, God has something better in mind that we can't even see, and you know, it's similar to what it says in Hebrews chapter 12, God having provided, you know, these all died in faith, not having received the promise, but having seen them afar up, and he said, God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. You see, they thought the best thing would be that they would get their prayers answered in their lifetime, but God provided something better, okay? So what happens is, we need something from God. When we pray for it, and we know that we're living according to his word, and we've earnestly prayed for it, either it's going to happen, or something else is going to happen that's better in the long run, that's better. You know, the Bible says, we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to his purpose. And a lot of times, we don't understand, and we say, why isn't God doing this for me? Why hasn't God helped me out? Why did God allow me to fail? But you know what, often years and years later, we'll understand why, and we'll look back, and it all makes sense. So we have to just walk away with the peace of God, saying, you know what, I've prayed, I've cast all my care upon him, I've made prayer and supplication to him, I've done the things that are pleasing in his sight, it's up to him now, I'm going to live my life and let the chips fall where they may, you know what, it's not my problem anymore. But here's the thing, if you don't pray, you shouldn't have that peace, because it's a false peace. If you didn't pray about it, who knows what's going to happen? You can only be assured that God's will is going to take place if you pray about it. Are you getting this? If you pray about it, then you know God's will is going to take place, because we know that whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, you know, we've prayed according to his will, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him, now we can go to bed and sleep like a baby. And see, that's what prayer is all about. And so, in order to have that peace, we want to live up to the qualifications of prayer so that we can know that our prayers are being heard and answered. And you know, the Bible talks about, go to 1 Peter chapter 3, there's another one that just popped into my mind, just as I'm talking about this now, 1 Peter chapter 3. The Bible talks about the relationship between a husband and a wife, and it says in verse 5, For after this manner, in the old time, the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands, even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement, likewise ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life. Look at the last phrase, that your prayers be not hindered. So do you see how that could be a hindrance to your prayers? Why aren't my prayers being answered? Well, how are you treating your wife? You know, are you giving honor unto her as under the weaker vessel? Are you treating her as one that is an heir together with you of the grace of life? Are you treating her as someone who is an eternal soul, a person of value, you know, that God has given you as your life's companion? Because how you treat your wife could determine whether your prayers are going to be answered. And then flip it around. You know, are you treating your husband the way that Sarah treated Abraham? Is that how you look at him? Is that how you deal with him? Well, you know what? That has to do with whether your prayers are going to be answered. The Bible says those things can be a hindrance unto your prayer. Let's go back to Esther chapter 8. But prayer is an important subject in the Bible, and so we see in Esther chapter 8 verse 5, basically a formula for getting your prayers answered. She said in verse 5, if it pleased the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and the things seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, then she asks for what she wants. Let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hamadath of the Agagem, which he wrote to destroy the Jews which are in all the king's provinces. Now here's the thing, what she's asking for is impossible. Because she's saying let's reverse what Haman did. Guess what? You can't. Because the law of the Medes and Persians, once you lay something down, it doesn't change. Look at verse 6. We'll come back to that in a moment though. For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred? Here we see her having empathy on those that are suffering and not turning a blind eye. Keep your finger in Esther and flip over to Proverbs chapter 24. Here's a famous scripture in Proverbs 24 verse 11. Proverbs 24 verse 11 says this, if thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death and those that are ready to slain, if thou sayest, behold we knew it not, did not he that pondereth the heart consider it, and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? And should not he render to every man according to his works? And so here we see that God's saying we should not turn a blind eye to the perishing and death of others and just say well that doesn't concern me, that's not my problem. And here Esther's saying you know what, I care about these people. I'm probably going to be spared as the queen humanly speaking, although Mordecai said well God's not going to allow that. And she's saying how can I endure to see the destruction of my people and my kindred? You know do you look at your people and your kindred, your relatives, your family that aren't saved, and have an attitude that says I don't want to see their destruction, I don't want them to go to hell. You know that should motivate you to want to give the gospel unto your family and care about your family. But not only that, even in a physical standpoint, we should care about and help other people who are dying or hurting or suffering. You know the Bible says, whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelt the love of God in him? Little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And you know what, if you saw somebody that was drowning or you saw somebody in a burning building or you saw somebody in a car wreck, you know you should want to go help that person and bail that person out. You know I saw something really weird the other day. I don't know what was going on, but I was doing a fire alarm job, and the place that I was working was in a shopping mall. So you know I had to go deal with the mall management, so I was walking from the business I was working in to the mall management. And this mall was a three story mall, had three levels. And I'm walking in and I could tell something weird was going on. And what they did was, there was this guy and he was wearing a neon green shirt and a pair of jeans, and he was acting kind of weird and I was wondering, man, what's going on with this guy? Well the next thing I knew, they were up at the top, a couple people were at the top of this mall, this third story of the mall, and I'm trying to remember how this worked out. They basically, they had another guy up there that looked a lot like the guy at the bottom, and he's wearing the same bright green colored shirt and jeans and everything, and he's climbing up there like he's going to jump off. The third story. So he's kind of climbing on the edge like he's going to jump off, then they throw this dummy over instead that was wearing the green shirt and the jeans, right? So they throw the dummy, so if you just glance at it, you just see out of the corner of your eye something that looks like a person falling. This green shirt, jean wearing dummy, and it slams into the ground, and then as soon as they hit the ground they switched it with another guy. And this guy was laying on the ground and he twisted his legs and his arms around to make it look like he was seriously, like he was dislocated of his joints. I mean he's just like. But it was so weird because people were just like not helping the guy. And people were just kind of walking by and nobody really knew, like do we help the guy? What do we do? So I don't know what they were trying to prove or what they were trying to accomplish. And I knew it was fake, that's why I didn't help the guy. Otherwise I would have been right there, I would have been popping that guy back into place, you know? But anyway, I saw that it was fake, but I just thought it was so weird, like I don't know, are they just trying to desensitize people to just. Because now next time, you know next time you're at the mall and somebody really does fall off the third floor, you're going to be like, oh this is what I heard about in that sermon. You know, the guy's like, oh, you're just like, I'm not fooled by you, you know, I don't want to be on candid camera or whatever, you know, I don't want to be on hidden camera. I don't know if this was a prank, you know, if this was on hidden camera, but I mean it's kind of a weird thing to do. I thought it was kind of strange. I mean, I didn't really, I don't think they should be doing that. Because it's kind of like the boy who cried wolf. Because you keep seeing weird stuff like that, and then when something really happens, the first thing in your mind is like, is this real? As someone's like bleeding to death or dying or whatever, is this real, is this really happening? So I don't know, I don't know what was going on, I don't have an explanation for you on what was going on that day, it happened like a week ago. It was pretty weird. But I'm just saying, you know, if we see somebody, we ought to be like in the story of the Good Samaritan. Remember when there was that guy that had been beaten up by thieves and he was left in a ditch, you know, naked and wounded and half dead? And remember two people just walked by, in fact they crossed the street just to get away from him. And then it was the Samaritan that came and helped him, and Jesus was lifting that up as an example of how we should be, that we should look at people that have a need, look at people that are in danger and protect them, step in, help them, protect them, do whatever we can and not just turn a blind eye to the suffering and pain or even death of others. You know, we should step in and save their life and step in and do something, maybe at our own peril. I remember one time I had been wounded and I was walking down the street and I had blood all over my head and people were literally crossing the street to get away from me. And then finally this one lady pulled up and she's like, are you okay? Do you need help? I said, I'm fine, you know, I'm okay. But I was thinking of that story, you know, everybody crossed, because people literally crossed the street because they were afraid of me or something. So what I'm saying is that, you know, we ought to have a mentality and, you know, maybe we're going to end up on candid camera or something, you know, because we actually tried to help somebody and it was all a scam, like that mall thing. But you know, at least I'd rather go help the guy and be the butt of somebody's joke than if the guy really was hurt and you just walk by and just don't even help him, don't even do anything. But anyway, I'm just saying we shouldn't turn a blind eye to the sufferings and pain and even death of others. We should care. And you know, we should care. And people say, what do you care about abortion? I even heard a Baptist pastor say, well I don't care about abortion because I wasn't aborted and, you know, none of my kids are having an abortion and so it doesn't really affect me. Well but you know what though, that's a pretty lousy attitude to have, to just say, well it doesn't affect me so I don't care. I mean what about throughout history all the different genocides and holocausts of human life that have taken place, you know, you think of the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany or Cambodia, you know, I mean was that the attitude? Doesn't affect me. Yeah, but you're next. You know, when you let these totalitarian governments, and guess what, when you create a society that's just totally okay with killing babies and just totally comfortable with it, the next thing they're going to get comfortable with is killing the elderly. And then next thing you know, they're comfortable with dropping bombs on civilians, men, women and children. Next thing you know, they're comfortable with all kinds of brutality and all kinds of atrocity. So you just have to take a stand in the beginning and say no, you know, whether it's babies, whether it's the elderly, whatever it is, you know, we need to take a stand for human life and do everything we can to try to protect human life and not to participate in the slaughter of human life. And that's why I would never, never even imagine voting for anyone who participates in the destruction of human life. And you look at a lot of, you say, well that's why I'm a Republican, but you know what, you look at a lot of the Republicans now and they're for abortion. Especially if it's a female candidate. Most female candidates that are Republican that I've ever looked at were always pro-choice, pro-death, pro-murder. But you know what, not only that, but a lot of them, they'll even pass laws where the government is funding abortion, you know, through Planned Barrenhood and through other foreign aid. Foreign aid is like paying to abort, you know, black babies in Africa, you know, translation. Some of it goes to that. So what I'm saying is, you know, we ought to have nothing to do with it and in fact try to work to stop it, you know. Now that's not the main goal of my life because honestly, you know, you're not going to stop, you know, 3,000 babies a day being murdered, but you know, at least I'm going to take a stand against it and do my part. But you know, what about all the souls that are going to hell? You know, we need to stop and deliver them and try to do the best we can to save as many of them as we can. Save babies, save the elderly, save souls, you know, don't just live a life just about yourself is what I'm trying to say. Just all about how much goods you can acquire and how much wealth you can possess, you know, it's about saving other people and helping other people and not just turning a blind eye to what other people are going through. She said in verse 6, how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred? Now Asher is going to answer her and explain to her, look, you know, you can't change what's been done. He says in verse 7, the king Asher has said unto Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman and him have they 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. Because what did she ask for? Look back at verse 5. She said please let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman. Is that possible? No, because she says look, once it's been written in the king's name, no man may reverse it. So what happened is instead of reversing it, because if you remember what the commandment was, was that the enemies of the Jews would basically lay hold on the Jews on that day, the 13th day of the 12th month, and they would kill the Jews and lay hold on their spoils for a prey and then they would bring that into the treasury, but they would kill the Jews on that day. So now Mordecai and Esther have been given power by the king to write some law that will help the Jews without actually reversing that law because they can't undo that law. That has already been, and what that law entailed was it was just giving, let me explain it this way, it was just giving permission to the enemies of the Jews to kill the Jews on that day. It's like on this day, 13th day of the 12th month, anybody who wants to can kill the Jews because we're getting rid of these people because they don't fit in with the kingdom and on and on. So what Mordecai and Esther end up writing, just to make a long story short in this chapter, is they basically give the Jews permission to organize and join together and to defend themselves and to fight back when they come for them. Basically they're all going to get together, arm themselves, and defend themselves and fight back and fight against those that would lay hold on them. And what ends up happening, we'll read in chapter 9, is that because now Haman has fallen, now Mordecai is the second in command, and people can kind of see what's going on and which way the wind's blowing, all the king's officers, all the government type officials and the military type installments, they all get on the side of the Jews and it just ends up being a slaughter of all of the Jews' enemies. All the people who had planned to attack the Jews, they end up getting slaughtered. It comes back and gets them. So basically instead of just saying, okay, we're not going to kill Jews anymore on the 13th day of the 12th month, they can't reverse that. So instead they just make a new law that says, okay, the Jews can fight back, they can organize, and they can assemble and defend their lives and fight against anyone who has a will to lay hold on them, and so on and so forth. What I thought was interesting about that is that it kind of reminded me again, because we're looking at the symbolism, just like we saw the symbolism of Esther asking the king for her petition, was kind of like us taking our petitions to the Lord in prayer. There's more symbolism in this chapter, because who is another king whose word, just once he lays down his word, I mean, it doesn't get reversed. I mean God's word can't be reversed, can it? I mean Jesus said, verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. So all of God's word is going to be fulfilled, none of it is going to return void. He will accomplish the thing that has gone out of his lips. Well if you think about it, even though in the Old Testament we know that there was a foreshadowing of the Lord Jesus Christ coming, we knew that they prophesied, and the Bible says to him, give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins, Acts 10 43. There was a foreshadowing and a foreknowledge, even all the way back to Genesis chapter 3, that one day the Lord Jesus Christ would come and redeem mankind. And that hope was always there, and anyone in the Old Testament who believed on the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord, as Abraham called upon the name of the Lord, even in the days of Adam, Seth, and Enos, it says when Enos was born, then began men to call upon the name of the Lord, so people were being saved in the Old Testament by calling upon the name of the Lord, whether it was Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, they called upon the name of the Lord, and they were saved, you say well Jesus hasn't died on the cross yet, but he's the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and so it was as good as done even before it happened. And so they put their faith on the Lord and were saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, even the Old Testament, that's what the animal sacrifice is only pictured. But the Bible says it's not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sense. We understand that, but even understanding that, yet when we look at the two covenants, when we look at the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, the Old Testament and the New Testament, look at Galatians 4 quickly. And let me show you what the Bible says about these two covenants, okay? And again, when I talk about these two covenants or these two Testaments, I'm not talking about two periods of time, because even in the Old Testament, the grace of God saved men. Even as David also described it, the blessedness of the man unto whom God impudeth righteous without works, saved by works in the Old Testament, no no no, it says that blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered, blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin, and he said it was without works, even for David, even for Abraham. So I'm not talking about two periods of time here, I'm talking about two covenants, two Testaments. The Bible says the law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Look at Galatians chapter 4 because he talks about the two covenants, look at verse 24, which things are an allegory for these are the two covenants, right? Old Testament, New Testament. The one from the Mount Sinai which genderth to bondage. Now what does genderth mean? What does it mean to engender something, to produce something, right? Like we have engendered seven children in our family, okay? So it says it genderth to bondage which is agar, for this agar is Mount Sinai. Now what's the significance of Mount Sinai? That's where Moses gave the law, right? The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. It says for this agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, in answer to Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children, but Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. It says in verse 28, now we brethren as Isaac was are the children of promise, okay? So what the Bible talks about here is the New Testament is the blood of Jesus Christ sacrificed on the cross, his death, his burial, his resurrection. The Old Covenant was the law of Moses which said that if a man doeth these things, he shall live by them, okay? The Old Testament said do these commandments and you'll live by them. The New Testament said believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll receive everlasting life, okay? And that's why the Bible says in Romans 10, but the righteousness, let me turn there, it's on the tip of my tongue here, in Romans chapter 10 he said, for Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law that the man which doeth those things shall live by them. And then he talks about the righteousness of faith that if thou shalt confess to thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. So really we see two ways to be saved. One way to be saved is to keep all of God's commandments perfectly, okay? The other way to be saved is to believe on Jesus Christ, but guess what? Nobody's going to accomplish the first way because we're all sinners. But theoretically, if you kept all God's commandments and never sinned, you'd go to heaven. I mean God's not going to send you to hell for being perfect, but guess what? Nobody's perfect. So what we see is that the Old Covenant was a covenant that damned mankind. The Old Covenant was the law that condemned mankind because the law is what even provides what sin is. Without the law there'd be no sin. If God had no rules, there'd be no sin. So the law exposes our sin. The law damns mankind because we've all broken that law, okay? The New Testament brings salvation, okay? So you say, what in the world does this have to do with the Book of Esther? Well think about this. Think about the symbolism. In the Book of Esther, there was a commandment made by the king that basically condemned all the Jews to death, right? Then a new commandment was given. Did it basically reverse the first commandment? No. But it provided salvation, okay? So it's symbolic. And obviously it doesn't line up perfectly. Symbolism never does. But what we see is the same thing. God made law which condemned us to hell. Is God just going to reverse that and say, you know what, it's okay, I'm not going to send you to hell even though you broke my laws, I'm just going to give you a pass? I'm just going to reverse my judgments? I'm just going to reverse the law that says all liars shall have their part in the language of birth, fire, and resurrection? No, no, God will never reverse that. But at the same time he brought salvation without reversing anything that the Old Testament teaches. Nothing in the Old Testament, Jesus said, think not that I'm coming to destroy the law of the prophets, I came not to destroy but to fulfill. He's not reversing what the Old Testament gave us, but what he's doing is he's bringing in a new commandment that provides salvation in spite of the Old Testament. What that is is that God's not violating the Old Testament by saving us. You say, well the Old Covenant says that if you break God's commandments you die. You know, you go to hell, and if you do them you will live. God doesn't violate that because instead of reversing that, what he did is he provided the Lord Jesus Christ as our substitute, as our sacrifice. And he was able to fulfill the demands of the Old Covenant by Jesus dying for us. So Jesus fulfilled the law, Jesus fulfilled the punishment of sin by dying for us on the cross. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us. So the curse of the law didn't just disappear, because the curse of the law said cursed be everyone that does not continue in all the words of this book to do them. That curse wasn't reversed, that curse didn't disappear. God's law is even more firm than the law of the Medes and the Persians. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us. So he couldn't reverse his own law, so instead he fulfilled the law by taking our punishment for us, by being punished for us and then offering salvation, redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. So we still live by the righteousness of the law, but it's not our righteousness. It's the righteousness of Jesus Christ that's imputed unto us. And he took our punishment for us and we take his good works and they're imputed to our account. That's why the Bible says that we are saved by his life. And the Bible says, not having my own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness of God by faith, because Jesus Christ fulfilled the law perfectly. Jesus Christ never broke the law. He showed up and he lived the perfect life under the old covenant. Then he died and paid the penalty for our sin. It's a great picture at Esther 8 of a new commandment bailing them out of the condemnation that was under the old commandment. You see that? It's like the New Testament bails us out from the condemnation that we're under with the Old Testament without making the Old Testament just of none effect or destroyed, without destroying it. Just like the commandment of the Medes. So it's interesting, even in a book like Esther, which Esther is probably the last book you'd go to, to find Jesus, or to find the gospel. Because it doesn't even mention God. It's one of the two books in the Bible that never even mentions God one time. But yet even in Esther we find so much symbolism and so much imagery and so much of a picture pointing us to Jesus. Mordecai represents Jesus in a lot of chapters and we see a picture of the New Testament versus the Old Testament. It's fascinating. Let's have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for the book of Esther. It's a very deep book and it's a very interesting book. Please help us to learn the lessons of prayer. Help us to pray and get the things that we need from you. Help us also to understand the glories of the New Testament and understand the difference between the New Testament and the Old Testament. And help us not to sit idly by, but help us to preach the gospel to those that are perishing and to help those that we know have needs and not to just think about ourselves all the time. And Jesus...