Risking All to Save the People

[0:00] Good morning. That's kind of half-hearted. Okay, good morning. Oh, that's better. See, I've been at VBS all week with the kids, so I've had bananas thrown at me. I've had water poured over me. So this feels a little bit tame now being up here. So Kevin's right on the front row, maybe with some bananas at hand, but we'll see. My name's Chris. I'm one of the pastors here.

[0:26] And we've been going through a series looking at Christ in the Old Testament. Sometimes we read the Old Testament and we think, what's going on there? It seems to be very different from the New Testament. But we've been seeing how from Abraham all the way through to David and Mephibosheth last week, we've seen that actually the gospel message of the New Testament is in seed form throughout the Old Testament. And so we've been looking at these different stories to show us what Christ is like.

[0:59] And today we're going to kind of fast forward about 500 years from last week to 480 BC to the Persian Empire. God has taken his people Israel out of Israel into exile into Babylon. Now Babylon has fallen and a new empire has risen, which is the Persian Empire. Some Jews have gone back to Israel, but now many of these Jews have settled down in Persia. And that's where the story, the true story of Esther we're going to look at today comes from. We're going to close our series with this story.

[1:40] So I'm going to introduce the story and then we're going to have the scripture reading and then I'll share a little bit more about the scripture reading. But I want to introduce you to this amazing story because it's a little bit like a Korean, the plot line is kind of like a Korean drama or like a Brazilian soap opera. So, but the story of Esther is basically a story where the name of God is never mentioned in the story. It's the only book in scripture because the author wants to show you that sometimes even when God seems hidden, he's right there behind the scenes working through all the action. So I want to introduce you to the cast of this story. Okay. We have, first of all, King Ahasuerus or King Xerxes because Ahasuerus is a bit difficult to pronounce. He is impetuous. That's his Greek name, by the way. He is impetuous. He's ambitious and he's the most powerful man in the known world.

[2:41] He's the ruler of the Persian empire and he likes his drink. He, after his wife refuses to come out at one party to be with his friends, he, the drunk king divorces her and then suddenly realizes, oh, that was a mistake. And so what happens is his ministers come up with a plan. They come up with a plan to hold Miss Persia competition. And basically they're going to find all the best looking young women in the whole of Persia, bring them together for a competition and the winner gets to become King Xerxes' new bride. And so we have the next character, grumpy, stubborn Jew Mordecai. I don't know if you can see that.

[3:30] Now, he works as a bouncer at the palace of the king. He's a second or third generation Jewish guy living as a minority person in this foreign pagan land. And he's a stubborn guy. But he's also got a much younger cousin called Esther. And Esther was orphaned when she was young and he's brought her up as his own daughter. Now, the thing you need to know about Esther is she is really good looking.

[4:03] And she, she's like the, she's the diva. She's, she, but she's not really a very good Jew. Because when the Miss Persia competition gets announced, she gets dragged in to be one of the contestants. And do you know what happens? She ends up winning the competition. And, but in order to win the competition, she has to spend a night with the king. She keeps her identity as a Jew secret.

[4:30] And she plays this game so well that she goes from a nobody to the queen of the most powerful man in the world. She's in the palace as the queen. So we have King Xerxes. We have Mordecai. We have Esther, final character, final character, evil villain, Haman.

[4:56] Haman, the Agagite, is his family are Canaanites. For centuries, they had been enemies of the Jews. They'd made war against Moses, against Saul, against David. And now, Haman is going to make war against the Jews again. You see, he gets promoted to prime minister, and he's got a bit of an ego.

[5:19] And he wants everyone to know how great he is. So when he walks past in the morning, he wants everyone to bow as low as possible to him. But Mordecai, the Jew, he will not do it. He's not going to bow down to this guy's ego. And this really ticks off Haman. So much that Haman doesn't just want to get back at Mordecai. He wants to get back at the whole Jewish people.

[5:46] He gets the king, Xerxes, to sign a decree ordering the genocide of all the Jews. This is like the Holocaust. And he is willing to pay for this out of his own pocket. That's how much he's an enemy of the Jews. I'd like to invite Pui and Karen to come up and read today's passage for us.

[6:11] The scripture reading comes from Esther chapter 4. Please follow along in your bulletins or on the screen. When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes and went out into the midst of the city. And he cried out with a loud and bitter cry.

[6:37] He went up to the entrance of the king's gate, for no one was allowed to enter the king's gate clothed in sackcloth. And in every province, wherever the king's command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews with fasting and weeping and lamenting. And many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes. When Esther's young women and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was deeply distressed. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai so that he might take off his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. Then Esther called for Hatik, one of the king's eunuchs who had been appointed to attend her and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was.

[7:26] Hatik went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king's gate. And Mordecai told him all that had happened to him and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king's treasuries for the destruction of the Jews. Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her and command her to go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people.

[7:59] And Hatik went and told Esther what Mordecai had said. Then Esther spoke to Hatik and commanded him to go to Mordecai and say, all the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live.

[8:27] But as for me, I have not been called to come into the king these 30 days. And he told Mordecai what Esther had said. Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place. But you and your father's house will perish.

[8:57] And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this. Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa and hold a fast on my behalf.

[9:11] And do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young woman will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish. Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him. This is the word of God. Thank you guys.

[9:35] Let me just pray for us as we come and think about God's word. Father, this story from your word is a challenging and a powerful one.

[9:54] And I pray that you'd speak to us this morning. I pray that we wouldn't just be here wanting to hear a nice message, but we're here wanting to hear from you and to respond to what you want to say to us.

[10:04] Lord, I pray for my words that anything that's not from you, just remove it. And I pray that you'd speak with your spirit's power into our hearts, Lord. In Jesus' name. Amen.

[10:18] So, Mordecai. We're going to pick up the story. Mordecai has heard this death sentence on his people. And he tears his clothes and he puts on sackcloth, both of which tearing your clothes is a visible sign of the torn, broken heart that you have inside. And putting on sackcloth is uncomfortable, coarse material, is a sign visibly to show everyone, this is the pain that I'm going through.

[10:49] This is the discomfort in my life that I'm experiencing right now because every Jew from Ethiopia to India is under threat.

[11:00] And every one of them feels this pain and they follow suit and they put on sackcloth and ashes and they mourn together. Their identity is under threat. And yet Esther, who used to hang out with the other Jews, she's now moving in different circles.

[11:18] She's networking with the elites in the comfortable palace. And she's kind of cut off from the realities of what's going on with her people. Now she's got her own issues. You know, in the harem of the time, you would have lots of competition between the different concubines and wives.

[11:34] And so they're all trying to get the king's attention. But in verse 2, it says, No one was allowed to enter the king's gate into the palace clothed in sackcloth.

[11:46] Because in these circles, no one wants to be bothered by sad and depressed people. So if you're like Mordecai wearing sackcloth, you can't come in to the palace.

[11:58] But she gets a report from her beloved cousin Mordecai that he's in serious mourning and she wants to see him. She's distressed.

[12:09] So she sends him an extra set of clothes to help him be able to get into the palace so she can talk to him. But she doesn't get the pain of what's going on in their lives. And so he refuses to come.

[12:20] Finally, Esther takes the initiative to send her PA, Hatak, to learn what this was and why this was.

[12:32] Do you see? Her people are about to be wiped out and she's oblivious to the whole thing. Doesn't see what's going on. And so Hatak comes back with a terrible report from Mordecai with a flyer advertising the genocide.

[12:46] Verse 8 says, Mordecai gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa, it's the capital city, for their destruction. That he might show it to Esther and explain it to her, because she didn't understand, and command her to go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people.

[13:08] You see what Mordecai is saying? He's saying, Esther, you're the only one who can stand before the king and plead our cause. You're the only one who can stop this death sentence.

[13:20] Help us. That's kind of passionate appeal. And Esther, living in the abundance of the palace, destruction of her people, just at hand, goes, Oh, that's a little bit tricky.

[13:34] She goes, I'd love to help, but you don't understand how it works in the palace. Verse 11, she says, All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that if any man or woman enters without being called, and I'm no exception, I can't pull strings here, there is one law to be put to death, except there's only one exception, the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, so that he may live.

[14:05] But as for me, I haven't been called to the king for like these 30 days. Do you see what she's saying? She's saying, okay, I can send a check for victims of sport. I could even send a grief counselor to you just to help you.

[14:17] But what you're asking me to do is to risk everything for the sake of my people. And that just doesn't sound very appealing at the moment. Because you can't just enter in the king's court any old how, because you might die if you go the wrong way about this.

[14:36] The only exception is if the king puts out the golden scepter saying, You're accepted, you can come in. But she says, I'm not the flavor of the month at the moment.

[14:46] This isn't good timing for me. Okay? Listen, if it had been a couple of years ago, we were great, me and the king, good terms. But now it's not so good. Timing's not great. Excuses, excuses, excuses.

[15:02] Don't you often find like we like being a hero? We all kind of want to be a hero. You know, when you daydream, who is the hero in your daydreams? Me, I am, right?

[15:13] Well, not in your daydreams, in my daydreams. But when you face the reality of the real situations which require heroism, that's another issue.

[15:25] Because there's a cost involved. And Mordecai's response is, don't think to yourself. Literally. Don't imagine in your soul that in the king's palace, you will escape any more than the other Jews.

[15:42] What he's saying is, don't live in this daydream that the palace is going to protect you. Because it won't. He says, for if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place.

[15:56] But you and your father's house will perish. He's saying, God wants to use you. But if you don't step out into what he's calling you to do, you're going to miss out on what he has for you.

[16:09] And in fact, it's going to be more serious than that. The judgment's going to come back to you. And then he says this famous line. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this.

[16:27] He's saying, maybe God in his grace has brought you through this journey all the way where you can be in this position in the palace for precisely this moment where you can do what no one else can do.

[16:41] And will you turn your back on the very purpose and reason that God has placed you right here in this situation? And so Esther is persuaded by his appeal.

[16:55] But she's also scared. And so she calls for a fast to appeal to God to bring deliverance for them. And they pray as they fast.

[17:06] And Esther begins to courageously accept the mission as a mediator, as a representative on behalf of her people. And she says this.

[17:18] I will go. And if I perish, I perish. Because this is what I'm called to. Even if I lose everything, this is what I'm here for.

[17:31] It's a pretty powerful story. But let's, I want to just pull out a few things, three things from this story. How does this actually connect with us in our lives?

[17:45] So I've got three points. First point. God calls unworthy people. This is extraordinary.

[17:55] Because, you know, Esther has got where she is and Mordecai. They're these minority in a pagan majority culture. And she has compromised in many ways.

[18:09] You know, a hundred years earlier, a guy called Daniel had been in a similar situation in the court of the king of Babylon. And yet he had refused to compromise his own identity, even at the cost of his life.

[18:21] You know, the story of Daniel on the lion's den, all of those kind of things. But Esther, so Daniel is faithful to his God. Esther is a completely different story.

[18:34] You see, God's word required sexual purity. Unmarried, she sleeps with the king to win the competition. God's word said that Jews shouldn't intermarry with people of different religions.

[18:45] Esther had married the pagan king. God's word said that Jewish people should be distinctive in the sight of the nations around them. Esther had hidden her identity so that no one would really know she was a Jew, just so she could get on in life, blend in, move up the career ladder.

[19:03] Esther, in many, many ways, has compromised her identity, and she's been unfaithful. She'd wanted and settled for the comfort of the palace, was content to ignore what God had called her to.

[19:15] And this is where I find this challenging, because how many of us are sometimes like Esther? You know, we're a Christian, but in our workplace, we've never told anyone that we're a Christian, because if we're too out and proud about it, you know, sometimes it might cause more problems.

[19:38] It's easier to stay quiet, because that can help you to move up the ladder and be liked by everyone. You know, God calls believers to sex only within marriage relationship of one man and one woman.

[19:51] And Jesus even says, lust in your heart is like adultery. And yet, some of us regularly use porn. We have masturbation to fulfill our own pleasures.

[20:04] We sleep with our girlfriends or boyfriends. We even have lustful thoughts about people who are not our spouses. We compromise in so many ways. And we could go on in so many areas of our lives.

[20:18] Many of us, we want to live for God. We want to live and be on mission for Him. But our unfaithfulness to Him has destroyed a passion that we had to live for Him and His glory.

[20:29] The joy that we had seems to have been snatched away by just so many decisions that we've made where we know we have a guilt and a guilty conscience. Sometimes you don't feel you can share the gospel with other people, because frankly, we feel like we're a terrible witness.

[20:46] Sometimes we feel like we can't pray, or sometimes even come to the church, because we know we've not been as faithful as we should have been. Anyone like me? And just, you know, like a person who's decided to come off a chocolate addiction, and stupidly they eat one chocolate and they go, well, I've already failed with one, therefore I might as well eat the whole box.

[21:09] Like Esther, we settle from the failures that we've made to then just pursuing the comfort and compromise at the palace, where we just chase after our career, our studies, our kids' education, and that is central to everything we do.

[21:25] But we have denied the calling that God has got on our lives. And if we go on a long time living like that, you know what happens? God's voice can become so dull that we don't even hear Him, don't even hear what He's calling us to.

[21:40] And you know, we have a thousand excuses, just like Esther did, for why we're living that way. But if you're like that, what we need is what John Piper calls gutsy guilt.

[21:54] Because it's precisely Esther the unfaithful, Esther the compromiser, that through Mordecai, God is calling her again to stand up for her people, to identify herself as a Jew, and to live out her calling.

[22:11] She was Jewish in name, but not in behavior. But God had not given up on her. He was calling her again to be who she was. You know, there's this verse in Micah, which I've just been just really challenged by and encouraged by, which if you know that your own guilt and unfaithfulness holds you down, you need to memorize this verse.

[22:33] Micah 7 verse 8 says this, He's saying, if you were a Christian and you have fallen in different ways and there's that guilt that comes on you, there's that sense of you just compromised because you don't know, you don't hear the call that God has on your life.

[23:00] God says, I'm calling you again to rise up again today to follow me. Your past compromise doesn't disqualify you from God's call on your life today. Yesterday was yesterday.

[23:13] Today is a new day. God calls you to rise up with gutsy guilt because he's got a call on your life. And he says, if you turn back in repentance and confession, you shall rise again because God is your light.

[23:33] Because God is your light. And if you're just religious, you come to church as fire insurance, you know, in case God's real or because you hope he'll make you a little bit better and your kids a little bit better.

[23:47] God is not interested in just making you religious. He's got a call on your life and he wants you to start by turning to him in surrender because he's got something greater for you than just living for the comforts of your own life.

[24:01] God calls unworthy people. Isn't that amazing? Secondly, we are called for the sake of others.

[24:12] Called for the sake of others. You know, the Jews are in mourning. They're oppressed from the palace because from the palace has come this decree of destruction.

[24:28] And yet Esther has truly flourished in the palace. She's received all the benefits while others are experiencing the oppression and pain. And yet Mordecai comes to her and he calls her to plead on behalf of her people.

[24:46] And he says that famous phrase, maybe you have come to the kingdom, to royalty, to the palace for such a time as this.

[24:57] What is he saying? He's saying you are blessed, Esther, to be a blessing. Esther, you may have been disgruntled because the king seems to have left you behind for 30 days.

[25:10] Maybe he's with other women and he hasn't been a faithful king because he wasn't. You focus on all the blessings that you don't have but you fail to see all that you are and who you are and where you are is not an accident.

[25:25] Do you know that? Who you are and where you are is not an accident. Because don't think that you've got all these blessings, Esther, in the palace simply because you made yourself beautiful.

[25:38] Your beauty is a gift. Don't think you got to this place where because you were so smart, because you were better than everyone else, because actually God has weaved you to this place.

[25:49] It's not from you. Sure, you've worked hard but all that you have is a gift from God. There is purpose behind your place in the palace and that purpose is bigger than yourself.

[26:03] God has brought you here to be a representative of his representative on behalf of his people to use your position for his purposes, not just for yours and for those who are in pain around you.

[26:18] That's what he's saying to Esther. And I've just been very challenged by this because if I'm honest and I've just been thinking about it, I think I and I think many of us in this church, we live in the palace.

[26:33] You know, as a white Westerner, I get respect just from the color of my skin. Isn't that ridiculous? Like, people in England are trying to go brown.

[26:45] People in Hong Kong are trying to get white. It's ridiculous. But many of us have good educations. Our kids go to good schools. We have good job prospects.

[26:56] We have opportunities. We speak English. We have access to financial resources. We have flats. Some of us. We have cars. Some of us. Even just living in the peace and security of Hong Kong is a place of blessing.

[27:08] Many places don't have that. We live in the palace. But don't we often get into comparing ourselves just with our other colleagues, just with our other classmates in the harem of our workplace, in the place of our schools or playgrounds, and it blinds us to see the hurting and the broken people around us.

[27:30] Because I know so well for myself, I shut myself in this little bubble. You know, we have similar kinds of friends who live in similar areas with similar problems, right? Don't we, if we're honest? But we don't see that we're blessed to be a blessing.

[27:45] You know, my dad has a PhD. If you have doctor before your name, that carries weight. But I've only ever seen my dad use, say, Dr. Thornton very few times.

[27:59] Do you know when I've seen him use it? It's when he's writing letters on behalf of asylum seekers. Because that doctorate was never meant to be purely for him.

[28:10] That doctorate was for that Iranian asylum seeker who was being unfairly treated and had no voice. That doctorate was for the defense of those who had no power. Sure, did he get a job through it?

[28:22] Yes. Did he get blessings through it? Yes. But it was never meant to be solely for him. There was a purpose beyond it. And so we have to look at all the things that we have and say, if you've got a flat, is your flat just for yourself and your family?

[28:40] Or are there other people that you are blessing through that blessing God has given you? Are the hurting and the needy and the broken? Are you using that for them? And if we come and say, well, not really, then we have to come before God and seriously ask ourselves, God, am I just living in the palace for the palace?

[28:59] And it doesn't matter whatever it is that we have. Have you ever thought you might be educated for a greater purpose than just your own career advancement? Have you ever thought you might have a job for more than just paying the bills?

[29:12] If you're a domestic helper, you're not just a domestic helper. You're God's kingdom representative to mediate his love and blessings to the family and the people and your employer around you.

[29:27] If you're a businessman, you're not just a businessman. You're God's representative to mediate with the resources and the gifts and the talents you have, God's blessing to people around you.

[29:39] If you're a lawyer, you're not just a lawyer. You're God's kingdom representative to mediate his blessings to the people around you. If you're a homemaker, you're not just a homemaker.

[29:50] You are God's kingdom representative to mediate his blessings to your family, to those at the school gates, to the helpers, to the mums, to the dads, whoever it is around you. If you're a student, you're not just a student.

[30:04] You're God's kingdom representative to mediate God's blessing to the needy, the people around you who need to know that Jesus loves them. That's what we're called for.

[30:19] That's what we're called for. And you know, if you're like me, sometimes we come with a thousand excuses like Esther. Well, it's not good timing.

[30:31] You don't know what it's like here. But God says, do you not know that maybe I have brought you to where you are for such a time as this?

[30:42] Will you see that God calls unworthy people, but he calls us for something bigger than just ourselves, for those who are outside the palace? You know, I think this is, I've just been praying about this.

[31:00] And I think, you see what Esther does, because this is actually really tough. When you've lived with a habit of living in the palace, like I think many of us, it's difficult. It's difficult. But I think what Esther does, she realizes how difficult her calling is.

[31:16] And so she starts at a place of fasting and prayer. And that's where I think all of us, I don't know what it means for you, but if in our CGs, if as a church, if as individuals and as families, we just start and get on our knees and say, God, thank you for everything you've given us, the blessings that we have.

[31:36] Show us how we can use these for your glory and for those around us. God is going to show you and he will call us out of the palace. Called unworthy people.

[31:51] Use our positions to be representatives for others. Thirdly, we have a need for our own mediator like Esther.

[32:06] You know, the story of Esther Esther ends up with Esther saving the whole of the Jewish people. The king listens to her. Her life is spared.

[32:17] All the Jewish people are saved and delivered. And so I can leave you with a kind of inspiring story of just be like Esther. Live out your call.

[32:29] But there's a problem. Because every single character in this story is flawed. Deeply flawed. And even Esther, even though I think she made one right decision, I think she still struggled to live out her life in the palace after that decision.

[32:49] I don't think she was just suddenly, miraculously, everything was suddenly better and she was perfect. I don't think so. Does anyone else struggle to live out this sense of call that God has on us?

[33:02] Am I the only one? You see, sometimes, you know, when you listen to talks which inspire you and you're like, okay, I'm really going to do that.

[33:12] And then by lunchtime, it's kind of, you just got distracted and you're back thinking about being in the palace. And yet, Mordecai comes and says, if you keep silent, deliverance will come from somewhere else but you and your family will perish.

[33:33] Just think, how many times have I kept silent? How many times, how many people have I actually kept silent when God had called me to reach out to them? I mean, it's countless people.

[33:45] How many times have we hoarded our blessings for ourselves? How many times have we stolen the blessings that God meant for other people and just tried to keep them? And yet, God is a king who also has a law.

[34:00] He's not like the other king. But he has a law which says thieves of his blessings should be judged. And the judgment of death that was upon all of the Jews, actually, he says, that's what every single one of us is under.

[34:14] There's a real reason why sometimes we feel guilty and condemned. Because when you break God's holy law, there is judgment. But Micah 7 continues like this.

[34:30] Rejoice not over me, O my enemy. When I fall, I shall rise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me.

[34:50] He will bring me out to the light. I shall look upon his vindication. God is a holy king not like King Xerxes.

[35:02] He's not impetuous. He's not easily angered like Xerxes. But before him, none of us can enter in to that inner room of the throne room of his presence.

[35:14] We are shut out like Mordecai and no amount of tearing our clothes or religious duty can ever get you into the palace. We bear the indignation, the righteous anger that God has.

[35:28] The sentence is passed. Our only hope is if there is one person who has access to the king, who can plead our cause before him.

[35:42] We don't need Esther to save us. We don't need a human being who is flawed to save us. We need a greater Esther.

[35:54] Esther was tempted in many ways and sinned. Hebrews tells us Jesus was tempted in every way yet was without sin. Esther stayed in the palace and brought deliverance from there.

[36:06] Jesus left the palace of heaven and came down to where we were and brought deliverance for us because God the king desired relationship with us that much.

[36:20] Esther risked her life and said if I perish I perish and yet she lived. Jesus risked his life and said if I perish I perish and he died.

[36:33] God's righteous judgment has been executed but not on us but on him. There's no condemnation now which means we have a mediator an advocate a representative constantly before the throne of God who intercedes for us who's got your name written on his heart which is why God can call an unworthy person like you and me and say when I fall I shall rise because like the hymn says when Satan tempts me to despair tells me of the guilt within upward I look and see him there who made an end of all my sin because the sinless savior died my sinful soul is counted free for God the just is satisfied to look on him and pardon me.

[37:29] you know you can spend millions on getting a good lawyer to try and defend you God spent his only son spent his only son's life on a cross that we might have Jesus the best lawyer in the universe pleading for us in heaven's courts and do you know what Jesus wins every single case so we can enter in and see the golden scepter of God's approval you can come into the throne room of grace this is the gospel this is what it says in Hebrews let us then draw near with confidence to the throne of grace not a throne like Xerxes throne but a throne where God is longing to bring grace to you regardless of what you have done that we may find mercy and grace to help in time of need in time of need even with the calling that God has placed on us because we cannot do it by ourselves and if you see that you have Jesus what happens is this if your vision gets captured by who he is the reason we stay living for our palaces our tiny little puny palaces is because they capture our hearts but ultimately the palaces of the world of our career of our job of our reputation they're fragile if you want a bigger flat you get the bigger flat suddenly it feels like it's not big enough you get a job you want a job you get the job then soon afterwards it's like you want another job and whatever it is in our palace it never is enough but if you realize that you can enter into the palace of the king of the whole universe and you have relationship with him and it will never be taken away because that scepter is always coming down saying approved that means we confidently enter him and I can risk my own little palace because I have a greater one

[39:41] Esther faced with a choice to give up the palace to give up her entire life to save the people or to hold on to the palace and give up her entire people and she chooses the greater calling Jesus said if anyone would come after me let him deny himself take up his cross and follow me whoever seeks to save his life will lose it whoever loses his life for my sake will find it he's saying there's a greater palace so that means for us you can take a risk to reach out to those in your office that maybe are not like you that you feel scared to reach out to to go and talk to that person who you may have like no idea what to say to them to invite a student a single or someone else from a different background into your flat even though it seems scary to you to join sons and daughters of young lives to reach out to risk whatever it is that

[40:43] God calls us to and if I perish I perish if I'm embarrassed I'm embarrassed if it's awkward it's awkward if it doesn't work out it doesn't work out if people laugh at me they laugh at me and that's okay because the palace of my puny reputation and my comfort is nothing compared to the palace that Jesus has guide and is reigning and is interceding for us that we may enter into that's what this series is all about the whole of the Old Testament is trying to give you a glimpse of a vision that a saviour Jesus Christ is coming it's pointing us to the only righteous one who can make us righteous it's pointing to the one like Jacob who is willing to wrestle with us and be defeated so we may get blessing he's the one who shows his power in weakness like

[41:50] Gideon he's the one who we come to with nothing in our hands like Naaman he's the one who welcomes enemies to his table like Mephibosheth and he's the one who pleads for us like Esther this is Jesus Christ that's why we worship him from the beginning of the Bible to the end it's all about him Folkát he through