Celebrating victory - Esther 9:1-19 - Sunday Sermon

getting into the material. Let's pray.

Father, thank you for the opportunity to

tackle a whole chapter in your word in

Esther and such a climactic one. There's

lots to learn here about your character

and how you give us victory. I pray that

you would fill us all with your spirit,

including me, and that you'd open our

hearts to your word and your word to our

hearts in such a way that we not only

understand it, but also have the desire

and the power to apply it in our lives

uh to grow, to become more like your

son. We pray these things in Jesus name.

Amen. I can't remember whether I've ever

told this story, but I was thinking

about the closest I've been to combat.

Uh because there's warfare and combat

happening in this passage. And the

closest I've really ever been to combat

is combat sports like wrestling or

football. I consider both of those

basically combat sports, especially

wrestling. It's a form of martial art.

And my senior year, I was heading into

the state championship. Um, but so once

once districts are over and if you don't

make it to the state champ uh state

tournament, which at that time was in

the memorial coliseum, I don't know

where it's now. Um, your season's over,

your wrestling season's over. And so all

the other wrestlers were gone um and

done. And I didn't have any other

heavyweights to I was about 255 in high

school. So heavyweight was between 215

and 275. And so it wasn't on the

heaviest side or not the lightest side

either. and there was no heavyweights to

wrestle, which is a huge problem in

preparing for um the state tournament

because I've got no one to practice with

that's even of a similar size and

weight. And in during the during the

regular season, uh our coach would

shuttle me to other schools like

Westland and Lake Asiggo High School

where I went didn't have a very big

wrestling program, but other schools

nearby did. And he would take me over

there to wrestle with their varsity uh

other varsity heavyweights, but they

didn't want to wrestle to prepare for

the state championship, which makes

total sense. So, I had no one to

wrestle. And so, my uh coach came up

with a plan. Total surprise to me and a

real gift to me. You might not know this

name uh unless you're into combat sports

and mixed martial arts. Uh but he took

me all the way out uh to Gresham uh to

what seemed like a warehouse, but it had

a whole bunch of mats out and um and he

took me in the middle of the mat and

then brought a guy out to shake hands

with and I immediately recognized him.

His name is Randy Coutur. I don't know

if you know who Randy Coutur is, but

Randy Coutur is a six-time UFC champion.

Um and that's mixed martial arts

fighting. I think they back then they

still use like really gloves, but the

gloves were to protect your knuckles,

not the other person's face. And so this

guy's just he was the champion at the

time, I think. And uh just a really big

deal I couldn't believe who I was

shaking hands with. Um and so we stood

there and uh his daughter came over and

he gave her a hug and I was just

surprised by how gentle and kind he was

until we until we started wrestling. But

before that, he's just he's a you I

don't know if when you meet someone, you

look at their eyes and the way they

shake your hand, the way he hugged his

daughter, you could just tell he was he

was gentle. And not every mixed martial

arts guy or football player that I've

ever met is gentle like that, but it

just it made an impression on me. And

then he taught me a move, which

technically isn't legal in wrestling. He

was also a wrestling champion. multiple

not Olympic but multiple uh gold medals

and silver and bronze medals and major

wrestling tournaments across the world.

Um but if you know what a double leg is,

a single leg is when you shoot down and

try to grab one leg, pick them up, trip

the other leg and bring them down. It's

a takedown. It's two points in in

collegiate wrestling. Uh a double leg is

where you do that with both legs and you

have to cup the back back of the legs.

And what you're supposed to do is you

put your head on the side and then pick

them up and drive them to the ground.

What he said is just don't put your head

to the side and put it right here in

their sternum. You're a great football

player. You just told me that you're

nowhere near as good of a wrestler as

you are a football player and that

you're struggling to take these heavy

weights down. So just the first thing

you do is you fake a a shot. So now

they're kind of almost sprawling back

and then they're going to stand back up.

And as you stand back up um like a like

a Goldberg spear. I don't know if you

know what Goldberg is either. He's like,

"Yeah, exactly like a Goldberg spear."

and I actually did it once in the in the

state wrestling tournament and it

worked. Um, but what I'm really wanting

to tell that's a fun story to tell you

about. What I'm really want to tell you

about is coming back to that gentle and

kind spirit that I noticed from him

because if you watch his UFC fights

before the fight he's like that, during

the fight he's not like that and then

after the fight he's like that again. If

you got to know Randy Couture and had no

idea about his mixed martial arts um

prowess and maybe just had a barbecue

with him, you just think, "Wow, that is

a really gentle I mean, he's built,

strong looking, tough guy." Maybe you'd

think he was in the military or

something, but you just think, "Wow,

that's an unusually gentle guy for how

hulking he is." And then and then if you

didn't see his UFC fights, that would be

an impression of what his character is

like. And yet in in the ring, he can be

unbelievably violent. I think 10 or 11

of his fights ended by knockout,

multiple by submission. Submission is

when you do something to someone that's

so painful that they tap out. And these

are the toughest guys on earth. I mean,

some of the toughest guys on earth

tapping out. Um well, I want to relate

that to Jesus in this sermon because

Jesus is also unbelievably gentle and

kind and merciful. And uh sometimes we

can pres get presented only with that

side of Christ's character rather than

the warrior combat side of Jesus. Um and

the reason why I want to show you that

is that I'm going to make this isn't the

main point, but I'll be making a point

today that Esther is acting in a

Christlike manner and yet what she is

requesting of the king is about as

violent as it gets. And you can recoil

from that violence. remember I think all

of us having gone through this uh study

in Esther have been impressed with her

character like what a heroine I've been

impressed I'll after this study I'm

never going to forget how much I look up

to Queen Esther and in so many ways want

to be like her and to be like Morai and

so today you're faced with something

where this queen requests something that

then is done that is unbelievably

violent and you have to decide well was

it wrong of her to do that? Was it

right? If it was right, why? Because you

have a character uh that's that's meek

and gentle, but fierce when it comes

defending her people from the enemy. And

I'm going to be arguing for the fact

that Esther is acting in a Christlike

manner here. And so I'll be showing you

a lot about that. And uh you do not want

Jesus to not be a warrior. Uh the

reality is that we do need to be

defended uh from the enemy. And when I

say the enemy, I mean the person who we

know is Satan. I also believe our flesh

could be considered the enemy. Uh

scripture also talks about death being

uh an enemy. And believe it or not,

scripture talks about everyone before

they were saved being an enemy towards

the Lord. And so we're going to look at

the kind of victory that Christ has for

us. Uh and how if we only think of him

as as meek and mild, uh meek does not

mean weak. Meek means power under

control. And Jesus has all the power. So

it's a lot of control he has when he's

being meek. But the Jesus that's too

often presented in the church as just

mild, uh just kind, just gentle, um just

relational and and so loving. That's all

true. But if that's all you know about

him and you're starting to reject the

other revelation of his character in

scripture, it's not really the same

Jesus anymore. Just like it wouldn't be

the same Randy Coutur to know only his

gentleness but not his warrior side or

only his warrior side and not his

gentleness. It seemed to me from that

one encounter his daughter knew only his

gentle side. And so in the same way uh

we ought to have a full picture of who

Jesus Christ is. And that allow us to

help us to see um that uh there there

are times um when uh it's righteous to

defend yourself. And ultimately what

Jesus did to defend us from God and his

wrath is the the biggest victory that

he's given us. And it took a warrior to

do what he did as well. So if you walk

away with anything today, if you're

thinking, you know what? What is it that

God wants me to learn? There may be

other things as well. There usually is,

but you're going to see just exactly

from this passage how the main point

really is celebrating the victory of the

Lord. The celebrating the victory the

Lord gives us is part of our worship.

Celebrating the victory the Lord gives

us is part of our worship. that means

his character um as a warrior to give

that kind of victory uh is part of our

worship as well and it should be part of

your worship. So we're going to be going

all over scripture today. I'm going to

be fing focusing most on the scriptures

outside of Esther in the New Testament

because uh the Old Testament a lot you

you'll hear a lot of people that aren't

Christians who's like oh the God of the

Old Testament is so violent but the God

of the New Testament is so kind. Um, it

is true that the God of the Old

Testament uh is violent against enemies

and against unrepentant sin. What's not

true is the God that of the New

Testament isn't. I'll be showing you

that. Um, and it's not really a matter

of interpretation when you just read the

words at their face value. It's very

obvious. So, I hope that you're

convinced as well. So, celebrating the

victory of the Lord, celebrating the

victory the Lord gives us is part of our

worship. Let's get into it. This is

Isaiah 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9 and uh it's it's the climax.

The day that uh people were allowed to

go and just fight against the Jews has

come. But the uh the king that we'd know

as Xerxes in in the Bible has also

decreed since he can't get rid of that

first one. The laws of the Mes and the

Persians is irrevocable. But he uh has

Morai write another law that says that

the Jews are allowed to defend

themselves against any armed force that

might attack them. Against any armed

force that might attack them. So that's

what you need to know to go into this in

terms of summary. Chapter 9:1. Now in

the 12th month, which is the month of

Adar, on the 13th day of the same time,

when the king's command and edict were

about to be carried out, on the very day

when the enemies of the Jews hoped to

gain mastery over them, the reverse

occurred. The Jews gained mastery over

those who hated them. One of the points

I'm going to be making later is that the

real battle that is revealed to us in

scripture is the battle between our

fleshly nature, our sinful disposition,

and the spirit of God. And so those are

opposed to each other. We learned about

that in Galatians. And those

the fleshly attitudes and hearts

dispositions are what caused this battle

as well. Uh it was Hmon's hatred for

Mori, his desire to be worshiped by Mori

himself. uh his uh malcontented attitude

and how even though God had given him so

many things and advanced him uh beyond

really any of his peers, he seems to

have been second in command and then

ultimately Morai replaced him. All of

those uh bad attitudes and sinful

attitudes and even his plan to have the

Jews annihilated, they all come from a

sinful disposition inside. That's where

the evil starts. That's where the sin

starts. And so for Hmon, that wasn't

defeated. And for his sons, that wasn't

defeated. They didn't surrender the

flesh to the Lord. They didn't repent of

that sin and have their flesh put to

death in that way. And because of that,

they carry out these evil acts.

So when we talk about in the in in the

New Testament, the New Covenant, and in

the church today, the battle really

being the battle of the flesh versus God

versus the Holy Spirit, and whether

you're going to relinquish it to him.

We're not talking about something soft

or kind of less than combat. Uh we're

talking about the solution um that you

know if everyone surrendered to the

spirit rather than the flesh, there

really wouldn't be war.

That's not what the Bible reveals is

going to happen. But that is true. If

everyone actually relinquished their

fleshly desires to the Holy Spirit and

was filled with the Holy Spirit and came

to faith and indwelt by the Holy Spirit

and then continually filled by the

spirit, there would not be war. There

would just be peace. That is what the

new heavens and earth is going to be

like. Um so when it comes to the kind of

combat with weapons in war, the problem

is still ultimately the flesh. Um, and

in this case there's sometimes in war I

was listening to a podcast of a Canadian

special forces guy and um I won't say

that much about it but uh he said that

towards the end of his special forces

career um the mission started getting

murky and then the the guy that was

talking to him said what do you mean

murky? And he said I just I wasn't sure

whether what I was doing was right

anymore. or I wasn't sure that it was

wrong either, but I couldn't really put

my whole self into it anymore because I

wasn't sure whether it was right or

wrong what we were actually doing. It

became gray. Um, and before it was black

and white, and so I could give myself

the mission. Well, in this case, the the

battle has an obvious protagonist and an

obvious antagonist. And I want to show

you that. Um, and that's that's really

what what the author of Esther, who

we're not sure who it was, may may have

been Morai. He recorded some things uh

that are even spoke about in Esther as

him recording, but we don't know the

author. But the author is making it very

clear that one side of the battle is

people who are unjustifiably for no good

reason attacking and trying to kill

people that have done nothing that

deserves that. Okay? they haven't they

haven't uh done the things that they're

accused of that might cause people to

justify killing them. Um and on the

other side are the Jews who are just

defending themselves and and so it is a

relatively black and white kind of

thing. Um and and I think that's

important because uh in today's day and

age there's all this swirling worldview

conflict about Israel. We're going to

talk about that a little bit, but there

isn't really a whole lot of controversy

here if you're really understanding the

word correctly about who's in the right

and who's in the wrong with God. And so

it really is black and white. So the

reverse occurred, it says in um I guess

that's all still verse one, the Jews

gained mastery over those who hated

them. Verse two, the Jews gathered in

the cities throughout all the provinces

of King Ahasaweras to lay hands on those

who sought them harm. We're only halfway

through the verse, but we had a really

interesting discussion in our Bible

study about this. Um, if you go back to

verse 11 of chapter 10, you get the

details of the edict that the king made

about the Jews being allowed to defend

themselves. And it's a saying that the

king allowed the Jews who were in every

city to gather to defend their lives, to

destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any

armed force of any people or province

that might attack them. children and

women included, and to plunder their

goods. I want to point out just a couple

things. They were allowed to use lethal

force against any people that was armed

and might attack them. And that included

children or women that was armed or

might attack them. They're allowed to

defend themselves. That's what the law

actually says. And so again here in

verse two, uh it's saying that they were

um laying hands on those who sought

their harm. Um one of the points I want

to be making that I believe the author

is making here is that the Jews didn't

transgress this law in any way. In fact,

they didn't even take full advantage of

their right within the law. So they

didn't even go close to beyond what was

what was legal for them. And no one

could stand against them. for fear of

them had fallen on all peoples. And uh

all peoples in this case means even the

officials of the provinces. Verse three,

all of the officials of the provinces

and the satraps and the governors and

the royal agents also helped the Jews

for the fear of Mori had fallen on them.

I didn't pick this up last sermon, but I

want to go back to verse 17 because it

relates to this of chapter 8. And it

says at the end of verse 17, "And many

from the peoples of the country declared

themselves Jews for fear of the Jews had

fallen on them." One thing that I wanted

to say last week, but ran out of time on

this is that um you you've heard that

people are Christian in name only, like

culturally Christian, but it's not

actually uh a devotion for them. um used

to be a more common term, but uh people

will call themselves now born again

Christians uh to signal that they're not

Christians in name only. They're that

this is really who they are and their

identity. They've truly been saved. And

while cultural Christianity is probably

more predominant in the Bible belt than

it is up here in Oregon, and you might

not know as many cultural Christians or

Christians in name only. I've been I've

been watching sort of a trend where if

the administration in the the White

House uh has this worldview then that

seems to be sort of the predominant

conforming power for uh for American

people who are not necessarily

Christian. So it's like okay this is now

the trend. So we're going to we're going

to say these things and believe these

things. And you see the companies uh

major companies starting to follow suit.

And if and then if the um uh the

administration goes in the opposite

direction, you watch how the culture

starts shifting in that direction. And

so I actually think that there is such a

thing as fear of Christians in America.

Not not as great as it maybe once was,

but the fear shows up at like an

economic sense. So if if the Christians

or uh culture is so Christian that it

has a certain morality and that's like

your consumer base and you realize that

they're going to boycott you or have

some kind of backlash against certain

advertising if you um if you have that

advertising, then out of fear of that

backlash, you might decide, you know

what, uh we're not going to do that. And

it seems like whoever is in charge,

whoever's in power, uh, has a huge

effect on how people responding that

way, the perception. But you want to ask

yourself, are you are you a Christian

because of, you know, worldly trends?

So, you're saying you're a Christian

because you might be afraid of not being

called a Christian. I wonder how many

people in the Bible belt say that

they're Christian because it's like to

not be a sort of going against the norm.

But what if America becomes more and

more uncchristian and it seems like

that's the direction we're headed and

all of a sudden uh maybe you're in a

time and an age where it's extremely

unpopular to be a Christian anywhere in

America and then you are you going to

hide that Christianity. Uh I say this

because um it doesn't work to be right

with God to declare yourself a Jew out

of fear of man. It only works to be

right with God, to declare yourself a

Jew in this age out of fear of the Lord.

That hasn't changed at all. If you're a

Christian because you fear the Lord,

uh that is is not going to be as

susceptible to the conforming power of

the world because the object whom you

fear doesn't change.

Right? The person who's actually

victorious, who's Jesus Christ, does not

change. He's the same yesterday and

today and forever. And so it doesn't

matter who is running the

administration. It doesn't matter what

the prevailing cultural norms are

because the object of your fear, the

object of your respect and honor, the

object of your worship hasn't changed at

all. And so then it's really important

to actually know the object of your

worship to know who God actually is.

Because if you think that, as many

Christians I think erently do, that the

God of the Old Testament is somehow in

any way different than the God of the

New Testament, uh first of all, you

haven't been really reading your Bible

very carefully because it's not like

it's hidden in there that they're not

different at all. Uh there aren't two

gods, there's just one. He's the same

all the way through. And he's the one

that is causing uh these people to have

fear of his people, the Jews. I want to

show you that how that's actually a

blessing and a promise that he gave the

Jews and in this case a blessing for

obedience. So it's Deuteronomy chapter 8

Deuteronomy 8 · chapter mention

and Deuter Deuteronomy chapter 8

Deuteronomy 8 · chapter mention

contains both blessing blessings for

obedience and curses for disobedience.

But we're just going to talk about the

blessings right now. I'm going to show

you two verses quickly. Chapter 28:7

says this. the Lord. Like if you obey

the covenant, if you keep my commands,

the Lord will cause your enemies who

rise against you to be defeated before

you, they shall come out against you one

way and flee before you seven ways. And

then just skipping down to verse 10, and

all the peoples of the earth shall see

that you are called by the name of the

Lord, and they shall be afraid of you.

So this is a blessing that God promises

to Israel uh through Moses in chapter 28

of Deuteronomy that you your enemies

will flee from you and they will be

afraid of you if you're keeping my

command. Now I don't really know

how obedient the Jews were being in

general during that time in Persia. Um,

but it seems to me at least that the

fact that God defends them so powerfully

and has such a turnover of events where

the people that were trying to

annihilate them end up being the ones

that are being annihilated seems like

this was a time in which there was uh

some widespread obedience. It doesn't

have to be that way. God can be merciful

and and protect his people from uh

annihilation even if they're not being

uh particularly obedient, but it just

seems that way in terms of my

interpretive sense. And I thought I

would mention that. So uh God hasn't

changed from Deuteronomy to Esther

either. And so they're experiencing a

blessing from God here. And I want I

wanted to bring that in because unlike

any other book, God doesn't mention

himself explicitly in Esther, but his

providence and sovereignty are right

there uh really just jumping out at you

from the page. Why did the Jews gain

mastery over their enemies? Well,

because God had blessed them with it and

given them favor. And that started all

the way from the throne where Esther was

seated. For fear of them had fallen on

all peoples. It's just a fulfillment of

God's promise of blessing. Verse three,

and all the officials and provinces of

the provinces and the satraps and the

governors and the royal agents also

helped the Jews for the fear of Morortei

had fallen on them. And I generally

think this was political fear. I don't

know exactly all the reasons they were

afraid. Maybe some of them had been

plotting against the Jews and were

afraid of being found out. Maybe some of

them, like I said, were just more

concerned about their power. And it's

kind of that same dynamic that never

really changes where well, whoever is in

power, if he's setting a completely

different course and you've been against

that course, you have somewhat of a

reason to fear. And so you you uh will

be politically showing favor in that

way. Um that's still not the kind of

heart that God esteems. It's got to

really come from your heart. It can't

just be well, whatever man wants. And

that's that's important to us. That's

not living a victorious life where uh

you just go along with whatever trend is

going on. Living a victorious life means

following the Lord in any age. Verse

four, for Mori was great in the king's

house and his fame spread throughout all

the provinces for the man Mori grew more

and more powerful. Verse 5, the Jews

struck all their enemies with a sword

killing and destroying them and did as

they pleased to those who hated them. So

again, I think it's obvious, but I might

as well mention again, if we were

faithfully depicting this in a movie,

the people the Jews were fighting would

have been armed and having approached

them to attack them. Maybe it's possible

that some of them were uh not in the act

of attacking them, but rather like

planning that. But I don't think it

would have been faithful for Jews at

that time to just go and kill someone

who wasn't armed. I think it's important

to look at what the law actually

provided for and what didn't. They

weren't just allowed to go willy-nilly.

Uh and so I I think it would be

unfaithful to show the Jews at this time

attacking anyone that isn't reasonably

considered self-defense. And I think

that's just dividing the word correctly

here. Uh verse 6 in Susa, the citadel,

that's the capital. Uh that's where

Esther is and that's a city um in in

Persia at this time. Um and it's

differentiated from the rural provinces

and they also had their cities but it's

differentiated. So in the Susa city like

within the boundaries of Susa the

citadel itself the Jews killed and

destroyed 500 men. They also killed

Parandatha and Dalphin and Asphatha and

Paratha and Adaliah and Erodatha and

Parmastra and Arisi and Erodi and

Visathi Visatha and the the 10 sons of

Hmon the son of Hamadatha the enemy of

the Jews. but they laid no hand on the

plunder. Um, so again, if I was a

director, the way that I would be

showing this is I'd be showing the 10

sons of Hmon armed and attacking the

Jews and that's why they got killed. It

wasn't this this uh revenge killing.

It's like, well, these are the sons, so

we're going to put them to death because

that would have been illegal. And we

have no reason to accuse the Jews at

this time having done anything illegal.

In fact, they didn't even take full

advantage of their legal rights. Morai

was the one who wrote the law. Uh

Hassawarees had had um uh commissioned

him to do so. And he's the one that had

them put in and to plunder their goods

in verse 11. Legally, they were allowed

to plunder their goods. And yet it says,

"But they laid no hand on the plunder."

Um so they're they're not wildly out of

control. Plundering would have even been

out of control because it's still within

the law. But they weren't in it for the

money. And that's something that uh I

think because of a spirit of

anti-semitism, Jews get get slandered

and uh hated on for all the time. Like

they're just in it for the money.

There's a lot of conspiracy theories

about that. Uh but here the reality is

that God uh points out that they didn't

even lay hand on the plunder. So they're

stopping short of the boundaries of the

law. They're not filling up the boundary

of the law. So if they're stopping short

of the boundary of the law, why would we

claim that they transgressed it anywhere

else? I don't do that. I don't think

that's what God's word is revealing

here. Um, and let's continue. Verse 11.

That very day, the number of those

killed in Susa the Citadel was reported

to the king. So, the king's fully aware

of what's happening. He's getting

reports. And the king said to Queen

Esther in Susa the Citadel, "The Jews

have killed and destroyed 500 men and

also the 10 sons of Hmon. What then have

they done in the rest of the king's

provinces? Now, what is your wish? It

shall be granted you. And what further

is your request? it shall be fulfilled.

Remember the character of Hassaweris. Uh

he has some bright spots like here. Uh

but but early on we it's revealed he's a

womanizer. He has massive anger issues.

Seems to have a drinking issue. And all

he really cares about is his own vain

glory and greatness. Right? So would

that king still have favor for a queen

and a people that were transgressing his

law? No. I don't think so. Um, not that

he's the standard, but it doesn't make

any sense in terms of interpretation to

think that he's being uh given a report

of what's actually happening and still

showing favor if what's actually

happening is violating the law, which

would be a direct extension of his own

felt authority. Like, you're violating

my law, that means you don't respect me.

And remember, this guy's a megalomaniac.

So, he would have had a bombastic

reaction to people violating his law.

And so, I think that really puts it to

rest. He didn't even think what they

were doing was against the law that he

had given. Um, that's still different

than whether God approves it or not. We

talked about that last week. And and

that's where we're going to go into

looking at the character of Christ as a

warrior. Uh, is is is Jesus only meek

and mild or does he exercise his power

violently sometimes? We'll look at that.

And and that's the reason why I'm saying

this is to prepare you in thinking about

what we're about to read in verse 13.

It's really kind of a critical verse

here. And Esther said, "If it pleased

the king, let the Jews who are in Susa

be allowed tomorrow also to do according

to the day's edict. And let the 10 sons

of Hmon be hanged on the gallows." Now

remember, Hmon had uh constructed a

gallows for no just purpose whatsoever.

Morai had done nothing uh uh deserving

of this kind of execution. And this is a

pole 75 ft long, sharpened on one end.

You might think gallows, oh, you know,

they're being hung off. It's like a

hundred years later that the first

historical incident of someone being

hung um as an execution form happens.

So, that wasn't even it. And we have

plenty of depictions. I've showed them

before. They're so violent looking that

I don't actually like showing them in a

mixed audience. But what this is is an

impalement. In fact, some of your um

Bibles actually say impaled. Um and I'm

not just trying to like highlight the

violence. I'm just trying to show you

what actually happened because it we

just got done reading um that in Susa

itself 6 the Jews killed and destroyed

500 men and also killed and then a list

of the 10 sons. So they're already dead

when she asks for them to be impaled.

Same Esther, same character we saw

before. lovely character, submissive

spirit, pleasing to the Lord, humble,

willing to go through a lot of ugly,

unjust stuff in serving the Lord,

willing to put her own life

for her people.

A woman very pleasing in the sight of

the Lord according to New Testament

standards. And yet here she's asking for

the corpses of the 10 sons of Hmon to be

publicly impaled,

especially to our modern sensibilities.

Uh I would not be surprised if there's

people in this congregation that react

to that like, oh man. And and you know,

if this was faithfully depicted in a

movie, it would be faithfully depicted

as very violent, as the grotesque,

right? Ugly thing, right? A dreadful

thing. So we have to ask ourel the

question, was Esther doing something

that was Christlike or not Christlike?

From within the Old Testament, within

this passage, I believe the reason why

she did this was a warning to anybody

else that would come up with such a

wicked plan and continue attacking them.

It was a deterrent for them. This public

display, here's what happens to you if

you just try to genocide people in this

empire. Um, and so I think she still had

in mind uh protecting the people of God.

Um, it seems to me that in Susa, uh, the

job wasn't finished and there's probably

still enemies that might attack them the

next day and that's why she asked for

that. So, we're going to stop right

there. You might think, "Wow, what a uh

burden of proof he's going to have to

present to say that this is Christlike."

Uh, but if that's the case, you may not

know that side of Jesus Christ. You may

know the gentle side, which is a lovely

side and a side I always only want to be

on, but there's a warrior side to Jesus

Christ. And uh he he often gets falsely

represented as not having that side of

his character, but it could not be more

obvious in scripture. Um so we're going

to go to 2 Thessalonians 1:5-9. and I'll

2 Thessalonians 1:5–9

have it up on the screen, but if you

have uh a Bible or your own personal

Bible especially, might be good for you

to see this in your own Bible in

whatever translation you enjoy the best

and trust the most uh and then mark

where it is on the page because these

are great verses to show um Christ's

character as a warrior God. So this is

uh 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 5-10.

2 Thessalonians 1:5–10

And this is also in defense of his

people um in this case the church. This

is the is evidence of the righteous

judgment of God that you may be

considered worthy of the kingdom of God

for which you are also suffering since

indeed God considers it just to repay

with affliction those who afflict you

and to grant belief to you who are

afflicted as well as to us. When the

Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with

his mighty angels in flaming fire,

inflicting vengeance on those who do not

know God and on those who do not obey

the gospel of our Lord Jesus, they will

suffer the punishment of eternal

destruction away from the presence of

the Lord and the glory of his might.

When he comes on that day to be

glorified in his saints and be marveled

at among all who have believed because

our testimony to you was believed. I'll

just read it again here one more time.

Jesus is revealed from heaven, verse 7,

with his mighty angels in flaming fire

inflicting vengeance on those who do not

know God and on those who do not obey

the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And

obviously this is talking um in a future

prophetic way during a time where there

was a bunch of perse will be a bunch of

persecution um of the church and of

God's people. So when you think about

that, you think, well, are we really

being persecuted? And and it's it's easy

to think that the church isn't being

persecuted in violent ways because we're

so insulated it uh insulated from it in

America, but Vern, an Elderorado church,

was just reporting to me um that it's a

more and more common occurrence right

now in Gene uh in Nigeria u for

Christians to be attacked and murdered

by Muslim terrorists, right? And so if

if your family was just destroyed for no

good reason while worshiping God in

peace, uh do you want a God that will

inflict vengeance on the enemies? What

do we mean when we say vengeance belongs

to the Lord? Vengeance belongs to the

Lord. I was born as a strong willed

child, a difficult child to raise. I

would openly defy my parents. Um and and

so God had to break that will and got

stronger than my will. But I took a long

time to admit that. But when then God

broke that will I was submitted to his

will and and then you that's something

good when a man who has a strong will.

But for me uh I've thought about the

kind of vengeance and the temptation to

take vengeance against someone who would

harm my daughter and how much faith it

would take if somebody did that uh to

not just take vengeance myself and want

to take vengeance myself. So when I

surrender that vengeance to the Lord,

I'm not saying away it goes. I'm saying

I'm entrusting that vengeance to you.

This person deserves that vengeance. And

even if they don't get the just

consequence on earth, God will avenge.

However, I also believe uh that if God

brings them to repentance, then the

person that had to suffer for that sin

is Jesus Christ. Right? So either Jesus

takes the wrath for them and they're

saved or they take the wrath of God. But

when we say that vengeance belongs to

the Lord, that doesn't mean that he will

never take vengeance. You saw it with

your own eyes. Jesus Christ himself will

take vengeance.

That's a fact. That's what it says. And

that's not the only place. Let's go to

Revelation 19 11-15.

Okay. Also about um his return.

Uh Revelation 19:11.

Revelation 19:11

Then I saw heaven opened and behold a

white horse. The one sitting on is

called faithful and true. And in his in

righteousness, he judges and makes war.

Talking about Jesus. When Jesus returns,

he will make war. And it's not just a

metaphor. Verse 12, his eyes are like a

flame of fire and on his head are many

diadems. And he has a name written that

no one knows but himself. He is he is

clothed in a robe dipped in blood. And

the name by which he is called is the

word of God. And the armies of heaven

arrayed in fine linen, white and pure,

were following him on a white horse.

From his mouth comes a sharp sword with

which to strike down the nations. And he

will rule them with a rod of iron. And

he will tread the wine press of the fury

of the wrath of God Almighty. On his

robe and on his thigh he has a name

written, King of Kings and Lord of

Lords. And we can just let's keep keep

reading because you might think, well,

that is that really as violent as

impalement? It's more violent. Look at

what happens. Verse 17. Then I saw an

angel standing in the sun. And with a

loud voice, he called to all the birds

that fly directly overhead. Come gather

for the great supper of God.

And if you don't read on, maybe you're

thinking about communion. It's not

communion. Unless it's a horror movie

we're talking about. 18. to eat the

flesh of kings, the flesh of captains,

the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of

horses and their riders, and the flesh

of all men, both free and slave, both

small and great.

Again, who is Jesus? Yeah, he's the

suffering service servant and he came

and was willing to die and lay down his

life. Um, but he's also a warrior king.

So, one of the reasons I think why

people are sometimes caught flat-footed

when people with uh I think bad faith

intent try to say from the gospels that

Jesus isn't a warrior and that he's

maybe somehow kind some kind of pacifist

and uh he's not going to inflict

vengeance or something like that. I want

to show you how it's not true from the

gospels as well. Okay, here's Matthew

Matthew 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10. Um chapter 10 starting in

verse 34.

This is Jesus speaking. So in my Bible,

it's not in red letter. This is ESV, but

yours it might actually be red letter.

Jesus himself talking. Do not think that

I have come to bring peace to the earth.

I have not come to bring peace, but a

sword. For I have come to set a man

against his father, and a daughter

against his mother, and a

daughter-in-law against her

mother-in-law. A person's enemies will

be those of his own household. Whoever

loves his father more than me is not

worthy of me. And whoever loves son or

daughter more than me is not worthy of

me. Whoever does not take his cross and

follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever f

finds his life will lose it. Whoever

loses his life for my sake will find it.

I have not come to bring peace but a

sword.

And another place to paraphrase in uh

the gospel he talks about how he has a

fire to kindle and how he wishes already

kindled. And it's very clearly the fire

of judgment. So even in his earthly

life, incarnate God, um he looked

forward to the day where he set things

right through judgment and made war

against those who foolishly and

faithlessly and unrepentantly continued

uh to in terms of esquetology worship

the beast, worship Satan, and do violent

and evil things.

So, I could show you so many more

verses, but you've already seen it. I

think we ought to make up our mind. Uh,

that what Esther did wasn't even close

to the violence that Jesus is going to

bring to earth against wickedness. I

think really what happens is we recoil

because we don't take serious how wicked

these sons of Hmon actually were.

Unrepentantly wicked. They would have

killed little children with the sword

that were not attacking them and

unarmed, maybe even in their sleep. they

would have just genocided all the Jews.

Okay? And I'm not using, we use that

word genocide really uh it's kind of

like um everything that's violent that

we don't like is called genocide. Just

like everything that we don't like that

you want to like slam a political

opponent, you just call them racist.

Crying wolf really with genocide and and

racism. I'm not in in this case. They

were going to kill all the Jews. That

was their goal. They wanted to gain

mastery of the Jews in the sense of just

ridding the earth of all Jews. So just

as evil as it gets. And and so I look at

I don't recoil at this. I look at that

and I think this is exactly what they

deserved to be impaled in this way. This

is what Hmon was trying to do to Mori.

This is just It makes me think even more

highly of Esther because she's not just

a humble and God-erving

sacrificial queen. She's also tough as

nails. Tough as nails. I like it. I like

it. I don't I don't look at that. I'm

like, "Oh, I think about this will be

hard for those of you who uh rightly uh

maybe are more developed in the gift of

mercy and have really deep sense of

empathy, but that needs to be paired

with a tempering of understanding who

God is in relationship to wickedness.

She's imitating him. I believe that

she's being Christlike in doing so, in

protecting her people." And there's more

to talk about there, and we'll come back

to it. Let's continue in understanding

what's going on here. Verse 14. So the

king commanded this to be done. He hears

impale them and let give them another

day and and so we move on. A decree was

issued in Susan and the 10 sons of Hmon

were hanged. Uh the Jews who were in

Susa gathered also on the 14th day of

the month of Adar and killed 300 men in

Susa but they laid no hands on the

plunder. Second time saying they laid no

hands. Verse 16. Now, the rest of the

Jews who were in the king's provinces

also gathered to defend their lives and

got relief from the enemies and killed

75,000 of those who hated them, but they

laid no hands on the plunder. So, in

Susa, but also across the entire Persian

um empire. The Jews did not do this for

the money. It's not why they were in it.

No matter how much the enemy might want

to, you know, spread propaganda lies

about it, that's not the reason they did

it. It was self-defense, well within the

boundaries of the law. Verse 17. This

was on the 13th day of the month of

Adar. And on the 14th day, they rested

and made that day a uh a day of feasting

and gladness. But the Jews who were in

Susa gathered on the 13th day and on the

14th and rested on the 15th day, making

that day a feast of gladness. So I think

you probably understand uh but just sort

of with my hands visually represented.

Uh I don't know which way you think in

terms of numbers, but so it's opposite

right here. Okay. Okay, so this is the

13th day of battle for everyone. Then

Esther uh for reasons not fully known,

but if I were to make an educated guess,

because she felt the job wasn't done of

of killing those who had attacked them

and that there was still more securing

of their self-defense need to do, she

asked for another day. So the Jews just

in Susa get the 13th and 14th and their

feast day and rest day since they were

fighting and battling on these two days

is the 15th. in the wider provinces

around Susa and all the way to like

basically the known world. Uh they

fought on the 13th and rested on the

14th. Um I do not know why she didn't

ask for a 14th day for all the

provinces. Um but she didn't. And so

that that is what is really being

reported here. And 19 says, "Therefore,

the Jews in of the villages who live in

rural towns hold the 14th day of the

month of Adar as the day of gladness and

feasting as a holiday." and as a day on

which they send gifts of food to one

another. Um so I don't know you know

people were texting this as it was

happening. Um but the feast of Purum

which we're going to hear a lot more

about next week um in terms of exactly

what was required and how they were uh

to worship the Lord and celebrate this

and and commemorate it over the years

and pass it on to their children. Uh

this is the history of why it's

established and um the feast of Purum

this year which is in the early spring

um was was being observed while Israel

went to war with Iran right and there

were a lot of Jews noticing the

similarities there too and I in my

worldview Iran is similar to to Hmon um

and and there's a big difference I'm not

saying that everything that Israel does

politically is right nor do we have to

claim that biblically. Uh however, I

look at the the basically the mission of

some of these Middle Eastern uh

countries and it's it is death to

Israel. There's a reason why we don't

want Iran to get a nuclear weapon

because we believe they probably will

use it against Israel. So, and and maybe

against the US as well. Um and I won't

wade into the war. We probably have

quite a few different opinions about

that. My point is just the Jews were

this year experiencing battles against

their enemy during the feast of Purum

during this exact time. So for them, uh

this is very real and present and

relevant and modern, uh not just an

ancient old story. Um and I thought that

was really interesting. Um you know, I

also look at this and I'm like, I think

we should bring gifts of food back. Can

we do that? It's biblical.

Should be a teacher. Food gifts. It's

biblical, you know. And if it's during

the month of Adar, we can do uh shish

kebabs.

It's taking you a while to get that. I

uh asked Christine whether I could tell

that joke. She said no.

But my heart said yes. And I was making

jokes like this the entire time uh

before we married. So there was no false

advertising. Just beat you dub.

Shish kebabs are delicious.

Um if you're ever wondering what to get

men, by the way, and maybe unless

they're vegetarian or vegan. I don't

think I know a man. uh that would not

enjoy a gift if it was like a ribeye or

something like you're wondering like I'm

going to change all my Amazon Prime to

just cuts of meat food gifts. Oh man.

All right. Well, I am joking around

because we're about to get really

serious and it's not a joke. Uh we got

to look at um how God

Jesus

um is exactly the same today, yesterday,

and forever. And he is the exact

representation of his father. So God the

father is exactly the same way. He is

violent against evil and he has violent

intens attempt against wickedness. It is

who he is. He is also merciful and kind

and generous and forgiving uh and

benevolent. Uh but he's a man of war,

the Old Testament says, and he will make

war. And just because he said his son to

seek and save what was lost and to be a

suffering servant does not mean that he

doesn't have enemies today. And and that

those enemies aren't also enemies of his

people. If if you're identified with the

Lord uh through faith in his cross and

resurrection, then you are his people.

And so God will identify those who hate

you uh for no good reason as your

enemies as well and and as his enemies.

Um, and so where this gets really

serious is considering our status in

relationship to the Lord. Let's go to

Colossians 1 uh 19-23.

Okay, this is what uh the Lord says

through Paul about our status before we

were saved.

This talking about Jesus starting in

verse 19. For in him all the fullness of

God was pleased to dwell, and through

him reconciled to himself all things,

whether on earth or in heaven, making

peace by the blood of his cross.

So Jesus did accomplish peace, but he

accomplished it basically by being

impaled himself. Nails through his hands

and through his feet, suffering on the

cross, bearing the wrath of God against

our sin, and atoning for it, so that it

is now actually just for God to forgive

us.

1 John 1:9 says uh if we confess our

1 John 1:9

sin, God is faithful and just to forgive

us our sin and to cleanse cleanse us

from all unrighteousness. Had Jesus not

died on the cross in atoning for sin, it

wouldn't be just for God to forgive us.

Okay? And when did he forgive us? What

status did we have in his eyes in

relationship to him when he accomplished

this for us? Look at verse 21. and you

who are once alienated and hostile in

mind doing evil deeds. Enemy status.

While we were still enemies of God,

Christ died for our sin. Paul makes the

point that people won't really die for

other people, but they especially won't.

They maybe for a righteous person they

would, but who would die for a sinner in

their place? Jesus would. And in so

doing that, he has now reconciled in his

body of his flesh by his death in order

to present you holy and blameless and

above reproach before him. So you were

alienated, hostile, and doing evil

deeds. And now coming to faith in this

cross after what Jesus accomplished,

nothing you accomplished. He just

accomplished it. You're holy, blameless,

and above reproach before him. Okay? A

total transfer. He takes on our sin. We

get his righteousness. So if you think

about this applied to your life, I talk

about marriage a lot. A lot of people

are married and it's just unbelievably

important. It represents the

relationship between Jesus and his

church. And so your marriage and its

health is part of your witness of the

gospel. Um, is the way that you think

about your marriage that that you are

both former enemies of God, married to

each other, still trying to conquer your

sin, or is it the way like, well, yeah,

your wife's a former enemy, but not you,

or your husband's a former enemy of the

Lord, but not you? And are you are you

hostile in relationship to the Lord in

your marriage? What does that mean?

Well, we know First John also talks

about you can't say that you love the

Lord but hate your neighbor. Nobody's

more your neighbor than your wife or

husband, right? And if you have this

contempt for your husband or contempt

for your wife, this this this

spiritually sinful attitude towards

them, that's also hostility towards the

Lord.

So, you can't be totally wrong in

relationship to your spouse and then

totally right in relationship to the

Lord. Um, you got to think about that.

It's the most beautiful marriages are

two people recognize that they're just

two former enemies of the Lord

reconciled by his cross and they're

still trying to overcome their sin. And

when you remember that what you deserved

is what we just read Jesus will do to

those who don't repent,

then does it feel right in your heart to

like overfocus on your husband or wife's

sin?

Feels really hypocritical. And and let's

let's be real, it doesn't mean you can't

talk to somebody. I mean, how are you

going to reconcile with your husband if

he did something wrong like sinned

against you without telling him that

this is a sin and you please ask for

forgiveness for that? Say you're sorry

and I've already forgiven you. But if

you're being hard towards your husband

or hard towards your wife, you're being

hard towards God. That's just one

example. The same thing can happen with

children. Usually people's relationship

to their children doesn't get bitter

while they're still really young. But

the things that you've left unclansed

spiritually through confession and

forgiveness and reconciliation with your

children, they start showing up in

teenage years. Uh you'll start seeing

like real rifts between children as

teenagers and and parents. And I'm not

just talking about like, oh, they don't

think you're cool anymore. I'm talking

about real deep spiritual rifts that

then have ramifications of like once

they leave your house, they don't want

to hang out with you anymore. I've seen

it happen. I hope it doesn't happen to

me, but that's why I take seriously the

idea of like um of of reconciliation

even before the sun goes down. Um

I'm thinking about whether it's okay to

talk about I I think it is. Elijah's at

the age now he used to just tell me

anything he was feeling, but now he's at

an age where he doesn't like talking

about his emotions really. And so I

really have to push for him to talk

about why he might be upset with me and

work it out and kind of tell uh even

though he doesn't want to talk about it,

it's pretty obvious in his countenance.

Um and so that's I'm not looking at that

at just like well I don't like his

attitude or how we're at odds with each

other right now. I'm thinking about this

needs to be washed out every day because

the opposite of that is a bitter root

that grows up sometimes overnight and

then defiles relationships more and

more. I I know some of you fathers that

have raised children into adulthood uh

wish you had applied what I'm talking

about right now because it happened in

your relationship and you may be

estranged from children uh you know and

parents

my youngest is now four and I can still

hold him but there will be a day where

uh I none of my kids look like babies

anymore you know and that phase has gone

away and it seems like it's coming fast

um

But I don't think fathers and mothers

ever really stop looking at their sons

and daughters uh whilst also remembering

that they held them as babies. So, it is

a deep and painful wound when you are

all of a sudden this little child that

you loved and were so close to is now

alienated from you because you didn't

take seriously the Lord's command to

forgive and reconcile and to work

through that and to develop that as part

of their hearts from a young age as well

and to model that to them. So again,

back to the marriage part, and we'll

talk about this if you're single as well

in relationship to other people, but if

you're modeling hostility towards your

husband with one another and

unwillingness, like as they start

learning what God's word said says,

they're going to start seeing how you

don't obey it in in your relationship.

And I think in that case, maybe not in

all cases, sometimes when words are

aligned with actions, they speak just as

loud as actions. But in this case,

they're going to

uh take in the model of your action more

than your words. You can say, "Forgive,

forgive, forgive." But when they watch

you not do, which you think you're going

to they're going to copy. So, it's a

real gift to your children's spirit to

forgive quickly and often. And even if

there are times where you fail and you

fight with each other in front of them,

I I like when that happens to apologize

not just to my wife where we're done

wrong, but I apologize to the entire

family. My dad did that. He sat us down

in family me like, "Hey, the way I

talked to your mother was not okay. I've

asked her for forgiveness, but I'm also

asking you for forgiveness. Most

importantly, I've asked God for

forgiveness and he's forgiven me. Will

you forgive me, too?" So, I feel like I

got like uh before the concrete settled

in while it was still in the mix, I got

that put in the mix through my dad's

example. Um, and it's not all of you

have. So, for some of you, uh, asking

for forgiveness or forgiving someone,

it's like not on your source code, so to

speak. I I mean, we all still have the

spirit to do it, but what a gift it is

for parents to model that to their

children. And remember, I said that's

where the battle is. Not to do that is

is enemy territory. Not saying your

status changes. Your status will never

change once you're reconciled. You are

signed and sealed and delivered and

guaranteed through the Holy Spirit

living inside of you. But that doesn't

mean we don't still have a flesh.

Remember we talked about in Galatians 5

and he and Paul listed the works of the

flesh. He said before that that the

flesh is set against the spirit and the

spirit against the flesh. They're at war

with each other inside of your heart,

inside of your mind. That's where the

battle really is. That's where that

terrible attitude towards your husband,

towards your children, towards your

co-workers, towards your boss, towards

anyone comes from. And it has to be

battled. And battle can be painful,

right? your arm twisted around in an arm

bar. Uh someone's trying to put a

submission holder. I know some of you

into mixed martial arts like jiu-jitsu.

You know how painful real physical

battle could be. Spiritual battle I

think is more painful because you might

be needing to forgive your father who

either abandoned you or mistreated you

terribly or your mother or some person

who did some kind of unspeakable

horrible thing. And let's say they did

something towards you uh that where

you're similar to the category of the

Jew back then where it's it really

you're like innocent in relationship to

what they did. It's not something that

you provoked, right? None of us are

truly innocent in relationship to the

Lord. You already saw your status as

hostile and enemies of God. But in this

case, it's really just them that did

this horrible thing and you you didn't

call for it. You didn't do something

that like you you had a wrong in it,

too. And maybe this person was very

close to you and it does not matter. It

matters how horrible the sin is. But in

relationship to what you need to

forgive, it doesn't matter because

Christ has already paid for their sin if

they're going to repent or they're going

to have to pay for it themselves if they

don't. I think that's so so you have to

go to the cross to be able to forgive

someone that's hurt you that bad. You

have to go to the cross to receive

forgiveness when you've hurt people

really bad, no matter what it is.

And so the battle really is is how

quickly will you come to the cross. The

battle is sort of an upside down one.

It's like the person who dies first

wins.

It makes sense because Jesus won us the

victory through his cross. When I think

of all feasts in the Old Testament, I

think they point to the cross and

resurrection of Jesus Christ. I think of

celebrating Purum. If we're going to

celebrate the substance and not the

shadow, um if we're going to have feasts

like this, it's about commemorating and

celebrating the victory Jesus gave us on

the cross.

It's about him. Esther in in this way is

a Christ type. And so let let's talk

about like categories not in marriage

but categories of like uh that that

might relate more to single people or

young people. Um, do you take your

attitudes towards your uh your friends

seriously? We have this term probably

made famous through Facebook, but like

you're unfriending someone. Is the

friendship unfriended because you

unfriended them? Uh, and did you do so

rightly? There are times where in wisdom

you have to put in boundaries in

relationship to people and I understand

that. Uh, but God still sees your

attitude in relationship to them. Have

you already forgiven them? Um, are you

estranged from someone because you're

the person who's not willing to admit

that you're in the wrong, right? You're

losing you're losing the battle of

Purum. It's not victory. It's not it's

not part of our worship uh to to harden

ourselves in that way. It's part of our

worship to celebrate the victories God

gives us. And if Hmon and his sons had

had victory over their sin by

relinquishing their fleshly desires and

their hatred of God's people and

ultimately their hatred of God, they

wouldn't have had to be impaled.

they wouldn't have had to to die that

way.

So where the sin starts is in coveting,

is in malice, is in anger, it's in

contempt. Where it ends is a war with

God. Or you can let him battle the sin,

die as a result of the consequence of

sin. So sin requires death. It requires

for God to to punish you with eternal

death. And so that's what Jesus took on

the cross.

So you every solution you have to the

victory of the battle is through the

cross. That means it's always through

pain. It's there's never a time where

you come to the foot of the cross

without pain. It hurts to have your

flesh killed. It hurts to have your

flesh killed. It hurts to forgive

someone by faith alone. Do you know what

I mean? They haven't experienced

justice. A lot of like uh sins are not

like punishable in terms of law like

gossip and and sometimes slanderers, but

gossip uh you can get away with a lot of

really vicious things that destroy

people's reputation before you like trip

liable laws. And so people just get away

with it and it separates friends and

then you kind of feel like well they did

all this really evil speech against me

and there's no consequence and you feel

like you can't forgive them

and and yet you already know it's always

only by faith that you forgive.

So that's when when I talk about the

celebrating the victory of the Lord

gives us uh the Lord gives us is part of

our worship. Like maybe you need victory

today to have like a cleansed attitude

and heart. Maybe there are patterns that

like when nobody's watching at night,

things you look at at your phone are

enemy of God things to look at. And and

I don't I think it's right uh to

remember that Jesus is a warrior in

moments like that. Especially for men, I

think it's good for us to fear Jesus in

moments when we're sinning in those

kinds of ways. like don't probably

better to think of warrior God and how

he feels about the images you're looking

at. You know, it's enemy behavior and it

ought to be convicting, but it doesn't

change that God is still also the same

merciful and forgiving God. Every week

we have communion to remind us that what

the cross is about is the forgiveness of

our sins. And that is the victory that

you can walk in from your side, from

your point. If you're a wife or a

husband or a friend or or friends with

someone in junior high or earlier and

they were really mean to you, what it

looks like to have victory is being the

first person to forgive. The first

person to say they're sorry, the first

person to power down, humble themselves,

and go to the cross and remember you are

only saved after having already been an

enemy of the Lord.

Is your husband's sin against you worse

than your sin against Christ? No way.

So it'll be painful but man if both the

people in the mar like it doesn't matter

how broken your marriage is if both of

you meet at the cross it can with

immediaccy be healed that's the battle

that is no wonder Satan's primary weapon

is temptation to give into the flesh he

knows it just leads to destruction it's

all he desires he's just opposing the

will of the Lord

so today if As Emily comes back up here,

we were going to celebrate the Lord in

worship. Doing that, worshiping the Lord

in spirit and truth means having victory

over your sin through the cross of Jesus

Christ, being reconciled, being washed,

being renewed,

being transformed again and again and

again into the likeness of Christ.

That's what it looks like to celebrate

the feast of Purum in a spiritual way.

So, whatever it is, I don't know if

you've been losing the battle, you can

have victory today. If you've been

having victory, you can have more

victory today.

So, but that's it's going to be painful.

And I don't know it, the Lord knows it.

You can come bring it. And you can know

two things. Uh the Lord has not changed

in terms of his hatred of sin. And the

Lord has not changed in terms of his

mercy and forgiveness either. So come if

you need to talk to somebody about it,

the elders are ready for that. There may

be other people in your life that you

can talk to that you have immediate

access to. But whatever you do, don't

don't walk

in defeat today any longer. Don't let

your sin defeat you in this way.

Celebrate that victory with us right now

in worship. At at Boon Fairy, we have

communion. Um except for the very last

Sunday of the week, uh where at any time

you can go and grab the elements. We

serve both wine and juice. So if you're

not wanting to uh take wine, just

remember they're labeled. Um and so look

at that. You take the elements, you can

take it back to your seat. You can have

communion right at the table. You can

come back and pray. We do communion in a

sort of free form any time during the

next two songs. There's also table back

there. Sometimes I've seen people kneel

there. Uh everybody's focused on God as

we worship. So you just focus on the

Lord and what he's accomplished to

forgive you and continue uh to forgive

you of anything and to to call you a

friend and a child of God, an enemy no

longer. Let me pray. Father, thank you

for this convicting message. I pray that

each and every person here would come to

communion in spirit and in truth,

celebrating your victory over sin,

giving us that victory. There's no

greater victory over uh over anything

other than victory over sin and death.

And so, you've already given us the

greatest victory. And because of that,

Lord, I'm personally thankful that

you're still a warrior and that you're

the kind of warrior that can defeat our

sin and death. I pray these things in

Jesus name. Amen.