Dread of Condemnation - Esther 6:14-7:6 - Sunday Sermon

Welcome to Boon's Ferry.

>> I've got uh a couple short

announcements. We're going to be having

our next women's meeting on Saturday the

23rd at 10:30 a.m. right here at church.

Coffee and snacks will be provided. So

that's again the 23rd at 10:30 a.m. here

at church. And you can also mark your

calendar. There's going to be another

women's meeting on June 13th. Um,

and details will follow on that. Uh, and

then there's we're always having our

men's meetings at 9:00 a.m. here at

church on the last Saturday of the

month, which this month will be the

30th. So, if you're guy and wanting to

attend that, we had a great time last

time. Um, and that'll be the 30th at

9:00 a.m. here at church. Also, if

you're new or haven't uh felt like

you've connected well enough or have

prayer requests, you can fill out those

welcome cards, turn them into the

connection table. If you're new, we have

a gift for you as well that we'd like to

give you. So, I think that's all with

the announcements. Let me pray and we'll

get right into Esther. Heavenly Father,

thank you for a time to uh in a weekly

way look at your word and

and hear about what you're wanting to

teach us. Thank you for having Esther

written for our encouragement, for our

consolation and conviction, and um and

even for our comfort. I pray that you

would bless us with understanding of

what you're trying to teach us by your

spirit and then also give us the desire

and power to apply in our lives. I pray

these things in Jesus name. Amen. I

don't know if anyone here has ever been

um chosen for jury duty or had to serve

as jury duty. Um I've been uh summoned

multiple times, but then you call in and

your number doesn't get called and you

don't go. Well, this time my number did

get called. I did go in to the um

Clackamus County Courthouse in um in in

Oregon City and I to be honest I wasn't

wanting to do uh jury duty. I wasn't

really interested and um I was kind of

hoping it would it would get dismissed.

Um and I'd never done anything like it

before. I never they there was a lot of

instruction initially and then it could

take the entire day before a decision

was made about it. But we were actually

called back into the room with an actual

judge uh really quickly and uh both

there were two different cases and two

different pools of juries and both were

dismissed immediately. Um but the judge

said that she wanted to talk about the

cases and explain why it wasn't a waste

of our time to come and why they try to

mitigate uh the jurors even having to

come. They just can't predict if there's

going to be some kind of settlement or

not. But there's one case, the case that

I would have been on had I been chosen

at a juror that actually piqued my

interest to the point where I actually

thought, well, I might have actually

liked to serve on this. Um, except as

she kept talking, I realized, yeah, they

were right to to settle and not have it

go to a um uh to an actual case in

court. And the the details were

basically there were two 19-year-olds.

one 19-year-old that was already in

probation had assaulted another

19-year-old and it was on video. And she

said, "Honestly, had you been chosen as

the juror, you would have wondered why

this court went to case or this case

went to court because it was so so

obvious and cut and dry." And then she

said, "You're probably wondering why uh

the case was settled." Well, uh, what

what was going to happen, I forget the

exact amount of potential prison

sentencing, uh, there would have been,

but he's going to go the kid that

assaulted and on probation is going to

go to jail for 6 months no matter what.

That was part of the deal. But he would

have gone to prison for a much longer

time because what he did happened while

he was on probation. And the victim in

this case didn't want that. Obviously,

the defendant didn't want that and the

judge didn't want that. Um, and so the

judge had the discretion to accept that

deal or to actually force the whole

thing to go to court. And the judge in

this case used their discretionary

authority to say, "No, I accept this

settlement deal." Um, and I thought that

was really interesting, especially

because the jurors, the way that we were

taught, and I agree with this, and

you've probably heard this before, is

that the jury's job is just to find uh

whether the defendant is guilty or

innocent, and that's it. And so details

like that where it's like, well, it

doesn't seem right or just for this kid

to go uh who was really sorry about what

happened and for whom the victim is

actually advocating for to go to prison

for a really long time. Um, would have

it been legal? Yes, because the

violation of probation requires that.

And so, uh, I thought, well, had I been

in the jury, we would have had to find

him guilty. And this is what she was

saying. Even though that triggers a

sentence that was unbelievably stiff,

right? So, we don't get to have

compassion or empathy in that situation

as jurors cuz that's a bias. All our job

is to is decide did they do what they're

being accused of and charged of. And

then the judge is the only one that has

that kind of discretion. Um, and so I

wanted to talk to the judge and she had

time for uh questions and answers. And

so I walked up afterwards cuz I was all

of a sudden really interested in where

the line is if the jury is not and I

don't disagree with the system to be

honest. I actually agree that the judge

should have some discretion, but that

the jury should just call balls and

strikes, right? And not don't let your

empathy get in the way of the idea cuz

in order to do that, you have to lie.

You have to say that person wasn't

guilty when they were because it's

caught on camera just to get them out of

the out of the sentence. But the judge

has other discretionary options in that

situation. And so I I asked her and my

core question was what she thought about

the idea of like mandatory minimum

sentencing or sentencing grids. Oregon

has a sentencing grid where like there's

guidelines that the that the judges have

to follow depending on the crime, the

severity of it, like oh here's the

sentence if they're found guilty and

this is the range that you can hand

down. And she said, "Well, I have mixed

feelings about it." And I said, "Well,

how so?" and she said, "Well, for

example, Oregon has this sentencing grid

and it ties the the court's hands and uh

one of the reasons why we had to reach a

plea deal in this situation is that my

hands would have been tied if he would

have been found guilty, and he most

certainly would have been found guilty.

It was a cut and dry case. Um, and then

I would have had to sentence one of

these prison sentences for assault for

and I don't think that would have been

the right or just outcome in this case.

Um, and also not not best for uh um for

the victim because the victim actually

didn't want that to happen. Um, and I

said, "So, you side on the side of

discretion over like mandatory minimum

sentencing. Can I ask why do they put in

mandam mandatory minimum sentencing like

measure 11 or this grid in the first

place?" And she said, "Well, um, there

was a famous case, I think it was in the

1980s, two cases simultaneously of, uh,

manslaughter. It's like intent

unintentionally killing someone. So like

like if you uh with a degree of

negligence run your car into somebody

else and kill them. Well, you weren't it

wasn't premeditated murder. It wasn't a

crime of passion either. And uh it's

it's so that's called manslaughter.

Well, one judge in two almost identical

cases awarded 180 days of prison time

for manslaughter. And another judge

awarded 20 years

way less than a year, 20 years for

almost exactly the same crime. And she

said that just really frustrated the

legislature. And I said, "Well, yeah,

and probably the citizenship, too,

because it undermines people's sense

that there's a fair and just system at

all if one person gets 20 years for

almost exactly the same crime and one

gets 180 years and the only difference

was the two judges uh or 180 days and

the only difference was the judges." And

she goes, "Yeah." Um, and that's why

they came up with these these grids. And

all of a sudden, I realized that my next

question doesn't really have an answer.

I said, "Well, what do you think the

solution is?" She goes, "It's uh, I

don't know if there is one because I

understand why they're putting mandatory

minimum sentencing in. Their goal is try

to eliminate that much discretion." I

said, "Would you still not want any of

those mandatory minimum sentences?" She

goes, "No, I would want full judge

discretion." I said, "Do all your

colleagues feel the same?" and and

regardless of political views or

worldview, like how many colleagues uh

that are judges disagree, she goes, "I

don't know any judges that don't want

that discretion." And I said, "Why do

you think that is um eliminating the

idea that that maybe some judges just

want more authority in the chef?" And

she said, "We've just seen so many cases

where there are variables that you

cannot um account for by law, like this

one, right? The law would just say,

"Boom, here's the sentence." But there's

these human variables involved. And so I

thought that conversation was absolutely

fascinating. If you want to talk about

this, especially you have an interest in

law, I'd love to talk about it more

sometimes because I'm still trying to

figure out which one I think is better.

Having these min guaranteed guidelines

that have to be followed or having a

judge having full discretion. I can

understand how if I was a judge, I might

want to have more discretion because you

just see the law being applied and

there's no human wisdom involved because

you just forced to apply this law. I can

also see the outrage of someone getting

only 180 days versus someone getting 20

years for the exact same crime. And so

when I heard that, one thing that it

made me realize is that um even though I

don't know how to design a better

justice system, we have a problem in our

justice system that doesn't have any

kind of simple solution. And it's not

the kind of solution maybe maybe on the

conservative side versus the liberal

side there would be like a general

difference on it. I don't actually know

what the views normally I know the views

on one side of the other but this one

probably could have a lot of different

views and just cross the aisles in that

way. Um but the reason I'm talking about

this is I don't know if you've noticed

it recently but I think that the

confidence in our justice system is is

starting to erode. I don't think it's

fully eroded. I don't think we're like

on the verge of anarchy right now. But

one of the reasons why, and I think

you've been hearing this and maybe

thinking about it too, like the most

recent fraud scheme like in Minnesota, I

don't know if you read, but there's like

another one being uncovered maybe in

Texas. And so and and there seems to be

a fraudulent waste of taxpayer money

just all over the place. And that itself

isn't that's concerning, but that's not

shocking. I mean, of course, there's

going to be people who are stealing and

cheating and and finding ways to make

that crime's always going to exist,

right? That's not the shocking thing.

That's never been different. There's no

way to just completely end that kind of

stuff cuz there's going to be criminals

that do illegal things. However, what

seems to be happening is that if you

have a certain political position,

enough power, enough fame, and enough um

influence that if you do this uh thing,

you'll probably get out of it or maybe

never even be charged with it. Um I

think that's I'm not trying to bring

this up to be controversial. I'm not

even going to weigh in on it, but I

think that's the kind of outrage with

the Epstein files. Everyone assumes um

and probably rightly so. I just don't

know that much about it that why aren't

there more people arrested or charged

with things because there seems to be a

whole complex of really evil stuff going

on and no one's getting in trouble for

it. And then you hear about this fraud

scheme. You still haven't heard anybody

even get in trouble for it. Maybe

someone's been charged. Haven't been

following that closely. But I don't know

if it's actually true, but it seems to

me, at least in my lifetime, that our

trust in the justice system is at an

all-time low. And it's it's only seeming

to get worse. And then you look at well

you know what should you do the issue of

uh charging political figures is fraught

with all kinds of difficulty too cuz

what if it's a political attack rather

than actual justice that's motivating it

and so what we're left with is the

reality especially as Christians we

understand this you cannot have a

perfectly just system where the people

that are involved are sinful and I don't

mean that the judge that I spoke to was

like having a sinful attitude about her

opinion or view on this. I'm talking

about by nature she's a sinner and by

nature I'm a sinner. And so you're going

to get people making the wrong decision,

overlooking crime, punishing crime more

harshly than it ought to be, although

that seems rare these days. And it can

lead to a disillusionment on earth as a

person seeming like there's really no

justice, you know. And the authors of

scripture dealt with this in the Psalms.

people uh psalmist talked about, you

know, the wicked getting away with

things and seeming like there's no real

difference on earth between what God

does to the righteous and to the wicked.

Um in that case, the psalmist always

ultimately reconciles their view and

recognizes that God does judge judge the

wicked. And so what do you do with that?

What I'm seeing

also even with Christians is people

fretting about it. It's like it takes

over their life and it becomes like the

issue that they're all passionate about.

on their Facebook page, on other social

media, they're just constantly posting

how corrupt the government is. And it's

it's not they're not wrong in a lot of

cases. It's just that it's taking up

their whole mind and that's what they're

fretting about. Um and yet is there is

there a way to actually entrust

ourselves to the Lord where we can have

peace even while corruption

that's that that I think that's what's

surprising to me. the corruption's being

exposed and yet doesn't really seem to

be getting any consequence, which is

almost worse in my mind than the

corruption not even being exposed

because this is like, well, hey, you can

do whatever you want. There won't really

be a consequence as long as you're

powerful enough or hold a certain

position. Um, and I could fret about

that, too. So, is there a way to come to

a conclusion where you can have peace in

the midst of a very crooked world? And

the answer is very much yes. But it

requires us to recognize the bad news

first. And I've already kind of said it.

The bad news is that um in God's eyes,

we're all sinners. And therefore, we're

all guilty. Um and

and and so if you want a just judge, the

only one that exists is God. He will

never show compassion instead of justice

where justice needs to be served. It

says that God will not ever leave the

guilty unpunished. And yet he is

unbelievably steadfast and merciful. Um

and and so all you have to do to to be

right with the judge of all the earth

who's always right is repent of your sin

and confess it. And that doesn't mean he

won't bring consequences at on earth at

times. I um I had a friend mention a

situation where there was a I forget the

decade but there was a woman that was um

charged and convicted with two uh

premeditated murders and she came to

faith uh in prison and a lot of

Christians were advocating uh that she

would not get the death penalty as a

result. Uh I don't actually know the end

of that case but I don't think just

because you become a Christian after

having murdered that your sentence

should be lightened. At the same time, I

do recognize that person as someone I'm

going to spend eternity with. And so

that is the sister in Christ in that

situation. Um but so sometimes even a

person that is forgiven by God still has

to face the consequences of murder on

earth. That's just the way that works.

Uh but ultimately ultimately ultimately

every single fraud, every single uh

corruption, everyone who's participated

in some kind of trafficking ring like

what seems to be being exposed in the

Epstein files will have to face that

righteous judge. And that is everyone in

all the earth. Us too, we have to face

the Lord. And um so so there's a huge

problem because we want a just justice

system, but a truly just judge says

you're all guilty. All guilty. So we

have to deal with that issue. And I

think that's the real problem. Not of

those people out there are sinful. That

judge is too lenient. That judge is too

harsh. That person gets away with it

just because they got a position of

power, influence, or authority or fame.

Uh the that is a head fake. That's a

distraction to constantly looking at the

corruption of others rather than looking

at your own. We have more than enough on

our plate for an entire lifetime to deal

with in relationship to the Lord. And so

you have to ask yourself, well, how can

a just judge ever clear the guilty if

they're guilty? And how does that

happen? So that question is a question

that is answered today in today's

sermon. And so maybe you are fredding.

Maybe like this. There's there's

injustice. And maybe there's injustice

in your life where someone has sinned

against you. And so you're feeling that

way in relationship to the world all the

more. There's just no justice. No one

ever gets in trouble for anything. Even

when sin gets exposed, it doesn't get

condemned the way it ought to. And

there's no sentences being held out.

Well, listen to this. This is the main

point of our passage today. And we're in

Esther 6:14 through 76. 6:14 through 76.

Main point. God will always expose sin.

So that so you either respond with

repentant contrition or dread of

condemnation. If you've never heard the

word contrition, that means that you are

truly sorry in your heart. Truly sorry

in your heart. You ever had someone

apologize to you, but you can tell

they're not sorry. A common one is like,

"Oh, I'm sorry you feel that way." It's

like, "No, that's not an apology. You're

the one that caused the negative feeling

by saying the mean thing. You need to

say you're actually sorry for causing

the negative feeling, not I'm sorry you

felt that way." you know, I'm sorry you

felt that way is not contrite. Um, I'm

really sorry I did that and that because

I did that I made you feel so horrible.

That would be the kind of sentence you'd

expect someone that's contrite. Um, so

you always God will always expose sin.

He always does either sooner or later.

Um, and you either respond to that with

repentant contrition or dread of

condemnation. Um, let's look at exactly

how God shows us that with a story. We

have three characters here that are

primarily involved and that's Hmon,

Esther, and King Aasaweras. And if

you're just joining us, King Asaweris is

the famous Xerxes. So that's really who

we're talking about. Starting in verse

14, while they were yet talking with

him, all right, I need to back up and

explain what's going on. Hmon had gone

to the king to try to uh to petition him

to have Morai hung. Don't think modern

hanging, think impalement on a pole.

That is the difference. Like there was

no hanging back then. That didn't come

about like the first instance

historically of hanging by the neck was

not a form of execution that happened in

the world till way later. And the

primary form of execution for um uh uh

Persians and me was impalement. So a

horrible absolutely dreadful way to die.

And this is what Hmon wanted to happen

to Mori. And he was going into the king.

However, the king um had uh not been

able to sleep. read the chronicles and

remembered that Morortei saved his life.

Realized nothing had been done to h to

honor him and asked Hmon how should the

king honor the man whom he delights in.

And Hmon thinking that it was going to

be him because who else would the king

want to honor more than Hmon? Um

just designed this way that he wanted to

be honored. You know, get the king's

robes, get the king's crown, get the

king's horse, be pared around by a

really noble official. Well, of course,

Xerxes was thinking of Mori and has Hmon

do the parading around. And so, instead

of getting this guy impaled, he has to

be the one proclaiming his greatness to

everybody else. Um, the exact opposite

of what he wanted. He wanted Morortei to

have to tremble at his feet. Um, and so

when he goes home all dejected, talking

to his wife and his friends, these are

his wise adviserss. Um they say to him,

"If Mori before whom you've begun to

fall, is of the Jewish people, you will

not overcome him, but you will surely

fall before him." This ominous kind of

thing to say. So while they were yet

talking with him is referring to that.

While his advisers and his wife were

telling him, "You're about to fall to to

to Morortei." While they were still

talking, the king's Unix arrived and

hurried to bring Hmon to the feast that

Esther had prepared. And this word

hurried comes up in verse 12 as well uh

in the in chapter 6. And Morortei

returned to the king's gate, but Hmon

hurried to his house mourning and with

his head covered. And it's a word that

you can easily miss. A good director

would show the hurrying. All of a

sudden, Morai just or Amon just wants to

get out of there. And then all of a

sudden, he's home. while he's still

talking. No interruption, no time to

digest information. No time to come up

with another scheme to try to defeat

Morai or maybe even just run for his

life. He's just knock on the door. While

they're still talking, the king's unix

arrived and hurried to bring Hmon to the

feast that Esther had prepared. And if

you there's there's something worth

knowing about God that you may not know

even if you feel that you know God well.

But that and and that idea and I'm going

to show this to you from Isaiah chapter

Isaiah 60 · chapter mention

60 is that when God's ready to act, he

does so quickly and doesn't delay.

whether he's ready to act through

redemption for his people, whether he's

acting through judgment toward another

to towards another people group or

whether he's acting to discipline of his

people or consequence or some other

group. When he's ready to act, he

doesn't delay at all. So, it's not as

though we ought to look at and Peter

talks about this how with the Lord a

thousand days is like a day and a day is

with a thousand a day is like a thousand

years. Um,

time doesn't work the same for God that

it does for us. And he's not delaying

the return of Christ. When he decides

that Jesus is going to return, it's

going to happen all at once. It's going

to happen really fast. He has this

perfect time for him. And for him, it's

not a delay at all. Um, so let's go to

um Isaiah chapter 60. And I want to show

Isaiah 60 · chapter mention

you that

in context here, it's initially about

redemption. But in order for God to uh

work redemption for Israel, he's going

to judge other nations. And I want you

to see the word hasten. This is Isaiah

60 22.

The least one shall become a clan and

the smallest one a mighty nation. I am

the Lord. In its time, I will hasten it.

In its time, I will hasten it. So when

I'm ready to act, it's going to happen

quickly. And I see that very same thing

happening here um with Hmon. The pace is

hurried. God's ready to act. He's about

to expose Hmon's sin. And so I want to

stop there u because Hmon has no idea.

He's had this ominous statement by his

wife and um advisers who only uh earlier

in the day had said um

uh oh uh or I think it was it was the

day before but either way they recently

said go and uh tell the king to have

Morai impaled and put this gallows this

big 75 ft sharpened stick in your yard

and you can pale them in front of

everyone basically and then and then

you'll be joyful again. They just said

this, but they've switched their tone

tune finding out how much it has been

turned back on them. It's too

coincidental in their minds. Even they

realize that the Jews have this god

behind them who defends them. And this

is such an obvious example of it. But

even with that, he has no idea. He still

thinks he's being hurried to a feast in

his honor by Esther. So has no idea. And

yet the Lord has picked up the pace on

exposing his sin. I am the Lord in its

time. I will hasten it. Um, and again in

Isaiah, the context is the Lord

redeeming his people and rescuing them

from enemy nations.

So, I want you to think about that

because this isn't just about Hmon and

Morortei and Esther and Aseris. Why is

God read having us read the story? Just

because it's an interesting historical

thing that happened, an entertaining

story? No. He wants us to put ourselves

in his shoes. He wants us to know his

character. And that means that we need

to recognize sometimes God is hasting

hastening the exposure of our sin. Scary

thought. Sometimes God is hastening the

exposure of our sin. And he might give

you some ominous signs like you feel

like, "Oh, would that be happening if I

wasn't?" That's kind of ominous. You

know, all of a sudden someone is saying

that this is an issue in my life and I

haven't told anybody. Uh but even if

there are no no signs either way, you

may not be aware of that God is about to

expose something you've been hiding. You

might not be aware. I don't know if it's

ever happened to you. It's happened to

me. It's actually how the Lord brought

me back uh in in repentance from living

the wildlife. I was a prodigal and many

know that. I talk about that pretty

openly because I think it glorifies God

to show you how much God has redeemed

me. But I had no idea I was about to be

exposed by the Lord. I didn't know it

was about to happen. Wasn't ready for

it. And it just happened to me. Um, now

I want you to consider something that

will help you like from a human

experience understand also how God

experiences something. Um, and God knows

everything. He knows that you've been

hiding it. But if somebody had been

doing something wrong in relationship to

you, this will pretty common in marriage

that something gets exposed that uh one

of the people in the marriage has been

hiding. If they come to you before it's

found out and say this is what I've been

doing, I'm so sorry. If a friend comes

to you, hey, here's what I did. I'm so

sorry. Whether it even is a sin against

you or not, maybe someone comes

confesses to you, they haven't been

caught yet. They haven't been found out.

And now compare that to somebody who's

caught red-handed,

has no excuse, and has to admit that

they did it. You automatically think of

the first one as more honest. Well, how

do I know that you were actually being

honest with this issue? Because you just

got caught versus you say it before the

Lord force exposes it. What I'm talking

about the Lord hastening here is force

exposure. You can't get out of being

caught red red-handed dead to rights.

That's what's happening to Hmon here.

Okay.

The reality is even though we try to

hide things from others, most of us if

not all of us know you cannot hide

things from God because he sees

everything. Let me read that again from

Hebrews 4. Here's Hebrews chapter 4 and

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

we'll go uh with uh verse 12 and 13.

And here's what that says.

For the word of God is living and

active, sharper than any two-edged

sword, piercing to the division of soul

and of spirit, of joints and of marrow,

and discerning the thoughts and

intentions of the heart. God's word can

do that. And no creature is hidden from

his sight, but all are naked and exposed

to the eyes of him to whom we must give

an account.

I think I told you last week that

there's um friend I've kind of fallen

out of contact with him, but what I

remember is this was a friend who

ministered to me and helped me. And it

was only two weeks ago that he was found

out having committed affair and he's the

senior pastor of a church in this area.

I have not spoken to him. I'm thinking

about reaching out to him. I have no

idea. I'm not trying to speculate

whether he came forward and said it or

whether he was caught. Don't know. Don't

want to speculate on that. Um,

but nobody knew.

They all found out at the same time on a

Monday that this was happening. However,

they found out of it. Shocking to me.

Felt like a warning. Might have already

said this, but I took Christine on a

date night that night. I wasn't thinking

about, oh my gosh, what a jerk. I can't

believe how terrible it is. I just

thought this happened to David. I'm not

willing to say I'm a more righteous man

than David. Happened to David. It

happens to men who did not intend to sin

in that way against their best friend,

against the love of their life, against

their wife. And and God just exposes it.

And um so I don't know. I don't know,

but you do. And the Lord knows if you're

hiding sin in that way.

And it can be absolutely terrifying to

admit it.

Hmon's the kind of guy that wasn't going

to admit it. I don't know that he ever

really admits it. He later begs for his

life, which might be a sign that he sort

of it's like a tacid admission of of

guilt. Uh there isn't any repentance,

though. But he got caught. He got

exposed, right? Why is it so terrifying

to just expose yourself? Both are

terrifying. Why is it so terrifying to

expose the sin yourself? Well, tell me.

Let me tell you what is it's not

ultimately cute, but it was cute in a

way that I think you understand. This is

Noah, our youngest son. We call him

Nanis. I think Elijah came up with that

nickname. So, we call him Nanis. And

Nanis likes to go get candy when he

hasn't asked for permission. And in this

case, he got some chocolate and uh he

got it all over his hands and all over

his face, but he's too young to even

know to hide the evidence. And then he

got it all over our white couch.

Dead rights, right? God been working to

expose his sin. And so I'm I'm like I

think it was in the kitchen and I watch

Christine deal with him and she goes,

"Nanis, did you get a candy when you

weren't allowed to?" And he has his

hands, he looks at his hands, puts his

hands behind his back. He says, "No."

And she says, "Noah, if you keep lying

to me, you're going to get a far worse

consequence than if you actually just

tell me the truth right now." One of his

legs starts shaking. Tears are welling

up into his eyes.

I watched it and it what was so cute is

he just burst out. I'm so I'm just so

sorry, mommy. I'm so sorry.

It was cute because it I don't know.

He's cute,

but it was also so related. He was he

was afraid. His leg was shaking. He's

afraid of the consequence.

And

I mean,

it's just Christine. She's not a

particularly scary person, right? But

he's terrified. And yet, imagine having

to face the Lord, who is actually a

scary person, by the way. A lot of

Christians get that wrong. Uh the

reality is, and I've said it before, but

every time someone meets an angel who

just has a fraction of the glory of

power of the Lord, they are terrified.

Some fall on their face as though dead.

Take the strongest, most fearless UFC

fighter. They meet an angel,

they will be terrified. So imagine

meeting God, having your sin exposed by

him, having to stand face to face with

him.

Let me go to Hebrews 5. Um, so if you're

already in Hebrews 4, just look to the

very next chapter. And this is verse 14.

Looks like I chose the wrong one.

Maybe it's 612.

I'm going to have to come back to find

it. Um the the someone look for it. You

guys are such good Bible students. I'll

keep preaching. But what I'm looking for

is that it is it's like a a terrifying

thing to fall in the hands of the Lord.

That's the one I was looking for. And I

had it written down wrong as as Hebrews

5:15

>> 10:31.

>> 10:31. There we go. Thank you very much.

All right.

So, I'll start in verse 30. For we know

him who said, "Vengeance is mine. I will

repay." And again, the Lord will judge

his people. It is a fearful thing to

fall into the hands of the living God.

It's a fearful thing for Nanis to fall

into the hands of the living Christine.

But

big difference between falling into the

hands of the living God

I'll read on because it uses the word

exposed. I just noticed that. Verse 32.

But recall the former days when after

you were enlightened, you endured a hard

struggle with sufferings, sometimes

being publicly exposed to reproach and

affliction, and sometimes being partners

with those so treated.

So

whether you're exposed to persecution

for righteousness sake like what the

author is talking about here or whether

your sin is being exposed

um all of us should carry around the

reality that's a fearful thing to fall

into the hands of living God because he

said vengeance is mine and he is the

judge of his people and he will not

leave guilt unpunished.

So, how how like

Noah could do it.

Noah could do it. But it's not like I've

had children I've had kids, my kids

still deny that they did it to try to

avoid the consequence.

Maybe they weren't caught as

chocolate-handed as Noah was,

but Noah did it. And he burst into leg

shaking, crying, bursting into tears.

real tears, afraid cuz he knows he's

going to get a consequence, but he

doesn't want to lie again. And and you

might be there right now where the idea

of admitting

to God and then admitting it to the

people that you need to admit to it it's

it creates terror in your heart. Can we

put the main point back up and we'll go

back to Esther for a minute? God will

always expose sin. And so you either

respond with repentant contrition or the

dread of condemnation.

So you know he's going to expose it.

Maybe not today, maybe not even this

year. But he's never, especially if

you're a child of God, he's never going

to let you get away with it. Never. And

I don't know. I have no X-ray vision.

I'm not thinking, hey, that I I saw

someone at a gas station doing something

they shouldn't, and that's why I

preached this sermon today. Hmon gets

exposed. That's where this is coming

from. And at the reality is God will

always expose sin. So either respond

with repentant contrition or the dread

of condemnation. So we know God is a

fearful Lord

and his character as judge. I mean it

talks about him as a consuming fire,

right?

That is terrifying. I believe that

belongs to the dread of condemnation

though. The dread of condemnation.

Does that fear necessarily belong to

repentant contrition? Well, we know that

God says that uh for those who confess

their sins, he's faithful and just to

forgive us our sins and to cleanse us

from all unrighteousness. That's first

1 John 1:9

John 1:9. Do you believe that? Like ask

yourself, do you really believe that? If

you confess your sin, God is faithful

and just. I think we forget what that

means. It is just for him to forgive us

our sins. Why is that? Because he's

already punished his son for us.

So if you believe in the sacrifice of

Christ to be punished for our sin, then

it is just, which also means it would be

unjust to not forgive you because Jesus

has already paid your penalty. Okay. So,

how do you overcome the fear and the

dread of condemnation that makes your

leg shake and your eyes water and the

only focus is this terrible consequence

going to happen compared to actually

just experiencing repentant condition

and saying you're sorry? I'm guessing

that the vast majority of Christians, if

not all of them here, have already

experienced how gracious God is

when you just confess your sin.

I'm assuming and guessing and hoping

that the majority, if not all of the sin

in our congregation that's currently

unexposed, that just needs to be

confessed to the Lord and maybe somebody

else is also not going to require jail

time.

But again, what judge on earth is

frightening compared to the judge of all

the earth?

So, how is it that you get to that point

of repentant contrition rather than just

continuing in the dread of condemnation?

put yourself in Hmon's shoes. His wife

and advisers who had told him to murder

Mori and then go on his joyful way now

saying you can't beat him. You think

that dread's setting in a little bit.

Let's continue in the story in Esther uh

because the dread definitely sets in for

him. So again, he's hurried to this

feast thinking he's going to be honored.

The king and Hmon went to the feast with

Queen Esther on the second day. As they

were drinking wine after the feast, the

king again said to Esther, "What is your

wish, Queen Esther? It shall be granted

you. What is your request? Even to half

of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled." I

want to switch for a second and put

ourselves in the shoes of Esther. This

is now the second time God is showing

her great favor with the king's attitude

has not changed. This is a capriccious

king. He's got emotions like this,

especially when he's drinking. And it's

just more evidence that God gave her

favor with the king even to the second

feast. And what's she trying to do?

Well, she's serving the Lord and

exposing the sin.

Hmon's being exposed. So, we put

ourselves in Hmon shoes. This is, I

think, a good way to interpret scripture

applicationally and devotionally. You

look at it's like, well, what Hmon's the

negative example. Don't be like him.

Don't hide your sin. God will expose it.

Don't be the person who has to be

exposed before they confess.

Confess early. Confess often. But when

it comes to Esther, the way she's

serving the Lord is by exposing sin. So

let's go Ephesians 5:11 where we're

Ephesians 5:11

commanded to do the very same thing.

Take no part in unfruitful works of

darkness, but instead expose them.

Remember, we learned in Galatians as

well that we ought to be uh gentle in

doing so, even with the rebuke uh

because we don't want to go beyond what

the person needed to hear to be cut to

the heart by the sin. and that then they

should be res restored in a spirit of

gentleness as well.

So just shifting gears for a second from

like are you in a situation where your

sin needs to be exposed? What about if

you're in a situation where God is

leading you to expose the sin of another

person? And since I think it's probably

more likely than you uncovering a plot

for someone to kill all the Jews of the

world right now, it's probably more

likely something where you're not

exposing somebody's sin so that they get

some kind of just consequence. It may be

that and you should be faithful there.

But because you're having to speak the

truth and love to someone, you know that

the way they're living, their attitude,

their actions, their inactions show that

there's sin in their life. and you know,

not a whole lot of people know, and

you've been sensing the spirit leading

you to actually go talk to them out of

love for them, a redemptive friend,

right? Faithful are the are the wounds

of a friend. Yeah, it wounds. It wounds.

There's a conviction hurts, but maybe

you need to be faithful in doing that.

And and what is God saying other than

that I'm going to be faithful in helping

you to do that when he continues to show

faithfulness to Esther? And we already

learned that Esther had to surrender her

life to be willing to. Literally, you

have to surrender your life to be

willing to, too. Because it's just so

easy to avoid the conflict. You don't

want to hear, "Oh, you're judging me.

You don't want the relationship to be

diminished." But again, do you really

love them? Well, then you'll tell them

the truth. And you'll tell them that in

love. And by the way, if you put your

finger on the issue, I'll just make up a

random one. Uh let's let's say you have

a friend and you know they're engaging

in gossip pretty regularly and it's just

playing with fire that could spread

destroy relationships and so you need

feel like you need to sit down. Um

I cannot remember a time in my pastoral

career where I talked to somebody about

the sin of gossip where they admitted it

not once. The definition of gossip can

be very squishy and you can be very

evasive with it. Um, I still do it, but

it's almost never it's almost never that

people admit it because it's just so

easy not to admit it. But you still have

to be faithful in talking to somebody

about that. So maybe there's someone in

your life that you need to talk to about

some kind of sin. Maybe it's gossip.

Maybe it's something else. You only need

to say it once.

You don't need to keep reiterating it.

I've learned by failure these lessons.

By the way, if you're wondering, it's

like, well, he's saying that, but does

he do that? Well, I fail in those areas.

I I let my passion to try to convince

them that they need to change, overrule,

uh that it really is just God's spirit.

He can use you just saying it once. Have

you ever told someone they're doing

something wrong? They have a vitriolic

rel uh reaction, but then come back and

admit it. I've been the one who did

that. So, you you just plant the seed.

you let the Lord work on the heart. You

just need to be faithful and say it

once. But you don't want to be the

person that that like with Esther, it

was like, well, someone else will do it.

If you don't do it, you're going to die

anyway. So, in this situation,

why just hope that someone else will do

it when God may be using you to do it?

And he's really going to fault you for

just speaking the truth in love. He's

never going to do that. He's going to

bless you for it. He's going to support

you in doing it. And then you're the

person that helped this person

recognize. And maybe it's just like a,

you know, like a precedent where they've

heard it from one person and God's going

to tell them from another person and at

some point it's going to stack up to the

point where they can't deny it anymore.

But are you going to be faithful in that

way? Esther was.

And he is still offering half his

kingdom. And she says, "What?" Then the

queen Then Queen Esther answered, "If I

found favor in your sight, O king, and

if it pleased the king, let my life be

granted me for my wish and my people for

her request." You realize she has

something far more valuable to ask of

the king than half his kingdom, her

life, and the life of all of her people.

And you can tell an arrogant person

wouldn't speak like this unless they

were being unbelievably manipulative.

And who have absolutely no reason to

believe that Esther had any kind of

pattern of manipulation. Verse four, for

we have been sold, I and my people, to

be destroyed, to be killed, and to be

annihilated.

If we had been sold merely as slaves,

men and women, I would I would have been

silent. For our affliction is not to be

compared with the loss to the king. What

is she saying there? Some commentators

take it as hyperbole. Um I without clear

evidence that she's just exaggerating.

I'm not gonna to go there. Um I think

there is a possibility that what she is

saying is that in this in one case um

Hmon could have uh just tried to enslave

them and in that situation then they

would have been his charge and she

wouldn't have even said anything cuz

then it would have required a loss to

the king. That might be the case. I

think probably a better way to translate

this is that this thing that I'm talking

to you about is so serious that I have

to say something. And if it was less

serious, I wouldn't have. But it's that

serious. I think that's what she's

actually saying.

For we have been sold on my people to be

destroyed, to be killed, to be

annihilated. And we have been sold

merely as slaves. Men and women I would

have remained silent or been silent. for

our affliction is not compared to be

compared with a loss of the king. I'm

not bothering you for no reason. Then

King Aras Asaweras said to Queen Esther,

"Who is he and where is he and who has

dared to do this?" Um,

King Aasaweres does not know that Esther

is part of the people group that he's

already made a pro proclamation to be

killed. I think he's figuring it out

right here. Um, so he has this personal

state because he actually loves Esther,

polygamist or not, he loves her. He

likes her. He has great favor towards

her. She's tweeting him to tweeting him.

Treating him, treating him the exact

opposite as Vashi was.

It's just a little side point, but men

love being treated with honor and

respect. They absolutely love that. Of

course, it's Mother's Day, so I think

the person that we ought to honor and

respect is our wives. And I just I meant

to do like a little Mother's Day talk

before and so let me put a comment what

we're just talking about. We'll come

back to it. How angry house was will be

the trigger for coming back to it. Um,

but I just want to say one thing real

quick. When I used to go to football

camps at Portland State, uh, in August,

we did daily doubles and they weaken

you. I come in at 100%. And something

would happen where your body is just

like chronic pain and and banged up and

your neck and your shoulders and your

elbows and your knees, everything just

hurts and you don't ever get to that

preseason 100% again. You're like down

at 80%. And then the season wears you

down too. You're basically playing and

trying to differentiate between being

hurt and between injured. And I'm

primarily talking to the men here, the

husbands. Um, and uh, so the point here

is that I think motherhood can be like

that, too. It can be a full contact

sport and it can really drain you. And

mothers don't get breaks off enough. So

my challenge to the men is partly

spawned from the idea Christine just

asked for the day off. And today she's

only going to get half day off, but I

think I'd like to give her tomorrow off

as well and just do everything I can for

her to have zero responsibility, which

means also cleaning the house today

because if the house is not clean, she

will not feel like she can just have

zero responsibility. I know that much.

But what would it look like to actually

make some effort, maybe just not even

for a day, to get your wife away,

especially if she's got young kids, but

regardless, to get this mother away and

see if she can seek the Lord for a time

of refreshment and encouragement and get

back to 100%.

Right? This is a one flesh union. It

benefits you to have a wife at 100%,

too. Um, but it might take some

sacrifice. Might take some money to send

her to the coast or wherever she's going

to go or however much time you'll be

able to scratch out for her. and it

takes a sacrifice of you maybe even

taking the day off work so you can watch

the kids or getting some kind of nanny

or babysitter. Anyway, that's my

challenge. I think that's one way that

we could really honor uh the mothers in

our congregation um by giving him a

break. It's a non-stop job. All right,

back to King Aasurus's anger. I want you

to imagine a man who basically thinks

he's a god king, who thinks he's all

powerful and is unbelievably powerful,

finding out that someone has

uh conspired to kill his favored queen.

There would be some serious anger. Um,

and I say that for a reason because I

want to I want to compare it to God's

anger, too. Who is he and where is he?

And who has dared to do this? There's

there's wrath in that voice behind the

scenes. And Esther said, "A foe and an

enemy, this wicked Hmon." And then Hmon

was terrified before the king and the

queen. Terrified.

Often times, students of the Bible will

compare Judas and Peter. And there's a

reason. Because Judas regretted what he

did, but he didn't repent. Peter

regretted what he did and did repent.

And the difference was life and death

even on this earth.

Judas goes and hangs himself.

Peter is dejected. Thinks he's

disqualified himself. Goes back to

fishing. But the Lord restores him. And

not without pain because Peter's got to

admit. Peter's got to admit that he

betrayed him three times instead of

feeding his sheep, instead of being the

one who wouldn't fall away just at the

threat of death.

And so there is a dramatic difference

between feeling bad about your sin,

which is just contrition, versus

repentant contrition.

I I know what I think about this

passage. When you read that he was

terrified, you think he was experiencing

the dread of condemnation and

consequence or repentant contrition?

Was he actually sorry or did he just get

caught and now is in terror before the

king?

probably terror before God too because

that's the implication of verse 13. You

can't win against the Jews. They have a

God who doesn't lose.

So consider that is the fear that you

have even right now if you're thinking

like I'm I haven't been found out yet,

but it must be close cuz listen to the

sermon and I've been hiding a sin or God

I know that I should have already talked

to this person but I'm unwilling to

which by the way that's just a sin of

omission. you know what you ought to do

and then you're not doing it. It's just

a sin of omission. And in this case, God

just won't use you. Uh but man, I

talked to plenty of people in their

older times that wish they would have

started being faithful early on so that

God could use them in ministry. So, if

you're in a place where like, I don't

know why God's not using me in a certain

way, this might be a reason where there

are certain things when he tells you to

do them. You can avoid do them and no

one will know. But you know, he knows

since you won't do them, he's not

advancing you into places of greater

responsibility for him. And so you're

not being used in in as meaningful a

way. Esther is being used in an

unbelievably meaningful way. But again,

God will always expose sin. So you

either respond with repentant contrition

or the dread of condemnation.

Are you like right now experiencing

dread of condemnation?

Noah over he's four just turned four

overcame that again faith of a child but

that's all that's needed it's faith you

trust that God is merciful and gracious

let let me strengthen our conviction

that God is not a scary God to repent

to. He's a scary God not to repent to.

Let's go to Psalm 51

16-17. Famous Jesus, I mean uh David, a

Christ figure indeed. But David um had

just been found out exposed by the

prophet Daniel uh Nathan for I mean

assassinating Uriah to cover up

adultery.

I think without a doubt the worst thing

David has ever done in his life. And he

had been trying to hide his need for

repentance.

And this is what he said about God. This

is what he knows. For you will not

delight in sacrifice or I would give

you. You will not be pleased with a

burnt offering. Verse 17, the sacrifices

of God are broken spirit. A broken and

contrite heart, oh God, you will not

despise. That's what the sacrifice of

the Old Testament were about. And you

might think, "Oh, well, we don't make

sacrifices anymore." Uh, yes, we do. We

We decide, I'm going to do better. I'm

going to leave this sin unexposed. I'm

not going to talk about it, but I'm just

going to do better next time. That's not

a broken spirit.

That's not a contrite heart. You can't

just cover over your sin with better

action, which is the way that some were

using sacrifices back then, too. It's

just a wrote kind of thing that they do.

like the Godfather confessing a sin on a

Sunday to a priest and then going to

murdering people who aren't doing what

he wants them to do again.

It's not just crime bosses that do that.

And so, one of the reasons why we need

to hear the gospel over and over again

is because we're so bent to try to

outrun our own sins, outdo them, atone

for them ourselves. The sacrifices of

God are a broken spirit, a broken and

contrite heart, oh God, you will not

despise. One of my favorite examples in

all of scripture is Luke 18.

And this is what Jesus said. Luke 18

Luke 18:10

verse 10. Two men went up into the

temple to pray. One a Pharisee and the

other a tax collector. Pharisees in that

times were considered the best of the

best. Tax collectors worst of the worst.

Just think uh worse than the IRS. Way

worse. The Pharisees standing by himself

prayed, "Thus

God, I thank you that I'm not like other

men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers,

or even like this tax collector or like

those crooked politicians."

And whoever decided

to call it the learing center.

I think we are better spellers than

them.

But that's what this guy's praying to

the Lord. He can actually say it out

loud. Thank you for not making me like

that guy. I fast twice a week. I do

things. I fast twice a week. I give

tithes of all that I get. Faithful

things to do. Giving is a faithful thing

to do. What is he highlighting? God's

grace and mercy for all the ways that he

needed to be forgiven and had no right

to claim.

No, I do all these things. But the tax

collector standing far off would not

even lift up his eyes to heaven, but

beat his breast, saying, "God, be

merciful to me a sinner." I tell you,

this man went down to his house

justified rather than the other. For

everyone who exalts himself will be

humbled, but the one who humbles himself

will be exalted.

God will treat you gently when you come

to him.

Even if you're on death row,

he's going to reassure you. You know,

the Holy Spirit is the one responsible

for giving us assurance of salvation in

our hearts.

A man or woman on death row, caught dead

to rights, already convicted, going to

be executed, can experience an

unbelievable peace between them and the

judge of all the earth, even without

their sentence being taken away for one

second.

David in that psalm talks about against

you only have I sinned. Well, what about

Uriah? What about Basheba? What about

all the people of Israel? The problem of

sin is between you and God and you know

it. And that's what he was saying.

That's where you have to get right.

Nobody else can forgive you. Nobody else

can absolve you. This isn't a situation

where like the victim can say, "Hey,

don't give him the stiff of a penalty."

You reach a plea deal. There's no plea

deals with God except faith in the

cross. That's the only righteous plea.

I showed you Isaiah 60:22. remember in

Isaiah 60:22

its time I will hasten it. I don't know

if you knew what comes right after that

uh but it is absolutely famous. Isaiah

Isaiah 61:1–3

61 verse 1-3.

Remember I was using Isaiah 60:22 to

Isaiah 60:22

show how God will in its time he will

hasten his redemption and judgment.

Hasten his redemption of his people and

the judgment of the nations who are

fighting against them. And the very next

verses are the spirit of the Lord God is

upon me because the Lord has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor. He has

sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to

proclaim liberty to the captives, and

the opening of the prison to those who

are bound.

I think we have one more verse, don't

we? To proclaim the year of the Lord's

favor and the day of vengeance of our

God, to comfort all who mourn. Remember

Jesus standing up in the synagogue,

opening the scroll, and reading that and

saying, "Today in your hearing, it has

been fulfilled." In other words, I'm

him.

I'm actually him.

No one was ready for their visitation at

that time either.

So, what if instead of thinking today

that God is hastening to expose your

sin, that he's hastening to convict you

and that you when you come to the table

today

to ask him for forgiveness by faith, you

can just trust his character that he's

going to forgive you. Even if you have

to face some consequences,

you know, if you admit something hidden

to someone, they're going to be hurt.

They didn't know you've been hiding it.

They'll be hurt. God will have to heal

their heart, too. But why hide it?

You know, babies can't hide their

emotions. So, you get to see exactly

what human emotion looks like. Leg

shaking,

eyes tearing up, big tears, loud voice,

crying. I'm so sorry, Mommy.

And what if what if that's all it takes?

And it's not a what if. That is all it

real contrition. just come to the table

regardless of what it is.

Most of us already know. Maybe it's

apathy. You're just not interested in

scripture. Not really interested in

prayer. Seems like a total choice. Sure.

Have you ever thought you just need to

repent of your apathy and admit it as

sin?

How could we be apathetic about a God

who loves us so much that instead of

justly condemning us, condemns his own

son for us?

Whatever is great in your life, it only

has its context in magnifying God's

glory. So like, oh, that vacation was so

amazing. It had a certain amount of

glory. God has infinitely more, way more

interesting, way more satisfying, way

more joyful, way more exciting. And so

apathy is just so opposite of the right

emotion. Something's wrong. Your

affections are messed up. So if you've

got apathy, wondering why it's so dry,

maybe just repent and say, "I'm sorry.

I'm sorry that I make you look boring,

Lord.

I don't know what it is. Thought life is

one other area I want to talk about and

then close. We already saw that God sees

your thoughts.

Some of you may be successfully avoiding

having those thoughts, those sinful

thoughts turn into actions.

But,

you know,

I forget the story. story. I was

listening on the radio just a moment ago

on the way to church and oh, it was

between um I'm not going to say it.

There's too many details I don't want to

share, but basically it was this

political row between two political

figures. And uh one uh then got

assaulted right after. And so now these

words look really kind of bad. They

didn't didn't age well as they say these

days cuz this person got assaulted.

Well, this person when they sees their

political enemy get assaulted might just

have the thought serves them right. You

know, the law says that when we see our

enemy trapped under a donkey, we

shouldn't rejoice.

Why did God have to put that in his

word? Because he knows us. He knows

that's going to be our attitude. Joy and

glee over enemy pain. And so that's just

a thought though. That's the sin. You

can see that the real like instead of

thinking of thoughts and this is really

what I'm going to say to take this to

commun instead of thinking thoughts as

not that big of a deal because they

didn't make their way out into action.

How about realizing that those are real

core to our heart's desires and that's

where the problem is. So if you're

having sin in your thought life on a

regular basis don't hide it. It's so

easy to hide though. There's nobody that

has telepathy except for God. And I

wouldn't even call it that. He's just

omnisient. So don't hide it. Let's put

the main point up one more time.

God will always expose sin. So you

either respond with repentant contrition

or dread of condemnation.

So don't don't sit here and not get up

and just have the walls of that dread

start closing in on you. Do what Noah

did. Even if it's scary, even if it

makes you sad, even if it hurts, come to

the table. And if you need to confess

sin to somebody else, because sometimes

it actually has to be exposed. I'm

available for that. And you know my

story well enough that you would know it

would be an excruciatingly

extreme hypocrisy for me to judge you.

There have been people who have come

directly to me and confessed pretty

serious sins and I have never judged one

of them.

Haven't even heard worse sins than what

I've committed. But we're not competing

here. So you're not going to be judged.

We want to be like God. You're gonna be

you're going to be held accountable. We

were going to talk to you and say we

this needs to change. How can we help,

right?

But don't don't just Yeah. Your legs

shaking, your eyes are watering, your

voice is quivering. Come to the table.

Let me pray. Heavenly Father, I pray

that not a single person who has sin in

their life today would not would fail to

come to the table in repentant

contrition.

Now's the time. We don't know if we're

going to be rushed to exposure right

after this. We don't know. Why wait?

You're such a gracious God.

We can come to to your throne room with

confidence in our time of need for grace

because you've already died for us. And

why would a God who died for us kill us

for confessing our sin? It doesn't make

any sense. Ignite our faith, Lord, and

help us to be fully clear. I pray that

every single person would walk out of

here with their guilt cleared. And and

for those of you that have never

repented in the first place, let me just

pray pray for you right now. Lord, I

pray that you would bring salvation to

the hearts of those who have never been

willing to admit that they're sinners in

relationship to you. I know they know.

You know they know. Your word exposes

that. And I pray that if anybody is

willing to repent today, that they would

pray this prayer. Lord, I repent of my

sin.

I ask you for your forgiveness.

I put my faith in the cross of your son,

Jesus Christ. Save me in Jesus name.

Amen.