Selfish Ambition - Esther 5:9-14 - Sunday Sermon

Um, we had a great men's ministry time

yesterday. Those are going to be at the

end of every month on the last Saturday

of the month at church unless otherwise

announced. If we're maybe doing an

event, it could be a different time. But

it was it was really powerful. We talked

about besetting sins. I think it's in

the KJV version that that is uh the

actual words that are used. But in e in

the ESV in Hebrews 12, um it's the sin

that clings so closely and ask the men

to take a risk and actually share what

they think their besetting sin is. And

this is different than just like any sin

that you might commit, but it's

something that is patternistically

coming up in your life that's been a

problem for you for a long time. I gave

an example in the life of Moses. Um

anger seems to be one of them. when he

got angry about the slave handler and

killed him. And then even at the end of

his ministry, um got banned from going

to the promised land because he in anger

uh seems to have taken um some of the

credit for water coming out of the rock.

And uh and Moses was

according to God the most humble man

that had ever lived at least at that

time. And this is at the end of his

life. So presumably when he had uh grown

the most, he still has this issue. So

and it's it can be sin that clings

really closely. And these men uh were

humble and vulnerable and honest and uh

I want to thank you for being willing to

share like that. And uh I challenge them

to actually discuss that with someone

else that might be an accountability

partner and come up with a plan uh to

overcome that issue or to grow in that

way. And um I can't remember if someone

actually specifically mentioned

something like selfish ambition or

discontentment which goes hand in hand.

Um and that that can be a besetting sin.

Like when you look at someone and you

kind of think, "Oh, that person's an

Eeyore or they're sort of you can always

rely on them to be a wet blanket. Uh

nothing ever seems to be going great in

their life. It's always just barely good

enough." Um or it's like, "Oh, things

are just not that good." every time you

check in with them like that. Maybe the

besetting sin is just something kind of

like discontentment or selfish ambition.

We're going to be talking about that

today. And there's something about

selfish ambition that I'd like to

illustrate. But I guess before I do

that, let me pray and we'll get into

Esther. And this is we're in Esther 5

9-14.

And a very real way, the story is really

heating up. We're kind of getting to the

uh to the climax of the conflict and its

resolution here real soon. Let me pray

and we'll get into it. Father,

thank you for the contentment that you

offer us and the ability to replace our

selfish ambition with serving you and

therefore serving others. I think of

this day and the beauty of it, the sun

shining, the flowers coming out in

springtime um as a time where we ought

to be content and where we ought to be

serving one another and where our inner

heart attitude ought to match the kind

of life uh that you've given us and we

just got done celebrating Easter and it

just seems like today would be a very

good time uh just as good as time as any

and an important time to surrender ender

discontentment that we have and gain the

godliness that comes with contentment

which is great gain and I pray that for

everyone in this room uh that you would

highlight the ways that we're not

content in you and show us that secret

that Paul's talk talks about about how

we can do all things through him who

strengthens us. I pray these things in

Jesus name. Amen.

Contentment

that or discontentment that comes as a

result of selfish ambition is a really

dangerous form of discontentment. And I

want to um illustrate something about

selfish ambition uh by just talking

about uh a type of virus. I was looking

up viruses. Um we found out yesterday I

had to take uh Ezra to the urgent care.

are he has uh strep throat and um I just

the other day someone took me fishing

got some spring shinook. I don't know if

you've ever had spring shinook but man

that is you know when you get like a a

an orange and it's just so much better

than other oranges. Maybe it's because

that's orange season or something like

that. Well, salmon season I think spring

shinook's the best and so and Christine

cooked it just perfectly. In fact, um I

don't know if you know this, but ribeye

probably my favorite form of protein.

That's case for a lot of people, but if

I had the option between well-cooked

spring chinook and ribeye, it'd probably

be a toss up. I might even just go with

spring chinook. It was that good. And we

had it and then about 3 hours later, I

felt queasy. And I'm not Superman, but

if I had a kryptonite, nausea is it. I I

hate nausea. It just taints everything

that's happening that day. And so I

thought, oh, I wonder if I got food

poisoning or if I have the stomach flu.

Neurovirus is usually what's responsible

for what people call the stomach flu.

And it's one of the fastest, I don't

know if you call it propagating or

replicating viruses, but it reproduces,

if you can even say that about viruses,

really fast. So one, and it only takes a

tiny amount

for that to happen. So, like if the

neuro virus was on your counter and you

swipe it with your hand and maybe you

have some jam on your hand, you lick

your hand, it's just a tiny tiny amount

uh less than most viruses in order for

you to get infected with it and then you

have all the symptoms. So, most of you

probably had something like the stomach

flu before and you're throwing up and

other horrible symptoms, stomach cramps,

and it can just be terrible. And it it

usually only lasts about 1 to 3 days, so

your body takes care of it on its own.

But just how quickly the the virus will

grow in your body to a point where all

the symptoms appear um is something that

illustrates selfish ambition except it's

like a a spiritual virus. And unlike the

norovirus, you can restrain the negative

results of selfish ambition for a while.

And you can even cloak them. And once

they're cloaked, uh, you've deceived

yourself into thinking that your motive

isn't selfish ambition. And we'll see

how James

in the book of James uh, calls the

results of selfish ambition, especially

in the context of seeking God's wisdom

demonic.

Ever thought of self selfish ambition

and its results demonic? because they'll

warp your pos uh perception of what's

good and right and true to the point

where it just becomes wicked. It's it's

like a virus. It'll poison everything in

your life. Like for example, if I

actually got the norovirus um then it w

the nausea it just takes over and I

wouldn't be thinking about how wonderful

spring day it is. I'd be thinking about

how horrible this stomach cramp is. and

selfish ambition will do the same thing.

But it can go undiagnosed in your heart,

in your spirit. And you you'll see today

that Hmon was able to restrain its

results for a time. Uh but then it led

to something so evil. So we ought to

really take selfish ambition seriously.

Um one of the things that selfish

ambition will do, it will cause you to

hate people that are in the way of your

ambition. cause you to have contempt for

them, hatred in your heart, and it will

end up one of the results, just like the

result of neuroviruses, stomach cramps,

one of the results of selfish ambition

will be that it'll rob you of your

contentment and joy in life. In fact,

you could be someone who just about

everyone else would be jealous of

potentially like in every category of

places where you would want a certain

amount of things, you could have sort of

the maximum amount of those things or

some faximile of that and still one

thing in your life that's not going

right could just rob you of all your joy

and then all those things become

worthless. If you want a main point

today, and I know you guys usually do,

that main point is that selfish ambition

always leads to the hatred of others and

the loss of your joy.

Selfish ambition always leads to hatred

of others and the loss of your joy.

Usually, when the main point of a

passage, the moral of the story is is

negative like that, I will also flip it

around and well, what's the opposite of

that? and we'll be talking about that.

But I'm going to leave this as the main

point without a complimentary positive

opposite uh because the the tone of this

of this portion of the story of this

part of the life of Hmon Morai and

Zaresh and and the other people involved

in this part of the story. Uh it really

is a warning. It's not a positive

um development in the story at all. And

so I want to keep it as a warning, but

it's it's not that we're not going to

talk about, well, what would the

opposite be of having selfish ambition

that leads to hatred of others and the

loss of your joy? We will talk about the

opposite cuz that is very very hopeful.

Um, but if the Holy Spirit convicts you,

diagnoses you with selfish ambition or

just with discontentment in your life or

maybe maximally

uh with like a spirit that's that people

would call like malcontent like you're

just generally not content all the time.

Uh if the Holy Spirit convicts you of

that today, remember it's like a virus.

it will just keep growing in your life.

And the destruction of that uh is far

worse than you thought it would actually

be. Just like the destruction in your

body of some viruses can be far worse

than you would think. This tiny little

thing. It's kind of like when Jesus said

or Paul as well, a little leaven

leavenvens the whole lump. Paul was

talking about legalism. In this case,

I'm talking about selfish ambition. But

both are a work of the flesh. They're

not sowing to the spirit. Sowing to the

spirit will have a result. works of the

flesh will have a result. The work of

the flesh is death and destruction. It

always is. And even though you can

restrain it for a time, eventually it

breaks out. So, let's get into the

story. Uh we only have a couple verses

to go over today, but it's just really

deep and relevant stuff and we'll be

applying it going all throughout

scripture. So, verse 9 says this. Um

Hmon went out that day joyful and glad

of heart. He'd just been invited to a

feast with Queen Esther, which is a high

honor, and King Aasaweras. Um, and King

Asaweras is more like what we would

think of an emperor. He's just in charge

of so many provinces, basically the

known world at that time. Um, so he's a

high king. Um, and it would be a big

deal to be invited to a feast. And not

only that, um, as we discovered, Esther

was being patient and and had a a wise

plan to expose Hmon. Hmon doesn't know

that, though. Um, and is invited to him

to another feast. So, when we know that

Hmon's sin is is selfish, ambition.

That's all over. And and it'll be shown

here again that that's really all he

cares about. what he gets really excited

about uh when when his plans for his

selfish ambitions seem to be coming to

fruition. Um and man, getting invited to

a second feast with this high king and

his queen. Uh what an honor. And getting

that second feast, it just seems like

everything's on the up and up for him.

So verse 9 again, and Hmon went out that

day joyful and glad of heart.

And so there's no point in contradicting

the Bible. It says that he was joyful

and glad of heart. Yet moments later in

the narrative, we're going to find out

that something robbed him of all of his

joy. And so this was not spiritual joy

or the kind of gladness of heart that is

disconnected from context. So the joy of

the Lord, the contentment of the Lord,

the peace of the Lord, the gladness of

heart that we gain by sewing to the

spirit is not connected or even

correlated to context. I'm going to show

you that a couple different ways in

scripture today. But it's joy that you

can have in the midst of sorrow. It's

it's peace that surpasses understanding.

And it's contentment even in famine.

Right? So So that's not the joy he's

experiencing here today. But it does

make me want to stop and consider the

fact that even when we're operating the

flesh, carrying out a work of the flesh,

in this case attitudinally, but also

through a plan of action to have the

Jews put to death, because there's this

one man, Mori, who's thwarting

his selfish ambitions, Hmon's selfish

ambitions. And and so yet in the midst

of this thing, having just gotten

invited to a feast and then going to a

second feast, he sees himself as

basically one of the most important

people in the entire Persian and Median

Empire. And he is. He seems to be second

in command to Saweres alone based on

this passage and other ones. And uh he's

he's joyful. It seems like his selfish

ambition plans are coming to fruition.

And it is to some degree the same with

works of the flesh.

Just because God has said that marriage

should be between one man and one woman

and that the kinds of physical pleasures

we not only get to experience but are

holy for to us for us to experience in

marriage. Uh just because that's

obedience does not mean that you will

not find a degree of pleasure and joy

outside of God's plan in relationship to

a man or a woman. He doesn't turn off

the romance. He doesn't turn off the

uh I'm going to say camaraderie, but

that's more between that's like the the

romantic

uh excitement of getting to know someone

and feeling deep connections. He doesn't

turn that off. He doesn't turn off the

physical pleasure. He doesn't turn off

that thing that makes you feel less

lonely when you become closer to someone

uh especially in a romantic

relationship. But when you do it outside

of its plan, it always has some kind of

destructive expiration date. The joy

that I'm talking about, the the

excitement. Um so it is a little bit in

a way like um

I don't know if fish experience sense of

satisfaction when they bite into food,

but if there's a hook at the back, you

know, the back of that food, uh that's

what fleshly joys are like. You've heard

wise counselors probably say they have

diminishing returns. Uh that's a whole

other concept altogether where it's like

the the the kind of joy that you can get

from the fleshly action diminishes in

its ability to make you feel some kind

of counterfeit joy. That's what I would

call this. This is a counterfeit joy. Um

it's a joy that's just purely natural

and will come and go. It doesn't sustain

you. It's not a mark of the character of

a person to experience joy like this.

and his joy is easily robbed uh by other

sinful attitudes and that is exactly

what happens to him. So my point here is

that um if you can experience joy and

gladness and let's say you're

experiencing joy and gladness right now

um it could potentially be a fleshly

kind of joy and gladness uh but still

because it feels good and real it can

cover over the fact that actually

underneath you're relatively discontent.

Anger is such a uh common experience

that it's just seems really relatable.

He's Hmon is going to be filled with

wrath here in a moment in the story and

he's going to be really angry. And anger

can be the same thing. So you might have

a deep-seated anger issue, a real temper

and it's hurt people around you. I know

all about that in my own life. It's been

one of the uh biggest sort of repeating

issues is have I have to surrender to

the Lord in order for my anger to not go

out of bounds. Paul says be angry but do

not sin. So there is an anger that is

not sinful. Uh but so quickly like just

boundaries after boundaries after

boundaries I find God putting in my life

so that that anger doesn't become

sinful. And so let's say that for months

on end uh not without certain

provocations I have not fallen to anger.

Well that was true for Moses too right

before um he he sinned against God by

taking some credit for himself and then

got banned for from the promised land.

So just because the symptoms of a sin

have not shown up in your life does not

mean it's it's not still there. Right?

And if discontentment is a besetting sin

or at least a sin that you're

experiencing in your life and it is sin.

I will show you that in a moment. God is

too good for discontentment not to be a

sin. It's a sign of pride in our lives.

And so when you're experiencing that

joy and gladness that are not actually

from the Lord, not from the spirit, but

just from you getting what you wanted

can cover over it. that that means and

I'm not thinking of any particular

person but in a group this size it's

almost certain that someone is

experiencing discontentment of some sort

in their life and it's probably likely

uh I guess especially in springtime that

there are aspects of your life that are

going really well that are that are that

cause you to experience joy maybe joy

short of real lasting joy but still joy

and so you're experiencing joy right now

and that means you probably think I

don't have a problem with discontent

contentment, right? And I cannot

convince you that you do have a problem

with discontentment. In fact, I'm not

really trying to convince you that you

do. Um, I'm trying to say you could have

it even though you don't think you do.

That's what I'm trying to say. Listen to

the spirit about whether that's

something he's convicting you of. It's

actually a real burden on the Christian

heart uh to to not make a decision

whether something is an issue for you.

Because if discontentment is not an

issue for you and you are experiencing

the satisfaction of the Lord on a

regular basis, you ought to be commended

by that. God is very pleased. It's good.

Okay? So,

basically, don't take my words to heart

if the Holy Spirit's not placing them on

your heart. But if he is, do. And

even if right now you're not feeling

discontent, maybe it's because some

merely human emotions and not even

sinful emotions are covering over that.

So I say, let the Holy Spirit under the

hood, let him let him evaluate you. Say

with David, see if there be any grievous

way in me and lead me on the way

everlasting. So don't stop at a shallow

place. It's not good for you. Right? If

there's an infection under the skin, you

need to get under the skin to see it.

So even Hmon, this wicked man with a

wicked plan, is experiencing some form

of joy and gladness. And yet, but when

Hmon saw Morai in the king's gate, that

he neither rose nor trembled before him,

he was filled with wrath against Mordei.

It's probably not that important of a

point, but I did find it kind of

interesting that the last time the

problem was that he wouldn't bow, and

this time is the problem that he

wouldn't rise.

When you're crooked in your relationship

to somebody, it doesn't matter what

they're doing, you feel like it's wrong.

You know,

I'm thinking of a way to say this

without getting political. The only time

I intend to touch on politics is when

the kinds of convictions that we ought

to have ought to shape our politics, you

know. Um, but I'm not just always trying

to go there. But let's say news

organizations have a lean to the left or

to the right, you will see how when

whoever is in charge of something that

they're talking about, they'll be skewed

against what they're doing. Uh, you

know, so if it's a more liberalleaning

news outlet, oh, then Trump can't do

anything right. And if it's a more

right-leaning outlet, then maybe some

Democratic senator can't do anything

right. Um there are sometimes people

that report and will actually praise

even someone that has a very different

worldview from which they operate

politically uh for doing the right

thing. You know, sometimes there's

bipartisan support for things. But it's

that kind of thing like no matter what

you do

because this person is selfishly

ambitious and ye or she thinks you're in

the way. It doesn't matter what you do.

They just think it's wrong. I want to

point out another thing. It it doesn't

just say that he neither rose uh or that

he didn't just pay honor to him. You

might say, well, isn't it right for us

to honor those who are, you know, in

terms of authority superiors? And yes,

the Bible does say we should do that.

Um, fear the Lord, honor the emperor,

you know. So, we are and that that was

said during the reign of a wicked

emperor. I think it's Nero at that time

in in uh during Peter's writing. And so,

uh, it's not just an it's an honor for

the position, even if the person isn't

respectable, uh, by by biblical

standards. And, and for those of us that

know how to honor men and women like

that, we know exactly what that means.

So, is that all that he's looking for?

Well, I really honed in on this word

trembled. Trembled before him. He was

filled with wrath against Mori. Why is

he filled with wrath against Mori? Is it

just because Mori is not showing signs

of respect for his authority? What's

this trembling about?

What if what if I told you that it makes

me angry that you guys don't tremble

before me?

That is a special kind of cringe. If I

if I actually meant that, what I mean,

honestly, if I actually meant if I stood

up and I you guys should tremble before

me, would you not feel like leaving?

Maybe some of you wouldn't leave cuz you

think surely this is some kind of joke

that he But Hmon's not joking.

It's a trembling that he wants far

beyond just any kind of normal respect

or honoring of authority. And Mori is

not doing either. Not showing signs of

respect. Not trembling. We've already

dealt with whether it was right or wrong

for Mordei to bow to Hmon or not. The

conclusion was that because Mordei

refused with the detail saying, "I'm a

Jew," that Morai had a conviction that

he wasn't going to do this. And I

believe the reason to be is that Hmon

actually wanted to be worshiped by

Morai. Trembling, trembling belongs to

the realm of worship. Let me show you

that. Um, actually one of my favorite

verses um I memorized it originally in

the 1984 NIV and um if if I remember

correctly it said this is the one whom I

esteem and I don't think that's a bad

translation at all. The isv renders it

like this. This second part portion of

the verse that I'm talking about, but

I'll read the first two. Isaiah 66:2.

Isaiah 66:2

All these things my hand has made and so

all these things came to be declares the

Lord. But this is the one to whom I will

look or this is the one whom I will

esteem. He who is humble and contrite in

spirit and trembles at my word.

I want to define the kind of trembling

because everyone when truly confronted

with the Lord trembles. I mean, every

example of a of an angel showing up in

scripture when they seem to be show up

in force, uh, people tremble, fall down

as though dead, that's just an angel.

They just have a fraction of the glory

and power to their person that God does.

Um, but when God shows up, think about

um on Mount Si,

it says the Israelites, their knees were

knocking. They were literally trembling.

And they tell Moses, tell him to stop

talking to us. You talk to him and then

you talk to us. We need a mediator.

They were afraid in their trembling.

[laughter]

And I I I believe it's just a fact that

when God shows up, you're going to

experience fear. If he shows up visibly

in that kind of f power, there's nobody

that's not going to tremble. But just

because you tremble before the Lord

because you're afraid does not mean

you're submitted to him. You know in

Revelation you have people where the

wrath of God is seems to be being poured

out on earth and they want the rocks and

hills to fall on them. They just want to

die. They're not actually repentant.

So the kind of trembling that we're

talking about here that God esteems

trembling at his word is repentant

trembling. Not just, oh no, it's not

just uh you know that Tom Hanks movie,

Road to Predition. He constantly had

this forboding feeling that working as a

mob enforcer, if I remember correctly,

uh was going to lead him to hell. Like

the road to predition. That's what that

means. This this weighty guilt and the

people that love him want him to stop,

but he doesn't stop. And that guilt just

keeps ins snaring him. That's not what

we're talking about. When when when the

Bible says to a character like Tom Hanks

was playing, a mob enforcer that uh that

God will judge them, you might tremble

for a moment. Uh but not to the point of

repentance. The trembling we're talking

about here is repentant trembling, a

fear of the Lord that includes not just

reverence, real fear. If you know who

the Lord is, he is frightening. But when

you repent, you realize instead of

killing you, he will have his own son

put to death. And so you can approach

him with confidence for grace in a time

of need. So I don't know that you can

understand that kind of trembling uh

without the Holy Spirit living in you. I

was talking to a barber. I was going to

say hairdresser. It's barber though. And

I was talking to what are you preaching

on? I said the fear of the Lord. We were

in Psalms. And she goes, "Oh, I don't

think we have to be afraid of the Lord."

And I explained to her that uh it is

simply a fact that when God shows up in

power, people are afraid. There's no I

mean, would you be afraid if you

got caught in a dark alley and there was

a guy my size that intended you to do

harm? You know, maybe if you're John

Egg, you're not afraid. Uh but uh what

about a wolf in the wilderness? What if

you see a wolf pack, you're going to be

afraid? Well, how much more powerful is

God than a wolf? And you may have been

suppressing sin in your life on top of

it. And now it's like, oh, God knows.

You know, he knows you'd be afraid. So I

I I said real fear of the Lord I think

includes actual fear, not just

reverence. Uh but then because of what

he's done for us, we do not we do not

have to be afraid in that way. And she

seemed to actually understand what I'm

saying. Whether she fully accepted or

not, I don't know. But again, trembling

of that kind belongs to worship. And

Hmon wanted that from Mordei. And he was

filled with wrath when he didn't get it.

Going back to the story, Esther 5

Esther 5:10

verse 10. Nevertheless, Hmon restrained

himself and went home and he sent and

brought his friends and his wife Zuresh.

Honestly, there seems to be a

counterfeit version of anything

everything that's actually good and

spiritual. So, self-control is good. If

you're experiencing anger and it is

red-hot,

you ought to restrain that anger. It's

not good to speak in that anger. But

there's a ocean of difference, a strong

line between the difference in like

restraining it just in your human power

and letting the Holy Spirit restrain it.

What happens when you restrain it with

your own power is it just goes

underneath and it grows there. You're

going to see that in this passage. So

that's another thing. What if you're

particularly good by just like human

faculty restraining

speaking in your anger, but it's not

actually the restraint of the Holy

Spirit. How would you know? Well, one

way to know is that

experientially you can have your anger

just dissolved. Have you ever had that

happen?

I because because my own anger scares me

because of the damage I've done to

myself and to others in my life. Uh it's

a little bit like the Lord has put my

hip out a joint when it comes to anger.

And and if I start pushing on that

anger, it hurts somewhere in my person.

And so I think I got to get rid of this

right away. I don't want it to go dark.

I don't want the enemy to gain a

foothold overnight. And so I

I'm actually pretty disciplined when it

comes to surrendering that anger. And so

over and over and over again, I've

experienced the supernatural power of

being even justifiably anger angry.

What's happened ought to make me angry.

And yet I don't want to keep carrying

it. And it's like the Holy Spirit washes

you of it. Context has not changed.

context still technically justifies some

anger yet the Holy Spirit will just take

it from you. Have you experienced that?

Well, human restraint will not do that.

It will not do that. The anger will go

somewhere else where it started like

molten lava, like just white hot anger.

It might grow cold, but it it turns into

this bitter root. It turns into

something else. I see people sometimes

and I I'm not that emotionally

intelligent, but with the spirit, you

think I think you can pick up on things

that that you wouldn't be able to

otherwise

like two different people. Both have a

similar looking face and this face just

has deep sadness on it, right? Like

there's something dead in the eyes. This

face looks angry, but not to the common

observer. It's a there's there's some

fire behind the eyes, but it's cold.

It's like a blue flame. Have you ever

seen someone like that? They're bitter

and they're angry. If and if you just

scratch the surface, oo, it will come

out. But it's not like they have some

kind of super angry expression. It's

behind the eyes. That's where that anger

goes sometimes overnight. Behind the

eyes and it defiles things. And this is

clearly what started happening to Hmon's

anger. Anger that goes cold is not

necessarily dealt with. Verse 11. And

Hmon recounted to them the splendor of

his riches, the number of his sons, all

the promotions with which the king had

honored him, and how he advanced him

above the officials and the servants of

the king. And Hmon said, "Even Queen

Esther, let no one but me come to the

king to the feast she prepared, and

tomorrow also I'm invited by her

together with the king." Let's I'm going

to give you a challenge at the end of

this. One of the reasons is that you

guys have been responding to me when I

give you practical challenges like this.

Like it it just has been really good and

really helpful. So I do I'm interested

in feedback and that is really helpful.

It's like really encouraging feedback

also makes me want to do it more. So I

it also is encouraging to me that you

guys want practical challenges. You want

to grow. You want to apply them. And

then some of you even come back and say,

"Hey, I've been applying this. It's been

working." That's also really

encouraging. The reason why that's more

encouraging than to hear, "Oh, the

sermon was eloquent," is that it uh one

of the major temptations that the enemy

just keeps shooting my way is that your

work is not worthwhile. And it's partly

because you're not that good at it. And

when I hear people say, "No, it's having

a good impact on me." Um that reminds me

that God is using me in that way. And

it's a it's like a shield against the

enemy's fiery arrows. So, thank you for

saying that and I'm going to continue uh

trying to have more practical

applications for that reason. So, for

one of them, I want you to look at Hmon

and I want you um to think about how

many what we as Christians would call

blessings he has, how many reasons he

has to be thankful, grateful, and

content. He's rich, very rich. He talked

about the splendor of your riches. And

Hmon recounted to them the splendor of

his riches. That's something to be

thankful for. That's something to be

thankful for. And the number of his

sons. According to the Bible, no matter

what modern parents say, children are

always a blessing. They're a gift. He

has 10 sons. So man,

think about it means he's also married,

right? And it also says all the

promotions which the king had honored

him. So, not only is he wealthy, not

only does he have a large family, he's

also constantly being promoted

con would some of you like to be

promoted in your in your jobs? Would you

see that as a blessing from the Lord if

you got promoted? Maybe comes with more

responsibility, a sense of greater

purpose, more money, which can really

alleviate some of the tension on your

finances if you are willing to keep your

life quality the same, but you also got

a promotion. So, some really awesome

things about getting promoted. It also

makes you feel like the work that you've

been doing is being honored and seen by

your employer or your manager, your

boss, whoever it is. And and so, I think

when you get a promotion, it's kind of

like going from like a grinding on a

rainy day to the day like this. I've

been promoted before. I uh promotions as

a pastor is like totally different. So,

I'm I'm I got promoted at the chicken

bar one time and that was like, "Oh,

sick.

I've been working hard. Uh the guy that

uh hired me there that owned it was also

my weight training coach and I really uh

he trained me for free even though it

was some of the best weight training you

could ever receive. And I wanted to do a

good job for him and I wasn't even

thinking about being promoted. I was on

scholarship with football, just been

offered the scholarship. So I don't

really need the money but I'm working

here. I get free food. It's like

training food. And so I really wanted to

but then I got the promotion like oh my

goodness it feels good right and he's

gotten all these promotions and how he

had advanced him above the officials and

the servants of the king. This is why I

think he seems to be second in command.

Another reason is that it seems that

Morai replaces him and it actually

states uh explicitly in chapter 10 that

Morortei becomes second in command.

So already kind of an ominous feel to it

here. Then Hmon said, "Even Queen

Esther, let no one but me come to the

king to the feast she prepared." Now

remember, she's coming to expose, she's

doing that, inviting him and even to a

second feast to expose his wicked plan.

But he doesn't know that. So in his

mind, it really just is one more reason

for your heart and your mind to feel

like spring looks. And listen to this.

Yet all this is worth nothing to me so

long as I see Morortei the Jew sitting

at the king's gate. And I might add lib

and not trembling in my presence.

Yet all this is worth nothing to me

that

I mean he he's brought his friends and

his wife Sesh. I don't think it says

that he had brought his sons, but it

seems like his family may be there.

Maybe his sons are there. His wife's

there, though. You know what, Zaresh?

You're worth nothing to me

until Morai trembles in my presence. If

the sons heard it, you're worth nothing

to me.

Until Morai trembles in my presence. All

these riches, all this honor, all the

honor bestowed on me, every promotion

worth nothing to me. So we know that God

has written these things down for our

encouragement, for our conviction, for

our edification,

for our consolation, for everything we

need for life and godliness

from think about for a second why why

would he have in you could have written

the story of Esther and made similar

points without that line of showing just

how much of a malcontent he is.

All this is worth nothing to me. Why

would God want us to read the story if

not to compare ourselves by putting

ourselves in the story and thinking

about am I discontent? Do I have selfish

ambition?

Is there something in my life that

taints my contentment and joy in every

other category? And one of the reasons

why I put it that way, like him looking

at Zesh and saying, "You're worth

nothing to It's not what he said, but

it's what that means. Is isn't that how

your wife is going to feel if you're

discontent and it's bleeding and

poisoning everything else in your life?

Discontent with your job, discontent

with a part of your job, discontent with

uh maybe you are discontent with your

marriage. Well, in that case, uh, your

wife's going to feel like you're

discontent with her, and your husband's

going to feel like you're discontent

with him, and your children are going to

feel like like it it casts this crooked,

gloomy cloud over your children who are

not responsible for your contentment at

all, and couldn't be even if they wanted

to. And yet, you're just discontent all

the time. It's it's poisonous to them as

well. And we know the end from the

beginning here. Because of Hmon's

leadership and because of the way he

raised his children with this selfish

ambition and hatred of Jews, they all

get hung on the gallows. And we'll get

there in a moment. But it's not what you

think. It's far more brutal of an

execution than you would have thought.

Like uh hanging by the neck from a news,

way worse than that. So selfish ambition

will poison not just your own life, but

it'll poison the life of your family and

those you care about most. It's

something you need to protect them from.

It's something that needs to be killed

off. That kind of malcontent poisoned

everything. And there's there's no other

way. Uh that is the end result of your

flesh, even if you could restrain it for

a time.

I mean, you know what it's like. I I

want you to think about and this is just

in your own hearts. Nobody but God's

listening to that right now.

Think about something that comes up over

and over and over again in your life

that's not good. Does it not start

crowding out your experience of

gratitude and thankfulness and

contentment and joy in other areas as

well.

the more central the problem is to your

life. Our marriages are really central.

Our children are really central. Uh your

job is oftentimes really central.

Sometimes your church is really central.

So when something's going on in your

life that is that is really central and

it's not right and you're feeling

discontent. Uh that it's like it's like

the well is being poisoned from the

center. But it can be poisoned from the

outside too. The central things in

Hmon's life were going great. Something

way external to the central things. One

dude at the gate won't tremble before

you.

It's It's like the maximal version of

selfish ambition, too, isn't it? I want

to be worshiped.

You know, the flesh exists outside of

Satan. Satan doesn't cause the flesh.

The flesh is just in you. You're born

with it. It's part of the curse. Uh but

Satan can inflame the flesh by tempting

you to

gratify its desires. And he knows how to

do that with people. He may know more

about your sin than you do. And he has

epochs of time studying men and women to

know what temptations are effective to

them. And it's really not that

complicated to dress up a hook in

something you want to bite.

But he's particularly good at it, too.

So we are Why is God telling us the

maximal consequence of discontentment

and selfish ambition if he's not trying

to warn us? And and a mature person

would look at this and say, you know

what,

even if my current selfish ambition and

discontentment

isn't to this maximal level, this surely

is the warning for me, too. This is the

end of that.

So, we need to take it very seriously.

And in order in order to do that, let's

go to 1 John chapter 2 10-11

1 John 2 · chapter mention

because I want to show you some verses

from the apostles

who got their teaching directly from

Jesus

about what God thinks about hating

others as a result of selfish ambition.

Here it is. Whoever loves his brother

abides in the light. This is literally

black and white. Whoever loves his

brother abides in the light, and in him

there is no cause for stumbling. Next

verse. But whoever hates his brother is

in the darkness and walks in the

darkness and does not know where he is

going because the darkness has blinded

his eyes. Selfish ambition is not the

only pathway to contempt for people. But

when it is the pathway you're on and you

begin to have unconfessed contempt,

uncsurrendered contempt, you're walking

in darkness. That's what the scripture

says. Black and white.

And you might think, well, I only have

contempt for this one person. I'm

generally kind to others. Well, like a

little bit of neurovirus, it'll poison

your whole life. Don't say to yourself,

my issues with contempt aren't that big

of a deal. Cuz it's only for one person.

We don't have any end of evidence that

uh Hmon had a developed sense of

contempt for someone else other than

Morai. Yeah, you could say it was for

all the Jews. Sure, but that was really

focused on Morai. That's the lynch pin

for his hatred. And what does it happen?

What happens as a result of his hatred

for this one person? His wrath towards

this one person poisons everything to

the point where he cannot enjoy any of

it. That's the lesson. That's what God's

saying. It's obvious. So the the thing

that's then hard to do is apply to our

own lives. We don't like to think that

the consequence of our sin is just as

maximal as the consequence of someone

who's sinning maximally.

But it is. And we believe that. We

believe that when God says that works of

the flesh lead to death, I don't think

you guys don't believe that.

Let's go to Matthew 5:21-22.

Matthew 5:21–22

This is uh Jesus speaking.

Matthew 25

or Matthew 5:21-22. You have heard that

Matthew 5:21–22

it was said to those of old, you shall

not murder. Surely, if you are currently

uh waking up after having let your anger

grow sinful, by the way, it grows sinful

if you go to sleep on it, right? It

could be non-sinful anger like someone

says something just really crooked

towards you. Someone's gossiping about

you and maybe that's the reason you get

didn't get a promotion or whatever is

happening. That's like an example of

anger that's pretty relatable and

probably justified to a degree and you

don't sin during the day. You you're

you're angry, but then instead of

obeying the command to not let the sun

go down with your anger, we all know

what that means. Don't go to sleep on

it. You do anyway,

right? Well, you probably still don't

think you're as bad as a murderer,

right?

I mean, who has ever Don't raise your

hand. That's not the point. But have you

ever thought uh when you wake up in that

anger, you know what? I'm just as bad as

a murderer. If you have, your heart

agrees with what Jesus says, you shall

not murder. And whoever murders will be

liable to judgment. But what does Jesus

say?

But I say to you that everyone who is

angry with his brother will be liable to

judgment. Whoever insults his brother

will be liable to the council and

whoever says you fool will be liable to

the fire or the hell of fire.

I don't think that means you can't say

something that someone's doing is

foolish or even identify that someone is

living in such a pattern of foolishness

that they are a fool. I think this is

that weaponized angry kind of you fool

that he's talking about.

This is where preachers and pastors and

good students of the Bible get the idea

that that the root of murder is anger.

Unconfessed anger. That's the root of

murder. So God doesn't look at you when

you have problems with anger. And I

don't really know anyone that does. I

just know some people whose symptoms

haven't been exposed just yet. And

you know, the enemy knows how to bring a

context into your life that will show up

the issues you have with anger. But that

doesn't mean that some of us don't have

worse issues with anger. Well, we are to

see that anger as the origin

of murder,

selfish ambition. It was that way with

Cain, too, the first murderer. Let's go

to James 3:13-18. This is that spot

James 3:13–18

where James compares the results of

selfish ambition to something demonic.

J, who is wise and understanding among

you? by his good conduct, let him show

the works, his works in meekness of

wisdom. We're going to come back to the

idea of humility. But if you have bitter

jealousy and selfish ambition, which

man, don't those go hand to hand in hand

in your hearts? Do not boast and be

false to the truth. Stop right there.

When you have selfish ambition in your

hearts, one of the problems is not just

the pride that will cause you to boast,

but you'll also be false to the truth.

Where are you false to the truth from?

Deep on the inside. So, so selfish

ambition will lead to a disconnect of

the truth in your heart. That's why it

said it can deceive you. You can deceive

yourself and then be deceived and then

you will not think that the decisions

you're making are coming from an

attitude of selfish ambition. Next

verse. Here's the problem with that.

This is not the wisdom that comes from

above but is earthly, unspiritual,

demonic. So at a minimum we can say that

one of the effects of uh of selfish

ambition and jealousy that's not

confessed is that it could deceive you

and cause you to be false to be the

truth to the degree where you think that

wisdom comes down from above is good

when it's actually earthly unspiritual

and demonic.

If that f like if you if you like I

think the Holy Spirit is saying me to me

that I have uh a pocket of self selfish

ambition here and man I I don't want to

think that God that that wisdom uh or

some kind of wisdom for decision is

right and good and from above when it's

actually earthly and spiritual demonic

that that will be a good thought to have

if that's from the Holy Spirit. Verse

16. For where jealousy and selfish

ambition exist anywhere they exist, if

they exist in you, this would apply.

There will be disorder and every vile

practice.

Do we have verse 17 as well? But the

wisdom from above is first pure, then

peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full

of mercy and good fruits, impartial and

sincere.

And a harvest of righteousness is swn in

peace by those who make peace. basically

the exact opposite of the grudge and

wrath and selfish ambition,

discontentment and murder that Hmon's

hiding in his heart.

Can we go back to verse 17 real quick?

Just one back. But the wisdom from above

is first purer, then peaceable, then

gentle, then open to reason, then full

of mercy and good fruits, impartial and

sincere. Have you had a time where you

have unconfessed sin and you thought

that you were hearing wisdom only to

realize that your heart was deceiving

you and that almost none of these true

words were true about the inner state of

your heart at the time? I have. And the

fact that I have the capability or the

propensity to do that uh makes me

realize that I'm not capable of gaining

wisdom from above without the Holy

Spirit. And that's true. No matter how

much wisdom I've gained from God's word,

it's interrupted by sin.

Even though it really doesn't seem like

that. So maybe something that's always

wise is to influence couples that are

thinking about getting a divorce to not

and to reconcile.

I think that's always wise. I think

that's always a good influence. That

doesn't mean that sometimes there don't

need to be safety separation things.

Different sermon. But the point is being

an agent of reconciliation towards a

couple is is always wise. Now I might

wake up with sinful anger or unconfessed

selfish ambition and discontentment and

just you know th those kinds of emotions

and that day I'm not going to all of a

sudden start saying that like not every

couple should reconcile and that that's

not the heart of God. But what might

happen in that moment is that I get

convinced that one of these particular

the spouse, the husband or the wife,

they are the ones that are doing like

the most sin and that's the person that

really needs to repent and this person's

kind of innocent here. And and that'll

happen. And man, if you've ever been

involved in counseling, God will prove

you wrong every time if you take sides.

Every single time. Both of the people

are sinners and both of them need to

repent every single time. That's what

heals a marriage. So you just you can

get twisted even though you're like I

still see the truth but you're twisted

in your attitude towards it. Maybe the

sin of the husband or the wife is just

one of those things you find

particularly contemptuous,

you know. So you need the Holy Spirit to

gain the wisdom. You need the Holy

Spirit to apply the wisdom. And when

you're grieving him, it's not that he

leaves you. It's that you're not filled

with the spirit in that moment. and

therefore you can be cut off from

wisdom. Another one of the devastating

impacts

of unconfessed selfish ambition, anger,

and discontentment. So, let's go back to

Esther and see just how devastating it

is for Morai.

Um because he's going to look for wisdom

from his friends. We're probably the

same people as the wise men and from his

wife and maybe his whole family, but it

doesn't say that. So just as friends in

Zaresh. So yet verse 13. Yet all this is

worth nothing to me so long as I see

Morortei the Jew sitting at the king's

gate. Everything in his life's poisoned.

Then his wife Zesh and all his friends

said to him, "Let gallows 50 cubits be

made." And in the morning tell the king

to have Morortei hanged upon it. Then go

joyfully with the king to the feast.

This idea pleased Hmon and he had a

gallows made. You know what you need to

get your joy back? Premeditated murder.

Don't be the wife that gives her husband

that advice. And you might say, "Well,

I've never been." However, if as a wife,

we're talking about wives here cuz this

is about Zaresh. I'm not picking on you.

Same exact kind of wicked and foolish

advice can be given by husbands to their

wives as well or outside the marriage um

by friends or just friend to friend,

whoever it is. Don't be this person. Uh

but it's so easy to dismiss that you're

not really this person. The thing is, we

just show I just showed you from

scripture, and I know that you're

convinced cuz you listen to scripture

that when you have unconfessed sin in

your life, you don't have access to the

wisdom from above. And yet, you can

convince yourself that you do, but

something's wrong. And remember, in a

trajectory towards the moon, and we just

had Artemis to, I guess, circle the moon

or whatever, but if you're just slightly

off, you miss the moon by miles and

miles and miles and miles drifting in

space. So when when you're not you might

be right about the content and wrong

about the way of the Lord or right about

the way and wrong with the content. You

see our culture doing both. It's his

truth and his way all together. And

that's that is wisdom. It's

double-minded to have one or the other

wrong. So if you're not right with the

Lord, you can be certain that you're not

going to be giving your husband or wife

or friend or children wisdom from the

Lord.

That's just not the way it works. You

might think, "Oh, I no, I still can."

But that's deception.

You're experiencing deception right now.

If you think you can harbor any kind of

sin in your life and still be a wise

counselor,

I'm thinking about whether I should

share another detail that the question

team, which is Rebecca and and Greg and

I discovered, but um I'll just share it

if you want to turn forward in your

Bibles to chapter 13.

um

God. It's obviously God behind the

scenes providentially turning the

tables. And instead of Hmon being Morai,

uh Hmon being um Morai, Hmon being

honored, Hmon has to honor Morai. Just

to fast track fasttrack this the sermon.

Verse 13 says, "And Hmon told his wife

Zaresh and all his friends everything

that had happened to him. Then his wise

men and his wife, that's why we think

the friends are probably the wise men.

uh his wife said to him, "If Morortei,

before whom you have begun to fall, is

of the Jewish people, you will not

overcome him, but will surely fall

before him." Shouldn't they have told

him that beforehand? And did they know

he was Jewish? Yes, they did. Verse 13.

Yet all this is worth nothing to me so

long as I see Mororti the Jew sitting at

the king's gate. He named him a Jew

right before they've given that thing.

So, at a minimum here, people will give

you advice that they know there could be

terrible consequences of. And because

they're giving you fleshly advice, they

don't really care about you. And they're

not the ones that are going to reap what

you sow by taking their advice,

right? You want friends that are that

give you sacrificial wisdom, wisdom that

requires some kind of surrender. You do

not want friends that give you the

wisdom that the fake demonic unspiritual

earthly wisdom that uh leads to this

kind of destruction that that is not

wisdom from above that gratifies the

desires of the flesh. If the wisdom God

gives you is initially really

satisfying, you might want to just pause

the brakes because usually when God

gives me wisdom, I kind of already knew

that's what he was going to say. and

it's not satisfying until I surrender to

it. Beforehand, it's like I don't want

to do that.

So, it takes some sacrifice

to hear God's wisdom. It takes some

sacrifice to apply God's wisdom. And

this is genuinely wicked counsel. So, I

want to ask you, you know,

do you surround yourself with people

that will give you godly counsel? How

would you know? Well, do they sometimes

tell you things you don't like hearing?

Because the people that give you ungodly

counsel will oftenimes just give you uh

advice that you really like hearing. So,

if you're surround yourself with

sickophants, people that always tell you

what you want to hear, you're probably

surrounding yourself with people that

are bad company. And Paul says, uh, do

not be deceived. Bad company corrupts

good morals. Why does he say do not be

deceived? Well, because evidently it's

it's common for us to be deceived that

if we spend time a bunch of time

marinating in bad company, it won't

corrupt our morals. That's the

deception. It will. It definitely will.

Nobody is immune to bad company

corrupting their good morals. And you

don't even really realize it. But this

is bad company. This is very bad

company.

Let's go to 1 Timothy 6 6-10. And we're

here at the point where we're coming up

with the solutions to what should you do

if if the point of selfish ambition

always leads to hatred of others and the

loss of your joy. What should you do? Um

there is no fun way of dealing with

developed selfish ambition or a

discontent heart. It takes pain at the

start. Uh 1 Timothy 6:6, but godliness

1 Timothy 6:6

with contentment is great gain. Can we

all agree that godliness with

contentment is great gain? If you're

experiencing discontentment right now,

would you like to be content? Have you

ever been content? Can you remember the

last time you're content? Contentment is

a wonderful feeling.

And the kind of contentment we're

talking about here, I will prove to you

biblically, is not associated to

context. It's a contentment you can

experience in any context. So, I want

you to think about something that you

wish was a certain way, but isn't that

way? And is that starting to impede on

your contentment to the point where

you're not really content and that king

thing keeps showing up. You want to live

somewhere else. You want to feel a

different way. You want to have

something else. You want to have this

relationship that you don't have. You

want to have this life that you don't

have. Whatever it you want to have this

job that you don't have. You want to

have this experience. You want to have

this social circle that you don't

currently have. Is it crowding in on

your contentment? has it already eroded

your contentment to the point where you

don't have the great gain of contentment

anymore. But godliness with contentment

is great gain. For we uh for we brought

nothing into the world and cannot take

anything out of the world. There already

is one of the keys of regaining your

contentment. You brought nothing into

the world and you'll take nothing out of

it. But we if we have food and clothing

with these we will be content. Um Paul

will take it even one step further. This

is also Paul speaking that uh even when

you don't have food you can be content.

So is that verse eight? Let's go to

verse 9. But those who desire to be rich

fall into temptation into a snare into

many senseless and harmful desires that

plunge people into ruin and destruction.

So by the way if the thing in your life

is I don't have enough money that might

be the thing that crowding out your

contentment. But those who desire to be

rich and fall into temptation of the

snare, into many senseless and harmful

desires that plunge people into ruin and

destruction. Verse 10, for the love of

money is the root of all kinds of evil.

It is through this craving that some

have wandered away from the faith and

pierced themselves with many pangs. And

to close out, let's go to Philippians

Philippians 4:1–13

4:1-13.

This will get oftenimes quoted as though

it's the way that you can score

touchdowns. Um,

I don't think it's biblically wrong to

think God can help me score touchdowns.

It's not what Paul's talking about at

all. Paul's talking about the secret to

contentment. And he says, "Not that I'm

speaking of being in need, for I have

learned in whatever situation I am to be

content." Stop there. Have you learned

that?

Have you learned that? Uh,

I would say contentment is a strength

for me.

probably because my parents modeled that

to me. It's it's like baked into my hard

drive from my formative years. But I

cannot say that I've learned to the

degree that Paul has in whatever

situation. There are still situations

and if you're my friend, you know, I can

get complainy. I can get negative. I can

get I I can radiate discontentment. And

and so I will not say that I have

already attained the kind of faith where

Paul can honestly say I have learned in

whatever situation I am to be content.

And how did he learn that? What's the

secret? Let's continue. Verse 12. I know

how to be brought low. I know how to

abound in any and every circumstance. I

have learned the secret of facing plenty

and hunger and abundance and need. Stop

there. Why would you need to have some

kind of secret that you apply about how

to be content in abundance?

I hope you've been listening. Heymon had

abundance.

And was he content? No. Is anybody here

foolish enough to think that money makes

you more content? The truism that money

doesn't make you happy. Like everybody

knows that.

I've never even heard anybody that's

like, you know, money definitely makes

you happy. other than people either

joking or sort of shock jockeyies saying

just the opposite of what's obviously

true.

So I have learned the secret of facing

plenty and hunger and abundance and

need. And what is it? Verse 13.

I can do all things through him who

strengthens me. All things here is

bounded to contentment in any situation.

I can be content in any situation

through him who streng who who

strengthens me. So if you put that

together with the fact that you came in

with nothing and you'll leave with

nothing. You put that together with the

obvious truth from scripture that you

don't deserve the things you already

have. And you put that together with the

need for dependence on Christ strength

in order to be content. You have

everything you need. But it takes a

surrender. So I I want to tell you

something about myself that's like I'll

do a hard reset here. Uh I did this

before the service already, but I'll do

it as a model to you. I don't deserve my

wife. I think Christine's the first

thing that comes to mind in terms of

earthly blessings as in terms of the

greatest blessing. Second would be my

children. I don't deserve to have six

children. I do not I do not The third is

is the church. I do not deserve to be

the pastor of this church.

Uh or to make the money that I do. I'm

generously compensated. I do not

deserve. I've never deserved any housing

situation that I'm in. But I especially

don't deserve to live where I live right

now. Don't deserve to live on 5 acres.

It just keeps getting more beautiful

with the spring coming out and the

flowers and everything. I don't deserve

those things.

When you think like Hmon that you

deserve the things that you have or

think that you deserve more, like Hmon

thought he deserved Morortei's

trembling.

Satanic is what that is. That's what

Satan wants. He thinks he deserves your

worship. Couldn't be farther from the

truth. Same thing is true with Hmon. So

when you think you deserve what you have

or think you deserve more than what you

have, it's basically the opposite of

contentment. And if you don't surrender

that, selfish ambition is the only thing

you have left. I'm going to do what it

takes to get what I think I deserve. And

you can hide that attitude. You can

restrain its effects for a time. But the

first thing you need to do if you're

going to rely and depend on the Lord for

the strength to be content in any

situation you're in is recognize and be

humble to the point. Humble yourself of

saying in your heart, I don't deserve

even what I have.

I told you that the execution that

Zaresh had recommended, the premeditated

murder that evidently was going to

restore Hmon's joy, uh, was worse than

hanging on gallows with the noose. that

was invented to uh uh centuries later.

No example in all of history at this

point in the Persian Empire of hanging

by a news. Here is the relief of what

was actually happening. This was the

primary execution. This is what they

meant by hanging. If you guys could put

up that image and I'm putting this up

not to be gruesome because I'm going to

make a point about the cross. Okay?

Dismembering and impalement through the

body. That's what it would have been

almost certainly. Some of your Bibles

actually say impaled instead of hanged.

So that's what Hmon wanted for Mori.

Because you won't worship me, I'm going

to impale you. And the gospel is

literally about as opposite you as you

could imagine. Because you won't worship

me, I will have my son crucified for

your sin. and by his act of atonement

and through my kindness that precedes

your repentance, I will bring you to

faith in him and you'll be saved.

There's so many people that accuse God

of of being like a Hmon or a Xerxes.

Don't worship me, I'll kill you. No,

don't worship me. I'll sacrifice my son

for you.

And is is that not already

if that's the only thing you had

infinitely more than enough for us to be

content? When I think about my

discontentment,

it's like, oh yeah, Jesus died for me,

but I don't have the red meat I want

right now.

Gross is what that is. Gross. It makes

me sick to my stomach like a norovirus

to think about being discontent when God

died for my sin. What I deserve is

impalement or crucifixion. Worse yet, an

eternity in hell. And that ought to be a

hard reset for us. [clears throat]

The answer

to not live a life of selfish ambition

that will cause you to hate others and

destroy all your joy is to recognize you

don't deserve anything that you have.

And when you do, you think, "Oh, this is

such a negative message." No, it's the

opposite. Here's the practical challenge

and we'll close. I want you to think

about even during the next worship songs

and before we do communion, we're doing

communion in a corporate manner. If

you're new here, just means go grab your

elements at either of the tables or

behind you. I'll be back up after the

next song and we'll do it together.

Okay? And during that time, while you're

gathering your elements, you can already

start applying this. Start listing the

things you don't deserve. And then say,

"I'm thankful for that."

It doesn't matter the state of your

marriage. You do not deserve your

spouse. It doesn't matter how stinky

your children were right before church

or going to be after. You don't deserve

to have kids. and you know it and I

don't either and so wow God's thankful.

So, so your kid could have just been

totally poisonous towards you this

morning and then you say, "I don't I

don't even deserve that little snake."

And thank you, Lord, for them. And it

when it's real, it changes your entire

disposition.

And the poisonous feelings you had like,

"I don't deserve this child." And what

you meant is I don't deserve to be

treated this bad turns into I don't even

deserve to have a kid that I can work on

having an attitude change. Thank you,

God, for this challenge. And it's real.

It's not fake. It's the Holy Spirit. And

that can happen with anything in your

life that you've been dissatisfied with.

You want satisfaction? God can give it

to you. It's at the foot of the cross.

Let me pray. Heavenly Father, thank you

for this message. Man, I am excited for

our congregation. I don't know who's

been dealing with selfish ambition or

discontentment or uh contempt towards

somebody else or or the joy that's

robbed by that. But I want them to

experience the fullness of your joy, the

love that they can have in your hearts,

even for those that are acting like

enemies and the ambition to serve your

glory and serve others as more important

than themselves. I want that for them.

It is like the the the beauty of the

spring coming back into our life. And I

know that you can do it by your spirit.

And it's just one painful step of

humbling ourselves away. So I pray that

you would humble us and that we would

find the grace we need to be fully

content regardless of what the context

is in our life right now in Jesus name.

Amen.