WEBVTT 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:02.720 Well, welcome to this first Sunday. 00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:03.839 Glad that you're here. 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:08.000 We began this last week of looking at the story of Esther. 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:11.359 Today the title of my message is called Finding Favor. 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:13.279 Turn your neighbors and say finding favor. 00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:23.440 And I don't know about you, but um growing up, there was uh these books that you could uh look at as a kid that I had in several of these um that were finding books. 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:25.440 And uh last week I had my 3D glasses. 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:29.679 This week um I've got my Where's Waldo glasses? 00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:33.280 Anybody uh anybody remember Where's Waldo? 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:37.359 I had some of these growing up and um where's Waldo? 00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:48.000 The premise is that there's um this picture that there's all these people, and you're supposed to find Waldo in the anybody, anybody already see Waldo up here? 00:00:48.240 --> 00:00:49.119 Probably not. 00:00:49.280 --> 00:01:00.000 It's uh really challenging to do to find uh him, but you know, you can spend hours of time looking for him, trying to find him page after page after page. 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:02.719 And uh this is endless fun. 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:11.519 I I gave this book to my four-year-old this week, and she spent about like maybe 30 seconds looking for him and was like, I didn't find him, I don't know, I didn't find him. 00:01:11.760 --> 00:01:18.319 Um and you think you think about for the space and this place that we're in right now. 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:20.319 Have you ever heard somebody say this before? 00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:21.920 Seeing is believing. 00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:24.000 You ever heard that before? 00:01:24.239 --> 00:01:37.280 It comes from this attitude of skepticism of saying, you know what, I I I uh I won't really believe it until I can touch it, feel it, smell it, understand it. 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:51.359 And it was Jesus himself, with after his death, burial, and resurrection, that he appeared to the disciples, one of those being Thomas, who said, I don't believe it until I could see it. 00:01:51.680 --> 00:02:04.000 And Jesus in his resurrected form appeared and asked Thomas to put his hand in the in his in his side where the spear was thrust into his body, into the nail scars where he had been on the cross. 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:07.840 And then it was Jesus who said this in John 20. 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:11.919 He said, Then Jesus told him, You believe because you have seen. 00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:16.319 Blessed are those who believe without seeing me. 00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:19.039 Which is you and I. 00:02:19.439 --> 00:02:26.159 We've not had the opportunity to see God in his resurrected form or Jesus in his resurrected form to put a hand in the nail scars. 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:32.319 We haven't had that opportunity as now Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father and has sent us his Holy Spirit. 00:02:32.479 --> 00:02:47.759 But so oftentimes we can uh be in a state where even though we may not be able to touch, see, feel, put our hands in the scars, that some of us, and I think maybe some of you who walked in the room today, you may be in a place right now where you are attempting to find God. 00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:49.680 You're searching. 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:51.919 And you're searching for God. 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:56.879 You're searching for God, and there's no better place to search for Him than in the scriptures. 00:02:57.199 --> 00:03:04.240 And I think about even just the story of us coming and beginning, the beginning the work of multiply church. 00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:12.080 And if if I had had the attitude of like, okay, seeing is believing, then I don't even know if we would be in this space right now. 00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:18.479 Because you had to see the unseen, you had to have faith for what God could do. 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:25.919 Uh in the room this morning is a couple friends of mine, uh, Corey and Chris and Timber, they've drove up from Knoxville today to be with us. 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:31.439 Chris uh created the very first website for Multiply Church. 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:38.960 Now, Chris, Chris is not a web designer, he's a musician. 00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:45.680 Um and it kind of, and but at that point, at the point he saw. 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:51.039 At the point he could see the future and step in and help. 00:03:51.120 --> 00:04:01.360 And for so many of us in the room right now, as we're walking out our faith, and today as we share together a family and friends, I believe God has so much more for us. 00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:16.319 And as we've looked at this passage of Esther, and we started this last week, and I kind of told you last week about the story of Esther that this book in the Bible, that uh it could be a Netflix miniseries. 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:20.319 So last week was episode one, and this week is episode two. 00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:31.680 So if you missed it last week, please go and check it out on the website, Multiply KY Sermons, slash sermons.com slash sermons, and then you can listen to last week's to catch up. 00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:38.800 But I'm gonna give a little bit of a recap right now as we hit an episode two, so don't hit skip recap on me right now on Netflix. 00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:48.079 Listen to me, because this story, it could be this Netflix mini-series because it's filled with deception and morally questionable people, murder and genocide. 00:04:48.319 --> 00:04:50.720 It has all the ingredients of a great story. 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:55.519 It's got a bold, beautiful heroine, a Wonder Woman, so to speak, with Esther. 00:04:55.680 --> 00:05:02.800 It's got shifting love interests and life and death threat from good guys and a villain that you absolutely love to hate. 00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:05.279 And of course, it has a happy ending. 00:05:05.519 --> 00:05:19.680 And in all the suspense and all the dramatic irony and the reversals of fortune and all these different things that happen, there's all these elements and ingredients except for one: the name of God. 00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:29.040 God is never mentioned, his name is not ever said in this book of the Bible. 00:05:29.279 --> 00:05:33.600 But what you and I saw this last week, that that doesn't mean that God was not there. 00:05:34.720 --> 00:05:39.680 It just meant that you have to look between the lines and you gotta find him. 00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:43.680 So let me give you this little recap. 00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:45.600 So here's some of the characters. 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:46.879 First, we have Esther. 00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:51.920 Esther is this orphaned Jewish girl who's bold and courageous. 00:05:52.160 --> 00:06:01.600 She wins this royal beauty contest that the king puts on, and she wins by way of posing, not as a Jew, but she's posing to be a Persian in the Babylonian Empire. 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:06.319 And eventually this leads to her winning this beauty contest, and she's made queen. 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:17.199 You have the egotistical King Xerxes, who's this evil king who reigns over all of the Babylonian Empire, second only to the Roman Empire. 00:06:17.360 --> 00:06:24.160 The empire stretched from all the way from India to Ethiopia and Africa, all under his control. 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:36.079 He had thousands of wives, these young girls, and in doing so, devastating a generation of young women in Babylon, more akin to what we would see with human trafficking today. 00:06:36.480 --> 00:06:50.480 And then Queen Vashti, who in last week's message, she opposed the king, and in doing so, she lost her role as queen and probably also lost her life in exile. 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:52.240 Then we have Mordecai. 00:06:52.399 --> 00:07:01.600 Mordecai is Esther's good older cousin, and he adopts her, he protects her, he encourages her to cover up her identity as a Jew. 00:07:01.839 --> 00:07:21.199 And in the story, we ended this last week where Mordecai is in the right place at the right time to overhear the plot of the assassination of King Xerxes and goes and tells Esther to tell the king, which she does, and gives the credit to Mordecai, which will be important later. 00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:23.759 And then we have Haman. 00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:40.720 Haman is a Nazi-level villain who asked the king to exterminate, to kill all of the Jewish people across the entire land, which he agrees to do because of his hatred of God's people. 00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:49.360 Because they were separate, because they followed different laws and traditions, because they didn't see the king as divine, but had their one true God. 00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:54.079 And in the same breath, he hated Mordecai with a passion. 00:07:54.959 --> 00:07:58.639 And later in the story, we'll be introduced to Haman's wife and some of his friends. 00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:01.920 So we're in episode two. 00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:05.199 And we enter into the story now. 00:08:05.759 --> 00:08:19.680 As Haman and the king in this drunken meeting, Haman convinces the king to put out a decree to kill and exterminate all of God's people, all of the Jewish people across all the providences. 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:21.680 And the word of this gets out. 00:08:22.399 --> 00:08:31.839 And so in Esther 4:3, as the news of the king's decree reached all providences, there were 127 of them, there was great mourning among the Jews. 00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:37.440 They fasted, wept, and wailed, and many people lay in burlap and ashes. 00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:41.679 Now, the news gets out. 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:48.799 And Mordecai goes to Esther, the queen, and he says, You've heard of this decree. 00:08:49.440 --> 00:08:51.600 You need to go to the king. 00:08:51.840 --> 00:08:54.080 You need to ask for him to reverse this. 00:08:54.240 --> 00:08:56.799 You've got to help to save our people. 00:08:57.120 --> 00:09:01.519 And Esther's response to him was, I can't go to the king. 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:07.919 You can only go see the king if he requests your presence, even her being the queen. 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:16.159 So much so that it was even against the law for someone to go and to try to get audience with the king without his approval, and it could lead to your death. 00:09:16.960 --> 00:09:20.960 And so her response at first is, I can't do that. 00:09:22.159 --> 00:09:26.559 Then Mordecai drops this truth bomb of a question on her. 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:30.960 Verse 13, Mordecai sent this reply to Esther. 00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:37.279 Don't think for one moment that because you're in the palace, you will escape when all of their Jews are killed. 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:46.960 If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. 00:09:47.120 --> 00:09:48.960 And then he says this question. 00:09:57.919 --> 00:09:59.600 Esther takes the words to heart. 00:09:59.759 --> 00:10:02.159 She takes the question to heart and she begins to pray. 00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:14.080 She begins to pray, she begins to fast, she begins to ask her friends to pray for her, she begins to ask the rest of the people that are in Susa, the capital, that are Jews, to begin to pray for her in verse 15. 00:10:14.159 --> 00:10:19.279 Then Esther sent a reply to Mordecai, Go and gather together all the Jews in Susa and fast for me. 00:10:19.519 --> 00:10:22.639 Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. 00:10:22.799 --> 00:10:24.320 My maids and I will do the same. 00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:29.440 And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. 00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:32.320 If I must die, I must die. 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:38.879 So Mordecai went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him. 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:42.960 If I must die, I must die. 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:47.679 Isn't that like one of the most hardcore passages in all the Bible? 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:55.679 This young queen who says, I'm going to take this step. 00:10:56.639 --> 00:11:02.320 But before she even takes a foot step towards the king, what does she do? 00:11:02.559 --> 00:11:05.120 She fervently prays, and we should also. 00:11:06.080 --> 00:11:07.840 She fervently prays. 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:10.240 What does prayer look like for you? 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:13.600 What's prayer look like in your life right now? 00:11:13.759 --> 00:11:15.759 When was the last time that you fasted? 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:17.919 I want to invite you into something. 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:26.320 Uh ahead of our grand opening next week, uh uh in in my time of prayer, um, I've made a decision to fast this next week for three days. 00:11:26.559 --> 00:11:43.360 And I'm right now inviting anybody in the room to join me this next week ahead of our grand opening to fast and pray for what God will do and the people that He will encounter He will be able to have an encounter with and that they would receive the word of the Lord and be saved, and that God would do his work next Sunday. 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:55.279 So any of you in the house that want to join me in doing so, you you you can fast, you can fast from social media, you can fast from what you you choose what it is, but you can join me for three days this next week. 00:11:56.320 --> 00:12:04.639 The fervent prayer to intercede on behalf of people who desperately need God to move. 00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:10.879 She says, I must die. 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:12.240 I must die. 00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:19.360 And in the face of fear, she fearlessly steps forward and acts. 00:12:21.519 --> 00:12:24.960 Let me just zoom out from this story for just a second. 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:35.600 Because we could go through this passage from last Sunday and to next Sunday and think like, okay, what did we learn and took a little bit from this story? 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:46.639 But you may be in the room asking right now, like, Forrest, why in the world are we talking about this story of a king and a queen from 2,500 years ago? 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:52.879 And this story, it's an Esther, like, aren't there like some maybe better passages we could go through right now? 00:12:53.039 --> 00:12:56.000 Maybe like a story about Jesus or something? 00:12:56.240 --> 00:13:01.360 Maybe there's something from the New Testament, maybe from the Gospels that we could be talking about right now? 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:14.240 And I want us to zoom out for just a moment of this story, because I don't just want you to learn a story from the Old Testament, but instead to help you see the overarching work of God's redemption story from beginning to end. 00:13:16.799 --> 00:13:18.720 Can I ask you this question? 00:13:20.399 --> 00:13:27.679 Could you imagine what would have happened if Haman's plan succeeded? 00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:57.279 That if all the Jews were exterminated from all the way from India, all the way to Ethiopia, including Jerusalem, and all the people that we talked about at the end of the year with Nehemiah rebuilding the walls and rebuilding the temple, all of God's people across the entire Middle East, if they had been exterminated and if that plan had succeeded, guess what? 00:13:59.279 --> 00:14:14.320 500 years later, when God had planned for a man named Jesus to be born, fully human, fully divine, wouldn't have happened. 00:14:16.159 --> 00:14:20.320 All of the lineage and line of Jesus would have been dead. 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:22.399 Would have him stopped. 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:24.639 Would have him been killed off. 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:43.440 But in this story in the Old Testament, God's hand is moving and working in the shadows and the background so that you and me right now in 2024 can sit in this room and worship King Jesus because the plot against our God did not succeed. 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:56.799 We were laughing this last week about a couple people in our church in this story from about two and a half years ago. 00:14:57.600 --> 00:15:01.279 A friend who's in our church and serves and volunteers. 00:15:01.600 --> 00:15:02.399 Her name's Nicola. 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:05.120 I don't know if she's here today, but we were talking about Nicola. 00:15:05.519 --> 00:15:07.039 Some of y'all know Nicola. 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:11.200 And um Dave Sandlin, also, who's in our church. 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:13.120 I don't know if he's in the room right now, but Dave. 00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:26.000 But essentially about two and a half years ago now, Nicola just happened to be at the laundromat downtown in Frankfurt that she never goes to and went there with a friend. 00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:31.519 And Dave happened to be at this same laundromat that he doesn't ever go to. 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:33.200 I don't know if he's ever been back. 00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:36.879 But they happened to be there at the exact same time. 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:49.440 And I don't, I wasn't there, so I don't know how it all went down, but essentially, Dave stepped up and invited Nicola to come to be a part of Multiply. 00:15:49.919 --> 00:16:02.559 Now at this point, we were meeting in the the Treasury building over there next to the treasurer's office in the early days, and you know, it was kind of weird. 00:16:04.559 --> 00:16:09.279 But Dave had the courage to say, hey, Nicola, let me give you this invite. 00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:15.279 Would you come to my weird church and be a part of it? 00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:16.960 And I'd love to invite you. 00:16:17.679 --> 00:16:31.200 And now we look now two and a half years later at all that God has done, and I think to myself, how was it really random that they both were there at the coin laundry at the exact same time that they never go to? 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:37.519 Or was God's hand moving in that situation? 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:42.960 Was God's hand working through Dave's boldness? 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:47.919 Esther, she fearlessly acts. 00:16:49.519 --> 00:17:00.559 And her act is to go to the king, even though it was against the law, even though she could die, and to make a request. 00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:09.920 So in in chapter 5, verse 6, and while they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, Now tell me what you really want. 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:11.680 What is your request? 00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:16.000 I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom. 00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:20.640 And look at how slick and cunning she is, she says. 00:17:20.880 --> 00:17:24.960 Esther replies, This is my request and deepest wish. 00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:34.799 If I have found favor, everybody say favor with the king, and it pleases the king to grant my request and do what I asked. 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:37.920 Please come with Haman tomorrow to the banquet. 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:43.839 I will prepare for you, and then I will explain what this is all about. 00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:46.640 She asked the king. 00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:51.359 Esther's request was a request of favor from the king. 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:54.480 I'm going to teach you some some ancient languages right now. 00:17:54.559 --> 00:17:57.119 We're going to talk some Greek and Hebrew for just a second. 00:17:57.279 --> 00:18:00.559 This word that she says of found favor. 00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:04.720 If I found favor with you, this word favor, it's the Hebrew word khen. 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:16.880 And what that word means, it means essentially at different places in the Old Testament, the in the psalmist says that that uh this is uh a word of delight. 00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:20.000 The psalmist has a lips of delight, the chin. 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:30.160 It also can mean a beautiful jewel or a gift, which is what in this moment she's requesting from the king. 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:32.960 She's requesting from him chin. 00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:39.200 She's requesting from him favor and grace. 00:18:41.279 --> 00:18:51.920 This word chin in the New Testament, in Greek, it's the word caris, which means gracious gift. 00:18:52.799 --> 00:19:04.960 In the New Testament, we see that of Jesus, it's said that Jesus is God's glorious caris for this world. 00:19:05.839 --> 00:19:09.680 That Jesus is God's glorious grace. 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:16.160 She goes to the king and she asks for grace. 00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:21.359 She goes to the king and she asks for favor. 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:30.480 And then what is about to happen after this is some of the most situational irony in the entire Bible. 00:19:31.039 --> 00:19:37.440 What that means is that what takes place is the opposite of what you are expecting to actually happen. 00:19:40.079 --> 00:19:45.599 See, Haman hated the Jews and hated Mordecai so much. 00:19:45.759 --> 00:19:49.839 And the reason why he hated him is because Mordecai would not bow to him. 00:19:51.359 --> 00:20:06.319 When Haman, this noble of nobles, would walk through, and he expected for Mordecai to bow to his glory, instead, Mordecai, who was a servant of the one true God, would not bow. 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:09.039 And Haman hated him for it. 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:13.599 He hated him for it so much that he made a plot to kill Mordecai. 00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:14.960 Look at verse 14. 00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:24.799 So Haman's wife, Zerish, and all his friends suggested set up a sharpened pole that stands 75 feet tall, and in the morning ask the king to impale Mordecai on it. 00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:29.920 When this is done, you can go on your merry way to the banquet with the king. 00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:34.400 This pleased Haman, and so he ordered the pole set up. 00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:45.759 That very night, that same exact night, the king and the palace set up restless, not able to sleep. 00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:49.279 Couldn't get to sleep. 00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:54.160 And so, this is what the king did in the middle of the night. 00:20:54.880 --> 00:20:56.319 Chapter 6, verse 1. 00:20:56.559 --> 00:21:00.079 That night the king had trouble sleeping. 00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:06.079 So he ordered an attendant to bring the book of history of his reign so that it could be read to him. 00:21:06.960 --> 00:21:10.319 And they read all these records to him on and on and on. 00:21:10.880 --> 00:21:23.279 And they get to the point of the story where Mordecai delivers the news that there is an assassination attempt on the king about four years previously. 00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:32.559 And the king hears this, and in verse 3, he asks this question What reward or recognition did we ever give Mordecai for this? 00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:33.279 The king asked. 00:21:33.359 --> 00:21:37.839 And his attendant replied, Nothing has been done for him. 00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:40.559 This is about four years earlier. 00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:45.759 If I'm Mordecai, I'm thinking to myself, I just stopped the assassination attempt. 00:21:45.920 --> 00:21:48.160 Can I at least get a gift basket? 00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:52.240 Can I at least get a Chick-fil-A gift card for this? 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:53.759 I mean, something, right? 00:21:53.920 --> 00:21:55.680 I saved the life of the king. 00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:58.640 And here he is four years later. 00:21:58.960 --> 00:21:59.599 And I wonder. 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:18.000 If at times for us, when we're living our life doing the right thing with no recognition, that we get into a mentality that we feel like God is distant, he's a million miles away, that he doesn't see you. 00:22:18.880 --> 00:22:21.359 Feel like you're stuck in an obscurity. 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:25.920 Maybe you're here and you're in a dead end job right now. 00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:32.240 Maybe you're thinking, nothing with this relationship is ever going to change. 00:22:32.720 --> 00:22:36.160 My health situation is always going to be like this. 00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:43.039 And you feel like that God's not paying any attention. 00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:44.079 Can I tell you something this morning? 00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:44.960 Listen to me. 00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:46.559 God sees you. 00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:49.119 He sees you. 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:50.640 He loves you. 00:22:51.039 --> 00:22:55.839 He's working in ways that you aren't even aware of right now. 00:22:58.559 --> 00:23:08.160 And so Haman the next morning wakes up with his plan to go to see the king. 00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:22.240 And now what nobody knows except for us who are reading the story now is that Haman has a plan and a plot for Mordecai, but at this point also the king has a plan for Mordecai. 00:23:23.599 --> 00:23:26.640 In the same night, in the same morning. 00:23:27.200 --> 00:23:32.559 And so Haman comes to see the king, and he's in the court. 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:39.359 And the king asks if there's anybody in the court who can help him with the problem that he has. 00:23:39.680 --> 00:23:42.480 And they say, Well, Haman just showed up. 00:23:42.799 --> 00:23:44.960 And so they bring in Haman. 00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:52.960 And then the king asks Haman this question What should I do to honor a man who truly pleases me? 00:23:54.400 --> 00:23:55.119 Verse 6. 00:23:55.359 --> 00:23:56.799 This is so egotistical. 00:23:56.960 --> 00:24:01.119 Haman thought to himself, Whom would the king wish to honor more than me? 00:24:02.480 --> 00:24:04.720 He thinks that the king is talking about him. 00:24:05.920 --> 00:24:06.880 I'm the greatest. 00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:08.240 I'm the noble of nobles. 00:24:08.480 --> 00:24:12.079 And so then Haman goes on and just waxes poetic. 00:24:12.319 --> 00:24:27.920 All these things that you should do to honor someone, thinking to ride through the city on a royal horse, and to be giving gifts, and to be honored in front of all people, and he's going on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on. 00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:36.000 And after it gets done, the king says, Those are great ideas. 00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:41.279 I'd like for you to go do that for Mordecai. 00:24:41.839 --> 00:24:44.720 I'm sure Haman was like about to fall over. 00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:45.519 Do what? 00:24:46.640 --> 00:24:48.000 Are you serious? 00:24:49.119 --> 00:24:49.759 For him? 00:24:50.720 --> 00:24:51.359 No way. 00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:53.519 It's in verse 11. 00:24:53.599 --> 00:25:03.119 So Haman took the robes and put them on Mordecai, and he placed them on the king's own horse and led him through the city square, shouting, This is what the king does for someone he wishes to honor. 00:25:03.359 --> 00:25:06.079 And afterward, Mordecai returned to the palace gate. 00:25:06.160 --> 00:25:10.480 But Haman hurried home, dejected and completely humiliated. 00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:14.559 He goes to his wife. 00:25:16.079 --> 00:25:19.279 And they share this inconvenient truth with him. 00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:32.400 When Haman told his wife, Zarish, and all his friends what had happened, his wise advisors and his wife said, Since Mordecai, this man has humiliated you, is of Jewish birth. 00:25:32.640 --> 00:25:36.160 You will never succeed in your plans against him. 00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:40.880 It will be fatal to continue opposing him. 00:25:43.839 --> 00:25:46.079 And all in the background. 00:25:47.039 --> 00:25:48.799 All in the background. 00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:57.440 Esther's request is found with grace and favor. 00:25:57.839 --> 00:26:01.680 And God's mighty hand is dictating the story. 00:26:01.920 --> 00:26:04.960 Like, just think about the timing of all this. 00:26:05.680 --> 00:26:08.160 Just think about the timing of the details. 00:26:08.319 --> 00:26:11.440 What if the king had been able to sleep that night? 00:26:12.720 --> 00:26:23.680 Or what if the king of this massive empire chose one of the million other things that he could have spent time doing in the night other than having someone come and read him a history book? 00:26:24.160 --> 00:26:25.519 He owned everything. 00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:29.759 He could have done anything to entertain himself over the night. 00:26:30.079 --> 00:26:36.799 And what if he had not asked Haman the question that he did and the way that he phrased it? 00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:42.240 What if he had said to Haman, what should I do to honor Mordecai? 00:26:42.319 --> 00:26:43.599 But that's not what he said. 00:26:44.880 --> 00:27:00.319 All of these small details, all working together in God's redemptive plan to work through in power to bring grace and favor to his people. 00:27:01.279 --> 00:27:05.039 And don't for one second think that God is not doing that for you as well. 00:27:06.799 --> 00:27:11.359 Don't think for one second that God's not doing that for Multiply Church. 00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:14.240 The things that we can't even see. 00:27:14.480 --> 00:27:17.119 The details that we don't even know. 00:27:17.599 --> 00:27:22.880 That he's working and orchestrating and doing out of his glorious grace. 00:27:24.640 --> 00:27:32.480 Here's a spoiler alert for us that you're gonna hear next week. 00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:35.039 Haman's gonna lose his life. 00:27:35.279 --> 00:27:37.359 And Esther's gonna save lives. 00:27:40.640 --> 00:27:45.119 Earlier we had been from Avenue's Clinic up here. 00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:53.200 And this last week I I I heard, because I'm on the Avenue's Facebook, they have like a Facebook that you can follow. 00:27:54.480 --> 00:28:13.279 And this last week they posted in there that there was a young woman who came into the clinic, and that this this very last week, this young lady, she was saved, gave her life to Jesus, and received a Bible because of the work that they're doing at Avenue's Clinic. 00:28:16.559 --> 00:28:18.079 This very week. 00:28:18.559 --> 00:28:46.640 This week, just a few days ago, celebrating the fact that this young woman came to salvation and not just saving lives physically, but also spiritually, that this young lady came to faith in Jesus, not in the church, not in the service, not in a small group, but out in the community, out encountering people, the people of God standing in the gap for others to see people be saved out there. 00:28:51.119 --> 00:29:40.640 And I think about this room and all the thousands and thousands and thousands of things that God wants to use each one of us, you and me, to do, to love and save the life of others around us when we walk out of this place, that this new building that we're in that we're so grateful for, that this is a forward operating base, that this is a deployment center for us to go out and carry the saving grace, the saving caris of King Jesus with us on our lips, in our life, loving our hands and speaking the truth. 00:29:42.079 --> 00:29:47.759 And I believe that God's gonna continue to give us favor. 00:29:48.160 --> 00:29:49.119 Do you believe it? 00:29:49.599 --> 00:29:50.480 I believe it. 00:29:50.720 --> 00:29:57.200 I believe it because we've seen it over and over and over again yet now for years. 00:29:58.319 --> 00:30:00.640 And he wants to do it even more. 00:30:01.519 --> 00:30:08.559 You maybe have come into the room this morning and you came in feeling like God is a million miles away. 00:30:09.599 --> 00:30:22.640 Can I tell you, the scripture says, seek and you'll find that this very day, this very day, you can receive the truth of the fact that Jesus loves you. 00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:57.440 2,000 years ago, he went to the cross and he died in your place so that you could be saved, could be restored, could be forgiven, could be given the power of the Holy Spirit that you could walk out this life, not by yourself, but with God at your back, and with the courage of a lion to take on all the challenges, the evil, the schemes of the devil that want to kill, steal, and destroy our families when we walk out this place. 00:30:59.119 --> 00:31:02.240 Today you can receive Christ as your Savior. 00:31:02.640 --> 00:31:14.000 He is not far away, he is close to you and wanting for you to receive the grace, to receive the grace of his salvation. 00:31:14.319 --> 00:31:16.559 Would you bow your heads and pray with me? 00:31:16.720 --> 00:31:20.880 God, all across this room, Lord, I pray for each person that's here right now. 00:31:21.119 --> 00:31:36.160 Father, we thank you, God, that you continue to show us your goodness and your mercy and your love and your glorious grace through the work of your power, King Jesus. 00:31:36.240 --> 00:31:54.960 And Father, I pray, Lord, for every single man, woman, and child who's in this room right now, who is following you, that they would know that you are near, that God, you're in the details, that you see them and that you love them, that you care for them. 00:31:55.599 --> 00:32:17.839 And Father, I pray right now, all across the room, anybody in this place who's not received you as Savior, who's not received your forgiveness, who's not actively asked you, Jesus, save me, forgive me by the power of the cross, that right now, that they would not wait to do that, that God, they would do it today. 00:32:18.000 --> 00:32:27.839 And they would pray to you in their heart and mind, Jesus, save me, genuinely, from a place of a genuine heart, Jesus, save me. 00:32:28.079 --> 00:32:33.440 I believe that you are the Son of God and that you died on the cross for me. 00:32:34.079 --> 00:32:39.839 Forgive me, cleanse me so that I can be in heaven with you one day. 00:32:40.559 --> 00:32:45.440 I give you my life as you gave yours for mine. 00:32:47.519 --> 00:32:48.720 In Jesus' name. 00:32:48.960 --> 00:33:08.079 No one looking around this morning if you prayed that to receive the forgiving grace of Jesus, to receive salvation in him, I want to pray for you and acknowledge you just right now, in this moment, to God. 00:33:09.680 --> 00:33:21.039 And in doing that, that you would take action to say, yes, this is the day, this is the day that I asked Jesus to save me, forgive me the rest of my life. 00:33:21.119 --> 00:33:25.359 If that's you today, I'm gonna ask you at the count of three to raise your hand so I can see you. 00:33:25.680 --> 00:33:26.720 Lock eyes with me. 00:33:26.799 --> 00:33:28.400 If that's you today, the count of three. 00:33:28.480 --> 00:33:29.680 One, two, three. 00:33:29.920 --> 00:33:30.640 Anybody in here? 00:33:30.799 --> 00:33:31.599 Yes, right here. 00:33:31.759 --> 00:33:33.119 I see you guys, right here. 00:33:33.359 --> 00:33:34.319 Yes, thank you. 00:33:34.480 --> 00:33:35.599 Anybody else? 00:33:35.920 --> 00:33:37.279 Anybody else? 00:33:39.440 --> 00:33:48.400 Father, I pray right now and thank you, God, for the boldness of those in the room right now who've raised their hand to receive you as Savior. 00:33:48.880 --> 00:33:59.039 That God, today would be the first day of the rest of their life, walking in freedom, love, and harmony with you, God. 00:34:00.319 --> 00:34:06.960 That because of their decision today, that their last breath on earth would be their first breath in heaven with you. 00:34:07.920 --> 00:34:22.719 That God, because of your saving grace and work today, Father, that you would save us, Father, not that we would go in separation to a place called hell, but instead, Father, that we would be with you in eternity. 00:34:22.960 --> 00:34:24.079 So we thank you, God. 00:34:24.159 --> 00:34:25.679 We praise you for that today. 00:34:26.000 --> 00:34:26.880 We love you. 00:34:27.119 --> 00:34:28.559 In the strong name of Jesus. 00:34:28.719 --> 00:34:30.000 Everybody said, Amen. 00:34:30.320 --> 00:34:30.559 Amen. 00:34:30.639 --> 00:34:33.519 Church, will you stand to your feet as we close in worship?