Risk is Right
Series: Esther- For such a time as this
Speaker: Steve Jeffrey
Date: 9th November 2025
Passage: Esther 4:1-5:8
00:00:00 --> 00:00:05 Good morning, everyone. Welcome to St Paul's. My name's Steve. I've not met you. I'm a senior pastor here.
00:00:06 --> 00:00:14 ! And we, this term, what we're doing is we're looking back on what has been called Follow 25.
00:00:15 --> 00:00:19 That is our five-year ministry plan as we draw that to a close.
00:00:19 --> 00:00:28 And we are, at the same time, looking forward into what God is leading us into as a church and planning our future together,
00:00:28 --> 00:00:44 particularly to see lives transformed by Jesus in our society, particularly in a society that nowadays doesn't see the Christian faith as true, as good, or even beautiful.
00:00:45 --> 00:00:52 And so the Old Testament book of Esther that we're working through is really just helping us see what it means to follow God,
00:00:52 --> 00:01:04 what does it mean to trust Him in times like this, a time when Christians are a minority, where Christianity has been sidelined.
00:01:04 --> 00:01:09 So what does it mean to be that people in our society nowadays?
00:01:09 --> 00:01:19 And what Esther is helping us to see, particularly today, that what we need is we need an element of boldness and courage
00:01:19 --> 00:01:29 and something that really, for us on the North Shore, is not something that we have in a great deal of amount.
00:01:29 --> 00:01:32 That is, the culture of the North Shore is settled.
00:01:33 --> 00:01:38 You might have taken risks to get here, but once you're here, you're not going to take risks to lose it.
00:01:39 --> 00:01:41 And so the North Shore is famous for that.
00:01:41 --> 00:01:43 It's famous for it's being settled.
00:01:43 --> 00:01:46 The risk, don't like change, doesn't like too much risk.
00:01:46 --> 00:01:53 Don't want to put at all, any threat, what we have attained for ourselves.
00:01:53 --> 00:01:58 And so how do we be bold and courageous in a culture right here that tells us not to?
00:01:59 --> 00:02:02 So if you've got the St. Paul's app, open it up.
00:02:02 --> 00:02:05 Keep the Bible passage there in front of you.
00:02:05 --> 00:02:07 These are our points for today.
00:02:07 --> 00:02:10 First of all, risking nothing and losing everything.
00:02:10 --> 00:02:18 So if you've just joined us, Esther is the story of a young Jewish woman living as an exile in the Persian Empire.
00:02:18 --> 00:02:28 And through a series of events that God is sovereignly and silently working in the background in all of this, all these events,
00:02:28 --> 00:02:39 she is picked out of obscurity and chosen by Xerxes I, the most powerful man in the universe at that point, to be his new queen.
00:02:39 --> 00:02:48 And the whole time that she has kept her Jewish identity, her culture and her God hidden.
00:02:49 --> 00:02:52 She's kept that hidden away, screwed away secretly.
00:02:52 --> 00:03:00 In chapter three, as we looked at last week, an edict goes out of the whole Persian Empire that on a particular set date,
00:03:00 --> 00:03:05 the Jewish people are to be exterminated within the Persian Empire.
00:03:05 --> 00:03:12 And so we pick up the story with the aftermath of that edict going out.
00:03:12 --> 00:03:18 And so chapter four begins with Esther's cousin Mordecai.
00:03:18 --> 00:03:24 He's in sackcloth and mourning in the open square of the city in front of the king's gate.
00:03:24 --> 00:03:26 See how it reads there.
00:03:26 --> 00:03:27 Chapter four, verse one.
00:03:27 --> 00:03:54 He wasn't allowed to go inside the king's gate into the palace center because you're not allowed to have sackcloth and mourning in the palace.
00:03:54 --> 00:04:01 So what we, when it's king's gate, Mordecai is at the gate, the palace gate.
00:04:02 --> 00:04:07 Chapter one, verse two, names that palace as the citadel of Susa.
00:04:07 --> 00:04:16 The citadel of Susa was a strongly fortified, elevated palace in the center of Susa,
00:04:16 --> 00:04:20 the center of the Roman Empire, sorry, the Persian Empire.
00:04:20 --> 00:04:31 And it was designed, the whole palace was designed to elevate the importance of the king and to guard the king.
00:04:32 --> 00:04:42 It was to elevate the importance and to protect the king, his court and anyone who resided within the palace.
00:04:42 --> 00:04:52 And in other words, to be in the palace, to be in the citadel was to be at the center of power and influence.
00:04:54 --> 00:04:58 And Mordecai is at the gate of that complex.
00:04:59 --> 00:05:02 Esther is inside that complex.
00:05:02 --> 00:05:14 And he's trying to get her attention so that she might do something to save her people, God's people.
00:05:14 --> 00:05:22 Now what we see here as in the first section of chapter four,
00:05:23 --> 00:05:32 is that there is an enormous amount of danger of being settled in the palace, of living in the palace.
00:05:33 --> 00:05:35 We see it in Esther's response in verse four.
00:05:35 --> 00:05:41 When Esther's eunuchs and female attendants came and told her Mordecai, she was in great distress.
00:05:44 --> 00:05:49 She sent clothes for him to put on instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them.
00:05:50 --> 00:05:56 So Esther, her response to hearing about Mordecai is to send him clothes.
00:05:56 --> 00:06:05 She's in great distress because potentially he's making a spectacle of himself, embarrassing himself,
00:06:05 --> 00:06:09 maybe even embarrassing her by relationship.
00:06:10 --> 00:06:14 Mordecai is distraught with the fate of God's people,
00:06:15 --> 00:06:21 but it seems Esther is isolated entirely from the impending tragedy.
00:06:21 --> 00:06:29 Every Jew from Ethiopia to India was mourning because of this edict,
00:06:29 --> 00:06:31 and she did not have a clue.
00:06:34 --> 00:06:38 Well, she didn't care because she was in the palace.
00:06:41 --> 00:06:45 Perhaps she didn't have time between the manicures and pedicures and the facials.
00:06:45 --> 00:06:56 In any case, she has done a brilliant job, a brilliant job by Mordecai's instruction
00:06:56 --> 00:06:59 at concealing her identity.
00:07:01 --> 00:07:07 So why would anyone in the palace be concerned to inform her of the edict?
00:07:07 --> 00:07:18 It is so easy when we exist in our palaces of security and comfort
00:07:18 --> 00:07:21 to be isolated from the needs of the world around us
00:07:21 --> 00:07:27 and God's concern for his world and for people
00:07:27 --> 00:07:30 when we live the good life in the palace.
00:07:30 --> 00:07:36 So Mordecai begs and pleads for her to use her connections,
00:07:37 --> 00:07:41 to use her position, her favour with the king to do something,
00:07:41 --> 00:07:45 to work for God's justice and to save God's people.
00:07:47 --> 00:07:50 But notice Esther's first response in verse 11.
00:07:50 --> 00:07:54 All the king's officials and the people of the royal provinces know
00:07:54 --> 00:07:58 that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court
00:07:58 --> 00:08:01 without being summoned, the king has but one law,
00:08:02 --> 00:08:07 that they be put to death unless the king extends the royal scepter to them
00:08:07 --> 00:08:08 and spares their lives.
00:08:10 --> 00:08:13 But 30 days have passed since I was called to go to the king.
00:08:17 --> 00:08:20 What she's communicating to Mordecai here is,
00:08:20 --> 00:08:22 you don't understand what you're asking of me.
00:08:22 --> 00:08:26 For me to go to the king is very risky.
00:08:28 --> 00:08:30 And let's put this into context.
00:08:34 --> 00:08:40 Esther's in her position as queen because Vashti was just a bit too bold
00:08:40 --> 00:08:41 with Xerxes.
00:08:42 --> 00:08:44 It's very fresh on her mind.
00:08:45 --> 00:08:46 She was a little too courageous.
00:08:46 --> 00:08:49 And notice too that Esther says here,
00:08:50 --> 00:08:54 Xerxes hasn't asked me to come to him for 30 days.
00:08:56 --> 00:09:01 So if he hasn't called her for 30 days,
00:09:02 --> 00:09:06 then that's either a sign that he's had a month-long headache
00:09:06 --> 00:09:10 or that he's entirely out of favour,
00:09:11 --> 00:09:12 that she's entirely out of favour.
00:09:12 --> 00:09:16 Because Xerxes does not sleep alone.
00:09:19 --> 00:09:21 In other words, what Esther is saying here to Mordecai,
00:09:21 --> 00:09:24 you do not know what you are asking of me.
00:09:25 --> 00:09:27 I might lose everything.
00:09:32 --> 00:09:36 And at this point, Mordecai sends back a message
00:09:36 --> 00:09:40 that is, in fact, the high point of the book of Esther.
00:09:40 --> 00:09:44 This is the turning point of Esther.
00:09:45 --> 00:09:46 Verse 13.
00:09:46 --> 00:09:50 Do not think that because you are in the king's house,
00:09:51 --> 00:09:53 you alone of all the Jews will escape.
00:09:54 --> 00:09:56 For if you remain silent at this time,
00:09:57 --> 00:10:00 relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place.
00:10:00 --> 00:10:04 But you and your father's family will perish.
00:10:06 --> 00:10:06 And who knows,
00:10:07 --> 00:10:09 but that you have come to your royal position
00:10:09 --> 00:10:12 for such a time as this.
00:10:12 --> 00:10:19 So, to paraphrase Mordecai,
00:10:20 --> 00:10:24 if Esther doesn't risk losing the palace,
00:10:24 --> 00:10:26 she will lose everything.
00:10:26 --> 00:10:33 If she does risk losing the palace,
00:10:33 --> 00:10:36 she might lose everything.
00:10:37 --> 00:10:40 That's the choice that's in front of her at the moment.
00:10:41 --> 00:10:44 If all the Jewish people are killed,
00:10:44 --> 00:10:46 she will be discovered as a Jew,
00:10:47 --> 00:10:48 and she too will be killed.
00:10:48 --> 00:10:51 If the Jews aren't killed,
00:10:52 --> 00:10:56 then she will be discovered to be a traitor.
00:11:00 --> 00:11:05 Now, there are two remarkable principles,
00:11:05 --> 00:11:08 I think, that flow out of here
00:11:08 --> 00:11:11 that really have powerful applications for us.
00:11:11 --> 00:11:17 The first principle is that
00:11:17 --> 00:11:22 unless we use the influence we've got,
00:11:22 --> 00:11:24 the credentials we've got,
00:11:24 --> 00:11:25 the resources we've got,
00:11:26 --> 00:11:27 the position we've got,
00:11:28 --> 00:11:29 the skills we've got,
00:11:29 --> 00:11:31 for the service of others,
00:11:32 --> 00:11:35 as opposed to personal advancement,
00:11:35 --> 00:11:38 personal security, personal comfort,
00:11:38 --> 00:11:41 then those things
00:11:41 --> 00:11:45 don't result in security, in comfort.
00:11:46 --> 00:11:48 They actually result in slavery.
00:11:49 --> 00:11:52 I've talked about this many times in the past.
00:11:54 --> 00:11:56 Esther was queen to Xerxes I.
00:11:57 --> 00:12:00 She lived in the palace in Susa.
00:12:01 --> 00:12:03 But if she loved the palace
00:12:03 --> 00:12:06 and she loved its comfort and its security
00:12:06 --> 00:12:09 and its power and its influence,
00:12:09 --> 00:12:13 so much so that she would not risk losing it,
00:12:14 --> 00:12:17 then the palace becomes nothing more
00:12:17 --> 00:12:18 than death row for her.
00:12:20 --> 00:12:21 Nothing more than that.
00:12:22 --> 00:12:24 She's as dead as anyone else.
00:12:27 --> 00:12:28 In other words,
00:12:29 --> 00:12:31 if we are unwilling to jeopardise
00:12:31 --> 00:12:32 our place in the palace,
00:12:32 --> 00:12:35 the palace that we might have built for ourselves,
00:12:35 --> 00:12:37 our identity that we're built for ourselves,
00:12:38 --> 00:12:42 then the palace has in fact taken over us
00:12:42 --> 00:12:43 and it controls us.
00:12:44 --> 00:12:47 We live to keep that comfort and security
00:12:47 --> 00:12:49 and it's never enough.
00:12:50 --> 00:12:52 And we're always looking over our shoulder.
00:12:52 --> 00:12:54 We are consistently questioning
00:12:54 --> 00:12:55 whether it's enough.
00:12:55 --> 00:13:01 Mordecai seems to be saying here
00:13:01 --> 00:13:05 that if you can't throw away the palace
00:13:05 --> 00:13:09 or at least risking throwing away the palace
00:13:09 --> 00:13:11 or risk your place in the palace
00:13:11 --> 00:13:13 to do good for other people,
00:13:13 --> 00:13:15 then you are owned by the palace.
00:13:16 --> 00:13:17 You actually don't have comfort.
00:13:17 --> 00:13:19 You don't have security.
00:13:19 --> 00:13:20 You are owned.
00:13:20 --> 00:13:20 You're enslaved.
00:13:20 --> 00:13:20 You're enslaved.
00:13:20 --> 00:13:28 The second implication here
00:13:28 --> 00:13:31 is that the only way we would in fact
00:13:31 --> 00:13:33 be prepared to risk everything
00:13:33 --> 00:13:39 is if our identity has its foundation
00:13:39 --> 00:13:43 somewhere else apart from what we have built
00:13:43 --> 00:13:44 for ourselves.
00:13:44 --> 00:13:49 So how do we do that?
00:13:49 --> 00:13:51 How do you get an identity
00:13:51 --> 00:13:54 that is not something
00:13:54 --> 00:13:56 that we have built for ourselves,
00:13:56 --> 00:13:57 something that we've achieved,
00:13:58 --> 00:14:00 but it's in fact something that we receive?
00:14:01 --> 00:14:02 And there is an answer to that
00:14:02 --> 00:14:05 and it's hinted at in verse 14.
00:14:06 --> 00:14:09 Who knows but that you have come
00:14:09 --> 00:14:11 to your royal position
00:14:11 --> 00:14:13 for such a time as this?
00:14:14 --> 00:14:18 Now, the word come there in that verse
00:14:18 --> 00:14:21 is in the passive form
00:14:21 --> 00:14:23 in the original Hebrew language.
00:14:24 --> 00:14:28 And so a better way to understand that
00:14:28 --> 00:14:30 or to paraphrase that verse
00:14:30 --> 00:14:35 is who knows but that you have been brought
00:14:35 --> 00:14:38 to the palace,
00:14:39 --> 00:14:40 to your royal position
00:14:40 --> 00:14:42 for such a time as this?
00:14:42 --> 00:14:45 In other words,
00:14:45 --> 00:14:48 you did not make yourself queen.
00:14:49 --> 00:14:52 You've been brought there for this moment.
00:14:53 --> 00:14:54 This is your moment.
00:14:56 --> 00:14:59 Esther got to the palace by grace.
00:15:00 --> 00:15:04 Her beauty was something that was a gift to her.
00:15:05 --> 00:15:07 She didn't create that for herself.
00:15:08 --> 00:15:09 No one ever does.
00:15:09 --> 00:15:10 It's a gift.
00:15:11 --> 00:15:13 She didn't produce the door of opportunity
00:15:13 --> 00:15:17 that saw her rise to the position of queen.
00:15:18 --> 00:15:22 God has been silently and sovereignly working
00:15:22 --> 00:15:25 to bring her for such a time as this.
00:15:25 --> 00:15:28 This is her purpose.
00:15:28 --> 00:15:31 This is her moment.
00:15:34 --> 00:15:37 And that is the turning point for Esther.
00:15:38 --> 00:15:43 This is where we get Esther stepping up.
00:15:43 --> 00:15:45 And this is where she utters
00:15:45 --> 00:15:48 what are the most remarkable words
00:15:48 --> 00:15:50 in this entire book.
00:15:51 --> 00:15:52 Verse 16.
00:15:52 --> 00:15:55 Go gather together all the Jews
00:15:55 --> 00:15:58 who are in Susa and fast for me.
00:15:59 --> 00:16:01 Do not eat or drink for three days,
00:16:01 --> 00:16:03 night or day.
00:16:03 --> 00:16:06 I and my attendants will fast as you do.
00:16:06 --> 00:16:08 And when this is done,
00:16:08 --> 00:16:10 I will go to the king
00:16:10 --> 00:16:12 even though it is against the law.
00:16:13 --> 00:16:16 And if I perish, I perish.
00:16:20 --> 00:16:24 That is the remarkable turning point
00:16:24 --> 00:16:25 of this book
00:16:25 --> 00:16:27 and the remarkable turning point
00:16:27 --> 00:16:29 in Esther's life.
00:16:30 --> 00:16:31 We go from Esther living
00:16:31 --> 00:16:33 the high life in the palace
00:16:33 --> 00:16:36 to Esther risking everything else
00:16:36 --> 00:16:38 in her life
00:16:38 --> 00:16:40 in order to save others.
00:16:41 --> 00:16:44 Which brings me to the second point,
00:16:44 --> 00:16:45 risking everything
00:16:45 --> 00:16:47 and losing nothing.
00:16:49 --> 00:16:51 Now there is a danger here,
00:16:51 --> 00:16:53 let me say first of all,
00:16:54 --> 00:16:56 in seeing Esther primarily
00:16:56 --> 00:16:59 as an inspiration to be copied.
00:16:59 --> 00:17:01 For instance,
00:17:02 --> 00:17:03 for the Christian,
00:17:03 --> 00:17:05 you might read this
00:17:05 --> 00:17:06 and inspired
00:17:06 --> 00:17:09 to taking risk
00:17:09 --> 00:17:10 and getting more interested
00:17:10 --> 00:17:12 in justice and mercy
00:17:12 --> 00:17:14 in the world
00:17:14 --> 00:17:15 and to start speaking up
00:17:15 --> 00:17:17 about your belief in Jesus.
00:17:18 --> 00:17:18 All of a sudden,
00:17:18 --> 00:17:19 you've got this boldness
00:17:19 --> 00:17:21 and I'm going to,
00:17:21 --> 00:17:22 Esther,
00:17:22 --> 00:17:24 God came through
00:17:24 --> 00:17:24 and saved Esther
00:17:24 --> 00:17:26 and it was a massive moment for her
00:17:26 --> 00:17:28 and look at her,
00:17:28 --> 00:17:29 we're talking about her
00:17:29 --> 00:17:30 thousands of years later
00:17:30 --> 00:17:32 and I'm going to be like Esther
00:17:32 --> 00:17:34 and brah!
00:17:34 --> 00:17:35 out there into the world.
00:17:36 --> 00:17:38 There is always a danger
00:17:38 --> 00:17:40 in being inspired
00:17:40 --> 00:17:41 by another
00:17:41 --> 00:17:43 because it tends
00:17:43 --> 00:17:45 not to last
00:17:45 --> 00:17:47 because the basic motivation
00:17:47 --> 00:17:49 is one of
00:17:49 --> 00:17:51 self-centeredness
00:17:51 --> 00:17:52 or guilt.
00:17:55 --> 00:17:57 Motivation by guilt
00:17:57 --> 00:17:58 wears off
00:17:58 --> 00:18:00 because guilt
00:18:00 --> 00:18:01 doesn't actually
00:18:01 --> 00:18:02 change you
00:18:02 --> 00:18:03 on the inside.
00:18:07 --> 00:18:08 When guilt
00:18:08 --> 00:18:09 is our motive,
00:18:10 --> 00:18:12 then we're still
00:18:12 --> 00:18:14 getting our identity
00:18:14 --> 00:18:15 from our performance.
00:18:16 --> 00:18:17 I want to be great
00:18:17 --> 00:18:18 like Esther
00:18:18 --> 00:18:20 and therefore
00:18:20 --> 00:18:21 I will do like Esther
00:18:21 --> 00:18:23 so that I can be great.
00:18:23 --> 00:18:25 It's performance-driven.
00:18:26 --> 00:18:27 Self-righteousness
00:18:27 --> 00:18:28 is always
00:18:28 --> 00:18:30 the fruit
00:18:30 --> 00:18:31 of performance.
00:18:32 --> 00:18:33 I'm not going to be
00:18:33 --> 00:18:34 like those other
00:18:34 --> 00:18:35 half-hearted Christians
00:18:35 --> 00:18:37 who won't risk everything.
00:18:37 --> 00:18:38 I'm going to be
00:18:38 --> 00:18:38 principled
00:18:38 --> 00:18:39 and outspoken.
00:18:39 --> 00:18:39 In fact,
00:18:40 --> 00:18:40 I booked my
00:18:40 --> 00:18:42 airfare right now
00:18:42 --> 00:18:43 and I'm going to
00:18:43 --> 00:18:45 fly to Susa,
00:18:45 --> 00:18:46 I'm going to go to Iran
00:18:46 --> 00:18:48 and I'm going to
00:18:48 --> 00:18:49 be in the public square
00:18:49 --> 00:18:50 and preach Jesus
00:18:50 --> 00:18:52 and distribute Bibles.
00:18:52 --> 00:18:56 It's not going to be
00:18:56 --> 00:18:57 like the rest of these
00:18:57 --> 00:18:58 North Shore Christians.
00:19:01 --> 00:19:02 But there's not
00:19:02 --> 00:19:02 actually change
00:19:02 --> 00:19:03 in the heart
00:19:03 --> 00:19:03 at that point
00:19:03 --> 00:19:06 which is often
00:19:06 --> 00:19:07 revealed
00:19:07 --> 00:19:07 when we are
00:19:07 --> 00:19:08 confronted
00:19:08 --> 00:19:09 by others
00:19:09 --> 00:19:10 not having
00:19:10 --> 00:19:11 our same values.
00:19:11 --> 00:19:11 We become
00:19:11 --> 00:19:12 judgmental
00:19:12 --> 00:19:14 of their choices.
00:19:16 --> 00:19:16 Overreaction
00:19:16 --> 00:19:17 is the danger.
00:19:19 --> 00:19:19 That's where
00:19:19 --> 00:19:20 we give to anything,
00:19:20 --> 00:19:22 where we will do
00:19:22 --> 00:19:23 anything without
00:19:23 --> 00:19:24 any thought
00:19:24 --> 00:19:25 of wise stewardship.
00:19:26 --> 00:19:28 It's a misunderstanding
00:19:28 --> 00:19:29 of how God
00:19:29 --> 00:19:30 has brought us
00:19:30 --> 00:19:30 to the place
00:19:30 --> 00:19:31 where we are.
00:19:33 --> 00:19:34 It's a misunderstanding
00:19:34 --> 00:19:35 of how God
00:19:35 --> 00:19:36 has made us
00:19:36 --> 00:19:38 and so by guilt
00:19:38 --> 00:19:40 and by self-righteousness
00:19:40 --> 00:19:42 we will do anything
00:19:42 --> 00:19:42 and absolutely
00:19:42 --> 00:19:43 everything
00:19:43 --> 00:19:46 and we don't
00:19:46 --> 00:19:47 understand
00:19:47 --> 00:19:48 who we are
00:19:48 --> 00:19:49 in Christ
00:19:49 --> 00:19:50 at that point.
00:19:51 --> 00:19:52 Now there is
00:19:52 --> 00:19:53 a time
00:19:53 --> 00:19:54 to throw
00:19:54 --> 00:19:54 abandon
00:19:54 --> 00:19:55 in the air
00:19:55 --> 00:19:57 and there is a time
00:19:57 --> 00:19:58 to pull back
00:19:58 --> 00:19:58 and regroup.
00:20:00 --> 00:20:00 Notice
00:20:00 --> 00:20:02 that it takes
00:20:02 --> 00:20:03 Esther
00:20:03 --> 00:20:04 a little while
00:20:04 --> 00:20:05 before she
00:20:05 --> 00:20:06 approaches
00:20:06 --> 00:20:06 Xerxes
00:20:06 --> 00:20:08 and not
00:20:08 --> 00:20:09 without
00:20:09 --> 00:20:10 calling together
00:20:10 --> 00:20:11 her people
00:20:11 --> 00:20:12 in three days
00:20:12 --> 00:20:13 of fasting
00:20:13 --> 00:20:13 for her
00:20:13 --> 00:20:15 which is
00:20:15 --> 00:20:17 three days
00:20:17 --> 00:20:19 of searching
00:20:19 --> 00:20:20 God
00:20:20 --> 00:20:21 for her.
00:20:22 --> 00:20:23 Reliance
00:20:23 --> 00:20:23 upon God.
00:20:23 --> 00:20:24 That's the idea
00:20:24 --> 00:20:24 of fasting.
00:20:24 --> 00:20:25 It's a reliance
00:20:25 --> 00:20:26 upon God
00:20:26 --> 00:20:27 in this moment.
00:20:30 --> 00:20:31 The danger
00:20:31 --> 00:20:32 of Esther
00:20:32 --> 00:20:34 chapter 5
00:20:34 --> 00:20:34 tells us
00:20:34 --> 00:20:35 she was very
00:20:35 --> 00:20:35 careful,
00:20:36 --> 00:20:36 she was
00:20:36 --> 00:20:37 considered
00:20:37 --> 00:20:37 and she
00:20:37 --> 00:20:38 was deliberate
00:20:38 --> 00:20:39 in how she
00:20:39 --> 00:20:40 went about
00:20:40 --> 00:20:40 approaching
00:20:40 --> 00:20:42 Xerxes.
00:20:42 --> 00:20:43 Now the danger
00:20:43 --> 00:20:43 of Esther
00:20:43 --> 00:20:44 being an example
00:20:44 --> 00:20:45 of risk-taking
00:20:45 --> 00:20:47 will be a
00:20:47 --> 00:20:48 tenderness
00:20:48 --> 00:20:48 towards
00:20:48 --> 00:20:50 fickleness,
00:20:51 --> 00:20:52 doesn't last,
00:20:54 --> 00:20:56 self-righteousness
00:20:56 --> 00:20:58 and
00:20:58 --> 00:20:59 potentially
00:20:59 --> 00:21:00 downright
00:21:00 --> 00:21:02 foolishness.
00:21:02 --> 00:21:04 but what
00:21:04 --> 00:21:05 if we
00:21:05 --> 00:21:05 saw
00:21:05 --> 00:21:06 Esther
00:21:06 --> 00:21:07 not so
00:21:07 --> 00:21:08 much
00:21:08 --> 00:21:09 as
00:21:09 --> 00:21:09 an example
00:21:09 --> 00:21:11 to be
00:21:11 --> 00:21:11 admired
00:21:11 --> 00:21:13 but as
00:21:13 --> 00:21:14 a sign
00:21:14 --> 00:21:14 post
00:21:14 --> 00:21:15 guiding
00:21:15 --> 00:21:16 us.
00:21:17 --> 00:21:17 Notice
00:21:17 --> 00:21:18 here
00:21:18 --> 00:21:19 that
00:21:19 --> 00:21:19 Esther
00:21:19 --> 00:21:21 in the
00:21:21 --> 00:21:21 end
00:21:21 --> 00:21:22 saved
00:21:22 --> 00:21:22 God's
00:21:22 --> 00:21:22 people
00:21:22 --> 00:21:23 here
00:21:23 --> 00:21:24 by doing
00:21:24 --> 00:21:24 two
00:21:24 --> 00:21:25 things
00:21:25 --> 00:21:26 in
00:21:26 --> 00:21:26 chapter 4
00:21:26 --> 00:21:26 and chapter
00:21:26 --> 00:21:27 5.
00:21:28 --> 00:21:29 She did
00:21:29 --> 00:21:30 two things.
00:21:31 --> 00:21:31 She
00:21:31 --> 00:21:31 identified
00:21:31 --> 00:21:32 with them
00:21:32 --> 00:21:34 and she
00:21:34 --> 00:21:35 mediated
00:21:35 --> 00:21:36 for them.
00:21:37 --> 00:21:37 Identified
00:21:37 --> 00:21:38 and mediated.
00:21:41 --> 00:21:42 Her
00:21:42 --> 00:21:43 people were
00:21:43 --> 00:21:44 condemned
00:21:44 --> 00:21:45 and she
00:21:45 --> 00:21:46 identified
00:21:46 --> 00:21:47 with them
00:21:47 --> 00:21:48 in their
00:21:48 --> 00:21:49 condemnation
00:21:49 --> 00:21:51 and so
00:21:51 --> 00:21:52 came under
00:21:52 --> 00:21:53 the same
00:21:53 --> 00:21:54 condemnation.
00:21:54 --> 00:21:55 they
00:21:55 --> 00:21:56 are
00:21:56 --> 00:21:56 condemned
00:21:56 --> 00:21:57 to death
00:21:57 --> 00:21:59 as
00:21:59 --> 00:21:59 Jewish
00:21:59 --> 00:22:00 people.
00:22:00 --> 00:22:01 She
00:22:01 --> 00:22:02 identifies
00:22:02 --> 00:22:03 as a
00:22:03 --> 00:22:03 Jewish
00:22:03 --> 00:22:04 person
00:22:04 --> 00:22:05 and she
00:22:05 --> 00:22:05 says
00:22:05 --> 00:22:06 if I
00:22:06 --> 00:22:06 perish
00:22:06 --> 00:22:06 I
00:22:06 --> 00:22:07 perish.
00:22:07 --> 00:22:07 She
00:22:07 --> 00:22:08 identified
00:22:08 --> 00:22:08 with them
00:22:08 --> 00:22:10 but it's
00:22:10 --> 00:22:11 only because
00:22:11 --> 00:22:11 she
00:22:11 --> 00:22:12 identified
00:22:12 --> 00:22:13 with her
00:22:13 --> 00:22:13 people
00:22:13 --> 00:22:14 that she
00:22:14 --> 00:22:15 was able
00:22:15 --> 00:22:15 to
00:22:15 --> 00:22:16 mediate
00:22:16 --> 00:22:17 for her
00:22:17 --> 00:22:17 people.
00:22:18 --> 00:22:19 That is
00:22:19 --> 00:22:19 she could
00:22:19 --> 00:22:20 go
00:22:20 --> 00:22:21 before the
00:22:21 --> 00:22:22 throne
00:22:22 --> 00:22:23 of power
00:22:23 --> 00:22:24 in a
00:22:24 --> 00:22:24 way
00:22:24 --> 00:22:25 that no
00:22:25 --> 00:22:26 one else
00:22:26 --> 00:22:26 could in
00:22:26 --> 00:22:27 that moment.
00:22:29 --> 00:22:30 That no
00:22:30 --> 00:22:30 other Jew
00:22:30 --> 00:22:31 could in
00:22:31 --> 00:22:31 that moment.
00:22:31 --> 00:22:35 The first
00:22:35 --> 00:22:37 time that
00:22:37 --> 00:22:37 Xerxes
00:22:37 --> 00:22:39 understands
00:22:39 --> 00:22:40 the gravity
00:22:40 --> 00:22:41 and the
00:22:41 --> 00:22:42 implications
00:22:42 --> 00:22:44 of the
00:22:44 --> 00:22:44 decisions
00:22:44 --> 00:22:45 that he
00:22:45 --> 00:22:46 has made
00:22:46 --> 00:22:47 in condemning
00:22:47 --> 00:22:47 the Jewish
00:22:47 --> 00:22:48 people
00:22:48 --> 00:22:49 was when
00:22:49 --> 00:22:49 Esther
00:22:49 --> 00:22:52 the one
00:22:52 --> 00:22:52 to whom
00:22:52 --> 00:22:53 he has
00:22:53 --> 00:22:53 extended
00:22:53 --> 00:22:54 his scepter
00:22:54 --> 00:22:56 the one
00:22:56 --> 00:22:57 who he
00:22:57 --> 00:22:58 had
00:22:58 --> 00:22:59 favoured
00:22:59 --> 00:23:00 stands
00:23:00 --> 00:23:02 before him
00:23:02 --> 00:23:03 as favoured
00:23:03 --> 00:23:05 and says
00:23:05 --> 00:23:06 I'm
00:23:06 --> 00:23:06 Jew
00:23:06 --> 00:23:08 too.
00:23:14 --> 00:23:15 I am
00:23:15 --> 00:23:16 your favoured
00:23:16 --> 00:23:16 one
00:23:16 --> 00:23:18 and I
00:23:18 --> 00:23:18 am
00:23:18 --> 00:23:19 condemned.
00:23:20 --> 00:23:22 That was
00:23:22 --> 00:23:22 the first
00:23:22 --> 00:23:23 time that
00:23:23 --> 00:23:24 he saw
00:23:24 --> 00:23:25 the Jewish
00:23:25 --> 00:23:26 people in
00:23:26 --> 00:23:27 an entirely
00:23:27 --> 00:23:28 different
00:23:28 --> 00:23:29 way.
00:23:30 --> 00:23:32 Esther
00:23:32 --> 00:23:32 went
00:23:32 --> 00:23:32 before
00:23:32 --> 00:23:34 the
00:23:34 --> 00:23:34 throne
00:23:34 --> 00:23:35 of
00:23:35 --> 00:23:35 power
00:23:35 --> 00:23:37 and
00:23:37 --> 00:23:38 her
00:23:38 --> 00:23:40 favour
00:23:40 --> 00:23:41 with
00:23:41 --> 00:23:42 Xerxes
00:23:42 --> 00:23:43 was
00:23:43 --> 00:23:44 attributed
00:23:44 --> 00:23:44 to the
00:23:44 --> 00:23:45 Jewish
00:23:45 --> 00:23:45 people.
00:23:49 --> 00:23:50 She
00:23:50 --> 00:23:51 saved
00:23:51 --> 00:23:51 them
00:23:51 --> 00:23:51 through
00:23:51 --> 00:23:52 identification
00:23:52 --> 00:23:53 and
00:23:53 --> 00:23:54 mediation.
00:23:56 --> 00:23:56 Now
00:23:56 --> 00:23:56 as I've
00:23:56 --> 00:23:56 said
00:23:56 --> 00:23:58 a couple
00:23:58 --> 00:23:58 of weeks
00:23:58 --> 00:23:58 ago
00:23:58 --> 00:24:00 and I'll
00:24:00 --> 00:24:00 say it
00:24:00 --> 00:24:00 again
00:24:00 --> 00:24:01 Esther
00:24:01 --> 00:24:02 was a
00:24:02 --> 00:24:02 flawed
00:24:02 --> 00:24:03 saviour
00:24:03 --> 00:24:05 but she
00:24:05 --> 00:24:05 does
00:24:05 --> 00:24:06 point us
00:24:06 --> 00:24:06 to a
00:24:06 --> 00:24:06 flawless
00:24:06 --> 00:24:07 saviour.
00:24:08 --> 00:24:09 She
00:24:09 --> 00:24:10 points us
00:24:10 --> 00:24:10 ultimately
00:24:10 --> 00:24:12 to the
00:24:12 --> 00:24:13 king of
00:24:13 --> 00:24:13 the Jews
00:24:13 --> 00:24:16 the true
00:24:16 --> 00:24:17 Israelite.
00:24:18 --> 00:24:19 Jesus
00:24:19 --> 00:24:20 is the
00:24:20 --> 00:24:20 one
00:24:20 --> 00:24:22 who lived
00:24:22 --> 00:24:22 in the
00:24:22 --> 00:24:22 ultimate
00:24:22 --> 00:24:23 palace.
00:24:23 --> 00:24:24 He lived
00:24:24 --> 00:24:24 for all
00:24:24 --> 00:24:25 eternity
00:24:25 --> 00:24:25 in the
00:24:25 --> 00:24:26 very presence
00:24:26 --> 00:24:26 of the
00:24:26 --> 00:24:27 throne
00:24:27 --> 00:24:27 room
00:24:27 --> 00:24:27 of the
00:24:27 --> 00:24:28 universe
00:24:28 --> 00:24:29 in the
00:24:29 --> 00:24:30 presence
00:24:30 --> 00:24:30 of God
00:24:30 --> 00:24:31 in the
00:24:31 --> 00:24:31 kingdom
00:24:31 --> 00:24:32 of God
00:24:32 --> 00:24:32 as the
00:24:32 --> 00:24:33 second
00:24:33 --> 00:24:33 person
00:24:33 --> 00:24:33 of the
00:24:33 --> 00:24:34 Trinity
00:24:34 --> 00:24:34 the
00:24:34 --> 00:24:34 Son
00:24:34 --> 00:24:35 of God.
00:24:36 --> 00:24:36 And as
00:24:36 --> 00:24:37 the second
00:24:37 --> 00:24:37 person
00:24:37 --> 00:24:37 of the
00:24:37 --> 00:24:37 Trinity
00:24:37 --> 00:24:37 the
00:24:37 --> 00:24:38 Son
00:24:38 --> 00:24:38 of God
00:24:38 --> 00:24:39 he had
00:24:39 --> 00:24:39 ultimate
00:24:39 --> 00:24:40 beauty
00:24:40 --> 00:24:41 and glory
00:24:41 --> 00:24:41 and he
00:24:41 --> 00:24:42 left it
00:24:42 --> 00:24:43 to one
00:24:43 --> 00:24:43 side.
00:24:44 --> 00:24:45 No one
00:24:45 --> 00:24:45 had to
00:24:45 --> 00:24:46 manipulate
00:24:46 --> 00:24:46 him.
00:24:47 --> 00:24:47 No one
00:24:47 --> 00:24:47 had to
00:24:47 --> 00:24:48 put pressure
00:24:48 --> 00:24:49 on him.
00:24:49 --> 00:24:49 No one
00:24:49 --> 00:24:50 backed him
00:24:50 --> 00:24:50 into a
00:24:50 --> 00:24:51 corner in
00:24:51 --> 00:24:51 order to
00:24:51 --> 00:24:52 do it.
00:24:52 --> 00:24:52 Philippians
00:24:52 --> 00:24:53 2 in
00:24:53 --> 00:24:53 the New
00:24:53 --> 00:24:54 Testament
00:24:54 --> 00:24:55 says that
00:24:55 --> 00:24:55 he had
00:24:55 --> 00:24:56 equality
00:24:56 --> 00:24:57 with the
00:24:57 --> 00:24:57 Father
00:24:57 --> 00:24:58 but he
00:24:58 --> 00:24:59 did not
00:24:59 --> 00:25:00 hold on
00:25:00 --> 00:25:01 to that
00:25:01 --> 00:25:01 equality
00:25:01 --> 00:25:02 in order
00:25:02 --> 00:25:03 for it
00:25:03 --> 00:25:03 to be
00:25:03 --> 00:25:03 used
00:25:03 --> 00:25:04 for his
00:25:04 --> 00:25:04 own
00:25:04 --> 00:25:04 sake
00:25:04 --> 00:25:05 to
00:25:05 --> 00:25:05 feather
00:25:05 --> 00:25:06 his own
00:25:06 --> 00:25:06 nest
00:25:06 --> 00:25:07 to secure
00:25:07 --> 00:25:08 his own
00:25:08 --> 00:25:09 comfort
00:25:09 --> 00:25:10 for advance
00:25:10 --> 00:25:11 his own
00:25:11 --> 00:25:11 purposes
00:25:11 --> 00:25:12 his own
00:25:12 --> 00:25:12 identity
00:25:12 --> 00:25:13 or glory.
00:25:15 --> 00:25:16 It says
00:25:16 --> 00:25:17 he emptied
00:25:17 --> 00:25:17 himself
00:25:17 --> 00:25:19 and he
00:25:19 --> 00:25:20 came down
00:25:20 --> 00:25:21 and he
00:25:21 --> 00:25:21 came down
00:25:21 --> 00:25:22 to identify
00:25:22 --> 00:25:23 to take
00:25:23 --> 00:25:23 on human
00:25:23 --> 00:25:24 flesh
00:25:24 --> 00:25:25 and identify
00:25:25 --> 00:25:27 with sinful
00:25:27 --> 00:25:28 humanity
00:25:28 --> 00:25:29 under the
00:25:29 --> 00:25:29 just
00:25:29 --> 00:25:30 condemnation
00:25:30 --> 00:25:31 of God
00:25:31 --> 00:25:33 deserving
00:25:33 --> 00:25:35 of annihilation
00:25:35 --> 00:25:36 by God
00:25:36 --> 00:25:36 for their
00:25:36 --> 00:25:37 sins
00:25:37 --> 00:25:37 against God
00:25:37 --> 00:25:41 and he
00:25:41 --> 00:25:42 did not
00:25:42 --> 00:25:42 do that
00:25:42 --> 00:25:43 at the
00:25:43 --> 00:25:44 risk of
00:25:44 --> 00:25:44 his own
00:25:44 --> 00:25:45 life
00:25:45 --> 00:25:47 but at
00:25:47 --> 00:25:47 the cost
00:25:47 --> 00:25:47 of his
00:25:47 --> 00:25:48 own
00:25:48 --> 00:25:48 life.
00:25:48 --> 00:25:50 Jesus
00:25:50 --> 00:25:50 did not
00:25:50 --> 00:25:51 come
00:25:51 --> 00:25:51 saying
00:25:51 --> 00:25:52 if I
00:25:52 --> 00:25:52 perish
00:25:52 --> 00:25:53 I
00:25:53 --> 00:25:53 perish
00:25:53 --> 00:25:54 he
00:25:54 --> 00:25:54 come
00:25:54 --> 00:25:55 and right
00:25:55 --> 00:25:55 from the
00:25:55 --> 00:25:55 beginning
00:25:55 --> 00:25:56 says
00:25:56 --> 00:25:56 when I
00:25:56 --> 00:25:57 perish
00:25:57 --> 00:25:57 I
00:25:57 --> 00:25:58 will
00:25:58 --> 00:25:58 perish
00:25:58 --> 00:26:01 he
00:26:01 --> 00:26:02 went
00:26:02 --> 00:26:02 to the
00:26:02 --> 00:26:02 cross
00:26:02 --> 00:26:03 and he
00:26:03 --> 00:26:03 died
00:26:03 --> 00:26:04 as our
00:26:04 --> 00:26:04 substitute
00:26:04 --> 00:26:07 the
00:26:07 --> 00:26:07 one
00:26:07 --> 00:26:08 of
00:26:08 --> 00:26:09 infinite
00:26:09 --> 00:26:09 perfection
00:26:09 --> 00:26:11 and holiness
00:26:11 --> 00:26:12 and moral
00:26:12 --> 00:26:12 beauty
00:26:12 --> 00:26:13 became
00:26:13 --> 00:26:14 cosmically
00:26:14 --> 00:26:15 ugly
00:26:15 --> 00:26:15 as I
00:26:15 --> 00:26:15 said
00:26:15 --> 00:26:16 two weeks
00:26:16 --> 00:26:16 ago
00:26:16 --> 00:26:17 cosmically
00:26:17 --> 00:26:18 ugly
00:26:18 --> 00:26:19 to make
00:26:19 --> 00:26:20 us
00:26:20 --> 00:26:21 the
00:26:21 --> 00:26:21 condemned
00:26:21 --> 00:26:22 imperfect
00:26:22 --> 00:26:23 ones
00:26:23 --> 00:26:24 beautiful
00:26:24 --> 00:26:25 acceptable
00:26:25 --> 00:26:27 in God's
00:26:27 --> 00:26:27 sight
00:26:27 --> 00:26:30 his
00:26:30 --> 00:26:30 atonement
00:26:30 --> 00:26:31 for our
00:26:31 --> 00:26:31 sin
00:26:31 --> 00:26:32 means
00:26:32 --> 00:26:33 that
00:26:33 --> 00:26:33 his
00:26:33 --> 00:26:36 that
00:26:36 --> 00:26:37 it means
00:26:37 --> 00:26:37 that as
00:26:37 --> 00:26:38 he
00:26:38 --> 00:26:40 stands
00:26:40 --> 00:26:42 before the
00:26:42 --> 00:26:42 throne of
00:26:42 --> 00:26:43 the universe
00:26:43 --> 00:26:44 right now
00:26:44 --> 00:26:46 as our
00:26:46 --> 00:26:47 mediator
00:26:47 --> 00:26:49 favor
00:26:49 --> 00:26:50 the favor
00:26:50 --> 00:26:51 that has
00:26:51 --> 00:26:52 eternally
00:26:52 --> 00:26:53 extended
00:26:53 --> 00:26:55 to him
00:26:55 --> 00:26:55 as the
00:26:55 --> 00:26:56 perfect
00:26:56 --> 00:26:56 son of
00:26:56 --> 00:26:57 God
00:26:57 --> 00:26:57 is now
00:26:57 --> 00:26:58 attributed
00:26:58 --> 00:26:59 to us
00:26:59 --> 00:27:00 who are
00:27:00 --> 00:27:01 in him
00:27:01 --> 00:27:03 that favor
00:27:03 --> 00:27:04 extends to
00:27:04 --> 00:27:04 us
00:27:04 --> 00:27:06 the delight
00:27:06 --> 00:27:07 the love
00:27:07 --> 00:27:08 the approval
00:27:08 --> 00:27:09 of the
00:27:09 --> 00:27:10 praiseworthy
00:27:10 --> 00:27:11 God
00:27:11 --> 00:27:11 the power
00:27:11 --> 00:27:12 the most
00:27:12 --> 00:27:13 powerful one
00:27:13 --> 00:27:13 of the
00:27:13 --> 00:27:13 universe
00:27:13 --> 00:27:16 everything
00:27:16 --> 00:27:17 that Jesus
00:27:17 --> 00:27:18 always had
00:27:18 --> 00:27:20 and has
00:27:20 --> 00:27:22 is ours
00:27:22 --> 00:27:24 in him
00:27:24 --> 00:27:29 so if
00:27:29 --> 00:27:30 we see
00:27:30 --> 00:27:31 Esther
00:27:31 --> 00:27:33 as an
00:27:33 --> 00:27:33 example
00:27:33 --> 00:27:36 and say
00:27:36 --> 00:27:38 well
00:27:38 --> 00:27:39 you know
00:27:39 --> 00:27:40 I just
00:27:40 --> 00:27:40 need to
00:27:40 --> 00:27:40 be like
00:27:40 --> 00:27:40 Esther
00:27:40 --> 00:27:43 it will
00:27:43 --> 00:27:44 ultimately
00:27:44 --> 00:27:45 crush us
00:27:45 --> 00:27:48 because we
00:27:48 --> 00:27:48 will never
00:27:48 --> 00:27:48 live up
00:27:48 --> 00:27:49 to it
00:27:49 --> 00:27:51 but if
00:27:51 --> 00:27:51 we see
00:27:51 --> 00:27:52 Jesus
00:27:52 --> 00:27:53 Esther
00:27:53 --> 00:27:54 pointing us
00:27:54 --> 00:27:55 to Jesus
00:27:55 --> 00:27:55 as our
00:27:55 --> 00:27:55 savior
00:27:55 --> 00:27:56 not as
00:27:56 --> 00:27:57 an hour
00:27:57 --> 00:27:58 not even
00:27:58 --> 00:27:58 Jesus
00:27:58 --> 00:27:59 as our
00:27:59 --> 00:28:00 example
00:28:00 --> 00:28:00 to go
00:28:00 --> 00:28:00 and do
00:28:00 --> 00:28:01 likewise
00:28:01 --> 00:28:03 but as
00:28:03 --> 00:28:04 our
00:28:04 --> 00:28:04 savior
00:28:04 --> 00:28:05 doing
00:28:05 --> 00:28:06 for us
00:28:06 --> 00:28:09 what we
00:28:09 --> 00:28:10 cannot do
00:28:10 --> 00:28:11 for ourselves
00:28:11 --> 00:28:13 that
00:28:13 --> 00:28:13 ultimately
00:28:13 --> 00:28:14 changes
00:28:14 --> 00:28:14 our
00:28:14 --> 00:28:14 identity
00:28:14 --> 00:28:16 from the
00:28:16 --> 00:28:17 inside
00:28:17 --> 00:28:17 out
00:28:17 --> 00:28:19 he becomes
00:28:19 --> 00:28:19 our
00:28:19 --> 00:28:20 ultimate
00:28:20 --> 00:28:20 security
00:28:20 --> 00:28:21 he becomes
00:28:21 --> 00:28:22 our
00:28:22 --> 00:28:22 value
00:28:22 --> 00:28:23 he becomes
00:28:23 --> 00:28:24 our
00:28:24 --> 00:28:25 real
00:28:25 --> 00:28:25 worth
00:28:25 --> 00:28:27 he becomes
00:28:27 --> 00:28:27 our
00:28:27 --> 00:28:28 palace
00:28:28 --> 00:28:30 suddenly
00:28:30 --> 00:28:31 everything
00:28:31 --> 00:28:31 else
00:28:31 --> 00:28:32 in life
00:28:32 --> 00:28:33 becomes
00:28:33 --> 00:28:35 transitory
00:28:35 --> 00:28:36 stuff
00:28:36 --> 00:28:39 and we
00:28:39 --> 00:28:39 are set
00:28:39 --> 00:28:40 free
00:28:40 --> 00:28:41 to risk
00:28:41 --> 00:28:42 everything
00:28:42 --> 00:28:43 for him
00:28:43 --> 00:28:46 because
00:28:46 --> 00:28:47 losing
00:28:47 --> 00:28:47 everything
00:28:47 --> 00:28:48 for him
00:28:48 --> 00:28:49 means we
00:28:49 --> 00:28:50 lose nothing
00:28:50 --> 00:28:54 because we've
00:28:54 --> 00:28:54 already got
00:28:54 --> 00:28:55 everything
00:28:55 --> 00:28:59 we do
00:28:59 --> 00:28:59 not lose
00:28:59 --> 00:28:59 him
00:28:59 --> 00:29:00 we don't
00:29:00 --> 00:29:01 lose
00:29:01 --> 00:29:01 life
00:29:01 --> 00:29:01 we do
00:29:01 --> 00:29:02 not even
00:29:02 --> 00:29:02 lose
00:29:02 --> 00:29:03 ourselves
00:29:03 --> 00:29:04 and that's
00:29:04 --> 00:29:04 why Jesus
00:29:04 --> 00:29:05 says to
00:29:05 --> 00:29:05 his disciples
00:29:05 --> 00:29:06 in Luke
00:29:06 --> 00:29:07 21 verse
00:29:07 --> 00:29:08 16 as
00:29:08 --> 00:29:08 he sends
00:29:08 --> 00:29:09 them out
00:29:09 --> 00:29:09 to bear
00:29:09 --> 00:29:09 witness to
00:29:09 --> 00:29:10 him
00:29:10 --> 00:29:10 he says
00:29:10 --> 00:29:11 they will
00:29:11 --> 00:29:11 put some
00:29:11 --> 00:29:12 of you
00:29:12 --> 00:29:12 to death
00:29:12 --> 00:29:14 everyone
00:29:14 --> 00:29:15 will hate
00:29:15 --> 00:29:16 you because
00:29:16 --> 00:29:16 of me
00:29:16 --> 00:29:18 but
00:29:18 --> 00:29:20 not a
00:29:20 --> 00:29:20 hair
00:29:20 --> 00:29:21 on your
00:29:21 --> 00:29:21 head
00:29:21 --> 00:29:21 will
00:29:21 --> 00:29:22 perish
00:29:22 --> 00:29:25 what
00:29:25 --> 00:29:27 what are
00:29:27 --> 00:29:27 you saying
00:29:27 --> 00:29:28 Jesus
00:29:28 --> 00:29:29 I may
00:29:29 --> 00:29:29 perish
00:29:29 --> 00:29:30 but not
00:29:30 --> 00:29:30 even a
00:29:30 --> 00:29:31 hair
00:29:31 --> 00:29:31 on my
00:29:31 --> 00:29:31 head
00:29:31 --> 00:29:31 will
00:29:31 --> 00:29:31 perish
00:29:31 --> 00:29:32 that's
00:29:32 --> 00:29:33 right
00:29:33 --> 00:29:37 stand
00:29:37 --> 00:29:37 firm
00:29:37 --> 00:29:38 he says
00:29:38 --> 00:29:38 and you
00:29:38 --> 00:29:39 will win
00:29:39 --> 00:29:40 life
00:29:40 --> 00:29:41 what a
00:29:41 --> 00:29:42 paradox
00:29:42 --> 00:29:44 your reputation
00:29:44 --> 00:29:44 can be
00:29:44 --> 00:29:45 damaged
00:29:45 --> 00:29:46 you can
00:29:46 --> 00:29:46 go even
00:29:46 --> 00:29:47 get as
00:29:47 --> 00:29:47 far as
00:29:47 --> 00:29:48 being
00:29:48 --> 00:29:49 killed
00:29:49 --> 00:29:49 but not
00:29:49 --> 00:29:50 a hair
00:29:50 --> 00:29:51 on your
00:29:51 --> 00:29:51 head
00:29:51 --> 00:29:52 will
00:29:52 --> 00:29:52 perish
00:29:52 --> 00:29:52 perish
00:29:52 --> 00:29:57 so
00:29:57 --> 00:29:58 that
00:29:58 --> 00:29:58 means
00:29:58 --> 00:29:59 there's a
00:29:59 --> 00:29:59 balance
00:29:59 --> 00:29:59 here
00:29:59 --> 00:30:00 right
00:30:00 --> 00:30:01 that
00:30:01 --> 00:30:01 means
00:30:01 --> 00:30:01 there's
00:30:01 --> 00:30:02 perspective
00:30:02 --> 00:30:03 it
00:30:03 --> 00:30:03 means
00:30:03 --> 00:30:04 that
00:30:04 --> 00:30:04 not
00:30:04 --> 00:30:05 every
00:30:05 --> 00:30:05 venture
00:30:05 --> 00:30:05 for
00:30:05 --> 00:30:06 Christ
00:30:06 --> 00:30:07 that
00:30:07 --> 00:30:07 we
00:30:07 --> 00:30:08 pursue
00:30:08 --> 00:30:08 will
00:30:08 --> 00:30:08 go
00:30:08 --> 00:30:09 well
00:30:09 --> 00:30:10 as
00:30:10 --> 00:30:11 we
00:30:11 --> 00:30:11 perceive
00:30:11 --> 00:30:11 it
00:30:11 --> 00:30:11 to
00:30:11 --> 00:30:11 go
00:30:11 --> 00:30:12 well
00:30:12 --> 00:30:14 but a
00:30:14 --> 00:30:15 promise
00:30:15 --> 00:30:16 here
00:30:16 --> 00:30:17 is that
00:30:17 --> 00:30:17 no
00:30:17 --> 00:30:17 venture
00:30:17 --> 00:30:18 for
00:30:18 --> 00:30:18 his
00:30:18 --> 00:30:19 glory
00:30:19 --> 00:30:20 will
00:30:20 --> 00:30:21 ever
00:30:21 --> 00:30:21 destroy
00:30:21 --> 00:30:22 us
00:30:22 --> 00:30:23 it
00:30:23 --> 00:30:23 will
00:30:23 --> 00:30:24 simply
00:30:24 --> 00:30:25 increase
00:30:25 --> 00:30:25 life
00:30:25 --> 00:30:26 and it
00:30:26 --> 00:30:26 will
00:30:26 --> 00:30:27 always
00:30:27 --> 00:30:27 be
00:30:27 --> 00:30:28 successful
00:30:28 --> 00:30:31 God
00:30:31 --> 00:30:31 is
00:30:31 --> 00:30:32 sovereignly
00:30:32 --> 00:30:32 silently
00:30:32 --> 00:30:33 working
00:30:33 --> 00:30:35 so the
00:30:35 --> 00:30:35 apostle
00:30:35 --> 00:30:36 Paul
00:30:36 --> 00:30:36 puts it
00:30:36 --> 00:30:36 like this
00:30:36 --> 00:30:37 in
00:30:37 --> 00:30:38 Philippians
00:30:38 --> 00:30:38 1
00:30:38 --> 00:30:40 to live
00:30:40 --> 00:30:40 is Christ
00:30:40 --> 00:30:41 and to
00:30:41 --> 00:30:41 die
00:30:41 --> 00:30:42 is
00:30:42 --> 00:30:42 gain
00:30:42 --> 00:30:43 as
00:30:43 --> 00:30:44 American
00:30:44 --> 00:30:44 pastor
00:30:44 --> 00:30:44 John
00:30:44 --> 00:30:45 Piper
00:30:45 --> 00:30:45 famously
00:30:45 --> 00:30:46 put it
00:30:46 --> 00:30:48 it is
00:30:48 --> 00:30:48 better
00:30:48 --> 00:30:48 to lose
00:30:48 --> 00:30:49 your life
00:30:49 --> 00:30:49 than to
00:30:49 --> 00:30:50 waste
00:30:50 --> 00:30:50 it
00:30:50 --> 00:30:55 for
00:30:55 --> 00:30:55 Esther
00:30:55 --> 00:30:56 to stay
00:30:56 --> 00:30:57 in the
00:30:57 --> 00:30:57 palace
00:30:57 --> 00:30:58 was a
00:30:58 --> 00:30:58 wasted
00:30:58 --> 00:30:58 life
00:30:58 --> 00:30:59 which
00:30:59 --> 00:30:59 would
00:30:59 --> 00:31:00 result
00:31:00 --> 00:31:00 in a
00:31:00 --> 00:31:01 lost
00:31:01 --> 00:31:01 life
00:31:01 --> 00:31:02 for her
00:31:02 --> 00:31:02 to risk
00:31:02 --> 00:31:03 her life
00:31:03 --> 00:31:04 was to
00:31:04 --> 00:31:04 gain
00:31:04 --> 00:31:05 life
00:31:05 --> 00:31:08 so
00:31:08 --> 00:31:10 let's
00:31:10 --> 00:31:11 wrap
00:31:11 --> 00:31:11 this up
00:31:11 --> 00:31:12 bit
00:31:12 --> 00:31:12
00:31:12 --> 00:31:13 risking
00:31:13 --> 00:31:13 everything
00:31:13 --> 00:31:13 and
00:31:13 --> 00:31:13 gaining
00:31:13 --> 00:31:14 everything
00:31:14 --> 00:31:16 if we
00:31:16 --> 00:31:16 see what
00:31:16 --> 00:31:17 Jesus
00:31:17 --> 00:31:17 done
00:31:17 --> 00:31:17 for us
00:31:17 --> 00:31:18 in losing
00:31:18 --> 00:31:18 his
00:31:18 --> 00:31:19 ultimate
00:31:19 --> 00:31:19 palace
00:31:19 --> 00:31:20 for us
00:31:20 --> 00:31:21 so that
00:31:21 --> 00:31:21 we might
00:31:21 --> 00:31:22 gain his
00:31:22 --> 00:31:22 ultimate
00:31:22 --> 00:31:23 palace
00:31:23 --> 00:31:24 for all
00:31:24 --> 00:31:24 of
00:31:24 --> 00:31:24 eternity
00:31:24 --> 00:31:26 then
00:31:26 --> 00:31:27 and only
00:31:27 --> 00:31:28 then
00:31:28 --> 00:31:29 do we
00:31:29 --> 00:31:30 have the
00:31:30 --> 00:31:30 freedom
00:31:30 --> 00:31:31 to risk
00:31:31 --> 00:31:32 everything
00:31:32 --> 00:31:32 for God's
00:31:32 --> 00:31:33 glory
00:31:33 --> 00:31:33 and the
00:31:33 --> 00:31:33 sake
00:31:33 --> 00:31:34 of others
00:31:34 --> 00:31:34 it's
00:31:34 --> 00:31:35 only
00:31:35 --> 00:31:35 then
00:31:35 --> 00:31:38 and there
00:31:38 --> 00:31:38 are at
00:31:38 --> 00:31:39 least four
00:31:39 --> 00:31:39 implications
00:31:39 --> 00:31:40 in that
00:31:40 --> 00:31:41 statement
00:31:41 --> 00:31:42 I think
00:31:42 --> 00:31:43 from
00:31:43 --> 00:31:43 Esther
00:31:43 --> 00:31:44 if I
00:31:44 --> 00:31:44 perish
00:31:44 --> 00:31:45 I
00:31:45 --> 00:31:45 perish
00:31:45 --> 00:31:46 firstly
00:31:46 --> 00:31:48 if I
00:31:48 --> 00:31:49 perish
00:31:49 --> 00:31:49 I
00:31:49 --> 00:31:50 perish
00:31:50 --> 00:31:50 it's the
00:31:50 --> 00:31:51 language
00:31:51 --> 00:31:52 of calling
00:31:52 --> 00:31:53 God's
00:31:53 --> 00:31:53 people
00:31:53 --> 00:31:54 to
00:31:54 --> 00:31:55 identify
00:31:55 --> 00:31:55 with the
00:31:55 --> 00:31:56 poor
00:31:56 --> 00:31:56 and the
00:31:56 --> 00:31:56 oppressed
00:31:56 --> 00:31:57 in the
00:31:57 --> 00:31:57 world
00:31:57 --> 00:31:59 that we
00:31:59 --> 00:32:00 ought not
00:32:00 --> 00:32:00 to be
00:32:00 --> 00:32:01 existing
00:32:01 --> 00:32:01 in our
00:32:01 --> 00:32:02 palaces
00:32:02 --> 00:32:03 of comfort
00:32:03 --> 00:32:04 like
00:32:04 --> 00:32:04 Esther
00:32:04 --> 00:32:05 did
00:32:05 --> 00:32:05 in the
00:32:05 --> 00:32:05 early
00:32:05 --> 00:32:05 part
00:32:05 --> 00:32:05 of
00:32:05 --> 00:32:06 chapter
00:32:06 --> 00:32:06 four
00:32:06 --> 00:32:07 oblivious
00:32:07 --> 00:32:08 to
00:32:08 --> 00:32:09 what's
00:32:09 --> 00:32:09 happening
00:32:09 --> 00:32:10 in the
00:32:10 --> 00:32:10 world
00:32:10 --> 00:32:12 with the
00:32:12 --> 00:32:12 poor
00:32:12 --> 00:32:12 and the
00:32:12 --> 00:32:13 oppressed
00:32:13 --> 00:32:15 this
00:32:15 --> 00:32:15 is a
00:32:15 --> 00:32:16 call
00:32:16 --> 00:32:16 for all
00:32:16 --> 00:32:17 believers
00:32:17 --> 00:32:18 having
00:32:18 --> 00:32:19 seen
00:32:19 --> 00:32:19 what
00:32:19 --> 00:32:19 Jesus
00:32:19 --> 00:32:20 has
00:32:20 --> 00:32:20 done
00:32:20 --> 00:32:21 for us
00:32:21 --> 00:32:22 to
00:32:22 --> 00:32:22 identify
00:32:22 --> 00:32:23 with all
00:32:23 --> 00:32:24 people
00:32:24 --> 00:32:25 outside
00:32:25 --> 00:32:25 of the
00:32:25 --> 00:32:25 palace
00:32:25 --> 00:32:28 to
00:32:28 --> 00:32:28 not
00:32:28 --> 00:32:29 walk
00:32:29 --> 00:32:30 past
00:32:30 --> 00:32:30 them
00:32:30 --> 00:32:31 and
00:32:31 --> 00:32:31 ignore
00:32:31 --> 00:32:31 them
00:32:31 --> 00:32:33 but
00:32:33 --> 00:32:33 to
00:32:33 --> 00:32:33 work
00:32:33 --> 00:32:34 for
00:32:34 --> 00:32:34 their
00:32:34 --> 00:32:34 lifting
00:32:34 --> 00:32:35 for
00:32:35 --> 00:32:35 the
00:32:35 --> 00:32:35 work
00:32:35 --> 00:32:35 of
00:32:35 --> 00:32:36 their
00:32:36 --> 00:32:36 salvation
00:32:36 --> 00:32:39 in a
00:32:39 --> 00:32:39 holistic
00:32:39 --> 00:32:40 sense
00:32:40 --> 00:32:41 secondly
00:32:41 --> 00:32:42 if I
00:32:42 --> 00:32:43 perish
00:32:43 --> 00:32:43 I
00:32:43 --> 00:32:44 perish
00:32:44 --> 00:32:45 it's
00:32:45 --> 00:32:45 the
00:32:45 --> 00:32:45 language
00:32:45 --> 00:32:46 of
00:32:46 --> 00:32:46 exciting
00:32:46 --> 00:32:47 mission
00:32:47 --> 00:32:49 can I
00:32:49 --> 00:32:49 say
00:32:49 --> 00:32:50 God
00:32:50 --> 00:32:50 has
00:32:50 --> 00:32:51 been
00:32:51 --> 00:32:51 sovereignly
00:32:51 --> 00:32:52 and
00:32:52 --> 00:32:52 silently
00:32:52 --> 00:32:53 working
00:32:53 --> 00:32:53 throughout
00:32:53 --> 00:32:54 all of
00:32:54 --> 00:32:54 history
00:32:54 --> 00:32:55 including
00:32:55 --> 00:32:55 in
00:32:55 --> 00:32:55 recent
00:32:55 --> 00:32:56 history
00:32:56 --> 00:32:57 and
00:32:57 --> 00:32:57 that
00:32:57 --> 00:32:58 wherever
00:32:58 --> 00:32:58 you
00:32:58 --> 00:32:59 are
00:32:59 --> 00:32:59 right
00:32:59 --> 00:33:00 now
00:33:00 --> 00:33:01 right
00:33:01 --> 00:33:01 now
00:33:01 --> 00:33:01 in
00:33:01 --> 00:33:01 your
00:33:01 --> 00:33:02 life
00:33:02 --> 00:33:02 and
00:33:02 --> 00:33:02 I
00:33:02 --> 00:33:02 mean
00:33:02 --> 00:33:03 right
00:33:03 --> 00:33:03 now
00:33:03 --> 00:33:03 today
00:33:03 --> 00:33:04 this
00:33:04 --> 00:33:05 week
00:33:05 --> 00:33:06 stage
00:33:06 --> 00:33:06 of
00:33:06 --> 00:33:06 life
00:33:06 --> 00:33:07 whatever
00:33:07 --> 00:33:07 it
00:33:07 --> 00:33:07 is
00:33:07 --> 00:33:07 for
00:33:07 --> 00:33:08 you
00:33:08 --> 00:33:09 you
00:33:09 --> 00:33:09 have
00:33:09 --> 00:33:09 got
00:33:09 --> 00:33:10 certain
00:33:10 --> 00:33:10 gifts
00:33:10 --> 00:33:11 certain
00:33:11 --> 00:33:12 abilities
00:33:12 --> 00:33:14 certain
00:33:14 --> 00:33:15 experiences
00:33:15 --> 00:33:15 of
00:33:15 --> 00:33:16 hardness
00:33:16 --> 00:33:16 and
00:33:16 --> 00:33:17 suffering
00:33:17 --> 00:33:18 and
00:33:18 --> 00:33:19 joys
00:33:19 --> 00:33:21 certain
00:33:21 --> 00:33:22 stage
00:33:22 --> 00:33:22 of
00:33:22 --> 00:33:23 life
00:33:23 --> 00:33:23 life
00:33:23 --> 00:33:24 that
00:33:24 --> 00:33:25 make
00:33:25 --> 00:33:25 you
00:33:25 --> 00:33:26 uniquely
00:33:26 --> 00:33:27 ready
00:33:27 --> 00:33:29 to
00:33:29 --> 00:33:29 help
00:33:29 --> 00:33:30 certain
00:33:30 --> 00:33:30 people
00:33:30 --> 00:33:31 in
00:33:31 --> 00:33:31 the
00:33:31 --> 00:33:31 world
00:33:31 --> 00:33:32 that
00:33:32 --> 00:33:32 no
00:33:32 --> 00:33:33 one
00:33:33 --> 00:33:33 else
00:33:33 --> 00:33:33 can
00:33:33 --> 00:33:34 God
00:33:34 --> 00:33:35 has
00:33:35 --> 00:33:35 brought
00:33:35 --> 00:33:35 you
00:33:35 --> 00:33:36 to
00:33:36 --> 00:33:36 where
00:33:36 --> 00:33:37 you
00:33:37 --> 00:33:37 are
00:33:37 --> 00:33:39 not
00:33:39 --> 00:33:39 for
00:33:39 --> 00:33:39 your
00:33:39 --> 00:33:40 security
00:33:40 --> 00:33:40 and
00:33:40 --> 00:33:41 comfort
00:33:41 --> 00:33:42 but
00:33:42 --> 00:33:42 for
00:33:42 --> 00:33:43 others
00:33:43 --> 00:33:44 and
00:33:44 --> 00:33:44 for
00:33:44 --> 00:33:44 his
00:33:44 --> 00:33:45 glory
00:33:45 --> 00:33:45 that's
00:33:45 --> 00:33:46 why
00:33:46 --> 00:33:46 you
00:33:46 --> 00:33:46 are
00:33:46 --> 00:33:47 where
00:33:47 --> 00:33:47 you
00:33:47 --> 00:33:47 are
00:33:47 --> 00:33:48 with
00:33:48 --> 00:33:48 all
00:33:48 --> 00:33:48 the
00:33:48 --> 00:33:49 hardships
00:33:49 --> 00:33:49 !
00:33:49 --> 00:33:49 with
00:33:49 --> 00:33:50 all
00:33:50 --> 00:33:50 the
00:33:50 --> 00:33:50 sufferings
00:33:50 --> 00:33:51 with
00:33:51 --> 00:33:51 all
00:33:51 --> 00:33:51 of
00:33:51 --> 00:33:51 it
00:33:51 --> 00:33:52 it's
00:33:52 --> 00:33:52 where
00:33:52 --> 00:33:52 you
00:33:52 --> 00:33:53 are
00:33:53 --> 00:33:56 Esther
00:33:56 --> 00:33:57 chapter
00:33:57 --> 00:33:57 2
00:33:57 --> 00:33:57 sorry
00:33:57 --> 00:33:58 Esther
00:33:58 --> 00:33:59 Ephesians
00:33:59 --> 00:33:59 it's in
00:33:59 --> 00:33:59 the
00:33:59 --> 00:33:59 New
00:33:59 --> 00:34:00 Testament
00:34:00 --> 00:34:00 chapter
00:34:00 --> 00:34:01 2
00:34:01 --> 00:34:01 verse
00:34:01 --> 00:34:01 10
00:34:01 --> 00:34:03 talking
00:34:03 --> 00:34:03 about
00:34:03 --> 00:34:04 those
00:34:04 --> 00:34:04 who
00:34:04 --> 00:34:04 are
00:34:04 --> 00:34:04 being
00:34:04 --> 00:34:05 saved
00:34:05 --> 00:34:05 we
00:34:05 --> 00:34:05 are
00:34:05 --> 00:34:06 God's
00:34:06 --> 00:34:07 workmanship
00:34:07 --> 00:34:08 created
00:34:08 --> 00:34:08 for good
00:34:08 --> 00:34:09 works
00:34:09 --> 00:34:09 that God
00:34:09 --> 00:34:09 has
00:34:09 --> 00:34:10 prepared
00:34:10 --> 00:34:11 beforehand
00:34:11 --> 00:34:12 for us
00:34:12 --> 00:34:12 to do
00:34:12 --> 00:34:13 the
00:34:13 --> 00:34:13 word
00:34:13 --> 00:34:14 workmanship
00:34:14 --> 00:34:15 there
00:34:15 --> 00:34:16 carries
00:34:16 --> 00:34:16 the idea
00:34:16 --> 00:34:16 of being
00:34:16 --> 00:34:17 God's
00:34:17 --> 00:34:18 artwork
00:34:18 --> 00:34:18 every
00:34:18 --> 00:34:19 single
00:34:19 --> 00:34:20 one
00:34:20 --> 00:34:20 of his
00:34:20 --> 00:34:21 children
00:34:21 --> 00:34:21 saved
00:34:21 --> 00:34:22 in
00:34:22 --> 00:34:22 Jesus
00:34:22 --> 00:34:23 are
00:34:23 --> 00:34:23 his
00:34:23 --> 00:34:24 unique
00:34:24 --> 00:34:25 artwork
00:34:25 --> 00:34:27 you're
00:34:27 --> 00:34:28 not a
00:34:28 --> 00:34:28 stenciled
00:34:28 --> 00:34:29 photocopied
00:34:29 --> 00:34:30 version
00:34:30 --> 00:34:30 of everyone
00:34:30 --> 00:34:31 else
00:34:31 --> 00:34:31 you are
00:34:31 --> 00:34:32 his
00:34:32 --> 00:34:33 unique
00:34:33 --> 00:34:33 artwork
00:34:33 --> 00:34:35 you
00:34:35 --> 00:34:35 have
00:34:35 --> 00:34:36 been
00:34:36 --> 00:34:36 uniquely
00:34:36 --> 00:34:37 crafted
00:34:37 --> 00:34:37 by
00:34:37 --> 00:34:38 God
00:34:38 --> 00:34:38 with
00:34:38 --> 00:34:39 gifts
00:34:39 --> 00:34:39 talents
00:34:39 --> 00:34:40 positions
00:34:40 --> 00:34:40 and
00:34:40 --> 00:34:41 strengths
00:34:41 --> 00:34:41 and
00:34:41 --> 00:34:41 weaknesses
00:34:41 --> 00:34:42 blessings
00:34:42 --> 00:34:43 and
00:34:43 --> 00:34:43 sufferings
00:34:43 --> 00:34:45 much
00:34:45 --> 00:34:45 resources
00:34:45 --> 00:34:46 no
00:34:46 --> 00:34:46 resources
00:34:46 --> 00:34:48 and
00:34:48 --> 00:34:48 uniquely
00:34:48 --> 00:34:49 placed
00:34:49 --> 00:34:49 by
00:34:49 --> 00:34:50 God
00:34:50 --> 00:34:51 to
00:34:51 --> 00:34:52 do
00:34:52 --> 00:34:52 unique
00:34:52 --> 00:34:53 works
00:34:53 --> 00:34:54 for
00:34:54 --> 00:34:54 others
00:34:54 --> 00:34:59 you
00:34:59 --> 00:35:00 have
00:35:00 --> 00:35:00 not
00:35:00 --> 00:35:00 been
00:35:00 --> 00:35:01 brought
00:35:01 --> 00:35:02 to
00:35:02 --> 00:35:02 this
00:35:02 --> 00:35:03 place
00:35:03 --> 00:35:04 for
00:35:04 --> 00:35:05 yourself
00:35:05 --> 00:35:10 and
00:35:10 --> 00:35:10 you've
00:35:10 --> 00:35:11 been
00:35:11 --> 00:35:11 brought
00:35:11 --> 00:35:11 to
00:35:11 --> 00:35:11 this
00:35:11 --> 00:35:12 place
00:35:12 --> 00:35:13 in
00:35:13 --> 00:35:13 this
00:35:13 --> 00:35:14 church
00:35:14 --> 00:35:15 in
00:35:15 --> 00:35:15 wherever
00:35:15 --> 00:35:15 you
00:35:15 --> 00:35:16 are
00:35:16 --> 00:35:17 for
00:35:17 --> 00:35:17 such
00:35:17 --> 00:35:17 a
00:35:17 --> 00:35:17 time
00:35:17 --> 00:35:18 as
00:35:18 --> 00:35:18 this
00:35:18 --> 00:35:21 and
00:35:21 --> 00:35:21 so
00:35:21 --> 00:35:21 can
00:35:21 --> 00:35:21 I
00:35:21 --> 00:35:22 say
00:35:22 --> 00:35:24 I
00:35:24 --> 00:35:24 want
00:35:24 --> 00:35:25 to
00:35:25 --> 00:35:29 implore
00:35:29 --> 00:35:29 you on
00:35:29 --> 00:35:29 this
00:35:29 --> 00:35:30 there
00:35:30 --> 00:35:31 is
00:35:31 --> 00:35:32 no
00:35:32 --> 00:35:32 sense
00:35:32 --> 00:35:33 at
00:35:33 --> 00:35:34 all
00:35:34 --> 00:35:35 anywhere
00:35:35 --> 00:35:35 in the
00:35:35 --> 00:35:35 Bible
00:35:35 --> 00:35:36 in the
00:35:36 --> 00:35:37 New
00:35:37 --> 00:35:37 Testament
00:35:37 --> 00:35:38 at
00:35:38 --> 00:35:39 all
00:35:39 --> 00:35:40 any
00:35:40 --> 00:35:40 justification
00:35:40 --> 00:35:41 for
00:35:41 --> 00:35:41 it
00:35:41 --> 00:35:42 at
00:35:42 --> 00:35:42 all
00:35:42 --> 00:35:43 for
00:35:43 --> 00:35:43 what
00:35:43 --> 00:35:43 you
00:35:43 --> 00:35:44 might
00:35:44 --> 00:35:44 call
00:35:44 --> 00:35:46 stable
00:35:46 --> 00:35:48 settled
00:35:48 --> 00:35:50 don't
00:35:50 --> 00:35:50 need to
00:35:50 --> 00:35:50 take
00:35:50 --> 00:35:51 further
00:35:51 --> 00:35:51 steps
00:35:51 --> 00:35:51 in the
00:35:51 --> 00:35:52 Christian
00:35:52 --> 00:35:52 faith
00:35:52 --> 00:35:55 not
00:35:55 --> 00:35:55 at
00:35:55 --> 00:35:55 all
00:35:55 --> 00:35:56 nowhere
00:35:56 --> 00:36:01 if
00:36:01 --> 00:36:01 if
00:36:01 --> 00:36:02 you
00:36:02 --> 00:36:02 have
00:36:02 --> 00:36:02 not
00:36:02 --> 00:36:03 taken
00:36:03 --> 00:36:04 deliberate
00:36:04 --> 00:36:05 intentional
00:36:05 --> 00:36:05 steps
00:36:05 --> 00:36:06 to
00:36:06 --> 00:36:06 move
00:36:06 --> 00:36:07 forward
00:36:07 --> 00:36:08 in
00:36:08 --> 00:36:08 trusting
00:36:08 --> 00:36:09 God
00:36:09 --> 00:36:10 in
00:36:10 --> 00:36:11 going
00:36:11 --> 00:36:12 further
00:36:12 --> 00:36:12 with
00:36:12 --> 00:36:12 him
00:36:12 --> 00:36:13 in
00:36:13 --> 00:36:13 rhythms
00:36:13 --> 00:36:13 of
00:36:13 --> 00:36:14 grace
00:36:14 --> 00:36:14 in
00:36:14 --> 00:36:14 any
00:36:14 --> 00:36:15 way
00:36:15 --> 00:36:15 if
00:36:15 --> 00:36:16 you're
00:36:16 --> 00:36:16 since
00:36:16 --> 00:36:16 we did
00:36:16 --> 00:36:16 this
00:36:16 --> 00:36:17 series
00:36:17 --> 00:36:18 at
00:36:18 --> 00:36:18 the
00:36:18 --> 00:36:18 beginning
00:36:18 --> 00:36:18 of
00:36:18 --> 00:36:19 this
00:36:19 --> 00:36:19 year
00:36:19 --> 00:36:21 if
00:36:21 --> 00:36:21 your
00:36:21 --> 00:36:22 church
00:36:22 --> 00:36:23 attendance
00:36:23 --> 00:36:23 patterns
00:36:23 --> 00:36:24 haven't
00:36:24 --> 00:36:24 shifted
00:36:24 --> 00:36:25 if
00:36:25 --> 00:36:25 you're
00:36:25 --> 00:36:26 serving
00:36:26 --> 00:36:26 if
00:36:26 --> 00:36:26 your
00:36:26 --> 00:36:26 devotional
00:36:26 --> 00:36:27 life
00:36:27 --> 00:36:27 hasn't
00:36:27 --> 00:36:27 shifted
00:36:27 --> 00:36:28 and
00:36:28 --> 00:36:29 nothing
00:36:29 --> 00:36:29 has
00:36:29 --> 00:36:29 shifted
00:36:29 --> 00:36:32 do
00:36:32 --> 00:36:32 not
00:36:32 --> 00:36:35 this
00:36:35 --> 00:36:35 is a
00:36:35 --> 00:36:36 warning
00:36:36 --> 00:36:36 sign
00:36:36 --> 00:36:40 God
00:36:40 --> 00:36:40 is not
00:36:40 --> 00:36:40 pleased
00:36:40 --> 00:36:41 with
00:36:41 --> 00:36:41 that
00:36:41 --> 00:36:43 you
00:36:43 --> 00:36:43 have
00:36:43 --> 00:36:43 been
00:36:43 --> 00:36:44 brought
00:36:44 --> 00:36:44 for
00:36:44 --> 00:36:44 such
00:36:44 --> 00:36:44 a
00:36:44 --> 00:36:45 time
00:36:45 --> 00:36:45 as
00:36:45 --> 00:36:45 this
00:36:45 --> 00:36:45 and
00:36:45 --> 00:36:46 so
00:36:46 --> 00:36:46 what
00:36:46 --> 00:36:46 is
00:36:46 --> 00:36:46 it
00:36:46 --> 00:36:46 for
00:36:46 --> 00:36:47 you
00:36:47 --> 00:36:47 to
00:36:47 --> 00:36:47 take
00:36:47 --> 00:36:48 this
00:36:48 --> 00:36:48 next
00:36:48 --> 00:36:48 step
00:36:48 --> 00:36:52 towards
00:36:52 --> 00:36:53 daily
00:36:53 --> 00:36:53 devotions
00:36:53 --> 00:36:54 corporate
00:36:54 --> 00:36:55 worship
00:36:55 --> 00:36:56 if
00:36:56 --> 00:36:56 no
00:36:56 --> 00:36:57 changes
00:36:57 --> 00:36:58 have
00:36:58 --> 00:36:58 happened
00:36:58 --> 00:36:58 no
00:36:58 --> 00:36:59 decisions
00:36:59 --> 00:36:59 have
00:36:59 --> 00:36:59 made
00:36:59 --> 00:37:00 if
00:37:00 --> 00:37:00 you're
00:37:00 --> 00:37:00 not
00:37:00 --> 00:37:01 serving
00:37:01 --> 00:37:01 others
00:37:01 --> 00:37:01 if
00:37:01 --> 00:37:02 nothing's
00:37:02 --> 00:37:03 changed
00:37:03 --> 00:37:06 that's
00:37:06 --> 00:37:06 not
00:37:06 --> 00:37:06 healthy
00:37:06 --> 00:37:12 take
00:37:12 --> 00:37:12 your
00:37:12 --> 00:37:13 next
00:37:13 --> 00:37:13 step
00:37:13 --> 00:37:16 if
00:37:16 --> 00:37:16 you've
00:37:16 --> 00:37:17 sat
00:37:17 --> 00:37:17 there
00:37:17 --> 00:37:19 even
00:37:19 --> 00:37:20 not as
00:37:20 --> 00:37:20 a
00:37:20 --> 00:37:20 Christian
00:37:20 --> 00:37:20 but
00:37:20 --> 00:37:21 you've
00:37:21 --> 00:37:21 sat
00:37:21 --> 00:37:21 there
00:37:21 --> 00:37:22 and
00:37:22 --> 00:37:22 you've
00:37:22 --> 00:37:23 wrestled
00:37:23 --> 00:37:23 with
00:37:23 --> 00:37:23 the
00:37:23 --> 00:37:23 truth
00:37:23 --> 00:37:24 of
00:37:24 --> 00:37:24 the
00:37:24 --> 00:37:24 Christian
00:37:24 --> 00:37:24 faith
00:37:24 --> 00:37:26 and
00:37:26 --> 00:37:26 you've
00:37:26 --> 00:37:28 but
00:37:28 --> 00:37:28 you're
00:37:28 --> 00:37:28 just
00:37:28 --> 00:37:28 still
00:37:28 --> 00:37:28 sitting
00:37:28 --> 00:37:29 there
00:37:29 --> 00:37:31 you're
00:37:31 --> 00:37:31 still
00:37:31 --> 00:37:31 sitting
00:37:31 --> 00:37:32 there
00:37:32 --> 00:37:32 where
00:37:32 --> 00:37:33 you've
00:37:33 --> 00:37:33 heard it
00:37:33 --> 00:37:34 you heard
00:37:34 --> 00:37:34 it
00:37:34 --> 00:37:34 you heard
00:37:34 --> 00:37:34 it
00:37:34 --> 00:37:34 but
00:37:34 --> 00:37:35 you
00:37:35 --> 00:37:35 just
00:37:35 --> 00:37:35 won't
00:37:35 --> 00:37:36 take
00:37:36 --> 00:37:36 take
00:37:36 --> 00:37:36 that
00:37:36 --> 00:37:37 next
00:37:37 --> 00:37:37 step
00:37:37 --> 00:37:38 risk
00:37:38 --> 00:37:39 it
00:37:39 --> 00:37:39 and
00:37:39 --> 00:37:40 come
00:37:40 --> 00:37:40 to
00:37:40 --> 00:37:40 Christ
00:37:40 --> 00:37:40 today
00:37:40 --> 00:37:44 be
00:37:44 --> 00:37:44 bold
00:37:44 --> 00:37:44 and
00:37:44 --> 00:37:45 say
00:37:45 --> 00:37:45 right
00:37:45 --> 00:37:45 I'm
00:37:45 --> 00:37:46 just
00:37:46 --> 00:37:47 I've
00:37:47 --> 00:37:48 got
00:37:48 --> 00:37:48 what I
00:37:48 --> 00:37:49 need
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49 to
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49 know
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49 I'm
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49 just
00:37:49 --> 00:37:50 going
00:37:50 --> 00:37:50 to
00:37:50 --> 00:37:51 take
00:37:51 --> 00:37:51 that
00:37:51 --> 00:37:51 step
00:37:51 --> 00:37:52 and
00:37:52 --> 00:37:52 I'm
00:37:52 --> 00:37:52 going
00:37:52 --> 00:37:52 to
00:37:52 --> 00:37:52 come
00:37:52 --> 00:37:52 to
00:37:52 --> 00:37:53 Christ
00:37:53 --> 00:37:53 I'm
00:37:53 --> 00:37:53 going
00:37:53 --> 00:37:53 to
00:37:53 --> 00:37:53 surrender
00:37:53 --> 00:37:53 to
00:37:53 --> 00:37:53 him
00:37:53 --> 00:37:54 today
00:37:54 --> 00:37:58 thirdly
00:37:58 --> 00:37:59 and
00:37:59 --> 00:37:59 this
00:37:59 --> 00:37:59 is
00:37:59 --> 00:37:59 connected
00:37:59 --> 00:38:00 to
00:38:00 --> 00:38:00 the
00:38:00 --> 00:38:00 second
00:38:00 --> 00:38:00 point
00:38:00 --> 00:38:01 if
00:38:01 --> 00:38:01 I
00:38:01 --> 00:38:01 perish
00:38:01 --> 00:38:02 I
00:38:02 --> 00:38:02 perish
00:38:02 --> 00:38:02 is
00:38:02 --> 00:38:02 the
00:38:02 --> 00:38:03 language
00:38:03 --> 00:38:03 of
00:38:03 --> 00:38:04 unconditional
00:38:04 --> 00:38:05 obedience
00:38:05 --> 00:38:07 it
00:38:07 --> 00:38:07 means
00:38:07 --> 00:38:09 I'm
00:38:09 --> 00:38:09 going
00:38:09 --> 00:38:09 to
00:38:09 --> 00:38:09 do
00:38:09 --> 00:38:10 everything
00:38:10 --> 00:38:10 he
00:38:10 --> 00:38:10 tells
00:38:10 --> 00:38:10 me
00:38:10 --> 00:38:11 to
00:38:11 --> 00:38:11 do
00:38:11 --> 00:38:11 and
00:38:11 --> 00:38:11 I'm
00:38:11 --> 00:38:11 going
00:38:11 --> 00:38:12 to
00:38:12 --> 00:38:12 accept
00:38:12 --> 00:38:12 everything
00:38:12 --> 00:38:13 he
00:38:13 --> 00:38:13 sends
00:38:13 --> 00:38:13 in
00:38:13 --> 00:38:13 my
00:38:13 --> 00:38:13 life
00:38:13 --> 00:38:15 that's
00:38:15 --> 00:38:16 unconditional
00:38:16 --> 00:38:17 obedience
00:38:17 --> 00:38:18 it
00:38:18 --> 00:38:18 is
00:38:18 --> 00:38:19 putting
00:38:19 --> 00:38:19 our
00:38:19 --> 00:38:19 lives
00:38:19 --> 00:38:19 into
00:38:19 --> 00:38:20 the
00:38:20 --> 00:38:20 hands
00:38:20 --> 00:38:20 of
00:38:20 --> 00:38:20 the
00:38:20 --> 00:38:20 one
00:38:20 --> 00:38:21 who
00:38:21 --> 00:38:21 gave
00:38:21 --> 00:38:21 us
00:38:21 --> 00:38:22 life
00:38:22 --> 00:38:23 in
00:38:23 --> 00:38:23 the
00:38:23 --> 00:38:23 one
00:38:23 --> 00:38:23 who
00:38:23 --> 00:38:24 controls
00:38:24 --> 00:38:25 everything
00:38:25 --> 00:38:25 in
00:38:25 --> 00:38:25 a
00:38:25 --> 00:38:26 world
00:38:26 --> 00:38:26 where
00:38:26 --> 00:38:26 I've
00:38:26 --> 00:38:26 got
00:38:26 --> 00:38:26 virtually
00:38:26 --> 00:38:27 no
00:38:27 --> 00:38:27 control
00:38:27 --> 00:38:27 at
00:38:27 --> 00:38:28 all
00:38:28 --> 00:38:30 and
00:38:30 --> 00:38:30 that's
00:38:30 --> 00:38:30 the
00:38:30 --> 00:38:30 reality
00:38:30 --> 00:38:30 of
00:38:30 --> 00:38:31 life
00:38:31 --> 00:38:32 when we
00:38:32 --> 00:38:32 think
00:38:32 --> 00:38:32 about
00:38:32 --> 00:38:33 risk
00:38:33 --> 00:38:34 let's
00:38:34 --> 00:38:34 just
00:38:34 --> 00:38:34 be
00:38:34 --> 00:38:34 frank
00:38:34 --> 00:38:35 here
00:38:35 --> 00:38:36 we
00:38:36 --> 00:38:36 don't
00:38:36 --> 00:38:36 have
00:38:36 --> 00:38:37 control
00:38:37 --> 00:38:38 and
00:38:38 --> 00:38:38 I
00:38:38 --> 00:38:38 am
00:38:38 --> 00:38:39 absolutely
00:38:39 --> 00:38:39 convinced
00:38:39 --> 00:38:40 that
00:38:40 --> 00:38:40 God
00:38:40 --> 00:38:40 intends
00:38:40 --> 00:38:41 for
00:38:41 --> 00:38:41 us
00:38:41 --> 00:38:42 to
00:38:42 --> 00:38:42 live
00:38:42 --> 00:38:43 and
00:38:43 --> 00:38:43 to
00:38:43 --> 00:38:44 realize
00:38:44 --> 00:38:45 the
00:38:45 --> 00:38:46 uncertainty
00:38:46 --> 00:38:47 and the
00:38:47 --> 00:38:47 risk
00:38:47 --> 00:38:49 of
00:38:49 --> 00:38:50 life
00:38:50 --> 00:38:50 and
00:38:50 --> 00:38:51 that
00:38:51 --> 00:38:51 is
00:38:51 --> 00:38:51 one
00:38:51 --> 00:38:51 of
00:38:51 --> 00:38:51 the
00:38:51 --> 00:38:51 core
00:38:51 --> 00:38:52 reasons
00:38:52 --> 00:38:52 why
00:38:52 --> 00:38:52 we
00:38:52 --> 00:38:52 want
00:38:52 --> 00:38:53 to
00:38:53 --> 00:38:53 seek
00:38:53 --> 00:38:53 him
00:38:53 --> 00:38:54 in
00:38:54 --> 00:38:54 life
00:38:54 --> 00:38:55 because
00:38:55 --> 00:38:55 he
00:38:55 --> 00:38:55 is
00:38:55 --> 00:38:56 certain
00:38:56 --> 00:38:56 and
00:38:56 --> 00:38:57 powerful
00:38:57 --> 00:38:58 James
00:38:58 --> 00:38:59 chapter
00:38:59 --> 00:38:59 four
00:38:59 --> 00:39:00 in the
00:39:00 --> 00:39:00 new
00:39:00 --> 00:39:00 testament
00:39:00 --> 00:39:01 puts
00:39:01 --> 00:39:02 it
00:39:02 --> 00:39:02 like
00:39:02 --> 00:39:02 this
00:39:02 --> 00:39:03 now
00:39:03 --> 00:39:03 listen
00:39:03 --> 00:39:04 you
00:39:04 --> 00:39:04 who
00:39:04 --> 00:39:04 say
00:39:04 --> 00:39:04 today
00:39:04 --> 00:39:05 or
00:39:05 --> 00:39:05 tomorrow
00:39:05 --> 00:39:05 we
00:39:05 --> 00:39:05 will
00:39:05 --> 00:39:06 go
00:39:06 --> 00:39:06 into
00:39:06 --> 00:39:06 this
00:39:06 --> 00:39:06 city
00:39:06 --> 00:39:06 or
00:39:06 --> 00:39:06 that
00:39:06 --> 00:39:07 spend
00:39:07 --> 00:39:07 a year
00:39:07 --> 00:39:07 here
00:39:07 --> 00:39:07 and there
00:39:07 --> 00:39:08 and carry
00:39:08 --> 00:39:08 on business
00:39:08 --> 00:39:08 and make
00:39:08 --> 00:39:09 money
00:39:09 --> 00:39:11 like
00:39:11 --> 00:39:12 most of
00:39:12 --> 00:39:13 the strategic
00:39:13 --> 00:39:13 plans
00:39:13 --> 00:39:14 I'm
00:39:14 --> 00:39:14 assuming
00:39:14 --> 00:39:15 in
00:39:15 --> 00:39:15 North
00:39:15 --> 00:39:15 Shore
00:39:15 --> 00:39:18 why
00:39:18 --> 00:39:19 you don't
00:39:19 --> 00:39:20 even know
00:39:20 --> 00:39:20 what will
00:39:20 --> 00:39:20 happen
00:39:20 --> 00:39:21 tomorrow
00:39:21 --> 00:39:22 what is
00:39:22 --> 00:39:23 your life
00:39:23 --> 00:39:24 you're
00:39:24 --> 00:39:24 a mist
00:39:24 --> 00:39:26 that appears
00:39:26 --> 00:39:26 for a little
00:39:26 --> 00:39:26 while and
00:39:26 --> 00:39:27 then vanishes
00:39:27 --> 00:39:28 instead
00:39:28 --> 00:39:29 you ought
00:39:29 --> 00:39:30 to say
00:39:30 --> 00:39:30 if it
00:39:30 --> 00:39:31 is
00:39:31 --> 00:39:31 the
00:39:31 --> 00:39:31 Lord's
00:39:31 --> 00:39:32 will
00:39:32 --> 00:39:32 we
00:39:32 --> 00:39:32 will
00:39:32 --> 00:39:32 live
00:39:32 --> 00:39:33 and
00:39:33 --> 00:39:33 do
00:39:33 --> 00:39:33 this
00:39:33 --> 00:39:33 or
00:39:33 --> 00:39:34 that
00:39:34 --> 00:39:35 that
00:39:35 --> 00:39:35 is
00:39:35 --> 00:39:35 the
00:39:35 --> 00:39:35 point
00:39:35 --> 00:39:35 of
00:39:35 --> 00:39:35 that
00:39:35 --> 00:39:36 passage
00:39:36 --> 00:39:36 is
00:39:36 --> 00:39:36 we're
00:39:36 --> 00:39:36 not
00:39:36 --> 00:39:37 God
00:39:37 --> 00:39:37 we do
00:39:37 --> 00:39:37 not
00:39:37 --> 00:39:37 know
00:39:37 --> 00:39:37 what
00:39:37 --> 00:39:38 tomorrow
00:39:38 --> 00:39:39 is
00:39:39 --> 00:39:39 going
00:39:39 --> 00:39:39 to
00:39:39 --> 00:39:39 happen
00:39:39 --> 00:39:39 tomorrow
00:39:39 --> 00:39:40 risk
00:39:40 --> 00:39:40 is
00:39:40 --> 00:39:40 in the
00:39:40 --> 00:39:40 very
00:39:40 --> 00:39:41 fabric
00:39:41 --> 00:39:41 of
00:39:41 --> 00:39:41 our
00:39:41 --> 00:39:42 lives
00:39:42 --> 00:39:42 every
00:39:42 --> 00:39:43 single
00:39:43 --> 00:39:43 moment
00:39:43 --> 00:39:44 and
00:39:44 --> 00:39:44 we
00:39:44 --> 00:39:45 cannot
00:39:45 --> 00:39:45 avoid
00:39:45 --> 00:39:45 risk
00:39:45 --> 00:39:46 even
00:39:46 --> 00:39:46 if
00:39:46 --> 00:39:47 we
00:39:47 --> 00:39:47 wanted
00:39:47 --> 00:39:47 to
00:39:47 --> 00:39:50 all
00:39:50 --> 00:39:51 of
00:39:51 --> 00:39:51 our
00:39:51 --> 00:39:51 plans
00:39:51 --> 00:39:51 for
00:39:51 --> 00:39:52 tomorrow's
00:39:52 --> 00:39:52 activities
00:39:52 --> 00:39:53 are
00:39:53 --> 00:39:53 shattered
00:39:53 --> 00:39:54 in
00:39:54 --> 00:39:54 a
00:39:54 --> 00:39:55 moment
00:39:55 --> 00:39:56 with
00:39:56 --> 00:39:57 thousands
00:39:57 --> 00:39:57 of
00:39:57 --> 00:39:57 unknowns
00:39:57 --> 00:39:58 that
00:39:58 --> 00:39:58 we
00:39:58 --> 00:39:58 face
00:39:58 --> 00:39:58 day
00:39:58 --> 00:39:59 by
00:39:59 --> 00:39:59 day
00:39:59 --> 00:40:01 we
00:40:01 --> 00:40:02 need
00:40:02 --> 00:40:02 to
00:40:02 --> 00:40:03 explode
00:40:03 --> 00:40:03 the
00:40:03 --> 00:40:04 myth
00:40:04 --> 00:40:04 of
00:40:04 --> 00:40:04 safety
00:40:04 --> 00:40:05 and
00:40:05 --> 00:40:06 security
00:40:06 --> 00:40:07 and
00:40:07 --> 00:40:07 to
00:40:07 --> 00:40:07 somehow
00:40:07 --> 00:40:08 be
00:40:08 --> 00:40:09 delivered
00:40:09 --> 00:40:11 from
00:40:11 --> 00:40:11 the
00:40:11 --> 00:40:12 seduction
00:40:12 --> 00:40:12 of
00:40:12 --> 00:40:13 security
00:40:13 --> 00:40:13 and
00:40:13 --> 00:40:14 comfort
00:40:14 --> 00:40:14 in
00:40:14 --> 00:40:14 our
00:40:14 --> 00:40:15 world
00:40:15 --> 00:40:15 it
00:40:15 --> 00:40:16 is
00:40:16 --> 00:40:16 a
00:40:16 --> 00:40:17 mirage
00:40:17 --> 00:40:18 it
00:40:18 --> 00:40:18 does
00:40:18 --> 00:40:19 not
00:40:19 --> 00:40:20 exist
00:40:20 --> 00:40:20 in
00:40:20 --> 00:40:20 our
00:40:20 --> 00:40:21 world
00:40:21 --> 00:40:23 at
00:40:23 --> 00:40:23 all
00:40:23 --> 00:40:25 and
00:40:25 --> 00:40:25 the
00:40:25 --> 00:40:26 tragedy
00:40:26 --> 00:40:26 is
00:40:26 --> 00:40:27 that
00:40:27 --> 00:40:27 in
00:40:27 --> 00:40:27 the
00:40:27 --> 00:40:27 myth
00:40:27 --> 00:40:28 of
00:40:28 --> 00:40:28 security
00:40:28 --> 00:40:29 we
00:40:29 --> 00:40:30 are
00:40:30 --> 00:40:30 paralyzed
00:40:30 --> 00:40:33 and
00:40:33 --> 00:40:33 we
00:40:33 --> 00:40:33 are
00:40:33 --> 00:40:34 paralyzed
00:40:34 --> 00:40:34 on
00:40:34 --> 00:40:34 the
00:40:34 --> 00:40:35 north
00:40:35 --> 00:40:35 shore
00:40:35 --> 00:40:36 to
00:40:36 --> 00:40:36 take
00:40:36 --> 00:40:37 risks
00:40:37 --> 00:40:37 for
00:40:37 --> 00:40:37 the
00:40:37 --> 00:40:37 cause
00:40:37 --> 00:40:38 of
00:40:38 --> 00:40:38 God
00:40:38 --> 00:40:39 because
00:40:39 --> 00:40:40 we
00:40:40 --> 00:40:40 are
00:40:40 --> 00:40:41 deluded
00:40:41 --> 00:40:42 into
00:40:42 --> 00:40:42 thinking
00:40:42 --> 00:40:44 that
00:40:44 --> 00:40:44 it
00:40:44 --> 00:40:44 may
00:40:44 --> 00:40:45 jeopardize
00:40:45 --> 00:40:45 the
00:40:45 --> 00:40:46 security
00:40:46 --> 00:40:46 and the
00:40:46 --> 00:40:46 comfort
00:40:46 --> 00:40:46 that
00:40:46 --> 00:40:46 we
00:40:46 --> 00:40:47 in
00:40:47 --> 00:40:47 fact
00:40:47 --> 00:40:47 does
00:40:47 --> 00:40:48 not
00:40:48 --> 00:40:48 even
00:40:48 --> 00:40:48 exist
00:40:48 --> 00:40:52 so
00:40:52 --> 00:40:52 the
00:40:52 --> 00:40:52 point
00:40:52 --> 00:40:52 of
00:40:52 --> 00:40:53 that
00:40:53 --> 00:40:53 is
00:40:53 --> 00:40:53 put
00:40:53 --> 00:40:53 your
00:40:53 --> 00:40:54 hands
00:40:54 --> 00:40:54 in
00:40:54 --> 00:40:54 the
00:40:54 --> 00:40:55 hands
00:40:55 --> 00:40:55 of
00:40:55 --> 00:40:55 God
00:40:55 --> 00:40:57 and
00:40:57 --> 00:40:57 when
00:40:57 --> 00:40:57 we
00:40:57 --> 00:40:58 do
00:40:58 --> 00:40:58 fourth
00:40:58 --> 00:40:58 point
00:40:58 --> 00:40:59 if
00:40:59 --> 00:40:59 I
00:40:59 --> 00:40:59 perish
00:40:59 --> 00:41:00 I
00:41:00 --> 00:41:00 perish
00:41:00 --> 00:41:00 it's
00:41:00 --> 00:41:01 the
00:41:01 --> 00:41:01 language
00:41:01 --> 00:41:01 of
00:41:01 --> 00:41:02 greatness
00:41:02 --> 00:41:03 so
00:41:03 --> 00:41:04 many
00:41:04 --> 00:41:04 of
00:41:04 --> 00:41:04 us
00:41:04 --> 00:41:04 in
00:41:04 --> 00:41:04 our
00:41:04 --> 00:41:05 world
00:41:05 --> 00:41:05 do
00:41:05 --> 00:41:05 not
00:41:05 --> 00:41:06 take
00:41:06 --> 00:41:06 risks
00:41:06 --> 00:41:08 and
00:41:08 --> 00:41:09 we
00:41:09 --> 00:41:09 spend
00:41:09 --> 00:41:09 our
00:41:09 --> 00:41:09 life
00:41:09 --> 00:41:10 trying
00:41:10 --> 00:41:10 to
00:41:10 --> 00:41:10 build
00:41:10 --> 00:41:10 a
00:41:10 --> 00:41:11 reputation
00:41:11 --> 00:41:13 so
00:41:13 --> 00:41:13 that
00:41:13 --> 00:41:14 we
00:41:14 --> 00:41:14 are
00:41:14 --> 00:41:15 remembered
00:41:15 --> 00:41:16 we
00:41:16 --> 00:41:16 care
00:41:16 --> 00:41:16 about
00:41:16 --> 00:41:16 our
00:41:16 --> 00:41:17 legacy
00:41:17 --> 00:41:17 what
00:41:17 --> 00:41:17 we're
00:41:17 --> 00:41:18 passing
00:41:18 --> 00:41:18 on
00:41:18 --> 00:41:18 to
00:41:18 --> 00:41:18 others
00:41:18 --> 00:41:19 and
00:41:19 --> 00:41:20 yet
00:41:20 --> 00:41:20 it's
00:41:20 --> 00:41:20 those
00:41:20 --> 00:41:20 who
00:41:20 --> 00:41:21 take
00:41:21 --> 00:41:21 often
00:41:21 --> 00:41:21 the
00:41:21 --> 00:41:22 greatest
00:41:22 --> 00:41:22 risk
00:41:22 --> 00:41:22 are
00:41:22 --> 00:41:22 the
00:41:22 --> 00:41:23 ones
00:41:23 --> 00:41:23 who
00:41:23 --> 00:41:23 hand
00:41:23 --> 00:41:23 over
00:41:23 --> 00:41:23 the
00:41:23 --> 00:41:24 greatest
00:41:24 --> 00:41:24 legacy
00:41:24 --> 00:41:28 14
00:41:28 --> 00:41:29 times
00:41:29 --> 00:41:29 in
00:41:29 --> 00:41:29 the
00:41:29 --> 00:41:30 book
00:41:30 --> 00:41:30 of
00:41:30 --> 00:41:30 Esther
00:41:30 --> 00:41:31 14
00:41:31 --> 00:41:32 times
00:41:32 --> 00:41:34 Esther
00:41:34 --> 00:41:34 is
00:41:34 --> 00:41:35 referred
00:41:35 --> 00:41:35 to
00:41:35 --> 00:41:36 as
00:41:36 --> 00:41:36 Queen
00:41:36 --> 00:41:37 Esther
00:41:37 --> 00:41:41 the
00:41:41 --> 00:41:41 first
00:41:41 --> 00:41:41 time
00:41:41 --> 00:41:42 is
00:41:42 --> 00:41:42 when
00:41:42 --> 00:41:42 she's
00:41:42 --> 00:41:42 made
00:41:42 --> 00:41:43 Queen
00:41:43 --> 00:41:44 Queen
00:41:44 --> 00:41:44 Esther
00:41:44 --> 00:41:45 her
00:41:45 --> 00:41:45 title
00:41:45 --> 00:41:47 the
00:41:47 --> 00:41:47 other
00:41:47 --> 00:41:48 13
00:41:48 --> 00:41:48 times
00:41:48 --> 00:41:50 she's
00:41:50 --> 00:41:50 referred
00:41:50 --> 00:41:50 to
00:41:50 --> 00:41:51 as
00:41:51 --> 00:41:51 Queen
00:41:51 --> 00:41:52 Esther
00:41:52 --> 00:41:53 when
00:41:53 --> 00:41:53 she
00:41:53 --> 00:41:54 utters
00:41:54 --> 00:41:54 the
00:41:54 --> 00:41:54 words
00:41:54 --> 00:41:54 if I
00:41:54 --> 00:41:55 perish
00:41:55 --> 00:41:55 I
00:41:55 --> 00:41:55 perish
00:41:55 --> 00:41:55
00:41:55 --> 00:41:59 She's
00:41:59 --> 00:42:00 been
00:42:00 --> 00:42:00 queen
00:42:00 --> 00:42:00 for a
00:42:00 --> 00:42:01 while
00:42:01 --> 00:42:03 but
00:42:03 --> 00:42:03 13
00:42:03 --> 00:42:04 of the
00:42:04 --> 00:42:04 14
00:42:04 --> 00:42:05 occasions
00:42:05 --> 00:42:05 are
00:42:05 --> 00:42:05 after
00:42:05 --> 00:42:06 she
00:42:06 --> 00:42:06 utters
00:42:06 --> 00:42:06 those
00:42:06 --> 00:42:07 words
00:42:07 --> 00:42:07 she
00:42:07 --> 00:42:08 becomes
00:42:08 --> 00:42:08 a
00:42:08 --> 00:42:09 person
00:42:09 --> 00:42:09 of
00:42:09 --> 00:42:10 greatness
00:42:10 --> 00:42:11 by
00:42:11 --> 00:42:11 letting
00:42:11 --> 00:42:12 go
00:42:12 --> 00:42:12 of
00:42:12 --> 00:42:12 her
00:42:12 --> 00:42:13 life
00:42:13 --> 00:42:13 and
00:42:13 --> 00:42:13 placing
00:42:13 --> 00:42:14 it
00:42:14 --> 00:42:14 into
00:42:14 --> 00:42:14 God's
00:42:14 --> 00:42:15 hands
00:42:15 --> 00:42:15 for
00:42:15 --> 00:42:15 his
00:42:15 --> 00:42:16 glory
00:42:16 --> 00:42:16 and
00:42:16 --> 00:42:16 the
00:42:16 --> 00:42:17 good
00:42:17 --> 00:42:18 of
00:42:18 --> 00:42:18 others
00:42:18 --> 00:42:22 and
00:42:22 --> 00:42:22 as
00:42:22 --> 00:42:22 we
00:42:22 --> 00:42:23 look
00:42:23 --> 00:42:23 forward
00:42:23 --> 00:42:24 as a
00:42:24 --> 00:42:24 church
00:42:24 --> 00:42:24 here
00:42:24 --> 00:42:25 to
00:42:25 --> 00:42:26 the
00:42:26 --> 00:42:26 next
00:42:26 --> 00:42:27 stage
00:42:27 --> 00:42:27 of
00:42:27 --> 00:42:27 our
00:42:27 --> 00:42:28 life
00:42:28 --> 00:42:28 and
00:42:28 --> 00:42:28 our
00:42:28 --> 00:42:28 ministry
00:42:28 --> 00:42:29 together
00:42:29 --> 00:42:31 we're
00:42:31 --> 00:42:31 doing
00:42:31 --> 00:42:32 so
00:42:32 --> 00:42:34 in
00:42:34 --> 00:42:34 the
00:42:34 --> 00:42:34 most
00:42:34 --> 00:42:35 uncertain
00:42:35 --> 00:42:36 and
00:42:36 --> 00:42:37 unprecedented
00:42:37 --> 00:42:38 time
00:42:38 --> 00:42:39 in
00:42:39 --> 00:42:39 this
00:42:39 --> 00:42:39 church's
00:42:39 --> 00:42:41 124
00:42:41 --> 00:42:41 year
00:42:41 --> 00:42:41 history
00:42:41 --> 00:42:42 in
00:42:42 --> 00:42:43 Chatswood
00:42:43 --> 00:42:45 as I
00:42:45 --> 00:42:46 said
00:42:46 --> 00:42:46 Christianity
00:42:46 --> 00:42:48 is not
00:42:48 --> 00:42:48 accepted
00:42:48 --> 00:42:49 as true
00:42:49 --> 00:42:50 good or
00:42:50 --> 00:42:50 beautiful
00:42:50 --> 00:42:51 in our
00:42:51 --> 00:42:51 society
00:42:51 --> 00:42:54 and the
00:42:54 --> 00:42:54 early
00:42:54 --> 00:42:55 church
00:42:55 --> 00:42:57 the first
00:42:57 --> 00:42:57 three
00:42:57 --> 00:42:57 centuries
00:42:57 --> 00:42:58 of the
00:42:58 --> 00:42:58 early
00:42:58 --> 00:42:58 church
00:42:58 --> 00:42:59 of the
00:42:59 --> 00:42:59 Christian
00:42:59 --> 00:42:59 church
00:42:59 --> 00:43:01 faced
00:43:01 --> 00:43:03 similar
00:43:03 --> 00:43:03 circumstances
00:43:03 --> 00:43:04 to what
00:43:04 --> 00:43:04 we are
00:43:04 --> 00:43:05 facing
00:43:05 --> 00:43:05 now
00:43:05 --> 00:43:09 that
00:43:09 --> 00:43:09 is
00:43:09 --> 00:43:10 where
00:43:10 --> 00:43:11 Christianity
00:43:11 --> 00:43:11 was
00:43:11 --> 00:43:12 minority
00:43:12 --> 00:43:13 where it
00:43:13 --> 00:43:14 was not
00:43:14 --> 00:43:14 regarded as
00:43:14 --> 00:43:15 true
00:43:15 --> 00:43:15 good or
00:43:15 --> 00:43:16 beautiful
00:43:16 --> 00:43:18 and yet
00:43:18 --> 00:43:19 within the
00:43:19 --> 00:43:20 first three
00:43:20 --> 00:43:20 centuries
00:43:20 --> 00:43:21 the
00:43:21 --> 00:43:21 Christian
00:43:21 --> 00:43:21 church
00:43:21 --> 00:43:23 transformed
00:43:23 --> 00:43:23 the
00:43:23 --> 00:43:23 Roman
00:43:23 --> 00:43:24 empire
00:43:24 --> 00:43:25 for
00:43:25 --> 00:43:25 its
00:43:25 --> 00:43:26 good
00:43:26 --> 00:43:29 because
00:43:29 --> 00:43:29 they
00:43:29 --> 00:43:29 were
00:43:29 --> 00:43:30 captivated
00:43:30 --> 00:43:30 by the
00:43:30 --> 00:43:31 gospel
00:43:31 --> 00:43:32 of the
00:43:32 --> 00:43:32 glory
00:43:32 --> 00:43:33 of the
00:43:33 --> 00:43:33 Lord
00:43:33 --> 00:43:34 Jesus
00:43:34 --> 00:43:35 their
00:43:35 --> 00:43:35 identity
00:43:35 --> 00:43:36 was
00:43:36 --> 00:43:36 attached
00:43:36 --> 00:43:36 to
00:43:36 --> 00:43:37 him
00:43:37 --> 00:43:38 and
00:43:38 --> 00:43:38 they
00:43:38 --> 00:43:38 risked
00:43:38 --> 00:43:39 everything
00:43:39 --> 00:43:39 for
00:43:39 --> 00:43:39 that
00:43:39 --> 00:43:40 glory
00:43:40 --> 00:43:41 including
00:43:41 --> 00:43:42 their
00:43:42 --> 00:43:42 own
00:43:42 --> 00:43:42 lives
00:43:42 --> 00:43:43 and
00:43:43 --> 00:43:43 they
00:43:43 --> 00:43:44 did
00:43:44 --> 00:43:44 so
00:43:44 --> 00:43:45 joyfully
00:43:45 --> 00:43:47 like
00:43:47 --> 00:43:47 them
00:43:47 --> 00:43:48 eternal
00:43:48 --> 00:43:49 greatness
00:43:49 --> 00:43:49 awaits
00:43:49 --> 00:43:50 those
00:43:50 --> 00:43:50 who
00:43:50 --> 00:43:50 take
00:43:50 --> 00:43:50 those
00:43:50 --> 00:43:51 risks
00:43:51 --> 00:43:53 !
00:43:53 --> 00:43:53