What will it take for you to do the right thing?

[0:01] So the way to find Esther is if you got to 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, you get to Nehemiah, so it's near the beginning, Ezra, Nehemiah, and then Esther.

[0:17] If you've gone to Job, you've gone too far, and then go back. Now, I understand that as a church we've actually gone through the book of Esther. I don't quite remember when we went through it. It must be at least four years ago, possibly.

[0:33] I'm in my eighth year, having completed seven, so it must be five years ago, actually. Maybe even six years ago. I think it was the second year.

[0:44] It could be any number, actually, because I've just gone through them. No, I really do think it was probably the second year. Now, of course, having gone through the book, the reading might actually reignite some memories.

[1:00] That's what you get for having your Bible on your phone. I've read my Bible back in front, trying to find a verse in Scripture where it says it's a sin to have your Bible on the phone, but I just cannot do it.

[1:17] So, we are going to pick it up in chapter four, and therefore, I understand that by jumping into the middle of a section, it's going to be difficult to pick it up.

[1:28] So, what I'm going to do is I'm just going to read chapter four, and then I'm going to give you the background in the message. Okay? So, we'll read the 17 verses of chapter four.

[1:40] Now, hear God's word. And in every province where the king's command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes.

[2:20] When Esther's young women and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was deeply distressed. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai so that he might take off his sackcloth, but he would not accept them.

[2:37] Then Esther called for Hanuk, one of the king's eunuchs who had been appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was.

[2:48] In fact, when he went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king's gate, and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, that the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the destruction of the Jews.

[3:08] Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her, and command her to go to the king and beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people.

[3:27] And Hanak went and told Esther what Mordecai had said. Then Esther spoke to Hanak and commanded him to go to Mordecai and say, All the king's servant and the people of the king's provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live.

[4:00] But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days. And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace that you will escape any more than all the other Jews.

[4:24] For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place. But you and your father's house will perish.

[4:35] And who knows whether or not you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this. Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, Go gather all the Jews to be found in Susa and hold a fast on my behalf.

[4:51] And do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law.

[5:04] And if I perish, I perish. Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him. It's a great chapter, chapter four.

[5:17] Just brilliant on every level. Well, before we come back to the message, let's stand before God and sing this next song together.

[5:29] As we begin to look at this together this evening, we must take into consideration, I think, what Francis was preaching on this morning. I found it quite remarkable, well, I shouldn't, given that God is involved in all things, that he was drawing our attention to the fact that Isaiah's trust was in a man rather than in God.

[5:50] And what God used to bring Isaiah's trust back in, to be placed in God.

[6:00] And it took nothing more, in many ways, than the death of a king. Well, if you just take that simply, and that raises a very important question as we come to Esther, chapter four.

[6:14] And the question that Esther, chapter four, raises is what will God do to get you to do the right thing? What will it take for you as a believer to do the right thing?

[6:30] I mean, that's a crucial question. In the same way Isaiah, Isaiah the prophet, wandered and had to be brought back close to God and have his sin atoned for, made right.

[6:45] What will it take for us, for God to do the same with us? Now, the issue at hand is a simple one. At what point will you do the right thing?

[7:00] But this question is also for those who don't know God. Because the question is all about making a decision. The very song that we have sung, I've decided to follow Jesus, emphasizes that Jesus poses a question.

[7:16] And the question that Jesus poses to us is, will you identify with me? The gospel is asking the question to men, women, boys and girls of, will you identify with me?

[7:30] Will you follow me is another way of saying, will you identify yourself as a follower of God? Will you identify yourself as one of God's people?

[7:41] But instead of looking at it in the way that Francis did this morning, we're going to look at it in the reverse. And the reverse is this question. At what point will you do the right thing?

[7:55] What will it take for you to do the right thing? Whether you're an unbeliever to make the decision to follow Jesus, or whether you're a believer who has lapsed in your faithfulness, what will it take to bring you back to faithfulness?

[8:11] That's the question. Now, so let me just give you a bit of a background to the book of Esther. This may be familiar. You'll know that the book of Esther has no mention of God, not once, in any of the chapters.

[8:24] Throughout the entire book, there is no mention of God. But for the believer, for the one who knows God, and for the one who knows how God works, you cannot help but see God in every single chapter.

[8:40] The trouble is, is God does things that we're not used to. So chapter one, we see God working through a drunk king. Now, we would want to rule that out, that God can't use somebody like that.

[8:55] But if God is in control of the whole world, then he is also in control of a king who is drunk. And that's the type of thing that the book of Esther gets us to consider.

[9:07] That when we're dealing with God, we're dealing with God who can deal with everything at any time, in any way. And so God uses any purposes that he sees fit to choose, to use, in order to bring his people back to faithfulness, or for those who don't follow him, to fulfill their own ends of rejecting God.

[9:30] The book also raises another question, and that is, what do you do when you don't know what to do? And that's a crucial question, because Christians can relate with that question almost on par.

[9:45] What do you do when you don't know what to do? See, the book of Esther paints the picture, the true picture of the Christian life, of the believer's life before God, that it's not simple.

[9:59] That everything is not black and white. That sometimes it is not easy to tell the difference between right and wrong. Now, for some Christians, apparently it's very easy.

[10:12] This is right, and that is wrong. But actually, the book of Esther paints a different picture. That actually, sometimes the line between right and wrong is not as clear as you might think it was.

[10:27] And so for us, this is an important book. What do we do when we don't know what to do? And what do we do when right and wrong are not so easy to make your mind up on?

[10:40] What do you do when you're faced with a situation like that? And you're also faced with a situation at a time where God's not saying anything. Remember, the book of Esther doesn't have God saying anything to anybody at any time.

[10:55] Well, there's only two conclusions that you can come to. And that is that if God is a God who does not change, then you have to go back to a time where God did speak.

[11:08] Where God did reveal. Where God did lead. And therefore, you learn from how God treated other people of what God did and what God chose not to do. And then you take that truth and then apply it to your own situation.

[11:22] That while I'm unclear, there is a situation back in the day where God did deal with something very similar. And I take that and apply it to my own situation. Without that, you're simply making up your own mind.

[11:35] So the options are clear. Either you make up your own mind or you go back to a time and place where God did speak into a situation that looks similar and learn from it.

[11:47] Now, the reason why that's important is because God has spoken everything that he needs to speak in order to encourage us and guide us in the Christian life faithfully.

[12:01] In order for our life to be faithful. But God also understands that as believers, we can be in that situation where what is right looks wrong and what is wrong looks right.

[12:14] Esther raises these difficult situations and it raises it in a book where God's never mentioned. So it just ups the ante of the difficulty.

[12:26] But the reality is this. You are never to rely on your own imagination, intuition. You are to go back to a time of how God has dealt with his people and learn from that.

[12:40] Esther also challenges us with the gospel because the challenge here is about responding to God. The gospel is challenging you to make the right decision now.

[12:58] And the right decision is, of course, to follow God, to trust, to repent, to believe, to come to Jesus Christ. And for those who are not saved, you're faced with that question.

[13:09] At what point will you make the right decision to follow Jesus? And because different people make the right decision at different times, not everybody comes to faith in the same way.

[13:23] And not everybody comes to faith wanting to come to faith. I find that challenging in the New Testament. That one of the first men who had his sins forgiven in the New Testament, in the book of Mark, did not come to Jesus because he wanted to be forgiven.

[13:41] He came to Jesus because he wanted to walk. And the first thing Jesus says to him, seeing his faith, is, My son, your sins are forgiven. Well, great, but I actually came to get healed.

[13:53] Now, here's a man who comes with a totally different motive than the motive Jesus has for being in the world, and yet receives forgiveness. Now, that seems complicated.

[14:05] But that's the grace of God. That God gives us what we need rather than what we want. Even if our motive is not to be forgiven by God, but to actually want something else from him.

[14:19] That just messes everything up because suddenly Christianity is no longer neat. Christianity is no longer tidy. Suddenly, everything becomes complicated.

[14:30] Motives, desires have all become mixed up, and suddenly not everything is so clear. So the background here that we will get into now is a fairly simple one with a hint of complication.

[14:44] The simplicity is this, that Mordecai has just found out that this man Haman has made a plot with the king to kill all the Jews.

[14:58] Now, the natural assumption for Esther is to understand that Mordecai wants Esther to do the right thing, which means that up to this point, she's not done the right thing.

[15:11] Mordecai is a Jew, and Esther is a Jew. Now, we don't have to go into the background in great detail to understand the complexity.

[15:24] That if Esther is a Jew, and Mordecai is a Jew, and Haman, with the king, has made a plot to kill the Jews, then that puts Mordecai and Esther in a bit of a predicament.

[15:36] They're in trouble. The reason why Esther is in more trouble than perhaps Mordecai is because Esther married the king, even though she should not have married the king.

[15:49] Esther is a Jew, and she married a Gentile, which was not permitted by God's law. But in doing so, she's now married to the king, and the king doesn't know that she's a Jew.

[16:00] But the king has just issued a law that cannot be overwritten, that cannot be overturned. The law of the Medes and the Persians cannot be changed, which means that if that law, which says that all Jews must be killed, then Esther must be killed.

[16:18] You see the problem. It's a difficult one. So Esther, recognizing the situation, recognizing that she hasn't been with a king for 30 days, and the reason she hasn't been with a king is because in the same way he got rid of Queen Vashti to have Queen Esther, he's just one of those type of men that likes lots of women.

[16:44] And so basically he's been with lots of other women, while Vashti, of course, originally, and now Esther has been out of the picture for 30 days.

[16:56] Haman is convinced the king that God's people, the Jews, don't obey the king's laws in chapter 3, verse 8. And it's not to the king's profit to keep them alive, because you don't want people who can rebel against the king.

[17:11] And the same thing happened in Egypt. If God's people get too big and too strong, they'll overthrow Egypt. Well, they were never going to overthrow Egypt, but the threat was there, and so what do you do?

[17:24] You kill the babies. And that's what he did. Well, working on that same assumption, Haman convinces the king that the Jews don't obey the king's laws, and therefore this is not good for him.

[17:37] So men and women, boys and girls, young and old, must die. Chapter 3, verse 13. Mordecai, distraught, throws himself on the ground, laments, cries, covers himself in sackcloth and ashes, and then presents himself to the king's gate.

[18:00] In other words, he wants to make a point. And the point is, what you're doing is wrong. Esther finds out what Mordecai is doing, recognizing that he's drawing the wrong kind of attention to himself in the wrong place, and makes sure that he gets clothes sent out to him.

[18:20] But the problem is greater than this, because Esther is trying to cover up Mordecai's lamenting, rather than deal with his lamenting.

[18:33] I mean, is Esther forgetting that she is a Jew? Is Esther thinking, hang on a minute, while Mordecai won't be safe, at least I can hide my identity and get away with it.

[18:44] I'll keep quiet, but in order for my identity to be safe, I have to keep Mordecai quiet. Okay? Or else he's going to give the whole game away. Okay?

[18:55] If Mordecai carries on shouting like he's shouting, everyone's going to find out that not only is he a Jew, but I'm a Jew as well. So Mordecai gets some clothes on and go away. In other words, instead of seeing Esther as a person who initially takes this news in the same way as Mordecai does, she tries to cover the whole thing up.

[19:16] She tries to walk away from the situation. She learns, of course, that the king has written a law that cannot be overturned, that all Jews must die, and that must include her.

[19:31] Mordecai then tells Esther to speak to the king, but no one's allowed to go and speak to the king unless they've been called. If anyone does go and the king's not asked them to come, they'll be put to death unless the king holds out a golden scepter and therefore live.

[19:48] That's the only exception. But you don't know whether or not the king's going to hold out the golden scepter until you walk in. So you're walking into a situation where it is life or death. You just don't know.

[19:59] It's more likely to be death because of the exception is an exception. Okay, exceptions are exceptions because they don't happen that often. That's what makes it an exception.

[20:12] It's an exceptional case or clause. Mordecai then holds nothing back. And this is what he says in verse 12 of chapter 4.

[20:24] He basically says to her, Esther, do not think that you will escape any more than any of the other Jews.

[20:37] I want you to think about that because this is what it means. That time and truth go hand in hand. Okay, time and truth go hand in hand.

[20:48] That is a universal truth. It is a non-negotiable. It will never change. Time and truth go hand in hand. That given enough time, the truth will always come out.

[21:00] It will always come out. You know, I used to have a Sunday school teacher. They used to say, I can't remember her. I can remember what she looked like. And then I was brought up in a background where there was no Christian upbringing.

[21:16] We were sent off to church. And, you know, anyway. So I have a lot to thank for God using Sunday school teachers. That, you know, that just was dealing with a child that was sent to Sunday school.

[21:30] And yet here she was. And I can remember, you know, I don't know whether it was that Sunday school teachers or others. You know, there's a verse in the Bible that says, be sure your sins will find you out. Be sure your sins will find you out.

[21:42] Did you take that when you were not allowed to? Be sure your sins will. You know, you were so threatened by the verse that you end up confessing. But the point was made. That time and truth go hand in hand.

[21:53] That given enough time, the truth will always come out. That is why God told Moses not to defend himself. That's why ministers are never to defend themselves. You know, some ministers can do it.

[22:05] Other ministers can't. Some ministers are made for building. Other ministers are made for fighting. Time and truth go hand in hand. That given enough time, the truth will always come out.

[22:18] And that's what Mordecai is facing Esther with. Esther, you need to understand that given enough time, you will be found out that you are a Jew. Then he says this in verse 14.

[22:33] Also, if relief doesn't come through you at this time, meaning this. That if she is not faithful to God at this time, someone else will be faithful to God at another time.

[22:47] But in that period of time, you and your father's house will perish. Listen to what Mordecai is saying. He listened to how Mordecai understands how God works.

[23:02] Mordecai has a perfect understanding of how God works through people in a nation. He works through people in the nation. And what he's saying to Esther is, Esther, you need to understand that if you're not faithful to God at this time, God will raise up a person to be faithful to him at another time.

[23:22] But the time in between, between you being unfaithful and the next person being faithful, you and your father's house will perish. In other words, Esther, you need to understand that there is a cost that comes with being silent.

[23:36] That there is a cost that comes with hiding your identity. That there is a cost to be paid, not just for you, but for others around you.

[23:46] For you not doing the right thing at the right time in the right place. Well, Esther, upon hearing this, then decides to go to the king.

[24:02] And she says, verse 16, I'm going to go into the king. I understand it's against the law. I understand that if anyone does go in, they could face death unless the golden scepter is out.

[24:13] But I'm going to go. And if I perish, I perish, she says. Brilliant. Doesn't it look like that Esther's finally made the right decision?

[24:26] Well, let me try and explain and apply this. There are a few things to notice here in particular. We're going to begin with verse 14. Mordecai says this. Esther, if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place.

[24:44] But you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether or not you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this. Let me put it a slightly different way.

[24:55] What do you do when the right person in the right place at the right time doesn't do the right thing? What do you do when the right person in the right place at the right time doesn't make the right decision?

[25:14] What happens then? That's what Mordecai is saying to Esther. Esther, you are the right person in the right place at the right time to make the right decision.

[25:30] You see, God has a way of doing things. And that while it is true that people cannot frustrate the plans of God, they cannot put them off, they cannot put off his purposes.

[25:48] Nevertheless, people have the responsibility to be faithful or lest they be unfaithful. And that's what Esther is being challenged with. Are you going to be faithful, Esther, in identifying yourself with God?

[26:03] Or are you going to continue to hide your identity as a person of God? What will it be? Esther also has to consider that her faithfulness or unfaithfulness is not an independent movement.

[26:17] And this is absolutely crucial for the Christian church to understand. See, we tend to think that what I do, my faithfulness to God, doesn't affect anybody else.

[26:31] Or my unfaithfulness to God doesn't affect anybody else. But neither is true. Our faithfulness to God cannot be made an independent action.

[26:42] In the same way that our unfaithfulness to God cannot be made an independent action. Where the people around us are not affected by it. If you are faithful to God, other people will benefit by your faithfulness to God.

[26:57] But if you are unfaithful to God, then it is equally true that other people will suffer because of your unfaithfulness to God. And this is what Esther is being challenged with.

[27:10] If you keep silent, Esther, it's not just you who will perish, but your father's house also. In other words, your unfaithfulness has a negative effect on the people you love.

[27:23] By you keeping quiet, you don't just affect you, you affect the people that are around you. Well, this is a deep challenge for Esther.

[27:34] Imagine it this way. A minister who's not concerned about being faithful. Imagine that. A minister who's not concerned about his personal faithfulness to God.

[27:48] How do you think the congregation will look after a year? Do you think it will have any effect over the congregation? Or do you think they will be isolated from his unfaithfulness?

[27:59] Of course not. Of course not. The reason why ministers are to be faithful is not just for them to be faithful personally to God, but in order for the others in the congregation that they minister to benefit from that faithfulness, lest they are damaged by his unfaithfulness.

[28:19] And that's what Esther is being challenged with. You need to understand that your faithfulness or unfaithfulness is not an independent movement. It's not an independent action.

[28:31] It's not something that you can do or not do and not affect the people around you. And that while you may be able to keep yourself safe, Esther, your father's house will perish.

[28:43] In other words, the people that you're close to, the people that you're related to, your fellow countrymen and friends, brothers and sisters, so to speak, will perish. So personal faithfulness, Mordecai understands, is never conducted in isolation.

[29:00] It always affects the people that we are surrounded with. Well, there's another thing to notice here as we start drawing it to a conclusion. And that's the statement for such a time is this.

[29:15] I find this deeply challenging, really deeply challenging. And we don't have the time to go into just how difficult this statement is or the difficulties that it raises.

[29:28] But this is what it means. That, Esther, you are in this position at this time for this reason. In other words, what Mordecai is saying, and who's the bigger sinner, Esther or Mordecai, in the beginning of the book?

[29:46] Okay, who's the one who's pulling the strings? Is it Mordecai or is it Esther? I mean, you have to make your own mind up. I think Mordecai is more to blame than Esther, but Esther's got her own big faults.

[30:00] But now Mordecai seems to understand that Esther has got herself into a position of being the queen through unfaithfulness. And now Mordecai says, how do you not know that for such a time as this, this is what it's led to?

[30:18] Now, there are some Christians who want to then take that and go, oh, great. I have now reasons to be unfaithful because God will use me for something great in the future. That is so naughty.

[30:29] It's unbelievably naughty to think like that. That God will use my unfaithfulness for a good purpose in the future. That's not what you are meant to understand from this passage.

[30:40] What you are meant to understand from this passage is that God is able to use the unfaithfulness of a person even for his good purposes. That's what you are meant to understand.

[30:51] This is not to give you reason to be unfaithful, but this is to promote the idea, the clear idea, that God, even in your unfaithfulness, is able to do good things.

[31:03] Is able to bring great things out of that. And what that means is this, that every unfaithful believer has to face their very own D-Day.

[31:16] Every unfaithful believer has to face their very own D-Day. The day where you can no longer hide your identity as a believer.

[31:28] And that's deeply challenging. Don't think it'll be tomorrow. Don't think it'll be next week. But you will know when you know. It's the time and place where your identity can no longer be hidden.

[31:44] And that's where Esther has come to. It's crunch time. For all these years, she has been able to hide the fact to the king that she is a Jew. But not anymore.

[31:57] One of the favorite books that I read is by a woman called Karen Hobbes. Brilliant writer. Absolutely brilliant writer. She's a professor in America and North America.

[32:09] I can't quite remember where, but I'm pretty sure it's in North America. Or that's where she got her doctors. Anyway, it doesn't matter. Brilliant. This is what she says.

[32:21] Listen to this. I think she understands Esther brilliantly. I also think she understands all of us brilliantly. This is what she says. Karen Hobbes makes a brilliant point about Esther.

[32:34] And the rest of us when faced with this situation. She says, It seems to be human nature that sometimes we will do the right thing only when it becomes too painful to continue to do the wrong thing.

[32:52] Wow. You understand what she's saying? This is what she's saying, if you don't. That there are some people who live their Christian life painfully.

[33:06] And they are willing to continue to live in that painful existence. Only to the point where it becomes too painful to continue.

[33:17] And only at the point where it becomes too painful to continue will they say, I want out. But up until that point they're willing to put up with quite a lot of pain. Imagine it like this.

[33:31] In a slightly different way. Imagine a person who tells a lie about a drunk driver. That he wasn't driving. But as this person witnesses what the drunk driver is caused through the collision.

[33:47] That there are people in hospital terribly sick. Some physically damaged. Some who have died. And others who are mourning over those who are now gone.

[34:02] All because of a collision with a drunk driver. As he witnesses this. And he sees it more and more. Suddenly the pain of it all. Means that he can no longer keep quiet about his best friend the drunk driver.

[34:16] In other words. What Karen Hobbs points out. Is that people don't naturally. Or are motivated to tell the truth immediately.

[34:28] But only after great pain. Do they eventually tell the truth. That only after great struggle. Do they eventually. Tell the truth.

[34:39] Esther. Esther. Esther. Doesn't come to faithfulness in God. Through wanting to be faithful. She comes to faithfulness in God.

[34:51] Through great struggle and great pain. Reluctantly. She is moved towards faithfulness. She's not running towards the faithfulness of God.

[35:03] She's not embracing the faithfulness of God. She is brought being. She is brought to the place of being faithful to God. Through immense pain. Through the consideration.

[35:16] That all of her brothers and sisters. As Jews. Will perish. That it's only at that point. Does she decide to be faithful. What does that mean?

[35:28] What it means is this. Is that some people. Are brought back to their faithfulness in God. Forcefully. Reluctantly.

[35:40] Through great pain. And God will use any means necessary. To do that. I don't like to see anybody in pain.

[35:52] I don't like to see anybody. In events that are out of their control. I don't like to see anybody suffer. Losing a job.

[36:04] Losing. A marriage. Losing. A number of other things. Loved ones. I don't like to see any of those things. That are. Incredibly painful.

[36:14] But as I read Esther chapter 4. I recognize. With the help of Karen Hobbs. That actually some people. Can only be brought back.

[36:25] To faithfulness in God. Through those measures. That some people. Can only be brought back. To a close walk with God.

[36:36] And identify themselves. As a person of God. Through the most difficult. And painful of situations. We would like the road. For everyone. To God. To be pain free.

[36:46] And easy. But actually. It doesn't seem to be. The case. Esther finally makes. The right decision. Not because. She is motivated.

[36:58] By truth. But because. She is motivated. By pain. The painful. Consequence. Of what will happen. If she says.

[37:09] Nothing. Nothing. So in conclusion. What does it mean? Well it means this. That the gospel. Is God's news. To men and women.

[37:21] Boys and girls. To make. A decision. And the decision. That the gospel. Is facing. Men and women. Boys and girls. With. Is will you identify.

[37:31] With me. Will you identify. With Jesus. Will you identify. With God. The gospel.

[37:44] Comes to us. Like. Mordecai. Question. Comes to Esther. At what point. Esther. Will you make. The right decision. The gospel.

[37:56] Is saying. At what point. Will you. Make the right. Decision. Now for the Christian. Who is living. Unfaithfully. The question. Is slightly different.

[38:08] It's still. The same question. At what point. Will you do. The right thing. Will God. Get you. Back to being. Faithful to him. Through pain. Or through blessing.

[38:18] Although the pain. Could be considered. A blessing. How will God. Do it with you. And the reason. Is because of this. That for the Christian. It is a matter of worship.

[38:31] Worship. Is presenting. Yourself to God. Worship. Is presenting. Your life. As a living. Sacrifice. Romans 12. For this. Is your spiritual worship.

[38:42] Says. The New Testament. Worship. Is saying. Well if I perish. I perish. But it will be faithfulness. Whatever the outcome.

[38:55] See. We tend to think. In terms of outcomes. And then we make. Our decision. Where what God. Is trying to get us. To understand here. Is that our first.

[39:06] Decision. Should be faithfulness. Whatever the outcome. Esther comes. Around. Making the right decision. But not through faithfulness.

[39:17] But through. Considering. What her silence. Will actually. Mean. So what will it take. To bring God's people.

[39:28] Back. To faithfulness. Well some. Well for some. It'll take a situation. That's too painful. To continuing. In other words. For some people.

[39:39] It's just going to have to get. Much worse. Before they return. It's going to have to get. To the place. And the position. Where there's no longer. Any place to hide. Where bottom.

[39:50] Really is. The bottom. Where finally. They begin. To look up. And recognize. That they belong. To God.

[40:01] You know. When we speak about. God never letting. Anybody go. Safe in the arms of God. Eternal security. Saved forever. That's. All of that's.

[40:11] Wonderfully true. But it doesn't mean. That you will escape. The painful situations. Which God gets. Brings you through. To restore your faithfulness.

[40:22] In him. What it also means. Is this. Is we conclude. That God's plans. And purposes. For you. For the nation. For the world.

[40:32] Are always bigger. Than ours. And will always trump. Ours. And will always mean more. Than ours. And what that means.

[40:43] Is this. That we will always. Collide with God. God. Because we too. Have plans. And purposes. That are not always faithful. Or Godward.

[40:54] And this means. That the Christian life. Like Esther's life. Is a life. That collides. With the will of God. It's a life. That collides. With God's providence. His providential care.

[41:06] Over us. But remember. The collision. Is for our blessing. To restore us. To a place. Of faithfulness. To restore. Our identity.

[41:17] As a person. Belonging. To God. So as you leave here. This evening. Don't just remember. This for yourself. But remember this.

[41:27] For everyone. That you're connected to. It's not just true. For you. But it's true. For everyone. You know. Amen.

[41:37] Amen. Amen.

[42:17] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[42:28] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you.

[43:05] Thank you.

[43:35] Thank you.

[44:05] Thank you.

[44:35] Thank you.

[45:05] Know as you leave this evening that you are forever gods and you can be nothing more if you belong to Jesus Christ. Amen.