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Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. The rock that is higher than I Hoes of life how long seems a thing And sometimes I'll wear it my feet But toiling in life's nasty ways The rock's blessed shadow I'll sweep Oh then to the rock let me fly To the rock that is higher than I Oh then to the rock let me fly To the rock that is higher than I smile Oh near to the rock let me feel If blessings or sorrows prevail Or climbing the mountain we see Or walking the shadow we see Oh then to the rock let me fly To the rock that is higher than I Oh then to the rock let me fly To the rock that is higher than I Where do you think I got this in? Oh. This blue cardboard. You know I think it's in front of my body But it's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. It's just walking on the beach. Down at the cross. All at first. Glory to his name. There to my heart was the Lord of Thine. Glory to his name. I am so wondrously seen from sea. Jesus is with me. He abides with me. There at the cross where he took me in. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. There to my heart was the Lord of Thine. Glory to his name. On the third. Oh, precious fountain that seems from sea. I am so glad I have entered in. There Jesus saves me and gives me peace. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. There to my heart was the Lord of Thine. Glory to his name. Come to this mountain. Come to this mountain so rich and sweet. Cast thy pure soul at the Savior's feet. Thy ship today can be made complete. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. There to my heart was the Lord of Thine. Glory to his name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. All right, we're ready. Welcome to Verity Baptist Church. Take out your bulletins here today. And our verse of the week is Matthew 5 verse 18. The Bible reads, For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. And that's a great verse there. We are a family integrated church, meaning children and infants are welcome during the services. We do have a mother baby room back there for your convenience, as well as the ladies restroom. The men's restroom is up here in front. Remember, no eating during the service. Maintain a professional atmosphere and keep the children from running and making noise during the church service. In the middle of our bulletin, we have our service times listed. First service is at 10 a.m. Second service, 11.15. Wednesday evening Bible study is at 7 p.m. Soul winning times listed, 4 p.m. on Wednesdays. Saturday afternoons, we have all day soul winning in case of memorial circle, 10 to 12 and also 2 to 4. I think we had 20 people yesterday. So that's a lot of people. So great job everybody. And today we do have soul winning around 1.45. Our salvations for 2022 are listed there for all of our churches, as well as Bible study fellowships and birthdays and anniversaries as well. That's by far the most we've ever had in a year. Because I was looking back on our past and you know 2019 was great. And then when COVID hit, 2020 we went down a lot. And then like 2021 we went back up. This year we just like shot up. So it's a lot more than we've ever had. So great job everybody. And on the next page our Bible memorization challenge. And so to complete that challenge we do have prizes back there. Our monthly prayer meeting is in two weeks. And of course the big thing during January is our New Testament Bible reading challenge. And so keep with it. And keep going through the chart and our verse attached to that is Deuteronomy 17 verse 19. And it shall be with him and he shall read therein all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes to do them. The thing that's nice about having a Bible reading chart is sometimes you get, it's like late at night, you're about ready to go to sleep. It's like oh I got two chapters left. Right? And then you have to either do it on your cell phone or just you know take a break. You know I've been there just these past couple weeks you know with this. And so it's nice to have a Bible reading chart. So even after January I encourage everybody to use the Bible reading chart. It's going to help you with your reading. And current and upcoming series we are in the book of Ezra. We'll be preaching a sermon on that here today. And also the alphabet of Bible doctrines. Information on our group chat. And then on the back is a place for notes for the sermons here today. So congratulations for everybody that guessed the death penalty. That is what the sermon, I mean abortion, the death penalty. I like violent sermons. No I'm just kidding. But anyways we'll have Brother Marlon lead us in another song. And for our next song, let's turn to hymn number four. Hymn number four. Let's sing a song, The Way of the Cross. This song. I must lead Scoble by the way of the cross on the first. Ready? Sing. I must lead Scoble by the way of the cross. There's no other way but this. I shall hear inside of the gates of life. Hit the way of the cross I'll admit. The way of the cross leads home. The way of the cross leads home. It's me to know as I onward go. The way of the cross leads home. I must lead Scoble by the way of the cross. The way of the cross leads home. If I ever climb to the heights of life. Where the slope is at home with God. The way of the cross leads home. The way of the cross leads home. It's me to know as I onward go. The way of the cross leads home. And I did farewell to the way of the cross. To walk in it evermore. For my Lord says Scoble and I sing my hope. Praying wings at the open door. The way of the cross leads home. The way of the cross leads home. It's me to know as I onward go. The way of the cross leads home. This time we'll have our offering. This time we'll please get your Bibles and open it to the book of Esther. Esther chapter number one. We're going to read the whole chapter starting verse number one up to verse number 22. Please follow along silently with me as I read Esther chapter number one. Esther chapter number one the Bible reads, Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus. This is Ahasuerus which reigned from India even into Ethiopia. Over a hundred and seven and twenty provinces. That in those days when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom. Which was in Shushan the palace. In the third year of this reign he made a feast unto all the princes and his servants. The power of Persia and Media. The nobles of the provinces of the province being before him. When he shooed the reaches of his glorious kingdom in the honor of his excellent majesty. Many days even a hundred and four score days. And when these days were expired the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace. Both the great and small. Seven days in the court of the garden of the king's palace. There were white, green, and blue hangings fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and fillers of marble. The bed were of gold and silver upon a pavement of red and blue and white and black marble. And they gave them drink in vessels of gold. The vessels before being diverse one from another. And royal wine in abundance according to the state of the king. And the drinking was according to the law. None did compel so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house that they should do according to every man's pleasure. Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to king Ahasuerus. On the seventh day when the heart of the king was married with wine he commanded Meshuman, Bishta, Harbonah, Bigta, and Abagta. Zithar and Carcas and seven chamberlings that served in the presence of Ahasuerus the king. To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the royal crown to show the people and the princess her beauty for she was fair to look on. But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by his chamberlings. Therefore was the king very wrought and his anger burned in him. Then the king said to the wise men which knew the times for so was the king's manner towards all that knew law and judgment. And the next unto him was Karshina, Sitar, Admata, Tarshish, Maris, Marsana, and Mamukan. The seven princes of Persia and Media which saw the king's face and which sat the first in the kingdom. What shall we do unto the queen Vashti according to the law? Because he had not performed the commandment of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlings. And Mamukan answered before the king and the princess, Vashti the queen had not done wrong to the king only but also to all the princess and to all the people that are in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus. For this deed of the queen shall come abroad before all women so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes when it shall be reported. The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him but she came not. Likewise shall the ladies of Persia and Media say this day unto all the king's princess which have heard of the deed of the queen. Thus shall there arise too much contempt and wrath. If it please the king, let there go a royal commandment from him and let it be written among the laws of the Persian and the Medes that it be not altered. That Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she. And when the king's decree which he made shall be published throughout all his empire for it is great, all the wives shall give to their husbands honor both the great and small. And the saying please the king and the princess and the king did accord the word of Mamukan. For he sent letters into all the king's provinces, into every province according to the writing thereof and to every people after their language that every man should bear rule in his own house. And it should be published according to the language of every people. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for your word. Thank you for allowing us to be in your house today. Bless the brother's sake with your spirit, Lord. And give us ears that will attend to the preaching of your word, Lord. We love you God. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. All right. We're here in Esther chapter 1 and we're back in our series on Ezra and we're going to be here in Esther looking at an overview of this book. Now, I thought about just kind of skipping this because we've had a lot of breaks with Ezra because of Christmas and New Year's. But the reason why I wanted to preach this, even though I preached through Esther about three years ago, is because the one sermon I got deleted from YouTube was a sermon on Esther. So the last 20 minutes of the sermon I'm just going to kind of re-preach what YouTube decided to take down a couple of years ago because I have not changed my mind about anything I said. Okay. But you say, well, Brother Sucky, well first look at verse number 1, Esther 1 verse 1. Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus. This is Ahasuerus which reigned from India, even onto Ethiopia, over 107 and 20 provinces. Now the Bible mentions here in Esther 1 verse 1 it mentions Ahasuerus. Then in parentheses it gives us more information. And I believe the reason why is because a lot of people have the same names in the Bible. You know, they don't have last names. You get very easily confused. And the Bible is being very specific that this Ahasuerus was a very rich king. Over 107 and 20 provinces. And in secular history he is known as Xerxes. This is the richest leader of the Achaemenid Empire. Now turn to Ezra chapter 7. And we'll be in Esther most of the sermon, but turn to Ezra chapter 7. And I'll show you why we're in Esther if it's the series on Ezra. And notice what it says in Ezra 7 verse 1. Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia. Now you could just read over that and just kind of assume, oh it's like one week after chapter 6. But the reason why the Bible makes it a point to say now after these things, and often the Bible does this, is when a long time period is going by. Because you'd automatically assume chapter 7 is after chapter 6, except under rare conditions in the Bible. But it's saying now after these things because a lot of time period is going by. Because in between chapter 6 and chapter 7 is a king that is not mentioned in Ezra outside of one verse in Ezra 4. Go back to Ezra 4. And I've mentioned this several times I've gone through Ezra. I just really want you to know when you're reading your Bible to understand how these books correlate in the time frame. And notice what it says in Ezra 4 verse 5. And hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. Now Cyrus king of Persia according to secular history was the king from 560 B.C. to 530 B.C. So for 30 years. After him there's a guy by the name of Cambyses II who was the king for 8 years. He was nowhere near as significant as Artaxerxes or Hasawares or Darius or Cyrus. So he's not really mentioned in the Bible. But he is in between actually Cyrus and Darius. Because what the Bible says is even until the reign of Darius king of Persia there's actually a king in between. There's another guy by the name of Bardiya who was kind of supposedly an imposter in secular history debates whether he even lived or whether or not he was ever really the king or he just tried to take the throne. And he's there for less than a year because he's only 522 B.C. And so in verse 5 it talks about Cyrus and Darius. And the context of this verse and the context of the entire chapter is about persecution. Right? It's talking about basically hiring counselors against them to stop the work that they're doing. And of course there's nothing new under the sun. The same thing that happened thousands of years ago happens to us today. We're not building a literal building but we're going out soul winning and the enemy is trying to stop us. Trying to frustrate our purpose. Right? Go to verse number 7. And in the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlem, Mithradath, Tabiel and the rest of their companions on Artaxerxes king of Persia. And the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian tongue and interpreted in the Syrian tongue. Between verses you have verse 5, you have verse 7 and it mentions Artaxerxes. Now Artaxerxes is going to be the person who's the king that we're going to see starting next week in Ezra chapter 7. The end of chapter 6 was Darius. Chapter 7 is Artaxerxes and Artaxerxes is after Darius but a long time after with one king in between. And we can see that in verse 6. Verse 6, and in the reign of Ahasuerus, same one from the book of Esther, in the beginning of his reign wrote the unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. Now go back to Esther chapter 2. Esther 2. It also mentions persecution during the days of Ahasuerus in Ezra 4 verse 6. You say, brother Stuckey, why is there only one verse given to Ahasuerus about persecution? There's not one verse given. There's an entire book about the persecution against God's people. It couldn't be fit in in 10 verses. I mean it's one of the biggest persecutions that has ever existed against God's people. And make no mistake about it, the Jews of the Old Testament that actually did believe, they have the same religion that we do today. They believe in the same God that we do today. And the persecution was so heavy that there's 10 chapters, not just a few verses. One verse is kind of like, okay, there's a Ahasuerus, and you've got to step forward in your Bible to Esther to actually find out about that persecution. Okay? Now, Esther chapter 2, and I'm just going to hit some highlights from the book of Esther. And we'll spend most of the time on chapter 9 at the end of the sermon. But Esther 2 verse 5, Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jer, the son of Shemiai, the son of Kish, a Benjamite. And so Mordecai, if you're familiar with the book of Esther, is one of the primary characters in the book of Esther. It's kind of Esther, Mordecai, and Haman are kind of like the three big characters that pop up. And Mordecai is a great guy in this book. Verse 6, Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with a captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah, king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away. Go to chapter 3. Chapter 3. And we're going to be flying through a lot of verses, because I'm going to spend a lot of time on chapter 9 at the end of the sermon. I mean, when YouTube takes down a sermon, it's like, all right, I've got to re-preach it. Right? I was patient. Right? You know, you're patient with anger. Right? It's been a couple of years, but it's going to come at the end of this sermon. Esther 3, verse 5, And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath. And if you're familiar with Haman, he's basically the second most powerful man in the world at this time. He is second to Ahasuerus. And everybody's bowing down before him. Everybody's just basically worshipping him. He has this from the king where everyone's going to bow down and worship him, and one guy doesn't worship him, and it really bothers him. I mean, how arrogant do you have to be when you get so bothered that one person doesn't come down and worship you? You've got everybody else just bowing down before you as you're walking, and then Mordecai refuses because he's a Bible-believing Christian. Right? I mean, think of Peter. When somebody stood before him, he said, Stand up, I myself also am a man. Right? He said, I'm a man. I'm not worthy of being worshipped. Now, Jesus in the Bible, he let people worship him all the time. You say, why? Because he was God in the flesh. Now, here's the thing. It's interesting because the Catholic Church here in the Philippines will tell you that Peter was the first pope. Well, the first pope said, Don't bow down and worship me. But nowadays, you know, people will bow down before the pope and worship him like he's some sort of god-man here on earth. Right? And this has nothing to do with the sermon, but let me just tell you that Pope Benedict is burning in hell right now. I'm not taking a break to preach a whole sermon on him, but let me just give you that one little statement. Right? And I will say this about Pope Benedict, though, because people wonder, why did he step down from being the pope? Before he was the pope, he was in charge of the pedophile cases. And there was like this big scandal when this French reporter broke the news, and then all of a sudden, he steps down. Oh, I'm just too old. It's like, no, you stepped down because of the big scandal with the Catholic Church. That's reality. And I don't feel bad about some pedophile and pedophile sympathizer who's burning in hell forever. But Haman has everybody bowing down, but Mordecai refuses. Why? Because we shouldn't bow down before a man and worship a man. Verse 6. And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had showed him the people of Mordecai. Wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai. And people would take a verse like this and a book like this and just say, oh, the persecution's always coming to the Jews. I mean, they're trying to destroy him. We've got to protect the Jews. Look, the Jews in Esther chapter 3 are much different than the Jews in 2,023. Completely different. Completely different religion. Because here's the thing. The Jews that actually were saved and believed on the true God and believed in the living God, when Jesus Christ came, they believed. You say, how do you know that? Because if you believed Moses, you would have believed me. That's what Jesus said, for he spake of me. And so the ones that stayed in this religion looking for the coming Messiah, they're unbelievers. It's the same group of people that would have been against Moses in the wilderness. These are unbelieving people. Now, here in Esther 3, verse 6, though, the Jews he's killing, I mean, primarily these are saved people. Now, I believe everybody of that ethnicity Haman wants to destroy, but a large percentage of those people are actually saved. It's hard for us to understand this because there is no country that is God's people in 2,023. There is no country where 40% of people are saved. There's no country like that today. But during this day, a lot of people with the ethnicity of Judaism actually were saved. And Haman wants to kill all of the Jews because he hates Mordecai that much. You say, why would he hate him that much? Well, it's not that he hates Mordecai. He hates God. That's the reason why. He hates what God stands for. And look, if Haman was around today or we were living during this day, we would be the people that would be exterminated. He would hate us for the beliefs that we have because it's the same God in the Old Testament as the New Testament, and Haman hated the true God. He hated the Word of God. Verse 7, in the first month that is in the month Nisan, in the 12th year of King Ahasuerus, they cast per. That is the lot before Haman from day to day and from month to month to the 12th month. That is the month Adar. And Haman said unto King Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among all the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom, and their laws are diverse from all people. Now, look, Haman was a very wicked person, but I can tell from the way he talks, he was actually a pretty smart person. And if you pay attention to what he says, he doesn't really lie. But he's being deceptive with what he's saying. He makes this statement, their laws are diverse from all people. Well, look, our laws as Bible-believing Christians are diverse from all people because these are our laws, right? And so that's true because they have a different law book. They believe in the Old Testament scriptures. And then he says, neither keep they the king's laws. And what he's trying to make Ahasuerus think is, hey, they've got a completely different law book, and they're very rebellious against you as the leader. But is that really true about Bible-believing Christians? We're not the ones going out there committing murder, drunk and driving and crashing into people, getting thrown in prison. I mean, people that actually believe on the true God and are serving God, they actually stay out of trouble with the law, right? I'm not worried about being thrown into prison today. You say, why? I'm not a drug dealer. I'm not doing anything that's going to get me thrown into prison. And so, yes, it's true that we have a different law book, but actually we keep the laws of this country more than the evil, wicked people that are out there. We're not the ones that are going out raping and harming little children. And so what he's making Ahasuerus think is, they've got a completely different law book, so they're not obeying anything you say. That's not true. But if you pay attention, he's not really lying. He's just allowing Ahasuerus to think something when he's actually stating this, right? Very deceptive. Then he said, therefore it is not for the king's prophet to suffer them. And what he's saying in verse 8 is that, you know, it doesn't benefit you to allow them to do this, right? And that's what he's literally saying, because if anybody would call him out on it, he could backtrack and say, wait a minute, I just said it's not to your advantage to allow them to have a different law book. But what he's making Ahasuerus think is, it's not in your benefit to let them live, right? He's making a statement that can be interpreted multiple different ways. I mean, it's very interesting when you pay attention to what he's saying. This is a smart guy who is lying, but even when people lie, the truth is still out there. It's just kind of murky and hard to see. Then in verse number 9, if it pleased the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed. You know, basically it's up to you, king. I mean, if you want to destroy them, you can't. Even though you're the one who persuaded him very subtly and led him to that. But, you know, if you would like to, king, completely up to you, what you wish, you know, you can have them destroyed. But then if somebody called him out, I never said to have them put to death, right? I mean, that was the king's choice, right? And, you know, bad people will be like this. They lie, but they say things in a way where they can easily backtrack. No, no, that's not what I said, right? When clearly that's what he's trying to get Ahasuerus to believe. Then he says this in verse 9, And I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king's treasuries. And the king took his ring from his hand and gave it on to Haman, the son of Hamadath of the Agagite, the Jew's enemy. And the king said unto Haman, The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee. Now go to Esther chapter 7. Esther 7. I'm also positive that Ahasuerus was an intelligent, educated person, but you might be able to argue he's a bit naive. At least here he is. Or he's trusting the wrong person. Because he clearly trusts Haman, right? I mean, that's the guy who's second in command, and he believes Haman's a good guy. He believes he can trust him with anything. I mean, he's his right-hand man, and yet he's got basically a devil as his right-hand man. I say that because I'm not trying to go on a rabbit trail, but if you read the book of Esther, you would never walk away and think Ahasuerus was an evil, wicked person. He was a sinner who made many mistakes, but you wouldn't say he was some sort of reprobate. Right? Now obviously he gets drunk in the early part of Esther, and he divorces his wife and makes a foolish decision when he's drunk, which is obviously a sin. I'm not saying he's a godly person, but secular history makes Xerxes out to be like the most evil man who ever lived before the time of Christ, but I don't really see that in the book of Esther. I just see kind of an ordinary, normal guy, and you know what? I have no idea. It would be great if his wife ended up actually getting him saved at some point in Esther. I do believe it's actually possible. I'm not saying I believe that happened, but I'm just saying I don't believe that he was unsavable at this point. I mean, he seems like a normal guy who's just a sinner who has power, and he makes mistakes, but he's not like Haman. Haman is an evil guy. Ahasuerus is just kind of a sinner, just like pretty much any political leader you would expect. It's not a reprobate. Esther 7, verse 1. So the king and Haman, and I'm assuming you're familiar with this story to some level of degree. We don't have time to preach the entire book in one sermon, so I'm kind of just hitting some highlights. Esther 7, verse 1. So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen, and the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther? And it shall be granted thee, and what is thy request? And it shall be performed even to the half of the kingdom. Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favor in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition and my people at my request. For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain into Paris, but if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage. And what she's saying in verse 4, it's kind of confusing. What she's saying is, if we had been sold into servanthood, I would have kept my mouth shut. But what she says is, although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage. And what she's saying there is that if you side on the wrong side against God, there's going to be damage given to you. You're going to reap what you sow. You better make sure you line up on the right side. And so if they were sold into slavery and Ahasuerus had fallen for that, there'd still be damage to the kingdom, even though Ahasuerus is unaware of what's taking place. But she's saying, I'm not going to hold my tongue because we're going to be killed. Now the reason why she says this is because as God's people, we want to have political freedom. But you know what? If we did not have much political freedom, but we were able to serve God fully, and we had religious freedom to go soul winning and read the Bible, it's not what we would prefer. But you know what? Honestly, it's okay. The biggest thing is that we can serve God. The reason why God's people in Egypt end up being brought out is the fact they couldn't serve God. And then God said, You know what? I'm going to lead you out of here because of that. Verse number five. Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he that durst presume in his heart to do so? Now whenever you're reading stories, and this is a great story in the Bible. We recently had this poll on our YouTube. Esther only got 25% of the vote. Galatians got 75%. The Old Testament has won 80% of those challenges against the New Testament. I think Esther is a great book. But when you're reading these stories, you've got to stop and think what's taking place. And I like to picture Haman right now. He's so arrogant the entire book. And then all of a sudden she's saying this, and all of a sudden, when she says this in verse five, Haman's got to be afraid. Somebody told me yesterday, we were talking about this sermon after church, and he's like, I imagine Haman drinking wine with his feet kicked up, like, oh yeah, I'm the greatest thing, and then just spitting it out, when all of a sudden it turns out. And that might have happened. That's a cool way to picture it. This is one of those stories I'd love to see the instant replay one day, right? But verse number six, and Esther said the adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen. And so Haman's this really arrogant person, and he's basically seeking to get God's people destroyed, and what takes place? Well, he ends up being killed himself. Verse seven, And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath went into the palace garden, and Haman stood up to make requests for his life to Esther the queen, for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king. Now, I'm not going to keep going with this story in chapter seven, but what takes place is he's begging for mercy, and what Ahasuerus does is he basically, you know, takes a break to think about this, and he allows, I mean, maybe he learns something from the early chapters, you know, when you're really angry or emotional, just kind of walk away and take a break, and then Haman's begging for his life to Esther, and he's like, are you going to force my wife also? And then he's like really angry when he's, you know, because Haman's down there begging for Esther for his life. Now go to chapter eight. Chapter eight. Chapter eight. Verse number nine. Now, verse number nine really isn't supposed to be part of the sermon, but I figured I'd read it because, does anybody know what's significant about Esther eight, verse nine? Look at the verse, and it might give you an idea. Longest verse, and it's a long verse, isn't it? Esther eight, verse nine is a really long verse. You know, I've read portions of the Book of Mormon before, and every verse is like this. You got one verse, and it's like, you know, a hundred words or something like that. Esther eight, verse nine is the longest verse in the entire Bible. But anyways, go to verse number ten. And he wrote in the king Ahasuerus' name, and sealed it with the king's ring, and sent letters by post on horseback and riders on mules, camels and young dromedaries, wherein the king granted the Jews which were in every city, to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey. So in this story, Haman gets so mad at Mordecai, and you know what, I believe God would have spared Mordecai, but in a logical sense, he could have easily just had Mordecai put to death, and not worried about everybody else, but he gets so mad that he doesn't just want Mordecai dead, he wants all of God's people dead. And what's interesting is, it's not just Haman that gets killed, it's actually everybody that wants to destroy God's people. Now, imagine this took place in 2023, and there was a famous politician, whoever's high up, that wants to destroy every soul winner, destroy every Bible-believing Baptist in the Philippines. Do you realize that there would be a lot of people that would join in that? There's a lot of people that hate what we do. There's a lot of reprobates in the Philippines. There's a lot of people that are evil people. They hate the God that we believe in. There are a lot of people that would join in to kill people like us. You say, well, why don't they do it now? They don't do it because they're afraid of going to jail. They're afraid of the punishment. As we're going to see in the second sermon, a punishment is a deterrent from crime being committed, and that's the reason why they don't do it. But you have all these evil people, and they also want to destroy God's people, and yet they all get destroyed. So Haman tries to destroy all of God's people, and then actually what takes place is all the evil people end up getting destroyed. And it says here in verse number 12, Upon one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, namely upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, the copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. Look, this story is not significant for modern day Judaism. It doesn't apply to modern day Judaism at all. This is a story not about an ethnicity being destroyed, but people that actually believe in the true God being destroyed. This would be like the modern day if they wanted to kill us because of the God that we serve. That is what has taken place, because I have no doubt that a Jew would have no problem bowing down before a man. But as a Bible-believing Christian, we would say, Well, thus saith the Lord, that's wicked. And so this is a story that's very significant for us. It shouldn't be memorable for modern day Judaism because it doesn't apply because of the fact they have a different religion than Mordecai had. But us, on the other hand, we have the same religion that Mordecai had. Verse number 14. So the post that wrote upon mules and camels went out, and being hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment, and the decree was given at Shushan the palace. And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal peril of blue and white and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple. And the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad. The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor. And in every province and in every city, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews fell upon them. Now, look, when many people became Jews, their skin color did not magically change. Their ethnicity did not magically change. What it's saying is, their beliefs changed. I'm sure at this time, all the soul winners are rising up. This is their opportunity. And imagine if in our country, the king said, or the president said, Hey, you know what? The Bible-believing Baptists, it's like, I support your cause, and basically you can destroy the enemies. I mean, the reprobate percentage goes from like 5% to like 0.5% overnight. And then you're preaching the gospel and getting a lot of people saved. This is a great story. And I think a lot of people miss that, because they look at this as like, Well, that's the Jews, but we're Christians. No, no, no, this is us. It's the same religion. It's the same beliefs that Mordecai had. The only difference is, Mordecai was waiting for the Messiah, and here's the thing, if the Messiah came during his lifetime, guess what? He would have immediately believed him, because he was saved, just like we are today. Now, go to Esther 9. Esther 9. Esther 9. And we're going to be in Esther 9 for pretty much the rest of the sermon. I'll show you a lot of verses, and then I'll explain. But, Esther 9, verse 1, Now in the twelfth month, that is, in the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be put into execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them. The Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their hurt. And no man could withstand them, for the fear of them fell upon all people. And all the rulers of the provinces, and the lieutenants, and the deputies, and officers of the king, helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them. So basically, all the political leaders, because appointed by king Ahasuerus, they're helping in this. So if that happened in our modern day, where all the reprobates would be destroyed, the mayors would be helping us, the governors would be helping us, all the political leaders would be helping us. And so, you know, my perspective would be, well, let's just let them do the dirty work. We're just going to preach the gospel and get people saved during this time period. Right? But, I mean, when all the political leaders are on your side, I mean, you really have nothing to fear. Even though before this, it was a very scary situation. And then, you know, often times, God arrives at the darkest, scariest moment, and then all of a sudden you think, man, why was I even afraid? Right? Because Mordecai has this confidence in this book. He's saying, Esther, if you're not going to help me, we're going to be helped. He's confident of that. Right? I'm sure, though, there's a lot of saved people that were not filled with that boldness, though, and they didn't have that confidence. Verse 4. For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went throughout all the provinces. For this man, Mordecai waxed greater and greater. Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword and slaughter and destruction, and did what they would unto those that hated them. Drop down to verse 20. Verse 20. I think you can see why this wasn't covered in Ezra chapter 4. There's a lot of Bible on the persecution during the days of Esther. I mean, it's more heavy during this time period. They're not just stopping the work from being done. They're trying to exterminate them, trying to kill them. Verse 20. And Mordecai wrote these things and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king of Hasawaris, both Nigh and Far, and established this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and the fifteenth day of the same yearly. As the days were in the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned on to them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day, that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor. Now, I'm going to talk about this verse here in a little bit, but the way the Jews, modern day Judaism, interprets this verse is that basically they got drunk out of their mind. That all the Jews, they say, well, feasting and joy, so they're obviously just getting drunk. Right? Because based on Esther 9, there is a modern day, very famous holiday that the Jews celebrate called Purim. And they say that in Purim, they need to get drunk out of their mind, and we're going to talk about that here at the end of this sermon. This is what got me a strike on YouTube before when I preached against Judaism. We'll see what happens, right? It's been a while. We're strike-free, so we're okay. It's okay if we get one, okay? Verse 23, And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written on to them, because Haman the son of Hamadath of the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is the law to consume them and to destroy them. But when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device which he devised against the Jews should return upon his own head, and that he and his son should be hanged on the gallows. Wherefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. Therefore, for all the words of this letter and of that which they had seen concerning this matter and which had come on to them, the Jews ordained and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves on to them, so as it should not fail that they would keep these two days according to their writing and according to their appointed time every year, and that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city, and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews nor the memorial of them perish from their seed. This is why it became a holiday, because God said, I want you to keep this as a memorial. Now, in modern day, post Jesus Christ, we basically have two religious holidays. We have Christmas, and we have Easter about the birth of Christ and about the resurrection of Christ. Now, in the Old Testament, when they had holidays, it's called a holy day, and you can see how holy day, holiday, I mean, there's one letter difference, and so their holidays were based on religious things. Now, I'll be honest with you. My family doesn't celebrate this holiday, but honestly, we as modern day soul winners could celebrate this holiday and realize it's about Bible believing people that love God. I mean, this is such a great story. I mean, honestly, I think it would be a cool thing for families to say, hey, I want you to remember this, kids, the persecution that can come against God's people and how basically God turned it to the other way, and a lot of people got saved. I mean, this is like the Acts 2 of the Old Testament. Many people became Jews. I mean, praise the Lord for it. I mean, it would be a great holiday for us to celebrate today, okay? Verse 29. Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abigail and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority to confirm the second letter of Purim, and he sent the letters onto all the Jews to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus with words of peace and truth. To confirm these days of Purim and their times appointed, according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen did not join them, and as they had decreed for themselves and for their seed, the matters of the fastings and their cry and the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim, and it was written in the book. So what the Bible tells us here in Esther 9 is that this was a holiday that they were meant to celebrate, and they did celebrate it, and in fact, they still celebrate it today, only they celebrate it a little bit differently than they did in Esther 9, and if you look online, what I read is that Purim is like a combination of Mardi Gras and Halloween, right? Mardi Gras is the drunken fornication fest in America, and I think other parts of the world as well every year, and obviously Halloween, you just dress like the devil, and if you watch the video of this, you're going to see a bunch of modern day Jews just dressing up in various different things. Some dressed as like devils and various different things and just getting drunk, just committing fornication, doing all of these things, and hey, we're just celebrating our holy day. Look, Halloween is bad enough, but their holidays were holy days, and you celebrate that by getting drunk, right? And you say, well, Brother Succy, that's just what a lot of people do. No, no, no, it's required in Judaism to get drunk on this holiday, right? Let me read you some from articles from a Jewish website, not a fundamental Bible-believing Baptist website, because no Bible-believing Baptist is really going to preach against this stuff in 2023. Most Baptists, I mean, they're Zionists. They probably look at this story, and they're like, what a great story about how God protected Israel. It's like, no, no, no, that's not the takeaway for us in our modern day as Bible-believing Christians, but here's what it says from this website on Judaism. When it comes to drinking on Purim, the Talmud clearly understood what the scroll of Esther, parentheses the Megillah, was all about. In practically every chapter of the Megillah, someone is imbibing heavily at a drinking party, and the scroll concludes with Mordecai's instruction to the entire Jewish people to celebrate these days as days of drinking and rejoicing, feasting in joy, not drinking and rejoicing. But they changed that because they're like, well, you know, feasting means get drunk, so they change it to drinking when they're reading it. And the question comes up, well, I mean, how drunk do you have to get if it's a requirement, right? And here's what it says. An ambiguous law like that, however, would not be left unqualified by the rabbis. On Passover, precise amounts are defined so that one may fulfill the obligation of eating matzvah and drinking the four cups of wine. So apparently on Passover, you've got to drink four cups of wine also. And by the way, wine is a lot more alcoholic than beer. I mean, you drink four cups of wine, you are going to be trashed. You are going to be drunk, right? But in all of their holy days, you must get drunk. It's a requirement to drink four cups of wine. How do I get a YouTube strike when I'm just reading from a Jewish website of what they do? It's like, what kind of world are you living, right? So one might expect that the rabbis would define days of drinking in terms of the volume of wine or the number of hours one would be obligated to drink. Obligated. It's a requirement. So the question is, how drunk is drunk? In the Talmud, this is not from a commentary, this is the Talmud, which is their holy book, right? Rabbah said, this is the Talmud, Rabbah is a character in the Talmud, Rabbah said, to make oneself fragrant with wine on Purim until one cannot tell the difference between cursed be Haman and blessed be Mordecai. Translation, you are required to get drunk to the point you don't know the difference between right and wrong. That's what they're saying. I mean, you read this stuff, it's hard to believe. These are from Jewish websites, though. They all confirm it. This is not some slant article trying to make them look bad. The Jewish websites say, hey, you've got to get drunk to the point you don't know, you know, cursed be Haman and blessed be Mordecai. I mean, like, what kind of a holy day I don't think that... I'm sorry, but when I read Esther 9, I miss the part about get drunk out of your mind until you no longer know what's right and wrong, until you forget the law, as the Bible says. And look, make no mistake, I mean, if you drink a lot of alcohol, the Bible says you're going to forget the law. You're going to forget what's right and what's wrong. And it gives more information in the Talmud about this. And it says, perhaps the Talmud tells the following story in order to provide some degree of clarification of Rabbah's requirement to get drunk. So let's learn some more about the requirement to get drunk. This is what it says in the Talmud. Rabbah and Arzara got together for Purim, Purim Sudah, the feast on the afternoon of Purim. They got very drunk. They're celebrating their holiday. This isn't a Talmud. These are people celebrating the holiday where God protected them. They got very drunk. And Rabbah got up and cut Arzara's throat. Parentheses, literally, Rabbah butchered him. So basically, he's like, you know, like a serial killer movie or something, right? Where he kills him and then he just cuts him up is what it says. The next day, Rabbah prayed on Arzara's behalf and brought him back to life. So he murders him with a knife or a sword or whatever, and then he brings him back to life, right? People would say, well, you know, it's just a parable. Well, what exactly is this parable trying to tell you? I mean, the only takeaway I would get is this. I mean, if you get drunk, you're going to do things that, you know, you're going to regret. I mean, are you trying to teach us drinking alcohol is wrong? Right? But he butchers him and he brings him back to life. A year later, Rabbah, which is the same guy who had killed the person a year earlier, Rabbah asked, would you like to have Purim Suda with me again this year? Like, he's asking the guy that he murdered a year ago. He's like, would you like to celebrate Purim with me again? And Arzara replied, one cannot count on a miracle every time. This is in the Talmud. This is their holy book. And here's the thing. When we read that, it's funny. You say, why? Because it's not the Bible. I'd be embarrassed to say, here's my holy book. Look at this story about this person who gets murdered when they're drunk. It's like, what are you trying to teach? I mean, what kind of garbage is that? And yet, you know, people try to argue, well, how do you know what's the real religion? It's really not hard to tell the difference between this and these other so-called holy books. I mean, it's garbage. And you know what? I've read from other so-called holy books like the Hindu text, and they're perverted. I mean, it's like, what kind of garbage is this? But people believe this. Go to Ezra 7. Ezra 7. I mean, when I read that story, it does make me laugh, especially that one cannot count on a miracle every time. I mean, is this like a slapstick comedy you're putting on? Like, what are you trying to teach? Because they're going to say, well, that's the story. And you know what I read Jewish rabbis said about this? They said, oh, it's a cute story. What is it trying to teach us? How's that a cute story? I don't consider Judges 19 a cute story. I don't consider Genesis 19 a cute story. I mean, why would you say that's a cute story? That's an embarrassment. I mean, I can't believe that people actually believe this, but here's the thing. It's not like Jews are really reading the Talmud. They don't know what it says. Same thing like in this country. I mean, we talk to Catholics. They have no idea what the Bible says. No idea. I mean, if you actually ask them questions, I mean, do you believe in purgatory? I don't know. They have no idea. Right? I mean, they have no idea that they believe that, oh, you know, the transubstantiation, it turns into the body of Jesus inside. Actually, most Catholics, they don't believe this. You tell them after you die it's either heaven or hell, and 99% of the time they're fine with that. Right? It's like, well, why are you still in the religion? I mean, if you don't believe in purgatory, why would you stay in that religion? Why would somebody stay in Judaism? Well, I mean, they're born into it by ethnicity. It's like, you know, our family blood, I mean, six generations, right, or whatever. Ezra 7, verse 6. What's the result of the book of Esther? Because I preached a quick overview, but what's the result? Because there's this big persecution in the days of Ahasuerus from the book of Esther that only gets one verse in Ezra chapter 4. But in Ezra 7, Ezra chapter 7, verse 6, this Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given, and the king granted him all his requests, according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him. And see, when Ezra pops up, because Ezra's not in the first six chapters of the book of Ezra, because he's not around at the time, he starts in chapter 7, and then Ezra, it says that the king granted him all his requests. And what you're gonna see is there's a lot more freedom in Ezra chapter 7, and God's people are able to freely serve God a lot better than in the days of Esther. You say, what's your point, Brother Stuckey? Here's my point. We toil, and we labor, and sometimes it might feel like it's in vain. Right? You put in all this effort to get people saved, you try to get people to church, and yet very rarely do people come to church. You put all this effort in with your kids, and yet, you know, foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, and sometimes you wonder, is it even worth it? Am I doing something that matters? But see, it does matter, because we see in Ezra 7, verse 6, the next generation is in a much better position than the earlier generation. And look, you read the Bible every day, you bring your kids to church, you go soul winning, you serve God. You know what? You're gonna make this place a better place for the next generation. You say, well, what about my generation? Look, it's gonna be better for our generation also, but let me explain something to you. Our lives are not about us. You say, brother, second, but I live my whole life laboring for God. What's in it for me? The next generation. Don't have this attitude, well, it's good in my life, right, you know, I don't care about what's after me. No, no, no, realize that we put in all this labor and this work, and I'll tell you what, my goal is that my three kids are in a much better place to serve God than I was. You put in that work, you put in that effort, you know what, because I grew up just like probably most of us did. You listen to the wrong music, you watch the wrong things on TV, you have worldliness inside of you, you made many mistakes, but you know what, our goal is that we labor and put in effort so our kids are gonna be better than us. I hope my son Zeph is a much better person in every area than me. I hope my daughter Christabelle is much better in every area than me. I hope my son Ezra is much better in every area than me. And you know what, that should be the attitude of every father, every mother in this room, and even if you don't have kids, you should still have that attitude for the people living here in the Philippines and the next generation. I want the people 30 years from now being able to go soul winning more freely than we're able to today. Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and just getting to see an overview on this book, the book of Esther, and help us realize it's a great book and it is a book that applies to us as Bible believing Christians, God. And we thank you for this great event of all these people getting saved and you saving and rescuing those people that love you, God, and we know that you can do the same for us, God. Help us to be bold and serve you with confidence and realize that you are there to protect us and help us in safety as of the Lord. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Remember our last song? Let's get this hymn book, another hymn book, and let's turn to page number 4. This is on the rock that is higher than I. Page number 4, the rock that is higher than I, Oh sometimes the shadows are deep, and I. Oh sometimes the shadows are deep. Ready on the first ready sing. Oh sometimes the shadows are deep. And God seeks the path to the goal. And sorrow sometimes He sees. Like tempest down over the soul. Oh then to the rock let me fly. To the rock that is higher than I. Oh then to the rock let me fly. To the rock that is higher than I. Oh sometimes how long seems the day. And sometimes how weary might be. A toiling in night's dusty way. The rock's pleasant shadows speak. Oh then to the rock let me fly. To the rock that is higher than I. Oh then to the rock let me fly. To the rock that is higher than I. Oh here to the rock let me give. If blessings or sorrows we will. For climbing the mountain they seem. For walking the shadowing hill. Oh then to the rock let me fly. To the rock that is higher than I. Oh then to the rock let me fly. To the rock that is higher than I. Amen.