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In Esther chapter 3 verse 1 the Bible reads after these things did King Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hamadatha the aggregate and advanced him and set his seat above all the princes that were with him and all the king's servants that were in the king's gate bowed and reverenced Haman for the king had so commanded concerning him but Mordecai bowed not nor did him reverence. Now in verse number 1 there where it says after these things just to bring you up to speed in the story of course Vashti the queen had been replaced by Queen Esther in the previous chapter Esther is the cousin of Mordecai Mordecai has brought her up as a child because her parents had been killed she was an orphan and so Mordecai had raised her as if she were his daughter and then right at the end of chapter 2 the Bible tells us about how Mordecai had saved King Ahasuerus' life there were people who were plotting to kill him he exposed that plot then it says after these things did King Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hamadatha the aggregate and people have to bow down to him and they have to reverence him he's given great authority second only to King Ahasuerus himself but it says at the end of verse 2 but Mordecai bowed not nor did him reverence so Mordecai who hangs around the king's gate every day because he's staying near Esther he refuses to bow down to this guy and it says in verse 3 then the king's servants which were in the king's gate said unto Mordecai why transgressest thou the king's commandment now it came to pass when they spake daily unto him and he hearkened not unto them they told then they told Haman to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand for he had told them that he was a Jew so there we see that the reason that he's not bowing down is because he's a Jew that's why now when the Bible talks about being a Jew here okay we have to understand this has to do with not just his nationality but the fact that he basically is you know worshiping the Lord and following the Bible you know the Old Testament scriptures that they had at that time because later on when Haman goes and talks to the king about these people it says in verse 8 Haman said unto the king Ahasuerus there is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom and their laws are diverse from all people neither keep they the king's laws therefore it is not for the king's prophet to suffer them so what does Haman have a problem with here and when Haman brings it to the king what does he have is this a racial thing that he has a problem with no it's very clear here what the problem is he says look these people's laws are diverse from all laws what they consider right and wrong is different than what the nation considers right and wrong these people have different customs different laws and they're not following the king's laws they're not obeying the government and he says you know because of that we can't allow these people to continue to exist he said we need to get rid of these people and the problem with these people according to him had nothing to do with race but it had more to do with you know their customs and and most notably because they're refusing to bow down unto Haman now why is Mordecai refusing to bow down unto Haman well the Bible says thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve and if you remember when the devil tempts Jesus he says in them all these things will I give thee if thou will fall down and worship me notice fall down and worship me and he said get thee hence Satan for it is written thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve you see we should never bow down and worship man okay for example when people bow down to the apostles when they bow down to Peter you know they would constantly lift them up and say I also am a man like you now this bowing down to the Pope you know that it's nothing short of worshipping a man you know when they bow down and kiss his big toe and kiss his ring and they give him that reverence that he does not deserve okay and here's the thing that's why I do not go by the title of reverend you know I don't I don't call my you know reverend Anderson okay because of the fact that that is giving too much honor unto the pastor when you start calling him reverend now look I'm not saying that you shouldn't honor the pastor or honor a man of God or preacher because the Bible says let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor okay but that can go too far where it becomes worship you say well how do I know when it's going too far well when you're bowing down to the pastor it's gone too far okay when you're making a statue of the pastor that's a graven image you know it's going too far you know so we need to be careful to understand hey it's great to be respectful it's great to honor someone but it can go too far and the Roman Catholics take it way too far when they call him father and when they bow down to him and they take it way too far when they when they called somebody rabbi or master when the Bible specifically says hey be not ye called rabbi for one is your master which is Christ and call no man your father upon the earth for one is your father which is in heaven and so we I don't believe in being called reverend if you study the word reverence in the Bible the Bible does teach that a wife should reverence her husband okay that's in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 33 that see that the wife reverence her husband but I don't think that people should reverence the pastor in the same way because the Bible specifically says about the pastor it says that the pastor should not be a lord over God's heritage are you listening but let's go there let's look at it first Peter chapter 5 let's quickly go there first Peter chapter number 5 and I'm doing this off the top of my head it wasn't in my in my plan here for my sermon but I believe it's in chapter 5 I hope that I'm not turning you to the wrong place yeah here it is first Peter chapter 5 he's talking to the elders and the Bible used the word elder bishop pastor he uses them all interchangeably he says in verse 1 the elders which are among you I exhort who I'm also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed feed the flock of God which is among you taking the oversight thereof basically the pastor is an overseer right he's taking the oversight thereof that's what Bishop means and it says not by constraint but willingly not for filthy lucre but of a ready mind but look at verse 3 neither as being Lords over God's heritage but being and samples to the flock so the Bible says that the pastor is not a lord over the church is he but he's to be an ensemble to the flock and then it says in verse 4 and when the chief Shepherd shall appear ye shall receive a crown of glory that faded not away so go back to Esther so it's interesting we see the word reverence the Bible does command a wife to reverence her husband but it also uses the illustration of Sarah who called Abraham Lord right and the Bible says even as Sarah also obeyed Abraham calling him Lord whose daughters ye are as long as you're not afraid with any amazement okay but should we call the pastor Lord absolutely not do you understand what I'm saying so there's a difference there okay we don't reverence the pastor there's nothing in the Bible that says that you know he is to be feared and reverenced as though as a Lord okay so that's why I don't go by the title reverend okay and when we see a man whether it's a political leader or a religious leader that is basically demanding that people basically bow down to him you know that is not something that we as Christians should do we should only bow down to the Lord Jesus Christ and not bow down to a man that is exalting himself and demanding reverence from us okay so this story is pretty similar to what we see in Daniel chapter 3 with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego now they weren't bowing down to a man but they were bowing down to an image of a man you know a great golden image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up in the plains of Dura and they refused to bow down and they're told look you're going to be thrown into a fiery furnace and they still say look we're not careful to answer thee concerning this matter they said our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the fire of earth but he said if not we're not going to worship your gods we're not going to bow down to the image that you've set up so this is something that God's people are going to refuse to do okay now when we look at this story there's also a symbolic meaning here because this is very similar to and is a foreshadowing of what we see in the book of Revelation with the Antichrist okay now keep your finger here in Esther 3 and go to Revelation chapter number 13 let me show you the similarities between Esther chapter 3 and Revelation chapter 13 because in Esther chapter 3 we have this man Haman the son of Hamadathah the aggregate who is lifted up and he's exalted by the king and everyone's told you must reverence this man you must bow down before this man Mordecai refuses to do it and consequently all of the Jews are going to be persecuted they're all going to be killed because of the fact that they won't follow the king's law to worship this man similar to what we saw in Daniel chapter 3 which is also a foreshadowing of the Antichrist but look at Revelation chapter 13 verse 1 it says and I stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a beast rise up out of the sea having seven heads and ten horns and upon his horns ten crowns and upon his heads the name of blasphemy and the beast which I saw was like into a leopard and his feet whereas the feet of a bear and his mouth as the mouth of a lion so there's a lot of symbolism there of this beast in the description there with the seven heads the ten horns like a leopard etcetera but notice the last part of verse 2 it says and the dragon gave him his power and his seat and great authority and I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death and his deadly wound was healed and all the world wondered after the beast and they worshiped the dragon which gave power to the beast and they worshiped the beast saying who is like unto the beast and who is able to make war with him it says and there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months and he opened his mouth and blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven verse 7 and it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them and power was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the book of life of the lamp slain from the foundation of the world so here we have a guy who receives a deadly wound his deadly wound is healed and everyone marvels and he's being worshiped by all kindreds and tongues and nations and people so he has power basically over the whole world now he didn't come into authority on his own someone else gave him his authority according to verse 2 it says the dragon gave him his power and his seat and great authority and the Bible says in verse 7 that it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them now let's let's think about that in regard to Esther chapter 3 keep your finger in Revelation 13 but look at look at Esther chapter 3 it says in verse 1 after these things did King Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hamadath the Agite and advanced him and set his what and set his seat above all the princes that were with him so basically at the king gives this seat unto Haman you know and lifts him up as a ruler over the 127 provinces which is of all nations and kindreds and tongues and peoples people have to worship this guy and if you're not going to worship him you're going to be killed because basically later in the chapter they pronounce that they're going to kill and cause to perish all the Jews why because the Jews are the ones who are refusing to bow down to Haman and because the Jews will not worship him they're all going to be killed that's the proclamation so in Esther chapter 3 it's the Jews that are all going to be killed in Revelation chapter 13 it's the saints that will be killed because they will not bow down okay go back to Revelation chapter 13 it says in verse number 15 or look at verse 14 it says and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do inside of the beast saying to them that dwell on the earth that they should make an image to the beast which had the wound by a sword and to live and he had power to give life unto the image of the beast that the image of the beast should both speak and cause that as many would not worship the image of the beast should be killed and he causeth all both small and great rich and poor free and bond to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads and that no man might buy or sell save he that had the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name here is wisdom let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast for it is the number of a man and his number is six hundred threescore and six so of course we see the mark of the beast there is part of what people are going to have to do in order to worship the antichrist the bible tells us that the saints are not going to worship the antichrist it says that all that dwell upon the earth will worship him whose names are not written in the book of life of the lamb slain from the foundation of the world now what's interesting also is that in Esther chapter three okay it talks about the fact that when Haman saw in verse five when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not nor did him reverence then was Haman full of wrath so Haman's response to not being worshipped is that he has great wrath and he sets out to make war against the Jews and to cause them all to perish and to cause them all to die well if you look at Revelation 13 it says in verse seven it was given unto him to make war with the saints but who's the one who put him in power the dragon right okay but look at verse 17 of chapter 12 back up to the verse right before chapter 13 it says and the dragon was what? Roth, that's the same word as wrath, wrath is an adjective, wrath is a noun and the dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. So what is it that the devil is going after in chapter 12 verse 17 when the dragon or the devil wants to make war against the saints why is he making war against them? Because they keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ that's who he's going after and he does that by putting this man in power by putting the Antichrist in power who is going to make war with the saints and overcome them. So if we think about it in the book of Esther the wrath is there the making war against God's people is there making war with the saints okay and the reason why the anger is there it says in Esther chapter 3 it's because they're laws the laws that they follow their laws are diverse from other laws right aren't laws the same thing as commandments I mean if we said the laws of God and the commandments of God wouldn't we be talking about the same thing? You see there's a very strong parallel between Esther chapter 3 and Revelation 13 but here's where people often misunderstand the book of Esther because whenever we read the Bible whenever we study the Bible we need to understand that the Bible is applicable to us today. The Bible tells us that all these things that happen in the Old Testament were in samples for us upon whom the ends of the world are come and he talks about the Bible stories of the Old Testament in 1 Corinthians 10 for example and he says all these things happen for examples to us. Okay that means when we study the Bible and when we read a Bible story like the book of Esther we should always be looking for how does this apply to us today. That's what we ought to be looking for. We should always be making application of what we read in the Bible to our present day lives how does this apply to us? You know when we're in chapter 1 we drew a lot of applications today. When we were in chapter 2 we made all kinds of applications the last 2 weeks of how this story teaches us lessons that we can learn today and apply to our lives today. So when we're applying chapter 3 here when we're studying chapter 3 and we want to take a lesson from this I think where a lot of people make the mistake is when they look at this and they see the Jews being persecuted here. I mean isn't that who's being persecuted in chapter 3? The Jews right? And they say okay well let's fast forward that to 2013. This is like when the Jews are persecuted today. Wrong. And I'm going to show you why that's wrong. First of all, again this has nothing to do with race. Why are these people being persecuted? Because they're God's people. Wouldn't you say Haman is a pretty evil guy? He's a satanic guy. He's a wicked person. And he's persecuting God's people because they're God's people. It's not a racial thing. I'll prove it to you. Go to Esther chapter 8 verse 17. Because a lot of people would disagree with me on this. And they'll say no no the Jews, it's just the fact that they're a Jew. It's just a nationality and they're God's people. And many people today believe that just because they're Jews, I mean people who claim to be Jews, we don't even have the genealogy to prove it, but people who claim to be Jews, you know, the Adam Sandlers of this world. You know, the, help me out, David Lee Roth. Thank you. You know David Lee Roth, the singer of Van Halen. He's one of God's chosen people, right? Wrong. But you know, 99% of Baptist churches will tell you that, you know, David Lee Roth is one of the God's chosen people, God will bless those that bless him, curse those that curse him. You know the Three Stooges, for example. Howard Stern, is he a Jew? Okay, well yeah. So Howard Stern, this is all about Howard Stern. And in fact, whole sections of the Bible are written to Howard Stern. Especially Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21. You know, I mean, does anybody else think that this is ridiculous? Yeah, it's ridiculous. It's nonsense. It's a false doctrine. But there are people today who have been corrupted with a lot of false doctrine, they didn't get it from reading the Bible. Because if you read the New Testament, okay, it says over and over and over again. Like for example, John the Baptist, he said, think not to say within yourselves we have Abraham to our father, Howard Stern. Listen, Captain Kirk and Spock. You know, think not to say within yourselves we have Abraham to our father, for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham, Steven Spielberg. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees, every tree, are you listening Jerry Seinfeld? Are you listening Richard Dreyfuss? Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. He said, don't tell me Abraham's your father. In John chapter 8 they said, Abraham's our father. He said, nope, if Abraham were your father you would do the works of Abraham. You are of your father, the devil. Okay? So don't tell me that these people, oh, they're still God's chosen people, they're still the chosen people. Wrong. Look, anybody who does not believe in Jesus Christ has God's wrath abiding on them. It's that simple. I mean, the Bible says, he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. And let me tell you something, that was spoken unto Jews. That was John the Baptist preaching unto the Jews and the Pharisees telling them, you don't believe in Jesus Christ, God's wrath is upon you, not his blessing. But today people say, oh, God's blessing over there in Israel. Okay, do they believe in Christ? They believe in the name of the Son of God? Then how can we believe that God's blessing is on them unless we just ignore the New Testament? You know, we need to, people are stuck in the Old Testament. Okay, let me ask you this, were the Jews God's chosen people in the Old Testament? Yes. Are we living in the Old Testament? No. And he told them, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And so we can't sit there and just, you know, you're living in the past. You know, you need to get on board with the New Testament. The Bible says that we as believers of all nations, of all kindreds, he said we are the holy nation now. We are the peculiar people. We are God's chosen people. We are the elect. Okay? And the Bible says, you know, whether you're Jew or Gentile, bond or free, Scythian, whatever, he said, you're the elect of God. You know, if you've put on Christ, you're the elect of God. Okay, so that's what it means when he's talking to, where did I return? Esther 8? Okay, look at Esther 8. It says in verse 17, just to prove to you that what I'm saying is true, it says, 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. So let me ask you this, if you can become a Jew, then does that, is this a racial thing that we're seeing in the book of Esther? You know, and people, basically if you preach against the false religion of Judaism, people will call you a racist. This is not a race. This has nothing to do with race. Okay? It has to do with religion, and that's why the Bible talks about people becoming Jews. Romans 2 says, for he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not of men but of God. The Bible says in Philippians chapter 3, for we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. And he's speaking to Gentiles, saying we're the circumcision. Okay? We are the chosen people. We are the elect. We are the holy nation. We're the peculiar people. Yet we have people that think that unbelieving Israel are God's chosen people. It's a false doctrine. You know, and then there's another false doctrine that says, well, you know, okay Pastor Anderson, you know, he's temporarily, they'll say, he's temporarily done with the nation of Israel, but Romans 11, go to Romans 11 if you would, you know, Romans 11 says that, you know, he's coming back to dealing with the nation of Israel again, and they're all going to get saved. Okay, this is a false doctrine that I need to deal with because, you know, we get a misunderstanding of the events of the book of Esther and how to apply them today when we start thinking of this as a racial thing or as a thing of, you know, your heredity that you happen to maybe or maybe not, I mean, you know, I haven't seen Howard Stern's genealogy. You know, I haven't seen David Lee Roth's genealogy, you know, but anyway, these guys, they claim to be Jews. You know, I say they say they're Jews but they're not, but they're liars because they're the synagogue of Satan because you're not a Jew if you're not one inwardly. And let me tell you something, if you're not believing in Christ, you're worshiping the wrong God because the Bible says if you don't have the Son, you don't have the Father. But he that acknowledges the Son hath the Father also, okay? But if you would, look at Romans 11, you know, people always want to say, well, what about Romans 11? You know, what about Romans 11? God's going to bring back the nation of Israel. Look what it says in verse 1, I say then, hath God cast away his people? God forbid. So let's just stop reading there. We don't need the rest of the chapter. Just stop reading right there. God has not cast away Israel. Okay, no, no, no, let's keep reading, shall we? It says in Romans chapter 11 verse 1, I say then, hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite. Who's talking here? Apostle Paul, right? He says, I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people, which he foreknew. What ye not what the Scripture saith of Elias, how ye maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets and dig down thine altars and I am left alone and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Now let me ask you this, does that sound kind of familiar, thinking of Esther 3? See how this is a common theme in the Bible, not bowing the knee to Baal, not bowing the knee to the image that Nebuchadnezzar set up, not bowing the knee to Haman when Mordecai is being told, you better bow down, he's saying no. There were seven thousand men in Elijah's day who wouldn't bow down to Baal, even though they were being commanded to bow down to Baal, they wouldn't do it. They were staying true to the Lord. He says that there were seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal, even so then, at this present time also, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if it be by grace, if by grace then is it no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace, but if it be of works, then is it no more grace, otherwise work is no more work. What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, but the election hath obtained it and the rest were blinded. Now look, I don't understand how this could be any clearer. When he says that God has not cast away his people, he's only talking about the ones that are the remnant who are saved by grace. I mean does anybody not see that? He didn't say, oh God hasn't cast away his people, all of Israel are still God's chosen people. All of the Jews are still his people, he did not cast them away. Is that what it says? He says no, he didn't cast them away, because he didn't cast them all away. Because I'm an Israelite, and I believe in Christ, and I'm one of God's chosen people, I'm one of the elect, just like there were 7,000 in that remnant. He said right now there's a remnant of Israelites who have not been cast away. Because look, did every Israelite reject Christ when he came? But did the majority reject him in general? Yeah. That's why he said, he came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave you power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in his name. So in Romans 11, it's crystal clear here, when it says in verse 7, Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded. Look the ones who are not part of the election, they're cast away. They're done. The rest of them, they're blinded. And look, tell me if it sounds like these people are done. Look at verse 8. According as it is written, I mean look, we read 1 through 7, let's read 8. According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, unto this day. And David saith, let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling block, and a recompense unto them. Now look, according to the false doctrine that we hear today in so many Baptist churches, David here is bringing a curse on himself by even saying this. Let me ask this, is what David's saying a curse or a blessing? Is this a curse or a blessing? If I said, you know, let brother Donnie's table be made a snare and a trap, am I blessing him or cursing him? Donnie, I hope your table's a stumbling block, I hope your eyes are darkened, I hope you lose your eyes. I mean, am I cursing him or blessing him? Okay, but according to these false teachers, they say that God will bless those who bless the Jews and curse those who curse the Jews, right? Isn't this somebody cursing unbelieving Jews? So somebody explain to me how that works. If David, speaking by the spirit of God, is putting a curse on those who believe in God. News flash, everybody who doesn't believe in Christ, who brings another gospel, is accursed. The Pharisees taught a false gospel. They taught another way to heaven that was not through faith in the Lord, that was not through calling upon the name of the Lord, it was through the works of the law. The Bible says by the works of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, and Paul told the Galatians, hey, if somebody comes to you, bring a gospel of law salvation, work salvation, let them be accursed, okay? But they say, oh no, no, no, they're blessed, because these so-called rabbis, when the Bible said no. So we see here in Romans 11, it's crystal clear that the people who don't believe in Christ have been cast out. They're not part of the election. What does election mean? I mean, what if we had an election for president, what are we doing? We're choosing a president, right? So what does election mean, the chosen people? So does this teach in Romans 11 that every, every Israelite is one of the chosen people? Or does it only teach that the remnant that's saved by grace are the chosen people? I mean, it's pretty simple, folks. Now look, we don't believe in Calvinism. When we say chosen, we're not saying like, oh God picks who goes to heaven and goes to hell, okay? But we know that God hath chosen those who believe in Christ, meaning whom he did foreknow, he foreknew, you know, who's going to get saved and who's not, he foreknew, he said whom he did foreknew, them also did he predestinate to be conformed to the image of the Son. So he chose to save all those who believe because he had foreknowledge of that. But we believe, and you know, it's a whole sermon in and of itself, but we definitely believe in free will. The Bible says whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. The Bible says that he will have all men to be saved and to come into the knowledge of the truth. He called himself a ransom for all. He tasted death for every man, the Bible says. And we believe that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have eternal life. And that it's not open only to an elite group known as the elect. No, the elect are those that believe in Christ. The elect are those that have put their faith in Christ. God foreknew that group and calls them the election or the chosen people. Just as the Israelites were the chosen people in the Old Testament, believers are the elect in the New Testament, okay? So it's pretty clear here. Now keep reading though. He says, I say then, verse 11, have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid, but rather through their fall, salvation has come unto the Gentiles for to provoke them to jealousy. So he's saying here, in a way, good has come from the fact that the Jews have rejected Christ because now salvation has gone out even in a more expedient way unto the Gentiles. More Gentiles are getting saved as a result of the Jews' rejection of Christ. More Gentiles are being saved. He says now, verse 12, now if the fall of them be the riches of the world and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness? He's saying look, it'd be even better if the Jews would get saved. Now look, does God want Jews today in 2013 to get saved? Look God's not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But does that mean that the ones who aren't saved are the elect? Does that mean that the ones who don't believe in Jesus Christ are the chosen people? Just because he says, I want them to get saved? Look what he says here. He says, I speak to you Gentiles in as much as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office. He's saying, I'm proud to be the apostle of the Gentiles. Verse 14, if by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, what is he mean by his flesh? His physical relatives, his physical Israelite relatives. And he says, I want to save some of them. I want to provoke them to emulation that I might save some of them. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall be the receiving of them but life from the dead? He's saying, wouldn't it be great if they would receive Christ? That's why in Romans 10 he said, brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear the record that they have a zeal of God but not according to knowledge for they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves under the righteousness of God, which is of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. He makes it clear, and then that's where we get our salvation verses that are so famous in verses 9 and 10 and 13 of chapter 10. So let's go through this quickly. It says, verse 16, for if the first fruit be holy, the lump is also holy. And if the root be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, were graft in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree, boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, the branches were broken off, that I might be graft in. Well, because of unbelief, they were broken off. And thou standest by faith, be not high-minded, but fear. For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God, on them which fell, severity. But toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness, otherwise, thou also shall be cut off. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graft in, for God is able to graft them in again. So look, what we see here is he's saying, look, it's not that Gentiles are better than Jews. Don't boast against the Jews or boast against them just because, well, God's through with you guys, because he says, wait a minute, if they believe in Christ, they'll be graft in just like you. Okay, so it's not that we should be down on somebody who's a Jew, right? It's that they're just like us. We shouldn't bow down and worship them and think they're better than us either. So look, what I'm preaching today is not to say that we are better than Jews or Jews are bad. That's not what we're saying at all. What we're saying is that we are equal to Jews. Isn't that so racist of me, to say that I am equal to a Jew? Because today, unless you say Jews are better than everybody else, you're a racist. I mean, isn't that true? I mean, if you don't say Jews are better than us, Jews are the special chosen ones, not us, you're a racist. If you just say everybody's equal, you're a racist, okay? So I guess we're all racists here. But anyway, it says here that they will be graphed in, right? Look at verse 23, if they abide not still in unbelief. So do you see how consistent the Bible is that's very clearly saying, look, if you don't believe in Christ, you're not part of the olive tree. If you don't believe in Christ, you're not part of the election. You're not the elect. You're not chosen. If you don't believe in Jesus Christ, you are not God's people. It's that simple. The only people of God today are those that believe in Jesus Christ. Does that include Jews? Yeah. There are some Jews that are saved. It's the vast minority. Ninety-nine percent of the people over in Israel today who claim to be Jews don't believe in Christ. They're not God's chosen people. The Bible's real clear. The only way to be in the olive tree is to believe in Christ, okay? You can't just say, well, I asked a guy, I was out soul winning and I knocked on one of the state congressmen or state senators of Arizona, I forget, and I knocked his door and he was a Jew and I asked Shapiro, David Shapiro or whatever his name was, and I knocked his door and I said, do you know for sure if you die today you go to heaven? He said, yes I do. And I said, how do you know? He said, well, I'm a Jew. And he said, we're all going to Abraham's bosom, you know? So he basically just thought that I'm a Jew, I have a free pass. That's exactly what John the Baptist warned against, thinking that you have Abraham to your father. In 2013, that mentality is still out there. So look what he says, for if thou were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature and were graft contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more shall these which be the natural branches be graft into their own olive tree? So what is this? This is wishful thinking on Paul's part saying, man, wouldn't it be awesome, wouldn't it be great if we could get these Jews saved and get them back into the natural olive tree where they belong? But guess what? That doesn't mean that it happened. That doesn't mean it's ever going to happen. He's saying that's what he wants to happen, it'd be great if it would happen. Now look, has it happened to some people on an individual basis? Yes. But what about the nation of Israel or the majority or the whole or even a large, look, there are so few Jews that are saved compared to how many Jews are out there. You know what I mean? You go soul winning and you knock the doors, they are some of the most unreceptive people that, and I mean many of them just hate the Gospel. They hate Christianity. I mean many of them are just vindictive about it, okay? And so it says here, verse 25, for I would not brethren that ye should be ignorant of this mystery lest ye should be wise in your own conceits that blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved as it is written, there shall come out of Zion the Deliverer and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob for this is my covenant unto them when I shall take away their sins. Now here's what's funny, people will literally read this and here's what they read, what I just read to you, here's what they read. Okay, when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, then all the Jews are going to all get saved, they're all going to get saved. Every Jew at that time is going to get saved. Now here's the problem with that doctrine, okay? And the answer to this is right here in the passage. But here's the problem with that doctrine. I thought salvation was a personal choice. I didn't know that just whole countries just automatically get saved, because if so then that violates what the Bible teaches about free will, because the Bible teaches that salvation is a decision made by the individual. Not that whole countries and whole nations automatically get saved, but there are people out there who teach, you know what? When Jesus Christ returns and the tribulation and this, that all the Jews are just going to get saved. Now look, did the Jews get saved the first time Jesus came? But supposedly the second time he comes they're going to receive him. That is taught nowhere in Scripture, okay? It's not taught in Scripture at all, in fact Scripture teaches the opposite. But they'll take this one verse and try to use that to say every Jew is going to get saved. Now you say, well Pastor Anderson, it says right there, and so all Israel shall be saved. Okay keep your finger here and go to Romans 9. Because you have to understand Romans 9, 10, and 11 are all the same topic, the same discussion. So here's a tip, when you're reading Romans 11, first read chapter 10, then 11. And before you read chapter 10, read chapter 9. And better yet, start at chapter 1. And then when you get to chapter 2, you'll find out that he's not a Jew, which is one outwardly. See hopefully you should have already read chapter 2 where he said, you know, you're not a Jew unless you're one inwardly. And where he says that, you know, there's no profit in circumcision, other than the fact that they were committed the Word of God in the Old Testament, according to chapter 3. But look at chapter 9, verse 6, not as though the Word of God hath taken none effect, for they are not all Israel which are of Israel. Okay so is everybody who descends from Israel, Israel in God's eyes? No. So when you sit there and look at chapter 11, when he says, and so, which and so means therefore because of everything that we just talked about, he's saying all Israel shall be saved. When he says all Israel shall be saved, are we talking about every person that descended from the person Jacob is going to get saved? I mean if you descend from Jacob, you're going to be saved automatically just because you're a Jew, you get a free pass. I feel bad for all the Jews who lived over the past 2000 years and all died and the vast majority died and went to hell without believing in Christ, but if you're lucky enough to be one of the Jews that's around when Christ comes back, you're going to automatically get saved. I mean what kind of a foolish doctrine teaches that every Jew is just automatically, when Christ comes back, everybody in Israel is just automatically going to get saved. That's not the Gospel. The Gospel is that you hear the Word of God and you believe that's how you get saved. It's not just an automatic thing. Here it's clearly stated in Romans 9, which you should read before you get to chapter 11, that they're not all Israel which are of Israel. So look, when the Bible says all, and so all Israel shall be saved, that's pretty simple when you understand that Israel consists of people that are saved in the New Testament. You know what I mean? It's not saying every person in that country is going to be saved. It's saying all the Israelites are going to be saved because the only people that are Israelites are people that are saved. I mean isn't that pretty simple to understand? When you realize that look, all Israel is going to be saved. That's why God's promises are true, because the other people aren't even really Israel. I mean do you see that? Let's read a few more verses here. It says, for they are not all Israel which are of Israel. Look at verse 7, neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children. But an Isaac shall thy seed be called, that is, they which are the children of the flesh. What does he mean by the children of the flesh? He's talking about the physical children of Abraham, isn't he? He says, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, the children of the promise are counted for the seed. Now look what it says in verse number, let me find my place here, or you know what I'm thinking of Galatians where he says, we as Isaac was are the children of promise. And he's talking to Galatians which are Gentiles, just like he's talking to Romans here that are Gentiles, and he's saying look, the children of the promise are the seed of Abraham. The Bible says in Galatians 3, if ye be Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. That's why he calls all believers in Galatians 6 the Israel of God. He says they are the Israel, those that peace be upon them that walk according to this rule and upon the Israel of God. So what we see here is that in Romans chapter 11 what's being taught here is not that in the end times every Jew will get saved and that the nation of Israel will turn back to Christ. What we're seeing here is that Paul is saying it would be great if Israel would be saved. My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved, that's what I want to happen. It would be great if they'd be grafted in, and he says you know what, blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in, and then people just insert their doctrine, but after the fullness of the Gentiles come in, all Israelites are going to get saved. That's not what he's saying. He's saying all Israel shall be saved because they're basically only Israel who are saved. You see what I'm saying? Are the Jews going to be saved? The ones who believe on Christ. And the rest will be damned because the Bible says he that believeth not shall be damned. It says in verse number 28, as concerning the Gospel, they are enemies for your sakes. Now let me ask you something, according to verse 28, we're in Romans 11.28, everybody look down at your Bible, as concerning the Gospel, they are enemies for your sakes. Does this look like we're supposed to be having like joint prayer services with them? Correct me if I'm wrong, but is Romans 11.28 teaching that they're enemies of the Gospel? They said look, these guys, because of the Gospel, these guys are your enemies, but yet we're taught, hey, you know, this is our strongest ally. You know what I mean? And we as Christians must support Israel. Israel is our friend. Israel is our ally. We must support Israel. If you don't bless Israel, you're going to be cursed by God. But what does the Bible say? The Bible says they are enemies because of the Gospel. Now look, are the ones who believe on Christ enemies? No, they're our brothers, they're our friends. Okay, but what about the ones who hate Jesus Christ? What about the ones that said, his blood be on us and on our children, crucify them. What about the ones who do not believe that Jesus is the Christ? They are anti-Christ who deny the Father and the Son. Now look what it says in this verse, as concerning the Gospel, they are enemies for your sakes, but as touching the election, they are beloved for the Father's sakes. Now people will take that and say, see, they're still the elect. No, wrong. He says as touching the election, they are beloved for the Father's sakes. Who are the fathers? Plural. What are their names? Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, right? So who was elect? Abraham was elect, Isaac was elect, Jacob was elect. So what the Bible is saying here is that God loves the Jews. We're talking about the physical descendants of Israel. They are beloved. What does beloved mean? Let's take off the B, loved. That's our modern word. They're loved for the Father's sake. The election, and look at the next verse, it says, for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. So look, God chose Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And so for the sake of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He loves their descendants, right? They're beloved for the Father's sake. Because of the election of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they're beloved, but wait a minute. Does that make them saved? Is everybody who God loves saved? Thank you. Didn't He love the world? Okay, so, here's the thing. Have I ever gotten up here and preached and said, God doesn't love the Jews. He doesn't love them. Have I ever said that? If I ever get up and say, God doesn't love Jews. Have I ever said that? No. Have you ever heard anybody say that? I've never heard anybody say that in my whole life. I mean, I've never gone to one of these neo-Nazi meetings or something, but I've never heard anybody say it. I don't think anybody, and that's what's so funny, they pull out this verse like it's some revelation. It says right here, they're beloved. Oh, big wow, big whoop, God so loved the world. Does that prove that they are God's chosen people? Does that prove that they have the blessing of God on their lives? Does that prove that they're going to go to heaven? Proves nothing. It says, look, it'd be like if I had a grandson, right? What if I had a grandson who was not saved? That'd be terrible, right? But what if I had a grandson that was not saved, and what if God said, you know what, I love this kid for Pastor Anderson's sake, because you know, Pastor Anderson won souls and preached the gospel. God might send a lot of people into that grandson's life to try to get him saved and try to get him to do everything he can, but at the end of the day, isn't that grandson going to have to make the choice whether he's going to believe on Christ or not? Okay, and so God might say, you know, I love this guy, I'm going to try to, you know, get him. And look, just like it was Paul's desire that Israel would be saved, don't you think it was God's desire too, that Israel would be saved? And in fact, I think I remember Jesus weeping, Jesus crying as he looked at Jerusalem, saying oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, how often would I have gathered the, you know, he said I want to gather you like, I'm paraphrasing, but like the chickens, you know, under the wings. But you wouldn't, thou wouldest not. So look, Jesus weeping, saying man, I love you, why didn't you get saved, why didn't you receive me? God still feels the same way today about the nation of Israel. It grieves him that the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. He loves them. He wants them to be saved. Let's give them the Gospel. But don't tell me that they're the chosen people, because they're not. And don't tell me that in the end times they're all going to get saved, because they're not. And don't tell me that there's even a huge amount of them being saved in the end times, because there's no evidence of that in the Bible, okay? And I'm not even going to get into the 144,000. I've already preached that in other sermons, but I'm spending way too much time on this topic as it is. But Romans 11 is a great chapter. And he says in verse 30, for as ye in time past have not believed in God, yet now obtain mercy through their unbelief. Even so have these also now not believed that through your mercy they may also may obtain mercy. Okay, let's quickly finish up in Esther chapter 3. I'm just about done. But we need to understand this chapter. When we see the Jews being persecuted in chapter 3, it's not because they're a Jew, okay? It's because of the God that they worship, the laws that they believe in, it's because of their religion that they're being persecuted, not because of a nationality, okay? Because I'm sure that a lot of Jews could have just, you know, some of the Jews could have just basically just assimilated into the kingdom, right? Think about this now. Couldn't the Jews that didn't want to follow God's law just assimilate into the kingdom, win and roam, do as the Romans do, and every time Haman comes by they can just bow down to him? And you know what the proof of that is? Esther. Was Esther a Jew? Did anyone know she was a Jew? No. Because remember Mordecai told her in chapter 2, don't tell anybody you're a Jew, right? So if this is a racial thing, right? So when they're saying we're going to cause all the Jews to perish, they're not looking at outward appearance to determine that, okay? Because Esther is blending right in. And guess what? When the children of Israel were scattered abroad, many of them just assimilated into whatever nations they were scattered in. What we're talking about people here is people that are retaining their identity as Jews, they're retaining God's laws, they're walking after his customs. In the Old Testament, right? So what's the application today? If we were to fast forward this into the New Testament today, where the Jews are no longer God's chosen people, but rather now the chosen people are all believers, whether they be Jew or Gentile, that is the election, then what we would liken this unto would be a persecution of all Christians, do you understand? So if we were to apply Esther 3 to modern day, it would be Christians being asked to worship the devil, or Christians being asked to worship the anti-Christ. Look isn't that what it said in Revelation 13? It said the anti-Christ would make war with who? Who are the saints? I mean look up the word saints. It's used scores of times in the New Testament, it's believers, it's the saved. So the Bible teaches that in the end times, the anti-Christ will make war with the saints. That's why it said he's making war with those that keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. That's who he's going after when it says he's going after the saints. He's going after believers, he's going after Christians. So when we apply this to a New Testament application, it's profitable for doctrine, when we interpret it as okay, the Jews in Esther 3 that are being persecuted would be today, the equivalent of that would be all believers being persecuted, Christians being persecuted, Christians being put to death if they will not worship this man. In this case Haman in the New Testament, it's the anti-Christ that they're going to be forced to worship and people are going to be told to worship. That's why the Bible talks about the book of life in regard to who is worshiping and who is not. That has nothing to do with race or nationality. It has to do with who is a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. And again, there's so many things about this subject and I've preached whole sermons, I've preached verse by verse through the book of Revelation twice now, so we've gone through all that. But just when you read it, understand that this is something that the Bible teaches in the end times, Christians will be persecuted. Christians will be put to death and the Bible teaches that there will be martyrs that will be killed for the cause of Christ and in the last days there will be more persecution than there's ever been in the world up to that time, no nor ever shall be. You know, and the Bible says, for example in Revelation 2, it says, fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold the devil shall cast some of you into prison that ye may be tried and ye shall have tribulation ten days, be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life. There will be many that are killed for the cause of Christ, but let me ask you this, in this story, we know the end of the story, all the Jews aren't going to be killed. And God is also going to deliver the believers in the last days. Many will be killed, they will receive additional glory. They will receive rewards for being killed. But those that survive will be saved out of it, will be delivered and of course that's a whole other sermon in and of itself. But let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word and we thank you for this great story about Mordecai and his boldness. He was very bold because he refused to bow down and worship Mordecai, I'm sorry Haman, he refused to worship the devil's representative on earth and he stood his ground and you delivered him. Thank you for the application that we can make in the New Testament and understand that we as believers are going to go through persecution and we might be asked to bow down and worship something wrong or we might be asked to deny Christ or we might be asked to say or do something blasphemous. Help us to have the same type of boldness and resolve of Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and Mordecai. And not only that, Lord, but please just help us to understand what a blessing and a privilege it is to be one of the elect, to be one of the holy nation, to be one of your chosen people. Help us not to, you know, give up that birthright unto David Lee Roth and others. Help us to claim that as our own and walk worthy of it, God, help us to walk worthy of that calling. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.