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Alright guys, Esther chapter number 5 and 6 for this message here. Both chapters have 14 verses so I figured, you know what, let's just go ahead and get right through both of them. Plus there's a lot of things in here that I don't want you to miss and so I decided to combine the two chapters. Now I titled this sermon A Woman's Plan for a Wildman. The reason why is because in chapter number 5 we see Esther finally makes that walk to the courtyard to be seen of the king. Now remember last week what we talked about. We talked about the fact that Esther said, and she told her cousin Mordecai, hey, you know, it's not lawful for anyone to go in unto the king uninvited. And so basically she's saying, you know what, I'm risking my life for even doing this. And then she says towards the end of the chapter, if I perish, I perish. And one of the things that I think this definitely teaches us is that when we know there's next steps in our life that we need to take, you know, decisions that we need to make, hard decisions, maybe even fearful type decisions, we ought not to get lost in the things that we can't see. Esther couldn't see exactly what was going to happen. She knew what the law was. She definitely understood that. But in the end, she knew that she was the only person standing between the death of all the Jews and the life of all the Jews. She could make a difference or at least die trying. And so she goes in chapter 5, finally gets over to the courtyard. And of course, what do you see? Well, you see King Ahasuerus holds out the golden scepter real quick and he's like, what's going on, Esther? I'll give you anything you want, even half the kingdom, right? So all that worry for absolutely nothing. Now back to the title, A Woman's Plan for a Wild Man. I wouldn't say that Ahasuerus is a psychopath, reprobate kind of guy. Definitely had some issues. But when I was reading this, I was like, oh yeah, she goes and sees the king. He's delighted in her right away. And she prepares a meal for the king and Haman. They go eat the meal and he's like, what would you like, Esther? You know, I'll give you up to half the kingdom. And she says, well, I've prepared a banquet for you and Haman tomorrow. And I love you guys to both show up. And of course he agrees and Haman's, you know, he's on cloud nine. Knowledge puffeth up. That's a very good example right there with Haman. But she doesn't get right to the point. This is what I'm trying to get at here. She doesn't just go right to the king and say, Haman tricked you and bribed you with money and my people are going to be destroyed. And oh, by the way, I'm a Jew as well. She doesn't do that. She has a strategy. She has a strategy. She has a plan. And chapters five and six give you some insight onto that. It's not that she's necessarily scared to admit who she is. I think what the answer is, is I think she understands. Remember five years have gone by since she's become queen. And I think she understands her man. I think she understands the king very well. And I think she understands how to get her point across in a wise manner, which by the way, is also one of the many fingerprints of God in the book of Esther. And so we're going to go ahead and go through these two chapters. Lots of good stuff. Obviously it's the word of God. I hope this message blesses you guys. I hope you find some value in it. And if so, let us know in the comments. Here's brother Josh with a reading of Esther chapter number five. Esther chapter number five beginning in verse one, the Bible reads, Now it came to pass on the third day that Esther put on her royal apparel and stood in the inner court of the king's house over against the king's house. And the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house over against the gate of the house. And it was so when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court that she obtained favor in his sight. And the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. So Esther drew near and touched the top of the scepter. Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou queen Esther? And what is thy request? It shall be given thee to the half of the kingdom. And Esther answered, If it seemed good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him. Then the king said, Cause Haman to make haste that he may do as Esther hath said. So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared. And the king said unto Esther at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition? And it shall be granted thee. And what is thy request? Even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed. Then answered Esther and said, My petition and my request is, If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleased the king to grant my petition and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and I will do tomorrow as the king hath said. Then went Haman forth that day joyful and with a glad heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate that he stood not up nor moved for him, he was full of indignation against Mordecai. Nevertheless Haman refrained himself and when he came home he sent and called for his friends and Zerush his wife. And Haman told them of the glory of his riches and the multitude of his children and all the things wherein the king had promoted him and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king. Haman said, Moreover yea Esther the queen did let no man come in with the king unto the banquet that she had prepared but myself, and tomorrow am I invited unto her also with the king. Yet all this availeth me nothing so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate. Then said Zerush his wife and all his friends unto him, Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high and tomorrow speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon. Then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet and the thing pleased Haman and he caused the gallows to be made. Brother Evan would you please pray for us? All right amen. Well we are in chapter five like I said during the announcements and we're probably going to make it through chapter number six. Two short chapters, 14 verses each, 28 verses total. Shouldn't be a problem. So remember where we're at okay we're going through a narrative okay and any time you're studying the bible you're reading the bible and going through a narrative you have to understand that those are put there for your admonition. So we're supposed to read these things and look what can I learn from this what can I apply to my own life in this story so that's the point. And of course we've addressed several issues that people have with the book and one of them being that oh well it doesn't say anything about prayer it doesn't say anything about God therefore it doesn't really belong in the bible. And of course we know that that is absolute foolishness it's not true. Now we'll just do a quick review okay so we all the way back to chapter number one we get introduced to a guy by the name of Xerxes or Ahasuerus and he's throwing a big banquet throwing a big old party okay six month party and the reason why I believe he's doing that is to gain support because the Greeks are becoming an issue they're becoming a problem so Ahasuerus wants to display his might and his power to make sure that he can keep unity not only in his own province but also to any newcomers that would want to come and help for his worldwide conquest. And so you remember the story he's having a good old time party ends he decided to extend the party a little bit and he gets this idea you know I want to show off the queen to everybody and so he calls for her what happens she says no and then the people in the kingdom become uh concerned and say well you know if she told him no and we just let this slide then wives all over the province are going to start bossing their husbands around and we will lose control of the empire so they make a decree they make a law that says that uh wives have to respect and honor their husbands and we kind of point it to well that's what the word of god says anyways but you know of course we understand right guys that this goes both ways husbands ought to love their wives it's not just well you respect me to what I say because I'm a man and that's just how it goes okay that's a quick way to destroy any relationship any marriage both parties have to fulfill the roles and understand that we're no better than one another that we at the end of the day serve christ so you fast forward to chapter number two and it gets kind of dark it gets kind of dark because it's been recommended to a hazardous hey you know we got to replace Vashti and we got this great idea king guess what why don't we go and scoop up our human traffic well why don't we go and grab all these young virgins from all over the province and we'll give them you know all this time we'll give them a good old year to prepare for their one night with you and we kind of highlighted how they're kept in one house where the keeper of the house keeps the virgins okay they go when it's their time to meet the king in the evening and then on the morrow when it's all said and done they wind up going to the house of the concubines and so um going through that process Esther obviously obtains favor right off the bat and she pleases the king and you can see god's um providence if you will in that situation she becomes queen now you get to chapter number three and we get introduced to this character named Haman okay Haman is a problem Haman is a picture of the anti-christ but he is also a just a picture of a pain in the butt guy i mean he's just an arrogant pompous jerk he loves not only people reverencing him but he absolutely despises anyone that would go against uh this this reverence or this um showing respect to him so there's a decree that goes out you know you gotta bow before Haman when he comes in you gotta bow you gotta pay him his respect so Mordecai is like you know what i know who this guy is and i understand my tribal history i'm a benjamite and i understand the relationship between Haman and his people and my king either way i'm not bowing before this guy hey and so Haman says oh okay you're a jew well i'm gonna destroy you and actually i'm gonna destroy all of the jews in this kingdom so what does he do he essentially hoodwinks a hazardous and says hey i'm gonna put all this money into the treasury and there's this people here and they're jews and they don't like you they're not gonna bow down they're a problem they're gonna destroy the kingdom and so he has here's my signet go do whatever you gotta do so the decree goes out to kill all the jews a year later and you get to chapter number four and chapter number four is one of the most uh popular statements definitely in the book and that's when Mordecai tells Esther his cousin hey you know who knows if you were born for such a time as this because right now you are the only person in the kingdom that has access to the king even though it's against the law for you to just go and see him and so they kind of go back and forth and she tells Mordecai you know what if i just go roll up to the king's door you know this isn't going to go to well there's a law that you can only approach the king if you've been called and so i might lose my life and so they go back and forth and dialogue and what happens is she finally makes up her mind at the end of chapter four and says fine i'm gonna go do this and if i perish i perish but i have one request and that is that you and jews everywhere would fast for three days and so we're kind of left with that cliffhanger last week and now it's time for us to pick it up in verse number one and i'm going to title this sermon a woman's plan for a wild man a woman's plan for a wild man now i've heard a hazardous described as a narcissist a psychopath i don't really see that because you're going to see in this chapter that he does show or actually i'm sorry in chapter six he does show empathy for mordecai okay and we'll get to that here in a second but a woman's plan for a wild man let's go ahead and get into this now verse one it says now it came to pass on the third day that esther put on her royal apparel and stood in the inner court of the king's house over against the king's house and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house so remember okay she's got to be concerned here she has no idea what is going to happen is the king going to be upset at her appearance or is he going to rejoice and be glad so that's the question we must look at here verse two and it was so when the king saw esther the queen standing in the court that she obtained favor in his sight and the king held out to esther the golden scepter um sorry i lost my spot here okay let's start over and it was so when the king saw esther the queen standing in the court does she obtain favor in his sight and the king held out to esther the golden scepter that was in his hand so esther jr and touched the top of the scepter so again all of that worry for nothing okay now obviously all of us have probably been in a situation where we have to have a hard conversation with somebody we're like oh man how is this gonna go is this gonna blow up in my face sometimes it does but you know what at the end of the day worrying about it doesn't change anything okay we've still got to do the right thing and this was definitely the right thing for her to do now keep your place there real quickly but go to proverbs chapter 21 so just go forward there in your new testament pass on to go to proverbs chapter number 21 and what i think this also teaches us here in regards to a valuable lesson is that when we can see next steps that we need to take in life hey we ought not to get bogged down by the things that we can't see okay you say well why are you bringing that up well because that's a hindrance to faith and the bible says very clearly that we are called to walk by faith not by sight and when we don't do that what happens we cause worry okay we start to worry about and focus in of just just just hone in on all of these maybe this will happen maybe this won't and it takes your focus off of the objective off to off the fact that you know god is for us therefore who can be against us at the end of the day we win so why do we spend so much time worrying about things we can't control things that we just can't see because at the end of the day god always works everything out for our benefit because we love him so in regards to fingerprints i like to to try to highlight a fingerprint in each chapter i've got two for you this evening i want you to look at this here in proverbs chapter 21 look at verse number one so the bible says the king's heart is in the hand of the lord as the rivers of water he turneth it whithersoever he will okay now obviously that verse definitely deserves a lot more explanation than what i'm going to give it there but if you go back to esther chapter number five you're going to see that's exactly what happens here okay he knows the law okay she knows the law everybody's familiar with this that you can't just go in under the king well she appears in the king's court and it's like no big deal there there she is like oh esther it's been a long time since i've seen you how you doing okay tell me that's not god and tell me that's not the fingerprint of god right there and i'll say you're crazy look at verse three then said the king unter what wilt thou queen esther and what is thy request it shall be given thee to the half of the kingdom so this just keeps getting better and better for her you know she's probably i mean i i try to put myself in her shoes what was she thinking those three days prior okay fast you know going without food going without all this stuff here what i mean if i know anything i'm not going to claim to know everything about women but if i know anything about jessica if i know anything about being married for what 25 years is that a lot of times women have a tendency to to just their minds just go they're just thinking and thinking thinking a lot of times like i just can't sleep i'm like why just because i'm thinking about all this stuff and these plans for this and for this and i'm just like man at the end of the day boom i'm out my brain shuts off my body goes down and it's over i don't care the world could be falling apart tomorrow you know when i need to go to bed boom i'm down it's over it's it's lights out man i got no problems falling asleep but she's just like think about this i've got to imagine she had to have experienced the very same thing what is going to happen to me am i not going to be the queen am i going to bring shame into my people you know or all of us jews get a diet like like what's going on and here the king's like hey what do you want you know i'm going to give you anything you want even half the kingdom so at that point in time she could have said yeah i'll take from shushian all the way back to jerusalem and he'd have been like it's yours girl whatever you want so all of that worry for absolutely nothing okay so that's what i'm saying when you find yourself in a situation and you know you know what the next steps are and they're the right steps esther knew she was the only person that could have saved the jews that could have initiated this whole thing so what does she do she takes that leap of faith she goes forward okay she doesn't get bogged down too much with the things that she can't see when you apply that to your life you're going to make better decisions and so look at verse number four nester answered if it seemed good unto the king let the king and hayman come this day into the banquet that i have prepared for him now you're reading this and you're like okay hold on for a second hey i thought she was just going to come right out with it and say hey i'm a jewess i'm you know of the people that you allowed hayman to talk you into killing like can we do something about this but no she's talking about food okay so that means that while she's been fasting and depriving herself and her staff while they've been doing this she's now been preparing food so she's got to be extremely extremely hungry and obviously this is kind of a little bit of a lesson here in discipline as well and the first thing out of her mouth is hey i've prepared a banquet for you and hayman why is that well as the saying goes the way to a man's heart through his stomach there's nothing new under the sun it's true here it's still true today just a little tip for some of you out there okay look at verse number five it says then the king said cause hayman to make haste that he may do as esther hath said so the king and hayman came to the banquet that esther had prepared so again you might be wondering why in the world didn't she just straight up tell him why go through this process because we just read the chapter there's a banquet here and then she's going to request another banquet that they go to the following day and you gotta say well why why would she do that remember chapter three what did we learn five years have gone by so in five years my guess and my opinion is that she understands this man very well and she knows how to approach him okay he is a little bit self-absorbed he's a wild man hey i mean think about it after esther was made queen what does it say he has her still was like hey let's let's this whole uh testing out this whole beauty pageant thing we'll just call it that's a pretty cool program let's just keep it going okay and so he didn't stop it he loved that attention okay he loved that and kept up with it so obviously this guy's a little bit off his rocker he's definitely on his high horse here i don't think he's a straight up narcissist or a psychopath for that matter but he's definitely not a good dude okay he's he's the guy at your job site guys that you'd be like i never let my daughter date that guy okay that's kind of the kind of dude you're dealing with here and esther is married to him so she knows the man she knows the best way to approach him and of course you know i'm sure that god is obviously in this as well so let's move on here now to verse number six says and the king said to esther at the banquet of wine of course there's got to be wine there what is thy petition and it shall be granted thee and what is thy request even to half the kingdom it shall be performed remember this dude loves his banquets what did you spend chapter one doing reading about a six month banquet a six month party okay this is how you bring them down to your level and just you don't want to just come out of dude all the time with the problems okay you gotta set the mood you gotta you gotta play your cards right and that's exactly what she's doing and he's happy he's he's all for it okay he's all for it half the kingdom's yours girl if that's what you want look at verse seven then answered esther and said my petition and my request is if i have found favor in the sight of the king and if it please the king to grant my petition and to perform my request let the king and haman come to the banquet that i shall prepare for them and i will do tomorrow as the king said so grant is administered haman is happy mordecai has no idea what's going on esther's you know got a plan here but a hasris is ideal you want to do another banquet i'm all in i am all for it we'll definitely make it happen okay so now we shift gears a little bit here we're gonna kind of look get an inside look at the psyche of haman here so look at this here look at how puffed up this guy gets i mean we talk a lot about knowledge puffing up okay this guy all he knows he's the best thing in the world and if he were to walk in here during this period of life like he would be floating his head bang on that i mean just just up in the clouds but there's a problem okay look at verse 10 i'm sorry look at verse nine then went haman forth that day joyful okay so keep that word in your mind there haman right now at this point he's joyful he's rejoicing he's happy and with a glad heart but when haman saw mordecai in the king's gate that he stood not up nor moved for him he was full of indignation against mordecai nevertheless verse 10 haman refrained himself and when he came home he sent and called for his friends and his wife i can kind of relate to this just from being in the military you know there's all kinds of different positions and things of that nature between enlisted people in the military and officers so like for example the when i was in the infantry the way that it worked let's say i'm an e3 i'm a private first class and there's a specialist or a corporal walking down the hallway and he's walking towards me enlisted people don't salute each other but your back has to go glued to that wall in the parade rest position which is both hands behind your back this is just all day so you're you're in a hurry you're walking somewhere and you see somebody at higher rank bam you know you got to pay your respects let that dude walk by talk his trash because that's probably what he's going to do that's just how it is and and so in the military i've seen this attitude where people just get this high from that stuff and they're just like oh i've been looking for this since high school to make somebody just physically move and just basically bow down to me you know and so when i read this i'm like yeah mordecai man get him you know you just blast that flight it really bugs me here i don't know why i just don't like that you know it's just it's just kind of bugs me i get that's the culture in the military but when people take it too far you know like you didn't move quick enough you didn't get on my quick enough it's like i didn't see there's a corner here like i just came around a corner and there's a get back in the wall you know it's just ridiculous a lot of times these people you know what they'll do they'll like start sending people on different jobs and they'll be like oh what are what are all the lower ranking guys doing let's go find them so we can make them scatter against the wall you know just get this high on it's like you know higher ranking officers will do the same thing you don't salute them quick enough and it's just like oh you're gonna salute me you know the whole world's falling down oh you killed my mom it's like on the same level you could go to jail for that i'm gonna throw you in the brig you're going down for that and so you know mordecai or i'm sorry heyman here he's definitely got that attitude it's like you know i'm joyful i just got invited to a super special banquet and this fool didn't bow down but at this moment he's like you know i'm gonna let it slide i'm gonna let it slide because i know that his day is coming so he's still kind of happy in this moment here okay look at verse 11 actually verse 10 one more time says nevertheless hayman refrained himself and when he came home he sent and called for his friends and zresh his wife we're going to want to pay close attention to these people here okay look at verse 11 now he says that hayman told them of the glory of his riches and the multitude of his children could you imagine that you're going home to see your wife you're like i've had 20 kids since i've been here last it's just like wow what a great thing i mean hey different times man just every culture here but yeah so verse 11 and hayman told them of the glory of his riches and the multitude of his children and all the things were in the king had promoted him and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king so keeping this keep this word in your mind okay rejoicing okay hayman's rejoicing and he's telling all the good stuff that's happened to him he's on cloud nine now as he's speaking here okay look at this here verse 12 hayman said moreover ye asked her the queen did let no man come in with the king unto the banquet that she had prepared but myself and tomorrow i am invited unto her also with the king so look at those guys i'm so special i'm in the high place right now and nobody else can be in there and you know you guys know that i'm like i'm it i am that guy i am all that plus two buckets of chicken and a milkshake chocolate okay that's his attitude here so he's rejoicing but as he's speaking i want you to see the shift in his mental process here okay he goes from rejoicing to something else look at verse 13 yet all this availeth me nothing so as long as i see mordecai the jew sitting at the gate so let's ask this question here how did he go from rejoicing to rage in less than 60 seconds it don't take long to say all this stuff to beat your chest okay he goes from rejoicing and then in the same conversation with these people straight to rage what is that okay what i think this is highlighting for us is that if we can figure out sometimes what causes us to go from rejoicing to rage you're going to find some sort of i guess it call it idolatry something that is between us and god something we're just not quite doing right it's probably what you're going to find because if you have the mentality that you know i'm going to put others before myself i'm going to have a gratitude attitude i'm going to be a giver i want to give back okay you're not going to find yourself in this kind of situation and let me just show you something go keep your place right here but go to john chapter number 16 i don't know if i've mentioned this in the last year or so i was kind of on this kick for a while a couple years ago but i want to bring this up now because i think it's definitely applicable and it's about joy okay so what do we see here well we've we've got hayman he's he's joyful he's rejoicing and then he goes straight to rage okay but for you the believer i want you to understand something about your joy where it comes from and who can take it from you okay look at this here john 16 look at verse 22 says in he now so jesus speaking to these guys here to the disciples says and he now therefore have sorrow remember because he's told them hey i'm going you're not going to be able to come with me and they're just like i don't get it they're just upset okay he's like look you got sorrow now but i will see you again and your heart shall rejoice and your joy no man taketh from you so go back to esther chapter five and i've done studies on this before it's probably due again here in the near future but as a believer nobody can take your joy okay you can give it to somebody else you can let someone own space up here and cause your day to go bad you can do that but that's your fault that's not that other person's fault okay so remember that your joy is yours and you need to own it and you need to protect it from other people because there are plenty of people out there that would love nothing more than to take your joy and i say that tongue in cheek okay they can't really take it but you can give it but you know what i'm trying to say here okay and so hayman obviously not savior has no concept of this and who's living in his head mordecai the jew the one guy that keeps getting mentioned over and over again that will not bow down he's like i need 100 compliance everybody's got to bow down to me and salute me because i'm special i'm superman okay that's his attitude here now look at verse number 14 then said zresh his wife and all his friends unto him let a gallows be made of 50 cubits high i mean that's pretty high i mean depending on who you talk to and how big a cubit is and if you study that through the bible you're going to come anywhere between i've heard anywhere from numbers of 65 to 75 feet but definitely up there and so they want this thing high enough so that everybody can see so look at this right hayman comes home tells him about all the kids he's got his promotion all this all these riches and they're like hey let's let's be with you here you're in a high moment let's lift you up let's lift you up here because of old mordecai that's causing you trouble so they recommend that he makes a gallows of 50 cubits high and say this and tomorrow speak down to the king that mordecai may be hanged on then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet and the thing pleased hayman and he caused the gallows to be made they'll go over to chapter six and i'll say this that hayman's joy was dependent on his position in the eyes of those that were around him okay and that is a dangerous thing we've talked a lot about this lately about pride how it's i would say that pride is probably one of the most deadliest drugs on this planet because it doesn't just affect the physical but it transcends the physical goes to the heart and it damages other people people that are puffed up on pride very arrogant they hurt other people all the time there's that's just the only consequence is damage it's hurtful it's evil god hates it we all know that this guy is definitely full of pride and arrogance and the reason why the one guy is bothering him so much is because he cares so much about what other people think about him and his achievements okay his joy is superficial his joy is false and it's about to come to a screeching halt in chapter seven well really it's about to come to a screeching halt right here in chapter six he's about to get a little lesson in humility so let's look at something here verse number one i'm going to call this portion uh sleepless in shushan remember these guys are in the palace their shoe shiner palace look at this here verse one it says on that night and the reason why we got to do these two chapters together is because they're just so connected i just don't want you to miss this it says on that night could not the king sleep okay so the same night that haman's like i'm the best guy in the world okay maybe hazardous a little better but i'm like right there and his wife and his friends are like hey make these gallows i want you to hang this jew bagger hang them up on the gallows in front of everybody so the same night that's taken place all of a sudden the king can't sleep okay i wonder who's involved here on that night could not the king sleep and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles and they were read before the king it's a good thing they didn't have iphones and tablets and things back then because i have a feeling you'd be like yeah i'm just gonna play a game real quick here okay but it's like i can't sleep bring the most boring book in the world bring the new york post in here let's read that that'll put me to sleep okay so coincidentally here the same night those gallows are to be made the king can't sleep look at verse two and it was found written that mortic i had told of bigtha or big thanam and teresh two of the king's chamberlains the keepers of the door who sought to lay hand on the king azerus and of course we've already gone over that we've already read that in chapter two how mortic i thwarted that remember there was no compensation it's been what five years since that situation has happened and so five years later okay guess what payment is now due who do you think's involved with this the bible says very clearly that promotion cometh not from the east or from the west but it comes from the north and that's obviously a reference to god it comes from the lord okay but i want you to actually leave your place right keep your place right there go to romans chapter eight real quick romans chapter number eight let me just get this fingerprint for chapter six right out of the way here romans chapter eight verse 28 okay and many fingerprints of god here we're just going to look at one real quickly look at this here romans 8 verse 28 so paul says this he says and we know that all things work together for good to them that love god to them who are called or who are the called according to his purpose okay but sometimes guess what that requires a little bit of patience on our end okay think about this like there's nowhere that's recorded where mortica is like man i saved this guy even gave my cousin up and i'm out here in sackcloth and ashes and woe is me i'm the victim you don't see that attitude from him okay you don't even hear a peep about it okay but what is god doing god's setting the stage because morticai loves god aster loves god so god is setting the stage here and orchestrating and helping and he's in this situation to save his people which are basically our ancestors okay don't look at this and read this like oh these are the jews of today no they're not these are it's a totally different thing going on here we're going to get to that in chapter eight look at verse three and the king said what honor and dignity hath been done to morticai for this then said the king's servant that ministered unto him there is nothing done for him okay so he knows right off the bat why ain't nothing been done for this guy so the king here you know if he was a psychopath or you know an extreme reprobate or even really a narcissist here i don't imagine that he would have this type of empathy for this guy here yeah he's not the best dude in the world but he's like wait a minute you know something ought to be done for this man because he saved my life i think that's fair so verse four and the king said who is in the court so now what's happening remember he can't sleep haman's up all night probably just thinking about wow how glorious is this going to be when i can hang that non-bowing jew morticai must die and this is going to be a great day so he's like i can't wait i'm going to show up there right now and i got to get permission you got to let the king know and he'll be happy so verse four the king said who's in the court now haman was come into the outward court of the king's house to speak unto the king to hang mortichai in the gallows that he had prepared for him verse five and the king's servants said unto him behold haman standeth in the court and the king said let him come in yeah and so of course haman's like of course he's gonna let me come in here remember cloud nine he's up there he really thinks that he can do no wrong and it's just going to get even more like this is cringy level like pride here look at this here in verse six so haman came in and the king said unto him what shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honor now look at what the bible tells you look at what the narrator says now haman thought in his heart to whom would the king delight to do honor more than to myself i gotta show i wasn't gonna have you turn here okay but one more one more you gotta give me one more go to luke chapter 14 real quick keep your place here but real quickly luke chapter number 14 let me find this guy myself luke chapter 14 this here is a law that everybody needs to know okay everybody needs to know this right here it's going to make your life so much better jesus addresses this type of situation here okay look what he says well you know what let's just let's back up to verse 7 luke 14 look at verse 7 so it says and he put forth a parable to those which were bidden when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms sang unto them and now look at what he says in verse 8 when thou are bidden of any man to a wedding sit not down in the highest room lest a more honorable man than thou be bidden of him see that so what's the application here don't think you're the best guy in the room because you're not somebody more honorable somebody with more experience could come in and put you to shame look at verse 9 and he that bade thee and him come and say to thee give this man place and now begin with shame to take the lowest room okay this is very important i think if we can just understand this and apply this part to our lives it's going to make your life so much better you're at work you're at a family event you know don't just take the chief seat you know don't take the last ice cream bar the last licorice or whatever you know put others before yourself okay and then if somebody is like hey you know why don't you go ahead and sit here why then you're then you're good to go now you've got the cemented permission of those that are above you to be able to have that position of honor and you'll be good to go look at verse 10 it says but when thou are bidden to go and sit down in the lowest room that when he that bade become if he may say unto the friend go up higher than thou shall have worship in the presence of them that sit at me with thee so obviously this is another one of those paradox the way up is down okay if you really want to be in a position of honor and integrity leadership or something like that guess what the way is down think don't think so highly of yourself don't just walk into a place and just assume i get the best of everything because god's gonna put you the other way okay if you start with that high mentality like haman is here god's gonna knock you down that's exactly what happens so back to esther chapter number six in verse number six so haman came in and the king said unto him what shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth honor it'd be interesting to see the facial expression here of haman just this half smile like ah this guy i got this guy wrapped around my finger of course he's talking to me now haman thought in his heart to whom would the king delight to do honor more than to myself okay so he's doing the exact opposite of what jesus told us in luke chapter number 14 he walks into any place and he's like ah that must be for me that gold that's mine verse seven haman answered the king for the man whom the king delighteth to honor let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear and the horse that the king rioteth upon and the crown royale not the drink the crown royale which is set upon his head and let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of the one of one of the king's most noble princes that they may array the man with all whom the king delighteth to honor and bring him on horseback through the street of the city and proclaim before him thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth honor think about this he's asked this real quickly he kind of caught off guard he's going there to ask for mordecai's neck basically and then he gets countered with this question what shall it what shall be done for the man whom the king delighteth and he's just boom like he's got this vision like that quick right he i mean this is pretty elaborate here you know most of us i think everybody in here if we were given a similar situation be like i don't know man i don't really want nothing you know we'd be all like kind of humble about it whereas this guy's like i want a bmw bands and then i really want somebody to deliver it to me and when they drive it into the parking lot if we could like get out some red carpet you know and just the sound of those rubber tires just rolling down that carpet for me oh man that'd be great that's kind of what this guy's doing here it's kind of his vision and it just boom the spouts right off and you might be like well what about your situation well you know i've read this a thousand times so i've thought about this a lot look at verse 10 then the king said to haman make haste and take the apparel and what a u-turn we get right here take the apparel and the horse as thou hast said and do even so to yourself oh no to mordecai the jew that sitteth at the king's gate let nothing fail of all that thou has spoken this is where you want to be this is where you want to see this dude's face that i couldn't imagine i mean just just booms how do you keep it together because you're not supposed to be sad in the appearance of these kings here so he really did a decent job so but inside he's dying inside years are just being taken off his life because he went from here just never deflated balloon retire that's what just happened so he's back down to ground level now he's got to go face the guy that won't bow to him to face the guy that won't salute him won't stand up pray and rest for him and give him honors and he's just oh he's just distraught here he's just absolutely terrible and it just gets words for this guy verse 11 then took him in the apparel in the horse and arrayed mordecai and brought him on horse back through the street of the city and proclaimed before him thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honor i wonder what mordecai was thinking because this whole time we haven't heard from him you know and it's like i'm sure he's definitely concerned how's it going with esther what's going on how did the conversation go it's been a little bit we did our fast you know it's it's late here day number three what's going on and all of a sudden it goes from worry and concern sackcloth and ashes to now like having this royal treatment i mean when god's blessings hit you this is what it looks like a lot of times it's just boom just instant and it's such a great thing to read it's such uplifting because all of us have experienced god's blessings in the time of trials verse 12 mordecai came again to the king's gate but hayman hasted to his house mourning and having his head covered so you see that god takes the sackcloth and ashes the mourning and all the sadness off of mordecai and puts it on the people that deserve it wicked hayman this aga guy here who's obviously a straight up devil if anybody's a psychopath it's this guy if anybody's a narcissist it is definitely hayman the aga guy and we're almost done almost done here okay i want you to see this remember how we looked at hayman back in chapter five and he called for his wife he called for his friends and he's kind of you know he's got a little obviously he went from rejoicing to rage and they lift him up right they're like hey this is supposed to be a high time we're with you we're right here with you why don't you build these gallows and kill mordecai before you go into that banquet that way you can enjoy the banquet you never have to worry about it again okay so these people this group of people that he has surrounded himself with they are with him in his high point but how are they going to be now okay look at the u-turn that these people make look at verse 13 and hayman told his wife and all his friends everything that had befallen him then said his wise men and his wife unto him if mordecai be of the seed of the jews before whom thou hast begun to fall thou shall not prevail against him but i'm sorry but shall surely fall before him wait wait a second here wait a second you could have told him that back in chapter five maybe save this guy a little bit of grief okay so what is this teaching us here this reminds me of the closest disciples jesus's inner circle you guys know who that's made up of it's peter and the sons of zebedee peter james and john okay remember peter james and john were with jesus at the mount of transfiguration they got to see that miraculous event happen he didn't take all 12 up there he took peter he took james and he took john that was a high point okay you want to ask who should i surround myself with okay we'll take the example from jesus he surrounded himself with people that could handle him at his high points okay now who is with jesus in the garden of gethsemane when he's sweating like great drops of blood like he's literally in anguish knowing what he's about to take on peter james and john so we want to surround ourselves with people if you're looking for an inner circle okay if people want to get in you better make sure that you pick people that can handle you at your highs and at your lows both people that can't handle you at your highs are envious and they will come back around and bite you okay they will bite you they will stab you in the back they will destroy your life so you know anytime that you do something well you have a victory and you start to sense a little bit of animosity in somebody you better put an arm out i'm telling you right now you better put an arm's length between you and that person they will bite you take it from me i'm telling you the truth here this never fails okay but it's the same thing when you're at a low point and people can't handle it they gotta bounce they don't got time to help you like oh well there's nothing we could do i guess you're gonna go down guess what those are people you do not want to surround yourself with by any means possible i think about it in chapter five they were like yeah kill mordecai you're the best you really are the greatest go hayman now they're like well you're messing with guys people so you're just gotta die there's no way you can prevail what kind of people are that like what kind of people are these it's just terrible now we're gonna end it right here verse 14 and while they were yet talking with him came the king's chamberlains hasted to bring hayman on to the banquet that esther had prepared and so again another cliffhanger we're gonna have to leave it with and we will get to what happens to hayman the gay men next week that's messed up who cares the guy is the guy is the trash anyways right it don't matter so let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer thank you so much lord again for these great stories that you preserved for us we just pray to help us to be admonished to them and learn from them lord so that we can make better decisions in our lives and we thank you again lord in jesus name i pray amen