This is the evening service of the fourth Presbyterian Church Bethesda, Maryland, October 21st, 1990. The message this evening is entitled, God's Man Vindicated, is delivered by Dr. Norris from the text, Dester 8, 1-17. More decay, over the house of Haman. Now as to spoke again to the King, fell down at his feet, and implored him with tears to counteract the evil plot of Haman, the Aggregate, and the scheme which he had devised against the Jews. And the King held out the golden sector towards Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the King and said if it pleases the King, and if I have found favor in his sight, and the thing seems right to the King and I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hamid Datha, the Aggregate, which he wrote to annihilate the Jews who are in the King's provinces. For how can I endure to see the evil that will come to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my Kindred? King A. as you are, you are said to Queen Esther and more decay either Jew. Indeed I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows because he tried to lay hand on the Jews. You yourselves write a decree for the Jews as you please in the King's name. Seal it with the King's signatory, for a letter which is written in the King's name and sealed with the King's signatory, no one can revoke. And so the King's scribes were called at that time in the third month, which is the month of Seven, on the 23rd day. And it was written according to all that Mota Kiai commanded, to the Jews, the setups, the governors, and the princes of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces in all, to every province in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language. And he wrote in the name of King A. as you are, sealed it with the King's signatory and sent letters by courier on horseback, riding on royal horses bred from swift steams. And by these letters, the King permitted the Jews who were in every city to gather together and protect their lives, to destroy King Kiai and deny it all the forces of any people or province that would have sought birthed little children and women and took plunder their possessions. On one day in all the provinces of King A. as you are, on the 13th day of the 12th month, which is the month of Ador. And a copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province and published to all people so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves to their enemies. And then the couriers who rode on royal horses went out, hastened and pressed on by the King's command, and the decree was issued in Sushan Palace. When Mordekaiai went out from the presence of the King in royal apparel of blue and white, with a great crown of gold and a garment of fine linen and purple. And the city of Sushan rejoiced and was glad that Jews had light and gladness, joy and honor, and in every province and city, wherever the King's command and decree came the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a holiday, then many of the people of the land became Jews because fear of the Jews fell upon them. Amen, may the Lord bless this his holy word to us this night. I want, before we start our sermon this evening to commend your attention, the fact that next Sunday evening following our meeting at the Presbytery of the east of our evangelical Presbytery in church, we will be holding a service of celebration and ordination here for Jim Bern, our minister of youth, as he has ordained a minister of the gospel and of the gospel ministry here in our midst. And we would welcome your presence to celebrate together in that which is a part of his pilgrimage to this point as we rejoice in what God has done. Also to commend your prayers tonight, a family that is part of our church life, the Anderson family, I was done visiting the hospital this afternoon for little 7-8-year-old Tyler was taken into hospital on Wednesday, having, it having been discovered that he suffers from diabetes and he went in for tests and for correction. As I was praying with his mum and his dad and his brother and his sister this evening before coming to church, they rejoiced in what God had done and how he had cared for them in any number of ways, but commended themselves to the congregation for prayer. I asked if I might announce it and they said most assuredly, we commend them, little Tyler 7-year-old, his mum, his dad and his brother and his sister as unto the Lord. I draw your attention this evening to the 8th chapter and the 16th and the 17th verses in this chapter. The Jews had licensed gladness, joy and honor. And in every province in city, wherever the things command and decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness of feast and of holiday. Many of the people of the land became Jews because fear of the Jews fell upon them. We have seen how human, the prince, a prime minister of this great emperor had attempted to annihilate the whole of the Jewish population in the bones of Persia and how God had brought his ruin and his doom and ultimately this man, proud and healthy and powerful, was lifted up from the very gallows that he had prepared for his enemy-moderate care. And at the same time, as we have seen him and ruined and doomed, so we see more that he eyed his Jew who sat as a gatekeeper in the king's court lifted into the highest position, ultimately raised by the queen to live in the house of him and to counsel the monarch in all of his dealings. And we have seen the great truth that stands behind all of that, that it is God who raises up and it is God who cuts down, God who raises up the humble for his purpose who cuts down the forties in the imagination of their own power and of their own greatness. And what is amazing is that the people of Shushan, the people of this city have seen and recognized the hand of God in the destruction of him and the elevation of modern K.I. And here after him and his exposed for all that he is the one who would spend 10,000 talents of silver to destroy the Jews, the king has asked Esther for an explanation of events and she discloses her relationship to modern K.I. And she discloses to her own part called by God, set within the kingdom to be faithful to her people and to her traditions. And as she unfolds the story of how modern K.I. is listed up, there are certain truths that are given to us timeless and characteristic enduring and challenging by their very nature, as relevant to this day and generation as anything we can imagine. And the first thing that we see in the 17th verse is the recognition that there is a call for God's people to be good citizens where they are found. Modern K.I. was faithful in discharging all the responsibilities he had before the sin at the same time as recognizing the sins was a call as a servant of God. Modern K.I. listened and served of a plot to assassinate the emperor. He had reported that plot and there's a good servant of his king and in obedience to what God had given to him, he reported that plot, plot it, the murderous and was ultimately rewarded by the king and set upon the scene of victory. And we begin to gain a sense of what it is God has laid upon his people and it is a very important part for us in our day and generation to learn. It is that as God's people, whilst we belong to the citizenship of heaven, whilst our first call is always to obey the king of kings and lord of lord. Nonetheless, we are set in this world to be good citizens where we are. That is that we should accept the responsibility that is given to us, accept the commands that are given to us, that we may obey God and praise for those that God raises up to rule and to lead his people. Now this came in a very pointy line to Neil last week. Some of you who were here in the second service will have seen the unfamiliar sight of a cameraman stood filming the congregation as we went to prayer. Those of you who know me know that cameras and I do not go well together that I do not see that as the prime medium of the church's ministry. And someone asked me why did I commit a cameraman to film the church's prayer and the reason was this. And I like this very point that on the day previously I had received a telephone call of press literary in New York from the ABC News Network that asked me, did I know that there was a coalition in Washington and they lead throughout the country of churches that were praying against the president? And I said no, I did not know, they did not surprise me but I did not know. And they said, well do you ever pray for the president? And I said yes. There's a congregation and there's a people we pray for the president and for those who lead our nation, not against him. And we pray for him because we are first citizens of heaven called by the king of our kingdom to be faithful where we are. And they said, well we cannot find another president here in church in Washington DC that prays for the president. Can we come and film you as a phenomenon? And so I said yes, you may. Not because I want for sure to be on television, please do not read that into our call but that we might understand and that others might understand that our obedience is to the king in his kingdom. It Jesus Christ is our master. And he has given to us his word and commended to our prayers and to our care those who are legitimacy set to rule over it. And we are called of citizens to pray for and to support those laws that do not control the law of God and to uphold as servants of Christ that we are citizens of heaven and good citizens in these are United States. Now here is the principle that we see given to us here that God's people are called to be good citizens where they are obedient to the laws of Christ. The motive of those that God has allowed and appointed and set to rule in his name and to do it, in obedience to Jesus Christ who is the king within the kingdom that we are members of. Now here is more the care. The man and Jew despised in a land that was not his own and exiled and yet he recognised the authority that was given a legitimate authority in the kingdom. And he was a good citizen there. As God's people we are set to be citizens in this nation to pray for those who lead us, not one of us, would seek to sit where our president sits, to pray for the confusion in the minds of many as to the way forward, to be citizens set as God has set us. And as the first thing we learned that to be followers of Jesus Christ is to be people who are good citizens who are obedient to the law. We are not law violators, we give testimonies to this, but with people who commend ourselves to the attention of our nation because we are good citizens this poor Christ. Now here is our call. It is to obey the first Christ to support him. So here he is word and to believe it and to do it in obedience to him. And because we are citizens of heaven, we are good citizens within the state in which God has placed us in this our land. And we ought to recognise that great truth and live accordingly to be people who are considered upon for their faithfulness. But then there is a second truth that is revealed in these verses and it is this, that in the elevation of modern AI to become the prime minister in the place of the wicked and the dissolved hymns we see God's providence at work on behalf of his own people. Now this is something that brings us great comfort, that God works on our behalf. He guides on direct events and circumstances for our greatest good and for our best care. And every man and woman here this night is able to see God at work in your own life. If you have claimed Jesus Christ as your Lord, you are able to see His mighty hand leading you in that point and from that point forward. If you have not seen Him as Lord, then know that you can trace God hand in your life having led you step by step to the place of discontent with the way things are in you for it. A need for your own soul to find solace and to know God will not let you go. But like the home that ever harrows will draw you unmistakably and indecisively closer to Himself. For God sees us as individual, he is concerned with the affairs of our life. He is concerned with the affairs of us that it is the way we should walk and live. Now what is true is that a true understanding of God dealing with our life depends upon faith. It is possible for the unbeliever to turn around and say, well you know just chance is just accident. It is simply the event of circumstances that have all called us together to bring you to this particular punch in the way in which you think and live and these decisions are best for you. But for those who have seen God in Christ claim our lives, we are able to trace the very hand of God in the circumstances of our life. And if no one else is persuaded that God is working in us, we are persuaded. And the truth is we do not need to persuade the world that God has a purpose and directs and leads me step by step. It is by faith that I see God unfolding his future directing my life and holding me in the palm of his hand. And by faith I walk seeing that now we want to be able to persuade the world that God is doing this and we can never do it. Well this is perceived by faith and it is God speaking to faith. And if you want to offer yourselves and God guiding you as an evidence to an unbelieving world, you should never be surprised that the world rejects that God has led you in any particular way. And I'll explain it away, but it should not damage your faith. Because it is by faith you see God leading and blessing and keeping his people and opening doors that his people walk through them. And more decay I could see that. This makes a great and epic story. Our Israel was saved by the courage of this young woman and her determination, ultimately, is to stand for the things you knew to be right and true. Ah but beyond all of that is the hand of God and seen and yet acknowledged. You see it in this last phrase, but many of the people of the land became Jews because fear of the Jews fell upon them. You think they became Jews simply because they wanted to be with the most powerful political party of the time not at all. What the author is saying is that here many saw the mysterious but unsteakable hand of God directing the destiny of this nation and lifting the name of Mordor K.I. And blessing his faithfulness and they wished to be a part of those who were blessed. So a true understanding of God's direction of your life gives preparation of the events of your days. It comes only by faith. It comes as you are convinced that God never fails any who trusts him. And however dark may be the moment that you experience. However mysterious be the ways that God seems to lead you, he leads you on and blesses you. Never failing his providence ever to lead you to himself and to his heart and to the blessedness of his presence. This is what God's providence is all about. It is the directives people closer to himself. That's what the purpose of providence is. It is that God's purposes are worked out in your life and mind. And when a very highest task is given to us that we might simply say I will serve the Lord us for nothing more except to serve. And when I have served to rejoice that God has used me and been pleased to bless me as a tool in his hand. Do you remember that mysterious passage? When our Lord Jesus Christ almost came fully speaks to the disciples in a parable and he reminds them that it is the task of the servant to serve. Not even to expect gratitude or thanks from the Master. Not even to expect that the Master will be grateful and he tells the story of how a servant comes in from the field. Having labored all day long and the Master sits down and asks of the servant where is my food and he asks the servant to give him the food and to serve him before himself. And then without gratitude simply expects that the task of the servant is to serve. We want to give to God and then we expect that either God will say well done or those people whom we have served will say to us oh thank you for what you have done. And God says even the expectation of gratitude is inappropriate for those who are the servants of God. For all that God promises you is that as a servant you may serve. Now there is a mark of true humility. When we are content to serve without everyone saying thank you doesn't come easy to any of us. And I suspect that there are few of us that can continue without the appreciation and the affirmation of our society. And God's people and yet here the Lord says it is the task of the servant to serve and to be content when we do what God has set us to do. Do not look for the affirmation of the world. The providence of God is to use you for his purpose and the blessing of God is that we might say I have been faithful to him who has called me. And I look for nothing more than that I have been used a vessel poured out meat for the service of God and I am content. But that is true. The service of us for at those hurdles but there is the call God directs all circumstances and providence on the behalf of his own, his purpose. Our discontent comes when we are not content to be servants of God and then to serve without any other recompense than that we are privileged to do what God wants us to do. And yet my friends that is what been poured out for God is all about content to be used in his hand for his purpose and his glory. Well there is a third thing that we see in these verses and it is this that God's people are challenged to reveal the character of their Lord through their witness. Many of the people of the land became Jews because fear of the Jews fell upon them. Suddenly the personal provisional God for his people, his rescuing of Israel from destruction became evident to the whole Persian Empire. Now you have seen that the very letter sent out by him and sealed and stamped by the King's own ring was irrevocable. No one could withdraw that which was sent out and so the second letter sent out by Esther and Mordor Kay. Could not overturn the decree of him but it gave permission to the Jews that they may fight those who would lay hands upon them. In giving them that God protected them and as a people they began to rejoice for they saw God's hand of deliverance that worked in their midst and the joy of the Lord was seen upon this whole mission when they were saved. For alive they were powerfully filled with God's presence upon them such that all around them saw that their God took care of his people and what happened was that that provisional God for his people challenged the Jews that they may give thanks and challenged the Persians so that they became Jews. Now here's a mighty truth, if God's people were able to rejoice in the provision of God then many would be amazed at his power to keep and preserve and would seek to share in the uniting and the blessing. The third of God was seen in a people who fled for safety to God for his protection. You know there has only been one epoch in the whole history of our humankind in which a whole nation turned to God, turned to him and became Jews. There are people known as the casers who have passed from the pages of history. They are the only nation in the history of our world where a whole people became Jews because they saw in the history of the Jews the provisional God for his people. And so the king of the casers, the kingdom, the kingdom, the Byzantium became a Jew and his people followed him for they saw the provisional God and trusting in his blessing they became a people who followed him. Now you say, for trivia the preacher reads, it's true, it's interesting most of you will probably have never heard of the casers and most of you will forget having never heard of them the moment you leave this place tonight and I would not urge the history of the casers upon any of you except to know this. That for those who will see God's hand they see him ultimately sufficient, providing and caring and holding his people. And tonight I would leave you with this one message that if you are looking for the security of the protection and the power of God, look to Jesus Christ. For in him bringing to him alone abandoning our own efforts we see God's protecting, providing power for our sin and for the day to day life we live with him. And if we are looking for his mighty power, if we are looking for the reality that touches and impels and drives and provides, we look no further than the all provided gift of grace. That is Jesus Christ, we see in him and in his cross God giving all things to us and in giving Christ, probably he is mighty power for our lives and this night. If you take nothing else from the service with you know that if we would know the power of God, if we would know his peace and his provision and the security of abiding in his arms. It is as we cling to Jesus who has provided all the means for us by his death upon the cross. He driven to the provision of God and the satisfied in him and in him alone to his praise and glory. Amen. Our Father, we thank you that you are our God, our King our Lord and we will turn to you this night. We will turn in our need that you might provide us with a challenge of your word with the power of your spirit and with the love of the Lord Jesus Christ sufficient to hold and to keep all who draw glass. We come, we come and seek your presence now, touch us, bless us and keep us in his name and to his praise and glory. Amen.