1 00:00:07,430 --> 00:00:22,380 I am 2 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:49,190 sitting all alone, Praised 3 00:00:49,190 --> 00:01:10,710 to be true, 4 00:01:56,950 --> 00:02:01,690 I have silence to endure. 5 00:02:05,130 --> 00:02:09,430 Holy, sweet Jesus, 6 00:05:43,750 --> 00:06:13,730 🎶 7 00:08:07,710 --> 00:08:09,830 the book of Esther and chapter 4. 8 00:08:16,870 --> 00:08:24,750 And from the twelfth verse, when Esther's words 9 00:08:24,750 --> 00:08:29,070 were reported to Mordecai, he sent back this 10 00:08:29,070 --> 00:08:33,510 answer, "'Do not think that because you are 11 00:08:33,510 --> 00:08:36,890 in the king's house, you alone of all 12 00:08:36,890 --> 00:08:40,630 the Jews will escape, for if you remain 13 00:08:40,630 --> 00:08:43,430 silent at this time, relief and deliverance for 14 00:08:43,430 --> 00:08:46,070 the Jews will rise from another place, but 15 00:08:46,070 --> 00:08:50,530 you and your father's family will perish, and 16 00:08:50,530 --> 00:08:54,390 who knows but that you have come to 17 00:08:54,390 --> 00:08:59,910 a royal position for such a time as 18 00:08:59,910 --> 00:09:03,530 this.'" There used to be a program on 19 00:09:03,530 --> 00:09:06,750 television, and I'm glad to boast that I 20 00:09:06,750 --> 00:09:09,950 haven't seen one full program on television over 21 00:09:09,950 --> 00:09:12,810 this Christmas period, I count that as a 22 00:09:12,810 --> 00:09:13,210 privilege. 23 00:09:14,310 --> 00:09:16,670 But there used to be a program on 24 00:09:16,670 --> 00:09:22,230 television called Opportunity Knox, and the idea was 25 00:09:22,230 --> 00:09:26,170 that the contestant, actually there are about several 26 00:09:26,170 --> 00:09:29,690 of them, came and put their item before 27 00:09:29,690 --> 00:09:34,630 the large audience of people in Britain, and 28 00:09:34,630 --> 00:09:37,650 then folk made judgment as to which was 29 00:09:37,650 --> 00:09:40,990 the best act, and that went forward to 30 00:09:40,990 --> 00:09:41,970 the finals. 31 00:09:44,290 --> 00:09:46,890 Now, when I was asking the Lord for 32 00:09:46,890 --> 00:09:50,870 some word for this evening, I felt the 33 00:09:50,870 --> 00:09:54,950 prompting upon my spirit to preach about the 34 00:09:54,950 --> 00:09:59,870 importance of the now, the importance of the 35 00:09:59,870 --> 00:10:00,250 now. 36 00:10:01,370 --> 00:10:04,610 And the whole idea behind the burden that's 37 00:10:04,610 --> 00:10:07,630 increasingly been placed upon my mind is this, 38 00:10:08,490 --> 00:10:11,290 that there is an opportunity that presents us 39 00:10:11,290 --> 00:10:15,630 as a fellowship of Christians here in Worthing 40 00:10:15,630 --> 00:10:20,290 in the late 1985 and moving on into 41 00:10:20,290 --> 00:10:23,690 1986, which will never reoccur. 42 00:10:24,990 --> 00:10:27,030 And so I want to gather you all 43 00:10:27,030 --> 00:10:29,350 with me tonight and speak to the whole 44 00:10:29,350 --> 00:10:31,710 of the church family, to young people and 45 00:10:31,710 --> 00:10:33,630 old people, and also to speak to you 46 00:10:33,630 --> 00:10:35,890 not just on a mass but on an 47 00:10:35,890 --> 00:10:40,170 individual basis, and address you on the subject 48 00:10:40,170 --> 00:10:41,670 of the importance of the now. 49 00:10:42,550 --> 00:10:46,910 Who knows but that you have come to 50 00:10:46,910 --> 00:10:49,430 royal position for such a time as this. 51 00:10:49,610 --> 00:10:51,490 The person who is being addressed in this 52 00:10:51,490 --> 00:10:55,350 particular verse is a woman, a rather remarkable, 53 00:10:55,550 --> 00:10:57,610 one of the most in my book, that 54 00:10:57,610 --> 00:10:58,890 ever lived in history. 55 00:10:59,170 --> 00:11:02,290 Her name is Esther, and it was a 56 00:11:02,290 --> 00:11:05,390 very difficult time that she found herself living 57 00:11:05,390 --> 00:11:08,730 on the stage of the Jewish story. 58 00:11:08,730 --> 00:11:12,150 You see, the Jews have been threatened with 59 00:11:12,150 --> 00:11:16,630 genocide, that means mass extermination, on earlier occasions 60 00:11:16,630 --> 00:11:18,410 than just this century. 61 00:11:19,570 --> 00:11:23,710 And many thousands of them found themselves under 62 00:11:23,710 --> 00:11:25,930 the jackboot of the Persian Empire. 63 00:11:27,050 --> 00:11:28,490 There was a man who was quite a 64 00:11:28,490 --> 00:11:31,170 barbaric king by the name of Ahasuerus, or 65 00:11:31,170 --> 00:11:34,170 Xerxes if you're reading the NIV version of 66 00:11:34,170 --> 00:11:34,590 the Bible. 67 00:11:34,590 --> 00:11:38,550 And he had been manipulated into bringing out 68 00:11:38,550 --> 00:11:41,610 a decree that would mean the elimination of 69 00:11:41,610 --> 00:11:42,610 the Jewish race. 70 00:11:43,030 --> 00:11:43,970 How that came about? 71 00:11:44,090 --> 00:11:46,150 Well, read the book of Esther and you'll 72 00:11:46,150 --> 00:11:47,790 get the back cloth to the story. 73 00:11:48,650 --> 00:11:49,990 But the thing that I want you to 74 00:11:49,990 --> 00:11:51,950 have at the forefront of your mind at 75 00:11:51,950 --> 00:11:54,230 this very moment is that if the Jews' 76 00:11:54,570 --> 00:11:58,170 salvation is to be preserved, then it will 77 00:11:58,170 --> 00:12:02,290 only come about by Esther using her royal 78 00:12:02,290 --> 00:12:03,130 prerogative. 79 00:12:03,130 --> 00:12:05,730 You see, by a most unusual turn of 80 00:12:05,730 --> 00:12:09,350 events, she has become the wife of Xerxes. 81 00:12:09,910 --> 00:12:12,670 She has displaced a woman that he sent 82 00:12:12,670 --> 00:12:14,830 into exile by the name of Vashti. 83 00:12:15,270 --> 00:12:18,850 And Esther, the Jewess, is the wife of 84 00:12:18,850 --> 00:12:19,170 the king. 85 00:12:19,750 --> 00:12:22,030 And what is even more significant is this. 86 00:12:22,290 --> 00:12:25,470 Esther and Esther alone has the ear to 87 00:12:25,470 --> 00:12:25,970 the king. 88 00:12:25,970 --> 00:12:29,870 And unless she speaks to the king and 89 00:12:29,870 --> 00:12:33,430 the king listens, then the destiny – well, 90 00:12:33,630 --> 00:12:36,950 there won't be any destiny for the Jewish 91 00:12:36,950 --> 00:12:37,370 people. 92 00:12:37,870 --> 00:12:41,010 And the word comes to her from her 93 00:12:41,010 --> 00:12:46,250 uncle as he makes contact with her, "'Do 94 00:12:46,250 --> 00:12:48,070 not think that because you are in the 95 00:12:48,070 --> 00:12:50,310 king's house, you alone of all the Jews 96 00:12:50,310 --> 00:12:53,430 will escape, for if you remain silent at 97 00:12:53,430 --> 00:12:55,890 this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews 98 00:12:55,890 --> 00:12:58,610 will rise from another place, but you and 99 00:12:58,610 --> 00:13:00,370 your father's family will perish. 100 00:13:01,210 --> 00:13:04,830 And who knows, but that you have come 101 00:13:04,830 --> 00:13:08,430 to royal position for such a time as 102 00:13:08,430 --> 00:13:11,550 this.'" I want to suggest this, and I 103 00:13:11,550 --> 00:13:15,790 weigh my words, that in one very real 104 00:13:15,790 --> 00:13:20,110 sense, tonight we find ourselves, each one of 105 00:13:20,110 --> 00:13:23,490 us, as God's Esthers. 106 00:13:24,730 --> 00:13:27,310 There is something that you can do in 107 00:13:27,310 --> 00:13:29,910 the kingdom of God that no one else, 108 00:13:31,130 --> 00:13:34,810 amongst the brothers and sisters here, is capable 109 00:13:34,810 --> 00:13:35,670 of doing. 110 00:13:35,790 --> 00:13:38,590 I'll qualify that point in a moment or 111 00:13:38,590 --> 00:13:38,750 two. 112 00:13:39,490 --> 00:13:41,310 You see, the burden on my heart is 113 00:13:41,310 --> 00:13:43,030 not just to preach this evening to the 114 00:13:43,030 --> 00:13:46,690 unreached, because I'm persuaded that there's hardly anyone 115 00:13:46,690 --> 00:13:49,510 who would come out in such arctic conditions 116 00:13:49,510 --> 00:13:53,050 as these and listen to an address if 117 00:13:53,050 --> 00:13:55,130 there wasn't the basis of a commitment in 118 00:13:55,130 --> 00:13:55,890 their hearts. 119 00:13:56,850 --> 00:13:59,090 And so, my message is directed at least 120 00:13:59,090 --> 00:14:02,730 to 95%, if not 99%, of the people 121 00:14:02,730 --> 00:14:04,850 who are here, already committed Christians. 122 00:14:06,330 --> 00:14:08,550 And I'm suggesting to you that we are 123 00:14:08,550 --> 00:14:11,770 all, in one sense, God's Esthers. 124 00:14:12,530 --> 00:14:16,030 And who knows, but that we have been 125 00:14:16,030 --> 00:14:19,690 raised to this position as sons and daughters, 126 00:14:19,930 --> 00:14:23,930 princes and princesses of the living God, for 127 00:14:23,930 --> 00:14:26,730 such a time as this. 128 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:32,190 So I break open my verse, the urgency 129 00:14:32,190 --> 00:14:33,330 of the hour. 130 00:14:34,670 --> 00:14:36,870 After all, that's what confronted Esther. 131 00:14:37,950 --> 00:14:41,010 And that's what confronts us today. 132 00:14:41,690 --> 00:14:44,350 A very urgent, a very special hour. 133 00:14:45,430 --> 00:14:47,870 An hour when God's people should have this 134 00:14:47,870 --> 00:14:49,390 as a common denominator. 135 00:14:50,430 --> 00:14:54,350 They want to identify themselves publicly as the 136 00:14:54,350 --> 00:14:55,050 people of God. 137 00:14:55,510 --> 00:14:57,230 You see, that was the temptation for Esther. 138 00:14:57,730 --> 00:15:01,330 Here she was as the wife of the 139 00:15:01,330 --> 00:15:03,090 king, as the wife of the Persian. 140 00:15:03,090 --> 00:15:06,130 She could perhaps have sort of sunk herself 141 00:15:06,130 --> 00:15:09,250 in anonymity, as far as the people of 142 00:15:09,250 --> 00:15:10,110 God were concerned. 143 00:15:10,250 --> 00:15:12,710 But the uncle, Mordecai, he says, no Esther, 144 00:15:12,930 --> 00:15:14,910 it's not time for you to go into 145 00:15:14,910 --> 00:15:17,210 privacy, it's time for you to make public 146 00:15:17,210 --> 00:15:20,130 whose you are and to whom you belong. 147 00:15:21,250 --> 00:15:23,890 And I say today, my friend, let the 148 00:15:23,890 --> 00:15:26,930 people of God acknowledge the fact that they 149 00:15:26,930 --> 00:15:27,850 belong to Him. 150 00:15:27,850 --> 00:15:30,390 This is not an age, I speak with 151 00:15:30,390 --> 00:15:33,090 feeling, for division within the body of Christ. 152 00:15:33,930 --> 00:15:36,050 This is a time when God would federate, 153 00:15:36,150 --> 00:15:39,370 would bring together all His peoples in this 154 00:15:39,370 --> 00:15:39,850 land. 155 00:15:40,310 --> 00:15:42,250 Because in unity there is strength, and where 156 00:15:42,250 --> 00:15:44,690 there is unity, then God the Spirit commands 157 00:15:45,290 --> 00:15:45,870 the blessing. 158 00:15:46,050 --> 00:15:48,550 The urgency of the hour is this, identify 159 00:15:48,550 --> 00:15:51,610 yourself publicly with the people of God. 160 00:15:52,250 --> 00:15:53,910 And I go on to argue this, it's 161 00:15:53,910 --> 00:15:55,570 in your own interest to do so. 162 00:15:55,890 --> 00:15:58,190 It is in your own interest to do 163 00:15:58,190 --> 00:15:58,430 so. 164 00:15:59,030 --> 00:16:01,330 Logically, that may seem to be an indefensible 165 00:16:01,330 --> 00:16:03,570 point, but it is no more or no 166 00:16:03,570 --> 00:16:06,030 less indefensible that it is for me to 167 00:16:06,030 --> 00:16:09,950 assert historically that Esther's destiny was with the 168 00:16:09,950 --> 00:16:13,010 people of God, not with Ahasuerus, not with 169 00:16:13,010 --> 00:16:16,570 her husband Xerxes, not with the Persians, but 170 00:16:16,570 --> 00:16:17,170 with the Jews. 171 00:16:17,270 --> 00:16:17,430 Why? 172 00:16:17,650 --> 00:16:20,050 Because to the Jews belonged the covenant, to 173 00:16:20,050 --> 00:16:22,890 the Jews belonged the future of the ancient 174 00:16:22,890 --> 00:16:25,590 world inasmuch as they would bring into this 175 00:16:25,590 --> 00:16:27,470 world the Son of God. 176 00:16:28,270 --> 00:16:31,390 And we, by extension, have become spiritual Jews, 177 00:16:31,530 --> 00:16:33,090 for we name the name of Abraham. 178 00:16:33,350 --> 00:16:35,490 We have committed faith in God as Abraham 179 00:16:35,490 --> 00:16:36,670 committed faith in God. 180 00:16:36,870 --> 00:16:39,610 Only our faith has been underlined, sealed by 181 00:16:39,610 --> 00:16:42,010 the precious blood of Jesus, and the future 182 00:16:42,010 --> 00:16:43,290 is our future. 183 00:16:44,030 --> 00:16:46,210 And to declare ourselves as the people of 184 00:16:46,210 --> 00:16:48,550 God is clearly within our own interests. 185 00:16:48,550 --> 00:16:51,050 Even though we may be a tiny minority 186 00:16:51,050 --> 00:16:54,510 within the United Kingdom, the destiny of the 187 00:16:54,510 --> 00:16:57,690 people of God or the destiny of the 188 00:16:57,690 --> 00:17:01,190 world is encased within the people of God, 189 00:17:02,010 --> 00:17:05,690 for they alone have a future, not those 190 00:17:05,690 --> 00:17:08,829 who are outside the covenant that God would 191 00:17:08,829 --> 00:17:10,750 make with all men who will confess Jesus 192 00:17:10,750 --> 00:17:11,650 Christ as Lord. 193 00:17:12,609 --> 00:17:14,569 And what is more, I would argue this, 194 00:17:15,349 --> 00:17:17,589 that at such an urgent time as this, 195 00:17:18,210 --> 00:17:21,770 it is a fitting response to publicly declare 196 00:17:21,770 --> 00:17:24,069 that you belong to God, as it was 197 00:17:24,069 --> 00:17:26,290 a fitting response to what God had done 198 00:17:26,290 --> 00:17:26,930 for Esther. 199 00:17:27,250 --> 00:17:30,070 She has been elevated to the position of 200 00:17:30,070 --> 00:17:30,510 a princess. 201 00:17:31,230 --> 00:17:33,710 Is she therefore to be a Joseph who 202 00:17:33,710 --> 00:17:36,970 might, though he wasn't, be reluctant in a 203 00:17:36,970 --> 00:17:40,410 similar situation to identify himself with his brothers 204 00:17:40,410 --> 00:17:41,490 who came from afar? 205 00:17:42,070 --> 00:17:44,110 Joseph who was the prime minister of Egypt, 206 00:17:44,770 --> 00:17:47,310 should he take this position and exploit it 207 00:17:47,310 --> 00:17:50,370 and forget his destiny and forget his brothers? 208 00:17:50,590 --> 00:17:50,910 No. 209 00:17:51,770 --> 00:17:53,570 That would be to take the blessings of 210 00:17:53,570 --> 00:17:55,850 God and throw them back in his face. 211 00:17:56,350 --> 00:18:00,090 Instead of this, Joseph realized that the way 212 00:18:00,090 --> 00:18:01,990 that he could respond to the benevolence of 213 00:18:01,990 --> 00:18:04,550 God was by identifying himself with his brothers. 214 00:18:05,450 --> 00:18:07,250 It was his right so to do. 215 00:18:08,010 --> 00:18:10,370 It indicated the gratitude of his heart, as 216 00:18:10,370 --> 00:18:13,610 it indicated the gratitude of Moses' heart when 217 00:18:13,610 --> 00:18:16,010 he had the possibility of remaining in Egypt 218 00:18:16,010 --> 00:18:18,810 with its luxury and with the influence that 219 00:18:18,810 --> 00:18:19,970 was undoubtedly his. 220 00:18:20,230 --> 00:18:24,530 But he rather determinedly turned his face against 221 00:18:24,530 --> 00:18:28,970 Egypt and aligned himself with his own people. 222 00:18:29,710 --> 00:18:32,130 And as a result, he indicated to the 223 00:18:32,130 --> 00:18:35,410 Lord his gratitude for the preservation of his 224 00:18:35,410 --> 00:18:35,810 life. 225 00:18:36,630 --> 00:18:38,230 Now, my brother, my sister, how do you 226 00:18:38,230 --> 00:18:38,970 describe yourself? 227 00:18:39,150 --> 00:18:41,490 Well, you do so in the terminology that 228 00:18:41,490 --> 00:18:42,210 I've just employed. 229 00:18:42,370 --> 00:18:44,290 You talk of yourself as sons of God. 230 00:18:44,390 --> 00:18:47,490 Abba, Father, let me be thine and thine 231 00:18:47,490 --> 00:18:47,970 alone. 232 00:18:48,370 --> 00:18:51,150 Now that is an inestimable privilege. 233 00:18:51,930 --> 00:18:54,410 There is nothing greater on planet earth than 234 00:18:54,410 --> 00:18:57,310 for you, for me, to align ourselves with 235 00:18:57,310 --> 00:18:59,830 God as his sons, as his daughters. 236 00:19:00,610 --> 00:19:03,710 Then if the hour is urgent, is it 237 00:19:03,710 --> 00:19:07,370 not right that you and I should publicly 238 00:19:07,370 --> 00:19:11,470 identify ourselves as being on the side of 239 00:19:11,470 --> 00:19:14,890 Jesus Christ and as a result show our 240 00:19:14,890 --> 00:19:16,030 gratitude to the Lord? 241 00:19:17,050 --> 00:19:19,090 When our Saviour said to his disciples on 242 00:19:19,090 --> 00:19:21,630 one occasion when a crowd evaporated into thin 243 00:19:21,630 --> 00:19:23,410 air and he was left with just half 244 00:19:23,410 --> 00:19:25,530 a dozen or so men, will you also 245 00:19:25,530 --> 00:19:26,190 go away? 246 00:19:26,190 --> 00:19:29,290 Peter, who often dropped a gaff and put 247 00:19:29,290 --> 00:19:32,490 his foot in it, came out with that 248 00:19:32,490 --> 00:19:35,470 incredibly wise comment, Lord, to whom shall we 249 00:19:35,470 --> 00:19:35,830 go? 250 00:19:36,630 --> 00:19:40,530 For you alone have the key to eternal 251 00:19:40,530 --> 00:19:40,970 life. 252 00:19:41,710 --> 00:19:43,990 There is no one that we can go 253 00:19:43,990 --> 00:19:44,370 to. 254 00:19:45,230 --> 00:19:47,630 It is in our interest to declare ourselves 255 00:19:47,630 --> 00:19:49,590 with the people of God and what is 256 00:19:49,590 --> 00:19:51,810 more, by so doing we show our gratitude 257 00:19:51,810 --> 00:19:53,930 to the Lord for all that he has 258 00:19:53,930 --> 00:19:56,710 done for us on Calvary's cross. 259 00:19:56,770 --> 00:20:01,090 So I say right now, during this next 260 00:20:01,090 --> 00:20:03,610 year, we are to be the people who 261 00:20:03,610 --> 00:20:06,590 shall so respond in an immediate fashion as 262 00:20:06,590 --> 00:20:07,570 Esther responded. 263 00:20:07,790 --> 00:20:09,090 There will be no procrastination. 264 00:20:09,970 --> 00:20:11,890 You know what they say, procrastination. 265 00:20:12,210 --> 00:20:13,610 Procrastination is my sin. 266 00:20:14,110 --> 00:20:15,550 It brings me naught but sorrow. 267 00:20:16,230 --> 00:20:17,770 I know that I should stop it. 268 00:20:18,170 --> 00:20:21,150 In fact, I will tomorrow, but we're not 269 00:20:21,150 --> 00:20:22,450 like that as Christian people. 270 00:20:23,590 --> 00:20:27,430 With the urgency of this hour, we rise 271 00:20:27,430 --> 00:20:31,190 to our destiny as the people of God. 272 00:20:31,730 --> 00:20:34,710 Who knows, but for this you have come 273 00:20:34,710 --> 00:20:37,750 to a royal position for such a time. 274 00:20:38,970 --> 00:20:40,870 And you see, hard on the heels of 275 00:20:40,870 --> 00:20:44,150 the urgency of the hour contained within the 276 00:20:44,150 --> 00:20:46,830 context of my verse is the tragedy of 277 00:20:46,830 --> 00:20:47,210 default. 278 00:20:47,870 --> 00:20:49,130 The tragedy of default. 279 00:20:49,290 --> 00:20:52,110 Listen, Mordecai, the uncle speaking to Esther, if 280 00:20:52,110 --> 00:20:55,270 you remain silent at this time, relief and 281 00:20:55,270 --> 00:20:58,430 deliverance for the Jews will arise from another 282 00:20:58,430 --> 00:20:59,010 place. 283 00:20:59,750 --> 00:21:01,430 Now I said I'd have to qualify a 284 00:21:01,430 --> 00:21:03,830 comment that I made earlier and here it 285 00:21:03,830 --> 00:21:04,150 is. 286 00:21:04,930 --> 00:21:06,490 And it's a comment that you need to 287 00:21:06,490 --> 00:21:08,050 take to your heart and I need to 288 00:21:08,050 --> 00:21:08,810 take to mine. 289 00:21:09,850 --> 00:21:11,510 God can do without us. 290 00:21:12,470 --> 00:21:14,630 Now that may be a staggering piece of 291 00:21:14,630 --> 00:21:17,930 information for me to impart and it's something 292 00:21:17,930 --> 00:21:20,490 that I have to stare at myself, that 293 00:21:20,490 --> 00:21:22,610 God can do without me. 294 00:21:23,870 --> 00:21:28,270 You see, Moses was prepared to take on, 295 00:21:28,510 --> 00:21:32,430 after a little bit of persuasion, the job 296 00:21:32,430 --> 00:21:36,290 of leading the Israelites out of Egypt and 297 00:21:36,290 --> 00:21:39,750 back to the borders of the Promised Land. 298 00:21:39,750 --> 00:21:43,890 Esau was more happy in finding an immediate 299 00:21:43,890 --> 00:21:46,790 successor, Elisha, to take over his role. 300 00:21:48,250 --> 00:21:51,810 And John the Baptist, well, he was mapped 301 00:21:51,810 --> 00:21:54,030 out by the Lord as being someone who 302 00:21:54,030 --> 00:21:58,350 would herald the way for the Lord Jesus 303 00:21:58,350 --> 00:21:58,830 Christ. 304 00:21:59,390 --> 00:22:01,850 But let's think a nonsense thought through for 305 00:22:01,850 --> 00:22:02,630 a moment, shall we? 306 00:22:03,270 --> 00:22:05,850 What if Moses had done a flat refusal? 307 00:22:06,730 --> 00:22:09,690 What if Elisha had said no? 308 00:22:10,330 --> 00:22:12,410 What if John the Baptist had not been 309 00:22:12,410 --> 00:22:14,110 so willing as he stood by the banks 310 00:22:14,110 --> 00:22:16,390 of the Jordan to cry a message of 311 00:22:16,390 --> 00:22:18,530 repentance to those who came to hear him? 312 00:22:19,210 --> 00:22:21,030 Well, God is not frustrated. 313 00:22:22,210 --> 00:22:24,210 You see, there is one characteristic, in fact 314 00:22:24,210 --> 00:22:26,270 there are many, but there is one supreme 315 00:22:26,270 --> 00:22:29,330 characteristic which marks God out from you and 316 00:22:29,330 --> 00:22:29,530 me. 317 00:22:29,770 --> 00:22:32,330 He is the eternally unfrustrated one. 318 00:22:35,170 --> 00:22:40,170 Esther, if you don't, if you remain silent 319 00:22:40,170 --> 00:22:43,990 at this time, relief and deliverance for the 320 00:22:43,990 --> 00:22:47,470 Jews will arise from another place. 321 00:22:49,130 --> 00:22:53,470 God can do without you if you reject 322 00:22:53,470 --> 00:22:55,370 to perform what is His bidding. 323 00:22:55,370 --> 00:22:58,550 And it may be, and here I horrify 324 00:22:58,550 --> 00:23:01,550 myself, for I speak of this beloved church 325 00:23:01,550 --> 00:23:05,370 fellowship, it may be that He will do 326 00:23:05,370 --> 00:23:06,050 without us. 327 00:23:06,950 --> 00:23:09,150 What is our reputation as a church? 328 00:23:10,630 --> 00:23:12,050 Missionary minded, you say? 329 00:23:12,410 --> 00:23:20,770 Well, maybe, evangelistically geared, biblically centered, but what 330 00:23:20,770 --> 00:23:22,910 if our reputation is hollow? 331 00:23:22,910 --> 00:23:24,870 What if it's just like the cosmetic that 332 00:23:24,870 --> 00:23:26,650 a lady may daub her lips with? 333 00:23:27,250 --> 00:23:29,890 What if it's really only skin deep? 334 00:23:31,250 --> 00:23:34,250 Then hear me and hear me well, for 335 00:23:34,250 --> 00:23:35,590 I claim to speak in the name of 336 00:23:35,590 --> 00:23:35,870 God. 337 00:23:37,430 --> 00:23:38,870 He will raise up another fellowship. 338 00:23:40,150 --> 00:23:42,190 He will raise up a faithful people. 339 00:23:43,570 --> 00:23:45,370 If we will not do what God wants 340 00:23:45,370 --> 00:23:49,090 us to do for Him, then He will 341 00:23:49,090 --> 00:23:51,450 remain the eternally unfrustrated one. 342 00:23:52,250 --> 00:23:55,050 If Esther will not go through to Ahasuerus 343 00:23:55,050 --> 00:23:58,510 to Xerxes the king, then God will have 344 00:23:58,510 --> 00:23:59,270 someone else. 345 00:24:00,770 --> 00:24:03,030 The history of the Christian church has indicated 346 00:24:03,030 --> 00:24:07,150 that God sometimes has had to put down 347 00:24:07,150 --> 00:24:09,910 against saying of the disobedient people. 348 00:24:10,810 --> 00:24:12,930 And He has brought, usually by a remarkable 349 00:24:12,930 --> 00:24:16,330 movement of His Spirit and through something that 350 00:24:16,330 --> 00:24:20,270 we call revival, interbeing of people who are 351 00:24:20,270 --> 00:24:23,270 obedient and prepared to do the will of 352 00:24:23,270 --> 00:24:23,630 God. 353 00:24:24,730 --> 00:24:26,370 God can do without us. 354 00:24:27,470 --> 00:24:29,510 And it may be in face of our 355 00:24:29,510 --> 00:24:33,430 disobedience that He would do without us, that 356 00:24:33,430 --> 00:24:36,890 He might take our candlestick, that He might 357 00:24:36,890 --> 00:24:39,110 say, as was said of Judas by prophecy, 358 00:24:39,510 --> 00:24:41,510 let his habitation be desolate and let his 359 00:24:41,510 --> 00:24:44,050 bishopric another one take. 360 00:24:44,730 --> 00:24:46,490 But to stay with this point is too 361 00:24:46,490 --> 00:24:48,110 painful for me, so let me move on. 362 00:24:48,750 --> 00:24:50,890 For we've considered together not only the urgency 363 00:24:50,890 --> 00:24:52,730 of the hour and the tragedy of default, 364 00:24:53,810 --> 00:24:56,350 but let's contemplate for a moment or two 365 00:24:56,350 --> 00:24:58,730 longer the frailty of the vessel. 366 00:24:59,810 --> 00:25:01,150 The frailty of the vessel. 367 00:25:01,850 --> 00:25:04,650 You see, she was just a woman, only 368 00:25:04,650 --> 00:25:05,110 a woman. 369 00:25:06,790 --> 00:25:08,750 And yet you know sometimes I feel that 370 00:25:08,750 --> 00:25:11,710 women get very bad publicity as far as 371 00:25:11,710 --> 00:25:12,610 preachers are concerned. 372 00:25:14,090 --> 00:25:16,630 I think that sometimes the whole of God's 373 00:25:16,630 --> 00:25:18,730 purposes in the Old Testament and in the 374 00:25:18,730 --> 00:25:21,050 New Testament have pivoted on women. 375 00:25:22,850 --> 00:25:25,110 As far as women's lips are concerned, well, 376 00:25:26,030 --> 00:25:28,690 I'm not too sure about the modern brigade, 377 00:25:28,830 --> 00:25:30,690 but what I do believe is this, that 378 00:25:30,690 --> 00:25:32,330 God honors women through His Word. 379 00:25:33,370 --> 00:25:34,790 He has a Deborah, thank God. 380 00:25:35,630 --> 00:25:36,490 He has an Esther. 381 00:25:37,470 --> 00:25:38,550 He has a Mary. 382 00:25:39,270 --> 00:25:41,010 He has a Mary Magdalene. 383 00:25:42,050 --> 00:25:44,110 But they're so frail, these women, aren't they? 384 00:25:45,150 --> 00:25:47,330 But isn't it amazing what God can do 385 00:25:47,330 --> 00:25:48,210 with frail women? 386 00:25:49,530 --> 00:25:51,110 I was going to get up and testify 387 00:25:51,110 --> 00:25:54,810 a moment or two ago about some people 388 00:25:54,810 --> 00:25:56,890 who had influenced my life quite radically in 389 00:25:56,890 --> 00:25:57,810 the last three weeks. 390 00:25:58,230 --> 00:25:59,070 Let me tell you now. 391 00:26:00,150 --> 00:26:01,190 There were a couple of ladies. 392 00:26:01,290 --> 00:26:02,750 One was, I think she said she was 393 00:26:02,750 --> 00:26:04,210 61 and the other was 65. 394 00:26:04,210 --> 00:26:05,710 I didn't ask their ages, I don't do 395 00:26:05,710 --> 00:26:07,930 that sort of thing, but they informed me 396 00:26:07,930 --> 00:26:08,390 of this. 397 00:26:10,210 --> 00:26:15,130 Pioneer missionaries amongst primitive tribes, unreached tribes in 398 00:26:15,130 --> 00:26:17,130 Central Africa, Central East Africa. 399 00:26:18,350 --> 00:26:20,290 And we were trying to persuade them to 400 00:26:20,290 --> 00:26:22,090 take one of our missionary sessions in the 401 00:26:22,090 --> 00:26:24,210 afternoon as I had done the Bible exposition 402 00:26:24,210 --> 00:26:24,830 in the morning. 403 00:26:25,970 --> 00:26:27,630 They were part of the African Inland Mission. 404 00:26:27,730 --> 00:26:29,750 They came from South Africa actually, South African 405 00:26:29,750 --> 00:26:30,330 by birth. 406 00:26:30,910 --> 00:26:33,310 And their maxim was at 61 and 65 407 00:26:33,310 --> 00:26:34,270 that they'd go anywhere. 408 00:26:34,410 --> 00:26:35,830 In fact, they said, all right, we'll take 409 00:26:35,830 --> 00:26:37,310 a session, but announce us as the go 410 00:26:37,310 --> 00:26:37,910 -go girls. 411 00:26:40,430 --> 00:26:41,570 We didn't do that. 412 00:26:43,210 --> 00:26:45,150 But it was incredible to see the pictures 413 00:26:45,150 --> 00:26:46,730 of the little tent in which they'd lived 414 00:26:46,730 --> 00:26:48,670 and the primitive sanitation that was theirs. 415 00:26:48,750 --> 00:26:50,290 It's now been replaced by something a little 416 00:26:50,290 --> 00:26:54,110 more sophisticated, as these women folk hazarded their 417 00:26:54,110 --> 00:26:56,450 lives at that age, an age when some 418 00:26:56,450 --> 00:26:58,830 people would excuse themselves from attending prayer meetings 419 00:26:58,830 --> 00:27:00,850 here in England because, well, you're getting on 420 00:27:00,850 --> 00:27:01,810 a bit at 60, aren't you? 421 00:27:01,970 --> 00:27:02,890 That's not my view. 422 00:27:03,090 --> 00:27:03,850 It's what I've been told. 423 00:27:04,650 --> 00:27:05,770 I'll tell you in a few years. 424 00:27:07,410 --> 00:27:09,690 The frailty of the vessel, you see, in 425 00:27:09,690 --> 00:27:12,150 no way as far as Esther is concerned, 426 00:27:12,470 --> 00:27:16,710 will her femininity frustrate the purposes of God? 427 00:27:17,950 --> 00:27:22,210 Again, Uncle Mordecai, who knows? 428 00:27:22,910 --> 00:27:25,350 Who knows but that you have come to 429 00:27:25,350 --> 00:27:27,250 a royal position for such a time as 430 00:27:27,250 --> 00:27:27,510 this? 431 00:27:28,570 --> 00:27:30,230 Well, no one at that moment could argue 432 00:27:30,230 --> 00:27:31,050 against it, could they? 433 00:27:33,530 --> 00:27:37,390 Who knows that God has brought together 300, 434 00:27:37,630 --> 00:27:39,890 400, 500, I don't care about the numbers, 435 00:27:40,070 --> 00:27:42,890 of people at Worthing Tabernacle for such a 436 00:27:42,890 --> 00:27:45,290 time as this in the history of this 437 00:27:45,290 --> 00:27:47,390 town, in the history of the southern part 438 00:27:47,390 --> 00:27:47,770 of England? 439 00:27:48,530 --> 00:27:49,130 Who knows? 440 00:27:50,270 --> 00:27:51,790 Nobody can argue against it. 441 00:27:52,550 --> 00:27:53,330 Not at this moment. 442 00:27:53,450 --> 00:27:54,870 You might be able to argue against it 443 00:27:54,870 --> 00:27:56,870 ten years hence when you've judged my word, 444 00:27:56,930 --> 00:27:59,690 whether it has any prophetic aspect to it 445 00:27:59,690 --> 00:28:00,150 or not. 446 00:28:00,890 --> 00:28:02,730 Who would have thought, for example, at the 447 00:28:02,730 --> 00:28:05,750 point of calling, that Jesus hadn't made a 448 00:28:05,750 --> 00:28:07,710 mistake when he brought twelve men to be 449 00:28:07,710 --> 00:28:11,010 his followers, though he recognised that one was 450 00:28:11,010 --> 00:28:14,210 a dud, but within a few years after 451 00:28:14,210 --> 00:28:16,130 their call they turned the world upside down? 452 00:28:16,270 --> 00:28:17,330 Who would have known that? 453 00:28:17,330 --> 00:28:19,930 That these men could do that sort of 454 00:28:19,930 --> 00:28:20,230 thing? 455 00:28:21,550 --> 00:28:24,730 Who knows what we might discover within our 456 00:28:24,730 --> 00:28:26,190 fraternity here at the Tab? 457 00:28:27,270 --> 00:28:29,950 I sometimes feel myself as being a Samuel 458 00:28:29,950 --> 00:28:32,830 looking for a David that I want to 459 00:28:32,830 --> 00:28:33,110 anoint. 460 00:28:34,550 --> 00:28:36,730 I've lived long enough to want to pour 461 00:28:36,730 --> 00:28:38,670 my life into the life of other younger 462 00:28:38,670 --> 00:28:41,210 people so that when I'm dead and through 463 00:28:41,210 --> 00:28:42,950 and in the glory they will be able 464 00:28:42,950 --> 00:28:43,550 to continue. 465 00:28:43,550 --> 00:28:47,030 Who knows who might come into this fellowship? 466 00:28:49,190 --> 00:28:50,650 Who knows if it might be us that 467 00:28:50,650 --> 00:28:54,490 prays another George Verver into the kingdom or 468 00:28:54,490 --> 00:28:55,310 a George Muller? 469 00:28:57,010 --> 00:28:58,930 It's amazing what God has done with Georges, 470 00:28:58,990 --> 00:28:59,330 isn't it? 471 00:29:00,510 --> 00:29:02,990 George Fox was another in the history of 472 00:29:02,990 --> 00:29:03,550 the church. 473 00:29:05,150 --> 00:29:06,070 Who knows? 474 00:29:06,990 --> 00:29:08,650 Well, you can't say, can you? 475 00:29:08,670 --> 00:29:09,770 You can't dogmatise. 476 00:29:09,770 --> 00:29:11,210 All you can say is that, well, it 477 00:29:11,210 --> 00:29:14,130 is a possibility that amongst our ranks we 478 00:29:14,130 --> 00:29:17,050 may have some people who ultimately will turn 479 00:29:17,050 --> 00:29:18,470 this country back to God. 480 00:29:18,610 --> 00:29:19,350 Who knows? 481 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:24,360 And what's more, you can't deny that it 482 00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:26,900 could well be yourself that's particularly to be 483 00:29:26,900 --> 00:29:29,740 used by the Lord after all of what 484 00:29:29,740 --> 00:29:30,120 he's done. 485 00:29:31,860 --> 00:29:33,700 Esther was a princess, but you, as I've 486 00:29:33,700 --> 00:29:36,340 repeated, are royal in the sight of God. 487 00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:37,880 Could you ever believe that? 488 00:29:38,540 --> 00:29:41,500 I remember my dear, dear brother Peter Lewis 489 00:29:41,500 --> 00:29:43,520 one day nearly breaking down in the pulpit 490 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:45,320 as he said that one of the great 491 00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:47,360 discoveries he ever made in his life was 492 00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:48,780 that God could love him. 493 00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:52,680 Now if God has done the greater and 494 00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:54,520 lifted you up as a son, as a 495 00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:56,760 daughter of his, can he not do the 496 00:29:56,760 --> 00:30:01,080 lesser and use you in your sonship on 497 00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:04,040 this earth to achieve his purposes? 498 00:30:04,780 --> 00:30:05,540 Who knows? 499 00:30:06,300 --> 00:30:08,140 What God could do with us in community, 500 00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:10,960 what God can do with us as individuals, 501 00:30:12,100 --> 00:30:14,120 if he can speak to the godless through 502 00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:17,120 the mouth of a donkey, conceivably God can 503 00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:19,240 rise to the challenge of making you articulate. 504 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:22,760 He can cause a huge fish to cough 505 00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:24,860 up Jonah, what might he use to regurgitate 506 00:30:24,860 --> 00:30:25,280 you? 507 00:30:27,340 --> 00:30:28,840 What might he do with you? 508 00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:36,620 And Esther, when her uncle says, who knows 509 00:30:36,620 --> 00:30:38,720 but that you've come to a royal position 510 00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:43,060 for such a time as this, she sends 511 00:30:43,060 --> 00:30:47,440 a message back, when there's been a fast 512 00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:51,440 for three days, verse 15, then I will 513 00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:54,380 go to the king even though it is 514 00:30:54,380 --> 00:30:59,400 against the law and if I perish, I 515 00:30:59,400 --> 00:30:59,860 perish. 516 00:31:01,140 --> 00:31:02,700 The frailty of the vessel. 517 00:31:04,340 --> 00:31:08,200 Now finally my commentary on her response, if 518 00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:11,220 I perish, I perish. 519 00:31:13,020 --> 00:31:15,020 You see, she hasn't been before the king 520 00:31:15,020 --> 00:31:18,700 for a month, and in those days wives 521 00:31:18,700 --> 00:31:20,760 didn't go before their husbands unless they were 522 00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:24,960 asked how things have changed, at least queens 523 00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:27,220 didn't go before their kings until they were 524 00:31:27,220 --> 00:31:27,520 asked. 525 00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:31,960 And one might be risking one's life to 526 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:34,440 suddenly find yourself in the presence of the 527 00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:37,540 king without the royal decree and his golden 528 00:31:37,540 --> 00:31:40,000 rod being pointed towards you indicating that you 529 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:42,240 had access into his presence, and so Esther 530 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:43,660 says, if I perish, I perish. 531 00:31:44,560 --> 00:31:47,940 But here's my commentary on her response, Esther, 532 00:31:48,020 --> 00:31:49,760 don't fear for your physical safety. 533 00:31:50,940 --> 00:31:52,760 Don't fear for your physical safety. 534 00:31:52,820 --> 00:31:53,040 Why? 535 00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:55,920 Well, you see, you've been brought to the 536 00:31:55,920 --> 00:31:58,840 kingdom for such a time as this, and 537 00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:00,800 the heart of the king is within the 538 00:32:00,800 --> 00:32:01,340 hand of God. 539 00:32:01,380 --> 00:32:02,400 Do you understand what that means? 540 00:32:03,380 --> 00:32:05,260 The heart of the king is within the 541 00:32:05,260 --> 00:32:05,840 hand of God. 542 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:09,020 In other words, these powerful men, these power 543 00:32:09,020 --> 00:32:12,080 blocks in our world today, they are still 544 00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:14,740 within the compass of the sovereignty of God. 545 00:32:15,460 --> 00:32:17,720 George Whitefield, one of my heroes, said, I 546 00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:19,420 am immortal until my life is through and 547 00:32:19,420 --> 00:32:20,020 he's dead right. 548 00:32:22,180 --> 00:32:26,140 Immortal until the hour on the clock comes 549 00:32:26,140 --> 00:32:29,840 when God has said that I will lay 550 00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:32,300 down my life on this earth. 551 00:32:33,140 --> 00:32:35,240 So here is Esther, you see, and she 552 00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:37,940 is agreeing to what her uncle has said, 553 00:32:37,980 --> 00:32:40,600 and her uncle has logically argued that she, 554 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:44,060 Esther alone, has, or so it would seem, 555 00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:46,780 the safety of the Jewish nation in her 556 00:32:46,780 --> 00:32:47,160 hand. 557 00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:50,320 And in the purposes of God, she determines 558 00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:53,760 after a three-day fast, after maintaining spiritual 559 00:32:53,760 --> 00:32:57,000 disciplines, that whether invited or not, she'll go 560 00:32:57,000 --> 00:32:57,940 before a Xerxes. 561 00:32:58,340 --> 00:33:00,500 If I perish, I perish, que sera, sera. 562 00:33:01,880 --> 00:33:05,520 But my commentary is, you remember, you have 563 00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:07,000 no need to be afraid for your physical 564 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:07,480 safety. 565 00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:07,940 Why not? 566 00:33:11,040 --> 00:33:13,580 Well, you see, when God tells you to 567 00:33:13,580 --> 00:33:17,060 do something, then you have the guarantee of 568 00:33:17,060 --> 00:33:18,960 His presence with you. 569 00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:22,840 And therefore, we can couple to my observation 570 00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:25,320 this, fear not for the outcome of your 571 00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:25,640 mission. 572 00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:28,780 Fear not, Esther, for the outcome of your 573 00:33:28,780 --> 00:33:30,180 mission. 574 00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:33,060 Roll down the red carpet of predestination. 575 00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:34,840 That's not a very pleasant word to some 576 00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:36,980 people, but you know, the carpet of predestination 577 00:33:36,980 --> 00:33:39,820 is much better than an axe minster, because 578 00:33:39,820 --> 00:33:41,700 it's woven on the looms of heaven. 579 00:33:42,580 --> 00:33:45,020 And as you go through your life, as 580 00:33:45,020 --> 00:33:47,420 you go through your pilgrimage on planet earth, 581 00:33:47,700 --> 00:33:49,160 you are not in the power of some 582 00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:50,220 capricious force. 583 00:33:50,740 --> 00:33:54,660 That means some uncontrollable power that's being exerted 584 00:33:54,660 --> 00:33:55,220 on your life. 585 00:33:55,460 --> 00:33:58,600 You're not thrown sort of into a turbulent 586 00:33:58,600 --> 00:34:01,900 sea like some cork that's uncontrollable. 587 00:34:02,340 --> 00:34:05,240 If you are within the purposes of God, 588 00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:07,580 if your life has been placed in His 589 00:34:07,580 --> 00:34:11,500 hands, then He will work out for you 590 00:34:11,500 --> 00:34:15,860 what He has predetermined, and that's a great 591 00:34:15,860 --> 00:34:16,679 relief to know. 592 00:34:17,580 --> 00:34:19,360 That doesn't make you a puppet on a 593 00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:19,760 string. 594 00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:23,100 It doesn't lock you into some mechanical system 595 00:34:23,100 --> 00:34:26,020 whereby God obliterates the freedom of your choice 596 00:34:26,020 --> 00:34:28,540 and your will, but in harmony with His 597 00:34:28,540 --> 00:34:30,380 sovereignty becomes your freedom. 598 00:34:30,380 --> 00:34:33,120 And as you submit yourself to His design, 599 00:34:33,300 --> 00:34:36,219 so He works out for you, come Xerxes 600 00:34:36,219 --> 00:34:39,780 or anyone else, what He has predetermined, that's 601 00:34:39,780 --> 00:34:41,239 a marvellous thing to appreciate. 602 00:34:42,960 --> 00:34:46,739 So here, and I'm through, here is dear 603 00:34:46,739 --> 00:34:47,139 Esther. 604 00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:48,520 She's preaching to us. 605 00:34:48,560 --> 00:34:49,580 What a marvellous woman. 606 00:34:50,620 --> 00:34:55,480 She's preaching to us in the 1980s from 607 00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:56,120 her life. 608 00:34:57,040 --> 00:34:59,100 Who knows but that you have come to 609 00:34:59,100 --> 00:35:01,100 a royal position for such a time as 610 00:35:01,100 --> 00:35:03,360 this, the urgency of the hour. 611 00:35:05,380 --> 00:35:07,060 The tragedy of default. 612 00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:08,680 Esther, if you don't do this, God will 613 00:35:08,680 --> 00:35:09,760 raise somebody else up. 614 00:35:09,860 --> 00:35:12,000 But what an insult that will be. 615 00:35:12,240 --> 00:35:14,600 Instead of people remembering Esther and her name 616 00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:17,140 being a blessing, it will become almost a 617 00:35:17,140 --> 00:35:17,540 curse. 618 00:35:18,220 --> 00:35:20,200 It will become an embarrassment to the Jewish 619 00:35:20,200 --> 00:35:20,680 race. 620 00:35:22,040 --> 00:35:23,740 Esther, you've come to the kingdom for such 621 00:35:23,740 --> 00:35:24,440 a time as this. 622 00:35:24,440 --> 00:35:26,080 Ah, but the frailty of my vessel. 623 00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:27,700 That's no problem with God. 624 00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:31,700 He likes frail things because a greater glory 625 00:35:31,700 --> 00:35:34,280 accrues to God as He uses the most 626 00:35:34,280 --> 00:35:35,140 unlikely person. 627 00:35:35,260 --> 00:35:38,080 That's why He picked you and me. 628 00:35:40,480 --> 00:35:42,240 And when she said, well if I perish, 629 00:35:42,300 --> 00:35:44,640 I perish, you heard my commentary. 630 00:35:45,720 --> 00:35:46,700 Esther will not perish. 631 00:35:46,800 --> 00:35:46,920 Why? 632 00:35:47,020 --> 00:35:49,020 Because she's locked up within the purposes of 633 00:35:49,020 --> 00:35:49,400 the Lord. 634 00:35:50,840 --> 00:35:54,100 Now look, we move into the future, don't 635 00:35:54,100 --> 00:35:54,940 we, as a church? 636 00:35:56,060 --> 00:35:56,900 Into 1986. 637 00:35:57,100 --> 00:35:58,820 I don't want to make a fetish out 638 00:35:58,820 --> 00:36:00,200 of the change of a day on a 639 00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:02,800 calendar, that's not highly important, but it's an 640 00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:05,980 opportunity for us just to ensure that we're 641 00:36:05,980 --> 00:36:10,040 going on the right course and appreciating what 642 00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:11,240 God can do through us. 643 00:36:11,540 --> 00:36:13,300 I believe God has got a great deal 644 00:36:13,300 --> 00:36:14,920 more to do with Worthing Tabernacle. 645 00:36:15,020 --> 00:36:16,340 I wouldn't be here if I didn't believe 646 00:36:16,340 --> 00:36:16,500 that. 647 00:36:17,140 --> 00:36:20,880 I believe that He wants us to develop 648 00:36:20,880 --> 00:36:25,140 further in our evangelistic concerns, in our ministry 649 00:36:25,140 --> 00:36:28,300 of prayer, in the recklessness of our giving. 650 00:36:29,100 --> 00:36:31,040 I think that He wants to take more 651 00:36:31,040 --> 00:36:33,300 from our fellowship to use them in the 652 00:36:33,300 --> 00:36:36,100 ministry at home and abroad. 653 00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:41,800 And there's no one lady, there's no one 654 00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:44,940 man, there's no boy, there's no young person 655 00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:48,460 who is outside of the potential of God 656 00:36:48,460 --> 00:36:52,740 using them in the service here for the 657 00:36:52,740 --> 00:36:54,560 advance of the cause of Jesus Christ. 658 00:36:54,640 --> 00:36:57,620 You've come, you've come to the Kingdom for 659 00:36:57,620 --> 00:36:58,740 such a time as this. 660 00:36:59,780 --> 00:37:01,380 You've come with me, you've come with one 661 00:37:01,380 --> 00:37:01,700 another. 662 00:37:02,620 --> 00:37:06,240 So let's go to it and secure the 663 00:37:06,240 --> 00:37:09,400 purposes of God as He opens up this 664 00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:13,280 next year and daringly linking hands with Him 665 00:37:13,280 --> 00:37:15,380 and hands with one another. 666 00:37:16,280 --> 00:37:19,060 Let us fulfill the purposes of the Lord 667 00:37:19,060 --> 00:37:23,120 as we proclaim His gospel, as we educate 668 00:37:23,120 --> 00:37:27,320 people in biblical truth, and as we glorify 669 00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:30,860 the name of Jesus Christ in our living. 670 00:37:31,760 --> 00:37:37,240 We, my brothers and sisters, have come to 671 00:37:37,240 --> 00:37:40,580 the Kingdom for such a time as this. 672 00:37:42,120 --> 00:37:47,520 We are all God's esters. 673 00:37:50,060 --> 00:37:50,660 Amen. 674 00:37:53,340 --> 00:37:54,960 We're going to sing a hymn that we 675 00:37:54,960 --> 00:37:56,860 haven't sung more than two hundred times this 676 00:37:56,860 --> 00:37:57,040 year. 677 00:37:58,740 --> 00:38:04,000 Jesus is King and I will extol Him, 678 00:38:05,380 --> 00:38:08,820 give Him the glory and honour His name. 679 00:38:09,380 --> 00:38:10,240 Anyone got the number? 680 00:38:11,900 --> 00:38:13,580 236, it's on the overheads. 681 00:38:13,680 --> 00:38:15,600 Let's lift that last verse as an anthem 682 00:38:15,600 --> 00:38:17,680 and indeed we'll take it twice. 683 00:38:18,360 --> 00:38:18,840 236. 684 00:38:18,940 --> 00:38:23,380 Let's sing this with all our heartfelt response 685 00:38:23,380 --> 00:38:24,860 to what I've tried to share with you 686 00:38:24,860 --> 00:38:26,160 from God's Word this evening. 687 00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:28,340 After we've sung the second verse twice, we'll 688 00:38:28,340 --> 00:38:30,200 have the benediction, then you're free to go 689 00:38:30,200 --> 00:38:32,920 or else you can be instructed more in 690 00:38:32,920 --> 00:38:36,520 the beauties of Africa as Ken Hearn takes 691 00:38:36,520 --> 00:38:39,380 us on a tour de force of four 692 00:38:39,380 --> 00:38:39,920 countries. 693 00:38:40,040 --> 00:38:41,540 I think we've got some coffee and tea 694 00:38:41,540 --> 00:38:44,020 before we go to Africa, but we're in 695 00:38:44,020 --> 00:38:45,980 the back hall here, the back lounge, and 696 00:38:45,980 --> 00:38:46,760 you're more than welcome. 697 00:38:47,340 --> 00:38:49,560 And the 11 o'clock service on Christmas 698 00:38:49,560 --> 00:38:52,460 Eve, New Year's Eve, we'll be glad to 699 00:38:52,460 --> 00:38:54,160 see you here if you can make it. 700 00:38:54,460 --> 00:38:55,240 Jesus is King. 701 00:39:04,060 --> 00:39:12,660 Jesus is King, and I will extol Him, 702 00:39:13,100 --> 00:39:20,900 give Him the glory and honour His name. 703 00:39:20,900 --> 00:39:28,500 He reigns alight in glory forever. 704 00:39:29,420 --> 00:39:43,520 Word of the Father makes us 705 00:39:43,520 --> 00:39:51,560 certain, gone through the curtain and touching the 706 00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:52,720 throne. 707 00:39:53,280 --> 00:40:01,120 We have a priest who is there interceding, 708 00:40:01,500 --> 00:40:11,240 for he comes 709 00:40:11,240 --> 00:40:16,760 to make a priest and apostle. 710 00:40:16,760 --> 00:40:31,060 Lord, give His glory a place 711 00:40:31,060 --> 00:40:33,300 before Him. 712 00:40:50,360 --> 00:41:09,480 Filled with Your goodness, Savior, 713 00:41:09,900 --> 00:41:10,700 forever. 714 00:41:22,650 --> 00:41:46,030 Filled with Your goodness, 715 00:41:46,230 --> 00:41:50,480 Savior, forever. 716 00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:52,380 And Father, as we're moved with the emotion 717 00:41:52,380 --> 00:41:56,980 of that song, we pray that combined with 718 00:41:56,980 --> 00:42:03,880 our feelings may be our reasoned conclusion that 719 00:42:03,880 --> 00:42:06,460 yes, we have come to the Kingdom by 720 00:42:06,460 --> 00:42:08,760 Your grace for such a time as this. 721 00:42:09,680 --> 00:42:11,780 That we've come not as paupers, but as 722 00:42:11,780 --> 00:42:12,120 princes. 723 00:42:12,940 --> 00:42:16,980 We've come as people withstanding, not by our 724 00:42:16,980 --> 00:42:18,520 right, but by Your grace. 725 00:42:19,260 --> 00:42:21,640 Then help us as children of the King 726 00:42:21,640 --> 00:42:22,760 to live royally. 727 00:42:22,760 --> 00:42:26,560 May our very demeanour, our very attitude towards 728 00:42:26,560 --> 00:42:28,340 one another and the way that we conduct 729 00:42:28,340 --> 00:42:31,180 our affairs, handle our time and our finances, 730 00:42:31,840 --> 00:42:34,080 may it befit those who are part of 731 00:42:34,080 --> 00:42:35,160 the royalty of heaven. 732 00:42:35,980 --> 00:42:37,940 And we ask, O Lord, that as we 733 00:42:37,940 --> 00:42:41,340 muse upon all that is in store for 734 00:42:41,340 --> 00:42:45,780 us, our priorities may be rightly ordered and 735 00:42:45,780 --> 00:42:49,480 enable us to go and tell the equivalent 736 00:42:49,480 --> 00:42:52,360 to the Persians in our world of the 737 00:42:52,360 --> 00:42:54,620 greatness and the splendour of the plan of 738 00:42:54,620 --> 00:42:55,200 salvation. 739 00:42:55,820 --> 00:42:57,580 Enable us to be Your ambassadors. 740 00:42:57,980 --> 00:43:01,760 Keep us together, loving one another, united in 741 00:43:01,760 --> 00:43:05,100 heart and purpose, and help us to achieve 742 00:43:05,100 --> 00:43:08,360 what is Your design in our lives for 743 00:43:08,360 --> 00:43:09,540 the Saviour's sake. 744 00:43:10,220 --> 00:43:10,680 Amen. 745 00:43:11,700 --> 00:43:13,040 And all God's people said? 746 00:43:13,540 --> 00:43:13,880 Amen. 747 00:43:14,180 --> 00:43:15,140 And the saints said? 748 00:43:15,400 --> 00:43:15,980 Hallelujah. 749 00:43:16,280 --> 00:43:17,480 And one day Gordon will get it. 750 00:43:17,960 --> 00:43:18,900 God bless you. 751 00:43:21,320 --> 00:43:21,460 Amen.