Conquering the Dilemma Introduction (Part 2)

How many of you saw, I think it was Mike that, Pastor Mike, that put a little clip on Facebook this afternoon, just a short clip of the worship service that he was a part of this morning.

! He knew the song that they were singing, but he could tell it was beautiful, or something to that effect. And so it was good to see that.

Glad God's blessing that. Knew he would. And looking forward to seeing what the future holds in all of that. Before we get into the study again tonight, let me mention to you, at the end, at the close of the service this morning, standing over here, and Brother Clarence Pasquale brought a gentleman up front here.

You remember the gentleman sitting right over here by himself, kind of a grayish-haired, bearded guy, you know, scruffy. Anyway, sitting by himself, and he was the gentleman that Clarence brought up forward.

And Clarence said, the gentleman would like to talk to you. So I thought, okay, great. So we sat down and spoke, and his name is Daryl Hadley.

And he shared with me the fact, and I don't know how long ago it was, but in some time in the past, that he said, your church was a tremendous blessing to me and my wife.

He had had lung cancer. And they evidently took part of his lung out in surgery. And so that, you know, that recuperation is a long recuperation and sometimes difficult.

But he said, he said, I want you to know your church not only prayed for me, but they just continued to bring meal after meal after meal to us. And just wanted you all to know that God used you in our lives.

And I thought, how appropriate, you know, for God to do that, to let us know that, in light of what we've been looking at on Sunday evenings the last month or two.

And so I just wanted to share that with you. Like I say, I don't know how long ago it was, and I didn't ask him. I, you know, thought, are you sure it was our church? But no, no, I don't mean that in a bad way.

But I didn't know of anybody and haven't heard anybody that recognized the name. Oh, do you? Do you? Oh, oh, it wasn't that long ago then.

Okay. Okay. But I thought that was tremendous. I asked him, you know, I didn't think to ask him where he went to church if he did, but whether or not he knew the Lord, I did. And he said, oh, yes.

Yes, there was no question about his salvation experience. But he just came and wanted our church to know that God used our church to minister to he and his wife.

So I invited him back, and hopefully, perhaps based ahead, we may see them again. So just wanted to share that with you. And we shouldn't do this, but you all reach over and pat yourselves on the back.

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. For obeying the Lord, and not for doing, but for obeying the Lord and doing what God told you to do as a church.

So that's good. Let's just continue. Amen. The good work. All right. Anybody remember what we did this morning? Thank you.

And this is part two. By doctor. The doctor's still in. All right. All right. Who was it that mentioned that to me today?

Yeah. He said, oh, a doctor. I didn't realize. I said, pfft. I'm kind of, well, basically the kind of doctor that doesn't do anybody any good. But nonetheless. All right.

We were looking today at that dilemma. Knowing in our minds what God expects. Knowing in our minds what we should be doing.

But finding it sometimes difficult to do that. And finding ourselves, finding it easy to kind of justify what we do instead of really getting down to business with God.

So that's where we were. And so let's go to Galatians chapter 5 this evening. And kind of pick up because we were looking at the fact that it's the spirit of God that God has placed within the life of the believer.

That not only manifests the Lord through the lives. But the way he does that is to produce the graces of Christ in the life.

And we see part of that. Now, the fruit of the spirit is not all there is to it. But it's a big part of that. And so we began looking at that somewhat this morning. And I want to amplify that because it's good for us.

You know, we look at these things and we begin to wonder, what does that really mean? What do all those things mean? Long-suffering, gentleness, kindness, meekness. What does that mean? What in that is to be projected for my life?

And so I want us to take a look at some of that again this evening. We started out with agape love this morning. But let's read the passage again.

Let's back up just a little bit. Let's look at verse 16. He said, This I say then, walk in the spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Interesting that he starts this segment and ends it the same way.

Amen? Now, walk in the spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the spirit, there's the passage, and the spirit against the flesh.

These are contrary the one to the other, since you cannot do the things that you would. Now, remember that word lust, or lust of any place it's used. But the basic definition of that word is simply having a passionate craving for something.

And it could be anything. All right? In this case, it's the spirit of God having a passionate desire to suppress the influence of the sin nature.

The sin nature within us, having that same passionate desire only to suppress the inklings of the Holy Spirit, the leadership of the Holy Spirit within us.

So those are the two. Those are the two ideas there. But look at verse 15 again. But if you be led of the spirit, you're not under the law. Of course, that's the whole argument that Paul's been dealing with in Galatians about law and grace.

Then he says, The works of the flesh are manifest. They're outwardly manifest. They're made known. Which are these? Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, endings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like.

Of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Now, the idea there now, remember, is if these things are a habitual activity in your life, it's not the idea that somewhere down the road some of this may enter in by whatever means and for whatever reason.

But it's the idea that it doesn't stay there. All right? It's not an habitual activity of our life, purposeful. All right? But what he's looking at in the statement he makes there, if these things are a habitual, purposeful, regular activity of your life and part of your life, you're not saved.

All right? You'll not inherit the kingdom of God. But then he goes on. He said, But in contrast to that, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.

Against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit.

Let us be desirous, not be desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another. All right? Now, sorry to remember with agape love. And let's back up for just a moment and see, because I don't remember for sure how deeply we got involved in that, because I knew it was going to be long, and I didn't want to spend all the time in that.

Of course, agape love is that love that God is. You know, Scripture says God is love. It's a love that's produced in the life of the believer by the Holy Spirit.

Realize, Scripture says, and I forget who it is, that said, Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God.

That word manner is the word alien. What alien kind of love the Father hath bestowed upon us. So it's the idea that that agape love is totally foreign to the natural man within us.

It's not something that's naturally there. Now, there's a big long list in the Greek of the different types of love there are. And they're all human, except for agape love.

All right? So it's the type of love that God is. Produced in the heart of the yielded believer. Now, realize, all of these things, all aspects of the fruit of the Spirit, produced in the life of the yielded believer.

Okay? The yielded believer. Of course, self-sacrificial is the chief ingredient of the character of it. Self-sacrificial on behalf of the one, or the benefit of the one that's loved.

Now, notice what he says. Well, we went to 1 Corinthians 13, because it's not in Galatians 5 here. 1 Corinthians chapter 13 is that love chapter that Paul gives us that contains, if you will, the ingredients, or the characteristics, I should say, of agape love.

So turn there with me just a moment, and let's kind of zip through these again with a little more detail. All right? Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not, King James renders it charity, but that's the word agape love, I am become a sandy brass tinkling cymbal, and though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries, have all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not agape love, I am nothing.

And on down he goes. Then in verse 4, he gives us those characteristics. Charity, agape love, suffereth long and is kind.

It envieth not, it vauneth not itself, is not puffed up. Literally, what he's saying is this. It suffers long. Literally has a long mind.

Either trials, adversities, persecutions, provocations, anything such as that, can reach agape love. All right? Trials, adversities, nothing of those type things.

It's also patient toward all men, suffers in all the weakness, ignorance, errors, and infirmities of fellow Christians. Now don't raise your hand.

But have you ever gotten kind of irritated at your fellow believer? More than likely, that's all right, Mike, if you want to confess.

All right, we can do that later. No, no, no. No. Yeah. Of course, I have. All right? But what's that a sign of? It's a sign that at that moment, agape love was not at operation within us.

All right? Because agape love puts up with a lot of that stuff. You know, if it's one thing a pastor needs, is agape love.

And the reason I say that is because the pastor has a ringside seat. He really does. Of his people.

Of the people that God's put in his care. He sees their life. He sees their development. He also sees their lack of development. He sees the potential that's there in them, but doesn't see that potential being worked out.

And so that's frustrating. And so, pastors really got to have agape love in this instance. All right? Toward them to be patient with them.

And sometimes, sometimes they can be trying. All right? All right. Puts up with the infirmities of fellow Christians, as well as the wickedness and the malice of the people of the world.

Unsaved people. All right? Now, it's not just merely for a time, but it's always. And there's a key for us, again. You know, all of these things are to be a continual thing.

Not just part of the time. All right? It's kind. That is, it's tender and compassionate in itself. Kind and obliging to others.

It's mild and gentle. And if it's called to suffer, inspires the sufferer with friendly sweetness. All right? And the most tender affection. Now, here's another key to this.

It is also submissive to all the workings of God. Now, realize with me, sometimes, the working of God in our life can be very difficult.

Right? We expect, we expect the work of God in our lives to be so good and so sweet all of the time.

Have, you've all got children. You need to have grandchildren. Have you been sweet and tender and loving and all of those kindnesses type things to your children and grandchildren all the time?

The laughter tells me no. Of course not. There are times you had to deal with them and you had to deal sternly with them, which is the biblical thing to do.

God does the same thing with us because He knows what we need, doesn't He? He knows exactly what our circumstance is. He knows where we are spiritually and our growth.

He knows what it takes to get us to where He wants us to be and so He does those things to get us to that point and sometimes those are uncomfortable things. But agape love takes those, all right, as God's dealings and does so without any complaint.

Yeah. Yeah, that's agape love. All right? It envies not. It's not grieved because another possesses a greater portion of earthly, intellectual, or spiritual blessings.

Those that possess agape love rejoice as much at the happiness, honor, and comfort of others as it does their own, His own. All right? They are always willing that others should be preferred before them.

It vaunteth not itself. Literally, it does not act rashly, insolently, does not frequently change without reason and so forth. It doesn't set itself forward, does not desire to be noticed or applauded, but wishes that God may be all in all.

then it's not puffed up. It's not inflated with a sense of its own importance because it knows it has nothing but what it has received. It has nothing to give except what God does and that it deserves nothing that it has gotten.

Does not behave itself unseemly, that is, it never acts out of its place or character. Observes due decorum and good manners is never rude, bearish, brutish, and is always willing to become all things to all men.

Boy, you see how far this thing goes? This is just agape love, alright? Agape love. And we see it a little bit later. You ever wonder why God listed it first in the fruit of the Spirit?

Wes? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's the thing that feeds all of it.

Yeah. And by which all of it is sustained. Boy, if we don't have agape love, the rest of it is not going to be there. Okay? Because agape love is what God is.

And everything that He has produced, He produces on the basis of the agape love that He Himself possesses. It seeks not her own, it's not desirous of its own spiritual warfare, alone, but the neighbors also.

It's not easily provoked, I think we hit on that this morning, not easily exasperated, irritated, it's not made sour or bitter. Anytime you see a believer that's bitter, you can be sure that agape love is not an operation in their life.

Even bitterness toward God. Now be careful with that, because I understand and I realize the human implications of sorrow and grieving that many times will take a person down that road, but if true agape love is an operation in their lives, that won't remain there.

Okay? Agape love will take care of that. If it's an operation within us. Thinks no evil, and believes no evil, where evil does not exist.

Doesn't suppose that a good action may have a bad motive, all those type of things. The implication here is that it does not invent or devise evil, all right?

Particularly as it's dealing with other people. The finger pointing on all of that, suspicion and type things that are produced by someone that implicates somebody in wrongdoing when that wrongdoing has not been done.

It rejoices not in iniquity, not in falsehood, but rejoices in the truth. That's everything that's opposite of falsehood. Now, here's a good one.

It bears all things. All things. Endures, bears, sustains, covers, conceals, contains.

All things. It's almost like it absorbs it to a point. All right? Believes all things, that is, ever ready to believe the best of every person and accuse of evil without clear evidence is not there.

All right? In other words, it just gives people the benefit of the doubt instead of pointing the accusing finger at somebody. Now, if you've got evidence, you've got proof, all right, what do you do?

Pardon? Yeah, yeah. The thing you want to do is try to seek the reconciliation, restoration, to restore them back to fellowship with God in particular and thus then in the body.

That should be the motive of all of that. All right? It bears all things, it hopes all things, and this is a killer, when there is no place left for believing good of a person.

How many of you ever know anybody like that? you know, all hope seems to be gone. Then love comes in with its hope, where it could not work by faith.

All right? How many times have we in our minds ever written somebody off because of their activity, their character, all those things?

Yeah. But see, agape love, when our mind and even our faith comes to the point where we don't see any possibility, any hope at all of this person coming into a right relationship with God, agape love does.

It does see that. All right? So that means there's no place in agape love for writing somebody off. All right?

Because that's always a possibility when it comes to agape love. Then it endures all things, bears up under all persecutions, maltreatment from the enemies, and professed friends, bears adversities with an even mind, and so forth.

Then he says, charity never faileth. Wow. It never falls off.

If it's produced in the life of the yielded believer, it's always there. Again, in lieu of the fact that the believer has yielded to the Spirit of God.

All right, so, never falls off, literally, because it bears, believes, hopes, and endures all things. And while it does so, it cannot fail.

It is the means of preserving all other graces. All right? And then he lists those. Joy, joy that has a spiritual basis, it's exaltation that arises from a sense of God's mercy that's been given to us, and this prospect that we have of glory, eternal glory with the Father.

Then peace is that tranquility of mind that's based on the consciousness of a right relationship with God. All right? Long-suffering speaks of the steadfastness of the soul under provocation.

Includes the idea of forbearance, patient endurance, of wrong under ill-treatment without anger, or thought of revenge. Gentleness refers to friendliness and kindness, mellowing in our nature all that is harsh and stern.

Goodness refers to that quality in a man who is ruled by and aims at what is good, namely the quality of moral worth. Then faith, not referring here to the faith exercised by the believer, but to faithfulness and fidelity that's produced in the life of the yielded believer by the Spirit of God.

And then meekness, meekness refers to the quality of mildness, gentleness, and meekness in dealing with others. And then temperance is possessing power, strong, having mastery, or possession of, or self-control.

So it's the idea of having mastery of our own impulses and desires. Wow, that's a long list of stuff, isn't it? But that's what happens in the life of the believer when we totally yield to the Spirit of God.

Now, a couple of things here. Any thoughts, questions to that point? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's true. true statement that you say. All right?

We're not under the law. We're under grace. But again, let me say this. I said it this morning, and I've got it listed to say it at the end of everything too, is that although we will not come into that perfect conformity to the image of Christ until we go to be with Him.

We cannot let that be an excuse to us. All right? To not give it our best shot, if you will, of continuing to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ and in our yieldedness to the Spirit of God.

Because, I mean, it's like a child. We expect the natural process of growth to take place with our children.

You know, who's a little, was that your little bitty baby this morning? That was so sweet. They dress them up so cute.

Amen? Used to be they smelled really good when you put that baby powder on them. I don't know what they do now. Probably just dip them in something. But, you know, as sweet and cuddly and cute and affectionate as that little infant is, you don't want that child to stay that way.

Amen? You don't. And the natural process says it won't. It'll continue to grow into becoming a toddler and then the nasty twos.

all right? Where that sin nature within really begins to show itself and all those things. But in the midst of that, what's happening here?

You're seeing a development within them. And you come to a point, it comes to a point down the road somewhere at whatever particular age, when you begin to look at them and you begin to ask the question to yourself, I really wonder what God's going to do with them.

Sometimes that's good, sometimes that's not so good, but you know what I'm saying. What is it that they're going to become? What is it that God's going to formulate in them and through them and to them that He down the road in their later life is going to use in that particular way He wants to use them for His glory?

And so it's that continual development. that's the way our individual Christian life needs to be. We need to realize that, that that's what God's doing in our lives to bring us into conformity more and more to the image of Christ.

And so that ought to be the motive, the desire, the longing of our heart to be that way. Go in your Bibles to Philippians chapter 3.

Familiar passage to you, but I really think this is the type of heart that God wants us to have. The Apostle Paul, writing in that letter to the church at Philippi, and in chapter 3, he gives that good strong list of things that qualified for him being the poster child of Judaism in his day.

All right? I mean, he was it. If you wanted the greatest example of Judaism and keeping the law in that day, it was Saul of Tarsus.

All right? And he lists those things. And he lists them in such a way that at that point in time when he possessed all of that, it was beneficial for him.

Yeah, I picture everybody in Judaism in Jerusalem having his picture on their wall. Amen? Yeah. Not to throw dart at you, but just to enamor him.

All right? Now, in verse 7, look what he says. And the idea, as we mentioned this morning, is when he came to that point of of I'm making sure that clock wasn't crooked, came to that point of being encountered by the Lord Jesus, everything changed.

All right? Saul of Tarsus died with Christ right there. And so what became of Paul the Apostle? Here's his desire. What things were gained to me, those things he had just listed, everything in my life that was beneficial to me in such, so many ways, those I counted loss for Christ.

And the idea there is not one by one, in totality. All right? You know, what happened, excuse me, what happened in the days immediately following his conversion?

You remember? I'm sorry. Yeah, but what else happened after that?

That's it. Yeah, he went into the deserts of Arabia for three years. Hadn't seen anybody. for three years went and simply got alone with God and let the Spirit of God teach him.

Boy, don't you wish you knew what took place in that three years. God was the most highly educated man in Judaism.

Sat at the feet of Gamaliel, the greatest professor there was, and knew that stuff, knew the law inside and out, but God drove him to the desert for three years so that he could get it right to see how that law applied to this person of Jesus that he persecuted, who is indeed the Christ.

And I think it was in that three years time that God worked in his heart, worked in his life, so much that he could come up with this attitude here, in this outlook.

all those things that were beneficial to me, I now in all totality, all together, just count them but loss.

They're gone for Christ. Now, boy, that ought to be a lesson for us, amen? If there's some things we're struggling with that are getting in the way of our walk with God, we just need to take some time.

If you need to take vacation, if you're not retired, take vacation. If you are retired, just take vacation from your wife. And get alone.

She says, help yourself. But get alone with God and say, God, I see this, and it's getting in the way.

You probably see some other things, Lord, that are getting in way just as much that I don't see. So God, just show me this stuff and work in my heart a longing and desire and willingness to set those things aside once and forever and just get alone with you and deal with you and be with you in my walk.

That's what happened here. I count them all lost for Christ. Yea, doubtless, I count all things but lost, why? For the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I suffered the loss of all things do count them but done that I may win Christ.

Two things here. The excellency of the knowledge. He wants to come to the point, and he stresses this again a little bit later, wants to come to the point in his life where he can become as intimate with the person of Christ and know him as thoroughly as a man can know him in this life.

And then that I may win Christ, the idea of winning Christ there is the idea of having the graces of Christ applied to his life so he can be Christ-like.

That's his longing, that's his desire, and for that to happen, he just counts all those beneficial things that are earthy as loss. And to be found in him not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may know him, there's that word again, that idea, experiential knowledge here, that I may know him by experience and to know the power of his resurrection.

Now what he's saying there is that he's not talking about the fact that when he dies he wants to be resurrected again. That's a given fact, because Christ rose. But he says, the power that raised Jesus from the dead, I want an operation in my life.

The power of God that did that. I want an operation in my life. If there's one thing and only one thing, if they were just the only thing that the life of the believer in this generation needs today, it's the power of God being resonant within us.

it's already resonant, but being manifest from us. Okay? Now, and to know the fellowship of his suffering, being made conformable unto his death, if by any means am I detained at the resurrection of the dead, not as though I had already attained, or either were already perfect, but I follow after if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

Apprehend is the idea of reaching up and grabbing something and holding it down, pulling it down. And he's saying here, I want to reach up, get a hold of, and pull down to me what it is that God has reached down and pulled me up to himself for.

Yeah. He said, I've not gotten there yet. I'm intimidated by his statement there. If he hasn't gotten there, where am I?

But nonetheless, he said, I've not counted myself to have apprehended, but this is the one thing I do. Forgetting those things which are behind, reaching forth to those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

I want to please him. yeah. I want to win the race God's got set before him, before me, and I want to win that prize of that high calling.

Yeah. Look at verse 15. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect or complete, spiritually mature, be thus minded.

and if in anything you be otherwise minded, God will reveal that unto you. He'll show you where you are and where you need to be. Nevertheless, wherever it is, where until we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, the same mind, the same thing, and so forth.

All right? Now, that's the heart of Paul, and that needs to be our heart as well. Now, how do we do that?

Come Wednesday nights. No. Seriously, that's what our Wednesday night study is going to be based upon. Not an original study to me.

Years ago, I had the opportunity to attend a Bible conference at First Baptist in Bartlesville. It's been a long time ago. It had a man there by the name of Major Ian Thomas, Major W.

Ian Thomas, British. He wrote a book. That time it was called, what was it called then?

Wrong Man Out, Right Man In. Then it was called What? The Power in the Palace. Then the third printing, it's, If I Perish, I Perish.

Why did they change the name? I don't know. But, it's a look in the book of Esther. It's an allegory found in the book of Esther and he does a masterful job of painting a picture of that struggle of the Christian life and what it takes to get to that point of being so yielded to God.

We're freed from the self efforts and all of those things that we struggle with. So, it's going to be a tremendous study. It's going to be a great study. He's done a tremendous job of doing that, putting that together.

Now, so, we'll be looking at that. But, let's, that is the craziest thing. There we go. Do what?

Oh, well, I could do that, but I feel rude. Because I think people in the pews are rude when they, I've had, I've had a person at it when I was pastor out in New Harmony.

Guy, for some reason, he just had it against me. Me of all people. I never could figure it out. I just thought, it's just him.

But he would literally sit back around the back pew on Sunday mornings. Just like that.

wanted to be sure, I saw, I just look at him and grin. It didn't bother me a bit. It didn't bother me a bit.

Look over in Ephesians chapter 4 for just a moment. And, let's look at something here. Paul's admonition to us.

This one that called everything beneficial to him in the flesh under the law as rubbish as gone says to us. Verse 17 of Ephesians chapter 4.

This I say therefore and testify in the Lord that you henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind having the understanding darkened being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness to walk all in to walk to work excuse me all in cleanness with greed greediness but you have not so learned Christ if so be or literally is he's saying as is the case you have heard of him and have been you have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth of this is in Jesus and here's what he taught that you put off concerning the former conversation or manner of behavior the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts

I looked that up in the Greek studies that you put off the old man now the idea of put it off is just like taking your clothes off it's literally that idea but the old man here he said the analogy of the old man is like an old man and he rendered that an old man is useless you know fruitless not really helpful for anything I thought no come on now you didn't give me an age for an old man but but you get the idea there the old man and he's talking about he's talking about the old life controlled by the sin nature is what he's saying in here and the sin nature itself that's the old man that you put off the old man which is corrupt and the idea there is it's being corrupted more and more day by day that sinful nature is being corrupted more and more according to the deceitful lust so put off the old man but then he said be renewed in the spirit of your mind be renovated by the work of reformation or transformation if you will all right be restored renewed renovated in the spirit of your mind and then also that you put on the new man put him on which after

God literally what God is in himself that's the model of the new man that's created in righteousness and true holiness I think it quite interesting that in Paul's letters to the church churches in the new testament so many times we find that it's not a matter of their salvation that he's talking about that he writes about per se because he takes the given that if they've genuinely placed faith and trust in Christ they're saved they're his they're kept but when it comes to the matter of walking in the spirit that he has a lot to say and he says here stop acting like the Gentiles that are unsaved that's the analogy of the word Gentile there stop conducting your behavior like those that are unsaved you know take off that old man and put on the new man because you've been saved

God's done a work to provide for you through Christ victory over that power of sin and so put that new man on because that new man is created after what God is in himself and walk in that as if to say that is our responsibility to do that that's not going to happen automatically it happens by our yieldedness to the spirit of God all right and so give you a preview here it's a picture of Mordecai being booted out of the realm of King Ahasuerus his kingdom by the suggestion and word of Esther no it's

Haman I'm sorry see I'm getting Haman being booted out because Queen Esther has influenced King Ahasuerus but Queen Esther has been influenced by Mordecai now that I'll give you a little hint where we're going with that amen all right so let me encourage you those of you that will be with us on Wednesday nights go back through I know Lee did a tremendous job I pulled him up and listened to the studies that he did and Esther did a great job but his was a verse by verse and it was a good study but ours is going to be different so I want to encourage you to go back and refresh your mind read through the book of Esther between now and Wednesday night if you can we'll review it some Wednesday night but that'll give you a refreshed thought memory of what all takes place in that so we'll be ready to go all right

I appreciate y'all coming tonight let's pray together Thank you.