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[0:00] Last week we began looking at the symbolism of the characters that we find in the book of Esther and what they represent.

[0:26] ! Remember we said that King Ahasuerus, the king of Persia, represents the soul of man, the mind, the will, and the emotion. And then of course the kingdom of Persia with its 127 provinces represent the human body.

[0:46] Then we looked at Mordecai. Mordecai represents the Holy Spirit. We'll see more about him tonight. And then Esther as well represents the human spirit.

[0:59] We'll see more of her as well. And then we delved a little bit into Haman last week, if you recall. And the basis for Haman representing the sin nature or the natural man, the flesh, is the fact that Haman was an Agagite or the son of a man that was an Agagite.

[1:21] And the Agagites are those that stem from Amalek. The Amalekites. The Amalekites were the greatest enemies that Israel had back in the day.

[1:34] And so that begins to tell you about the animosity here. And then of course the Amalekites descended from Esau. And we looked at the attitude that Esau had concerning God.

[1:49] All right? Selling the birthright. It didn't mean anything to him. He just seemingly had no interest in the things of God. And so with the Amalekites being the arch enemies of Israel, you see the reasoning or the ingrained, I guess, reasoning behind the animosity of Mordecai toward the people of Israel.

[2:15] And why he makes a good representation of the flesh. And so we begin, we continue on a little bit tonight to look at more of this.

[2:25] And we'll look now at Mordecai. And remember who Mordecai is. He now represents the Holy Spirit. And we find Esther chapter 3, verses 3 through 5, speaking of Mordecai.

[2:41] Then the king's servants which were in the gate said unto Mordecai, Why transgresseth thou the king's commandment? Now it came to pass when they spake daily unto him, And he hearkened not unto them, That they told Haman, To see whether Mordecai's matters would stand.

[3:01] For he had told them that he was a Jew. And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, Nor did reverence him, Then was Haman full of wrath.

[3:13] Now we'll see more about Mordecai and his relationship to Esther and all of those here in just a little while. But in all the dealings of the things of the kingdom, There's one thing in particular that really drove Haman crazy.

[3:31] And that was the fact that there was one man that sat at the gate That was not going to give any reverence at all to Haman. In fact, probably, Just speculation is that whenever, Whenever Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate and Haman walked by, Mordecai probably just stared him straight in the eye, Straight in the eye, And just, Just a cold disinterest in who he is.

[4:01] And it probably made Mordecai livid to him. He's not going to back down from Haman. He's not going to bow down to him.

[4:14] He's just going to remain faithful to the Lord. Now, Realize, In the picture that we saw last week, Haman now being, No, Mordecai now being revealed as a Jew, Has also been revealed now to him from his attitude toward Haman, That Haman was, That Mordecai, I keep getting those two guys confused, And it's easy to do.

[4:43] That Mordecai was not going to bow down to anybody That would attempt to keep God from being God, Especially in his life. And so, That's the picture that we begin to see there.

[4:55] Nothing but contempt, In the mind and heart of Mordecai for Haman. So, It was in Mordecai then, That Haman saw the ultimate, Defiant, Ultimate threat, Rather, To the authority that Haman had.

[5:14] And that was because of Mordecai's failure, And his, To bow, And his defiance. Haman saw that, That personification of that threat to his kingdom, In Mordecai.

[5:29] Now, There's an accusation that's given there, In Esther chapter 3, Verses 8 and 9. There's a certain people scattered abroad, And dispersed among the people, In all the provinces of the kingdom.

[5:44] And their laws are diverse from all people, Neither keep they the king's law. Therefore, It is not for the king's profit, To suffer them.

[5:54] Now, That is, That is, Haman's accusation, Before the king, That, That he gives to them there.

[6:05] Again, His fear was, He knew and saw, That the, That the Jewish people continued to grow, In number. And so, His fear was, They were going to become, Such, A great number of people, That eventually, That would cause, Their law, Which of course, Was the law of Moses, Cause their law, To become the, The law, Of the kingdom.

[6:34] And so, If that were to happen, A radical change, Would take place, In the kingdom. All right? Especially, In the government. And that, Indeed, Would introduce, An entirely, New type, Of life, And lifestyle.

[6:52] One that was just, Opposite, And incompatible, With that, Which had been developed, Through the evil, Heart, And mind, And influences, Of, Haman.

[7:04] All right? Now, To Haman, This had to be, Resisted, At all costs. Now, Just what were the laws, That Haman was so afraid of?

[7:19] The law of Israel. Right? The law of God, To Israel. That's what he was, So afraid of. Because the laws of Israel, Were the laws, That God gave to them.

[7:34] We saw in Romans, Chapter 2, Verses 28, Through 3, For he is not a Jew, Which is one outwardly, Neither is that circumcision, Which is outward in the flesh, But he is a Jew, Which is one inwardly, And circumcision, Is that of the heart, In the spirit, And not in the letter, Whose praise is not of men, But of God.

[8:00] Now here's the question, What advantage then, Has the Jew? Or what profit is there, Of circumcision? Much every way, Chiefly, Because that unto them, Were committed the oracles, Of God.

[8:18] The psalmist even declared that, In Psalm 147, Verses 19 and 20, He showeth his word, Unto Jacob, His statutes, And his judgments, Unto Israel.

[8:29] He hath not dealt so, With any nation, And as for his judgments, They have not known them. Praise ye, The Lord. Now, In the battle, That we see here, Between Mordecai and Haman, We see that representing, What we see written, By the apostle, In Romans chapter 8, Verses 5 through 7, For they that are after the flesh, Do mind the things of the flesh, But they that are after the spirit, The things of the spirit.

[9:04] Now remember, Mordecai, The Holy Spirit, Haman, The flesh. Alright, So you see the battle there, For the control of the heart, And mind of the individual.

[9:17] And there's that battle, That's there in that. For to be carnally minded, Is death, But to be spiritually minded, Is life, And peace. Because the carnal mind, Is enmity against God, It is not subject, To the law of God, Neither indeed, Can it be.

[9:35] And that's an interesting statement there. Alright, I've mentioned before to somebody, Some group, Years ago, Had a group of Mormons, Come knock at my door.

[9:48] And, Of course, I knew what they were there for, So I just got out on the front porch, And I wanted to talk to them. And they were telling me, How I could find peace with God, And all these type things.

[9:59] And I asked them the question, I said, Answer this for me. I said, The Bible says, That the natural man, The carnal man, Is at enmity of God, And it's not subject to the law of God, Neither indeed can it be.

[10:17] So then, If I'm carnal by nature, How can I have peace with God? That's a good question. Amen?

[10:28] And they, Of course, Did not have the answer. Alright? The natural man, The sin nature within us, Will not willingly submit, To the things of God.

[10:41] To the laws of God in particular. Because the flesh, And the spirit, Are at enmity with one another. They're diametrically opposed, One to another.

[10:53] So they're totally incompatible. So, In this case, Being hostile to God, It follows then, The flesh, Is hostile, To the laws of God.

[11:07] Haman, Is hostile, To, The laws of God. And as well, Any steps that God might take, To establish, Or reestablish, His laws, Within the heart, Of mankind.

[11:22] Kind. Alright? So, Got to believe, That whatever the case may be, Haman's going to fight this thing, Tooth and nail. To keep any of those laws, From being established, In the kingdom.

[11:37] But remember, He's already entrenched, Within the kingdom, Within the palace, Haman is. So likewise, Being already entrenched, Within the human soul, By nature.

[11:52] I mean, Remember folks, That's what we were born with. Amen? I don't care, How sweet and adorable, And good smelling, A baby does, When he's got baby powder, All over him.

[12:05] And he ooze, And coos, And looks at you, With those baby eyes. He's still got, That nature of sin, Within him. That's what he was born with.

[12:16] Entrenched within, That life. Just as Haman, Was already entrenched, In the palace. So the flesh, Is in an admirable position, To incite, The mind, The will, And the emotions.

[12:32] That of course, Is the soul. And that is of the unregenerated man. Alright? So, Keep that in mind. It can even, It even tries, To influence, The soul, Of the believer too.

[12:46] Don't you ever think he doesn't? Alright? Alright? Now, So it, He tries to, Incite the mind, The emotions, And the will, To defy God, To resist his grace, And to keep, Mordecai out.

[13:04] So, It was to that end then, That Haman approaches King Hazarus, And persuades him, With his own subtlety, That the introduction, Of divine laws, Would be dangerous, To, His kingdom.

[13:22] Alright? Now, And as, As well, As that, The voice of the people, The Jews, That represent the law, Then, Must be, Silenced.

[13:36] Even if it has to be, Done ruthlessly. Alright? Now, Realize, That same lie, Continues today. People have allowed, Satan, To persuade them, That to give themselves, Back to God, Would be a detriment, To them, Because it would, Rob them, Of the liberty, Of enjoying, The type of life, In sin, That they're living in, Now.

[14:01] Alright? We see that, In Ephesians 4, Verse 18, 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, The idea, The understanding, Darkened, Is literally, The idea, Of darkening, Or blinding, The mind, And it shows, A finished, Permanent result, Of the blinding, Of the mind, By sin, Which that is dangerous, Then they're alienated, From the life of God, That is literally, They have estranged, Themselves, From the life of God, You ever stop, To think about, Where we're at, Today, In this generation, And why so many, In this generation, Fight, The things of God, I know that there are some, That are just totally ignorant, Of the things of God, But I think, I think out there, Even in the unsaved,

[15:01] The majority of people, Recognize, And realize, That there is God, But they don't want to have, Anything to do with him, Because they don't want to allow him, To have any authority, Of their lives, And change the way, They're living, Because they're enjoying, Their lifestyle, That they brought to themselves, That's the whole picture, That we see there, And we have here, Now, Again, Having the understanding darkened, Being alienated, From the life of God, Through the ignorance, Or the blindness, That is in them, Or ignorance is in them, Because of the blindness, Of their heart, 2 Corinthians 4, 4 says, In whom the God of this world, Hath blinded the minds of them, Which believe not, Lest the light, Of the glorious gospel of Christ, Who is the image of God, Should shine unto them, So, It's for that particular reason,

[16:04] That so many today, Have done exactly the same thing, Willfully, Not out of ignorance, That King Ahasuerus did, Back then, We see in Esther, Chapter 3, Verse 10, The king took his ring, From his hand, And gave it unto Haman, The son of Hamadathah, The Agagite, The Jews enemy, Now, What then is the significance, Of, Ahasuerus, Placing the ring, His own ring, On the finger of, Of, Haman, Well, We see that, Over in Genesis, Chapter 41, As we look at the picture, Of Joseph, Remember Joseph, Being in Egypt, Alright, Genesis 41, Verses 40, Through 44, Pharaoh now,

[17:06] Speaking, To Joseph, He said, Thou shalt be over my house, And according unto thy word, Shall all my people be ruled, Remember, He's made Joseph, His second hand man, Over all of the kingdom of Egypt, Alright, Only in the throne, Will I be greater than thou, And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt, And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, And put it upon Joseph's hand, And arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, Put a gold chain about his neck, And he made him to ride in the second chariot, Which he had, And they cried before him, Bow the knee, And he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt, And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, And without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot, In all the land of Egypt,

[18:08] Now, Although Pharaoh retained his own authority and sovereignty here, All the executive powers of the government and everything, Was vested in Joseph, Alright, Now, The symbol, Whereby, All of this transference of authority to Joseph, Was in the king's ring, That he gave to Joseph, When everybody saw the king's ring on Joseph's finger, They knew who he was, They knew the authority that he wielded, That he possessed, Because the king had put his ring on his finger, Same thing here we see Ahasuerus doing unto Haman, King Ahasuerus was totally sold out to Haman,

[19:11] Thought he was a great guy, And now we see, As the representation of unregenerated man, How the nature of sin, Is deeply entrenched, In the soul of man, And the soul of man, Is utterly sold out to him, Now, Esther chapter 3 verse 2, Or 12 rather, Then were the king's scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, And there was written according to all that Haman had commanded under the king's lieutenants, And to the governors that were over every province, And to the rulers of every people of every province, According to the writing thereof, And to every people after their language, In the name of the king Ahasuerus was it written,

[20:14] And sealed with the king's ring, Now notice the statement, It was written in the name of king Ahasuerus, And sealed with the king's ring, Which was on Haman's hand, And the letters were sent by posts, Into all the king's provinces, To destroy, To kill, And to cause to perish, All Jews, Both young and old, Little children and women, In one day, Even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, Which was in the month Adar, And to take the spoil of them for prey, In actuality, You look in the scriptures, And you find they took some time to cast lots, Or cast purim, If you will, To determine what day exactly, They were going to do all of this in, All right?

[21:07] Now, The murderous decree, Is now published, And that was according to all that, That Haman, Had commanded, But it was in the name of king Ahasuerus, Was it written, And sealed with the king's ring.

[21:25] Now, So, The murderous decree was published, And now, Things are starting to be put into motion.

[21:35] Again, An accurate picture, Of the human soul, Dominated by the flesh. And the flesh then becoming party, Even unwittingly, To the carnal ambition, That would create, The idea of silencing the voice of God, And resist the claims, That the spirit of God has upon the life.

[22:00] That's what sin attempts to do. That's what the sin nature attempts to do. Any claim that God, Proposes to have upon the life, The sin nature, Wants to resist, And cause the soul, To resist that.

[22:18] Now, Let me ask you this question, While we're thinking of that. Even for the believer, You see, You see that battle, The spirit and the flesh.

[22:32] The flesh, The flesh attempting to keep God, From having any say so in our life, Even in the believer's life, Which is going to be easiest, For either the unbeliever, Or the believer, To do, To yield to.

[22:55] Which is going to be easier? The flesh. Right? Yeah. How many find it, More difficult to yield to the flesh, Than you do the spirit of God?

[23:10] And that has become, The default mode of our life. Right? I mean, After all, If we've been born with it, You know, I mean, The first time the baby, Comes out of the womb, And it's spanked on its little bottom, By the doctor, What's it do?

[23:26] It cries. Why? Because it's supposed to? No? He didn't like it. Never had that done to him before. All right?

[23:38] So, That's been the default of our, Mode of our life, Ever since the moment we were born. All right? And really, In reality, Before we came out of the womb, The moment we were conceived.

[23:53] All right? In sin, Did my, Did my brother conceive me? All right? That nature's there. All right? So it's, We don't have to do a thing, For the nature of sin, Just to control our lives.

[24:06] Even as believers. Except for the fact, That the spirit of God, Dwells within us, If we've been saved. And he's fighting that battle, On our behalf.

[24:17] All right? And given us the ability, To yield to him, Instead of, The nature of sin. So, Great picture, That he paints here for us.

[24:31] Now, Notice something here. Even though man, Allows the nature of sin, To invade our lives.

[24:42] To be violated by the nature of sin. Something else happens here. Have you ever, Have you ever seen, I mean, If you really take a good close look, At the individual.

[25:00] Have you ever really seen, An unsaved individual, Man or woman, How should I put this?

[25:11] That was really, At peace, With their life. Now, I know there's some, That probably outwardly, Try to portray that.

[25:25] But down, Deep inside, There has to be a struggle. Notice something, That happens here. The restlessness, Of the soul, Created by the alliance, Of the soul of man, And the flesh.

[25:39] Even though, Man enthusiasm, Allows his humanity, To be violated, By Satan. Verse 15, Of chapter 3, The king and Haman, Sat down to drink.

[25:51] They sat down together. Picture of fellowship there. Alright? When they're sitting down, Together to drink, It's a picture of fellowship. Fellowship, With the soul, And the natural man.

[26:04] But, Notice this, The city of Sushan, Was perplexed. Now, Okay? The city of Sushan, Was perplexed.

[26:20] The body, Cannot be at peace, When sin's in control. Alright? Soul really can't be either. It can be satisfied, It can be brought pleasure, But it can't be at peace.

[26:36] Now, Take a look at Esther here. Here's the queen. Jeannie, Here's the queen. You've been wanting the queen, For so long. Here she is.

[26:47] Alright? Now, Esther is, Representing, The human spirit. So the day, Had been appointed. It has been established, For the destruction, Of the Jews.

[27:00] And it's going to come, It's going to come about quickly. It's quickly drawing near. Every Jew, In the kingdom, Had the death sentence, Hanging over, Their head.

[27:12] Now, Nothing, But a change in government, Within the palace, Would seem to offer, Any hope of escape, For Esther, And her people.

[27:25] But, Does that even seem, Possible and plausible, That that would take place? Ahasuerus is king, He's in there solidly. Haman, His right hand man, Has the king's ring, Deeply entrenched in the palace.

[27:41] Doesn't seem like, It's going to be possible, For that kind of a change, To take place. Now, If Mordecai, Who is the Holy Spirit, Held the key to deliverance, There's one great problem, That still exists.

[27:59] How do you get, Haman, Who is the wrong man, Get him out. And how do you get, Mordecai, In? There's the great problem, Of all the lessons, That the book of Esther teaches, Perhaps, The most important, Is this.

[28:17] Now catch this, To get the wrong man out, And the right man in, It's necessary, To get the right man, In first, In order to get, The wrong man out, That's the story, You see in the book of Esther, To get the spirit of God, Within the soul, Alright, Is the first thing, That's got to happen, Before you can get, The sin nature, Out.

[28:50] You look at scripture, It doesn't work, The other way around, Amen? Because in reality, In our life, The sin nature never leaves, But it's the idea, Of the control, Of the life, And in the life, That matters.

[29:05] Now, So, That's a brief look at Esther, We'll see more of her, In a bit. Alright, Hang in Jeannie, She wants so bad, To see more of Esther, Amen?

[29:19] Now, I'll look quickly, At Mordecai, Who is the Holy Spirit, In chapter 2, Verses 5 through 6, Before Mordecai, Could come into the life, Of the king, He's got to be introduced, Into the life of Esther, So, In verses 5 through 6, Of Esther 2, Now, In Shushan, The palace, There was a certain Jew, Whose name was Mordecai, The son of Jer, The son of Shemai, The son of Kish, A Benjamite, Who had been carried away, From Jerusalem, With the captivity, And had been carried away, With Jeconiah, King of Judah, When Nebuchadnezzar, Of whom Nebuchadnezzar, The king of Babylon, Had carried away, Now, I want you to notice, Something here, Very interesting, God was careful, To be sure, That in the scripture,

[30:20] Was written the idea, That Mordecai, Stems from the tribe, Tribe of Benjamin, His father, Kish, Is a Benjamite, Or his grandfather, Kish, Is a Benjamite, Now, Go over with me, To Genesis chapter 35, Genesis chapter 35, This is not in your notes, Because I just came up, With this today, Genesis chapter 35, This is in the life, Of Jacob, Of course, Who has, Who have, Had the twelve sons, Who became the twelve tribes, Of the nation of Israel, Alright, He and his family, Were traveling, And in verse 16, They journeyed from Bethel,

[31:21] And there was, But a little way, To come to Ephrath, And Rachel, That's, That's Jacob's wife, Traveiled, And she had, Hard labor, And it came to pass, When she was in hard labor, That the midwife, Said unto her, Fear not, Thou shalt have this son, Also, Now, Over in chapter 30, Which will not take time, To go to, But in chapter 30, Verse 24, It gives us the idea here, That Rachel, Had a desire, For another son, Alright, And so, That's why the handmaid says, You will have, Don't fear, You will have, This son, As well, Verse 18, It came to pass, As her soul was departing, Was in departing, For she died, That she called his name, Benoi, Excuse me, Ben-Oni, But his father, Called him, Benjamin,

[32:22] And then in verse 19, Rachel died, So she dials, In childbirth here, But notice something here, Benjamin's, The youngest son, Of Jacob, His wife, Called him, Ben-Oni, Which is literally, Son of sorrow, But his father, And that's because of the, The tremendous, Agonizing labor, That she, Had to put forth, For his birth, But the father, Jacob, Called him, Benjamin, Because, He was, The son, Of, My, Right, Hand, Now, Benjamin, Becomes a two-fold, Or in this, Both, Yeah, Benjamin becomes a two-fold, Picture or type, If you will,

[33:23] Of the Lord Jesus, Through his mother, Naming him, Ben-Oni, Son of sorrow, It's a picture of Jesus, In his sorrow, And his agony, And his death, If you will, So you see, Benjamin is a type of Christ, In that suffering, But, Notice, As, Benjamin, Head of the warrior tribe, That tribe that is, Is closely united, If you will, To the tribe of Judah, The kingly tribe, He thus becomes a type of Christ, As the victorious one, So, Isn't it interesting here, That Mordecai, Who represents to us here, The spirit of God, Stems from, The line of Benjamin, He's a Benjamite,

[34:25] Good way to look at him, As the Holy Spirit, Now, Remember something with me, If you will, Go over to Ezra, Chapter one, Just two books over, Ezra chapter one, Two books to the left, Alright, Now, Remember in this, The work of the Holy Spirit, That we see, In Ezra chapter one, Verse one, Now, In the first year of Cyrus, King of Persia, That the word of the Lord, The word of Jehovah, By mouth of Jeremiah, Might be fulfilled, Jehovah stirred up the spirit, Of Cyrus, King of Persia, That he made a proclamation, Throughout all his kingdom, And put it also in writing, Saying, Thus saith Cyrus,

[35:26] King of Persia, Jehovah, God of heaven, Hath given me, All the kingdoms of the earth, And he hath charged me, To build him a house, At Jerusalem, Which is in Judah, Who is there among you, Of all his people, His God be with him, And let him go up, To Jerusalem, Which is in Judah, And build the house, Of Jehovah God of Israel, Which is in Jerusalem, He is the God, It says by the way, And whoever remaineth, In any place, Where he sojourneth, Let the men of his place, Help him with silver, With gold, And with goods, And with beasts, Beside the free will offering, For the house of the God, That is in Jerusalem, Yeah, Then rose up, The chief of the fathers of Judah, And Benjamin, And the priests, And the Levites, With them, All of them,

[36:27] Whose spirit God had raised, To go up, To build the house of the Lord, Which is in Jerusalem, So you see, Judah, And Benjamin, Working together now, To go and build this house, In Jerusalem, That's the way, The spirit of God worked, Amongst, In the day of Cyrus, So God stirred the heart of Cyrus, To allow the Jews, To return to build the temple, And to cleanse it, And that is so, That it might be filled again, With the glory of God, That is the work of the spirit of God, In our lives as well, Realize that, Alright, So that our bodies, Might be filled with his glory, Be cleansed for use, As instruments, Of his righteousness, Now, Before we go, Yeah, Before we go any further there, I want you to notice something else,

[37:28] Alright, Again, Go back to Ezra, Chapter 6 this time, Ezra chapter 6, Begin in verse 15, Now, Restoration of the temple here, Is now complete, And this house was finished, On the third day of the month, Adar, Which was in the sixth year, Of the reign of Darius the king, And the children of Israel, The priests, The Levites, And the rest of the children, Of the captivity, Kept the dedication, Of this house of God, With joy, And offered at the dedication, Of this house of God, A hundred bullocks, Two hundred rams,

[38:30] Four hundred lambs, And for a sin offering, For all Israel, Twelve he goats, According to the number, Of the tribes of Israel, And they set the priests, In their divisions, And the Levites, In their courses, For the service of God, Which is at Jerusalem, As it is written, In the book, Of Moses, Now keep that in mind, That's the rebuilding, Of the temple, Now go back over, To 1st Kings, Chapter 8, 1st Kings, Chapter 8, This is the record, Of when King Solomon, Builds the first temple, The permanent dwelling place, For God, Among his people, Now, Look in verse 10, They bring the ark,

[39:31] The ark of the covenant, Now is brought, Into the temple, And in verse 10, It came to pass, When the priests, Were come out, Of the holy place, And the cloud, Filled the house, Of the Lord, Of Jehovah, Now, Remember, The holy place, Really, The holy of holies, Is the place, Where the ark of the covenant, Was, That's the place, Where the presence, Of God, Dwelt among his people, It's the kind of glory, Of God, Filled that place, But notice here, At this dedication, Of the new temple, When the ark, Is brought in, Again, When the priests, Were come out, Of the holy place, That the cloud, Filled the house, Of Jehovah, That cloud, Represented the presence, Of God, In which he dwelt, It filled, The house, Of the Lord, So that the priest, Could not stand, To minister, Because of the cloud, For the glory,

[40:32] Of Jehovah, Had filled, The house, Of Jehovah, What a picture, Amen, Wouldn't you like, To be part, Of a party, That had the glory, Of God, So filled the place, You couldn't minister, In there, Amen, Now, Go back, To the book of Ezra, Go back, To chapter 3, We saw in chapter 6, The completion, But look at chapter 3, In verse 10, And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, They set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, And the Levites, The sons of Asaph, Or Asaph, With symbols to praise the Lord after the ordinances of David king of Israel, They sang together by chorus,

[41:33] By chorus in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord, Because he is good, For his mercy endureth forever toward Israel, And all the people shouted with a great shout, About when they praised the Lord, Because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid, Now notice, This is just the foundation of the place being laid, So it was a joyful occasion, But look at verse 12, But many of the priests and the Levites, And chief of the fathers who were ancient men, That had seen the first house, When the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, Wept with a loud voice, Many shouted aloud for joy, This weeping was not a weeping of joy, This weeping here was sorrow, Because their belief was that this temple, When it's rebuilt, Would, Would have,

[42:33] Would be even more splendid, Than the temple that Solomon built, The original one, And the glory of God, Would be even more complete in that, But if we would go back to chapter 6 of Ezra, We find something else, In this new place, There's no ark of the covenant, And there's no glory of God there, It's empty, Now there's a reason for that, And, That deals with, The further, Future, Work of God, That we'll not mess with right now, Because our time is gone, I'm late, I'm running over, Amen, Alright, But, Notice that, That is, That is, The work of the Spirit of God, Among his people, And the idea here is, Mordecai, God wants to invade,

[43:34] Or regain, If you will, Access to the life of mankind, So that the glory of God, Can, Fill, Those lives, If you will, So the Holy Spirit, Wants to gain access, To the life of King Ahasuerus, As, Through Mordecai, Or, Mordecai, Representing the Holy Spirit, Wants to gain, And has to gain access, To the life of King Ahasuerus, Alright, So that the soul, Is, Is, Is, Is accessed by, The Spirit of God, To bring his own influences, Into the heart and mind, Of the soul, To replace the influences, Of the sin nature, Haman, Alright, That's the picture, That we see there, And the desire, Of God, For it all, Alright, We'll ask God, To bless us today, Father again, Thank you for your loving kindness,

[44:35] And, Your grace to us, And, Your goodness to us today, As well, And for this opportunity, To be back together again, To look at your word, In the book of Esther, And the, And the analogy, That we find in there, So Father, Thank you for that, And, Ask now that you continue, To speak to our hearts, Through it, I know there's a lot of information, Here to process, But Father, Just enable us, To see that, To process that, And then to make the adjustments, To our lives, That need to be made, In all of this, Thank you again, For these, From the precious folks, And ask your blessings, Upon them, The remainder of this evening, We'll thank you, And praise you for it, Now in Jesus name, Amen.