What Happened to You Isn’t the End of the Story

0:45 We're concluding the message series on the book of Esther. And what I wanna do is I wanna talk to those of you who have something in your life that you'd like to see change, but you're worried that it's too late. You'd love to see something. It could be you hope for a godly marriage, but you think, man, maybe it's too late for me to have a godly marriage. or you've been praying and praying and praying that you'd feel better in your health and you wonder if I could ever, ever feel better. Or maybe you're hoping to overcome some kind of habit, that one thing that you've confessed over and over and over again and the harder you try, the more it seems to come back and you wonder, can I ever change this habit? It could be a dream, something that you've been hoping to do one day and you wonder, is it too late for that dream? Or maybe the thing that you've been just taking to God in prayer, believing like the persistent widow that comes again and again, God, I believe you can do this, but he hasn't.

1:39 And you wonder, could he ever do it? Esther had maybe some similar questions. And today we're gonna see God's answer as we wrap up the message series on Esther. Will you pray with me? Father, I thank you that your Holy Spirit is prepared to speak to every person here. God, would you open up our hearts to hear what you want to say? I pray, God, that your word would accomplish your perfect purposes in every single life and that your Holy Spirit would do a work in us so we could be your church in this world. We pray this in Jesus' name. And if you agree, say amen. Type it in the comment section, amen. We're glad you're with us online. All right, let's review the book of Esther. For those of you that say we've been reviewing every week, I'm tired of the review. Congratulations to you.

2:30 That means you've been coming to church. Good job for you. This is for the rest of the people, so we're going to review. There are five main characters in the book of Esther. The starting lineup starts with the drunk king, King Xerxes. If you remember, he's throwing big parties. He's drunk and wants to show off his beautiful wife, the queen, Queen Vashti. He says, hey, babe, come out. I want to show you off. And she says, no, I'm tired of being objectified. I'm not going to do it. He gets embarrassed. He gets humiliated. He gets his feelings hurt. So he banishes the queen and suddenly there's an opening and they need to fill the queen's role. So they do a nationwide search. We've got to find a new queen. One of the girls chosen as a potential candidate is a little Jewish orphan girl named Esther, who after a year process is chosen to be the queen. But Esther has to hide her identity. Why?

3:23 Because she's in a Persian culture and she's Jewish. and the Persian people hated the Jewish people. So now she's a Jewish queen keeping her Jewish identity secret. Then she has a cousin. What's his name? If you know it, say it out loud. It's very good. Good, good, good job. Good job, good job. Gold star, gold star, gold star, gold star. Mordecai, a good and honorable man. There's the bad guy. What's his name? Haman, the bad guy Haman, who rises in power and Haman hates Mordecai, who's Esther's cousin. See why we're reviewing? because this is really complicated. And Haman the bad guy convinces the king to kill every Jewish person in the empire. The king falls for Haman's plot and then he makes this decree. And this decree is sealed. According to the law, the decree cannot be undone. So Mordecai, who's Esther's cousin, says, Esther, you gotta do something about this.

4:21 I know it's a big risk to you. It could cost you your life. but maybe God puts you here for such a time as this. She prays about it. She takes an enormous risk and a step of faith and tells the king about Haman's plot. The bad guy is exposed. The king then kills and executes Haman, but the decree still stands. So here's where we are. The bad guy is gone. The villain is gone, but the verdict remains. There's still this decree to kill all the Jewish people. So Esther now has the king's favor. He says, ask for anything that you want. And she could have said, hey, protect me. She could have asked for personal safety, but she doesn't. And Esther 8, 6, here's what we read. She says, for how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people?

5:18 How can I bear to see the destruction of my family? Her heart is breaking for the people that she loves. And she doesn't just say, how can I stop this? But she asks, how can I bear this? And some of you can relate to this because there are those of you, you have someone in your life right now that you love so much that their pain actually becomes your pain. If you're a parent, you probably experienced this at some time. You watch your kids hurt and you wanna fix it, but you can't fix it and it completely wrecks you. Or there's someone in your life, maybe they're stuck in an addiction and they can't overcome it and it's destroying them and you want to help, but you just can't help them. This is kind of where Esther is. Her people are vulnerable and she has all the power of the queen, but she's still powerless in this moment.

6:12 And so all she can do is ask. And she does. She pleads with the king and the king listens and does something remarkable in Esther 8.8. The king says this, now write another decree. There's already a decree that says kill all the Jewish people. Now write another decree in the king's name in behalf of the Jews as seems best to you. Write a new decree and seal it with the king's signet ring. For no document written in the king's name and sealed with his ring can be revoked. In other words, there's this other decree that you can't undo. So the only thing you can do is write a new decree that overpowers the other one. Issue a new decree that overpowers the first one.

7:07 If that sounds confusing, I'll explain it to you this way. in the Groeschel household. I issued a non-negotiable decree. I told the family in my kingdom, that we would never get a cat.

7:31 And you say, no, Craig, why would we never get a cat? And the reason is because cats are not Christians. And a few of you are applauding because you know this, because you've had one before. And if you think I'm being unfair, dogs love you unconditionally.

7:53 Cats have terms and conditions. That is not the fruit of the Spirit. And without the fruits of the Spirit, you don't have the Spirit of God living inside of you. And so my kids knew about the decree, and they didn't like the king's decree. And so they pleaded with me and they begged and they prayed. True story. I had two campus pastors contact me personally, telling me that my kids had submitted written prayer requests asking God to change the heart of their dad. But I had issued the decree. And then Amy came along and said, Craig, maybe we soften the law. But I could not do that, for I am a man of integrity, and it issued the decree.

8:48 The decree must stand. And so she said, well, honey, how about if you don't do it for them? but you do it for me and now I'm trapped I'd already made the law and I couldn't undo the law so the only thing I could do is overrule it. And so technically I kept my word. And this is very important. If you're not a parent yet, you need to understand that technically you have to stand by things. Technically, I kept my word. We never got a cat. We got two cats.

9:42 And not for my kids, but for Amy, I kept my word. And maybe we got a few more into years to come because yes, I'm a softie. Technically, I didn't break the first decree. We overruled it. Now, kind of a funny story, but to illustrate, this is what's going on there. There is this decree that cannot be undone. You can overrule it and that's the only thing. And where does this apply to you? Well, some of you right now, you may be living with what we may call a decree that feels permanent. It's something that happened in your life that you never, ever wanted to happen, something that you couldn't stop. It might be the divorce. You never wanted that, and now you found yourself divorced, and it's real. Or the loss that happened, and it still hurts to this very moment. Or the diagnosis that you're facing, that the doctors say they've done the test, and it's real. Or the anxiety that feels completely crushing to you, or the dream that you had that you always hoped for, and now it feels dead. And at first, maybe you fought it, and you ask God to change it.

10:47 And then nothing changed. And somewhere along the way, you stopped asking God to change it and you just kind of learned to live under it. Because that's what a decree often does. It doesn't just describe what happens next, but it defines what you believe is who you are in your life. And you think, well, I'm divorced and so I'm always gonna be alone. or I'm not feeling well right now, so I'll never ever feel good again. Or I made a big mistake. I did something I hate. I regret it. I wish I hadn't had done it, but now I feel like God's never gonna bless me because of what I did. And that's why I wanna speak directly to someone who feels like you're facing something that's final and tell you right now that what happened to you is not who you are. Your identity is not your identity. It's not your name.

11:44 It's not your final verdict. Now, the enemy's verdict, it may be real, but it's not final. And this is where Esther was. She's facing a decree that's very, very real, and that's where her people were, and the decree was sealed, and it was legal, and it was real.

12:04 But real doesn't mean final. I'm gonna say it again, because if you haven't said amen yet, this is a really good place to say it. Real doesn't mean final. God can issue a new decree that overpowers the previous one because our God is all powerful. Our God is all good. Our God is ever present. Our God is with you. He sees you. And what you may be facing may be real, but real doesn't mean final. Esther 9.1, here's what we see. The Bible says this. On that day, now what day is that day? On that day, that was the very day that the Jews were scheduled to be executed on that very day. The enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but quite the opposite happened. It was the Jews who overpowered their enemy. What did God do?

12:56 God turned it around. God turned it around. God took something that looked real and was real, but it wasn't final. And the good news is that's what our God does. Our God's been turning things around since we first needed grace. And what I want to do is I want to explain to you the gospel. And I'm going to go as slow and deliberate as I can. Because there are some of you who have grown up around this. You kind of know it. And it's right here in your head. And I'm praying today it moves 18 inches from your head down into your heart. I want you to hear it maybe like you've never ever heard it before. I want you to hear it like you've heard it for the very, very first time. Do not tune it out. Don't explain it away. As simply as I can, every single one of us was created by God and his image to be in a relationship with him.

13:52 But every single one of us, including you, including me, has turned away from God. We've lied. We've lusted. We've stolen, cheated, been proud. We've done what we wanted instead of whatever God wanted. And the Bible calls that sin. To be clear, sin is not just a mistake that we make. Sin separates us from a holy God. And sin comes with a decree. What is the decree? Romans 6.23 tells us this. For the wages of sin is death. That's the decree. sin earns death. Because we've sinned, we deserve death. Not just physical death, but spiritual death. Separated from God because our sin separates us from him.

14:51 We can't talk our way out of it. We can't work our way out of it. We can't be religious out of it. we can't be good enough to get out of it. The decree stands. So God didn't erase the decree. God overpowered it. And what did he do? God became flesh for God so loved the world that he sent his one and only son, Jesus. His son, Jesus lived the life we couldn't live. Perfect in every way, a lamb without spot or wrinkle, sinless life. And he died the death that we deserved. Condemned, crucified, and buried. Watch this. The cross was real. The tomb was real.

15:44 His death was real. But real doesn't mean final. because three days later, when the stone was rolled away, Jesus was not there. And our good God issued a greater decree. The first decree is still there. What is it? For the wages of sin is death. But God overruled that and said, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Think about this. Whenever Jesus gave his life for my sins, for your sins on the cross. The enemy thought that he'd won, but God had the final word. God's been turning things around since we needed grace. Hear it, feel it, internalize it. We've all sinned.

16:39 We've all messed up. You feel that guilt and that sense like, oh, I feel dirty. So I wanna work my way to him. You can't work your way to him. The decree stands. Our sin separates us from God, but God, who is full of mercy, draws us with his loving kindness, overpowered the first decree, did what we couldn't do for ourselves, sent his son to die in our place and raised him from the dead so that anyone, it doesn't matter what you've done. Listen, it doesn't matter how dark your life is, how much you've done wrong. Anyone who calls on his name, the name of Jesus, the name that is above every name, your sins would be forgiven, separated from you as far as the East is from the West and your name written in the book of life. And you belong to him, not because you're good, but because he is that good. Anytime you wanna give him some praise, wherever you are today, I hope you give him some praise because the old decree stands, but he overpowered it. Our God is so good. And we see that in our story in the book of Esther.

17:47 The king couldn't undo the decree, so he made a new one. And the new decree said that the Jews had the right to defend themselves and to fight back. And so when the day came that they were supposed to be destroyed, it wasn't even close. The day of their destruction became the day of their deliverance. Look at God's word. Esther 9, verse 20 and 22 says, Mordecai recorded these events and he sent letters to all the Jews to have them celebrate annually as their time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, as the month when their, watch this, when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration, when their sorrow was turned into joy and they find themselves, their mourning turned into dancing. The day that they were supposed to be destroyed became the day of their deliverance. And so that's why I want to talk to those of you who feel like you're waiting on something that may never come. Whatever you're facing, do not mistake what's real for what's final and I know many of you are facing something very real the pain it is real the diagnosis is real the betrayal what they did to hurt you is real the loss is real we serve a God who's been turning things around since we first needed grace we see it in Esther's story. And if you're open to the work of the power of the spirit in you, we will see it in your story.

19:35 There are those of you that I believe God is issuing a new decree over your life, even as we speak. Not the one that the enemy wrote, not the one that's been haunting you your whole life, a new one with greater authority that overpowers all the others. Hear it, feel it, and believe it. you are not who they said that you are. You are not what that season says about you. You're not defined by a failure that felt permanent in your life. The enemy doesn't get the final word over your life. Our good God does. Our God gets the final word. Now, I know what some of you are thinking. Well, easy for you to say, Pastor Craig, with your easy little cushy life and your stupid cats.

20:32 We do not have any cats anymore. We are cat-free, just so you know. Completely cat-free, to the glory of God. But we do have grandkids, so, oh dear. You never know what Amy will get when those things go. I'll tell you right now that there are so many different areas of my life where there are voices that feel like a final verdict. And my whole life, I'm not gonna lie to you, my whole life, I've heard this voice over and over and over again that tells me, Craig, you're not enough. And every version of that you can imagine. You're not smart enough. You're not good enough. You're not spiritual enough. You'll never be enough. And then the problem I have is that because I believe that, it puts me into a tailspin because I care so much about you as the flock entrusted to my care.

21:32 And I wanna be there. I wanna be available for everybody. And I can't, like I can't. And so what happens is sometimes I disappoint people that I love and it wrecks me. And the voice says, see, I told you you weren't enough. See, I told you you're not a good pastor. See, I told you, you will never, ever be enough. And the hardest part about that decree, is it's true I'll never be enough.

22:10 I am not smart enough. And I am not good enough. And I still fall short and I still sin and I'm not sometimes spiritual enough. That decree is true. I'm not enough. but true is not final because my God issues a greater decree that overrules that. And the greater degree says, God says, my grace is sufficient for you. And God says, my power is made perfect in your weakness. And so all of a sudden I can say, hey, I actually embrace that weakness, my not enoughness, because my not enoughness, His power is more than enoughness. I just said that.

23:01 I don't know if it made sense, but you know what I'm saying? In my weakness, in my frailty, in my lack, His power is more than enough. His power is made perfect in my not enoughness. So my not enoughness isn't really a weakness, but it's a conduit to His power to work through me. So when the devil tells me you're not enough, I can say, well, actually, you're right. I'm not enough, but I serve a God who is more than enough. And his power is working in me and through me right now. And so I pray when I'm, I'm just like, it's so, when I tell you like, hear the gospel, like you've heard it for the first time. And, and I tell you, like, I want you, if I could talk to every single one of you personally, what I would do is I would look across the table and tell you the same thing I tell myself. And that says, whatever voice has been naming you, accusing you, robbing you, lying to you. Don't give it authority that God never gave it. Don't give it authority that God never gave it. God gets the final word. And so you're, if you're in some place in your life right now and you can't see his hand, Esther couldn't either.

24:19 but watch this God was working in all things if you've been with us think about it think about it think about it where was God working where was God working through a drunk king full of himself through a defiant queen standing up for herself through an empty throne through a little Jewish orphan raised by her cousin through an unexpected crown, through a good deed with Mordecai, from something that was recorded and then forgotten, then through an evil decree, then a sleepless night and a boring book, and one woman's bold step of faith, then a new decree that overruled the first decree that delivered a nation and set some people free.

25:15 Come on, church, don't just sit there, give God praise. And what I want you to realize, remember week one. What was the unusual fact about the book of Esther? Do you remember what it is about God's name? Think, what was it? God's name is never mentioned in the whole book. God's name is never mentioned in the whole book. And yet he's working. in every detail, on every page. And he was working in every detail then and he's working in every detail now. So if you're tempted to give up, don't. If you're tempted to stop praying, pray again. If you've stopped dreaming, dream again. Why? Because your story isn't over. And real doesn't mean final.

26:14 I came to tell somebody the truth of God's word, that God gets the final word. And what he says about you is true. The devil is a liar and God's word is true about you. so Holy Spirit do a healing work in a way that only you can do God renew our minds with truth silence the lies of the devil and God whatever ungodly decree has been issued over someone today we pray that you would overrule it with your truth as you're praying today at all of our churches I want to talk directly to those of you who feel like there's something in your life that you want to change and maybe you're worried that it's too late It could be a diagnosis. It could be a financial situation. It could be a dream. It could be a relationship. It could be someone you're praying for to come to Jesus and it looks like they're never gonna come.

27:08 It could be your marriage. It could be something with a child. Those of you, there's something in your life that you're believing for change, you believe so long, you feel like it's not gonna change. Would you raise your hands right now? All of our churches, raise your hands. Online, type in the comment section, I'm believing for God to show up and do something. and type it however you want to. That wasn't very good. God, I'm believing that you're gonna hear my prayer. As your hands are raised up, just as, even as an act of worship toward God in heaven, we're gonna pray. Father, you hear the cries of our heart. You've always been faithful. God, your word is true. And your word always accomplishes your purposes. So God, right now, if we're facing something that is real and painful. God, we give you praise that real is not final. God, for every decree that's been spoken or issued over someone that is not your best, God, overrule it with your truth.

28:14 God, we pray for miracles. We pray for breakthrough. We pray for healing. God, we pray for restoration. God, we pray for new relationships. God, we pray for healing of faith. God, we look to you believing by your power, you will overcome all the lies of the enemy. God, overcome them with your truth. As you keep praying today at all of our churches, there are those of you that you don't know where you stand with God. Let me talk to you again, and I'm gonna slow this down. Nobody looking around, and I wanna slow this down. Do you know, are you confident of where you stand with God? If you're not, just listen very, very carefully. Hear it. Maybe you've grown up around it. Hear it like you've never heard it before. God created all of us to know him.

29:09 And all of us have turned to our own way. We've sinned. And there is a decree that says the wages of sin is death. Sin separates us from a holy God. But God overruled that decree. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus, our Lord. Who is Jesus? He is the sinless son of God who didn't come to condemn the world, but to forgive and to free the world. He did not come for those who are righteous. He came for sinners. He came for broken people. He came for those who are hurting. Jesus, the son of God, who was without sin, paid the price and died the death that we should have paid and we should have died. And God raised him from the dead, overruling the previous decree.

30:05 And now anyone who calls on his name would be forgiven. Today, there are those of you, you may have prayed a little prayer. You may have even got baptized as a kid, not really understood it. You may have grown up in Sunday school. You may be so far from God and can't even believe you're in church right now, but there's something drawing you to him. What I want you to do today is I want you to recognize that the new decree has overpowered it and I want you to receive it. It is the gift of God. Scripture says that we're saved not by works, but by the grace of God through faith. It's the gift of eternal life. Today at all of our churches, those who say, I really don't know where I stand, but I hear the gospel. This is the good news. It's such good news because you can't earn it. You don't deserve it. It is the gift of God. You say, that's too good to be true. It's too good not to be true. That's how much God loves you. He sent his son to die in our place and was raised so you could be forgiven and experience God's grace in his life.

30:58 At all of our churches, those who say, that's me today. I'm stepping away from my sin. I'm calling on Jesus when you do. He'll hear your prayer, forgive all your sins and make you brand new. Listen, you are not here by accident. It's by the providence of God. This moment, some of you, your heart's beating right now. You feel it like, should I do this? Yeah, absolutely. God's been drawing you here. You're here for this reason. This is your moment. This is your moment. This is the moment of your salvation. All of our churches, you say, okay, it's me. Yes, it's me. Yes, I need his grace. I need his forgiveness. Today, I'm stepping away from my sin. I'm giving my life to Jesus. When you do, he hears your prayers, forgives your sins, and makes you new. That's your prayer. And say, yes, Jesus, I give you my life. That's your prayer. Lift your hand high right now. All over the place and say, yes. God bless you there. And right back here, others saying, yes, Jesus. Right over there as well. Oh, praise God up here. And yes, here. Right back there. God bless you guys. Come on, church. Give God some praise for both of you.

31:52 Much love, much love. Others today say, yes, Jesus, I surrender. Online, just type in the comment section, I'm surrendering my life to Christ. Church, in this holy moment, would you just pray with those around you? Pray, Heavenly Father, I know I've sinned. I turn from my sin. And I turn to Jesus. Jesus, save me. forgive my sins be the Lord of my life I receive your gift fill me with your spirit so I could know you so I could serve you with my whole life my life is no longer my own I give it all to you God thank you for new life you have all of mine in Jesus name I pray church would you celebrate big come on