In this sermon, the speaker reflects on the significance of one's last words and the desire to leave a positive legacy. The sermon emphasizes God's continuous work on behalf of his people and the thrilling prospect of the good news spreading rapidly. The speaker also addresses the current state of the gospel and the need for Christians to actively participate in its dissemination. The sermon concludes with a reminder of the unfinished task of reaching the majority of the world's population who do not profess Christianity, highlighting the urgency of sharing the gospel before the Second Coming of Christ.

on the staff here at Greenwood Hills. It's always a privilege to come here and the fellowship with the missionaries is something super, really neat. It's cool. How's that? Esther chapter eight. Esther chapter eight. I'm just going to move along rather quickly tonight because we have something special in store. Esther chapter eight, verse seven, then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, indeed I have given Esther the house of Haman and they have hanged him on the gallows because he tried to lay his hands on the Jews. You yourselves write a decree for the Jews as you please in the king's name. Seal it with the king's signet ring for a letter which is written in the king's name. Sealed with the king's signet ring no one can revoke. So the king's scribes were called at that time the third month which is the month of Sivan on the 23rd day and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, the satraps, the governors and the princes of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces in all, to every province in its own script, to every people in their own language and to the Jews in their own script and language. And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, sealed it with the king's signet ring and sent letters by couriers on horseback riding on royal horses bred from swift steed. Verse 14, Then the couriers who rode on royal horses went out hastened and pressed on by the king's command and the decree was issued in Shushan the citadel. When we left off last night it was a dark day in Shushan the palace. The Jewish people were condemned to die and there seemed to be no solution on the horizon whatever and the question that could have arisen on the lips of Mordecai and Esther, where is God? But God was there keeping watch above his own as we know by now. Mordecai of course is in extreme grief, finally sends in that message to Esther, Esther the time has come. God has raised you up to the kingdom for such a time as this and you've got to put your life on the line and go in and talk to the king for such a time as this. And I think we should take that personally too. How do you know that you are raised up for such a time as this? What such a time? Well in this country certainly a time of moral decline such as I don't think anybody in the room has ever seen before. The slide downward in the last few years has been really beyond belief and we have in the White House a president who believes that moral attitude should be based upon what the majority of the people believe. That explains a lot. The time of political unrest a time in the history of the world when governments are weakening and the cry for a superman, a strongman is being heard. A time of apathy in the church, of a lack of conviction and a lack of commitment. Anybody in the service of the Lord knows that's it. A time of extreme disunity and a time of Christian bashing. Pat Buchanan says that Christian bashing is the popular indoor sport today. You see it on the TV, you hear it on the radio, the magazines, every opportunity to dishonor the name of the Lord Jesus and drag the names of Christians in the mud. A time of breakdown of the family in our country. A time of the psychologizing of the church and of course the challenge of Islam and a tremendous drift toward Rome even in evangelical circles. Not too long ago prominent evangelicals in the United States signed a cord with Roman Catholics. A. Rejoicing in their common faith. B. Promising not to proselytize from one another. Imagine, I'm sure you appreciate that, those of you who work in Catholic countries. You say who would do such a thing? Charles Colson did such a thing. Bill Bright of Campus Crusade did such a thing. J. I. Packer, the author of many wonderful evangelical books did such a thing. John White, I think he was raised in the assemblies if I'm not mistaken, did such a thing. Put his name to that cord. And then apologizing for wrongs that they did in the past. This is where we are as far as that's concerned. The road back to Rome. I told you about Jim McCarthy. You'd be surprised the abuse he's getting as a result of that video, Catholicism in Crisis. The other day a Christian radio station in Mississippi, there was a man on that station named John Anderson and he had a program. And so he called Jim and he interviewed him on the phone and then he broadcast the interview on two successive days. There were so many calls coming into the station protesting against the program. They pulled the program off the radio and fired John Anderson, a Christian station. What did he say? He told the truth about the Roman Catholic Church and the gospel they preach. Here are evangelicals signing accords with Catholicism at the same time that my Bible says that anyone who preaches another gospel is under the curse of God. Well, how do you know that you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Every one of us here tonight has a part to play in the ongoing plan of God. Esther's response was marvelous. I like verse 17. She said, I will go. This is verse 17 of chapter four. She said, I will go. I used to think that Ruth was one of the greatest illustrations of commitment in the Old Testament. I've changed my mind. I think that Esther is. She said, I will go. And if I perish, I perish. She was willing for God to plow her soul and body down, to plow them under for the sake of her people. What an example for us. I think it's significant that Mordecai kind of gave her a nudge in that direction, didn't he? And you know, it's good for us to nudge people once in a while. An army chaplain went into the barracks one day and he stood there and he said, okay, which of you is a Christian? And any Christian in that room was supposed to stand up and a fellow got off his bed and stood up. But you know, that man is occupying an evangelical pulpit today. And he says, it's doubtful if he would be there if that chaplain hadn't come in to the barracks that day and put him on the spot. Which of you is a Christian? Well, dear Esther goes into, and I say that advisedly, goes in to the king and makes her request to the king. I think it's significant that in chapter six, the king has this sleepless night. On something as insignificant as insomnia, the destiny of a nation, God can use some very unusual things, can't he? He uses the weak, the base, the despised, the things that are not to bring to naught, the things that are that no flesh will glory in his sight. Walsworth says the entire course of history for the Jewish nation was changed because a pagan king, hundreds of miles from the center of God's activities in Jerusalem, couldn't sleep. I love it. I really love it. Boy, I tell you, you see the providence of God. William Cooper wrote about the providence of God. William Cooper, his mind broke when he was in his thirties. He went down to the Thames one day to, uh, to drown himself and the cabbie saw what was happening and brought him back and drove him home. He took a dose of poison and his friends got to him with an antidote before it was too late. He fell on a knife and the knife broke. He tried to hang himself and they got there and cut the rope before he was successful. And he wrote, God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take the clouds you so much dread are big with mercy shall break with blessing on your head. And then of course, the king, uh, learning of, um, Mordecai's faithfulness and revealing the plot, uh, says called Haman in and said, what shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor? And you know, no Christian can read those words without thinking of the Lord Jesus, huh? The Lord Jesus Christ, the man whom God delights, um, to honor Philippians two, 10 and 11, that at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the father. I'm a bit of a heretic. I'm going to say, this is a good time for confession. I don't object to using the name of Jesus. I know we're supposed to use the full title of the Lord, Lord Jesus Christ. I tell you the name of Jesus is sweet to me, and I don't mind using it alone. We do it in our hymnology. Jesus is the sweetest name. I know Jesus. Oh, how sweet that is the sweetest word that's ever reached our ears. Why should we back away from it? I don't think we should. And I don't think we should ever call a young person on the carpet for using the name of Jesus alone. He's the man whom the King delights to honor in any ministry that in the Holy Spirit always exalt the Lord Jesus Christ. So the banquet is held and Esther goes in and makes her request and Haman is executed. The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. I have seen the wicked in great power and spreading himself like a native green tree. Yet he passed away and behold, he was no more. Indeed, I thought him, but he could not be found. I tell you, the clouds are drifting away now, aren't they? It's really wonderful. There's light upon the hillside. Oftentimes when things are darkest, that's when God is working the most effectively. It reminds me of that man who was stranded on an island and he had enough tools that he was able to make a hut for himself to live in on this island, looking out over a bleak sea. And one day he walked away from the hut for quite a way. And through negligence, he had left a fire there and the hut burned down. It was gone. He had nothing left, absolutely nothing. But you know, the smoke from that burning hut signaled a passing ship and he was rescued. God uses wonderful ways. Think of the vitriol that Haman had for Mordecai and how God vindicated Mordecai. A.T. Pearson told about a venerable saint, I think he was in his 80s, and spent most of his time in public life. And he wrote this, he said, I've often been wrongfully attacked, but have never attempted to defend myself. I've often been wrongfully attacked, but I've never attempted to defend myself. I'm born in silence and committed my cause to God. And there's never been a wrong done to me that has not been rectified. How do you like that? We don't have to defend ourselves. God's going to defend us. And he will do it. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper. Every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. What a wonderful verse from Isaiah 54, 17. Mordecai is appointed over the house of Haman, but the edict is still in effect, the edict for their destruction. But Esther is permitted to publish and prepare a new decree, allowing the Jews to defend themselves. These two decrees remind me of two covenants. There are similarities between the two. I wouldn't say they're types, but you think of the covenant of the law. Isn't it interesting? I was thinking, you know, every one of us has been condemned to death by the law. You say, well, the law was given to Israel. I know, but it was given to Israel as a test tube, testing the whole human race. And God found Israel guilty under the law, and he applied the finding that every mouth may be stopped, that all the world be brought in guilty before God. So we sit here tonight as people who've been condemned to death. And it was an unalterable decree. Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them. As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. Doesn't say as many as break the law, though it's the same. As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. The soul that sins shall die. The wages of sin is death. The law was unchangeable. There was no mercy in the law, and there was no scepter of grace in the law either. And the law never brought anybody to Christ in spite of the translation in Galatians. The law was unchangeable forever. Oh, Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. Jesus said, For surely I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. And you can't change the law. But God found a way to get around it, didn't he? He found a way to get around it. The new covenant. He brought in the covenant of grace. The former was bad news. This is good news. It didn't abolish the law, but it provided the condemned a wonderful way of escape. Christ died to pay the penalty of the broken law. I come and I repent and I receive him as my savior, and I'm dead to the law by the body of Christ. I think it's wonderful, isn't it? But unlike the Jews in Esther's day, we don't have to defend ourselves. We have an advocate. We have a great high priest in heaven. Christ finished the work for our deliverance. I like these lines. He ever lives for me to intercede his all redeeming love, his precious blood to plead his blood atoned for all our race and sprinkles now the throne of grace. Five bleeding wounds he bears received on Calvary. They pour effectual prayers. They strongly plead for me. Forgive him. Oh, forgive. They cry. Now let that ransom sinner die. Now I am reconciled. God's pardoning voice I hear. He owns me for his child. I can no longer fear with confidence. I now draw a knife and father, Abba father. God is always working on behalf of his people. And you know, I think it's that's why we read chapter eight. I think it's absolutely thrilling how now the good news is going to go forward and the horses are all harnessed and they're going to go out with tremendous speed throughout all of those provinces that we read about in chapter eight. Really thrilling. And as I say that I can see the wheels and Dr. Harlow's mind going around right now. He's having a case of sensory overload and he's thinking, what about the gospel? Is that the way the gospel is supposed to be going forth today? Is that the way the gospel is going forth? Are we showing the same zeal as they did in Esther's day to get the message out? And so I'm going to call Dr. Harlow up and ask him to give us a little rundown on the present situation. Where are we and where are we going? Dr. Harlow. He's in the King James version, our fast horses in the new King James, whatever you have. When we went out to the mission field in 1935, we crossed the Atlantic Ocean on a steamer, a very fast steamer, Queen Mary. And it took five days, only five days to get to England. Now, of course, you can do it in 10 hours. But we have many advantages in getting out the gospel today. I think about radio at almost the speed of light. And there are 2,600 Christian radio stations in the world. And I have statistics in my New Testament here. My memory isn't as good as Bill McDonald, but I read that the total monthly listeners to Christian radio programs, 1,672,000,000 people listen to Christian radio every month. And 70 percent of these come from secular stations. There's the speed of light, faster than a dromedary, faster than a camel, faster than a speedy horse. And the literature is also a modern method of getting out the gospel. There are 2.5 billion literate adults in the world. And don't forget, readers are leaders. These people can get some literature, and we're sending the literature out, millions of people can read. I like to think of this, what we've accomplished. What has the Christian church accomplished as of this time? Since 1970, Christendom has increased by 50 percent. Some of you weren't even born in 1970, but some was a lot before that. But that's a 50 percent increase in Christendom. And one authority has said that in one year, 120,000,000 un-evangelized people were reached with the gospel. In one year. Since 1980, he says we've seen the greatest upsurge in evangelical activity since the first century. What's going on? Are we conscious of this? Well, this is what Dr. Barnett said. The greatest upsurge since the first century. Well, what his definition of Christians are, his might be different from yours, but I think we can say with some authority that Jesus' film has been viewed by 500,000,000 people. Now, I'm not in favor of this, portraying Christ and so on, but still a lot of simple people get an idea of the gospel, the life of Christ, and the book of Luke in terms of 500,000,000. That's 9 percent of the world's population in that one effort alone. And the Gideons send out a million scriptures. What? Every year? Every month? Every ten days. One million more scriptures go out to the world from that one organization, the Gideons. The word of God cannot return void. They work in 74 different languages. And one radio program, which I think is very evangelical, back to the Bible, is on 754 stations. We're living in a day in which we're not conscious of what's going on. Sometimes we get discouraged and say this is the end age and everything is going to pieces, and so it is. But great things are being done by the Spirit of God and by Christian people. So where do we stand? How are we getting along? What is left to be done? Shall we just quit and get a hammock and a pile of potato chips and have a good time? Well, the unfinished task, beloved. Two-thirds of the world make no profession whatever of being Christian. One-third are nominal Christians. That's 5.5 or 5.6 billion people in the world. Roughly speaking, very roughly speaking, one-third profess to be Christians. But what's a Christian in their definition? Well, it's 3,800,000,000 of them, whatever they are. On the other hand, Islam is growing faster than Christendom by far. Islam has gone up 84% in the past 24 years. That's numerically. And of course, they have no love for the Lord Jesus Christ. Furthermore, of all the people who are not reached, one over a billion people are in closed countries, most of them Muslim countries, but other countries also. The doors are closed. You can't get in at all with the gospel, except by radio. Praise God for the radio. So this is our unfinished task. Two-thirds of the world's population don't make any profession of Christianity. How many of them have ever heard of Christ? It's hard to tell. But they haven't heard enough anyway. What are our resources to finish this task? King Ahasuerus and Mordecai had the resources of the Persian Empire. Get on your horse. Get going. Well, we don't expect nominal Christians to preach the gospel. They will probably not even save themselves. In Sardis, which is the Protestant church we believe, I reckon that 20% of Christendom are Protestant. That's 6% of the world. 6% of the world's population are Protestants. Now my question is, how many Protestants are born-again Christians? Would you say, in a burst of generosity, one-sixth? Am I being too generous? Let's say 41-sixth of the Protestants of the world are born-again Christians. That gives us 1%. 99% of the world's population are not born-again Christians. What can we do with 1%? All right, but look at it this way. Supposing this 1% got on their horses, and supposing we tried to preach the gospel in its simplicity, God loves you, Christ died for you, but do that to one new person, one every day, one a day only, for 14 weeks, you'd reach 98 people. So one more the next day, you reach your 99%. 1% born-again Christians, if they would do that, then the whole rest of the world's population could be reached in 14 weeks' time, before the end of this summer. Got your pocket calculator with you? Tell me if I went wrong. But, of course, there's a great big if. First of all, if they were activated. Alas, what a large percentage of the Lord's dear people, born-again Christians, are quite content to sit right where they are and have a good time. Even if they were activated, there's a language problem. Two thousand different languages in the world. How are you from Chicago going to get out and preach the gospel in the middle of Asia? The travel problem. It's an impossible situation. But still, we can do, we must do what we can do. Because the Lord Jesus Christ, with universal authority, said, Go, preach, teach, disciple, and baptize every nation, every Gentile, every nation. And I submit, beloved, it's an insult to the Lord of heaven and earth, when he says, All authority is mine. Now, this is what you're going to do. And what do we say? Fooey. Oh no, we don't say it, we just act it. We just don't obey. It would be for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ to see the gospel glow in a massive way. But you say it's too late already. Well, we are near the end of everything, no doubt. Did you ever run in a race, say a one-mile race or something, or see somebody running a race and rounds the corner and there's the finishing tape right before him? So he stops and has a Coke and sits down on a bench and has a little rest? No way. He strains harder than ever, hard beating like a trip hammer. You're going to get there a split second earlier if you can possibly do it. So with a finishing tape in view, it's 259 million people die every day. Even while we've been here for one week, a million, well over a million people have died. Too late for them. We're on the very edge of the precipice of a second coming. Do you expect the Lord to come tonight? Do you hope he'll come tonight? Well, I say, and perhaps you'll agree with me, we're on the very edge of the precipice of a second coming. But you can say with equal scriptural authority, he won't be here for five years yet. Namely, no scriptural authority. Because we don't know when he's coming. It might be five years from now. It might be five seconds from now. Praise the Lord. But in the meantime, this is what we're supposed to be doing. And the Holy Spirit added that we should plant New Testament churches. So you're a missionary. Most everybody in the sound of my voice is a missionary. God bless you, everyone. You're the salt of the earth and the cream of heaven. But as you reach people and conduct your order, they can get the urgency of the present day. Great things are going on, but much more is left to be done. And the Lord Jesus, when he comes, find us doing those things. Thank you very much, Mr. McDonald. Tied in this to our studies in the book of Esther, a real missionary punch. Dr. E. Meyer Harrison said something very nice. He said there are four reasons why the church must go. First of all, there's the reason from above. The Great Commission go into all the world and preach the gospel. Then there's the cry from beneath. Somebody go and tell my brethren the cry from without the Macedonian call. Come over and help us. And the constraint from within the love of Christ constrains us for great reasons why the church must go. Well, they go out with a message and the enemy comes against them and they destroy, kill and annihilate everyone who came against them. It was a tremendous victory, wasn't it? And what do they do then? They at Mordecai Institute to feast. That's very interesting to me. Somebody said to a Jew, what would happen if there was another widespread persecution of the Jews? And he said, well, there'd probably be another feast. And they said, what do you mean? Well, he said the Egyptians oppressed the Jews, and that resulted in the Passover. And he said here, Haman oppressed, persecuted the Jews, resulted in the Feast of Purim. And then he said Antiochus Epiphanes persecuted the Jews, and that resulted in the Feast of Hanukkah. So he said probably there'd be just another feast. But you know, there's something beautiful about Jewish humor. It's called the Feast of Purim. Purim was the lot, the thing that doomed them to death. And they made a feast in honor of it. How do you like that? Marvelous, isn't it? You know, years ago, there was a town in Alabama, and the boll weevil invaded the farms all around, you know, and destroyed their crop. And it just threw that whole area into a state of economic collapse. It was really quite serious. And so what did they do? Well, one of the farmers decided to plant peanuts, and another planted wheat, and another planted potatoes. And the action became known as Enterprise Alabama. And then the farmers erected a monument to the boll weevil, because their economy was much better as a result of the coming of the boll weevil. Life is full of boll weevils. And somebody has said, take your tragedies that lead to triumph and erect monuments to them. That's what these dear people did. I like the last chapter of the book, and we've gone very hurriedly. Just let me read it. King Ahasuerus imposed tribute on the islands of the sea. Of all the acts of his power and his might and the account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced them, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? For Mordecai the Jew was second to King Ahasuerus and was great among the Jews and well received by the multitude of his brethren, speaking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his kindred. I think, what a wonderful epitaph to have. That's great. Speaking the good of his people, speaking peace to all his kindred. You know, in California where I am, we have a little local paper, and things are different as you know in California, and I always read the obituaries. They're so interesting. And the obituaries there have a way of telling the thing that interested this person particularly. I'm sure you don't have that in yours, your obituaries are not nearly as interesting. Let me read you some of the epitaphs from my daily paper. His hobbies were fishing and traveling to Lake Tahoe. Isn't that great? To live a life. That's the greatest thing that can be said about you. He enjoyed gardening. There's nothing bad about gardening. But is it enough? She was an enthusiastic supporter of the Oakland A's. She liked TV shows, especially Jeopardy. It's sad, isn't it? Really sad. I mean, it's laughable too. Just think, to live your life on earth, made in the image and after the likeness of God, and come to the end, and said a few. She liked TV shows, especially Jeopardy. Makes me think of the man who was dying, and all his friends crowded around him to hear his last words, because your last words are supposed to be especially significant. And with his latest breath, he said, don't disturb the rose bushes. I'd far rather have what was said about, Mordecai said about me, seeking the good of his people, and speaking peace to all his kindred. What a wonderful way God had in working out the destiny of this people, and keeping his promise to them all the time. Even at times, it seemed he wasn't interested. And that's true of us too. Not till the loom is silent, and the shuttles cease to fly, will God unroll the canvas, and explain the reason why the dark threads were as needful in the weaver's skillful hands, as the threads of gold and silver, in the pattern he had planned. In a way, I wish I were living in the days of Esther and Mordecai, when they were in the trough, when they were at their very lowest, when the skies were the darkest, and there seemed no way out. I would like to have gone with them, to them with a hymn. And this is a hymn that's meant a tremendous amount to me in my life, and I've shared it with a lot of other people. I wish it were in this book we have, but it isn't. You know it. Be still, my soul. The Lord is on thy side. Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain. Leave to thy God to order and provide. In every change, he faithful will remain. Be still, my soul. Thy best, thy heavenly friend, through thorny ways, leads to a joyful end. Isn't that beautiful? Thy best, thy heavenly friend, through thorny waves, leads to a joyful end. Be still, my soul. Thy God doth undertake to guide the future as he has the past. Thy hope, thy confidence, let nothing shake. All now mysterious shall be bright at last. Be still, my soul. The winds and waves still know his voice who stilled them while he dwelt below. Be still, my soul, when dearest friends depart, that all is darkened in the veil of tears. Then shalt thou better know his love, his heart, who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears. Be still, my soul. Thy Jesus can repay from his own fullness all he takes away. Be still, my soul. The hour is hastening on when we shall be forever with the Lord. When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone, sorrows forgot, love's purest joys restored. Be still, my soul, when change and tears are past. All safe and blessed we shall meet at last. Wouldn't that have been a wonderful comfort to bring to Esther and Mordecai at the time of their deepest sorrow? And then with the passing of time, they would realize how very true it was. It would be interesting to talk to Esther and Mordecai today and say, what do you think about it now? I think I know what they'd say. They'd say, well, it wasn't easy going through it, but we wouldn't have missed the experience for anything. And they could truly say, my Lord does all things well. He works out his providence in ways that we could never imagine, and he brings us to that joyful end that the hymn writer spoke about. Some of you may be going through trying times. I think there are burdened hearts from hints that I've heard since I've been here. I think right now you can't see the why, you can't see the way out. God is still on the throne, and he will remember his own. Just be patient and see him working out his wonderful way as he works it out in the book of Esther to his own glory and to the blessing of his beloved people. Shall we pray? Father, we stand in awe of your word as we've gone through this book and seen you behind the scenes keeping watch above your own. And Lord, it's all a parable of life to us because each of us in some way or another goes through similar circumstances, perhaps not so crucial, perhaps not a matter of life and death as it was with Esther. And yet dark days when we can't see the way out at all. What a comfort to know, Father, that you're there. Sometimes our tears prevent us from seeing you, but you're there just the same. Help us to trust in the darkest hour and know that you are working out your glorious purposes in our lives. And help us to rise to the challenge of the day in which we live. We have come to the kingdom for such a time as this. And oh, Father, tonight we would rededicate ourselves to you in a very special way, that you would show us what you want us to do, because we know that you will give us the grace to do it. We ask these things as we give our thanks in the Savior's worthy and precious name. Amen.