In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of true love and turning people to righteousness. He encourages the congregation to have a passion for the souls of others and to pray for a wealthy relationship with God. The preacher also highlights the miraculous work of Jesus Christ in the earth, using the example of Mordecai, a childless man who became the spiritual father of a whole nation. The sermon concludes with a call to seek the wealth of the church, not in terms of finances, but in knowledge of the Lord and Christian service.

It is a great privilege to be here with my good wife and to enjoy fellowship with you all. And we had a great meeting last night, nice to see the chairs being carried in to seat the people and we rejoice in what the Lord did. But God's work is a work that goes on, whether there be many or the few. When I preached my first year in my first pastorate, which became my last pastorate, for I've been there 60 years now, I remember the first three months the congregation halved. And I started with 60 and I could just barely count 30. So those were the most moving sermons I ever preached in all my ministry. But thank God the seats eventually filled up and scores of people were won for Christ. Christ has to test us and test our faith. And we need to believe in him with all our hearts, for he never lets his people die. He couldn't let them die because he's a God with rich supply. I was reading this morning, when you probably were sleeping, it was about 5 o'clock, I was reading from this book of Esther. It happened to fall into my Bible reading. And I came to verse 3 of chapter 10. And I want to draw your attention to this verse. For Mordecai the Jew was next unto King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed. And I was greatly struck with that text of Scripture. I'm sure you're saying now, I wonder what this man is going to do with this text. Well, it's quite simple. When you want to get the juice out of the Scripture, you have to press it tightly. And when I pressed this text, I noticed that there is a five point relationship pointed out in this text. There is first of all, the relationship of Mordecai to the King. He was next to the King. And then there is the relationship that he was great among the Jews. And then there is the relationship that he was accepted of the multitude of his brethren. And then there is the relationship that he sought the wealth of his people. And then there is the relationship, he spake peace to all his seed. So you have here the relationship of the child of God. And I want to talk about that this afternoon. But before I say that, I want to say that the Christian life begins with the Christian's birth. He has to be born into the kingdom. You're not baptized into the kingdom. You're not connected to the kingdom of God because you have a church connection. You're not a member of the church of Christ because you belong to a local church body. You have Christian life because you have had a Christian birth. The Lord Jesus said, marvel not that I say unto you, ye must be born again. So our Christian life depends on the fact that we have had a Christian birth. Now that birth is a miraculous birth. That birth is a miracle. That birth only comes about by the direct intervention of God in your heart and mind and soul. God meets with you. He finds you on the broad road. He finds you from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head, wounded and bruised and filled with putrefying sores. And God does a work. It's the work of the new birth. You see, we live in selfishness and sin. And that characterizes our life. But the Lord comes to us and he spiritually awakens us. We have walked in sleep, but thank God we have been awakened. And we have been awakened to see the fruitlessness and the sinfulness and the appallingness of a life without Jesus Christ. And when Jesus comes, he shows us the folly of our ways. He reveals to us the darkness of our path. He reveals to us the end of a life lived without God, without Christ and without hope. And then by a new birth and the cleansing of the Savior's blood and by the power of God, something happens. We're born into his kingdom. We're born into his kingdom. Marvel not that I said unto you, the Lord Jesus said, you must be born again. And when we're born again, something happens. We receive pardon from all our sins. The habits of a lifetime we now realize were utter folly. And what we thought was pleasure was actually taking us down the road to damnation. And what we thought was good for us was driving us down the road to hell. But Jesus Christ, when we're born again, give us the glorious liberty of the sons of God. The greatest liberty you can get is to know that your sins are forgiven. And not one of them will ever be held against you. Because Christ answered for them all. I was looking up the first chapter of John's gospel. Perhaps you might like to turn to it in your Bible. And in John 1 in verse 12, we have an off-putting verse. But as many as received him, to them give he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in his name. But if you go up the text to verse 9, you'll read, That was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. There we have the general appeal of the gospel to everyone that comes into the world. And God sends the light of his gospel. But when we come to 12, we have the reception of Christ personally in our heart. We receive Christ as many as received him. To them give he the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in his name. There are two great words for power frequently used in the New Testament. One of them is dynamis, from which we get the word dynamite. Now that's dealing with real power. The other is the word authority. And that deals with authority to claim the power. And of course, that verse is about authority. How do I know I'm a child of God? I have the authority of God to say it. I'm not saying it. But God sends as many as receive him to them give he power to become the sons of God. I used to illustrate that when I was preaching as a young man in the following way. I said in the old days in my province, when I was a lad, the agriculture department of the government was starting to take vast powers to itself. And the farmers didn't like inspectors from the agriculture department. In fact, there was an unholy war between the agriculture department and between them and the farmers. So this day, a man came to the yard of this farmer. And he says, I understand you have a boo in this farm of yours. I have come to examine the boo. So the farmer smiled. And he says, that's wonderful. You just go through that gate and down that path and you'll find the boo. I wish you well. The man said, thank you. And through the gate he went. And he closed the door of the gate and he went down the field. And the man stood there, the old farmer. And he rubbed his unshaven face. And a great smile started to come over his face. And then he heard a yell. An unearthly yell. And contact had been made between the agriculture inspector and the boo. And the agriculture inspector was running for his life. And soon he was climbing over the gate, crying and yelling. So when he got landed and got pulled up off the ground. Some of the dirt that he had collected had been pushed off him by the farmer. The farmer said, I see that you have authority. But you don't have the power. And there's the difference between authority and power. But God gives us the authority. Salvation is not feeding. Salvation is feeding. And when we have God's authority. How do you know you're saving? Because the word of God says it. And the word of God is the same yesterday. It's the same today. And it's the same forever. Turn over this scripture and look at it. In 20 years time it will still be the same. It will still tell you what as many as received him. To them give ye power to become the sons of God. Even to them that believe on his name. So there is the foundation on which we rest. A new birth, a new life from the Lord Jesus Christ. Now come to my text and you find these relationships. The first one is a relationship of royalty. This man Mordecai who was a persecuted Jew. Despised and hated. And they built gallows to hang him upon them. Now he is next unto the king. The personal relationship of Christ with his people is a wonderful thing. It is supernatural. Think about this Jew. Hated, despised, persecuted. Now was next to the king in his authority. That is exactly what the king of kings has done for us. You are an heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ. There is no higher place that God could put you. God has put you in the highest possible place. Just the way Mordecai was put in the highest possible relationship with the king. So I am put in the highest possible relation with Christ. I am a happy and blessed partner. You know some people have very strange views about various things. That if they only read the Bible they would have the right view of. And I had a man with me some time ago. And he said to me of course Ian when we get to heaven we will hardly see the Lord Jesus Christ. There will be so many millions in heaven that we might see him occasionally. I said that is very strange. Because I am going to sit beside him in eternity forever. He says how do you make that out? Well it says he is going to put me into his throne. Even as his father put him into his father's throne. And I said I am not going to stand on the throne. I am going to sit with him. He said I never saw it that way. I said you should read the Bible it might help you. You know the miracle of heaven. You know when you get to heaven. You just think of this. There is millions in heaven. But you will know the history of every one of them. Nobody in heaven has to be introduced to the children of God. We will know our whole family. There will be a miracle of intelligence that will take place when we get to heaven. We will know everyone that is there. I will not have to explain to Mordecai who I am. Because Mordecai also knows all about me and I know all about him. What a wonderful thing. You know we are dealing with a miraculous when we are dealing with our relationship to God through Jesus Christ. And we have this royal relationship. Christ gives us his power to become a child of God. And we become a child of God and a partner of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And not only a partner but we become his heir. And it is a joint heirship. A joint heirship is a legal regulation that no one can enter into the heirship except all who are heirs enter it in together. And thank God Christ will not take the kingdom until I am with him to join him as a joint heir with himself. Oh the love that drew salvation's plan. Oh the grace that brought it down to man. Oh the mighty gulf that God did span and cover. Putting his hand down, taking you from the pinnacle of sin, transforming you and making you a child of God. And putting your name on the documents of hell that you are an heir of Christ. You should not be sad, you should be rejoicing with the gladness of heaven. As old Billy Preece said, they said I was a mad man, but thank God I became a glad man. They said I was a sad man, but thank God I became a glad man. My sins were forgiven, my name was written in heaven and if my name is in heaven I will get there to pick up the tab. Thank God we will, every one of us. There will be none turned away who were saved by the blood of the Lamb. But then notice this relationship was a great relationship. It says here that Mordecai the Jew was next unto the King and great among the Jews. It was a great relationship. You know why your relationship is great? It is great because it deals with the past. All the past is answered in this relationship. All those sins that we commit, all the dark places we walked, we are secured from all the punishment we deserve. Because God brings to us each one pardon where pardon shows. There is nothing against us now. There is nothing in the books. The books are wiped clean. He has destroyed the handwriting of ordinances that was against us. He has nailed them to the cross. But what about the future? The future has all been taken care of. God has your future and my future in his hands. And he knows what is best for us. Don't grumble about what God is doing because God knows what he is doing. And he knows what is good for us. Always be willing for his will. So we have power to look into the future and laugh at impossibilities and cries that shall be done. But we also have pardon for the present, for the past. And we have something else. We have peace for the present. My peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled. Neither be afraid. So there is a relationship that is royal and that's all. And there is a relationship that is great. Oh what a great relationship I have with God. Oh what a wonderful thing to talk to him face to face as a man speaketh unto his friend. He calls me and he says command ye me concerning my work. Imagine the Lord calling us into consultation that we might command him concerning the things that we want done. Oh what a heavenly father he is. What a loving elder brother Jesus is. And what a warmth and mercy by his Spirit. The hope of glory. So notice that second relationship. But then notice the third relationship. And this is a family relationship. It says he was great among the Jews. And this man Mordecai was a family man. And he was great among his own people. We should develop as believers our relationship with our brethren and sisters. We should be continually developing that relationship. God's people are one family. The family of all the saints in heaven and in earth. And we should love them with the same love with which the Lord loves us. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have loved one for another. What a privilege to be in the family of God. And when you meet people in God's family and you know they are saved. What a bond of fellowship there exists. I meet people as I travel round the world. And it's always a great thing to meet a man who knows Christ. I had a very interesting experience once in Westminster. We were having votes late at night. And the house was always open until two or three in the morning when we were all voting. And all you had to do was wait for the vote. Because everything that was said and the issues that we were dealing with had been said. So we were having all these votes. So I decided that I would leave the Commons Chamber and go for a walk along the outside of the building along the river. And I started walking up and down outside the House of Commons. Up the river. And I saw a man and he was walking up and down too. And he passed me. We just nodded. And then when we came back again, he passed us again twice. And I said, well he stopped this time. And this was about, I would say it was about half past two in the morning. So the next time he came past, I stopped and he stopped. And he said, hello. And I said, well I don't know you. He says, I know you, I know who you are. Well I said, we could walk together. He says, we could. So we started walking up and down together. And he was from the House of Lords. And he says, are you doing what I'm doing? Putting in time until these votes come. And then we started to talk about spiritual things. And he said, you know, I'm like you, I'm saved. I know Christ is my Savior. And my, what a time of fellowship we had. Walking up and down outside. He met a family member and I met a family member. There's no fellowship like the fellowship of God's people. Because we have a link. And that link is with our Lord Jesus Christ. And we need to develop our fellowship with God. What a fellowship. What a joy divine. Leaning on the everlasting arm. I have perfect peace with my Lord. Leaning on the everlasting arm. We have the unity of the family. But then if you look again, you will find something more. That he had a great relationship. But he also had a very acceptable relationship. The relationship was acceptable. It was acceptable to the multitude of his brethren. Oh, what a great thing when God's people accept one another. Meet one another as brethren and sisters in the faith. They may not see all together the same. They may not be as sound of doctrine as you think you are. They may not see some things that you think they should see. But if they're washed in the blood of the Lamb. And they give all the glory to Christ at salvation by grace alone. Through faith alone. In the wonderful Savior. They're your brother. They're your sister. So you can give them your hand. And you can enter into fellowship with them. But you'll notice something more. That this relationship was a wealthy relationship. It says here, seeking the wealth of his people. Mordecai didn't give up after he won the victory. He entered into a solemn obligation to see that the people that he had worked for and saved from awful death. That they would be a wealthy people. We should all be seeking the wealth of the church. We should all be seeking the wealth of all the individuals in the church. And I'm not talking now about finance. I'm talking about them being wealthy in their knowledge of the Lord. In their knowledge of his book. And in the knowledge of Christian service. You know it's a great thing to serve the Lord. And Christ gives you the best possible wages. Because he shares his own joys with you. And what a great thing it is. When a soul comes to Christ. You have joy. But you're sharing the Lord's joy. I preached this sermon last week. Down at the conference. And I called it the high noon of heaven. And you know what it was? It was there's rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God. Over one soul that repented. Just one soul. Not a thousand. Not a million. But just one soul. And heaven has its noon day of joy. And God says in the Old Testament. He tells us he joys over his people with singing. Now some people think they're good singers. Other people think they're not so good. But they think they're wonderful. But what must they sing? When he sings over his people. And when you look at yourself. You say what does the Lord sing in me? To sing over me? For he loved you just as he loved every one of his people. You know God, Christ loves you the same as he loves you. Christ hasn't special loves for special people. His love is the same. And the same way as he loved young John the youngest of the apostles. The same way as he loved Peter. Who was one of the stubborn apostles. The same way as he loved others. He loves you. There's no difference in his love. Jesus love. Precious love. Boundless, pure and free. Oh turn to that love. We are a wandering soul. He pleaded with thee. What a wonderful thing. That we can be wealthy. Oh may God enlarge our enrichments as people of God. He wants us to be rich in joy. God's people should be a happy joy. Happy people. Why should I be miserable when I'm going to heaven? I'll never be in hell. I'll never be in the darkness. I'm going to heaven. I'll be quite happy if I get in through a back door to heaven. But I'm not going through any back door. I'm going through the main gate. And you know it says in heaven that for a time there was silence in heaven for half an hour. Well I want to tell you when I get to heaven there will be no silence. I'm going in through the front gate shouting. You'll know I have arrived. And you know what you'll say that paisley man he's arrived here. He made a shout in earth and he's shouting here in heaven. But I'll shout with a voice that will be like a silver trumpet. The praises of the Savior. Oh my friend. God wants to give us true wealth. And for he that would have souls as wise. And he that turneth people to righteousness shall shine as the star. Oh may God give us a passion for the souls of man. And may we pray that God will make us wealthy in our relationship. And then last of all it is peace. And speaking peace to all Mordecai the childless man has now seed. He has children that were spiritual children. The whole nation became the seed of this man who had no family. Oh praise God. What a miracle Jesus Christ works in your heart. Aren't you glad you're saved this afternoon? Aren't you glad that you're washed? Maybe there's someone here and you're not saved. Maybe there's someone here and you've never received Christ into your heart. Maybe there's someone here today and you're in sorrow. You're pained because you're outside the Savior. Come to the Savior. Make no delay. Here in his word. Here in this house. He's standing today. And he's tenderly. Oh come to Christ. And turn to him. Whosoever that you shall call on the name of the Lord. Shall be saved. Not a doubt about it. You can be saved by calling on the Lord. Enter into these blessed relations. Come and join us on the road to heaven. Get to know your brothers and sisters in the Lord. Get into the work of God. You can at least speak to people of what he's done for you or so. And if you do God will reward you. And you'll bring in the sheaves. Bringing in the sheaves. We shall come rejoicing. Bringing in the sheaves. May God do it in our hearts. Let's bow our heads. Father in heaven. We thank thee for thy precious word. And we thank thee that we're a part. Like Mordecai. In this great work of ours. Lord bring us into all these relationships. With power. And help us to do the will of God. With all our hearts. And all our minds. And all our souls. For Jesus sake. And everybody say. Amen.