In this sermon, the preacher focuses on the victory that Jesus has achieved over the works of the devil. He references 1 John 3:8, which states that Jesus was manifested to destroy the works of the devil. The preacher emphasizes that Jesus has come to destroy the misery and plots of the devil, not to torment or condemn believers. He also mentions Ephesians 4:8, which describes Jesus leading captivity captive and giving gifts to men, illustrating the complete victory Jesus has achieved. The sermon also touches on the plot of Haman in the book of Esther, relating it to the plot of death that Satan has introduced to the world. The preacher highlights the intercession of Esther as a representation of believers having a great high priest, Jesus, who intercedes for them.

Will you turn to the book of Esther, chapter 8. The book of Esther, we've got as far as chapter 8. On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman, the Jew's enemy, unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was unto her. And the king took off his ring, which he'd taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai, enduing him with supreme authority in the realm. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. Complete reversal, the exaltation, supremacy, of Mordecai in the overthrow of Haman. And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the agitate, and his device that he had devised against the Jews. For although he's overthrown, his device still stands. And they've got to find means whereby that device, that mischief, shall be undone. Then the king held out the golden scepter toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the king, and said, if it please the king, and if I found favor in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hamadartha the agitate, which he wrote to destroy the Jews which are in all the king's provinces. For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred? Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen, and to Mordecai the Jew, behold I've given Esther the house of Haman, and him they've hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews. Write she also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring. For the writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may no man reverse. Then where the scribes called at that time in the third month, that is the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth day thereof, and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded unto the Jews, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies, and rulers of the provinces, which are from India unto Ethiopia, and hundred and twenty-seven provinces, unto every province thereof, according to the script thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their script, and according to their language. And he wrote in the king Ahasuerus's name, and sealed it with the king's ring, and sent letters by posts on horseback, and riders on mules, camels, and young dromedaries, wherein the king granted the Jews, which were in every city, to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish all the power of the people and province that would assault them, both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey. Upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, namely upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which was intended to be the day of their death, that was the month when they were given this legal permission to stand for their life, which is the month Adar. The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published to unto all people, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. So the posts that rode upon mules and camels went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment, and the decree was given at Shushan the palace. And more decay I went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple, and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad. The revise says the city of Shushan shouted and was glad. What a contrast to 315, the end of that verse, the city Shushan was perplexed. But there's been a change. A new day has dawned, and the city Shushan shouts and is glad. Even many of the Persians were glad for the relief that had come to the Jews. The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor, and in every province and in every city, whither the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. I think that the revise says a holiday, and many of the people of the land declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews fell upon them. Now in the twelfth month, that is the month Adar, here we've come to the great day at last, on the thirteenth day of the saying, when the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them. The Jews gathered themselves together in their cities, throughout all the province of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their hurt, and no man could withstand them, for the fear of them fell upon all the people, and all the rulers of the provinces, and the lieutenants, and the deputies, and officers of the king, helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them, for Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces, for this man Mordecai waxed greater and greater. Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with a stroke of the sword, and slaughter and destruction, and did what they would unto those that hated them. The anti-Jewish party was really finished with that day, and in Shushan the palace, the Jews slew and destroyed 500 men, and Parshon Dathur, and Dalthom, and Asparthur, and Parathur, and Adalia, and Aridathur, and Parmashata, and Arisei, and Aridei, and the other fellow, I can't get that name. The ten sons of Haman, the son of Hamedathur, the enemy of the Jews slew they, but on the spoil laid they not their hand. On that day the number of those that were slain in Shushan the palace was brought before the king, and the king said unto Esther the queen, the Jews have slain and destroyed 500 men in Shushan the palace, and the ten sons of Haman, what have they done in the rest of the king's promises? Now what is thy petition? And it shall be granted thee. And what is thy request further? And it shall be done. Then said Esther, if it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews which are in Shushan to do tomorrow also according unto this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows. And the king commanded it so to be done, and the decree was given at Shushan, and they hanged Haman's ten sons. For the Jews that were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month, Adar, and slew 300 men at Shushan, but on the prey they laid not their hand. But the other Jews that were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their foes 75,000, but they laid not their hand on the prey. And on the thirteenth day of the month Adar, and on the fourteenth day of the same, rested they, and made it a day of feasting and gladness. Well, what a story. There have been massacres of the Jews on a much greater scale than that, but here you see God turning the tables, and the massacre falling on those that were against them, that hated them. Just to summarize quickly, on our first day we concentrated on the plot of Haman, and the sentence of death that was pronounced upon the Jewish people on this coming day. We saw that to be a picture of Satan, and the plot of death in which he's involved the whole human race. The wages of sin is death, and God has of necessity to appoint a day when he's going to judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, but it was engineered, and sin was introduced by the arch-enemy Satan. On the second day, we saw that this doomed people had nonetheless a representative in the palace, Esther. And we considered something of the intercession of Esther, and we saw that we too have a great high priest whose name is love. Whoever lives and prays above, we saw that he belongs to us. He's partaken of flesh and blood, he's ours, and he has infinite merits that heaven can never neglect, and they're all exercised on to the end of the deliverance of a sinning, sighing people. And that not only once at our conversion, but continually. He ever lives to make intercession, to present the value of his precious blood for those that come unto God by him. Yesterday, we saw the humiliation and complete destruction of Haman, and the exaltation of the one that he wanted to humble, Mordecai. And we saw how that pictured the great victory that the Lord Jesus won through apparent weakness, by weakness and defeat. He won the Medan crown, trod all our foes beneath his feet by being trodden down. And we've sung rightly again and again, I am not worthy, the least of his favour. But Jesus left heaven and went as my champion against this vast foe at such infinite cost. Now today, we want to look at this part of the story which tells of how the changed conditions in the case of Haman and Mordecai were to have blessed effects for the Jews right the way through the 127 provinces where they were scattered. And we want to see how those blessed effects actually became effective. Because it's one thing to know that Jesus has died and has risen again, pardoned and peace to bestow, but how do you get into the good of it? How do you get into the liberty of it? How do you get free from that nagging heart, that nagging conscience, dogged as we are for years with a sense of not being good enough and measuring up enough? How can we ever get to the place where failures can rejoice, as failures, and not merely hope that one day they get to super-Christians and then they can rejoice? We never get to that place. How does the benefits of this wonderful redemption, this glorious victory over our ancient foe, how does it become effective? How do we enter in? Well, that's the theme for this morning. I only wish there was longer. Isn't there one of the kings in one of Shakespeare's plays who said, a horse a horse, my kingdom for a horse? I've often felt like saying, another 10 minutes, Lord, my kingdom for another 10 minutes. But still, I know lots of you are filling in details as you've discussed this, which we haven't time to mention ourselves. But I must say just a further word about this victory which the Lord Jesus has accomplished over our foe for us. Let me give you a few proof texts. 1 John 3, verse 8, and halfway through that verse, 1 John, the epistle of John, first epistle, for this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. That he might put away the mischief and the plot that hayman has devised. Dear one, Jesus hasn't come to torment you. He hasn't come to set you impossible standards and condemn you when you don't come up to them. He's come to destroy the works of the devil, the misery in which we've been plowed so awful. And he's on our side. How the devil likes to think, there's no good going to Jesus. He's against you too. Look what you are. Here it is. He's come to destroy the works of the devil. Will you turn to Ephesians 4, verse 8. Ephesians 4, verse 8. Wherefore he says, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. What a phrase that is. What a complete victory it portrays. How it was illustrated, was it not, when there were people languishing in concentration camps and the allied forces came and they led captivity captive. I don't suppose they were free to wander around where they liked. Captivity was led captive. They had to obey orders. But all their orders were directed for their fullest liberation and reinstatement. And that's what our Lord Jesus does. He's led captivity captive. I think that means, first of all, he's led the captive captive. And Satan has lost his mortal power. He's lost the ground on which he can condemn us and bring us into sadness and sorrow about our failure, because Jesus has dealt with that and finished with that in his body on the tree. And the fact that God raised him from the dead is the proof for all of us. That's enough and we can go out. He's led the captive captive. And then he's led the captives captive. Oh yes, you're not set free to do as you want. You don't want to. When you've been set free from the bondage of years, your heart cleaves to your emancipator and you only want to serve him and please him. His service, as the prayer book says, is perfect freedom. But it's got to be service. You become his servant. He leads the captor captive. He leads the captives captive. You're his captive, but it's what glorious freedom it is. And more than that, he takes with him, perhaps dangling from his girdle, the wretched instruments of our captivity. What have been the instruments of your captivity? You could tell them the miseries you've gone through. Perhaps we're not yet free yet. So miserable feeling, so out of it, so dark, so sad about ourselves, unable to get the peace that others have got. The accusations of years. Jesus sets us all free from that and he takes with him those terrible instruments of captivity. And he does so by having consented to become Satan's captive himself first, by death. He brought, he destroyed him that had the power. He submitted to that death and it proved to be emancipation and the freedom from guilt of all those that Satan had enslaved. One yet, yet one more text, just to fill out this most important part before we go on. Colossians 2, 13 and 15. To show this aspect, that the work of the Lord Jesus was a victory over all the enemies that had enslaved us. Verse 13. And you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, has he quickened, made alive together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross, and having spoiled and having made a spoil of principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, try and think over the minute. We haven't time to go fully into all that, but it really means that Jesus by his death and rising again, has robbed Satan of his right to judge and condemn and keep in bondage the sons of men, and he's done it in such a way as to make heaven almost laugh. He's made a show of them openly. He's, so to speak, Satan has been hung on his own gallows, or referring to the story of David, David has slain Goliath with his own sword. How delicious, how delightful. It's by death, Satan's supreme instrument, that Jesus has destroyed and robbed him of his mortal power, and delivered them, who through fear of death were all their lifetimes subject to bondage. Now, that is what we've seen illustrated so far in the book of Esther. We'll go back there. But the situation isn't equalized yet. You see, they've yet, although Haman has been hung on his own gallows, and Mordecai exalted to that supreme place, his wicked device still stands. And it cannot be reversed all that easily. It's, as we know, we've read it in the book of Daniel, that the law of the Medes and Persians, once announced, once sealed with the king's seal, cannot ever be altered. It's got to stand. Not even the king could say, I revoke in a direct way that first edict. And I'm told that travelers in Persia can still discern traces of that old legal code. It cannot be altered. Now, in English law, you can. I mean, one government nationalizes an industry, and the other one just denationalizes it, de-scrambles the egg. You can't do that in Persia. It's got to stand. No wonder that Esther, still not at peace, she falls down with tears to beseech the king. That's as if he says, well, you've got Mordecai and you, I give you full authority. You must devise the way out. And that is a situation with ourselves. The law of God cannot be altered. He cannot alter his irrevocable edict that the wages of sin is death. It cannot be altered that the soul that sinneth, it shall die. It's not an arbitrary order. It's built into the very nature of things. It cannot be changed. Therefore, not even God can say, well, I think I'll take a lighter view of your sins and I won't call them sin. Not even God can say, well, I think we'll change it a bit, that the wages of sin will be a little bit of unhappiness, but not real death. No, that has got to stand. But we've got a high priest all on our side to whom all authority is given, and he knows how to resolve the divine dilemma. Now, the kings of Persia often found themselves in this dilemma. They often made an edict rashly and then found they couldn't alter it. That was the dilemma in which King Darius found himself. He got trapped into making that order that if anybody worshipped any other god but himself, he was to be cast into the den of lions. And then he found it applied to the man he loved and honoured most, Daniel. And he worked all through the night to try and devise some way by which he could deliver Daniel, and he found there was no way which he could devise. The dilemma, and this is the dilemma of heaven. Well, how was it resolved? Well, it was resolved by issuing another edict, sealed with the king's seal, an edict which couldn't be altered. It couldn't rescind the former one, but a new law was promulgated. And it was simply this, that on the very day when the first set of letters said they were to be destroyed, on that very day the Jews were given permission to gather themselves together, to stand for their life, and to slay anybody that seemed to be intent on doing them harm. And the second edict was very much an edict in law as was the first. The first remained, but there was another legal enactment given. And that is precisely what the way in which the offer of the gospel comes to us. God doesn't say, well, I'll take a lenient view, I'll just overlook things. He cannot. But an offer of life is given to those who are doomed to death, as much based on law as was the edict of death. Grace reigns through righteousness. If that which gives strength to sin is law, that on which the reign of grace is based is law too. That thing that happened on the cross outside the city wall was the greatest act of justice that ever was done. There was no greater act of justice than that Jesus should die, and that the Father should hide his face, and he should be plunged into abysmal death. That was justice indeed. For the moment the Lord Jesus was willing to accept responsibility for our sins, that's what our sin deserved. And in Romans 5, we read about the act of righteousness. That it was. No juster thing. It was our judgment he took, but if he took our sin, then that was justice. And it's done. And it's finished. Grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. And so the first still stands. The wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life, how? By Jesus Christ our Lord. And there you have the whole judgment bearing of Calvary summed up. There's a wonderful old hymn that we sometimes sing, the wrath of a sin-hating God. With me can have nothing to do. My Savior's obedience to blood hides all my transgressions from view. And what I'm offered is an offer of mercy and life which is based on law, which is therefore solid. And we need such an offer of life. Conscience is inexorable. If you just had mercy unsprinkled with the blood, you would never know where you were. And your conscience wouldn't get rest. Nothing seems to appease conscience when it really gets around. It sends people to psychiatrists. The passage of time does nothing. Attempts to make restitution does nothing. And people say, I can't stand in heaven. Couldn't. I wouldn't want to in this condition. Oh but God's love, that doesn't satisfy me. Oh but He'll forgive me. That doesn't satisfy me. My conscience is the answer in me to the eternal righteousness of the universe. And a conscience can only have peace and rest when it sees righteousness is done. What is the old formula they talk about in the law? That justice must be done and be seen to be done. Only then is public conscience satisfied. And so on a wider sphere. Justice must be done with regard to our sins and failures and seen to be done. And I see it seen done in the judgment bearing of another on my behalf. And therefore I'm not only lovingly saved, I'm justly saved. And all God's character as a supreme lawgiver is vindicated and defended. Grace reigns through righteousness. And this is the second edict. Think for a moment of Duras's dilemma. He labored till the going down of the sun to find a way to deliver Daniel. He couldn't. So Daniel had to go in to the den of lions. Please turn the cassette over now. Do not fast wind it in either direction. So Daniel had to go in to the den of lions. He came out. Justice was done. Couldn't go in again. He might still not worship Darius, but the law had fulfilled its work. It had been fulfilled. Now that's what Paul means in Galatians 2.19. I through the law have died to the law that I might live unto God. Daniel through the law died to the law. It could no more condemn him to the den of lions. Please, I've been there. The law doesn't say you've got to go there twice. I've been there. It's fulfilled. Out he came. And it isn't that Jesus has gone to the den of lions. The scripture says you've gone too. Because he went for you, he's regarded that you went there. And you are as dead to the law's condemnation as the savior is now. And so a message of life comes to us as much based on law as was the first. And having all the moral backing of Mordecai, the others didn't dare try and exercise their rights under the first letter. And they fell victims unto the vengeance under the second letter. And oh, God delights to take vengeance on our enemies. Those things that have made his dear children so unhappy. Those memories of past failures. He wants to emancipate us from them. He wants to take vengeance on those that have been oppressing his people. Now that's how we've come to have the word judgment at all. In the Old Testament, judgment is used in an entirely different sense than in the New. In the Old Testament, judgment is on behalf of the oppressed. David could say, judge me, oh God. He didn't mean to say, take me to the great right throne and send me to hell. He said, judge on behalf of me, I'm oppressed. And that's carried over. And of course you can see therefore that those that do oppress are in for it. And that's how we get the more usual terminology today of judgment. But that's how it began. And the judgment of God is on behalf of the needy, the poor, the oppressed. And he's on our side against all the things that made us sad and upset us. All the things that have spoiled our home. He wants to take vengeance on all our ancient foes, to the liberation and blessing of his people. And so we have the two letters that went out, the letter of death in the earlier chapters, and now throughout that whole coextensive empire from India to Ethiopia, the glorious message went out. We were talking, Fred Barth and myself, Uncle Fred, about this. He said, I've been taking Esther with the children. I said, let me have your pictures, it'll help us. So there's the first one. Those horses sent out throughout 127 provinces where the Jews were, with a message of death. And they had a saddlebag. And in the saddlebag was the letter they had to deliver. And here it is. The wages of sin is death. But there's another message now, that's greater, but as much founded on law as is the fact. And here too, there's a saddlebag. The children had a wonderful time, and so why shouldn't we have the benefit of the children's meetings too? Now here's their message. Oh no, wait a minute. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. All have received and heard and deserve the first. To what extent has the second reached your ear? An offer of free mercy, of eternal life? It doesn't say the wages of sin is death, but the wages of God is eternal life. God is not paying wages. Or would you say I'm doing my best? So glad you're doing your best, but even so, God is not paying any wages. But I've been going to church, I've been getting quite religious since I've been at this conference. Very good, but even so, he's not paying wages. You say that's hardly fair. He's not paying wages, but he is making a gift. It's the gift. And it's a gift not for those halfway up the ladder, as we heard last night, but for those at the bottom. And it isn't only eternal life initially, but every other newness of life that you need is gift. At the bottom of the pit, on condition you confess that's where you are. And it's an offer of life, of fullness, of liberation, based on the great act of justice that Jesus accomplished for us on the cross. There then are our two offers. Now, I want to go on, yes, I think we've got time, all right, as to how the people actually implemented, how they availed themselves of this new edict of life. They were told, first of all, that they were given legal right to stand for their life. Verse 11 of chapter 8, wherein the king granted the Jews that were in every city to gather themselves together and to stand for their life. They were not to cringe, they could stand up and defend themselves, and they had legal right to do so, to stand for their life. Now that's the first thing you've got to do. If you want life, if you want freedom from all that bondage, you and I have got to learn to stand on these promises and declarations of grace for our life. Sometimes it's the hardest thing in all the world to stand where God's put you. If you turn to Ephesians 6, you'll see that great word, stand. It comes several times where Paul is describing the armour of the child of God. 611, put on the whole armour of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Verse 13, take to you the whole armour of God that you may be able to withstand, and having done all, to stand. Verse 14, stand. You are to stand where grace has put you. In God's sight, you're out of the den of life. In the person of your Saviour, the worst the Lord could do has been done, and you're to put in your clay that that's for you. And that's what the other little message was, that comes out of this saddlebag, he that believeth on the Son, that stands and says, I'm putting my claim in for this. He died for sinners and I'm one such, it's all for me. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. And it isn't only initially, some of us need to take this step here. You haven't got everlasting life. This is perhaps what characterises the condition of some of us. He that believeth not the Son shall not see life. And you know how it goes on? The wrath of God abideth on him. The wrath of God is hanging over our heads like a sword of Damocles, suspended by a brittle thread, one that'll shake, and you're in the grave, and after the grave there's judgment. But the vilest offender, who truly believes that moment from Jesus, a pardon receives. As I say, it isn't only initially, but all the way through. Satan knows how to deceive us that he's not defeated. He knows how to bring the saints into bondage and into darkness. Very often to get them to sin over some matter. But his purpose in getting them to sin is not merely to get them to do something unethical, but then to camp down on it. Sometimes you don't know what the particular sin is, there's a whole accumulation, and you come heavy laden, unable to pray, unable to give a testimony, feeling out of it. But if we're prepared to let God show you the thing on which Satan is building his empire in your heart, the whole thing topples over, for the blood of Jesus cleanses from all sin, and you're out in the light. Now there's a young lady here who I'm sure won't mind me quoting a conversation we had together last night, I won't mention any names, but she told me of a great blessing that had been in her heart prior to coming here. She'd been in such liberty with the Lord, enjoying his presence and his prayer and everything, but as soon as she came here it all went. Try as she will she got further and further into darkness. She said, well is there some sin I've committed, which is the cause of it, and she was trying so hard to find some sin. But as we talked together it came to us both as a revelation. All that had happened was she'd come under the accusation of the devil. And the thing that he'd used to accuse her about was not her sin. Maybe there wasn't, not that she's faultless, none of us are, but it didn't seem as if the devil was taking one particular sin and saying look what you've done. Do you know what he was accusing her with? That wonderful time of blessing before she came. You know great exalted times of blessing can be an awful liability. I've sometimes heard people talk a wonderful time when they're filled with the Holy Ghost on a certain occasion and it's dogged their steps ever since because they've lost it and can't get it back. And the devil said look what you were before, look what you don't feel like it now. Oh the many ways in which satan wants to regain his lost power. But we only have to have our eyes open to see that he's a liar, it's satan, that he was defeated at the cross, he's got no right to condemn the children of God and we stand for our life, we stand upon his merits. I haven't got to have a wonderful feeling, I haven't got to have an exalted experience to be right with God. My rightness with God is not my feelings, they are not my exalted experiences, it's the blood. My rightness with God is not even my repentance because you can repent and repent and still be down. Having repented we have yet to see my high priest, my risen righteousness, the blood of Christ is my rightness with God. I believe she's praising this morning. She went to bed last night praising and the devil had been defeated afresh in that matter. But quite obviously we have to see what God needs us to see. You say there was no sin in that case, well there was actually, if you want to know. She didn't have to repent, she did have to repent. You know what she repented of? Having listened to the devil. Sometimes you've got to repent of that if nothing more, that's enough to get us into darkness. I've been listening to the devil, I've been introspective, I've been searching, trying, trying, trying. Years ago when I was a young Christian I heard Montague Goodman say, God loves me so much but he won't fail to show me if there's anything wrong. I don't need to be trying to find it. If I've got an open heart he has ways and it doesn't come by way of accusation and condemnation, it's something piercing but you know it's sweet. You've only got to say yes Lord and you know instinctively you're in the sunlight again. Stand for your life but it does involve being willing to see where the sin is. And very often there's very definite things on which the devil is basing his accusation of us and on which the darkness is based. I was told yesterday of a story on an African mission station, I think it was, of how in a certain house there were two house boys, one the cook and one the assistant or something like that. And the assistant, I can't remember all the details, went off with a gun and he shot his master's duck or something and then scared of what he'd done he buried it and thought nothing more would be seen but the cook was watching him. He said I know what you've done. And thereafter that cook blackmailed him. He says unless you do what I tell you I'll go and tell Buana. So all the chores that the other man had to do this poor boy had to do and he was getting worn out. Oh what a bondage. Until at last he said I believe Buana's got a kind heart and he went to Buana and he told him the truth. And Buana said all right now you've told me. We'll say no more about it it's forgiven. Next day the cook said now get on with those potatoes get on with them yourself. I'll tell Buana I've told him the same. And the whole empire of the one man over the other disappeared. Oh yes my friend that's absolutely implied. The blood of Jesus only avails for sin confessed as sin. If you won't acknowledge what God wants you to do to acknowledge sin will go on blackmailing you even though there is precious blood even though the victory has been won. But on the other hand don't think that merely going and telling somebody that thing that you've been hiding from that in itself will give you the found the real peace it give you a psychological release that's essential to tell where God says you must he'll tell you no law and he'll guide you as to how and when but even having done that it's the blood that is your peace. My name is graven on his heart my name is graven on his hands I know that while in heaven he stands no tongue could bid me thence depart there's my righteousness there's my title to freedom there but it implies that. And then there's a second thing they were permitted to do not only stand for their life but to lay hands and slaughter and put to death all those that were their enemies. You say this does sound a bit bloodthirsty but the slaughter of the Jews on the other hand's been bloodthirsty this is what happened and we just accept it as recorded. And it was a wonderful day of deliverance for if you'd like to see that day described turning back to Esther chapter 9 verse 1. Chapter 9 verse 1 the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them became the day that the Jews had rule over them that hated them and in verse 22 you get this wonderful day for them. The days were in the Jews rested from their enemies it became a month which was turned from sorrow to joy from mourning into a good day. Now I believe we're not only given to stand for our life but with a new authority knowing that Satan is defeated has no role right over us we're given authority to go forward expecting to see him flee before us and lose his grip on our circumstances and on the souls for whom we're concerned. Jesus is on the throne and the devil on the run and if that's our faith you will have many a experience to show it's true. How the devil's kept us down kept us from fear it isn't an eternal life it's from fear that stops us venturing out into service for him. Turn again if you will to a passage we've referred to more than once Hebrews 2 again. Hebrews 2 there's that verse we've we've seen for as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood Jesus also verse 14 took part of the same that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the devil and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage to deliver them who through fear of being found out were all their lifetime subject to bondage to deliver them who through fear of being a failure will never open their mouths in a prayer meeting that's why you never pray in a prayer meeting you're scared you might say the wrong thing oh what a fear how it holds us to deliver them who through fear of sickness and I've I've bonded and so we could go on all the things and the Lord Jesus delivers not only to give us eternal life but to set us free from these crippling fears that all come from satan it will confess them a sin and my dear friends you will see the Lord begin to take hold of you and begin to use you as you're in the good of an emancipation from satan's bondage yourself we don't have to fight for victory we fight from a victory that Jesus has already won and there's a way of praying that is confident that is assured you stand on what's already been done you are not beneath satan you're above him seated with your savor in heavenly places and we expect to plunder his kingdom we expect to see Jesus triumph we expect to see God answering our prayers and saving the people around us if you believe it's very very difficult it will be so but if you believe it's as easy as anything to Jesus you will have your faith encouraged to see it happen it's according to our faith the more I've seen Jesus have been seen how all authority is given to him and the devil can't withstand him the more I see things happen but when I don't see Jesus but see the enemy nothing happens who can tell the limitless possibilities of faith with the Lord Jesus on the throne and satan on the run before him not only to stand for my life but I'm going to go on I'm going to expect things I'm going to in his name without carnal aggressiveness but in humble faith move into the attack I'm not going to cringe and be fearful man who knows the emancipation his own heart is a man who will be bold in his destiny and things will happen is when the people saw the boldness of Peter and John there's nothing like boldness to convince the world and boldness comes through faith in Jesus who's on your side who's emancipated you you've lost your birth well I think we'll have to stay there stop there there's much else but we've yet got to tomorrow