Jesus gave His disciples some truth in John 14 worth more than gold, frankincense, and myrrh. At the beginning of the chapter He identified Himself as the way, the truth, and the life. He revealed that He alone is the way to the Father. And later in that talk He said,

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (John 14:27 ESV)

Peace. Isn't this what we want? We want it because we live "in this world of sin." The world is troubled and full of trouble; “man is born to trouble” (Job 5:7). The world makes up "peace," but it doesn't work, or it doesn't last. Superficial pastors, like false prophets of old, preach “peace, peace,” but there is no peace. People who should know better, do not know the way of peace and there is no justice in their paths. This isn't just a longing for a silent night, for stillness and quiet, but for knowing that things are right, or that they will be right.

This is the peace that Jesus has, that He gives. He is the fulfillment of the prophets’ hope, the child born whose name is the “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

Of the increase of his government and of peace

When Jesus talks about peace, He knows. God committed Himself in His Word to send a ruler who would bring peace. Jesus is the rightful King, the seed of Abraham, the Son of David.

This advent we're powering the lights of our rejoicing by considering three covenants that the Lord made of old.

The Lord made men on earth to receive His blessings. God blessed Adam and Eve * tout de suite*. And even after Adam’s sin, and after the wickedness and flood, and after arrogance and Babel, the Lord chose Abram and covenanted to bless. Abram would be blessed, be a blessing, and be the channel of blessing to all the families of the earth (Genesis 12:1-3). The ultimate mediator of this blessing is the offspring of Abraham, Jesus (Galatians 3:16).

There are two other covenants that are also unconditional (that is, dependent on the Lord alone) that focus on and through Jesus. The New Covenant, which we'll consider next Lord's Day, and the Davidic Covenant. We rejoice every Christmas in the King’s first coming.

Let's start with the account of Jesus’ birth and then go back to see the covenant.

Matthew's gospel begins with the genealogy of Jesus and then tells the story of Jesus' birth. We observed last week that Jesus is in the line of Abraham. And there is even greater emphasis as the New Testament opens that Jesus is in the line of David.

the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David....

And then in verse 6, "Jesse the father of David the king. And David the father of Solomon." Then the summary: "all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations" (verse 17).

We know from Luke's account of the birth that Joseph and Mary went from Nazareth "to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David" (Luke 2:4). Jesus was a Davidson.

And He was a special son. Why do the three wise men come from the east? "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him" (Matthew 2:2).

Further investigation showed that Bethlehem had been named as the place: “from you shall came a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel" (Matthew 2:6, quoting Micah 5:2). And Herod ordered the killing of all the boys two years-old and under because he did not want to give up being king.

In the collection of accounts of the life and message of Jesus that are the four Gospels, the first burden of the good news as written by Matthew is to establish that Jesus is the promised King.

“Matthew’s design is to present Jesus as the King of the Jews, the long-awaited Messiah. Through a carefully selected series of Old Testament quotations, Matthew documents Jesus Christ’s claim to be Messiah. His genealogy, baptism, messages, and miracles all point to the same inescapable conclusion: Christ is King.” (Wilkinson and Boa, Talk thru the Bible)

The Jews had been waiting for the king to come. This is what, or who, did NOT come after their return from Babylon. It was another 14 generations of anticipating the king's advent (Matthew 1:17). They expected a king because the Lord didn't just hint, the Lord covenanted.

The Davidic covenant can be found in 2 Samuel 7 (and 1 Chronicles 17). David had been made king, he wanted to build a permanent ”house" for the worship of the Lord rather than the tent, and the Lord sent Nathan with a different word.

Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’” (2 Samuel 7:8–16 ESV)

Like Abram, the Lord will make David's name great (verse 9). As to Abram, the Lord will appoint a place and plant His people Israel so that they may dwell in that land (verse 10). So also David would have offspring, and one of his sons would take over the throne, and also build a house (verses 11-15). But even after that son, there would be a royal dynasty. "Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever" (16).

Consider the parts: a house, a throne, a kingdom, a descendant, and all are on earth and eternal. These are not types or shadows. They are not physical things representing spiritual things. They are also not conditional. Solomon would be disciplined, but the promise not canceled. This is what the angel Gabriel told Mary, betrothed “to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David” (Luke 1:27):

“[your son] will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end. (Luke 1:32-33)

This is the Davidic Covenant: the promise of the Lord to David that his seed and throne and kingdom would endure forever.

Herod wasn't threatened because a kid was born who was going to die, he was threatened by a kid who was destined to rule. The magi asked, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?” (Matthew 2:2). And this is the charge hung over Jesus on the cross, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews” (Matthew 27:37).

Having died, and risen from the dead, King Jesus happens to have all authority in heaven and on earth given to Him (Matthew 28:18). For the time being He wants us here in the world to witness to Him until He returns. He's given us a message, and He's given us minas (Luke 19:11-27). Speak and steward and He will reward us when He returns.

It's easier to manage Jesus in the manger than it is to imagine Jesus on the throne. There is no reason to be surprised when holiday conversations get testy when Jesus comes up. Hard hearts are Herod hearts; we don't want anyone to kick us out of the throne of our own lives. We think we can bring about Peace, Peace, when there is no talk of politics. It is exactly the opposite: only when we submit to the true and everlasting King will we know peace.

Of course people quote Jesus when He said that His kingdom is not of this world. But just as disciples are not of the world but in it, so the King's kingdom is not of the world (John 18:36) but for it. In His second advent His kingdom will be established on earth.

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. (Matthew 25:31–32 ESV)

The King will return. And He will establish peace and justice on earth. He will reign in righteousness from His throne in Jerusalem, and the kings of the nations will bow before Him and bring Him tribute.

The good news is about the birth of a Savior, who is also the King of kings. The peace He brings is in our hearts, and, at the right time, also will be on earth as it is in heaven.

he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength

there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15 ESV)

It is ironic that so many who push most for a Christocentric interpretation spiritualize away Christ's earthly throne. But He was born IN THE FLESH, why would He not sit in David’s throne IN THE FLESH? At His Second Coming He will establish peace on earth without end.

Hark! the herald angels sing, "glory to the newborn King!"

Jesus, who is our peace, who established peace between men and God by His blood, taught that men are blessed when they make peace. Some of our witness as Christians is provoking because the darkness hates the light. But when possible, in this world of trouble, be a peace maker.

The LORD bless you and keep you;

What is the most important word in the Bible, other than God or one of His names or titles? The word describes something that comes from God; it's no good if it doesn't come from Him. It's the first thing He gave to Adam and Eve after giving them life and likeness to Himself. It's God's purpose; He's made promises to bring it about, across the globe and throughout generations unto eternity. It is the theme of the first main heading in Jesus' famous sermon. It is what Jesus secured in His death and resurrection. It is found painted on random pieces of wood at Hobby Lobby.

Salvation is a good word, as is forgiveness, along with adoption, fellowship, eternal-life (hyphenated to be one). Gospel, cross, even faith, are honorable mentions. Love is raising its hand in the back trying to get our attention. And if you're paying attention to what this series of advent messages is about you might guess the word would be covenant, or Christmas, but Christmas isn't in the Bible, and covenant, while a good word, doesn't necessarily mean it's a biblical covenant.

The best Bible word is blessing. "God blessed them" (Genesis 1:28). "Blessed are the [eight]" groups (Matthew 5). “Salvation belongs to the LORD; your blessing be on your people!” (Psalm 3:8) Blessing is an umbrella category covering all the good gifts from God.

Jesus was born to be the Mediator of blessings. "He comes to make His blessings flow / Far as the curse is found" (Isaac Watts, "Joy to the World"). These blessings include redemption, amen! We summarize the story arc: Creation - Fall - Redemption, and okay. But God's blessings are redeeming unto more. We could tell the story: Creation full of and for blessings to men - Fall in the form of men believing that God was holding back some blessings - Redemption unto the receiving and multiplying of true blessings. "Blessings abound where'er He reigns" (another Isaac Watts, "Jesus Shall Reign").

We need to slow down, because all this excitement is going to make us think it's Christmas already, and we've got almost three weeks to go. And this Not Yet is actually a critical piece for our understanding advent.

God is, and so reveals Himself to be, the God of blessings. But, God wants us not only to know that every good and perfect gift comes down from Him as our Father, He wants us to believe Him when He promises that He will bless us…later. God delights in our faith that He will bless us, so He delights to tell us what He's going to do, sometimes long before He actually does it.

He loves to get glory for Himself through word and then fulfilling His word. His is a doxological program, and it involves His revelation of His resolve to elect and bless persons and families and nations in time. And you thought your advent plans were special!

Waiting is built in. Like various gifts we give, it’s not just assembly, but some anticipation required. And this is fine, because what is it that overcomes the world? Our faith. Our faith is in the one who makes blessing His global and everlasting business.

One way to wrap the lights around the tree of this topic—so to speak—is to consider three unconditional covenants that anticipate Christmas. The birth of the Messiah was a divine promise that belongs with a trifecta of promises. I'm referring to the Abrahamic Covenant, the Davidic Covenant, and the New Covenant. We'll take one a Sunday.

In all three of these covenants God committed Himself to bring ways of favor on His people. In all three of these covenants God took His faithfulness out on parade so that we could see it so that we could depend on it. In all three of these covenants God specified blessings to come, and His Son's first advent began the dispersing of blessings that Christ's second advent will fulfill.

We are about four-thousand years into the first post-Babel blessing project to the nations.

A man named Abram was minding his own pagan business in the ancient city of Ur when God called Abram to another land. Genesis 10 lists a bunch of peoples/families/proto-nations that came about after the judgment of dispersion at the tower of Babel described in Genesis 11. Then at the start of Genesis 12, God promises to make and bless a new nation and to make a way for the blessing of all the other nations.

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1–3 ESV)

There are seven particulars to this promise. The Lord commits that 1) Abram would be a great nation, 2) Abram will be blessed, 3) Abram's name will be made great, 4), Abram will be a blessing, 5) Abram's friends will be blessed and his enemies cursed, 6) Abram will be the channel of blessing to all the families of the earth, and 7) Abram and his offspring will get the land shown to him.

There are individual outcomes of this covenant to Abram himself, there are national outcomes for his offspring and land, and there are universal outcomes through him. Four of the seven include the Lord’s act of blessing.

The Lord clarifies the covenant with Abram a couple more times, including in Genesis 15 and 17. Especially in chapter 15, the Lord along walks through the divided animals while Abram is in a sleep, and this emphasizes that the covenant is unconditional.

God bound Himself to bring blessings, physical and spiritual, some immediate and some eternal. In fact, it is an "everlasting covenant" (Genesis 17:7) and part of that includes the land of Canaan as an "everlasting possession" (Genesis 17:8).

Abram was elected to receive blessings and then to be a vessel of blessings. These blessings would flow far as the curse is found.

NONE of this happened immediately. Between chapter 12 and chapter 15, a ten year period, Abram had questions. Where's my son? Do I need to reinterpret Your promise as a reference to my servant? The Lord said, "your very own son shall be your heir." And Abram believed (Genesis 15:6). But it took another fifteen year after that before Isaac was born.

Abram also had questions about the land. "O LORD God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?" And that is when the Lord did the covenant walk.

And STILL Abram slept with his servant Hagar. And STILL Abram struggled, and waited. And AGAIN the Lord kept giving Word of coming blessings (Genesis 17:1-8). Abram became Abraham, Isaac was born to Sarah, Isaac had to wait but also eventually had a son, Jacob/Israel, and the rest is history…of more waiting.

This is how the New Testament starts!

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. (Matthew 1:1 ESV)

The first gospel by Matthew makes sure we know who Jesus is by giving us Jesus’ genealogy that begins with Abraham. Abraham is mentioned three times, in the heading and the actual list and then again in the summary (Matthew 1:1, 2, 17) leading up to the story of Jesus’ birth (Matthew 1:18-25).

We shouldn’t forget Abraham’s connection to advent because he also learned to wait on God’s Word and because Jesus’ birth is the ultimate fulfillment of “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” The incarnation of the Lord mediates blessings covenanted by the Lord.

In Galatians 3 Paul states that, in one way, Jesus is the fulfillment of God's covenant to Abraham as the one through whom the blessings will come.

in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:14 ESV)

And while pointing out that all who believe are sons of Abraham--and wow, what a privilege to be grafted in to God's covenant of blessing--there are sons by faith among the nations as well as sons of faith among the nation, Israel.

When it comes to how we are justified by God, there is no difference between Jew and Gentile, it is by faith in Jesus, not circumcision or Sabbath keeping. But God's blessings aren't limited to only the spiritual blessings, God hasn't turned the land promises into spiritual "land" either.

Jesus mediates the blessings, and Jesus is not done blessing all the families of the earth. Jesus came and blessings abound, AND Jesus is coming again, a second advent, and it will be blessings galore, in Israel and .

By way of advent application:

My wife has been giving advent pajamas to kids for years, and now she includes the grandkids. One of my grandsons who is in the early stages of learning about this waiting season opened his present, wrapped and under the tree, to find pjs, and was greatly disappointed. “Is this Christmas?” Ha! No! Just a little something to get us even more excited for what’s to come.

Think of what spiritual and earthly blessings Jesus has already given through His work the first time He came, and think of what is to come when He comes again. Jesus is fulfilling the Lord’s covenant to bless the nations far as the curse is found.

There is a cycle of receiving blessing, then blessing others, and then receiving more blessing. This is our calling (1 Peter 3:9). See if you can shorten the cycle: Receive, Re-gift, Rejoice.

Bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing!

Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. (James 5:7–8 ESV)

When you look at any given group, how can you identify the adults? It's not just the tall ones, it's the ones taking care of things. In a dysfunctional family a kid might be the functional adult.

We can describe the characteristics of an adult in other ways. The adult senses ownership. The adult takes responsibility. The adult sees what needs to be done and then acts do something about it. The adult makes the sacrifices. The adult dies to bring life to others.

In part 2 of TEC as a Teen we saw that much fruit comes from abiding in Jesus (John 15:5). This would include depending on Him, and letting Jesus’ strength and joy enable and motivate us. But abiding in Jesus would also include imitating Jesus, and make a couple connections with me. After exhorting them to abide in Him, He says that they should love others like He loved them. Then He said that there’s no greater love than laying down your life for others (John 15:13).

And a few chapters before, in what has to be one of the most underrated interactions in the Gospels, Jesus said that the hour for Him to be glorified had come (John 12:23). As He continued talking it’s clear that He meant that it was time to die (John 12:32). In between He illustrated, a grain of wheat must die if it will bear much fruit (12:24).

“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. (John 12:23–24 ESV)

Paul picked up on this in 2 Corinthians 4. His ministry was carrying around the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus would be manifested (2 Corinthians 4:10-11). Summarized: So death is at work in us, but life in you (2 Corinthians 4:12).

Christian adulting is sacrificing. Ministering (as pastors equip the saints to do for sake of building up the body) is dying. Fruit comes from giving yourself for the good of others.

As a church we are growing up in maturity. We are at a critical stage of development, with some parallels to a fifteen year old, learning to see and then to act. It's more than reacting, it's see-acting. It's not being a spectator, but a spectactor. Mature men don't need their hand held to cross the street. Mature men don't need to be told that the garbage is full. Mature men build the house and pay the bills. Mature men know when to gather the bullets and when to enter the battle.

Maturity is fruitfulness. Much fruit comes as we abide in the vine, much fruit comes as the man-seed dies.

How then should we die? Without specific application we’re just dying in our heads, and that is not the same. A lot of the thumb’s-width living for Christian maturity and community is as simple as, and as easy as, dying. That’s it. You just have to hate your life in this world (in one way) to keep it for eternal life (John 12:25).

When we look for specific application, we do need basic application. People who want to lose weight should eat less and move more. After a while, if they are truly doing it and still not moving the needle, then they can seek more refined approaches. Most do not do, or not for long, the basics.

Paul prayed for the Colossians:

we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him (Colossians 1:9–10 ESV)

And in the last chapter he mentions the prayer of the guy who probably started the church in Colossae:

[Epaphras is] always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. (Colossians 4:12 ESV)

If we want the thick roots of Christian community, with maturing, Christ-like, loving-others-by-dying adults, we’ve got to keep majoring on the following five parts of God’s will.

Maybe this seems like a Duh Principle for Christians, but this is the reason Paul wrote “to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ in Colossae.” In the church they were being taught, or tricked, that Jesus was not quite as great or as sufficient. The critical part of the letter explains that Jesus is God’s beloved Son who created and rules and redeems “that in everything He might be preeminent” (Colossians 1:18)).

See Colossians 1:15-23.

No compartments, no hidden closets, no neutral places. The most basic death is to yourself, to your centrality as the main character and to your comfort. Your delight must be in the Lord. You must keep learning and expanding and reordering until your cares match His cares.

It would not be bad to read In His Steps by Charles Sheldon. Really: what would Jesus do? Are you tracing over the example He called you to (1 Peter 2:21), or making your own path?

God invented flesh, from skeleton out to skin. He gave it to Adam. His own Son took it up. For that matter, God invented matter, dirt, earth. But when Adam sinned, something happened to him and to all his sons, and we can’t fix fleshly sins by fleshly means.

There is always the temptation for men to fix sin problems with rules. What is in our heart always comes out, but we can’t get to the heart only by what’s out. We must die to appearances of wisdom that don’t have the power of godliness.

See Colossians 2:20-23 and 3:1-4.

We must learn that our values are transcendent; we seek the things that are above. That does not mean we don’t belong on earth, but that we can’t define what’s good here only by what we see, touch, or taste.

We must, every day, kill (by grace) lusts of all kinds. We must mortify desires to have what does not belong to us, whether that’s some other woman or wealth we don’t have to work for. Living as consumed with wanting what’s across the fence is the way of the world. This is the brand of clothes they wear.

Especially, don’t lie. We can’t build up the body speaking lies in love. There’s no such thing.

See Colossians 3:5-11 and 12-17.

And then, we pick up and put on kindness and patience and forgiveness and love and peace and thankfulness. We don’t just enjoy harmony on occasion when everyone hits their note, we keep on putting on the Christlike clothes to the benefit of the “one body” we were called to.

A church is made up of many members, and those members have another group they belong to already, the family. This is where we die first, the ones for whom we die first, the ones we are most tempted to be selfish toward. Will wives die to their belief that they know best? Will husbands die to their avoidance? Will children die to their forgetfulness? Will dads die to their irritation?

See Colossians 3:18-4:1.

And then we really must work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men. Paul addresses slaves and masters, but there’s application to any vocation. Have a job? Work it in Jesus’ name! Those who are called to employ others must be fair, and consider how the Master in heaven seeks the good of His servants.

See Colossians 4:2-6.

“Our prayer remains the deepest expression of all religious life” (Kuyper, Lectures). If we are not praying, we are leaning on our own understanding. The ESV has, Continue steadfastly in prayer (4:2). Is this how we are known, or are we better at being all caught up with the latest news?

And whether or not we get things done, we must be redeeming the time, making the best use of the time (4:6). We don’t waste the days we’re given, and we look for how to best flavor our conversations with grace and salt.

A community is a group of image-bearers who have responsibilities to each other. The Latin roots of the word community include the prefix com- (meaning “together” or “with”) and -munis (related to duties or obligations). So etymologically, community conveys the idea of people united not only by shared attributes but also by shared duties. We are tied together by responsibilities. In a community, people know their people, and so they know who they die for first.

One great challenge of our day is rootlessness. It's a vivid image, and maybe not far off from chaff that the wind drives away (Psalm 1:4). There is little to no expectation of intergenerational relationships outside of holidays, and a squandering of compounding cultural fruit, including assets such as education and finances and even worship. There are hardly any shared projects; we might all still be speaking the same language if the Babel Tower committee just wanted to build for the name of the Lord instead of for themselves. When you do something genuinely good/profitable for you, it will be genuinely good/beneficial for your neighbor. This is Christian economics.

Many of us get to decide the destination for our roots. Our family has had a few major decision times about where to plant ourselves, but there's a daily sense as well. You are our people. You are the people we want to be rooted with. You are the ones we love, and so the ones we joyfully die for. You are the ones we want to be actually buried by when it’s time. This is our place. We can make it more lovely together as we sacrifice. We make a destination for other friends and family who have had enough of feeling rootless.

Romans 12:11 says, “outdo one another in showing honor.” That requires love and sacrifice. Outdo one another in dying.

This is the way of a mature flock. This is the only way to a healthy body and a full harvest of fruitfulness. This is the way of readiness to reproduce. This is the way unto deep roots. This is fruit to die for.

Be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him. Look for ways to die for your people, and pray that the Lord would bless your deaths for sake of their life.

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. (1 Peter 2:11–12 ESV)

We're going to talk about some fruit we want to pursue as a church in the next five years. Even calling it "fruit" is meant to remind us that this is what we want if the Lord wills. Planning for today and tomorrow without the Lord is arrogance (James 4:11-16). Unless the Lord builds the house we labor in vain (Psalm 127:1-2). And also God has willed for His church to mature; what does more maturity look like for us?

Fruit only comes when the branches abide in the vine. Jesus told His disciples:

As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-5).

And then:

By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be My disciples. (John 15:8)

What is this fruit that Jesus refers to? It's at least the fruit of answers to prayers (whatever you ask), the fruit of obedience (any kind), the fruit of joy (overflowing), as well as the fruit of love for others (unto sacrifice). And all of this connects with the fruit of witness (all the way down in verse 27). The fruit is a life of all-inclusive, on display dependence on Jesus.

It is not wrong to see the application of this for individual disciples, but Jesus' concern is with the disciples considered as a group. A single disciple can't be complete in Christ without the "anothers" in the one anothers. "Love one another," mutually obeyed among the many, makes a bigger point.

It's also a reason that the world hates us more (John 15:18).

The order is vital: abide first, fruit follows. There will be no fruit without abiding. Whatever more fruit we're pursuing will not happen apart from abiding in Christ. Jesus loves for us to abide in His love (verse 9), and He wants our fruit to abide (verse 16), not just be a comet quickly fading. Durable fruit comes from dependent branches.

What God has given us at TEC is great, and also, we want to excel still more. There are five "mores" of fruit, individual pieces that also build on each other; there are aspects that are parallel and others that are sequential. Imagine in five years, by God's grace, if we had more of the following.

Being a pastor is not, by itself, a sign of spiritual maturity. But if we want more spiritual maturity from the many we could use more pastors to equip the saints.

Paul commanded Timothy to entrust the truth to faithful men who would be able to teach others also (2 Timothy 2:1-2). This is part of making disciples and building the body (Ephesians 4:11-16). It thinks not just in terms of extending geographical reach but also generational reach.

When the pastors asked our L2L leaders last summer what they thought were front burner issues for our church, many observed that identifying and equipping more elders (another word for pastors in our understanding) is critical. There is no doubt about it.

Every year TEC goes through an annual affirmation cycle for elders and deacons, in which the entire flock is asked to recommend men they think should be considered for those offices. We have not received any new names for elders given to us over the last couple years, which is fine, but we need to fix it.

For sake of the current work of shepherding and discipling, for sake of recognizing the fact that some of our current elders are getting older, for sake of desiring to scale to serve more members, we plan, Lord willing, to add at least two pastors in the next five years. This does not mean adding paid staff, it means affirming men to help shepherd the flock.

Along with more pastors, we are aiming to make sure that the pastors are "devoting [themselves] to prayer and to the ministry of the word" (Acts 6:4). There is no work that is below an elder. And as we've been trying to emphasize at TEC for 15 years, the work of a pastor isn't inherently more precious or automatically more pleasing to God.

That said, as God has blessed us to build some complementary institutions, and while God has blessed us with a property and building to call our own, there are many necessary things to be done that don't always require an elder's hands. This is not special, this is sharing of responsibility.

This need has also been an issue observed by others. The elders have already started the process of defining the principles of what we need to care about, so that elders as elders can focus on the flock not facilities, while enabling others to make progress. We will share more as we nail it down, but we are working on it.

Some movement seems slow because what's done isn't center of sight, some movement is slow because we don't have money, but we, as pastors, don't want to be the bottleneck of other progress.

Part of the reason for better partition is to be able to provide even more teaching and resources for our people. This includes conversations, but it also includes resources that are available and obvious and consumable any time. We will get the Parenting Roundtables going again. There is talk of starting some Marriage Roundtables. We've talked about some ways to package and curate and plug some of the things we've already taught, that are still relevant, but that maybe people don't know are available.

Many of you are hungry for good material; you are consuming a lot of material, some good and some maybe not straight from the pit, but bounced off a couple satellites. The common grace of modern media allows for the distribution of edifying and equipping teaching. It’s not for sake of a brand, but for sake of building the body. Already we’ve got good stuff on marriage and membership, on parenting and Proverbs and prayer, and just a bunch more. Plus we have a number of members, not just pastors, making some good podcast stuff. Let’s fill the city with good teaching (as they were accused of doing in Acts 5:28).

Potency is another word for power. This means we want to see the power of life in the fruit of disciples (and families) and the church overall. We want the opposite of those who have the appearance of godliness, but deny its power (2 Timothy 3:5).

We want the pastors not just to be responsive to problems, we want every member not just to be concerned with what is wrong, but all pursuing the maturity of Christlikeness.

We think this includes Christians being more (and this on Jealousable Households expands further):

I’ll have some more to say about what this sort of person/household looks like in the next message.

As a church we will pray about and pursue having more presence in the city/community.

This presence would include more service. Let’s invite our campus neighbors to something and show some hospitality. Let’s identify some public service/outreach projects. We’re going to ask the deacons to investigate at least one project in the next year that, as a flock, we could do or join.

Presence would involve more event participation. We will organize another June Life Jubilee and invite other churches to join, earlier and more of a big deal. We are also already investigating the possibility of having a booth or some setup at a city thing, such as during the Strawberry Festival.

We are trying to network with other Christians/churches. In terms of a high overlap of likemindedness, there is a church that meets in Battle Ground, WA, and we had started to coordinate a combined family retreat next summer, but that event won't work out. That said, those kind of connections are important, even for our youth and seeing that what we have is special and also not a cult.

Have you heard the concept of "owned space"? It's visible, tangible properties and businesses. These are NOT TEC-owned, but TEC-people-owned, with encouragement and support from each other. We already have some of this in Marysville, and, why not more? What about a coffee shop, a bookstore, more? Places that are worth getting out of your car for, places where you can get some things you can’t get just ordering from your computer.

For sake of TEC, I am not the only wondering this, but I will wonder out loud for all of us. Should we purchase Totem Middle School as a church and school? It is five times the price of our current property. But it would provide more than five times the space, usable (and move visible) space for events, and of course it would be closer to Comeford Park and city hall and 3rd Street, and Taco Bell.

We would have a whole new set of neighbors to bless, or annoy. It's no good at all without the Lord's blessing. It's no good at all unless we keep confessing our sin and abiding in Christ. But what a place that would be for our fruit to on display.

Not every “more” needs to resonate with you the same way. For that matter, these are just starting points. In ten years, can we be ready to plant another church? These things aren’t just for the elders to figure out, even if we are responsible to plant the flag. Will you pray about what you can do? Will you consider how you can help, and by helping I mean more than telling other people how they’re doing it wrong?

Lord willing, we will keep maturing and have more problems.

The Father is the vinedresser and, just like a gardener would, of course He is glad to see more fruit on the branches. More light. More salt. More reviling. More blessing.

A company shares bread together. A company goes into the battle together. So, as a company of disciples, abide in the vine of Christ, abide in His love, let His words abide in you, ask for His strength, and bear much fruit for the glory of the Father.

[May you be] strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. (Colossians 1:11–12 ESV)

Trinity Evangel Church is about to turn 15. The mid-teenager analogy turns out to be a useful point of comparison. We are not individually all at the maturity of high school freshmen, and thank God. But when considered all together as an institution, there are some typical teen characteristics that apply.

We just finished the Ezra-Nehemiah-Esther series with the case study of what it looked like to rebuild a city and reform a culture. Even though Marysville will not be the seat of the Messiah's throne when He returns, we are trying to cultivate a certain type of community. When Christ returns, will He find us being fruitful in our work? Will He find us mature?

So after our Old Testament study and before an upcoming Advent series, let's consider some vision for TEC, with today’s sermon as the overall aim and next Sunday looking at the next five years.

When it comes to the mission of TEC, we understand the practice of making disciples and the purpose of making disciples considered both individually and corporately.

Individually, we want to see "every man" complete in Christ. This is what we learn from Colossians 1:28-29.

Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. (Colossians 1:28–29 ESV)

Corporately, we want to see the whole body built up in love. This is the emphasis in Ephesians 4:11-16.

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:11–16 ESV)

There are three overlapping aims that come from these texts.

The Pareto Principle began with an economic observation that (in Italy in 1986) 20% of the population owned 80% of the land. The principle has been applied much further; 20% of the customers make 80% of the complaints; 20% of patients make up 80% of health care costs, and so on. Businesses, and churches too, recognize that 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people. This is not okay to expect 20% of any person's body to be doing 80% of the body's work.

In Colossians 1:28, note that Paul writes everyone three times. In Ephesians, there is an emphasis also on the saints, on we all, on each part working properly.

TEC is not an audience, we are an assembly. Of course we do not all do the same things, but it's not the most mature teen who expect others to do their work. Increasing capacity is good, and to be developed more. Serving is not surrogacy, meaning that when you see someone else serving that doesn’t mean there’s nothing for you to do. Serving is part of everyone's sanctification, it belongs with everyone having a spiritual gift “for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:4-7). God made it this way.

In education terms, students in the Pert stage often need qualifications, whether or not they hear them. Upper-middle school/lower high school students default to questioning, and arguing. They’re the type who says, “Don’t tell me what to do, but also please pay for all of my food, clothes, and sports fees.” Ha!

I understand that not everyone should be a teacher, as James 3:1 prohibits. And also in another way, Colossians 3:16 says that when we are richly indwelt by the Word that we will be “teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom.” The ultimate sign of maturity isn’t that a man can lead a Bible study, and also, a mature man knows the Bible and can talk to others about it.

Have you heard of vibe coding? Vibe coding is when you tell an AI app what sort of app or website you want to make and let it make up the details. You don’t know how it works, you have an idea/feeling/vibe and let that lead. But that’s not how revelation works; we receive what God has given, not what we wish it would be. It’s not how we “do” theology.

Yes, there are different levels of need to understand. There are milk and meat levels of understanding the Word (Hebrews 5:12-13). That said, if we argue that solid food is not for the mature but for the nerds, that would be weak sauce.

What happens in the process as a person becomes more complete in Christ? According to Colossians 1:28, it is connected with hearing Jesus proclaimed, receiving the teaching, and grasping the wisdom. Look at part of Paul’s prayer earlier in the chapter:

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God (Colossians 1:9–10 ESV)

Or consider from the Ephesians 4 paragraph, how is the body built to be stronger? The body is given pastors and teachers. There is a lot of truth speaking, which requires truth knowing. It is related to the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). Even the idea of making disciples means that we are making learners, and learners who follow not just who fill in notebooks. We teach and they learn to observe all that Jesus commanded.

A Christian who is more complete in Christ has conviction. The word conviction comes from combining con and vincare, so “with conquered." A judge or jury convicts a criminal when the proof of his guilt conquers his defense. The positive use is a man with conviction who has been overcome by the truth. Your belief lands like a plane.

If we are going to pass the baton of truth to the next generation, then we have to pick it up. Abraham Kuyper talks about the need for defining principles and then living principally.

“anyone entering a house in ordinary times is not thinking about the foundation on which it rests; and so also in Jesus’ church there can be times when people dwell together and labor together, hardly bothering themselves about any principles. But in times like those we are now experiencing, now when in every area the foundations are being undermined, now when everything is pressing down to the depths and people are proceeding restlessly to pry the deepest principles loose, now in these times it would be all too naïve, all too negligent, for people to sidestep the issue of principles any longer.” (Kuyper, Rooted and Grounded)

False teaching had infected the Colossian church. Paul warned the Ephesian church against staying children, and being a child is connected with being tossed by waves because there is no deep ballast of truth. The children are those carried by winds of doctrine without being directed by the rudder of conviction.

Beloved, you know that the propaganda and lies and cunning and crafty scheming was not finished in the first century.

Dualism/Pietism/escapism grows in churches. The poison of Marxist kinds of envy and blaming has been baptized by some Christians as love of neighbor. We have had those among us who have been saved by faith, who have heard the freeing power explained to them in the doctrine of sola fide, yet have turned toward Roman Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy and adding layers back in between themselves and immediate fellowship with God.

Right convictions are not just what you want to be true, right convictions come from being conquered by the truth so as to give yourself for it. Yes, we hold and speak the truth in love, and we hold it fast even to death.

Colossians 1:28 has been bouncing around my mental hopper for years, and yet again, just this past week, another part of it hit me differently.

The aim of this work is for every person to be “complete in Christ.” That's the NASB translation; I like the bite of the consonants. William Tyndale, the KJV, and other English translations use the word "perfect," which is also good. These all emphasize a kind of fullness. Think of your soul, of your person and life, in a spatial way, where Christ occupies more and more of the space. That fits, even in Colossians where there is an emphasis on the fullness of God in Christ Himself, surely connects to the fullness of Christ in us.

The original word is teleios, it's related to the word telos which means end or goal. Teleios is also used in Ephesians 4, so we’re right over the target.

The ESV translates it as mature in Christ. And what does it mean to be mature? The English word has the nuance of being ripe. The seed has gotten to what it was meant for, which includes (at least among fruits that have seeds) having more seed to spread. This is belongs with teleios.

To be mature in Christ, then, includes aspects of fullness and fruitfulness. There is a fulfilling of purpose in fruit. And it is a great temptation for church-going people to want to appear full grown without the work of holding up heavy branches.

Maturity is agency with wisdom. Not just energy or activity, but initiative to figure it out as part of fearing the Lord. It is accountability to the Lord that results in activity. It is faith that follows-through until there is fruit. If there is no fruit, then we dig and dung, per Jesus's parable (Luke 13:6–9).

All of the above resonates with our one-sentence church mission. The elders recently reviewed the statement, and I've spent some time looking back through around a thousand or so sermons to the TEC flock to look for patterns and the main points of emphasis. We have not drifted from the overall mission.

We are laboring in joy to cultivate a Trinitarian community of worshiping, maturing disciples who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord over all the world.

These kinds of people default to fellowship, even when fellowshipping is costly. These kinds of people are always looking for ways to be fruitful. They don't only do it when it's easy, nor do they define fruitfulness in a way that puts up compartmentalized walls. They want to get stronger, and that strength extends rather than isolates. They are lifelong learners, “they still bear fruit in old age” (Psalm 92:14).

There is a phrase of promise and renewal that the prophet Isaiah gives in Isaiah 37:31, where the people would “again take root downward and bear fruit upward.” What a great aspiration by way of application.

As an almost 15 year old, we do need more teaching, so as to know what to do and why. We need more ambition, which, sometimes in God’s providence, requires better waiting. We do desire more maturity, ripeness, and fruitfulness as a church. When the seed fell on the good soil, they heard the word and accepted it and beared fruit, thirtyfold, sixtyfold, or a hundredfold (Mark 4:8, 20). May God give such increase! Next week we’ll consider some of the fruits we’d like to pursue more of in the next five years.

Are you ready to give up some of lesser complaints in order to trade up for bigger problems? Are you ready to give up some of your comfort for sake of your brother’s benefit? Will you pursue maturity in Christ and do your part for the building up of the body?

Do any of you lack wisdom? Ask God who gives generously to all. Do any of you lack fruit? Don’t wait, dig around the roots today and put on the fertilizer for your faith. Pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. (2 Peter 1:2 ESV)

I chose to preach through Ezra-Nehemiah-Esther for such a time as this. We started thirteen months ago, just two months more time than the Jews had between when the lots were cast for their destruction until that very day when, by God’s providence, the reverse happened. It’s time to finish the book of Esther, and to wrap up our study of all three books.

The main character, the “hero,” of all three of these books is God. It’s the greatest irony of Esther in particular that God’s name isn’t used even once, but there’s no way all these things just happened without a divine author, one with a great sense of justice and faithfulness to His people and of humor. All these books center on God fulfilling His promise to the covenant people, that He would protect them in exile and bring (many of) them back to the promised land.

The whole of the Esther story happens between Ezra 6-7. Esther herself is living in the capital city with Ahasuerus, also called Xerxes. Around 40k Jews already returned under Ahasuerus’ grandfather, Cyrus. Another 12k are still to return with Ezra and then Nehemiah.

We’ve met big Bible names in these books: Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, as well as Mordecai. All of them were committed to lose it all, at least at crucial times. It was “for such a time as this.” God gave the people “a mind to work,” and they worked. They gathered to hear the Law and then they committed to doing it. In Esther’s case she gradually realized that she had to be willing to give up her life for sake of more lives. And the blessing of God brought them joy on schedule.

In verses 1-20 the Jews were in a fight for their lives. In the last parts of the book the Jews establish a feast as part of their annual liturgy.

The last long chapter explains why the story of Esther was written. The Jews had been holding an annual feast called Purim, and the author has been in the process of telling us why.

Mordecai was the prime minister. He was the second most powerful official in Persia, and he makes the remembrance official. He recorded these things, put them in some sort of journal, and then sent letters…both near and far, covering around 1500 miles both east and west from Susa. He wrote down Haman’s rise and fall and the Jew’s dangers and deliverance. There was to be a yearly two-day feast, days to remind them all of when the Jews got relief from their enemies. These were to be days of feasting and gladness, for sharing food and gifts. Those who did not have resources were to be provided for.

Mordecai formalized what the Jews had already started to do. They called the holiday Purim. That’s the Hebrew plural ending added to the Persian loan word, pur, meaning lot or dice. This story started with a lottery. Hamam meant the purim for evil but God meant it for good (think of Joseph’s comment to his brothers in Genesis 50:20). The day the gods of fortune destined for destruction became the very day the evil plan of Haman was returned on his own head.

Naming is always interesting. What would be equivalent for us, Lotto Ball Day? Card Day? Dart Board Day? Chicken Bone Day? What didn’t kill them made them stronger.

This holiday was to be recognized without fail (verse 27). They firmly obligated, parents with their kids, to be remember these days throughout every generation, in every clan, province and city. The Feast of Purim is still observed among Jews to this day (and like our Easter, the exact day changes year to year. In 2025 it was March 14, in 2026 it will be March 3. They read the entire book of Esther. They also give kids noisemakers called groggers, a kind of rattle, so that whenever Haman’s name is mentioned the kids make a lot of noise "blot out" his name and signify his defeat).

There is a lot of work in this sort of scheduled joy. Did families have rules that you couldn’t sing Purim (observed in March) songs before Hanukkah (observed in December) was over? Did they have budgets for Purim gifts? Are you tired just thinking about advent? Advent?! We’re still eating Reformation Day candy!

The Queen adds her stamp of approval in words of peace and truth. This suggests that there was perhaps some disagreement and even division among the people about the propriety of the Purim partying. If she adds anything other than her affirmation it’s the part about their fasts and their lamenting (verse 31). Of course her own consecrated agency began with three days without food for sake of praying for God’s help.

The bookend finishes with reference to Ahasuerus again, who was the first character we met in chapter 1. In God’s providence good came to the king because of the good done by his wife and his new top man. His kingdom stretched from sea to shining sea, out to the coastlands. As for the subjects, even with the imposed taxes, better is a living tax-payer than a dead one.

The final comment is about Mordecai, who sought the welfare of his people. And the people loved him.

Let’s do three levels of wrap up: 1) to this section we’ve just studied, 2) to the Esther story overall, and then 3) to the Ezra-Nehemiah-Esther trifecta.

First, it’s good to set reminders to trust in the Lord. Scheduled joy works not just because we decide we just want to have joy on a particular day, but because we have reasons to rejoice. Dice that determined the when of destruction turns out, by God’s providence, to be the very day of deliverance? It’s true history and theology.

So, second, the whole book of Esther, without mentioning God’s name once, helps us to fight the temptation to live as if God’s existence is irrelevant. Not only do we look for God’s “invisible hand” turning events how He wants, we trust Him. The crazy cultural context of this story remind us that unfavorable conditions aren’t new and that reversals of evil plans are a frequent because it’s one of our God’s favorite plot points.

For that matter, if there is no Esther there’s no eschatology. Haman’s aim was the end of all Israel. Without Mordecai there is no Messiah. No feast of Purim no propitiation for our sins (John 4:22).

What good does it do for a modern Jew to celebrate Purim apart from faith in Jesus as the Christ? It does the good of increasing their accountability, similar to having the promises and the patriarchs (Romans 9:4-5). But remembering this great story of deliverance won’t save them. It should, by God’s grace, point them to God’s grace and salvation in His Son. But apart from Christ they are looking at destruction worse than anything Haman had planned.

And third, for final “tips” from the three books together, I have none. But if I wanted to give the big idea: God rules, so His people should trust Him. And when His people trust Him, His people risk.

Remember, as Augustus Strong defined it: “Providence is God’s attention concentrated everywhere.” We see it especially in some of these bigger examples:

Particularly for the Jews, Ezra and Nehemiah show God’s providential rule to bring the many Jews back to the land of Israel, and Esther shows God’s providential rule to care for those still outside the land.

But God’s providence encourages, and uses, the consecrated agency of persons. Just some of the bigger examples:

Putting it all together, God’s people set joyful reminders of God’s faithful rule to stimulate and sustain their risks of faith.

As Christians reading all this, we aren’t trying to rebuild Jerusalem, we aren’t sending our daughters to sleep with kings to gain political power, we haven’t given our kids rattles to drown out Haman’s name. But, we are trying to build a culture that honors Christ as Lord, we are praying for kings/presidents that we could live godly lives, and we do schedule feasts for our kids that they would enjoy the blessings of those who fear the Lord. Advent/Christmas, Reformation Day, the Lord’s Table, are part of our routine for sake of remembering, rejoicing, and risking.

Trust in the Lord, down to the roll of the dice.

These stories have set a foundation for some messages that are

God has blessed us, and we pray for Him to bless us even more. These books have set us up for taking individual risks by faith, and they have, Lord willing, set us up to consider as a church what some of our opportunities and responsibilities are for blessing His name in these days.

The “omnipotent faithfulness” (Jobes) of God works for our good, but the joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). As those who confess that Jesus is Lord, and anticipate His return as King, He put us here for such a time as this.

Remember that Jesus is building His church. He has given You His Word and His Spirit, the truth of the gospel, that you would learn to observe everything He commanded. Remember His providence and His promise to fill the earth with His glory. Give yourself to the same purpose.

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. (1 Peter 4:12–13 ESV)

It's been nine years since the first chapter of Esther and the feast thrown by King Ahasuerus. It's been five years since Esther became Queen to Ahasuerus. It's been eleven months since Haman lobbied the king for the lives of all Jews, and eight months since Esther and Mordecai sent out a second decree. Now we come to "the twelfth month...on the thirteenth day...the very day" that the whole book of Esther is written to explain.

In Esther 9:1-19 the Jews are in a fight for their lives. From verse 20 through the short chapter 10, the Jews add a feast into their yearly liturgy, an annual holiday of food and gifts to remember the deliverance on "the very day."

That day did not go according to the expectations of the Persians in two ways. First, the Persians who attacked the Jews expected that they were going to (finally?) get "mastery" over the Jews. Yeah, it’s easier to control a whole group of people when you kill them. The key verse of the chapter is verse 1, which says that "the reverse occurred," or "it was turned to the contrary" (KJV, NASB). The second contrary from the Persian perspective was that the Jews did not take any plunder. That's stated three times in the three different scenes through verse 19. You didn't think the Jews would win, but if they did win, you didn't think they'd just leave the goods.

They fight for their lives, and also, that's all they won.

Adar is the name of the last month of the year, though the Jewish year ended in our March. In the first month (Esther 3:7), the administration cast lots to determine the key dates for the upcoming year, and the lots fell on Adar 13 for the annihilation of all the Israelites living in the Persian Empire. This is what Haman paid for.

But as truly wise men know, “every decision” of lots are from the Lord (Proverbs 16:33). This also means that Haman’s hatred rose and fell according to God’s schedule.

Haman wasn't the only one with animosity toward the Jews. Even though the second decree had gone out authorizing the Jews to defend themselves to death, there were still those who hated them (verses 1, 5, 16). The Jews identified those who sought their harm (verse 2).

Yet no one could stand against them. A kind of dread came over many of their enemies. Even many of the local magistrates, all the officials of the provinces and the royal agents offered help. Mordecai was now the prime minister, and he was more reasonable than the king and also more consistent. Mordecai said what he meant and meant what he sent. Even the art of the decree could have included some reminders of who had authority in the palace to pay for the butter for their bread, so to speak. Mordecai grew more and more powerful as a major political player (verse 4).

So the Jews fought for their lives and were successful. When the story says that they did as they pleased, that's not unleashed cruelty, but rather a way to say that they didn’t have a hands tied behind their back from doing what they needed to do to defend themselves.

In the capital city alone 500 men were killed, and added to that were the ten sons of Haman. They are named. Sort of an interesting fact, in the Hebrew manuscripts the names of the sons are off to the side of the main column, giving the impression as if the sons are hanging in the margin. Some traditions also said that when the book of Esther is read during Purim all ten names should be said in one breath because, as the Talmud explains, “their souls all departed together.”

The first section ends with, but they laid no hand on the plunder. They could have, but whether or not it affected their reputation before their remaining neighbors, it was right before God. It stands out because the people of Israel had failed this test many times in their history.

The chapter moves from an overall report to the scene inside the palace. That very day the king heard about those killed in Susa, and he talks with Esther about it. All four commentaries I read questioned Esther's morals in her requests, and called it conduct “unbecoming a woman” (Jobes). My only questions are for the questioners.

Ahasuerus asks about her wish and request again (though, whether or not it’s a big difference, he does not offer up to half the kingdom). She asks for two things. First, she asks for an extension of the same decree for the capital-city Jews. Second, she asks for Haman's already-dead sons to be hung up on gallows.

Has power gone to Esther's head? Is she just being vindictive, brutal?

What we don't know is what intelligence she had, as in, what she was hearing from word on the street. In light of 500 guys dying because they hated the Jews, it's not ridiculous to suppose that more hatred was out there. What we do know is that 300 more guys did attack on the second day (verse 15). More of what we don't know is, how many more might have attacked if Haman's sons hadn't been hanged. It was a deterrent, not a desecration. This was not Achilles dragging Hector’s dead body behind his chariot around the walls of Troy.

Esther's request was still for defense, not attack. And this second section also ends with, but they laid no hands on the plunder. All of this demonstrates restraint more than revenge.

Now we find out the answer to the king's question about how many fools in their hatred struck out against the Jews: 75,000 enemies were killed in self-defense (verse 16).

Again, they laid no hands on the plunder (verse 16), they were fighting for their lives.

The very day is repeated: the thirteenth day of Adar, and then on the fourteenth day they rested and made that day a day of feasting and gladness (verse 17).

But there ended up being two different days of feasting, because the Jews in Susa didn't have rest until the fifteenth day (verse 18). So the country Jews started their Purim party a day ahead. We'll see the formal declaration of this feast as part of their annual liturgy in the next part of chapter 9, but it is a welcome time of eating and giving in the middle of spring.

What do we learn from Esther 9?

That God protects His people. The Lord is a fortress, a stronghold, a shield, a refuge (Psalm 144:2).

That God in His providence often brings about the very opposite of what those who hate Him and hate His people expect. To the contrary, the Lord uses all things to work together for good to those who love Him. Isn’t the book of Esther sort of the story form of Romans 8:28? And who questions if good things work together for good? The emphasis for our faith is that the Lord uses what appears to us to be not good things for His glory and our blessing. In the last chapters of Esther God’s people go from being scheduled for destruction to being delivered by a great reversal on that very day.

That life is worth defending. Murder, and murder to scale in genocide, violates God’s will (Exodus 20:13). Our religion depends on the willing sacrifice of God's own Son to death. We know that God uses martyrs to magnify His message (think even recently of Charlie Kirk). But also, the same Lord says that it is wrong to hate and to kill and it is right for government to explicitly affirm the right to self-defense. Of course this isn’t about abortion, but there is application of the principle. It is a godly thing to use our energy and resources to seek to protect others from death. The Jews in Esther 9 were able to avoid even more bloodshed, their own or their enemies, because God gave favor to Esther and Mordecai.

And when the Lord does deliver our lives, it’s a good time to feast. The story and the remembrances are part of God’s means to increase our durability. Here are helps to “withstand in the evil day, to having done all, to stand firm.”

As the Lord enabled the Jews in Esther to fight for and win their lives on the very day they were scheduled to be destroyed, so you consider the very day of the Lord’s return and give yourself unto willing and working and winning glory for the name of the Lord.

[May God] make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:11–12 ESV)

In order of testimonies:

Is Esther 8 the climax of the story? The change in emotional tone from the beginning of the chapter to the end argues: YES.

The slaughter of every Jew is still in the Persian empire's development plans for later in the year. But by the end of Esther 8 the Jews have "light and gladness and joy and honor." Previously the people fasted for three days at Esther's request, now they feast because God has worked through Esther. Their sorrow is turned to joy and their mourning is turned to a holiday.

The story has fallen hard, as if to the low point on a trampoline, but that potential energy is about to launch the story back higher than before, and Esther puts her force into it. God’s providence loves to store up the pressure of difficulties like a kind of energy until it’s time for deliverance. In the long run the wicked’s worst works for the better of consecrated agents.

It was common Persian practice to really make a point about how bad it would be to do something stupid. It wasn't just enough for Ahasuerus to kill Haman, then he went to work on his house posthumously.

The king gave Esther the house of Haman. This is everything belonging to Haman; it’s his estate, his assets, not just his roof and four walls. It was a transfer of wealth, and, one would suppose, a major problem for Haman's wife and sons.

Esther also brought Mordecai before the king and explained that, not only were they related as Jews, they were related as cousins.

Then Ahasuerus gave his signet ring to Mordecai. The king had given it to Haman (Esther 3:10); Haman had been the vizier, the second in power after the king's throne. Now the queen and the prime minister are Jews.

Esther gave Mordecai Haman's estate. Haman was consumed with taking away everything that was important to Mordecai, his life included. It is about as ironic as it could be that now Mordecai takes possession of everything that made up Haman's life. This is quite a reversal of fortune.

All of this is good for Esther and Mordecai, but all is not good. The genocidal decree is still the standing order.

Rather than sit back, satisfied that Haman has been hung, Esther pushes harder into the next jump. Her interaction with the king is a large part of the chapter. It's not necessarily what we would call the principle of pursuit, but it’s still more consecrated agency.

She fell at [the king's] feet and wept and pleaded. In chapter 5, when she entered the king's throne-room without his request, she gave no signs of emotional distress. Her invite to dinner had no drama. No longer does she hide her troubles, and she realizes that what she’s about to ask is almost impossible.

The king was disposed to listen. Holding out the golden scepter to her this time probably wasn't to spare her life but as a symbol of his ready ear.

She shows great deference, or even we could say, her respect bestows an expectation for a respectable response. There's four diplomatic conditions: If it please the king...if I have found favor...if the thing seems right...[if] I am pleasing in his eyes. Two are about the principle of the thing, two are about her person.

To all intents and purposes there was no way to undo or reverse a written law. And actually, that would make the king look bad anyway. But Esther—with wisdom and tact—puts the blame on Haman. They were the letters devised by Haman (verse 5), which is accurate, though not complete. Maybe that is a way around it.

But the decree that went out almost three months ago was for calamity and destruction.

Esther did the asking, the king answers both Esther and Mordecai that, if they will do the work, they have his permission to write another decree and see what will happen.

The amount of detail in this part of the chapter stands out. The bottom line is that they wrote a decree that Jews could defend themselves and distributed the decree. But again, so many specifics argue not only for the accuracy but for the significance.

One reason is to show the fulness of reversal. It's not as if the second decree only turned over 60% of the table. All the official scribes get out their pens. All the fastest royal horses are saddled. All 127 provinces will get the message. The signet ring stamps the highest level of authority. And the permissions are exactly opposite from what Haman wanted.

In chapter 3 the letters had "instruction to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods" (3:13).

Now the letters allowed the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included, and to plunder their goods, on one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar (8:11-12).

They did not have authority to stop the first decree, but they did have authority to counteract it. The terms are meant to match in most ways.

The Jews did not have to turn the other cheek, so to speak. It’s likely that they would have tried to defend themselves anyway, but it would have been without any kind of permission. Also, this is not a command for the Jews to attack, it allows them to defend their lives. It is explicit power for self-defense against those who might attack them. It is also limited to only the one day, the same day as the purge was scheduled.

Adding the women and children and plunder (verse 11) in has caused quite a Christian conniption. It's okay to fight the guy swinging his sword at you, but then to go after that guy's family?

I wonder if we shouldn't see this as an ancient art of the decree. Say something extreme, but not because that's really what you want, in order to make the eventual agreement seem like a win to the other party. The language of this second decree does not require massacre of civilians or the plunder of property, but 1) it does match the previous decree, and 2) it does plant a mental-seed; it gets the would-be attackers on their heels. We know this happened per the last comment in the chapter: fear of the Jews had fallen on them. And also, we know that the Jews did not plunder (9:10, 15-16).

The decree gets distributed, “hastened and impelled by the king’s command” (NASB). And still some 75,000 men tried to kill the Jews anyway.

They are still eight and a half months away from the 13th of Adar, but when news gets out, the party breaks out. (We might wonder if this provoked at least some more anti-Jew attitude than otherwise, but we don’t know for sure.)

In Susa they are rejoicing at a new prime minister. They apparently don't care where he's from, Mordecai has shown himself a man of character.

As for the Jews themselves they had light and gladness and joy and honor. It's not frequent, but, here and probably in Psalm 97:11, light is used to describe a sense of feeling not in the sense of illumination. It's not contrasted with darkness, it's contrasted with heaviness.

When the first decree came out there was "great mourning...with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes" (4:3). Now it is a feast and a holiday.

Many non-Jews declared themselves Jews. It's a word for conversion, and it's only used here in the OT. Seems more political than spiritual, but very rare for non-Jews to identify as Jews. If you can’t beat them, join them.

Haman went too far. If he’d only tried to sell the Jews as slaves, Esther says she might not have even said anything. But the depth of the pit led to the height of reversal. Salvation and elevation, from possible genocide to governing authority.

A few years ago I was talking with a lawyer about how to get private schools out from underneath any state requirements. He said that such change likely won’t happen until the state overreaches so blatantly at some point, not just that results in push back but a complete push off. Sort of similar with the murder of Charlie Kirk, the forces of spiritual darkness magnified Charlie’s testimony by overplaying their turn.

Know that threats and pressure are never wasted, but stored up; the lowest point holds great potential. Feel God’s providential attention at every point of your arc. Do not despair at the low point on the trampoline, ready your consecrated energy to maximize on the rebound. It’s all for such a time as this.

If you lay down on the metaphorical trampoline of life you’re wasting your advantage. Of course there will be low points, but the springs of Providence don’t break. So don't lose heart. Watch for the right time, and then put your consecrated legs into it.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Romans 15:13 ESV)