Welcome to the From the Field broadcast. It is my hope and prayer that God will use this message to touch your heart. Thank you for listening. May God bless. Now we've already gone through all the dimensions that we know. So then where is the height? You see what we live in a realm and a physical state that is comprehended by three dimensions. But what Paul is saying here, that he desires their eyes to be open unto, is there is another realm, there is a height to the love of God that our physical eyes cannot see. Paul said it like this, at our very best, we look through a glass darkly. Oh, but we still can look, thank God. Oh, we may not be fully able to understand it all and comprehend it all. Oh, but the power and the change that it makes in us when we look at Christ and we see what God has done. Oh, I'm talking about tonight, a love that surpasses all understanding. I'm talking about a love, all the song said, all the grace that brought him down to man, all the goals that God did spend. at Calvary. There's something about that cross. There's something about God in His divinity and God in His humanity that ought to draw us in tonight. By the word of God said, if I be lifted up, I'll draw all men unto myself. Oh, what a wonderful savior we serve tonight. And the Bible tells us in our passage we read earlier, he says, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation. Oh, oh, John said it like this. Hearing his love, not that we love God, but that he first loved us. came inside of me a propitiation for our sins. Another place, I think John also says this, that he is a propitiation for our sins, but not for me only, but for the sins of the whole world. That includes every last one of us. No matter here in Brazil, in the Amazon somewhere, off in some African safari, or somewhere in Iraq wondering what's going on. The love of God has been shed abroad worldwide. So we come to this amazing story here in the book of Esther. And what we find in this understanding of propitiation, it is that there is an error. one that is greatly offended. And then there is the offender, the one that has done the offending. There is the propitiate, or the one that is the stand between, that says, I will take all of their punishment. I will take everything due to them unto myself, so that, here's a twofold, so that, The offended one is no longer offended. I'm glad Jesus Christ is the perfect, spotless Lamb of God that has fully satisfied the wrath of God. Esther has received this letter. Letter that stated death to her and her people. Could you imagine receiving such a letter? No way to escape. It's been signed and sealed by the king's own greed. And so there's turmoil, there's fear. They're trying to escape, but there's no escape from this. Esther goes before Mordecai and talks and they have this dialogue through this messenger. She says, you don't understand. I'm not the queen, but I'm also a Jew and I can't just go in there anytime I want to. And if I do, there's a law that a king has. If you do go in anytime you please and you're not being called, there are those swordsmen that stood guard of that inner courtyard. They would pull those Arabian sabers out and slice the one that came in unannounced. Didn't matter if there was a woman or a man, didn't matter. The law had been written, the law was laid down. Could not approach the king. And so Esther has got a grave problem. We know later in the story that she receives a second letter. This is a letter of life. A letter that has been reversed. And that's able to save all of the Jewish people. All of those, they can even avenge those assailants come out with the victory. There was this letter of death on one side of the story. There is a letter of life on the other side of the story. I believe God arrested me that night in Yorkshire, Virginia, sitting in the sound booth, minding my own business. But there was a lighter issue of death to me. I was fearful of what I had done. My sins had offended God. Arrested, taken under a place of conviction. What I find so amazing is what is sandwiched in between these two letters. What action was made to change the king's mind? Something took place that changed his mind from destruction, annihilation, destroyed, to giving life and an abundant life. A life that went on in the kingdom. She said if I go in the king and go in his courtyard, in that inner courtyard, she said it's death to him except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden scepter. If you like to study words like I do, that word, hold out, is literally one word in the Hebrew. It's mentioned three times in the Word of God. And all three of them are in the story of Esther. All three of them are in connection to the golden scepter. I want you to understand, The scepter was one that was a status that he had conquered many armies. And this was the exception. If they came unannounced and come before the king, their only hope resided in the king's hand. was this golden sack. Nothing else could save them from being sliced and destroyed by those Persian guards. And so, what was between the king's anger and the one coming in What was the stand between the wrath and power of this king and the one coming in was the golden scepter. That word hold out means to extend. It means to extend as if one holding a scourge. It means to extend as if one is holding a whip. In our mind, we picture the king holding out that scepter like this. But it's a verb, and it means like this, over and over. I'm holding out the scepter. What I find amazing is that Esther said, I've not been called these 30 days. 30 days. Now, if you're a Hebrew reading this, you would know exactly what's taking place. When Moses died, they mourned for 30 days. Later, when Joshua dies, they mourned for 30 days. When the Hebrews reading this, in their mind, they say, Somebody has died. Somebody's no longer with us. Oh, help us to not die. Somebody has passed away. The king is holding out that golden scepter. And the Bible says and Esther in chapter five and in verse number two, and it was so when the king saw Esther, the queen standing, it says he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. So Esther drew near and touched the top of the scepter. You'll find that word touched the exact same word in Exodus chapter 12 and verse number 22. When they took a bunch of hyssop and they dipped it in a basin and they struck the blood on the lentil, on the doorpost. The picture of the scepter is Jesus Christ. The one that is the go between. The one that holds back the wrath of God. The one that is satisfied, the king. allows us opportunity to go before Him and to kneel down. He has been the propitiate that allows us to say, oh, the blood has been applied. I can bow down and not be consumed by your power, not be consumed by the brightness of your glory because of Jesus Christ. From that conversation, the letter of life is written. Oh, how it's amazing to know when you've stepped out of darkness into the marvelous light, the light shining from the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ that changes, saves and redeems. We can somehow in our own mind get a hold of that. What I find is that other realm that we can cusp and look into Understanding that God had a plan to save His people and to deliver them. I just want to thank You, Lord, for every time that You've heard me pray. I just want to thank You, Lord, As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. Thank you for tuning into the broadcast today. I hope and pray it's been a blessing to you. Please send all correspondence to Brother Andrew at P.O. Box 2237, Blairsville, Georgia, 30512. Thank you. May God bless you. He's been so good to me. That is the least that I could afford. He's made the good times outnumber the bad. And he's been the best friend that I've ever had. I just want to thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord.