Amen. All right, well, we're there in Esther chapter number three. And of course, on Sunday mornings, we are going through this series entitled For Such a Time as This. And it really is a verse by verse study through the book of Esther. And we are learning about this book together. And today we're going to continue through this series and we're going to focus on chapter 3, but there's a little bit of chapter 2 that we did not cover last week that I want to cover, and it kind of sets the stage for chapter 3. If you go back to Esther chapter 2 and verse 19, we'll start there this morning. And today we're going to primarily be talking about Haman, who is the villain that is introduced into this story. But before we do that, I just want to highlight a little bit of Mordecai, and it kind of shows us some things that we've already learned from other passages in Scripture recently, but I want to show it to you again because it's there. And it is this concept of how believers should live in an unbelieving society. How is it that we as believers should live in this culture, in this nation, in this society that we live in. I want you to notice there in Esther chapter 2 and verse 19, the Bible says this, and when the virgins were gathered together the second time, and this appears to be a different gathering of the virgins then when Esther was first gathered, notice the Bible says, then Mordecai sat in the king's gate. It seems that Esther is already queen, and as queen, or as a result of her being queen, Mordecai is now given a position of prominence, being able to sit, being allowed to sit at the king's gate. And this is, of course, in the ancient world where the king's gate or the gates of the city would be where the business transactions were done, where business was carried out. It would be like the equivalent of our city hall or something like that. Look at verse 20. The Bible says this, Esther had not yet showed her kindred nor her people as Mordecai had charged her. Now, at this point in the book, we're not sure why, what will become clear to us as we continue in the book, but for some reason, Mordecai thinks it is best to keep the fact that Esther, who is now the queen, is a Jew, to keep that hidden or to keep that from being found out for Esther did the commandments of Mordecai like as when she was brought up with him. And we see here, of course, that Esther was a good queen. We know that from this book, but before Esther was a good queen, you know what she was? She was a good daughter. And the Bible says that she did the commandments of Mordecai like as when she was brought up with him. She was an obedient young lady, and even now, though she's married, she still values the advice from Mordecai, her adopted father. Look at verse 21. In those days, While Mordecai sat in the king's gate, two of the king's chamberlains, Bicfan and Tirish, of those which kept the door, were wroth." The word wroth means they were angry, notice, and sought to lay hands on the king Ahasuerus. So we see that Mordecai is now at the king's gate. He has a position there. He conducts business there. He's working there. He's there on a daily basis. And while he was there, he catches wind of the fact that there is a conspiracy, an attempt on the king's life. These two chamberlains who are upset with the king, Bicthan and Tirish, they want to lay hands on the king Ahasuerus. Look at verse 22. And the thing was known to Mordecai. who told it unto Esther the queen, and Esther certified the king." So Mordecai finds out about this and he goes to Esther and he says, hey listen Esther, there are these two guards that are upset and they want to kill the king. They're conspiring to kill the king. They're gonna hurt the king. He told it to Esther. Esther, the Bible says there in verse 25, certified the king, and I want you to notice this, thereof in Mordecai's name. And this is gonna play out later on in the book, but I want you to notice that Esther tried to give the credit to Mordecai. She tried to give honor where honor was due, because Mordecai is the one that brought this to the attention of the king. Notice verse 23, And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found out. Therefore they were both, referring to Big Than and Tirish, hanged on a tree, and it was written in the book of the Chronicles before the king. And I want you to notice that what we see here is that when it comes to believers living in an unbelieving society, and that's the society you and I live in, when it comes to believers, we don't live in a Christian society. I don't care what conservative media tells you, this is not a Christian nation. We are not following the laws of God. We live under a wicked society, and we live in a culture that is anti-God. And you say, well, how should we live in this society? Well, notice what we learn from Mordecai, and not just Mordecai, we learn from Esther, we learn from Joseph, we learn from Daniel, we learn from Nehemiah, we learn from Ezra, is that when believers live in an unbelieving society, we should try, we should do our best to be the best citizens possible. In fact, here we see Mordecai. Mordecai is sitting at the gate. He hears that they want to put the king to death. And he could have just said, oh, whatever, I don't care. That's not my problem. It's not my business. It's not my issue. But notice that he's a good citizen. He's a good man. He goes to the queen who goes to the king to save the king's life. And something we learn, and you can't get away from this. Study Daniel. Study Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego. Study Esther, and Joseph, and Ezra, and Nehemiah. Study these men, Ezekiel, these men and women who lived in the captivity. And you'll notice that they were not these just negative, anti-everything, just everything is wrong. They tried to do their best in the society they lived in. They tried to be good citizens to the best of their ability. They tried to be the best. possible contributors to the culture that they lived in. And you know, we see this with Mordecai, that he was a good man. He obviously was a good worker. He got put in this position. Part of it was the connection, like any government job, right? Part of it was the connection with the queen. But you know, obviously he was there and he was working and they liked him. But when he finds out about the king being hurt, He has compassion on the king. He tries to help the king. Go to Esther chapter 7 just real quickly if you would. I want you to notice that all the Jews were like this for the most part and definitely as you studied it out in the Bible you find that the captivity, the Jews of the captivity were trying to live the best way they could in their society. By the way, Ezekiel told his people in captivity, that they should build houses, that they should just accept this, that they should try to seek the welfare of the nation that they were living in, Babylon, who Ezekiel was referring to. But he's saying, look, you're in captivity, but don't just try to do the best you can where you are. Esther chapter 7. This is, of course, fast-forwarding in the book. This is now Esther speaking to Ahasuerus. And I just want you to notice what Esther says to him. She says, for we are sold, I and my people. And, of course, this is what we're going to learn about, that Haman develops this plan to kill the Jews. And Esther goes to the king. She says, we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. And then she says this. She says, but if we had been sold as bondmen or bondwomen, I had held my tongue. She says, look, if Haman would have just conspired to make us all slaves, I wouldn't even be bringing it up. But he has conspired to kill all of us. He's conspired to commit genocide and kill all the Jews. And notice what she says. And the context is that she's saying, look, if he had just sold us as slaves, I wouldn't even bring it up. I had held my tongue. She says this, although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage. And that word means to offset the effects of the king's damage. And the idea, what Esther is saying is this, she's saying the Jews are a benefit to this kingdom. God's people are a benefit to this kingdom. She said, I wouldn't even be bringing it up. If you were just rounding us up and selling us into slavery, I wouldn't even bring it up. She said, but even if that's all you were doing, you know, the enemy could not countervail the king's damage. The enemy could not offset the effects of the damage that would come upon this nation as a result of you getting rid of us. And look, this is a testimony that should be said of God's people today. It should be said that we benefit, that we bring a benefit. Look, at your job, the running joke should not be, oh don't hire, you know, don't hire Christians. I mean, isn't this what people say? Don't do business with Christians. You know, and unfortunately, go back to Esther chapter 3, this is something that has been damaged, that has been done by many false Christians. But look, don't let it be said at your job that, oh yeah, he's a Christian, work starts at 8, and he always shows up at 8.07. Oh yeah, the Christian. Work starts at 9 and he always shows up at 9.05. Don't let that be your testimony. Oh yeah, here's the Christian. We get a one-hour lunch break, but he always takes an hour and 12 minutes. Look, people ought to look at us and say, man, those people are weird, those people are odd, they do weird things, they dress weird, you know, but that's an awesome worker right there. that they, don't get rid of him, we can't countervail the benefits of having, yes he's a little odd, yes he won't go out and drink with us, yes he won't work on Sundays, yes there's some kind of, you know, we have to let him, he comes in early on Wednesdays so he can get off in time for church and we gotta do all these weird things, yeah, but you know what, he's worth it. He's a good worker, because he's a hard worker. Make sure that you don't run the name of Christ through the mud by how you live your life. Mordecai was an awesome worker. He had an awesome testimony. He tried to benefit the king. So we see that as Christians, that as believers in an unbelieving world, we should do our best to contribute, to be good citizens in this world. Esther chapter 3, look at verse 1. That is until this unbelieving society asks us to do something that goes against the laws of God. Esther chapter 3, look at verse 1. After these things. Now we saw from chapter 2, Mordecai is not against the king. Mordecai is not against the society. He's against sin, but he's not against... He wants the best for them. He wants to help them prosper. Then the Bible says this, Esther chapter 3 verse 1. Notice verse 2. This is where Mordecai is, right? This is where Mordecai works. Notice, all the king's servants that were in the king's gate bowed and reverenced Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. Haman gets promoted, and as part of that promotion, the king gives a commandment that says, hey, all of the king's servants and all, everyone that works at the king's gate, when Haman comes in and out, when you see Haman, you must bow to Haman and reverence him, for the king had so commanded concerning him, notice, but Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence. You say, well, why? I thought Mordecai was a good, you know, a good employee. I thought he was a good citizen. Well, here's the thing. He's going to do everything. He's going to seek the welfare of the kingdom in every area that he can until he's asked to do something that is a sin. And I don't know if you know this, but bowing to another man is a sin. The Bible says that we should bow only to God. Notice verse 3. Then the king's servants, which were in the king's gates, said unto Mordecai, Why transgressest? The word transgress means to go beyond, to break the bounds. Why transgressest thou the king's commandments? He said, why are you breaking the laws of the Lamb? Why are you breaking the King's commandments? Go to the book of Acts, if you would. Keep your place here in Esther. This is our text for this morning. Acts chapter number 10, if you would. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts. When you get to the book of Acts, do me a favor and put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there, because we're going to leave the book of Acts and we're going to come back to it later on in the sermon. Acts chapter 10, and look at verse 25, just to give you an example of how the Bible teaches, and we see these examples that we should not bow down to men, Acts 10.25, the Bible says this, and as Peter. Now, the lying Roman Catholic Church will teach you that Peter was the first pope. But let me teach you, let me show you how Peter was not very pope-like. And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius, Peter is coming in to preach the gospel to Cornelius. Cornelius met him, notice, and fell down at his feet and worshipped him. Now if all you had was Acts 10.25, and there was nothing else left in the chapter, you say, oh yeah, well that is kind of like the Pope. Because everybody, you know, just bows down and worships at the feet of the Pope. Notice how Peter's not like the Pope, verse 26. But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up! I myself also am a man. So notice that in the Bible, worshiping or bowing down, and those two things are the same, are used synonymously, was not allowed. We're not supposed to bow down to a man. So Mordecai, Mordecai says, hey, I'll do everything you ask me to do. I'll follow every law. I'll seek the welfare of the kingdom. I'll seek the welfare of the king. But when you ask me to bow down to a man, I can't do that. I can't do that. You say, why? You're there in Acts 10, look at Acts chapter 5. You know this verse, but let's look at it together. Acts chapter 5. Acts 5.29. Acts 5.29 says this, Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, Notice what they said? We ought to obey God rather than men. Now this was not a rebellious attitude. The attitude of the average Christian conspiracy theorist today is we never obey man. That is not what the Bible teaches. But the Bible teaches this, that we ought to obey our masters, we ought to obey our leaders, we ought to obey those that have been put in authority over us to the best of our ability in every area of life until they ask us to do something that goes against what God has commanded us to do. If there is a conflict between the laws of man and the laws of God, then we ought to obey God rather than men. That's exactly what we see with Mordecai. He's playing by the rules. He's playing the game. He's doing everything he's supposed to do. He's seeking the welfare of the king. But as soon as he's asked to do something that's a sin, he says we ought to obey God rather than men. You say, what should be the testimony of every Baptist church? This should be the testimony of every Baptist church. This should be your testimony at work. This should be your testimony in your neighborhood. This should be your testimony in the city. Our testimony as Bible believing Christians ought to be this. These are the finest people. There's nothing deceptive about them. They walk with integrity. They work hard. They show up early. They stay late. They do what they're supposed to do. They're the best workers we've got. They're the best neighbors we've got. They're the best, you know, Citizens we have, but if you ask them to quit praying, they'll go to the lion's den. But if you ask them to bow to a man, they won't do it. But if you ask them to quit salt winning, they'll look you in the face and say, we ought to obey God rather than men. As believers in an unbelieving world, as believers in an unbelieving culture, we should do our best to be the best citizens we can. But when asked to sin against God, then our allegiance should always be to God. Our loyalty should always be to God. This is the context that leads us into this story of Mordecai and Haman and Esther. Go back to Esther chapter, Esther chapter three, if you would. In Esther chapter three, we don't really, not much happens. This chapter, it could be titled this, The Plot Thickens. Because it's really just the story becoming more real and drama being added to it. Because in this chapter, what we have and what we are introduced and who we are introduced to is the villain of the story by the name of Haman. Now, I want you to understand a couple of things about Haman. We're going to get off the subject of citizenship and we're going to deal with Haman for the rest of the sermon. We're going to deal with chapter 3 for the rest of the sermon. And I want you to notice something about Haman or understand something about Haman. Haman is an elite in this Medo-Persian world empire. He is an elite, we're going to see that. He is up there in power, and as many elites, he is the enemy of the people of God. This is consistently seen throughout the book. Notice Esther chapter 3, look at verse 10. And the king took his ring from his hand and gave it unto Haman, the son of Hamadetha, the Agite. Notice these words, the Jews' enemy. And of course, here in the Old Testament, at this point in the book of Esther, in the chronology of the history of the nation of Israel, the Jews are God's people in Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther. And he is the Jews' enemy. Go to Esther chapter eight, look at verse one. Esther chapter 8 and verse 1. Notice what the Bible says. On that day, did King Ahasuerus give the house, notice how he's described, of Haman, the Jew's enemy, unto Esther the queen. Go to Esther chapter 9, look at verse 10. Esther chapter 9, verse 10, the Bible says this. The ten sons of Haman, the son of Hamadatha, the enemy, notice, the enemy of the Jews. Look at verse 24, same chapter, Esther chapter 9, verse 24. Notice, Haman is an elite, and he's also the enemy of the people of God. And look, you and I need to understand this. Just like there were elites, in the Medo-Persian Empire, who were the enemies of the people of God, just like there were elites in the Babylonian Empire, princes who conspired against Daniel to get him thrown into the lion's den. There are elites in our culture today who are the enemies of God's people. who hate God's people, who want to destroy God's people. This is why it's always funny to me when God's people get enamored with rich people and politicians. You know, here's what James said, don't rich people persecute you? Aren't all those powerful politicians, aren't those the ones that are passing the laws against you? Haman was an elite enemy. And, I want you to know this, As most elite enemies, he was a reprobate. Now, I don't have the time to develop this idea of a reprobate. I've preached a lot of sermons on it. If you're not sure what that means, we've got a documentary you can have in our foyer called Psychopath Reprobates, and it explains it. But I will say this, today we have in our culture a sector of people that have been identified as psychopaths. And this is what I'm telling you right now, you can study this out from the secular world. Psychiatrists and therapists refer to psychopaths as people that have two characteristics that are unnatural from the rest of society, and it is that they have no conscience and they have no empathy. They don't have a conscience, meaning there's nothing in them that says, this is right, this is wrong. They will do anything as long as it benefits them. And they have no empathy. They don't have a feeling and they don't feel other people's hurt or other people's pain. They pretend like they do, but they actually don't, which is what allows them to do all these wicked and evil things they do. The Bible also tells us about these people, but the Bible calls them reprobates. These are people that have rejected God, rejected God, rejected God, and God has rejected them. The Bible says he gave them over to a reprobate mind. 1 Timothy, excuse me, 2 Timothy says they have a seared conscience. These people are psychopaths, what they're called in our society, and reprobates, as they're called in the Bible, hence the documentary is called Psychopaths Reprobates. What we see here in Esther chapter 3 is Haman, who is the perfect portrait of what we would refer to, or what our society would refer to, as a white-collar psychopath. Usually, when people think of a psychopath, they think of serial killers and rapists, and that is definitely a sector of psychopaths, and the Bible talks about that too. You can see Genesis 19 and Judges 19 to see that. But the killers and rapists are actually a minority of the psychopath community. Many psychopaths don't kill, though don't misunderstand me, they would in a heartbeat. They don't kill because many of them use manipulation and deception to gain power to accomplish their wicked agendas. These are called white-collar psychopaths, and that's exactly what we see in Esther chapter 3, in the life of Haman, a white-collar psychopath. Let me just quickly, we'll go through this chapter. I want to give you four characteristics, four thoughts, four things that describe a white-collar psychopath, because you might work with one, you might be related to one, you probably have had one in your life. White-collar psychopath reprobates. What do they do? What do they look like? Number one, and maybe you can write this down. Number one, white-collar psychopath reprobates are powerful. They seek power. Notice again Esther chapter 3 verse 1. After these things did King Ahasuerus, notice, promote Haman. Now I don't believe Ahasuerus is a reprobate. I think, well, he's got issues and he's definitely just likes to party a lot. You know, he's just your average worldly guy who's also the king of the empire. We'll see later on in the book that he has empathy and things like that. But notice the Bible says here that after these things did King Ahasuerus promote Haman, the son of Hamadetha, the Agite, notice, and advanced him and set his seat above all the princes that were with him. You know, psychopaths, white collar psychopaths, reprobates are powerful people. Therapists and psychiatrists and psychologists would tell you, oh yeah, white collar psychopaths, they move up in power structures. They're usually at the top controlling situations. But here's what's interesting. The Bible tells us reprobates do the same thing. White collar psychopaths, reprobates, always seek power, are drawn to power, want power. Did you keep your place in the book of Acts? Right there from Acts, go over to the book of Ephesians. Keep your place in Acts, because we're going to come back to it. But go to Ephesians. You've got Acts, Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Ephesians chapter number 6. You know this verse, but let's look at it. Ephesians chapter 6. Notice that it is the psychopaths, the white-collar psychopaths, reprobate, that seek power. And then the Bible tells us that the people who we're fighting against are those in power? Ephesians 6 verse 12, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, and again, we understand that we are not in a physical fight, we're not gonna go get guns and try to take over the government. The Bible says it is a spiritual warfare. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, who do we wrestle against? Who is at war with us? Notice, but against principalities? The word principalities in your King James Bible means a political ruler, a politician, a prince, Someone in power. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities. Notice, against powers, people who have power, who can control things. Notice, the rulers of the darkness of this world. A ruler, again, is a politician. It's a king, a queen, a prince, a principality, a governor. It says the rulers of this world, notice, against spiritual wickedness in high places. So the white callers, psychopaths, reprobate, they are powerful, they get advanced into power, and then God tells us, hey, in spiritual warfare, whose ears are you fighting against? Principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, spiritual awakening is in high places. Forbes magazine says that the top ten jobs that attract a psychopath are, number one, CEO, number two, lawyer, number three, media, that's television and radio, number four, salesperson, number five, surgeon, number six, journalist, number seven, police officer, number eight, clergy person, and all sorts of false prophets or reprobates, of course, number nine, chef, number ten, civil servant or politician. The Smithsonian says that research suggests that politicians are more likely to be psychopaths. In fact, one study said that one in four politicians is a psychopath. says this, one in five business leaders may have psychopathic tendencies. And here's all I want you to understand. Before you go and make a hero of some politician or CEO of some company, realize it is the Bill Gates, realize it is the Joe Bidens, realize it is the Donald Trumps, realize it is the The people in power, the elites in power that are the white collar psychopaths, reprobates who seek power and who we are fighting against, our principalities. Again, spiritual warfare, not physical. They are the principalities, the powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world. The spiritual wickedness in high places. The clergy that rises in power. I don't think you should preach against the Pope. He's a reprobate. In all of the, you know, whether it's Joel Osteen, whether it's Billy Graham, whether it's the Pope, whatever it is, these people that rise up in power, these white-collar psychopath reprobates are powerful. I want you to notice secondly, not only are white-collar psychopath reprobates powerful, but white-collar psychopath reprobates are prideful. Look at verse 2. Esther chapter 3, keep your place there in Acts if you would. Esther chapter 3, look at verse 2. And all the king's servants that were in the king's gate, and again this is where Mordecai is at, bowed. And reverence Haman. For the king had so commanded concerning him, but Mordecai bowed not, nor did in reverence. Then the king's servants, which were in the king's gate, said unto Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king's commandment? Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him. Because it seems like the first time they ask him, Mordecai's just like, leave me alone. But they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them. And they told Haman to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand notice, for he had told them that he was a Jew." So even though they were speaking to him daily and he didn't want to answer them, it seems like at some point he explained, well, I'm a Jew. And probably within the context of, you want to know why I'm not bowing to Haman? Because I'm a Jew. I follow the laws of God. God, Jehovah God, tells me that I should not bow down to a man. And they told Haman this. Now notice, here's what's interesting. Haman doesn't even notice that Mordecai is not bowing to him. Now, I don't know how many people are at this king's gate. I don't know how many people are bowing to him, but it's got to be enough people for him to... If it's seven guys, you know, six of them bow and one of them just stands there, you're going to notice that. It had to have been a pretty massive group. It reminds me of Nebuchadnezzar when the three Hebrew children, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, refused to bow down. This was a massive crowd because Nebuchadnezzar had to be told, hey, look over there. You notice those three guys? They're not bowing. Haman's coming in and out. Everybody's bowing. He's coming in and out. He doesn't even notice Mordecai isn't bowing. And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath. Notice, this is a very prideful man. He doesn't even notice. And by the way, let me just say this. Be careful about allowing people to manipulate you. Oh, have you noticed that sister so-and-so does not shake your hand? Well, actually, no, I hadn't noticed. But now that you pointed out to me, what are you trying to do? Just cause problems? Look, if somebody has to point something out to you, you haven't even noticed somebody has to point something out to you, maybe it's you just, well, no big deal. Obviously, I didn't even notice. Have you noticed? No, I haven't noticed. But Haman, this prideful man, gets pointed out to him, and instead of saying, oh, whatever, there's like a thousand people here, 999 of them are bowing to me, and there's some Jew who refuses to, maybe it's not that big of a deal. No, the Bible says, when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did it murmur, then Haman was full of wrath. And let me tell you something, pride is an issue even amongst God's people. The way people think of themselves, it's amazing to me how great people think they are. Say, well, how do you know how people are prideful? Look, the best way to figure out if someone's prideful or to figure out if you're prideful is just to listen to how you talk to others. Some of you seriously need to, one of these days I'm gonna do this, we need to just record you talking to other people. Then, you know, fix the audio to make it sound like Darth Vader or something, you know, you can cover up, and then show it to you. Listen to this. Wow, that guy's hairy, I can't believe that guy's talking. Not to you. What? These red braids are prideful. Romans chapter one, you're there, if you kept your place in Acts, go to the book of Romans if you would, Romans chapter one. When you get to Romans, keep your place there, we're gonna leave it and come back to it. Romans chapter one. Notice this is a characteristic of white-collar psychopath reprobates. And by the way, this is why one in four politicians is a white-collar psychopath, because all these politicians are a bunch of boaster, braggart, proud, arrogant individuals. Romans 129, being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whispers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful. Know these two words, proud boasters. You know that reprobates are proud and boasters? You know that white-collar psychopaths are proud and boasters? And Haman here, our white-collar psychopath reprobate, is a prideful man. Not only is he powerful, but he's prideful. Go back to Esther. Keep your place there in Romans. Go back to Esther chapter five. Esther chapter five. By the way, you think it's a coincidence? We're talking about psychopath reprobates. Why call her psychopath reprobates? You think it's a coincidence that the biggest movement of reprobates in the world today uses as their slogan pride, I mean, the LGBTQ, you say, are they reprobates? To do the things those people do, you must have no conscience and no empathy. The Bible says, Romans chapter one, you can read the whole chapter in its context if you want, they have been given over to a reprobate mind. Look, let me explain something to you. A man is not naturally attracted to another man, period. A woman is not naturally attracted to another woman, period. For you to come down to that level of sickness, your conscience must be seared. And look, it's not going to stop there. It's going to continue on with bestiality. It's going to continue on with pedophilia. It's going to continue on with all this filth. Look, somebody's got to stand up and say, it's wicked. It's your conscience has been seared. But what do they say? Pride. Gay pride. Well, you know what? The Bible says that, yeah, they're proud boasters. Look at this man, Haman. He's just puffed up. full of himself. Look at Esther chapter 5 and verse 9, we're kind of fast forwarding a little bit in the story, but notice, then went Haman forth that day, joyful and with a God heart. In this section of the story, Haman just got invited to Esther's party with the king. He doesn't know what Esther has planned, but he's really full of himself. Then went Haman forth that day, joyful and with a glad heart. But when Haman saw, notice, but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he stood not up, nor moved for him. He was full of indignation against Mordecai. This guy is just full of himself. Look at verse 10. He's a boaster. He's a bragger. Verse 10. Now look, when you get your friends together, don't do this. He goes and calls for his friends to do what? Verse 11, Haman said, moreover, yea, Esther the queen did let no man come with the king unto the banquet that she had prepared but myself, and tomorrow I am invited unto her also with the king." Look, when you get together with friends, don't sit there and brag and boast about how great you are. Nobody wants to hear that. Not only is this man Not only is he pumped up, not only is he full of himself, notice he's very petty. He just got done telling everybody how awesome he is. I mean, shouldn't that be enough? So you think like, I've got everything going for me. I'm the highest level. Other than the king, I'm at the highest position in the kingdom that is the worldwide empire at this time. I've got all these children. I've got this wife. I've got all these friends. I've got all this money. I've got all this power. I've got everybody in the kingdom bowing down to me, except for this one guy. You would think he'd be like, eh, whatever. One guy. No, he's petty. Notice, after all that, he says this, verse 13, yet all this availeth me nothing. Availeth means benefit. He said, none of this benefits so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate. Let me tell you something, when you get consumed with pride and covetousness, nothing is enough. People get this idea, if I could just live in this one neighborhood, as soon as you get that one neighborhood, as soon as you get that one car, as soon as you get that one house, as soon as you get that one vehicle, as soon as you get that one watch, as soon as you get that one gadget, as soon as you get whatever you think's gonna make you happy, you're gonna find out that you're still miserable. There'll be another house, another gadget, another version, another neighborhood, someone who's not vowing to you. You know what's better? Finding your contentment in Christ. You know what's better? Find your happiness in Christ. This man was a petty man. Notice not only that, he was a presumptuous man. Look at verse 6 of chapter 6, Esther chapter 6 and verse 6. Again, we're fast-forwarding in the story a little bit, but we have now the king wants to do something nice for Mordecai. We'll get into this story later on in the series. But the king wants to do something nice for Mordecai, and Haman comes and look at Esther chapter 6 verse 6. So Haman came in, And the king said unto him, the king, Ahasuerus says unto Haman, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delight to honor? Now the king is talking about Mordecai. He's asking Haman, the enemy of Mordecai. The king doesn't know that they're enemies. He's asking Haman, what do you think I should do for the man that I want to delight? Notice verse 6, Wherefore, this is how prideful people think, Haman Excuse me, I'm reading the wrong verse. I'm reading chapter 3, verse 6. Chapter 6, verse 6. So Haman came in, and the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delight to honor? Notice what he says. Now Haman thought in his heart. This is what he thinks. To whom would the king delight to do honor more than to myself? I mean, just presumptuous, petty, a bragger, a boaster, a prideful man. And you know what? These are the men that fill the White House. These are the men that fill the governor's house. These are the men that fill all the religious power locations. We see that those white-collar psychopath reprobates are powerful. We see that these white-collar psychopath reprobates are prideful. Keep your place right there in Romans. We're going to come back to it. Go back to Esther chapter 3 if you would. Here's point number 3. We see that these white-collar psychopath reprobates are pernicious. So what do you mean by that? The word pernicious means causing insidious harm or ruin. Injurious. Hurtful. You say, what's the big deal if these white collar psychopaths, ruffians, if they're powerful and they're prideful, what's the big deal? Here's the problem, is that they're also pernicious. They're hurtful. They're malicious. Notice Esther chapter 3 verse 6. They just got done telling Mordecai, hey Mordecai, I know you haven't noticed this, but when you come in and out and like all these people, this sea of people, there's so many people bowing to you, you haven't even noticed the one guy all the way over there. In fact, here's some binoculars you can look. You see that guy over there? He's not bowing. They tell Mordecai this. His response is he gets, everyone must bow. Look at verse six. And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone. Maybe one thing, if you're like, I'm gonna kill that guy. I mean, that's petty. That is so incredibly petty and prideful, it's crazy. But the Bible says, and he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had showed him the people of Mordecai, because they tell him. They tell him, you know, that guy's a Jew, he said something about Jehovah God doesn't let him bow down to you. And he thought, scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had showed him the people of Mordecai. Wherefore, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Hazarias, even the people of Mordecai." See, what's the problem with these white-collar psychopath reprobates is that they want to hurt us all. Look, they don't have a problem with Pastor Bruce Mejia. They have a problem with every Bible-believing Christian. who doesn't bow their knee to their LGBTQ garbage. They don't have a problem with Pastor Roger Jimenez. They don't have a problem with Pastor Steven Anderson. They want to kill and destroy us all. Romans chapter 1 verse 29, the Bible says this, being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness. What's wickedness? Moral, morally evil, morally doing bad, covetousness, maliciousness. What is maliciousness? A desire to inflict injury, harm, or suffering on another. Full of envy, murder, meaning to kill. debate, deceit. This is what God says these psychopaths, white collar, blue collar, white collar psychopaths, they're full of this stuff. Maliciousness, murder, debate, deceit, malignity. What is malignity? To speak harmful truths. We'll see that with Haman here in a minute. Whispers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful. What does that mean? They're spiteful, they're mean, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents. These people want to hurt. They want to cause harm. Go to Esther chapter 3. They want to cause harm to God's people. They want to cause harm to the innocent, the most innocent in this world children, by defiling them, by molesting them. Esther chapter 3, look at verse 7. In the first month, that is the month Nisan, the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast purr, that is the lot, before Haman from day to day and from month to month. To the twelfth month, that is the month Adar. Notice verse 8, And Haman said unto King Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom. Listen to me. This is what Gavin Newsom This is what Joe Biden, this is what the elite rulers of this world are gonna say or are saying about us. And Haman said unto the king of Hazareth, there is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of the kingdom, and their laws are diverse from our people. And look, to an extent that's true because Mordecai and Esther and us, we are all following God's laws. Neither keep they the king's laws." That's not necessarily true. We keep the king's laws till the king's laws come in conflict with God's laws. Therefore, it is not for the king's prophet to suffer, to allow them. Look, this is Haman doing what white-collar psychopath referees do. He's manipulating the king. They're not following the laws. He doesn't mention it's the one stupid law that everybody's supposed to bow to you. He doesn't mention the fact that, oh, by the way, this guy saved your life. By the way, you married his daughter. By the way, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were found 10 times better. These people bring a benefit to the kingdom. These people help the kingdom. No, no. You know what they say? It is not in your best interest. It is not, therefore it is not for the king's prophet to suffer them. They say we're hurtful. They say we want to hurt, but the truth is that these white-collar psychopaths, reprobates are pernicious. They are hurtful. They are the ones that want to hurt. I mean, just yesterday, and I know most of you have heard this, but just yesterday, First Works Baptist Church in Los Angeles, California, one of our Sister churches as far as friends and fellowship pastor Bruce me here down there They had you know for the last several weeks. They've been having these All sorts of problems on social media and and with the regular media about him preaching against these filthy animals called Homosexuals preaching against them, and they've been you know they had a protest last week just yesterday. They bombed his church building and They literally bombed the church building in the middle of the night. But yet we're the ones on the Southern Poverty Law Center as hate groups. Supposedly we're the terrorists. We're the ones preaching hate. We're the ones preaching all this, and yet they're the ones that threaten us. They're the ones back in 2016 when we had a big protest here. They're the ones sending us stuff that comes out of their bodies in the mail. I mean, threatening my children, saying they will come in in the middle of night and do all sorts of wicked, to the point where the sheriff's department had to set up cameras in front of our house? But we're the hate group. Because we say, hey, how about we protect children against these filthy sodomites that want to defile them? But we're the hate group, we're the angry ones, we're the, well yeah, you know what, we are angry. Because you can't love children and hate, you must hate pedophiles. Somebody says they love everyone. They love no one. They love themselves. These white collar psychopaths, reprobates are pernicious. They want to hurt. And look, they want to quiet us. They want to stop us from preaching this and telling the truth. But look, when you get around these people in real life, because here's the truth about the homosexuals, is that most people don't know the real homosexuals. They know what's portrayed to them on the media. Oh, they're happy-go-lucky, they're funny, they're all quirky. You get around real ones, they'll bomb your building. They'll send you all sorts of filth. They'll threaten to do all sorts of things to your children and your wife. These people are pernicious. And you know what, we need to not, you know what you said, what should we do as Virginia Baptist Church? We should be the best citizens possible and not bow our knees to the reprobates. We should be the best citizens possible and not bow our knees to the LGBTQ, white collar, blue collar, bunch of pedophile, psychopath, reprobates. We should stand strong. We should say, hey, we'll do everything you ask us to do. This is why I don't fight at Walmart about masks. I've got real fights. And I've got things to do. I don't know. I don't understand these people. We've got three and a half hours to fight with the manager at Walmart. I just need a milk. I just need milk. Give me the milk. You serious? You know, these people are pernicious. And you know what? Let me just give a message to our brothers and sisters in LA. A message to my friend, Pastor Bruce Mejia, to Miss Sarah, and to our brothers and sisters at First Work Baptist Church. You know, my message to them is this. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. We are perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Cast out, but not destroyed. You just stay with it. You just stick with it. You just stand strong. And if people quit on you, and leave you, and forsake you, God doesn't leave you. These white collar psychopath reprobates are powerful, and they are prideful, and they are pernicious. They want to hurt. They want to kill. They want to destroy. Why don't you notice, lastly this morning, these white-collar psychopathic rapists are pitiless. Meaning they show no pity. They're cruel. Look at verse 9, Esther chapter 3 verse 9. If it please the king, this is our villain, let it be written that they may be destroyed. And I will pay 10,000 talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business to bring it into the king's treasuries. And the king took his ring from his hand and gave it unto Haman. Notice how powerful they are. The son of Hamadetha, the Agite, the Jew's enemy. And the king said unto Haman, the silver is given to thee, the people also. It's funny how we have to save and raise money and struggle to do the work of God, but they're just eBay, Amazon, Costco, and look, don't become one of these people that starts boycotting every store that gives to Black Lives Matter and all these people, because they all do. Walmart, every single one, all of them are just donating millions of dollars to these people. The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee. Then were the king's scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written, according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king's lieutenants and to the governors that were over every province, to the rulers of every people of every province, according to the writing thereof, and to every people, after their language, in the name of the king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king's ring. And the letters were sent by post into all the king's provinces, notice, to destroy, kill, and to cause to perish all Jews, both young and old." I mean, no empathy, no conscience. Young and old, little children and women in one day. Even upon the 13th day of the 12th month, which is the month Adar. And to take the spoil of them for a prey. A copy of the writing for a commandment be given in every province was published unto all the people that they should be ready against that day. The post went out being hastened by the king's commandments and the decree was given in Shushan the palace." Notice these words, don't miss this. Notice how these people have no conscience and no apathy. They have no pity and they are not cruel. They just signed a law saying Men, women, and children, little children, are to be all killed, all rounded up, all killed in one day. And what do they do? And the king and Haman sat down to drink. They just go have a beer after the work day. Go to the bar, sat down, have a drink. Look, this is what these white-collar psychopaths represent too. I mean, you can have Roosevelt and Stalin, you know, sitting next to each other after they've made some deal. You know, these politicians, they decide, we're going to do this, we're going to bomb there, we're going to go that, we're going to send all these millions of kids out to just, you know, be killed. We're going to put all these families at war with each other. Oh, let's go have a drink afterwards. There's no pity, no empathy, no weight to what they're doing. His white-collar psychopath reprobates are pitiless. Romans chapter 1, if you would there. While you turn there, let me read to you, this was the subject of our documentary when we made our Psychopath Reprobates documentary. One of the books that we used was called Without Conscience by Dr. Robert D. Hare. Just let me read to you a couple of parts from the book about them having no empathy. He says, these examples also illustrate a frightful and perplexing theme that runs through the case histories of all psychopaths. A deeply disturbing inability to care about the pain and suffering experienced by others. In short, a complete lack of empathy, the prerequisite for love. He said later on, they give little thought to the pain and humiliation experienced by the victims. Romans chapter 1 verse 31, the Bible says this, without understanding covenant breakers, notice these words, without natural affection. That's the biblical way of saying they lack empathy. Implacable. They can't be appeased. They can't be passed, Haman can't be appeased. Unmerciful. Unable to show mercy or compassion. These white collar psychopaths, reprobates, go back to Esther chapter 3 if you would, They're powerful. They're prideful. They're pernicious and they're pitiless. And once they've done their damage, once they're done, once they've molested, once they've killed, once they've raped, once they've bombed, once they've done everything they've done, you know what normal people, normal people with conscience and empathy, you know what they experience? Confusion. What? What? What happened? Esther chapter 3, look at verse 15. The post went out, being hastened by the king's commandment, and the decree was given in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink. Notice, no conscience. But the city, Shushan, was perplexed. What perplexed me is they were confused. Like, you want to kill the Jews? Don't you know they're our best employees? You want to kill God's people? I mean, these are the best neighbors we got. You want to destroy? I mean, sure, I don't agree with their laws and they're kind of odd and they do things that I don't agree with. They're perplexed. See, these people, these white-collar psychopaths, they're not normal. They have seared consciousness. And once they've done what they do, once they've done what they do, I mean, isn't it odd to you? They sit there and drink. They sit there and drink once they've made all these decisions to send all these people to die. And the rest of the city is perplexed. I was in the US Air Force for four years. I was deployed to Qatar. It was interesting to me at the time, I didn't really understand it. It was interesting to me, one common conversation that would be had among the troops in a foreign land was, I'm not even sure why we're here. While the politicians are drinking, sending people to death, the city was just perplexed. You know why you can't understand it? You can't understand what they do? You can't understand the decisions they make? Because you have a conscience. Because you have empathy. because you care, but these white collar psychopaths reprobates do not. They are our enemy, not physical warfare, not go get guns and go into battle, but we must fight against them spiritually, against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Let's bow our heads in our word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do thank you for this chapter in the book of Esther. And the appropriate timeliness. Lord, help us. We want to be a loving church like any church, and we are a loving church like any church. But part of loving is telling the truth. Part of loving is calling out the enemies of God's people. Lord, I pray you'd help us to be like Mordecai. the best possible citizens, living right, doing right, living for the welfare of those around us, but help us to also take a stand. And when the command comes from the leaders to bow our knees to these reprobates, help us never to bow, always to stand, to say we ought to obey God rather than men. Lord, I pray you strengthen our church here. I pray you strengthen our churches in different locations in Fresno and Manila and Pampanga. And Lord, I do pray a special prayer for First Works Baptist Church, for Pastor Bruce Mejia, Ms. Sarah, and the kids. I pray you strengthen them. I pray you'd fill them with boldness. Lord, I pray you'd help them to know that they've got friends that love them up here. We're rooting for them. We're praying for them. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen.