https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/An-Honorable-Man-Mordecai.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: II Corinthians 13:1-10<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. Because of Paul’s late arrival on the scene, his apostleship was at times questioned. <\/p>\n
A. In Corinth, though established by Paul, the church struggled with many sins. <\/p>\n 1. There were some among the Corinthians less inclined to correct their\nproblems or to heed Paul’s rebukes\n 2. Paul warned that if he must he will come displaying his full authority – II\nCorinthians 13:2-3\n B. It was the Corinthians who needed to examine themselves in regards to whether\nsin was in their lives – II Corinthians 13:5\n C. Paul didn’t need the truth of his apostleship to be examined by them – II\nCorinthians 13:6\n D. However, it was Paul’s prayer that the Corinthians would not sin – II Corinthians\n13:7\n
1. Not because he said so, but because it was the honorable thing to do<\/p>\n 2. Paul could tolerate not having an opportunity to prove his apostleship if\nthey remained out of sin\n E. “I pray to God that you do no evil … that you should do what is honorable (or\nright)”\n
1. We don’t talk about honor that much in our society<\/p>\n 2. The Greek word kalos<\/i> means things that are beautiful, good, excellent,\nadvantageous, and noble.\n
F. In Galatia a similar problem was erupting – Galatians 4:17-18<\/p>\n 1. Instead of doing what was noble and honorable, people were trying to get\nChristians to be followers of men.\n 2. Christians need to be zealously honorable at all times, and not just when\nsomeone is standing over them.\n G. It was Peter’s wish that all Christians conduct themselves with honor, even while\nliving in a world lacking in honor – I Peter 2:11-12\n
1. And it is a struggle – Romans 7:18-19 (second “good” in verse 18 is kalos<\/i>)<\/p>\n
2. Thus we must fight the honorable fight of faith – I Timothy 6:12<\/p>\n
3. Making ourselves a example, or pattern of honorable works – Titus 2:7-8<\/p>\nII. There is a man of noble character found in the Old Testament, a man by the name of\nMordecai.\n
A. A man of responsibility – Esther 2:7<\/p>\n
1. Mordecai took in his cousin and raised her as his own daughter<\/p>\n
a. There was no law requiring this of him<\/p>\n
b. It was needed, and Mordecai took up the burden<\/p>\n
2. A man is responsible to provide for his own – I Timothy 5:8<\/p>\n
a. Instead we find ways for others to care<\/p>\n b. Or as becoming a common practice, men bringing children in the\nworld and simply walking away because they made no\ncommitment\n
3. The providing is not just financial – Ephesians 6:4<\/p>\n
a. Fathers are needed for training, <\/p>\n
b. A fact to which our society is slowly waking up<\/p>\n
B. A man of loyalty – Esther 2:21-23<\/p>\n 1. Circumstances caused Mordecai to become aware of a plot on the life of\nthe king\n
a. He didn’t “forget” what he heard out of fear<\/p>\n
b. He didn’t say “I don’t want to get involved”<\/p>\n
c. He reported it to Esther who passed on the information to the king<\/p>\n
2. Here was a man who feared God and honored the king – I Peter 2:17<\/p>\n
3. How much loyalty do we show to our Lord and King? – Matthew 6:24<\/p>\n a. When sin abounds around us, do we timidly avoid it? Or should we\ndo something about it?\n
b. Matthew 5:10-12 – willing to face persecution<\/p>\n
c. Being loyal (holding to) the faithful word – Titus 1:9<\/p>\n
4. What loyalty to our marriage? – Ephesians 5:28<\/p>\n
C. A man of discernment – Esther 3:1-5<\/p>\n
1. We are not told why Mordecai refused to bow to Haman.<\/p>\n a. There are cases in the Old Testament where people gave honor to\nmen – Ruth 2:10; I Samuel 20:41; II Kings 1:13\n b. We must suppose that Mordecai did not find Haman to be a man\nworthy of honor – Psalms 15\n
c. Righteousness is not about accepting or tolerating everything<\/p>\n
2. We too need to discern between good and evil – Hebrews 5:13-14<\/p>\n
3. Be picky – I Thessalonians 5:21-22<\/p>\n
D. A man of brotherly love – Esther 4:1-4<\/p>\n
1. Mordecai genuinely was distressed over the fate of his people.<\/p>\n
2. It is the characteristic of Christians – John 13:34-35<\/p>\n
a. It is a common concern for our fellow Christian – I John 4:20-21<\/p>\n
3. But it is also a concern for man in general<\/p>\n
a. Our fellow men are in danger – II Corinthians 5:11, 20; <\/p>\n
b. We strive to bring every man to perfection – Colossians 1:28-29<\/p>\n
E. A man who encourages righteous action – Esther 4:13-14<\/p>\n 1. Mordecai did not wallow in grief, but took steps to save his people by\nencouraging Esther to take action\n
2. Speak words of encouragement – Ephesians 4:29<\/p>\n
3. Set a proper example – I Timothy 4:12<\/p>\n
III. We all need to be people of noble character<\/p>\n A. Let your light shine so the world sees beautiful, honorable deeds and there by give\nglory to our God – Matthew 5:16\n B. As seed on the honorable, noble ground, yield an abundant harvest – Matthew\n13:23\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Corinthians 13:1-10 I. Because of Paul’s late arrival on the scene, his apostleship was at times questioned. A. In Corinth, though established by Paul, the church struggled with many sins. 1. There were some among the Corinthians less inclined to correct their problems or to heed Paul’s rebukes 2. Paul warned that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[1219,198,552,1473],"class_list":["post-47839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-esther","tag-honor","tag-integrity","tag-mordecai"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":90723,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/esther-such-a-time-as-this\/","url_meta":{"origin":47839,"position":0},"title":"Esther: “Such a Time as This”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 24, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Keith Greer A great king, after subduing Egypt and Babylon, determined to have a feast. He invited all the princes of his empire. From the text, we learn that \"wine flowed in abundance.\" The king's wife, Queen Vashti, was a very beautiful woman. After the feast, he commanded that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62649,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/haman\/","url_meta":{"origin":47839,"position":1},"title":"Haman","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 3, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One of my favorite books in the Bible is the book of Esther. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is not a very long book and it is very easy to read. 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I'm kind of confused, in general, about when we're required to tell someone about a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34362,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-about-the-lineage-of-esther\/","url_meta":{"origin":47839,"position":3},"title":"What about the lineage of Esther?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What about the lineage of Esther?\u00a0 Know anything about that? Answer: \"In Shushan the citadel there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite. Kish had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":91726,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/boasting-of-his-weakness\/","url_meta":{"origin":47839,"position":4},"title":"Boasting of His Weakness","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: II Corinthians 12:1-10 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0False teachers of the Jewish persuasion had entered the congregation in Corinth \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They wanted to convince the brethren that they had to follow the Law of Moses to be acceptable to God. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The problem was dealing with Paul. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0His\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":83013,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/two-coverings-under-consideration\/","url_meta":{"origin":47839,"position":5},"title":"Two Coverings Under Consideration","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 8, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Elvis Smith Some contend that I Corinthians 11:2-16 only requires long hair as a covering on a woman. 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