https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/The-Difference-One-Can-Make.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Esther 4<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. In studying Proverbs, I came across one verse that stood out to me – Proverbs 28:2<\/p>\n
A. When a country is given over to sin, they tend to go through rulers rapidly<\/p>\n 1. Israel exemplifies this. There are periods where the northern kingdom\nwhen through four or five kings while the southern kingdom only had one\non the throne.\n
2. One king of Israel, Zimri, only lasted seven days! – I Kings 16:15-19<\/p>\n 3. God told of a time when things would get so bad that people would be\noffered the kingship just because they had something few others had –\nclothes – and it would be turned down – Isaiah 3:1-7\n
B. But what is fascinating is the contrast in Proverbs<\/p>\n 1. A wicked land is contrasted with a single, knowledgeable and\nunderstanding man.\n
2. A country full of wicked people will throw society into chaos.<\/p>\n
3. One wise man can give the country stability<\/p>\n
C. Sometimes we don’t appreciate the difference one person can make.<\/p>\n
II. When one man made a difference<\/p>\n
A. Moses – Exodus 32:1-14<\/p>\n 1. It was only a few months since Israel was freed from slavery by the mighty\nhand of God.\n 2. Moses had gone up Mt. Sinai to receive the law. He was gone less than 40\ndays when the people began to design an idolatrous religion\n 3. If it wasn’t for Moses’ pleading, the people would have been destroyed –\nPsalm 106:19-23\n
B. Phinehas – Numbers 25:1-9<\/p>\n 1. The children of Israel began to commit sexual sins with the people of the\nland they were traveling through\n 2. God sent a plague to ravage the people. Moses commanded that those who\nled the people into worshiping Baal, a fertility god, to be hanged.\n 3. And right in the midst of all this, a man comes by showing off his latest\nconquest, right in front of everyone and then takes her to his tent for sex.\n 4. If it wasn’t for Phinehas’ intervention, it would have been worse – Psalm\n106:24-31\n
C. Elijah – I Kings 18:21-40<\/p>\n 1. Idolatry was so rampant in Israel that Elijah was convinced that he was the\nonly worshiper of God left.\n 2. Yet he faced down King Ahab, demonstrated God’s power, and turned the\nheart of the people for a time back to God\n
D. Esther – Esther 4:1-16<\/p>\n 1. Because of his hatred for one man, Haman arranged to have the entire\nJewish population wiped out\n 2. But one woman, who “just happened” to be in the right place, revealed the\nevil man, and managed to get a counter law enacted to stop the carnage.\n
E. Nehemiah – Nehemiah 6:15-16<\/p>\n 1. Just one man, a servant to served drinks to the king, got the walls of\nJerusalem rebuilt in a mere 52 days\n
III. But there were times that one man to stand for truth could not be found<\/p>\n A. If just one man could have been found, Judah would not have been destroyed –\nJeremiah 5:1-4\n
B. How evil runs unchecked when the godly disappear – Psalm 12<\/p>\n
C. People don’t pay attention – Isaiah 57:1<\/p>\n
D. Oh, the true woe of the situation! – Micah 7:1-6<\/p>\n E. Just one man, to stem the tide, to stand where the wall was breached – Ezekiel\n22:28-31\n
IV. God is on the side of the righteous, and we are powerful!<\/p>\n
A. God defends – Psalm 5:11-12<\/p>\n
B. Even when things were down, David found strength in God – I Samuel 30:6<\/p>\n
C. No fear – Psalm 3:4-6<\/p>\n
D. Confidence – Psalm 16:8<\/p>\n
E. Strength – Psalm 18:1-3<\/p>\n
F. Exuberance – Psalm 18:29-35<\/p>\n
V. If we are not careful, we can let ourselves be overwhelmed<\/p>\n A. It is easy to think that our efforts don’t make much difference, that we are\nspinning our wheels, or that we have little to show for our efforts.\n
B. Why bother? What good does it do to try?<\/p>\n
1. Have you tried to lead a song and made a mess of it?<\/p>\n
2. Gave a short talk, and it was a flop?<\/p>\n
3. Remember Jesus’ first lesson in his home synagogue? – Luke 4:28-30<\/p>\n C. Apathy, worldliness, pessimism, and strife can take all the enthusiasm right out of\nyou.\n
D. But you can make a difference!<\/p>\n
1. You can be a harvester of souls – Matthew 9:37-38<\/p>\n
2. You can be a righteous man whose prayers make a change – James 5:16-20<\/p>\n
E. Don’t give up – Galatians 6:9<\/p>\n
F. Because just one man can make all the difference in the world.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Esther 4 I. In studying Proverbs, I came across one verse that stood out to me – Proverbs 28:2 A. When a country is given over to sin, they tend to go through rulers rapidly 1. Israel exemplifies this. There are periods where the northern kingdom when through four or five kings…<\/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,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[250,1126],"class_list":["post-62200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-confidence","tag-courage"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3797,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-poor-in-spirit\/","url_meta":{"origin":62200,"position":0},"title":"The Poor in Spirit","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey Hamilton Text: Isaiah 61:1-3 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The good news is a message to the afflicted - Isaiah 61:1 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This is the passage Jesus chose to read in his hometown - Luke 4:16-21 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When John began to doubt Jesus, Jesus again referred to this passage - Luke 7:22-23 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jesus declared\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":59072,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-should-children-learn-at-different-ages\/","url_meta":{"origin":62200,"position":1},"title":"What should children learn at different ages?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 14, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear brother Jeffrey, I appreciate so very much your love for the Lord through the years and your faithfulness to Him! How you have labored with His people providing resources to encourage in God's Word, as well as striving to explain the gospel to those who are seeking. I'm\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":53761,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/proverbs-sometime-overlooked\/","url_meta":{"origin":62200,"position":2},"title":"Proverbs Sometime Overlooked","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 18, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Warfel","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":6840,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/receiving-the-kingdom\/","url_meta":{"origin":62200,"position":3},"title":"Receiving the Kingdom","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 27, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Hebrews 12:25-29 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sometimes terminology can interfere with our understanding \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When you\u2019ve been a part of something for a while, we develop jargon. But newcomers don\u2019t understand the jargon \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It happens in business, but it also happens in the church. \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\u00a0There are different terms for\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":53678,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-blessings-and-privileges-of-kingdom-citizenship\/","url_meta":{"origin":62200,"position":4},"title":"The Blessings and Privileges of Kingdom Citizenship","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Warfel","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":47414,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/preterism-the-eternal-kingdom\/","url_meta":{"origin":62200,"position":5},"title":"Preterism: The Eternal Kingdom","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Warfel","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":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62200\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}