At the Kings Gate — Teresa Conlon

This message is one of the Times Square Church pulpit series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. You are welcome to make additional cassettes of this message for free distribution to friends.

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And I trust that this message today is going to give us some insight and answer some questions that we may have had in wanting to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And today's message is called At the King's Gate.

Esther, Mordecai, and the King's Gate

At the King's Gate. And if you will turn with me to the book of Esther, chapter 2. And that is, if you go to the book of Psalms and turn left two books, At the King's Gate. Father, I just lift up, O God, this service to you and this living word.

And I thank you, O God, that you are an awesome God. Now I pray, O God, that what you want to do in this service, what you want to speak, the work that you want to do, Lord, I pray you would have a free reign and a free course.

I praise you, God, for what you're going to do in the lives of those that will hear it. I praise you, Lord, for the people that you, Lord, are going to set free. Lord, that you're going to lift the confusion.

Lord, that you are going to speak so clearly to. I thank you, Lord, what you're going to do for your people, O God. Because, Lord, we lift up a Savior, Jesus. It is him that we proclaim. It is his living word made alive and on fire by the Holy Ghost that we are trusting in today.

To do a work in us that we cannot do. And, Lord, you're going to teach us to give you all the glory and all the praise. That your work may go through us in an unhindered way. That this generation that we're called, Lord, to live in and to be a testimony unto.

That, Lord, we may be all that you long us to be in Christ. And, Lord, we'll thank you for it. In Jesus' name, amen and amen. You have opened to Esther, chapter 2. But, to bring us up, that's where we're going to start from.

But, to bring us up to speed of Esther, chapter 2. In Esther, chapter 1, the story is told about the king Ahasuerus. And this is a king who ruled from Ethiopia to India. And he ruled in his day almost the whole known civilized world.

And under his dominion was found almost every race, kindred, and king. That he ruled with a cruel and a vicious hand for the most part. He was a king under which the jewelry of that day, God's chosen people, most of them lived under his control.

And the Bible tells us that he had a feast. And if you read the commentaries, they will tell you that when this king had a feast. And he called all the governors from all the provinces from all his vast lands.

That they feasted for many days. And when he was made merry with wine, he called forth his wife Vashti, whose name means beautiful. And he wanted for her to be admired. But the scripture tells us that she too was feasting in the house of women.

And I believe that the same amount of wine was flowing. And when the decree came that she was to present herself, she said no. And she shamed him. And all the counselors of the king rose up and they said to him, you must get rid of her.

For her no will resound throughout all your kingdom. And not just you will have problems, we'll all have problems. So the king agreed to that. And a search was made after a time for a replacement for the queen.

And that search for replacement brings us to chapter 2. And in starting in verse 6. We'll start at verse 5. It says now in Shushan the palace, there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai. Now in the palace in Shushan, that is where the king lived.

And there was a Jew who lived there. And it says in verse 6 a little about this man who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity. Which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah.

Who Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away. And we have here a man, a Jew, who has been carried away captive. He's a displaced man. He's disadvantaged in his society. He does not belong to the privileged class of his day.

He is a man who is a minority and he is living under a people and a dictatorship hostile to him. He's living among a time of great prejudice against him. He knows what it is to be hated simply for what he stands for.

And here is a man who has been taken away from his roots. He has now been brought under a king. And he's living in the palace. And in verse 7 it tells us that he brought up Hadassah, that is Esther, his uncle's daughter.

For she had neither father nor mother. And the maid was fair and beautiful. Who Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter. Now the Bible doesn't tell us how they died. They may have been victims of that captivity.

They may have been victims when that displaced people was rooted up. And the suffering and hardship that that means. Those few verses compressed down to a few words that can't tell the agony and the horror of what these people went through.

She may have been orphaned then. But the Bible does tell us that Mordecai became father to her. And it tells us that when the decree went throughout all the land that they needed to find a replacement for the queen.

It said that their virgins should come, selected virgins, and come before the queen and the king. And the Bible tells us that Mordecai chose that Esther be part of that group. And so she was brought into the king's house.

And he told her in verse 10 that you're not to show your people. It said Esther had not showed her people nor her kindred. For Mordecai had charged her that she should not show it. So Esther lived with her secret hidden behind her beauty.

The Bible tells us that Esther was chosen and declared the next queen. And in verse 19 of chapter 2 it says,. And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai sat in the king's gate.

Now beloved, I want to paint a picture for you here. This man who worked in the palace. A man that had really no inheritance and no possession, no power in his day. He moved from a perceived place of power to a place of real power.

In the king's gate. And I want to tell you what the king's gate means. But I want to tell you, I believe that's a type of salvation what happened to this man. He is a type when we move into the king's gate.

It's when all the virgins, all those who are espoused of Christ, move into one place. A place prepared for them because of their salvation. A place when we come to trust Jesus Christ. When we say, Lord, I recognize you as my God.

I thank you Lord that I come to you as sinner. And your Bible, your word tells me that when I trust what you've done in Calvary that your blood cleanses me. And because I'm cleansed, I now have a new life.

I have a new place to dwell. I have a new thinking and new thoughts and a new spirit. Something so immense and so incredible has happened to the life of a believer when they trust Christ. And the immensity of this change, sometimes it's immediately apparent.

Sometimes it evolves over time. But beloved, there becomes a witness. We are no longer part of the damned, but part of the chosen. And we become inheritors of blessing. And part of that blessing is we move out from under the curse of sin.

And that means that we become aware of sin and we can confess it. We can be cleansed and we are forgiven. We are no longer a condemned people. And for the first time, those that have the Holy Ghost living in them because they've been cleansed can lift up their head and know what it is to have the joy of being accepted and forgiven with God in their lives.

We know what it is to live in a new beginning when we ask for it. We know what it is to step into the light and not live in darkness anymore, shamed by our past and shamed who we are. But when we truly open our heart up to Christ, we open our life up to life and light.

And we know it. And this man now is a representative of all those, a type of those that have trusted Christ. They have been invited to live in a new place. And he went. And he's living at the King's Gate.

Now, the King's Gate is a picture and a symbol. And the gate in ancient times is a place where you went to be seen. It was a place where you were seen. It was a place where public declarations, assemblies were held.

But it was a place where you attracted the attention of the sovereign. It was a place of great importance, not just because the business of the day went on there, many cases in cities it did. But the King's Gate was the symbol of strength.

That's where the battles were fought over. That's where they were fought because the city was won or lost if the gate held or was lost. Many times those gates were made of iron and they couldn't be burned.

And they were carefully guarded because of their significance. And for the believer, we are now invited to the King's Gate to make a public declaration. That by the word of our testimony, we say, Lord, I am yours.

And because I'm yours, there has been a change. Because the reality is there has been a change. And those that have not fully trusted Christ, who are hanging back, that there is a reluctance, you're not going to go to that gate.

You're not going to go a place to be seen where you are known and make that declaration without the living Christ in you. The spirit of man will power back from the spirit of man. The spirit of this age will try to shut you down.

And if you don't have it, you won't make it. You will not make that declaration. But this man went to make a public declaration, the word of his testimony. And as we heard so eloquently this morning, that when we trust Christ and we have the blood of Christ over us, it is like a safety net.

And that blood of Christ means that they're under our life or the everlasting arms. And we know that we are loved and forgiven. And that means that the cleansing of the blood means that in God's eyes, we are a forgiven people.

It means that the devil, when he comes to condemn us, if we will remember the truth, he cannot make headway with us. But it is our privilege as believers to call him a liar. To say that God sees no sin in me.

That God declares me righteous because not I am righteous, but because I trust in Jesus Christ who is righteous. And I put on that as a garment. And every time the devil tries to condemn me, I point him to Jesus Christ, the sinless one.

Say, your case is with him, not with me. He has declared me righteous. Safety net. Because the next step is that the blood of Christ cleanses. And that means that he is going to change us. He's not going to leave us as he finds us.

That means that the blood of Christ is now going to come. And we are going to be changed, beloved, from glory to glory. He's going to do a work in us. It's going to be an ever-increasing work of change in us.

That's another evidence of our salvation. But as long as we remember that while this incredible work is going on in our heart, we have that safety net of the blood. In other words, that as a work deep in us is going on, we are never going to be allowed to crash to the ground, smash beyond repair.

But oh no. We have on one side the strong consolation that God says, I find you righteous before my eyes. That's why I can deal with you. I put a covering of holiness on you so that you can come into my presence that I may deal with you.

Because otherwise, if we had no covering, we could not come into his presence. He could not deal with us. He could not put holy hands on us. But because the blood of Christ is a covering, and because it allows a Holy Spirit to live in, God can do as he longs to do in our lives because of our salvation.

And so here is a picture of this man coming to the gate, leaving his old ways and living in the light. Now when you live in the light, you see. And in verse 21 of chapter 2, this man comes to the gate and it says,.

In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king's gate, two of the king's chamberlains, Bignath and Teresh, of those which kept the door, were wroth and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. It tells us in this scripture that these men were chamberlains in verse 21.

And that means as chamberlains, that definition is people renowned for their faithfulness to their master. And they kept the door, that means a position of great trust, much depended on them. These were people chosen and they were called to model faith.

They were called to model that my sovereign, I am faithful to him. That my life is tied in with his. And that they were to have a testimony. And they were keepers of the door because they were counted at one point faithful men.

But the Bible tells us that they were wroth with the king. And that word wroth means to fret and to provoke into anger. To break out into anger and to fly into a rage. Simply saying that these men, when they became oppressed themselves from defending the door, they fretted and they began to provoke others.

And they thought they were justified in how they felt and what they saw. And they talked and they agitated. But one day it ignited and broke out into anger. And the Bible says that these men, it became known, their anger and their murderous hate.

In verse 22, this thing was known, it was found out. Beloved, you cannot hide flesh. You cannot hide anger when you're dealing in the king's gate. The king is there. And these men had an unjust cause and it says they broke out.

And the scripture says in verse 23, when inquisition was made of the matter. When you look up those words, inquisition, it means to search out, especially by worship or prayer. When inquisition was made at the gate, there went out.

That means they were found out in worship and in prayer. Beloved, when God sets in order His church and He appoints and I have godly leadership over us, the Holy Ghost speaks to them. And in worship and in prayer, many times a word will be spoken for our benefit.

The word will come to those in leadership and they will have an insight into you and I. And what would happen in the case of these men is that they had a murderous hate in their heart. They thought they were justified.

And it broke out and ignited. And the scripture says in verse 23, they were hanged on a tree. Cursed. Cursed. The Bible says cursed is anyone who hangs on the tree. When flesh, that's where flesh always ends up in God's kingdom.

Cursed. And these men became a picture for Mordecai. These men became a lesson for him sitting at the gate. But there was another test at the gate. Everyone who declares himself will be tested. And in Esther chapter 3, verses 1 to 4, here is what happened.

After these things did King Ahasuerus promote Haman, the son of Hamathetah the Agite, and advanced him and set his seat above all the princes that were with him. And all the king's servants that were in the king's gate bowed and reverenced Haman.

For the king is so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him 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, and he hearkened not unto him, that they told Haman to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand. For he had told them he was a Jew. Now this man is now declaring himself and fully who he is.

And he is a type like you and I. That if Christ dwells in us, he is calling us to a full declaration. That I have a testimony that God has given me. This is what he has done in my life. And beloved, we shrink back from doing that because there is a Haman out there.

But this man declared himself. And the Bible says that Mordecai alone stood in his resistance to Haman. Because you see, Mordecai was at the king's gate in light. And he saw what those who began to move in their own flesh in an unrighteous anger in their own cause did.

And now he began to see a righteous cause coming before his eyes. He could discern. This man knew evil from good. And now this man is at a gate and he sees something in this man, Haman. The incredible thing is that the other king's servants could not see.

And Haman utterly wicked and the total enemy is like a picture, a type of Satan in our lives. And these other men are bowing down at the king's gate. And this bowing down means to sink, to cower, to writhe in pain, to afflict, to grieve.

They may not like Haman. They may not have agreed with him. But there was something in this man that had that power over man. And they would bow down to it. And they may have been grieved doing it. And their soul may have been writhing in pain while they did it.

But bow they did. And it's such a picture of a compromised, chosen people. And the scripture also says that they did reverence to Haman. That he craved it. And when you look up that word reverence, it's a showing of submission.

It means to wallow and descend. It means an act of respect before a superior being. Especially the worship of deity. And this man Haman and all he represented is craving from those who belong to God. He is craving your worship.

And to get it he may come as an angel of light. He may come to intimidate you. Whatever he has to do. There is something that so satisfies him when the children of God bow down before him. When those who are called by his name begin in fear.

In rebellion. In their anger. Whatever drives them. And they realize that not half the time how low they bow. But the scripture says that this man Mordecai. In the gate. In the light. Could see something and he refused to bow.

Resisting the spirit of his age. He did not bow. Now Mordecai becomes surrounded by whisperers and jealous people and betrayers. And they told Haman. They told the scripture tells us to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand.

They told him he was a Jew. They told him he was a chosen one. They told all about this man. They wanted to see. If what Mordecai stood for. If his matters would stand. They couldn't stand. Would his matters stand.

Beloved many times we don't realize how much we are watched. We have no idea when we have a holy ghost compulsion in our heart to stand for Jesus Christ. We are being watched in ways you would never understand some days.

And I'll tell you something. Haman is now going to raise his head against Mordecai because he's the only one who defies. And the scripture tells us in Psalm 11 too that the wicked secretly shoot at the upright in heart.

And all these friends and all these kings ministers that stand shoulder to shoulder with Mordecai saying I am as you are. I'm just like you. I'm a believer like you. They are shooting secretly and they're going for his heart.

Because when you read in Psalm 11 it says the next verse if the foundation be destroyed what can the righteous do. It means that the foundation is our heart. And when our heart is fully given to Christ we're invincible.

But when that heart begins to accept lies and doubts and an unrighteous anger and rage can find a place. When sin of any kind fornication can find a place. Then we will be oppressed in that place. And that foundation if it falls what can the righteous do.

It's a picture you'll fall before your Haman just like these other men did. Because he's going for the heart. Because your heart if you're upright that means you don't sin but you have a heart for God.

And all that's within you say God lead on I want to learn what it is to love you with all my heart. I want to live for you. I want to know what it is to live for your glory. You're being shot at at the heart continually and secretly.

There are days you don't know why you're having the day you're having. I'll tell you something. It's because some of those days you're being shot at at the heart by your enemy. But in verse 5 it says the Lord tries the righteous.

But the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hates. The Lord tries the righteous but the wicked and him that loveth violence. Did these friends not love violence? Did they not love to see a fight that was shaping up?

They and their cowardly heart. They that they were never able to say no to Haman. That man that they bowed to they may hate it but they bowed. They want to see Mordecai will his matter stand. And the scripture tells us that the Lord tries the righteous.

I'll tell you something. God tries the righteous for two reasons. He tries them that they may learn to boldly resist the enemy. And that they may be purged from any place that the enemy can oppress them and have ground.

Beloved it's God's delight. For when you and I are made free by truth. We're not set free we're made free. When we believe the truth and we embrace it in our inner parts we are made free. That's why we don't go back.

If you've been made free you're free. Because you didn't make yourself free. You didn't buy it. You didn't psychoanalyze yourself. You've been made free by the Son. And he who the Son sets free is free indeed.

By the blood of Christ. Then we have that covering. We have this safety net. We have the assurance that God sees us as righteous. That God says I'll never cast you out because I see you as holy. Because a holy Christ lives in you.

And I will not impute sin to you. So when that enemy comes it is your privilege to run him through with truth. It is our privilege to withstand him. Swear him a liar. Truth and stand up. Not in there.

I had a picture. I have a picture every time I sit over there before I'm to speak. And it's so clear. And I see an arena. And I see myself in this armor. And I'm covered from head to toe in armor. And I'm small in stature.

And I've got this huge spear. And I'm dragging it behind me. You know one of those medieval spears. And it's a medieval suit. And I have no flexibility. And I'm little. And I come out. Clang. Clang. Into the middle of the arena.

Dragging this huge spear that I can't even lift. The biggest. The most powerful. The most incredible warrior with an undefeated reputation or so he thinks. Riding on this massive horse. And he comes galloping up to me.

And the dirt and the dust is flying everywhere in my face. And I'm so little and small and weak. He's contemptuous.

And beloved, we meet.

But when I raise my head in prayer. And I raise that visor. He doesn't look into my eyes. He looks in to an undefeated, risen, unconquered Lord. And he trembles. As if we've given our lives to him. We take down a Haman by the word of our testimony.

When we say, God give me the guts to stand up. Not in my strength, but in yours. And open our mouths. It is amazing what God will do. Mordecai bowed not. And the full wrath of Haman fell. The Bible says in verse 5.

That he was full of wrath in verse 3. And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not. Nor did him reverence. Then was Haman full of wrath. And that word wrath means heat and anger and rage and poison. Probably the poison that was flowing in the other two fallen men.

And that poison in verse 6. Is so vile. Is so venomous. That it tells us now. That Mordecai is not just after Mordecai. But he's after all the Mordecai like people. The Bible says in verse 6. And he thought scorned 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 Ahasuerus. Even the people of Mordecai. Beloved, this Haman is now giving the most vilest of threats.

Because he is opposed. Rises up when he is opposed. That only those that oppose him know about. Others at the gate have fallen. Because they fought the wrong enemy. Haman goes to the king in verse 8. And he lies.

And he says there's a people. And they're different from us. They're lawbreakers. And they're not fit to live. And the king says go ahead Haman. Do what's in your heart. Do what you want to do to these people.

And the scripture tells us. That when Mordecai defies Haman. When Mordecai says that I will not bow. And there's that kind of threat. And that kind of panic in Haman. It leads me to say. What was it about that man Mordecai that he was such a threat?

I could see Mordecai in his own flesh. Hearing the threats of Naaman. What are you to withstand me? You are only one. To arms defend yourself. Get mad. Organize. Strategize. Do something. But I'll tell you what his strategy, Haman's strategy was.

To get him to do anything but stay at the gate. What he was trying to do was intimidate Mordecai. Must go. But the scripture says that Mordecai stayed at the gate. He stayed at the gate. And in verse 15 of chapter 3.

It says that the king's command prompted by Haman. That all the Jews were to be massacred. That command was published throughout the whole kingdom. And the Bible says in verse 15. The post went out being hastened by the king's command.

And a decree was given in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink. But the city Shushan was perplexed. Now we see that all of a sudden. A compromising people. A half-hearted people.

Are under the same threat as Mordecai. That there's no safety for them either. They thought by their alliance and their compromise. That they would be saved. The wrath. And the anger. The murderous anger.

Of their enemy. And yet they find out the same decree is made for all. And the Bible tells us that the king and Haman sat down to drink. This is a light thing. Their annihilation. But the Bible tells us that the Jews in Shushan were perplexed.

Beloved that word perplexed means entangled. They were entangled. They sat down now and they can't believe what they're hearing. But there's nothing in them to go to the gate. There's nothing in them to be where Mordecai is.

Because they've been entangled. And now when the worst news of their life comes upon them and their families. They're entangled and they sit. But the scripture says that Mordecai knew what to do and he went to the gate.

Humility, Repentance, and Standing at the Gate

Verse 4. And when Mordecai perceived all that was done. Mordecai rent his clothes. Put on sackcloth with ashes. And went out into the midst of the city. And cried with a loud and a bitter cry. And came even before the king's gate.

For none might enter into the king's gate clothed with sackcloth. And in every province whithersoever the king's commandment and decree came. There was a great mourning among the Jews. And fasting and weeping and wailing.

And many lay in sackcloth and ashes. So Esther's maids and her chamberlains came and told her. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved. And she sent Raymond to clothe Mordecai. And to take away his sackcloth from him.

But he received it not. Now beloved, we have seen where Mordecai the type of a saved man. That has given his heart fully to Christ. And stands and declares his testimony. Has come up against Haman. And by his very presence that he will not bow or he will not run.

Is an incredible threat to him. But now we see something else going on. Because now Mordecai goes where he always was. At the king's gate. And all of a sudden he is a great offense. His presence is a great offense there.

And the scripture tells us that when he cried. In verse 2. That word means to shriek from anguish. To shriek from a sense of danger. The bitter cry that went out of him. Means a fierce, violent, wild cry.

Now hear me beloved. If this man was about venting he would have done it and gone home. But Mordecai went to the king's gate in sackcloth. And this sackcloth that he put on himself and went to the king's gate.

That's an offense to go there. People don't understand why he's got sackcloth at the king's gate. But now this man's life is beginning to show us. A dual thing that goes on in the life of the believer.

For while it is our privilege to run through the enemy with his own lies. And defeat him with truth. At the same time Jesus Christ is committed to us. By his presence of doing something deep and glorious that flesh can't do.

To do something in the spirit where we truly become what he has destined us to be. And we can't do that by our own hand. And it's typified now by the putting on of sackcloth. Sackcloth is a type of humility and repentance and mourning.

In verse 4, Esther is grieved and sent clothes to take away his sackcloth. But Mordecai would not. She didn't realize it. But by her not understanding what God now is doing in this man's life. She's sent to turn him from the lessons that he must learn.

In this incredible time of his life and his nation's life. That lesson of humility and repentance and mourning. This is why this man was such an awesome threat. Beloved, he did not put off what God had put on him.

And he did. And he turned his heart to what God was showing him. Beloved, I'm sure initially Mordecai went to the gate no doubt riding high. Believing a life of influence and blessing awaited him. And so it did.

He is right. But also on this path. Which is the path to influence and blessing and power. We have to walk it God's way. And there is no escaping or learning the path of humility. In the life of every true believer.

Beloved, God is going to put us in a place. Where our utter dependence on him. And forsaking a trust in our flesh. Is the greatest strategy against fear and oppression. When we're to a place where we have to utterly depend on him.

And there's no way flesh will get us out of this. That is the greatest strategy against fear and oppression of the enemy. By faith we can say God set me aside that you may be great. In this situation.

Mordecai was urged to cover himself. Cover yourself. Cover this cry Mordecai. It's an embarrassing cry. It's a shriek. Mordecai for heaven's sake get some dignity about you. You made the queen. You have some influence in this place.

You're a man to be respected. You sit at the gate. You've done much good. But cover yourself. Go through along this path of humility. You're embarrassing us. And we don't understand it. Cover yourself.

That gut cry. I don't like it. It sounds to me like you're not in control Mordecai. And the queen wants him to cover herself. But beloved you start to cover what you know. And you start to run. And you start to run before your enemies.

And beloved if you're standing at the gate. And there's a great desire in you to run. Because Haman is real in your life. And he's made good on the threats. Others that have opposed him he has crushed.

And you're standing there. And it's the battle of your life. And everything wants you to run from this place. To silence the cry. To cover yourself. But beloved I want to say to you today. Don't run. But remember.

Don't run. But remember. Remember we stand by grace. And we stand in Christ. The cry needs to be give me the grace to obey you. Because where grace flows. Humility will rise. Humility is an aptness for grace.

Humility is where we can readily receive the grace of Christ. Humility is when we have a distrustful sense of our self-understanding. And our self-passions. We're distrustful of that. And humility is a pure receptivity.

Where we have an unassuming readiness to accept the favor of God. Where we say. I can't do this God. I'm undeserving. I can't receive this grace. Where we say. I have an injured pride God. I haven't done that much for you to merit all this that you need to do in my life.

Beloved. We need a cry like Mordecai. We need an absolute clear thinking and right picture of who we are. And who we are when Christ found us. But there's a place in God he wants to take us. But I'll tell you it goes right through humility.

It needs a clear self-picture. And if we think I've got to do something to earn or merit this incredible deliverance he's going to bring or wants to do in our life. That is pride. We need to be as little children.

They just open up their arms and receive. And many times that's what we need to do. Is humble ourselves like Mordecai. Let a shriek come out. I will not cover myself. Even though I have a reputation. Even though by many I'm counted a leader.

Even though by many they would say this is embarrassing. But Mordecai knew the times his eyes he could see. And Haman was real to him. His threat was real to him. And that man was going to be real before God.

And so it went through a path of humility. And so will ours. Our humility exposes the enemy. A Christian, a true Christian knows he only possesses in the spirit life what he has received. All that you have and all that I have in terms of goodness, faith, peace, long suffering, any graces of the spirit.