Shall we turn in our Bibles now to
Psalm 96 for our scripture reading?
And I'll read the first and the odd
-numbered verses.
Pastor Brian will lead you in the reading
of the even-numbered verses.
Let's stand as we read the Word of
God.
O sing unto the Lord a new song,
sing unto the Lord all the earth.
Sing unto the Lord, bless his name, show
forth his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders
among the people.
For the Lord is great and greatly to
be praised, he is to be feared above
all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are
idols, but the Lord made the heavens.
Honor and majesty are before him, strength and
beauty are in his sanctuary.
Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of
the people, give unto the Lord glory and
strength.
Give unto the Lord the glory due unto
his name, bring an offering and come into
his courts.
O worship the Lord in the beauty of
holiness, fear before him all the earth.
Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth,
the world also shall be established that it
shall not be moved, he shall judge the
people righteously.
Let the heavens rejoice and let the earth
be glad, let the sea roar and the
fullness thereof.
Let the field be joyful and all that
is therein, then shall all the trees of
the wood rejoice before the Lord for he
cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth
and he shall judge the world with righteousness
and the people with his truth.
Let's pray.
Father how thankful we are for the hope
of the coming again of Jesus Christ.
Coming Lord to judge the world in righteousness.
Lord as we look at the events in
the world in which we live today, we
realize Lord that it's important that your coming
is very soon and we thank you Lord
that you have promised and given us that
hope of your soon return.
We ask now Lord that you would bless
the study of your word this morning.
Do a special work in each of our
hearts right now, opening up our hearts, our
minds to the receiving and the understanding of
your truth.
Blessed Father we pray as we look at
your word together in Jesus' name, amen.
You may be seated.
This week as we move through the Bible
and continue to move through the Bible, we're
in the book of Esther and this morning
we'll be studying the book of Esther and
tonight we'll be studying the entire book as
we look at this interesting story in the
Old Testament of God's providential care in the
preserving of his people.
God does work in mysterious ways his wonders
to perform.
Now people have often thought that that was
a scripture.
It isn't.
It's just a truth.
It's a truth that's expressed in a poem.
God works in wonderful ways his mysteries to
perform.
I thought it was a scripture for a
long time.
In fact I would have sworn it was
a scripture.
I'd heard it quoted so many times and
someone challenged me one time and I said
well I'll find it for you but I
couldn't.
It's just a wonderful truth.
It is true.
God is at work in mysterious ways his
wonders to perform and surely we see that
in the book of Esther.
As we study the book of Esther we
see that God is working behind the scenes
in wonderful ways as he is working out
his eternal purposes.
The story of Esther does reveal how that
God is in control of our lives.
He's working out his purposes in us before
we are even aware of it.
I do not know why off around me
my hopes all shattered seem to be.
God's perfect plan I cannot see but someday
I'll understand.
Someday he'll make it plain to me.
Someday when I his face shall see.
Someday from sin I will be free and
someday I'll understand.
Why is it do you suppose that God
hides his purposes from us?
Things happen in our lives and we look
at them and we wonder why did God
allow this to happen and we find ourselves
many times challenging or questioning God because of
our circumstances.
But what God is seeking to do is
to teach us the lessons of faith.
Though I don't understand it I know that
he is at work and God often just
says just trust me.
But we find that difficult don't we sometimes
just to trust him.
I think of that story of the fellow
who was sliding down this hillside and he
was coming to this cliff with a big
drop off and as he was just getting
to the cliff there was this little shrub
and he reached out and he grabbed it
and as he was sort of hanging over
the cliff he looked up and he cried
God help me and he heard a still
small voice that said just let go son
trust me.
He held on for a while longer and
again he looked up and he said oh
God please help me and he heard the
voice again saying I told you son trust
me just let go.
He looked up once more and he said
is there anybody else up there?
We don't like that uh just trust me
do we?
We want to know why God is doing
certain things in our lives.
You know it's interesting my hindsight is so
clear.
Looking back 2020 I can see the hand
of God all the way through in the
circumstances of my life and and it's wonderful
to look back and connect the dots and
you can see how that God was in
every circumstance.
He was at work.
He was there.
But my foresight oh it is so blurry.
I wonder so many times Lord why did
you allow me to get into this mess
and I have difficulty with my circumstances as
I try to understand the plan and the
purposes of God in the things that are
not really very tasteful to me.
In fact I find them rather bitter experiences
but yet in time I see that God
had his hand in all of this and
he was at work.
He's watching over.
He's accomplishing his perfect purposes in my life.
Now the book of Esther is exciting because
in the book of Esther we see how
God is working far in advance as he
is working out his purposes in the lives
of these people until he brings us to
that place of such a time as this.
When all of a sudden we begin to
realize why God was working and what God
was doing in these situations bringing me up
to this point where now it's going to
be revealed why God had allowed all of
these things to take place.
As we look at the book of Esther
we know that Satan knew that God was
planning to send a savior into the world.
His only begotten son.
That he was to be a descendant of
Abraham and of David.
God had declared that and Satan knew that
and so Satan sought to thwart the plan
of God.
If he can just eliminate the Jews then
God's purposes of sending the savior will be
thwarted.
So it is Satan's desire to destroy the
Jewish nation and that's the story of the
book of Esther.
His strategy was to kill all of the
Jews so that God could not send his
son into the world and this he will
seek to accomplish by putting into the heart
of one of the wicked leaders in the
Persian empire to have such a hatred for
the Jews that he will seek to exterminate
all of them.
And so with this insight let's take a
look at the story of Esther.
All of these events are relevant as they
bring us to such a time as this.
The Babylonian kingdom has fallen.
It has been replaced by the Medo-Persian
empire and King Ahasuerus is now ruling over
the world.
The 127 provinces are all under his control.
He is celebrating his greatness and all with
a feast for his lords and during the
feast as they are all getting pretty drunk
he decides to show off his beautiful wife
Vashti.
So he orders her to come in and
to sort of pray to herself before his
friends that they might be envious of his
beautiful wife.
But Vashti refuses to come and of course
this created a real crisis.
All of the men said you know can't
have this you know you're everybody will find
out that the queen refused to come didn't
obey your orders and hey we'll all be
in trouble.
All of our wives will rebel against us
and you know it'll be chaos.
So you've got to do something very powerful,
very strong.
You've got to take action.
So King Ahasuerus actually deposed Vashti from being
the queen.
Cut her off.
And so it was just a warning to
all the women you know when your husband
speaks you know jump.
And it was a thing that didn't develop
until later in the history of mankind but
it was preserved for those men of Persia.
Now after a period of time the king
began to miss Vashti and he was a
little lonely so it was decided that they
would have a beauty contest and the most
beautiful woman in the kingdom the king could
choose and she would become the new queen
over Persia.
In all of these things God is at
work.
These are the incidents that are taking place.
God is putting together the picture and working
out his purposes in these things.
So this man in the kingdom with this
great ego who has sort of buddied himself
up to the king.
The king has made an edict that when
he walks down the street everybody should bow
to him.
Well Mordecai who happens to be a cousin
to Esther because he is a Jew refuses
to bow to Mordecai.
It really got under his skin.
He just became enraged within because this fellow
would not bow when he walked down the
street.
And so the Lord just again sort of
setting this scene.
Now Mordecai encourages Esther to join this beauty
contest and she spends a year in preparation
for the presentation to the king.
Baths and with oils and all and finally
her time comes to go before the king
and when he sees her his heart is
smitten and so he chooses her to be
the new queen over the Persian empire.
Now Mordecai is sort of trying to call
the shots from outside the palace.
He hangs around the palace a lot because
his cousin Esther who he raised, she was
an orphan, he raised her and just sort
of watch over her.
And as he was there he heard a
couple of fellows plotting against the king.
They were planning to assassinate Ahasuerus and so
Mordecai informed Esther, his cousin, there in the
palace that there was this assassination conspiracy and
so it was investigated.
It was found to be true and so
these two men were put to death.
Now again as the scenes
are coming together here's this Haman, this wicked
man who is so filled with ego and
all that he wants everybody you know to
just bow to him.
Mordecai refusing and so he devises a means
whereby he might destroy all of the Jews.
Not just Mordecai, he wants to get rid
of all of them.
So he comes to Ahasuerus and he said
you know there is a group of people
within the kingdom who are always rebellious and
it's just best to get rid of them
and I would like to give to the
treasury a large amount of money and let's
set a date in which all of the
Jews within the kingdom will be put to
death.
And to give sort of an incentive to
the people to kill the Jews, whatever property
or whatever possessions they had, if you killed
the Jew it became yours.
And so this was signed into a order
by the king and Haman was planning in
order that day that he would get rid
of the Jews within the kingdom.
So as this day was approaching Mordecai
sent a message to Esther within the palace
and said you know you need to go
to the king and you need to plead
for your people because of this edict that
we are all to be put to death
on this certain day.
So Esther sent a message back and said
you know you just don't go in before
the king, that's not protocol.
If you go in and he hasn't called
you to come in, if he doesn't raise
his scepter to you the guards are there
and they'll put you to death immediately.
And Mordecai sent the message back to Ruth
and said to her you know don't think
that if this edict goes through you're going
to be spared.
For if you, he said in verse 14
of chapter 4, if you all together hold
your peace at this time their deliverance will
arise from another place.
In other words God's going to take care
of his people but you and your father's
house will be destroyed.
And who knows whether that you have come
into the kingdom for such a time as
this.
How do you know that this isn't the
very purpose of your existence?
How do you know that God didn't create
you for just such a time as this?
So Esther sent the message to her cousin
Mordecai and said have all of the people
pray for me and I will go before
the king and if I perish, I perish.
A commitment, I'll do it and I might
perish but if I do I perish.
So Esther went in before the king and
he raised to her the golden scepter and
she came and kissed it and he said
what is it that you want sweetheart?
I'll give you anything to the half of
the kingdom.
And she said I want you to come
to a feast that I have prepared for
you and for Haman.
And so Haman went home and he said
to his family my you know I am
in such great favor that Esther has invited
only me and the king to come to
her feast.
And so he was just really very excited
about that.
And so he came with the king to
the feast that Esther had prepared and so
at the end of the feast the king
again touched by the beauty of Esther and
all said you know tell me what would
you like me to do for you?
I'll give you anything to half of my
kingdom.
And she said I want you to come
tomorrow again with Haman for another feast that
I will prepare.
And so Haman went home again and bragging
to his family you know the position and
power and all that he had.
And that night the king couldn't go to
sleep.
He had one of those restless nights where
he just couldn't drop off to sleep.
So he decided to have the fellow there
read him the chronicles of the kingdom.
And as the fellow was reading the chronicles
of the kingdom he read of this attempt
to assassinate him by these men.
And how it was reported by Mordecai that
this plot was going on.
And so he said what did we do
for Mordecai?
And the fellow said well it looks like
there's nothing in the records.
Looks like we didn't do anything.
He said well we can't let that go.
And so just about that time Haman came
in and he said to Haman what should
I do for a man that I would
really like to honor?
And Haman blinded by his own ego thought
to himself who would the king want to
honor more than me?
And so he said well I would say
that you should let him put on the
king's robes and ride on the king's royal
steed through the city.
And as he does let a man go
before him and cry to the people behold
the man that the king wants to honor.
So the king said splendid idea.
Haman get my steed and take my robe
and put it on Mordecai and you go
before him and proclaim the man that the
king wants to honor.
Oh he was just chagrined but had to
do it because it was the order of
the king.
He went home afterwards and told his family
oh man you can't believe what happened to
me.
You know this is horrible.
You know and they said well you're a
big trouble man.
You know the it's a serious matter here.
So they called him and said you know
the queen is feast is ready and you
have to show up.
So he went to the feast and as
they were feasting at the end of the
feast again the king said to Esther tell
me what you desire.
I'll give you anything to the half of
my kingdom.
And she said all I want is my
life and the life of my people.
And the king said what are you talking
about?
He said she said there has been a
conspiracy against my people to put us all
to death and you know to take our
fortunes.
And the king said who would do such
a thing?
And she said this wicked man Haman here
at the table.
And the king was so upset he went
out and began to walk and pace in
the garden.
And as he did Haman grabbed hold of
Esther and began to say you know help
me help me.
And as the king came back in she
he was holding on to her and sort
of shaking her.
And the king said what in the world
is this?
Are you trying to rape my wife right
here in the palace?
And they covered Haman's face and they took
him out.
And he had prepared a gallows for Mordecai
75 feet high.
And they said hang him on his own
gallows.
And so that's where that idea comes.
The man was hung on his own gallows.
That was Haman.
And as God was protecting the Jews from
his desire to destroy them.
So there are some interesting lessons that we
can gain from this story.
God is working his eternal purposes in our
lives through circumstances that we often do not
understand.
And we don't often recognize that in these
things God is actually working behind the scenes.
God's often years ahead of us.
He's working out a plan that we won't
really understand for years to come.
The events of today I may not understand
today.
I may not understand them until years later.
And then as I begin to look back
and connect the dots I can see oh
yes I can see what God was doing
there.
Oh yes I see it now.
But we don't always see it when it's
happening.
So it is teaching us to just trust
in the Lord.
As the scripture said all things are working
together for good to those who love God.
And so though you're facing situations that seem
to be so wrong and you can't understand
them just trust the Lord.
Just let go the Lord says it and
just trust me.
And though I can't see what God is
doing I know that God is at work
and will be at work in my life
using the circumstances today for his glory as
he accomplishes his eternal purposes in me and
through me.
Now there is one interesting postscript to this
story I would like to point out.
Haman we read was an Agagite.
Who were the Agagites?
Well the Agagites were the descendants of King
Agag who was the king of the Amalekites.
Who were the Amalekites?
Well the Amalekites were a race of people
who when the children of Israel were first
coming out of their bondage in Egypt they
met them to seek to destroy them.
And they fought against them and God gave
victory to these slaves freed slaves with their
sticks and with their stones against the fort
against the army of the Amalekites.
Now God said to Moses at that time
I'm going to have a war with the
Amalekites.
When you come into the land that I
give to you and you're established and you
become strong then I want you to come
back and destroy the Amalekites completely.
And so it came to pass when Saul
became the first king over the Israel.
And as the kingdom was established in Saul's
hands the Lord spoke to the prophet Samuel
and said the time has come for my
vengeance against the Amalekites because they're attempt to
destroy you.
And so the Lord gave to Samuel the
orders to tell Saul to take the army
of Israel and go down and utterly wipe
out the Amalekites.
Don't leave any of them alive.
Destroy their everything even their livestock.
Don't leave anything living.
Utterly destroy them.
So Saul went down with the army and
God delivered the Amalekites into his hand but
he disobeyed God.
He didn't utterly wipe them out.
He brought back many of the cattle and
many of the sheep.
And when Samuel came out to meet him
he said as the Lord lives I've done
everything the Lord told me to do.
And Samuel said if you did everything the
Lord told you to do how come I
hear the sheep and how come I hear
the cattle.
And of course he had brought King Agag
alive from the Amalekites.
And so King Agag tried to talk his
way out of it but Samuel took care
of him.
But it was a lie on Saul's part.
He did not destroy the Amalekites.
He did not destroy the descendants of King
Agag.
And here we find years later this descendant
of King Agag, Haman the Agagite, is now
again seeking to utterly destroy the nation of
Israel, the people of Israel.
In the Bible the Amalekites are a type
of the life of the flesh, living after
the flesh, being controlled by your fleshly desires.
God has ordered us to utterly wipe out
the flesh life, to crucify it, to reckon
the old life to be dead, crucified with
Christ.
Mortify, the Bible said, or put to death
the deeds of the flesh that you might
live.
There are a lot of people that are
hesitant to deal so severely with the flesh
life.
There are things of the flesh that we
sort of coddle, we want to hold on
to, we don't want to give up.
But you can be sure, as with the
children of Israel, with Saul's incomplete victory, not
obeying God fully, leaving a part of the
Agagites alive, ultimately it will come back and
seek to destroy you.
That is why it is so important that
in dealing with our flesh we give no
place for the flesh life, to fulfill the
desires thereof, but we reckon it to be
dead, crucified with Christ, that we might have
victory over the flesh life.
It is a constant problem with the believer.
The flesh, the Bible said, is lusting against
the spirit and the spirit against the flesh,
and these two are contrary.
We don't always do the that we would.
We have a, it seems, lifelong battle with
the flesh.
It's a problem that all believers do experience,
whether I'm going to yield to my fleshly
passions and desires, or whether or not I'm
going to yield to the Spirit of God.
And God orders, reckon the old flesh to
be dead, crucified with Christ, and that is
God's answer to the flesh life.
So, as Paul wrote to the Galatians, they
that are Christ have crucified the flesh with
its affections and with its lust.
May God help us to do that, not
to hold on to part of the flesh
life and say, well, I'll give up everything
but this, but I need to hang on
to this.
No, you don't, and don't try, because it
will ultimately rise up to destroy you.
Father, we thank you for the victory that
we do have over the life of the
flesh, and we pray, Father, that we might
just really indeed deal harshly, severely with the
flesh life, giving no place to the flesh
to live after the lust thereof.
And may we, Lord, just really walk after
the things of the Spirit and live a
life, Lord, that is pleasing in your sight.
We realize, Lord, that there are those here
today that are sort of holding on to
some of the aspects of the old life
of the flesh, unwilling to give it up,
unwilling to let it go, and Lord, not
realizing how destructive and how destroying it can
be to their spiritual walk.
And so, Lord, today we pray, Lord, that
as you deal with us, we might be
willing, Lord, to just really give up the
life of the flesh, that we might live
after the Spirit.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
Shall we stand?
The pastors are down here at the front
to minister to you today, and it could
very well be that there are areas of
the old flesh that you're sort of hanging
on to, and it's time to let it
go, time to reckon it to be dead,
crucified with Christ, that you might live.
Otherwise, look out, because if it isn't utterly
destroyed, it will come back to haunt you
and to defeat you.
So, I would encourage you as we're dismissed,
come on forward and just say, would you
pray for me?
There's an area in my life that I
need to surrender to the Lord, and I've
been holding on to it, but I want
to just give it up today and surrender
it to Him.
And they'll be very happy to pray for
you, and you can go home today with
real victory in your life, knowing that the
old life, the life of the flesh, reckoned
dead, and now living after the Spirit, a
life that is pleasing to our Lord.
And so may the Lord be with you,
may He bless you, may He guide you,
and may you be strengthened daily by His
power and His Spirit working in your life.
In Jesus' name, the Lord bless thee, and
keep thee.
The Lord make His face to shine upon
thee, and be gracious unto thee, and be
gracious unto thee.
The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee,
and give thee peace.
God bless you.