Chapter 2, verse 21, we are going to conclude
the story of Queen Esther today. We looked at
the first half of it last week, and you may be
saying, well, we're going the wrong way. We were
in chapter 4 last week, but we're going to read
Esther chapter 2, verse 21, and we'll eventually
get to it at some point in the story. While you
all are turning to that, I'll say a couple things.
One is we'll be out of town this week, and so
if you try to get a hold of me and don't get
me, that's why. If you need something while I'm
out of town, you feel free to call Ernest or
Jennings or Sonny, and they'll be glad to do
whatever you need. And so if something happens,
somebody's sick, you need something, please call
on them. and I'll be back Friday night, so I'll
see you guys when I get back. Also, I wanted
to say, too, in regards to the new digital stuff
that we're going to be rolling out soon, that
is also... Very kid -friendly. And so if you
have a young child that has an email address,
it's something that kids will be able to take
a part in. It's going to be very kid -friendly.
It's very safe. Good resources that we're about
to make available to everybody. And if you are
planning to come to the game show night, I'll
give you a little hint. If you are a couple or
a brother or sister, you may want to make sure
that you know each other. You might want to make
sure that you know a lot about each other because
that may be beneficial in some of the games that
we play. So we'll see how good everybody knows
everybody. All right, enough of that clarification
on those announcements. Esther chapter 2, verse
21. Esther chapter 2, verse 21. We'll read these
three verses, then we'll pray, and we'll get
started. During those days, while Mordecai was
sitting at the king's gate, Bicton and Teresh,
two eunuchs who guarded the king's entrance,
became infuriated and planned to assassinate
King Ahasuerus, or King Xerxes, some of your
translations will say. When Mordecai learned
of the plot, he reported it to Queen Esther,
and she told the king on Mordecai's behalf. Let's
pray. God, we come to you this morning. We thank
you for the freedom and the privilege to come
and to read your word and to hear your word.
And I pray, dear Lord, that you would help me
to... do a good job to preach and teach this
today. I pray that you help my mind to be sharp
and focused. I pray that you help the words that
come from my mouth to be words that are yours,
dear Lord. There is no good word I can say if
it is not from you, dear Lord. So I pray that
our hearts would hear, that your Holy Spirit
will work on us, that you would meet us where
we are today. that you would help us to be encouraged
and to learn from what we see in your word and
the story of Queen Esther. And I ask these things
in Jesus' name. Amen. We left the story last
week with Queen Esther with a decision that she
had to make. An evil man had risen to power by
the name of Haman, and the king had really given
him authority to do whatever he wanted to do.
And Haman had a hatred for the Jews and particularly
Mordecai. Because when Haman was called to this
new position, everyone was to bow before him
and celebrate him and all just talk good about
him and treat him like a king, essentially. But
Mordecai refused to do so. And this had infuriated
Haman. And Haman had sent a command throughout
the land that on a certain day, All the Jewish
people in the land were to be killed. Now, Queen
Esther, who had come into this position, not
by coincidence, but by the very power of God.
If you want to catch that sermon last week, you
can find it online, get more details. But Esther
had ended up in the most unlikely of places,
a Jewish girl, to be the queen of King Xerxes.
Of course, it was not known that she was a Jew,
and her life as well was in jeopardy. And so
when this word went out, this command from Haman
to kill the Jews on this particular day, Mordecai,
Esther's cousin who had raised her, sent word
to Esther and said, you must speak up to save
your people. And Esther said, wait a minute,
this is dangerous. I can't just go talk to the
king. If I go and I've not been summoned, he
may have me killed. It's only if I go and he
extends his scepter will he listen, but maybe
he'll extend his scepter before me and maybe
he will not. But Mordecai said, look, Esther,
you have to go for maybe you've been placed in
this position for such a time as this, that God
has put you right here right now to do this.
And Esther said, look, I'll do it. You get everybody
together, all your people, all the Jewish people,
and y 'all begin to fast, and I'll get my people
together and we'll fast. And it doesn't say that
they prayed, but I think it might be reasonable
to assume that when they fasted that they were
praying. We often see that together. These were
God's people. It's almost certain, I believe,
that they were seeking God and humbling themselves
before God on Esther's behalf before she went
to the king. And so she did. After three days
went by, she got herself all prettied up and
dressed and she began to go into the courtyard
and into the area where the king was and the
king saw her. And when he did, he extended his
scepter to her. Praise the Lord. She now has
the king's ear and she goes before the king and
the king says, Esther, what is it that you want?
And Esther said, King, if it pleases you, I would
like... to hold a feast, a banquet today for
just you and Haman, just the three of us. I would
like you to come to this meal that I have prepared.
And the king says, whatever you asked, Queen
Esther. So the news is spread to Haman that he
is invited to come into the presence of Esther
and the king. Now Haman is thrilled at this.
Haman loves the attention. He loves to be in
the spotlight. And so Queen Esther holds this
magnificent feast. And all that is there is the
king and Haman. While they are feasting, the
king asks Esther. He says, Queen Esther, what
is it that you want? He said, up to half of the
kingdom, I'll give you whatever you would like.
And Queen Esther said, my request to you, king,
is that... We do this again tomorrow. The tomorrow
that you and Haman come back and that we have
this feast once again. And the king said, may
it be as you request, king. Now Haman was thrilled
at this news. He wanted to be in the spotlight.
He wanted everyone to know that he and he alone
was having a feast with the king and the queen.
And he left with great joy, but his joy quickly
turned into rage. Because no sooner than he got
out of the banquet with the king and the queen
did he see Mordecai, who refused to bow down
and acknowledge him. This infuriated Haman. And
Haman went home and he told his wife and he told
his friends and all of this was taking place
and he was just infuriated. And so his wife and
his friends, they... give him some instruction.
They give him some advice, not very good advice.
They said, Haman, here's what you need to do.
You need to make an example out of Mordecai.
You need to build a gallows 75 feet tall, and
you need to have Mordecai hanged on it in front
of everyone. Make an example of him. And Haman
said, that's a good idea. And so he told his
men, get to work. Begin to build this gallows.
Meanwhile, back at the palace, night had come
and the king was trying to sleep, but sleep escaped
the king that night. And so as he was laying
there unable to sleep, he called to one of his
servants and he said to him, would you go get
the book of the historical records of the kings
and read that to me? And so as he was there and
being read to, Eventually, the story of Mordecai
come up. The story where Mordecai, in the scripture
that we just read, had found about this plot
to assassinate the king. And Mordecai had spoken
up. He had did the right thing. And he had let
the proper authorities know. And as a result,
the king's life was saved. And when the king
was told this story, he said, what was done for
this man? What was done for this man who saved
my life? The servant who was reading the record
says, well, king, there was nothing done for
this man. And so he says to his servant, he says,
who's here? Is there anybody around in the palace?
Well, by this time, Haman has made his way into
the palace. And the servant said, well, Haman
is out there. And the king said, well, good,
send him in to me. And so Haman goes into the
presence of the king. And the king says to Haman,
he says, Haman, if the king wanted to honor a
man, and really, really just lift him up in the
presence of the community and do something great
for him? What would the king do? What should
he do? Now Haman, being full of himself, thought
to himself, well, who in the world could possibly
the king be talking about other than me? Who
could the king want to honor more than me? After
all, he had just had this private meal with the
king and the queen. And in not much time, he
would be having another one. And so Haman thought
to himself, the king is going to honor me. What
would I like? And so Haman responded to the king.
Haman said, king, here is what should be done
for the man that the king wants to honor. He
says one of the king's wardrobes should be brought
out. Some of the garments of the king should
be brought out and placed on this man. And a
horse that the king has ridden should be brought
out and this man should be placed on top of this
horse. And one of the king's highest officials
should take this horse and guide it through the
streets and parade this man around and yell out,
this is what is to be done for the man the king
wants to honor. I suspect Haman was probably
waiting for that honor to be placed on him, but
he was mistaken because when he told the king
what he thought should be done, the king said,
good, go and do this for Mordecai. So here is
Haman. Boy, he was so proud of himself. He's
come up with this plan to destroy the Jews. The
one that he hates the most, he's going to be
getting rid of soon. In just a few hours, Mordecai
was to be hanged. But instead of Mordecai being
hanged, now Haman and all of this misery is having
to guide Mordecai around on town on the king's
horse and the king's clothes, yelling, this is
what is done for the man the king wants to honor.
Haman completes his task and scurries back home,
angry as can be, and he tells his wife and his
friends, he says, this is what happens. And his
wife said, oh, you're in trouble. This ain't
a good sign. Well, no sooner than he talks with
them is he ushered back to the king. He's ushered
back in the presence of Queen Esther and King
Xerxes for the feast that has been prepared.
And Esther has the king there and he has Haman
there. And the king, once again, asks Esther.
He says, Esther, what is it that you would like?
Ask of me anything. I'll give you up to half
of the kingdom. Just let me know what you would
like. And Esther tells the king, she says, King,
my request is that you would spare my life and
the life of my people. For there is an evil man
who has put out an order. that all of the Jewish
people should be killed. Well, when the king
heard this news, he was furious. He said, what
evil man would put out such a command to do such
a thing? And Esther says, your majesty, it is
Haman. The king stormed out of the room in a
rage. Haman knew that his time was getting short.
Queen Esther was reclining on the couch there
in the area where they were having this banquet.
And Haman goes and begins to beg the queen that
there would be mercy, that he would be spared.
And he falls down on the couch on the queen begging
her for mercy. And no sooner than he falls on
the couch onto the queen, the king comes back
into the room and he says, How dare you violate
my queen in my presence? And after the king uttered
those words, one of the king's servants said,
King, there's a gallows at Haman's house, 75
foot tall, that Haman had prepared to hang Mordecai
on. And the king says, hang Haman on it. This
story is a good example of how sometimes when
we do the right thing and it seems as though
it goes unnoticed, Sometimes people do the wrong
thing and continue to do evil and harbor evil
in every way. And it seems like that the one
that does evil always gets away with everything.
That everything always works out for them. And
sometimes it feels for us that we do the right
thing and it goes unnoticed. But when we do the
right thing, it doesn't go unnoticed. And when
we do the wrong thing, it doesn't go unpunished.
Mordecai, all that time ago, had did the right
thing. He heard of the plot that was going to
take the king's life, and he reported it, and
nothing was ever done of it. But as is the case
throughout the whole story of the book of Esther,
it was no coincidence that sleep escaped the
king that night. It's no coincidence that the
king called his servant to read the book of the
historical records to him. It's no coincidence
that on that night, it was revealed to the king
the work that Mordecai had done. It's no coincidence
that God took care of Mordecai and Esther and
the rest of the Jewish people. It's no coincidence
that God delivers those... who are his, and punishes
those who are opposed to him. Who are we in this
story? Maybe we're like Esther. We're someone
who's been placed where we are for such a time
as this. Maybe we're like Mordecai. Maybe we're
one and we say, We've done the right thing, and
it seems to have gone unnoticed. Our life still
is in trouble. Mordecai's life, Esther's life,
the Jewish people's life was in trouble. Their
life was before them. It seemed as though that
God was not listening or paying attention, and
even though they had lived for him and appeared
to be godly people in every way, it doesn't appear
like God is there, but yet God is there through
every step of the way. He's there when a little
Jewish girl gets to be chosen. As queen. He's
there when Mordecai is just at the right place
to make this report to save the king's life.
Maybe we're like Esther. Maybe we're like Mordecai.
Maybe we're like Haman. Maybe we are the one
that wants the attention. Maybe we are the one
that wants the focus. Maybe we are the one that
is enraged at someone else today. What's driving
us today? Is it a desire to live for God? Is
it a desire to seek Him? Is it a desire to trust
Him? Is it a desire to continue to do good, even
when bad things are happening all around us?
Or are we driven by hate? Well, that was the
only thing that was driving Haman, his hatred
and his pride. And it looked like the enemy was
going to win. And it looked like the bad guys
were going to lose. But when it comes to the
word of God and it comes to the plan of God,
the enemy will never win. Because Jesus Christ
has died on a cross so that our sins could be
forgiven. Jesus Christ has died on a cross to
give us a way of escape, to give us victory over
sin, that we don't have to give in to our hatred
and our bitterness in the way that Haman did,
but that we could seek God and humble ourselves
before him in the way that Mordecai and Esther
and the Jewish people did. When we humble ourselves
before God, it leads to our deliverance through
Jesus Christ. But when we live in our pride and
what drives us is our bitterness and our anger
and our hatred, it will lead to our destruction.
None of us like to think of ourselves as the
bad guy. We watch the heroes in movies and our
favorite TV shows and in our books and our Bible
stories, and we always see the good guy and we
always see the bad guy, but we always want to
think of ourselves as the good guy, and maybe
sometimes we are, but maybe if we're honest with
ourselves, sometimes we're the bad guy, and maybe
more times than not. Maybe we don't want to compare
ourselves to Haman, but maybe we need to reflect
on our life and say, God, are there any of those
tendencies in my heart? Maybe there are, maybe
there aren't. But sometimes maybe we're worse
than we think. Sometimes maybe there are some
feelings like those of Haman that are in our
heart and we need to deal with those things.
Because the moment that seed of anger and bitterness
and hatred begins to sprout in our heart, If
we do not seek God and repent and humble ourselves,
then that seed is going to grow. And it's going
to grow into something ugly and nasty and dangerous.
It's going to grow you into a person that only
cares about themselves and does not care about
anyone else. And Haman had become that person.
What about you and I? If we're like Haman today,
then we need to repent. Then we need to ask God
to deal with those areas in our heart. And they
come up. We have to fight them all the time.
It's a lifelong battle. There's always those
things in our heart that are trying to grow,
that are trying to make us into something that
God does not want us to be. But we need to be
those who would seek God today. Maybe we're like
Esther and Mordecai. Maybe we're in a place we
don't want to be, in a situation that looks pretty
dark, looks pretty hopeless. But in those situations,
we need to seek God even more. We need to humble
ourselves before God and say, God, if you've
placed me here for such a time as this, then
help me to see what I need to do. God, help me
not get tired of doing good, for at the proper
time, I will reap, the Scripture says. Let us
never wonder whether God is with us and cares
about us and is paying attention to us. I can
assure you the answer is yes. He is with us,
he cares about us, and he pays attention to us.
He knows where you are and your need. Let us
be those who would seek God today. Let's pray.
God, we come to you, we thank you for your word,
and I pray, dear Lord, that you would help us
to examine ourselves. God, maybe we are those
and... And we feel like sometimes we do what
we're supposed to do, and maybe we do. And God,
maybe sometimes it feels as though it goes unnoticed.
But dear Lord, you know every work we do, good
or bad. And so dear Lord, you are with us no
matter what we go through. It may not always
seem like it. It may not always feel like it.
We may be in places that are scary, that are
tough, that are aggravating, dear Lord. But even
in those places, you are with us. So dear Lord,
I pray that you would help us just to hold on.
Maybe we have a Haman in our life, someone who's
against us, that causes us trouble, dear Lord.
Let us continue to do good even to people like
that. And dear Lord, maybe, just maybe, if we're
honest, maybe we are the Haman in somebody else's
life. Maybe we are the one that's filled with
hatred and bitterness and jealousy and anger,
dear Lord. Let that not be what drives us today,
dear Lord. Let us be driven by the love of Jesus
Christ, that that is what we seek. God, it is
hard. This world is hard. Sin is ever before
us. Temptation is ever before us. And sometimes,
dear Lord, we let our anger and our bitterness
and our hatred get the best of us. But God, you
have to help us because we are hopeless without
your help. But dear Lord, today we can have victory
over those thoughts, over those feelings. through
Jesus Christ who has given his life on a cross
so that we could be forgiven. So God, wherever
we may be today, if you've placed us here for
such a time as this, then help us to see what
you've placed us here for. And God, if we see
some things in our heart that should not be there,
I pray today that we would repent, that we would
confess those things to you, that we would ask
for your forgiveness and that we would seek your
help, dear Lord. Not just today, but every day,
dear Lord. It is a daily struggle for us to try
to walk in accordance to your will. God, it is
not easy, but the result is joy and peace. So
God, let us not walk in the path of Haman and
experience destruction today, but God, let us
walk in the path of Jesus Christ that we would
experience deliverance. God, just as you were
there with Mordecai and Esther and the Jewish
people, God, you are here with us today. So God,
you know our needs. You know where each one of
us are. You know what our struggles are. You
know where we need deliverance today. And I pray
that we would seek you to find that and be strengthened
by you. And I ask these things in Jesus' name.
Amen.