"Proceeding by Faith"

Daniel Atkins

Esther: The Visible Hand of the Invisible God • Sermon • Submitted 7 years ago

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INTRO:

LET ME CATCH YOU UP TO SPEED:

2:19-23 - A plot against Xerxes is uncovered by Mordecai. Esther warns Xerxes. MARK THIS - IT’S HUGE…VITAL TO NEXT WEEK.

Chapter 3 - Haman is promoted to 2nd in command. Mordecai refuses to bow down and pay homage. Haman gets mad & talks Xerxes into signing an edict calling for the death of all Jews.

Esther 3:15 ESV

The couriers went out hurriedly by order of the king, and the decree was issued in Susa the citadel. And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was thrown into confusion.

4:1-3 - Mordecai tears his clothes, wears sackcloth & ashes & weeps and mourns.

Esther 4:4–17 ESV

When Esther’s young women and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was deeply distressed. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai, so that he might take off his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs, who had been appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was. Hathach went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate, and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews. Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her and command her to go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people. And Hathach went and told Esther what Mordecai had said. Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to go to Mordecai and say, “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.” And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.” Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.

There comes a point when God makes clear what He has been preparing me for and that can be scary.

I know…I know…that’s not super deep or profound. But it’s so true, isn’t it? Again. Let me remind you of something we talked about last week - the truth that God prepares me one step at a time and that my preparation for what He has prepared for me won’t necessarily come over night. In fact, it usually won’t.

It’s here that Esther finally understands what God has prepared her for. And, guess what…it’s been 6 years since she was taken from Mordecai. 6 YEARS!

CROCK-POT vs. MICROWAVE…Kristy likes the crock-pot. I like the microwave. You know, what? If I’m honest, the food from the crock-pot tastes MUCH better. But we live in a microwave world. We want stuff NOW. We’ve got fast food, we’ve got instant downloads, we’ve got high-speed internet. We don’t like to wait. We’re busy. We’ve got schedules to keep. Sometimes God is a microwave God. Sometimes he works fast. We like that. But, at least in my life experiences, God is more of a crock-pot worker.

Think about where you were 6 years ago. Think about how much has changed in your life over 6 years! I’ve gone from 1 kid to 3! 6 years ago, I was still in seminary!

And it’s scary…THE CROSSROADS OF FAITH. Everyone whom God uses has come to this point…and everyone who has forfeited seeing God do unbelievable things has, too.

Jesus never promised that following him would be easy, safe, or comfortable.

“Let us be clear; the will of God is not always the safest place to be, but it is the only place to be.”

(Nik Ripken)

God will accomplish His purposes with or without me.

Esther 4:14 ESV

For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

God’s plans aren’t dependent upon me. In fact, it’s really not about me anyway. Here’s what I want you to understand…God doesn’t prepare me for His plans for me just for my sake. There’s always something else. Think about this - look at what Mordecai says, “deliverance…for the Jews.” God was going to rescue His people with or without Esther. You never know who God wants to use YOU to reach/minister to/etc. It’s bigger than just us.

A.W. Tozer compared God’s sovereign purposes to an ocean liner, leaving NYC, bound for Liverpool, England. The people on board the ship are free to do as they please, but they aren’t free to change the course of the ship. “The mighty liner of God’s sovereign design keeps its steady course over the sea of history. God moves undisturbed and unhindered toward the fulfillment of those eternal purposes which He purposed in Christ Jesus before the world began.

Esther 4:13 ESV

Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews.

Disobedience is costly.

You will miss out on a blessing.

Obedient living is one of the scariest but MOST AWESOME things.

You will experience disciple - Jonah.

James 4:17 ESV

So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Me coming to TRBC.

Faith doesn’t just involve trusting God in the what but also in the how.

Here’s Esther’s issue…it’s clear what she should do. She knows she’s got to intervene. She’s, really, the only one who can approach Xerxes and have an influence on him. But, again, if she went in to see Xerxes without an invitation, she could be executed! THE HOW IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS THE WHAT.

Prayer & Fasting

Patience is NOT one of my strongest qualities. What do we tend to do? Rush in…fools rush in, right?

Prayer & Fasting

A personal testimony about fasting & prayer (PLUS…we’ll talk more about this next week!) It is the most focused and closest to the Lord I’ve been in a long time. You need to have a purpose.

Proverbs 3:5–6 ESV

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

If you’ve ever watched the high jumpers in the Olympics, you will realize that that there are two kinds. The regular high jumpers jump about seven feet. They run and throw their backs over the bar. But there is another kind of high jumper. They are called pole-vaulters. They jump about eighteen feet. They back up. They look down the runway. But they have that pole in their hand. They start running down the track, stick the pole in a hole in the ground, put all of their weight on that pole, and use the pole to lift them to a level that they could not lift themselves on their own.

Some of us have mountains. There is a crossbar and we have tried to high-jump in the flesh. We have seen that mountain and we have backed up. We have said, “Mountain, you are not going to keep me down any longer.” We grit our teeth with the power of positive thinking, New Year’s resolutions, and resolves not to repeat our mistakes. We take off and we jump two feet when there is an eighteen-foot bar.

Some of us have been jumping that same two feet for fifty years and the bar is still up there. In fact, it keeps going higher every year. Maybe what you need is a pole vault. You need something that you can lean on when you get to your problem so that you can go higher than you can go higher than you could ever lift yourself. Maybe you need a pole that will help you jump over the mountain. The pole vault for the bars in your life are prayer and fasting.

Lord, I don’t want to go one step without you!

Exodus 33:15 ESV

And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.

SOME OF YOU MIGHT BE AT THE FIRST CROSSROADS…DO I BUY INTO JESUS? DO I GIVE HIM MY LIFE? IT’S GOING TO COST YOU. YOUR LIFE. BEING A DISCIPLE. BUT…IT IS ETERNAL LIFE.

RICH YOUNG RULER - DIDN’T WANT A LORD - BUT THERE IS NO OTHER CHOICE WITH JESUS.