Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Songs of Worship
CALL TO WORSHIP
1.
At Your Name (Yahweh, Yahweh) - Phil Wickham
2. God Almighty - Chris Tomlin
PRELUDE SONG
3. Come Behold The Wondrous Mystery - Matt Boswell
COMMUNION SONG
4. You Are My All In All - GVB
BENEDICTION SONG
5. Blessed Assurance - Shane & Shane
2.
Call To Worship Scripture:
John
Sermon Scripture:
For Such A Time As This
Providence.
It is what gives time and place meaning and purpose.
It is uncontrolled by you and yet at work in all that you do.
The hand of providence is more determinative than the thoughts of man for even the thoughts of man bend to the divine will of providence.
The children of God wether in rebellion or in obedience find salvation and deliverance only by the hand of providence.
Courage
Today the word seems archaic but in Esther we learn the powerful lesson of the present working behind the scene effects of providence and the people of God.
In this the question remains the same.
It is not wether or not providence is at work, but are you a child of God and thus under His providential care?
Then the question becomes will you trust and walk in such care and thus no the blessing and wisdom of providence.
Jesus stated:
For Such A Time As This
This truth and revelation of providence is the theme of Esther.
Background:
In the book of Ezra and Nehemiah we read of an opportunity that God had given for the Jews to return to being under His care.
We read that only a very small remnant chose to return.
Their account is recorded in Ezra and Nehemiah.
Now Esther at approximatley 486 B.C. we have the account of those who did not return but instead chose the comforts and prosperity of Persia.
These are the Jews who have chosen to walk outside of the will of God.
This is emphasised by God’s name not being mentioned in this book.
I believe this is explained in , that God’s name does not appear because His face is hidden.
There is no prayer or dependence upon God in this book.
There is no quote of Esther in the New Testament.
However the Jews give this book special Emphasis.
It is one of the five books called Megilloth (rolls) and is placed in the Pentateuch in importance.
Subject:
Addressed in Esther is, “the Providence of God”
Providence comes from the same stem as “provide”.
It simply means that God will provide.
Theologically - providence is the direction God gives to everything: animate and inanimate, good and evil to accomplish His good and perfect will.
Practically - it speaks of the hand of God moving throughout the course of history.
Think of it as the hand of God in the glove of history.
The glove of history, time, or anything does not move lest the hand of God first moves it.
Providence is God though unseen, still behind the scenes shifting and directing the course.
It has been described as how God leads those who will not be led.
Esther gives the account of the entire Jewish nation which would have been slain had it not been for the providence of God.
God Almighty stands in the shadows keeping watch over His own.
Theme Verse:
Much takes place to lead us to this verse:
Ahasuerus (not a name but a title meaning “high father) is probably the Xerxes mentioned in .
Ahasuerus holds a banquet before his campaign to Greece to display wealth and power.
Both wind up disasterous.
At his banquet (filled with alchohol) the Queen Vashti (who had made a seperate banquet) was summoned by the King in order to show off her beauty.
The queen being evidently of nobility and stregnth of character refused to go for this was against accepted custom.
Out of emotional haste and ill advisment the King made a decree to set the queen aside.
This decree cannot be reversed by even the King, meaning that Queen Vashti was gone for good.
In the mids of this his campaign to Greece was a disaster and the King is found defeated and queenless and this is the point where most pick up in the story of Esther.
In order to attempt to reverse the depression of the king a contest is held to choose another queen and is advertised throuout the entire kingdom.
Introduce new characters: Mordecai, of the tribe of Benjamin, is one of the Jews that had not returned to Jerusalem.
He settled in Persia with not thought of returning.
Mordecai means, “little man”.
Mordecai had adopted his uncle’s daughter, Esther, and had raised her as his own.
She was a beautiful young women and as such Mordecai enters her into the beauty contest.
Esther will immediatley please Hegai who is in charge of the contest.
Though God’s providential had is moving in the dealings of the people who no longer look to him, we also witness the concern of Mordecai as it is evident that he does not seem to feel as though he can turn to God for help.
In the end Esther wins the contest and Mordecai is found to be given a political job (sitting at the gate).
Mordeci overhears a plot to kill the king and reveals it to Esther who reports it to the king.
Though the deed is recorded, no recognition or reward is given to Mordecai.
Haman an anti-Semite is promoted by the king to the position corresponding to prime minister.
He is a Agagit (Saul should have obeyed God and destroyed the Agagites - )
Having been given a new position the king commands all to bow to Haman and revere him.
Mordecai due to his training in Mosaic Law () refuses.
God’s people revere only God (; ).
Though Mordecai is walking in disobedience he has not disassosiated himself from his God (an interesting note).
This stick in Hamans crawl and rather than ignoring it or simply going after Mordecai, Haman goes after all Jews and the King grants him permission to have all of the Jews killed on a certain day.
A decree is then drawn up which gives the kingdome permision to slay the Jews on the 13th day of Adar (March).
This is a brutal and sensless decree.
Such satanic anti-semite purges began with Pharaoh and continu down through the times of Herod, Hitler, the Arab, Muslim and present society.
Now in chapter 4 we see Mordecai mournint in sackcloth and ashes - yet there is no mention of prayer.
Then we see all of the Jews in the kingdom morning but still no mention of prayer.
Queen Esther is embarrassed by the conduct of Mordecai and sends him new clothes.
Mordecai refuses the garments.
Their is a application here concerning religion:
The covering (outward acts) of religion cannot remove the fact that man is a guilty sinner before God.
Religion cannot alter the fact that the wages of sin is death.
Esther recieves a copy of the decree and informs Mordecia that there is nothing that she can do for she does not have access to the King.
and this is where we arrive at as Mordecia’s response to Esther:
Mordecia’s message is direct and simple:
Esther herself is in danger for she is a Jew
All of Esther’s family and people will perish
This may be the purpose for which Esther has come to the kingdom
If you refuse deliverance will arise for the people of God from another place (a reference to providence).
Now, Esther accepts the challenge, but I want you to note that the hero of Esther is He who is not mentioned in Esther.
There is no strategy of man that has provided a way of deliverance, no wisdom that has preserved a rebellious people and no prosperity that has been able to grant long and peacfull living.
Rather all of the seeking of man to gain their own comfort and pleassure, all of their seeking to dwell in prosperity while being identified as the people of God and yet forgetting God has led them to one place - death.
Yet the providence of God is at work, working deliverance and a path to life.
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