Self
For such a time as this (Esther) • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 9 viewsNotes
Transcript
Esther 2:
Esther 2:
So week 2 of Esther. where do we get our counsel. where we get our counsel will have a knock on effect on the whole of our life.
Recap,
We are in 5th century BC Persia, the nation of Isreal are in exile under the rule of Xerxes (Ahasuerus), Son of king Darius, Esther mum & Dad are dead, she is an orphan & lives with her cousin Mordecai.
There has been over 6 months of partying to celebrate how great the King & celebrate what he has & he has divorced his wife because she wouldn’t flaunt herself before his flunkies.
Well we are now 4 years later, his anger has abated, he remembers Vashti his queen.
You know when you have made a terrible mistake in anger & when you calm down, you start to go over it in your mind.
What did i do? Why? oh why? Why did i say that? why did i listen to them? or why didn’t i listen? i got it wrong.
i think this is where the King is at this moment, what have i done,i dumped her because she said no.
I’m sad, how do i get happy, have you ever made, stupid decicions when your angry that you later regret?
He could have repented, he could have said sorry but he didn’t & she’s gone & he’s depressed, have you ever found yourself in that place?
Not just with people but with God too.
sometimes we cut of our nose to spite our face.
You see Xerses went to his young Men for advice, when we find ourself in this place, angry, unrepentent, depressed, feeling sorry for ourselves, never go to the ones who will always agree with you, i know it feels nice, to be loved in that way, i know it makes you feel warm & fuzzy inside but it’s not always helpful, it just compounds how we feel & doesn’t allow for healing to happen.
We need to be the ones that move in our relationships, that make a step towards others, be the one who syas sorry, offers the hand of friendship. ive tried it on a few occassions & sometimes there has been a way forward, forgiveness & sometimes not, but i have tried & i will always keep trying.
What does Xerses do, he goes to the people who will always agrre with him, always say yes.
What do they say, here is the answer, get another woman, there you go the answer to all your problems, take you out of the mood your in because of the wrong that you did to your wife.
We need people in our lives who can say no to us, even if we don’t like that they say it at that moment.
Maybe in our relationships as we are forced to spend more & more time together at this time of lock down we will find that happening more & more, but don’t concentrate on that, concentrate on what you have in common, what you love about each other.
The young mens idea pleased the King, when your having a bad day, when we need someone or something to pick us up at that moment we are susceptible to bad council, be careful who you recieve council from. some give council out of there own hurt, there own desires.
This is the richest, most powerful man on earth, hes sad, he’s lonely, he’s depressed & he’s getting bad council, how did he get here?
It’s all about him, we saw it last week, me, me, me.
My wants, my needs, my glory, my ego.
If we want all the glory we will find it is a sad lonely life with people who only ever say yes, your’e right & no meaningful relationships.
He lived for his own glory, he calls himself King of kings, thinks of himself as a God, 6 month party so that people can honour him, praise him.
He lives for his own glory, me me me & me, that’s what it’s about me.
If you chase after Glory, you chase everyone who loves you away & you end in misery alone.
Augustine & Martin luther both said that Sin is the self bending in on itself:
Augustine further described self-love gone awry in terms of humanity’s desire for happiness:
Man has undoubtedly the will to be happy, even when he pursues happiness by living in a way which makes it impossible of attainment… And hence the falsehood: we commit sin to promote our welfare, and the result is rather to increase our misfortune. What is the reason for this, except that well-being can only come to man from God, not from himself? And he forsakes God by sinning, and he sins by living by his own standard.
The great irony is that we pursue our own happiness yet in the end destroy ourselves. God created us to pursue happiness and to love ourselves by loving him. The inward turn all of us make is to go after the very thing we were created to go after (happiness) apart from the only One in whom our search finds its fulfillment.
While there is eternal Joy offered by God, we only gravitate toward what is immediately in front of us.
We glorify or seek to glorify ourselves, me me me, my fame, my money, my pleasure, my reputation, my wants, my hurts, my longings, my needs, everyone should acknowledge my glory & serve my glory & we end up in misery because the glory is not fitting for us, the Glory is intended for God alone, not us.
Whose Glory are you living for?
What glory are you living for?
If you live for your own glory, you will be impossible to live with. He wanted glory, he wanted to be the king who ruled all the kingdoms of the Earth,
He inherited a great kingdom from his dad Darius, he failed to conquer the Greeks, so Xerses who wanted his own glory decided to bring together the largest army the world had ever seen & defeat them, but they got there butts kicked.
If you only default to yourself, then who do you turn to when it all goes wrong.
What happens is we replace God with ourselves or others. Instead of going to God Xerses finds another woman, that’s the answer to his problems, some find drink or whatever it is you find to put in the place of God.
We then give our wives, husbands, friends, pastors the wrong job discription, they become our God & when they fail which they will in some way at some point your faith shrinks & it’s their fault, we blame them for not being able to do the stuff we want them to do.
When Jesus is the only one who is the answer to all things.
You need unconditional love, don’t get a boyfriend or girlfriend or have a baby, that’s not thier job, go to Jesus, you need forgiveness, go to Jesus, you need to find your identity, go to Jesus. Who will be the best wife or husband for you, go to Jesus. You need counsel, good counsel, go to Jesus. Whatever you need, go to Jesus.
Don’t be like Xerses, go to Jesus.
Xerses goes to his young men. Who do you go to? or are you your own counsel?
who is your counsel?
How do you live your life? this isn’t just about now it’s about now, tomorrow, next year for every day up until the day you die. If God is your counsel you will get a right perspective on the time & place in which you live.
You weren’t born in the wrong time, you were born for this time, this is the time allocated to you to live now, you were born for such a time as this.