By Grace Alone
Esther • Sermon • Submitted
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Nov. 15
Song: Graves to Gardens
Text: Esther 8:1- 9:19. (36 verses)
Title: By Grace Alone
On that day King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her.
2 And the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
3 Then Esther spoke again to the king. She fell at his feet and wept and pleaded with him to avert the evil plan of Haman the Agagite and the plot that he had devised against the Jews.
4 When the king held out the golden scepter to Esther, Esther rose and stood before the king.
5 And she said, “If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and if the thing seems right before the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let an order be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king.
6 For how can I bear to see the calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?”
7 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows, because he intended to lay hands on the Jews.
8 But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king’s ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked.”
9 The king’s scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day. And an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language.
10 And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s signet ring. Then he sent the letters by mounted couriers riding on swift horses that were used in the king’s service, bred from the royal stud,
11 saying that the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included, and to plunder their goods,
12 on one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.
13 A copy of what was written was to be issued as a decree in every province, being publicly displayed to all peoples, and the Jews were to be ready on that day to take vengeance on their enemies.
14 So the couriers, mounted on their swift horses that were used in the king’s service, rode out hurriedly, urged by the king’s command. And the decree was issued in Susa the citadel.
15 Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and white, with a great golden crown and a robe of fine linen and purple, and the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced.
16 The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor.
17 And in every province and in every city, wherever the king’s command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen on them.
Now in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king’s command and edict were about to be carried out, on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, the reverse occurred: the Jews gained mastery over those who hated them.
2 The Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who sought their harm. And no one could stand against them, for the fear of them had fallen on all peoples.
3 All the officials of the provinces and the satraps and the governors and the royal agents also helped the Jews, for the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them.
4 For Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces, for the man Mordecai grew more and more powerful.
5 The Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and did as they pleased to those who hated them.
6 In Susa the citadel itself the Jews killed and destroyed 500 men,
7 and also killed Parshandatha and Dalphon and Aspatha
8 and Poratha and Adalia and Aridatha
9 and Parmashta and Arisai and Aridai and Vaizatha,
10 the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, but they laid no hand on the plunder.
11 That very day the number of those killed in Susa the citadel was reported to the king.
12 And the king said to Queen Esther, “In Susa the citadel the Jews have killed and destroyed 500 men and also the ten sons of Haman. What then have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces! Now what is your wish? It shall be granted you. And what further is your request? It shall be fulfilled.”
13 And Esther said, “If it please the king, let the Jews who are in Susa be allowed tomorrow also to do according to this day’s edict. And let the ten sons of Haman be hanged on the gallows.”
14 So the king commanded this to be done. A decree was issued in Susa, and the ten sons of Haman were hanged.
15 The Jews who were in Susa gathered also on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and they killed 300 men in Susa, but they laid no hands on the plunder.
16 Now the rest of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also gathered to defend their lives, and got relief from their enemies and killed 75,000 of those who hated them, but they laid no hands on the plunder.
17 This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made that a day of feasting and gladness.
18 But the Jews who were in Susa gathered on the thirteenth day and on the fourteenth, and rested on the fifteenth day, making that a day of feasting and gladness.
19 Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the rural towns, hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day for gladness and feasting, as a holiday, and as a day on which they send gifts of food to one another.
1. Saved By Grace Alone
Freed from Death
· This all seems unjust. We were upset about the genocide of all the Jews, but now the Jews are slaughtering everyone else.
· This is called Holy War. Think Crusades, or jihad. Are we okay with this?
· Holy War was against evil. Evil had come against God's people.
· Certain Death. Execution Day.
· Haman is gone. But his legacy is evil. His wickedness is already set in motion.
· King's anger is abated, but law is law. Irreversible.
· Esther approaches King again, for more favor.
· The only way to be saved is to sign another decree. Somebody has to die. In order for the Jews to be saved, the Persians have to die.
· Salvation means destruction.
AP:
· You are saved by grace alone.
· Adam broke God's law and was sentenced to death (Genesis 3).
· God couldn't just change the law. He had to issue a counter-decree, the Gospel.
· He sent forth his son to counter the death sentence.
· In order for you to be saved, someone had to die. Christ had to die.
· Salvation means destruction.
· God saved us from sin by destroying His Son.
· Saved by grace alone means that God destroys your enemy for you. Your enemy is sin and death, and God destroyed them in his Son Jesus.
2. Live By Grace Alone
Freed from the Enemy
· So many Questions though:
o But what about the women and children?
o What about the second day of bloodshed? Was the first day not sufficient?
· Remember that these people were the Amalekites, Haman's people. This is the same people group that attacked God's people after the Exodus in Ex. 17. The same people that King Saul dealt with. Saul was supposed to destroy them, but failed to do so.
· When you don't destroy sin, sin will destroy you.
· 1 Sam. 15:8-9 - And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.
· The Church of Jesus now battles against sin and evil in the human heart.
o Ephesians 6:12 -
"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."
· Jesus is establishing His kingdom, one soul at a time.
· Sin threatens the redeemed of God, and thus you must wage war against sin.
· If you don't kill sin, it will keep attacking you and will eventually kill you.
· John Owen said, "Be Killing sin or it will be killing you."
· Sin and evil require ruthless aggressiveness against them.
· This is what Jesus meant in Matthew 5:29-30,
"If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.
30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell."
· Esther 9:1 - " the Jews gained mastery over those who hated them."
o So must you gain mastery over sin.
· Grace is the ability to kill sin and deal with sin.
Conclusion:
· 2 Ways to Respond this morning:
1. Trust Jesus to save you from death and sin.
o Every person has a death sentence because of our sin.
o You are guilty of sin and deserve death. Trust that Jesus died in your place.
o As sinners, we each have a certain death sentence. We are only saved by grace alone.
2. Believer - Wage war on you sin.
o Some of you are toying with sin, leaving just a little hanging around. It will get you!
o Kill your sin today! Do whatever necessary. Go the extra day, extra mile, to rid your life of sin.
o As Christians, we continue to live in the grace of Christ, waging war on sin. Deal with your sin.