Don't Buy the Lie
CHURCH ON RANDALL PLACE SERMON NOTES 3-15-09
“FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS” A STUDY IN ESTHER
TODAY’S MESSAGE: ESTHER 3:7-15 “DON’T BUY THE LIE”
I. Introduction
a. The cast is set
b. We have been introduced to the deep seated hatred between Mordecai and Haman
i. Haman’s method of dealing w/ this. Genocide.
c. Don’t lose sight of the plot
i. Does God still care, are His promises still in effect?
1. The uncertainty is strengthened by the apparent absence of God.
2. Also by the apparent prosperity of the wicked (Jeremiah 12:1).
ii. Application
1. We walk by faith not by sight. God is working unseen to display His glory, even using injustice.
2. We must know and cling to the promises of God not swayed by the empires façade.
II. The Evil Plan
a. Timing: Haman is making his yearly calendar
i. Persian religion was based upon astrology and omens, fate.
1. He has exalted the creation and despised the Creator.
2. He employs the empire’s basis for wisdom to determine his path.
ii. Truth: Proverbs 16:33
1. God is the Sovereign. Our actions are known and used by God for His glory.
2. Though God is never mentioned, He is always present.
iii. First month: Passover. Will God keep His covenant?
b. Authority
i. The plan: Haman exchanges value
1. Diminishes the worth of what is inherently valuable
a. Human life
i. To slaughter a group of people they must first be deemed worthless or dangerous.
b. They are different and a threat to society, therefore worthy of destruction.
i. Evident in early church, becoming a reality.
2. Exalts the worth of what is of little value.
a. Appeals to greed and earthly desires
ii. Authority is transferred
1. Power is casually given to evil.
2. “Do what you want.”
c. Summary: The evil plan was birthed in idolatry and sold on a lie.
III. Abiding Principles
a. Spiritual Battle: Idolotry
i. The attack is directed against the authority of God.
1. This is the essence of idolatry
ii. Idolotry makes creation or the wisdom of man supreme.
1. states that there is an authority above Yahweh.
iii. Deuteronomy 5:6-7
1. It is God who delivered us and not ourselves
a. Ephesians 2:1-6ff; Romans 5:6; 8:37f
2. To determine to set our own course is treason of the first degree.
iv. Prayerlessness
b. Spiritual Battle: Lust
i. An appeal to our base desires. Haman used money.
ii. Happiness and satisfaction can be obtained outside the pursuit of the glory of God.
1. God is holding out on you.
iii. Haman: This sector of the empire is of little value, eliminate it and be rewarded
1. Satan and flesh: The part of life that gives honor and glory to God is of little value so suppress it and be rewarded.
iv. Tax cheat, miserliness, marriage dissatisfaction etc.
1. Happiness (desired by all) is available beyond God’s ordained boundaries.
IV. Conclusion
a. God is just
i. Xerxes was willing to put to death for the sake of greed
ii. God has a far greater and just reason to act against us.
1. We have not kept God’s law, we stand condemned. A long list
b. God is gracious
i. Does not listen to the accuser but hands His Son to be bruised for our rebellion
1. “Do w/ Him as you please.” Let Him bear the stripes of sin but let the people go.
c. Message of life
i. Just as Haman sent the mssg of death to all we also send out the message of redemption
1. We are God’s letters
ii. The edict has been signed, that life is found in surrender to the Son of God.
1. Colossians 2:13-14
a. Death sentence abolished and we are made alive
d. WE are to take that message to most remote areas of the empire.
e. Answer to the question: God has not abandoned His people though they sin and He has not abandoned you.