All right, go back with me if
you would to Esther chapter 3. Esther chapter 3. The last line in chapter 3, the last line of
verse 15 says, but the city Shushan was perplexed. They were perplexed. Now, when
we were in chapter 1, we did a dictionary search of a bunch
of these names. And we saw that the name Shushan
means lily. Alright, lily. Let me show you
what our Lord said in Song of Solomon, chapter 2. Turn with
me over there to Song of Solomon, chapter 2, just before Isaiah. Song of Solomon 2, verse 1, our
Lord said, I am the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys. He said, I'm the lily. Verse
2, he said, as the lily among thorns, so is my love among the
daughters. He said, I'm the lily. And my
love, my bride, is the lily. So the city of Shushan represents
the people of God. They represent the bride of Christ,
the love of Christ, the chosen elect of God. And it says back
in our text, back in Esther chapter 3, the city of Shushan was perplexed. They were confused. They were so confused. They could
not understand why this was happening. Why is this happening? Now, here's
the title of the message, and this is the message I want to
get across. When we walk out of this building tonight, my
prayer is that one thing is consuming our mind, okay? Here's the whole
point of the message. What was the message on tonight?
Right here. Our God is in control. That's the title, that's the
point. Our God is in control. They were so perplexed by what
they saw. Sometimes, so are we. And when I mean sometimes, when
I say sometimes, what I mean is all the time. So are we. So perplexed. But our God is
in control. Our God is in control. Now verse
1 says, After these things did King Ahasuerus, he represents
God Almighty. After these things did King Ahasuerus
promote Haman. He represents the adversary,
the enemy. After these things did King Ahasuerus
promote Haman, the son of Hamadathah the Agagite, and advanced him
and set his seat above all the princes that were with him."
This adversary was set by the king. He was set above all the
princes that were with him. Verse 2 says, And all the king's
servants that were in the king's gate bowed and reverenced Haman,
for the king had so commanded concerning him. The king made
this to take place. Alright? The king commanded this,
set him above all the other princes that were with him, with this
adversary, and he made this. to be so. Verse 2 goes on to
say, But Mordecai, he represents the Lord Jesus Christ, Mordecai
bowed not, nor did him reverence. He bowed not, nor did him reverence. Would not bow. Verse 3, Then
the king's servants which were in the king's gate, the servants
that were with the adversary, They said unto Mordecai, Why
transgressest thou the king's commandment? Now it came to pass,
when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them,
that they told Haman to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand,
for he had told them that he was a Jew." He identified with
a particular people. All right? Verse 5. And when
Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then
was Haman full of wrath. And he thought scorned to lay
hands on Mordecai alone. He thought within himself, there's
no way I'm going to punish him alone. I'm not stopping with
him alone. I'm punishing every single one
of his people. I'm going to punish every person
that he has identified himself with. Verse 6 goes on to say,
For they had showed him the people of Mordecai. Wherefore Haman
sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole
kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai. In the first
month, that is the month Nisan, In the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus,
they cast Per, that is, or what that means is, the lot. They
cast the lot. Before Haman, from day to day
and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is the month
Adar, and Haman said unto King Ahasuerus, There is a certain
people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces
of thy kingdom, and their laws are diverse from all people,
neither keep they the king's laws, therefore it is not for
the king's prophet to suffer them. If it please the king,
let it be written that they may be destroyed, and I will pay
ten thousand talents of silver to the hand of those that have
the charge of the business to bring it into the king's treasuries.
And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman,
the son of Hamadathah the Agagite, the Jew's enemy." Now this is
what the adversary said to the king. The adversary went to this
king and privately said to this king about these people that
this savior, Mordecai, had identified with. He said, they're sinners. That's what he said to them.
They are sinners. They have broken your law. You gave a law and every single
one of them has broken it. Every one of them. They are of
no profit to you at all. You don't need them. Let it be written. Let the law
go out that they must be destroyed. because of their sin against
you. It seems reasonable, doesn't it? Verse 11, And the king said
unto Haman, The silver is given to thee, the people also, to
do with them as it seemeth good to thee. Then were the king's
scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there
was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto
the king's lieutenants, and to the governors that were over
every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province
according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their
language in the name of King Ahasuerus was it written, and
sealed with the king's ring." That means let everybody know,
every language, every province, everywhere. Verse 13, And the
letters were sent by post into all the king's provinces to destroy,
to kill, and to cause to perish all Jews, both young and old,
little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth
day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take
the spoil of them for a prey. The copy of the writing for a
commandment to be given in every province was published unto all
people that they should be ready against that day. The post went
out, being hastened by the king's commandment, and the decree was
given in Shushan the palace, and the king and Haman sat down
to drink, but the city Shushan was perplexed." So perplexed. Now thankfully, we know the whole
story of Esther. I love that. We have already
seen the whole story of Esther. We know that the king is going
to bring this adversary down. We know that, don't we? And we
know he's going to use the means of the authority that was given
to him. All right? Haman had a little
authority. Haman said, let's make some gallows
and hang this one who has identified himself with these Jews, who
will not bow to me. Let's hang him on this tree. And Haman ended up hanging on
the very tree he was trying to hang Mordecai on. And I guess
we see what this means, right? We see the picture of our Lord. being sent to this cross. And
what really ended up happening on that cross? The adversary
was destroyed. We know that, because we've seen
the whole story, we know that not one Jew, not one Jew, he said all Jews,
old, young, women, children, all of them, We've already seen
the end of the story. We know that not one Jew, not
one of these particular people that this Savior identified with
was ever harmed. Not one hair of their head. This is how we can say, as 2
Corinthians 4 says, perplexed but not in despair. but not distressed. Persecuted,
but not forsaken. Cast down, but not destroyed. It's because we know that our
God is in control. We know that our God, we are
so perplexed, aren't we? But deep down in here, we know
that our God is in control. Now this whole chapter is about
this adversary and what he wants to do to this deliverer and his
people. This whole chapter is in regard
to the adversary. I want to say something in regard
to our adversary. And I want to be very clear right
here. I want to say this carefully. I want to say this fearfully.
I do not want to say His name unless we read it in the scripture.
I don't want to have anything to do with Him. I don't want
to have anything to do with Him. I don't want to say His name. I approach this very fearfully,
but for the comfort of God's particular people. Every soul
that Christ has identified himself with, they need to know this. We need to know, for our own
comfort, a few things in regard to our adversary. Alright? Turn with me, if you would, to
Isaiah 46. Isaiah 46 verse 9 says, Remember
the former things of old, for I am God and there is none else. I am God and there is none like
me. First of all, our God has no
rival. He has no true adversary. The adversary is not actually
an adversary. Not to God. Not to God. People have it in their minds
that God and the adversary are constantly one-upping each other. That's what they believe. Verse
10 says, Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient
times, the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel
shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. The only true and
living God knows the end from the beginning. He knows everything
that will happen, and only His counsel shall stand. Only His
counsel. He has no rival. No adversary. We do. We do. Peter said, You're adversary. But not God. Alright, now turn
with me to Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1, this is
speaking of Christ. Verse 16 says, For by Him were all things created
that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers,
All things were created by Him and for Him. The all-knowing,
all-powerful God created the adversary. He is a created being. He was created by Christ and
He was created for Christ. Somebody will say, what do you
mean He was created for Christ? For this same purpose was He
raised up that Christ might show His power in Him. That's the whole reason He was
set in place. Our God is in control. He's in absolute control. Look
with me at Luke chapter 10. This is Christ speaking, Luke
chapter 10 verse 18. And he said unto them, I beheld
Satan as lightning fall from heaven. He was cast out. Who cast him out? Christ did. Most of your Bibles have this
center margin and if you see next to fall from heaven. Do
you see the reference there? Don't turn over there, but it
says Revelation 12. Do you see that? Revelation 12 describes
what happened between the last verse of Genesis chapter 2 And
the first verse of Genesis chapter 3, the Lord created all these
things and it was good, it was very good and he made man and
he made woman and he brought them together and they were both
naked and not ashamed and everything was wonderful. That's the end
of chapter 2. Chapter 3 begins with the serpent
beguiling Eve. Revelation 12 tells us what happened
between those two chapters. And what it says is this great
dragon raised up his head and Christ cast him out. And it says
he cast him to this earth and a third of the angels with him. A third of the angels in heaven
with him. There is no rebellion against
God that can stand, not even from the angels in heaven. Our
God is in control. He will not ever give that control
up either. Alright, now look with me at
Job chapter 1. Job chapter 1 verse 6 says, Now there was a
day when the sons of God came to present themselves before
the Lord, and Satan came also among them. He is required to
appear before God. And he is also required to give
an account of his matters. Verse 7 says, And the Lord said
unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord
and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking
up and down in it. He asked him, What have you been
doing? And he had to tell him. And then the same thing happened
in chapter 2. It's repeated. In chapter 2 verse
1 it says, Again, there was a day when the sons of God came to
present themselves before the Lord. And Satan came also among
them to present himself before the Lord. And the Lord said unto
Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the Lord,
and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking
up and down in it." He must answer to God, always, repeatedly. Our God is God. Our God is His God. And our God is in control. Revelation
20 says, He is bound by a chain. It also says an eternal lake
of fire is reserved for Him. We are going to see for all eternity
our God is in absolute control. People wrongly, so wrongly give
Him credit for things that He is not in control of. He is not in control of anything. People have themselves convinced
that the adversary is constantly thwarting God's plans. Constantly. Constantly ruining
what God is trying to do. That's what religion is based
on. You know, that you've got to be this good person and the
problem is not you, the problem is the adversary. He keeps stealing
you away and God doesn't want that to happen now. He's constantly
just going around messing everything up. That is not so. Our God is in absolute control. Job chapter 1 verse 8 says, And
the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job,
that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright
man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil? And Satan answered
the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God? For not? Hast not thou
made an hedge about him? Does that comfort you as much
as it comforts me? Have you not literally put a
hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he
hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of
his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But
put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he
will curse thee to thy face." The adversary said, you touch
him. People believe that the good
things are God's doings and the bad things are the adversary's
doings. That is not so. That is not so. If something that we consider
to be bad happens to anybody, God did it. God did it. Now does He use means? Does He
use pawns? Absolutely. Verse 12 says, And
the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power. That word means hand. I'm putting
everything he has into your hand. Only upon himself put not forth
thine hand. So Satan went forth from the
presence of the Lord. I'm allowing you to touch everything
he has. But I'm not allowing you to touch him. You cannot
touch him. Look at Job chapter 2 verse 3. And the Lord said unto Satan,
Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like
him in the earth? A perfect and an upright man,
one that feareth God and escheweth evil, and still he holdeth fast
his integrity, although thou movest me against him to destroy
him without cause? And Satan answered the Lord and
said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give
for his life. But put forth thine hand now,
and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy
face. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine
hand, but save his life. So Satan went forth from the
presence of the Lord, and smoked Job with sore boils from the
sole of his foot unto his crown. He said, You're allowing me to
touch everything he has, but you won't allow me to touch him.
And the Lord said, okay, I'm going to allow you to touch him,
but you cannot kill him. Every single thing that happened
to Job was under the direct command of God Almighty. Now, in saying
these things, we never take our adversary to task. Never. We never take matters with him
into our own hands. Never. Never. The Lord told Peter,
the adversary has desired to have you that he may sift you
as wheat. I don't want to be sifted. Peter himself who was sifted
said, your adversary as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom
he may devour. I don't want to be devoured.
Michael the archangel said, the Lord rebuked thee. People are
so foolish and they are so quick to arrogantly, self-righteously,
ignorantly rebuke Him. We don't want to have anything
to do with Him. They think they've been given the authority by God,
you know, to don't deal with Him. Don't deal with Him. He is the Lord's, the Lord deal
with Him. We look to Christ. All we want
to do is praise, honor, glorify, and give credit for everything
that happens to the one who credit is due, our Lord Jesus Christ. He is in control. He is in absolute
control. In Deuteronomy 32 verse 39, our
Lord Jesus Christ said, See now that I even I am He and there
is no God with me, I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal. Neither is there any that can
deliver out of my hand. None. We cannot be stolen out
of His hand. In Isaiah 45, verse 7, He said,
I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. In Matthew 10 verse 29 he said,
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing, and one of them shall
not fall on the ground without your Father? A sparrow cannot
die and fall to the ground unless God Almighty first gives permission,
commandment. Our God is in absolute control. It is said of this adversary,
It is said that on the cross of Calvary He would bruise our
Lord's heel. Isn't that right? Isn't that
what it says about Him? On the cross of Calvary He would
bruise our Lord's heel. He didn't even do that. He did
not do that. God used Him to be the pawn. God used Him to be the means
to carry it out. for that bruise cannot go to
the adversary. Turn with me over to Isaiah 53.
Isaiah 53 verse 10 says, It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath put him to grief. God
bruised him. God killed Christ. God kills. God makes alive. God wounds. God heals. Everything that is
said about our Lord in this chapter right here, Isaiah 53, everything
that is said about Him concerning the cross, concerning our salvation,
was a willing, purposeful act on our Lord's account. Every
bit of it. Verse 4, He bore our griefs and
carried our sorrows willingly. Willingly. Verse 5, He was wounded
for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, willingly. Verse 7, he was oppressed and
afflicted willingly. Verse 9, he made his grave with
the wicked willingly. He said in John chapter 10, I
lay down my life. I lay down my life. He said I
have the power to lay it down and I have the power to take
it again. He said, no man takes my life
from me. No man takes my life from me.
Adam and Eve were so perplexed when they fell. Don't you think
that would be kind of perplexing? All of a sudden, boom. Cast out
of the garden. All these things started happening.
So perplexed. All of the disciples were so
perplexed when Christ died on that cross. Weren't they? They were given up. They were
so perplexed. We all stay perplexed in waiting
for His return. That's what we're doing with
our lives. We're waiting for His return. And we stay perplexed
in the process. But our God always has, He is,
and He will always be in control. Always. And one of these days, when we finally see the purpose
of everything, when it's all finally revealed to us, we're
going to have the same end reaction that Shushan did. The very same
end reaction to all of it. Shushan was so perplexed. Why has he been given all this
authority? Why all this pain and sorrow
and fear come upon These people that this deliverer has identified
himself with, they were so perplexed by everything they saw. But in
the end, they had a result and we're going to have the exact
same result. Go with me back to Esther, this time chapter
8. Esther chapter 8. And Mordecai again represents
our Lord Jesus Christ. Esther 8 verse 15 says, And Mordecai
went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of
blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment
of fine linen and purple. And the city of Shushan rejoiced
and was glad. The Jews had light and gladness
and joy and honor. And in every province, and in
every city, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree
came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many
of the people of the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews
fell upon them." You know why they were so happy? It's because
their God was in control. They finally ended up having
a good day. They finally ended up having
a good day. And glory is only one day long. How long does glory last? One
day. One day. There's no night there. It's a good day. That's all they
ended up with. That's all we're going to end
up with. Our God is in control. And we're going to rejoice, we're
going to be glad, we're going to rest. We rest in that now. That's the only rest we have,
is that our God is in control. Just like Shushan, we stay perplexed. We're going to walk out of this
place and we're going to still be perplexed. Still. Why? In the end, we're going
to see. We have the promise right now
and it's going to be proven to us. Our God was in absolute control
at all times. It will be revealed to us all
times. Powers, principalities, things
in heaven, things in earth, political things, social things, job related
things, everything concerning us and everything concerning
everything. He's in total control. Total,
absolute control. Amen. Amen. All right, let's
stand together. I want to sing a song.