Join me tonight, if you would,
in the book of Esther, chapter three, and I'd like to begin
reading with verse one. Last week, we looked a little
bit at verse one in the sense that King Ahasuerus brings up
a man by the name of Haman, and we compared Haman a little bit
with Mordecai, and we find out from the scriptures that there
was no difference between the position of Haman and the position
of Mordecai by nature. Mordecai was not a nice guy to
God by nature, and neither was Haman. Now they may have had
a different attitude from the fleshly side, they may have been
raised different, but when it comes to the heart condition,
they were in exactly the same boat. And we find out that the
only difference really that was between them is the grace of
God. Grace was given to one, mercy
was given to one and not to another one. And that's the difference.
And we're going to find that everywhere we go. It's not the
way we're raised. It's because of grace. And we
find that the Lord brought that out in the book of Romans, when
he shares with us that with regard to those two children, before
they were even born, twins, sons, before they were ever born, that
God made a choice in eternity. And he reflects on it there.
Now, For what reason Ahasuerus promoted Haman? Now it tells
us there in verse one, after these things did King Ahasuerus
promote Haman, the son of Hamadetha the Agite, and advanced him and
set his seat above all the princes that were with him. Now we find
out earlier in this book that there were a lot of princes in
this kingdom because it took a lot of administration. It was
a very large kingdom. And he had 129 different provinces
and he had someone over each of those provinces and probably
a lot of administrators under that. But we notice in this chapter
three in verse one that King Ahasuerus promotes one man. We're
introduced to him here. One man to be over all of those. He is in second in command. He
has all of the authority given the king, probably given great
properties and also given great riches. And we find, I just thought
about why in the world would Ahasuerus promote Haman to such
a high position and not mention this in the text? Yet we know
who is working all things for his own purpose. Now King Ahasuerus
is subject to the high and mighty Almighty God, and so is Haman. He is a subject to the God of
heaven. I would like to read just a few
verses that have to do with this word purpose, and you know where
the first one we're going is in the book of Romans, chapter
8. Romans chapter 8 and verse 28, we find here in this wonderful
book of Romans, and we're going to look at a couple of verses
here in the book of Romans, but God has an eternal, everlasting
purpose. He has laid it out before the
foundation of the world. He prescribed it in the covenant
of grace and he shares with us in time, I will have mercy on
whom I'll have mercy and whom I will I harden. And here in
the book of Romans chapter eight, verse 28, These verses share
with us much of why Haman was promoted by King Ahasuerus. There
wasn't a vote about it. He was just promoted. And we're
gonna find out that God promoted him through Ahasuerus for a purpose. And this purpose is to have an
hatred towards God and a hatred towards his people and demonstrate
how God deals with people like that. Here in the book of Romans
chapter eight and verse 28. I like that, and we know. I thank
God that he knows this for us, because sometimes I forget it.
He knows it. He's imputed righteousness. He's given faith. He's taken
care of all of the necessities that I have before God. So when
he says, and we know that all things work together for the
good of them that love God. Now that's who it's going to
work for good. those who love God, to them who
he called according to his purpose. So whether we have the definition
or the reason that Ahasuerus promoted this man Haman to a
very high position in the land, we can ultimately go back and
say it was God that moved Ahasuerus to promote him to that position.
And then in Romans chapter nine, would you turn there with me,
Romans chapter nine, and they're in verse 11. Romans chapter nine
and verse 11, it shares this, for the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God Now, once again, we have this brought out. When it comes
to salvation, he is going to have a purpose in it. He has
the purpose of God, goes on to say, according to election might
stand. So the choices made by God with
these two boys was on purpose. It wasn't by mistake. It wasn't
by chance. It wasn't because one was better
than the other. It wasn't because mama loved one and daddy loved
the other one. It wasn't because of the way they were raised or
the food they ate. Now they may have different dispositions towards
life, but when it came to salvation, we find out that it was God purposed
one to be saved and he purposed not to save the other one. That's
exactly what we find in the scriptures. So God purposed that the purpose
of God. Now that's where we're going
to go over here. Mordecai. We're going to find out he's
a pretty decent guy. We wouldn't mind having him as a neighbor.
But the reason he's different than Haman, who we wouldn't want
to have as a neighbor, is the grace of God, the grace of God,
according to purpose, the grace of God, that the purpose of God,
according to election might stand, not of works, but him that calleth.
So God does the calling, we're the receptor of that call, we're
the receiver of that call. In Ephesians, turn with me to
the book of Ephesians chapter one, if you would. Ephesians
chapter one and verse 11. This is one of those verses that
explains so much for us. Again, we have the thought, I
wish I understood this better. I wish I could believe it better.
I wish I could trust it better. I'm thankful that God does that
for me. He has already superintended
that to me, that I'm not going to be weighed in a balance because
of my lack of faith today or my super faith tomorrow. It is
because of the grace of God and the grace of God alone. Now he
gives to us constraint. He constrains us and we are thankful
for that. But All of these things are an
impossibility from our standpoint. They're highly given by God. All right. In whom also we have
obtained an inheritance. Chapter one and verse 11 of the
book of Ephesians, being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.
So I may ask the question, why was Haman promoted? Well, right
here it says, being predestinated according to the purpose of him
to work with all things after the counsel of his own will.
In his covenant of grace, in his great council meeting in
eternity past, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit determined
all things that would take place. And one of those, Haman is going
to be promoted. And it may seem like to everyone
around, this is a mistake, but to God, it is a purpose that
will be fulfilled. And Haman will be demonstrated.
Those whom God is displeased with because of their own sin
and not forgiven of by the blood of Christ will be carried out
in this manner. Another verse of scripture found
in the book of Ephesians is this in Ephesians chapter three and
verse 11. Another wonderful passage about
God's purpose. There's much said in the Bible
about God's purpose. I really have grown more and
more to appreciate what the Lord told the Pharisees one time,
search the scriptures. Now, we're going to find the
truth in all the scriptures. Don't just get bound up by John
3, 16. Don't just get bound up by a
couple or three or a dozen verses. Search the scriptures. And when
you search the scriptures, you're going to find out that God had
a purpose when he created the heavens and the earth, and he'll
have a purpose in wrapping this place up. everything is according
to his purpose. Here in Ephesians chapter 3 and
verse 11, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in
Christ Jesus our Lord. So the Lord Jesus Christ came
to this earth on purpose and he was taken up on the hill and
crucified on purpose and he was buried on purpose, and he rose
again the third day on purpose, and he ascended to the Father
on purpose, and demonstrates that he took care of all the
sins of all his people on purpose. Nothing is left out. And finally,
if you'll turn with me on this subject at least, 2 Timothy chapter
1. In 2 Timothy chapter 1, we have
these words that share with us about God and why Haman was promoted
to the position that he's in. Why are people promoted? Now
we're going to find out that Haman is going to misuse that
promotion. He's going to use it for his
own advantage. And that's on purpose. Second
Timothy chapter one, verse nine. Knowing this, excuse me, that's first Timothy.
Let me go to second Timothy chapter one, verse nine. who have saved
us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Now that's why
we're saved. It is not according to our works.
That's why Mordecai is a Jew among Jews. That's why Mordecai
is a believer. And that's why Haman is not.
It was not given to him. He may have heard the gospel
like many of those Jews that were wandering around in the
wilderness last Sunday when I brought out how small an area that actually
was and how often they moved across their own tracks. a very
small piece of property and how long it took them to get there.
Why? They heard the gospel. God preached
the gospel to them through Moses and through Aaron and through
the types, shadows, and pictures, but it did not profit them because
of unbelief. Who gives us belief? Who's the
one who exercises that in our direction? Almighty God. It was
not his purpose to do that. And we find there in the book
of Deuteronomy, he gave them not a heart to believe. So it
is God. Now I'm not going to blame God
for anything. God is in rule of all things. He's doing according
to his purpose. The Lord is the gracious director. here in the book of Ezra chapter
3 and verse 1. We've seen it through chapters
1 and 2, but here in this promotion of Haman to this high exalted
position, the Lord is the gracious director. He is the one. The
Lord directs the Hasuerus to appoint Haman to this position
for the fulfillment of the purpose of our sovereign king. Ahasuerus,
you know, that reminds me, and it reminds me of a verse of scripture
that we've often referred to over in the book of Ezra, chapter
1 and verse 1. So I direct your attention there.
This was such a blessing when we went through the book of Ezra,
in Ezra chapter 1 and verse 1, that Cyrus, he is much like Ahasuerus. In fact, He's just like Ahasuerus. He's the king over some of the
same property. He has the same inclinations, same desires, same
itch for power, all of those things that Ahasuerus has. But
we find out here that the word of God through the prophet Jeremiah,
now Jeremiah has written God gave him the message to write
that they're going to spend 70 years in captivity, but at the
end of that, they're going to be set free. Well, how God going
to work all that out? Well, here in the book of Ezra,
chapter one and verse one, we find out how he worked that out.
He stirred up a king. I'm thankful that we read that
because it says now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia,
that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be
fulfilled. Did you know that every prophet
and the words of the prophet that God said was going to be
fulfilled will be fulfilled? We're thankful for that. We have
a God that is powerful enough to say what he's going to do
and powerful enough to fulfill what he said he's going to do.
Now, to many people, it just looked as an impossibility. We
have someone that Ahasuerus is descending from, in power at
least, as it gets started. Nebuchadnezzar of Hashewerus
is on one end of it. King Cyrus is on the other end
of it. And here we have that the word of the Lord by the mouth
of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. The Lord stirred up the spirit
of Cyrus, King of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout
all his kingdom and put it also into writing saying, these people
are gonna go home. Those who want to go can go,
and I'll pay for the bill. So the Lord stirred him. Well,
I'm just going to go over there. King Ahasuerus is stirred. One day he came along and says,
you know, that guy's been hanging around here. I think I'll just
move him up. Now, I don't think he understood what he was doing,
but he did it. And I don't think that all of
those people, like over at King Cyrus, I've said this several
times, there's a whole bunch of people that said, what in
the world has happened to our king? Let all these slaves go
home? And then it could be said here,
what happened to our king to promote? I wanted that position.
I wanted that position. 129 people wanted that position.
So going back to the book of Esther, yes, but before we go,
travel with me to the book of the Song of Solomon. Song of
Solomon chapter two and verse nine. We can see all of this,
even though God's name is not mentioned here, we've looked
here and it says in Solomon chapter two and verse nine, we have him
showing himself through the lattice. showing himself through the lattice.
In Song of Solomon chapter two and verse nine, my beloved is
like a row or a young heart. Behold, he standeth behind our
wall. He looketh forth at the windows,
showing himself through the lattice. So as we follow through the book
of Esther, we don't find his name mentioned, but we find his
purposes being carried out. He is the director of all things. As we notice here, The king's
command. Going back to the book of Esther
chapter two now. The book of Esther chapter two,
King Ahasuerus makes a command. Chapter three, verse two. Notice this with me. The king's
command. Now the king makes a requirement
that there are some people that he is ruling over cannot keep. 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. But Mordecai bowed not,
nor did him reverence." There's a king's command. When this guy
walks by, you're going to bow and reverence him. You know,
this same word is found over in the book of Exodus chapter
20. Thou shalt not bow down before any other God. And that's what
influences Mordecai. Now there's much said in the
Bible about our responsibility towards those that are over us.
If we look in the scriptures, we find out there were a lot
of believers, early believers in the times just after Christ
that were looked at as seditious. You know, they thought Paul was
seditious. Paul was trying to overthrow
the kingdom. That was the accusation brought
against him. Now he wasn't seditious. He had no seditious bone in him.
He was just declaring the gospel and he disagreed with the Jews.
And so the Jews said, well, he's trying to get rid of Rome and
that's not going to go well. And so they report that to the
Roman authorities. He is not seditious. But there
were many people during this time that were looked upon as
seditious because they no longer worshipped an object God. They worshipped an invisible
God. They didn't have, they didn't
worship at the temple. They didn't worship at those
places. They worshiped the true and the
living God. They were so different than all of the other folks that
they knew. All religious people have some physical religious
orientation. Why do we have Why do we have
pictures in churches? Why do we have icons in churches? Why do we have all that stuff?
Well, it's because people want a physical God. And these people
knew that that was not right. They had a spiritual God. God
is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit
and truth. So as we look into the scriptures, we find out that
it is not right to be seditious. Turn with me to the book of Romans.
Romans chapter 13, if you would. Romans chapter 13. And beginning
with verse one, let every soul, Romans chapter 13, verse one.
Now this is Paul writing. He's been accused of sedition
a number of times. He's been accused of bringing,
well, the Lord Jesus too. He's the king. Well, that doesn't
go very well with Rome. And it didn't go well with the
Jews. And he went according to purpose. All right, let every
soul, Romans chapter 13 verse one, let every soul be subject
unto higher powers. For there is no God, no power,
but of God. The power that be are ordained
of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth
the power, resisteth the ordinance of God, and they that resist
shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to
good works, but to evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid
of the power? Do that which is good, and thou
shalt have praise of the same. For he is a minister of God to
thee for good. But if thou do that which is
evil, be afraid, for he heareth not in vain. He beareth not the
sword in vain, for he is the minister of God, a revenger to
execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore, ye must needs
be subject not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake.
For this cause pay ye tribute also, for they are God's ministers,
attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore
to all their dues, tribute to whom tribute is due, custom due
custom, fear to whom fear, honor, to whom honor. The Lord Jesus
asks, whose superscription is on the coin? Render unto God
that which is God's and render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's.
That's what the instructions he gives. Moving just a little
bit further into this New Testament, turn with me if you would to
the book of Titus. Titus chapter three, Titus chapter
three and verse one. This is the instructions that
Titus was given by the Apostle Paul, and Apostle Paul received
these instructions from Almighty God. Put them in mind to be subject
to principalities and powers. to obey magistrates and be ready
to every good work. Cause them to, we're not seditious. That's not our goal. That's not
my goal to overthrow the government. It is my goal to serve the Lord.
All right, first Peter, would you look there with me in the
book of first Peter chapter two, first Peter chapter two and verse
13, first Peter chapter two and verse 13. This passage, submit
yourselves. 1 Peter 2, verse 13. The Apostle Peter also was gonna
bring this up for our encouragement, for our admonition, and to just
be reminded, we're not seditious people. There may have been those
that accused of sedition very early, and it may have been brought
on through time. I don't know what people thought
of Martin Luther. I don't know what people thought
of John Calvin when he put his 92 theses on the Wittenberg door. I don't know what they thought.
Did they think he was seditious? Does he think he's trying to
overthrow the government? I don't know. But here it says, submit
yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether
it be the king as supreme or under governors as unto them
that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for
the praise of them that do well. For so it is the will of God
that with well-doing ye may put the silence, the ignorance of
the foolish men as free and not using your liberty for a cloak
of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. Honor all men,
love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. Well, we find
over there in the book of Esther that the appointee by the King
Ahasuerus does not receive what the king commanded him to get
from Mordecai. Let's read just a little bit
more here in the book of Proverbs chapter eight. The book of Proverbs
chapter eight. As we go over here to the Old
Testament and look at a couple of verses of scripture in Proverbs
chapter eight, verses 15 and 16, we have these words that
were recorded for our benefit, for our learning and for our
understanding. In the book of Proverbs chapter
eight and verse 15, By me, kings reign and princes
decree. By me, princes rule and nobles,
even all the judges of the earth. Now that's God speaking about
the kings and judges and by me, they're doing this. I put them
into a position by myself and on purpose. And backing up or
moving ahead a little bit to the book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah
chapter 27. Jeremiah chapter 27 and verse
five, we have these words where Jeremiah is told from God to
share this with the people. He's the prophet. He's the preacher
of the day. And we've mentioned in the past
that if we lived over there during this period of time, we'd want
to find this guy because he had a message from God. He's ill-treated,
mistreated, maltreated, but he had a message from God. He says
here in Jeremiah chapter 27, verse five, I have made the earth
and man and the beast that are upon the earth on the ground
by my great power and by my outstretched arm and have given it unto whom
it seemed meet unto me and now have I given all these lands
into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, my servant. And the beasts of the field have
I given him also to serve him. And all nations shall serve him
and his son and his son's son until the time of this land come. And then many nations and great
kings shall serve themselves by him." What does it say there? I am the one who rules over all
things, and I've given this land to King Nebuchadnezzar. Now he's
going to come down there, he's going to round up a bunch of
those folks, he's going to take them back to Babylon, and he's
going to send folks down there to rule over this land and keep
it under subjection. Who gave him the right? Who gave
him the authority? Whose purpose was it? God said,
it is my purpose that this take place. So the Babylonian captivity
was on purpose. God did it on purpose. He told
him that he was gonna do it. Then he did it. And then he wrote
about what he did. Well, in the book of Daniel chapter
two, turn with me to the book of Daniel chapter two, verse
21. Daniel chapter two and verse
21. I cannot help but think that
there was a whole bunch of people in Israel at that time that did
not like what God was doing with them. They did not like to hear
that Nebuchadnezzar was gonna come down. They did not like
that Nebuchadnezzar was going to come and rule them and take
them out. They didn't like that at all. I'm convinced of that,
but it didn't change it at all. Here in the book of Daniel chapter
two and verse 21, he changes the times and the seasons. He
removeth kings, he setteth up kings. He giveth wisdom unto
the wise and knowledge to them that know understanding. What
do we read in there? God said, I'll raise up kings,
I'll take down kings. That's by his right and authority
that he did that. And we're gonna read in the book
of Daniel, he shows us how he does that. Move just a little
further, if you would, into the book of Daniel chapter three.
In Daniel chapter three, we have what we know as the three Hebrew
children, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. We have them saying
here in the book of Daniel chapter three, beginning with verse eight.
Wherefore, at the time certain Chaldeans came near and accused
the Jews, and spake and said to the king, Nebuchadnezzar,
O king, live forever. I'm sure some of those were like
those guys that Mordecai overheard. Says, we don't like this guy,
but when they're in his presence, live forever, King. And they
spake and said unto the King Nebuchadnezzar, O King, live
forever. Verse 10, thou, O King, hast made a decree that every
man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut,
psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music shall fall down
and worship the golden image. That was his decree. And they
come back and tell tale about some people that are not doing
that. Some Jews are not doing that. We know them by their Chaldean
name, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. I don't remember what
their names are in Hebrew. It's listed though. There are
certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province
of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king,
have not regarded thee. They serve not thy gods, nor
worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Then Nebuchadnezzar,
in his rage and fury, pride, said unto them, Is it true, O
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Do not ye Oh, in verse 13, command us bring
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before
the king, and Nebuchadnezzar spake unto them, Is it true,
O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Do not ye serve my gods, nor
worship the golden image which I have set up? Now, if ye be
ready that at that time ye hear the sound of all this music,
ye fall down and worship the image which I have made, well,
But if you worship not, you shall be cast in the same hour into
the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Who is that God that
shall deliver you out of your hands?" Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego answered and said unto the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we
are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so,
our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning
fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O King.
But if not, be it known unto thee, O King, that we will not
serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast
set up. He'll either deliver us or he won't, but we will not
worship your image." Well, we know the rest of the story. They
didn't fall down and worship. They're cast into the burning
fiery furnace. It was heated so much that it
killed the guys that took them down there. And Nebuchadnezzar
looked in there and says, didn't we throw three in there? Well,
they should have been consumed instantly. But when he looked
in, didn't we throw three in? Yes, we did. Well, I see four
and one of them is like the son of God. Well, in chapter four,
they didn't worship and they're taken out. Chapter four, we have
this interesting experience that Nebuchadnezzar has in chapter
four. And I want to begin reading with
verse 31, because the Lord's purpose is again brought out.
Nebuchadnezzar threw these guys in. He's already told them, I
rule in the heavens. And here it says in chapter four,
For, in verse 31, while the word was in the king's mouth, there
fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee
it is spoken, the kingdom is departed from thee. Now, who's
this voice? We know who that is. And they
shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the
beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grasses
and oxen, and seven times or seven years shall pass over,
until thou know that the Most High God ruleth in the kingdom
of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will. And the same hour was
the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar." And we know the rest of the story.
So here we have God sets up kings and God removes kings. Three
Hebrew children, Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego say, we'll
not obey you. And in the next chapter, God
speaks to this man and says, I'm turning you out into pasture.
Know for a certain, I'm the God that raises up kings and I'm
the God that disposes kings. And so as we look over there
in the book of Esther, We have in that passage of scripture,
chapter three again, of the book of Esther, we have the command
is given for Mordecai to bow down and he does not, Esther
chapter three. And in verse two, it says, All the king's servants that
were in the king's gate bowed and reverenced Haman. Now that's
the same word we find over there. Thou shall not bow down before
any other God. Exodus chapter 20. It's in the
10 commandments. Pretty good instructions. And he goes on to tell us here
in the same chapter in verse five. And when Haman saw that
Mordecai bowed not, that's the same word we find over in the
book of Exodus chapter 20. Mordecai worshiped an altogether
different king. And he didn't mind that people
knew that. We're gonna have him identified as a Jew now. Now
he's kept that secret up to this point, but he has been identified
as a Jew. He will not bow. He's commanded
to bow and he will not bow. We ever put into a position that
we must bow and worship, we must go against the king. Now, Christians have often been
found fault with that they will not bow to a priest, They will
not bow to a Pope. They will not bow to a Bishop.
They will not bow to a deacon. They will not bow to religious
presidents, Southern Baptists or Mormon. They will not bow. It doesn't matter who we are.
Brother Duane was mentioning to me today, we tried to get
on the, on sermon audio. There's a lot of sovereign grace
churches. And he just says, have we joined one of them? I said,
absolutely not. We haven't joined them. Now we fellowship with
some, but we're not going to join into a group. This is a
group that is independent as far as it goes, but we worship
the true and the living God and we'll bow before no one. We'll
bow to God. We don't bow to a saint. We don't
bow to a doctor of religion. Our allegiance is to Christ,
and that's what we're gonna find out Mordecai is. His allegiance
is to Christ. His allegiance is to the Messiah.
He will not bow. Now, a threat's gonna go out. Over there it tells us in verse
six of Esther chapter three, and he thought scorn to lay hands
on Mordecai alone, 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. He's offended at one man. Who's
going to take the punishment? Every one of them. That's his
goal, is to get rid of them all. Well, we're gonna see that Haman
has been put in, we see it. Haman was put into this position
on purpose. God does nothing by happenstance. He has the purpose for all things. And Haman is going to see that
this one man is not honoring him, so I'll punish everybody
else. And then we're gonna find out that God's purpose is going
to rule. Four chapters. Mordecai had to
deal with Haman, Esther had to deal with Haman, Ahasuerus had
to deal with Haman, the people had to deal with Haman, but in
the end, justice is served. We'll stop there for tonight.