Book of Esther, Chapter 3, 15
verses long. And this chapter really extends
through Chapter 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, because those chapters have
to do with the man that we're introduced tonight, and that
is Haman. We've been introduced in the
previous chapters to now Queen Esther. We've been introduced
in the past to King Ahasuerus. He's been king for some time.
And we've been introduced to Esther's cousin Mordecai. And
he appears to have some position or whatever. He's permitted to
be in the gate. That's where oftentimes there was business
to tend to. And it was he that noticed or overheard two other
men talking about overthrowing the king by putting him to death.
We have them out of the way, and now in Chapter 3 we are introduced
to another man. His name is Haman. After these
things did King Ahasuerus promote Haman, the son of Ahamedathah
the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the
princes that were with him. 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 he reverence him. And the king's servants, which
were in the king's gate, said unto Mordecai, Why transgressest
thou the king's commandment? We find that his name is Haman.
We find, in fact, he is the son of this man. And it gives us
his nationality. And in looking at this, probably
he was more than an Agagite, he was an Amalekite. It's hard
to have anybody settle exactly on where he came from. But we
find him, and he probably was born in the Persian Empire. He's
probably a native of Persia from all that we can understand. Now,
when I was reading this, and it goes up to Chapter 7, we're
going to be dealing with this man, Haman. When I was reading
this, I asked myself this question. What was the difference between
Mordecai and Haman? Now from a human standpoint,
what was the difference between Mordecai and Haman? Now Mordecai
was an Israelite. We know that. He had been a captive
from Israel. And Haman was an Agagite or probably
an Amalekite. Mordecai could trace his lineage
back to Noah. And if you can trace it back
to Noah, it's not hard to go back to Adam. I have the sneaking
feeling that Haman could trace his line back a long way. In
fact, he could also trace it back to Noah. And if you can
trace it to Noah, you can trace it to Adam. And there is where
we find the problem. Both had father and mother. Both
were religious by birth. I'm quite convinced of that,
because we find that everybody that is born has a religion by
birth. Both have their alliances and
allegiances. We find that Haman has been promoted. Now, where he stood before this
time, it doesn't tell us. But once that Ahasuerus noticed
him, he promoted him to the highest in the realm besides himself.
He is over everyone else, except there's one king, one person
over him that he must answer to, and that is Ahasuerus. Now,
when I ask that question, what is the difference? Turn with
me, if you would, over to the book of 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians
chapter 4. 1 Corinthians chapter 4, we have
the Apostle Paul, Secretary of the Holy Spirit, called on to
write this down. We have a good translation of
it in our hands, and it tells us here in 1 Corinthians chapter
4 and verse 7, for who maketh thee to differ from another? Isn't that an interesting question?
Now we know, we're already prejudiced. Since we know about Haman, and
we know about his heart, and we know what he intends to do
or wants to do with the Jews, and how he hates Mordecai, and
all that stuff, we already are prejudiced against him. But if
we didn't know any of that, and I asked the question, what's
the difference between Mordecai and Haman, we might have some
difficulty until we find out that we're all prejudiced. about
where people are on the scale. How do we make differences in
people? You know, I put down some things.
Big differences today is political parties. Or I put down here city
folk and country folk. City folk have an agenda, country
folk have an agenda. I was down there in Northern
California, it's country folk. They don't want some of the stuff
that the city folks want. Well, and then I put down here,
kind of ingest those Washington drivers and those Oregon drivers.
Well, when I was down there, there's California drivers. You
know, I'm prejudiced. I feel that I'm a pretty good
driver. I've got an O-R-E-G-O-N on my license plate and on my
driver's license. And I learned that that's probably
the best state to ever drive with. Anyway, but we have these
ideas about what, how to categorize people. And if we didn't know
the rest of the story, how would we categorize Heyman? Well, we
find out that, would we say that Mordecai is just naturally a
better person? And we would say Heyman just
naturally a bad person? Why was Mordecai I found favor
with? And why was Haman finally hung?
What was it in the makeup of these people? Was it their education? Was it their upbringing, was
it the way their father or their mother treated them, how many
different definitions of why people turn out better than other
people, why they make better neighbors than other people.
There's just books written on that kind of stuff. And we find,
ultimately and overwhelmingly, the scriptures tell us that there
is only one reason for a difference between Mordecai and Haman. And that's grace. There is only
one difference. Now we may be born in different
places of the world. We may be educated different.
We may be male or female, whatever it is. But when we get to looking
at the differences between Mordecai and Haman, we find out it wasn't
because one went to the Baptist church and the other went to
the Presbyterian church. It wasn't because one was born
in this part of the country and the other in the Bible Belt,
and this other one was born in some place where they were very
irreligious. That's not the issue. And we
will never find that that is the issue. Now, it may be circumstances. But God has performed a great
work of grace, and that's what makes all the difference in the
world. Turn with me again, if you would,
to the book of Romans. Grace is not given to people
because they have a better view or better thoughts. You know,
that's what a lot of people think, that God looked down because
they had better views towards God, or had better thoughts towards
God, or had better faith towards God, that God noted that, and
that's why they were chosen. There's nothing that is worse
in a statement than that. That is so irreverent towards
God, that He would change His mind as He looked down through
time, and that He'd had to add people over time. It's just ridiculous. Let's look here in the book of
Romans 9. And we find in Romans 9, beginning with verse 21, Romans
9, And verse 21, the scriptures
share this, hath not the potter. Now we're going to go back over
to the book of Jeremiah in just a moment, and we find out that
Paul has been moved by the Holy Spirit to pick up some thoughts
that Jeremiah was caused to write down when he was a prophet of
Israel. and when he's dealing with Israel.
Now, he was a prophet for about 40 years, and he was told at
the very beginning, just as Isaiah was told at the very beginning,
nobody's going to listen to you. Nobody's going to hear you. Well,
what kept them faithful? because they found out that honoring
God is being faithful. And it doesn't matter the outcome.
Preaching the gospel is faithful. It doesn't matter if there's
anybody or nobody pays any attention to it. God says they're not gonna
pay any attention to it unless, as he wrote through the prophet
Isaiah, unless the arm of the Lord is revealed unto them. then
they'll pay attention to it. Now, they may be Haman's, or
they may be Mordecai's. They may treat their wife fine,
or they may not treat their wife fine. That doesn't make the difference. The difference is grace. Grace,
grace. Romans 9, verse 21, Hath not
the potter power over the clay? Now, it doesn't take us very
long in reading this to come to a conclusion that Paul is
talking about the great potter. Now we can go to a pottery house.
Jennifer, I got to throw a pot while I was down there with her.
Now it's only about this big around and about that deep. But
it's much more difficult than I thought to do that work. Hath not the potter, now I couldn't
do a very good job, but this potter, the potter, the heavenly
potter, does as he pleases. Just as he says here, hath not
the potter power over the clay. Of the same lump, did you know
that Mordecai and Haman came out of the same lump? They could
trace their line right back to Adam. both of them, just like
you and I can. Now, it may be physically impossible,
but from a biblical standpoint, that's where we came from. We
are descendants of Adam. And when Adam sinned, he put
us all with that nature. All right, he goes on to tell
us here of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and another
to dishonor. Now, we're going to see that
played out here in the book of Esther. Not because Mordecai
was a sweeter guy or a kinder guy, that he was a, he just,
he had a better attitude towards life or all of those things.
He was a better neighbor or anything else. The only reason that Mordecai
was who he was is because of grace. And the reason that Haman
was the kind of guy that he was and trying, our next lesson is
going to be hating grace personified. He's going to show us what hating
grace will do. They will hate people who love
grace. All right, it goes on, what if God, willing to show
His wrath and to make His power known, did you notice that? To
show His wrath and to make His power known endured with much
longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction. Now, when we get over to the
book of Esther, chapters 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, we're going to find
out about a guy that was fitted to destruction. Now, he was a
mean guy to begin with. There's no question about it.
But I don't know if we'd have known Mordecai when he was younger
if we'd have been any different. God has the ability of sweetening
us by grace. All right? Verse 23. that he
might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy
which he had aforeprepared unto glory. So Mordecai could never
say, I am what I am because of me. And Haman could never say,
I didn't have a chance. God doesn't work like they do
on the tables down in Reno. chance has nothing to do with
it. There s purpose in it. And there is purpose in it. And
there is purpose in it. He might make known the riches.
And then verse 24, Even us whom he hath called, not of the Jews
only, but also of the Gentiles. So we re going to have a Jew
and we re going to have a Gentile. Mordecai, Haman, Jews and Gentiles. But do you know what? As we followed
through the book of Numbers, we found out that a whole bunch
of those Jews had nothing to do with God. They had no interest
in God. They had no faith given to them,
even though the gospel was preached unto them as it is unto us. Yet, they did not profit faith. God didn't give them the faith.
All right. As we look at this, we find out
that we will always see grace making people glad or mad. And we're gonna see Mordecai
made glad, and we're gonna see Haman made mad. Now, we have
witnessed another man in scripture who was very mad at grace. But he was what God says, he
is my chosen vessel. That's what he told Ananias.
He is my chosen vessel. Now he is mad, has been mad,
but God made him the sweet psalmist of the New Testament, if you
please. made him a preacher of righteousness. And it had nothing
to do with Saul of Tarsus. It had everything to do with
Christ. So he was a monster on the inside
for so long. We find out that Haman is going
to be a monster on the inside for a long time, but he's going
to end up a monster, too. All right. Grace made Mordecai
glad. to be a Jew, a Jew who knew something,
and grace made Haman mad. Alright, turn with me, if you
would, to the book of Proverbs, chapter 16. Proverbs, chapter
16. Think about these two individuals
that we've run into in the book of Esther as we read some of
these verses of scripture. And over here in the book of
the Proverbs, we find that the Holy Spirit left this message
for us in the book of Proverbs, chapter 16, and verse 4. we can agree the Lord hath made
all things or if we leave the word things out which was added
the Lord hath made all and we could probably everybody agree
for himself the Lord hath made all for himself okay but The
Holy Spirit gave a little bit more in this passage of scripture
to give us some idea of why we're going to run into Mordecai's
and why we're going to run into Haman's. It tells us in the latter
part of that verse of scripture, even the wicked for the day of
evil. God hath made all for himself,
even the wicked, for the day of evil. Now, there's going to
be a lot of good people on the left-hand side, but they're wicked
because they're without grace. All right, turn with me to the
book of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 64. Isaiah chapter 64, as we
think about this, We must be honest with ourselves
and we will find out the only way that we can agree with God
on this subject is He has caused us to believe it. Because by
our very nature, we are opposed to everything that has grace. It's our nature to oppose grace.
Grace means nobody had anything to do with it, it was all up
to God. I had nothing to do with it. My parents had nothing to
do with it. My children, my aunts and uncles,
nobody had anything to do with it. It was up to God. Isaiah
chapter 64 and verse 8. But now, O Lord, thou art our
father. We are the clay, and thou our
potter. And we all are the work of thy
hand. Now, we can say that specifically
about the church, but we're going to have to say that about every
bit, every human created being, that they are, we are the work
of thy hand. He hath made all things, he made
Haman, he made We've read about Pharaoh. For this very purpose
have I raised thee up. Couldn't he say the same thing
about Amon? For this very purpose have I
raised thee up. I'm going to show how angry and
bitter and harsh someone without grace will be to those who know
grace. I'm going to show you. And then
he disposes of him. He dispatches him. He puts him
away, waiting for that day, the general resurrection, when he
stands on the left-hand side, and here's the ultimate statement
made. All right? Turn with me, if you
would, to the book of Acts. The book of Acts, chapter 19.
Excuse me, chapter 9. Acts, chapter 9. Verse 15. In this section of scripture,
a man, a preacher of righteousness, a preacher of the gospel has
been told there's a convert over there. And his name is Saul. And I want you to go over there.
And we hear him saying, this man is a bad guy. We've been down, we've been expecting
his arrival here, but we haven't been out in the streets welcoming
him. We've been hiding from him. But the Lord said unto him, Go
thy way, for he is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before
the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel. He is
a chosen vessel unto me. Well, Ananias goes down there
and speaks to him, baptizes him, and then we find here in verse
20, Saul of Tarsus is so caught up
with grace. He knows what he is, and he's
caught up with grace, and straightway, immediately, he preached Christ
in the synagogues that he is the Son of God. Now, he just
had Stephen stoned to death for the same message. He, Christ,
is the Son of God. So, God worked a work of grace.
And in 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 2, 2 Timothy chapter 2, what
a wonderful verse of scripture over here. You know, if I listen
to my tapes enough, I find out I say that an awful lot. What
a wonderful verse of scripture or passage of scripture. But
it is. 2 Timothy 2 and verse 20. But in a great house there are
not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and
of earth, and some to honor and some to dishonor. I wonder what
he meant by a great house. I find the disciples wanted to
go out and pull up some tares, because they had been spotted.
And you know what the Lord said? Leave them alone. It will be
taken care of in the end. So in this great house, there's
gold and there's wood. but they're appointed to that
place that they have held and are holding. You know, grace
is mentioned in the scripture so much and we're going to see
that played out. Through this incident with Haman and Mordecai,
Mordecai wouldn't bow to him, wouldn't honor him, wouldn't
reverence him, would have nothing to do with him because he didn't
know the gospel. And Mordecai is not going to
bend on that subject. He will take death over that.
And we find that he knows something about grace. Now, he probably
went home at night and says, Lord, if you just touch this
man's heart, Lord, deal with him. He's a mean guy, and he
found out he's gonna try to kill all the Jews in the whole neighborhood. So anyway, grace is such a subject
that we find in the scriptures, and it's always sovereign grace. when it talks about salvation.
Now I might be gracious to you and you might be gracious to
me, but that is not what we're talking about. We're talking
about salvation grace, grace that God grants salvation through. It's his grace, his graciousness,
his work of grace that he does towards his people. And that's
the only thing that makes the difference between Mordecai's
and Haman's. It's the only difference that
makes the difference between Jacob and Esau. It's the only difference. It is the grace of God. There
isn't a whittle bit of difference between Mordecai and Haman from
a human standpoint. They're all born into the same
family, the family of man. They all inherit their sin from
Adam. They all have, one speaks this
language and one speaks that language, but they all are exactly
the same, just the same as we find. Many years later, there
wasn't a twiddle difference between Judas and Peter, except for grace. There's not gonna be any difference,
noticeable difference from God's standpoint, except grace was
given to Mordecai and grace was not given to Haman. And he is a bitter man over it,
not over not having grace, but he's bitter towards those who
do have grace. So let's look at a few verses of scripture.
Turn with me, if you would, to the book of Romans again. Romans
chapter 11. Romans chapter 11. Romans chapter 11, verses five
and six. I'll never forget a man down
in that little Bible school I went to when it came to Romans chapters
9, 10, 11, and 12, told the class that these are parenthetical
and they have nothing to do with the subject of the book of Romans
and you can read them or leave them out. I didn't know nothing,
but I knew that was wrong. Romans chapter 11, verse 5, even
so then at this present time, There is a remnant according
to the election of grace. And if by grace, then it is no
more of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it
is no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work. So he's just saying, those people
that say, well, I'm gonna add my work to grace, he has led,
this is God speaking. Don't just say Saul is speaking
or Paul is speaking. This is God speaking through
his minister and said, for by grace are you saved. There is
an election according to grace and it's not of works of any
kind whatsoever. So it wasn't Haman's not doing
good works or because Mordecai did good works that there was
any difference. There was none. Grace is not
according to works. There is a remnant according
to the election of grace, to God choosing grace on how he
will deal with his people. No other reason. The simple way
of saying it is unmerited favor, but we don't even get a grasp
of that unmerited favor when we talk about God's grace. He
poured out his love and gave his son to those who thumbed
their noses at him and hated him in the heart. Mordecai at
one time was enmity with God. Haman was enmity with God and
never got over it. All right. Turn with me to Romans
chapter 4 if you would. Romans chapter 4. As we look
at this number of times in the book of Romans, this subject
comes up in Romans chapter 4 and verse 4 I believe it is. It says,
Now to him that worketh, Romans chapter 4 verse 4, to him that
worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace but of debt. Can t be
Can't be. Works cannot be. It's debt. We're
working off a debt, but we can't do that. So it's not of grace.
And let's go over, if you would, to the book of Galatians, chapter
2. In Galatians, chapter 2, we find
the same secretary writing for the same Holy Spirit, shares
with us this great passage of scripture. And in chapter 2 and
verse 21, chapter 2 and verse 21, The last verse of that chapter,
he says, I do not, Galatians 2, verse 21, I do not frustrate
the grace of God, for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ
is dead in vain. No need for him to die. Well,
we find out because we know grace there was every reason he needed
to die. There was nothing that we had
that would appropriate that righteousness of Christ. saying that we're not saved by
grace, but we're saved by part works, it frustrates the grace
of God and puts it into a position that Christ has died in vain. Back up with me if you, no, go
ahead, one book to the book of Ephesians. the book of Ephesians
chapter two Ephesians chapter two we have these words given
to us again as the Holy Spirit pours out the very nature of
grace to us in the scriptures in Ephesians chapter two and
there in verse five even when we were dead in sins
hath quickened us together With Christ, by grace ye are saved,
for no other reason. We have more to Ki. For no other
reason is he a nice guy than grace. And no other reason, grace
was not given to Haman. And if we drop down in that same
chapter, verse eight of that same chapter, for by grace are
ye saved through faith. And our faith has nothing to
do with it. It's all God's faith anyway. It's a gift of God, so
we can't credit that. A lot of people want their faith
to be the turning event. in their religious experience
with God. I exercise my faith towards God. Well, we find that faith is a
gift that is not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. So we have this great statement.
What made the difference between Mordecai and Haman? What made
the difference? Who hath made us to differ? Well,
we find out God alone has made us to differ. Let's look at three
or four other verses of scripture here in the New Testament, in
particular, 2 Timothy 1. 2 Timothy 1. 2 Timothy 1, verse
9. There's one interesting thing
about Mordecai that we don't find about him. We don't find
him proud for who he is. And you know what? The opposite
is true about Haman. He's proud of who he is. It's interesting in certain people
when they get a promotion. Haman got promoted to the second
in command. and not having grace, it made him intolerable. All right. Notice here, knowing
this, 1 Timothy 1 verse 9, knowing this, that the law is not made
for a righteous man, but for the lawless, and for, I'm in
1 Timothy, excuse me, I'm going to go to 2 Timothy here, At least that's this stage in
my life, I know the difference. Second Timothy chapter one and
verse nine, who has 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. Where did grace come from? From
God. Who was it to? His chosen people. When? Before the foundation of
the world. It's no wonder that the Holy
Spirit gave Paul, the Apostle Paul, those words about those
boys before they were born, before they had done any good or evil.
He said, Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated. Here it just
tells us but according to his own purpose and grace which was
given us in Christ before the world began. So as we go back
here to the book of Esther and we go through these chapters
3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 and we see how Haman does his dead level
best to promote himself and to promote his plan to exterminate
all the Jews because he knows of one Jew and he hates him,
and his name is Mordecai. He despises him. He has everything in this world
except one thing, and that is this man will not bow to me. He had riches untold, he had
power to the extreme, he had the pleasure of the king, he
had everything possible this world had to offer except for
one thing, And that was one man would not bow to him. And so
we'll find out what happens. All right. Turn with me, if you
would, to the book of Acts chapter 15 and verse 11. Acts chapter
15 and verse 11. So we think about this theme
of grace and no grace. Think about elect and non-elect. We think about those who are
in Christ Jesus and those who are not. We think about those
who are on the right-hand side, welcome. To those on the left-hand
side, depart. We hear this throughout the scriptures.
It's not just in one book. It's not just in a few verses.
It is in the entire book of the Bible. We find God choosing Abraham,
God choosing Isaac, God choosing Jacob, God choosing the 12 tribes,
God choosing Israel. God choosing those people and
leaving the Hittites, Hivites, and the Jebusites alone. Not
one offering was made for them, not one tabernacle was made for
them, nothing. They were continuing in their
own false religion and God had nothing to do with them, but
he had everything to do with his people and thus it is with
the church. So we find here in the book of
Acts chapter 15 and there in verse 11, the scriptures share
this, but we believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
we shall be saved even as they. We believe, I like what Job said,
and I know. my Redeemer liveth, to know that
we believe through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we
are saved with nothing else, even as they. And if you'll look
with me back in the book of John chapter one, John chapter one,
the statement is made about where did grace come from? In John
chapter one, verse 17, And we're gonna see this played out so
well in the book of Esther and those chapters. For the law was
given by Moses. I'm thankful that from all indications,
Moses knew grace, but he represented the law. The law came by Moses. God gave the law to Moses. God
dispensed the law. And here in the latter part of
that verse, but grace and truth about salvation, truth about
grace, truth about God, truth about came by Jesus Christ. Truth, but grace, and truth came
by Jesus Christ. And then look with me to the
book of Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter
13 and verse 9. Hebrews chapter 13 and verse
9. be not carried about with diverse
and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the
heart be established with grace. You know, if we know that, it's
going to save us from a lot of problems. If we know grace, if
we understand grace, if we know where it came from, who it's
for, who gave it, Grace, I'm saved by grace, not by works
of righteousness, which we have done. It is good thing that the
heart be established with grace, not with meats, which have not
profited them that have occupied therein. These legal things have
nothing to do, but it's grace. Now, our last reading is going
to be over in the book of Jeremiah, the book of Jeremiah chapter
18. I can say about Jeremiah, like
I've said about all the other prophets, if we lived where they were and
we wanted to hear something, we'd want to go hear that prophet.
They were authorized by God, called of God. They were God's
servants. Here in the book of Jeremiah,
chapter 18, verse 1, The word which came to Jeremiah
from the Lord, Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and
there I will cause thee to hear my words. Isn't it wonderful
that God, once in a while, illustrated the point? Go to the potter's
house. Go down there and see what? Arise. Then I went to the potter's house,
and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel
that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter. So
he made it again, another vessel, as seemed good to the potter
to make it. Then the word of the Lord came
to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this
potter, saith the Lord, behold, as the clay in the potter's hand,
So are ye in my hand, O house of Israel. Is he not the potter,
and we are the clay? Someone wrote a song about that,
a hymn we sing. Go down to the potter's house.
You'll learn a lesson. He's going to illustrate the
point. Cannot I do with you, cannot I do with you, the house
of Israel, saith the Lord, as the potter did, Behold, as the
clay in the potter's hand, so are ye in my hand, O house of
Israel. Well, as we go back to the book
of Esther in our next study, and we look at some of the things
that took place in chapter 3, we're going to find out again
that Haman is promoted to the highest possible position he
could be except for being the king. He has everything possible,
riches, clothes, no doubt a wonderful house, all of the finery of the
king. He has the opportunity of going
to any place in the realm and having people worship him. But
he has one man. Mordecai, who will not bow. And it is confessed that he is
a Jew. Well, from our standpoint, we
say, he knows something about grace. He's not going to bow
to this guy. We are to respect those that
are in authority until they cross the line and ask us to do something
unscriptural. And then we can't. We can't do
it. All right. We'll stop there tonight.