so for those who weren't here last week<\/p>\n
my name is Jake Thomas I'm one of the<\/p>\n
pastors here my wife Courtney and I<\/p>\n
Courtney's in the back with our daughter<\/p>\n
Olivia we recently returned from the<\/p>\n
states where we welcomed Olivia in<\/p>\n
February so we're getting settled back<\/p>\n
in excited to be<\/p>\n
here and you get me for a second<\/p>\n
straight week so we'll see how that goes<\/p>\n
last week we<\/p>\n
started a series our series on the Book<\/p>\n
of Esther and today I'm going to be<\/p>\n
preaching in English so I'll give a<\/p>\n
moment for anyone who needs TI<\/p>\n
transation to get one of the devices<\/p>\n
that are found in the<\/p>\n
back okay seems like we're ready to go<\/p>\n
so like I said this is our second week<\/p>\n
of our series on Esther and last week we<\/p>\n
looked at chapter one where we saw and<\/p>\n
we met King hashas also known as Xerxes<\/p>\n
you probably heard of him called heard<\/p>\n
him called Xerxes a lot more than a<\/p>\n
hashas through 187 day party for himself<\/p>\n
where he became incredibly drunk and<\/p>\n
summoned his Queen to show off her<\/p>\n
beauty and when she refused to come he<\/p>\n
banished her and at the end of the<\/p>\n
chapter he was queenless so it may be<\/p>\n
difficult to believe but God's Sovereign<\/p>\n
hand governed those events and we will<\/p>\n
continue to see God and his sovereignty<\/p>\n
rule through the events of chapter 2 as<\/p>\n
well we're going to hear about some dark<\/p>\n
evil things that happen in Chapter 2 but<\/p>\n
the Lord is in control and the Lord is<\/p>\n
on his throne so about four years have<\/p>\n
passed as we begin chapter 2 The Book of<\/p>\n
Esther doesn't give a lot of details<\/p>\n
about what has happened in the interim<\/p>\n
but uh other in historians inform us<\/p>\n
that this is the time that Xerxes took<\/p>\n
the largest army that had ever been<\/p>\n
formed at that time and attacked the<\/p>\n
Greeks he wanted to conquer Greece and<\/p>\n
that war campaign did not go well he was<\/p>\n
defeated and he has come back to his<\/p>\n
castle in or his Palace in uh Souza and<\/p>\n
he's<\/p>\n
brooding and his he's thinking about you<\/p>\n
know he he's he's uh he's thinking about<\/p>\n
what the events that led to vashti's<\/p>\n
banishment you'll notice that he is<\/p>\n
completely ignoring his role in Vash<\/p>\n
banishment and thinking about the what<\/p>\n
his advisers told him to do uh and not<\/p>\n
his his role in it at all um and his<\/p>\n
advisers want to cheer them up so what<\/p>\n
they decide that they need to do is<\/p>\n
they're going to throw huge beauty<\/p>\n
contest to decide who the next Queen is<\/p>\n
going to be and so and that's the kind<\/p>\n
of where we are right now with that<\/p>\n
let's turn to the text if you have your<\/p>\n
Bibles open them to Esther chapter 2<\/p>\n
we're going to go be working through<\/p>\n
verses 1 through 18 today and it will be<\/p>\n
on the screen if you uh don't have it so<\/p>\n
uh after these things when the anger of<\/p>\n
King aaras had Abad he remembered vashti<\/p>\n
and what she had done and what had been<\/p>\n
decreed against her then the king's<\/p>\n
young men who attended him said let<\/p>\n
beautiful young virgins be sought for<\/p>\n
the king and let the king appoint<\/p>\n
officers in all the provinces of his<\/p>\n
kingdom to gather all the beautiful<\/p>\n
young virgins to the herum in in Suza<\/p>\n
The Citadel under custody of hegi the<\/p>\n
king's unic who is in charge of the<\/p>\n
women L their Cosmetics be given them<\/p>\n
and let the young woman who pleases the<\/p>\n
king be Queen instead of vashi this<\/p>\n
pleased the king and he did so now there<\/p>\n
was a Jew in Souza The Citadel whose<\/p>\n
name was Mori the son of jier son of<\/p>\n
shim son of Kish a benjaminite who had<\/p>\n
been carried away from the from<\/p>\n
Jerusalem among the captives carried<\/p>\n
away with Janiah king of Judah whom NE<\/p>\n
Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon had<\/p>\n
carried away he was bringing up hadassa<\/p>\n
that is Esther the daughter of his uncle<\/p>\n
she had neither father nor mother the<\/p>\n
young woman had a beautiful figure and<\/p>\n
was lovely to look at and when her<\/p>\n
father and her mother died morai took<\/p>\n
her as his own<\/p>\n
daughter so when the king's order and<\/p>\n
his edict were proclaimed and when many<\/p>\n
young women were gathered in Souza The<\/p>\n
Citadel in custody of Hagi Esther also<\/p>\n
was taken into the king's Palace and put<\/p>\n
in the custody of Hagi who was who had<\/p>\n
charge of the women and the young woman<\/p>\n
pleased him and won his favor and he<\/p>\n
quickly provided her with her cosmetics<\/p>\n
and her portion of food and with seven<\/p>\n
chosen young women from the king's<\/p>\n
Palace and advanced her and her young<\/p>\n
women to the best place in the Herm<\/p>\n
Esther had not been had not made known<\/p>\n
her people or Kindred for morai had<\/p>\n
commanded her not to make it known and<\/p>\n
every day morai walked in front of the<\/p>\n
court of the herum to learn how Esther<\/p>\n
was and what was happening to<\/p>\n
her now when the when the turn came for<\/p>\n
each young woman to go into king hashas<\/p>\n
after being 12 months under the<\/p>\n
regulations for the women<\/p>\n
since this was the regular period of<\/p>\n
their beautifying six months with oil of<\/p>\n
myrrh and six months with spices and<\/p>\n
ointments for women when the young woman<\/p>\n
went into the king in this way she was<\/p>\n
given whatever she desired to take with<\/p>\n
her from the Harum to the king's Palace<\/p>\n
in the evening she would go in and in<\/p>\n
the morning she would return to the<\/p>\n
second herum in custody of shash Gaz the<\/p>\n
king's unic who was in charge of the<\/p>\n
concubines she would not go into the<\/p>\n
King again unless the king delighted in<\/p>\n
her and she was summoned by name<\/p>\n
when the turn came for Esther the<\/p>\n
daughter of abiel the uncle of Mori who<\/p>\n
had taken her as his own daughter to go<\/p>\n
into the king she asked for nothing<\/p>\n
except what Hagi the king's unic who had<\/p>\n
charge of the women advised Now esther<\/p>\n
was winning favor in the eyes of all who<\/p>\n
saw her and when Esther was taken to<\/p>\n
King hashas into his Royal Palace in the<\/p>\n
10th month which is the month of tbth in<\/p>\n
the seventh year of his Reign the king<\/p>\n
loved Esther more than all the women and<\/p>\n
she won grace and favor in his sight<\/p>\n
more than all the virgins so that that<\/p>\n
he set the Royal crown on her head and<\/p>\n
made her Queen instead of vashy then the<\/p>\n
king gave a great feast for all his<\/p>\n
officials and servants it was Esther's<\/p>\n
Feast he was also he also granted a<\/p>\n
remission of taxes to the provinces and<\/p>\n
gave gifts with royal<\/p>\n
generosity often we'll think of Esther<\/p>\n
2 as biblical equivalent equivalent of a<\/p>\n
romantic drama or fairy tale think of<\/p>\n
Esther as Cinderella a fairy tale a<\/p>\n
young Outcast girl meets and finds her<\/p>\n
prince<\/p>\n
charming the king is looking for a new<\/p>\n
Queen so all the eligible women in the<\/p>\n
provinces in the Empire are lining up in<\/p>\n
front of him to be chosen as the next<\/p>\n
Queen Esther a beautiful but margin<\/p>\n
marginalized girl also gets included in<\/p>\n
the contest she's the<\/p>\n
underdog but she<\/p>\n
she's impressing everyone that she meets<\/p>\n
and she wins the<\/p>\n
contest as she spends more time with the<\/p>\n
king the king will begin to see her<\/p>\n
kindness and her piety and the King will<\/p>\n
be positively affected by her they'll<\/p>\n
live happily every happily every after<\/p>\n
the end that's it right that's what we<\/p>\n
like to think is happening in this<\/p>\n
chapter that's a pretty picture that we<\/p>\n
like to paint over the reality of what's<\/p>\n
Happening Here uh and it's a pretty<\/p>\n
irresponsible reading of chapter 2 of<\/p>\n
Esther I listened to a really helpful<\/p>\n
sermon by man named David strain on this<\/p>\n
this chapter he titled a sermon Beauty<\/p>\n
and the<\/p>\n
Beast Esther is not a fairy tale and<\/p>\n
David strain puts it this way Esther<\/p>\n
chapter 2 far from overflowing with<\/p>\n
romance is full of moral ambigu<\/p>\n
ambiguity and spiritual<\/p>\n
compromise Esther 2 instead of offering<\/p>\n
us an example to follow invites us to<\/p>\n
face the reality of life in which women<\/p>\n
are objectified and made victims where<\/p>\n
men can be predatory and where at least<\/p>\n
for some fear is often more powerful<\/p>\n
than faith<\/p>\n
Esther chapter 2 is not an exciting<\/p>\n
episode of Persia's Got Talent it is a<\/p>\n
rather dark and uncomfortable tale of<\/p>\n
abduction even abuse and yet it is here<\/p>\n
amidst all the moral ambiguities and<\/p>\n
shocking abuses that dog Esther steps<\/p>\n
that we're being invited to trace the<\/p>\n
footprints of The Sovereign God who is<\/p>\n
working in through and despite the sin<\/p>\n
and suffering we find<\/p>\n
here for the good of those who love him<\/p>\n
and who have been called ACC according<\/p>\n
to his purpose the Lord is in<\/p>\n
control like chapter one this passage is<\/p>\n
about how the Lord's Providence is woven<\/p>\n
discreetly into<\/p>\n
events God will use the beauty suffering<\/p>\n
and compromise of Esther to accomplish<\/p>\n
his will and save his<\/p>\n
people so let's talk about the realities<\/p>\n
of the situation a little bit especially<\/p>\n
as we try to understand uh Esther Esther<\/p>\n
and mori's actions later in the chapter<\/p>\n
xerx advisers gather all the beautiful<\/p>\n
young virgins from around the Empire<\/p>\n
commentators believe that they gathered<\/p>\n
upwards of a thousand young women and<\/p>\n
brought them to<\/p>\n
Souza these women don't have a choice in<\/p>\n
the matter they're not volunteers they<\/p>\n
didn't apply to be a part of this<\/p>\n
competition verse eight tells us that<\/p>\n
Esther was taken she doesn't have agency<\/p>\n
she didn't volunteer she's taken<\/p>\n
forcibly from her family and put into<\/p>\n
this<\/p>\n
competition the taken to their beauty<\/p>\n
due to their beauty their outward Beauty<\/p>\n
their youth um and their virginity and<\/p>\n
they're never going to return to their<\/p>\n
families because that's another<\/p>\n
important thing we have to understand<\/p>\n
about what's Happening Here each one is<\/p>\n
poked and prodded and beautified over a<\/p>\n
year for one night with the King and for<\/p>\n
most of them that's all they're ever<\/p>\n
going to get most of these young women<\/p>\n
are going to spend one night with King<\/p>\n
Xerxes they're going to go into uh a<\/p>\n
different part of the palace and they're<\/p>\n
going to live out their days unwed and<\/p>\n
childless as a concubine of the king and<\/p>\n
never never spend another night with him<\/p>\n
they're going to be completely forgotten<\/p>\n
by<\/p>\n
him remember the reality of this of this<\/p>\n
situation as we discuss how Esther<\/p>\n
responds uh we're introduced to Esther<\/p>\n
and Mori the first Israelites Jews that<\/p>\n
are mentioned in the entire Book of<\/p>\n
Esther in in verse<\/p>\n
5 they the author really wants us to<\/p>\n
know that they're Exiles they've been<\/p>\n
Exiles for 4 Generations so uh verse six<\/p>\n
reads something like this in the<\/p>\n
original text says who uh that being<\/p>\n
Kish mori's great-grandfather had been<\/p>\n
exiled away from Jerusalem among the<\/p>\n
Exiles exiled with Janiah king of Judah<\/p>\n
who Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon had<\/p>\n
exiled we get it they're Exiles they are<\/p>\n
not living in their home they've been<\/p>\n
taken away from that and they're living<\/p>\n
among their<\/p>\n
captors uh we should note that they're<\/p>\n
doing a really good job of assimilating<\/p>\n
into culture now that's something that<\/p>\n
Jeremiah actually instructed the Exiles<\/p>\n
to do in Jeremiah<\/p>\n
29 he told the Exiles to to build lives<\/p>\n
build homes have children uh pray for<\/p>\n
the city that they're living in even<\/p>\n
though it's not Jerusalem and that God<\/p>\n
would restore them to Jerusalem after 70<\/p>\n
years well 70 years has come and passed<\/p>\n
and many Jews have returned to Jerusalem<\/p>\n
but for some reason morai and eser have<\/p>\n
stayed in Souza among their captors um<\/p>\n
you can tell by their names that they<\/p>\n
have really latched on to Persian<\/p>\n
culture mori's name means man of Marduk<\/p>\n
which Marduk was the chief god of the<\/p>\n
Babylonians and<\/p>\n
Persians um and then we find out about<\/p>\n
Esther Esther is an orphan she doesn't<\/p>\n
have a father and mother but she's being<\/p>\n
raised by her cousin morai who's taken<\/p>\n
her into his home and and loves her like<\/p>\n
his own<\/p>\n
daughter Esther is introduced with two<\/p>\n
names we we first learned that her name<\/p>\n
is her Jewish name name is hadassa which<\/p>\n
means Myrtle it's not super important<\/p>\n
important but she also has a second a<\/p>\n
Persian name Esther which comes from the<\/p>\n
Persian Babylonian goddess of love istar<\/p>\n
and so she is as in our introduction to<\/p>\n
Esther we we learn that she is battling<\/p>\n
living in two different worlds at the<\/p>\n
same time she wants to hold strong to<\/p>\n
her Jewish Heritage that traces all the<\/p>\n
way back to<\/p>\n
Moses she is struggling with that amid<\/p>\n
her living her entire life among people<\/p>\n
that she<\/p>\n
doesn't that don't hold her same beliefs<\/p>\n
and<\/p>\n
convictions the use of both of her names<\/p>\n
shows us that she's struggling with us<\/p>\n
she's struggling with this decision but<\/p>\n
the great thing about it is that God is<\/p>\n
going to use her even though she's<\/p>\n
Waring Between Two Worlds U Esther is<\/p>\n
beautiful we uh we learned in our<\/p>\n
introduction that she's someone whose<\/p>\n
physical appearance is is beautiful<\/p>\n
she's she's uh lovely to look at and so<\/p>\n
obviously she's going to be taken into<\/p>\n
this competition to become the next<\/p>\n
Queen due to her beauty she's brought<\/p>\n
into the competition and and we're going<\/p>\n
to see that God is going to use that to<\/p>\n
deliver his<\/p>\n
people uh so let's talk about a little<\/p>\n
bit what's going on in this competition<\/p>\n
um so after these women are taken from<\/p>\n
their<\/p>\n
families because of their beauty they<\/p>\n
aren't yet beautiful enough to be preved<\/p>\n
presented to the king they have to go<\/p>\n
through a year-long process of of<\/p>\n
beautification<\/p>\n
that prepares them to be presented to<\/p>\n
the<\/p>\n
king he wants their skin to look just<\/p>\n
right he wants their he wants them to<\/p>\n
smell just how he likes he wants them to<\/p>\n
be adorned the way that he wants he<\/p>\n
wants their beauty to meet his<\/p>\n
standards this isn't so different from<\/p>\n
our world today is<\/p>\n
it we all feel the pressure to make<\/p>\n
ourselves as attractive as possible<\/p>\n
don't we women feel this pressure more<\/p>\n
than men but we all do feel it to some<\/p>\n
degree<\/p>\n
we're overwhelmed with pictures of ideal<\/p>\n
beauty standards whether that's uh in<\/p>\n
ads and that we see as we ride the BTS<\/p>\n
or on our phones or in movies and TV<\/p>\n
shows social media has made this so much<\/p>\n
worse we we are obsessed with this idea<\/p>\n
of presenting a perfect picture of<\/p>\n
ourselves to the world right that's what<\/p>\n
our social media is all<\/p>\n
about it's not auth it's not<\/p>\n
authenticity it's made up it's<\/p>\n
fake that's the beauty that the World<\/p>\n
craves there's so much pressure to<\/p>\n
attain that today in the world and we<\/p>\n
work hard to look a certain way not to<\/p>\n
be healthier not because we're worried<\/p>\n
about how long we're going to live but<\/p>\n
because we want to be accepted by the<\/p>\n
people around<\/p>\n
us we're so concerned with the Judgment<\/p>\n
of others because we are constantly<\/p>\n
judging others<\/p>\n
ourselves the truth is looking a certain<\/p>\n
way is not going to make you happy not<\/p>\n
truly happy because true beauty is not<\/p>\n
found in the size of your dress dress<\/p>\n
the color of your<\/p>\n
hair the clearness of your skin how much<\/p>\n
you can bench breast how tall you are<\/p>\n
how much you<\/p>\n
weigh true F Beauty is found within our<\/p>\n
hearts true beauty is found in our<\/p>\n
character 1 Peter 3 3-4 says this uh do<\/p>\n
not let the adorning your adorning be<\/p>\n
external the braiding of your hair and<\/p>\n
the putting on of gold jewelry or the<\/p>\n
clothing you wear but let your adorning<\/p>\n
be the hidden person of the heart with<\/p>\n
the imperishable beauty of a gentle and<\/p>\n
quiet spirit which in God's sight is<\/p>\n
very<\/p>\n
precious worldly Beauty Fades but true<\/p>\n
beauty<\/p>\n
lasts think about what happens to these<\/p>\n
women they're abducted from their<\/p>\n
families because they meet some sort of<\/p>\n
standard of outward Beauty they go<\/p>\n
through this beautification process for<\/p>\n
an entire year and it builds up to this<\/p>\n
one night that they get with the<\/p>\n
King they get one night to impress<\/p>\n
him put yourself in their shoes<\/p>\n
imagine the pressure of that<\/p>\n
situation sadly for most of them Xerxes<\/p>\n
will temply simply take their innocence<\/p>\n
use them up and completely forget about<\/p>\n
them you'll see in verse 14 that they go<\/p>\n
to a different Herm or or or area of the<\/p>\n
of the palace um they they're not<\/p>\n
allowed to go back to the the herum<\/p>\n
that's governed by Hagi they go to a<\/p>\n
different one that's governed by shash<\/p>\n
Gaz and that's because once their<\/p>\n
innocence is taken they can't be with<\/p>\n
all the virgins anymore they have to go<\/p>\n
to a different place with all the other<\/p>\n
concubines of the<\/p>\n
king um they go on a literal Walk of<\/p>\n
Shame after in the morning after to the<\/p>\n
other herum with all the other<\/p>\n
concubines there most of them would live<\/p>\n
out their days completely forgotten by<\/p>\n
King Jesus is not like Xerxes in fact<\/p>\n
he's the exact opposite he does not<\/p>\n
forget us he seeks us out he comes to us<\/p>\n
we are not brought to him listen to the<\/p>\n
words that Paul writes in Romans 5 veres<\/p>\n
6 and 8 this is just before the passage<\/p>\n
we re read for confession today verse<\/p>\n
six says for while we were still weak at<\/p>\n
the right time Christ died for the<\/p>\n
ungodly then in verse eight but God<\/p>\n
shows his love for us in that while we<\/p>\n
were still sinners Christ died for<\/p>\n
us uh Christ didn't wait for us to be<\/p>\n
beautiful to die for us<\/p>\n
Christ died for us when we were ugly<\/p>\n
when we were<\/p>\n
broken when we were far from<\/p>\n
him we didn't deserve to be saved we<\/p>\n
weren't prepared for him he meets us in<\/p>\n
our<\/p>\n
weakness Jesus washes us with his blood<\/p>\n
so that we may be<\/p>\n
beautiful we're brought near to him by<\/p>\n
the blood of his<\/p>\n
sacrifice we're made pure like a bride<\/p>\n
presented on her wedding<\/p>\n
day Xerxes brought each woman into his<\/p>\n
bed beautiful and pure and they left<\/p>\n
with<\/p>\n
shame Jesus is just the opposite he<\/p>\n
takes our shame away we come to him<\/p>\n
burdened by our the weight of our<\/p>\n
sins and he takes that away for<\/p>\n
us if you're only hand over to him the<\/p>\n
shame and sin that darkens your heart he<\/p>\n
will take it away the shame that you<\/p>\n
feel from the sin that his weighed you<\/p>\n
down for years The Temptations that<\/p>\n
you've fallen into Jesus will take that<\/p>\n
away and you can stand with him<\/p>\n
beautiful and<\/p>\n
pure we come to Jesus shameful and ugly<\/p>\n
and we leave<\/p>\n
Beautiful Jesus hung on a cross and on<\/p>\n
that cross he bore the weight of the<\/p>\n
shame of all the sins of<\/p>\n
mankind he hung<\/p>\n
there and died there so that we may<\/p>\n
become beautiful in the eyes of our<\/p>\n
father<\/p>\n
Esther's Triumph isn't really<\/p>\n
Victory she becomes Queen but we've<\/p>\n
already seen that that position is<\/p>\n
fragile at<\/p>\n
best she's now Queen to a petulant drunk<\/p>\n
who M whose mood may change on a whim<\/p>\n
her husband's main traits that he wants<\/p>\n
in a wife are for her to be young<\/p>\n
obedient this sounds like a<\/p>\n
pressure-packed environment let's<\/p>\n
remember that what Esther went through<\/p>\n
to get there she's she's an orphan<\/p>\n
adopted by her cousin she's taken from<\/p>\n
her broken family and abducted and<\/p>\n
brought into the<\/p>\n
palace she has no agency in this<\/p>\n
situation living as an exile away from<\/p>\n
her people David strain says she's still<\/p>\n
trying to sing the Lord's song as it<\/p>\n
were she's thrown into the heart of the<\/p>\n
Pagan Empire and she's<\/p>\n
probably terrified that anyone is going<\/p>\n
to find out her true identity and tell<\/p>\n
the king she's living in constant fear<\/p>\n
of being found<\/p>\n
out don't lose sight of the fact that<\/p>\n
Esther is a victim in this<\/p>\n
situation she's objectified she's abused<\/p>\n
yet the Lord does not abandon her in her<\/p>\n
weakness her suffering her pain um he's<\/p>\n
going to use her pain in her suffering<\/p>\n
to bring about his<\/p>\n
will there are times in our lives when<\/p>\n
uh we feel trapped in painful<\/p>\n
situations when the darkness in this<\/p>\n
world weighs heavily upon us when our<\/p>\n
lives are defined by the suffering that<\/p>\n
we<\/p>\n
Face know this the Lord the Lord does<\/p>\n
not abandon us in our suffering the Lord<\/p>\n
does not abandon us to pain and in time<\/p>\n
the Lord will we will find redemption in<\/p>\n
those<\/p>\n
situations remember the words of Joseph<\/p>\n
in Genesis 50:20 he said as for you you<\/p>\n
made evil against me but God meant it<\/p>\n
for good to bring about that many people<\/p>\n
should be kept alive as they are today<\/p>\n
now remember Joseph was uh sold into<\/p>\n
slavery by his brothers and went through<\/p>\n
imprisonment and enslavement before<\/p>\n
becoming the second most powerful man in<\/p>\n
Egypt that led to a time when he could<\/p>\n
have had taken revenge on his brothers<\/p>\n
instead he told them this<\/p>\n
statement when you're wronged when you<\/p>\n
suffer when life brings you<\/p>\n
pain remember this statement from<\/p>\n
Joseph uh when someone else means for<\/p>\n
evil the Lord will work for good those<\/p>\n
words will ring incredibly true later in<\/p>\n
the story of<\/p>\n
Esther suffering is Tim Keller says that<\/p>\n
suffering is often what God uses as a uh<\/p>\n
beautification process for our souls um<\/p>\n
I'm reminded of the words in James 1:2-4<\/p>\n
count it all joy my brothers when you<\/p>\n
meet Trials of various kinds for you<\/p>\n
know that the testing of your faith<\/p>\n
produces steadfastness let steadfastness<\/p>\n
have its full effect that you may be<\/p>\n
perfect and complete lacking in nothing<\/p>\n
if we want to receive Jesus sacrifice if<\/p>\n
we want to receive the gift that that<\/p>\n
brings we have to be willing to partake<\/p>\n
in Jesus<\/p>\n
suffering suffering makes us more like<\/p>\n
Christ it puts us in a position to<\/p>\n
depend on<\/p>\n
him remember that when Jesus remember<\/p>\n
that when Jesus Jesus understands our<\/p>\n
suffering better than anyone possibly<\/p>\n
could Jesus experienced suffering beyond<\/p>\n
anything we could think or<\/p>\n
imagine so remember that Jesus<\/p>\n
understands and Jesus<\/p>\n
knows no matter how dark whatever you're<\/p>\n
experiencing is Jesus understands and<\/p>\n
Jesus<\/p>\n
knows now that we have a good<\/p>\n
understanding of Esther's suffering in<\/p>\n
this chapter we can talk about um the<\/p>\n
compromise that she<\/p>\n
makes she's a young Jewish woman woman<\/p>\n
living in a foreign Empire and a world<\/p>\n
dominated by<\/p>\n
men put yourself in her shoes how would<\/p>\n
you respond in her<\/p>\n
situation do you think you would stand<\/p>\n
firm in your<\/p>\n
convictions do you think you would<\/p>\n
immediately share that you are a member<\/p>\n
of a discriminated minority people group<\/p>\n
uh or would you just try to blend into<\/p>\n
the background like Esther<\/p>\n
did think about the dichotomy in her<\/p>\n
names she introd she's introduced with a<\/p>\n
Hebrew name but that's the only time in<\/p>\n
the entire book that we hear that<\/p>\n
name and so there's kind of this picture<\/p>\n
here that this young Jewish girl named<\/p>\n
hadassa in events that are mostly<\/p>\n
against her will has to become<\/p>\n
Esther so that she can fully enter into<\/p>\n
the culture and survive<\/p>\n
from the moment she's taken she fully<\/p>\n
becomes Esther she gives herself over to<\/p>\n
the culture that she's lived in her<\/p>\n
entire life and her Jewish identity<\/p>\n
remains<\/p>\n
hidden yet surprisingly she finds favor<\/p>\n
with everyone that she<\/p>\n
meets she impresses<\/p>\n
everyone everyone seems to like<\/p>\n
her she's doing everything asked of her<\/p>\n
even those things that may go against<\/p>\n
her convictions and she's finding favor<\/p>\n
with everyone and is given a p a<\/p>\n
position of power and<\/p>\n
importance is she wrong for doing<\/p>\n
this has she forsaken God in favor of<\/p>\n
her and mori's own plan for her<\/p>\n
survival<\/p>\n
maybe it's important to remember that<\/p>\n
their decisions are based solely on a<\/p>\n
hope for Esther's survival in a in a<\/p>\n
nearly impossible<\/p>\n
situation see like we know the story<\/p>\n
right we know what the Lord's plan is at<\/p>\n
the end of all this he's going to save<\/p>\n
his people through Esther Esther and<\/p>\n
morai don't know that they just know<\/p>\n
that Esther has been taken into the<\/p>\n
palace and she needs to<\/p>\n
survive they didn't receive some word<\/p>\n
from God that he's going to use Esther<\/p>\n
eventually they didn't receive an angel<\/p>\n
didn't visit them and tell them God's<\/p>\n
plan they're just acting out of<\/p>\n
self-preservation so they decide<\/p>\n
compromise as their safest course of<\/p>\n
action fear supersedes their FA<\/p>\n
Faith you may think this is a bit of a<\/p>\n
harsh reading of this chapter but I want<\/p>\n
to remind you a different but similar<\/p>\n
event that happens in The Book of Daniel<\/p>\n
in Daniel chapter 1 Daniel and his his<\/p>\n
three friends Shadrach Meshach and abedo<\/p>\n
are are taken from their uh home in<\/p>\n
Jerusalem they're among the first Exiles<\/p>\n
taken to to Babylon and they're brought<\/p>\n
into the palace just like Esther um and<\/p>\n
they stand firm in their conviction<\/p>\n
and the Lord blesses them He blesses<\/p>\n
their faith and they're given positions<\/p>\n
of pro prominence within King<\/p>\n
Nebuchadnezzar's<\/p>\n
Court would the same thing have happened<\/p>\n
Esther probably there's no way to<\/p>\n
tell the important thing for us to know<\/p>\n
here is not to condemn Esther based on<\/p>\n
her compromise but be encouraged that<\/p>\n
despite her compromise the Lord is still<\/p>\n
going to use her<\/p>\n
in his plan to save his<\/p>\n
people when we fall short that does not<\/p>\n
disqualify us from being used by the<\/p>\n
Lord we're called to live in the world<\/p>\n
but not of the<\/p>\n
world but there are times we're going to<\/p>\n
fail in that goal<\/p>\n
right we should be encouraged that<\/p>\n
despite our failure the Lord can still<\/p>\n
use us he will still give us<\/p>\n
opportunities to stand firm firm amid<\/p>\n
Temptation we are not disqualified from<\/p>\n
being partakers in God's will due<\/p>\n
to<\/p>\n
indiscretion the story of Esther is<\/p>\n
emblematic of the theme of the entire<\/p>\n
Bible God doesn't choose perfect people<\/p>\n
to accomplish his will he uses broken<\/p>\n
people despite their failures and<\/p>\n
shortcomings to accomplish his<\/p>\n
will God's meet God meets people in<\/p>\n
their weakness and becomes their<\/p>\n
strength<\/p>\n
think about it we shouldn't be<\/p>\n
intimidated by the people that we<\/p>\n
consider as Heroes of the faith just a<\/p>\n
few<\/p>\n
examples Abraham goes to Egypt he's<\/p>\n
terrified that he's going to be killed<\/p>\n
because the the the Pharaoh is going to<\/p>\n
take his wife because she's beautiful so<\/p>\n
he lies he says his wife is his sister<\/p>\n
later on he's not patient enough to wait<\/p>\n
for the Lord to provide his Heir Isaac<\/p>\n
so he takes matters into his own hands<\/p>\n
that decision still has ramifications<\/p>\n
today<\/p>\n
Moses murders an Egyptian and runs away<\/p>\n
from the<\/p>\n
consequences David sleeps with a married<\/p>\n
woman then orchestrates her husband's<\/p>\n
murder<\/p>\n
yikes Peter denies Jesus three times on<\/p>\n
the night of Jesus's arrest Paul<\/p>\n
persecutes his church takes part in the<\/p>\n
martyrdom of<\/p>\n
Steven all of these men fell short in<\/p>\n
different<\/p>\n
ways yet all of the these men received<\/p>\n
Grace God used each of them to bring<\/p>\n
about his Redemptive plan For All<\/p>\n
Mankind and spread the gospel to all the<\/p>\n
world God uses his weakest servants to<\/p>\n
accomplish his greatest<\/p>\n
works he uses his weakest servants to<\/p>\n
accomplish his greatest works and that's<\/p>\n
what Esther is in this In this passage<\/p>\n
she's weak in that she lives in a world<\/p>\n
that is dominated by men she's a woman<\/p>\n
she is a minority people group and on<\/p>\n
top of that she is not standing firm in<\/p>\n
her<\/p>\n
faith but the Lord uses her<\/p>\n
anyway on the cross we see Jesus in the<\/p>\n
ultimate moment of<\/p>\n
weakness<\/p>\n
Brokenness pain and<\/p>\n
suffering displaying the greatest<\/p>\n
Jesus chose to be<\/p>\n
weak he chose<\/p>\n
pain he chose<\/p>\n
suffering he could have gotten out of<\/p>\n
that situation anytime he wanted to but<\/p>\n
he chose to remain in<\/p>\n
it so that through him we may find<\/p>\n
strength understand this there's nothing<\/p>\n
that you have done or will do that will<\/p>\n
make God stop loving you<\/p>\n
there's nothing you've done that<\/p>\n
disqualifies you from receiving grace<\/p>\n
through the death of<\/p>\n
Christ there's nothing you've done that<\/p>\n
disqualifies you from being used by God<\/p>\n
God will continue to give you<\/p>\n
opportunities to stand<\/p>\n
firm the question is how do we make<\/p>\n
ourselves available to him how do we put<\/p>\n
ourselves in position to stand firm amid<\/p>\n
Temptation and persecution<\/p>\n
how are we called to<\/p>\n
participate in God's Will and Aid in the<\/p>\n
spread of his kingdom<\/p>\n
here uh Martin Luther famously answered<\/p>\n
this question by contrasting uh a<\/p>\n
Theology of Glory with a Theology of the<\/p>\n
Cross uh by a Theology of Glory he meant<\/p>\n
any approach to the Christian Life that<\/p>\n
looks for um outward displays of power<\/p>\n
as the primary means of advancement now<\/p>\n
that's a complicated way of saying that<\/p>\n
um uh a way of glorifying ourselves in<\/p>\n
hopes of advancing the<\/p>\n
gospel instead Luther says KS puat Omnia<\/p>\n
it's a Latin phrase that means the cross<\/p>\n
is the test of<\/p>\n
everything by that he meant if your<\/p>\n
means of advancing the kingdom of God<\/p>\n
car is characterized by Brokenness and<\/p>\n
dependance upon God in Christ<\/p>\n
that's that's what we're looking for<\/p>\n
that's the way that the Lord advances<\/p>\n
his<\/p>\n
kingdom is your means of advancement<\/p>\n
self-effacing and God<\/p>\n
exalting does it despair of Earthly<\/p>\n
influence and yet in humility discover<\/p>\n
that God's influence is being<\/p>\n
Advanced Our Lives should be<\/p>\n
characterized by<\/p>\n
humility we're called to live lives that<\/p>\n
emulate Christ who in his humility<\/p>\n
became flesh and went to a cross so that<\/p>\n
we may have life<\/p>\n
we humble ourselves dying to our worldly<\/p>\n
flesh our desires our passions and in<\/p>\n
doing so exalting God Matthew 16: 24-26<\/p>\n
says this then Jesus told his disciples<\/p>\n
if anyone would come after me let him<\/p>\n
deny himself take up his cross and<\/p>\n
follow me whoever would save his life<\/p>\n
will lose it but whoever loses his life<\/p>\n
for my sake will find it for what will a<\/p>\n
man uh what will it profit a man if he<\/p>\n
gains the whole world and forfeits his<\/p>\n
soul or what shall a man give in return<\/p>\n
for his<\/p>\n
soul when we deny<\/p>\n
ourselves we take up our cross<\/p>\n
daily we walk in the footsteps of<\/p>\n
Jesus and in doing so we make ourselves<\/p>\n
available to be used by<\/p>\n
him as I said earlier you cannot inherit<\/p>\n
the gift of grace through Jesus<\/p>\n
sacrifice if you are not willing to<\/p>\n
partake in the suffering of Jesus on on<\/p>\n
cross when we're willing to take up our<\/p>\n
cross daily we will begin to live as<\/p>\n
Peter suggests in First Peter 2 uh as<\/p>\n
sojourners and Exiles<\/p>\n
here we feel this daily right we feel<\/p>\n
this this pull this tension that we live<\/p>\n
in uh we like Esther live balancing Two<\/p>\n
Worlds we live in this world that is<\/p>\n
controlled by sin and darkness and evil<\/p>\n
but we're not of this world we are<\/p>\n
called we have a higher<\/p>\n
calling uh if we've been washed by the<\/p>\n
blood of Christ we are called to live<\/p>\n
lives that emulate the life that Christ<\/p>\n
LED so we cannot allow ourselves to be<\/p>\n
wooed by the beauty of this<\/p>\n
world we must live with our eyes fixed<\/p>\n
on a beauty that is eternal one is that<\/p>\n
is to<\/p>\n
come there's a famous quote that's<\/p>\n
attributed to a missionary named Jim<\/p>\n
Elliot he is no fool who gives up what<\/p>\n
he cannot keep to gain what he can't<\/p>\n
lose he is no fool who gives up what he<\/p>\n
cannot keep to gain what he can't lose<\/p>\n
Elliot was a missionary in the country<\/p>\n
of Ecuador and he had four he and four<\/p>\n
other missionaries felt felt called to<\/p>\n
take the gospel to a previously<\/p>\n
unreached people group called the AA the<\/p>\n
AA were known for their brutality their<\/p>\n
violence um yet Elliot and his friends<\/p>\n
felt strongly that the that they were<\/p>\n
called to take the gospel to these<\/p>\n
people uh now the the where the jungle<\/p>\n
where the AA lived was only accessible<\/p>\n
by small plane and so they flew over uh<\/p>\n
several times the the area where the AA<\/p>\n
lived and then landed on a small Beach<\/p>\n
right off the right off of their<\/p>\n
territory and they waited they waited to<\/p>\n
see if the AA would<\/p>\n
come and eventually they did uh but they<\/p>\n
did not<\/p>\n
come<\/p>\n
friendly uh they killed Elliot and all<\/p>\n
and the four other<\/p>\n
missionaries um<\/p>\n
Jim Elliott did not<\/p>\n
consider his safety his comfort staying<\/p>\n
in his own home more important than the<\/p>\n
chance of the AA receive the gift of the<\/p>\n
Gospel he understood that for him to<\/p>\n
live was for Christ's glory and his<\/p>\n
death would be<\/p>\n
gain you know the the story the story is<\/p>\n
is amazing it doesn't end there two<\/p>\n
years later Jim Elliot wife Elizabeth<\/p>\n
Elliot went back to the territory of the<\/p>\n
AA and<\/p>\n
um her<\/p>\n
kindness her love and her forgiveness<\/p>\n
changed the hearts of many of the AA<\/p>\n
Indians she lived among them for many<\/p>\n
many<\/p>\n
years and saw many of them come to faith<\/p>\n
in<\/p>\n
Christ what the AA had meant for evil<\/p>\n
the Lord used for<\/p>\n
good as we conclude our discussion on<\/p>\n
the uh book on Esther chapter 2 let's<\/p>\n
take stock of how the Lord has worked<\/p>\n
thus far in this<\/p>\n
book God has used the Xerxes drunkenness<\/p>\n
his drunken decision to banish vity to<\/p>\n
place one of his chosen daughters on the<\/p>\n
throne God's used the Abduction of<\/p>\n
Esther to provide a path of salvation<\/p>\n
people God's used Esther and will<\/p>\n
continue to use Esther despite her<\/p>\n
Conformity to the culture around<\/p>\n
her finally God's going to give Esther<\/p>\n
an opportunity to stand firm in her<\/p>\n
convictions um and as we continue to<\/p>\n
read this book we'll see the opportunity<\/p>\n
that she's put the position she's put in<\/p>\n
to test her faith morai is going to tell<\/p>\n
her that she has an opportunity to to<\/p>\n
make known her identity and put in a<\/p>\n
position to save her people he says<\/p>\n
famously that um she has become Queen<\/p>\n
for for such a time as<\/p>\n
this if there's one thing that you would<\/p>\n
take away from this<\/p>\n
sermon I hope it would be this pay<\/p>\n
attention to the opportunities that God<\/p>\n
gives you to participate in his<\/p>\n
will even when you are in the midst of<\/p>\n
pain and suffering when<\/p>\n
darkness shrouds the moon as the<\/p>\n
illustration was last week God can still<\/p>\n
use<\/p>\n
you even when You' have fallen short<\/p>\n
when you failed when you've succumbed to<\/p>\n
Temptation God can still use<\/p>\n
you even when you're overwhelmed by the<\/p>\n
pressures of this<\/p>\n
world you will be given opportunities to<\/p>\n
stand firm amid future Temptation or<\/p>\n
persecution you need only make yourself<\/p>\n
available to him God will meet you in<\/p>\n
your<\/p>\n
weakness take up your cross daily no<\/p>\n
matter how heavy it<\/p>\n
is Jesus will help you carry that burden<\/p>\n
let's<\/p>\n
pray father God we know that even now<\/p>\n
you are at work in the darkest moments<\/p>\n
of Our<\/p>\n
Lives we know that when we are in the<\/p>\n
midst of pain and suffering you have not<\/p>\n
abandoned<\/p>\n
us Lord we praise you that even when we<\/p>\n
fail you do not cast us<\/p>\n
aside Lord we thank you for the ways you<\/p>\n
take our shame away and make us<\/p>\n
beautiful Lord strength strengthen us<\/p>\n
today to stand firm in the midst of<\/p>\n
Trials and suffering and<\/p>\n
temptations Lord let us remember that<\/p>\n
standing for you is worth it no matter<\/p>\n
cost in Jesus name amen<\/p>","english_search_text":"","":"","original_publish_date":"20240708","video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=RR5BRabr_8s","video_id":"RR5BRabr_8s","video_duration":"38:47","channel_name":"Grace City Bangkok"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=397"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":398,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397\/revisions\/398"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}