Living out our Gratitude:
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 3 viewsNotes
Transcript
Text: Esther 7:10
Intro: Do we realize that there is a major difference between being thankful for something and giving thanks to the Lord?
O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good:
For his mercy endureth for ever.
It is characteristic for the unsaved to not give thanks.
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
There is a call to us as believers to not just give thanks in a vague way… Thanks for all my stuff… All we are, and all that we have, and all that we hope to ever be is because of God.
One of the biggest regrets is forgetting to thank God for the prayers answered because we are too busy thinking about the next one that we want answered.
Jesus healed 10 lepers…
And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
Why is there only one? It is indicative of the Christian life isn’t it? Here, we most often respond in two ways, either we are so consumed by what we are going through that we don’t give thanks unto God, or we are riding off in the sunset because of the blessing and we don’t give thanks unto the Lord.
Think about the situation of Esther and Mordecai, Haman is dead, but if you remember back when we dealt with this law, we discussed how Persian law couldn’t be changed. The law that meant the end of the Jews was still in place and was still ready to be commenced. So here in their time of great victory, do you know what Esther realizes? That her job was not over…
Living Out Our Gratitude: (Est. 8:1-2)
1. Continue to submit… (Est. 8:3-5)
Esther already submitted, she came before the sceptre, fully submitted to the will of the king, through which, the king responded to her petition, eventually leading to the death of the enemy of her people, and yet we see her here, continuing to come humbly before the throne.
What a prayer devotional this is for us… Look at how Esther approaches the throne...
Loo with me at the progression of Esther’s approach to the king!
(vs. 3) Esther falls down at the feet of the king in tears.
(vs. 3) We notice that her tears this time are not for herself, but for her people.
(vs. 5) “If it please the king...
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
(vs. 5) “If I have found favour in his sight...
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
(vs. 5) “and I be pleasing in the eyes of the king...
Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
Have you ever had this experience with one of your kids? Where they have been bad all day, strive and tension, they have been punished multiple times, and then they have the audacity to come and ask for a favour… Your thinking… There is no way, I am going to do anything good for you...
Why do we have that same approach with God, God I know I have been a wreck, living according to my flesh, and the lusts of my flesh, but do you mind doing me a solid…
This was not Esther’s approach...
When we are truly thankful for the Lord’s deliverance we will continue to submit to His authority and recognize our need for Him still!
For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
About the time as believers that we think that we don’t need God anymore, is about the time we need Him the most…
One way that we can live out our gratitude is to continue to submit to the authority of God even after He has given us the victory over our difficulty.
2. Continue to share… (vs. 6-14)
Although the law of the Persians couldn’t be changed, but the king brings a solution. It could be undermined by another law. King Ahasuerus gives them his ring and allows them to write there own ticket to counteract the law that is against them.
Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
God’s council cannot be changed...
God’s oath cannot be changed...
The Persian law in Esther, Nehemiah, Daniel, and Ezra is a type of God’s law...
Think about in the wilderness wanderings do you know that the Bible tells us that Moses was wroth with Israel 7 times, and that God was wroth with Israel 14 times. As angry as He was with Israel for their unbelief, and disobedience, He had made an oath to Abraham… Had God gotten so angry that He destroyed them, He would have kept one of them alive to fulfill His oath to Abraham.
Spiritually speaking... God will never violate His command in His oath made regarding sin and the punishment of the sinner… It will never change… He has made an oath that everyone that is a sinner, will spend eternity separated from Him in a literal place called Hell. No matter how much He loved them, “For God so loved the world...” He cannot change…
So what happened?
God made a law to counteract it… Sin has to be punished, the that punishment is death, so someone is going to have to die for your sin… And if it is not you, then you need someone else to do it.
Someone who has no sin of His own in which to die.
God won’t take anyone to heaven because he loves them, but what does He do? He counters His decree of death because He loves sinners but He will not disannul it.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The second law counteracts the first one without disannuling it.
(vs. 11) Notice that the king signs a decree which allows the Jews to defend themselves, and not just the men, but the women and the children as well. Then after they defeat those against them, they can take of the spoil…
Do you know what is neat though… They don’t do the last part… Even though it is legal, for them to do so, three times the Scriptures tells us they don’t take of the spoil.
The ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, slew they; but on the spoil laid they not their hand.
For the Jews that were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and slew three hundred men at Shushan; but on the prey they laid not their hand.
But the other Jews that were in the king’s provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand, but they laid not their hands on the prey,
Do you know why?
Samuel also said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
I believe this is the fulfillment of the command given to king Saul which they had yet to be obedient too. I believe this is it…
** Esther 8:9 is the longest verse in the Bible**
There are three universal decrees given here in the book of Esther. Mordecai’s is the last one… vs. 8-9 - India to Ethiopia (All of Persia) Every people, every language, every province… (vs. 8-14)
Why? Because there was a sense of urgency that judgment was coming… So the good news was published in every language and to every people in Persia.
Doctrinally speaking this is dealing with Matthew 24-25 and the doctrine of the kingdom.
Spiritually speaking, there is a great application for us concerning the gospel of Christ and the propagation of the word of God to everyone.
If a bunch of unbelieving pagan scribes and translators can take this decree and translate it to 120-360 languages, and deliver on mules to the entirety of Persia all for a pagan king. Certainly, the nearly 1 billion prophesing Christians can take the Gospel of Jesus Christ after 200 years.
The world has 6,528 languages, over 2000 have heard some part of the Bible. The basic gospel message has been translated in 4532 languages.
Enough gospel literature is printed every year to put the gospel in the hand of every person on the planet and enough New Testaments are printed to put one in every house. Yet, we still have not reached everyone with the gospel...
Here is why… Christians don’t have a sense of urgency concerning the coming judgment.
I have said it before and I will say it again… We need more Mordecai’s, because he was urgent to get his decree sent out to all the world of Persia.
Do you know why, we will keep buying tracts, and books, and encourage you to share them with people? Not because we need more people here at the church, but because we should have a sense of urgency with out community concerning the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have a responsibility, we have the command from the King, and He has commanded us to share it.
Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
You have deliverance through Christ!
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
How is that possible?
In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Not because of anything we have done… You have delieverance because of what God has done for you, so go out and tell someone about it!