God's Favor

Intro:

so we are in Esther 5 today. And just a bit of background to get us started with our study for today.

you remember that at this point in the book of Esther, she has been choose by Xerxes to be the next queen instead of Vasthi. Or should i say, she was chosen by God to be queen.

And as we have been moving through the book we have seen the major things that have happened in the life of Esther that ultimately lead to her becoming queen.

Esther lost both of her parents when she was young, she was raised by her cousin Mordecai, she was raised in a foreign land as a slave really in Babylon, she was later taken by force to be paraded in front of King Xerxes and was forced to spend the night with the king simply for his entertainment.

you look at this and it is not the usual Disney fairy tail story. I don’t think Frozen would of been a big hit if they went with this story instead of Elsa and the snowman.

I. God’s Sovereign Hand On Esther’s Life

yet one of the main themes that we have been looking at throughout this book is the fact that God was in control of every aspect of her life. I think all of us teaching have mentioned … Rom. 8:28

Romans 8:28–29 NKJV

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

it is as if this verse was written about Esther. That God was at work in every aspect of Esther’s life, including the things that were bad and painful and humiliating.

And yet as we looked at a few weeks ago, we saw that it was these very hardships that produced a Godly character in Esther that would allow her to be used of God and would allow her to be ready for the calling on her life. These hardships were actually necessary in her life in order to accomplish God’s plan in and through her life. So in reality these bad things that happened to Esther actually turned out for her good.

You and I can look at this and be like, “how can this possibly be good?”, how can the hardships in my life, the difficulties i have experienced be good?

And the truth is that we can’t always see what God is doing in our lives. We can only see what is directly in front of us, yet God has an airiel view and is able to see your entire life. He is able to see when you were born and he is able to look and know when you will breathe your last breath.

And it is with that reality and truth, that God looks at your life and he brings things into your life, he moves you into different places, he opens and closes doors.... but all things are done with His best in mind for you.

Transition

This is what is described as being Sovereign.

God is Sovereign, He has existed before anything was created Job 38:4-7 , He created all things Prov. 16:4 , John 1:3 He knew who you and I would be before we were even born Jer.1:5 , He formed you and I in our mothers’s womb Ps. 139:13-14, He knows every hair on our heads Lk. 12:7 ( for some it is more than others)

The bible tells us that He holds the universe in His hands. Ish. 40:12

You understand the picture that I am trying to paint. God is Sovereign because He created all things and therefore has power and authority over all things.

and yet, with all of this authority and power, there is a few things that God does not do.......

1. God does not force Himself on you .

God loves you the bible tells us, God chose you the bible says, God died for you the bible says, God has a plan for you the bible says, God has prepared a place for you in heaven the bible says, God desires to live within your heart the bible says........

yet in none of these biblical truths does it say that God makes us love Him, that He makes us accept His choice, that He makes us follow His will, that makes us open the door of our heart to Him......

Although God can absolutely do those things, God has given us free will to chose how we will live and who we will worship.

and because of that free will God has given us, we now have the RESPONSIBLITY to RESPOND to what GOD IS DOING IN OUR LIVES daily.

2. God gives us the Responsibility to Respond to His works

to willfully make choices in our lives to respond to God’s wok in my life. To accept that I am a sinner and in need of a savior, to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior.

to willfully and obediently follow God’s plan for my life, to open the door of my heart and allow God to dwell within it. These are all choices that i have to make in response to God’s work in my life.

Transition

and as we have been looking at the story of Esther , this is exactly what you can draw out of it. The Sovereignty of God working in every aspect of Esther’s life and you have the responsibility for Esther to respond to that work.

Jay talked about this last week, how Esther was put in this place for such a time as this, God placed her in this position in order to speak up on behalf of the Jewish people. There would have to be a response to what God has done in her life.

Application

and this is true in our lives as well. God has been preparing your life from before you were born, and he created you with a purpose in mind (Eph. 2:10) .

He has placed you in the home He wanted, in the school He wanted, in the church He wanted, in the Job that He wanted , to be married to the person He wanted......

all to fulfill His purpose in you. But what is required, is for you to respond to what God has done. And at times responding means to speak up, to say something just like Esther. Jay addressed this last week. That you may been put on this water polo team, on this soccer team, in this jiujitsu studio, on this baseball team… etc.. fill in the blank. But you may have been put in this place to be a voice and a light for God in a dark world.

Responding to God’s Work in My Life

Responding to God’s work in my life often takes.....

Pushing Past the Fear

Proverbs 29:25 NKJV

The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.

I often don’t speak up because I am scared. I am afraid of being labeled as weird. I am afraid of losing my friends. I am afraid of the things i can’t see. And this fear keeps me from responding to God’s work the proper way.

2. Taking Steps of Faith

sometimes we have a hard time responding to God’s work in our lives because it requires us taking a step of faith.

God often calls us to do things or say things that sound and look crazy. And often the fear ties in directly in my inability of taking steps of faith.

If you know me at all , or have been around our family for any length of time, you will know that there have been somethings that God has called us to do as a family , that from the sound of it, from the look of it , is absolutely crazy.

i have left positions in ministries, have left jobs or taken jobs that people looked at me and some said, you are crazy. We have sold our house before we had a house. We have moved Cities and moved Churches, and all along we have had people look at us … and have said … you are crazy. why would you do that.

There have been times when my wife, has even looked at me and is like “ you have lost your mind”.

But all these crazy steps of faith that we have taken has been because i have felt the Lord urge us and lead us to do it. Nothing has ever been done with my own thoughts behind it. And as i look back over the years on some of the crazy things we have stepped out to do, there is a trail of God’s faithfulness behind us. These steps of faith have built up our faith.

Transition

i say all that because this is exactly what Esther had to do. God had worked all things in her life to bring her to the place where she would have to respond and she would have to speak up for the Jewish people . This would be in the face of fear of her own life and would require a serious step of faith .

We saw that Mordecai sent a message to Esther to go to the King and to make supplication for Mordecai and for the Jewish people because of the decree that was out to kill the Jews.

Esther 4:11 - tells us that it was against the law to go into the Kings presence without being called by the king and to go to the king like that required the person to die. So you can see the difficulty.

Yet Esther calls for the people to pray and fast for 3 days and she has purposed in her heart to step out in faith. So as we move on in our story we are going to see how God honored Esther’s response in faith.

God always honors our obedience to His will and His word. And that obedience is often associated with God’s blessing. That blessing is often expressed in God’s favor. So today we are going to focus on what that looks like.

Esther obeyed God’s call on her life, and as a result she received blessings. Her blessings were in the form of favor in the things that she did.

II. God’s Favor in Esther’s Life (v.1-14)

A. Esther receives Favor to be Queen (v.1)

As we get into our story, you have to sit and remember where Esther has come from. To think that she is Queen and has access to the King’s palace is in and of itself an awesome thing.

you remember that there were some 400 women who had been brought before the King and out of those 400 women, Esther was the one who was picked. She recieved God’s favor in the selection process and she was chosen to be queen.

now you fast forward and she is in the King’s palace. And we are told that Esther makes up her mind after the 3 days of fasting and prayer that she is going to go to the King. She is about to take a step of faith .

she puts on her royal garments and she goes and stands in the inner court which is located in the King’s Palace. This across the King’s house where his royal throne was. We are told that the King would be able to see the inner court from His throne as he sat on it.

So Esther is taking a step of Faith and coming to the place where she can be seen by the King. This its self would be dangerous and would require her death. So as she stands in the place where she can be seen, she is trusting in God to spare her life, and trusting that God will open the door for her to be called into the king’s presence.

as a side note, there are often times that taking a step of faith requires moments of standing still alone and waiting for God to open doors. This is what we see here.

B. Esther finds Favor to Stand Before the King (v.2)

as Esther is standing and waiting for God to work, we see that God opens the door and she finds favor in the King and is asked to come near the King.

We are told that the King held out the golden scepter towards her which Es.4:11 tells us was a sign that the person may come near him.

this itself is an awesome picture of God’s favor on the life of a person. We see that God stirred up Esther to do something and she takes a step of faith and then stands still and waits for the next open door and next direction that God may have. And God opens the door.

God may often speak to your hearts to do something in faith, or to speak to someone and you don’t know why. and sometimes you just have to take the first step of faith and do what God is asking you to do today and then you may have to wait for God to reveal what is next.

here we see God working in every aspect of the life of Esther and He opens the doors for her.

C. Esther finds Favor in her Request (v.3-8)

So now as Esther is before the King’s presence he asks here what her request is. See the king understood the law, and he knew that whatever Esther needed must have been important if she was willing to put her life on the line by coming to him without being summoned.

The King says to her 2 times, “ what is your request and i will give you up to 1/2 of my kingdom”, it was not that he was actually willing to give her 1/2 the kingdom but a term used to emphasize that she had found favor in his sight, and that he was willing to grant her whatever her request was.

Esther answers by saying , if she has found favor in the King, then for him and Haman to come to the banquet that she has prepared.

now this is not an unusual request for in this time period, banquets would be used to discuss business. Once the people had eaten they would then discuss the matters of business.

so the king calls for Haman to come to the banquet that Esther has prepared.

At the Banquet

once at the banquet and possibly after they have eaten, the king now asks what the real reason for Esther calling the banquet is.

Esther answers in (v.7) by saying “if i have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request.... let the king and Haman come to the banquet which i will prepare tomorrow”.

we really don’t know if Esther was sacred and possibly trying to buy more time before she had to answer. or if maybe this was planned out.

because if you she want she requests it is pretty smart. She is basically saying .... if i have found favor in your sight and if you are willing to grant me anything i ask, then come again tomorrow. So by the king showing up to the banquet the next day he is agreeing to give her anything that she asks, regardless of what the request is.

smart to put the King in a situation like this which would put her in good favor.

we see that the king agrees with what Esther has said and the plan is now for another banquet tomorrow.

D. Esther finds Favor in Protection (v. 9-14)

Haman’s Inner Problem (v.9-13)

now as Haman leaves the banquet he is feeling really good. It tells us that he went out with a “joyful and with a glad heart”.

He is riding on a high right now. He was personally invited to not just one banquet but to two, and only he and the king were with the queen. He has recieved approval from the highest person in the land, the one person you would want to received approval from.

and then as he is walking he comes to the king’s gate where Mordecai is sitting. And it is interesting because it says that Mordecai did not stand or tremble before him.

this gives us insight to the fact that those that normally saw Haman did either one or both of these things, they either stood to up to show honor or they trembled or both in his presences knowing that he was a man in a high position. And it appears that Haman enjoyed this reaction from people. He enjoyed the attention and the approval from people.

so it is interesting that just coming from the a banquet where you are one of the special guests with the king , it could be said it is the highest honor. Still after this we are told that because of the lack of attention and approval from this man , he was filled with indignation. We was angry.

Yet in this moment , Haman restrains himself and sends for friends to come to his house as he has another party and he boast about all his money and his positions and his invitation to the queen’s banquet. Remember this man enjoys the attention and approval from people.

(v. 13) Haman says “yet all these avails me nothing, so long as i see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.

Transition

This gives us insight into the heart of Haman and what the real issue he had was.

how is it possible that you have just come off of this huge high , of receiving everything you would ever want and in a split second, all that feeling and emotion can be taken away by this one Jew?

It shows you that Haman was living and thriving for the approval of people. and the moment that he didn’t get the reaction he wanted from someone, all of the previous successes, previous feels were gone.

this is a perfect picture of a person who is living for the pursuits of this world.

in pursuit of ....

approval from my father, my parents, my friends, my peers, that boy or that girl

pleasure, either sexual pleasure , pleasure through extreme sports , pleasure through different feelings.

money , career , education

authority, titles, power and position

recognition , being well known or well liked.

all of these things we can pursue after with the attempt of filling the void in our hearts. And the reality is that for a moment we can find pleasure, we can find satisfaction, we can find fulfillment, but just like Haman sitting at the top, that feeling and that high goes away really quickly.

and as soon as that feeling of pleasure is gone, or that feeling of approval is gone, we are searching for the same feeling all over again.

This is a problem that Haman had, he was trying to fill his heart with something that could only be filled permanently by God.

and this is the very same thing that is still happening today. You look around at people you know, people you have seen, people on social media or tv. The same thing is true.

people who are trying to fill the empty hole they have in their hearts. This is why people pursue relations , and jump from one to another. There is a need to find fulfillment or to satisfy the desire for pleasure or to gain approval from the opposite sex because i didn’t get it from my dad or my mom.

or try to find fulfillment from drugs or alcohol , etc.....

The reality is that you and I can fall in this trap as well if we are not careful and if we do not understand that God made you and i with that hole in our hearts. And the reason is because He is the only one that can fill that hole or void

It is only in God that you will find satisfaction, that you will find fulfillment, that you will find the right pleasure. Only in a personal relationship with God will you find the longing of your heart that will last.

But if you do not understand this and if you do not make God your pursuit, then you will be pursuing everything under the son jumping from relationship to relationship, from excitement to excitement, never satisfied but all pursuing what is fleeting.

Hebrews 11:24–25 NKJV

By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,

Even Moses had to make that decision of pursuing the pleasures of this world that are fleeting or to pursue God.

2. Haman’s Wickedness Revealed (v. 14)

So Haman’s wive has an idea , for Haman to build gallows some 50 cubits high and to have Mordecai hang on there. And Haman enjoys this idea.

Two things to pick up quickly from this.

A. When you Pursue the Fulfillment of this World, you will be left irrational.

Haman was angry and not himself because of the empty filling he had, it would lead to making poor choices.

B. When you hang around bad company, it will corrupt you and will cost you

all his friends agreed that this was a great idea. yes lets build the gallows which were these long spears really that would be used to impale the person and would be left to hang on the pole.

the irony is that later we will see the bad advice of these people come back to haunt him, because he himself would be hung on these gallows.

1 Corinthians 15:33 NKJV

Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”

and yet with all of these evil at work behind the scene , we see God was not surprised. God would bring protection from all of the evil that Satan was planning.

and this is true for you and me, that God protects you and i from the evil of the world.

Isaiah 54:17 NKJV

No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord.

2 Timothy 4:18 NKJV

And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!

2 Thessalonians 3:3 NKJV

But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.

2 Samuel 22:3–4 NKJV

The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, My stronghold and my refuge; My Savior, You save me from violence. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.