Esther Makes the Enemy's Law Ineffective
SIN LESS series Part 14
November 23, 2014
MF Blume
Esther 8:1-8 On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of
Haman the Jews' enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before
the king; for Esther had told what he was unto her. (2) And
the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it
unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
(3) And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at
his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman
the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews.
(4) Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So
Esther arose, and stood before the king, (5) And said, If
it please the king, and if I have found favour in his sight, and the
thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it
be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of
Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews which are in
all the king's provinces: (6) For how can I endure to see
the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the
destruction of my kindred? (7) Then the king Ahasuerus said
unto Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given
Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows,
because he laid his hand upon the Jews. (8) Write ye also
for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king's name, and seal it with
the king's ring: for the writing which is written in the king's name,
and sealed with the king's ring, may no man reverse.
Esther and Mordecai were now out of danger.
But the JEWS were still in danger.
- So she asks how could she stand and watch her people destroyed.
Esther already gave her request.
- After she asked for deliverance for herself and her people, Haman was hanged and his house was given to her.
- Meanwhile the date for the Jews’ destruction was still coming.
- She found out that the law about slaying Jews that date could not
be revoked because the king’s name sealed it, and that meant the
king could not even erase it.
Esther learned that the King provided all that was required for the
Queen for her victory when he hanged Haman and gave Haman’s house
to her.
- Now the Queen had to do something.
- This is an answer for believers.
Once she had touched the scepter of the kingdom and came into contact
with power, she was given the ability to make a DECREE in the
king’s name.
Esther 8:9-10 Then were the king's scribes called at that time in
the third month, that is, the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth
day thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai
commanded unto the Jews, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies and
rulers of the provinces which are from India unto Ethiopia, an hundred
twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to the
writing thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to the
Jews according to their writing, and according to their language.
(10) And he wrote in the king Ahasuerus' name, and sealed it with
the king's ring, and sent letters by posts on horseback, and riders on
mules, camels, and young dromedaries:
Paul’s letters went to all the church in the New Testament.
- He wrote in the name of the Lord.
- And this is what he wrote:
Esther 8:11-12 Wherein the king granted the Jews which were in
every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life,
to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the
people and province that would assault them, both little ones and
women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey, (12) Upon
one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, namely, upon the
thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.
The law gave the Jews the authority to defend their lives and to FIGHT BACK.
- God cannot undo the law of sin and death.
- Paul said there is a LAW that we will face and will cause us to struggle in a way that Paul described as being slain.
Romans 7:8-9 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought
in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was
dead. (9) For I was alive without the law once: but when
the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
Things is like us trying to serve God and committing sins.
- It kills our testimony and our victory.
- So, picture your defeats like Haman’s law killing you.
The commandment of God speaks of the OLD TESTAMENT list of do’s and don’ts.
- It instructed Jews to use their will power and make themselves obey the rules.
- For example, Mordecai could not worship anybody else but God.
- That’s why he refused to bow.
- And just as HAMAN took advantage of that law of God and used it
to demand Mordecai’s death, SIN took advantage of the Law’s
demand for us to use will power to make ourselves do good.
- But SIN was stronger than will power, and Paul said his failure
was like law killing him, just as Haman set out to kill Mordecai.
Paul said his will power was not strong enough and he ended up doing what SIN urged him to do.
Romans 7:15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
Romans 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,)
dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to
perform that which is good I find not.
He had the will power!
- But it was not strong enough to stop sin that also dwelt inside him.
- And sin is in all of us.
- It’s in our flesh.
- Just like in the land of Syria that LAW OF HAMAN was still present.
- The Jews were going to die because Haman hated the Jews because they would not bow to him.
- Like the three Hebrew children who refused to bow at the king of Babylon and Daniel who prayed to God.
- They made laws to demand bowing and not praying.
- BUT GOD STEPPED IN!
Paul analyzed his situation and got revelation from it.
Romans 7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
It hit him!
Everytime Paul used will-power – used flesh – to serve God and make himself do good, another law would be fulfilled.
- It was like clockwork.
- You could count on it everytime!
- WHEN we do good… using flesh, or will power in other words, evil is present with us.
- Evil is right there to work.
- It’s like evil kicks into action WHEN WE USE WILL POWER TO SERVE GOD.
- But that’s what the OLD TESTAMENT demanded! USE WILL POWER!
- However, now that we’re saved by the CROSS, where sin is
washed away because we die with Jesus and resurrect with Him,
we’re not only free from sin, but we’re free from the
limitation of having to resort only to will power, or flesh, to make
ourselves do good.
Romans 7:4-6 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to
the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another,
even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth
fruit unto God. (5) For when we were in the flesh, the
motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to
bring forth fruit unto death. (6) But now we are delivered
from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should
serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
The motions of sins were by the law, because everytime we went to obey
the law by making ourselves do good through will power, sin went into
motion!
- You could count on it everytime!
- Only those who are saved can do this next point now, but we do not have to stick to one method to serve God.
- Serving God by the oldness of the letter is will power service.
- You’ll find out quickly that can’t work.
Will power is like a child’s hand taking your other hand to do
something good, but everytime you do it, a giant’s arm wrestling
hand forces it to do wrong instead.
- But we can SERVE IN NEWNESS OF THE SPIRIT.
- That’s why we read:
Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Call on God and pull back from using your will power alone, and ask His
hand to use yours like an instrument of righteousness in his hand.
While serving God in oldness of letter using “will power”
is not strong enough to stop sin from working its motions in us, but
actually FEEDS sin to work more the more we try, THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT
OF LIFE makes us free from the law of sin and death.
- It IS stronger than sin!
- We do not use will power when we keep the Law of the Spirit of LIFE.
- We serve God in NEWNESS OF LIFE!
- So we have to first recognize the difference and where our
mistake was in using a commandment type manner to serve God, and
instead realize there is another METHOD.
- It’s the law of the Spirit of life.
- It’s newness of Spirit.
- And we have to find out how we serve in newness of spirit.
- Whatever this method has us do, it’s something we
consciously have to first come to understand and stop using will power
to keep
- rules.
Here is where we go back to Esther’s entrance to the KING.
Romans 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of
unrighteousness unto sin: but (1) yield yourselves unto God, as those
that are alive from the dead, and (2) your members as instruments of
righteousness unto God.
It’s one thing to finally get (1) the boldness to go before God
in faith that HE WELCOMES YOU so you don’t have the unbelief that
your prayers won’t be heard.
- So many believers are stuck there.
- They do not read their bibles in faith and come across these
truths that inform us the work of the cross made us worthy to be
received by God.
- So when they pray their prayers lack faith and God simply cannot answer without our faith.
- So that’s how important it is for us to learn what the cross did for us to make us fit to be received and heard by God.
- Once you get that down pat, (2) NOW YOU LEARN WHAT ELSE IS AVAILABLE TO YOU by ENTERING!
1) When Esther got bold enough to go before the king, that
represents presenting yourself to God as those alive from the dead.
2) But when she went further and wanted to see her enemy
Haman dealt with and stop the law he initiated, that is related to
presenting our BODILY MEMBERS as instruments of God’s
righteousness.
That is the part in our lives when we start overcoming sin.
Overcoming that DEATH that the bible calls it when we sin and fail in serving God.
In Esther’s story, she was told to USE THE KING’S NAME AND AUTHORIZE JEWS TO FIGHT BACK!
- Here is how you FIGHT BACK.
- When we know we can go into the holiest, which represents faith
that God will hear us and answer us because of the work of the cross on
our lives, WE BRING HIS POWER INTO THE EQUATION.
- Before, we only used will-power.
- But we STOP doing that.
- The first part of 6:13 (1) shows us we’re fit and alive from the dead.
- But the second part (2) is where OUR BEHAVIOUR COMES IN.
- It deals with the problem of being defeated.
- After you present YOURSELF to Him like one fit because
you’re alive from the dead (which means you’re free from
the sin that makes you repulsive to Him), YOU ALSO PRESENT YOUR BODY
PARTS AS HIS INSTRUMENTS FOR HIM TO USE!
- Now, it’s not just brain impulses from “will
power” that course through your arms to do what is good, which
barely works, BUT YOU HAVE GOD’S POWER INVITED TO USE YOUR BODY
PARTS!
You believe that HE WILL EMPOWER YOU to affect YOUR BEHAVIOUR NOW.
- Remember the whole issue of Romans 6-7 is about Paul wanting to do good but finding himself sinning instead.
- Your WILL works with HIS NOW.
- So it regards behavior and sinning.
- That’s our enemy.
- That’s how we’re slain. That’s what killing the Jews in Esther represents.
- So, gaining this power from GOD to affect our behavior is how we overcome being slain by committing sins.
- AND since we know we’re fit for God to answer our prayers
now, THIS KIND OF PRAYER may be beyond the limits of anything we every
even thought to pray before, but HE WILL ANSWER IT, TOO!
- And so we walk away in faith KNOWING GOD WILL DO WHAT WE ASKED,
since we were fit to enter because we’re alive form the dead
meaning we’re free from sin that hinders Him from answering us,
AND WE WAIT UPON THE LORD.
Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD (NOT USE WILL
POWER) shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as
eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not
faint.
Wings of eagles are not NATURAL to us any more than OLIVE OIL is natural to ALMOND TREES.
- It’s UNNATURAL POWER that we receive.
- And what GOD could do by possessing that power is what Isaiah says we can do.
Isaiah 40:28-31 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that
the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth,
fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his
understanding. (29) He giveth power to the faint; and to
them that have no might he increaseth strength. (30) Even
the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly
fall: (31) But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew
their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall
run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
God who does get weary can GIVE POWER TO US so WE WILL RUN AND NOT BE WEARY!
It’s unnatural to us, so using will power to gather up all your
natural power to do good is certainly not to be compared to GOD GIVING
YOU POWER to be able to experience what HE EXPERIENCES!
WAITING means you are not doing something using will power.
- You put will power on hold and WAIT for the impetus from God.
- You are not alone trying to serve Him now but COOPERATING WITH HIM for you to serve Him!
- You’ve pulled his power into the equation now.
- THE LIFE you live by is not natural, but it’s the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus!
- UNNATURAL divinely empowering life!
Mordecai put it in letters sealed with the king’s name for the people to stand up and fight back.
Now you can fight back against the law of sin and death and stop this
cursed sinning all the time that is as good as slaying you!
The letters of Paul are there in the New Testament!
- Study and read them.
- Believe them.
1 Corinthians 14:37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or
spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you
are the commandments of the Lord.
PRAY IN JESUS’ NAME and call on God.
- Take the letters you received from Paul and do what they said!
- Give God yourself and your bodies to use, instead of giving them to your will power.
- Your will is not abandoned.
- It’s just not the primary force any more.
- YOU WORK WITH GOD as he empowers you.
That is what it means to go in the name of the Lord!
- You are going in his authority and his authorization for you to go in his power!
- His Spirit is on you to overcome sin.
- Your faith has allowed Him to bless you with strength.
Think of the need to stop relying on will power when you read this:
Zechariah 4:6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is
the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by
power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
You believed God for HIS SPIRIT to work with you now.
When you pray in unbelief thinking something about you is lacking, the
faith God needs to answer you is absent, and He cannot help.
- He made you worthy but you do not believe it.
- You look to something else to make you worthy aside from his work
on the cross, which is your will power to make yourself do good.
- And God sees you attempting a prayer outside the holiest when he cannot hear you so to speak out there.
But once bold enough to go in, you then discover the same source of
flesh you looked for to make yourself worthy, that you now know
is ridiculous, is the source you looked for to fight sin in your life.
- Your will power to be good not only stopped you from entering the
holiest, since it gave you a sense of not being good enough in its
lies, but you realize also that you cannot use it to serve God and stop
committing sins!
- Reliance on will power alone was the problem in both cases!
- And the answer to both cases is the work of the cross!
- It not only gets you into see say you’re alive from the
dead, which means you died were made free from sin and are alive again
freed from that sin, making you worthy, but the cross also made you fit
to receive POWER that God only gives to people free from sin.
- So you believe for HIM TO empower you and His Word says you will see victory over sin in your life!
- YOU FIGHT BACK IN HIS POWER!