Book of Esther - Part 21

Well good to see everyone. Good day in the house of the Lord. Let's turn to the book of Esther chapter 7 and verse 5. All right let's have a word of prayer and we'll begin. Lord we thank you for this time to come together and worship you, learn of you, study the word together, and to praise you.

And Lord we ask you to bind and rebuke the enemy, the devil, and the demons. Send them away from this place that we might study for a while in secret. And Lord we ask you to teach each of us what we need to learn about spiritual warfare today through this passage and to bless each family here with the peace that comes through having the proper armor.

And Lord even when we don't have days of peace at least we're equipped to deal with it. And Lord we just ask you to make each of us to be the salt and the light that we're supposed to be in this generation.

We ask it in Jesus name. Amen. All right well we're going through the book of Esther. I want you to read this with me and then we're going to use this as a launching pad I guess to go out and study what this portion of Esther is picturing.

The Bible tells us that the Old Testament is given to us as in samples. That means examples and types. And so all of the stories, the historical stories in the Old Testament are word pictures of spiritual truth.

Esther as a Picture of Spiritual Warfare

So let's look at this one. Then the king Ahasuerus, who happened to have been the king of the whole world in his day. The secular historians call him Artaxerxes. So you've probably heard of that king when you studied in school.

This is the same one. And he answered and said unto Esther the queen who is he and where is he that durst presume in his heart to do this. Esther has just revealed to the king that there is this man named Haman who wanted to kill her, not really her father, but the man who raised her, the one she saw as her father.

Mordecai was his name, a Jewish man. And the king does not at this point know that Esther is a Jew. She never revealed it to him because her father asked her not to. So she obeyed him. And she says this man wants to kill my father Mordecai and kill all the entire nation of the Jews.

All of the Jewish people that are mixed among your nation. Of course since he was the king of practically the whole world that meant that Haman wanted to destroy all the Jewish people in the world. And Haman was inspired by the devil, but the same devil who inspired Hitler to attempt to do the same thing during World War II.

And it indicates to us pretty clearly in the scripture that that same devil will put it in the minds of the world leaders to try to destroy the Jews and the Christians in the end times. So we battle not against flesh and blood.

It's not Haman that the battle was with, but we battle against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places. And the thing is though Haman in this story is a type or a picture of Satan.

King Ahasuerus is a type or a picture of the Father, God the Father, and Queen Esther, or I should say of Jesus Christ. And Queen Esther is a picture of the Bride of Christ which is you, the church. So we have all this pictured here.

Now what has happened is that the bride has just announced to the king that there's a person who wants to kill me. Now I want you to see what this is picturing. And as soon as she announces to the king there is a person who wants to kill me, the king says, who is he and where is he and I'll deal with it.

Now that's exactly what your king does, Jesus Christ. When the enemy comes at you, whether it be through himself, through demons, or a demon, or more than one demons, or through the world system, or through your own flesh, those are the three enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil.

However he attacks you, if you will go to the Lord and just say, look there's one wants to kill me right now. Whether it be physically or spiritually doesn't matter, just say he is after me right now.

And you know what the Lord Jesus will say? He'll say, who is this and where is he? Leave it up to me, I'll take care of it. Just tell me who it is and where is he and what's he doing to you, I'll take care of it.

All of that is pictured in verse 5. It's quite beautiful actually. In verse 6 says, and Esther said, the adversary, the enemy. You see that's exactly who Satan is called in the Bible, the adversary, the devil.

His name is the adversary. So she says, the adversary, the enemy, is this wicked Haman. And then Haman was afraid. See that's exactly what Satan will, the exact response Satan will have if you understand this and understand how to utilize it.

There's nowhere in the Bible where it says turn your back on Satan and run from him. There are places that say run from the temptations of the flesh. You see it's interesting we have three enemies but the way you approach them are different and if you get those confused you won't win.

For example, the flesh, if you think you can just stand up to that and resist it, you're gonna lose because you can't. It's too strong for you besides that you're surrounded by it, right? We live in the flesh.

We live in this body. So the Bible never says just to try to be strong and stand up to the flesh. What it says is flee youthful lusts. It means when you'd like to flee the situations that would might cause you to sin because you're weak in the flesh.

So it doesn't say to resist that, it says to run from it. Run as fast as you can in the other direction from any situation in your life that could put you in a compromising situation. Does that make sense?

That's the approach to the flesh. We're not really studying the flesh today, we're studying the devil. And the devil, the Bible says the opposite. It says do not turn your back because you don't have any armor.

Check out Ephesians chapter 6 and see if there's any armor listed that's for your back. The shield is in front of you. The breastplate is in front of you. The sword is held in front of you. So you don't turn your back on Satan, you turn to him and you look him square in the face and you say, Lord, he's bothering me.

And the Lord says, who is he and where is he? I'll take care of it. And at that moment the Bible says Satan trembles. Now do you believe that? You have to believe it. The Word says it. So just believe it.

And if you act on that in faith, you'll be surprised how it will free up peace in your family. Jesus, our King, is just saying, who is it that's bothering you? Tell me where he is, let me deal with it.

And then the Bible, the very next verse says, and Satan trembled. Haman trembled. Haman was afraid before the King and the Queen. So you put the King and the Queen together as one and Satan can't handle that.

You take the Queen by herself, he can handle that. Satan can handle that. Satan can handle you and me. You know what I'm saying? Don't ever think, oh, I rebuke you, Satan. You've heard people like, there's certain religious groups that talk like that.

It's ridiculous. You're not gonna rebuke Satan. You know, I remember the man in the Bible that tried that once and the demon jumped right on top of him, tore his clothes off and beat the crud out of him.

Almost killed him. They said, you know what the demon said to that man? He said, look, Peter and Paul we know, we don't know who you are. And then they tore him up. Don't try that. What you do is you go to your King and you say, there's someone bothering me here.

This demon is bothering me. This devil is bothering me. Would you please take care of that? And then that's how that is handled. So this is the story that we're in. Now that we took a kind of a launching pad there and we're into a study, a rather brief study, probably not more than three Sundays, study of Lucifer.

The one, the adversary that is pictured here by Esther. And you're laughing at me because it's already been three Sundays, but that's okay. It doesn't matter. The adversary, the enemy. Well, we know in first Peter chapter five that that is the title of Satan.

It says, be sober, be vigilant because your adversary, the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. So we talked about that a little bit last time. We'll continue. Last time we talked about that his name is adversary.

In the Greek language, it means against that which is right. And then it mentions his second title here in that same verse in first Peter 5 8. Then it calls him the devil. The Greek word for devil is slanderer.

Now do you know what it is to slander someone? It means to say that they are something they're not. You're doing a character assassination. You see what I'm saying? That's what slandering is. It's saying lies about another person to bring that person down.

That is his name, the devil. He's always trying to cause us to bring other people down by putting thoughts in our minds. He's always trying to cause division and he does it through slandering. So think about that.

When you have a thought about your brother and sister, you might want to go to the brother and sister and ask him because the devil is probably slandering them in your mind. Now think about that. That is his name.

That's what he does. Have you ever had that happen? Of course, everyone in here has. Tell you what, you take any relationship where you have a leader like you take the home where the husband's leader and the wife is then the leader of the children.

As you go up that chain of command, if you don't have very good communication, or like if there's time that passes before communication or just being together, then what happens is the devil begins to slander against the leader.

He'll tell the kids things in their mind where they won't get along with the mom. He'll tell the wife things about the husband that aren't true and stuff like that. Now you go into business situation, you have to have a leader in business.

Usually, if it's a company like ours, everybody loves each other. I mean it's a fantastic company over at New Venture. We all love each other, but I will promise you even in that environment, if time goes by where the leader can't be there because he's doing something else for whatever reason, not that this is happening now, it's not, so it's a good time to talk about it, but I mean if time goes by, the enemy will come and put in the follower's mind that the leader has a problem with me for whatever reason.

I don't even think they like me anymore. Stuff like that, who knows what it'll be. It's just bizarre stuff he'll put in your mind about that leader. It's not even true, and if you go to the leader and just ask him, he'll say, oh that's not true.

Sorry I made you feel that way. Man, I've just been busy. Something like that, and then it goes away. How many of you ever experienced that? Isn't that the strange? In your marriage, it's that way. If you just communicate, you say, oh man, that's not what I meant.

I know I said that. That's weird. I can't believe I said that, but I sure didn't mean it, and I don't feel that way in my heart towards you. Please forgive me, and it just goes away, but if you don't do the communication, it turns into another thing the Bible talks about which is called bitterness, and bitterness is a terrible thing in the heart and soul because you get bitter towards a person because you didn't work it out.

That's one reason the Lord says don't go to sleep at night without working it out. You know, if you have a problem with another Christian, especially if it's your spouse, you have a problem, that's fine.

Have at it. I wouldn't raise the voice too much in a marriage. I don't believe in that. You don't need to raise your voice and holler at each other, but you can disagree. That's fine, but before you go to sleep, kiss and make up.

Get it right, and if you're not the guilty party, go ahead and apologize anyway. Make up something you did do wrong and apologize, and then the guilty party will apologize, and you can kiss and make up, and that's the fun part.

That's how it works. That's why I always apologize first in our marriage, so I'm kidding. That's not why. I usually do apologize first, but that's not why. So it works in all the business relationships, church relationships, home.

If you know the enemy, and you know that your battle is not with that person, we battle not against flesh and blood, then you can attack the right enemy, and here's the keys to how you do it. You just go to Jesus, and you say, enemy's picking on me.

Well, what's his name? Where is he? It's pretty much that simple, and then make sure you're walking with Jesus. All right? Helps if the other person does too. Now, it says, goes on and says in that same passage, he is a roaring lion.

What does that mean? I'll tell you what it means. He's a slaughterer. He is a destroyer of nations. He is the destroyer of families. He's the destroyer of homes. He's the destroyer of churches. He's the destroyer of institutions, and it says in Scripture, he's the destroyer of nations.

All you have to do is look at every nation. Talked about it in Sunday school this morning. Jeffrey was talking about nations, and Satan is the destroyer, and one of his purposes is to tear nations down where they go away.

Good nations that are founded on good things, and he eliminates them through his wiles. If you go to 1 Corinthians chapter 10, where we were last Sunday, we talked about all that passage down through verse 1 through 10, but let me just pick it up at verse 10.

So please turn now with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 10. Whoops, I don't. And I just pull that out of that passage because I want you to get the title here. One of Satan's titles is the destroyer.

Now all these things happened unto them. Who is them? That's any of these Old Testament saints that we read these historical stories about. Why did these things happen to them? And it gives you the answer in the next phrase.

For examples. That's just an old English word for examples. And they were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the age are come. That's us. We're in the end times. We're in the end of this church age.

It's almost over. And so every story in the Old Testament is written for us as examples. How? A physical example to teach a spiritual truth. If you will look at the stories and spiritualize them, you will gain from that.

You have to be careful and make sure you get the types right and make sure each person in the story is representing the right thing. And that's where the Holy Spirit comes in and also the other scriptures.

You have to hold everything up against every other scripture. It all has to fit. But it's amazing what it will teach us if we look at these Old Testament stories that were given as examples for those of us who are in the end of time.

Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. So that means none of us can think we're so strong that we're just gonna be okay because the enemy is strong and he will attack. He'll find your weakest moment.

I believe sincerely that the scripture indicates that he has a huge hierarchy of fallen angels and there is at least one or more assigned to you and watches you all the time. Now that'll freak you out, won't it?

He knows your weaknesses of the flesh. These know your weakness. Your weakness is different than mine, I'll guarantee you. We all have them but they're all different. And it's their job to figure it out, report it right up the chain of command to Satan.

And it's their job to then bring that back down and use your weakness to create division and problems and trouble for other people. Now how do you like the way that feels? Does that feel good that you are a problem for other people?

That's their job is to make you be a problem for other people of God and for the kingdom or the church or the organization whatever the deal is. And so you have got to never be so prideful that you think that you can't fall or you can't create a problem.

It's always the other person. See if you're that way then that's a weakness he'll use. It's amazing but listen he's had lots of thousands of years to work on us. Satan doesn't really need new tactics he just needs a new generation to pick on.

They don't know what's going on. The younger generation doesn't have a clue because they don't understand spiritual warfare yet. So he just does the same stuff to them that he did to us. Sad, isn't it?

How many of you older guys like me would want to go back and relive anything? Now I mean I know there's some moments like with my kids when they were babies or whatever stage I'd like to live like a moment of that.

I'm not talking about that. How many of you like to have to go back and be there and live there to start from there again? Is there anybody? No. Now you young people that might think that's interesting that here I'm 57 year old dude and I don't want to go back and be 20.

I think it's good God makes it that way though isn't it? Because we'd be sad all the time but I don't want to. Listen there's lessons you guys got to learn that I've already learned and I don't have to learn them again.

And I remember what I went through to learn it and I don't want to ever go through it again. I'm not trying to discourage you and it won't matter because you're resilient. Young people are resilient. You don't think it you think you're bulletproof anyway, right?

And nothing can happen to you. So that's good that you feel that way because then you would be miserable all the time. So God's got this worked out where it works. He's got us older people not wanting to be young again and he's got you not wanting to be old so it's cool.

It's cool but the thing is I'm telling you the battles are terrible to go through but when you come out on the other side you are stronger every single time and that's what God's design and it is and that's why he created Lucifer.

Do you think it surprised God when Lucifer fell? You see Lucifer was known as the son of the morning. He was not the devil when he was created. He was the archangel. He's created with instruments in his hand.

He had three of them. I'll save that in a minute because it's a later point. But the point is he was created with the purpose of guarding the holiness of God. He was the closest angel to God and he fell and hates God now and hates Jesus more than anybody and hates you because you love Jesus and Jesus loves you so he hates you as a byproduct and that's who he is.

Do you think any of that surprised God? No. It was all part of his plan. Lucifer is just a servant of God. He happens to be a servant who hates the job. He hates God. He hates it. He'll never give God any glory for anything but he follows him, does everything God wants him to do.

He just doesn't know it. Isn't that interesting? Did you know there are humans like that too? They're called the non-elect. Lost people who never end up getting saved. They're still serving God. They're putting groceries on the shelf for you to eat.

You're God's children. Everything you need is there and half the time it's the non-elect putting it there for you. You can't tell me. I mean they grow they grow the vegetables. They run the cattle. They create software that works and cool gadgets like smartphones, all that stuff.

A lot of those people are not God's children. Some of them are but they're certainly not all are are they and yet they're all serving the Lord making his history come out exactly like he has it planned out.

So everyone serves the Lord. The Bible even says in the end time of the end of even this age that every knee shall bow including Lucifer. He shall bow down to Jesus Christ. You think he'll like it? Nope but he won't have a choice.

You know why? Because it's the same one that said well who is it where is he and he will tremble when he bows down but he will bow down and beyond that it's gonna be worse stuff than that that happens to him and we'll get to that.

But so so here we see him called the destroyer. He wants to divide. He wants to cause division and destroy relationships to destroy organizations, homes and families and churches and governments, countries.

So here these things are interesting to take a look at when we look at the nature of this one called Lucifer. Wherefore let him that thinketh he stand take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man but God is faithful who will not suffer or allow you to be tempted above that which you are able but with the temptation will also make a way to escape and you may be able to bear it wherefore my dearly beloved flee idolatry.

So you can it's you can it's kind of weird to think but there is no temptation that you cannot escape because God just said so so you don't ever have to sin. How's that? So why don't we just have a New Year's resolution.

We better not do that because because then we might want to party between now and 1st January. I don't know but like it what if you just had a New Year's resolution you said okay look I'm gonna believe that verse I'm just not gonna sin this year.

Do you think that could happen? That's the problem. You don't think it could happen but it could. I remember my mentor Dr. Freeman saying in front of huge churches and just he'd get excited start raising his voice a little bit.

Show me in the Bible where it says you have to sin or that you can't go long seasons of time with no sin. Show me where it says that and then he'd take his glasses off and say but you probably won't. He didn't wear glasses but he well he wore sunglasses most of time but he would just look down and say but you probably won't.

Do you see the truth of it though? There's power in that verse you don't have to sin and listen we live in moments anyway isn't that true? So I'm not gonna sit here and say you're gonna go the next week without sinning.

I mean I'm not that foolish or that I'm going to but what I can tell you is the moment you're living in right now you don't have to sin because even if a temptation came to you in this moment God says every single one of them that comes I myself now who's I there that's God my God himself has provided a an escape from that so you don't have to do it.

Is that amazing? That's powerful. So in each moment you can avoid sin by knowing that truth and the more moments you put together the longer seasons you can go without sin. First Peter chapter 5 verse 9 gives us a little further insight into this one that is known as the lion as the adversary as the devil the slanderer and the destroyer.

First Peter 5 9 says how to deal with that enemy we discussed it already a few moments ago but here it is in the scripture it says whom resist steadfast in the faith that is the method for dealing with that battle when your battle is with the devil the method is to withstand to stand steadfast resist steadfast.

The word resist in the Greek language means to stand against so when Satan is attacking you don't turn and try to run from it you turn towards him and you lean into him. Isn't that interesting? But there's a key to how to do that and you go back into Esther chapter 7 and I want to I want to remind you because here's what it says in verse 6 then Haman was afraid before or standing standing against the king and the queen the key word there is the word and all right so when you lean into Satan you don't ever do it by yourself.

You have the king you're the queen. You're like the bride of Christ if you're part of the church and Jesus is the groom the king you're the queen he's the king. You will make sure Jesus is right there and and then hand in hand with him you lean into the devil.

You resist steadfast. Now if it if resist means to stand against or to oppose or to withstand then the adverb there is the word steadfast it tells you how to resist and it says steadfast in the faith.

So you can't do it with your muscles. Okay sorry guys you can't do it with your wit ladies in your beauty just can't. That's not how you handle this one. It is a spiritual battle and it's all about faith in the word steadfast comes from a little Greek word it means stiff or solid or stable strong and sure.

So you remain very solid almost rigid in your faith. That's the key rigid in your faith knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. And that interesting that the Bible says that when you're attacked by Satan it helps you to know that you're not the worst victim in the world.

I don't. You think we have a little bit too much problem in the country nowadays with everybody feeling they're a victim. You got to help with those guys on Wall Street. They're marching out there saying look we're angry because you bailed out the bailed out the banks.

We got college loans and all this. And now you need to bail us out. We're the victim. You need to give us some money. Well where does it make it right. I mean if if you think they shouldn't have given the money to the banks why do you think that makes it right that they should give it to.

You do two wrongs. Make a right. Where do you get that philosophy. I mean it's just amazing. The level of inability of young Americans and most of them are college kids by the way. But the ability of young Americans to are the inability to use logic clear reasoning logic.

They lack that ability now it's sad not all of you but I'm just saying as a nation as a nation that's what we're putting out. And our young people they have. No they've never even taken a logic class.

Take one study logic. It's a form of philosophy. Study it. It'll change your life. But God says come let us reason together. Well you can't reason with people that are just don't have any ground of philosophical ground.

And they don't even know why they're there. They've been asking these guys out there why are you here. And they give 15 different answers. Nobody even knows why they're there. They're there because some liberal organization a bunch of liberals got together and and created the energy for it and brought in some college kids who don't have a philosophical groundwork.

And they bring them in. They follow them around like sheep and that's why they're there. But they don't know why they're there. So they're just in the street living there creating slop slop in anarchy.

Give me something. I'm a victim. Wow. What a strong nation we have created here and so. So you look at this and God tells you this look when you are attacked by the enemy you need to understand that these same attacks the very same thing that's happening to you are accomplished in your brothers and sisters that are in the world all around you they're all being attacked.

It's not just you it's all part of God's plan because the battle is what makes you stronger. But the God of all grace who has called us unto his eternal glory by Jesus Christ. After that he lets you suffer for a little while will make you perfect establish strengthen and settle you to him be glory dominion forever and ever.

Amen. So who does that tell you the battle really belongs to it tells you right there. God's the one that's gonna bail you out. God is the one. I mean why is it that Esther went to the king. Why didn't she just go attack Haman start slapping him around.

Well cuz Haman would have whipped her might have killed her. So she didn't. She just turned to the king and said there he is right there there's my adversary. And at that moment Haman began to shudder.

Lucifer as the Destroyer of Nations

Isaiah chapter 14 verse 12 says. How art thou fallen from heaven O Lucifer son of the morning. How art thou cut down to the ground which didst weaken the nations. He is the destroyer of nations. He is the one who weakens the nations.

You look at the country we live in now and you see how we can in in this just paltry it really is. There's been a person weakening it for years and his name is Lucifer. Now let me give you a fourth thing that he's called.

He is called the accuser. So let's turn to Revelation chapter 12 verse 10 for a minute. Revelation chapter 12 verse 10 gives him a new title. So we start to learn his character by his names. He's known as the adversary that means to stand against that which is right.

He's known as the devil and that means the slanderer. He's known as the Lord the roaring lion and that means the destroyer. And now he's known as the accuser. In verse 10 of Revelation 12 it says. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven now is come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ.

For the accuser of our brethren is cast down which accused them before our God day and night. Now you know it's interesting that some people have said that can't happen anymore. But I find it interesting that that's written in the book of Revelation chapter 12 which is off in the future somewhere.

And it's still happening there. So why would we think it's not happening now. And I know some scholars say it's because the cross changed that. Well the cross. If you take book Revelation the cross probably happened over 2 ,000 years in the past from when this was written.

And so apparently then Lucifer is still the accuser of the brethren and he can still this before God day and night. Now let's look at something interesting. Turn keep your hand there. But turn to Job chapter 1 verse 1.

And there was a man in the land of I started to say Oz but it's us whose name was Job and that man was perfect and upright and one that feared God and hated evil. Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord the Lord.

There means Jehovah. That is in my view Jesus Christ and Satan came also among them. Now who are these sons of God. There's a lot of theological debate about that. But you know many commentators believe it means the angelic beings those who God created.

And if they came before God fellowship for other purposes who knows all the purposes. And Satan being one of God's creation angelic being came with them. And there he was as well. And it says he came also now.

That's kind of that word also is interesting because it doesn't include him in the group of angels. But he came also with them. So he is a fallen angel. And the Lord said unto Satan where'd you come from.

It's almost like saying why are you here. And then Satan answered the Lord and said from going to and fro on the earth. So apparently he could go to other planets and other places in the universe. Isn't that interesting.

And he says and from walking up and down in the earth. And the Lord said unto Satan hast thou considered my servant Job. That there is none like him in the earth. Perfect and upright man one that fears God and hates evil.

And Satan answered the Lord and said does Job fear God for nothing. Now what is he doing. He's slandering Job. He's put he's trying to put some doubt in Jesus Christ's mind about his servant Job. He said well is he serving you.

For no reason. You're trying to say he's serving you because he's good. Could it be serving you because you made him rich. You gave him a wonderful wife. We know that if you know the book of Job you know I'm being facetious.

But you gave him some wonderful kids. And he loves his children and all this land. And he's one of the wealthiest men in the world. Is not the wealthy. No wonder he follows you. Now what kind of line of attack is that.

He is accusing a man who hasn't done anything wrong. He's slandering and accusing him and trying to make Trump up charges against this man in front of God Almighty has not doubt. Put a hedge around him that woke you up.

And about his house and about all that he has on every side. I mean you've given him your protection. Have you not blessed the work of his hands. And his substance is increased in the land. He's wealthy.