Jesus is our Great Defender
Sermon Audio
Sermon Notes
Intro:
Today we begin our final decent, our final 3 weeks in a series we’ve been doing on a book of the bible called Esther. It’s been a series on God’s hidden work in our imperfect world, and before we get into today’s message I want to remind you that 2 Sunday’s from now on August 11th, we’re having a Brunch For Baby to celebrate our Executive Pastor Zack and his wife Brittany’s baby that’ll be arriving soon. We’d love to bless them with some baby essentials like diapers and wipes for all the hard work they do in our church. So make plans to stick around on August 11th to celebrate them, and if you’d like more information you can see my wife Andrea at our next steps table in the back. She’ll have some invite cards with more information after the service...I also wanted to give special thanks to our elders Eric and Joe who preached their 1st sermons a few weeks ago. One of our codes here at City Awakening is Multiplication isn’t an option it’s a must, and we’re seeing that code being lived out through the multiplication of our elders. Our goal isn’t to build this church on a person or personality, it’s to build it on Jesus and the multiplication of his disciples. So much love to Eric and Joe for stepping up to fulfill the preaching role, and we’re picking up Esther where they left off.
Now if you notice people don’t really debate over sin being a bad thing. They debate over what’s considered to be a sin, but they don’t debate over sin being a bad thing. It’s because we know sin’s damaging to our lives, marriages, families, and relationships. We know there’s sinful things we do and sinful things done to us that are harmful to us and our relationships. Sin’s never a good thing. It’s always a bad thing, always damaging to us and our relationships, and in today’s text we’ll see that God’s doing something about the damaging effects of sin. He’s redeeming what sin’s destroying...God’s redeeming, what sin’s destroying, and that’s what we’re gonna talk about today. So let’s turn to Esther 8:1-17 and get into it. If you go to the middle of your bible, turn left to find Psalms, a few books over from that is Esther. We’ll be in Esther 8:1-17. The title of today’s message is Jesus Is Our Great Defender, and here’s the big idea. God is redeeming, what sin is destroying...God is redeeming, what sin is destroying. Jesus is our great defender!
Context:
Here’s your context. We’re dealing with a period in history where the Persians are the most powerful empire in the world, they’re being led by the evil king Ahasuerus who’s also known as Xerxes, and he’s married to Esther who’s a Jew. Well Esther’s cousin Mordecai ends up having issues with a guy named Haman who’s Xerxes 2nd in command, and Haman creates a decree to kill Mordecai and all the Jews. Xerxes approves the decree not knowing Esther’s a Jew, and in ch’s 6-7 Esther exposes Haman’s plan, Xerxes has Haman executed for it, but the Jews are still at risk. They’re still at risk because the Persians had a law that once the king makes a decree, it can’t be changed. So although Haman’s dead, his genocidal decree isn’t dead, and the Jews are at risk. But God’s about to redeem, what Haman’s sin is destroying. Let’s check it out.
The Word:
Esther 8:1-17 states, “On that day King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her. 2 And the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.” Okay so I’ve broken the text down into 3 major sections and this is the 1st section, it’s The Redeeming. Vs. 1-2 starts the process of God redeeming and reversing what Haman’s sin was trying to destroy. Esther and Mordecai go from Haman’s sinful decree threatening to destroy their lives, to God using Xerxes to save and redeem their lives. They go from death sentence to life, from losing everything at the sinful hands of Haman, to gaining everything that belonged to Haman. Esther receives Haman’s Estate, puts Mordecai in charge of it, and Xerxes even gives Mordecai his signet ring which was massively important back then. The person with the king’s signet ring had the authority to make decisions on behalf of Xerxes. So Mordecai now has the same legal authority as Xerxes, the same legal authority as the most powerful man on earth. He receives the very position Haman had as Xerxes 2nd in command. He goes from mourning at the king’s gate and not being allowed to enter the king’s gate in ch. 4, to now being 2nd in command over the king’s gate and the king’s entire empire. Make no mistake about it...God is redeeming, what Haman’s sin was destroying.
Vs. 3, “Then Esther spoke again to the king. She fell at his feet and wept and pleaded with him to avert the evil plan of Haman the Agagite and the plot that he had devised against the Jews. 4 When the king held out the golden scepter to Esther, Esther rose and stood before the king. 5 And she said, ‘If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and if the thing seems right before the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let an order be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king. 6 For how can I bear to see the calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?’” This is the 2nd sectional break in the text. The 1st is The Redeeming, and the 2nd is The Responsibility. With redemption, comes responsibility...With redemption, comes responsibility. It’s the responsibility to help save and redeem others. God didn’t redeem Esther and Mordecai, give them the positions and resources they now have, to sit in luxury while the Jews are destroyed by Haman’s sinful decree. He redeemed them for a purpose, given them their positions and resources for a purpose. It’s to use their positions and resources to help save and redeem the Jews!
Look Esther certainly feels the weight of this responsibility. She’s not sitting back and doing nothing, she’s on her knees pleading and begging for Xerxes to spare the Jews. Vs. 6 says she can’t bear to see the calamity, she can’t bear to see the destruction of her people. She’s not thinking about herself, she’s thinking about her friends, family, neighbors, others who haven’t yet been saved and redeemed. City Awakening do you love your friends, family, neighbors, the people in our city like that?...Do you love them to the point where like Esther, you can’t bear to see their calamity, bear to see their destruction, or even worse see them headed for an eternal hell apart from the saving, redeeming love of Jesus? Are you living in our city with redeeming responsibility, or sitting in redeeming luxury?...With redemption, comes responsibility. It’s the responsibility to help save and redeem others, like Esther and Mordecai are doing. In vs. 7-9 Xerxes tells them to use his signet ring to write a new decree to counter Haman’s decree, and they do it. You can read vs. 7-9 on your own, but let’s go to vs. 10 so you can see what Mordecai writes in this new decree. He’s fulfilling his responsibility to help save and redeem the Jews.
Vs. 10, “And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s signet ring. Then he sent the letters by mounted couriers riding on swift horses that were used in the king’s service, bred from the royal stud, 11 saying that the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included, and to plunder their goods, 12 on one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.” Where’s our Talladega Nights Jesus in that?... Where’s our cute, little, sweet, cuddly baby Jesus in that?...I mean where’s the grace in this, in the Jews killing their enemies including women and children?...How’s this any different than Haman’s sinful decree to annihilate the Jews?...I’ll give you 2 reasons it’s different, and the 1st is because Mordecai’s decree’s about self-defense. Vs. 11 says the Jews are to defend their lives, so this isn’t the movie The Purge. It’s not saying to your friends “Grab the guns, ammo, and MRE’s boys! We’re going hunting!” Mordecai’s decree isn’t about any of that, it’s about self-defense. It’s about defending yourself against somebody breaking into your home, or a soldier and police officer defending us against a mass shooter. The Jews aren’t dealing with a home invasion or mass shooter, they’re dealing with a Hitler like genocide that’s forcing them to act in self-defense.
The 2nd reason Mordecai’s decree is different than Haman’s, is because his decree’s only against those who are armed. Again vs. 11 says they can defend their lives against any armed force, including armed women and children. When it says women and children it’s not talking about toddlers, it’s talking about women and children who are old enough to hold a weapon in their hand, and strong enough to use it with deadly force. It’s saying if that’s the case, if they’re armed and trying to kill you and your family, then you can defend yourselves. But even though that’s the decree, they never ended up killing any women and children. Instead ch. 9 tells us they only killed the men who attacked them and their families. So the difference between the decrees is that Mordecai’s was about self-defense against armed forces, and Haman’s was about mass genocide of all Jews including women and children, whether they’re armed or not. So Mordecai is fulfilling his responsibility to help save and redeem the Jews, by creating this new self-defense decree, and God’s working through this new decree to completely reverse what Haman’s sinful decree was seeking to destroy. God is redeeming, what sin is destroying.
Vs. 13, “A copy of what was written was to be issued as a decree in every province, being publicly displayed to all peoples, and the Jews were to be ready on that day to take vengeance on their enemies. 14 So the couriers, mounted on their swift horses that were used in the king’s service, rode out hurriedly, urged by the king’s command. And the decree was issued in Susa the citadel.” So Esther and Mordecai fulfill their responsibility, they use their position and resources to issue the decree. The text says the decree is issued to every province, so everybody knows about it which is an act of God’s grace...It’s an act of God’s grace because God’s giving His enemies, the people who want to harm His children, a chance to rethink things and turn away from their sinful plans, before they find themselves on the wrong side of history and lose their lives. God could’ve told the Jews to just attack them, but instead He graciously warns them. 2 Peter 3:9 states, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” People can’t blame God if they experience His temporal or eternal wrath, because He’s been gracious to give warnings, and patient to give an entire lifetime to repent and turn to Him.
Vs. 15, “Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and white, with a great golden crown and a robe of fine linen and purple, and the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. 16 The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor. 17 And in every province and in every city, wherever the king’s command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen on them.” This is the 3rd major sectional break in the text. It’s The Redeeming, The Responsibility, and now The Rejoicing. The text says there’s gladness and joy among the Jews, meaning they’re rejoicing over Mordecai’s decree and their future victory, their future salvation and redemption from Haman’s sinful evil decree. It’s a celebration not of present victory, but of future victory. They’re confident God will save and redeem them through this decree, so they’re filled with joy. They’re confident God is redeeming, what Haman’s sin was destroying...Now I think all this applies to us in 3 ways.
#1 Trust in God’s presence, when you’re feeling His absence = Trust in God’s presence, when you’re feeling His absence. This is something I personally wrestle with when I’m facing hardships. My joy is often too easily robbed as I tantrum like a 2 yr old, and my trust in God buckles. It’s because I’m not trusting in God’s presence, trusting God’s still working to save and redeem me in my hardships. Some people might even wrestle with trusting God’s willing to save and redeem them when they sin. But He’s still present, He’s still working to save and redeem us, even when we sin, even when it feels like He’s absent. The events taking place in the book of Esther happened over a period of several years. So the Jews living in Persia must’ve felt like God was absent in their lives too, but He wasn’t. The entire time God was working to save and redeem them just He’s working to save and redeem us. But the question is will you trust in His presence, when you’re feeling His absence?...Will you trust in God’s presence, even when you’re feeling His absence?...The redeeming of the Jews in Persia is a reminder that God’s still working to redeem us, even when He feels absent. Trust in His presence, when you’re feeling His absence.
#2 Live with redemptive responsibility, instead of sitting in redemptive luxury = Live with redemptive responsibility, instead of sitting in redemptive luxury. Esther and Mordecai could’ve sat in redemptive luxury, enjoying their positional power and resources they’d been given. But they couldn’t sit in that luxury knowing others still needed to be saved and redeemed. We need to have that kind of burden for the people in our city, but we don’t. Instead we’re living in an era of American Christianity that’s comfortable sitting in redemptive luxury. We treat our redemptive responsibilities like a box to be checked, thinking our redemptive responsibilities are fulfilled once a week by attending church, serving the church, giving financially to the church. But we have redemptive responsibilities not just once a week, it’s every day of the week. God’s placed us not just in the church, but also in our homes, schools, and jobs to help save and redeem others in our city from the decree of sin and death that’s destroying their lives. Jesus saved and redeemed us not to sit in redemptive luxury, but to live with the redemptive responsibility of sharing his gospel decree, his life giving message, with those who are dying in our Persia.
#3 You can rejoice today, because there’s greater redeeming coming = You can rejoice today, regardless of the struggles your facing or how busted up you are from sin this past week, because there’s a greater redeeming coming. The Jews in Persia didn’t rejoice because they’d already won the redemptive battle, they rejoiced because they knew God’s presence guaranteed they’ll win the battle. The same is true for us, for those who trust in Jesus. We’re not guaranteed redemptive victory in this life, we’re guaranteed redemptive victory at the end of this life. So we’ll still face hardships, struggles, lose our jobs, fail to reach our goals, and stumble in our sins or be hurt by other people’s sins. But Jesus is our great King, redeemer, and defender over all those things and he’s already written the final chapter. Jesus has written the final chapter of our lives and it includes a greater, eternal, redeeming victory over all sin, suffering, sadness, and death. Our eternal future’s already been made secure through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, and one day the victory of the empty tomb will be our victory too! Your ability to rejoice in your present reality, reflects the amount of faith you have in that future victory. You can rejoice in your present reality, when you know there’s a greater redeeming that’s coming, through Jesus.
The Big Idea:
Let’s have the worship team come up, and get to the big idea. Here’s the big idea. God is redeeming, what sin is destroying...God is redeeming, what sin is destroying, and Jesus is our great defender...When Jesus first came to this world he came offering us peace, and he’s still offering peace today to those who don’t know him. But in Revelation 19:11 it says he’s coming back to judge and make war against his enemies. Some of us might think that sounds harsh and unloving, but it’d be harsh and unloving if he didn’t do this.
Look if he truly loves us, then he has to make war against his enemies, against those who oppose him and his kingdom family. If he doesn’t then sin and evil will keep eternally harming us, which nobody wants. I mean we already agreed sin isn’t a good thing, it’s damaging to us and our relationships, so we should want Jesus to do something about it, and he is. He came to live, die, and rise again for the forgiveness of our sins. He came to redeem us from sin’s destruction, and a day’s coming when he’ll return as our great defender and act in self-defense, to protect his kingdom family against sin and evil once and for all. In the mean time we turn and keep turning to him for our present and future redemption, and we fulfill our redemptive responsibilities, by pointing others to him. If you need prayer or want to have a relationship with Jesus, go to back left corner of the room anytime during the last song, and we’ll pray with you. But let’s stand and worship Jesus as our great defender. Let’s trust he’s still redeeming, what sin’s destroying.
2 Peter 3:9 states, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
#1 Trust in God’s presence, when you’re feeling His absence
#2 Live with redemptive responsibility, instead of sitting in redemptive luxury
#3 You can rejoice today, because there’s greater redeeming coming