The City Rejoicing

Let me remind you that last Wednesday night, we had of course seen again that Haman had been hanged! or hung or in any way he was swinging from around.

And Mordecai then has been elevated by the king to the position that Haman had possessed.

Mordecai now has the king's ring on his finger and he's in charge of the estate of Haman as Esther had made sure that was possible. Remember, Ahasuerus at first had signed that to the queen, Esther, but she said no, the best one to do that would be Mordecai.

And so Mordecai now, representing the Holy Spirit, is in charge of all of that. And so that's a good picture for us. We left off, if you recall, with the fact that now there's one other thing left to be done.

Something's still remain undone. Even though there's joy in the kingdom, because there's a change in the palace, a change in government, if you will.

Still one issue, still unresolved. And that was the fact that that edict that Haman had written in the name of the king, that would put to death all of the Jews in the kingdom, was still in effect.

And so you recall that Esther then had gone in once again to the king. This time with the idea of trying to get him to be sure that that edict has changed.

So she once again goes unsummoned into the king and asks that request. And of course we will find that he did that.

But that led us to another issue here. Not an issue, but another thought. If you remember again, a while back we dealt with the matter that we have a duality of conscience.

We had an animal conscience and a moral conscience, and we dealt with that. But it seems as if as well there's a duality of the will. There's an animal will and a moral will, and we gave some examples of that.

And one of them being is that it takes a lot of the things that we do in our daily life are done through our animal will.

As such, there's no conscious will that needs to be done as far as there are not. No moral will, I should say.

No moral will that really needs to be exercised in those things we do. And one of the examples we gave was that of driving the car. You open the door, you get in the car, you've done that with your animal will.

No moral will involved there. Start the engine, you start driving down the road. No moral will in effect there.

It's all animal will. But then you come to the intersection, you remember. And you have to determine which way you're going to go. Are you going to turn right? Are you going to turn left?

Turning right would lead you down to the old bar that you used to go to, remember? Turn left. That takes you home to your wife and your children. So when you get to that intersection, it's no longer just your animal will in effect here.

This is where your moral will kicks in. What is it you're going to do? Turn right, you're going to find yourself in trouble again. Turn left, you're going to find yourself there with sweetness waiting for you with open arms.

Okay? Hopefully. Yeah. All right. And so that's the picture that we saw. Remember with me that the issue here is this. Most people say right there, right there is where I find myself having difficulty.

When I come to that intersection, and I'm not saying we go to the bar, but what I'm saying is in the things of life that we face, whether or not that moral will is exercised instead of the animal will, which way are we going to turn.

And the picture for us is this. Remember back to the animal and the moral conscience. If the animal conscience overpowers the moral will, then the animal will is going to kick in.

And that's going to lead us to a real problem. So how in the world, how in the world do we overcome that? And remember we said it's all determined upon how we look at our relationship to the Lord Jesus.

How do we do that? You know. And it boils down to the fact we recognize not just the fact that the Spirit of God wants to control us, mind, will, emotion, thus the activity of the life.

But the reality is, because the Spirit of God, or I should say in lieu of the Spirit of God dwelling within us, we have the very life of Christ within us.

I believe that for most believers, probably all of us, at some juncture from time to time, lose conscience, conscious of the fact, or consciousness of the fact, that Christ is literally dwelling within us by His Spirit.

You ever stop to think that maybe in our day-to-day activity, as we go on, so much of that is animal will, all right? We just do it, right?

Like robots and a lot of things because we're just conditioned to it. But how much of the day are we really cognizant of the fact that Jesus is living in me?

And not just the idea that, in that, that He wants to secure His will and live through us in that way to secure His will, but that He wants us to be victorious through His victory over death, hell, and the grave, all right?

And over sin. So that's the picture that we saw last week. Now, that goes back to, oops, yeah, there we go.

The answer lies then in our attitude about the Lord Jesus, whose life we share. When Esther went back into the presence of the king, besought him with tears to put away the mischief and to reverse the letters, it was an attitude of utter confidence in Mordecai.

She felt certain that as her obedience to him had enabled Mordecai to put Haman into the place of death, so now her continued obedience to him would allow Mordecai to bring his gracious influence to bear upon the king's mind and upon the decisions made in the palace.

Now, again, if you look back on some of that, we remind ourselves that this whole thing was put into motion because Esther came to the place of dying to herself and having utter confidence in Mordecai.

It's a picture of us dying to ourselves and then having utter confidence in the Spirit of God to be obedient to Him no matter what the consequences, letting Him work out the consequences.

So it's the same thing with us as we come to the intersection in the road and either exercise our moral conscience or our animal will.

So which is it going to be? It depends on how we look at Christ within us. And again, as we said last week, how we look back upon our lives and see what it is that God has done in our lives.

Not just what He's accomplished through us, but what He has done actually to bring us through the difficult times, the hard times, the temptations to sin, all of those things.

And realizing that's what He's done, so why would He not do that again? Well, simple answer, He will. All right?

And that's why we mentioned it would be good for us to write down, go back and get along with God and say, God, just remind me what you've done in the past. And write those things down.

Write a journal if you need to. Write them down. Here's what God did. I don't care about dates, but here's what He did. Just to remind us how faithful He's been to us. All right? Once she had died to her own ability to hang Haman, then she continued to die to her own ability to change the character of the king.

She could not do that. On this occasion, she too entered unsummoned into His presence. And once more, the king held out the golden scepter toward Esther.

She was still living in the power of the third morning, resurrection life. So that's how we're to live as well. So it's going to be our attitude toward the Lord Jesus Christ. In every controversy between our moral will and the flesh as to how our animal will is to be exercised in determining the things you think, you say, you do, and you will that you say to Him.

Dear Lord, thank You for Your Holy Spirit to whom I yield my human spirit, and by whose gracious presence I share Your life and share Your victory. I know I cannot deal with the principle of sin within me, nor put the flesh into the place of death.

But I thank You that You can. And You did when You died upon the cross and I died with You. Thank You for Your Holy Spirit, who alone can make this real in my experience, mortifying those deeds of my body which have their origin in Satan.

I am willing for You to invade my soul, to control my mind, to control my emotions, and to control my will, so that every decision within my soul will be in perfect harmony with You.

Now catch that phrase. So that every decision within my soul, mind, will, and emotion, will be in perfect harmony with You. So that my whole being may declare Your praise.

Lord Jesus, I can't, but You can. Thank You so much. I think and hopefully that I put that in your notes maybe. I think I did. If we are prepared to practice the presence of Christ in that way, and reckon with Him through His Holy Spirit, not only to keep the flesh in the place of death, but to establish His divine sovereignty within every area of the soul, then we will experience that delightful transformation of character, which will conform us increasingly into the image of God's dear Son.

Now, and that is once Mordecai is given the place of honor in the palace. You remember the picture we saw last week? How they put Him on, you know, put all the royal garments on Mordecai, had the ring on His finger, and they paraded Him through the streets, just like they did in the day of Haman.

Remember that? Yeah, that's what the Spirit of God needs to be within us. Amen? We need to decorate Him up with royal garb, and parade Him around the soul, just as a reminder that that's who's in control, and in the place of honor in the palace.

Now, 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.

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.

Now, catch that if you will. Alright? Nobody can reverse that, once the king has determined that to be so. Then were the king's scribes called at that time, in the third month, that is, the month Stephen, 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 province, which are from India unto Ethiopia, and 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.

And he wrote in the king Ahasuerus' name, sealed it with the king's ring, sent letters by post on horseback, and riders on mules, camels, and young dromedaries.

That's Esther 8, 7 through 10. How many have ever had a dromedary? Alright. Do you remember, do you remember what the kingdom represents?

Do you remember what it represents? The body. The body. All the prophets and everything represents the body. I want you to catch note of that now.

What happens here? Everything that Mordecai had written, in the name of the king, goes throughout the kingdom.

Not a province, not a people, not a language that didn't see it. Wasn't made known to. It's a picture of the work within the, by the spirit of God, within the body.

Alright. Because remember, the soul and the spirit, what happens between them, determines the activity of the body. And when the spirit of God is in control, then the character, or the activity of the body, is going to honor and glorify, the Lord Jesus.

So, the new etiquette has been published then. In the name of the king. No longer in the name of Haman, but in the name now, of Mordecai.

Esther 9, verse 4, For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces. For this man Mordecai waxed greater and greater.

Oh, the spirit of God ought to wax greater and greater, right? Within our life. In the royal city of Shushan, throughout the king's provinces, in the villages, in the unwalled towns, all that had happened in the palace, made a profound and lasting impact.

If any man be in Christ, he's what? A new creature. There was no part of the community unaffected by the change, and everyone knew that something wonderful must have happened to the king.

As Mordecai established God's laws in the palace, so, as well, God's people, to whom these laws have been entrusted, had rest from all of their enemies.

What a great time. Amen? All the sorrow turned to joy. The days of mourning were turned to days of refreshing. And so, what a great change that has taken place within the kingdom.

Now, every new instruction, as Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews, and all of the 127 provinces, brought words of peace, and of truth, as well.

So, realize with me, little surprise then, that those days were never to be forgotten in the days of the people of Israel, in the Jewish economy.

And you realize that as Haman was, you know, said he cast Purr, to determine the date, and so forth, of when the Jews would be exterminated.

So, now the Jews, yearly, celebrate the feast of Purim, all right, from the word Purr, to celebrate the fact that God had delivered the people of Israel out of the hands of Mordecai, and save them from destruction.

Now, instead, far from perishing on the 13th day of the month, on the 14th day of Adar, the Jews rejoiced with unspeakable joy as the people wonderfully delivered.

Sentenced to death, they had been raised from the dead, and the wicked device of Haman, which he had devised against the Jews, had returned upon his own head, that he and his sons should be hanged on those gallows.

Now, realize, years later, Satan, and his wicked device, was returned, was to return upon his own wicked head, when Jesus died upon the cross of Calvary, in that he destroyed him who had the power of death, even the devil, and nailed him to the gallows, as Hebrews 2, 14, and 15 say.

For as much then as children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

What a picture that he paints for us there, if you will. Now, another remarkable thing takes place here, has happened.

Many of the people of the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews fell upon them, in Esther 8, 17. They knew full well what had been destined for the people of Israel, for the Jews.

Humanly speaking, their situation had been hopeless, yet they had been snatched from the grave, and their enemies had been slain. What a picture here.

How the people of the land would see these people marked as Jews. Got to figure, got to figure that when Haman sent out the edict, that all these Jewish people would be put to death.

Those Gentile members of the kingdom had to believe something must be terribly wrong with these people called Jews, or else Haman, the king's right-hand man, would not have issued the edict.

But now that word had gotten out, now that Haman's been hanged, hanged by the king, all right? Then they began to see that God had delivered these people from certain death.

And so now they wanted to be a part of that kingdom. Why not want to be a part of the people whose God has so miraculously delivered them because of his care for them?

There's nothing quite so infectious as a man or a woman genuinely filled with the Holy Spirit. True holiness is always evangelistic, makes the sinner sick in heart over his sin, causes him to hunger and thirst after righteousness, until he cries out from the depths of his soul, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

Now, this has to raise a question for us, all right? Is this the effect that my life has upon those that I regularly come in contact with?

Good question, isn't it? When they saw the power of God, whether they understood it was God or not, don't know, or whether it was Jehovah God, but they knew it had to be the God of the Jews that was at work in sparing them.

Why would he spare them? Because he cares for them, he loves them. And they saw that effect upon their lives, and they wanted to be a part of that.

What? How do people respond? How do they react when they see our life and our living? Doylene?

But it says that it's the fear of the Jews that fell on them. Is that more of a reverence? Is fear the wrong word? Yeah, well, a reverential fear, more so. Yeah. I don't want, you know, you never want to drive somebody to salvation through fear.

Right. No, no. No, no. Yeah. Although, although I think possibly in this case there might have been a little element of that.

Well, yeah. Because I've known that. They're the guy that had the king's ring on his fingers now hanging from the gallows. All because of God. But so, there might have been a little effect of that, but I think more so.

It's the fact that they saw these people, this group of people called the Jews, and seen what God had done to them. But who knows what they knew of the Jewish history in the past, what God had done.

Especially in the Exodus. Yeah. Yeah. So, so there was a, a reverential fear here, I think, of the people of God, for the people of God, by the Gentiles of the, of the, of the kingdom.

Yeah. Yeah. You know, I think there's some of the other two because it says they declared themselves Jewish. It didn't say they became Jews as they declared themselves to be Jews. Yeah. And so I, there's the Wiggins side, I kind of want to be on that side.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm a bad fan. No, believe me, I'm a Clemson fan. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But I wonder how much of that is maybe more so toward God. You know, God, I associate with you as your people.

You know, because at that time there was no, there was no covenant relationship with the Gentiles. You know, the only covenant relationship God has was with the Jews. It's not saying there wasn't, there wasn't saved Gentiles, but as far as covenant relationship.

And so, to be a part of that, I declare myself. Yeah. That's, but nowadays, when you're talking and being out in our world, people may not have the background and the knowledge of what God has done.

Right. Right. So, maybe it's hard to come across that referential fear or how to give that referential fear or share that referential fear with someone in an evangelistic style.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm reminded from what Mike said, I'm reminded of the story of the, oh my, of the, I hate to say we have to cut the print, I'm shorter, but no.

About the guy that moved into a predominantly Catholic neighborhood. This guy was not a Catholic, he was a Baptist. This was back when the Catholics could not eat fish on Friday.

So, first Friday, he moved into his house. He fired up his grill, threw a T-bone steak on that. Grill. The aroma of that steak went all through the neighborhood.

And, every Friday that went on. So, finally, a group of the neighborhood went to the priest and said, you're going to have to talk to this guy. He said, he's cooking these steaks every Friday and the aroma is just driving us crazy.

Okay. Okay. So, the priest went over there and said, you talked to him about that. He said, the remedy for this is, you're going to have to become a Catholic. So, how do I do that?

Well, told him the process and so he went through that and he sprinkled water on him. You were born a Baptist, you were raised a Baptist, now you're Catholic. Okay.

So, they figured, it's all taken care of. Okay, no problem. The next Friday they're just waiting for everything to be right. The steak goes on the grill.

Roma floats through the neighborhood. Can't figure, what in the world is going on? So, they run over there to find out what's going on to try to straighten him out.

As they approach the gate to the fence, they hear these words as he's standing over the grill. You were born a steer, you were raised a steer, now you're a fish.

More than one way to kill a skin a cat, right? All right. So, but we still have to ask the question, what effect do we have on the life of people?

And that's hard for us to judge, hard for us to determine. But I think we can safely say, if we are yielded to the Spirit of God and let Him do His work in and through us, it will have an effect upon the people around us.

In fact, I really think that we're better off not knowing fully what effect we have on people, good or bad. that's up to God.

Amen? Yeah, that's up to God. Yes, it would. It would. And that would spoil everything. And so, and so that's where we're at. Esther 8, 15, And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white and a great crown of gold and with a garment of fine linen and purple and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad.

You remember early on there was a time when King Ahasuerus and Haman sat together to drink and it said the city of Shushan was perplexed.

Now, the city of Shushan is rejoicing as they see Mordecai dressed in the royal garb and royal apparel riding through the streets.

Now, we're going to quit there and let's see where we're at here. Oh, well, let's, hang on just a second.

So, with Haman on the gallows, Mordecai in the palace, the city perplexed became the city of rejoicing. Psalmists knew something of this when the Spirit of God inspired him to write Psalm 46 which said God is our refuge and strength.

A very present help in trouble will therefore will not we fear though the earth be removed, though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.

There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved.

God shall help her and that right early. Psalm 46 1-5 and 10-11 10-11 here Be still and know then that I am God.

I'll be exalted among the heathen, I'll be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge.

I want you to catch that last phrase. The Lord of hosts is with us. The hosts, speak of a great army, I like to think that term the Lord of hosts as a term that means that God has everything at his disposal to take care of any circumstance or any situation that comes across his mind.

Yeah. including our difficulties and our problems. Amen? If that's the God that dwells within us, which it is by his spirit, there's no circumstance, there's no temptation, there's nothing that he doesn't have everything he needs to handle in our lives.

And it says he is with us. And he is our refuge. The river has its source in the throne of God and of the Lamb according to Revelation 2.1 and it's the life of God and the soul of man.

The promise is to you and your children. John 7 verses 38 and 39 say, He that believeth on me as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

But this he spake of the spirit which they that believe on him should receive. For the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified. What a tremendous truth, promise that God has given us.

Amen? But we always, you know, we always thought just being saved and having a home in heaven was grand and glorious, which it is. But look at everything else that's attached to that.

Amen? Amen? Yeah. That river of living water flowing within us as we yield to the Spirit of God and letting him do his work.

. Thank you.