God's star in the darkness

LIMAVADY INDEPENDENT METHODIST CHURCH

SERMON NOTES FROM SUNDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2022

ESTHER CHAPTER 4 - GOD'S STAR IN THE DARKNESS

"And the light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not." (John 1 verse 5)  Light is stronger than darkness.  "Where sin abounded grace does much more abound."  

Here is a wonderful story.  There are 2 books in the bible called after women - Ruth and Esther.  Esther lived at a crucial time in history.  She was a very attractive woman.  Her name means 'beautiful".  In the Greek "star".  In the Persian "beauty".  Here is a girl growing up as God's beautiful star in a dark environment.  Ahasuerus the king was known for his brutality and lust for power, a greed to possess more land.  His empire stretched from India to Ethiopia but he was not content, he wanted to annex Greece to his empire.  He decided to go into battle with the Greeks and when he had annexed the land he would throw a bridge across from his land to it.  He threw a great banquet in chapter 1 which lasted 6 months.  People came and celebrated with him before he went to battle.  He called for his wife Vashti to attend the banquet.  He wanted to show her off but she refused to attend.  She was deposed as a result, no longer was queen.  Some would say they thought she didn't attend because she was pregnant at the time.  Ahasuerus went off to battle and was defeated.  He returned 4 months later deflated and humiliated.  He returned to Shushan in 479 BC in what is now modern day Iran.  Since Vashti had been deposed a new queen had to be found.  This is where Esther comes into the story.  She passed all the tests and became queen.  She was a Jewess.  We read of her coronation and resolution.  In her day the Jewish people triumphed over adversity all because of her actions.  Since then she is remembered annually by the Jewish people all over the world.

She has a fascinating history - not in the amount of information given about her but reading between the lines.  She had no family tree available.  She would have been born to Jewish parents, was not of the royal line.  She had no great academic knowledge.  God takes the ordinary things to accomplish extraordinary purposes.  That should encourage us today - "not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty." (1 Corinthians 1 verse 26)  God rules overall to save today.  We know we have his presence today.  The master of all things and all time and all people can be my master and my Lord.  Esther was an orphan and then was adopted by her cousin Mordecai.  She was taken under his wing, nurtured and cared for.  She was chosen to be queen and of course was crowned.  A fascinating sequence of events.  Surely we can see that in our own lives?  We too were like orphans because of the nature and condition we were born in - without God, without hope.  Jesus said to his disciples when he was leaving them "I will send the comforter, I will not leave you comfortless."  That word is the word orphan.  We are not orphans today because of the grace of God.  Here is a little girl growing up with no parents alive but she has a friend who cares for her.  I am a child of adoption.  God has sent his spirit into my life and it is the spirit of adoption.  We become adopted into God's family.  Even if there was a boy adopted into a Jewish family before a natural born heir came into the family the natural born heir did not take away the inheritance of the adopted boy.  He was still entitled to everything that the family possessed.  I am entitled to everything that God has given to me.  I am adopted into Christ's family today.  Selected, elected.  Every person who trusts in Jesus is spoken of as being the elect of God  There are some who say there are those who are elected to be saved and others to be lost.  The bible tells us that all who come to Christ are elected in Christ.  This woman was selected and elected.  The Lord said "ye have not chosen me but I have chosen you."  Everything is built on that relationship with Christ.  I am adopted, I am no longer an orphan, I am chosen.  One day I will be crowned.  It is assured.  It is coming by and by when the Lord will come in power.

There is a demanding duty in this girls life.  She now has a position.  In those days the only way you could be called by the king was when the sceptre was held out to you.  Esther didn't know there would come a crisis and she would have to step up to the mark.  4 years later in the vast empire under Ahasuerus and the controlling man Haman, there were 15 million Jews living.  In Ahasuerus' empire 500,000 of those Jews lived in Shushan.  These people were going to be destroyed.  At the beginning of the year a plan was put in place that by the twelfth month the Jews would be destroyed.  Esther had a duty.  Having learned of the great anguish through her chamber maids and ultimately through Mordecai, she realised something had to be done.  She had to stand up and be counted.  They needed someone to be faithful to them.  God needed someone to be faithful to him at this time.  "We all have our own circle set around us of good out of which opportunities continually arise.  May not be far reaching or so far surrounding as another mans are but they are our opportunities and they are far reaching for us."  God will bring opportunities, challenges that are meant for us, not something grandiose beyond our capacity or beyond our influence that we can be his instruments at a crucial time in history.  We are called to be salt and light.  To shine as lights in this dark world.  Esther was called a star in the Greek language.  "Ye are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its savour wherewith shall it be salted?  it is thenceforth good for nothing but to b cast out and to be trodden under foot of men.  Ye are the light of the world." (Matthew 5 verses 13 and 14)  Paul told the Philippians in chapter 2 verse 15 "That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world."  We are called to be intercessors, to pray without ceasing.  It is not beyond our capabilities to be intercessors today.  "More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of."  Wouldn't it be wonderful to be part of something more than the armies of this world are a part of?  Remember what Jesus told his disciples "ye are my witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1 verse 8)  Let us see the duty God has placed on us, to say like Esther "I am for this hour, for this kingdom for such a time as this."  She agreed to go and see the king even if it cost her her life.  She was prepared to put her life on the line for the Lord.

Esther was a star that shone.  We find this young woman shining in a service that is costly "if I perish I perish."  Jesus said "he that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." (John 12 verse 25)  Jim Elliott said "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."  Esther was a faithful woman.  Imagine coming into the palace room, the size of which covered one acre of ground.  She could have been easily missed.  She stood waiitng to see if the king would hold out the sceptre towards her.  Today the sceptre is always held out to God's people.  We can touch the sceptre at any time.  Now we are accepted in the beloved.  He is waiting to hear our request.  She was willing to be faithful unto death.  A sacrifice that triumphed.  The plot was uncovered.  There was a tremendous victory, an ultimate victory over evil.  "Every knee shall bow and every tongue sall confess to the glory of God the Father."  We are on the side that has already won the victory.  The victory was purchased on Calvary.  Christ rose for us, he has won the victory over sin and evil in the world.  The victory is in the hands of the sovereign Lord.  The Lord was working in Esther's day.  Here is a lasting memory.  These things are written for our admonition.  Her loyalty, her success, her sacrifice reached beyond earthly treasure and riches in that day.  The memory of the Jews is blessed.  The bible says "the people that know their God shall be strong and do exploits."  Let me be an Esther in the twentieth century that shines brightly for Jesus.  "It is better to venture and have an honourable death than live a shameful life."  The SAS regiment is known for its great exploits and bravery.  They have a simple motto - "who dares wins".  If we don't dare we will not win but thank God as we try with him we shall win with him.  What an inspiration Esther is to us today.  What possibilities there are for us in grace in Jesus who was crucified, risen, exalted and is soon coming again.  Our lives are hidden with Christ in God.  By grace he can make us all that he wants us to be, to be used until he comes again.