Preached by Gregory W. Lee
8 October 2006
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Esther 4
-- what would you do if I told you I had a surprise for you this morning? -- I know everybody in here is aware that we are in an election year and that the candidates are travelling all around the state campaigning and meeting the voters
-- but, what would you do if I told you that we have a special guest this morning? -- what if I told you that Governor Sonny Perdue is here and is going to worship with us today?
-- now, the Governor isn't really here, but I want you to stop for a second and think about what feeling coursed through you when you thought that he might walk through that door -- for a moment, did you worry about how you were going to act in his presence? -- did you wonder what he might think of you or this church? -- did you start to think of what you might say to him?
-- what if I had told you that President Bush was here? -- how would you have reacted? -- I imagine, whether it was either Governor Perdue or President Bush, that you would have somewhat in awe of their presence in this church -- your attention would probably be on them during the service -- and that's understandable -- people in these high offices are afforded respect and honor because of who they are
-- we would probably do that to any celebrity who happened to come by or who we happened to meet -- if we were to bump into Robert Redford or any other actor on the street, I imagine most of us would be somewhat tongue-tied and in awe of his presence -- I remember a few years ago, I was at an Atlanta Falcons game back when Larry Munson still called the play-by-play for the Falcons -- I am a huge fan of Larry Munson, and our host at the game offered to take me up there to meet him -- I thought about it -- and I remember thinking, "What am I going to say to Larry Munson?" -- I was so in awe of meeting him that I was just too scared to do so -- so I didn't take them up on their offer
II. Xerxes and Esther
-- well, the giving of honor and respect to these celebrities is somewhat expected -- that is exactly what is going on in this passage with Esther and King Xerxes -- just to refresh your memory of the story of Esther -- King Xerxes had deposed his first wife and had conducted a royal beauty pageant to find a new wife -- Esther was selected to be his wife, and she has been living in the palace ever since -- during this time, the king's wives did not live with him -- they had their own apartments and lived separately from the king and were not allowed in his presence unless summoned
-- now Esther was a Jew, but at the advice of her cousin Mordecai, she had not told anyone her heritage, probably because Jews were not regarded as highly as other citizens in Persia -- as the story progresses, Mordecai refuses to bow down to the King's right hand man, Haman, so Haman has a decree given to kill all the Jews
-- as this passage opens up, Mordecai has asked Esther to go before the King and to plead on behalf of her people
-- now, the important thing I want you to see in this passage is how Esther responds to Mordecai's request to go before her husband and her king and her demeanor as she enters the throne room
-- look back at Chapter 4, verse 9
9. Hathach went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said.
10. Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai,
11. "All the king's officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that he be put to death. The only exception to this is for the king to extend the gold scepter to him and spare his life. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king."
-- Esther is terrified by Mordecai's request -- she is scared to death -- during this time of history, the king had total and ultimate authority over everything and everyone in his kingdom -- he had total and absolute power -- the very words that he spoke were law -- and anyone who came into his presence without being summoned would be immediately put to death, unless he intervened and granted them entry
-- in short, King Xerxes demanded and expected total honor and respect from all of his subjects -- no one would dare cross the king or enter into his presence simply because of who he was -- and Mordecai was asking Esther to do just that -- if the king felt disrespected -- if he felt she was dishonoring him, then she would be killed
-- but she agreed to do so on behalf of her people -- skip down to verse 15
4:15. Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai:
16. "Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish."
17. So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther's instructions.
5:1. On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the palace, in front of the king's hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the hall, facing the entrance.
2. When he saw Queen Esther standing in the court, he was pleased with her and held out to her the gold scepter that was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.
3. Then the king asked, "What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given you."
-- notice how Esther approaches the throne room of the king -- she goes forward in humbleness and meekness -- with all due respect and awe and fear for the position and power of the king -- she enters his presence only after preparing herself to meet him -- after days of fasting and prayer for her safety
-- she goes into the presence of the king very much like we probably would approach Governor Perdue or President Bush or any other celebrity we might meet -- we would approach them with humbleness and respect and awe after having prepared ourselves for the meeting
-- the Bible calls that attitude of honor and respect and awe to a person in high office by an unusual word, "fear" -- at times in the Bible, the word "fear" can mean to be afraid -- it can mean to be scared of something or someone -- that is how we used the word last week when we talked about how the presence of Christ in our life should remove the fear of the world from us -- how knowing Christ drove out our reasons for being afraid
-- but this week we are focusing on the other definition of fear -- fear meaning giving honor and respect and awe to another person -- that is the way the word "fear" is used in Psalm 111:10, when it says, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom"
-- it was in both of these senses of the word "fear" that Esther approached the King -- she was not only in fear of her life, but she was in fear of the very presence of the King, meaning she respected and honored his position and authority and power
-- there is a big difference between these two meanings of the word "fear" -- a great example of this can be found in the book, "The Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Grahame -- in this book about anthropomorphic animals living along a riverbank, Rat and Mole approach the island where Pan lives -- Pan was the ruler of the riverbank where these animals lived -- a mystical being who had power and authority over them
-- Mole asked Rat as they approached Pan, "Rat, are you afraid?" -- "Afraid?" murmured the Rat, his eyes shining with unutterable love. "Afraid? of Him? O, never, never. And yet -- and yet -- O Mole, I am afraid."'
-- Rat was not in fear of his life or in fear of Pan being dangerous towards him -- but he was fearful -- he was humble and respectful and afforded Pan all the honor that his office required
III. The Fear of the Lord
-- I started this sermon by asking you to consider how you would react if Governor Perdue or President Bush came into our service -- you would probably be fearful of them -- not in the sense of being in fear of your life or in fear of them being dangerous to you -- but you would be fearful in the same sense that Rat was fearful of Pan -- you would be in awe of their power and position and authority
-- now, let me ask you the more important question -- how is it that you approach God in your life and in your prayers?
-- as Tim Muelhoff points out, over time, the church is America has slowly stripped God of attributes that make us uncomfortable or fearful -- God's holiness and sovereignity and omniscience and omnipotence -- and we have fixated on the attributes of God that we take comfort in -- His kindness, trustworthiness, love, and patience -- and, in doing so, we have lost the fear of the Lord that we need in our lives
-- because of this, when we read the Bible, we really see two Gods -- the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament -- we read about how fearful the God of the Old Testament was -- how harshly He dealt with the people in that time -- and then we tell ourselves, "I'm glad we have the God of the New Testament on our side -- the God of love and mercy and grace -- and not the God of the Old Testament"
-- because we have stripped God of the attributes that make us uncomfortable, we conclude that the God of the New Testament is nothing like the God of the Old Testament -- but yet they are -- the Bible says that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever -- the same God who struck down the firstborn in Egypt in the Old Testament is the same God who struck down Ananias and Saphira for lying to the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts -- the same God who sent the Israelites into exile is the same God who died for us on the cross -- and He demands the same fear and respect from us that He demanded from the ancient Israelites
-- when I was younger, people focused more on the awesomeness of God -- on His power and His greatness and His sovereignity -- we recognized the transcendance of God
-- transcendance means that God is far above and greater than His creation -- it is a recognition that He is God and I am not -- it is recognition that God is and always will be infinite, independent, unchanging, and sovereign -- transcendance recognizes the authority and power of God and requires us to give Him the honor and glory He so deserves
-- it was a recognition of the transcendance of God that caused David to write, "What is man that you are mindful of him -- the son of man that you think of him" -- it was a recognition of the transcendance of God that caused David to pen the words of Psalm 113:4-6 -- "The LORD is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens -- Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? " -- as a contemporary worship song says, "God is great and greatly to be praised" -- that is the essence of living in the fear of the Lord
-- in our lives, we should approach God as Esther approached King Xerxes -- in fear and trembling -- because of the transcendance of God
-- even though God tells us in His word that He loves us and even though He came to earth to die for us, the fact remains -- God is God -- we exist only because He allows us to -- and, as Jesus said in Luke 12, God is the only one with the power to send us to Hell -- we have reason to be afraid of our God
-- however, if you have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, you do not have to be afraid of God and His wrath because Christ has taken that upon Himself -- but, you should be afraid of Him in the sense of giving Him the honor and respect and awe that His magnificent glory demands
-- God is our King -- He is our Creator -- He is the Lord God Almighty -- when God spoke, the world came into being -- when God spoke, light flashed into the heavens -- when God spoke, life sprang up from the earth -- God is worthy of all honor and glory and praise -- He is worthy of our fear -- because of who He is and what He can do
-- if we do not fear the Lord our God, then our spiritual lives become devoid of power -- by stripping God of His attributes of sovereignity and power and authority, then we become powerless in our lives because we fail to trust in God's power -- when this happens, our faith becomes powerless and we don't trust God's ability to work in our lives -- when this happens, we become powerless to turn from sin and find ourselves in bondage again -- and, when this happens, our prayers become powerless as we doubt that God can and will work in our lives
IV. Closing
-- so, how can we regain a healthy fear of the Lord in our lives? -- in order to do so, we must follow the steps that Esther took in this passage
1) Remember His greatness -- Esther was reminded daily of the power and authority of King Xerxes because she lived in his kingdom and saw his power exercised -- she remembered times when King Xerxes had used his power to do great things in Persia -- in order to regain a healthy fear of the Lord, we need to be reminded daily of the power and greatness and transcendance of our God -- read Psalms and passages in the Bible that speak of the greatness of God -- recall times in your life that God has demonstrated His greatness by working in your life
2) Sing praises to God's greatness -- when Mordecai went to Esther with his request, she initally refused because of the greatness of the king -- she spoke of his greatness and of his authority and power -- in the same way, when we sing songs that praise God for the works of His hand and for who He is, it causes us to recognize the transcendance of God in our lives -- songs like, "How Great Thou Art" and "Our God is an Awesome God" will cause you to exalt God and remember who He is in relation to who you are
3) Change the way we approach God in our worship and in our prayers -- when Esther was confronted with the requirement to go before King Xerxes, she prepared herself in advance -- she prepared her heart -- she fasted -- she prayed -- and then, and only then, did she approach the throne -- and when she did approach, she did so with humility, recognizing his authority and power and her lack thereof
-- we need to do the same thing when we seek to approach God, whether that is in worship or in our prayers -- in the Lord's Prayer, Jesus tells us to begin by praying, "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by Thy name -- Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" -- this model prayer encourages us to first approach God by praising His name, His glory, His power, His authority -- be careful how you enter the presence of God -- before just going to God with requests, pay special attention to God first and to whom you are addressing -- remember His transcendant qualities and remember who you are
-- God may be our Father and our Savior, but He is still our God -- we need to remember that we are not just talking to a friend, but to the Creator of the whole universe
-- by doing these three things, we will find ourselves developing a healthy fear and respect of God -- we will restore God to the position He so deserves in our lives and in our churches -- and we will find ourselves more cognizant of His power and authority in our lives and will trust Him and His power even more than before
-- by doing these three things, we Jesus will not just be our Savior -- He will also be our Lord
-- let us pray
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