Haman Hanged

Let's take our Bibles and turn to Esther chapter 7. So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther.

! And as they were drinking wine on that second day, the king again asked, Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you.

What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted. Then Queen Esther answered, If I have found favor with you, O king, and if it pleases your majesty, grant me my life.

This is my petition. And spare my people. This is my request. For I and my people have been sold for destruction and slaughter and annihilation.

If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king. King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, Who is he?

Where is the man who has dared to do such a thing? Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this vile Haman. Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen.

The king got up in a rage, left his wine, and went out into the palace garden. But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate, stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life.

Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining. The king exclaimed, Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?

And as soon as the word left the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face. Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, A gallows 75 feet high stands by Haman's house.

He had it made for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king. The king said, Hang him on it. So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai.

Then the king's fury subsided. We'll hear more about that in a moment. We come from the world to the Lord's day, to the Lord's worship, and we seek to shut out the world and come and meet with our Savior.

We sing of that in our hymn 345. 345. Here from the world we turn, Jesus to seek.

Here may his loving voice tenderly speak. Jesus, our dearest friend, while at thy feet we bend, O let thy smile descend. Tis thee we seek.

Are you here to meet with Christ tonight? Sing of that desire to him. Then we sing to the holy comforter as well. Let's sing to our great friend and Savior.

345. We'll sing to the more familiar tune. Here from the world we turn, Jesus to seek.

Hear, may his loving voice tenderly speak.

Jesus, our dearest friend, While at thy feet we bend, O let thy smile descend, Tis thee we seek.

Come, holy comforter, Presence divine, Now in our longing hearts, Graciously shine, O for thy mighty power, O for a blessed shower, Filling this hallowed hour With joy divine.

Savior, thy work revived, Here may we see.

Those who are dead in sin, Quickened by thee, Come to our hearts tonight, Make every burden light, Cheer thou our waiting sight, We long for thee.

He comes to us in his word preached. Let's hear his voice. Please turn again with me, or keep your Bibles open there, To the book of Esther in chapter 7.

Have you ever had this sort of day Where you were sure that things Couldn't get any worse? Surely, I've hit the low point of the day, And I can't go any lower.

Only to find out that surely things can get worse. And surely they did get worse. It's about where you find Haman At the end of Esther chapter 6, As we open chapter 7.

Perhaps he's hoping at least That he's hit the bottom, Having been humiliated, And having to honor his enemy, Mordecai.

And maybe his wife's prediction Holds no weight. Surely she's wrong. Surely I won't fall before Mordecai. Surely I've reached the bottom.

That's what he's hoping, But there's farther yet for Haman to fall. But don't feel bad for him. He's getting exactly what he deserves.

And if there's one thing That becomes clear to us In Esther chapter 7, It's that there are consequences For our actions. What a man sows, That will he reap.

Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please His sinful nature, From that nature, Will reap destruction. The one who sows to please The Spirit, From the Spirit, Will reap eternal life.

Surely you know that Your sins will find you out. And when they do, You'll bear the penalty For those sins. Severe penalties.

And I want all who are living In their sin tonight, Unrepentant. Unconcerned about it. Not caring about it. To take heed. To take careful notice Of what becomes of those Who do not repent.

And do not trust in the Savior. See where your sin Will land you tonight. But there's also blessing For those who follow the Lord And do what is right.

A man reaps what he sows. Esther, by the grace of God, Sows good in chapter 7 And reaps good. While Haman, Who has sown great evil, Reaps great punishment.

Which side are you on tonight? Are you sowing good? And so reaping good? Or are you sowing evil? And so reaping destruction? Destruction? And punishment for yourself? Maybe you're saying, Well, that's a silly concept.

I've been sinning for some time now. And no consequences yet. None of this promised destruction. None of this pain That you've told me about. None of this tormented conscience.

It doesn't bother me at all. Nobody knows. And I haven't gotten caught. And I seem to be prospering. Listen to Haman's voice tonight.

From the grave. Hear what Haman has to say To those who think They can get away with their sin. He too had prospered. He too believed He would get away with his great plan To destroy God's people.

But his sin find him out. And your sin will find you out. And the consequences will be the same. Take heed tonight. And instead of sowing evil, Sow good.

And sow reap good. Three things tonight. The queen's request. The king's reply. And Haman's demise. We'll divide the story along those lines.

The queen's request, first of all. The story picks up with Haman and the king Off to the feast that Esther is so carefully prepared. And it's not so much the food that she's carefully prepared.

It's what she's going to say. When the king again asks for her request. Her petition. And finally we get to find out What will happen. We've waited since the end of chapter 5.

Esther had the first banquet. And then said, Come to another banquet. And then I'll make my request. And so we've been waiting. And in the meantime, A lot has happened. It was very different 24 hours ago.

Haman was on top of the world. And now he's been humiliated. And he's unsure of what his fate will be. And the king's had a sleepless night. And things are quite different now. But finally we get to find out what Esther's request is.

We're going to listen in to her conversation with the king. And with Haman. Haman perhaps now not so sure about the great privilege. The great honor of being invited to the feast.

He and the king no doubt very curious. What was so urgent that the queen would risk her very life. To come and make the request. And we're about to find out.

They're about to find out. So once again during the wine course of the meal. Perhaps they've already eaten. They're relaxing. Lounging on their couches. And drinking wine. And the king says again. He puts his question to Esther.

For the third time now. What is your petition? What is your request? I will do it. It will be granted to you. Up to half the kingdom. We've heard this before. And we've gone. Esther has given you half the kingdom. Go for it.

Make your request. And she's delayed. She's delayed. She's delayed. Will she finally make a request? We can hope so. Because we want to know what will happen. And she does make a request. She gives a very careful.

Wisely worded response. Again deferring to the king. Observing the appropriate protocol. If I've found favor in your eyes. O king.

And if it pleases the king. If it seems good to the king. My life is my petition. And my people my request. Well what does that mean?

Her life. It needs to be spared in her people's lives. And so she says. I and my people have been sold. To be destroyed. To be killed.

To be annihilated. And she's going to say more. And we'll get there in a second. But cut your eyes from Esther for a moment. And take a look out of your corner of your eye at Haman. And I think you'll see the color drain from his face.

And I think you'll almost hear his heart dropping. Because Esther uses the very language of his decree. If you go back to Esther chapter 3.

When the decree is made. This is what the decree was written. It's in chapter 3 and verse 13. Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces.

With the order to destroy, kill, and annihilate. Same three words. All the Jews. Young and old. Women and little children on a single day. And Haman hears the very words of the decree that he wrote.

To destroy, to kill, to annihilate the Jews. Coming from Esther's lips. And all of a sudden he realizes. Something he didn't know before. Esther is a Jew.

Esther, remember, had kept her identity very carefully hidden. At Mordecai's command. Nobody. Nobody. Not even Haman. Knew who she was. And all of a sudden, as she says that.

My people have been sold for. Destruction. Killing. Annihilation. It dawns on Haman. I've decreed. The execution of the queen.

And surely the king is not going to be pleased. Surely he's not going to be very happy. And so. Now look back over to Esther. We've taken a glance at Haman.

We've seen terror in his eyes, perhaps. But now Esther continues. She defers. If we had just been sold into slavery, king. It wouldn't be that big of a deal.

I wouldn't even bother you with such a little thing. If we had just been sold into slavery. But it's worse than that. You see, we've been sold for destruction. For annihilation. We're going to be destroyed. Me and my people.

Now, destruction and annihilation doesn't seem to be a big thing for the king. He signed off on it with no qualms whatsoever. No second thought earlier. But now the new factor is that the queen is one of those people that's to be destroyed.

And so it really is. If I have found favor in your eyes, O king. It really does matter. It's not just a matter of protocol if I've found favor in your eyes. It's serious. How much does the queen love Esther?

Or does the king love Esther? That's very important for what his response will be. But the whole thing is a very delicate situation. She talks about being sold for destruction. The seller was the king.

Haman was the buyer. Remember, he came with his 10,000 talents of silver. And offered it to the king. And so she doesn't want to accuse the king. And so she sort of puts it in a passive. Me and my people have been sold for destruction.

But it's the king. She's in some ways implicating the king without doing it directly. She wants to arouse his wrath at Haman. Not towards her. Even though it's very much his problem.

His fault. And before we go on to see the king's response, let's pause to take note of something. And that is the relationship between man's responsibility and God's sovereignty.

You say, well, where do you see that here? Do you remember back in chapter 6 how we noted again and again that Esther wasn't there. And that Mordecai played a very minor role.

And the hero was the one who was hidden. Who he never saw. But very clearly, the hidden hero was God. Ordering all of these coincidences, so it seems, to come to pass in chapter 6 to bring about his perfect plan.

But now in chapter 7, Esther is very much back at the center of the picture. It's her actions. It's upon her actions that the fate of the Jews depends now. And she's taking action.

And so which is it? Is God sovereign to save His people? Or is Esther responsible to do her duty and to act? And to very carefully plan out what she's going to say? And to seek the good of the Jews?

Which is it? God is sovereign or man is responsible? Yes. The Scriptures teach us that both are true. And so while we can't fully reconcile them in our own minds, we affirm them.

We believe that what the Scriptures teach are true. And we see a very clear picture of it here in Esther. Esther, I am to be responsible. To be even heroic.

As Esther was. To think and act carefully. And I am also to depend fully upon God. Psalm 127 and verse 1. Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.

Unless the Lord watches over the city, the washers stand and guard in vain. You can work and work to build your house. But unless the Lord builds it, you work in vain. But if you don't build it, it won't be built.

You're responsible. And God is sovereign. Remember that principle that you reap what you sow. The broad principle is at work here. We are to do good and God rewards that good.

It's of course though only by God's grace that we can do any sowing of good. That we can do anything by which we would be rewarded. But it's our responsibility to do good. This is immensely practical I think in every area of our life.

Let's just take a few. For example, the church. We can preach and teach until we're blue in the face. And we can seek to fellowship and worship God as He requires with all that we have.

But if we don't seek God's face for His blessing. If we don't depend on Him to build the church. If we don't ask for His blessing. Then all of our labors will be for nothing.

What a blessing to have the faithful God. Who we heard of this morning. The faithful God who will not allow His people to be destroyed. Working on our behalf. But we can't just sit back and say, Well, God's at work.

Let's see what He's going to do. He's called us to do the work. And so we're responsible to work. And we trust God that He will bring about what is best for us. He is sovereign and we are responsible in the work of the church.

In your fight with sin. You can struggle with sin. With all your might. Or you can sit back and you can say, Well, Lord, protect me from sin and temptation. But I don't really want to work at it.

It can't be one or the other. It must be both. You have to do the hard work of fighting against temptation. You have to put up the barriers around areas of particular temptation for you. You need to find someone and help keep you accountable.

But you must also pray that God would bless those efforts. That He would strengthen you to resist the temptation when it comes. Because without His strength, you can't. You must pray that He would indeed, as He has promised, provide the way of escape.

And that He would give you grace to take that way of escape. But you must take it when it comes. We see the balance in evangelism and missions.

We know that God is sovereign in salvation. And so then do we sit back and say, Well, let's wait and see who God will save. I'm just as interested as you are. But since He knows and I don't, and it's His work and I can't do it, then I'm not going to do anything, right?

No. No. What does He tell us to do? Go and preach the Gospel to all nations. Go and make disciples of all nations. We are to make disciples of all nations. But who's the only one that can make a disciple?

It's God. But we're to do the work. He's ordained human means to bring about His good purposes. Think of it with respect to your family.

You can read every book on marriage and raising children and seek to implement every good idea that you find in those books. And it's good to do that. And good to do those things. But if the Lord doesn't build your house, if you're not depending on Him, if you're depending on your efforts, I've read a lot of books.

I'm working really hard at it. Fail. The Lord must build the house. And so you do the work and you beg God for mercy. You say, bless these efforts. Bless these labors.

Build my family or it will not be built. Bless my marriage. Help me to raise my children. Save my children or they won't be. And give me grace to pour myself into those efforts.

The story of Esther teaches us very clearly about God's sovereignty and our duty before God. If we want to reap blessing in our church, and our struggle with sin, our missionary efforts, our families, our evangelism, we must do that which is right and seek God's help and strength.

It's not either or. It's both and. We must do both. And we see that. And it's clear in Esther 6 and 7. And you put together the two and you see the balance.

Well, we've detoured. The Queen has made a request. My life is my petition. My people, my request. We've been sold for destruction, for killing, for annihilation.

And what does the King have to say? He can see almost fire in his eyes. Who is He? Where is He? The syllables are very short and almost like a hammer coming down as you read them in the original language.

Who is He? Where is He? Who would fill His heart to do such a thing as this? The King is obviously not happy. He just doesn't know quite where to direct his anger yet.

Who needs to be hung for this? But he's in a rage. And he hasn't caught the wording of the decree yet. He didn't hear it. Maybe he never read the decree.

He doesn't even know which people he's designated for destruction. And so, it's not surprising that he doesn't catch the wording, the destruction, killing, annihilation. That doesn't ring a bell with him.

All he knows is that his queen and her people are in danger. Now, one of the directions his anger should be directed is towards himself. It's he that signed off on the decree.

Here's the signet ring. Do whatever you want, Haman. And he needs a, you are the man. But Esther's not that foolish. She's not going to point out that he's the one responsible.

There's somebody else responsible and he's in the room. And her words are quick now as well. The man who is the enemy and the foe is this wicked Haman. Very dramatic scene that we have here that removes all doubts.

And now Haman, we're told, is terrified before the king and queen. Almost everything is clear now. Haman is the buyer. The king is the seller. The queen and her people are the victims that are in great danger.

The only possible unknown here is that Xerxes probably still doesn't know that the queen's people are the Jews. But right now, that doesn't matter. It's just the queen's people that are in danger in her life.

And all he knows is that Haman has tricked him into decreeing the destruction of his own queen and all of her people. And so he storms out of that feast in a rage.

He probably doesn't know what to do. He can't ask his right-hand man for a counsel because he's right in the middle of the situation. Maybe his other seven wise counselors are not there at the time.

It was a private feast. There are other servants there, but perhaps not his counselors. And so he storms out. He's in a rage. But he doesn't know what to do. This king who can't seem to think for himself. He doesn't know.

But Haman sees in the king's eyes that whatever happens is not going to be good. He sees that evil is completed for him from the king.

That his fate is sealed. And so he stays behind. Maybe he can find mercy from the queen. And so he abandons all sense of propriety. It was not a good idea to go near any of the king's women.

His wife, his concubines, any of them. He forgets all of that and in his desperation falls before her on the couch where she was reclining. Maybe she'll show mercy. Now meantime, the king is out in the garden in a rage, but probably as well wondering how to get out of the situation and still save face.

He might not think very much for himself, but he knows the decree to destroy his queen has his seal on it. It's his signet ring that made the seal on it. It's got his stamp of approval on it.

And so if it comes out that Haman did this and Haman's in trouble and he kills Haman, he's going to be implicated in it. How can he get rid of the architect of the plan, Haman, without damaging his own name and reputation?

And he doesn't know what to do. He re-enters the banquet hall still in a rage that Haman would do this thing. And he sees Haman falling on the couch by his wife, his queen.

Way, way too close to the queen. And here's the opportunity to get rid of Haman without drawing attention to the decree and the real reason he's getting rid of Haman for. He says, will he assault the queen right here with me in the house?

What a fool. And he was a fool. Now, that's not what Haman was doing, but no matter. That's what the king said. The king's word stands. His fate is sealed, his face covered, and Haman now knows that there is no hope for him.

And he's about to learn once and for all that his actions do have consequences and severe ones at that. There's not really much to say here about the king except to note that he's a really sad example of a king.

He's aloof. He doesn't know what's going on in his own house, let alone his own kingdom. He doesn't certainly have control over it. He doesn't know his right-hand man very well.

He doesn't know his own queen. He can't think for himself. And when he does, it's entirely self-centered. Concerned with making things right for him. As well as protecting his queen, perhaps.

Two brief observations about the king. One, and we've noted this before, be thankful tonight that our God is not this way. What a frightening thing to have a God like Xerxes, but we don't.

We have a God who knows everything that's going on in his kingdom. A God who is wise and does think for himself. Who carries out all things in accordance with his plan.

And it's a good plan because he's a good God. He has his own glory in mind. And he's glorified in guarding and protecting his people, not ignoring them.

He's not fickle. He's not changing like the wind. He's faithful. Unchanging. What a blessed people we are. That our God isn't like this king that we read up here. And the other observation is this.

Even with a king like Xerxes on the throne, we, the people of God, have no reason for fear. You all know that we have weak, fallible, mistaken, prone leaders, governors, presidents, that rule over us.

But we don't need to fear. But you say, what if, what if a liberal, a liberal is elected in the 2008 presidential elections?

What then? Should we fear then? If, if God can preserve his people with a man like Xerxes on the throne, don't you think he can protect us with anybody in the White House?

He can. And he will. Now, that's not to neglect. Remember, our responsibility. If you want somebody else in the White House, you go vote. You go do the work. You can't reap where you haven't sown.

And so, if you want to see somebody else, you go out and you do the work and you vote. But if the results aren't what you hoped for, don't despair. Don't give up. Don't say, it's hopeless now.

No, God is still on the throne. Just like He was in the days of Esther. And we need not fear with our God on the throne. Well, the queen has made a request.

The king has replied. He's angry. And now we see Haman's demise. One of the servants, one of the eunuchs who attended the king, and we read of him back in chapter 1 as well, he's named twice in Esther.

Harbona. Maybe he was next to be moving up. Maybe he could move up into that circle of closer advisors. Maybe he could be the next Haman. And he sees Haman's going down, and so he's going to help him go all the way down.

And he says, I've got some information that might be of use to you, king. There's a gallows that are already built. And just so you know, Haman built them for Mordecai.

The guy that saved your life. Remember him? The one who spoke up for you. The one that you wanted to honor. The man that you delight to honor. Mordecai. Haman wanted to kill him. He even had a gallows built for him.

But anyway, there's a gallows built. And they're 50 cubits high. And they're down at Haman's place. And so it's convenient. There's a method of execution easily at hand.

And Harbona's just perhaps made himself a little more valuable in the king's sight. At least he probably hoped so. And so the king, with that opportunity, and still, remember, he's still in a rage.

Hang him! Hang him on the gallows! And so they do. The king still can't, it seems, make a decision for himself, but Haman's fate is sealed. A king's wrath is a messenger of death.

Proverbs 16, 14. And it's certainly true of Xerxes. His wrath was a messenger of death for Haman. And now Haman is at the end of his terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

The day that couldn't have gotten much worse, just has. Punishment is certain, and he goes to his death humiliated. The tables have been completely turned.

Haman wanted to hang Mordecai, but he had to honor him instead. And now the gallows built by Haman for Mordecai are used for Haman's execution. The people he wanted to destroy turn out to be the queen's people.

God has turned everything on its head. Psalm 7, verses 15 and 16. He who digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit he has made.

The trouble he causes recoils on himself. His violence comes down on his own head. And isn't that exactly what's happened to Haman? He dug a pit.

Oh, he didn't dig a pit. He built a gallows. But, they weren't used for his enemy Mordecai. He was hung on the gallows he made. You ever had a plan totally backfire on you?

You become the victim of your own plot? It's what happens to the wicked. Solomon in Proverbs speaks of men who lie in wait for others' blood.

To rob them. To injure them. And he says this, these men lie in wait for their own blood. They waylay only themselves. And such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain.

It takes away the lives of those who get it. And isn't that what's happened to Haman? He was after somebody else, but he waylaid his own life. Looking to kill the Jews, it's he that meets his demise.

And we find that your sin will surely find you out. And so we return to the truth with which we began. We're responsible for our actions. And we will face the consequences for those actions.

You may be now even plotting all sorts of evil and thinking you're getting away with it. Your parents might not know about your late night escapes from your house. They might not know about your activities when you're out with your friends.

You might have your Sunday school teacher fooled. You might have your pastors fooled into thinking you're a good kid. Maybe you have your boss deceived. He doesn't know how much time you waste and what poor work you're actually doing. But you'll not escape the all-seeing eye of God and the far-reaching hand of His justice.

Haman had a lot of people fooled too. And his sin eventually caught up with him. It founds him out. You remember the story of Naaman, the leper, in the Old Testament with Elisha.

Naaman comes to Elisha to be healed of his leprosy. Naaman the Syrian. And Elisha tells him to go dip in the Jordan River seven times.

And Naaman wants no part of it, but his entourage talks him into it. And he goes, he dips in the river seven times, and lo and behold, his leprosy is gone. And he comes back to Elisha and he says, let me give you some gift.

Let me reward you with some of these goods that I've brought from Syria. And Elisha says, no. No. He wants no part of it.

And Gehazi, standing behind Elisha, perhaps his eyes are getting as big as saucers. Elisha, you're letting a lot of valuable things get away. He's offering it to you for free. And Elisha sends Naaman away.

And Gehazi just can't get over it. Here's this opportunity to make much wealth for himself. And so, he runs after Naaman. And he says, oh, two of the men from the school, the prophets have come, and we need a change of clothes for each and a talons of silver.

And Naaman says, take two talons of silver and two changes of clothes. And he sends it back with Gehazi and two servants. And as they get back in view of the house, Gehazi takes it and he stashes it and comes back in the house.

And Elisha, he's a prophet of God, it's sort of been obvious. Elisha says, where have you been, Gehazi? Your servant didn't go anywhere. Was not my spirit with you when you asked Naaman for these things?

And what happens to Gehazi? He goes out covered with Naaman's leprosy for the rest of his life. He thought maybe he could get away with it. That no one would know about his little secret.

But his sin found him out. Haman's sin found him out. And your sin will find you out. And not only will it be found out, you'll face the consequences of your sin.

The righteous man is rescued from trouble and it comes on the wicked. Proverbs 11.8 God is just and will right all wrongs. You know, even if in this life you never faced a consequence for your sin, which is probably unlikely, but even if you got away with it your whole life.

When you die, all rights will be made wrong. All wrongs will be made right. And you'll face the penalty when you die.

And even if a righteous person should live his whole life and not reap any reward, that will be righted in judgment as well. You think of the rich man and Lazarus.

And Lazarus, for his whole life, never caught a break. He's the poor man at the rich man's gate covered with sores. And he longs to just eat some of the food that falls from the rich man's table and the dogs come and lick his sores.

And the rich man is a godless man and the poor man is a godly man. The rich man enjoys great prosperity his whole life. And the poor man, Lazarus, nothing.

But when they die, the tables are turned. And it's the rich man who's in the torments and the agony of hell. And not just for a lifetime, but forever.

And it's Lazarus that's in Abraham's bosom receiving comfort. And Abraham says to the rich man, son, remember that in your lifetime you received good things. While Lazarus has received bad things, but now, and we could add for eternity, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.

So even should you escape this life without facing any consequences for all of your sin and you're coasting and you think you've gotten by with it, it will be made right in eternity.

And it will be in eternity. Romans 6.23 The wages of sin is death. And I assure you that a lifetime of what you think is prosperity and pleasure that comes from your sin on this earth cannot compare to an eternity of suffering in hell.

Not even close. Just a few short years compared with never-ending years. You'll go where Haman has gone before you.

And don't brush this off as no big deal. It's agony that never ends. It's misery. It's eternal torment. An eternity of mourning the multitude of missed opportunities you had to kiss the sun.

To repent and believe. It's not a place out to hang out with your buddies. You won't have any in hell. You'll suffer. Forever.

Like Haman is right now. You'd be far better off if you began to feel the consequences in this life. If you began to see that there are penalties that come for your sin.

That there is pain and suffering that's associated with it. That there's agony here in this life. It's better off to begin feeling and experiencing those things now. That they might wake you up to the reality that there are consequences for your actions so that you might turn and repent now while there's still hope.

You think, I'd rather go through life and never feel a twinge of conscience, any pang of conscience. Well, then you're going to face an eternity of it. But if you begin to face those consequences now, don't continue on in your sins.

Say, I see that there's great trouble. I need to turn and repent now. And run to the Savior now so that I won't have to face those eternal consequences. And don't continue on just because you're stubborn and you don't want to admit mom and dad were right or the pastors were right or whatever.

Don't continue on because you think you might yet miss out on some little pleasure. Turn from your sin now. Abandon your foolish, evil ways. I hope it's a terrifying thought to you that you could fall asleep tonight thinking everything is okay.

Haven't gotten caught. No consequences for your sin. And you put your head on your pillow and he says, that pastor has talked about not being able to sleep at night. I can sin and still sleep at night. He's crazy. Scary thing to think that you could go to sleep tonight thinking everything was okay and not wake up in the morning and find yourself in an eternity of torment.

And you'll realize that everything is not okay. Far better to begin facing those consequences now and dealing with your sin now rather than to go and find yourself before the judgment throne of God wanting, facing the eternal consequences of your sin.

In other words, you're totally responsible for your sinful actions. You can't blame God for them, but you will be judged by God for them. As terrifying as this should be for the wicked, in some ways, it ought to be a comfort for God's people that the enemies of God and His church will not prevail.

God will bring their plans to nothing. Let's praise Him tonight that people like Haman can't overthrow the church, that the gates of hell can't prevail against it. If you're raging against the church tonight, you can't wait until your parents, you're old enough that they can't bring you to church anymore.

You would love to see Grace Fellowship Church crumbling down. You can't expect to rage against God and win. It's a futile battle you're fighting.

Victory for the Lord is sure. So come and fight for God and not against Him. I want to finish tonight by noting the difference between Esther and Haman.

Esther sowed good and reaped good. But Esther had plenty of problems of her own. She's sown some pretty wicked things already. And she's reaped some of the consequences. But the difference between Esther and Haman, it seems, is that Esther finds forgiveness in the coming Messiah.

She's looking forward to the Savior of Israel. The One who is yet to come. And you can look back and know that that Savior has come. And Jesus remarkably takes the consequences that our actions deserve.

I told you that you reap what you sow. Right? If you sow evil, you reap punishment. If you sow good, you reap eternal life. But God has made a way through His Son that even though all of us here have sown much evil, we've been wicked.

And we deserve to reap eternal judgment. He's made it so that His Son reaped that judgment in our place. He took the consequences of our actions on His shoulders at the cross.

And God punished His own Son so that we might reap the benefits of Christ's perfect life. He sowed good and we reap eternal life because of His good. Now there's a blessed, blessed truth.

And that's why the rest of Romans 6.23, it's sad that we often forget it. We quoted the first part earlier, for the wages of sin is death. You know what the rest of it is? But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Haman rejected that God. He rejected His Son who was to come. He rejected that gift out of hand. And he faced judgment because of it. What will you do with the gracious gift of eternal life?

The one that it seems that Esther received. What will you do with that grace? I don't want it. I'm doing well enough on my own. Like my sin. Like the pleasure it brings me.

Will you bow the knee and say, God, be merciful to me, this sinner. Come and have mercy on me for Jesus' sake. Will you accept that gift by faith? Or reject it? You can come to Jesus while there's still time to escape the coming judgment.

You can trust in Jesus and find forgiveness for all the evil that you've sown. Will you do that tonight? Will you come and trust in Him? Repent and leave your sin behind. Leave your evil sowing days behind. And from here on seek to sow that which is good.

Only by the grace of God can you do it. Not in your own strength. But you can come and trust in Christ and go and live for Him. May God make it so. We've come to the end of chapter 7, but it's not the resolution of the story yet, is it?

At the end of the day, there's still a really big problem. Haman's been taken care of. The king's wrath is abated, but the fate of the Jews is still in the balance.

The fate of God's people yet undetermined. There's still an irrevocable decree against God's people that they be killed, annihilated, or destroyed, and annihilated. What will come of it?

And there's still a proud king who has his stamp of approval on that decree. And so the outcome is not yet certain. It is. It's written. Go and read chapter 8 and you'll find out.

But when we come to the end of this chapter, things are moving in the right direction. There's good signs, but we're not in the clear yet. And so we'll wait until next time and learn what the Lord has for us in Esther 8.

We probably actually won't get there until September. Some other things will come in between. But until then, give thanks tonight that God is sovereign, that He sits on the throne. Remember that you are responsible.

And remember that you will face the consequences for your actions, whether good or bad. And if you found comfort in Christ tonight, give praise to God that He has taken the eternal consequences of your sin.

And if you haven't found that shelter, run to Jesus tonight and find a sure refuge. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, Father, what a fearful thing it is that men and women, boys and girls, die and go into Your presence unprepared like Haman did, having their sins unrepented of, not having believed in the Savior.

And what a fearful thing it is that in Your perfect justice You send them to an eternity in agony and torment and hell. God, we pray that You would awaken those fears in our hearts tonight.

We pray that You would awaken lost sinners tonight for the first time and send them running to Jesus who did bear our sin in our place so that we might have life eternal.

What a blessed people we are. We give You thanks and praise tonight for Jesus. And we pray that You would cause lost sinners this night to run and to trust in Him. And we thank You that You are a sovereign God who sits on the throne and does all things well.

And that we can rest in Your arms and that we can trust You. But we pray that that wouldn't make us a complacent, lazy people. Make us an active, working people. Working out our salvation with fear and trembling.

Knowing that it is You who works in us to will and to work according to Your good pleasure. Comfort us with these truths. Help us to go and live them. And so seek to bring honor and glory to Your name.

We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.