Esther As a Model Of The Spiritual Life Chapter 5 of 10
<-Chapter 4 Chapter 6-> Return to FulltextHow to Expose the Flesh
Condensed Version (Completed)
We ended the last section on the all is lost part of the story. That is what our spiritual life actually looks like when the flesh takes control.
But you see the flesh has even more plans to destroy and things are about to get worse. The flesh wants to remove all traces of the Holy Spirit from our lives.
In the story of Esther, it seems like King Ahasuerus just submits and hands over to Haman.
The Holy Spirit Helps Us
When the flesh takes control you will need a bit of help from deep inside. That help comes firstly from the Holy Spirit and He makes the first move.
You have activated the fleshly abilities and they are in control. The flesh and the spirit now fight against each other.
You must now activate your inner spiritual abilities, even though there is a tendency to squash them.
When we walk in the flesh the Holy Spirit is grieved. He can't be pacified while the flesh is in control.
He Never Leaves Us
But here is the wonderful thing about the Lord Jesus in us by His Spirit. Even though we grieve Him. He doesn't turn His back on us.
Some people teach this and they have a very legalistic approach to the spiritual life. The whole idea is we have to strive and work hard to make it to heaven one day.
Imagine if when my own children fail I take them, stand by an open door and gave them a boot kick into the street saying,
"I don't want you anymore. I don't want naughty children."
No father would do that, and neither will our Heavenly Father, who has more love than you and I.
Grieving the Spirit
Every time we fail God and live a righteous life, we expect Him to kick us out. He is certainly grieved and sad, but He will never leave us nor forsake us.
When we walk in the flesh, the first effect that takes place is that the Holy Spirit is grieved. And when He is grieved, the part of you that is affected immediately is your recreated human spirit.
In the book of Esther, this is pictured by Queen Esther herself. She is the new recreated spirit who was brought in to the palace.
Mordecai dressed in sackcloth and ashes which was a standard procedure in those days which showed that you were unhappy or distressed.
The news was brought to Esther,
"Mordecai is in sackcloth and ashes. Something is wrong."
Aware of a Problem
When you continue to walk in the flesh and allow it to control you, the Holy Spirit begins to work in your spirit and you feel that something is wrong.
Mordecai can't just walk into the king's palace and confront the king for putting Haman in control. So, the Holy Spirit he represents never imposes Himself on us but is always ready to serve.
Esther, however, is now in a position where she has to do something. She sends a message to ask Mordecai what is wrong and tries to get him to put on proper clothing, but he refuses.
He sends her a message showing the king's decree and warning her that she cannot escape the coming death, even in the palace.
Then he tells her that she needs to go and speak to the king, but there is a problem. She has wait for the king to call for her. She cannot just walk in on him uninvited.
Your new spirit cannot remain passive when the Holy Spirit is grieved, but it cannot just overrule the soul.
Subtlety to Expose the Flesh
You cannot just dominate the flesh and bring it under control. But you have to use subtlety and take a very specific approach.
Esther decides to go and see the king, but the danger is if she walks into the court uninvited, she could be put to death, unless the king holds out his golden scepter and allows her in.
So she put on the best makeup and clothing that she had, and with the royal crown on her head and she was beautiful.
So the queen appeared there in the court right where the king was sitting. She was so dazzling in her glory he could not resist her.
This happened because instead of coming strong and bold, she came in humility and submissiveness. This is a principle any woman can use effectively to influence her husband.
Enticing the Flesh
To overcome Haman or the flesh, you have to trap it. And you do this by first enticing or almost seducing the soul.
The soul will submit if you give it a beautiful, tender loving spirit; not a legalistic, dominating spirit that tells it what to do.
Preaching the law only stirs up the flesh as Paul teaches. Tell someone they can't do something and they will want to do it. But come in gentleness and a submissive appeal, and they might listen.
The idea was to give Haman enough rope to hang himself, and the exact same approach has to be taken by our spirit.
Revealing the Plan
Well now that Esther has got in with the king, now she sets her plan in motion. It seems to me that the kings of those days were happy to give away half of their kingdom when they were moved.
The king asks her what she wants, and he is ready to give it to her right away. But if she had exposed Haman right then there could have been other complications.
You need to deal with the culprit, get rid of him, and get him out of there because he is the enemy. But it is not a simple process.
Get to the Root
You must not settle for a quick fix. You want to solve the full problem, not just the current problem. You want to do more than fix the negative feelings you have.
You might be tempted to think,
"If someone can just help me with my problems I will feel better."
But it is not enough to feel better, because there is a Haman that is still there and you need to get rid of him. Don't settle for a quick fix.
You might feel great for now, but tomorrow the problem is back. You have to get to the core; get to the root.
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