Trinity Church CDA

In this Pentecost sermon on Ezekiel, the passage shows how the prophet foresaw the Holy Spirit’s coming. The glory of the Lord departs from a corrupt temple and exiled people, but later returns to a new temple with a life-giving river flowing from it, bringing renewal to the world. This is fulfilled at Pentecost: the Spirit fills God’s people as His new temple and flows out, irrigating the earth with new life. We are called to join this renewing mission.

Esther 10 highlights Mordecai’s legacy of civil authority, favor among the Jews, and seeking their good as a shadow of Christ’s ascension and enthronement. It celebrates this as prophetic fulfillment and natural for God’s people. The preacher sharply critiques secularism as unbiblical, unnatural, and doomed, urging Christians to embrace Christ’s total authority over politics and pray for rulers to openly serve Him.

Psalm 2 reveals nations raging against God and His Anointed, yet He laughs, enthrones Christ on Zion, and gives Him the nations as inheritance through resurrection and ascension. Evil schemes fail; Christ's victory is certain. Trust Him, serve with fear and joy, reject anxiety, and faithfully steward your daily duties. God reigns.

The sermon on Esther 9 reveals the book’s subtle theology: God never slumbers. Haman the Agagite descends from Israel’s ancient foe Amalek (cursed in Exodus), while Mordecai descends from Saul. Esther is an ancient “rematch” fulfilling God’s promise to destroy Amalek.
What seems like secular chance is faithful providence, God sovereignly overruling events for His people’s deliverance. We must read and live our lives with Mordecai-like boldness as part of this divine comedy.

The Book of Esther ends with the Jews establishing Purim, a joyful feast of feasting, celebration, and giving to one another and the poor, to commemorate God’s deliverance from Haman’s plot and reversal of their fortunes.
The sermon urges believers to glorify God by intentionally commemorating His works, especially Christ’s redemption, through holy feasts like the Lord’s Day. These celebrations foster joy, holiness, and hope in daily life.

The Christian life is a narrow path balancing Christ’s finished salvation with our active responsibility to work it out. Using Esther 8–9, the text warns against neglecting duty or relying on self-effort alone. Like the Jews who, after Haman’s defeat, united in just self-defense, believers must engage in spiritual warfare, primarily against their own flesh, through self-discipline and wise focus.
True fighting builds Christ’s kingdom, not pointless debates or division. We battle sin, defend justice, and labor to bring others to Christ, finding joy in His peace and ultimate victory.

The Ephesians passage calls Christians to imitate God’s love and forgiveness. God’s forgiveness is not universal but granted to all who repent and trust in Christ. We are to cultivate a readiness to forgive anyone who asks, including enemies, desiring reconciliation, keeping a tender heart, and releasing sins upon repentance.
Cancel culture, which rejects forgiveness, contradicts Christian faith. Biblical love is not fleeting emotion or tolerance, but Christ-like self-sacrifice that fulfills the law. It gives the benefit of the doubt, endures wrongs gracefully, and walks in ongoing forgiveness, reflecting God’s love for us.

In Esther 7, Queen Esther shrewdly reveals Haman’s plot to destroy the Jews, pleading humbly for her life and her people’s. The king, enraged, leaves the banquet; Haman’s desperate plea ends with him falling on Esther’s couch, which the king sees as assault. Haman is hanged on the gallows he built for Mordecai.
This foreshadows Easter: Haman dies on a tree, but Jesus, the true Hero, dies on a tree as victory. The cross was God’s trap; through death and resurrection, Christ outwitted sin, death, and darkness, plundering Hades. Christians can laugh at evil, for Christ has conquered. Humility brings true joy.

Esther 5 and 6 contrasts fleeting worldly glory with true greatness. Haman’s arrogant plot for honor and revenge unravels as the sleepless king orders Mordecai honored by Haman himself. This humiliation foreshadows Christ’s triumphal entry and ultimate exaltation through humility (Philippians 2). Haman’s self-obsession leads to downfall; Christ’s obedience brings lasting glory. True greatness comes through humble submission to God, not envy or pride.

Esther 4 emphasizes doxology, giving glory to God, contrasting His generous sharing of glory with Haman's selfish ambition. Mordecai, distressed by the decree to destroy the Jews, urges Esther to risk death by approaching the king, humbling himself in repentance and affirming God's deliverance. He declares she may have been placed there "for such a time as this." God invites us to participate in His heroic deeds and share His glory, yet His kingdom prevails regardless, granting us boldness and rest in Christ's reign.