Chapter 4 - How the Flesh Works

He also has a position. It may not be as high as Haman's, but he can't just go and wipe him out. It is not that easy.

Haman therefore finds a way to do it indirectly. He discovers that Mordecai is a Jew. The Jews were the race of people who were living amongst the crowd.

They were different because the Jews were always different. They stood apart because they were God's Covenant people. They didn't do what everybody else did.

When Haman discovers that Mordecai is a Jew , he decides there is only one way to deal with this thing. He thinks,

"I won't just get rid of Mordecai. I'll get rid of every Jew and Mordecai along with them. If I don't get rid of Mordecai there will be more Mordecai's there because they are all like this. They are stubborn and rebellious."

So Haman comes to the king and says,

"King, you have these people in your kingdom that are big trouble. I think we should get rid of them."

The Weak Soul

The king is such a strong leader isn't he? He might say,

"Haman you can't just make a judgment like this. I need more facts. Let's discuss this and see what it is about."

No he didn't do that. He simply said,

"Hey, sure thing. Here is my ring. Go ahead and use my authority to do whatever you want to."

You thought that your soul was so strong didn't you? You thought that it was so in control and that you had the willpower to overcome sin.

Don't kid yourself. You can't overcome sin by gritting your teeth and saying,

"I will control myself. I will not do the wrong thing. I will do the right thing."

You can't do that, because there is within you a sinful tendency that will overwhelm your natural desires. It will persuade you to give in and let it have its way. It's very persuasive, very strong and forceful.

Licensing the Flesh

You see the flesh has to be given license. Even though it is there within you, you must make a choice to submit to it and to allow it to have its way.

That is exactly what the king did. He just submitted and said,

"I king you carte blanche. Do whatever you want."

If you as a new believer are facing this for the first time, you have never resisted this tendency because you think,

"Hey this feels good. Let's do it. Let's have fun and do what makes me feel good."

That is the way of the world isn't it? Now that you are a Christian there is a new influence within you, but you haven't learned to listen to that influence yet.

You are so used to submitting to your feelings and your natural desires, that when the flesh comes to trap you, you don't realize what it is trying to do.

It is trying to destroy that new thing that God has put in you. So you give into it without even realize what you are doing.

Haman has full license to do everything as though he is the king. He can make a decree and put the king's signet stamp on it. Then everyone who looks at it will think that it came from the king, so they will have to obey it.

When you give the flesh license in your life, it is going to take that license and use it. And the final results are not going to be what you expect.

Licensing With Words and Actions

So how do we license this spiritual force in our lives? How does Haman use his newfound power?

He takes royal parchment. He writes down a decree, activates that decree and sends it out so that it can be implemented. He issues a decree that says,

"All Jews on a certain day are going to be destroyed. Men, women, children - every single one of them are going to be wiped out."

He puts the king's ring on it, makes it official and sends it out. Can you see that the flesh has used the two most essential functions that release power from within us? Those two words are words and actions.

The words that you speak and the actions that you take can either license the Spirit of God or they can license the flesh.

When you choose to speak those words and act them out, you give the flesh (your sinful nature), full license to take control of your life.

Cannot Be Retracted

But here is the tough thing about words and actions. You can't take them back. Once you have spoken a word, it is spoken. You may regret that you spoke it, but it is too late.

You may regret that you did something, but the consequences will still follow. You can't undo what you have done. And you can't retrieve the words that you sent out.

In the book of Esther this is portrayed as The Law of the Medes and the Persians. Once a king issued a decree, he himself could not withdraw that decree. He couldn't cancel it. It was issued and sent and had to be carried out.

Can you see how dangerous it is to give in to the flesh? It is going to cause destruction in your life. It is going to cause consequences that you may never be able to reverse once you have started the ball rolling.

The Flesh and Feelings

What happened as a result of all of this? The flesh is taking control. Haman had sent out his decree to destroy everything related to the spiritual life.

You would think that the king would suddenly get it and say,

"Oh dear, I made a mistake."

The Scripture says that the king and Haman sat down to drink. They said,

"Let's drink on this. Let's have a party and celebrate."

You won't even realize that you have given the flesh license. You won't even know what you have done, until you begin to see the consequences of it. In fact you might feel quite good about yourself.

You may feel that you did the right thing and say,

"Now I feel better. Let's have a drink and have a party."

You see that is how subtle the flesh is because it makes you feel good. And if it feels good it must be right, hey?

Isn't that the way of the world? The world says,

"If it feels good it is okay. I feel good about it."

Leads to Confusion and Death

You just don't realize the death that you have authorized and allowed. It hasn't got to you yet. The Scripture says that the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Shushan was perplexed.

Shushan is a picture of the palace; a picture of the heart of man in the book of Esther. I believe that the city of Shushan refers to everybody in the palace.

There is now confusion because of what Haman has just done. And when you allow the flesh to have license in your life, deep within your heart there comes a confusion.

You have lost your way. You don't see clearly anymore. You don't understand what move to take next. Paul says in Romans 7:5,

For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, worked in our members to bring forth fruit to death. 

The flesh produces death. It happens firstly in your spirit. Your spirit becomes ineffective, because the moment you license the flesh the spirit is going to be quenched. It is going to be pushed aside, and every spiritual influence you had will be destroyed.

You might say,

"I just gave into that thing just this once."

Yes but you sent forth a decree into the earth which cannot be reversed. You will face the consequences of your words and your actions.

Your spirit becomes ineffective, and the death begins to spread from your spirit outwards. It begins to affect your mind, your emotions and your will.

It can even affect your body and affect your health as a result of giving in to the flesh. Walking in the flesh can lead to sickness and even to physical death.

Only God is the author of life because Paul says that the flesh produces death.

No Hope of Change

This is the part of the movie that we call 'all is lost'. How do we get out of this? You might say,

"I opened my mouth and put my foot in it. I did something that I shouldn't have done and I can't take it back. Now I face the consequences of doing it."

Well the consequences of it are spiritual death. All is lost. There seems to be no hope now for either Esther or Mordecai because they are Jews.

A decree has gone out to destroy the Jews. That means that Mordecai and Esther are going to be destroyed. Every single spiritual influence within their life is due to be destroyed.

They are powerless to do anything. The soul and the flesh (the king and Haman) are now in control. There seems to be no hope.

Paul describes this feeling very well in the book of Romans 7. He says,

"I try to do what is right, but I end up doing the wrong thing. I hate doing the wrong thing, but I keep doing it."

He says in Romans 7:22 to 24,

For I delight in the law of God as far as my inner being is concerned: But I identify another law in my body members, at war against the law of my mind, and making me a captive to the law of sin that is in my body members. 
Miserable human being that I am! Who will rescue me from the fleshly body that contains this death?

All is lost. You might say,

"I have tried so hard. I wanted to serve the Lord. I have done the best that I could, but all I end up doing is sinning."

I think we have all been there at one time or another. How do we deal with this thing that has been with us from birth? It has now begun to bear fruit in our lives.

How do we get rid of Haman? He has supreme control. He even has the king's ring and he can do whatever he pleases. What chance do we have of getting this guy out?

Pretty little it seems, but there is a way to deal with the flesh. Before we deal with the flesh though things are going to get worse.

Do you think this is a case of all is lost? No, all is lost now becomes even worse. When you reach that place of despair, after that it usually gets worse before it gets better.

The story of Esther actually portrays this very well. It gets worse before it gets better. But like all good movies there is a happy ending coming.

There is a way to deal with this all is lost phase. We are going to get Haman out, and we will have to use a very subtle way of doing it. There is hope. There is a way of dealing with the flesh in your life.

The next chapter of the book of Esther is going to give us that picture. That is what we will deal with in the next Section.

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Esther As a Model Of The Spiritual Life - Chapter 4 of 10