SERMON NOTES: Hidden Treasure

We want the elevation, but we miss the invitation.

Esther 2:7-10 (NLT)
7
This man had a very beautiful and lovely young cousin, Hadassah, who was also
called Esther. When her father and mother died, Mordecai adopted her into his family
and raised her as his own daughter.
8
As a result of the king’s decree, Esther, along with many other young women,
was brought to the king’s harem at the fortress of Susa and placed in Hegai’s care. 9
Hegai was very impressed with Esther and treated her kindly. He quickly ordered a
special menu for her and provided her with beauty treatments. He also assigned her
seven maids specially chosen from the king’s palace, and he moved her and her maids
into the best place in the harem.
Esther had not told anyone of her nationality and family background, because
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Mordecai had directed her not to do so.

Assimilation WAS not and IS not God’s design.
Deuteronomy 26:18-19 (NLT)
The Lord has declared today that you are his people, his own special treasure, just as
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he promised, and that you must obey all his commands. 19 And if you do, he will set
you high above all the other nations he has made. Then you will receive praise, honor,
and renown. You will be a nation that is holy to the Lord your God, just as he
promised.”
Esther 2:16-17, 19-20 (NLT)
Esther was taken to King Xerxes at the royal palace in early winter of the seventh
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year of his reign. 17 And the king loved Esther more than any of the other young

1Even after all the young women had been transferred to the second harem and
Mordecai had become a palace official, 20 Esther continued to keep her family
background and nationality a secret. She was still following Mordecai’s directions, just
as she did when she lived in his home.
There is no position that the world can give you higher than what He already has
granted you.
Ephesians 1:3 (NLT)
women. He was so delighted with her that he set the royal crown on her head and
declared her queen instead of Vashti.
1 Peter 2:9 (TPT)
9
But you are God’s chosen treasure—priests who are kings, a spiritual “nation” set
apart as God’s devoted ones. He called you out of darkness to experience his
marvelous light, and now he claims you as his very own. He did this so that you
would broadcast his glorious wonders throughout the world.
Esther 4:3-16 (NLT)
3
And as news of the king’s decree reached all the provinces, there was great
mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and wailed, and many people lay in
burlap and ashes.
4
When Queen Esther’s maids and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, she
was deeply distressed. She sent clothing to him to replace the burlap, but he refused it.
5
Then Esther sent for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs who had been appointed as
her attendant. She ordered him to go to Mordecai and find out what was troubling him
and why he was in mourning. 6 So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the square in front
of the palace gate.
7
Mordecai told him the whole story, including the exact amount of money Haman had
promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. 8 Mordecai gave
Hathach a copy of the decree issued in Susa that called for the death of all Jews. He
asked Hathach to show it to Esther and explain the situation to her. He also asked
Hathach to direct her to go to the king to beg for mercy and plead for her people. 9 So
Hathach returned to Esther with Mordecai’s message.
10
Then Esther told Hathach to go back and relay this message to Mordecai: 11 “All the
king’s officials and even the people in the provinces know that anyone who appears
before the king in his inner court without being invited is doomed to die unless the
king holds out his gold scepter. And the king has not called for me to come to him for
thirty days.” 12 So Hathach gave Esther’s message to Mordecai.
13
Mordecai sent this reply to Esther: “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in
the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. 14 If you keep quiet at a time

2For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the
heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.
like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you
and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such
a time as this?”
Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go and gather together all the Jews of
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Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I
will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I
must die, I must die.”
The invitation for us is not only into a position of influence; it’s into a position of
obedience.
“When God calls you to something, He is not always calling you to succeed, He’s calling you to
obey! The success of the calling is up to him; the obedience is up to you.” - David Wilkerson

Esther 5:1-2 (NLT)

1
On the third day of the fast, Esther put on her royal robes and entered the inner court
of the palace, just across from the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne,
facing the entrance. 2 When he saw Queen Esther standing there in the inner court, he
welcomed her and held out the gold scepter to her. So Esther approached and touched
the end of the scepter.
A king would speak very little to his subjects when in the throne room. He would
often show his intentions with his scepter. It was his symbol of authority. He would
often give his scepter to a trusted servant to carry out a message or order and the very
presence of the scepter was the proof that this order was given under the authority of
the king.

Esther 8:16-17 (NLT)

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The Jews were filled with joy and gladness and were honored everywhere. 17 In every
province and city, wherever the king’s decree arrived, the Jews rejoiced and had a
great celebration and declared a public festival and holiday. And many of the people
of the land became Jews themselves, for they feared what the Jews might do to them.
God did not choose Esther because she was bold; Esther was bold because God chose
her.