Okay, this evening I want to
try to bring a message, a gospel message. That's our aim whenever
we come to the time of the preaching of the Word. We want to bring
a gospel, gospel message. This is more than just a mere
history story. All the Word of God is given
to teach us the gospel. I'm taking the title for the
message from what is said down in verse 17. Esther is crown
queen. Look at verse 17. This is Esther
2 verse 17. And the king loved Esther above
all women. This was a special love that
he was given for Esther. And I'm sure that Esther, I can
just imagine, I'm sure that Esther loved the king. And she obtained,
notice she didn't earn, she obtained grace, she obtained favor in
his sight more than all the virgins. Remember there were many who
were brought before the king, presented for the king, before
the king he said, that one. Right there is election, isn't
it? Right there is God's sovereign choice. So that he set a royal
crown upon her head and made her queen. There used to be an
old TV series years ago, some of you younger ones don't remember,
but you remember that old TV series, Queen for a Day? We're
going way back to the fifties. There used to be an old show,
Queen for a Day. She wasn't just queen for a day.
She was queen as long as a king was king. She was queen. and he set a royal crown upon
her head and made her the queen. Now, isn't that exactly what
God has done to us? He loved us, He saw us, He chose
us. He made us kings and priests
unto our God, as it says in Revelation chapter one. He loved us and
washed us from our sin in His own blood and made us kings and
priests unto our God. That's the gospel. That's the
gospel in the book of Esther as well. Esther is taken from
a lowly state as a homeless Jewish orphan. made the queen of a vast
empire, taken into the royal house of the king, a royal crown
set upon her head. She's married now to the king
What an amazing story of the Lord's sovereign grace and sovereign
power. And he does all this to protect
his people as we see in this story. The story of Esther is
a story of every sinner saved by the almighty grace and power
of God. He has taken us from the kingdom
of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of God's dear
Son. Believers, sinners saved by grace
have been lifted from the dunghill of sin made trophies of the Lord's
grace, made object of His love, made heirs of God and joint heirs
with the Lord Jesus Christ. What an amazing story. That's your story. That's why
I read 1 Samuel chapter 2. The Lord killeth and maketh alive. He bringeth down to the grave
and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor and maketh
rich. He bringeth low And he lifts
up. He raises the poor out of the
dust. He lifts the beggar from the dunghill to set them among
princes. to make them inherit the throne
of glory, for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and
He has set the world upon them." He created all things by Himself
and for Himself, and by Him all things consist, all things are
held together. We learn in this book of Esther
Even though the name of the Lord Jehovah is not written down in
the English language, it is said by the theologians that it is
there in a hidden sense in the Hebrew language. But we learn
in the book of Esther, Another important lesson of the sovereign
providence of God, how the Lord even uses the wicked designs
of men like Haman and others to further his own eternal purpose
for the good of his people, for the glory of his name, the Lord
uses small means, slender means, and the Lord carries out his
great designs. He works all things after the
counsel of his own will. And the purpose of God, it cannot
fail. God is purposed to bless his
people and he's going to bless them through Esther and through
Mordecai. And he's going to preserve these
people. You remember these people here,
were the people who stayed behind. When all those 50, 60 other thousand
of those Jews, when Cyrus made that decree to go back to Jerusalem,
many and most of them went back, but many of them, like Mordecai
and Esther, stayed. And the reason we know they stayed
behind now was for the benefit of those people who did stay
behind. Now, let me just pick up a few highlights here. In
chapter 2, verse 1 down through verse 4, we see that in verse
1, after these things, when the wrath of the king Ahasuerus was
appeased, was quieted down, he remembered Vashti, what she had
done and what was decreed against her. She rebelled against the
command of the king to come. And the king put her out of his
house and out of her kingdom and had nothing else to do with
her. And to some extent here the wrath
of the king, Ahasuerus was somewhat satisfied when he did that. But think about what it takes
to satisfy the wrath of Almighty God. Not only was Adam put out
of the garden when he sinned against God, but yet the wrath
of God, God could not justify Adam unless the total holy wrath
of God is satisfied. God is not going to show mercy
at the expense of his justice. And that's why the Lord Jesus
Christ, the seed of woman, had to come. And in Christ in Him
crucified, indeed we see the wrath of the king, of kings,
is indeed satisfied. What we see here in these first
four verses, especially down in verse four, when the king
seeks a wife, seeks a bride, we see that the working and the
mighty providence of God, and let the maiden, which pleases
the king, be queen instead of vasty. And the thing pleased
the king, and he did so as his counsellors suggested." You need
a new wife, a new wife. So a new wife was sought out
for the king. A beauty contest was held in
all those different provinces. Maybe each province had their
own separate beauty pageant, and each woman out of those separate
127 provinces, maybe they were brought to Shushan the palace.
And then there was another competition among all the different 127 different
provinces. And well, you know who's going
to win. because Esther is God's servant
to serve the Lord. Now we see in this story, in
this picture, that King Ahasuerus chooses out a new wife, a new
bride. And whenever we see a king, and
whenever we see a king who is a sovereign king and he chooses
out a wife and a bride, What does that remind you of? What
is that a picture of? Well, it's a picture of Christ
and his church. Don't turn because you're familiar
with this, but you remember over in Ephesians chapter five, when
the apostle Paul is describing that husband and wife relationship
in Ephesians chapter five, it says that submitting yourselves
one to another in the fear of God, Wives, submit yourselves
unto your own husband as unto the Lord. For the husband is
ahead of the wife, even as Christ is ahead of the church, Savior
of the body, of his body. Therefore, as the church is subject
unto Christ, so let the wife be their own husband. Husband,
love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and gave himself
for it. that he might sanctify and cleanse
it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present
it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or
any such thing, but that should be holy and without blemish."
The church of the Lord Jesus Christ over here in Revelation
21 is called, let me read it to you, I can find it here quickly,
is called And there came unto me one of
the seven angels, which had seven vials, full of seven plagues,
and talked with me, saying, Come up hither, come hither, and I'll
show thee the bride who is called the Lamb's wife." The church
of the Lord Jesus Christ, we're married to him. He's our head. We are the body. He is our husband. He's called that in scripture.
He's called our head and husband. And whenever we read about a
king, Taking a wife unto himself, I believe that is a good picture
of Christ and his church. How he loved the church and how
he gave himself for the church. Now, down in verse 5, down to
verse 7, the Lord here introduces us to two of his special servants,
two of his elect. In verse 5, now when shew shan
the palace, There was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai.
He is the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish of
Benjamite. The Lord knows all about him.
He knows him through and through. And the Lord knows his people
from everlasting. We are going to see that in a
minute. He is the son of Kish of Benjamite, so he is a descendant
of old King Saul. But we read about him in verse
six, he'd been carried away from Jerusalem when Nebuchadnezzar
came and conquered Jerusalem and destroyed Jerusalem, which
had been carried away captive with Jeconiah, the king of Judah,
whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried away. And he brought up Hadassah, that
is Esther, his uncle's daughter, for she had neither father nor
mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful, who Mordecai,
when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter. He raised her as his own, loved
her as his own. Now, both Mordecai and Esther
are both types, personal types of believers, the elect of God,
chosen of God, blessed of God, but they're also, in a way, a
type of the Redeemer, and type of a mediator. Both of them serve
in that capacity as personal types. Mordecai, it says there
in verse 6, was one of those of the tribe of Benjamin and
Judah who was taken captive when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem. He lived in a strange city and
he was held prisoner there. His name means, as I pointed
out to you last time, remember what his name means? His name Mordecai means little
man. Little man. Little man. But the
Lord is going to highly exalt him. Mordecai is going to actually
sit next to the king on the throne. And in that way, he is the type
and picture of the believer exalted in Christ, and a type and picture
of the Lord Jesus, who though he was made low, was exalted
highly above all. Again in this story, we're going
to see how the Lord uses this man, Mordecai, to preserve the
whole race of the Jewish people, and is raised up to sit on the
throne next to King Ahasuerus. Now, I said that a moment ago,
but let me show it to you by the book of Esther chapter nine. Chapter nine, look at verse four.
Esther nine, verse four. For Mordecai was great in the
king's house, and his fame went out throughout all the providence,
for this man Mordecai waxed greater and greater. And then look at
chapter 10. The last chapter, verse 3, Mordecai
the Jew was next to King Ahasuerus, great among the Jews, and accepted
of the multitude of his brethren. All this is typical of Christ,
is it not? Seeking the wealth of his people,
speaking peace to all his seed. We're going to see that when
we get over to that And we know it says of the Lord Jesus Christ,
when he by himself purged our sin, he sat down at the right
hand of God, seeking the wealth, seeking the blessings for his
people and speaking peace unto his people. Then in verse seven,
we learn more about Esther. Hadassah, that is Esther. Her Jewish name or Hebrew name
was Hadassah. which means myrtle tree, which
means myrtle or a myrtle tree to be greatly desired. We read
about that in Isaiah 55, it says, the thorn shall come up the fir
tree and the brier shall come up the myrtle tree. It shall
be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall
not be cut off. We know believers are called
trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, Isaiah 63, that
they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of
the Lord, that He may be glorified. Now, her Hebrew name, her Jewish
name is Sadaqah, but her Persian name was given to her, remember,
her name is Esther, which means star. which means light. And in that, she's a picture
of Christ, our light. In that, she's a picture of the
believer who has been enlightened. God commanded the light to shine
in our heart that we might see the glory of God. Esther in this
story does shine in her faith, her faith and her commitment
to the Lord our God. She is even willing to give her
life in order to save her people. over in chapter 4 when Haman
is determined to destroy all the Jews, look over in chapter
4, and when Mordecai finds out about it and tells Esther about
it, she is willing to go in before the king as a mediator to seek
the good of her people. in Esther chapter 4 verse 15,
then Esther bade them return to Mordecai this answer. Go,
Mordecai encourages her to go before the king and beg for her
people. Go gather together all the Jews
that are in Shushan the palace and fast ye for me, neither eat
nor drink three days, night or day. I also, my maidens will
fast likewise and so will go in unto the king which is not
according to the law, and if I perish, I perish. Remember
I told you you couldn't go in before the king until you were
called, until he held out that golden scepter? But she said,
I'm going to go in before the king, and if I perish, I'm going
to perish." She's willing to lay down her life for her people. So Mordecai went his way and
did according to Esther, had commanded him. Again, we see
a picture of the gospel, don't we? Esther acts as a mediator. We have to have a mediator because
we're sinners and God is holy. How can we be reconciled unto
God apart from a mediator? There's one God and there's one
mediator between God and men and that is the God-man, the
Lord Jesus Christ. And Esther is a picture of Christ
in that way as our mediator and as our willingness and the willingness
of the Lord rather to lay down His life for His people. Esther is willing to sacrifice
her life if it might spare her people. And that's exactly the
gospel picture, is it not? The gospel story. The Lord Jesus
Christ, He said, no man takes my life from me. I have power
to lay it down, I have power to take it again. This commandment
have I received in my father, the Lord Jesus willingly laid
down his life for his people. Mordecai takes Esther under his
roof and raises her as his own daughter. It says there in the
last part of verse 7, he adopted her. He adopted her into the
family. And again, that is a picture
of our spiritual adoption in the Lord Jesus Christ. Down in
verse 8, down through verse 11, Esther's identity was hidden
from the people until it was time to be revealed. But Mordecai,
when he finds out about this beauty contest, he gives up Esther
unto it. Again, we see that Mordecai is
a man of faith as well. Look down at verse 10. Esther
had not showed her people nor her kindred for Mordecai had
charged her that she should not show it. Again though we see
the hand of the Lord in this. Esther finds special favor in
the eyes of Hegai. Look back at verse 8 and 9. So
it came to pass when the king's commandment And his decree was
heard when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan
the palace to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was brought
also into the king's house to the custody of Hegai, the keeper
of women." Here is little Esther among all these other women.
I'm sure they had connections, don't you think, with some of
the other political and other people in the kingdom. But here
is Esther. A Jewish maiden, she's not connected
to anybody famous or well-known. And yet, look at verse 9, and
the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him, and
he speedily gave her things for purification with such things
as belonged to her. Seven maidens, which meet to
be given her out of the king's house, and he preferred her and
her maiden to the best place of the house of the women. She
obtains favor of this man, Hegai. Here we see the working of the
Lord behind the scenes and how He, in a marvelous way of providence,
Hegai had a special eye to Esther and she pleased Him. Now here is the point on this.
It is marvelous how the Lord cares and provides for His people. Even when and before we ever
come to know Him, the Lord has His eye upon His people and orders
all things in His providential care to bring them to Christ
in faith. That is, before we ever knew
Him, He knew us. And He orders all things in our
life. And you look back through your
life, and the things that have happened in your life, where
you were born, and where you were raised, and things that
happened to bring you to hear the gospel, all ordered by God. You remember Jeremiah chapter
1, he said, Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew you. Before you came forth out of
the womb, I sanctified you. I ordained thee a prophet unto
the nation." And then we read in Jeremiah 31.3, he said, I've
loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving
kindness, I have drawn you to myself. I will be their God and
they shall be my people. Foundation of the Lord standeth
sure having this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are
his. Now, In verse 15 down through
verse 20, Esther obtains favor, grace and favor in the sight
of the king and has made his wife, is established as a queen
and crowned as a king. When it becomes Esther's turn
to present, to be presented under the king, she was brought before
him and it was love at first sight. Look at verse 15. Now
when the king, now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihael,
the uncle of Mordecai was taken, who had taken her for his daughter,
was coming to go into the king, she required nothing but what
Hegai, the king's chamberlain, the keeper of the women appointed,
and Esther obtained favor in the sight of all them that looked
upon her. Verse 16, so Esther was taken unto the king Ahasuerus
into his house royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth,
in the seventh year of his reign. And the king, verse 17, loved
Esther. She not only found favor in the
sight of Hegai, but also in the sight of the king. And the king
loved Esther above all women, and she obtained grace and favor,
kindness in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set
a royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. And the king made a great feast
and called it Esther's Feast. and blessed all the provinces
and gave gifts according to the state of the king." Now, is not
this a picture of the call of God's grace in the gospel? When we are brought before the
king, presented unto the king, we obtain his favor, his kindness,
his grace, and his love. Not that we're deserving of it,
but because he's gracious. Because He loves us with an everlasting
love. We don't earn these things. All
spiritual blessings of the gospel concerning Christ are freely
given, fully given, and eternally given for one reason. One reason. What's that one reason? Your
sins are forgiven for His name's sake. That's the only reason.
We only obtain favor and grace in God's sight because of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Not because of our repentance,
not because of our prayers, not even because of our faith. But
one reason, the reasons found in Him, not in us. Not in us. Ahasuerus had an eye to this
one woman, chose her, loved her, took her home, and crowned her
as queen. That's exactly what God does
for us in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're justified
freely by his grace, God who spared not his own son, but delivered
him up for us all. How shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? We study in the book of Romans
how he made us heirs of God and joint heirs with the Lord Jesus
Christ. John said, Behold what manner
of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called
sons of God. And then Paul said, God shall
supply all your need according to your goodness. I missed that one. My God shall
supply all your need according to his riches in glory through
the Lord Jesus Christ. Aren't you glad it's according
to His mercy, according to His grace? If it was according to
our merit, according to our works, we'd never have mercy. You see,
mercy that's merited is no mercy at all, is it? Not at all. The wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life. We have an inheritance in Christ
that's incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, that's
reserved in heaven for us. We've been blessed with all spiritual
blessings in the heavenly in Christ. That verse 17, I believe,
is the key to this chapter and to this story. How the king loved
her, chose her above all, and she obtained favor in his sight. and he set a royal crown upon
her head and made her the queen. God has made us kings and priests
unto our God because he has loved us and he has washed us in his
blood and has made us so to the glory of God the Father. A little interesting side note
here. The king makes a great feast
unto all his princes, all of his servants. He calls it Esther's
Feast. And the whole kingdom receives
gifts according to the state of the king. And again we see
a gospel picture. God has blessed us because of
Christ. The precious gift according to
the state of the king. The king who is the sovereign
king. Now, the last thing I want to point out is this. One more
thought and I'll let you go. In verse 21, 22, and 23, there
is rebellion that is brewing in the kingdom. These two men,
Bigtha and Tiresh, somehow or for some reason, they were angry
with the king and they sought to assassinate the king. Well,
Mordecai always sat in the king's gate. and he always had his ear
to the ground, his ear was always open, and when he heard of this
rebellion and this plot to assassinate the king, what is he going to
do? He's not going to remain silent, he's going to inform
the queen, Esther, who informs the king, Ahasuerus, and these
two men, Bitha and Teresh, Verse 23, when inquisition was made
of the matter, it was found out, therefore, they were both hanged
on a tree, and it was written in the book of the Chronicles.
What does sin deserve? What does rebellion deserve?
Death. These two men were hanged on
a tree. And it is no mere coincidence that they were hanged on a tree
because the Lord said, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a
tree. And when the Lord Jesus Christ was made sin for us, he
was hung upon that cursed tree to put away our sin. Mordecai
learns of this plot and exposes it. And this comes back to be
a big part of this amazing story. When the king remembers... What
happened and how he was spared, he remembers Mordecai and rewards
him for his faithful service to the king. Mordecai indeed
saved the king. By small means the Lord does
carry out his secret purposes, his holy will. In all things
we see the Lord is sovereign over all things, even using the
wicked works of men to promote his own holy purposes. He compels
the passions of bad men to promote his own sacred purposes. Think about that. Herod, Pontius
Pilate, the Romans, The Gentiles, the Jews, were gathered together
against the Lord and against his Christ to do whatsoever thy
hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. Surely the
wrath of man shall praise thee, and the remainder of wrath thou
shalt restrain." Now, in closing, I want to show you another picture. I want you to turn to the book
of Genesis, the last chapter. Genesis chapter 50. You remember
the story of Joseph, Jacob's son? You remember his brethren
sold him because they were jealous of Joseph? Jacob had a special
attention, Genesis 50, down at verse 20. When Jacob finally
dies, And Joseph now is in Egypt with
the rest of the people. You remember God exalted him
to the throne of Egypt and gave him dominion over that country
for the good of the Jewish people. But when Jacob died, the other
brethren, Reuben and the rest of them, Judah and the rest of
them, they were terrified because they thought Joseph would take
out revenge against us for, you remember they put him in a pit
and then when some merchants came along, they sold him off
into slavery and they thought that's the end of that boy. God
did all that to save many people alive. And that's what it says.
Look at Genesis 50. The brothers say to Joseph, Behold,
we're your servants, don't kill us. We're your servants. And
Joseph said unto them, verse 19, Fear not, for am I in the
place of God. But as for you, you thought evil
against me. Their intentions were absolutely
evil. They had no good intentions,
did they? No good intentions at all. You thought evil against
me, but God meant it unto good to bring to pass, as it is this
day, to save much people alive. That's exactly the same story
that we have here in the book of Esther. Haman thought much
evil against all those Jews. He seeks, we're going to see
over in chapter 4, chapter 5, he seeks to destroy all the Jews. God raised up Esther and Mordecai
to preserve them. And my friend, that's exactly
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. God has preserved us
in that He has exalted the Lord Jesus Christ as our surety, as
our redeemer, as our sacrifice for sin. To save, oh, they meant
it for evil against the Lord Jesus Christ, didn't they, when
they nailed Him to a tree? I mean, they were vicious in
their hatred. God made it unto good to save
much people alive, and that's what He's done in the Gospel.
None for whom Christ died will perish. All that the Father giveth
to me will come to me, and those that come to me, He said, I will
never, I never will cast them out.