So you can once again, with the help of God, I'd like you to turn with me to the chapter that we read together, the first chapter, Esther chapter 4, and the text you'll find in verses 13 and 14. Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, think not that with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shalt their enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place. but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed, and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

Esther is a very well-known account in scripture especially because the word of God, the name of God is not mentioned although as you read through the book of Esther you see the hand of God very much at work, you see what is called the providences of God working out in the lives of individual people and also as the nation, as a as a large body of people, the Jews who were under Haman condemned to die, then through the intervention of Esther and the exposing of Haman's sin, the whole event is brought around from a curse into a blessing.

the beginning of Esther we read how Haman as he conducts that plan to bring about their destruction and then at the end of Esther in chapter 9 we see how his sin is exposed and how the whole thing is turned around into a blessing, Esther chapter 9. and it's from verse 21 to establish this among them that they should keep the 14th day of the month Adar and the 15th day of the same same yearly as the days were in the Jews rested from their enemies and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy from mourning into a good day that they should make them days of feasting and joy and of sending portions one to another and gifts to the poor.

And so this day which was announced to be a day of mourning where the Jews put on sackcloth and ashes because of what was said was going to happen to them, that their enemies were going to kill them and slaughter the whole of the Jewish race and they spent their time in sackcloth and ashes. The whole thing is now reversed and that day that was once a day of sorrow it turns into a day of joy and from mourning into a good day and even today the Jewish people remember this day called the day of Purim where they give presents to one another and they have a day of celebration as they look back to the Lord's goodness in overthrowing their enemies.

And what is remarkable is however the Lord works and the people that he uses for his honour and for his glory to magnify himself Esther, who was an orphan girl. Her parents were dead. She was taken captivity into Babylon and she was living with her with her uncle Mordecai. So she's a stranger, she's an orphan, she's living under captivity in Babylon and her life naturally speaking is miserable. She hasn't much hope. The only thing the Bible tells us that she has going for her, she was a fair and a beautiful young lady. her father and her mother were dead.

But the Lord, he had plans for this little orphan girl. As we look back into the Old Testament and we see the little maid who was used by God to bring about the cleansing of her of her master from leprosy and how she speaks to him regarding the prophet in Israel that would be able to heal him and the Lord used this little girl to speak to the great king, not the king but Yeah, you know what I mean. And he goes there and he washes in the river and he's cleansed from his leprosy. And so the Lord uses this little girl to use as his servant, as his messenger. And the same as Esther, the Lord had a plan for her life. Naturally speaking, sadness and sorrow, yet the Lord had separated her. The Lord had anointed her, chosen her to be used, to be the means by which his people would be saved.

And so as the events unfolded in the king's palace and how the king's wife refused his command and then how the events unfolded that the king commanded that all of the young ladies be brought to him. Esther is also gathered up in that great number of women or the young girls that were taken to the king. And as she is taken to the king Mordecai tells her don't let them know who you are. Don't tell them that you're a Jew. And so she's told to keep all of these things hidden. Esther had not shown her people nor her kindred for Mordecai had charged her that she should not show it. In chapter 2 verse 10 and also in 20 Esther had not yet showed her kindred nor her people as Mordecai had charged her for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai like as when she was brought up with him.

And so we see this little orphan girl, this young orphan girl, young lady, now keeping a secret. She's keeping a secret of her identity. She's hiding her identity in an obedience to the commandment of her uncle. It shows us something of her character. Yes, a beautiful young lady, a fair young lady, yet she has this character of humble obedience unto Mordecai. And we see as her time comes to be brought in before the king, we see this character again magnified. That all she's set aside for a year and she's been told that she has to put on these various ointments and everything to prepare herself for the king. Then the day comes when she's told, you know, you can choose anything. You can have anything. But she chooses nothing. And she goes in before the king. And she finds favour in the king's sight.

of all the young ladies that were presented to the King. The King chooses this orphan girl. The Bible tells us that the heart of the King is in the Lord's hands. The Lord was working all his things out. Unknown to Mordecai, unknown to Esther, the Lord was preparing something beforehand. Before the betrayal would take place, before the act of the decree that would go out for the Jews, the Lord already had his purposes and plans laid out. And that's what the scripture tells us. The Bible tells us that the Lord knows the things that we have need of before we have even asked him.

There are times in our lives no doubt we can look back and we can see that events have taken place in our lives and we can see that the Lord has already gone before us. He has already made crooked things straight. He's already placed people in the way that would be able to help us and we can look back that maybe it was in years before. that the Lord was working to bring about his purposes and so it was in the life of Esther that he was working to put her into a specific place, into the arms of the king so that when the day came that she needed to go in, she would find favour in his sight.

And so she hid her identity. But we could say the grace of God that shone out from her could not be hidden. Think of Moses when Moses came down from the mountain his face shone. when Stephen looked up to heaven and he saw the Lord Jesus Christ at the right hand of God, his face shone, he was like an angel. And you know, grace can't be hidden. True grace, the true inner working of the Spirit of God in our hearts is seen in our demeanour. And so it is with this young girl, of all the other girls there who were presented before the king, this young Esther. She found favour in the sight of the king and in all of the king's household.

There was a time that would come that she would have to speak. When the enemies of the Lord's people were risen up and when Haman had thought about that plan in his mind to destroy the Jews, now comes her time to speak. Mordecai says to her, you know, you're hiding away the king's palace don't think that you're going to be safe there. Just because you're friends with the king when it is made aware that you're a Jew you also will lose your own life and the lineage of your father's house will come to an end. Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall an enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place.

It was now her time to speak. What she had been hiding from the king she was now to go and tell the king. the Lord had now raised up a woman to speak on behalf of his people and I know this morning we looked at the offices in the church that they were male dominated, they are positions that were given to men, pastors and deacons. We know that the true church of the Lord Jesus Christ is not just made up of men. It's made up of men and women and boys and girls. And each of these people has a role to play in the purposes of God. The Lord uses men and the Lord uses women. The Lord uses boys and the Lord uses girls. And God has specific roles for them to do as Esther is raised up for this specific purpose. to go into the king the lord used her beauty, the lord used her gracious demeanor to enter into the king's palace.

We go to the book of Titus we see there that there are there's a role there for the women in the church We saw in the book of Timothy of the overseer and the deacon. But in the book of Titus, it speaks about the general people within the church, speaks about the aged men and their character.

As Esther had this gracious character, this humble character that submitted to the teachings and advice of Mordecai, and as she obeyed him, So those who are born again of the Spirit of God and are within the church possess the Spirit of God they have a characteristic that should radiate from them. We have been changed, we are different, our hearts have been softened, we are indwelt by the Spirit of God, our nature has undergone a radical change.

And so the apostle writes to Titus and says that we're to teach people. This thing doesn't come naturally, although there is that general change that comes naturally, but we are to be taught the word of God. We're to be taught by the spirit of God, taught by the word of God. and as he says the aged men to be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity and in patience

and then he goes on the aged women likewise doesn't necessarily mean those who are in their 90s, it means those who are spiritually mature men and women in the church, those who have walked with Christ for some time, those who have walked and been undergone the teachings and experience of walking the Christian life in this world and they're to take that experience and they are to pass it on to the next generation.

You think of Joseph when Joseph was in Egypt. It says there rose up a king who did not know Joseph. They hadn't passed on the history, they hadn't passed on the information that was all about Joseph and the great things that he had done and so it's a failure. a failure of them and it's a failure of us if we don't pass on our knowledge and our experience as we have walked with the Lord.

And the aged women likewise that they may be in behavior as becoming holiness not false accusers, not given too much wine, teachers of good things, teachers that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at the home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

And so God has again equipped the church and not with just male leaders but with experienced Christian women that are able to teach the younger Christian women how to live, how to live with their families, how to live with their husbands, how to dress, how to portray themselves like Esther. Her beauty was not found in her lack of clothing. Her beauty was found in her face. She was a beautiful woman. She was a fair woman.

And so these things need to be taught by women. Maybe you think you don't have much to teach or that you don't have anything to say. If you've walked with the Lord, if you love God, if you love the Lord Jesus Christ, if you love his word, if you love people, and you do have something to teach, you do have something to say.

There was a time for Esther to hold her peace but there was also a time for Esther to talk, there was a time for Esther to expose what she had been hiding within her heart that it may be for the benefit of the Lord's people. And as she has to come and to confess before the King. She comes humbly before him and she confesses what she has been hiding. She understands that it was not lawful for her to enter into the King's presence. but after fasting and praying, after committing it to the Lord. She goes before the king.

In chapter five, Esther put on her royal apparel and stood in the inner court of the king's house over against the king's house. And the king sat upon his royal throne and the royal house over against the gate of the house. And it was so when the king saw Esther, the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight. And the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hands. So Esther drew near and touched the top of the scepter. They have their first feast.

Then in the second feast Esther confesses in chapter 7, and Esther the queen answered and said, if I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it pleased the king, let my life be given me and my petition and my people at my request. For we are sold, and my people to be destroyed, to be slain and to perish. But if we have been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage.

And so here Esther has to unburden what she has been hiding within her heart, that she was a Jew and not only was she a Jew, that the judgment that had been granted, the decree that had been granted would mean that Esther also would lose her life. And so it was her time to speak.

So this also shows us the faith of Mordecai. Mordecai is able to look from a distance and is able to see the workings out of God. He's able to see the decree that has come forth that all the Jews are going to be killed but he's also able to see that his niece is now the queen with King Ahaz. Ahasuerus. So he's able to look from a distance and see the providence of God that God has taken this Jew and placed her at the right hand of the king that this Jewish girl could have some influence for the Jewish people and we see that his great faith as he looks on he says who knows whether you have been brought to the kingdom for such a time as this.

If you don't speak now God may not use you but you may lose your life and God is able to raise up a deliverer from another place but who knows whether that he has ordained it that you might be in this particular place at this particular time to put a stop to all of this bloodshed.

Our mind went to Daniel with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego when they were at the gate of the burning fiery furnace. After they refused to bow down to King Nebuchadnezzar's statue and they were willing to be cast into that burning fiery furnace, they had such a high view of God. They understood that God was able to deliver them but they also understood that God was sovereign and if he allowed them to be cast into the fire then so be it.

And so they said in Daniel chapter 3 And verse 16, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered and said unto the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace. That's their faith. That's what they knew that God was able to do.

as I said we know that God can deliver us although we're right at the very door of the fire although we're surrounded by soldiers although you're the king of this country yet our God is far greater than you and he is able to deliver us from this burning fiery furnace we know he has all power and all authority and is far able to do more than we can ask or think that's what they knew that's what they believed God was able to do.

And if it be so our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and he will deliver us out of thine hand O King but if not be it known unto thee O King that we will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

But they were also accepting of the will of God, that they believed that God was able to deliver them but they also understood that God is sovereign and he does not have to do what we tell him to do, that he may work out his own purposes even in our struggles, in our sadnesses and in our difficulties. These men were willing to be cast into the burning fiery furnace because they were not willing to bow down to a golden idol. They were not willing to deny or to break, to sin against the God who they serve.

And so they are cast into the burning fiery furnace. We know the great miracle that takes place that four men are seen walking in the midst of the burning fiery furnace and that the third one is like unto the Son of God the Lord Jesus Christ meets with them there in the burning fiery furnace. The ropes are burned off. There's not a smell of fire upon them when they are brought out. And it is used to the conviction of King Nebuchadnezzar who decrees that all the men should worship the true and living God.

And so we see there in their faith we know that God is able. But we're also willing to suffer for his namesake. We are not willing to bow down to your idol.

And so just like Mordecai, he has a great faith. I know that God will deliver us out of this great trial that will come upon us. And if you don't go into the king, then somebody else, God will raise up another to come and to deliver us. But who knows? whether you have come into the kingdom for such a time as this.

Mordecai I could see the workings of God in the life of this girl. God had placed her there. In our lives God is sovereign over his dealings with us. And he places us in particular places, he's brought us all here this evening, this afternoon. And he has a purpose. His providence has worked things out in our lives to bring us here. That we may worship him, that we may hear his word, that we may be encouraged in the faith. That we may examine our lives and wonder why is it that I am where I am? where I am. Why is it that the Lord has brought me into this particular place or this particular circumstance? What is it that he wants me to do? Who knows whether thou come to the kingdom for such a time as this.

And this young lady was going to be used by God as a great means for the deliverance of of his people and as we read the account we see the many cogs of the providences of God working out all slotting in at the right time. The king has the dream and it's exposed about Mordecai and how he helped preserve the king's life. Haman's plan is exposed and is hung on his own gallows that the Lord overturns everything that was meant for evil he brings it about for good. And even in our own lives there are things that we look at and we think well this is an impossibility, we think this is a difficulty, this is going to destroy me. But the Lord can bring it around so that it works all things for our good.

But also we think of the Lord Jesus Christ as there was an appointed time for Esther. There was an appointed time for her to be chosen by the king. There was an appointed time for her to be made queen. An appointed time for her to enter into the king's presence and to touch his scepter. There was an appointed time for her to have that second meal with him just at that right moment.

so there was an appointed time for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The scripture tells us the fullness of time was God's time in God's providential workings that the Lord Jesus Christ should come and as Esther was used by God to deliver the Jews from their enemies so the Lord Jesus Christ is used by God to deliver his people from their enemies, from that great enemy's sin and not only does he deliver them from that great enemy's sin he also brings them into the presence of the King of Kings as Esther is granted favour, she puts on her royal apparel and she stands in the inner court

So the believer is given a royal apparel, the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ which gives them favour to enter into the presence of the King of Kings. They enter into his courtroom. They can come to his throne room and they can come and request something from this great king.

Think how afraid Esther was. She says, if I perish, I perish. I know that if I go into that place and the king doesn't show me any favor, then I'm dead. But for the sake of my people, I will do it. You think of us, sinful people. people who have corrupt thoughts, people who have filled with unbelief, we're sinners yet when we wear the righteousness of Christ we are able to approach a holy God who has our lives in his hands. He has the power to switch off our lives, to take our breath, just as this king Ahasuerus had the power and authority to end the life of Esther or to allow her to live so the king of kings has that power and authority to take our life but he invites us to come into his throne room, he invites us to come clothed in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ and he asks us The same question, what will thou?

Imagine that, going into the presence of a king and him saying to you, what is it that you want me to do for you? or we come into the presence of the king of kings whose power is unlimited whose grace is without bounds and we come into his presence and he says what is it that you want me to do for you my son or my daughter? With Esther up to the half of my kingdom but with you you can ask the Lord for the impossible things that are completely out of your ability. For he's able to do the impossible. As he says to Mary, nothing shall be called impossible with the Lord.

What is your impossibility? What is it that stands before you and you're so afraid you're thinking if I perish I perish? Have you brought it to the Lord? Have you entered into his throne room clothed in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ and laid your perdition down at his feet? As Esther enters into his courtroom she grants favour and he lays out his golden sceptre. All his golden sceptre, the King of Kings is that sceptre of grace you find favour in his sight because he's a graceful and a merciful God and he's able to do far more than we can ask or even think and that thing which is so pressing upon you he can turn it around completely. As the whole situation turns a complete 360 degrees it is completely upended. Haman is killed and the Jews have a time of celebration and thankfulness for the goodness of God and so our God can turn the curse into a blessing.

We see even with the Lord Jesus Christ how as we are told by Adam that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God as in Adam will die yet God in Christ Jesus reverses the whole thing that all in Christ live. Has Esther found favour in the sight of the King? Have you found favour this afternoon in the sight of the King of Kings? Are you washed? Are you washed in the blood? Are you wearing the righteous robe of the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you shed your own righteousness, your own dirty garments and are you wearing that royal apparel? that righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ for who knows whether thou come to the kingdom for such a time as this.

Esther had been holding her peace, she had been keeping her secret, her ID, she had been hiding away but the time had come now for her to speak and to testify who she really was she did it before the king and she obtained favour in the sight of the king. Have you come and confessed who you are before the king of kings? Have you told him that you're a sinner and that you're in need of salvation? Have you told him that you're not worth the least of his mercies? Have you told him that you desire his salvation and his favour? Well, Esther found favour and you also will find favour if you enter into his courts through his beloved son, the Lord Jesus Christ, trusting in his righteousness and his righteousness alone.

I may the Lord add his blessing. Amen.

Our final hymn is from Gatsby's and the last hymn in the book. 1156. To the tune 101. 1156. What sacred fountain yonder springs, up from the throne of God, and all new covenant blessings brings, tis Jesus' precious blood. 1156. Mm. He sings just like a flood. Who waits for guilty, pernicious day? Tis Jesus precious blood. you.

Dear Lord, we do give thee thanks for the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that cleanses from all sin. We pray, Lord, that we may know the application of it in our lives and do grant us that faith to venture to enter into thy throne room. Do now, we pray, dismiss us with thy blessing. Remember us who may sit around the Lord's table. We ask for thy presence and With thy favour, now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, with the fellowship and communion of the Holy Spirit, who do be with us each now and for evermore. Amen.