I please God to bless us together
this evening as we meditate in his word. Let's turn to the book
of Esther and chapter nine and we'll read verse one. The book
of Esther, chapter nine and reading the first verse. Now in the 12th
month, that is the month Adar, on the 13th day of the same,
when the king's commandment and his decree drew near to put in
execution in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to
have power over them, though it was turned to the contrary,
and the Jews had ruled over them that hated them." I'm sure we can say as we read
this book of Esther that the Lord did make his goodness pass
before his people. in the way, in this time of extreme
need. And you may be familiar, I hope
you are, with the book of Esther and how quite amazing it was
that the decree was reversed. The decree which Haman had cunningly
got the king to sign that all the Jews should be slain, should
be annihilated, and in fact did not come to pass. And in actual
fact, the reverse happened. As we read here, though it was
turned to the contrary, that the Jews had ruled over them
that hated them. And how good it is really to
read an account like this and to observe that the Lord God
omnipotent reigns. And we are sure that Haman was
pretty convinced that all his plans were working out very well. And because he hated Mordecai,
because Mordecai didn't bow down to him, he erected that 50 cubit
high scaffold to hang him on. Of course, what happened was
he was hung on that scaffold himself. But what we observe
in this account is that really it was a very small thing that
changed the scene. And that was, very simply, when
the king could not sleep. You may think, well, that's nothing
very unusual. Well, he couldn't sleep and he
asked for the chronicles, for the records to be brought out
and to be read. And in that record, there was
an account of what Mordecai had done. It is of course recorded
in the earlier chapters of Esther. But nonetheless, he delivered
the king and told the king, those who were plotting against him,
and the king asked, what had been done to honor him? And they said, well, nothing
had been done. So he therefore desires to honor
him and of course he asked who was in the court and who was
in the court but Haman. What did Haman come for? He'd
come to ask the king that Morikei might be hung upon the scaffold
that he'd erected. And the king asked him, what
should be done to the man that the king delighted to honor?
Proud man that he was, of course, he only thought about himself.
Therefore, he gave a picture of what should be done. And the
king said, do that to Mordecai, who sits in the king gate, and
how humbling it was for Haman. And of course, that was the beginning
of his fall. And we know that then he and
the king came to the banquet of Esther, and Esther then eventually
told the king what that wicked Haman had done. And the result
was that Haman was hung upon that scaffold. But then you see,
Esther and Morikawa were concerned that the king's decree should
be reversed. And they sought the king that
it might be reversed. The Jews might not be killed,
but that the enemies might be, and the king agreed to that.
So that's what we really read about in this chapter we read
together this evening. But the part that really I want
to think upon this evening is just simply this. It was turned
to the contrary. that the Jews had ruled over
them, that hated them. And what really happened was
the things that appeared to be against them worked out for their
good. And that means, in our little
lives today, if things appear to be contrary, if things appear
to be going so against us, and that may be in a a natural and
a physical way, and it may be in a spiritual way. And we may
be wondering where the scene will end, whether we shall be
destroyed. Well, be encouraged by such an
account as this, because the Lord did appear. The Lord did
appear, and the Lord does appear still today for his people. in
ways perhaps that we could not think of. I'm sure that Mordecai
and Esther would never have thought that a change would have been
wrought about in this way, but it was. And what occurred without
any doubt was God received the honor and glory for that which
had turned about. And as we read that they had
set apart these days for praise and thanksgiving and even today
the Jews keep this this time of Purim and they stamp upon
the ground saying Haman, Haman. They don't forget the deliverance
that God granted to them. Well it's good you see if perhaps
in our lives we've seen something like this. It may not have been
anything like the same scale but if the Lord has perhaps turn
things round, turn things round. Things that we feared would work
to destroy us, in fact, to turn round to work for our good and
for our blessing. You remember the account of Jacob. Jacob thought he'd lost Joseph
and the brethren had gone down into Egypt, They hadn't realized
that Joseph was the governor. They'd come back and they told
their father, well, he wasn't very friendly, the governor.
In actual fact, he was very much against us. In actual fact, he
demanded that we bring Benjamin next time we go, otherwise we
won't see his face. And what did Jacob say? Well,
he said, all these things are against me. That's as he viewed
it. And sometimes we may view things
in the same way. We may think all things are against
us. But you see, in Jacob's case,
they weren't. They were all working together
for good. And so it came to pass that in
God's appointed time and in God's appointed way, Jacob was reunited
with Joseph and went down to Egypt to dwell there and to die
there. And we see therefore what had
occurred really. It was turned to the contrary. That which he feared was turned
to the contrary. See, God is able to do great
things. He's able to turn our sadness,
our sorrow into joy. The devil always attempts to
destroy us, to destroy our soul. And we may fear, perhaps sometimes,
as it may be, the writings against us. And there's no hope for us
because of our situation, because of the powerful opposition. The devil is very powerful, but
we should be thankful that God is more powerful. And when we
think of this great truth, it was turned to the contrary. You know, we can think perhaps
in the words that the apostle wrote to the Colossians. And he wrote some beautiful words
in the second chapter which are indeed encouraging I'm sure to
us and he tells us this he says in whom are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge and this I say lest any man should beguile
you with enticing words for though I be absent in the flesh yet
am I with you in the spirit joying and beholding your order and
the steadfastness of your faith in Christ now that We know that,
like all the churches, they did not have an easy time. But the
Lord was gracious to them. And he says, as ye have therefore
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. And that's
a gracious word of exhortation. Because if we have been blessed
to receive Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are to walk in
him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith
that she had been taught abounding therein with thanksgiving and
then he says beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy
and vain deceit after the tradition of men after the rudiments of
the world and not after Christ you see it's easy to be turned
aside and to observe all the things perhaps that are against
us for in him that's in the Lord dwelleth all the fullness of
the Godhead bodily and he says and ye are complete in him and
then he goes on a little bit later in this chapter and says
and you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your
flesh hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven all
your trespasses." And then he says this, blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us,
and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. Well, the handwriting
of King Ahasuerus was taken out of the way, it was reserved,
it was reversed, it was that which had originally been written
was blotted out, and it wasn't able to be fulfilled, the reverse
occurred. You know the same is really true
with regards to the Church of God. You know as we view ourselves
under the influence of the Holy Spirit, What do we see? Deadness. Yes, sinfulness, vileness,
ungodliness. And what do we need? We need
God to appear. Because that handwriting is against
us, isn't it? It's condemning us. And we would
have known What it is to stand before a holy God condemned by
His righteous law, by that holy writing, by the commands of God,
to know that in and of ourselves we have no possibility to deliver
ourselves. Just like those people in Esther's
day. The command had gone out against
them. The writing was against them. They knew they had no possibility
to deliver themselves. And so that's true to us in a
spiritual way. We have no ability to deliver
ourselves. But here are glorious words of
truth, glorious words that the Apostle speaks, blotting out
the handwriting, of ordinances that was against us. And I understand
that apparently in these days often if there was a written
ordinance against people the only way to get rid of it really
was to put nail holes through it. So it was blotted out, they
couldn't actually see then what was written. and it was therefore
no longer appropriate. And here we have a situation
that tells us, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that
was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the
way, nailing it to his cross. That's beautiful gospel words,
aren't they? To think that the handwriting
that was against us, and we were guilty, And we know it when the
Holy Spirit convinces us. You know, we don't come and say,
well, I'm just a little sinner. When the handwriting is against
us, we know we're guilty. And what a need there is that
those condemning words are blotted out. And how are they blotted
out? were that only through the great
and glorious Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. And He indeed nailed
it to the cross. He was nailed to the cross to
bear and carry our sins. He says, and having spoiled principalities
and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them in it. Let no man therefore judge you
in meat, or in drink, or in respect to a holy day, or of the new
moon, or of Sabbath days, which are a shadow of things to come,
but the body is of Christ." Won't it be a wonderful thing if we
understand this great truth of this being reversed and brought
about to make contrary just like it was in Esther's day, those
words which were spoken, and though it was turned to the contrary,
the Jews had ruled over them that hated them. Well, you know,
we today, by God's grace, are more than conquerors, not because
of our own strength, not because of our own ability, but through
Him, because of this great truth that the handwriting It has been
blotted out. All our sins taken away. All our sins indeed washed away. How true the words are in the
epistle of Paul when he wrote to the Corinthians. And in the sixth chapter he explains
there the position that you and I are in by nature. and how indeed sinful we are. And he tells us in this chapter,
he says, know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit
the kingdom of God? It means the handwriting's against
us. Be not deceived, neither fornicators,
nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of
themselves or mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards,
nor revilers, nor extortioners, should inherit the kingdom of
God. And he says, and such were some of you. Well, so we are
by nature. And we need the handwriting to
be blotted out. We need the condemnation to be
reversed. And so the Apostle says, and
such were some of you but. What a wonderful thing, there
are many buts in the word of God. And here's one which is
very precious, but ye are washed. How? With the blood of Christ. But ye are washed. But ye are
sanctified. But ye are justified in the name
of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God. It's the work
of God to reverse that writing which was against us and to blot
it out. And it's only achieved through
the merits and through the blessing and through the favour of Almighty
God. What was it really? Well, their
sadness was turned into joy. Surely that's the same, is it
not, with us in our spiritual life? We may be very cast down. We may be very sad. We may not
be able to lift up our head. And sin may hang heavy on our
soul. And we know that we stand without
excuse. That we're a great sinner. And then to be blessed with that
realization that Christ was nailed to that cross to take away our
sins. Well, what a change. What of
you? Sadness turned to joy. And that's a very, it'll be a
very humble joy. You will rejoice. You'll rejoice
that the Lord God has not forsaken you. These Jews were not forsaken. God's people are not forsaken. It may seem sometimes, as no
doubt it did to these Jews, it seemed virtually a hopeless condition. And the time was drawing nigh
when they were all going to be slain. No mercy. No hope of turning
about the King's command, but the Almighty God was on the throne. And the Almighty God heard no
doubt the cries of those Jews that the Lord would indeed appear
for them. And so it came to pass. How many
times the lions, the children of God, We can read and we can
believe and perhaps we can know it in our own lives. And we can
say, to the glory of God, and it came to pass. God's deliverance. God's blessing. Indeed, God delivered
the apostle Paul, didn't he? When he was A number of times
when he was in prison, especially perhaps when he was in Philippi. And again, no doubt he must have
wondered, there he was obeying God's will. God had spoken, God
had told him what he must do. Go there, preach the gospel,
so he did. No doubt, he thought this was
going to be very much blessing. Well, there was some with Lydia,
there was blessing there. But then you see, he was apprehended,
beaten, put in prison. But these things were to turn
round. Turn round in a most remarkable
way, and in his case also, the Philippine Jaina a very quick
way, wasn't it? Just like it was in Esther's
day. There was a rapid change, wasn't
there? A rapid change. How amazing it was. In just a
mere day or so, a complete change around. Well, it was so, of course,
in the Jaina's case, in just few hours there he was gone to
sleep a condemning man condemning the Apostle and Silas with him
and yet you see the Lord had appointed that particular time
to come to deliver him to change him round from being an enemy
of God to a true believer. Well, God does the same things
today. We should never doubt the ability
of our God. And therefore, when things perhaps
look very dark and there seems to be no way ahead, seems to
be no headway, perhaps no light. You know, the prophet Isaiah
tells us, what to do when there's that kind of situation. Prophet
Isaiah was a man of God, but he was tested in his religion,
and so will you and I be tested in our religion. And in the 50th
chapter, he asks the question, who is among you that feareth
the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh
in darkness and hath no light." Well, that's a testing time,
isn't it? That's a great testing time.
Fear the Lord, obeying his voice, and yet darkness. Question probably
arises, surely I must be wrong. Surely I must have mistaken the
way. Surely I've passed out of the
narrow way." Well, here is the encouraging words. What are we
to do? Walk in darkness and have no
light. No light. Are we to give up? Well, you
know, I don't believe these Jews gave up. I don't believe they
gave up. God's people don't give up, because
they know they have a great God. And so, what does the prophet
say? Words of wonderful strength and
help, let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his
guard, wait upon the Lord, trust in him. Just because the way
seems difficult, just because the way he seems dark. Don't
turn back, don't give up. It's just the same, wasn't it,
as Jacob? He seemed to be dark. Well, you
see, he was brought eventually down into Egypt. And the Apostle
Paul, it must have seemed to be very dark, totally contrary
to what he'd expect, as you would expect, naturally speaking. that to be obedient to the word
of God, just like here, obeyeth the voice of his servant. Paul
and Silas had obeyed the voice of God, and now you would think
naturally it was darkness. Well, blessed be God, in their
case it wasn't like that, was it? Because we're told they sang
praises to the Lord, and that not just to themselves, so loud. that the prisoners heard them.
Surely what a testimony that was of their belief in God. And so when all things perhaps
appear to be against us, we shouldn't give up. We should remember the
gracious command of God, which is to still trust in Him. Indeed, the psalmist says, though
he shall slay me, I will yet trust in him. And again, just
like Abraham, it seemed dark, didn't it, in his life, when
he was commanded to take his only son, that God-given son,
in whom were all really, all his religion, was bound up in
that promise. Because God had told him he would
have a son. He told him that his children
would be as the stars of the sky and the sand of the seashore.
And now he was told to go and slay his son, offer him up as
a sacrifice. Must have been darkness. But
what did the Lords do? He gloriously and wonderfully
reversed that situation, didn't he? What a wonderful reversing
it was. Just like it was really in the
case of these Jews in Esther's day. What happened in the case
of Abraham? Well, in the case of these Jews,
what happened? It was turned to the contrary.
instead of Isaac having to be offered up, the Lord so graciously
and gloriously provided that lamb, that ram, caught in its
horns in a thicket. And of course it was a wonderful
picture of the Lord Jesus Christ as that substitution. Now, without that situation,
without that test, Without that obedience, without the things
being turned round, we would not have got that beautiful illustration
and picture of substitution. And how good it is for us today
to be able to remember how that occurred and how he received,
Abraham received God-given faith and it was accounted to him for
righteousness. I'm sure that Esther and Mordecai
were blessed also with that God-given faith. You can imagine, Mordecai
especially, as it were, with the burden of the Jews upon his
shoulders, going to and telling the people to tell Esther, not
to think that she would escape, that she would escape that which
was to come upon them, And Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, think
not with thyself that thou should escape in the king's house more
than all the Jews. Don't think just because you're
in the palace, you're going to escape. For if thou altogether
holdest thy peace at this time, then shall thou 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 come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Well, so it was. The Lord had
appointed Esther to be queen, and you can trace that back,
can you not? To the fact that the previous queen, Vashley,
who did that, which was right and honorable, but because she
wouldn't obey the king's command to her, she was dismissed, all
in God's providence. And eventually Esther, a Jew,
was made queen. They didn't know she was a Jew,
but she was made queen, and therefore she was in this very position
at this time. And she was indeed come to the
kingdom for such a time as this. We should not ignore such words
as that. Although we may be very feeble
in our little lives, we should not think that we just live on
this world by chance. The Lord has ordained our lives. And it may be that we are on
this world for a particular reason. It would be a wonderful thing
if it's for a particular reason to be in a certain position.
Perhaps the scene was reversed so that we might be able to declare
the truth of God to a never-dying soul and as such be the means
of their salvation. Well, Esther, you see, she was
fearful. And I believe a godly person
is fearful. Yes, she didn't go in a great
strength by herself, but she said these words, and Esther
bade them return, Mordecai, this answer. Go, gather together all
the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me,
and neither eat nor drink, three days nor night nor day. I also,
my maidens, will fast likewise. And so will I go in unto the
king, which is not according to the law. And if I perish,
I perish." You know, there was clearly faith in her God, was
there not? And she was willing to go forward She was willing to come into
the presence of the king, which she knew was not that which would
be approved unless he held out the golden scepter. She knew
she could lose her life, but she was willing, willing to do
that which perhaps seemed naturally impossible. And if I perish,
I perish. Well, Bless God, she was received. And through that entrance, through
that willing spirit, through that faith she had, there was
eventually this turning around. There was this turning to the
contrary, that law which has been passed. We see how the Lord
works so gloriously and so intricately number of people were involved
weren't they in this deliverance it wasn't just one person that
claimed all the honor and glory when in fact of course none of
them could claim the honor and glory but the heart of the king
was moved by the request of Esther and we see if you read the account
here you will see the humble spirit that she had And what
a good evidence that is of a gracious spirit, to have a humble spirit. She came and the king asked her,
you see, and she asked very humbly that the king and Haman might
come to the banquet that she had prepared. She said, if I
found favor in the sight of the king and if it pleased the king
to grant my petition and to perform my request Let the King and Haman
come to the banquet, that I shall prepare for them, and I will
do tomorrow as the King hath said. You read that and it's
a humble statement, isn't it? But it was influenced by the
blessed Spirit of God. What a wonderful thing it is
in our lives when we can realize and know that although we may
be brought very low, no, they were brought very low. Mordecai
and Esther, they were brought very low, weren't they? They
thought there was going to be no deliverance. They knew the
writing of the decree had been sent out. And yet, they didn't
give up. They didn't give up. And that will no doubt be true
of you and me. We may be brought low. We may
see the writing on the wall against us. but to be blessed with that
spirit or faith to pursue the right way and to come unto our
God. Unto our God, we may be fearful
that he won't receive us. See, that's the heart of unbelief. But may we indeed come to our
God. command our way unto our God,
and have faith in our God, just like Abraham, just like Jacob
eventually had that faith then to go down into Egypt, believing
that it was going to be well. And as we know that Paul and
Silas were also given that faith to believe in deliverance, they
must have been to have sung praises to God. In the middle of the
night, Tremendous example, isn't it, to us? It didn't moan about
things, it didn't groan about things, and yet there they were,
remember, being obedient, and yet suffering greatly for it. It wasn't a small affliction,
wasn't it? But God was with them, and God was with the Jews here
on this occasion, and God was with Abraham, and God is with
his people, in a situation that they may find themselves in.
You can perhaps think of the case of Jonah. Even in the case
of Jonah, you see, that thing was turned to the contrary. Jonah
decided to disobey God. You and I might decide to disobey
God. You won't be able to. You may think you got away with
it. Just like Jonah. Everything seemed nice and smooth
to begin with, didn't it? They got the money and there
was a ship. Off they went. God's eye was upon Jonah. And
there was to be This change there was to be this situation turned
to the contrary No, he wasn't going to preach the gospel Yes,
he was going to have to preach the gospel He thought he wouldn't
preach it. He didn't want to preach it Therefore
he was going to go get this ship Well What was he doing? He was really fighting against
God My friends, if you and I try to fight against God, we'll never
win the battle. The Lord will win. The Lord's
purposes will come to pass. And so they came to pass in Jonah's
life. And the situation was turned
to the contrary. Instead of him running away,
he had to turn back. He had to go then. And he came
to that position, there in the whale's belly, after three days
and nights, when the Lord brought him to that position to confess
his sin and to come to make that great statement, salvation is
of the Lord. And then when he was vomited
out of the well's belly on the dry land, the Lord spoke to him
again and Jonah went. Jonah cried and Nineveh repented. of their sins, and the Lord had
mercy upon them. Though it was turned to the contrary,
turned to the contrary, you see. What a mercy for us today, if
we see things in our lives and the Lord turns them to the contrary. For our good, for our eternal
good, for our spiritual good, Remember what the Lord says,
if you walk contrary to me, I will walk contrary to you. Yes, if
we're walking contrary, the Lord will turn it around. It may be
a painful path. The Lord will turn it around.
He turned it around here. The Jews were delivered. His
people are delivered. You and I are delivered. Because
by the grace of God, and through what the Saviour has done, through
that great finished work on Calvary, as the handwriting that was against
us was taken out of the way, nailing it to His cross. Won't it be a wonderful blessing
tonight if we think of these illustrations in the Word of
God, and to yet realise they all direct us to the great need
we have of the handwriting being taken out of the way that was
against us, to realize that it was nailed to the cross. The
Lord Jesus Christ gave his life to, as it were, reverse all the
plans of Satan. Yes, no doubt Satan thought he'd
gained a victory when Christ died upon the cross, but, blessed
be God, he rose again. We have today in heaven a risen
Saviour, a great and glorious High Priest, who has died so
that we might live, and that by His grace, by His death, we
have access unto the Father, and that one day, by His grace,
we shall be found with Him in glory. And so all the attempts
of Satan to conquer us, to cast us down, to make us give up,
are turned to the contrary. Because Christ will always gain
the victory. And we shall reign through him. And we shall conquer through
him. Because these Jews here They conquered, didn't they?
Because of what God did for them. They were helpless. God appeared. We're helpless. God appears. And therefore that which may
seem impossible comes to pass. It may be. We feel our sins are
so great. How can God ever forgive such
a sinner? Well, great sinners were forgiven. in the Word of God. Yes, the
situation was reversed. They deserved hell. We deserve
hell. But they received heaven. And
by God's grace, we shall receive heaven. So as we read these accounts
in the Word of God, may we recognize the truth and the glorious analogy
of the great and glorious Savior, who came into this world to save
sinners, as the Apostle says, of whom I am chief. Amen.