That song could be retitled Preacher's
School. Tell me the story simply. Tell
me the story often. Tell me the story always. Tell
me the same old story. We ought to sing that before
I preach every time. Turn back to Esther chapter nine. Esther chapter 9, we could title
this message, I thought about for a moment titling this message
the last line of verse 32, it was written in the book. But then I thought, no, I'm going
to title it the first line of verse 32. the decree of Esther, and then
I changed it. It's going to be the last line
of verse 30. Words of peace and truth. Words of peace and truth. That's what we're going to see
in this. Beautiful words, wonderful words. Wonderful words of life. Sing them over again to me. Wonderful words of life. Words
of peace and truth. Is that not what God's people
want? Is that not what we want? Words
of peace and truth. Just tell me the truth. Whatever
it is, just tell me the truth. Words of peace and words of truth. That's Christ. He is our peace. He is our truth. If we're gonna
preach peace, we're gonna preach Christ. And if we're gonna preach
truth, we're gonna preach Christ. Now I would give you a recap
like I do every single time, but this portion of scripture
is a recap. I don't know if you noticed that
while we read it, but this is a recap of the whole story. So we'll just read it. Um, I
will backtrack just a little bit to, to get our bearings on
some things here. Look at verse 12 Esther chapter
nine, verse 12 it says, And the king said unto Esther the queen,
the Jews have slain and destroyed 500 men in Shushan, the palace,
and the 10 sons of Haman. What have they done in the rest
of the king's provinces? Now what is thy petition, and
it shall be granted thee? Or what is thy request further,
and it shall be done? Then said Esther, if it Please
the king let it be granted to the Jews which are in Shushan
to do tomorrow also according unto this day's decree and let
Haman's 10 sons be hanged upon the gallows. And the king commanded
it so to be done and the decree was given at Shushan and they
hanged Haman's 10 sons. For the Jews that were in Shushan
gathered themselves together on the 14th day also of the month
Adar and slew 300 men at Shushan. But on the prey, they laid not
their hand. They were not interested in that
spoil of the enemy. Verse 16, but the other Jews
that were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together
and stood for their lives and had rest from their enemies,
and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand, but they laid
not their hands on the prey. On the thirteenth day of the
month Adar, and on the fourteenth day of the same, rested they,
and made it a day of feast, feasting and gladness, But the Jews that
were at Shushan assembled together on the 13th day thereof and on
the 14th day thereof. And on the 15th day of the same,
they rested and made it a day of feasting and gladness. Therefore,
the Jews of the villages that dwelt in the unwalled towns made
the 14th day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting
and a good day and of sending portions one to another. Now verse 20 says, and Mordecai
wrote these things. Mordecai wrote these things.
He recorded these things in a book. We're reading it. He made a book
of remembrance. Verse 20 says, and Mordecai wrote
these things. Mordecai representing the spirit
of God. wrote these things and sent letters
unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the King
Ahasuerus, both nigh and far. He wrote a book of remembrance
and he sent it to all the Jews, not to every soul in the king's
provinces. He didn't send it out to every
soul in the land. He sent it to a particular people. This
book was specifically to Esther and Mordecai's people, and that's
who this book is to, okay? This book, even though it speaks
of every man and woman in this world, this book was not written
to every man and woman in this world. If it were not for redemption
and salvation, this book would never need to be written. Judgment
would just come, and that would be it. That would be that. But
this book was written to Christ's people. This book was written
to spiritual Israel. Verse 20 says, And Mordecai wrote
these things and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in
all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far,
to establish this among them, that they should keep the 14th
day of the month Adar and the 15th day of the same yearly,
as the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies and
the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy and 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. He established that this event
would never be forgotten. It was a feast of remembrance,
a feast of victory and deliverance. And that reminds me of the feast
that our Lord calls the marriage supper of the Lamb. We're feasting
on the Lamb. We will forever. Feasting in honor of the Lamb. It was a feast of sending portions
one to another. Gifts unto the poor. Portions
and gifts. That's grace. You call that grace.
Grace is a gift. It's a favor. It's a kindness.
It was a feast of grace. It was a day of grace. It was
a remembrance of grace. Mordecai wrote a book of grace. He did that to establish them
in grace. Don't you want to be established
in grace? Verse 20, Mordecai wrote these
things and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all
the provinces of the King Ahasuerus, both nigh and far, to establish
this among them, that they should keep the 14th day of the month
Adar and the 15th day of the same yearly, as the days wherein
the Jews rested from their enemies and the month which was turned
unto them from sorrow to joy. and from morning into a good
day. That's what the grace of Christ
accomplished for his people. That is what Christ accomplished
for his people. Hold your place right here and
turn over to Isaiah 61. The heading at the top of my
page says the office of Christ. This is the office of Christ.
I love it when our Bible says that. In the Old Testament, I
love it. Every time it says this is Christ
in the Old Testament, the eternal God from the beginning. Isaiah
61 verse one, it says, and this is Christ speaking, and he even
read from this in the temple. He read this very passage. These
are His words. This is Him speaking. Verse 1
says, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord
hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. He hath
sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to them that are bound." I don't
know if you can get better news than that. I really don't. He sent me to preach good tidings
to the meek. He sent me to bind up the brokenhearted. He sent me to proclaim liberty
to the captives and the opening of the prison, every captive
soul in prison bound by sin, bound by death. Verse two, he said, I'm sent
to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance
of our God. Vengeance is of the Lord. He'll
take care of it. He'll deal with it. To comfort
all that mourn. I'm gonna tell you that every
soul in here mourns. Every soul in this room mourns.
Christ said, I was sent by the Father to comfort every soul
that mourns over sin. Over sin. Do you ever hate yourself? You ever mourn over your sin?
Verse 3, he said, I was sent to appoint unto them that mourn
in Zion to give unto them beauty for ashes. Beauty in exchange
for their ashes. They're just covering themselves
in dust and ashes. And I came to make a change.
I came to make an exchange. Beauty instead of your ashes. The oil of joy for mourning. Here, you give me your mourning
and I'll give you my joy. The garment of praise for the
spirit of heaviness. Do you ever feel like you're
just dragging a ball and chain around? You just feel so heavy.
Your spirit, your heart, your being, you just feel so heavy.
Christ will take that off of you. He'll have you leaping as
a heart if you see him and hear his voice. The garment of praise
for the spirit of heaviness that they might be called trees of
righteousness. The planning of the Lord. that
he might be glorified. He said, I'll do all this that
God might be glorified. The spirit of the Lord God is
upon me because he sent me to accomplish this for my people. He sent me to establish this
change from sorrow to joy, from heaviness to praise. Look at verse seven. He said,
for your shame, instead of shame, You shall have double." Double what? Isaiah 40 says,
double comfort. Comfort ye, comfort ye. You tell
them they're going to receive double. Double pardon, double mercy and grace from the
hand of the Lord. Verse 7 goes on to say, and for
confusion, instead of confusion, they shall rejoice in their portion. Their mind is going to be set
and focused on their portion. What is our portion? Lamentations
3 says, the Lord is my portion. Why is he our portion? Why is
he our portion? It's because on the cross of
Calvary, we became his portion. That is the reason why. He received
double, he received double condemnation, double punishment for all of
our sin that was laid on him. The end of verse seven goes on
to say, therefore, in their land, they shall possess the double
everlasting joy, double joy. shall be unto them." The everlasting
joy of God's mercy and grace in saving us and redeeming us
from our sin. Do you ever get tired of hearing
that? Go back to Esther 9. Verse 20 says, Mordecai wrote
these things and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in
all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far,
to establish this among them, that they should keep the 14th
day of the month Adar and the 15th day of the same yearly as
the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month
which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and 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 the Jews undertook to do
as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them, Because,
now here is the recap, all right, here's the recap of the story.
Because Haman, the son of Hamadathah the Agagite, the enemy of all
the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them. Haman
is the adversary. And he devised against the Jews
to destroy them and had cast her, that is the Lot, he cast
the Lot to consume them and to destroy them. But when Esther
came before the king, but Esther, but Christ, has a picture of
Christ. When Esther came before the king,
he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he devised
against the Jews, should return upon his own head. And that he
and his son should be hanged on the gallows, the gallows that
Haman made for Mordecai, the tree, the cross that the adversary meant for
Christ. That's the very tree that the adversary was hung on
himself. Verse 26, wherefore they called these days Purim
after the name of Pur, therefore, for all the words of this letter
and of that which they had seen concerning this matter and which
had come unto them, the Jews ordained and took upon them and
upon their seed and upon all such as joined themselves unto
them, so as it should not fail that they would keep these two
days according to their writing and according to their appointed
time every year. and that these days should be
remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family,
every province, and every city, that these days of Purim should
not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish
from their seed. It was written that this deliverance
should never be forgotten. You have been delivered. Don't
ever let it be forgotten. That's what was said about the
Passover on the night that the Lord passed through the land
of Egypt and delivered his people. Our Lord said, you remember this.
You tell your children about this. From generation to generation,
never let this victory, never let this deliverance leave the
front of your mind. And by God's grace, we don't,
do we? We remember right now our deliverance for Christ's
sake. For the cross of Christ's sake,
commanded by the Father, accomplished by the Son, applied and sealed
by the Spirit, it has been recorded in a book, a record of mercy
and grace, words of peace and truth. The decree of Christ our Lord,
we remember now, we will remember forever. For all of eternity,
we're gonna cry unto him that loved us and washed us from our
sins in his own blood. We're never gonna forget this,
never. Verse 29 says, then Esther the
queen, the daughter of Abihel and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with
all authority to confirm this second letter of Purim. Esther represents Christ, Mordecai
represents the Holy Spirit. They wrote this word. They wrote this second letter.
The first one, which was written in chapter eight, this is what
it said. This victory is coming. That's
what the first letter said. This victory is coming. Everybody
get ready. On this particular day, the victory
is coming. This second one went out saying,
this victory has come. It has come. That reminds me
of the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament
said, somebody is coming. The New Testament says, somebody
came. The Old Testament said, the accomplisher
will accomplish. The New Testament says, the accomplisher
has accomplished. The Old Testament cried, good
news, there is a Redeemer. Job, considered the first book
written in the Bible, Job said, I know that my Redeemer liveth,
and at a latter day, he's gonna stand on this earth. I know He's
going to redeem me. The Old Testament cried, there
is a Redeemer. The New Testament cried, good
news, the Redeemer redeemed. Verse 29, Esther the queen, the
daughter of Abihel and Mordecai the Jew wrote with all authority
to confirm this second letter of Purim. And again, that means
lot. This second letter of Lot, this
is the Lot that has come to you. And it said, your Lot has fallen
in pleasant places. They wrote this letter with all
authority to confirm the second letter of Purim, verse 30. And
he sent the letters unto all the Jews to the 127 provinces
of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, And he sent it with words of
peace and truth. I just love that. I love that
so much. Christ is our peace. This word of a finished work,
this word of redemption, this word of victory comes attached
to the name Jesus Christ. He is our peace. Romans 5 says,
therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah 9 says, unto us a child
is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon
his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. and of the increase of his government
and peace. There'll be no end. These words right here are the
words of Christ. These words are the words of
Christ. And therefore, these words are the words of peace
and truth. He is the truth. He is the truth of this word.
Christ is the truth of this word. If anybody wants to know what
is the truth of this, here's the answer. Christ. Get to Christ
and you will get to the truth. He is the truth of the gospel.
In Christ Mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and
peace have kissed each other. And to me, that sounds like Christ
and Christ, Christ and Christ. Mercy, truth, Christ. Righteousness, peace. It's all Christ. God is satisfied. Victory is secured. God's people
are set free. all in Christ. If you know the
truth, the truth will make you free. There's so much peace in
that. So much peace. Verse 30 says,
He sent the letters unto all the Jews to the hundred, twenty,
and seven provinces of the kingdom of Hasuerus with words of peace
and truth. to confirm these days of Purim
in their times appointed." That's how every time with God is appointed. There's peace in that. That's
truth. And there's peace in that. Everything
with God is appointed. It's all appointed. Verse 31
goes on to say, according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the
queen had enjoined them, and as they had decreed for themselves
and for their seed, the matters of the fastings and their cry. The decree was concerning a union
of themselves and their people. This covenant was concerning
Christ and his people. Verse 32 says, and the decree
of Esther confirmed these matters of Lot, the Lot of God's people. The decree of Christ confirmed
the Lot of his people. It confirmed the portion of his
people and it was written in the book. Their lot was written
in the book and it's confirmed. Their lot, their end is confirmed. How do we know? It was written
in the book. That's how we know. It was written in the book. Everything concerning the salvation
of God's people has been written in this book. If any man adds anything to the
words of this book, or if any man or woman takes anything away
from the words of this book, cursed is that man or woman.
But to the soul that rejoices in this book, don't you thank
God for this book. To the soul that rejoices in
the words of peace and truth, the peace and truth that we have
in Christ. Feasting, rejoicing, and a good
day is in store for that soul. To Christ, our word of peace
and truth, be all the glory. Amen.