I say amen to that song. I picked
it out and it really blessed me. Turn with me to Esther 5. Esther chapter 5. Last Wednesday night, we ended
the message from chapter four with a sneak peek at the message
for tonight from chapter five. And I believe the Lord made that
sneak peek a real blessing to all of us based on our conversation
after the service. I believe he really blessed those
15 seconds. And I pray he'll do that again
tonight. We're at his mercy, but I truly
do pray he'll do that for us again tonight. In chapter four,
Mordecai, who represents the spirit of God, Mordecai represents
the spirit of God. He was grieved. The spirit was
grieved. Because of the wicked scheme
of Haman, who represents the adversary, Haman schemed to destroy all
the Jews, all of Mordecai's people, God's people. So Mordecai went
to Esther and said, you need to go in to King Ahasuerus, to
intercede for our people. That represents the Spirit praying
and interceding to Christ. He points God's people to Christ,
and he groans with intercessions to Christ. That represents the
Spirit praying and interceding to Christ, and Christ interceding
to the Father, all on behalf of God's people. Mordecai said,
Esther, you're going to have to go into the inner court and
make reconciliation for a law of ordinances that is against
our people. And Esther responded to Mordecai
by saying, if you look with me at Esther chapter four, verse
11, this was Esther's response to Mordecai saying that. She
said, all the king's servants and the people of the king's
provinces do know that whomsoever, whether man or woman, shall come
unto the king into the inner court who is not called. There is one law of his to put
him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out
the golden scepter that he may live. But I've not been called
to come into the king these 30 days.' And they told to Mordecai
Esther's words. Then Mordecai commanded to answer
Esther, 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 there 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. Mordecai said, Esther, you must
do that. You cannot just sit up and stay
in the king's palace and allow this to happen to our people. A covenant has been made. They're
going to be delivered. And if you're not the deliverer,
your house will fall. You and your father's house will
fall. Your glory is on the line. Your holiness is on the line.
You're the only one who can do this. He said, for this very
cause, you were put into this position. Verse 15 says, then 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, night or day. I also and 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. So Mordecai went his way and
did according to all that Esther had commanded him. Esther, representing
Christ, said, I will do this. I will intercede for my people. I will make reconciliation for
them. I am willing to empty myself
and die for them. If I perish, I perish. Esther said, Mordecai, I will
reconcile them. You go out and get them. All
right, I'm gonna go in. I'm gonna suffer whatever the
law brings to me. Now you go out to our people,
you go to the Jews, you go call them, you go gather them, and
you bring them to a knowledge of what is taking place. You
tell them to fast, you tell them to pray, You bring them to a
knowledge of what must take place. And that is the quickening. We talk about a quickening. We
talk about a giving of life. Whenever a sinner is called to
salvation, They're called from darkness to light. They're called
from death to life. Spiritual death to spiritual
life. And that's what that quickening
and that call is. It's a call and it's a gathering
of God's people to the knowledge of what it took for Christ to
intercede to the Father on their behalf. That's what it is. It's an understanding of what
had to take place. The call to salvation is a call
to an understanding of what the law has against us. First of
all, there's a law of ordinances against us. All of our sins have
been written down. The law has condemned us. Guilty,
guilty, guilty. Condemnation has been ordered
to us. The wages of sin is death. You
know, we've said this so many times, but it's so true. If you
want to find out whether a person is a sinner, because a lot of
people don't think their mamas are sinners or their grandmamas
are sinners. If you want to find out if a
person is a sinner, all you have to do is wait and see if they
die. If they die, they had sin. The wages of sin is death. If
they're not a sinner, they won't die. Nobody in heaven will die. No more death. Why? No more sin. So the condemnation has been
ordered to sinners against God. And this is a knowledge of this
law, this is a knowledge of this sin, and there's a knowledge
of the fact that there's only one who can intercede for us
to make reconciliation for us. Man thinks he can make his own
reconciliation to God, and he cannot, and she cannot. There's only one who can intercede
for us and deliver us from the wrath that is to come. The deliverer was a Jew, the
cousin of Mordecai. Mordecai was a Jew, Esther was
a Jew. She was one with her people. She interceded for her people
being one with her people. And that's what Christ was made
to be, one with his people. He was made flesh with us because
that's what we were. He took upon himself the seed
of Abraham. You know, all those angels fell,
but he didn't take upon himself the nature of angels. He took
the seed of Abraham, the seed of flesh. And that is the very
reason why the law of ordinances against the promised seed of
Abraham. That's the reason why it could
all be laid on Christ. He was made to be the seed. And
he endured a complete emptying of himself for his seed. On a Thursday evening, all right,
on a Thursday evening, our Lord had one last Passover supper
with his disciples. Judas took the sop. and he left to go get the mob
of betrayers. And then our Lord sang a hymn
of thanks and praise with his disciples. After Judas left,
they sang a hymn together. That is beautiful to me, knowing
what was about to come. They're all watching him, following
him, waiting on everything he says. He is leading the service. And he says, let's sing Psalm
121. I wonder if that's the one they
sang. After that song, he took them
to the Garden of Gethsemane. And as he was walking into that
garden, the sin of God's people, all of the sin that we are right
now, tonight, in this service, in this pulpit, and in those
pews committing right now. This sin was being pressed into
him. And those sins, as they were
pressed into his body, the weight, I can just envision him walking
into this garden, and the deeper he gets into this garden, the
weight of all those sins became heavier and heavier to the point
that the scripture says, this is Mark 14, 35, he fell on the
ground and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might
pass from him. And then a mob came and took
him. And all night long, all of Thursday
night into Friday morning, all night long, he was interrogated,
he was humiliated, he was stripped, he was beaten. And at about nine o'clock Friday
morning, they drove nails through his
body and hung him on a cross. For the next six hours, they
made fun of him, they cursed him, they spit on him, and they
gambled his clothes away. At three o'clock in the afternoon,
which was the exact time of the evening sacrifice according to
the law, a lamb had to be sacrificed at three o'clock in the afternoon.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, he bowed his head and died. And his soul, at that moment,
entered the utter darkness of separation from God. from the moment that he died
for at least the next 33 hours. He died at 3 o'clock on a Friday
afternoon. And it's 33 hours to 12.01 a.m.
on Sunday morning. The first hour of that day was
6 o'clock a.m. So somewhere between 33 and 39
hours, for the next 33 to 39 hours, his soul endured the fullness
of an eternity of hell. To redeem his people, to pay
the price that was owed for the sin of his people, he had to
endure an eternity of hell. An eternity of hell. That's what
was owed to his people. That's what the law said had
to come to his people. An eternity of weeping and gnashing
of teeth. An eternity of fire that cannot
be quenched. Worms to the flesh that never
die. Christ didn't just die for His
people. You know, we say, well, He died
for His people. You know, He hung on the cross
and He died so His people won't have to die. Christ didn't just
die for His people. He had to suffer hell for His
people. And not just one day of hell
for His people. Everything that hell could bring
to His people for the span of eternity He suffered an eternity of hell. That's what he suffered, an eternity
of hell for every single one of his people. And it only took
him the span of three days to drink the whole cup dry. Now you want to talk about Glory? You want to talk about glorifying
a man for what he did and what he accomplished? It only took
him somewhere between 33 and 39 hours to drink the whole cup
of hell's eternity dry for his people. Does that do anything
for your heart? After every bit of that was successfully
accomplished, after that last drop, was wrung out of that cup. Esther chapter 5 verse 1 says,
now it came to pass on the third day. It came to pass on the third
day. I had a moment to really imagine,
and you can't imagine this, but you know, with whatever limited
ability we have. Can you imagine the inside of
that tomb on the third day? Can you imagine Christ who had been stripped
of all of his worldly clothes? Christ who had been wrapped in
grave clothes? Joseph of Arimathea and And you know the other one. John
3, Nicodemus. He was done with all those clothes.
He was finished wearing those clothes. Verse one says, Now
it came to pass on the third day that Esther put on her royal
apparel. He got a new set of clothes. She put on her royal apparel
and stood in the inner court. Can you envision Christ on that
third day when the father brought life to him again? Can you hear the moment when
the father cried, don't you know the father who loves the son? And sent the son, he was the
first one who trusted in Jesus Christ. That's what Ephesians
one says. We trust in Christ. but the father was the first
one to do it. Can you hear him crying with
a loud voice? Son, come forth. The cross was finished, the grave
was finished, death was finished, sin was finished, and it was
time for him to put his glory back on. And he proved that by leaving
his grave clothes in the tomb. When the Lord cried to Lazarus,
when he said, Lazarus, come forth. All right, Lazarus came out of
his tomb still bound in his grave clothes, hopping in grave clothes. But not Christ. Not Christ. I love how the scripture says
when they looked into Christ's tomb, they saw his grave clothes
laying right there, still laying right there. And that napkin
that was around his head, it was folded neatly. Can you envision
him taking all that off and setting it to the side? I don't need
this anymore. Never to be needed again. Verse
one says, now it came to pass on the third day that Esther
put on her royal apparel and stood in the inner court of the
king's house. Can we see Christ, our high priest,
standing in his glorious, high priestly apparel? You know, you
go back to Exodus and think about all the gold and all the linen
and everything that was on these glorious, high priestly robes
and this apparel. Can you see Him standing there
in His royal apparel, His high priestly apparel, standing in
the inner court of the Holy of Holies with the offering of His
own blood? Here it is. That's what happened the morning
of the third day inside that tomb. the offering of Christ's
own self. By the sacrifice of his own self,
he went in once into the holy place with his own blood. Here's
the blood of death. Death has been accomplished. Verse 1, Now it came to pass
on the third day that 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 in 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. You know, in Exodus chapter 12,
God Almighty said, when I see the blood, the moment I see the
blood, the blood of my lamb, I'll pass over, I'll be satisfied,
I'll be appeased. When God saw Christ, he was appeased. He was not appeased and he was
not satisfied until he saw Christ. Verse two, and it was so when
the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court that she
obtained favor in his sight, accepted, worthy. Because she found favor and was
accepted, her people are going to find favor and be accepted.
But it's only because she was accepted. That's the only reason.
Had she not been accepted, they would have never been accepted. They're going to be accepted
in her because of her. Verse two, it was so when the
king saw Esther, the queen, standing in the court that she obtained
favor in his sight, and the king held out to Esther the golden
scepter that was in his hand. He held the scepter out to her. I love how Hebrews 1 verse 8
says that God the Father said to God the Son, thy throne, O
God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. The scepter's held out to you. Verse two goes on to say, so
Esther drew near and touched the top of the scepter. Then
said the king unto her, what wilt thou, Queen Esther? What wilt thou? What is the mystery of your will?
What is the good pleasure of your will? Your will is my will. Verse three, then said the king
unto her, what wilt thou, Queen Esther, and what is thy request?
It shall be given thee, it shall be even given thee to the half
of the kingdom. Ahasuerus said, I'm willing to
give you half of this kingdom. I have half, you have half, equal
members. Equal member with me, that's
Christ. Equal with the Father, a joint
heir of everything. Verse four, and Esther answered,
if it seemed good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this
day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him. Then the king
said, cause Haman to make haste that he may do as Esther hath
said. So the king and Haman came to
the banquet that Esther had prepared. The adversary is only going to
do what Christ commands. I know that's shocking, but that's
so. The adversary is only going to do what Christ and his father
have predetermined to be done. Verse 6, And the king said unto
Esther at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition? And it
shall be granted thee. And what is thy request? Even
to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed. Then answered
Esther and said, My petition and my request is, if I have
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. Esther said, I've
prepared something. And we're gonna find out in chapter
seven that what she prepared led to the destruction of Haman. And the scripture says that Christ
has an everlasting lake of fire prepared for the devil and his
angels. Verse seven, then answered Esther
and said, my petition and my request is 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 has said. Then went Haman forth that day
joyful and with a glad heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in
the king's gate, that he stood not up nor moved for him, he
was full of indignation against Mordecai. Until the day that
the adversary is finally destroyed, there is going to be a war between
him and God's spirit inside every one of God's people. The apostle
Paul said, there is a war going on inside me. He talked about it in Romans
7. He talked about it in Galatians 5. Every child of God knows this
war. War against the Spirit. Verse
9, Then went Haman forth that day, joyful and with a glad heart.
But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he stood
not up nor moved for him, he was full of indignation against
Mordecai. Nevertheless, Haman refrained
himself, and when he came home, he sent and called for his friends
and Zeresh, his wife. I can only imagine that pride
and self were two of his friends. Vanity was his wife. Verse 11, Haman told them of
the glory of his riches and the multitude of his children and
all the things wherein the king had promoted him and how he had
advanced him above the princes and servants of the king, all
the things that he had been given power over. He gloried in what
he'd been given. The adversary's been given power
over certain things in this world. He's been given children in this
world. Our Lord told the Pharisees one
time, you're of your father the devil. Verse 12, Haman said, moreover,
yea, Esther the queen did let no man come in with the king
unto the banquet that she had prepared but myself, and tomorrow
am I invited unto her also with the king. Yet all this availeth
me. All this availeth me nothing
so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.
Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, let
a gallows be made of 50 cubits high, 75 feet high, and tomorrow
speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon. Then go thou in merrily with
the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman,
and he caused the gallows to be made. Wicked hands built those
gallows who meant them for evil. But we're going to find out in
the end that God meant them for good. It's always that way. God means it for good. The devises
of the adversary are going to bring the very demise of the
adversary. And God's people are going to
be safe. That is the only outcome possible for God's people. They're
going to be safe. They're going to be safe for
Esther's sake. We're all going to be safe for
Christ's sake. Amen.