Esther 4, as a recap for this
story, King Ahasuerus represents God the Father. Esther represents
God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Mordecai represents God the Spirit. Haman represents the adversary. In chapter one, Queen Vashti,
who represents all of mankind, she fell into sin against Ahasuerus. And she was condemned by his
law and she was cast out of his kingdom. And that's what happened
to all of mankind when Adam sinned against God in the garden. We
were all cast out. We were all cast out of the kingdom,
cast out of the favor of God. In chapter two, Esther was acknowledged
by King Ahasuerus as being the one in whom he was well pleased,
a better than Basti. And she was made to be queen
and a crown was placed on her head. Our Lord Jesus Christ is
called the second Adam. The one who is better. The only
one who the Father truly delighted in. You know, when you think
of, people think, well, I want God to be happy with me. I want
him to look at me with delight and delight in me. That has only
ever happened to one man. It's only ever happened to one
man. God has never looked on a man or woman with delight except for Christ and outside
of Christ. Only in Christ, the Father's
delight. This is my beloved Son in whom
I'm well-placed. Hear Him. Him. It's all in Him. He's the only
one worthy of the crown. Everybody wants to earn their
crown in heaven. Only one man earned a crown,
King Jesus Christ. Well, in chapter three, Haman,
who represents the adversary, the devil, he came up with a
scheme to destroy Mordecai's people, the Jews. All right,
Mordecai representing the Spirit of God. He came up with this
scheme to destroy the Spirit's people, spiritual Israel, God's
people. And this is how Haman did it.
If you look at chapter three, verse eight, it says, and Haman
said unto King Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered
abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of
thy kingdom, and their laws are diverse from all people, neither
keep they the king's laws. Therefore, it is not for the
king's prophet to suffer them. If it pleased the king, let it
be written that they may be destroyed And I will pay 10,000 talents
of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business
to bring into the king's treasuries. And the king took his ring from
his hand and gave it unto Haman, the son of Hamadathah, the Agagite,
the Jew's enemy. Look at verse 13, it says, and
the letters were sent by post into all the king's provinces
to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish all Jews, both young
and old, little children and women in one day, even upon the
13th day of the 12th month, which is the month Adar, and to take
the spoil of them for a prey. Nothing happens outside of the
control of God Almighty. not even the fall of man. Nothing
happens outside of his control. But look at chapter 4, verse 1. All right,
Haman devised this law, that's what he did, that every Jew had
to be killed, death to all of them. By one man, sin entered
the world, death by sin, death because of sin. Now look at chapter
four, verse one. It says, when Mordecai perceived
all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes and put on sackcloth
with ashes and went out into the midst of the city and cried
with a loud and bitter cry, and came even before the king's gate,
for none might enter into the king's gate clothed with sackcloth. Mordecai grieved over this. He was grieved by this, representing
God's spirit. The spirit was grieved. Now, God is sovereign. All right,
I want us to understand this. God is sovereign. God is all-knowing. He knew that man would sin before
man was ever even created. That's the whole reason the Lamb
was slain before the foundation of the world. He knew man would
sin. He told Adam, in the day that
you do eat of this fruit, he didn't say if you do, he said
when you do, you're gonna die. He's all-knowing. He knew man
would sin before man was ever created. He also knew the victory
over sin that he would accomplish on the cross. All of his works
were known from the beginning. Everything. There are no surprises
with God. He still knows right now that
his blood has forgiven and pardoned his people for all of their sin.
He knows that. In him, their sin is already
put away, including the sins that his people hasn't even committed
yet. But even so, the scripture says
that sin still grieves the Holy Spirit of God. It still grieves
the Spirit of God, even though he's conquered it in his people
and conquered it for his people, And even though he's ordered
the destruction of it in the end, along with all those who
are not his people, even though there are no surprises
concerning sin with God, even so, Ephesians 4 tells us to not
grieve the Holy Spirit by sinning against each other. And this gives us some insight
into the heart and the compassion of our God. I truly do love knowing
this about him. This truly is a compassionate thing to know about
him. Hold your place right here and turn over to Genesis 6. Genesis 6 verse 5. And God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. That means not only everything
he did but everything he thought was only evil continually. Does that sound familiar? Verse
six says, and it repented the Lord that he had made man on
the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. I don't even know if I fully
understand, I know I don't fully understand what that means, but the sin of man that came by the
hand of the adversary grieved, and grieves the spirit of our
Lord. And that is a very tender thing
to me. He could be very cold and heartless
and matter-of-fact about it. He must punish it. Okay? He must punish it. He has to
punish it because he's wholly unjust. But our Lord takes no
pleasure in the death of the wicked. None. He's not just cold
and matter-of-fact about it. It grieves him at his heart.
Go back to Esther chapter 4. Esther 4 verse 1, when Mordecai
perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes and
put on sackcloth with ashes and went out into the midst of the
city and cried with a loud and bitter cry and came even before
the king's gate for none might enter into the king's gate clothed
with sackcloth. And in every province, whithersoever
the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great
mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing,
and many lay in sackcloth and ashes. God's spirit grieves over
sin. And God's spirit in his people
causes his people to grieve over sin. If we grieve over our sin, that
is God's spirit in us grieving for us. Honestly, if his spirit
was not in us, we could not grieve over our sin. You go out into
the world and ask people really and truly, how much are they
really grieving over their sin? You know, you go into a prison
and nobody there is even guilty. I didn't do it, I'm here wrongly.
Well, I ought to be in prison, because I did it. I just haven't
been caught. If I didn't do it on the outside,
I've done it on the inside. If we grieve over our sin, that
is God's Spirit in us causing us to grieve. The Apostle Paul
said in Romans 7, I was doing fine in life until God's Spirit
entered me and revealed my sin to me. I was doing fine. He said, the moment God's commandment
came, sin revived, meaning it was made alive to me. I was made
aware of it. All of a sudden, I was made aware
of it. Wait a minute, I'm a sinner. And Paul said, I died like this
flesh that I thought I was so alive in the flesh. I died, it
killed me, it slayed me down to dust and ashes. Verse four. So Esther's maids and her chamberlains
came and told her, then was the queen exceedingly grieved. Mordecai was grieved and they
came and told Esther that Mordecai was in sackcloth and ashes, then
was the queen exceedingly grieved. And she sent raiment to clothe
Mordecai and to take away his sackcloth from him, but he received
it not. God is three persons, but one
God. God is three persons, but there's
only one God. And therefore they cannot be
separated from each other. In Romans 8, the Spirit is called
the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit of the Lord Jesus
Christ. What the Spirit feels, Christ feels. If the spirit is
grieved, Christ is grieved, never discouraged, never perplexed, yet grieved. You think about
how grieved Christ was over the sin of his people in the Garden
of Gethsemane. Think about how grieved. As the sin of his people
was pressed into his body, he said, I am so sorrowful I could
die from this. I am so sorrowful I could die
just because of the sorrow. A sorrow unto death. Verse five. Then called Esther for Hatak. His name means truth. then called
Christ for truth. That's what came to the cross,
truth. Righteousness, judgment, verity,
the sins of God's people were dealt with in truth, in the light
of truth. Verse five, then called Esther
for Hathak, one of the king's chamberlains whom he had appointed
to attend upon her. And Esther gave him a commandment
to Mordecai to know what it was and why it was. Christ sent truth
to the spirit. A transaction between God concerning
this grievance over sin took place by way of truth. Verse 6. So Hatak went forth to Mordecai
unto the street of the city which was before the king's gate. And
Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him and of
the sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's
treasuries for the Jews to destroy them. Also he gave him the copy
of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to
destroy them. Truth brought the writing that
was against God's people to Christ. There was a writing against God's
people and truth brought it to Christ. Now hold your place here
again and go over to Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2 verse 11 says, Wherefore
remember that you being in time past Gentiles in the flesh who
are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision
in the flesh made by hands, that at that time you were without
Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers
from the covenants of promise. having no hope and without God
in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, ye who
sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ,
for he is our peace, who hath made both one and hath broken
down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished
in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments, contained
in ordinances for to make in himself of Twain one new man,
so making peace. He abolished in his flesh the
enmity. A law of ordinances said we were
enemies of the king. That's what it said. They need
to be destroyed because they're at enmity. They're enemies of
the king. And he abolished in his flesh the enmity even the
law of commandments contained in ordinances against his people. Look at Colossians 2. Verse 9 says, For in him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete
in him, which is the head of all principality and power, in
whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without
hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the
cutting off of Christ. Christ was cut off by the circumcision
of Christ, buried with him in baptism, wherein also you are
risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who
hath raised him from the dead. And you being dead in your sins
and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together
with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, everything you've
done. forgiven. Verse 14, blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us. There was a whole list of
ordinances, whole list of writings against 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. He nailed it all to his cross.
That's what you call good news. That's good news. All right,
go back to Esther 4. Verse 6. So Hatak went forth
to Mordecai unto the street of the city, which was before the
king's gate. And Mordecai told him of all
that had happened unto him and of the sum of the money that
Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the
Jews to destroy them. And he gave him the copy of the
writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them,
to show it unto Esther. and to declare it unto her and
to charge her that she should go in unto the king to make supplication
unto him and to make request before him for her people. There's only one mediator between
God and man. There's only one advocate with
the father. Jesus Christ the righteous, and
he ever lives to make intercession for his people. Verse 9 says, And Hatak came
and told Esther the words of Mordecai. Truth came and told
Christ the words of the Spirit. Okay? Truth came and told Christ
all the words of the Spirit. Listen to this. Romans 8 says, The Spirit also helps our infirmities,
for we know not what we should pray for as we ought. But the
Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot
be uttered. That's what the Spirit is doing,
making intercession with groanings that cannot be uttered. To who?
To Christ. And he that searcheth the hearts,
that's Christ, knows the mind of the spirit because he makes
intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know
that all things work together for good. to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose. That's what's
going on. That's what's going on right now. God's spirit right
now is pleading intercession to Christ for God's people. And Christ is hearing his spirit. And he knows the mind of the
spirit. And for that reason, he makes intercession to the
father. Right? The Spirit's making intercession
for God's people. Christ is making intercession
for God's people. And therefore, every single thing
that happens, working together for the good of God's people,
every single thing that happens is bringing good. Hard to imagine,
isn't it? Every single thing that happens,
whatever happens today, whatever happens tomorrow, is bringing
good. So much good. And that's gonna be proven to
us. For God's people, it's all good. Henry Mahan learned that,
didn't he? Yeah, but it's good, right? I
wish I could remember that more. It's all good. I'm telling you,
God's Spirit, God's Son, God's Father, this work, this intercession,
it's all good. Everything is good. Verse 9, And Hathak came and told Esther
the words of Mordecai. Again, Esther spake unto Hathak
and gave him commandment unto Mordecai. This is Esther's word
back to Mordecai. Verse 11, 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." Whoever tries to come into the
inner court. There is an inner court, and whoever tries to come into
this inner court, verse 11 says, 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." If the king held out his
scepter to you, it was okay. She said, but I have not been
called to come in unto the king these 30 days. I can't help but think about
our Lord being on this earth for 33 and a half years, living
among us, knowing there's an inner court. Verse 12, and they told Mordecai
Esther's words, truth, let it be known. Truth relayed the message
that if you approach the throne unaccepted, Everybody just naturally
thinks they can walk right up to the throne of God. Truth cried,
let it be known. If you try to approach the throne
unacceptable, unaccepted, because you're unacceptable, you'll die
in your sin. If you do not find favor and
graciousness from the throne, you'll die in your sin. Doesn't
matter who you are. Verse 13. Then Mordecai commanded
to answer Esther, think not with thyself that thou shalt escape
in the king's house more than all the Jews. Christ's spirit
said to Christ, he said to himself, Don't put yourself first in this
matter. Don't just stay there and sit
there in the king's house, sparing yourself. Don't think of yourself in this
matter. You think on the things concerning
your people. Verse 4, 14, for if thou altogether
holdest thy peace at this time, Then shall their enlargement,
that means their relief, their release, their setting free,
and their deliverance arise to the Jews from another place. But thou and thy father's house
shall be destroyed. The spirit, okay, this spiritual
picture. The Spirit is saying, it is forever
settled in heaven. A covenant has been made. A covenant
has been made. God's people are going to be
delivered. There's no ifs, ands, or buts
about that. But that covenant was made in
Christ. It was made in Christ and he's saying this all hinges
on you. If you do not accomplish this,
your covenant will be broken. And if your promise is broken,
if your word is broken, your kingdom will fall. Your holiness
is on the line. Your glory is on the line. To
allow your people to be destroyed, that would bring destruction
to your own self. Verse 14. Goes on to say, and look at this,
verse 14 ends by saying, and who knoweth whether thou art
come to this kingdom for such a time as is right now? The Spirit
said to Christ, for this very cause, you're in this position.
You must accomplish this. You're the only one who can accomplish
this. Because the Lord loved Israel,
he put you in this position. We'll put you right here. That's
what's said concerning Christ. Because God loved Israel, he
made you king. Verse 15. Then Esther bade them return
Mordecai this answer. All right, this is what Christ
said to the spirit. 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." She said it's going to
take three days to accomplish this. And there's going to have to
be an emptying in those three days. There's going to be an
emptying of self. Verse 16 goes on to say, I also and my maidens will fast
likewise. She said, I'll even empty myself. And so will I go in unto the
king, which is not according to the law. And if I perish,
I perish. She said, I'm going to set my
face like a flint and being completely emptied,
I will suffer whatever condemnation comes from the law. I will enter within the veil,
into the inner court, and if I die, I die. I'm willing to
die for my people. I am willing to give myself. I'm willing to give my life for
them. concerning the three-day transaction
of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Galatians 1 verse 4 says,
who gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from
this present evil world according to the will of God and our Father.
Verse 17 says, so Mordecai went his way and did according to
all that Esther had commanded him. He went out and he gathered
all the Jews together. He went out and gathered all
of their people together and he told them, you look to Esther. You wait on Esther. You stand
still and see the salvation of Esther. And that's exactly what
God's Spirit says to all of God's people, all of God's sinful people
concerning Christ. He goes out and He gets them
and He gathers them together and He tells them, you empty
yourself and look to Christ. Whatever you think you have,
get rid of it. Whatever goodness you think you have, get rid of
it. Whatever fullness you think is in you, in your flesh, get
rid of it and look to Christ. Look to Christ. He will advocate. He will intercede. He shall fight
for you, and you're going to hold your peace. That's the message
of the gospel. That's the message of rest. That
is the message of rest. Wait on the Lord. He will finish
this thing, and then he'll strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the
Lord. And just as a little teaser here,
if you want to get excited for the next message, look at chapter
5 verse 1. Watch this. Now it came to pass on the third
day, Esther put on her royal apparel, stood in the inner court
of the king's house, over against the king's house. 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. I'm going to tell you, when God
the Father saw Christ, When the king saw Esther the queen standing
in the court, she obtained favor in his sight. The king held out
to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Yes, I will accept you on behalf
of your people. Amen.