All right, go with me if you
would to Esther chapter one, just before Job. Esther chapter one, we just looked
at the entire story of Esther Wednesday night. And I kept thinking about this
book throughout the rest of the week last week. And I thought
tonight we could just slow down. We went pretty fast. And I thought
tonight we could slow down and just ponder a few things about
our Lord. The entire story is the story
of the gospel. That's why we looked at 10 chapters
Wednesday night. That whole story is, and it's
so perfect, isn't it? It is a wonderful gospel story. Tonight, I just want us to look
at our Lord. I just want us to, from different
angles, different views, I just want us to ponder our Lord. There's a story, I've told it
many times, that elder told that young preacher one time, he said,
Christ is in every text of scripture. every single text. He said in
every scripture there's a road that leads to Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. Our job is to find that road
and get on it. And that's what I want to do.
There are some beautiful things to ponder about our Lord in this.
And the first thing I want us to ponder is how great He truly
is. Just how great He truly is. You
may remember Wednesday night we said that King Ahasuerus in
this story represents God. He represents God the Father,
God's authority, God's holiness. And we said that this man Mordecai
and Esther, this woman Esther, who they're not mentioned in
chapter 1, but we said they both represented the Lord Jesus Christ. There is only one God. We said Ahasuerus represents
God and they represent the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, there's only
one God. There's just one God. This is
one of the things I cannot explain. I honestly cannot. No man can
explain this. Not one man on this earth can
explain this. There are Three persons. One God. He explained that. You just can't. You just can't.
Christ made intercession to the Great Judge. He did. He did. He made intercession to the Great
Judge for the sin of His people. But John chapter 5 says all judgment
has been committed to the Son. Isn't that right? The intercessor
who is pleading to the judge is the judge. And both hold up. Both are true. One is not undone
by the other. Isaiah 9 says a child is born. What should we call him? Call
him God the Father. That's his name, God the Father.
So somebody will say, then they are one person. No. He said,
I and my Father are one. But he said, there are three
that bear record in heaven. Isn't that what he said? Three
bear record in heaven. Three separate persons. When we get to glory, there are
three separate persons. And we're going to view all of
them in one God. One God. That's just that's great. That's
great. The scripture says, can a man
by searching find out God? Can't do it. We're going to spend
eternity pondering the depths of who our God is. We're going
to spend eternity pondering the depths of who God is. And we're
never going to find out. We're never going to find out.
We're never going to exhaust the fullness of God. Never. And yet, he said, all
the fullness of the Godhead is confined in the body of one man.
That's just amazing, isn't it? So let's look at King Ahasuerus
tonight, and let's see the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the point,
okay? There's one God. Chapter 1, verse 1 says, Now
it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, this is Ahasuerus,
which reigned from India even unto Ethiopia over an hundred
and seven and 20 provinces, that in those days when the King Ahasuerus
sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan, the palace,
in the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his
princes and his servants, the power of Persia and Media, the
nobles and princes of the provinces being before him, when he showed
the riches of his glorious kingdom, and the honor of his excellent
majesty many days, even in hundred and four score days. He hosted
a very rich and extravagant feast, an extremely rich and extravagant
feast, excess upon excess. And he did it for all of his
princes, and all of his servants, and he did it for all the nobles
and all the princes of 127 provinces. And he did it for a half of a
year, six months, 180 days. You know that he did not exhaust
everything he had. You know he didn't blow it all.
We're just draining everything dry. I'm sure that that was a
drop in the bucket compared to what he had. I'm sure it was. Can you imagine the wealth it
would take to host a feast like that for that many people every
single day for six months? Can you imagine the wealth? I
mean, for thousands and thousands. That made me think of Solomon.
All right? Solomon was wealthier than he
was. No earthly kingdom was as wealthy
as Solomon's. Never has there been and never
will there be an earthly kingdom as wealthy as Solomon's. This
actual King Ahasuerus, he threw a feast for I'm sure it would
be thousands of people. And he did it every day for six
months. But we have read many times, we're not going to turn
over there, we've read many times in 1 Kings 4 what Solomon's provisions
were on his table. You remember that? All the animals
he slew. Solomon fed thousands of people
every day of his reign. This guy did it every day for
six months. Solomon did it every single day
that he was in power. he put the spread out there.
Can you imagine the wealth of his glorious kingdom? Turn with
me if you would to Matthew chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12 verse 42 says, the queen of the south shall
rise up in the judgment with this generation and shall condemn
it for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the
wisdom of Solomon and behold a greater than Solomon is here.
Boy, that King Ahasuerus was great. Solomon was greater. But a greater than Solomon is
here. As great as these men appear to be, Christ is infinitely greater. His kingdom is infinitely greater. His riches are infinitely greater. He is preparing a feast that
is called the marriage supper of the Lamb. Now, the scripture
does not say that it's ever going to end. Our minds just assume
it's going to end because all feasts end, right? Well, why
do we think that? It does not say that it's ever
going to end. There is going to be in attendance
a number that no man can number, not even Albert Einstein. No
man can number. They're coming out of every nation,
kindred, people, and tongue on this earth, and every single
one of them are clothed in the white robes of his righteousness. He provides all the food, he
provides all the garments, and his provisions are literally,
actually going to continue forever. Never going to exhaust him. Never,
ever, ever go into exhaustion. You think of the greatness of
our Lord and King. To say that the cattle on a thousand
hills belongs to Him, that's nothing. We say, well the cattle
on a thousand hills belongs to Him, that's nothing. To say that
all the gold and the silver in the mines is His, that does not
even begin to describe the riches of His glorious kingdom. It does
not even begin. Alright, now go with me back
to Esther chapter 1. Verse 5 says, And when these
days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people,
that were present in Shushan, the palace, both under great
and small, seven days in the court of the garden of the king's
palace, where were white, green, and blue hangings, fastened with
cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of
marble, and beds were of gold and silver. Now watch this part
of it. It says, upon a pavement of red
and blue and white and black marble. This floor was made out
of all these beautiful colors. He describes the court of this
palace. And this floor that they were
walking on was made out of all these beautiful colors. That
makes me think of the feet of our Lord. It makes me think of
the place where he stands. Let me show you something in
Exodus 24. Exodus 24, I stand amazed in
the presence. I love this. Exodus 24 verse
9 says, Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy
of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel. I love that. Can you imagine?
There all those men go up and there they are. They're looking
at the God of Israel. And there was under his feet
as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone and as it were the body
of heaven in his clearness. Now here they are looking at
the God of Israel and they can see under his feet it appears
as though a great Craftsman has made bricks out of sapphire stones
and laid them in a great pavement under his feet, and they're transparent
blue like the sky, like the clearness of the sky. And there they are
looking at God, looking at all this pavement of sapphire under
his feet. What does all that mean? I have
no idea, but I glory in it. I'm in awe of it. I don't have
any idea, but it is just glorious to me to think that's what they
saw. He's so great. His dust, what
he wipes his feet on are bricks of sapphire stones. Just amazing. Go with me, if you would, to
Revelation 1. Revelation 1, this is speaking
of our Lord, verse 15, and his feet like unto fine brass as
if they burned in a furnace. John said, I saw the Lord, and
this is what he looked like, and he went through these different
character traits of his, and he said in verse 15, his feet
looked like fine brass as if they burned in a furnace. Beautiful,
polished, fine brass. Our Lord stood in the fiery furnace
of God's wrath, didn't he? Literally, while he was on this
earth, he stood in a furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
didn't he? Nebuchadnezzar threw three men
in there and then looked and he said, I think I see a fourth
man. And you know, it says about those
three men that they were not burned and nothing happened to
their clothes. The smell of smoke wasn't even
on them. I wonder if our Lord took all
the burn. I wonder if our Lord suffered
all the effect of the fire for them. And now John sees him and
he's standing at the glorious God and he looks down and he
says, it looks like his feet burned in a furnace. That's glorious,
isn't it? Look with me at Revelation 4. Revelation 4 says, and he that
sat was to look upon like a jasper. A jasper stone is clear as crystal,
absolute purity. Verse 3 says, and a sardine stone,
that's a ruby, blood red. He looked like water and blood. He looked like sanctification
and justification. That's what the one who sits
on the throne. looks like. And it says, there
was a rainbow round about the throne in sight like unto an
emerald. As he sits there on that throne,
there's a color all the way, a glow that comes out of this
throne, and it looks like an emerald. And I don't have any
idea what that means, but again, a glory in it. Just amazing,
the glory of the Lord. Now go with me back to the text,
Esther chapter 1, verse 7. And they gave them drink in vessels
of gold, the vessels being diverse one from another, and royal wine
in abundance according to the state of the king. Our Lord served
wine the night that He instituted His table. And he said, I will
not drink this again until I drink it new with you in the kingdom.
That wine represents the cup of his suffering. That wine represents
his blood that was poured out. We are going to drink that wine
with him throughout eternity. And in that cup, we are going
to remember his blood. throughout eternity. We'll never
forget the blood that redeemed us, never. Verse 9 says, And
the drinking was according to the law, none did compel, for
so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house
that they should do according to every man's pleasure. Also
Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house
which belonged to King Ahasuerus. Vashti, as we saw Wednesday night,
represents sin against this great king. Verse 10 says, on the seventh
day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded
Mehumen, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas,
the seven chamberlains that served in the presence of Ahasuerus
the king, to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the
crown royal to show the people and the princes her beauty, for
she was fair to look on. But the queen Vashti refused
to come at the king's commandment by his chamberlains. Therefore
was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him. Then
the king said to the wise men, which knew the times, for so
was the king's manner toward all that knew law and judgment,
And the next unto him was Carshina, Shethar, Admetha, Tarshish, Merez,
Marcina, and Mimucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media,
which saw the king's face, on which sat the first in the kingdom.
What shall we do unto Queen Bashti according to law, because she
hath not performed the commandment of the king Ahasuerus by the
chamberlains? And Mimucan answered before the
king and the princes, Bashti the queen hath not done wrong
to the king only, but also to all the princes and to all the
people that are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. For this deed
of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they
shall despise their husbands in their eyes when it shall be
reported the King Ahasuerus commanded Basti the queen to be brought
in before him, but she came not. Likewise shall the ladies of
Persia and Media say this day unto all the king's princes We
have heard of the deed of the queen, thus shall there arise
too much contempt and wrath. If it please the king, let there
go a royal commandment from him and let it be written among the
laws of the Persians and the Medes that it be not altered
that Vashti come no more before King Ahasuerus and let the king
give her royal estate unto another that is better than she. And
when the king's decree, which he shall make, shall be published
throughout all his empire, for it is great, all the wives shall
give to their husbands honor, both to great and small. And
the saying pleased the king and the princes, and the king did
according to the word of Mimucan, for he sent letters into all
the king's provinces, into every province according to the writing
thereof, into every people after their language, that every man
should bear rule in his own house, and that it should be published
according to the language of every people. Sin took place. Punishment for sin had to take
place. We know that our king is Christ
and his bride is subject to him and we bow to him, don't we?
We're his bride, we bow to him. Sin took place, punishment had
to take place, and the same thing that happened to Vashti is gonna
happen to every soul that God leaves alone. They said this
is going to spread, this heart of rebellion is going to spread.
Everybody's going to do it and everybody has. And if God leaves
a sinner to himself or herself, this same punishment is going
to happen. But in chapter one, and this is as far as we're going,
chapter one, our God wove the thread of the gospel through
this entire chapter. And he did it in the names of
all these men that we just read. There are five places listed,
five locations listed. In verse one it says India and
Ethiopia, two places there. Verse two says Shushan, the palace. And verse three says Persia and
Media, okay, five locations. India means flee away. It means
set free deliverance. Ethiopia means black. It represents
sin. Shushan means lily. Our Lord said I am the lily of
the valley. Persia means pure Splendid, glorious. Media means middle land, mediator. Alright, in those places this
is what it says. There's deliverance from sin. In the lily, the pure,
splendid, glorious mediator. There's deliverance. We can be
set free. And here is that deliverance
in our Lord, okay? This will only take a second.
Ahasuerus, his name means, each of these names point us to Christ.
Ahasuerus means, I will be silent and poor. I'll be silent and poor. Though
he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through
his poverty might be rich. The next name we come to is Vashti,
the sinner. Her name means made beautiful. For he hath made him to be sin
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. That's the gospel, isn't it?
Made beautiful. Verse 10 now gives us seven names,
seven servants. That's the number of perfection,
the number of Christ. Isaiah said, behold, my servant. He shall not fail, he's going
to set the prisoners free. Verse 10, we see this, the name
Mahuman means faithful. Faithful, he is faithful that
promised. Faithful is he that calleth you
who also will do it. That's Christ, faithful. The
next name is Biztha. It means payment. The song says,
sing, oh, sing of my Redeemer. With his blood he purchased me. On the cross he sealed my pardon,
paid my debt, and set me free. The next name, Harbona, means
the one who rides the ass. the writer of the cult. Hosanna,
oh, say. That's our Lord, isn't it? The
next name, Bigtha, means in the wine press. He said, I've trodden
the wine press alone, the wine press of God's wrath. That press
pressed the blood out of our Lord. The next name, Abagtha,
means God-given. For God so loved this sinful,
wicked world, he gave his only begotten son. The next name,
Zethar, means star. And I'll say something about
that in just a second. The next one is Karkos. It means severe. He bore the severity of God's
wrath. And what was the result of that?
All of those things he accomplished. What was the result? Seven more
names. The number of perfection. This
time it's wise men, the result of his accomplishment. If you
look at verse 14, the first name is Karshina. His name means famed,
respected, admired, celebrated. Every knee is going to bow. Sheethar
means a star. Two names, they both mean a star.
One given in his humiliation, one given in his exaltation.
Revelation 22, he said, I'm two stars. That's what he said. He said, I am the morning star. The sun come down. Somebody pointed
out to me one time, you cannot look at the sun until it touches
the earth. The lower it gets, the more visible
it becomes, the more you can look at it. And that's our Lord,
that morning sun with healing in His wings. And our Lord said,
I'm the bright sun, the bright star, high noon star, son of
righteousness, son of glory, honor, strength. No man can look
on Him in all His strength. The next name, Admetha, means
a testimony to them. A testimony of covenant, a testimony
of promise. That's who Christ is. Testimony. The next name Tarshish means
the precious stone. The tried stone, the cornerstone. The whole house is built on it.
The name also means Jasper. And we read that's the one who
sits on the throne. That's what he looks like, Jasper.
The next name Merez means lofty. Where is our God? He is seated
in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he pleased.
The next name, Marcina, means worthy. Thou art worthy for thou
was slain and has redeemed us to God by thy blood. The last
name is Mimucan. His name means dignified and
majestic. Peter said we were eyewitnesses
of his majesty. His Majesty the King. A King
sits on that throne. That King is our Redeemer. That King loved us and washed
us from our sins in His own blood and because of that we are going
to live with Him forever. We're going to live with Him
forever. We're going to be eyewitnesses
of His excellent majesty. We're going to be able to approach
His throne boldly. and we're gonna be able to sit
down right there and behold his beauty. We sang just a minute
ago, when with the ransomed in glory, his face I at last shall
see, t'will be my joy through the ages to sing of his love
for me. How marvelous, how wonderful,
how glorious, how glorious. All right, let's all stand together.