and those who will be joining
us by sermon audio. Would you turn with me in your
Bibles to the book of Esther tonight, Esther chapter two.
And we're going through the book of Esther verse by verse and
seeing in here the wonderful providence of almighty God towards
his people. And in this passage particularly,
we'd like to look at some of that as we find that the Lord
put Mordecai in exactly the right place at the right time to overhear
a conversation between two of the king's chamberlains. Here
in the book of Esther chapter two, and we're gonna begin reading
here with verse 21, and we'll read the three verses of the
remainder of this chapter. In those days, while Mordecai
sat in the king's gate, two of the king's chamberlains, Bitha
and Teresh, of those which kept the door, were wroth, and sought
to lay hand upon King Ahasuerus. And the thing was known to Mordecai,
who told it unto Esther the queen, and Esther certified the king
thereof in Mordecai's name. And when inquisition or inquiry
was made of the matter, it was found out, therefore they were
both hanged on a tree and it was written in the book of the
Chronicles before the king. I've entitled tonight's message,
The Blessings of Providence. The Blessings of Providence.
Now, providence is the act of God seeing to. I remember my
dad would say and my mother too, I'll see to that. I'll see to
that, I'll take care of that in other words. And we find that
that is a wonderful principle that we find in the Bible about
our God, that he will see to the matter. Now this is brought
up over in the book of Genesis. So if you would turn with me
to the book of Genesis chapter 22, we'd like to read a passage
over there in Genesis chapter 22. This is a familiar passage
of scripture about Abraham, Abraham and Isaac. Abraham is asked,
to take his son, his only son, up on Mount Moriah and there
offer him as a sacrifice. Now notice here in Genesis chapter
22 and in verse 7, Genesis chapter 22 and verse 7, this is brought
up by Isaac. Now he's quite an observant young
man. He notices that someone has the
wood, and he notices someone has the fire. And he brings up
this question, because he has observed sacrifices in the past. He has noticed what his dad has
done in the past. And he says, Isaac spake unto
his father, Abraham his father, and said, my father, and he said,
here am I, my son. And he said, behold the fire
and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And
Abraham said, my son, God will provide. himself a lamb for a
burnt offering. So they went both of them together. Now we notice in this passage
of scripture that Abraham had been given a great deal of faith
to trust the Lord in the matter. And he understood that God would
see to it. God would take care of it. God
would provide. In fact, as we go through this,
we find there in verse eight, and Abraham said, my son, God
will provide. He will see to it. And Abraham
answered his son. This is how God does his business.
And if we drop down to verse 14 of that chapter, we find out,
and Abraham called the name of the place. Now, God provided
a lamb for a burnt offering. There was a ram caught in a thicket.
God provided, he said, I will see to it. I will provide. And this is the real meaning
of providence. And we're going to see that there
with Mordecai that God would see to the matter. God would
take care of the matter and he put Mordecai in the appropriate
place at the appropriate time so that he could see to the matter. All right. There in verse 14,
Abraham called the name of the place Jehovah-Jireh, as it is
said to this day, in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. So this word Jehovah-Jireh means
Jehovah will see to it, or Jehovah will provide. Jehovah sees, and
when he sees, he provides. And that's how we find that God
does his business. The symbolic name of Mount Moriah
is here and it's called Jehovah Jireh. The Bible teaches us over
and over and very plainly that this is our Father's world. He lays claim to it by creation
and He lays claim to it by way He supervises it. This is my
Father's world. And I had a conversation with
a person today about this subject and One person put it much better
than I could ever put it, and that is, God is not accountable
to his creatures. So often people want to have
God accountable to them. Something has happened and they
want God to be accountable to them. Well, God as creator and
God as God is not accountable to the creatures for his conduct. It is enough to know that God
cannot do wrong. It's enough for us to know that.
And when we find out that God cannot do wrong, never has done
wrong, and is not going to do wrong, then we can trust him
as the one that is over all. He is righteous in all his ways
and holy in all his works. His sovereignty is one of his
distinguishing attributes. This distinguishes the Almighty
God from all others who call themselves God. And that is,
he is in charge of everything. He is in charge of Esther. He's
in charge of Mordecai. He is in charge of King Ahasuerus. And in fact, he's going to be
in charge of these two guys that bring up the charge against King
Ahasuerus. I have to say that because God
does that and I cannot Make God accountable to me. I am accountable
to Him. He's the one that I'm accountable
to. The Bible teaches plenty that
our Father is dealing with all things. And the Apostle Paul
writes about this. If you turn with me over to the
book of Romans, in the book of Romans chapter 8, It was interesting,
and again I have to recount a conversation I had today, that we were discussing
how terrible Saul of Tarsus was. And he was breathing out threatenings
and slaughter. And he had had many believers,
Christians, arrested. And some of them he had executed. He even witnessed the execution
of Stephen. And we might say, well, that
certainly wasn't in God's plan. Oh, yes, it was. It was in God's
plan. That's how Stephen was going
to be promoted to glory. And that's how the gospel was
going to go out to some people that didn't know the first thing
about it. And Saul of Tarsus was there. He was a real critter. We can put him in the same boat
as almost as Esau or Jacob. He was a real critter. And on
the way to Damascus, the Lord appeared unto him. and gloriously
delivered him from his own self. He saved him by his grace. And
this was an irresistible exchange. God was in charge. He is the
sovereign in this place. He's sovereign over salvation.
He's sovereign over this man, Saul of Tarsus, and you know
what Saul of Tarsus was called on to do after this whole thing
happened to him? He was called on to write the
book of Romans. And in the book of Romans, he was called on to
write Romans chapter 8, verse 28. Now that whole book of Romans
is filled with things just like this, but turn with me if you
would over to the book of Romans chapter 8. Saul of Tarsus, now
called the Apostle Paul, was called on to write these things. The Holy Spirit gave him the
words to write. Now this is contrary to the way he used to believe,
absolutely contrary, that God was in charge of everything.
And he was convinced of this very matter, God is in charge
of everything, And he's called on to write about it. Romans
chapter 8 and verse 28, we have these words. And as we think
about what took place in those three short verses in the book
of Esther chapter 2, that Mordecai is in the right place at the
right time. He's moved by God to be there. It tells us in verse
28 of Romans chapter 8, and we know. Now that's something that
believers comprehend. They understand this. that we
know that all things work together for good of them that love God.
Now God is in charge, and He is not going to be challenged
on this matter, and He is not answerable to the creature. He's
not answerable to creation. He has said what He will do,
and He will carry it out. So, and we know that all things
work together for the good of them that love God, to them who
are the called according to his purpose. So in Mordecai's case,
we find that he is in the right place at the right time, directed
by Almighty God, who is sovereign over all things, to overhear
a conversation. That's the only purpose that
we find in Scripture about that passage at this time, as he's
there to overhear something that the two guys wish he hadn't heard.
All right, well let's look a little further here. As we think about
this, look at the 31st verse of this Romans chapter eight.
What shall we say then to these things? If God be for us, who
can be against us? Now that's a wonderful statement
that God makes to all believers. If God is on our side, if God
is for us, if God has sent his son to die for us, if God raised
his son for us, if God forgave our sin because he purposed to
do that, then who can be against us? We don't have any challenges. by anybody that can overrule
that. Nobody can say, I am going to
raise the bet. Nobody is going to say, I am
going to challenge that. Because no one is higher than
the God of the Bible. No one is higher than God Almighty.
And the Apostle Paul is convinced of this. And when he was saved
by the grace of God, he was convinced that God is right. And he had
to change his mind about many things. God convinced him of
many things about God. And God convinces his people
that he saves today. that God is right and we're not
to question him. We're not to bring up a challenge
against God. He's right in what he does. So
if he's for us, who can be against us? And then we say in verse
33 of that chapter eight, who shall lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? It is God that justifies. One
more time, God shares with us that it is He that is taking
care of the business. He has justified His people,
and who can lay anything against them? Who can lay a charge against
them? Over in the book of Revelation, we find the accuser of the brethren,
but he's brought down. He's put down. So we find this
very thing is so carried out. Now, over in the book, way over
in the Old Testament again, in the book of First Chronicles,
There is a statement made as the Holy Spirit moves on someone
to write this passage of Scripture. And we encourage you to read
on both sides of it anytime. And we find here in 1 Chronicles
29 and verse 11. First Chronicles chapter 29 and
verse 11, an outstanding statement about God. Now this is the God
that is working in the days of Ahasuerus, the days of Mordecai,
and the days of Esther. We found early in that, that
Esther and Mordecai had been taken captive by the Persian
army. They'd been taken into captivity.
And it doesn't look good for them. Anybody taken into captivity
could have a great deal of things done against them. But we find
that even there, that the Lord protected them, overruled everything
that was in opposition to them, and promoted Esther to be queen
of the Persian Empire. She's already been made queen.
Mordecai is her cousin, and he is in the right place at the
right time. Now notice here in 1 Chronicles 29, verse 11, Thine,
O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the
victory and the majesty. Well, that's a mouthful. Every one of those glorious words
have something to say about Almighty God that puts Him in a position
that He is absolutely alone. There's no one else that can
compare. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the
glory and the victory and the majesty for all that is in heaven
and in earth is Thine Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and Thou
art exalted as head above all. We find that is exactly what
the Apostle Paul was writing about. We find that's what he
wrote about in the book of Romans, in the book of Ephesians, in
the book of Philippians, in every, the Galatians, everywhere he
went, he declared that the Lord is in great majesty and he is
to be exalted above all. He is the savior of his people.
He's the deliverer of his people. And he's the one that's in charge
of providence everywhere. He will see to it. He put this man in the place
that he wanted him to be in at the right time, just as he does
with all people today. We have to repeat again that
statement that the Lord God Almighty is the director of this world.
He stands in position to direct all the affairs of this world,
good, bad, or indifferent in our estimation. But God never
does anything wrong and he never does any sin. Everything that
he does is in absolute accordance with his eternal sovereignty.
He is the director. Now he has some actors and they
are chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world and they
shall be found by the gospel wherever they are, in any kindred
place or tongue they are, they shall be found. They are the
actors. And everything else, just as we find that the Lord
spoke through the Apostle Paul about there are those vessels
that were made to honor and those vessels that were made to dishonor
and to destruction. Now that's God speaking about
those that are not his children, those that are not his elect.
So he tells us here that the kingdom is the Lord's. And if
we go back over to the Book of Romans one more time, let's look
into this. We find in the Book of Romans
that the Apostle Paul was used to write again about this great
subject that Mordecai is involved in, that Esther is involved in. You know, if it wasn't for the
providence of God, Judah would have never had the line to the
Lord Jesus. He protected that line. He watched
over that line. In fact, it looks like that line
is going to be extinguished. And He takes special care over
one young man that's going to be the direct descendant of the
Lord Jesus, or the direct father of the Lord Jesus Christ. So
notice here in the book of Romans again, chapter 11. Again, the
Apostle Paul is writing as a secretary. Secretary of the Holy Spirit. In Romans chapter 11 and verse
36, for of Him and through Him and to Him are all things to
whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. When he says, I will see
to it, not only will he see to it, but he has the power to see
to it. He has the power to sustain. He has the power to provide.
He has the power, the ultimate overruling power, to put Mordecai
in exactly the right place at the right time, just like he
did with Esther, and just like he does with his people today.
They are in the right place at the right time. I look back a
few years and find out what God had to do to move someone who
knew something about the gospel in my way. Because I certainly
wasn't going out looking for it. He put someone in my way,
just like he put Mordecai in the way of these two guys that
were going to plot against King Ahasuerus. In the Psalms it says,
for the kingdom is the Lord's and he is the governor among
nations. He is the absolute overruler of all nations in Psalm 22 and
verse 28. He is the director, the church
of the actors, and everybody else too that Mordecai overheard
are just pawns. They're just props. that God
would use to move this, His purpose, along the way. Going back to
the book of Esther, if you would, to chapter two, as we look at
those three verses just kind of separately, as they report
to us the great benefits of God Almighty, as God is not even
mentioned in this book, but His providence, His aussituit, is
taking care of the issues. He's putting his people in the
right place at the right time. Moving and directing. And just
like us, sometimes we don't know why things are happening. Just
like us, sometimes we don't know. And Mike has brought up, thought
about moving one time. Well, we're just going to carry
our problems with us. That's just what happens. All
right? Here in the book of Esther chapter 2. Esther chapter 2. myself the question. Now, some
of the commentators have got it all figured out, but there's
nothing in the Bible that tells us why Mordecai was where he
was. Now, some people feel that was
his job, to be there at the gate. I don't know. It tells us here,
in those days, while Mordecai sat in the king's gate, maybe
he was a judge. Maybe he had some authority.
Because oftentimes we find people that were in the gates of these
towns. That's where court was taking place. Maybe he'd been
promoted there. Maybe, I thought, maybe it was
just a good place to sit. Sometimes we have those places.
It's just a good place to sit down. Or maybe he was waiting
for news about Esther because he had done this before. His
cousin has been promoted to queen and he's made it his business
to find out how things are with her. Or maybe he's getting out
of the rain. Or maybe he's getting out of
the sunshine. Or maybe he just wanted to sit today. It doesn't
tell us exactly why he was doing what he was doing. But he was,
in God's providence, God's seeing to it, and taking care of business.
Now there's been a threat, unbeknownst to the king, but always beknownst
to God. He knew exactly what was being
going on here. And in fact, we could look at
it and say, he's purposed what's going on here. There is, it tells
us, and the thing was known, or in verses, In verse 21, as
he's sitting at the king's gate, there are two of the king's chamberlains.
They are servants of King Ahasuerus. And it gives us their names,
Bigtha and Phtarish, of those who kept the door. That was their
job. and were wroth. Now what were
they wroth about? Maybe they didn't get the promotion
that they were looking for. Maybe they didn't get a raise.
All of the things we can say. Why they were upset. Why do people
get upset? It doesn't tell us why. But it
does tell us that they were plotting to kill the king. that's what they're plotting
now by God's I'll see to it put one of his servants in the right
place at the right time and I'm not sure that these guys were
speaking loudly or they knew that Mordecai was there. There's
so many things, variables here. All we know is Mordecai is in
the right place, appointed by God. And those two guys are discussing
the issue that they have with King Ahasuerus and he overhears
this. Now he didn't go and say, what
are you talking about? He just absorbed it, and then
did what it tells us in the scripture. They were wroth and sought to
lay hand on King Ahasuerus, and that means that they weren't
going to pat him on the back. That means they were attempting
to destroy him. Now, with a king like this, and
all of his bodyguards, probably that was some of the most foolish
discussion that they've ever had in their lives. But they
did discuss it, and we find out that Mordecai overheard it. Now,
you know, we followed the Lord this last Sunday when we were
up at the vet's home. It just amazed me one more time
that that Pharisee said something in his heart. Not a conversation
with that woman, not a conversation with anybody else in his whole
home. He just thought something in
his heart that if this was the true prophet, he would not let
this woman touch her because she is a sinner. And the Lord
Jesus Christ brings that subject up to his mind instantly, knowing
full well what he had just said. Now, I don't know after it was
over with whether he thanked himself for saying it or not,
but the Lord dealt with it and brought up the subject of who
is going to love the creditor the most. Someone who is forgiven
little or someone who is forgiven a great deal. Now this subject
is brought up in the hearing of Mordecai. And it tells us
here in the very next verse, and the thing was known to Mordecai. He heard it, he overheard it. And now we're gonna see that
God is going to see to it. This is his providence being
carried out. Now, right now, as we read this,
it doesn't look like that this is a very significant exercise. It doesn't seem that this is
going to make or break anybody. Well, we do know that the investigation
did bring out that they were going to have a plot against
King Ahasuerus with the ideas of having him killed. That is
quite evident, and they're executed for it. But the results So let's
read verse 22. And the thing was known unto
Mordecai, who told it unto Esther the queen, and Esther certified
the king thereof in Mordecai's name. Mordecai has brought this
to my attention. It's up to you now. I'm going
as far as I can go. She made the report. You know,
that's how we do. We give the report. This is what's
been brought to my attention. I'll give the report. That's
all we could do. And that's all she could do. Now, King Ahasuerus
is going to deal with it. And we find out that that's how
God does his business. He is the king and he takes care
of the business. He takes care of raising people
from the spiritual dead. He takes care of raising Adam
from the dust by breathing into his nostrils the breath of life
and he became a living soul. He takes care of business by
saving his people by breathing spiritual life into them, if
you please, raising them from the spiritual dead, giving them
the new birth, whatever we want to call it, but it must be a
spiritual thing that God performs on us and in us, and it's in
such a way that we have newness of life. It's not consenting
to something, it is newness of life. We are a new creature in
Christ Jesus. He's the one that does that.
He's the king over all spiritual blessings. We have nothing involved
in this. We have, well, we attempt to
trade with God, but that's not going to work. We attempt our
own righteousness, but that's not going to work. Well, here
we have that Mordecai reported it, Esther brought it to the
king's attention, and now it tells us in verse 23. Now, most
of the time when we hear that word inquisition, what do you
have in your Bible, Nick? Verse 23, when an investigation was made. I
think of inquisition, I think of the Spanish inquisition, and
that's not good. And yet, there was someone who oversaw
all that. I'm not going to question God. Alright, there's an investigation
made about the matter and it was found out. It was brought
to the attention of the king. Therefore they were both hanged
on a tree and was written in the book of the Chronicles before
the king." A historical statement is made.
The book of 1st and 2nd Chronicles and 1st and 2nd Kings is filled
with incidences just like this. Is it not written in the book
of the Chronicles? Is it not written in the book of the Kings?
Is it not written? These things are historical events that are
recorded. Now, when we stop here, we could,
if we didn't know the rest of the story, we'd say, well, hmm. But this is going to play a vital
part in this book, because sometime later a king can't sleep. Now if you can't sleep and you
get up, what do you read? Do you watch TV? Do you read a book? This king,
Ahasuerus, is prompted. He is just as prompted as we
find that king over the Babylonian Empire, Cyrus. He is prompted by God to do something. And probably, he's prompted by
God to do something without ever touching his soul or saving him.
He has just moved. He is pressured. God moves in
him to do that. Just like he does King Ahasuerus.
He said, bring the chronicles. Well, if there's anything dry,
it's the chronicles. I've had kids that have just
said, I cannot stand history. It's just chronicles. But this historical event is
recorded, and some time later, A king who cannot sleep asked
for this account to be read." Or it's brought the people who
start reading at that place. You know, we find that same incident
over there when Philip is carried out into the desert to speak
to an Ethiopian eunuch on his way back to Ethiopia from Jerusalem. He stops by and that man has
the 53rd chapter of the book of Isaiah open. And Philip comes
up and says, do you understand what you read? Now why in the
world does he have the 53rd chapter of the book of Isaiah open? By
God's providence. God will see to it. How did Philip
get there? God will see to it. He'll take
care of it. And he moved and prompted him
to be there and asked that Ethiopian eunuch, do you understand what
you read? He says, how can I except some
man tell me? And Philip began at the same
place and preached unto him Jesus. That was an important event.
We're going to find over here in the book of Esther that this
chronicle is going to be brought up about Mordecai overhearing,
by God's providence, overhearing two men talking about a threat
of death against the king. And that king is going to say
Was this man rewarded? And they're going to say, no.
Well, it's time. God will see to it. Turn with me, if you would, to
Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9, the whole book
of Romans was written by a man that was so angry with God, so
put out with God, raised his fist to God, I'll not have you
rule over me, and on the way to Damascus, he stopped him in
his tracks, he arrested him, he created new life in him, gave
him the Holy Spirit, and this man from that moment on preached
Christ. This is part of what he preached.
Romans 9, verse 20. Romans 9, verse 20. As we think
about Mordecai, I put him to the very exact right place to
overhear a conversation. What was Mordecai's language?
Hebrew. What was their language? Gibberish. Persian. You know what? He understood. He had taken the time to learn
the language so he could understand the conversation and brought
the report. Okay, chapter nine and verse
20 of the book of Romans. Nay, but O man, no, but O man,
who art thou that replies against God? Shall the thing formed say
to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the
potter power over the clay? of the same lump to make one
vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor? What if God, willing
to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with
much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction?
that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels
of mercy which he had afore prepared unto glory, even us whom he hath
called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles." In
this single passage of scripture, we have the reference to those
who were vessels made for glory. And we can go over there and
say, my goodness, Mordecai justified. Mordecai glorified. Mordecai sitting at the right
hand of the Father in the Son even before it took place. And
we look across there and there are two that come out and they
are much like Judas Iscariot. They were there by divine purpose
ordained of God to say some things against the king that are overheard
and they are moved by God to speak against the king and Mordecai
overheard the conversation and brought it to the attention.
God moved upon Mordecai and God moved upon these two individuals
to talk their heart. Why didn't they shut up? They just had to talk, and they
had to talk about the king, and they had to talk about their
hatred towards the king, and it was brought out, and we find
that the purpose of God came to view. Why did Philip show
up? So that the glory of the Lord
might be known. He was moved by God. Mordecai was moved by God. These two men were moved by God. And we're going to find out in
the rest of the story how valuable this incident was for the deliverance
of God's people in the Persian Empire. The very next chapter,
we have a man raised up by the name of Haman. We haven't heard
of him before. He's promoted and he has a hatred
for the Jews. He has a hatred for the church. He has a hatred for God's word. He has a hatred for God's way
of saving people. He has a hatred. And he is promoted
to a high place by the providence of God. And now we're going to
see that how God takes care of his business, how he delivers
the church, and how he takes care of those who would raise
up against the church. In the very next chapter, in
the book of Esther, Haman is introduced. And you know, Haman
is going to have quite a part of this book. A lot of things
he's going to say, a lot of things he's going to attempt to do.
But one of the most humbling ones is after King Ahasuerus
has that chronicle written about this night. And Haman has to
carry that person around on his horse through the town. How he
hates that man again. Well, God has created all things
for himself. Yea, even the wicked for the
day of evil. And again, I have to say, as
creatures of the living God, God is not accountable to us. We love him. We adore him because
he is king of kings and Lord of lords. Turn with me in closing
here to the book of Revelation. Today I went out into the vine
with a book and I read this and I said, I need to bring this
out tonight. In the book of Revelation, chapter six, beginning with verse two, we
have the four horses of the book of Revelation. It says, and I
saw, behold, a white horse that sat on him, had a bow and a crown
was given unto him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer.
And when he had opened the second seal, I heard a second beast
say, Come and see. And there went out another horse
that was red. And power was given unto him
that sat thereon, and to take peace from the earth, that they
should kill one another. And there was given unto him
a great sword. When he had opened the third seal, I heard the third
beast say, Come and see, and I beheld in a low a black horse.
And he that sat on him had the pair of balances of his hand.
And I heard the voice of the midst of the four beasts say,
A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley
for a penny. And see thou hurt, not the oil and the wine. And
when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the
fourth beast say, Come and see, and I looked, and behold, a pale
horse. And his name sat on him, was
Death and Hell, and followed him. Power was given unto them
over four part of the earth to kill with a sword, with hunger,
and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. Now this
individual said, the white horse symbolizes the gospel. The red
horse symbolizes war. The black horse symbolizes scarcity
and hard times, famine. The pale horse symbolizes death.
The four chief forces which Christ employs in directing the course
of human affairs. Why did Ruth get to hear the
gospel? There was a famine. Why do we
find people move from one place to another? There was a war.
A young girl is taken captive by the Syrian army and she knows
something about God and tells Naaman. The gospel moves us. The gospel certainly moved me. And then we find that death. Sometimes through death people
are said, you know, I better go find out something about this.
I appreciated what Daryl said up there in the vet's home. People here are old. They should
be really looking after what's happening after their life is
gone. That's why we're here. All right. We'll stop there for
tonight and we'll pick up Chapter 3, Lord willing, next Wednesday
night. We're introduced to a man by the name of Haman.