Good morning. Happy Father's
Day to our fathers. Today, our pastor and Janet are
at the conference in Crossville, Tennessee. And I understand that
services are being blessed. To quote a text from Frank last
night, some of the messages that he
heard yesterday were all-time classics. Those are his words.
So I look forward to hearing those. From there, Frank and
Janet will spend a couple of days celebrating their 30th wedding
anniversary. Uh, brother Eric Floyd will bring the message
this morning and also Wednesday. So be sure to keep him in your
fervent prayers. No man sufficient for this. We
also have a number of people traveling this week, so please
remember them. These all in your prayers. Our
text this morning is the book of Esther, but before then, I'd
like to read just a couple of verses. If you would just listen
with me a couple of verses in Ephesians. They're verses that
you know and they'll relate to this morning's message in Ephesians
3. Now unto him that is able to
exceeding abundantly above, exceeding abundantly above all that we
ask or think according to the power that worketh in us, unto
him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages,
world without end. Amen. Let's pray together. Our Holy Heavenly Father, we're
thankful this morning for the privilege of coming into your
presence through Christ. We ask that you be glorified
and that we see Christ again as our mediator and our merciful
savior. We can come to him as sinners
and expect mercy according to your words. We're thankful for
that privilege today, that you've seen fit to reveal that to us.
We pray that you get glory from the messages today, here with
Eric and Sabrina and Tara, that you be with them. Give them a
word from you. For our children, as we pray
for a word from you today. For ourselves, we ask that your
word not return unto you void and that you bless us. Don't
leave us alone. in this place, in this day. If
you do, at best, everything that we do here today is vain, false
worship. We pray that you be with us and
get glory for yourselves and call sinners to repentance. We
thank you for Christ, for his work, for his death, for his sacrifice
for sinners. We're a thankful people, abundantly
above, exceeding abundantly above. all that we could ask or even
think. We're thankful. We come before you thankfully
in Christ's name and for his sake. Amen. So again, the text this morning
is found in the book of Esther, and we're going to concentrate
on chapter four. Now we'll, after an introduction, we'll read chapter
four here in a few minutes. And when we do, listen closely
for the verse. to when Queen Esther comes into
the presence of the king. That transaction, if you will,
when Esther comes before the presence of the king, that's
what we're really going to focus on today. And that's the focus
of today's message. And it's an interaction I think
about frequently. From the time that I was young until now, I've
noticed when men stand and pray, I frequently hear people praying
as I just did, and they thank God. for allowing us into his
presence. And I hear that frequently. I
always have, all my life, been privileged to hear that frequently.
Men pray for that. And that's not a routine. That's not habit. That's not
a prayer formula. We bow our heads and we pray.
And when we do, we approach the throne of the almighty creator
of the universe. Listen, if you would, Isaiah
40. In fact, turn with me over there. Isaiah 40 verse 12, speaking
of who our God is, who we're approaching. Our God, who hath
measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, weeded out heaven
with the span, comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure,
weigh the mountains and scales and the hills and the balance.
Listen to these comparisons. These are our opportunities to,
to think about how, how great our God is when we're out doing
great day-to-day things, the waters in the hollow of his hand.
That's the water and all the earth, the oceans, the lakes,
the seas. And one of the books that we
read our kids, it describes the earth as one big ocean with land
sticking out. And when you look at a globe
or a map, all that water, our God holds all those waters in
the hollow of his hand. He meted out the heaven with
a span. That's all the stars and the planets. And when you
look at the sky, everything that we see in the sky, our God holds
them between his thumb and his pinky. That's the span. And when
I played basketball, we'd always try to stretch our hands out
just as far as we could. Because the farther you can stretch
this, then you can palm basketball. Not our God. He doesn't have
to stretch. He doesn't have to stretch. He, he holds the heaven
with the span between his thumb and his pinky. The nations are
as a drop of a bucket. They're counted as the small
dust at the balance. That drop in the bucket, that
dust in the balance, that's the insignificant weight when you're
measuring something. We're driving on a trip today
and when we do, we'll stop for gas probably twice with the kids. And I'll put the nozzle in and
I'll just let it run until it stops. And because I'm a little
bit obsessive, every now and then I lift the hose and I shake
out those last couple drops. But that's not everything that's
in that hose. If I really wanted to get everything in the hose,
I'd have to take the hose off and blow it out to get every
last drop of that gas that I paid for. But I don't do that because that
those last drops that are in there. That's the insignificant
weight. When we buy bananas at Kroger and they put the bananas
up on the scale, I don't ask the cashier to wipe off the scale
first. There's dust on there. It's adding weight, technically,
to the bananas, but I don't ask the cashier to brush the scale
off. That's the insignificant dust. Our God is so great, he
considers the nations of the earth as insignificant dust,
as a drop in the bucket. That's our great God that we're
approaching when we pray. And in ourselves, we have to
pause and think, what right, what right do we have to approach
unto the creator of the universe, this great God that holds the
nation in his hands? What right do we have to come
into his presence? And what in the world would make us think
that we could even be heard What makes us think that we can even
get an audience with him? I can't just walk up to the president. You're on a White House tour
and you just start walking up to the president. You're likely
to get shot. You can't just walk up to the president. I can't
call him. I can't expect him to take my phone. I probably
couldn't call the mayor of Ashland and expect to get a phone call.
How much greater is our God? What gives us the right that
we would expect an audience with him? And what that does is it
tells us just how perverted our flesh is, that by nature, we
feel like we have the right. We have the right to be heard
by God Almighty. And we feel that way because
by nature, we think we're worthy of an audience with God Almighty. By nature, we think, every one
of us thinks that we're worthy of getting an audience with God
Almighty. In fact, by nature, we think
that because by nature, we think we're equal with God. And that's
no different than the sin of Lucifer or the sin of Adam. Lucifer
saying, I will be like God, Adam taking the fruit. Adam taking
the fruit to put himself as equal with God. That's what Lucifer
promised him, right? The nature within us is no less sinful than
that of Adam or Lucifer. That indifference in us, the
indifference that thinks so lowly of God and so highly of ourselves
that we would expect a right to even be hurt. by God Himself. That sinful nature is no less
sinful than Adam's or Lucifer's. Why would we have any right?
Why would we as sinners have any right to come before God?
The fallen angels, a third of them came down as lightning,
right? A third of them that rebelled
against God, the fallen angels, came down like lightning. Do
they have any right to come before God? They don't. What right do
we have to come before God's presence? I
heard someone say recently that we're actually born thinking
that we're God and we have to spend the rest of our lives being
taught or revealed to us that we're not. And that's really
what I want to focus on in Esther today, this coming into God's
presence. So many aspects of God's goodness
in the book of Esther. We could focus on God's providence.
Esther is a beautiful book for that. It's all throughout the
book. And I would encourage you to take time today and sit down
this afternoon to read Esther. It's 10 chapters long. It'll
probably take you 20 minutes to read Esther. Sit down and
read Esther today. Look for God's providence and
purpose as you read through Esther. But this morning, I want to focus
on a different aspect, and that is God's sovereignty. And again,
we'll do that here in Chapter 4. In Chapter 4, in Esther, there
are four main characters as background. There's King Ahasuerus. There's
Queen Esther, there's Mordecai, and there's Haman. Now, Esther
and Mordecai were of the Jewish nation that had been taken captive
from Jerusalem years prior. Mordecai was Esther's elder cousin.
Mordecai had raised Esther as his own daughter, and Mordecai
lived in the capital, and he worked in the palace where King
Ahasuerus lived. Now, the Lord, through his providence
in the preceding chapters, the Lord had brought Esther to be
queen. By the time Chapter 4 begins, Esther has been queen now for
a few years. Now, Esther's role as queen isn't what you and I
probably think about when we think about a king and a queen.
You might picture England. Esther's role as queen isn't
queen like that. King Ahasuerus and Queen Esther,
they didn't rule the kingdom together as a couple. Queen Esther
served at the king's pleasure. She had no authority whatsoever
outside of the king's pleasure. From an authority standpoint,
picture her more as a royal servant who came and went according to
the king's direction. King Ahasuerus was by himself,
by himself, the absolute authority in the land. His kingdom stretched
all the way across the Middle East, from India to Ethiopia,
and for all practical purposes, King Ahasuerus ruled the world
by himself. His word was absolute law. There
was no voting. He didn't need to get the approval
of Congress. He didn't need to ask the people. He didn't even
need to explain himself. King Ahasuerus was the law. He
was absolute authority. And he was considered a mini
god, if you will. So what he said absolutely went,
so much so that every rule he spoke was written into law and
could never be changed, not even by himself. What King Ahasuerus
spoke was law. And the reason that what he spoke
into law could never be changed is because since he's considered
a mini-god, since he's considered a deity, since he's considered
infallible, why would he ever need to change his mind? If he
spoke the law, if he spoke a word into law, that law can't be changed
because it doesn't need to be changed because in the minds
of all the people, King Ahasuerus is perfect. So the king's word
was absolute law. I just, I want to set the foundation
for, we don't have a picture in today's world of what that
total authority would be like. If anyone came close to that
kind of authority, he'd be taken down by somebody. We don't have
a picture of what that's like. So we have to picture how, I
mean, his word was law. And Haman, Haman was the king's
right-hand man. He was first in charge. And neither
Haman nor the king knew of Esther's relationship to Mordecai. But
Haman absolutely hated Mordecai, absolutely hated him. And through
deceit, Haman had convinced the king to write into law that not
only Mordecai would be killed, but all the Jews would be killed. All the Jews in the land were
to be executed. And that was into written, unchangeable
law by the king. You can read the backstory on
your own, of course, but that brings us up to speed in chapter
four. Now, the law, again, the law being unchangeable, irreversible,
the law states that Mordecai and all the Jews are to be executed
later that year. Again, that brings us here into
Esther chapter four, which we'll read. When Mordecai perceived
all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, put on sackcloth
with ashes, went out into the midst of the city and cried with
a loud and bitter cry. He came even before the king's
gate, for none might enter into the king's gate clothed with
sackcloth. And in every province, Whethersoever
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. So Esther's maid and her chamberlains
came and told it to her. Then was the queen exceedingly
grieved, and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai to take away
his sackcloth from him, but he received it not. Then called
Esther for Haytag, one of the king's chamberlains, whom he
had appointed to attend upon her, and gave him a commandment
to Mordecai to know what it was and why it was. So Hathak sent
forth to Mordecai under the street of the city, which was before
the king's gate. And Mordecai told him of all
the things that happened unto him and of the sum of the money
that Haman had promised to pay 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.
and to show it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to
charge her, that she should go into the king to make supplication
unto him, and to make requests before him for her people. Hathak
came and told Esther the words of Mordecai. Esther spoke unto
Hathak and gave him commandment unto Mordecai. This is what she
said. All the king's servants and the
people of the king's provinces do know that whosoever, whether
man or woman, shall come unto the king into his inner court
who is not called there by the king. There is one law of his
to put him to death, even such to whom the king shall hold out
the golden scepter that he may live. But I've not been called
to come in unto the king these 30 days." They told to Mordecai
Esther's words. Then Mordecai commanded to answer
Esther, think not with thyself that thou shall escape in the
king's house more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether
holdest thy peace at this time, then shall their enlargement
and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place. But
thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed. Who knoweth whether
thou art come to this kingdom for such time as this?" Then
Esther bade them return to Mordecai this answer, "'Go, gather all
the Jews that are present in Shushan. Fast ye for me, neither
eat nor drink three night or day. I also and my maidens will
fast likewise. And so will I go unto the king,
which is not according to the law. And if I perish, I perish.
So Mordecai went his way, did according to all that Esther
had commanded him. We'll go a couple verses into
chapter five also. 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, that she obtained
favor in his sight, and the king held out to Esther the golden
scepter that was in his hand. So Esther drew near and touched
the top of the scepter. I've been blessed in this study
by considering some of the ways this interaction of coming into
the king's presence is like our own as we approach God Almighty. I've also been blessed by considering
all the ways that this interaction is not like our interaction in
coming into God's presence. Because this is a human interaction.
This is an earthly picture. And it's beautiful, but it's
still just a picture. We open the service by reading in Ephesians
that God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we
ask or think. Well, King Ahasuerus is the most
powerful man on earth. He's probably able to do all. that his subjects ask or think.
I'm sure King Ahasuerus was probably able to do all that his subjects
were to ask or think, but he's not able to do exceeding abundantly
above all. Only God can do that. So I've
been blessed by the similarities, but I've also been blessed by
the differences because God is greater. So I want us to look
at them both. There are four ways in which
the king was approached in this text. First, How did Mordecai
approach the king? Back in chapter 4 in verses 1
and 2, 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. He
came even before the king's gate, for none might enter into the
king's gate clothed with sackcloth. So how did Mordecai approach
the king? Mordecai couldn't. He couldn't
approach the king. Mordecai is unworthy in chapter
two or verse two there. None might enter into the king's
gate. By law, he can't even enter into the courtyard in his current
state. He has, he has to stand before
the gate. He wasn't even allowed in the
king's site. Mordecai can't approach the king
just as we can't approach unto God. We're not worthy. Nor would
Mordecai even want to. If Mordecai approached the king
without being drawn by the king, He'd be killed before he even
get a word out. That reminds me when the Lord said to Moses,
thou canst not see my face for there shall no man see me. There
shall no man see me and live in our natural sinful state.
We think that God is waiting for us to come to him and that
will be rewarded for it. When we finally do, when we finally
make that decision, but that's not what the Bible teaches. God
is sovereign. His ways are higher than our
ways. And not only won't we come to him, we can't. We have no
right. We're unworthy. And I pray that
we see God today for his altogether absolute sovereignty, which King
Hasarius is a picture of, for his rightful position as king.
Turn with me, if you will, over to Isaiah six. Isaiah 6, starting in verse 1. In the year that King Uzziah
died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted
up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims. Each one had six wings. With
twain, he covered his face. With twain, he covered his feet.
With twain, he did fly. One cried unto another, and he
said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth
is full of his glory. The posts of the door moved at
the voice of him that cried. and the house was filled with
smoke. When do sinners cry for mercy? When they see who the
Lord is. Then said I, then said I, and I saw the Lord as sovereign
on his throne, almighty. Then said I, woe is me, for I'm
undone because I'm a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst
of a people with unclean lips. Mine eyes have seen the King,
the Lord of hosts. Woe is I. We can't come to God
any more than Mordecai can come to King Ahasuerus. So how did
Mordecai come? First, he came with a need. Mordecai saw that the law condemned
him, and there was no means of escape. There's no changing the
law. There's no answering the law. There's no means of escape.
He's condemned by the law. He was hopeless, just as we are
hopeless. I hope that we see, I pray that
we see, like Mordecai, we are criminals, and the law rightfully
condemns us. didn't wrongly condemn Mordecai.
In this case, with the earthly example, the law may have been
bad, but the law rightfully condemned Mordecai. Mordecai was guilty.
He didn't try to hide that or cover it up. The law rightfully
condemned Mordecai, just as it rightfully condemns us. In ourselves,
we have no means of escape. So Mordecai came with a need.
Secondly, Mordecai came to the king through a worthy mediator.
whom the king loved, Mordecai approached the king through Queen
Esther, who in this instance typifies Christ. Mordecai's petition
is made through Esther, just as we come to the Father in Christ's
name. We often sing here, what can
wash away my sin? I heard Mike sing that during
Bible school. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood
of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood
of Jesus. There's only the one answer,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. Outside of Esther, Mordecai had
absolutely no hope, no hope to request anything of the King.
Just as outside of Christ, we have no hope of coming before
God Almighty. Outside of Christ, that same
song would be, what can wash away my sin? Nothing. What can
make me whole again? Nothing. Outside of Christ, that
would be our song. So when we pray, We have every
reason to give thanks for the right to come before God through
Christ. Finally, when Mordecai came with
a need, Mordecai came through a mediator. And when Mordecai
came to Esther, what did he ask for? Look at verse eight. He gave him the copy of the writing
of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them to
show it to Esther. and to declare it unto her, to
charge her that she should go unto the king to make supplication
unto him, to make requests before him for her people. What did
Mordecai ask for? Mordecai asked for mercy. He
asked that Esther make supplication for her people. Mordecai didn't
have a plan. He didn't ask for the law to
be changed so that it didn't pertain to him. He didn't make
an excuse for his actions. He didn't try to cover his actions
up. He knew that his actions made him guilty of the law. Mordecai
didn't bargain. Mordecai didn't ask Esther to
make any claim other than mercy for her people, for her sake,
make supplication unto him, make requests before him for her people.
And that's how we come to Christ, pleading no right, no right to
mercy, no right. Our sinful nature tells us that
we can offer something. And that sinful nature within
us never stops telling us this. It never stops, that we can offer
something to make ourselves deserving of God's mercy. We'll stop doing this, and we'll
start doing that. Our old hearts tell us that there
must be something that we can do that will give us the right
to come before God. But do you know what that really
is? That's Lucifer again. That's Adam. That's us trying
to figure out a way to obligate God, to obligate God into giving
us his favor. If God is obligated to us, if
God owes us, then who is he really? If God is obligated to us, then
we're God. And that's the point. That's the same as what Lucifer's
been saying, the same as Adam said. That's our sinful nature.
That's how bad it is. We try to obligate God into giving
us his favor. He certainly, if he's obligated
to us, he is not the almighty, all-powerful God that we've been
describing. If God's obligated to us, then really he's on our
level. And we're equals, and that must
not be. King Ahasuerus was unapproachable to Mordecai. There is nothing
that Mordecai could offer that could persuade the king, and
it would be an offensive suggestion, offensive for Mordecai to have
come and possibly said that he had anything that the king could
want or need. That would be offensive. The king already owned a Mordecai.
He owned a Mordecai and all that he had. What could Mordecai offer
to the king? Mordecai was a captive in the
king's land. Just as God already owns us and all that we have,
what could we possibly offer God almighty that he could possibly
need? God needs nothing. His mercy
isn't for sale. It's to be begged for. And not
even on our own behalf, just as Mordecai asked Esther, we
ask Christ. We ask mercy for Christ's sake.
Mordecai, that's how Mordecai approached the king, asking for
mercy. How did Esther approach the king? In this case, Esther
pictures sinners coming to Christ. And I absolutely love this verse,
when the king lowers his scepter to Esther. That's us coming to
Christ. I think of that verse, I bet,
every day. Esther had absolutely no right to come before the king.
This is sinners coming to Christ. Read verse 11 with me. All the
king's servants and the people of the king's provinces do know
that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king
and to 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 Esther hadn't been
called into the king for these 30 days. She had no right to
come before the king. She hadn't been summoned before
the king for 30 days. She had no reason to believe
that she was in the king's favor. and she had nothing to offer
to persuade him. So how did Esther approach the king? She approached
him as her only hope. Read verse 16. She says, go gather
together all the Jews that are present in Shushan and fast to
eat for me, neither eat nor drink three days, night or day. I also
and my maidens will fast likewise. So will I go unto the king, which
is not according to the law. Here it is. And if I perish,
I perish. She came to the king as her only
hope. Esther was going to perish one
way or another. Coming to the king and asking
for his favor was terrifying to her. The king did nothing. The king didn't have to take
an action for her to be killed. The king had to do nothing. The
king just sat there and did nothing. She would be killed on the spot.
Actually, the king would have to take action to spare her.
The king has to actively lower his scepter in order for her
to be spared. And by that action, he would
show that he actually wanted her there. There was no indication
that that was the case, but she came appealing to his love for
her. In chapter five, verse two, and
it was so when the king saw Esther, the queen standing in the court,
she obtained favor in his sight and the king held out to Esther,
the golden scepter that was in his hand. So Esther drew near,
drew near, touched the top of the scepter. Here, the similarities
of us coming to Christ are beautiful, but the differences are even
greater. Esther comes to the king appealing to his love for
her, and she was accepted, just as all those who come to Christ
pleading his mercy will be accepted. Turn with me over to John 6. All those that come to Christ
pleading his mercy will be accepted, just as Esther was accepted.
will be lowered when sinners come to Christ. Every time. The scepter will be lowered when
the sinner comes to Christ. John chapter 6 verse 36. I've said unto you that ye also
have seen me and believe not. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. I will never, I will never cast
out. He that cometh to me, I will
never cast out." Just as King Ahasuerus didn't cast out Esther. Esther had no reason to hope
for the king's acceptance. The king didn't call Esther,
but here's where the differences are more beautiful. Unlike Esther,
who wasn't called, who had no hope, sinners have hope. If King
Ahasuerus had called for Esther, it wouldn't have been an invitation.
King Ahasuerus wouldn't have sent her a card with an RSVP
on it. It's not an invitation. It would have been a commandment.
It would have been a beckoning. She would have been beckoned
to the king. She wasn't. But unlike Esther, sinners have
been called. Sinners have been called by Christ
and it isn't an invitation either. It's a commandment. It's a beckoning. For the sake of time, rather
than turning to them, I'll read a few references. In Romans, for whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. For whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Sinners,
hear it. They said, believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. Thou shalt be saved in thy house. In Acts, and it
shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the
Lord shall be saved. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Unlike Esther,
sinners have been called. Sinners have the commandment.
Sinners have been beckoned. We have the authority of God's
word that Christ accepts sinners and delights in mercy. This is
a faithful saying worthy of all acceptation. Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. Revelations three and the spirit
and the bride say, come, let him that heareth say, come, let
him that is a thirst come. Whosoever will let him take the
water of life freely. Freely. Sinners are called. Christ
has beckoned sinners to come. Whether never heard of Christ
before today or you're a mature believer, Christ bids us come,
keep coming, come to Christ. As the king lowered the scepter
to Esther, King Jesus lowers the scepter for sinners as well.
Come to Esther as Esther did. Come to Christ as Esther did
and obtain mercy. Third, how did Haman approach
the king? We've seen how Mordecai approached
the king through a mediator with a need, pleading mercy. We've seen how Esther approached
the king, accepting him. How did Haman approach the king?
Go over, we're still in chapter five, go to verse 10. Nevertheless,
Haman refrained himself. And when he came home, he sent
and called for his friends and Zeresh, his wife, Haman told
them of the glory of his riches and the multitude of his children,
all the things were in the king and promoted him and how he advanced
him above the princes and servants of the king. 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
I am invited unto her also with the king." Then said Zerush his
wife and all his friends unto him, Let a gallows be made of
fifty cubits 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. This thing pleased Haman, and
he caused the gallows to be made. Haman went into the king merrily.
and proud. Haman saw himself as equal with
the king, at least equal enough to stand on his own footing.
He was proud and he entered into the king's presence merrily.
But when his sin was exposed, Esther exposed his sin. When
his sin was exposed, what was Haman's reaction then over in
chapter seven? So the king and Haman came to
the banquet with Esther the queen. And the king said again unto
Esther on the second day, at the banquet of wine, what is
thy petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted thee. What
is thy request that shall be performed even to the half of
the kingdom? Then Esther the queen answered and said, if I
found favor in thy sight, O king, if it pleased the king, let my
life be given me at my petition and my people at my request.
For we are sold, I and my people to be destroyed, to be slain
and to perish. We had been sold for bondmen
and bondwomen. I had held my tongue, although
the enemy could not countervail the king's damage. Then the king,
Hasrius, answered and said unto Esther the queen, who is he and
where is he that durst presume in his heart to do so? Esther
said, the adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Haman was
afraid before the king and the queen. Haman was afraid before
the king, and Haman's action revealed his heart. They betrayed
his heart. Did Haman immediately fall down, confess his sinfulness,
and ask for mercy? No. Just as aside from God's
calling grace, we won't ask for mercy. Instead, Haman stood up. Haman stood up. He started bargaining with Queen
Esther. I imagine that Haman offered everything. Heyman was a, was a rich man.
I imagine that Heyman offered everything, his house, his money. He probably offered to try to
undo the law, to convince the people that were going to kill
the Jews, not to kill the Jews. I'm very, very confident that
Heyman did everything in his power to try to set things right.
Heyman was pleading for his life. It wasn't feigned. This wasn't
insincere. Heyman was pleading for his life,
but his heart betrayed him. He wanted to undo his guilt.
But he just desperately tried to work it out for himself. Haman
never repenting. Repentance stops. It stops arguing. And it says, Esther, you're right. That's what Mordecai did. Esther,
you're right. I'm guilty and I deserve to die.
But will you ask for mercy for me for your sake? Because you
are good. Will you pray to the king for
mercy for my soul? Haman never asked for that. Instead,
again, his actions revealed his heart. He tried to cover his
sin. Just as Adam and Eve sowed fig leaves and hid in the garden,
and just as in the last days, men will call for mountains to
fall on them, to hide themselves from the face of the Lord, rather
than ask for mercy. Our natural hearts will never
bow. Our will is bound and owned by sin. I pray, I pray that the
Lord give us a heart to come to Christ as Mordecai came to
the king through Esther. Come to Christ as Esther did,
in mercy. Come to Christ as Mordecai, not
as Haman. not even trusting in her coming,
trusting in Christ's goodness. Finally, before Esther approached
the king, because Esther approached the king, what is Mordecai standing? And this Mordecai is a picture
of redeemed center coming to God. The beginning of chapter eight
on that day, did King Hasrius give the house of Haman, the
Jews enemy under Esther, the queen. Mordecai came before the
king. For Esther had told what he was
to her. The king took off his ring, which he had taken from
Haman and gave it under Mordecai. Esther set Mordecai over the
house of Haman. Because of Esther's intercession
to King Ahasuerus, Mordecai can now approach the king. Because
of Christ, we can stand here and pray and come into his presence.
Because of Esther, the king gives Mordecai his ring and treats
him as a son. The king completely eliminated, in the later chapters,
completely eliminated all of those who would charge Mordecai. He hung Haman. And later in the
chapter, he hung Haman's 10 sons. And later in the chapter, they
killed over 75,000 people that were coming after the Jews. The
Jews didn't lose any. The king didn't change the law.
He didn't change the law. But the law no longer pertained
to Mordecai. Every charge against him was,
was eliminated. That reminds me when the, when
the Pharisees brought the adulterous woman before Christ, when Jesus
had lifted himself up, excuse me, when Jesus had lifted up
himself and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, woman,
where are those nine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? She
said, no man, Lord. Jesus said unto her, neither
do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. God eliminates. all charges, just as King Hasrius
did Haman, Haman's 10 sons and the 75,000 remaining people that
were against the Jews. God eliminates all charges against
his people. Now Mordecai can come into the
king's presence and sinners can come boldly under the throne
of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time
of need. Sinners can come unto God's throne
freely in Philippians It says, be careful for nothing, but in
everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests
be made known unto God. Through Christ, sinners have
access to the Father to make our requests known. And better
yet, as children, as children, we come to the Father. Today's
Father's Day. As a father, I give my children much more than just
what they ask for. Often I withhold things for their
good. In Matthew, it says, if you as
a father know how to give good things, how much greater your
father which is in heaven. So now, when you hear someone
pray and thank the Lord for the privilege of coming before him,
think of King Ahasuerus lowering his scepter and giving Esther
access. Remember that we don't have a legal right, excuse me,
we don't only have a legal right We don't only have a legal right
standing before God, not only a legal right standing. Now that
is more than we deserve. A legal right standing before
God is more than we deserve. And that would be above all that
I could ask or think. If we had solely a legal right
standing before God, that would be above all that I can ask or
think. But our Lord, our Lord is able to do exceeding, abundantly
above all that we ask or think. Sinners can approach the throne
as children to the Father, just as Mordecai could with King Hazorius.
I hope that has been a blessing to you all. I was blessed by
the study. I think a lot of the verses,
that which we have received, declare we unto you. And if it's
not received by whoever's standing here, it certainly can't be declared.
I was blessed by the study, and I hope that you all have been
too.