So good to see everyone this
morning. If you would turn in your Bible to the book of Esther,
chapter four. I'll be reading verse 14, but
before I do, as we've sung that song, Another year. It says in the second verse, we
praise you for your providence. That's what we see carried out
in this book of Esther. You've been our shield and our
defense. And by your constant care, we've been preserved another
year. Then the fourth verse says, we
here resign our soul, our all. Be pleased to take and use us
all. And grant that in your love and
fear, we may begin another year. Here in the book of Esther, chapter
4, verse 14, this is Mordecai speaking to
Esther. I'm just going to read the verse, and then we'll go
back in chapter 1 and bring us back up to this point. He said,
if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then there
shall enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another
place. But thou and thy father's house
shall be destroyed. And who knows, who knoweth, where
thou art come to the kingdom for such a time? is this. With that thought in mind, you
think about it. We're living in a day at such
a time as this. The book of Esther is a record.
It's a record of God's history, of Christ's history. That's what
history is. If you'll break it down when
you spell it, it's H-I-S-S-T-O-R-Y. It's his story. And he goes,
why would God put this book, the book of Esther, in the Bible
to record this history? Because it's his history, and
when you can't separate him and his people, it's about him delivering
his people at such a time as this. At such a time as this. What time is it? You say, well,
that's five minutes till 11, though. I mean, it's what time
is it? It says in Romans chapter 13, verse 11, and that knowing
the time, it is high time to awake out of sleep, for our salvation
is nearer than when we first believed. I was thinking as me
and Sandy came up the road yesterday, I think the first time I came
here was mid to late 90s, so that's been 20 some years ago.
That's been some time, and we are nearer now than when we first
believed. It's a different time now. We've
all got as broad as to these things. It's high time to wake
out of sleep. The Shulamite said, I sleep,
but my heart waketh. The old man gets drowsy, the
old man gets complacent, but the new man never sleeps. He
never sleeps. We're living and 2nd Timothy
3 1 perilous time shall come Now listen how it describes those
perilous times Then he mentions this twice in these verses They're
lovers of their own selves Covetous, posters, proud, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. Without natural affection,
truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers
of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, and here
it is again, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. That's
perilous times, that's how he describes them. And who's he
describing? He's describing self-righteous
religious people who have a form of godliness but deny the power
thereof from such. Turn away, that's the time in
which we live. People have no time for God. Now everything's done, they wanna
do it on the Lord's day. They got six other days to do
it, but they said we don't have time. Lovers of pleasures more
than lovers of God. And Paul also told Timothy when
he was wrapping up his history, There in that book of 2 Timothy,
which is probably the last book he wrote, he said, the time will
come when they won't endure sound doctrine. But after their own
lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears. That's what time it is. That's
what time it is. And this is what it says in Psalms
89, verse 47. I want us to get this. God help us to remember
how short my time. Boy, doesn't time fly. We come
by just for, since we live in West Virginia, I don't get to
see my granddaughters as much as I'd like. One of my granddaughters
was five years old yesterday. I've got one 18, I have one nine,
one five, and one about five months old. And it was just nice
to see them. But then we got to spend time
with them. That was precious time. precious
time, you know, we look back on those memories, great memories,
great memories. But with these things in mind,
for such a time as this, what was the time here? In the book
of Esther, we'll turn back to chapter one, we're gonna read,
write smart, but I want us hopefully that God would be pleased to
show us something from this book, that he'll show us himself, how
he preserves and watches over his people. A lot of people today really
like to search their family history, don't they? My stepmother did
a lot of research about those things, and you know, it is what
it is. But you know, when we go back
far enough, we all come from Adam. I think we're hoping we'll
find something, a king or something in our lives or whatever, but
most of the time we're not. Most of the time we're a bunch
of outlaws or something. But here he records this time,
in Israel's history. And if you want to look at it,
this is also our history. These people that are mentioned,
Mordecai and Esther, and the Jews that were scattered abroad
in 127 provinces, you know who they were? They're our brothers
and sisters in Christ, in Christ, chosen. And this is when they
lived in this time. What were they having to face?
What were the things that they were having to overcome? They're
in verse one of chapter one. And it came to pass in the days of
Azarius. That is the Azarius which reigned
from India to Ethiopia over 120 in seven province. This man, Azarius, he reigned
also in the times of Ezra and in the book of Nehemiah. You
go read the book of Nehemiah and you know where Nehemiah was
at? He was in Shushan, the palace, the very same palace. That's
what was going on in that time. And here we see this man's reign.
This man, Azarius, he's reigning, yes. At this time, he's reigning.
He's reigning over what? Almost the whole known world. 127 provinces, that's a pretty
good range that he ruled over. And that's what's going on. This
man is reigning. He's the king of the Medes and
the Persians. We're not gonna read all of chapter
one, but what is going on here? He has a feast that lasts for
180 days. You know, that's almost a half
a year. A feast, now that's some feast. And what he did, he called
all the kings and those that were over all these provinces,
they come in and he has this great feast. He wanted to show
off his riches, you know. He thinks he's something special
and everybody makes him feel special. Well, one day they've
had too much to drink. He probably had too much to drink,
and probably some of the others have too much to drink, and you
know how that goes. And his wife, who is Queen Vashti, she's having
a banquet with some of the ladies. The king commands to send for
Vashti. He wants to show her off because
of her beauty. You know what she says? I ain't
coming. You can imagine how that went
over. Because it says there in verse
11, he said to bring Bastai the queen before the king with the crown
royal to show the people and the princess her beauty so she
was fair to look upon, verse 12. But when Queen Bastai refused
to come at the king's command, you didn't just refuse the king's
command. By his chamberlain, therefore,
was the king very wroth. And his anger burned within him.
He had the authority. He could snap his fingers and
she's dead. But this queen has to be removed
before Esther can become queen. So what does he do to Queen Vasca? He strips her. He strips her
of her position. He strips her of everything.
She's no longer the queen. No longer the queen. It says
in verse 19, He stripped her of her. Why did he strip her?
Because of her rebellion. There's so many pictures here.
We see Adam here being stripped of everything because why? He
rebelled against God. He would not bow to his command.
But verse 19, it says, if it pleased the king, let there go
a royal commandment from him and let it be written among the
law of the Persians and the Medes that cannot be altered. Now you
need to see that. When they wrote a law, No changing. No alternate. If you want to see where this
is really portrayed, in the book of Daniel. When Daniel was sentenced
to be cast into the lion's den because he prayed to his God
for 30 days and he was not supposed to. King Darius tried everything
he could to deliver it, but he could not deliver it. The law
had to be satisfied. The demands of the law cannot
be changed. Once it's made, it cannot be
changed. And here was the law that Vashti,
Vashti, I'm sorry, come no more before the king, Azarius, and
let the king give her royal estate unto another that's better than
she. That's the law. So now they're
going to have to find a new queen. Well, where are they going to
find a queen? Just so happened, there's a lady living in a place
called Shushan named Esther. For such a time is this. Isn't it amazing to see God's
hand as he works in Providence? Now in chapter two, it says,
chapter two, verse four, What they're going to do is have a
beauty pageant. How are they going to select a queen? All
the maidens from all over the empire will come and let the
maiden which pleases the king going to be the queen instead
of Aston. There's only one who will cast
a vote. It's not up for everybody's vote. He chooses, the king chooses
who will be his queen, and can you imagine all the ladies, they
just can't wait. Surely he's gonna pick me. And
if you read the whole chapter, what happened is, these ladies,
they would have time and they would give them things, you know,
that probably make their hair look better and make their nails
look better. They're trying to be attractive
to the king. But you know, Esther says, I
don't want any of that. Esther goes in as Esther. A virtuous
woman, her price is far above rubies. You know what, that is
a description of the church of God. She didn't need all the
other stuff. She doesn't have the stuff. It's
not all outward show. Great, it's a meek and a quiet
spirit in the sight of God is a great price. And she, this
woman, you might say, her? Look at me look at look at my
dress. Look at my hair. Surely the king will be impressed
Can I tell you something God's not in the least bit impressed? He's not impressed Verse 5 of
second of Esther 2 Now in Shushan the palace it was a certain Jew
whose name was Mordecai here were introduced to this man Mordecai
I The son of Jer, the Shemashimia, the son of Kish, of Benjamin.
There's his history. He's from the tribe of Benjamin,
who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity,
which had been carried away with Jochan, king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar,
the king of Babylon, had carried away. Well, we see here he'd
been here a long time. I know at least for 70 years
he was carried away when Nebuchadnezzar carried him into Babylon. And
he brought up Hades, that is Esther, his uncle's daughter,
for she had neither father nor mother. And the maid was fair
and beautiful. And when Mordecai, when her father
and mother were dead, took her up for his daughter, he raised
her. You think about where he raised her. He raised her in
the Persian Empire. That's where we raise our children.
We raise our children in this world. That's where he raised
her. You imagine living in that place.
You imagine living in a place where people speak a foreign
language. We live in a world that they speak a different language.
They don't understand us. They don't understand our God.
They don't want anything to do with our God. These people didn't
either. These Persians, they didn't. They were idolaters. But that's where he raised her.
But did he have any teacher? He told her the things of God.
She has no father and a mother. He raises her. He raises her
as his own daughter, so you need to see that. So it came to pass
when the king's commandment and his decree was heard, and when
many maidens were gathered together into Shushan the palace to the
custody of Hagar, that Esther was brought unto the king's house
to the custody of Hagar, keeper of the women. Don't you notice
these three things he mentions here in verse 9, and the maiden
pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him. Why did he show
her kindness? He saw something different about
her. Reminds me of when Joseph was in Potiphar's house. Do you
know it said that Potiphar saw the Lord was with Joseph? Now
how did he see that? This man sees something different
about Esther. And she obtained. She didn't
earn it. She obtained. He was kind to
her. He could have treated her like an animal, but he didn't.
And he speedily gave her things for her purification, for such
things as belonged to her and seven maidens, which were made
to be given unto her out of the king's house. And he preferred
her and her maids unto the best place of the house of the women.
And Esther had not showed her people nor her kindred. She did
not tell them she's a Jew. And there's a reason for this.
They did not know that she was a Jew, one of God's chosen people,
because she didn't tell them. For Mordecai had charged her
that she should not show it till it was time. If she's raised in Shushan, she
may have resembled everyone else. You couldn't have picked her
out, but something was different. God had raised this woman for
a particular purpose, and that's what this book's about. Now,
down in verse 15 of Esther 2, you think about it. Everybody's
taking their turn to going in to the front of the king. And
when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihel, the uncle
of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, was come to
go into the king, she required nothing but what Haggai, the
king, the chamberlain, the keeper of the women, appointed. Like
I said, she didn't need any of that other stuff. I want you
to see this. She obtained kindness back in
verse 9. And here in verse 15, she obtained
favor in the sight of all them. that
looked upon her. I could see them all, you can
imagine them all standing, and then they opened the door, and
I go, wow. That's the Lord's church. She
obtained favor. God can give you favor with someone,
or he can remove it. He gave her favor. Why her? He
chose her. give her favor in the sight of
all them that looked upon her. So Esther was taken unto King
Azarius into his house royal in the 10th month, which is the
month Tebath. And in the seventh year of his
reign, he had been reigning seven years. In verse 17, and the king
loved Esther. He loved her. He loved her. He loved her above
all the women, and she here obtained grace and favor in His sight
more than all the virgins." She's mine. Isn't that grace? She obtained kindness, she obtained
favor, and she obtained grace. She goes, why would He pick me?
Why would God pick you? Why would God show you favor?
He does. Why has God put you where you
are? There's a reason. There's a reason this man chose
her to be queen. God overrules it. The hearts
of a king are in the hands of the Lord like the rivers of water.
He turns them whichever way he sees fit. then on down to in
chapter two of the feast is made and i call it esters feast now
they're celebrating the king has a new queen she's ester she has all the rights
of the queen she's the queen she has the position as the queen
you know i don't know as i was not able to do the research but
when you can go and read the book of nehemiah Nehemiah has
to go in and make requests from the king to be able to go to
Jerusalem You know what it says and the Queen sat by I wonder
which Queen that was You know, I don't know which book I can't
remember which book was written first, but you know, I thought
I wonder if that was Esther Wouldn't that have been something? But
she was there Now notice I want you to see this in verse verses
19 through 23 this When you read this, it may seem out of place,
but this is very important to understand this time. So you
see, Esther's just been chosen as queen. And when the virgins
were gathered together, verse 19 of chapter two, the second
time, then more to chaos set in the king's gate. Now he may
have had this position because Esther got in this position because
he was her uncle. This was a place of honor. Esther
had not showed her kindred nor her people as Mordecai had charged
her. For Esther obeyed the commandment
of Mordecai like as when she was brought up with him. She
never ceased to obey him. She trusted him. But he said,
just don't tell them you're Jews. And she said, okay. Now notice
here in verse 21, it says, in those days, in that time, while Mordecai
just happened to be sitting in the king's gate. Now the king's
gate is a lot of times where business was conducted. Two of
the king's chamberlains, Big Than and Teresh, of those which
kept the door, they were wroth or angry, and they sought to
lay hands on King Asreus. Now, they could have been mad
because he stripped Vestia of her queenship, and they could
have been mad because Esther's queen. We don't know. It really
doesn't matter. But they're mad at the king. And they want to
kill the king. There's a plot here. They're
plotting to kill the king. You know what? The world loves
to plot, don't they? If they could, they would jerk
God plum off of his throne. They're plotting. If they had
their way out, they would have took the son of God out in some
back alley and killed him. Plotting, always plotting. These
two men plotting. We're gonna kill the king. But the thing was known to Mordecai.
The plot's been exposed. You know what God's word does?
It exposes the plot. It's exposed. They tried to do
it in secret. Some believe that they would
have watched the king's bedchamber when the king's asleep. And all
they had to have done was say, OK, you all march on in. Because
eventually, that's what happens to this king. He's actually killed
in his bedchamber. So that was the plot. And the
thing was known to Mordecai, who told it to Esther, the queen.
You know why? Because Mordecai can't go to the king. There's
only one who has the right to go to the king, and that's Esther. Mordecai can't go, but he uses
the means that God gave him. He said I'll go tell Esther.
And there and Esther certified the king thereof and Mordecai's
name so they would know who exposed it Mordecai exposed the plot
and when Inquisition was made of the matter it was found out
and because they were found out they were both hanged on a tree
Now watch this and it was written in the book of the Chronicles
before the king. Why was it written? It was recorded
Why was it recorded so they wouldn't forget? You know why this is recorded?
So we won't forget. This do in remembrance of me. Why don't we keep it? Because
we forget. But you think about it. It was written here. It was
written in the Chronicles. Mordecai exposed the plot. The king is saved. And it's written.
And it's sealed. It's the record. You want to
know what it is? Go look at the record. You want
to go see who's on the throne? Read the record. He's not left
himself without a witness. This is the record that God's
given of his son. This is the record. This is the
record. Don't you just notice? Okay, it just, it speaks here
that Morton K.I. has just exposed the plot. So what do you think the next
thing would have been recorded? Mordecai I would have been honored
for exposing the plot which is that's what should have happened,
but that's not what happened Now we're introduced to someone
else We have Mordecai we have Esther we have King Azarius And
we have now we're going to be introduced to a man named Haman
chapter 3 verse 1 and after these things did King Azarius promote Haman,
the son of Hamadatha, the Agai, and advanced him and set his
seat above all the princesses that were with him. Why did he
do that? Why in the world do you go, why
would he do that? Who's this guy? Where did he
come from? I'm going to tell you who he
is. His name is Haman. He's an Amalekite. Have you ever heard of the Amalekites?
We have a record about the Amalekites, and here we can go back and study
the record in Exodus chapter 17, verse eight. As soon as the
children of Israel come out of Egypt, then came Amalek and fought
with Israel in Rephidim. You know who Haman is? He's a
picture of the flesh. who's always warring against
the spirit, who always wants to be promoted, who always wants
to be praised. Exodus 17, verse 14, and the
Lord said to Moses, this is interesting, write this for a memorial in
a book. Isn't that kind of ironic? He
says, you write this, and he wrote it for us so we would know
about these Amalekites. and rehearse it in the ears of
Joshua. I will utterly put out the remembrance
of Amalek from under heaven and Moses built an altar and called
the name of him Jehovah Nisha. For he said, because the Lord
has sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation
to generation. And here we see one of his descendants,
Haman. who hates God, who hates the
children of God, who hates the things of God. And he's promoted. You go, you imagine being a Jew
and you hear this. Well here, Mordecai is sitting
at the gate. You know, I don't know if you've
ever read it. If you haven't the chance, you need to read John Bunyan's
Holy War. It goes right along with Pilgrim's
Progress, but it's a struggle for man's soul. And this is what
we see here, a struggle. Who's gonna rule? Who's going
to influence the king? Because whoever influenced the
king is the one who influences the whole province. Either it's
Mordecai and Esther, or it's wicked Haman. So let's begin
reading here in verse one of chapter three. Esther, chapter three, verse
one. And after these things did King Ezraias promote Haman, the
son of Habodath, the Achaia, and banished him and set him
above all the princes that were with him and all the king's servants
that were in the king's gates. They bowed down and reverenced
Haman. You know why? The king made a
commandment. And everybody needs to know.
And when you see Haman, you're supposed to fall on your face
and worship him. That's the king's commandment.
Did everybody hear it? And they were told, and they
knew. For the king had so commanded concerning him, but, notice that
little three-letter word, but, Mordecai bowed not, nor did him
reverence. You mean everybody else is bowing
to me and this one guy's not? He never will. The Spirit of God will never
bow to that flesh. The old man serves the new man. Greater is he that's in you than
he that's in the world. We're not bowing, we're not bowing
to this. Then the king's servants, which
were in the king's gates, they said unto Mordecai, why don't
one of you transgress and break the king's commandment? Now it
came to pass when they spake daily to him, they wouldn't quit.
Mordecai, why won't you bow? He hearken not unto them that
they told Haman. Now it came to pass that when
they spake daily unto him and he hearken not unto them, they
said to Haman to see whether Mordecai's matter would stand,
for he told him he was a Jew. Oh, that's why you won't bow. You're a Jew. Thou shalt worship
the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. That's what
he'd been taught, and that's what he told Esther. And he's
not about to bow. Oh, you're one of them Jews.
You think Haman knew who the Jews was? He knew exactly who
they were. He hated them, despised them. And when Haman saw that
Mordecai didn't bow or did him reverence, then was Haman full
of wrath. You want to make somebody mad?
When you won't bow to their gods. There were three men in the book
of Daniel. They were men. They wouldn't bow. They wanted
to play. They said, play the music and we'll bow. They said,
we're not bowing. We're not bowing. And he thought. Verse 6, thought
scorned to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for he had showed him
the people of Mordecai. Wherefore, Haman sought to destroy
all the Jews that were throughout the whole king of Azarias, even
the people of Mordecai. Now you think about this for
a minute. What if he destroyed all the
Jews? He would stop the Son of God
from coming into the world. He said, I'm going to kill every
one of them just because one man will not bow to me. Here we see Mordecai as a representative. He would not bow. And he said,
we're going to kill him. We're going to destroy all the
Jews. And the first month, that is the first month Nisan in the
12th year of King Azarius, he's reigned now for 12 years. And
some believe that Esther has sat on the throne for five years.
And you imagine it seemed like there was peace for those years.
But now, God has allowed this man, Haman, to be raised up for
a reason. And things are different. Now
listen. Verse 8, and Haman said to the
king as there is, there's a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed
among the people in all the province of thy kingdom, and their laws
are diverse from all people, neither keep they the king's
laws. Therefore, it's not for the king's prophet to sever them.
They're not prophet and the king. If it please the king, let it
be written, that they be destroyed, and I will pay 10,000 talents
of silver to the hands of those who have the charge of the business,
and I'll bring it into the king's treasury. You know, if these
people die, you're gonna take some from your kingdom, but I'll
make it up. I'll make sure that, because
I'm gonna get all their spoil. They won't have anything left. And the king, don't you see this?
Verse 10, and the king took the ring, from his hand and he gave
it to Haman, the son of Habodethah, the Agad that you send me. Now
what does that signify? We don't know much about kings
and stuff in the days in which we live. The king had a ring.
It had his signet on it. That king's signet, signature. You stamp it, you write it, and
if he stamped it, okay, it's signed by the king. There's no
questioning. That king takes his ring off
and he gives it to Haman. So whatever Haman writes, he
stands it and it's as though the king said it. Look at the
authority that this king gave Haman. You better never give
your flesh any authority. You'll see what he'll do. And
that's, can you imagine Haman, look at me, I'm the king's favorite. So what do you think he wants
to do with all that power? He wants to destroy God and the
people of God. That's the time in which they
lived. Imagine if they made a decree
in Washington, D.C. Any of those who claim to believe
in a sovereign God sitting upon a throne, ruling and saving whom
he pleases, you find any of them will have them all killed. Well,
that'd get our attention, wouldn't it? You said it may never happen. We don't know that. We know God's
on the throne. But can you imagine what they
thought when, no, he didn't do that. Surely he didn't sign that
commandment. Yes, he did. The king said to
Haman, the silver is given to thee, the people also, to do
with them and you see fit. Do whatever you want. Then were
the king's scribes called on the 13th day of the third month.
first month, and it was written according to all that Haman had
commanded, and the king's lieutenants, and the governors that were in
every province, and to the rulers, and of every people of every
province, according to the writing thereof, and every people after
their language." They may have spoke a different language. How
are they going to understand? They wrote it in their language.
Can I say something? You better thank God a million
times that you have a book laying in your lap. that you can read
in an English language. He wrote it. Isn't that amazing? Even how he arranged everything,
even for us a Bible, before this nation was ever raised up, that
we could read in our language. He wrote it so they could understand.
Well, you imagine you read it and go, what does that mean?
I don't understand. So they wrote it in languages
so they could understand. And he sealed it with his king's
ring. Now watch this. How are they going to get this
news out? The letters were sent by post. Well, we get post office. How did they get the word out?
How are you going to get the word out to 127 provinces that
talks? One place is they were on camels,
they were on dromedaries, or whatever those things was. Those
was the things they used in that time. And it may take a long
time to get the news to go. Why don't you read this? It says
on a certain, certain day because they even picked the day on the
13th day of the 12th month. They're going to kill every Jew. No, surely it don't mean that.
But what I want you to see, why did they use what they used if
that's what they had in the time in which they lived? It's just
a matter of fact, we use the post office some, but we use
something else a whole lot more. We probably send more email and
we probably send more text than we do anything else. That's the
time in which we live. It's amazing how we can record
a message and send it all over the world. It's such a time as
this. It's the things that God has
given unto us. You think about it. I can remember
when the first cell phone was a bag phone. Now, he was really
high class if you had a cordless phone in the house. I mean, this
thing was about that big. It was a different time. We used
those things in those times. But you see what I'm saying?
That's what they used. That's how they got the word
out. And it said, here's what the
letter said. The letters were sent by posts into the king's
province to destroy, to kill, to cause to perish all Jews.
both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon
the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar,
and to take the spoil for a prey. The copy of the writing for a
commandment to give unto every province was published unto all
people that they should be ready that day. The post went out,
being hastened by the king's commandment, and the decree was
given, and shew shan the palace, and the king and Haman set down
to drink. But the city of Shushan was perplexed. You know why they were perplexed?
Some of those may have been married to some of those Jews. We don't
know. Some of them, they could have
been their friends. They could have worked for them. Can you imagine? And you think the king and old
Haman and their over just celebrating. Everybody else ain't celebrating. They're mourning. It's a time
of mourning. A time of mourning. Now chapter four. So what is God going to do? How's he going to work to save
his people? How's he going to deliver them?
The law's been made, can't be changed. In verse one of chapter
four, when Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai ran
his clothes and put on sackcloth with ashes and went out to the
midst of the street and cried with a loud and bitter cry. He
knew what it meant. And he knew it was because he
didn't bow. He knew it. Oh that we could see, Mordecai
could see the condition that things was in. Oh, if we could see by God's
grace, we're spiritualized to see how things really are. He said, he cried with a loud
and bitter cry, and he came even to the king's gate. For none
might enter into the king's gate clothed in sackcloth. He couldn't
go to the king. And in every province where 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. Esther knows nothing about it.
She don't know about the decree. She's not heard of this. And
the only way she's gonna hear it is Mordecai's gonna tell her.
He's going to inform her. I take it that she's probably
been sheltered. She didn't get the evening paper. She doesn't
know. Her the women who waited upon
Esther they came and told her then was the Queen exceeding
she was aggrieved She knew what it meant and she sent Raymond
to close more decay I had to take away a sackcloth from him,
but he received it not she said you need to take basically you
need to take off the sackcloth which was the Outward symbol
of a broken heart and you need to put these clothes on his and
I'm not taking them off Then called Esther for Hatech, one
of the king's chamber ones, and he appointed to attend unto her
and gave him a commandment to Mordecai to know what it was
and why it was. Why are you mourning so? She
does not understand, and rightfully so. What it was and why it was. Why are things like they are
today? Why are they? So Hayjack went
to Mordecai to 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 money that Haman had promised to pay
to the king's treasury for the Jews to destroy him. Also, and
he gave him a copy of the writing of the decree that was given
at Shushan to destroy him. and to show it to Esther and
declare unto her and to charge her that she should go unto the
king to make supplication unto him and make requests before
him for the people. He says, here's what happened.
Here's a copy of the writing. Go show it to Esther. And he
said, Esther, here's what you need to do. You need to go talk
to the king. He's the only one to help. And
okay, I knew it. Now I know you think about this.
You imagine being Esther. You've been queen. It'd be easy
to get comfortable in the palace. You know, everybody waiting on
you and now you hear that they're going to kill your people. I
can see human nature say, well, they don't know I'm a Jew. They don't know I'm a Jew. And
again Esther spake unto Hadek and gave him commandment unto
Mordecai. And here's what she said, all the king's servants
and the people of the king's province, they do know that whosoever,
whether a man or woman, shall come unto the king and to the
inner court is not called, there is one law to put him to death. And she reminds him of the law.
She's basically saying, I can't go to the king. You just don't
go to the king. There's one law. You go to the
king without being asked, you'll die. And she said, maybe, Mordecai,
you don't know this. And she said, except whom the
king shall hold out the golden scepter. You see, and that's
his scepter. That's what he rules with. What
if he don't hold the golden scepter out? You don't come into his
presence. And that he may live, but I have not been called into
the king's presence for 30 days. He ain't called for me. And that's
the dilemma that she's in. You imagine it's all resting
on her shoulders. She's saying, Mordecai, I just
can't do this. So they go back and tell Mordecai
Esther's words. And here brings us up to the
text. So you see where Esther's at. Then Mordecai commanded to answer
Esther. He said, think not with thyself
that thou shall escape the king's house. He's being pretty plain. He says, don't think just because
you're queen and you're in the king's house that you're going
to escape. Don't think that you'll be spared. Don't think for a
minute that they'll just overlook you. The king's commandment said
all Jews must die. And he said, don't think that
you'll escape. For if thou altogether hold thy
peace at this time, then shall their enlargement and deliverance
arise to the Jews from another place. And here this man, here
we see this man's faith. He said, you may hold your peace.
You may not say a word. But he said, you need to know
this, that God Almighty We'll deliver his people. He said, he'll raise up and deliver.
And listen, we may hold our peace, but God will save his people.
He will save his people. And he said, but thou and thy
father's house shall be destroyed. And then he said this great statement. And who knows? whether you are
come to the kingdom for just such a time. Let's see. Maybe God has just left you here
for such a time as this. Can you imagine what that did
to her? Then Esther bade them return
more to chaos and censure. Go gather together all the Jews
that are present in Shushan and fast ye for me, and neither eat
nor drink three days nor day nor night. And I and my maidens
will fast likewise. And so will I go unto the king,
which is not according to the law. And here's what we have
to come to. If I perish, I perish. It's not
about us. It's not about self, it's not
about pleasing self. If I perish, I perish. So Mordecai
on his way ended according to all that Esther had commanded
him. You imagine that, what, for three
days? They fast and pray and then after three days, I'll just
summarize, she puts on her royal apparel. And I can just see the
king sitting on his thumb somewhere and I can see him maybe look
out into the courtyard and he looks out in the courtyard and
who do you think he sees? He sees Esther. She's standing
there not saying a word. Dressed in his royalty. Dressed
in the righteousness of Christ. You know what he tells me? Come
on in Esther. She comes in and touches the
top of the golden scepter and he receives her. And he says,
what's your request, darling? She said, I want to have a banquet.
I just want you and Haman to come. Well, then Haman, can you
imagine what Haman thinks? Oh, it's just me and the king
and the queen. And she says, OK. And then she
does this for the rest of this chapter. And then the next chapter.
Chapter six, here we go back. Let me just read some of this.
So you see now that she's gonna have a feast. Now she just didn't
just blurt it out and say, no, Haman's trying to kill all the
Jews. She's waiting on the Lord. She said, we're gonna have a
feast. Well, Haman thinks it's all about
honoring me. And now here's something. Just so happened, that night
the king couldn't sleep. And it said, on that night, Esther
6, verse 1, could not the king sleep. And he commanded to bring
the book of the records of the chronicles that were read before
the king. If you couldn't sleep, would you want to read the chronicles?
Why did this man do this? God controls men's thoughts. And they were read before the
king. And it was found written that
Mordecai had told a big fan and teacher. Really, someone said,
I read it was from Gil or someone, you imagine this being the Chronicles.
And he said that when he was reading it, it could have been
one of Haman's sons that was reading it. Oh, he read that
part about Mordecai, he just flipped over it. Let me read
something else. And he said basically he was
forced of God to go back and read and said, Tim Dath and this
other guy, they plotted to kill the king and Mordecai exposed
it. Really. Well, what was done for
Mordecai? Nothing was done. And it was
recorded that nothing was done. And just so happened, just so,
he looks out in the courtyard and he's probably been up all
night. He said, who's standing out in
the courtyard? He said, Heyman. Tell them all to come on in here.
And he said, Heyman? Heyman's so excited, he's done
had a gallows made, a 50 cubits tall, he's gonna hang Mordecai
on it. And he looks at Heyman and he
said, Heyman, what do you think ought to be done for the man
that King delights to be honored? And Heyman thinks he's done with
him. And he said, oh my goodness, here's what I'd do. I'd get the
king's horse. I'd get the king's garment. I'd
get the king's crown. Then I'd get a choice man, and
he'd lead that horse through the streets. And he said, this
is the man the king delights the honor. And he said, you go
do that for Mordecai. You know, you just laughed. You
know what? God laughs. God shall have him in derision.
You read that, and it's still funny every time we read it.
Can you imagine this, what's humiliating to this flesh? And
he says, there's only one man God delights to honor, and that's
the Lord Jesus Christ. And Haman has to see it, and
he has to be bowed to it, and he goes home, and he said, oh
my goodness, look what's gonna happen. And in the next chapter,
Haman's exposed. And the very sangalas that he
made to kill Mordecai on, he's hanged. But the law is still in effect.
The Jews are still appointed to die on the 13th day of the
12th month, which cannot be altered. Even though Haman's dead, the
law's not been changed. The king takes the ring off of
Haman. And you know who he puts it on? He puts it on Mordecai.
Now the king is on, now the ring's on the right hand. And he makes
a decree that come that day, all the Jews can defend their
self. And listen, in chapter eight,
Let me just read you something. Turn over to chapter 8, verse
10. And he wrote, and the king as
arrears his name, Mordecai did, and sealed it with a king's ring,
and sent letters on post, on horseback, and riders on mules,
camels, and young dominaries, wherein the king granted the
Jews, which were in every city, to gather themselves together
to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish
all the powers of the people of the province that would assault
them, both the little ones and women, and to take the spool
of them for a prey." Verse 16. And the Jews had light and gladness
and joy and honor. You know what that says? They're not sad anymore. You
know what they heard? They heard the good news of the
gospel. When you live under, we're like mourning, living under
the law. God's law says, the soul that sinneth it shall die.
Now we hear the good news. Redemption's in Christ. There's
joy, there's gladness. And in every province, verse
17, in every city, whithersoever the king's commandment and his
decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good
day. And many of the people became
Jews for the fear of the Jews fell upon them. I don't think
that was just, they may have just become proselytes, but I
think, I would like to believe that they were believers. You
mean God just, even in times like this? Oh yeah. How would
those people in Shushan, the palace, ever heard about the
gospel? If God hadn't took a man named Mordecai, hadn't took a
woman named Esther, if he hadn't took a man named Daniel, he took
those people. I don't know where you are in
your life at this time, but I do know this, God put you there
for a reason. And I know where you are, I don't
know exactly where you are as a church, but I do know this,
God has put you right here, right here, for such a time as this. It's a time of joy. Our salvation
is nearer than when we first believed. And you know then what
they did? They celebrate a feast of Purim. on the 14th and 15th day of the
12th month. And they still celebrate it.
Now they've forgotten what it was about. It was a time, it
was not a, God didn't establish it, they just made a feast out
of it. And they celebrate it. Now it's more like a monograph
to them. That's just a time of getting
drunk. But they said they made this feast, why? So everybody
would not forget when God delivered his people. from the hand of
the enemy. God help us not to forget. Let
me read to you in chapter nine, verse 22, just a couple more
verses. And the days when the Jews rested
from their enemies, we rest from our enemies, and the month which
was turned unto them from sorrow to joy. and from mourning unto
a good day, that they should make them days of feasting and
joy, sending portions to one another, sending food to one
another, and gifts of peace. I mean, gifts to the poor. He
preached the gospel to the poor. Now what? How did it go from
being mourning to joy? And sending gifts. Free gifts. Because God has delivered. his
people. In chapter 10, let me read these
three verses and we'll be done. And King Azarius laid a tribute
upon the land and upon the isles of the sea and all the acts of
the power and of his mind and of his declaration of the greatness
of Mordecai, for unto the king advanced him. Are they not written
in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of the Medes and
the Persians? For Mordecai the Jew was next unto the king Azarius,
and great among the Jews, and accepted the multitude of his
brethren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace
to all his seed. I pray God speaks peace to your
heart. We know we look around, there's a lot to bring mourning
and sadness and grief, but we can be filled with joy. You know
what? No matter what time it is, Our
God is on the throne. Everything, everything that happens,
even a man waking up and can't sleep, is ordained of God. The very hairs of your head are
unnumbered. Why in the world did God allow our paths to cross?
Why did God allow us to be here this morning? for such a time
as this. I hope I've not been too long.
I just thought I needed to read that. There's no way I could
remember all that and try to explain it. And I pray God would
just speak to our hearts and just remind us from his record
of his darling son.