Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

Sermon notes from Sunday 8 December 2019 am

Esther 4 verses 13 - 17

"who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" verse 14

Mordecai in this passage has a burden on his heart and a vision.  These were dark days, desperate days.  All of the Jewish nation would be wiped out.  The 127 provinces of the Mede Persian kingdom had received the command to put all the Jews to death.  Somehow this man Mordecai got a great vision of what would happen.  He knew where the answer lay - in the King Ahasuerus.  The only way to approach him was through his wife Esther.  We too are living in dark days.  How do we know we are not saved for such a time as this?  Wouldn`t it have been great to have lived through the 1859 Revival or through Nicholson`s revival but we were not brought to the kingdom for such a time as that but we are now.  Mordecai could see the situation and he knew one woman could make a difference.  Maybe as God looks down on us today, maybe he points the finger at us and says "you know you could make a difference."  The thought came to my mind of responsibility.  You and I cannot shrug our shoulders and turn our backs.  There is a responsibility for you and I today.

Firstly think of Esther and her position.  This is Esther`s position now.  She was queen and married to King Ahasuerus.  She had taken over from Vashti.  In chapter 1 the king held a party, a drunken orgy and he commands Vashti to come and she refuses.  That annoyed the king,  All the princes and governors were there.  They told the king that if she has done this to you others will do the same, we will no longer have any authority.  The king put Vashti away and a command went out to find another queen.  Esther must have been charming and mannerly to bring her before the attention of the king.  She was one who would change the situation.  She would be the king`s bride.  The one person who could touch his heart - his wife Esther.  What is our position today?  We are part of the body of Christ.  When you come to the cross of Calvary, are drawn to Christ himself, realise you have sinned, when the Holy Spirit has shown you your sin, that you have come short of the glory of God and take Christ as Saviour, Christ made you part of the bride of Christ.  "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."  Whenever we come to God in prayer we can touch his very heart.  That is what happened here.  A Jewish girl, God had put her in this position.  You might not be thought highly of but the Lord has placed you in a position.  Do you realise the position you have today?  You have to touch the king`s heart on behalf of others.  This was just a Jewish girl living in one of those provinces in Shushan.  The Lord had brought her to that position for that day.  Think of Naaman`s maid.  She was in such an important place.  She was on speaking terms with Naaman`s wife.  She was positioned there for a purpose - to go into Naaman`s wife and tell her she had the answer to Naaman`s problem.  It is with God alone.  She came to that position - how?  The Israelite armies went out to fight and saw the girl.  They carried her captive and brought her into this special place that she might be positioned just where God wanted her.  God brings us into the place where we are of use.  Esther and that maid were there by the providence of God.  God`s name is not mentioned in the book of Esther but his hand is seen moving through the pages.  Sometimes when we sit down and contemplate and ponder the hand of God on our lives, the difficult times, the hard times, to be in the position we are in, then we can see God`s hand in and through it all.  What a tremendous position we hold today.  This was the reign of the Medes and Persians.  Daniel 5.  Belshazzar threw a great feast and in the midst of that feast there came a hand writing on the wall.  Time was up, judgment was come.  That night Belshazzar was dethroned and the Medes and Persians took over.  In that kingdom Haman worked his way up, he became Prime Minister in that day.  He had great sway with the king.  He sought to change the laws of the land.  In chapter 3 verse 13 we read that letters were sent to all the 127 provinces "to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish all Jews."  Haman hated the Jewish nation with a passion.  We can see the working of Satan behind it all.  We see it way back in Exodus, in the Babylonian capture, through the establishment of the Medes and Persian empire, seen it in Hitler`s regime.  This man meant business.  He didn`t want to see the Jewish people live.  Esther was included in this edict.  One woman could make a difference.  Esther couldn`t walk into the king`s presence.  She had to wait until the sceptre was held out to her to grasp.  Today we can come into the presence of the king at any time because of what Jesus has done for us.  Satan has a ploy today.  He wants to see everyone damned to a lost sinners hell.  That has been his wish from the day of creation.  He wants to take over from God,  to take over the affairs of man.  Like Esther we must stand up and speak out.

Esther`s priorities.  This was a challenge to her priorities.  Notice what Mordecai said to her in verse 14 - "who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this."  This is the very point God has brought you to.  This is the position God wants you for right now.  To save Israel.  We are brought into God`s kingdom right for this moment in time.  The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but are mighty through God, to pull down the strongholds of Satan.  God is still on the throne and he still reigns.  Does he see us as a Mordecai or an Esther today?  Prepared to get before the God of heaven to see these things changed.  Not only was Mordecai questioning her position but her priorities.  God could see the darkness in the land but he also could see the light shining through it.  Esther had her own role too.  She was probably invited to various places but then Mordecai comes with a great challenge.  Her priorities have to be sorted out.  God had blessed her with charm, beauty, good looks but God had done this for a purpose.  God had brought her to a place of prominence.  What about our priroities today?  God has saved me yes but what have we done as a result of that?  God has to mould the areas in our lives that need to be changed.  I see here Esther coming into this place, given all these things such as good looks, charm, manners to bring her to this role.  What has God done for us today?  He has given us great ability and talent to use in this day and age we live in.  "No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly."  God has given us a good job, a respectable name, opportunities.  They are all from God himself.  "Every good and perfect gift comes from his bountiful hand."  Our priorities have to change.  God first and everything else second.  Remember Saul who was sent to look for some donkeys by his father Kish.  What was God looking for instead?  A king. His priorities had to change.  Joseph`s father told him to go out and see how his brothers were.  What was God looking for instead?  A Saviour for the nation.

Esther`s promise.  She is now challenged.  She begins to think very seriously and realises the role she must play.  The day was far gone here but Mordecai reminded her this was the day she was prepared for.  She could easily have been put to death if she went into the king.  It would cost her her life - verse 16 "I will go in unto the king, if I perish I perish."  She would lose out but she had given much thought to it all.  Mordecai gathered up all his friends and they fasted for 3 days and 3 nights.  It is a time of prayer and fasting.  Esther said we will do it.  Mordecai did it all according to the plan.  I`m sure they thought it would be lost as the day had already been planned out.  Mordecai and Esther realised they could touch the kings heart and he could change the law and regulations.  Can we touch the king of kings heart today and see everything changed?  Jeremiah lived in a dark day.  He was challenged to buy a field.  Why?  Because 70 years later when the people returned from captivity, this would be his claim on the land.  Jeremiah 32 verse 26 "then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah saying behold I am the Lord the God of all flesh is there anything too hard for me?"  Is there anything too hard for our God today?

Esther`s patience and Esther`s prize.  Notice the patience she brought when she invited the king and Haman on 2 occasions to meet with her.  Her prize was the king realising what was about to happen.  Haman had prepared a gallows to hang Mordecai on but on that day when the king realised what would happen he ordered Haman to be hung on it instead.