New moment in time as just was prayed. Esther chapter 4, Esther chapter 4. I'll read the full chapter and I'll ask you to pray that God would continue to visit us with His presence as He has so evidently in the singing. Esther 4, when Mordecai perceives 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 a bitter cry and came even before the king's gate for none might enter into the king's gate clothed with sackcloth. And in every province, whithersoever 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 maids and her chamberlains came and told it her. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved, and she sent Raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him, but he received it not. Then called Esther for Hattach, 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 Hattach went forward to Mordecai and 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 the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the Jews to destroy them. Also, he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to show it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king to make supplication unto him, and to make requests before him for her people. Hattach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai. Again, Esther spake unto Hattach and gave him commandment unto Mordecai. 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 I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days." And they told to Mordecai Esther's words. Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt 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. And who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer, Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day. I also and my maidens will fast likewise, and so will I go in to the king, which is not according to the law. And if I perish, I perish. So Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther commanded him. Esther chapter 4 may well be my favorite episode in this story. It's a strange place to find a favorite lodging place because there is nothing apparently hopeful that occurs in this chapter. If you remember, we left chapter 3 with the whole province, Shushan, the palace, the city of the palace, was in confusion, was perplexed at this decree that the king Xerxes had made to destroy all the Jews. Meanwhile, the king and Haman are sitting back having a drink. They are wholly unconcerned. Eleven months, approximately, is all that stands between the Jews and their extermination at the hands of the powers that be. So there's nothing apparently hopeful that changes in chapter 4. We still leave chapter 4 in the exact same place that we leave chapter 3. What is apparent in chapter 4 is just the prolonged aftermath of grief. And that is never a pleasant place to reside, is it? We all do our duties at the funeral or bringing food to the loved ones right to the funeral, but nobody really is comfortable staying around for the days and the weeks and the months that follow. It's difficult. It's difficult to live for a long, long time in grief. And yet, after looking at this chapter, I have headlined it as God's, actually not me, God has this, God's unexpected faithfulness. God's unexpected faithfulness. It's universally true that we as humans run from pain. And it's also true that God uses pain as the great megaphone by which He speaks so loudly and so clearly to His children. And so Esther chapter 4 is God's unexpected faithfulness. in the promise of Psalm 119 verse 75 and Romans 8 verse 29. Understand that. When we think of faithfulness, we think in terms of deliverance from that which is vexing us, right? That's just natural. Deliverance, like a Tylenol to make this shoulder pain go away. That would be deliverance. And it's true, God does deliver from pain. Many are the afflictions of the righteous. Psalm 34. But the Lord delivereth him out of them all. Psalm 103. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name, who healeth all thy diseases, who forgiveth all thy iniquities. The great promise of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the promise to us that all of our pain will come to an end. That full deliverance will come. But that's not the only way that God delivers. In deliverance, there's always a from and always a to. One of the great faithfulness, one of the great faithful deliverances of God is when God delivers us from our own self-reliance, our sinful passions, our self-security, our fuzzy thinking, our worldly mindedness, our earthly ambitions, Isn't that your testimony? That is when God has delivered me from self-reliance and God has delivered me to fully depend and fall upon Him that I have found His faithfulness to be so great. That's exactly what Psalm 119 verse 75 says that we read this morning. I know David may not be feeling this, but David knows this. I know, O Lord, that Thy judgments are right. Can you say that? God, You're right. I know that Thy judgments are right, and that Thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me, so that, let I pray Thee, Thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant." We don't usually couple words like affliction and merciful kindness in the same grouping, do we? I know that thou in thy faithfulness hast afflicted me. So let your merciful kindness be a comfort to me. God's unexpected faithfulness in light of Psalm 119.75. And we know that this is, we know the great purpose of this from Romans 8.29. For whom He did foreknow, He also did, what? Predestinate. To be conformed to the image of His Son. that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. The word conformed there in Romans 8.29 is used one other place in Scripture. It's used in Philippians 3.21 where it says that our vile bodies will be fashion-like. That's the same idea. So it doesn't mean that we're going to put on clothes like Jesus. It really means that we're joined unto Joined together. So it's more than dressing like. It's jointly formed with Jesus. Do you believe that God is doing that? That's God's great promise, that's God's great design. God's great purpose is to jointly form His people to His Son, Jesus Christ. Our vile bodies will be fashioned like unto His glorious body, that we be conformed to the image of His Son, that we love what Jesus loves, and we hate what Jesus hates, think like Jesus thinks, and we trust like Jesus trusts, and we love like Jesus loves. Friends, that will be the reality in heaven's glory. We will be fashioned like unto His glorious body. So the great work of sanctification in the hearts and the lives of the people of God is God's work here upon this earth. It is God setting us apart as He set us apart before the world began by choosing us to be adopted into the family of God, and then God sets us apart in regeneration, sanctifies us by His Spirit, sets us apart for His glory, and then God does that work of sanctifying His people Incomplete as it is, but it will be realized fully in the day of Jesus Christ. And so what's occurring in our lives today is a part of that hacking away, that cheeking away, that fine-tuning that God has promised to do to join us fully to Jesus. We are united to Him. Through decree we are united to Him in His death. We are united to Him through His Spirit's work in our life. And one day we shall be fully united to Him. As He says, Behold I and the children which God hath given Me. This is the story of Esther chapter 4. Aren't you thankful that Esther's story does not end with the wedding scene. It's not how it ends. It's a key part of the story, but that's not how it ends. So let's just walk through this story very quickly, and then we'll get into where we see God's unexpected faithfulness. Chapter 4, verses 1 through 3 just finds Mordecai and all the Jews in hopeless grief. It's a great spectacle of grief that is occurring throughout all the land, all of Persia. Wherever you find a Jew in Persia that has heard the decree, you find one who is clothed with sackcloth, who has rent their clothes in that ancient demonstration of mourning, and who cannot and will not be comforted. There's a loud and a bitter cry going through the city, and there's a loud and a bitter cry going through all the land. And we still are months away from their promised execution. So there's this long, long, long period of grief from the powerless, from the oppressed, from the hopeless, from those who have had their death sentence given to them. In verses 4 through 9, Esther hears about this and Esther begins to seek after Mordecai's welfare. It's likely they had had very little contact for a period of time, maybe even as long as five years. And Esther hears about Mordecai's grief and she sends out servants to attend to him and to help him. And Mordecai in this portion begs Esther, he begs her to appeal to the king. Verses 10-12 just record Esther's reluctance to do this. She's reluctant. She no longer is the fair maiden. She no longer is the favorite trophy wife of Xerxes. He has not even called her to come see him for a long portion of time. And she's very reluctant to go and ask for help. Verses 13-14, Mordecai warns Esther that if she will not help, help will come from another place, but she and her family will perish. And then the last three verses of the chapter, 15-17, Esther commits to help and she seeks assistance from the people of God to help her help. God's unexpected faithfulness. I'm going to list four ways that we see this in this chapter. First of all, God's unexpected faithfulness, His great faithfulness is seen even in Mordecai's hopeless grief. Psalm 119 verse 75 again says, Lord, I know that judgments are right, and I know that Thou in Thy faithfulness hast afflicted me. Some commentators think that Mordecai is making this big spectacle. He even comes right up to the gate. He's not allowed to come into the gate of the king. Remember, the gate is not a gate, but the gate is a big sort of entry place in the entrance of the palace where all kinds of business, legal business, commercial business, all kinds of business took place in Persia. Official business. And so Mordecai, of course, is not allowed to go into that gate, but he comes right up to the gate and just lays down in front of the gate, clothed in sackcloth. His head and his body is covered with ashes, and he just cries this loud and bitter cry. Some commentators think that he was making a spectacle on purpose to try to draw attention to the plight and to get Esther's attention, but there's no reason to think this is insincere at all. The text doesn't say that he's doing that, and it seems like he is just overcome with grief. That makes sense, doesn't it? After all, it was Mordecai's refusal to bow to Haman that had not just gotten him in trouble, but had gotten all of his people in trouble. So Mordecai is hopeless. He refuses to be comforted. Esther tries to send him some clothes to make him look not so obvious, and he refuses even to take the clothes that she has sent for him. He must think, what does it matter? What does it matter at this point? I'm going to die anyway. Brothers and sisters, there are many moments in life Many of you can already say this and preach this better than I can, but for those of you who are younger and have not experienced this yet, there are many, many, many moments in life where we find ourselves to be out of resources and out of answers. And so it's worthy of us pausing to note a few things here, just for a moment. about this hopeless grief. And remember, we're going to see God's faithfulness in this hopeless grief. But know this, there really is an end of your rope. It's important for you to understand that. There really is an end of your rope. That phrase apparently comes from the idea of someone needing rescue, and so a rope is thrown to them, and there's a long leash of rope, and so they're holding on to the rope, and it's slipping, and it's slipping, and it's slipping, and it's slipping, and it finally comes to the very end. And all you have left is the end and your hands, and your hands have not been sufficient to hold on to earlier, and now you're to the end, and so how are your hands going to be sufficient now? There really is the end of our rope. There really are many moments in life that are larger than our capacity to handle. Some people bristle at the phrase, God will never give you more than you can bear. And while there is some great truths in that phrase, there is this thing that is not true. God very much may allow you to go through things that are more than you can bear. So if you put the you in all caps, there are many things that are more than you or I can bear. Sometimes the end of our rope can be something that is real, and that we've actually experienced. I think of that haunting phrase in Matthew chapter 2, when Herod has gone to the land and he has slain every child that is two years old and under. And it says that this is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Jeremiah that in Ramah, the sound of Rachel, that's the mothers of Israel, crying was so shrill because she refused to be comforted. She could not be comforted because she had experienced something that was real and awful and worse than her worst nightmare. You can be assured that all those brothers in Israel were at the end of their rope. Job describes this in Job 19 when he says, My hope is gone. It's gone. I can see nothing that is hopeful. And sometimes, the end of our rope is not something. that we've experienced already, but it's just the prospect of what seems to be inevitable that can be paralyzing, can't it? Maybe some of you have experienced that these last few months and some of the political changes and the things that really scare you and worry you and you found yourself to just be at wit's end. You found yourself unable to comfort yourself, unable to find any light, unable to find any hope. And yet you look at your life and really you're living the same way. You have the same freedoms. Nothing really has changed that much for you. But internally, everything has changed. Just the prospect of what may come. This is what's happening right now with Mordecai. Nothing actually had changed yet for him, but the prospect of what seemed to be inevitable. The decree has been made. The king has put his seal on the command. It's going to happen. We're going to die. Not just me, but all my people are going to die. And so I am without hope. I want to caution you, just remind you, remind all of us, that in these moments, irrational thoughts and irrational fear are always close at hand. Listen to what Israel says in Isaiah chapter 49. Isaiah chapter 49, verse 49. 14 and just keep your hands in this place. We're gonna come right back to it as they have 49 verse 14 But Zion said this was the conclusion that Zion had made remember Zion is a place that is supposed to be bringing the praise of God and remembering the name of God and Shouting forth the proclamation that God reigns as they as they have 40 just just nine chapters earlier Zion says behold thy God reigneth behold your God now Zion says Nine chapters later, but Zion says, the Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Well, friends, it may be true that God may forsake, but God can't forget. By the way, He can't forsake either. That's what He's committed to. God cannot forget. God is omniscient. But in the fear, in the hopeless grief, Israel says, God has forgotten us. So I don't know, for some of us who haven't experienced too much yet, we may be looking at Mordecai right here and think, boy, he looks awful weak, doesn't he? He ought to be doing something. But for others of us, we know exactly where Mordecai is. I cannot be comforted. What does it matter? All hope is gone. Let me just encourage you with two thoughts when we find ourselves at the end of our rope, fight, fight to see the bigger picture. Always fight to see the bigger picture. There is always a bigger picture than what our minds are seeing in the moment. Know that. in this same passage in Isaiah 49 verse 14. But Zion said, the Lord hath forsaken me, my Lord hath forgotten me. Notice the very next verse, can a woman forget her sucking child? that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb. Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee, because, behold, I have graven thee upon the palm of my hands. Thy walls are continually before me." Listen to what God says. Yes, it's possible for the closest human connection to fail. It's possible for that which is hardwired into the mother and the child. To have familiarity, to have love, to have closeness. It's hardwired there. That hardwiring can get broken. But I cannot un-engrave what is engraved into my hands. And I have graven you. That's hewing it out of the rock. That's what Job wanted to do when he remembered that God would not forget him in the same Job 19 where he says, hope is gone. He also says, I want to engrave this in the rock that when I die, when I die, I will rise again. And so, brothers and sisters, always fight, fight, fight. You're going to find it in God's Word, you're going to find it in the hymns of Zion, you're going to find it in the prayers of the saints, you're going to find it in the preaching of the gospel, but fight to see the bigger picture. Now listen, the bigger picture may be nothing more than when this nightmare is over, this is what Job said, when this nightmare is over, I'm going to die, but I'm going to rise again. That may be the only bigger picture. Usually there's more than that. Right? But that bigger picture is enough. Because Christ has risen from the grave, I also will rise from the grave in newness of life with a redeemed and adopted body made in the image of Jesus Christ. And then one more thought. Always remember this. You are not alone. That is the great teaching of 1 Corinthians 10.13. Mordecai was not alone here. He was surrounded by people who were in mourning. 1 Corinthians 10.13 is a verse about the faithfulness of God. And the first thing this passage says about the faithfulness of God is, there is no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. He's making the point. He's zeroing in on this truth. You are not alone. The trial that you're under, the depth that you are experiencing is your depths. They are unique to you because God has brought them to you, but they're not unique to humanity. You are not alone. You are not alone. And the Christian faith teaches even more, we know even more, that the child of God is never alone. For the Christian. Because we have been adopted into the family of God. We have been made accepted in the Beloved. For the Christian it is always true that there will always be a fourth one in the fiery furnace. Always. That doesn't mean He's going to take us out of the fiery furnace. But He'll be there. It's Isaiah 41, right? When thou passest through the waters. He may pull you out of the waters. He may not. But when you pass through the waters, I will be with thee. Praise the Lord for that. There's always a fourth in the fiery furnace. Where's the faithfulness? Well, the faithfulness is that God is there, but here's more faithfulness. Where is the faithfulness in this hopeless grief? Brothers and sisters, it is Mordecai's hopeless grief that God uses to get Esther's attention that will result in, as we're going to see, the spark of extra sanctification and the beginning of the turning of the engine. In fact, they didn't even have an engine. They had nothing but the beginning of the turning of the mind to hope. The beginning of the deliverance of the Jews comes because Mordecai is laying here in hopeless grief. There is no power in Mordecai here, is there? All you have here is God's faithfulness. God causes Esther to hear about this, to see about this, to be concerned about this, and then to act, and the wheels begin to turn, and before you know it, friends, everything changes after chapter 4. It's incredible. Now, next. Next. God's unexpected faithfulness comes in the form of what I'm just going to call the family of God. The you are not alone principle. The family of God. Let's look at this. You know, we all give lip service to the idea that we need each other. But brothers and sisters, we need each other. And there is nothing like crises to not only demonstrate our weakness, but also demonstrate the great strength that we have in the family of God. Now look at this in this passage. It's really beautiful. In verse 4, Esther sends clothes to Mordecai. And Mordecai refuses. Here's the first step of love in the family of God. Esther sends clothes to the man that she loves. He refuses them. Esther perseveres in her care for him. Aren't you thankful for that? Aren't you thankful she didn't just stop? I am so thankful for the people in my life who, even when I may not have wanted it in the moment, continue to love me, continue to look after me, continue to care for me. So then Esther continues on. She sends her servant back to talk to him. Now you wonder why she did this in the first place. Apparently, to this point, Esther doesn't know what's going on. She's been secluded in the palace, in the glamour of the life of the wife of Xerxes. She's completely away from reality. All she knows at first is that Mordecai is upset. She sends clothes for him, and then she sends her servant back to him to say, and here's what he says, she says, find out what he's doing and why he's doing it. She doesn't know. By the way, I think it's a really skillful, or a really important thing for us to note. To this point, Mordecai is just grieving. He's saying really nothing. He refuses the help. He refuses the clothes. Esther sends her servant back to just say, just ask him what's going on. Friends, there is a lot of wisdom in learning to be good listeners. Just asking questions. Inquiring. seeking the welfare of another, letting another person talk. So often we are so zoned into our own lives that we don't take note and we sort of lose interest. But oh, the blessing of just listening, learning, inquiring, caring. Tell me your story. Now, note what this does. Here is a man who is refusing to be comforted, laying in the street, a spectacle, he will not be clothed, he will not be helped. The servant asks Mordecai what's going on, and Mordecai begins to talk, and notice what happens. This begins to spark some tiny ember of hope in Mordecai. Notice that. To this point, he's just grieving. He's done. When he begins to talk, he realizes this is Esther's servant. Esther lives with the king. Maybe she has some pull with the king. Maybe she doesn't. But we've got to try. And so Mordecai then springs to life and Mordecai begins to tell Esther, go see if you can help. So here's Esther reaching down to Mordecai. But it continues. Then the tables turn. Esther hears this story. Esther is overcome with fear. Now Esther will not be confident in the fact that she will not go to the king. And guess what? Now Mordecai is the one who strengthens Esther. Isn't that something? Isn't that how life works? Isn't that how church life works? Isn't that how family life works? The story begins with Esther seeking the strength in Mordecai. The story continues with Mordecai seeking the strength in Esther. And the story ends with Esther calling on all the people to fast that she might find strength. And I cannot help but see this a beautiful illustration of what we are called to enjoy and to participate in as the body of Christ, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. No man is an island. And here's what the Scriptures describe. There are many ways the Scriptures describe us in our nature outside of Christ. But one of the ways that the Scripture describes us in our nature outside of Christ is that we are isolated. We are isolated from God. We're separated from God. There's a gulf between you and God. Right? But the Scriptures also describe us as being separated from man. That's the whole point of Ephesians. The point of Titus. Before the kindness and love of God appeared to you, you were haters. You were hating one another. You were at odds. You were serving your own lusts and pleasures. But now, the kindness of God toward man has appeared and He changes everything. The same thing in Ephesians. Ephesians, the point is, you were, especially Gentiles, you were outside. You were strangers. You were aliens. You were alienated from God. You were alienated from man. You had no hope. You were without God in this world. But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were, what, far off, had been brought nigh by the blood of Jesus Christ, so that you are no longer strangers and pilgrims. You are no longer Jew and Gentile. You are no longer bond and free. There are no longer these lines that would separate man from man. But now in Christ Jesus, all of that, the middle wall of partition, has been pulled down, and there is no longer separation, and now you have been adopted into the family of God. And then Ephesians says, and that great glorious truth takes root, or I'm sorry, it is manifested in terms of local churches. This great blessing of being brought in, no longer isolated, no longer removed, you've been brought in, it finds its form, it finds its function in the church of Jesus Christ. So Ephesians 4 would say that all the body has been fitly framed together, And every joint is supplying something for the good of the body, for what purpose? I think it's verse 14. Till we all, till we all come in the unity of the faith, and to the knowledge of a perfect man, and to the stature of the fullness of Christ. Notice that, till we all. No longer are we thinking about just me and mine, but I'm thinking in terms of all, all the body. I want all the body to come into the fullness of the stature of Christ. I don't want to leave anybody behind in coming to the stature of the fullness of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Scriptures would describe this as being people that are filled with spiritual desires for one another. I love in 2 Corinthians 4 when Paul is talking about this and he says, you know what? I'm perplexed, but not in despair. I'm suffering all these things, but here's what's happening that I rejoice in. My body is dying. through this suffering, but life is being seen in you. So that all these things I'm enduring are for your sakes, that the thanksgiving of many might redound to the glory of God. Paul saw his spiritual efforts, his suffering to preach the gospel of Christ as killing him, but he was fine with it because the people of God were being blessed. Isn't that wonderful? In the same book, 2 Corinthians 8, You see the people of God invested in the same way, not just for spiritual needs, but also for physical needs. You see these churches who are poor. He said, you're full of poverty, abounding over in riches. In other words, abounding over in liberality. Poor churches who are giving like crazy because they've heard that the saints in Jerusalem are suffering greatly under persecution. So all these poor churches are giving above themselves to make sure that their brothers in Christ in Jerusalem are still able to eat. Isn't that something? Brothers and sisters, this is the family of God as seen most brilliantly in the church of God in local churches. Jesus said, By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, because you have love one to another. God's unexpected faithfulness oftentimes is seen just in terms of the closeness of the people of God in times of great trouble. The help of the people of God in times of great trouble. Sister Sandra, hasn't that been true in your life? Isn't that true? Amen, she says. And others would say the same thing. I was down. I was in great grief. There's no looking for hope. But somebody came and sat with me. Somebody came and asked me what I was feeling. Somebody came and brought me some clothes. Somebody came and fed me. Somebody encouraged me and exhorted me to continue on. Somebody said, you can't stop now. God has brought you to the kingdom for this time right now. Somebody said, I'm not leaving you behind. There is nothing as lonely as a person with no church or as a church that has lost its vision for care for one another. And so, brothers and sisters, may we be reinvigorated this morning to care deeply for one another. Mordecai greatly needed it, and Esther greatly needed it, and we greatly need it. Now, the third part of God's unexpected faithfulness is in what we see happen here in the life of Esther. God's unexpected ways of sanctifying His people. Sanctification. I used to love, love, love to talk to Brother Claude. I miss him so much. I would love to ask him his story. Tell me your story again. And every single time, that story would produced tears in him, tears in me. And every single time that story would be tinged with some parts regret, some parts grief, some parts joy, some parts amazement at the grace of God. It always reminds me Brothers and sisters, our story of sanctification is not some linear line that goes straight up. So take heart in that. When you think about the Esther of Esther chapter 2, you might think, does God sanctify that kind of person? Well, I sure hope he does. And he does. And so, we're going to see this in this chapter in an amazing way. Remember, God has promised to do this. God says, I will, I predestinated that you will be conformed to the image of my Son. I will afflict you in faithfulness because I want you to be like me. That's grace. But God is committed to His people. God is committed to you. And God's commitment is such and God's love is such that God will afflict us. In fact, crisis and loss, disappointment, reversal, these are oftentimes God's method of big moments of sanctification. Sanctification is a series of small and Two steps forward, one step back, but there are some big moments in our lives, aren't there? And so we're going to see this in Esther's life, in this chapter. Here's what we see. When Mordecai comes to Esther, or sends word to Esther, says, Esther, you've got to go to the king. How does she respond? Here's what she says in a nutshell. She says, if I go, I may lose my position. If I go, I might die. Esther is reluctant to jeopardize her position. Fear and position are more important to her initially than the well-being, the lives of all her brethren. And she has some reason to think this. She's no longer Xerxes' favorite wife. He hasn't called for her in a long time. The first time that she went to him, she lured him with her beauty. Now, she will have to come to him and open up her identity. Her identity is a condemned member of the Jewish race. Esther has settled into her Persian, pagan, royalty. In fact, we don't even know if she regretted the circumstances of her arrival to this, her sentence to this place. What we do know is that Esther's rise has been at the expense of her faith, hasn't it? There is no way that she can rise and maintain her faithfulness to what God had called His people to be and to do, to be holy. But God won't let her get by with it. Isn't that something? God won't let her get by with it. Because God loved her. God had purposed from before the time began that Esther would be conformed to the image of His Son. And so God brings Esther to this moment right here when she has the great identity crisis of her life. Who will she be? Remember, she's been identified in two ways. Her name is Hadassah. That's the Jewish name. Her name is Esther. That's the Persian name. Who is she though? Who is she? Who are you? Who am I? Who are you? Is God bringing you to the place where you have to make a stand somewhere? You have to decide, you have to be, this is who I'm going to be. I am going to identify with who I am. I will walk with the Lord. God brings us to these sorts of moments all the time. The pressure will bring out her identity. Listen to how God brings this out. She's reluctant. She says, I can't go. I cannot go. Remember, the king's law is that if somebody comes up being bitten, if he doesn't raise his scepter, they'll be killed. And God uses many ways to get our attention, but God uses Mordecai. This is a way that God often uses in his people's life. God uses the voice of another faithful person. Here's what Mordecai says. Mordecai says, Esther, listen, if you don't go, God will send deliverance some way. Now that's a stark change in Mordecai, isn't it? Just a few verses earlier, he is laying in grief and hopeless grief. And now he's saying, Esther, God will send deliverance in some way, but you won't escape. But Esther, this is your moment. This is the moment that God has brought you to the kingdom for. Who knows, he says, if you have been brought to the kingdom for such time as this. But I know this, if you do not obey God, you will perish. Can I just say this? Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Has God spoken to you through words that you did not want to hear in the moment? But you recognized them as being true words. As words that God was sending in love, God sending in faithfulness. And oh, praise God, these words were effective. You see, we have defining moments in life. Moments that have big consequences. And some of Esther's defining moments had not gone the right way, had they? But here's another moment. Brother Patrick prayed earlier today, God, this is a new week, so it's a new creation, new beginnings, new moments. That's exactly right. Here's a new moment for Esther. A big moment. You see, brothers and sisters, for those who are in Jesus Christ because of His great love for us, because of His commitment to us, every day is a new moment to repent. Isn't that something? James chapter 5, if you lack wisdom, let him come to God who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not. God will not upbraid you for coming to wisdom when you should have come to wisdom before. Ephesians 5 says, Wherefore he saith to those who are asleep, Awake! What good news that is! Instead of saying, why are you asleep and just kicking them in the head for being asleep, He said, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light. Oh, you should have been walking in Christ's light last week. It's not that it's okay, but you arise right now, and Christ will give you light. Praise God for that. Praise God for new moments. Friends, Esther, the Esther that allured the king with her beauty, the Esther who said, I cannot go and save my people, now says in this moment, she says, if I perish, I perish. What's she saying there? She's saying, I am going to see King Xerxes. What she's really saying though is, I am coming to God. Praise the Lord for that. I am going to say who I am. I am no longer going to hide who I am in this cloak of royalty and this vanity of beauty, but I am going to say who I am. And if I perish, I perish. Now the reality is, friends, Jesus would say this, he who would save his life will lose it. What profit does a man have if he gave the whole world? He saves his life and loses his own soul. It's a lot worse perishing for Esther if she hides who she is and continues to live. What if Esther had hidden it and all the Jews had been killed and Esther lived for the rest of her life in royalty? Can you imagine that kind of existence? Can you imagine that kind of pain? Can you imagine that kind of regret? Esther says, I may perish, but if I perish, I perish. I am going to come to God. I'm going to do the right thing. 1 John 3 says, the love of God that He laid down His life for us, and so we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. And Esther says, I am willing to lay down my life for the brethren. Well, we're out of time. The last unexpected faithfulness of God and how God has used this so many times. Esther says, I may perish, I'm weak, and I need some help. I need some help. So where could we go but to the Lord? Here's what she says, Go gather together all the Jews, get them all together, and fast for me. Don't eat, don't drink, I will fast, my maidens will fast, and then I will go in to see the king, even though it's not according to the law." There's no more self-sufficiency, is there? I can't do this with my beauty? I can't bathe in perfume for twelve months? But what I can do is I can go to God. I'm going to go. I'm going to fast. I who have been living in this atmosphere of royalty and glamour, I'm going to humble myself. I'm going to fast. My maidens will fast. We're going to get on our knees before God and we're going to pour out our heart to God. I need the Lord. I think of the prophet Joel. I think Brother Steph referred to Joel in his prayer this morning. But the prophet Joel is a very bleak, bleak scene. In Joel, this is where there has been complete and total desolation of the crops and the land out of the judgment of God. And the way that the desolation was is just so, it's so figurative and it's so obvious that God has brought us to our end of our rope. He says the palmer worm came, this blighted worm came, and it ate and it left. And the locust came and ate up what the palmer worm had left behind. And the locust left and the canker worm came and ate what the locust had left behind. And then the canker worm came and the caterpillar came and ate what those three scavengers had left behind. And so, what do you think was left behind for the humans? Absolutely nothing. The biology of all that is pretty interesting. You ought to study that for yourself. It's complete and total blight. And so, what is the answer to this? What is the answer to such stunning judgment? And Joel 2 verse 1 starts with, blow ye the trumpet in Zion. And sound an alarm in my holy mountain. Blow the trumpet. Call the people of God. Joel 2 verse 12, Therefore also now saith the Lord. This is not just Israel blowing the trumpet, this is God saying, blow the trumpet. Here's what the Lord says at this point to these people. Turn ye even to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning, and rend your hearts and not your garments. And turn unto the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and repenteth Him of the evil. Who knoweth? who knoweth, if ye have been sent to the kingdom for a time like this, who knoweth, if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God, blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify our fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the people, gather the congregation, gather the elders, gather the children, gather the babies, get the bridegroom, get the bride, gather them all to call upon God. Friends, it is God's unexpected faithfulness to turn His people so fully to Him. So fully to Him. Repentance is a command, but repentance, the spirit of repentance must also be sought by us, shouldn't it? Turn us, God, and we will turn. Turn our eyes to You, and we will turn. Now, I don't want to be I'll just ask this. We've had a lot of confounding events around us over the last year and a half, haven't we? Has that, have those events caused us to turn so fully to cast ourselves upon God? Or are we still scrambling to think that we have solutions to our ills? how we need this sort of unexpected faithfulness, don't we? Well, to close close, just two quick takeaways. Number one, do you, and I of course, do you need to reconsider, do you need to reconsider the events of 2020? What I mean by that is, or whatever painful moments you've experienced, what I mean by that is could they be God's faithfulness to you for your sanctification? Have you become too self-reliant? Have the things of God become too obscured? Could they be? intended by God in faithfulness to His people. And then finally, the Lord Jesus Christ. All of this faithfulness is meaningless without Christ, without Jesus. It is the hope of the resurrection of Jesus that informs our grief, isn't it? It is through Jesus that we have been adopted into a family. Our connection as a body is in Jesus Christ, isn't it? So if there's going to be help, it's going to be found through faith in Jesus Christ, confidence in the words of Christ, and in the unity that Christ brings. Or we'll all separate and go our separate ways. And it is Jesus Christ who is the end of our sanctification. We want to be like Him, don't we? You want to be faithful as he was faithful. May God bless you is my great prayer.