Take your copies of God's Word and turn to Esther chapter 5. Esther chapter 5. Would you join with me as again we ask our God to meet with us as we look into His Word. Father, we do bless you for the opportunity of gathering together with your people on this your day. And we pray that again you would come By Your Spirit, may You make Your Word a living Word. And Father, we pray that by Your Spirit, You would lead us into all truth, that You would convict us of sin and that we would be quick to repent and turn from our sins. Father, we pray that You would encourage the people of God to be steadfast and unmovable. And so, meet with us and may we know of Your presence and help that You might receive all the glory and honor For we ask these things in Christ's name, Amen. Now, I realize that a number of you were not with us either on Friday or Saturday. At least, I believe half of you were not with us seeing how you're of the wrong gender. So, let me take a moment to review something of what we have been considering together in our time on Friday night and then again yesterday, especially as we looked at this woman of dignity in the midst of calamity. And as we go back to last Friday night, we began our time together by considering the one person who is never mentioned in the book of Esther. He is never prayed to. And it is never said that He is in our midst. And that one person never mentioned in the book of Esther is God. And yet, you see His fingerprints throughout the whole book. Matthew Henry puts it this way, though the name of God is not in it. The finger of God is directing the minute events for the bringing about of His people's deliverance. Particulars are not only surprising, but very entertaining, edifying, and very encouraging to the faith and hope of God's people in the midst of difficult and dangerous times. So what we did Friday night was we played detectives and we examined the fingerprints found throughout this book. The fingerprints of God. And we noticed three very essential truths about God that will help us even as we might go through difficult or difficulties, or times of calamity. We notice together that we see the fingerprints of God's absolute sovereignty. Secondly, we saw the fingerprints of His infinite wisdom. And thirdly, we notice together the fingerprints of His complete goodness. And with each one of these truths, We then examined certain events that are recorded for us in the book of Esther to see those fingerprints displayed for us. So then after noticing the invisible hand of God, we next considered together some notable character traits of this woman Esther who is introduced to us in chapter 2. You see, the queen has been put away from the king. And the king now begins to look for a new queen. And so, someone comes up with this idea that they were going to take all the young, beautiful virgins who lived there in the capital city. They were going to give them some time to prep themselves. That time was about a year. And as I told the ladies, I don't know what they'd do in a year to correct themselves, but nevertheless, they had a year to make themselves beautiful in order to appear before the King. And one of those virgins was a young lady by the name of Esther. A lady who was an orphan and brought up by her cousin Mordecai. We looked at some of the character traits of this woman Esther. And in particular, we notice that she was a woman who put grace or lifted up grace before the faces of those she came in contact with. She was a woman who apparently was very pleasant to be around. She would bring joy to the environment in which she was in. And the king noticed that. And the king loved her. Now, when you stop to consider that he had who knows how many young women who have prepped themselves to look no doubt very beautiful, They're essential. This one young lady catches his eye. Was her appearance more beautiful than the others? I have my doubts. I imagine they were all gorgeous ladies. Was she able to parade herself somewhat different than the others? Well, she was because she lifted up grace. to their face. So we notice that about this young lady, Esther. We also notice that she was a woman of self-control. She was a woman who gave herself in submission to God-given authority. She was a faithful woman. She had a teachable spirit. She was sincere and she was humble. And so, when we come to the end of chapter 2, everything seems to be going well. The king has a new wife. Esther now lives in the palace. At the end of chapter 2, we find out that her cousin Mordecai has been very instrumental in exposing a plot to kill the king. And then we come to chapter 3. And in chapter 3, we're introduced to another man whose name was Haman. And Haman's been promoted in the kingdom so that when he walks by the city gates, everyone bows down to him. That is, everyone except one man. And that one man who would not bow down to him was Mordecai. And Mordecai would not bow down to Haman because Mordecai was a Jew. And for a Jew to bow down to anyone or anything would be idolatry. And he refused to bow down. And some of the men came to Haman and said, Haman, Mordecai's not bowing down. You want to know why he says he's not bowing down to you? Haman says, yes, tell me, tell me. And they say to him, well, he's a... Jew. And that's like putting a red curtain in front of a bull. Because Haman had a grudge against the Jews. Haman decides, I don't want to just get, I mean, yeah, Haman decides, I don't want to just get Mordecai. I want to kill all the Jews in our land. So that led us then thirdly to notice the miserable calamity that Esther and Mordecai and all the Jews would now face. Because Haman goes to the king and he makes certain accusations against the Jews. Just quickly, if you want to look at it, chapter 3 and verse 8. Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, there is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples and all the providences of your kingdom. Their laws are different from all other people, and they do not observe the King's law. So, it is not in the King's interest to let them remain. He convinces the King, we need to get rid of these people. And the best way to do it is for you, O King, to have an edict. to have a commandment that will go throughout the land. And in this commandment, here's what we need to say. On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, every Jew will be destroyed. And it's amazing what he says here. We will destroy them. We will kill them. And let's take it one step further. We will annihilate them. I mean, killing is not enough. Let's annihilate them. So the king takes his signet ring and presses it down on the edict, making it now the law of the land that could never, ever be reversed. On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, young and old, Women and children. Every Jew destroyed, killed, and annihilated. So then, when we come to chapter 4, Mordecai finds out about this new edict. And he dresses up in sathcloth and ashes And he runs through the midst of the city, weeping bitterly, crying out until he gets to the king's gate. And Esther finds out that her cousin is now at the king's gate, dressed in sathcloths and ashes and weeping bitterly. And Esther grabs some clothes and gives it to her servant and says, go down and give these clothes. Tell Mordecai to put on these clothes. He does that and Mordecai says to the servant, no, no, you tell Esther what's going on. There has now been an edict that every Jew will be killed on the 13th day of the 12th month. And so the servant runs up and tells Esther, here's a new edict. Here's a copy of the edict. Here's what it says. And your cousin Mordecai has asked that you go before the king and plead on behalf of your people. So the servant runs down to Mordecai, or, yeah, he runs back up to Esther and he says, she wants you to plead for, he wants you, I'll get it straight, he wants you to plead on behalf of the people before the king. And Esther turns to this serpent and says, tell Mordecai, I can't do that. You know there's only one law. And the one law is if you go before the king and you haven't been summonsed, the king can put you to death. And it's been 30 days since I've been summonsed before the king. I can't do what you're asking me to do." Now the servant leaves Esther and runs down to Mordecai and gives him that message. Only to have Mordecai say to the servant, tell Esther, aren't you glad we have phones now? Tell Esther that if she keeps quiet, she ought not to think that she's going to escape. She's also a Jew. And then Mordecai makes this great statement of faith. If she doesn't say something, God will raise up someone else to deliver His people. But her and her family will not escape. And then he says to this servant, and tell her, who knows? Whether or not God has brought her to this place for such a time as this. The servant leaves Mordecai and runs to Esther and tells Esther all those things. To which then Esther says, okay, tell Mordecai to gather up all the Jews in the capital city and for three days fast. And I will gather My maidens together, and for those three days we also will fast." And after three days, chapter 4 and verse 16, I will go into the king, which is not according to the law. And if I perish, I perish. And what she was literally saying was this, tell Mordecai, I will go before the king. But it's not according to the law. And so it will mean in all likelihood, I will be dead. But I'll do it. Now that brings us. Chapter 5. And here we want to notice together the undeniable courage of this woman. The undeniable courage of this woman. She has declared that she was going to do what was right, even if it cost her her life. So now three days are over. Esther puts on her royal robe. She heads to the king's room. Three days have been spent fasting and wondering what will happen next. Unless something completely unusual happens, Esther will have spent three days thinking, my life will soon be over. But I have a duty to do, and I'm going to perform this duty. That's courage. You see, my friends, courage is not the absence of fear. It is the pursuit of duty even in the midst of fear. It is going ahead and doing what is right in the midst of danger and not retreating. It doesn't mean you don't have fear. But it means doing the right thing. No matter what it costs. And this morning, I would like you to notice with me two ways in which the undeniable courage of Esther is exhibited. Two ways in which the undeniable courage of Esther is exhibited. The first way, her undeniable courage is exhibited in her pursuit of accomplishing her God-given task." In her pursuit of accomplishing her God-given task. Notice verse 1 of chapter 5. Now, it came about on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king's palace in front of the king's room. And the king was sitting on his royal throne in the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace. One can only imagine what that walk must have been like. I don't know if we can compare it completely to this, but she must have felt something like a man who's been sentenced to die making his way to the electric chair, and with every step, wondering what death is going to be like. But she now finds herself in the inner court. She now finds herself there at the entrance of the king's room. And there on the throne was the king himself, And now they look at one another, eyeball to eyeball, and this man must have had some reputation of killing people if he hadn't summoned them to appear in his presence. Because Esther believes in her heart of hearts that the law will be executed. when she stands boldly before the king. Remember, he was upset with the first wife, Veshti. When she wouldn't appear before him, he put her out. She must have wondered, what's it going to be like? When then, all of a sudden, we read these words, and it happened. When the king saw Esther the queen, standing in the court. I love Esther. So suspenseful. What? What? What's going to happen? Notice, she obtained favor in His sight. And lo and behold, He extends the scepter. The golden scepter. So, Esther came near and touched the top of the scepter. You see, when you did appear before the king and you weren't summons, usually you were put to death except if the king would hold out his scepter. And when he saw Esther, he held out that scepter. I don't know. It could have been that during those three days that Esther gave herself to fasting, that maybe one of the things she did was to remind herself of the God of Israel. And perhaps she reminded herself over and over again that the King's heart is like the channels of water In the hands of the Lord, He turns them wherever He wishes. That would give her courage. Oh, I know He's a great man. And I know that He has lots of money. And I know that He rules over a great kingdom and a multitude of people. But as great as He is, and as much power as He holds, Lord, You can take that heart and move it in any direction you want it to. And she gains favor. And her life is protected. But then Esther is questioned by the king. We read there in verse 3, And the king said, What honor or dignity I'm sorry, it's chapter 6, verse 3. Then the king said to her, what is troubling you, Queen Esther? And what is your request? Even up to half my kingdom, and it will be given to you. The king notices something's wrong. And he looks at Queen Esther and says, what is it that's bothering you? And what can I do to help? Listen, you name it, up to half my kingdom, it's yours. You just have to ask. I'm reminded of Nehemiah. Remember when Nehemiah came before the king and he also looked troubled. And he was troubled because back in Jerusalem, the walls were down. And he was concerned about that. And the king noticed his disposition and ask, what's wrong? What do you need? Remember, the Bible says, Nehemiah quickly prayed. Oh man, I can't believe he's asking me what's wrong. That I might be able to go back. And he quickly prays and asks God to help him so that he might answer the king correctly so that he might return to Jerusalem and help rebuild the walls. Well, here we find the same thing. The king asks, what's wrong? What's troubling you? What's the problem? And Esther finds herself with the opportunity of defending her people. And at that very moment, she could have brought Haman down. But notice, she doesn't. Notice what it says. And Esther said, if it please the king, may the king and Haman come this day to the banquet that I have prepared for him. And then the king said, bring Haman quickly that we may do as Esther desires. So the king and Haman came to the banquet which Esther had prepared. And as they drank the wine at the banquet, the king said to Esther, what is your petition? For it shall be granted you. And what is your request? even to half the kingdom it shall be done." A second time, he asked her, we're now at this banquet. Haman's here. What is it, Esther, that you want? And Esther responds, my petition and my request, if I have found favor in the sight of the King, And if it please the king to grant my petition and do what I request, yes, may the king and Haman come to a banquet which I have prepared for them tomorrow. And I will do as the king says." It's amazing. I mean, it seems as though she has spent some time planning this out. And she says, here's my request. I want to have another banquet. And I want you and Haman to be my guest." And by this time, I'm wondering if these guys are thinking, women? I mean, I've offered her half my kingdom, and she wants to have another little banquet. Man. But they say, And now, starting at the end of chapter 5 and moving on to chapter 6, this has to be one of those portions of Scriptures in which God sits in the heavens and laughs. Because Haman goes home. And he gets home with his wife and his friends and he pops out his chest a little bit and says, hey, guess who invited me to a banquet? The king and the queen. But it gets even better. I mean, he thinks these guys love him dearly. It gets better. What could be better than having a banquet with the king and the queen? I'm invited back tomorrow. And he's all excited. I can't wait. It must have been one of those times when he went to bed and tried to say to himself, okay, go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep, because tomorrow is going to be a big day. But he couldn't go to sleep. And then, the king is also having trouble sleeping. Now, he may not be having trouble sleeping for the same reason as Mordecai. He may be having trouble sleeping because he's thinking, what does my wife want? But he can't sleep. And so he calls for the books of the Chronicles to be brought into his room. And he has one of his servants pick up the Chronicles and just start reading to him. And of all things, they turn to a portion in the Chronicles that talk about a couple men who were plotting to kill the king and how this man Mordecai intervened. And he exposed their plot. The king thinks for a minute. Did we ever do anything to honor that man? And the answer was no. Now because Haman couldn't sleep, he gets up early and shows up at the king's palace. The king says, hey Haman, what do you think the king ought to do for a man he wants to honor? And Haman, I mean, I've already been invited to the banquet. Things are just getting really good, because no doubt, he has me in mind. And so Haman comes up with this wonderful plan. Man, here's what you ought to do. You ought to take your royal robes. Chapter 6 and verse 7, Then Haman said to the king, For the man whom the king desires to honor, let him bring a royal robe, which the king has worn. and let the horse on which the king is ridden and all whose head the royal crown has been placed, and let the robe and the horse be handed over to one of the king's noble princes, and let them array the man whom the king desires to honor and lead him on horseback through the city square and proclaim before him, thus it is done to the man whom the king desires to honor." I can only imagine. I can imagine God laughing, and I can imagine Mordecai thinking, oh, this is going to be good. I mean, if the king really listens to me, in a few moments I'm going to have his robe on, I'm going to have his crown on my head, I'm going to be riding on his horse, and somebody's going to be leading me through the town saying, this is what the king desires to do for the man he wishes to honor. And Mordecai is just so excited. And then the king says, verse 10, then the king says to Haman, take quickly the robes and the horses as you have said. He's doing it! And do so to Mordecai. To who? Mordecai. That one man who will not bow down to me? That one man who was instrumental in me plotting to kill all... Yes. Take Mordecai. Verse 11, So Haman took the robe, the horse, and raid Mordecai and led him on horseback through the city square and proclaimed before him, Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king desires to honor. Imagine what that must have been like for poor, proud Haman. walking around the city, giving praise to Mordecai. Our God is a sovereign God. Well, after that little journey, it's now time for the second banquet. And here, as we come to chapter 7, we see the second time that Esther's courage is exhibited And here, her courage is exhibited in her pursuit of putting down evil. Chapter 7, verse 1, Now the king and Haman came to drink wine with Esther the queen. And the king says to Esther on the second day, also as they drank wine at the banquet, What is your petition, Queen Esther? And it shall be granted you. And what is your request, even to half my kingdom? And it shall be done. For the third time, what do you want me to do? Esther begins to explain. Verse 3, Then Queen Esther answered and said, If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king. Now she started this way three times. Perhaps the king's thinking, no, not another banquet. But no, this time she says, Let my life be given me as my petition and my people as my request. For if we had been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed and killed and annihilated. Now, if we had only been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have remained silent. For the trouble would not be commensurate with the annoyance to the king. King, I want you to spare my life. I am your queen. But this doesn't just affect me. All my people. Now, if they simply wanted to sell us into slavery, I wouldn't be bothering you. that they want to destroy, kill, and annihilate us. And I'm pleading with you for our lives." And I wonder, I don't know what Haman's doing. I don't know if he's just over there drinking wine and enjoying himself in the palace. And I don't know if for a moment he's listening and he's thinking, ah, the poor king has to deal with this woman. I mean, she just keeps going on with him, And then I wonder if he hears these words. They want to destroy, kill, and annihilate us. And if that might have perked up his ears. Because that's the very wording that he worded on the edict. And we read verse 5, Then the king Ahasuerus asked Queen Esther, Who is he? And where is he? Who would presume to do thus? Who wants to kill you? Now, Esther might have said, what do you mean who? You're the one that's given permission. Why are you asking me these questions? They came to you first. But the king apparently wasn't paying any attention to what he was signing and what he was putting his signet ring on. Verse 6, and Esther said, A foe, an enemy, is this wicked Haman. And Haman became terrified before the king and the queen. Now, Haman may have thought to himself for a moment, oh please, oh king, stay seated and let's talk. But the worst possible thing happened. The king gets up, which isn't a good sign. You know children what it's like when you get in a little bit of trouble and you come walking into your house and dad gets up. And you're like, oh no, please don't get up dad. Sit down and relax. The king gets up, goes out into the garden, and begins to consider what he should do. And then, what's Haman do? I love this story. Haman goes over to the queen, gets over her, and begins to plead with her. Oh, please, Queen Esther, speak to the king. He's going to kill me. I don't know what I'm going to do. And all of a sudden, the king walks back in and here's another man going after his wife. At least, he implies that. Notice verse 8, Now when the king returned from the palace garden into the place where he was drinking wine, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was, and the king said, Will he even assault the queen with me in the house? And as word went out to the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face. Now I don't know if the king really thought that Haman was going after his wife, Or he was just looking for another reason to get rid of this man. But, if things could get any worse, there's one man standing around. Herboni. And Herboni was one of the eunuchs who was before the king. And now he shares some wonderful news with the king. Behold indeed, the gallows standing at Haman's house fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke good on behalf of the king. This guy was building some gallows and he was going to hang Mordecai. Does that name sound familiar? Remember the guy that exploited the plot to kill you that you just honored? This Haman was going to hang him on gallows behind his house. You can only imagine Haman thinking, oh man, what more can happen? And the king says, hang him on it. And so they hanged Haman on the gallows which had been prepared for Mordecai. God is in the field working when he is even invisible. And so with Esther's courage, we see her pursuing to put down evil and bring an end to this man who would desire to harm the people of God. And so, courage. Courage is seen in her pursuit of her God-given task and in her pursuit of putting down evil. One of the things that ought to mark us as the people of God is courage. Courage to do what is right, though it may cost us. It may cost us with a price. And it's not always easy. There may be a fellow churchman that is walking in a way they ought not to walk. You have a responsibility as brothers and sisters in Christ to go to that one and speak to that one. But will they receive you? Or will they end up going after you? Or will it cause some type of strife and tension? Who wants to live with strife and tension? Yet, I have a responsibility. I'm not to just leave it up to my elders to take care of these things. We are a body and we need to function together. And therefore, it is my responsibility to go to this brother or sister humbly with much prayer. But if necessary, to rebuke them. or their wayward life. I don't enjoy that. I really don't. And I don't know many of you that would stand up and say, oh, I'd gladly do it. Maybe somebody's here like that, but most of us would enter into something like that with some fear and trembling. But I will do my duty and not retreat in the midst of danger. Some of us may have children that are trying to express their independence and rebel against the things that our household would stand for. Many a parent has retreated because of fear. What if my children end up not liking me? What happens if my children decide they're just going to do their own thing anyway and slander my name? You know, too many parents are fearful and keep silent when they ought to be speaking up and dealing with their children. It's my God-given duty. I'm the father. I'm to be the head of this home. And you know, it may cost me. They may get mad at me. They may not even speak to me for a day or two, but I have a responsibility of training and bringing them up in the fear of the Lord. That's my duty. I've got to do it. I'm there at the workplace. There's some immoral activity going on. I have a responsibility of standing up and saying, gentlemen, this is wrong. But you know, that may cause some tension there in the workplace. I may not get that promotion. But it is my duty to put down evil. So I must speak. Courage. To pursue your God-given task. To put down that which is evil. No matter what it might cost you. Can I give you an example? Look at your Lord. who had a responsibility and duty to go to the cross. And we hear him cry out in the garden, let this cup pass from me. I don't want to take the sins of those people upon myself. I don't want to drink that cup. But not my will. Thine be done. So he went to the cross to redeem a people for himself. And that ought to be our disposition. Lord, I want to do your will. It may cost me. But I will cry out with the saints of old. When I'm afraid, I will trust in You. 1 Samuel 21-12 In God whose words I praise, in God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid, for what shall man do to me? I know you, but I don't know you well. But who knows? Maybe some of you know you're neglecting a God-given responsibility and duty. And at the end of the day, it's because you have a cowardly heart and you're afraid of the consequences and you lack real trust in God. and you're retreating in the midst of danger. I'm here to ask. Quit retreating. Trust in God. Esther ought to encourage us. Even though we don't know how things will turn out, God is still in the field working. And He'll never leave me or forsake me. And I want to be found faithful. May God take this wonderful, wonderful story. It's made us laugh. It's made us think. But may it make us courageous to the glory of our God. Our Father, we do give You thanks for this passage of Scripture, this narrative that You have put into Your Holy Word. We thank You for the reminder, as we have read throughout it, of Your sovereign hand at work. The reminder that at the end, evil will be put down and You shall be victorious. Father, we pray that it might encourage Your people. We're not on a fool's errand. It can be very difficult at times to live in this world and to love you. And yet, Father, it is a work well worth doing. And therefore, we pray that You would give us the grace to be courageous men and women, to be courageous young people, to be courageous boys and girls, faithfully pursuing our God-given task and faithfully seeking to put down evil. Help us, we pray, that in the end, Your name would be exalted. For we ask these things in Christ's name, Amen.