please turn with me now in your Bibles once more to Esther chapter 7, as we'll be looking at Esther chapter 7 this evening for our preaching. Esther chapter 7, and we're gonna be looking at this chapter that we read earlier under the following heading, the king's favor, the king's favor. Now this is from, as we can see, the book of Esther. And in this chapter there is a king and there is a queen. The king here is Ahasuerus, known to history as the great Xerxes. He reigned over the most powerful empire at that time. Actually, the most powerful empire that had ever been seen up until that point. Future empires were bigger than that, but up until this point, this was huge. Now, as we think about power and might, how do we typically act around people who have power, who have influence? We act differently, don't we? Now, sometimes it's a good thing. We have to show respect, shouldn't we, to our boss at work. We need to show respect in leadership, regardless whether that's even in the church or in the world. So there's a way that can be good. But sometimes we can act differently around people in power when they have big impact on our future destiny. We want to be liked by people, don't we? Those people who are in charge. And they're saying what they decide to do will have a big impact on our future. We want to have their ear. We want to have their favor upon us, especially if they are as powerful as we are. as a king. The greater we see the position in question, the more we will seek their favor. The more respect we have for them, the more we will seek their favor. It's often, too, why certain people get treated better in society than others. Some people have power and some people don't have power. In the Old Testament, you'll actually see often the widow And the fatherless, they often get treated horribly. And it was often how they would measure societies in the Old Testament and indeed later on as well. That's bad to do that. But should we not want the favor of the great King who is in heaven? His favor we should seek. Now, imagine if you will, King Charles comes in and out of nowhere just calls into our midweek. and sits amongst us, we'd probably want to have a chat with him. Now, we may suggest a few areas where he may need to turn and follow a more biblical model in his role as king, but we would still want to seek his favor, even if we disagree with him in a number of areas. Now, Hazarus was the king of kings in that day. Actually, that was one of the titles the Persians took to themselves. About 500 years before Christ was even on the earth, this king had influence, but nothing compared to the great king of kings himself, who is far greater than hazardous. Nothing compared to the influence the great king of kings has over our souls and countless souls around the world. The eternal destiny the eternal destiny that our king in heaven has in his hands. And the difference will be for our future. It won't be decided by politicians. It won't be decided by kings and queens. It will be decided by the king of kings. And we seek his favor as we do this evening, as we do in our prayer meeting. We seek the favor of him in prayer. We seek him to bless us. Because dear friends, if we're not blessed here this evening, we may as well not be here. We call for the Lord to rend the heavens and come down amongst us and bless us, because otherwise what we do is in vain without the Lord's help. We need the favor of the great King of Kings. We seek his ear for deliverance. Maybe it's deliverance in this world, but certainly in deliverance for the world to come. And while we're praying for our own needs, and we should, how about those people walking around who don't know the Lord? Who go about their daily business and have no concern about where they're going to spend eternity. They've never sought the favor of the King, the true King. May we pray for them as we seek the Lord's favor, as we seek the King's favor. for their salvation, and above all else, for God's glory. So we're gonna look at this chapter, this evening, under three headings. And the first heading we're going to look at is pleasing. Pleasing. Verses one and verses two. So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen. And the king said again unto Esther, on the second day at the banquet of wine, what is thy petition? Queen Esther, and it should be granted thee. And what is thy request? And it shall be performed, even to half of the kingdom. The king, as King Ahasuerus, or that is Xerxes, is with his beloved queen. A woman, this great and powerful king, he delights in. Now, if you've read the rest of the book of Esther, you realize this Ahasuerus is a very vain man. He seeks to show off his pomp and his power. And even in chapter one, he is so enraged by Vashti, because she wouldn't come and show off her beauty towards everybody. He is driven by rage and puts her away. Vashti brings displeasure to the king, so the king rejects her. But there is one pleasing before him. In chapter 2 of Esther, we find out that Esther is pleasing before this king. In chapter 2 verse 4, and let the maidens which pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king and he did so. And verse 9 as well. Verse nine, and the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him, and he speedily gave her things for purification, which such things as belong to her. And seven maidens, which were meat to be given her out of the king's house, and he performed her and her maidens unto the best place of the house of the women. Look at that verse there. He preferred her and her maids. Now, again, he was a wicked king. He was a very vain and rash king in a lot of the things he did. But this Queen Esther is more pleasing to the king than all the others. And Vashti, in rejecting the will of the king, is no longer pleasing before the king. In our text, we have a banquet. And what did they do at banquets? They delighted themselves in delicacies, usually in wine and other things like that. Now, while if we look through the book of Esther, we will see excess, unfortunately, and we know that excess of wine and other things is sinful. Of course it is. But there's something different about the Medes and the Persians. They actually have a law where they actually have no forcing. of what they are to drink. Actually, in a lot of heathen societies, they would have forced them to drink more. And if anybody is drinking more, that is their own fault. We know as Christians, drunkenness is sinful. Be not deceived. The unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verses 9 to 11. And one of the sins it mentions, one of the addictions you could say, of someone who will not inherit the kingdom of God is drunkenness. It's a very serious sin. Excess of food and drink is sinful. But there seems to be a restraining of these delights in the banquet or the earlier banquet. This banquet we see in chapter 7 is been arranged, prepared by Esther. We know this from Esther chapter 5. But there's also no compulsion, like we said earlier in Esther chapter 1 verses 7 and 8. But what happens here at this banquet of wine? And there's a picture, there's something that wine is a picture of in the scriptures. There's great pleasure in the presence of one another. The blessings of the Lord are actually, throughout the Bible, expressed in such language. It says in Psalm 4 verse 7, thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. And then also in Isaiah 16, verse 10, it describes the removing of delight and it's curses that is being brought on here. Isaiah 16, verse 10 says, and gladness is taken away and joy out of the plentiful field and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting. The traders shall tread out no wine in their presses. I have made a vintage shouting to cease. in Psalm 104 verse 15, and wine that maketh glad the heart of man. And oil his face to shine, and bread which strengthens man's heart, with wine that maketh glad the heart. So here there is, as Matthew Poole writes, the banquet of wine, so it is called, to note it was not designed for a feast to fill their bellies, but rather for a banquet to delight and to please their palates with wine and other delicacies. It's great joy at this banquet. I think that's the point here. Esther invites earlier once Haman, wicked Haman, who is seeking, plotting against the Jews and God's people. She's seeking for Haman to come. This is a banquet in the presence of the king for joy. And it's really for those who are in the favor of the king. Not just those, not just pleasing for the king, but also for his guests. If you're invited to such a thing, as long as, in the Bible, drunkenness is described as judgment. If the wine is poured out in excess, it is judgment. But in moderation, it is seen as rejoicing the heart. Pleasures and blessings. Now, who, verse one, has the favor of the king? Does Haman have the favor of the king? Or does Esther have the favor of the king? Only those, only that person who will remain pleasing before the king will remain. Now, at the beginning and throughout the book of Esther, it looks like the people of God are in trouble. Haman will prevail. Haman will have the victory. If you go through other chapters, things seem pretty bleak. And it forces Esther out of hiding her identity. We'll see that later as a Jew. who is pleasing in the presence of the King. There are delicacies for all who come in and have the King's favor. Now, as we look at this earthly banquet that takes place with Haman and the King and the Queen, and it must have been interesting to be there, but there's a greater King in heaven with a much greater banquet that will last forever. Never. In Song of Solomon it says, let him, that is Christ, kiss me, that is the bride of Christ, with the kisses of his mouth, for thy love is better than wine. Even though Wine here, in moderation here, produces a picture of joy in the heart. It's used in the Lord's Supper. When we, by faith, receive Christ and have more of Him, by faith, joy brings in our hearts. Return to Song of Solomon just to look at a few other verses from this wonderful book of the scriptures which talks about the relationship between Christ and his bride, the church. Song of Solomon chapter one, verse four. Draw me, we will run after thee. The king hath brought me into his chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in thee. We will remember thy love. More than wine. The upright love thee. You see these pictures to show there is joy, there is delight for the bride in the presence of the bridegroom. Song of Solomon 4.10. Song of Solomon 4.10. Now this is now speaking about how Christ, while the church delights in Christ, Christ delights in his bride. In 410 it says this, how fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse, how much better is thy love than wine, and the smell of thy ointments than all spices. And there's other verses as well that speaks of Christ's delight in the presence of his bride. I am come, this is Solomon 5, 1. I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse. I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey. I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends, drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved. It's very hard for us to wrap our minds around the joys and the privileges of heaven. It's extremely difficult. And these things that are enjoyed in this world, the greatest pleasures, the greatest imaginations of the pleasures of heaven, still do not come close to how wonderful it will be in heaven. I had a brother in the Lord once, he said to me, I can't imagine heaven because the Bible doesn't say a lot about heaven. And I remember thinking, I should have said something to him at that point, but it came to me later on. The Bible says much about God. Heaven is heaven. Heaven is wonderful. Heaven is glorious. Heaven is a place of joy and spiritual banqueting because we're in the presence of the greatest King of Kings and Lord of Lords that there will ever be. And if we delight in Him, will He not be delighted to bring us into His banquet Himself? Does He rejoice your heart? No, friends, I'm not asking, have you lived a perfect life? None of us have. Does Christ and His Word bring joy to your heart? Because if He does, then that is Him, the Spirit of God, telling you, you belong to Christ. Is He pleasing to you? We live in a generation, it seems, doesn't it, that almost tolerates and goes through the motions of going to church. It shouldn't be like this. Church is really A small window into eternity. Paradise. Worshipping Him for all eternity. But the difference is we'll never get tired of this banquet. We'll never get tired of the taste of this bread and of this wine and all the other delicacies because it is the Lord. He is our food and He is our drink. He is wonderful. Is He pleasing to you? If Christ is pleasing to you, if the great King of kings is pleasing to you, He delights in you. Now in this world, it may appear that there are hamens around the place plotting against God's people. And there are godly people, Esther, imperfect of course. But it appears almost, doesn't it? If you look through this book, if you get to this point, it almost appears that the hamens of this world, well, they'll do better. No, their time will come. Those who do not delight in Christ, those who do not delight in the presence of his people, who plot against his people, that's what Haman is. Haman is someone who has plotted against the Lord's people. Going back to Esther chapter three, Mordecai refuses to bow before him, and he is enraged. and finds out that he's a Jew. Not only enough to get back to Mordecai, no, no, no, he has to take it out on all the people of God. His justice will come because a Haman is not someone who is pleasing before God, but someone who trusts in Jesus Christ is pleasing before God. and finds wonderful delight in God. Now you might say to yourself, why am I a sinner pleasing before God? Why does he find any delight in me? Not that he needs us, not that he gains anything from us. Our God is perfectly sufficient. In every way. He doesn't need us in any way. However, if we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ, if we're clothed in the righteousness of the One, the Father says, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. You see, how can he be anything but pleased? with your prayers because it comes in and through the name of Jesus Christ. If you're clothed in the righteousness of Christ, the King of Kings finds delight in you. And because of that pleasing aspect that we've looked at, number two, that brings us to pleading, pleading. If, by faith in Jesus Christ, we have access, not to King Ahasuerus, who we're looking at this text, but a greater King of Kings, will we not seek his ear? Now, look at this. This is a wicked very unstable at times king, who makes questionable decisions throughout this book. But even he, out of a love for his wife, for his spouse, he asks this question, verses two to verse five. And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, what is thy petition, Queen Esther? And it shall be granted thee. And what is thy request? And it shall be performed even to half the kingdom.' Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition and my people at my request. For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain and to perish. And if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue. although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage." You see, even this wicked king Ahasuerus, he loves his bride. And you see this as soon as, from chapter 5 onwards, he asks, what shall I give thee? What shall I grant thee? What are you seeking after? If a wicked king who loves his bride, finds pleasure and joy in the presence of his bride, how much more so will our King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who is righteous, just, holy, seeks our good, how much more will he seek our prayers? Now, I wish to present it in the way it means to be presented. This is not a needy God. This is not a God who gains anything from us at all. He is without shadow of turning. He is pure light, and from eternity past, even before the creation of the world, He had everything that was needed. We don't add anything to God, but at the same time, He loves our prayers. And He listens to the pleading of His dear bride. His bride, if you love Husbands here, if you love your bride, will we not listen? Will we not listen? We will. Will we not cherish? Often, it's one of the things I think us husbands, us men, we struggle with. We want to fix things very, very quickly. We struggle with the listening part. And I'm guilty of that. The ear of someone. The ear of someone. It's such a valuable thing. What is thy request? And if you'd read chapters beforehand, this king, this king Ahasuerus, he's not very impressive at times. He's very rash. Now, Queen Esther has the right opportunity in the midst of the banquet, in the midst of everything, to ask for her life. This is an amazing part. She asks for her life. She's the queen. And the life of her people. This is astonishing. Verse three. If it please the King, and she said, if I found favor in thy sight, we need the favor of the King in order for our petitions to be heard. If it please the King, let my life be given me at my petition and my people at my request. She herself, identifying with her people, is seeking for deliverance herself. Identifying with her people. Imagine the shock of the king hearing this, and you could actually see it a little bit later. Then the King of Hazros answered and said unto Esther, the queen, who is he? Where is he? And doth presume in his heart to do so. There's shock. This is his queen. Could you imagine if someone was seeking the life of your bride? You'd be pretty angry, wouldn't you? loves her. Now up until this point she feels, and previous as well, she feels that she cannot tell him of who she is a Jew. If you go back to Esther chapter 2 verse 10. Esther chapter 2 verse 10. Esther had not showed her people nor her kindred for Mordecai had charged her that she should not show it. There's a very interesting thing that takes place in Esther. There's almost like a sense of, why are they not back in the homeland? Why are they still in exile? They're trying to do what the mistake that a lot of us make in society, we'll just play the long game, just try to blend in, don't try to make any waves. And they eventually see, a chapter or two later, that doesn't work. We need to pray, sackcloth, bring it out, rent our clothes. This is times of horrendous crisis, and these times of crisis are some of the greatest blessings in the church. The National Covenant of 1638 in Scotland would not have been signed unless the pressure had been put on by the king at the time, to compromise in worship, to take the prayer book. And that led to those times of blessings, and revival, and the outpouring of the Spirit of Almighty God. So these times of crisis that God's people face in the Persian Empire, actually a blessing, because it woke them up out of their slumber. as it woke up our forebearers of their slumber for many years until the signing of the national covenant, until the signing of the solemn league and covenant. Now, Mordecai is clearly afraid of what will happen to Esther and the Jews, perhaps, if Ahasuerus, this pagan ruler, finds out who she is. However, now she's identifying with her people. Now the Jews are not typically treated well. The God's people in any age, identifying with Christ, identifying with the Jehovah of Scripture, are not typically treated well. She cries out in desperation. She cries out for help. It's often when we're drawn to the point of desperation, that's when we cry out for help. Not before that, usually we're too self-reliant. Usually we're fine. And then we go through the motions. But the Lord takes often those things away that we're often depending on, or think we're depending on. And then we see how helpless we are. Esther, Mordecai, God's people, they see how desperate they are. And then Esther, blessedly, finds out and pleads before for the life of herself and her people. She's seeking for refuge for those who would wipe out the people of Almighty God. Matthew Henry said this about the situation with Esther. Even a stranger, a criminal, shall be permitted to petition for his life. But that a friend, a wife, should have occasion to present such a petition was very affecting. And there's something, isn't there, very, very similar to the sinner's cry before Almighty God, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. You, as you're crying out to Him, you're pleading for your own soul. You're pleading for your own eternal life. Oh Lord, save me. Save me from what I truly deserve, the wrath of God. She does not ask for wealth and honor in this world. She seeks for deliverance, not just for herself, but for her people, a powerful petition to the king. Her priorities are no longer selfish. You'll actually see this a number of times in the Bible. A number of people we really, really think highly of, and we should, in the Bible, they may not start off so well, but later on, they learn. They get there, and we make mistakes in our walk, but by God's grace, learn as you go along. Learn. The difference between us, people who grow and people who don't grow maybe as much, is one person's gonna grow. It's not that we're not gonna make mistakes and sin and fall down, we do. But what do we do when we make mistakes? What do we do when we sin? What do we do when pride blinds us? When we get into a position of self-preservation, we actually realize that path doesn't work. The Lord blesses us to see that when we're trusting in Jesus Christ, we're trusting to choose to rather to suffer with the people of God than enjoy the pleasures of passing sin for a season. That's what Moses saw. In Hebrews chapter 11, Hebrews chapter 11, verse 25. Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 25, speaking about Moses by faith, This is verse 24 and 25, by faith Moses, when he had come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Now he's rejecting the pleasures of this world. He's rejecting the privileges of this world. Verse 25, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God. than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. You see, when we trust in Jesus, we're saying no to something in our trust in Jesus, and we're embracing Christ, and we're also embracing at the same time, identifying with his people, and by identifying with his people, they're suffering. They're suffering. Now, Esther, in her petition before the king, says this in verse four of Esther chapter seven. For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, to perish. And if we'd sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I'd held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage. Now we may read that and think, well, oh, well, thankfully we don't have any kind of slavery in Britain anymore. Praise God for William Wilberforce and the removing of the slave trade. Praise God for that. We may even think there's no longer slavery on the island of Ireland or in Britain or anywhere else. Friends, there's a far worse slavery all around us with invisible bars all around us. People who may seem like the nice people in the world, they are slaves outside of Christ. They don't have, you see, we have to realize what they, what their fate is if they die without Christ. Actually, even before that, what their fate is now, they don't have the joys of Christ. They don't have the beauties of Christ. They don't have eyes to see and ears to hear. And because we've seen Christ, we've seen Him in His glory and His beauty, we want other people to see the same thing, don't we? We want people who are slaves of their sin to be set free. If we saw slaves walking down the street in balaclera and dogue and they've got chains and they're walking side by side, we'd be horrified. We'd probably lose sleep. But there's a far worse slavery to sin. Even this King Ahasuerus was a slave to his own passions, to his own sinful passions. No matter how powerful the king may be in this world, he is still servant of his passions, of what affects him, what drives him. And should we not, when we're pleading before God, if we have the favor of the King of kings and the Lord of lords, far more powerful than the king being mentioned here, should we not, for want of a better phrase, maybe use our influence, pleading before God, oh Lord, save. In my case, my mother and my father do not know the Lord. Oh, please, Lord, save my cousins or save my neighbor who I talk to every day. Give me holy bolus to share the truth with them out of a love for them. If we come by faith to Christ, He will deliver. us from the enemy. He will deliver us from the wrath to come. He will deliver us from death and hell, that death sentence which hangs over. There's a death sentence that hangs over Mordecai and everyone else unless Esther pleads before this king. And because the Lord used this, now the Lord doesn't depend on any of these things, but the Lord used this means, this instrument, to bring about his purposes, to deliver his people, that he would be glorified, not just before his people, but also before the king of kings on the earth at that time, King Ahasuerus. saving the people from death and destruction. If this wicked king answers Esther's petition, will God not answer our petitions? Because I think sometimes when we pray, we can forget God answers prayer. He cares for us. I think we can often forget that. We can think, well, my things are not important. Friends, If God be for us, who can be against us? It says in verses five and six of this text, And the king of Hazarus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he that doth presume in his heart to do so? You see, this wicked king of Hazarus, he's angry, he's like, who would do this to my beloved bride? Now, take the king of kings, who is perfectly holy, most holy, most righteous, most just, most caring, most loving, Won't he answer the prayers, the petitions, the pleading of his bride? Of course he will. Of course he will. In verse six, and Esther said, the adversary, the enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen. These pleadings are not casual by Esther, are they? And it is these types of petitions and pleadings and prayers, earnest prayers, earnest petitions, that are typically answered, not even just by people in the world, but by our God in heaven. Our final point, number three, providing. So pleasing, pleading, and lastly, providing. The King does not just provide deliverance, but also justice. The enemies of the people of God are also the enemies of the king. Do you see how Haman is seen now as the enemy of Hazareth? Verse 7, And the king, arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath, went into the palace garden, and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen, for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king. The wrath of the king. Haman is a condemned man, and he's so afraid, he's now pleading before Esther for his life. But because he has plotted to destroy the people of God, he has become also the enemy of the king. He began his scheming. He looked like, humanly speaking, it would succeed. If he looked at Esther chapter three, oh, the people of God are in trouble. But there is pleading with the king. There is pleading, more importantly, with the great king of kings in Esther chapter four, verses 16 and 17. Go gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan and fast ye for me. This is Esther speaking. And neither eat nor drink three days, night or day. And I will also, my maidens will fast likewise. And so will I go in unto 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 had commanded him. And we see then in Esther chapter 5 that God provided. God provided deliverance. God provided favor in the presence of this king, reaching out his scepter and giving, granting the permission to come into his presence rather than it being the death penalty that it would have She is favoured by the King, and this favour brings provision by the King. The Lord provides for His elect. In Luke chapter 18 verse 7, And shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry out day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them, those who wish to do His bride harm? will eventually, unless they repent and trust in Jesus, they will eventually face the wrath of Almighty God. They won't just face the wrath, they may face a degree of wrath in this world, but it will be for all eternity. We may look and see Haman's around us and we think that they're winning, they're not. They're not. They only think that they're winning. They are in the presence of the banquet. They are enjoying the delicacies of the king in this world to a degree. But they're not pleasing before him and eventually they will be seen to be cast out. Maybe in this world and maybe in the world to come. Do not envy the wicked. Don't envy them. They're the most miserable of creatures. We pray for them, we pity them. We wish for the Lord to pour out his mercy upon them. Because their fate according to the plots which they hope against God's people. If you look at verse 9 of Esther chapter 7, And Harbanah, one of the Chamberlains, said before the king, Behold, also the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon. Do you see what happened? Haman is plotting these gallows to kill Mordecai. What happens with those gallows? They are used to bring about the destruction of Haman himself. If we turn as well to Psalm number seven. Psalm number seven, verses 10 to verse 16, just to look at one or two examples of this. Psalm number seven. And in Psalm number seven says this, we'll read from verse 12 onwards. If he turn not, he will wet his sword. He hath bent his bow and made it ready, and he hath also prepared for him the instruments of death, and ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors. Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood. He made a pit, and digged it, and has fallen into the ditch which he made. The plots of the wicked return upon their own heads. Verse 16, his mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pace, that's his head. Don't fear the plots of the wicked. their plots, their schemings were brought upon their own heads. In Genesis chapter three, verse 15, there's an image of the seed of the woman crushing the head of the serpent. The serpent seeks to lash out at the seed of the woman, seeking to nip at its heel. What ends up happening when it does that? Crushed. under the head, under the feet of Christ. The enemies of Christ, while they may try to impact a victory against the seed of the woman, they will ultimately be crushed under the seed of the woman. And then we see what happens to those who face the wrath of the king in verse 10 of Esther 7. Again, this is the wrath of the king. He's a wicked king, this king of Persia. But he hangs Haman on the gallows which he prepared for Mordecai. And then was the king's wrath pacified. Now, the wrath of our king, the difference is, when our king has wrath, the king of kings and the lord of lords, his wrath is eternal against sin, unchanging against sin. His opposition is unchanging. And his hatred against sin is of infinite value. It can't be pacified with the death of any one single creature. It has to be someone who paid infinite value, infinite worth. Who is that? the Lord Jesus Christ. His death pacified, appeased the wrath of the true King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And friends, if you've trusted in Jesus, His death is yours. You'll never have to die an eternal death. We will face death, all of us, as it's pointed out to man, once to die, and then the judgment. But we'll never face eternal. We'll never face the wrath of God in and through Jesus Christ. So, as we plead for our own lives before God and for the lives of our people, oh, may God be glorified. Do you know the King of Kings? Has he taken the wrath away for your crimes? You see, you must see yourself as a sinner. Haman thought he was doing right. But why did Esther prevail and Haman didn't? Because of the favor of the king. We need the favor of the king. And it only comes one way. There's not a way, there's the way. The truth and the life. If you have not Jesus, you have the same end that Haman has. You need the favor of the King. Amen.