Esther 4:1    "When Mordecai perceived 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 Hatach, 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 Hatach went forth to Mordecai unto 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 shew 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 request before him for her people. And Hatach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.

Again Esther spake unto Hatach, 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 into 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 sceptre, 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 there 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 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."

Chapter 4 of Esther opens with the reaction of Mordecai to what had happened, along with the reaction in every province.

"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."

Notice that there was no call to prayer.

These people were all out of the

will of God.

The decree of Cyrus, prophesied by Isaiah, had permitted them to return to Israel, but these folk did not return. They were out of God’s will, and consequently they made no call to prayer whatsoever. Yet they went through the remainder of the ritual: 

fasting, putting on the sackcloth and ashes, and mourning greatly.

The Jews believed the decree that had gone out from Ahasuerus. It was the law of the Medes and the Persians, which was unalterable according to these historical books and also according to the Book of Daniel. And remember that Xerxes himself, when he had put aside his beautiful queen Vashti, could never take her again because the decree had been made that she was to come no more before the king. Even he could not change his own law after it had been made. So when this decree of death came throughout the empire, the Jews believed it and mourned in sackcloth and ashes.

It was a strange and sad commentary upon the whole human race that, although from the throne of God, there had to come a decree to this world that

"All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23)

and that

"The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23),

there are those today who treat this as if it were not true at all.

The average person we meet on the street will tell us that they do not believe this.

Would it not have been foolish if the Jews in that day had not believed that the decree of death would be enforced?

Yet Almighty God says that about us

" ...  death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Romans 5:12).

And He also says,

"It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Heb. 9:27).

Conspicuously absent today (and the church, I think, is responsible) is conviction concerning sin - not only in the hearts and lives of the unsaved but also in the hearts and lives of so called believers.

The average believer says,

"Yes, I trust Christ,"

but they have no real conviction of sin in their lives at all. It is absent in contemporary church life. When is the last time you heard a sinner, either a saved sinner or a lost sinner, cry out to God for mercy?

At the beginning of my Christian life I used to see a great many tears, and I used to see people cry out to God. I do not see that today. Even in evangelistic crusades where there is a great deal of "coming forward," but there is that lack of weeping over sin in our lives.

Why?

They just don’t believe God means it.

They do not believe that sin merits punishment.

They do not believe that God intends to enforce judgment against sin and against the sinner who holds to it and will not turn to our Lord Jesus.

Mordecai knew and believed the seriousness of the decree.

"When Mordecai perceived 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 bitter cry."

However, Esther, living in safety and seclusion in the queen’s quarters, knew nothing of the decree. She did not realize what was taking place until her maids and her chamberlains came to tell her that her cousin Mordecai was in sackcloth and ashes.

Perhaps she even thought, That’s not a very nice way to show his appreciation for my getting him this very excellent position as judge - by mourning in sackcloth and ashes!

"… 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."

She may even have thought,

I don’t know what the trouble is, but I’m going to send him some colorful clothes.

So she sent him some very ornate cloths.

But Mordecai turned them down.

Why?

Because it wasn’t new clothes that he needed.

Esther, secure in the palace, thought that all in the world Mordecai needed was a new suit of clothes to make him take off the sackcloth and ashes.

But gaudy clothes could not destroy the terrible edict of death.

Mordecai did not regard the clothes as having any part in the grave crisis, so he refused them.

Today there are a great many folk who are wearing gaudy garments.

They refuse to acknowledge their sin even though God has warned them of it.  

They reach out for any garment that might hide from them the reality of their sin.

The fact is, that there are those today who take the position that sin is actually only a mistake or an error. 

There is one word in the Bible for that, hamartano, meaning "to miss the mark." 

It means, actually, to take an arrow, put it in a bow, pull it back, let the arrow fly, but come short of the bull’s-eye. A great many people today think that is the extent of sin. 

It is just to miss the mark. 

It is a mistake, an error. 

We must just say, "Pardon me," and go on. That’s all in the world that sin is, and God has no right to hold us responsible for our mistakes after we have been saved. If we say, "Pardon me," He ought to say, "I pardon you." And that ends it.

There are also those today who take the position that all the human family needs is reformation. There are a great many religions today - a great many cults - that go in for reformation. Many today are falling over each other to get to these Indian gurus. They go to them because they are trying to find some program whereby they can improve themselves, reform themselves, or change themselves. They argue that sinning man has only blundered and needs nothing but the gaudy garments of a few reformation programs.

O for the understanding of Mordecai! 

He knew that only the garments of sackcloth and ashes are proper raiment when facing the reality of sin.

There is another type of garment in which people take refuge: education. 

In the 1920s that was the method. If we would just educate folk, we would get rid of this thing called sin, since it was nothing but selfishness.

Today we know that we need more than education. People cannot be educated away from sin. Right now some of the biggest sinners abroad are carrying Ph.D. degrees.

Then there are those who have attempted to define sin as ignorance. 

That is, since people don’t know the way and must find the way, they must "discover" God. There is a great deal of that going on today. People are attempting to discover God. 

People become religious today because of that. They join the local church, say that they are turning to God, but it is merely an escape mechanism. It is like a life insurance policy. They join the local church to escape from God. 

You may say to me,

"That is very strange reasoning."

But I don’t think so because people find that if they join the church, they became insulated from any type of evangelism. If anyone asked them if they were a Christian, they can immediately say, 

"I’m a Presbyterian," or "I’m a Methodist," or "I’m a Baptist," or "I’m a member of such-and-such a church.  

We can be all of that and not be saved, my beloved. 

These are some of the garments that people have attempted to put on - gaudy garments - but they do not cancel the edict that has come from the throne of God that sin has to be dealt with.

Although the great difference between liberal and conservative theology has been on the doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ and His deity, the final test is our attitude toward sin. 

If we want to know if a person is truly born-again let us ask that person to tell us what they think about sin, and then we will know what that person thinks about our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Because of the impact and influence of liberalism, many people have lost a consciousness of sin. 

The average definition of a so called Christian today is one who lives a respectable life in the community, does good and stays out of jail even though they may well   deserve to be there for a crime they have committed. 

They tell lies, bear false witness concerning that crime, cover their sin, for fear of jail, and so hide the truth. 

To be moralists does not mean that we are Christians. 

We are all sinners in the sight of Holy Righteous and Just God. That is His condemnation. 

And not one of us has anything to present to God for our salvation.

Some do complain, 

"You always emphasize that we are all sinners." 

Yes that is true and the reason that I emphasize that fact is because I find that it is certainly not being emphasized in our society.

All of us have sinned and "come short of the glory of God."

Sin is common to the human family, we all need a Savior.

There is no consciousness of sin.

Sin in many cases is out in the open. 

There is no more disgrace for it. 

Men and woman today boast of the fact that they are homosexual. Boast of the fact that they are living in sin. Boast of the fact that they have babies out of wedlock. Boast of the way the cheat the tax man. Twenty years ago, these folk would not  have opened their mouths on that subject. But sadly today they boast about their sin, then they claim to be forgiven, all the while making light of the marvelous grace of God and trampling upon the Precious Blood of our Lord Jesus.

One today can clearly see that what used to be done in the back yard is now done in the front yard. What used to be done undercover is now being done out in the open. 

People have been sinners right down through the ages,

but it is the consciousness of sin that we have lost today.

Mordecai could have put on the gaudy garments Esther sent to him and he could have ignored the decree that had gone out, but that would not have changed the fact that he was a Jew, that on a certain date he was to die.

He and the rest of the Jews would have been absolutely stupid not to believe it.

The gaudy garments of religion or reformation or education will not cover our nakedness before the 

Holy Presence of Almighty God. 

The fig leaves were not adequate for our first parents; they had to be clothed with that which God provided. 

Not only will Christ forgive our sins, that is if we confess them honestly but He will clothe us with His robe of  righteousness, giving us an eternal standing before Holy God. 

Revelation 19:7-8   "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints."

This will be the most thrilling experience that true believers will ever have. The church - that is, the body of believers all the way from Pentecost to the Rapture - will be presented to Christ one day as a bride for a marriage. The marriage will take place in heaven, and this is a heavenly scene throughout.

In Ephesians 5 the apostle Paul speaks about the husband and wife relationship when both are believers. He is speaking of those who are filled with the Spirit and of the relationships that flow from it. We cannot have a Christian home without a Spirit-filled husband and a Spirit-filled wife. In fact, I do not believe that we can even know what real love is until both marriage partners are true believers. 

Notice apostle Paul’s instructions: 

"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Ephesians 5:25–27). 

This is the picture of the relationship of our Lord Jesus and the church.

We today are living in a day of "new" morality. 

Our contemporary society is drenched with sex.

Christians or shall I rather say so called Christians have unlawful sex relations and then claim to be Christian even thou they continue to live in sin.

Ephesians 5:25–27  is a picture of that day when Christ is going to draw us to Himself, cleansed and purified.

Romans 6:1-6   "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?  God forbid. 

How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."

"Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law" (Romans 3:31).

David broke the Law. And yet God saved him.

How?

God saved him by faith. 

David trusted God and believed God. 

Even in his sin, he came in genuine  confession to God. We have the psalms he wrote to prove that the Holy Spirit produced godly sorrow in his heart for his sin and 

God accepted him and saved him by faith.

Today, my dear reader, when you and I will take the position that we are indeed  sinners and come to God and trust Christ as our Savior - regardless of who we are, where we are, how we are or when we are - God will save us. For God today has put man on one basis and one basis alone. 

His question is, what will you do with My Son who died for you on the cross?

"What think ye of Christ?" is the test,
To try both your state and your scheme;
You cannot be cannot be right in the rest
Unless you think rightly of Him.
As Jesus appears in your view—
As He is beloved or not—
So God is disposed to you,
And mercy or wrath is your lot.

Some take Him a creature to be—
A man, or an angel at most;
But they have not feelings like me,
Nor know themselves wretched and lost;
So guilty, so helpless am I,
I durst not confide in His blood
Nor on His protection rely,
Unless I were sure He is God.

Some call Him a Saviour in word,
But mix their own works with His plan;
And hope He His help will afford
When they have done all that they can:
If doings prove rather too light
(Admitting their efforts may fail),
They purpose to make up full weight
By casting His Name in the scale.

Some call Him "the pearl of great price"
And say He's the fountain of joys;
Yet feed upon folly and vice,
And cleave to the world and its toys;
Like Judas the Saviour they kiss,
And while they salute Him, betray;
O what will profession like this
Avail in His terrible day?

If asked what of Jesus I think,
Tho' still my best thoughts are but poor,
I'll say He's my meat and my drink,
My life, and my strength, and my store!
My husband, my trust and my friend,
My Saviour from sin and death's gall,
My hope from beginning to end,
My portion, my Lord, and my all.

Words: John Newton 1725-1807. 

Lord I give You all the Glory and Praise for this remarkable man John whom You raised up for our edification.

If you are not yet saved dear reader then may I beseech you in Christ Jesus to invite Him to come into your life.

CHRIST JESUS IS THE MERCY SEAT.

GOD,  IS HOLDING HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON,  OUT TO YOU TODAY.

Jesus is standing in Pilots hall,  

Tempted,  Forsaken, Betrayed by all.

Harken what meaneth the sudden call,  

What will you do with Jesus?

What will you do with Jesus?  

Neutral you cannot be,

One day your  heart will be asking

WHAT WILL HE DO,  WITH ME? 

Thanks: Beloved of our Lord Jesus Christ Losinda.

Will you please right now receive Christ to be your Saviour dear reader?

Dear reader do not take the garments which the world offers.

Only Christ's robe of righteousness can cover our sin 

before Holy and Just, Loving God.

Mordecai sent a message back to Queen Esther saying,

"The reason that I am in sackcloth and ashes is that our people, you and I, have come under an awful decree of death." 

Redemption Oh Wonderful Story -

Glad message for you and for me;
That Jesus has purchased our pardon,
And paid all the debt on the tree.

Chorus.

Believe it, O sinner, believe it;
Receive the glad message - ’tis true;
Trust now in the crucified Savior,
Salvation He offers to you.

From death unto life He has brought us,
And made us by grace sons of God;
A fountain is opened for sinners;
Oh, wash and be cleansed in the blood!

No longer shall sin have dominion,
Though present to tempt and annoy;
For Christ, in His blessed redemption,
The power of sin shall destroy.

Accept now God’s offer of mercy;
To Jesus, oh hasten today;
For He will receive him that cometh,
And never will turn him away.

Amen!

 

 

And Esther sent back a message to him to this effect,

"That’s too bad. I’m sorry to hear it. I didn’t know about it before." 

And she adds, 

"… but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days" (see Ester 4:11). 

That is to say,

"I do not know his attitude toward me - and you know what the law is."

As was the case in every kingdom of that day, anyone who dared go into the presence of the king without being summoned would be summarily and automatically put to death, unless the king extended his golden sceptre to him. Ahasuerus was noted for his fits of temper; he could have put his queen to death if she had gone in without being called. 

So Esther sent word back to Mordecai, 

"If I go in, it may mean death to me."

Then Mordecai sent her this memorable message:

"… Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews" (Ester 4:13). 

"Just because you happen to be the queen does not exempt you from the execution, because it will reach every Jew in the kingdom, and it will reach you also."

Mordecai went on to say,

"For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place …" (Ester 4:14). 

Someday when I see Mordecai (and I do expect and long to see him), I would like to ask him what he had in mind when he said that deliverance would arise from another place. I have thought this over, and I ask you the question: 

What other place was there to which they could turn? 

Where could deliverance have come to them except from God? 

God was their only hope at this time.

And I am confident that Mordecai had that in mind when he said, 

"If you don’t move, then deliverance will come from another place."

God would move in another way.

Mordecai must have known that deliverance would come because he was acquainted with the promises that God had made Abraham. He challenged his cousin, 

"who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (Ester 4:14).

We begin to see God by Providence moving in the affairs of the nation. 

It is obvious that Esther did not accidentally win the beauty contest.

She was not accidentally the one who became queen. 

She was in her position for a very definite purpose, and God had arranged it.

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

What a challenge was given to this young woman, and God used her. 

If she had not moved, God would have moved in a different direction.

But she was put there for God's Purpose.

Have you ever noticed how the hand of God has moved in the affairs of this world and that "at such a time as this" God has brought certain ones to the kingdom? 

Let us look at several of them. 

Abraham was called of God in a day when the whole world seemed to be departing from God as it had in the days of Noah. 

God called this man to move out, and through him He brought the Only Savior into the world. He came to the kingdom for such a time as that. 

Moses was a man who stood in the gap. He was the one God raised up at a particular time to be the deliverer of His people. 

Then there was David. 

While Saul, Satan’s man, was plunging the nation into sin and idolatry,

God was training a shepherd boy to be the king. 

David came to the kingdom for such a time as that.

John the Baptist, a solo voice crying in the wilderness, the first voice lifted in God’s behalf after a silence of four hundred years, was called to the kingdom for such a time as that.

Saul of Tarsus was a brilliant young man who hated Christ and the church, but God all the time was training him, for he came to the kingdom for such a time.

Can you remember the day that Hitler came into power? 

Can you remember when he was having victory after victory, and he overran France? 

He was moving into Russia; he was moving through North Africa. But God raised up a Christian general by the name of Montgomery. 

He is the one who started the wave that halted the progress of this awful Nazi horde.

That ought to make us wake up and become alert.

I often wonder if somewhere out in the desert of this world God may be training some young person. 

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if God would raise up a young person today through whom He could bring real revival?

Nothing is impossible with God. 

I believe that God, by His providence, could be training and bringing up someone "for such a time as this."

This is an hour when God’s people must pray very earnestly that He will set apart a person for clear and powerful leadership in a revival, for revival can come to us through a chosen human instrument. 

I feel so sure that we can ask God for such a person at such a time in which we live today.

Naturally, some are going to say, 
"Yes, but you are speaking of great folk. We are little people, and God does not move in our affairs like that."

Oh, but we can all be great in prayer and faithful in giving out the Inspired Word in our small sphere. 

Think of the Scottish minister (whose name we do not even know) who gave his report to the elders at the end of one year. They had prayer and great heart-searching and concluded that the year had been a complete failure. There had been only one conversion: wee Bobby Moffat. Can you imagine having the privilege of humbly leading to Christ such a man as Robert Moffat, the great missionary to Africa? 

That was the greatest work for God that minister ever did; yet he confessed it as his greatest failure.

Our God moves strangely in the affairs of this world.

Too few of us are concerned about fitting our lives into God’s great plan and purpose. 

"Thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this."

Listen to Queen Esther.

She is now every inch a queen. She says simply, 

"… if I perish, I perish" (Ester 4:16). 

What a statement! 

How noble she has become.

Her statement reminds us of Another who said,

"For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).

Our Lord Jesus Christ also said,

"… I lay down My life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again …" (John 10:17-18). 

This One came to our earth; He gave His life a ransom for many. 

He came from heaven’s glory to perish - to die upon the cruel cross  so that you and I might be saved. 

Beloved reader, there is One who loves you and He vaulted the battlements of heaven, came down to this dark earth, and took upon Himself our human flesh. 

He, who is the spotless Lamb of God was made sin for us.

He was wounded for our transgressions,
He bore our sins in His body on the tree;
For our guilt He gave us peace,
From our bondage gave release,
And with His stripes,
and with His stripes,
And with His stripes our souls are healed.

He was numbered among transgressors,
We did esteem Him forsaken by His God;
As our sacrifice He died,
That the law be satisfied,
And all our sin,
and all our sin,
And all our sin was laid on Him.

We had wandered, we all had wandered
Far from the fold of "the Shepherd of the sheep"
But He sought us where we were,
On the mountains bleak and bare,
And bro't us home,
and bro't us home,
And bro't us safely home to God.

Who can number His generation?
Who shall declare all the triumphs of His Cross?
Millions, dead, now live again,
Myriads follow in His train!
Victorious Lord,
victorious Lord,
Victorious Lord and coming King!

Hallelujah!

Bless our Lord Jesus forever and ever.

Thought provoking words by: Bless Lord Jesus for Thomas O. Chisholm, 1866-1960 

Special Thanks and All Praise to our God for: SermonAudio.com

Amen!

Our Lord Jesus Christ didn’t say, like Ester 

"If I perish, I perish." 

He said,

"I came to give my life a ransom for many."

Jesus, my Lord will love me forever,
From Him no pow'r of evil can sever,
He gave His life to ransom my soul;
Now I belong to Him;

Once I was lost in sin's degradation,
Jesus came down to bring me salvation,
Lifted me up from sorrow and shame,
Now I belong to Him;

Joy floods my soul for Jesus has saved me,
Freed me from sin that long had enslaved me
His precious blood, He came to redeem,
Now I belong to Him;

Hallelujah!

Amen!

Do you belong to Him dear reader?

Please do not delay in making a decision to receive Christ.

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