Jason Dohm's sermon titled 'All on the Line' focuses on the pivotal moment in Esther Chapter 4 where Mordecai and Esther face a critical decision amid a decree to annihilate the Jews. This chapter is seen as the climax of the book, showcasing Mordecai's public protest and risk-taking as he mourns the decree in sackcloth and ashes. Nehemiah's similar reaction to distress in Jerusalem is used to illustrate the deep connection to God's people shared by both Mordecai and Nehemiah. Esther, initially disconnected from the plight of her people, is urged by Mordecai to recognize her crucial role, suggesting that her position as queen may have been divinely orchestrated for this moment. Esther's eventual decision to approach the king, risking her life, demonstrates her faith and courage. The sermon emphasizes the importance of recognizing significant moments, standing up for God's people, and the power of prayer and fasting, while acknowledging God's sovereignty and faithfulness to His promises.

The title of the sermon this morning is, All on the Line. And it's because for both Mordecai and Esther, the time to stand up and be counted for the people of God to shrink back into the shadows has come. This is really the climax of the book in my mind because the critical decisions are made. The end of the chapter of the people of God are still in jeopardy, but circumstances have really turned a corner by the end of the chapter. So even though there are ten chapters, I think this is really sort of the pivotal chapter of the book.

Where are we in the book of Esther? Well, in chapter 1, we met Ahasuerus, the king of kings, and his wife Vashti. We saw the 187 days of luxurious fasting of the king showing off and then desiring to show off his queen that she had other ideas. And she ends up banished. She'll never be able to go into his presence again.

In chapter 2, we met Mordecai and Esther, two Jews living in the shadow of the palace. And she's actually caught up in this search for a new queen, a better queen, actually a more compliant queen. Someone who is lovely of face and of form, as the text puts it, but who will also come when the king calls. That is an essential criteria. In chapter 3 we meet the last main character who is Haman the Agagite.

And that he is an Agagite means that there is a 1, 000 year history here. He is an Amelikite. He is a descendant of King Agag, who Samuel the prophet hacked to death before the Lord. This king was hacked to death as an act of worship in obedience to what God has said. Now we come to chapter 4.

The decree at the end of chapter 3 has been made that The Jews are to be annihilated on the 11th month on the 13th day, 11 months from the time of the decree. In chapter 4, we get how Mordecai and Esther and the Jews react to this decree that they are to be wiped off the face of the earth. It goes without saying that this is a huge moment. In my life, in your life, you might have a couple of them. You might just have a couple of really sort of life changing, life shaping events.

You'll only have one or two or maybe three if you have a very eventful life. But this is theirs. This is that moment in the life of Mordecai and Esther. And the question for us and the question for them is what will you do when you come to the edge of what looks like a cliff? What will you do then?

Well as for Mordecai and Esther, they recognize the moment. And that's actually huge. Recognizing when the huge moments are is really half the battle. In that moment, they turn to God. You see both Mordecai and Esther turning to God in this chapter.

They risk it all. They don't play it safe. Mordecai doesn't play it safe in Esther chapter 4. Esther doesn't play it safe in Esther chapter 4. They put it all on the line.

They risk everything. So I think this is what makes Esther chapter 4 so helpful to us. To know that a time may be coming for us where the choice will be either to stand up and be counted for the people of God or to shrink back into the shadows. And our call from God at times is to risk it all. To just put it all on the line, out of duty, out of simple faithfulness to God.

That is what is before us in this text. Let's go to the Lord in prayer, ask Him to help us. God, I have a very particular prayer this morning. I pray that you would keep us from half-hearted lives that never risk anything. I trust that everyone here feels our inclination towards half-heartedness and our aversion towards putting it all on the line for your kingdom.

And yet we know from your Word that this is not how the people of God should be, that our faith should be more than that. Our faith should mean more in our lives and our decision making than that. So God please keep us far from a half-hearted life that never risks anything. May we venture much to stand with your people and to proclaim Christ in this world that is at war with you. I pray that you would use this chapter to do these things in our lives in Jesus' name.

Amen. I'm going to break the chapter up this week and I'd like to begin by rereading Esther chapter 4 verses 1-3 and then just looking at these verses. Esther 4, follow along as I read 1-3. When Mordecai learned all that had happened, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes and went out into the midst of the city. He cried out with a loud and bitter cry.

He went as far as the front of the king's gate, for no one might enter the king's gate clothed with sackcloth. And in every province where the king's command and decree arrived, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes." Here in verses 1-3 we have Mordecai's reaction. So if you're taking notes on the handout and you're filling in blanks. The blank is reaction. Mordecai's reaction.

Mordecai learns of the decree and he's a broken man. This is what we see in these verses. He's overcome by grief, but it is not private grief. Are you following with the text here? Verse 1, it says, he went out into the midst of the city.

He went out where all the activity is. And verse 2 says, as far as the front of the king's gate, Mordecai goes and he plants himself as close to the powers that be as he can legally do. He goes right to the threshold of the King's Gate. It may very well be that he goes there so that he is sure that word makes it to Esther. I actually think that's what's happening.

That's speculation, but I hope that it's sanctified speculation. It seems like he wants to make sure that word gets to Esther. So he's a broken man. He's grieving, but it is not private grief. It is very public grief.

Mordecai intends it to be that way. And the expression of his grief engages the senses. He's crying out with a loud and bitter cry. And he's not wearing normal attire. He's wearing sat cloth and ashes, which is what you would see throughout the Old Testament.

When the Lord's people are broken and grieving, they change their clothes. They put on sackcloth and they take ashes and they sprinkle the ashes on their heads like the world has burned down. They're communicating by what they're wearing. If you lived in Shushan, your ears would be telling you something's up. It is not business as usual in the capital today.

If you lived in Shushan, your eyes would be telling you Something's up. This guy's in sackcloth and ashes, and he's just crying out with a loud voice. You wouldn't be able to avoid this even if you wanted to. And so what we have before us is an act of public protest. So is he broken?

Yes, he's broken. Is he grieving? Yes, he's grieving. But this unmistakably is an act of public protest, right up to the King's Gate. It would be like, what in the modern day is sort of like this, a hunger strike would sort of be like this.

It's to draw attention, like something is not right. I'm going to put myself out there because something is not right. This is not a man who is taking this lying down. Mordecai is not a man who is taking the decree that the Jews are to be wiped off of the face of the earth, lying down. He is taking great risk.

Please don't have on your American glasses and look at Mordecai through your American glasses. It just won't do. You won't understand. Remember, the Empire owns you. If you are pretty and the King is looking for a wife, the empire will just sweep you up into the house of the women and prepare you for a year.

And then you'll have your night with the king. You'll have no say over that. If the king needs a servant, but he wants a servant, he can trust around the women. And so he's got to alter you physically so you'll be safe around the women. He'll just take you and alter you physically and say I'm going to now train you in the languages.

This is what happened to Daniel and Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego. The Empire owns you. There's no First Amendment right to free speech that's protecting Mordecai right outside the King's gate. He hasn't violated the law yet, but the law can change when the king says it changes. There's not a legislative process here.

If the king says, get rid of him, they get rid of him. So all that Mordecai is doing in these initial verses is at great personal risk. Here's a question for you. Is it conceivable, is it any way conceivable that Haman doesn't know about this? Meaning, Mordecai's out in the midst of the city comes right to the gate and he's crying out with a loud voice and he's wearing sackcloth and ashes.

Is there one possibility in a thousand that Haman doesn't know all of that. And I want to submit to you, no, there's not one chance in a thousand. If Esther hears about it, Haman knows about it. Haman, his arch enemy, Haman who, because of Mordecai's affront, wants to wipe out the whole race to even an ancient score. Now I'd like us to consider two things from the book of Nehemiah.

So please turn to Nehemiah. Nehemiah is right before Esther, so it won't be hard. You don't have to turn many pages. Nehemiah chapter 1. There are a couple of things in the early chapters of Nehemiah that help us understand what we see in Esther chapter 4.

So I want you to see them. I'll start by reading Nehemiah chapter 1 verses 1 through 4. Follow along. The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. It came to pass in the month of Chislev in the twentieth year as I was in Shushan, the citadel, that Hanani, one of my brethren, came with men from Judah.

And I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, the survivors who are left from the captivity in the province, are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down and its gates are burned with fire. So it was when I heard these words that I sat down and wept and mourned for many days. I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

Now first let's talk about the chronology. In the Bible you encounter the book of Nehemiah before you encounter the book of Esther. But chronologically they're exactly the opposite of that. Esther chapter 4 where we are actually happens almost exactly 30 years. It's probably 29 years.

So the chronology is Esther chapter 4 happens first, it's 474 BC, and Nehemiah chapter 1 probably happens in 445 BC, so that gets you to 29 or 30 years. And so Nehemiah, his brother and others come from Jerusalem and Nehemiah asks them how things are in Judah. And he gets a report of the people being in great distress, The walls are broken down and the gates are burned. Nehemiah becomes a broken man at the news that he receives. He sits down and he weeps and he mourns for many days and he fasts and he prays before the God of heaven.

I just want to submit to you, this helps us understand what happened 30 years earlier when Mordecai heard the decree. These are men with a like heart. They have the same disposition towards God and they have the same disposition towards the people of God. When the people of God are hard pressed and distressed, then they are themselves broken and distressed themselves. In 1 John chapter 4, John the author says that those who love God love the brethren.

It's a mark. It's a mark of being in relationship with God. It's that you love the people of God. And John actually argues the opposite too. That if you don't love the people of God, it is a sure sign that you are not in relationship with God.

You cannot know God and not also love His people. So there is more going on here in Esther chapter 4 than just self-preservation. In fact, what we see from Mordecai cannot be self-preservation. To look out for number one, what does that phrase mean when you hear looking out for number one? It means looking out for yourself.

I'm number one. I'm number one. So looking out for number one means looking out for me. Clearly Mordecai is not doing this. It is not in Mordecai's best interest to go out in the midst of the city in sackcloth and ashes and to cry out with a loud and bitter cry.

Not in his best interest. There's more that's happening here than self-interest, much more. These are men in Mordecai in Esther chapter 4, and Nehemiah in Nehemiah chapter 1, men who are in relationship with God and so they have the heart of God towards the people of God. And when the people of God are hard pressed then they are broken men and they are in distress. Now look in Nehemiah chapter 2.

Hopefully you stayed in Nehemiah. I'd like to read Nehemiah chapter 2 verses 1 through 3. And this helps us to understand why Mordecai can't go past the gate. He can come up to the gate but no further. Nehemiah chapter 2 verses 1 through 3.

Follow along. And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, this would be our kings and Esther's son Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. Therefore the king said to me, why is your face sad since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.

So I became dreadfully afraid and said to the king, may the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my father's tomb lies waste and its gates are burned with fire. Remember our study of Nehemiah. Nehemiah is the cupbearer to the king. So this is not kitchen help.

This is actually one of the most trusted servants of the king. And so he would maybe be as close as the king would have to a friend. This would be someone who he was close to. He trusted implicitly. And so there's close relationship here.

And yet when the king detects that he is sad in his presence, and he mentions it, what happens to Nehemiah? Nehemiah is glad. Now the king knows that I'm troubled in my heart. No. He's terrified because you're not allowed to be that way in the presence of the King.

The King is a great King. The King is a King of Kings. And all he has are happy subjects because he is such a good King. This is how it works. This is how it works.

Here is what Frederick Bush of the World Biblical Commentary says, No lament or sackcloth and ashes must be allowed to disturb the King's merry world of Ostentatious pleasure. That's what's happening here. I don't rain on the king's parade. The king is to have an endless parade. Everyone who comes into his presence is under instructions to be cheerful.

Mordecai is not cheerful, And Nehemiah is not cheerful either. Back to Esther chapter 4. Mordecai is also not alone. Of course he's not alone. This decree goes into 127 provinces, and each of those provinces has some level of Jewish population.

When word comes there of the decree, we see in the second half of verse 3, what happens? There was great mourning among the Jews with fasting, weeping, and wailing, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes. It's really a repeat of what we have heard about Mordecai. All the Jews everywhere are responding in brokenness and distress. There's a universal response, but there's one exception.

There's a universal response. Mordecai and the Jews, we already saw that Even the general population of Shushan are perplexed. That's how the last chapter ended. Verse 4. Here's the exception.

Esther chapter 4 verse 4. So Esther's maids and Eunuchs came and told her and the queen was deeply distressed. Then she sent garments to clothe Mordecai and to take his sackcloth away from him, but he would not accept them. Here in verse 4 we get Esther's reaction. In verses 1-3 we had Mordecai's reaction.

Now we get Esther's reaction. Esther hears that Mordecai is outside the gates crying out and dressed in sackcloth and ashes. It says that she is deeply distressed. The NASB renders what we have as deeply distressed as she writhed in great anguish. Both of them are really sound translations, but the NASB is significantly more dramatic.

She arrived in great anguish. If you look at the lexicon of these Hebrew words that are being rendered. The more dramatic rendering is actually good and helpful. It really is. It's clear from the next verse, we're not there yet, I don't want to make a point from it anyway, it's clear from the next verse that she doesn't know why he is in sackcloth and ashes.

She just knows that he is in sackcloth and ashes. Her reaction isn't to the decree that the Jews are to be wiped off the face of the earth, her reaction and an action of significant anguish, writhing in anguish, her reaction is simply knowing that Mordecai is outside the gate dressed this way and acting this way. Mordecai is essentially her adopted father. This is what we learned in chapter 2. When her parents died, Mordecai, a cousin, but an older cousin, took her in and treated her as his own daughter.

So there's tenderness here between them. In chapter 2 verse 11, when she's been swept up into consideration to be the queen, we find Mordecai pacing every day outside the house of the women, looking for news, listening for news of Esther. And now when Esther hears that Mordecai is a broken man, she is greatly distressed herself. So get this, Mordecai's reaction is to the decree of annihilation. Esther's reaction is simply to the condition of Mordecai.

Why is that? It's because Esther has become disconnected. We see in the early verses of Esther chapter 4, a disconnected Esther. And it's not malicious, but it's also not insignificant. Now Here's the picture.

Mordecai knows about the decree, and this has thrown him into going into the city in sackcloth and ashes and crying out. And everywhere in the empire that the news has gone, the decree has gone, the Jews are essentially doing the same thing. In verse 3 it says that they're wailing. Is Esther fasting and weeping? No.

Because ignorance is bliss. Right? I'm not arguing that Esther has a good life. I'm not arguing that in the palace, that she likes it. But she does have a disconnected life.

She does have a pampered life. She's not living the life of her people here in the early verses of Esther chapter 4. At Mordecai's bidding, remember this, at Mordecai's bidding she has carefully concealed her identity and this is where it has led. No one has even bothered to inform her because they don't even know she's a Jewess. She doesn't know.

So all the Jews in the kingdom are in an uproar. And Esther is just looking to relieve the anguish, whatever it might be, of Mordecai or adopted father. Now to verses 14. This is a longer section. So follow along as I re-read Esther 4, 5 through 14.

Then Esther called Hayfack, one of the king's eunuchs whom he had appointed to attend her, and she gave him a command concerning Mordecai to learn what and why this was. So Hayfack went out to Mordecai in the city square that was in front of the king's gate. And Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king's treasuries to destroy the Jews. He also gave him a copy of the written decree for the destruction which was given at Shushan. That he might show it to Esther and explain it to her and that he might command her to go into the king to make supplication to him and to plead before him for her people.

So Hathak returned and told Esther the words of Mordecai. Then Esther spoke to Hathak and gave him a command for Mordecai. All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court of the king, who has not been called, he has but one law. Put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live. Yet I myself have not been called to go into the king these thirty days." So they told Mordecai Esther's words, And Mordecai told them to answer Esther, Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king's palace any more than all the other Jews.

For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place. But you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this. Here in verses 5 through 14 we have the indirect interactions between Esther and Mordecai. So if you're filling in blanks on the handout, if that's how you're taking your notes today, it's indirect interactions.

The indirect interactions between Esther and Mordecai. There are three interactions here. Indirect interactions just means that they're not speaking face to face. They're having to rely on intermediaries because Mordecai does not have access to the housing of the women. The first interaction is in verses 5 through 9.

Before it was the maids and eunuchs who were sent to Mordecai to take him clothes and to take his sackcloth. And he refused that. Now it's Hathak who is a eunuch. But the point is he's a trusted servant. Now messages are being passed back and forth.

And so she summons a trusted servant. That's what I read into this. That's why it's him. And his mission is this, to learn what and why. Before it was just put on some clothes, like enough with the sackcloth.

Now He's on a learning mission. What is causing you such distress? Why are you in this distress? And Hathak finds Mordecai right in front of the king's gate. We don't know how much time has passed, but the sense of it is, Mordecai is not budging.

Mordecai is not going to be quiet. Mordecai is not going to take good clothes for his sackcloth. No trade, no deal. Mordecai is not budging. He's going to stay outside the king's gate and cry out, make his distress known, and appeal.

Use every leverage point he can to advocate for the people of God. Mordecai tells Hathak all that he knows, and we find out he knows a lot. He gives Hathak a copy of the written decree, which probably wouldn't have been hard to come by. And he tells them the amount of money that Haman promised to put into the king's treasury, which would have been information, hard to come by, I'm sure. He knows that Haman has said, I'll put 10, 000 talents of silver into the treasury if you'll annihilate the Jews We continue to see that Mordecai is connected isn't that what we've already seen at the end of chapter 2 There's a plot to assassinate the king now.

You don't advertise that. Mordecai was significantly in the know, connected, in the palace gate. He's actually saved the king from an assassination plot because he knows a lot. And again, he knows a lot about what people are telling the king. Mordecai gives instructions to Hathak.

Show her this decree. Explain it. Make sure that she knows exactly what is happening and command her to go to the king to plead for her people. As her adoptive father, Mordecai is using every ounce of influence he has to advocate for the people of God. He is pushing all of his chips into the middle of the table.

Every way he can advocate for the Lord's people he is doing. The second interaction is this in verses 10-12. Having heard all this from Hathak, having seen the decree with their own eyes, and having had all this explained, Esther sends word to Mordecai. And notice it, she doesn't refuse, she doesn't say I will not go to the king. She says, she appeals to his knowledge of kingdom protocol.

Mordecai, everyone knows this. Again, Mordecai sits in the king's gate. What did I say that meant last week? He's in the service of the king. He is an official.

She's saying even commoners in the outer rim of the empire know that if you come without being summoned, there's only one law, you die. And life can be granted only on an exception basis. In other words, the king has to go out of his way to let you live if you come without being summoned. And she sends to Mordecai a key piece of information that he would not have known. I haven't seen the king in at least 30 days.

The king hasn't called for me in the last 30 days. Again, you cannot look at this through American lenses. It's unfathomable, it's unthinkable that a husband would not see his wife, speak to his wife for 30 days, but this king is drowning in concubines. He has lots of choices. And the question for her has to be, especially at this moment, where life is granted on an exception basis.

Am I out of favor? Is the king ever going to summon me again? And she has history here right? Why is she queen? Because Vashti was a little bit insolent and I think that's the right way to describe what Vashti was.

She was a little bit insolent and that was the end of it for Vashti. Remember, what is Esther to the king? Trophy wife. She's the queen because she was beautiful at face and form and so he loved her more than the rest. She is not his trusted advisor.

I hope in the marriages in the room that we have no context for this, that our wives are our most trusted advisors. If we need good counsel, the first place we go is to our wives. This is how it should be. That's not how it is with a has-you-where-us in Esther. And so she lacks confidence that she's even in favor and she has dated to support that since.

She hasn't been called for in 30 days. And so She really wants there to be another way that the Jews could be saved. This reminds me of Moses in Exodus chapter 3 and 4. Moses is standing before the burning bush and God is telling him, I'm sending him. What does Moses say repeatedly until God gets angry?

He actually repeats it enough that God says, enough! What does he say? I'm not the right guy. I am not the man for this job. I don't speak well.

They won't believe me. Sin someone else. We're seeing this same thing in Esther chapter 4. So Esther is in good company. In fact, even Jesus in Gethsemane says something similar to this.

Jesus is about to be made sin. The holy God who has never known any sin is about to be made sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Even Jesus faced with this is desiring that there would be another way. There was no other way, and he goes to the cross. This is so true of us.

Our duty is clear. We know what obedience requires, but we often want to be excused from it. Our faith is small, and we are afraid, and we feel inadequate. By the way, I'm not saying that any of those things is true of Jesus. I'm just saying, in Matthew 26 and Gethsemane, it's clear that Jesus is desiring that there would be another way and there's not, and He obeys.

But for Moses and for Esther and for me, my faith is small and I'm afraid. And I feel inadequate to the task. There's this mixture of all these things that can very easily lead to disobedience, to a shirking of clear duty. So Esther is probing. Is there another way?

Please excuse me. The third interaction Excuse me. The third interaction is in verses 13 and 14. And Mordecai's message back to Esther is this. Don't imagine you are safer if you keep quiet.

A thought that you're safer keeping quiet is fantasy. Your life is in grave danger either way, And isn't that true? Haman's in and out of the palace too. And people are starting to know. People already know there's a connection between Esther and Mordecai.

Remember when the assassination plot was uncovered, Mordecai told Esther and Esther told the king and that the information came from Mordecai so that he would be credited with it. That's going to be important in the story. So people already know the connection. So Mordecai is not prophetic here. It's obvious.

It's obvious. Think of Daniel and the lion's den. Daniel and the lion's den. What transpired there? The king, Darius, makes a decree of the Persians and the Medes so it cannot be revoked once it's given.

Just like here in Esther. And Daniel violates it, is found to have violated it, And the king wants a way out. The king wants a way out. The king values Daniel. He's second in command in the kingdom.

And he doesn't want to put Daniel in the lion's den, but even the king of the empire is out of options because the law of the Persians and the Medes is irrevocable. By the way, chronologically, Daniel has already happened. If you keep quiet, Esther, you will die, and your father's line will end. I think that's what's being said here. There's some debate among the commentators of what that means.

Some commentators, I think, read too much into it, say he's pronouncing the judgment of God on her. I don't think it needs to mean that or has to mean that at all. I think it could be as simple as, you're going to die in the palace. People know. You might be at most risk because you're in the palace.

And if you die, you're the end of the line. Which makes sense. This would be why Mordecai became her adopted father. Because there was no one else. The end of Esther is the end of her father's line.

I think that's what it means. It could mean other things, but there's no need to speculate beyond that. And that will be your end. If that comes to pass, if the decree goes forward, and you remain quiet, and you die, that will be your end, but it will not be the Jews end. God will raise up relief and deliverance from somewhere else.

From where else? Mordecai? I don't know. I just know God is faithful. I just know God keeps His promises.

I have no idea where the relief and the deliverance would come from. I just know it is in the character of God to keep His promises. I think Mordecai knows there are promises that have not yet been fulfilled, and it's unthinkable to this man that God wouldn't keep His promises. In 2 Peter 1 verse 4, Peter says that God has given His people exceedingly great and precious promises. I think Mordecai has the exceedingly great and precious promises of God in view.

And there's no need to name them. You can think of just the Messianic prophecies alone is enough to know that God has made promises that He's not yet kept. And So it is impossible that the Jews would be annihilated. Mordecai knows that God has been and is a promise maker and has been and is a promise keeper. So relief and deliverance is coming from one way or the other.

Finally, Mordecai connects the dots. What dots? Hey, Esther, You're queen. We never desired for you to be queen. We never wanted you to be queen.

We even probably abhorred the process by which you became queen. But now you're queen. And over here, the Jews are under the decree to be wiped off of the face of the earth. And Mordecai connects the dots. These are not random points to Mordecai.

That he sees, maybe God did this because of this. Maybe God preemptively, as we've discussed in weeks past, preemptively before any threat came to the Jews, already the plan for their deliverance was in place. God preemptively did this because of this. Mordecai connects the dots. You became queen.

We didn't want it. We even hated the process. But now you're queen and now we can see God was at work in order to bring relief and deliver his people. Mordecai recognizes God's fingerprints. Remember, the book of Esther is nothing like the book of Exodus.

This is from the introduction sermon. Exodus is all thunder and lightning, voices, pillars of cloud by day and pillars of fire by night. Esther, God's name is never mentioned once. And yet God is on every page of both books. With the thunder and lightning and without.

What was it that Joseph said about being sold into slavery? This would have happened centuries and centuries earlier. What did he say? Genesis 50 verse 20. You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring it about as it is this day to save many people alive.

Esther could say exactly the same thing that Joseph said. Joseph years later, reflecting back on his brother, selling him into slavery, said, You meant it for evil. God was doing something. Joseph connected the dots too. God was doing something.

God was putting resources for His people in place a decade in advance of a famine. You thought you were making an end of me, but God was actually saving you and everyone you know. Esther could say exactly the same thing that Joseph said in Genesis 50 verse 20. Listen to this note from the Reformation Heritage Study Bible. This is Joel Beeke and team.

The Reformation Heritage Study Bible has this note. His confidence, Mordecai's confidence in God's providence, did not make him passive. So in our text we have an expression of confidence in God. If you keep quiet, God will raise up relief and deliverance from somewhere else. I don't know where else.

I just know God keeps his promises. So that's his declaration of God's faithfulness. But his confidence in God's Providence did not make him passive, however, but energized him to call Esther to act decisively for her people. Believing that God is in control never excuses us from using our position and abilities for the good of his people. Instead, it gives us hope that God has put us here for that very purpose, and will therefore give success to our efforts to serve his cause.

Exactly! Exactly! People who believe in the faithfulness of God don't use it as an excuse to do nothing. They receive confidence that God has put them there in that time, in that place to work in and through them for the deliverance of his people. It's not separate from the sovereignty of God.

It's part of the providence of God. Now a hyper Calvinist would say, I don't have to do anything. God will just do it another way. Hyper-Calvinism, by the way, is not all the way to Calvin. It's Calvin and then way beyond Calvin.

It's a view of sovereignty that Calvin never articulated. And so a hyper-Calvinist would say, the Great Commission, we don't have to engage in that because God is sovereign. He'll do it anyway. Calvin, if he were here, would argue, That's not the point. What does that have to do with anything?

Our view of sovereignty should make us the boldest evangelist because people who have embraced that view go saying, God put me here today. I am God's man on the spot. And because God has put me here, I should have every confidence that God is going to bring people to preach to. And that this is part of his plan to work redemptively in their life. Otherwise, why am I here?

I have no explanation for why I'm here. So it is in Esther chapter 4. It's exactly how Mordecai sees things. Not as the ability to do nothing, but as Esther being sovereignly put in that place, as God's woman on the spot, that he would work in and through her for the deliverance of his people. Now the final verses 15-17.

Esther chapter 4 verses 15-17. Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai. Go gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me. Neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise, and so I will go to the king which is against the law, and if I perish, I perish." So Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther commanded him.

Here in these verses We have Esther's firm decision. If you're taking notes on the handout and filling in blanks, it's firm decision. Esther's firm decision. The time has come to stand up for the people of God and be counted or to shrink back into the shadows. The title of the sermon is all on the line.

And we've already seen Mordecai put it all on the line. Oblivious to personal safety. Or at least not counting as important as his personal safety. He's gone out into the midst of the city in sackcloth and ashes and cried out with a bitter cry. He recognized that it was a huge moment and he stood up and now it's Esther's turn.

And I just want to pause here and say this. Praise God for these rare but important moments. They test us. They show us what is actually in our hearts. We're so prone to deceive ourselves about what is in our own hearts.

If you don't know anything about the human heart, know this. Self-deceit is like built in. It runs deep. You say, yeah, I'd die for the Lord. We'll see what circumstances say when the time comes.

You should have some humility about that sentence. These moments test us and show us what's in our heart and they shape us. Through failure or through success in these big moments, we are shaped. And we are left to speculate, But would Esther have ever stood up and identified with the people of God if the decree is not made? Would she ever have stood up?

We see her disconnected from the people of God. She is living a pampered life. She might not like the pampered life, but it is a pampered, disconnected life. Would it ever have been different across decades for Esther had these things not happened? Sometimes these moments are the best things that could ever happen to us, Because they force us to get out of limbo and stop straddling between kingdoms and be decided, like pick a side.

God uses these moments in a disproportionate way. You have years where just the progress is so minimal, and one of these moments comes and you're thrust forward. Ten years worth of progress in ten days. Have you ever had this happen? It happens in these moments.

What was in Esther's heart? Well she takes the test. And what's in her heart is revealed. And what's in her heart is faith and courage. There's some things not to like about how Esther and Mordecai have both conducted themselves through the early chapters.

I think they made some compromises that they shouldn't make. But now is the make or break moment. And they both demonstrate faith and courage, Which goes to show us, hey, you can have some areas of compromise in your past. It does not mean that that has to right your future. It does not.

God is faithful. God is teaching us. God is sustaining us. God takes us after failure and gives us a rematch. You might need a rematch right now.

You've been failing. You've been compromising. In places where you should have not failed, you should not have compromised, You're going to get a rematch. This is how it works when you're in God's school. Esther directs Mordecai to gather all the Jews in Shushan and to fast for three days.

Brothers and sisters, have you ever fasted three days without food or water? This is an extreme fast. Three days without food or water. You can live roughly three weeks without food. You can only live four to eight days without water, depending on the conditions.

So at the end of three days without water, you're not that far from death. This is an extreme Fast. It does not say in the text that they prayed. Don't be disturbed by that. In looking at across the Old Testament, Sometimes it says prayer and fasting, sometimes it says fasting, but the context tells you that the whole purpose is crying out to God, prevailing upon God for favor.

So I don't think we should be disturbed at all that it doesn't say they prayed. They prayed! They were praying. This is the whole point. Verse 15, she says fast for me.

What does that mean without prayer? It's emptied of all meaning without prayer. The whole point was to plead with God for favor and help. It says that Esther and her maids would do likewise. So her maids were going to fast with her.

What's the significance of that? Well the commentators, there's lots of speculation. She had Jewish maids. The text doesn't say that. She had believing maids.

She had proselytized them, evangelized them, and they'd become believers. The text doesn't say that. It may be true, But we can't know from the text. What is clear from the text? That the hiding is over.

That's what's important about Esther engaging her maids in the three day fast. The hiding is over. The concealing that she is part of the people of God is over. They all, Mordecai, Esther, the Jews in Shushan who have gathered to fast together, They all believe that God's people are to be a praying people and that God is a prayer hearing God. And a prayer answering God.

Finally Esther says, And so I will go to the king which is against the law, and if I perish, I perish." I think this is a very, very important part of the text. Why? Because it shows that though she believes in a prayer hearing and a prayer answering God. She knows that fasting and praying cannot manipulate God. Are you with me?

That they're all fasting and praying in an extreme sense, no food or water for three days day or night, shows that they believe that God is a prayer hearing and a prayer answering God, that God can be moved by our prayers. But that she says, at the end of the fast, I'll go to the king and if I perish, I perish, says that she understands God cannot be manipulated by that. This is not a lever to be pulled in order to direct God. That guarantees an outcome. No, that is not what prayer is.

That is not what fasting is. This reminds me so much of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego where they are facing the fiery furnace and they say to the king, God can save us. That's in response to the king, who can save you from me? And they say, God can save us from you. And from the hottest furnace, you can heat.

But if he doesn't, again, we have no guarantees from God what the outcome of this will be. He can, we know He can. But if He doesn't, ours is to just do our duty to obey Him. This is the right perspective all the way around. Knowing that God hears prayers and is moved by the prayers of His people.

He does hear them. He does answer them. But we cannot guarantee an outcome by anything that we do. He is God. We live for Him.

He doesn't live for us. We're not His servants. He's not our servant. We're His servants. He doesn't exist for us.

We exist for Him. For him, applications. I have four. They're in the form of four questions. One, am I numb to the quote unquote natural ways that God is working in my life.

God can work in our lives, I'll just reread that, am I numb to the quote-unquote natural ways that God is working in my life? God can work in our lives so faithfully and predictably that we cease to attribute it to God. I worked for Celestica for 11 years. Paychecks come from Celestica. No!

Paychecks come from God! What, he has to be more unpredictable and do it dramatically so that you'll give him thanks for his faithfulness? That's a Thanksgiving killer when we become dulled by God's regular faithfulness and it makes us even oblivious to the fact anymore that it's even God doing it. This is dangerous. So we must build patterns into our lives that keep us from that numbing effect of God's persistent faithfulness.

I think we want God's persistent faithfulness to be a good thing in our lives, not a bad thing. Am I right? We don't want to discourage God from being persistently faithful. Forget God. He is so persistently faithful.

Build patterns into your life. We all give thanks over our meals. I want to encourage you. Make that different than it is now. Make that different than it is now.

Make that different than it is now. Ratchet that up. Don't let that get lost. Because we pray for every meal, it can become something that almost doesn't even hit the consciousness. That's not right.

This is something that actually can be a blessing that helps us connect the food that we are about to eat with the God who gave it to us. When you write a check and throw it into the plate, we have a box here, throw it into the box, give to the church, do more than that. They give to the church. They do more than that. We're sporadic at this, but we try to gather and give thanks over the check.

We're not giving to God. We're giving back a little bit of what God gave to us in gratitude. Find ways to connect the goodness, the regular faithfulness of God to God who has been faithful. Have you ever been around people like this? Have you been around Jeff Pollard?

You know he's like this. He prays over everything. When you get in the car, he prays. When you get out of the car, he thanks God for the safe trip. He's built patterns into his life that help him connect Good to God.

We should do the same. Number two. Am I buffered from the reality of the war that's going on all around me all the time. It's even a little shocking to hear that state like oh, I guess there is a war going on around us all the time Here's what Ian Dougwood of the reformed expository commentary says. So why do we not fast?

Perhaps it is because we have comfortably isolated ourselves from the grim realities of the world around us. The Jewish community was not fasting either until the beginning of chapter 4. But in an instant their world turned upside down. Or more Accurately, their perception of the world was suddenly reoriented in line with reality. The empire didn't suddenly become a hostile place at that point.

Rather, the latent hostility that was always lurking just below the surface broke out against them, and so they fasted. Even when most of her compatriots had begun to fast though, Esther herself was still oblivious of the danger and need. It was only when Mordecai brought the reality of the threat home to her own bedroom that she finally put aside the fattening portions that the empire had provided and joined her sisters and brothers in a communal fast. American Christians cannot say this does not happen to us. So back to his question, why aren't we fasting?

Because there's nothing dire. But here's what he's pointing out. Is that true? Is that true? There's nothing dire?

There's nothing dire. Christians are dying. The Gospels penetrating the lost like we want. I got my three meals a day. Things are going great for me.

Listen to that again. In an instant their world was turned upside down. What is he talking about? The decree. The decree.

Jews are going to be wiped off the face of the earth. It turns their world upside down, but this next sentence is so profound. Or more accurately, their perception of the world was suddenly reoriented in line with reality. If we had the spiritual eyes to see, we would fast. If we had the spiritual eyes to see.

If we had more of an awareness of our brothers and sisters that are bleeding and dying around the world, we would fast. If we had more of a heart for those who were dying, perishing without Christ in the world, we would fast. We just need our worlds reoriented to reality. Our Bibles are supposed to help us with this. This means that we should read our Bibles differently to get more help from the Bible.

There is plenty of war and crisis and reality in the Bible. It will connect us to reality if we read our Bibles well. Not just as the thing that has to get checked off so we can move to something else, is we read it prayerfully before the Lord, and desiring to be connected to the reality of the war that's happening all around us all the time. Christian biographies can be a great help. The stories of people who put it all on the line to put it in the vernacular of today's sermon.

All on the line. I think we would all be helped to find sources of information about what's happening to and with the Lord's people around the world. To not be shielded from that. We are not helped by being shielded from that. We are disconnected from reality.

We are the 1%. You know that. We are the 1%. Number three. Is my threshold for taking risks for the kingdom too high?

The answer is yes. Question three, application three, is my threshold for taking risks for the kingdom too high? Ask yourself this question, what am I risking? What am I putting at risk for the kingdom right now? What in my life is being risked to advance Christ's kingdom?

To get the gospel to people who don't know it, to speak truth into a culture that is going completely in the opposite direction. My guess is we're going to be really uncomfortable with our answer to that question. Praise the Lord! Uncomfortability comes before change. We need it.

Question four, the last application. Am I squandering the free access to the King which Jesus has purchased? Am I squandering the free access to the King which Jesus has purchased. My squandering, the free access to the King which Jesus has purchased. What is Esther 4 put before us?

It's put before us a human king who you have no access to. You can try it. You can try it. All the best. I hope the exception basis for execution is extended to you.

How much more? The king who dwells in inapproachable light. Have we forgotten who God is? Has the riches of Christ made us forget that we approach a king who dwells in inapproachable light? You cannot come before Him.

I'll close with Hebrews chapter 4, just listen. Hebrews chapter 4 verses 14 through 16. Seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly before the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Jesus has gone through the heavens.

He has passed through the heavens to live and die, to reconcile us to His Father. To be a sympathetic high priest who knows every weakness. He's been tempted in every way but without sin. The writer of Hebrews says that there should be a consequence of this. There should be something that happens because that is true.

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace." That is what our response to Jesus passing through the heavens to live and die and reconcile us to God should be. Boldly coming. Are you squandering it? First let me speak to the unbeliever. If you do not have this high priest, know that this king is much more unapproachable than King Ahasuerus.

You cannot bring your defilements before him. The world is filled with praying people. Many have no access to the King of Kings because they are not in Christ. He is not their High Priest. Consider how unyielding the decree is of God on high.

The one who sins will die. That's the decree. Christ is the only thing that bridges that. Believer. The access was bought with the blood of Jesus.

He was pleased to crush his son. You can have it. What an affront to God that that would go ignored. That we would think of a small thing and just do it at our leisure. Wait until we feel like it.

May it never be. God, thank you for this chapter. Pray that you would bless it to our memories, to our thoughts, and that you would use it to change us, to make us a little bit more like your son, Jesus, who has passed through the heavens to reconcile us. We thank you for him. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.