Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Then more the kind. Told them to reply to Esther. Who knows? Here's the famous part of Esther, isn't it?
Who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom? for such a time as this. Mordecai, in other words, is telling Esther, this is your moment. This is your defining Moment. This is the verdict: the Bible teaching ministry of Pastor John Monroe.
For most of us, our days are fairly routine. But every now and then, we're confronted with an opportunity or a challenge that will change the direction of our lives and have far-reaching consequences. Today, we're taking a closer look at these defining moments as we go deeper in our study in Esther. Here's Pastor John Monroe with a new lesson titled, For Such a Time. The drama in the Book of Esther is unmistakable.
An evil man Haman is plotting to destroy the Jewish nation. As we saw last time, he wants to use his position of power to destroy all the Jews. What's going to happen? What is Mordecai going to do? What is Esther going to do?
In life there are defining moments. and the defining moment is now coming for Esther. In these defining moments of life, how we respond often charters the rest of our lives and impacts others. Have you ever had a defining moment in your life? How have you responded?
Let's look now at Esther chapter 4 and learn first of all what Mordecai does when he hears that Haman not only wants to kill him, but all of the Jews. I think you'll agree with me that in all of our lives there are defining moments. They don't occur every day, not even every week, possibly not even every year, but throughout our lives. There are from time to time opportunities and situations and challenges which are far removed from the humdrum routine of life. events and decisions and crises, unexpected turns in our lives and in the lives of others.
And I think they act as a kind of fulcrum in our lives. Whatever our action or reaction, our response or lack of response, our decision or lack of decision, the consequences. When these times come, are far-reaching. I think they not only define our life, they reveal our character, our priorities, our values, and indeed our faith. And these are not routine decisions.
But these are life-changing situations and they come in all kinds of ways. You know what I'm talking about. A game, a competition, perhaps an exam, a job application. or a crisis. A choice, a difficult decision.
A defining Moment. Believe it or not, when I was at school, I liked to do athletics. And uh My favourite, I guess, event to watch in the Olympics is the mile.
Now it's called the 1500. meters. And some time ago, I read a book called The Perfect Mile by Neil Boscombe. And uh he writes Like this. If you like ath athletics, I commend the book to you.
May 6, 1954, was a defining moment, a defining day, a defining race for Roger Bannister. He had been preparing for this one moment all of his life. He was a medical student at Oxford, England, and was training to be the first man on the face of the earth to run a mile under four minutes. Other great athletes were hoping to take the prize for themselves. Wes Santee from Kansas, John Landy, a brilliant athlete from Australia, who had a mind-blowing training schedule.
And in this book, The perfect mild rider tells you about these men. And they were getting ready, and they were racing, and they were supreme athletes, and all of them wanted to be the first. to be the first person known to have run one mile under four minutes. Bannister and his coach had decided that may sixth, nineteen fifty four, would be the day of the race. The day started very discouragingly for Bannister.
He was at his peak physically, emotionally and psychologically, but it was a day in Oxford of rain and wind. meaning that it looked impossible that a new world record for the mile could be set in such weather.
However, his coach was absolutely convinced in his own mind that Bannister was capable of the effort no matter the weather. This was the time for Bannister. About 6 p.m. that evening, the wind abated and the race began. And on May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister, as many of you know, became the first man, he was English.
to run a sub-four minute mile. It was a defining moment. The record goes down in world history. A defining moment can come in a time of crisis, can't it? You may know what is the right thing to do, but there may be opposition, there may be obstacles.
If you do the right thing, you may be misunderstood. Your colleagues may look down on you. You may lose that promotion. Uh your friends You may wonder what on earth you're doing. You may lose your reputation.
You may lose friends. But these moments come to us all in life, don't they? On April 2, 1792, William Pitt the Younger was the British Prime Minister. Surprisingly, he had become Prime Minister at the age of 23. It was late one night in the House of Commons when the Prime Minister got to his feet to address the controversial resolution.
That the trade carried on by British subjects for the purpose of obtaining slaves on the coast of Africa ought to be abolished. That was the motion before the House of Commons. There were those who said that although they agreed that Slavery should end, its abolition should be gradual. But Pitt thoroughly disagreed. He said this, quote, why ought the slave trade to be abolished?
Because it is incurable injustice. How much stronger then is the argument for immediate than gradual abolition? By allowing it to continue even for one hour. Do not my right honourable friends weaken? Do they not desert their own argument of its injustice?
If on the ground of injustice it ought to be abolished at last, why ought it not now? Why is injustice to be suffered to remain for a single hour? I shall oppose to the utmost every proposition which in any way may tend either to prevent or even to postpone for an hour the total abolition of the slave trade. Great words, aren't they? And the motion to abolish slavery was carried.
It was one of William Pitt's defining moments. Like Bannister, he passed. The test. On May 13, 1940, Winston Churchill addressed the British Parliament.
Sorry, this Examples are British. Um I hope there's no discrimination here. If you know world history, you know that earlier Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain had tried to achieve peace for our time. in the appeasement of Hitler at Munich in 1938. As Churchill contemplated the German threat, he said, I've nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.
He went on to say, You ask what is our aim, I can answer in one word: it is victory. And the country rallied and Germany Was defeated. On another occasion, Churchill said, I felt as if I were walking with destiny and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial. I was sure I would not fail. In her study this evening, Queen Esther faces such a moment, a defining moment.
How will she respond to this challenge before her? Her response will have tremendous consequences for herself and for the Jewish nation. And As we look at this passage, I ask you. What defining moments have been in your life? How have you responded?
To these important, sometimes unexpected circumstances that present you. Maybe I ask this question. Are any of you facing a defining moment at the moment. Is there anything that you need to take a stand on? Is God giving you a challenge to draw a line in the sand and say, as a follower of Jesus Christ, I must do such and such, or I cannot do such and such?
Is God giving you such an opportunity at your school, at your place of work, in your ministry, in your business, and your friendships, in your family, to truly make a difference? That's the point. Are you prepared to rise above the humdrum of life? Above the mediocrity, above the Law standards surrounding you.
Well you stop being conformed. to the world. Will you be courageous? Or will you take the easy way out and avoid the challenge, the opportunities which God may be giving you right now? When the question comes as it does down through the centuries.
Who is on the Lord's side? Will you, like most people, remain silent? Or will you meet the challenge and say, I am on the Lord's side, I will serve the Lord? Or will you remain silent? Usually, we don't know when these divining moments come, so we must always be ready.
We must be strong and wise in the Lord. And from Enster 4, we're going to learn this very, very important lesson, and it is this: in the defining moments of life, do the right thing. and leave the consequences to God. Do you hear that? In these defining moments of life, whatever they are.
In your personal life, at school, in your relationships, in your ministry, in your business, wherever God places you, when these opportunities come, always, always do the right thing. And in faith. Leave the consequences. to God.
Now let's read, first of all, the first three verses of Esther chapter 4 And we think of Mordecai's A response. to what's happened in chapter three. When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Remember Haman plotting against the Jews? When he learned all that had been done, Mordecai, tore his claws, And put on sackcloth and ashes and went into the midst of the city. And he cried out with a loud and bitter cry.
He went up to the entrance of the king's gate, for no one was allowed to enter the king's gate clothed in sackcloth. And in every province, Wherever the king's command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes. When we looked at chapter 3 a couple of Sundays ago, we saw that Mordecai refuses to bow to Haman. the king's prime minister, the very powerful man, Haman. And Heman is so furious.
that he plots to kill Not only Mordecai. But according to chapter 3, verse 6, all the Jews. The people of Mordecai who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, that is, the kingdom of Persia.
So Haman is filled with evil. He's motivated by Satan. He's a kind of a mini antichrist. Satan, incidentally, is always anti-Semitic. He always hates The Jews, and he's always opposed to the people of God.
Whether it's the Jew, whether it's the church of Jesus Christ, our enemy hates us and does all he can. to oppose us. And this is what he's doing here. But from the king, he meant. Chapter 3, verse 13.
Obtains the necessary authority. Notice it at the end of Verse 13 of chapter 3. To destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, think of the evil, young and old, women and children, in one day, and to plunder their goods.
So on hearing the edict to totally annihilate The Jewish nation, this is genocide. Mordecai tears his clothes, puts on sackcloth, and and ashes and wails loudly and bitterly. He went as far as the king's gate, verse 2. This was a public morning. He Mordecai may well have been a leader of the Jews in exile in Persia.
In any event, we read there was great mourning among the Jews with fasting, verse three, weeping and lamenting, and many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes. Mass genocide is being planned. authorized by the absolute monarch, King Ahasuerus. And the laws, remember the laws of the Medes and Persians, cannot be revoked. The Jews in Persia throughout the empire must have been terrified.
Incidentally, although there is great mourning, there is no mention of prayer.
Now, what's Esther's first response? She is informed verses four through nine. When Esther's young woman and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was deeply distressed. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai so that he might take off his sackcloth, but he wouldn't accept them. Then Esther called for Hathak, one of the king's eunuchs who had been appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was.
Hathak went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king's gate, and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king's treasuries. Go this verse. The ending of verse 7, for the destruction. of the Jews. Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther and explain to her and command her to go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people.
And Hathak went and told Esther what Mordecai had said.
So Esser hears of this national mourning. She's in great anguish. She sends these clothes to Mordecai so that his sackcloth can be removed, but he won't accept them and he remains in sackcloth. Then she dispatches this man Hathak. Uh to inquire what's going on.
The situation is explained to him. He's given a copy of the text. And it is clear that Esther now is informed. of all that is going to happen. And Mordecai pleads with her.
to go to the king. Her answer? Versus 10. Through twelve. Then Esther said to Athak and commanded him to go to Mordecai and say, All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law to be put to death.
Except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come into the king these thirty days. And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. In other words, Esther is saying to Montecaio, It's easy for you to say that I'm to plead with the king. But I need to explain to you the protocol of the king.
that no one can go before the king. unless he holds out the golden scepter. And only, we saw from chapter 1, verse 14, that only seven princes have access to the king's presence. Here, according to verse 11, although she is the queen, she's not been called into the king for these 30. days.
Now remember, this king is an absolute monarch. In chapter 1, his queen Vashdai was banished because she didn't obey a command of the king. And by going into the presence of the king uninvited, Esther is risking her own life. The Greek historian Herodotus describes Ahasuerus' response. to the request of a man called Pythias.
The Lydian, that he might release the eldest of his five sons from the obligation of military service. This man doesn't want his son. To serve in the Persian army, probably because he thought he might be killed. And so he goes to the king and he asks if his son could be released from military service. Even, says Herodotus, even though Pythias had earlier entertained him, and contributed generously towards the cost Of his, the king's war with Greece, Hans Jueris was so incensed by the request.
that he had Pythias' son cut into two pieces. And made the army pass between them. Do you get the picture? Surely Mordecai isn't asking his cousin Esther. to go uninvited before This king.
But here is her second response. Verses thirteen through the end of the chapter. Then Mordecai Told them to reply to Esther. Do you think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews? For if you keep silent at this time, Relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place.
But you and your father's house will perish. And who knows? Here's the famous part of Esther, isn't it? Who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom? for such a time as this.
Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, Go gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young woman will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king. Though it is against the law. Not the sad.
She's saying, I'm going going to the king. Even though it's against the law. And if I perish, I perish. Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered. Him.
Mordecai, in other words, is telling Esther, this is your moment. This is your defining Moment. He reminds her that you are Jewish. And there is no way that she personally can escape the king's edict. Because it is for all of the Jews to be annihilated.
And if that is the case, Esther, you will not be spared. And Mordecai also knows the promises of God. And he believes in the sovereignty of God. He is confident, verse 14, that relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews. Probably referring to the Abrahamic covenant.
that God always takes care of his people. The promises of God are incontrovertible. God never goes back on his promises. In spite of Haman's hatred, In spite of the king's decree against the Jewish nation, Mordecai is confident. That the Jews will not be obliterated, that they will not be annihilated.
that there will be delivered. He knows God is in control. And God is true to his promises, and God will take care of his people. And Mordecai says here in verse 14 that if Esther doesn't rise to the occasion, If she doesn't understand Can I say to use Churchill's phrase that she's walking with destiny and that all of her past life has been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial? God will use someone else.
His purposes will stand, God will deliver his people. In other words, nothing can thwart the purposes of God, Mordecai is saying.
However, she, Esther, and her father's house. or perish. Mordecai gives a wonderful statement on the doctrine of the providence of God at the end of 14. Who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom, some translations have royalty, for such a time as this. That's the providence of God, isn't it?
that God oversees our lives. And God oversees the timing. of situations. Not just what is going to happen, but the exact time, down to the millisecond God is in control. Baldwin writes.
Without explicitly spelling out in detail how he came to his convictions, Mordecai reveals that he believes in God. in God's guidance of individual lives and in God's ordering of the world's political events, irrespective of whether those who seem to have the power acknowledge him or not. That's true. Remember Proverbs 21, verse 1, the king's heart. Is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord.
He turns it. Whatever he will. Do you believe that? I do. That God is sovereign.
And there is no force in the whole universe that can stand against the purposes. Yeah. And Esther makes this wonderful reply in verses 15 to 17. She gets word to Mordecai to assemble all of the Jews so that they can fast, demonstrating a seriousness of the situation. She purposes in her heart, verse 16: I will go to the king, though it is against the law.
Yes, sometimes as followers of Christ we are to disobey the law. when it is against the law of God. I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I Perish. She seizes the moment. She knows this is her defining moment.
Her life has been a preparation all for such a time as this. She's come. to the defining point. of her life. She is to understand that this is why God and His sovereign purposes has placed her in this palace as Queen Esther.
This is the verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. There's still more to hear when John returns in just a moment, so stay with us. From matters of truth and identity, to the subjects of love and grace, our world seems more confused than ever. but to find truth and certainty about who we are and find peace, we must turn our attention away from the world and look to the Word of God. To help you do that, John wrote a booklet titled Eternal Security, Finding Certainty in a Chaotic World.
Through this special resource, John shares his personal testimony, along with a careful examination of Scripture, to offer us clarity on matters of eternity. Get your copy today by visiting our website at theverdict.org. While you're there, consider making an investment in this Bible teaching ministry. Whether it's $5, $50, or more, your gift today helps cover the cost of sharing these gospel messages to listeners around the world. And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to the Verdict Podcast, featuring John's weekly podcast exclusive called Avizandam.
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Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? What do you think of the response of Mordecai? and there's sponges of ester. Have you had defining moments in life? Are you going to do the right thing?
Or is your life going to be characterized by uneasy compromise? Be warned. Compromise will lead you further and further away from God and take you further and further down. Today say, I'm on the Lord's side. I will serve the Lord.
Next time, we continue to look at Esther chapter 4 and see the beautiful and truly inspiring example of Esther. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
