In all of our lives, there are defining moments.
They don't occur every day, not every week, not every month, possibly not every year. But throughout our lives, there are occasional opportunities and situations far removed from the humdrum and the routine of life. These are events, crises, unexpected turns in the road, challenges, and struggles which are very momentous in our lives.
They act as a kind of fulcrum in our lives. Whatever our action or inaction, our decision or lack of decision, our response or lack of response, the consequences are far reaching. These decisions may not only set a path for the future, they reveal our character, our priorities, our values, and our faith. These defining moments, as you know, can come in all kinds of ways. A competition, an exam, a job application, a crisis, a death, a serious illness, an offer of promotion, a proposal of marriage, termination of employment, an offer from a new employer, difficult decisions, various opportunities present to us.
These are defining moments, and how we respond reveals so much about us. May 16, 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's 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.
There was Wes Santi from Kansas, John Landy, a brilliant athlete from Australia who had a mind-blowing training schedule. Bannister and his coach had decided that May 6, 1954 would be the day of the race. That day started very discouragingly for Bannister. He was at his peak, he felt, physically, emotionally, and psychologically. But, this was England, a day in Oxford, it was rain and wind, meaning that it looked impossible that a new world record for the mile could be set in such a weather.
However, his coach was absolutely convinced that Bannister was capable of this effort, no matter the weather. The coach said, if you forgo this chance, would you ever forgive yourself? No one knows what the future holds. Wes Santi or John Landy may do it first. You might pull a muscle.
You might fall under a bus. There may never be another opportunity. This was for Roger Bannister, a defining moment about 6 p.m. that day the wind abated and the race began. Roger Bannister said, I felt at that moment that it was my chance to do one thing supremely well.
Indeed it was. On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister became the first man to run a sub-four-minute mile. It was his defining moment, and the record goes down in world history. This is from a wonderful book by the way called The Perfect Mile by Neil Boscombe, if you're interested in athletics and running. It was a defining moment. Often, when these defining moments come to us, we know what is the right thing to do, but there is often opposition.
There are obstacles. If we do the right thing, we may be misunderstood. We might get fired. Our colleagues may look down on us. Our family may not understand. We may lose that promotion. You may lose your job or your reputation.
You may lose friends. But seizing the moment may be a source of great blessing. On May 13, 1940, Winston Churchill addressed the British Parliament. An earlier Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, had tried to achieve peace for our time in the appeasement of Hitler at Munich in 1938. As Winston Churchill contemplated the German threat, he said, I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word, victory. On another occasion, Churchill said, I felt as if I were walking with destiny and that all of my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial.
I was sure I would not fail. Defining moments, we say, well, I'm not a runner. I'm certainly not a great politician or statesman like Winston Churchill. But for all of us, we face defining moments in our life. You're presently facing a defining moment. Are you prepared to accept the challenge from God to rise above the mediocre and the mundane? Will you be courageous or will you avoid the challenge?
Will you take the easy way out? Will you let the moment that God is giving you pass that defining moment? Yes, we believe, as we've studied our Bibles in Esther, as today we come to Esther chapter four, we have seen over and over again God's sovereign hand. We believe in the sovereignty of God. We believe that God is in control, but we also believe, as the Bible teaches, in personal responsibility. As a human being, God gives you the capacity to choose. You say, well, how can we reconcile God's sovereignty and human responsibility? I'm not sure if I can reconcile them in my mind. Well, I'm not sure if I can do that, but both are clearly taught in Scripture. And because we may not reconcile them, we understand that we're dealing with an infinite God who is perfect, and we as human beings often don't understand His ways. This is why in Scripture we're told over and over again to trust God.
That's what we want to do. And today, in this wonderful story of Esther, in Esther chapter four, Esther faces such a defining moment, the most important moment in all of her life. How she responds will have enormous consequences for herself and for the Jewish nation. And from Esther four, we're going to learn this lesson. In the defining moments of life, do the right thing and leave the consequences to God.
Think of it. In the defining moments of life, whatever they are for you in your context, do the right thing, irrespective of what other people say, irrespective of the society, sometimes irrespective of the advice of your friends and what is expedient and what is comfortable. Do the right thing. These defining moments of life and leave the consequences to God. That's living by faith.
That's trusting God. So let's turn in our Bibles now as we continue this story, this dramatic story of Esther. We have looked at Esther one, two and three.
If you missed them, they're online. And we come to Esther four. Let's read first of all the first three verses. When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes and went out into the midst of the city and he cried with a loud voice 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.
Mordecai, this Jewish man, puts on sackcloth and ashes. We previously saw that he refused to bow to Haman, this evil man who's the enemy of the Jews. But Haman is the king's prime minister.
He's got tremendous influence over the Persian Empire, this huge empire with the king Ahasuerus. And Haman is furious that Mordecai won't bow before him, and his hatred goes far beyond Mordecai as we saw last week in chapter 3 verse 6 to all of the Jews, the people of Mordecai throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus. The decree is that the Jewish nation is to be totally annihilated.
They're to be wiped out from the face of the earth. Haman is filled with evil. He's motivated by Satan who's always anti-Semitic, always opposed to the people of God. And we see in Haman a kind of mini-anti-Christ. Now from King Ahasuerus, we learned last week that Haman obtains the necessary authority, chapter 3 verse 13, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all of the Jews, young and old, women and children in one day and to plunder their goods.
So in hearing the edict to annihilate his people, we're not quite sure how Mordecai hears of that. He tears his clothes. He puts on sackcloth and ashes. He's in deep, deep mourning.
He wails loudly and bitterly, and he goes as far as the entrance to the king's gate. This was a public mourning. Mordecai may have been a leader, a spiritual leader among the exiled Jews in Susa.
He probably was well-known. And we see in verse 3 this fasting, this weeping, this lamenting, and many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes. Why? Mass genocide is being planned. The Jewish people, they get the word.
This decree goes throughout all of the provinces. They're going to be liquidated. How can they stand against the might of their superpower Persia? And they know the law of the Medes and Persians will never be revoked.
There seems no hope, so they lament and weep and fast. Now let's read Esther's initial response. First of all, she is informed, verses 4 through 9, when Esther's young woman and her eudex, remember she's the queen in the palace, told her the queen was deeply distressed. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai so that they might take off his sackcloth, but he wouldn't accept them. Then Esther called for Hathak, one of the king's eudex who had been appointed to attend to 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. 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 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 to plead with him on behalf of her people. And Hathak went and told Esther what Mordecai had said. Esther then is aware of this national mourning. She's in great anguish. She sends clothes to her cousin Mordecai, who had adopted her into his family so that his sackcloth can be removed, but he doesn't accept it.
He continues mourning and lamenting. Then she dispatches Hathak, this man from the palace who takes care of her to inquire what's going on. And Mordecai gets the message to Esther through Hathak about the proposed destruction of the Jews. In fact, he gives her a copy of the edict. And then Esther says to Hathak, I want Esther to plead with the king for mercy for the people.
Now what's her answer? Verses 10 through 12. Then Esther spoke to Hathak 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've not been called to come into the king these 30 days. And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. Esther reminds Mordecai, you're telling me to go into the king, but there's a protocol there.
This is a death spot. He's the king of these whole provinces. You don't just go and barge before him. He's got to hold out the golden scepter.
If you go into him apart from that, you're going to be killed. We saw in chapter 7 that only the seven princes have access to the king. Yes, she is the queen, but she reminds Mordecai in verse 11, she's not being called into the king for these 30 days. This king has total power. Remember, he banished his queen, Queen Vashti in chapter 1, because she didn't obey his command.
To go uninvited into the presence of the king is to risk her life. This is the king, and he thinks nothing of killing people. Herodotus, the historian, describes Ahasuerus' response to the request of Pythias the Lydian, that he might release the eldest of his five sons from their obligation of military service. Now, Pythias was a generous man. He'd given money to Ahasuerus to help him in the war against Greece. He had given him great hospitality, but when he asked the king that his eldest son should not go into military service, Ahasuerus is so angry. He's so incensed that he has Pythias' son cut in two and makes the army pass between them. That's from historian Herodotus.
You get the picture? Now you're asking Esther to go in uninvited before the king? She could be put to death. Now we have her defining moment, verses 13 and 14. Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, do not 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 at your father's house will perish and who knows, here it is, who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this. Mordecai reminds Esther, you're Jewish. You're not going to escape the king's edict because the edict is that every single Jew throughout the Persian Empire is to be annihilated.
You're not going to be spared. But notice what Mordecai says to her. He knows the promises of God and he says to Esther, if you remain silent, if you don't go to the king, I know, verse 14, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place.
We don't know what that other place is. In spite of Haman's hatred, in spite of the king's decree against the Jewish nation, Mordecai is confident that there will be a Jewish deliverance, that the Jewish nation will not be exterminated. Mordecai knows that God is sovereign over all of the nations. And if Esther keeps silent, if she does not understand, to use Churchill's language 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 raise up someone else to fulfill His covenant promises and deliver His people, the Jews. Let me just stop there. God's asking you to do something.
You don't do it. God's purposes are still carried out. God, in a sense, doesn't need any of us. But in His sovereign purposes, to fulfill His purposes, He graciously uses you and me. And for Esther, this is her moment, her defining moment. Nothing can thwart the purposes of God who controls the world politically and militarily.
However, says Mordecai, if you don't do that, you and your father's house, you and your generations will not survive. And who knows, verse 14, whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this. Mordecai might have known what Solomon says in Proverbs 21, verse 1, the king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord.
He turns it wherever he wills. Let's remember that with our kings and our presidents and our judges and our mayors and our governors and those in authority, that their heart is like a stream of water in the hand of the Lord and he turns it wherever he wills. Now here's Esther's reply, verses 15 through 17. Then Mordecai told them to reply, sorry, then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, go, gather all of the Jews to be found in Susa and hold a fast on my behalf and do not eat or drink for three days, night and day.
I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish. Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him. Esther gets word to Mordecai to assemble all of the Jews in Susa for three days. The fasting demonstrates the seriousness of the situation.
Surely, prayer is implied in the fasting. And Esther, faced with this defining moment in her life, purposes in her heart, then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish. She seizes the moment. Yes, God is in control, but Esther knows what she must do. She knows that her life has been but a preparation for such a time as this. This is the reason she is Queen Esther.
This is a time where she can either identify with her own people and possibly be killed, or she can continue to pretend, as it were, to be a pagan Persian. In doing what is right, she's risking her life. She knows that.
If I perish, I perish. But she knows it's the right thing to do. She seeks a deliverance for her people from the satanic edict to annihilate the whole Jewish nation. This is her defining moment, and she seizes it, what courage, what faith from this young woman, and what an example for us. Esther has come to the kingdom for such a time as this. The sovereign God has been silently, invisibly working behind the scenes. We saw his invisible hand in deposing Queen Vashti, and removing her from the palace.
We saw his guiding hand, his invisible hand, sovereignly superintending things that Queen Esther wins the beauty contest, as it were, and becomes the queen of this mighty king, King Ahasuerus. Now, God has done that, but this is her defining moment. The sovereignty of God does not negate personal choice, personal responsibility. God uses us, and she does the right thing. And notice, she leaves the consequences to God. I'm going to do the right thing.
If I perish, I perish. But this is her defining moment, to do the right thing, and to leave the consequences to God. Can I say, brothers and sisters, that's what God requires from you and me. Do the right thing. Leave the consequences to God. That's faith. Will you do that? Will you take the easy way out in life?
Will you just blend into society? Or are you prepared, when that defining moment comes, to do the right thing, and to leave the consequences to God? Think of the examples in Scripture. Think of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They are ordered by another great king, King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, the mighty king, and he erects — read it in Daniel — this huge image of himself. And these Jewish young men, captives, taken from their home Israel, now in Babylon, he commands them to bow down and worship his image. Or, he says, if you don't do that, you're going to be thrown into the fiery furnace. That's a defining moment for them. What are they going to do?
What would you do? Here's the response. God is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us. But if not, we still will not serve and bow down to you.
What an answer. Yes, we have confidence in God. Our faith in God is such that if you throw us into that fiery furnace, God Himself will deliver us.
We believe that. But even if God chooses not to deliver us, we're still not going to bow down. We're prepared to give our lives to do the right thing. What courage.
They believed in the power of God, but they were submissive to the purposes of God. Our problem is you only want to do the right thing if it's going to be good for you. You want to orchestrate things in your own life. If you take this step, then God is obliged to you and to bless you in a way that you're telling God.
No, that's not the point. You do the right thing and leave the consequences to God. That's what it means to live by faith. Having faith is not just that initial act where we receive Christ as our Savior. Yes, that is faith.
We're to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. But our Christian life is to be lived by faith, day by day. Yes, in the dull routine, repetitive things of life, we're still to trust God.
But certainly when these defining moments come, we're to trust Him. And God uses individuals in the defining moments of their life. He uses David to kill Goliath. What a defining moment for David. With all of the warriors there, with the King Saul, he steps forward. Who are you, Goliath, to defy the armies of the living God?
I'm going to cut off your head, his defining moment. Think of that little girl, we don't even know her name, who tells Naaman, the Syrian commander, who's a leper. She steps up and speaks of the prophet Elisha. He uses Daniel, who continued to pray in spite of what happens. And he is thrown into the den of lions. Daniel takes the defining moment and leaves the consequences to God. He used Stephen, the first Christian martyr, to declare the gospel to a very hostile crowd. And he left the consequences to God. And he was killed for his faith. Here in Esther, he uses Mordecai.
He uses Esther. He uses you and me. Edmund Burke said, all that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. Don't do nothing. Do the right thing and leave the consequences to God. This is a message that all of us must hear. Take a stand for Jesus Christ.
Boys, girls, young men, young women, older men and women, say, I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it's the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. Make a difference for Jesus Christ. You know what you should do in your situation, in your context, at your work, in your family, in your ministry. You know what you should do.
Do it. Trust God. Do the right thing and leave the consequences to God. Stand firm for what you believe. Seize the moment, students. Take a stand in your college class. Take a stand in your school when Christianity and the Bible are belittled.
Stand up and challenge it. Do the right thing in these defining moments, singles in your lifestyle. Take a stand for purity and righteousness. You may be laughed at. You may be mocked, but do the right thing. Yes, you may lose your friends. Yes, people may ridicule you, but do the right thing in these defining moments and leave the consequences to God. Those of you in business, take a stand against unethical and unbiblical business practices. Yes, you may get fired.
Yes, you may lose that deal. Yes, your friends, we think you're crazy, but in the defining moments of life, do the right thing and leave the consequences to God. Some of you are in the PTA, the public schools. Some of you are teachers, educators in the public school. Thank you for doing that. Thank you for being light and salt in our world, but there, do not compromise your biblical truth. Politicians, anyone in the political world here, politicians, do the right thing. Be just. Be honorable. Be fair. Forget about what your party says. Yes, you may lose the election.
Yes, your friends may separate from you, but do the right thing. Stop insulting people. Stand for justice. Be honorable.
Be fair. In the defining moments of life, do the right thing and leave the consequences to God. Be bold.
Think of the boldness of Esther, this young woman. Any of us ever face if we're going to stand for God that we're going to be killed? I've never had that decision to make.
I doubt if any of us have. Some of our brothers and sisters throughout the world are persecuted, and if they stand for God, they could well be imprisoned. They could well be killed.
None of us here live in such a society, but you may be ostracized. Be steadfast. Witness of the love of God. Tell people about the transforming power of the grace of God who is our mediator, not before King Ahasuerus, but before our great God. Jesus is our advocate. He's our mediator, and through the blood of His cross, we are saved. We are forgiven. We are His people.
We're going to spend eternity with Him. This is why we're here on earth. This is why God has placed you in that family, in that street, in that bank, in that school, in that situation. What do you think you're there for?
To make a comfortable life? To remain silent and allow the forces of darkness and evil? Yes, you need wisdom. Yes, you're going to take a stand, a stand for God.
Will you trust Him? As I say, I don't know your situation, but you do. You know what you must do.
Be an Esther. You're here for such a time as this. Here is God's voice to you and me this morning.
You get it? In the defining moments of life, do the right thing. In God's name, do the right thing and leave the consequences to God.
Don't think of the consequences. These are in the purposes of God. God may shower you and bless you in an amazing way, or you may be ostracized.
You may lose your job. You may have a professor who makes life miserable for you, but you will have the assurance that you're standing for Christ, this One who saved you, this One who blessed you, this One who is with you. So, in the defining moments of life, do the right thing and leave the consequences for God. We have three Esther's this morning, and they're going to come. Right now, Esther's, where are they? Okay, come on. If you're an Esther, you've got to be bold. I'm not going to kill you as you come into my presence. And they're going to sing a wonderful song.
I want you to listen to the words, but more than that, I want this to be a challenge to you and to me. Defining moments. For some of you, this is the defining moment. You have never yet surrendered your life to Jesus Christ. You've never trusted Him and committed your life to Him. You've never repented of your sin.
You've never done that. Today is your defining moment to receive Christ. I think of that moment in my life, 12 years old, the Spirit convicted me for John Monroe. That was a defining moment, as I received Christ as my Savior and have never been the same since.
For you, this may be the day you commit your life to Jesus Christ. I pray that you will do that. For others of you, you need to repent. You need to obey Christ.
You may, you must in your heart. The Spirit uses this message as you hear this beautiful song as you listen to it. This is your defining moment.
Do the right thing and leave the consequences to God, our Father and our God. We thank you. We thank you for your power.
We thank you that you're in control of our lives. You watch over us every day and yet, you challenge us. You convict us through your Spirit. And as we stand and sit here, Father, we know these defining moments. I pray for souls to be saved.
I pray that this will be a defining moment, a moment of decision when they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and are saved. For those of us who are following Christ, may we not compromise. May we stand firm in our faith and be an Esther because you have called us for such a time as this. Strengthen us, Father. Inspire us through your Spirit. Forgive us when we're weak. Forgive us when we compromise. Help us to be authentic followers of Jesus Christ. We ask it in His name. Amen.
