A Dramatic Reversal

Well, last time as we thought of Esther's chapter six and seven, we thought of the reversal of destinies for Mordecai and Haman.

Gallows built for the hanging of Mordecai are used for the hanging of Haman. And as we thought of that reversal, we thought of the greatest reversal, the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. From a human perspective, the cross of Christ seemed an unmitigated disaster, a tragedy. Here is an innocent man, a perfect man, and he's nailed to a cross.

Unholy hands are putting holy hands and holy feet and piercing them with nails. But from that seeming tragedy of Good Friday, we know there comes the glorious triumph of our Lord Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday. The shame of the cross is turned to glory.

Humiliation is turned to exaltation. The man of sorrows now brings joy to the world. From death, there is life. And our Savior, our magnificent Savior is alive forevermore. And authentic followers of Jesus Christ, we recognize that once we were on that broad road which leads to destruction, which leads to eternal darkness. But there has been a dramatic reversal in our lives that through the person and work of Jesus Christ, our Savior, we who were once on that narrow, once on that broad road, are now on the narrow road which leads to eternal life. Paul says He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of His Son, that we who know Christ are now in the kingdom of God. We don't make that kingdom. The kingdom exists, and in the grace of God we enter it.

Peter puts it this way. He's called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. What a dramatic reversal for the Christian.

And if you're saved by the grace of God, you are this morning, as we've been singing and looking at Scripture now, we are rejoicing at this dramatic reversal which has taken place in our lives. All of us deserve to die, like Haman. We deserve to be put to death, as it were, on the gallows.

And then the wonder of the Christian gospel, God does a remarkable thing. He Himself, in His person, is hanged on a tree. The Old Testament Scripture says, cursed is everyone who's hanged on a tree. We deserve to hang on a tree. We deserve to die, because we have broken God's law. We're under the curse of God. But now our Savior comes, and with that dramatic reversal, takes our place. He is our substitute.

We sometimes saying, bearing shame and scoffing rude, in my place condemned He stood. That's the gospel. That on the cross, our Savior is in our place, bearing our sin, our shame, and our guilt.

He is our magnificent substitute. And I trust that we at Calvary never, ever get over the wonder of God's amazing grace. Remember a man saying to me that we need to get beyond the cross.

I thought, no. The Christian never gets beyond the cross. For all of eternity we are singing, worthy is the Lamb that was slain. Jesus Christ is the center character of human history.

The center character, if we can describe Him as such, for all of eternity. Once we were lost, now we're found. Once we were blind, but now we see. And we're going to look at Esther 8 now and celebrate the greatness and the goodness of our God in accomplishing brilliant reversals. Let's see the first in Esther chapter 8. If you have your Bible there, turn with me.

And we're going to read of a reversal in power. Esther, chapter 8, verses 1 and 2. On that day, King Ahasuerus, this is your first time here. You didn't hear the earlier messages on Esther.

They're on the web. But King Ahasuerus is the king of the great Persian empire and he gave to Queen Esther, the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. At the end of 7, we see Haman, this evil man who wants to annihilate the Jews, he's hanged on the gallows. So now King Ahasuerus gives to his queen Esther, the house of Haman, who is the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told him what he was to her. And the king took off his signet ring.

Think of the amazing reversal here, reversal of power. He took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman. Before Haman is hanged on the gallows, the signet ring is taken from him and now in this incredible reversal, it is given to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. Mordecai is rewarded with Haman's property and position, as was the custom, the property of traders revert to the king.

So the king now owns Haman's house and he gives it to Esther. And the man who planned to kill Mordecai is himself hanged on the gallows. And Mordecai, this Jewish man receives the king's signet ring, becomes in effect the prime minister in place of Haman. Haman is fallen, Mordecai is exalted. Now Mordecai is able to make laws with regal and legal authority. What a reversal in power. A powerful man Haman is hanged and a seemingly insignificant man, Mordecai, this Jew is now exalted.

A reversal in power. I'm going to pause here and say, don't put your trust in riches or worldly power. Paul writes, don't set your hope. We've been thinking and singing about hope.

Don't put your hope on the uncertainty of riches. Earlier in the story, Haman, the enemy of the Jews, is glorying in his riches, his power, his position, his promotion, his prestige. He's number two under the king, and his ego is absolutely huge in less than 24 hours. Think of it. Think of the reversal in power. In less than 24 hours, all of it is taken from him. In a moment, all he lives for is gone.

There's a warning to all of us to make sure our trust is not in ourselves, not in your career, not in your accomplishment, not in your bank balance, but in Christ. This past week, we've had a number of our members who passed from time into eternity. As myself and our other pastors, as we officiate at these funerals, it reminds us over and over again of the brevity and fragility of life, doesn't it?

Think of the devastation of these hurricanes. Suppose an innocent people ushered into eternity. Yes, many people live into their 80s and 90s, but children die and students die, and seemingly healthy people in mid-life die suddenly, and we're ushered into eternity. Jesus says, don't lay out for yourselves treasures on earth. In a moment, everything that we have achieved on this earth is gone. Remember Jesus asked the question, for what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? He, humanly speaking, achieved the whole world. The top pinnacle of power, in a moment, is gone.

Less than 24 hours, his house falls. When he's there at the top of the Persian Empire, he seemed unassailable. He's making these laws, he's manipulating things to bring annihilation to the Jewish nation, but now he's under the sentence of death and now he's hanged. Proverbs 21 verse 1, the king's heart is a stream of water.

Excuse me. The king's heart is a stream of water. In the hand of the Lord, he turns it wherever he wills. The president's heart, the prime minister's heart, the celebrity's heart, our governor's heart, a mayor's heart, your boss's heart, our heart is in the hands of the Lord. He turns it wherever he wills, emphasizing that in life, you are not sovereign. You are not in control. You may be at the pinnacle.

You may think you're very, very successful, and at the human level, I congratulate you, but be careful that your trust is not in yourself or accomplishments, but is in the living God. The other thing is we think of Haman. I thought, do any of you have a Haman type of person in your life? Someone who is against you, who maligns you, who's conspiring against you, who may be vengeful, who may even hate you. Perhaps it's a former spouse. Perhaps it's a boss.

Perhaps it's a business competitor. Someone who's always after you, and you just sense that they would like to destroy you. Here's hope for us. If God can bring down Haman, He can deal very well with that stubborn, unspirited, hateful, evil person in your life. Don't panic. Don't repay evil for evil. Don't stoop to the level of that individual. Live a life of integrity as Mordecai did, as Esther does. Walk humbly before the Lord. Commit the matter to the Lord, because God is in the business of turning hearts, changing hearts, making reversals in power, making reversals in political situations, making reversals in business, making reversals in every situation of life.

Therefore, our trust is in this God. Don't try to manipulate things. Don't try to get ahead of God. Trust God. Here is a reversal in power. Secondly, there is a reversal in law. First of all, we have Esther's request, verse 3.

Trust you're following the story. Here's Esther's big moment. Then Esther spoke again to the king.

She fell at his feet and wept, and pleaded with him to avert the evil plan of Haman the Agagite, and the plot he devised against the Jews. Remember, she'd been raised for such a time as this. She said, I'm going to go to the king. If I perish, I perish. Verse 4, when the king held out the golden scepter to Esther, Esther rose and stood before the king.

Can you imagine the emotion that she's experienced? And she said, notice how gracious she is, if it pleased the king. And if I have found favor in his sight, and if the thing seems right before the king, and I'm pleasing in his eyes, let an order be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman the Agagite, the son of Hamadatha, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all of the provinces of the king. For how can I bear to see the calamity that is coming to my people?

Or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred? She falls at the king's feet in tears and implores him to reverse the plot which had been conspired by Haman against the Jewish nation. He extends the golden scepter.

She bows. She makes a request to save her people. And notice how she personalized it.

It's my people, my kindred. Now she's making it very, very clear that yes, she is a Jew. Don't you marvel at her compassion for others? It's very easy for her. She's queen. Even realizing the destruction of the people to kind of hide her identity, but she is concerned. She has this great compassion for her, her people. You know, sometimes when things are going well in their life, you get that promotion. Things are going well in your family, and then you feel life's pretty good.

It's very easy, isn't it, to be unconcerned with the needs of others, or even to look down on others. Referring to the church of Jesus Christ, Paul says, if one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you're the body of Christ and individually members of it. Esther is burdened about the annihilation of her people.

Notice what happens now. The King's decree, verse 7. Then King Ahasuerus, remember who he is, absolute dictator. King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, behold, I've given Esther the house of Haman, and they've hanged him on the gallows, because he intended to lay his hands on the Jews. But you may write as you please, with regard to the Jews in the name of the king, and seal it with the king's ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king's ring cannot be revoked. The king's scribes were summoned at that time in the third month, which is the month of Sivan on the 23rd day, and an edict was written according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to each province in his own script and to each people in his own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language. And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king's signet ring. Then he sent the letters by mounted couriers riding on swift horses that were used in the king's service, bred from the royal stud, saying that the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included, and to plunder their goods. On one day throughout all of the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the 13th day of the 12th month, which is the month of Adar, a copy of what was written was to be issued as a decree in every province being publicly displayed to all people, and the Jews were to be ready on that day to take vengeance on their enemies. So the couriers, mounted on their swift horses that were used in the king's service, rode out hurriedly, urged by the king's command, and the decree was issued in Susa, the citadel.

Susa is in present day. Isn't this marvelous? The king is now on the side of the Jews.

He's now opposed to the decree to annihilate the Jews, and he's giving Mordecai the authority to write in the king's name and to seal it with the king's signature, a decree which would neutralize the earlier, irrevocable edict. And the king 's couriers ensure that the contents of this edict is known throughout all of the provinces. It's a huge province.

Did you get it? Think of it. Do you know your geography? From India to Ethiopia. Think of that wide expanse, 127 provinces, put in every language. There's all kinds of people living in the Persian Empire. About 44 percent of the world's population at this time is in the Persian Empire, and in particular, it's specified that the Jews are to receive the edict in their own script and their own language.

And the Jewish nation, very important today, isn't it? What are they given? They're given the right of self-defense. Not only are they given the right of self-defense, they're given the right to make a preemptive strike against any Persian if someone's going to attack them.

They have the king's authority to defend themselves and to strike back. However, if anyone in the Persian Empire leaves the Jews alone, they will be left alone. The edict is not for vengeance. The edict is for justice. The first edict engineered by the evil Haman, the anti-Semite, the enemy of the Jews, was for genocide. This evil man wanted to exterminate every Jew throughout the Persian Empire.

The second edict, the one given by Mordecai, is for self-protection. This was God's vindication of his people. God watching over his people, the Jewish people. Some commentators, as I've read this, are critical of the Jewish nation.

That's unjustified. God is giving his people the right to defend themselves if attacked. What do we do as a nation when we're attacked?

What happened at 9-11? What happened if we had enemies attacking the United States? Would we just sit back? To expect the Jewish nation simply to sit back then and now and allow themselves to be slaughtered is naive. The Jewish nation was not to be the aggressor, notice, it was not, they were not to be motivated by vengeance. God is vindicating his people and present Israel seeks to defend itself, seeks to carry out, yes, preemptive strikes in order to defend itself. On the other hand, today, Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, and so on, their aim is for vengeance. Their goal, make no mistake about it, is the total destruction of Israel.

They want to wipe out the nation of the Jews, to wipe out the state of Israel. In our legal system here in the United States, and in every civilized legal code, there is a right of self-defense. What would you do if someone came into your home, men, to assault your wife, to assault your children? What would you do? Would you stand by? Surely not.

Surely not. We have under the law a right of self-defense. What is true of an individual is true of a nation. Should Christians go to war?

It's a very difficult situation. Revengeful emotional outbursts against one's enemies, whether nationally or privately, are clearly wrong. On the other hand, a nation has the right to protect itself against terrorist attacks. We did that as the United States.

We will do it again, I trust. And in Esther, in this marvelous way, in this reversal of the law, we see the hand of God protecting His ancient people. And He does so in this way, remarkably, with a reversal in law. There is one law, one edict, to destroy, to annihilate all of the Jews, and in the miracle of this reversal, the nation is safe. Now, the end of verse, end of chapter 8, we have a reversal in emotions. We have a reversal in law, a reversal in power, now a reversal in emotions, verse 17. Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and white, with a great golden crown. This is amazing, isn't it? And a robe of fine linen and purple.

Can you see them? And the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor, and in every province and in every city, whatever the king's command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and holiday. And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen on them. This remarkable nation for 3,000 years now. God's hand has been on them. A reversal in emotion.

Bloom is turned to joy and celebration. The picture of Mordecai with his royal robes and crown was a visible sign to everyone that King Ahasuerus was now on the side of the Jews. It's true the king could not revoke the earlier edict made by Haman, but by appointing a Jew as his prime minister, as it were, the word is going to spread throughout the provinces that the king is supportive of the second edict to protect the Jewish nation. And if anyone attacks the Jewish nation, there is going to be an immediate and a very effective response. In this miraculous way, God is preserving his ancient people from the wicked hatred of Haman and others who were anti-Semitic. And when each province and city received this new edict, there was a great rejoicing and feasting.

Can you imagine of it? And many of the pagan Persians now, as it were, are converted to Judaism because of the dread of the Jews had fallen on them. Where once there was darkness, there's light. Where once there was gloom and despair, there's now gladness, celebration, and joy.

Yes, the Jewish nation is going to survive for a reversal of emotions and attitudes. A reversal in power, a reversal in law, a reversal in emotion. These are examples of God, again, doing what only God can do, doing the unexpected, reversing the irreversible. I ask you today, are you facing some seemingly irreversible situation?

We find in these situations, don't we? It seems that there's just darkness. There's gloom. It seems sometimes in life that there is no way out.

There is no solution. Are you despairing about a particular situation? Is it driving you to despair, to despondency? You think your marriage is beyond repair? Years ago, you got married and you were so excited to see your life in front of you, and now events have happened, and you say this is absolutely hopeless.

Some relationship, some great plan, dream you had, and now it's come to a very abrupt end, and you think the whole situation is absolutely impossible. I meet with people who tell me this, there is no solution. You know, as followers of Jesus Christ, we can never say that. You think some situation is hopeless?

I want you to be encouraged. We believe in a God, here's an example, a God who can do the impossible. Question is asked in Scripture, is anything too hard for the Lord?

To ask the question gives you the answer, of course not. God is omnipotent. God is absolutely in control, and we have a God, and our hope is in a God who reverses the irreversible. If Haman's edict had been implemented, the Jewish nation would have been annihilated. That in a sense would have ended God's redemptive purposes as the Messiah comes from the Jewish nation. Jesus Himself said, salvation is from the Jews.

Our Lord Jesus is born a Jewish man. And Satan, right from the Garden of Eden, has sought to destroy the royal seed, to destroy God's ancient people, and our adversary, the devil, continues to attack Israel over and over again. People ask, why is it that Israel's always attacked? Why is it in the United Nations Israel continues to be condemned, and other atrocities and injustices throughout the world seem to be minimized? Why is it that people have this terrible hatred against Israel, this tiny country? The ultimate answer is, it's the enemy, Satan himself. He attacks what God is doing, and we know from Scripture that God has a future for Israel. But do you know that Satan is also attacking us, the church?

Do you believe that? Do you believe that Satan always attacks what God is building? You're newly married.

You're very excited. I always tell couples, be careful. Satan wants to destroy your marriage. He wants to destroy your home. He wants to destroy Calvary Church.

He wants to destroy our school and our development center. He is an invidious enemy, but Jesus says, I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. We are in a spiritual battle. So Paul says, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the enemy. No, our struggle is not against flesh and blood.

Our struggle is against the forces of darkness in heavenly places, wickedness. But just as Esther was burdened for our people, we the people of God are to be burdened for others. A mark of Christian maturity is a lack of self-absorption, selfishness. We love it in children. We see them growing up and they begin to think of others.

Our flesh only thinks of itself, and one of the marks of spiritual maturity is that we are burdened for others. We think of our fellow citizens in our state whose lives have been devastated and our answer, our question instinctively is what can we do to help? And praise God for the wonderful responses which continue for relief in our own state and in Florida with the devastation of these hurricanes.

The other thing I thought of, just as these couriers quickly, on their horses, sped throughout the Persian Empire, bringing the good news of Jewish deliverance. So we, as the people of God, what do we do? We go throughout the world proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I praise God to be part of a church that is passionate about the gospel, not just for ourselves, not just for Charlotte, not just for North Carolina, not just for the United States, but for the whole world. And we send missionaries throughout the whole world, not on their horses, perhaps on camels, perhaps on donkeys, jeeps, bicycles. We buy motorbikes for some of our people we support.

Why? So they can bring the gospel to those who are under the sentence of death. The message of salvation.

In the middle of the darkness, we the people of God are to shine as light. I heard the wonderful story this week at UNC Chapel Hill, not a bastion of spirituality. But there, this week, it was a hotspot for anti-Israel protests following the events of October 7. Amazing, isn't it?

The people on our campuses have such a hatred of the Jewish nation. But when that was going on, something else was marvelous happening among the Christian students at UNC Chapel Hill, including one of our own, Malin Costello. What are they doing? They're writing on the sidewalks. I would never have thought of this.

I would have been tempted to get into an argument with the protesters. But they did something much better. They have written on the sidewalks around the campus the Gospel of John. Isn't that marvelous? Here are people protesting against Israel, and here are the modern day couriers with the Gospel, writing the wonderful Gospel of John throughout the campus. In the middle of the darkness, there is light. In the middle of hatred, they are telling the wonderful story that John presents that God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And just as the Jews celebrated with joy and gladness and celebration for their deliverance, we the people of God, as part of our worship, as part of our life, we are people of joy. We're people of praise. We're not people of despair. We're not people of gloom. We're not people wringing our hands and saying the world is a terrible place.

It is a terrible place. But we look up to the magnificent salvation that we presently have, and which is just a foretest of something far, far better. Let me say this as a close. I want to make this very clear. You know, the original edict meant that the Jewish people were under the sentence of death. I began by saying that this is true of all of us, not just for Jews or Gentiles. We're under the sentence of death.

You say, in what way? The wages of sin is death. Any sinners here? Yes, I'm the chief of sinners.

Yes. And because of that, because of our sin, we're under the sentence of death. And by ourselves, we will never, ever defeat death.

I don't care how resourceful you are, how wealthy you are, how much you try to be fit and keep your youth, you will never, ever escape death. It's appointed unto man once to die. Here is the brilliant reversal of the gospel. That to people living in the shadow of death, in the condemned cell, into our world comes our Lord Jesus Christ. Not just shouting a message but coming right to us, Immanuel, God with us.

And He comes, we're going to be studying this, Lord willing, in the book of Luke, He comes as the Savior of the world. What a counter reversal. And I have to ask you, personally, have you had this reversal?

This brilliant reversal? You say, what are you talking about, John? We're sinful. We're heading for destruction. Jesus told us that. You're on the broad road, which leads to destruction.

And the Lord Jesus comes, and what's His message? Repent. Repent and believe in the gospel. Stop. Stop what you're doing. Realize that you are living a life which is headed for hell itself.

Stop. And the Lord Jesus Christ comes and calls on us to repent of our sins and to trust in Him. You know, we have people who tell us, and we do ourselves, how terrible our world is. Our own country with a conflict and so many problems that we have. Internationally, not just with Israel, but in other places, one would have thought human civilization would have done better. But think of all of the problems of the world.

Think of our own individual problems. Paul, as he writes in Ephesians 2, as he presents the gospel to the Ephesians, he tells them that in chapter 2 that they were dead in trespasses and sins. And then in verse 4, we have this brilliant reversal with two words.

Do you know what they are? Anyone? But God. We've got two people who read their Bible.

Thank you. Ephesians 2. But God. It is true we're spiritually dead. It is true the world is in a terrible mess.

It's true that there is darkness and gloom and problems all over the place. Here's a Christian response. But God. There is no hope in the world. There is no salvation in the world.

You yourself will never ever get it right. But God, with this brilliant reversal, the decrees of death and destruction which were against us have been reversed through our magnificent Lord Jesus Christ who has conquered death and who delivers us into His eternal kingdom. There is a reversal of sorrow to joy, of shame to glory, of condemnation to justification, of death to life because our Lord Jesus Christ is triumphant over all of the enemies. And we who are united with Christ through faith in Him, we share in His triumph. We are not people of despair. We're people of hope.

We're not people of fear. We realise that our hope is not in this world. It's not in the United Nations. It's not in a political candidate.

It's certainly not in a political party. Our hope is in God. And we trust in God. He's the only one who can deliver us from the problems of sin and despair and despondency.

If you'll never put your trust in Christ, will you do that? How wonderful that each one of us would have this remarkable reversal. Like Paul on the road to Damascus and he sees that bright light and his life is one of hate against the church of Jesus Christ, and in a moment there's a brilliant reversal. Now, he's a follower of Christ.

You ever had that experience? Stand with me and read these words of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here is the reversal. The reversal which is only found in Jesus Christ, the reversal of death to life.

Read with me. I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. And all the people of God said, Amen. Our Father and our God, we thank You that You're a God of brilliant reversals and that our Savior, to those who are dead in their sins, brings life.

To those who are captive, He brings freedom. That the chains of our sin are broken. All of Your grace, we stand here Father and You know our hearts. And I pray Your blessing on us at Calvary Church protect us. I pray for our development center.

I pray for Calvary Christian Academy for each one of us for this Reach, Welcome, Grow development. We bring all of these things to You Father, all of our missionaries, all of the ministries of this church and ask Father for Your protection and that they will be used for the furtherance of the Gospel. And for each one here in our hearts, even as we stand right now, that hearts will be opened and say, come Lord Jesus. I believe You're the Son of God. Come and save me and transform me. Help me to live for You so that my hope will always be in the Lord and all through Your amazing grace. We thank You in His name. Amen.