The Local Christendom Podcast with Aaron Ventura

Sermon: The Divine Liturgy Pt. 3 - Liturgy As Love Story

The Divine Liturgy Pt. 3 – Liturgy as Love StorySunday, April 13th, 2025Christ Covenant Church – Centralia, WASong of Solomon 1:15–2:4
BRIDEGROOM:15Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; Thou hast doves’ eyes.
BRIDE:16Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: Also our bed is green.17The beams of our house are cedar, And our rafters of fir.1I am the rose of Sharon, And the lily of the valleys.
BRIDEGROOM:2As the lily among thorns, So is my love among the daughters.
BRIDE:3As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, So is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, And his fruit was sweet to my taste. 4He brought me to the banqueting house, And his banner over me was love.
Prayer
Father, we thank you for the gift that is worship. The gift of hearing your voice, of being given in Scripture the words to respond to your voice in faith and in love. And so teach us now to become true worshippers of the true God, for there is none other than You. We ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Introduction
What was the very first thing that God said was not good?
It was Adam alone in the garden. It says in Genesis 2:18, “And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; [therefore] I will make him an help meet for him.” Other translations say, “I will make him a helper comparable to him” (NKJV), or “I will make him a helper corresponding to him.”
The idea is that Adam needs something, someone, that is like him in certain respects, but also unlike him in other respects. Adam needs a helper that is suitable, fitting, and complimentary to him, someone that can supply and make up for what he lacks. And so, God puts Adam into a deep sleep, a happy death, and he takes one of his ribs, and He builds/forms/creates from Adam’s side Woman.
Now what kind of help is Eve to Adam?
First of all, she is his physical compliment. Without woman’s reproductive organs and powers, there are no children. There is no you and me, there is no “be fruitful and multiply,” there is no future for the human race.
But Woman is not merely Man’s physical compliment, she is also something more because humanity is something more than what is physical. Unlike plants and animals that also generate and procreate each according to their kind, man is made in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:27). That is to say, man and woman have an immortal, spiritual, intellectual soul that is capable of knowing God, speaking to God, and even being united to God.
It says in 2 Peter 1:4, God has “given unto us exceedingly great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
This participation in the divine nature (union with God) is the chief end of man. It is our telos, the ultimate why for God creating Adam and fashioning woman from his side.
God did not want Adam and Eve to just have physical offspring, he wanted them to have spiritual offspring (disciples!). God wants the world to be filled with living breathing knowing images of the Holy Trinity, who exercise dominion and authority and bring the beauty and glory of God to all creation.
As the very last line of the Psalter declares, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 150:6).
And so the spiritual reason God created woman, was so that Adam could have a liturgical companion. Someone to talk to. Someone to talk about God with. Someone who could join Adam in singing praises unto God for giving them being. Adam needed a wife so that together they could worship God in a more glorious way than Adam could have alone.
God says, “it is not good that man should be alone.” Heneeds someone to sing the high notes, a helper to sing in unison at times, and to sing the harmony at other times, someone to sing responsively back and forth, to give to God the glory due unto his name in the beauty of holiness (Ps. 29:2). That is the ultimate spiritual reason for the creation of woman, so that humanity could more fully glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
In our text this morning we have illustrated for us this back-and-forth love song between Bridegroom and Bride. In its original historical context these words are placed upon the lips of Solomon and His Shunamite bride, but of course what Solomon and the Shunamite woman are actually singing about is Christ’s love for the Church, and God’s love for the human soul.
And so traditionally you were not allowed to even read the Song of Solomon until you were a grown and mature adult, who had already mastered all the other books of the Bible. And the main reason for this is because the Song of Solomon is describing the most intimate spiritual union with God, using ideas, actions, and images taken from the most intimate physical union that can be: marital love.
And so I have chosen only a sample of verses that are (I think) appropriate for public reading, to illustrate this one point: that our worship service, our liturgy, is a love story that is told in myriad ways. Our worship service is a divinely inspired love song. It is the drama of creation, fall, redemption, restoration, and consummation. It is the history of Israel, it is the story of the gospel reenacted and set to music. It is the sacrificial system with its order of offerings, with its procession from the outer court to the altar, to the holy place, to the holy of holies. It is the ascension of Moses to God on Mount Sinai. It is the descent of heavenly choirs come down to renew and remake the earth.
Like the Song of Solomon, our worship service is a back-and-forth dialog between Bride and Bridegroom, between God and Man, between Christ and the Church, between Minister and Congregation.
This is the most basic pattern for Christian worship that the Bible gives to us from Genesis to Revelation. There is a call, there is a response, and there is invitation to eat together.
And so the purpose of my sermon this morning, is to help you see and notice just a few of these biblical patterns in our worship.
The amazing thing about imitating God’s patterns is that they naturally form connections you never saw before, connections that interlock and interweave and mutually indwell interpret one another. And so it is not just one pattern that you can find in the liturgy, there are like Ezekiel’s vision of God’s glory, wheels within wheels, patterns within patterns, gospel all the way down.
And so I want use the rest of our time to give you a narrative tour of our liturgy. Why do we worship the way we do, with the words we do, in the order we do?
Covenant Renewal – An Overview
So let’s start with an overview of the broadest organizing principle that we use to order our worship, and it is what we call Covenant Renewal. And if you look at page 11, I have listed for you there the 5 basic steps of the Covenant Renewal Pattern.
1. Call to Worship: God calls us into His presence. We enter with joy and singing.
2. Confession: God cleanses us of sin. We repent and profess our faith in Christ.
3. Consecration: God teaches us His Word. We hear and obey.
4. Communion: God feeds us. We commune with Christ and one another.
5. Commission: God sends us back into the world renewed. We go forth to conquer by faith.
And you should notice that in all these instances, God is active doing something to us or for us, and We are also active responding to Him and for Him. As image bearers of God, our job is to mirror back to God in our own creaturely way what God has first given and spoken to us.
Now where exactly do we find this pattern of covenant renewal in Scripture? There are many places, but I will highlight for you just four examples:
1. Exodus 19-24 where God first enters into a covenant with Israel at Sinai.
2. Leviticus 1-9 where God describes the sacrificial offerings and ordains the priests to ministry.
3. 2 Chronicles 5-7 where Solomon dedicates The Temple.
4. The whole book of Revelation, which is itself a vision of the heavenly liturgy that John sees in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.
Now to help us get this pattern in our mind, let me walk through just one example of it from the Levitical sacrificial system. Recall that Leviticus is all about, How do you get close to God without dying? This ritual begins with…
1. God calling Aaron and his sons to worship Him (Lev. 8).
2. God cleanses them by washing them in water and anointing them with oil. There is a baptism and a christening.
3. God consecrates them through a series of animal sacrifices.
First a sin offering (Lev. 1:4),
Then a burnt offering, which is better translated as an ascension offering (lit. “a going up offering”). The idea is that the whole person is burned up and ascends as a living sacrifice and is transformed into smoke so that he can be united to God’s glory cloud. He joins the cloud of witnesses.
Third, having ascended to heaven in the burnt offering, you can now move to the 4th stage of covenant making and renewal which is the eating.
4. God communes with Aaron and his sons through the Peace Offering. This is the one offering the ordinary Israelite worshipper actually gets to eat together with God (and the priest).
5. God commissions Aaron and his sons to the ministry.
We could also note that those three main sacrifices, the Sin offering, Ascension offering, and Peace offering, are a miniature form of the covenant renewal pattern.
The Sin offering signifies Confession.
The Ascension offering signifies Consecration.
The Peace offering signifies Communion.
This is that pattern within pattern, wheels within wheels idea.
So with all that in mind, and now that we are alert to this pattern, let’s turn together to page 3 in our bulletin and walk through our own form of this covenant renewal service.
#1 – CALL TO WORSHIP
Worship begins with God’s Minister calling out to the world, M: Let us rise and worship the Triune God.
As it says in Psalm 122:1, “Let us go into the house of the Lord”
This is the primordial call to all creation to prepare themselves to hear the voice of God.
In response the people stand up. For as God says to the prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel 2:1, “Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee.” And as God says to Moses before causing His glory to pass by him, “Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock.” (Ex. 33:21). And is it says in Psalm 122:2, “Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.”
So now standing and ready within the gates of the New Jerusalem, we hear God’s voice. And what is the first word that God speaks to us when we are assembled?
M: Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Grace is the beginning of the Christian life, and Peace is the end of a life marked by divine mercy. And so in this opening blessing all the goodness of God’s works are comprehended, and all the persons of the One God are declared: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Having received this blessing from the Triune God, we then enter into dialog with Him using His own divinely inspired songbook and prayerbook which is the Psalms.
From the earliest days of the church and even going back before to Jewish worship prior to Christ, Psalms were selected and sung according to a Liturgical Festival Calendar.
Depending on which Christian tradition you are a part of (Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, Episcopal, Presbyterian), the calendar might be more or less prominent in how the Psalms are selected.
Our practice at present is to follow the Lutheranlectionary which has selected Scripture readings for all the major Christian festivals (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Pentecost, etc.).
For example, today is Palm Sunday, the day in which we remember Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem before his passion, and in the gospels we read, “And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest” (Matt. 21:9).
And since that song of praise comes from Psalm 118:26, the church has customarily sung Psalm 118 on Palm Sunday.
Now the Psalms are songs remember, and God intended for these words to be sung, not necessarily just read back and forth to one another. And so in some congregations that are more musically mature than us, the Minister and the Congregation will actually chant these words back and forth to one another.
Or a cantor will sing one line, and the congregation will sing the other. We are not there yet, and I don’t know if we will ever get there, but given where we are as a congregation, we at least begin with reading God’s Word back and forth to one another, and then we sing a song that we do know after the prayer.
I should also note here that many of the Psalms are clearly written for this specific purpose of being sung back and forth to one another. Think of the constant refrain of Psalm 136, “For his mercy endures forever.” This is part of the divine dialog between Christ and the Church, the lover and the beloved. The first line gives the thought, and the second line responds to that thought and glorifies it. This is that mirroring that God embedded into Creation and into His Word.
After we get God’s Holy Word onto our lips and into our mouths, I then offer an opening prayer of invocation based on whatever the Psalm is. And then that prayer concludes with a Trinitarian reflection that is also based on the Psalm.
Sometimes I compose these prayers myself, and other times I use or modify prayers from the ancient church.
After the prayer we have our opening song. Joe Stout is our Chief Musician and together we set the music for each week. I probably need to a do a whole sermon on music and singing later in this series to explain the biblical principles that guide our song selection.
For those who have been around for awhile, you know that we prioritize heavily singing the Psalms, and if we are not singing a Psalm, we are singing other portions of Scripture or hymns that closely paraphrase the Scriptures. This morning we sang Isaiah 2:2-5.
So that is the first part of Covenant Renewal Worship, and the mood we want to set is summarized by Psalm 100:4, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, And into his courts with praise: Be thankful unto him, and bless his name.” So usually our first song will try to emphasize these elements of praise, thanksgiving, and blessing.
#2 – CONFESSION
This section begins with a word of exhortation that is as God washing us, cleansing us, and sometimes anointing us with a rebuke.
David says in Psalm 141:5, “Let the righteous strike me; It shall be a kindness. And let him rebuke me; It shall be as excellent oil; Let my head not refuse it. For still my prayer is against the deeds of the wicked.”
So this is the time for you to cleanse your mind of impurity, to unburden your conscience before the Lord, to let God rebuke you, correct you, and pour oil upon your head.
Many charismatic and Baptist churches have an altar call at the end, but we place our altar call here, and all of us do it! This is the call to repent and believe the gospel, kneel down and say the sinner’s prayer.
Every week we recite a portion of David’s great prayer of repentance after he committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered Uriah. And so Psalm 51 is our great reminder that no matter how great our sins might be, God’s mercy is greater, and if we confess our sins and accept the consequences, God delights to put away our sins, and restore to us the joy of his salvation.
After our altar call, I announce to you that “the enemies of God are brought down and fallen,” and that includes the sins you just confessed.
And so now with “a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith” (1 Tim. 1:5), you can get up and say the words of Psalm 20:8 in boldness, “we are risen and stand upright.”
To this I then assure you of God’s love and forgiveness. To which you then respond with “Thanks be to God” and then we all sing the Doxology.
If we compared our liturgy with the liturgy of heaven in Revelation, we would find that immediately after God calls the seven churches to repentance, John looks up and sees an open door in heaven, and 24 elders singing praises to God. That is the heavenly choir that we are joining when we sing the Doxology.
We lift our hands because Psalm 134:2 says, “Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, And bless the Lord.”
And again, in Psalm 63:3-4, “Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.”
Now after we praise God for his grace and forgiveness, we remember the words of Romans 10:10 which says, “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
And so it is not enough to just confess our sins and believe in our hearts, we need to “confess the Lord Jesus” (Rom. 10:9). And so together we profess our faith publicly, openly, and with one voice.
Jesus says in Luke 12:8, “Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God.”
And likewise in Matthew 10:32, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
And so because we want Jesus to confess us before His Father, we confess Him before all.
Moreover, by using the words of the Nicene Creed, we distinguish ourselves from the many heretical sects that use the name Jesus and profess to be Christians, but which are in substance nothing of the sort.
The Nicene Creed (written 381 AD) is also the most universally recited creed, and it connects us in spirit and in truth with our brothers and sisters around the globe who are also on this very day professing the same faith.
This is one of the ways we obey Ephesians 4:3-6, which says, “endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”
We want our children to grow up with the truths of the Creed inscribed upon their heart because this is as Jude says, “the common salvation…that [we] should earnestly contend for, the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 1:3).
#3 – CONSECRATION
Having offered to God our Sin Offering by Confession, we then proceed to the Burnt Offering/Ascension Offering, which is where God consecrates us by His Word.
Remember that the Ascension Offering involves killing the animal with a knife, cutting it up, washing its inward parts, and then placing it into God’s consuming fire to be transformed into smoke.
We learn in Hebrews 4:12 that this is what Christ through His Word does to us: “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
The readings from the Old and New Testament, the Preaching of the Sermon, and the recitation of the Ten Commandments are God’s knife cutting us open and discerning our inward thoughts.
The prayers of thanksgiving and petition are how God washes our minds from impure desires and teaches us to desire and want what He wants.
The prayers of intercession for our civil leaders, religious leaders, and those suffering affliction around the world are a plea for God to rearrange, convict, comfort, and consecrate all creation.
And so it is in prayer and through prayer, by hearing the Word read and sung and preached, that God changes us and consecrates us, but only if we are good and fertile soil.
Remember Jesus parable about the seed and the soil (Mark 4, Matthew 13, Luke 8). The seed is the word, your heart/mind is the soil.
Of the four different soils in which the seed is sown, only one bears fruit 30, 60 and 100-fold. The rest have the seed stolen by the devil, they forget. Some have the seed choked out by the weeds of worldly desires and distractions. And some spring up with enthusiasm for a moment but then fall away when life gets hard.
So this time of Consecration can be a fruitful time but only if you are good soil. And if you are not, sometimes this time becomes how God changes you from bad soil to good soil.
So if you want to experience this consecration that leads to abundant fruitfulness, to being assimilated into God’s glory cloud, then heed Jesus’ parable of the soils. It’s one of those few parables that is included in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, so it is of triple importance!
The Sanctus/Benedictus
Now the final two steps of Covenant Renewal are Communion and the Commission, and since those are more self-explanatory, I will leave to you to meditate on how they correspond to the various sacrifices and patterns in Scripture. But in closing I want to introduce and explain a new addition to our liturgy which forms the bridge between the Consecration and Communion, and that is the Offertory and Sanctus.
Our usual custom has been that after the Ten Commandments (pg. 11) we sing an Offertory song (pg. 12), during which Kirby, one of our deacons, walks down the aisle carrying the Offering Box. We then ask for God’s blessing on our tithes and the offerings and transition to the Communion Homily.
This morning, we are going to be adding the singing of the Sanctus (which we have recently learned), after that offertory prayer. So you will see at the bottom of page 12 we will remain standing after I pray, “in Jesus’ name, Amen.” And then the piano will begin, and we’ll sing the Holy Holy Holy of Isaiah 6 that is followed by the Benedictus from Psalm 118, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord…”
And then while we are singing, the elders and deacons who will be distributing communion are going to process down the aisle with the bread and the wine and set it here on the pulpit (Word and Sacrament).
And the symbolism of this procession is that of Jesus entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday while these very words of Psalm 118 were being sung. Why is Jesus coming to Jerusalem in the name of the Lord? So that he can offer his body and blood upon the altar of the cross for our salvation.
One of the amazing things about theSanctus is that the church has been singing this song at this moment in the service right before communion for over 1,600 years.
We find it in the Ancient Greek Liturgies of St. John Chrysostom, of St. Basil, of St. James. We find it in the Latin Liturgies, we find it in the English liturgies. Even Martin Luther the great liturgical reformer placed the Sanctus here in the German liturgy.
And that is because Communion with God through the death of Christ is the high point, the climax, of our worship. Therefore, we ought to have a song of praise as loud and as glorious as the Sanctus here to prepare ourselves for the Lord’s coming to dine with us.
Conclusion
The Life of Jesus is a life of covenant renewal. He came to bring us the New Covenant! And so not only does our worship service mirror the Levitical sacrificial system, it also mirrors the life of Jesus:
1. The Call to Worship corresponds to the birth of Christ. For Jesus is the very Word from the Father, and the one who of whom it says in Matthew 1:15, “Out of Egypt have I called my son.”
2. The Confession of Sin corresponds to the circumcision and baptism of Christ, who undergoes these ritual cleansings not for any sins of his own but for us and to fulfill all righteousness.
3. The Consecration corresponds to the ministry of Christ, his teaching, his preaching, his praying, his healing and consecrating those in need.
4. The Communion corresponds to the Last Supper, to His Passion and death and triumph over the grave.
5. The Commission (with its charge and benediction) corresponds to Jesus’ Great Commission and His ascension on high, and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. For as it says in John 20:21-22, “Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.”
So behold Jesus everywhere in the worship service. Because there is no true worship apart from Him. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Sermon: The Divine Liturgy Pt. 2 - Living Sacrifice (Romans 11:34-12:3)

The Divine Liturgy Pt. 2 – Living SacrificeSunday, April 6th, 2025Christ Covenant Church – Centralia, WARomans 11:34–12:3
Prayer
Father, we thank you for the measure and diversity of your gifts, through which the church is built up and perfected. Teach us now by Your Holy Spirit, to offer ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable in your sight. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Introduction
Imagine for a moment that you are an ancient Israelite, and you live in a tent in the middle of the desert. However, unlike those naughty Israelites, who complain all the time and grumble about the food and their living conditions, you are a good Israelite. You are like Moses and Joshua, an Israelite with faith. And so as a believer, you know that God is a spirit, He does not actually live in a temple made with hands, He does not have a body that gets hungry or tired and needs to eat. You know that God is the Most High, the Creator, and that the worship He desires is a spiritual soul that clings to Him in love.
God says in Psalm 50:12-14, “If I were hungry, I would not tell you; For the world is Mine, and all its fullness. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God thanksgiving, And pay your vows to the Most High.”
So as a true and believing Israelite, as a spiritual Israelite, you want to worship God in spirit and in truth. And that means first and foremost thanking God, paying your vows, offering to Him your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. That is your spiritual worship. But it also means manifesting those interior/spiritual affections of the soul with external/bodily actions. And at this time in history (1,500 years before Christ), what external act of worship does the law of Moses require? You have to kill one of your animals.
Now depending on what kind of sacrifice you intend to offer, there are four basic features that you need to observe if God will be pleased with your worship.
First, your animal had to be brought to the priest alive.
And that meant, transporting your living animal from your house to God’s house. And depending on what tribe you are from, and how far your tent is from the central Tabernacle, you might have to walk a good distance with your animal. We call that a commute to church.
Second, the animal had to be holy and without blemish.
That meant knowing the state of your flock (Pr. 27:23) and then finding the best and healthiest animal among them (the animal you prize the most). Usually this would mean finding a male from the herd, a year old, without any blemish. It might be an ox, or a sheep, or a goat, or if you are poor, you could offer a turtledove or a young pigeon. But whatever the animal was, it could not have any defects, it had to be holy.
Third, the animal had to be killed, usually by you (here’s the knife, cut the throat, drain the blood). And then the priest has his duty, he takes the blood and sprinkles it on the altar, he divides the animal into pieces like a butcher, he washes the inward parts and then places it on the altar to burn.
Notice that you are not a passive spectator in this act of worship, you are involved. The priest has his role, and you have you yours. You have to get your hands dirty and even a little bloody. You are slaughtering something of value, something living, something that belongs to you, and you are offering that to God’s consuming fire. Worship of this sort is work; it costs you something. And when that work of sacrifice is done in faith, that is what pleases God.
The fourth and final feature of worship is that the sacrifice had to be seasoned with salt.
It says in Leviticus 2:13, “You shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt.”
So not only does God demand the first fruits of your labor, the best and firstborn from the herd, he also wants it to taste good. God likes salt with his meat. He wants flavor and savor in every bite.
And in this sense, the ritual act of worship is a kind of cooking for God. Worship is meal prep for the King in the king’s kitchen. God has recipes. He specifies the kinds of ingredients he wants, fine flour, oil, frankincense, salt. These animals and not those animals. This part of the animal and not that part. You burn this up completely, you cook that part and you eat it, or the priest eats it.
So God’s house of worship has rules, manner, and customs. His house has a throne room, a living room, a dining room, and a kitchen.
And of course, because you are a good and faithful Israelite, you know that all of this house and furniture and ritual and ingredients and cooking, is really about the Messiah, his people, and the matters of the heart. You know that all these external physical actions are but signs and means to spiritual ends.
And so to worship God in spirit and in truth as an ancient Israelite, meant meditating upon the law of God day and night. It meant reflecting upon these four main features of worship and all the details in between. It meant asking that most important question when reading the Scriptures: What is the spiritual reality that these words and things signify?
Jesus says to the Pharisees in John 5:39, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.” And he says to Nicodemus, “If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?” (John 3:12).
And so if you cannot see Jesus in Leviticus, in the descriptions of the tabernacle, the priestly garments, the sacrifices, the calendar, the cooking of God’s food, then the Apostle Paul would say, you have yet to become spiritual. You are still reading Moses with the veil like a Pharisee.
He says in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3, “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?”
What is the American Church but a carnal church. We are divided. We are envious, contentious, and proud. We are as ignorant babes in Christ. We believe in Jesus, or at least say we do, but our ambitions in worship Him are hardly spiritual, transcendent, or for growth in maturity.
Instead of worshipping God in fear and reverence as Hebrews 12:28 commands, we have turned Sunday into a show, into entertainment and in many places into sacrilege and a mockery of what is holy.
Some churches have made it their whole purpose and mission statement to make the unbelieving world feel at home in Christian worship (“to belong before they believe”). Whereas in the New Testament, what does the Apostle Paul say should happen when the unbeliever wanders in and observes our worship?
He says in 1 Corinthians 14:25, “the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.”
Is that the goal of Christian worship in America today? To so sing the psalms and say our prayers and proclaim the word so that unbelievers who visit us fall down prostrate and acknowledge that God is among us? If not, then our priorities are different than God’s, and when our priorities are different than God’s the Bible calls that sin, idolatry.
Jesus warns in Matthew 15:9, “In vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”
So have we forgotten that worship is sacrifice, and that a sacrifice by definition costs us something? Where is the spirit of David who would not receive Araunah’s threshing floor for free but said, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing” (2 Samuel 24:24).
Where is that mindset in the American Church? Where are the living sacrifices?
Where are the saints who say with Psalm 95:6, “O come, let us worship and bow down: Let us kneel before the Lord our maker.”
Where are the Christians who say with Psalm 122:1, “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.”
Where are those who say with Psalm 27:4, “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.”
Jesus says in John 4:23, that the Father is looking for the true worshippers, those who worship God in spirit and in truth. So are you numbered amongst them? If you are not, or if you are unsure, the Apostle Paul is here to help you get there.
For here in Romans 11 and 12, Paul gives us the spiritual substance, the true realities, of which the ancient Israelite types and shadows pointed to. For here we have the same four features of Old Covenant worship, but in their New Covenant garb. So let us consider more closely this text before us.
Division of the Text
Our text divides into two sections:
In Romans 11:34-36 we have The Basis/Reason for Sacrificial Worship.
And then in Romans 12:1-3, we have The Four Essential Features of Christian Worship.
Verses 34-36 – What is the rationale for why we offer sacrifice to God?
34For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counseller?35Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?36For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
Recall from our first sermon on worship, that Worship is giving to God the glory due unto His name. And the thesis or principle I gave you was that Worship is a matter of justice.
We see this same principle again here. The Apostle asks three rhetorical questions about whether a man can ever put God in his debt. And the answer is, No, on the contrary, man owes God everything, because everything we have comes from him. “For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.”
So all things exist to give glory to God, and therefore it is a matter of cosmic justice that man gives glory to God with all that God has given him. And it is this lavish generosity of God’s mercy to create us and sustain us and convert us, that becomes the basis for his appeal in the next section. How does Romans 12:1 begin?
Verse 1
1I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
What mercies is the Apostle referring to? The ones he just mentioned, “For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things.” Creation is a work of mercy. Providence is work of mercy. Restoration to the image of Christ is a work of mercy.
It says in Psalm 145:9, “The Lord is good to all: And his tender mercies are over all his works.” And then in the next verse it says, “All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord; And thy saints shall bless thee.” Notice again that the just response to mercy is praise and blessing of God.
Justice is founded upon and answers to mercy. Which is another way of saying that grace always precedes and animates our righteousness.
So there is nothing unreasonable about offering your body as a living sacrifice to God. Because who gave you that body? Who died and rose to resurrect that body? To whom does that body belong?
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
And so it is the most reasonable service (λογικὴν λατρείαν), logical latria, rational worship, reasonable reverence, to offer your body as a living sacrifice to God, because that body is God’s temple.
And that is, as we saw earlier, the first essential feature of worship. The sacrifice needs to be alive.
So are you alive to God with a faith that works by love? (Gal. 5:6).
Paul says in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh [in the body] I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
And so this first essential feature of a living sacrifice, is that you have faith formed by love. Or as James says in James 2:26, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
So just as the physical body is alive by the spirit, just so your faith is alive when it works by love.
So if you would become a living sacrifice and not a dead sacrifice, then good works and genuine love must proceed from your faith. Put another way, Jesus has to live within you, because remember Jesus is the beauty of holiness in which we give glory to God (Psalm 29:2).
So if you feel dead, the prayer you ought to pray for yourself, is what the Apostle prays for the Ephesians.
He says in Ephesians 3:17-19, I pray “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”
God is life by His very essence, and so when God is within you by faith rooted in love, you become alive. And it is only a living sacrifice that pleases Him.
As Paul says in Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
So that is the first essential feature of Christian worship. You need to be alive with the life of Christ.
The second essential feature of worship is that the sacrifice needs to be holy and without blemish.
So just as God desired the lamb without blemish, the animal without defect, the first and the best, so God desires the same from us.
And of course this second feature follows upon the first in that if Christ is alive within you, and all worship is offered in Jesus’ name, then God reckons you as holy in His Son.
Paul says in Romans 11:16, “if the root is holy, so are the branches.”
Jesus says in John 15:3-5, “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
Without Jesus, we are nothing. Without Jesus, none of us are holy. But with Jesus, his holiness becomes ours. We are his body; he is our head.
And so if you are unsure about your ceremonial status (am I clean or unclean?), heed the words of Jesus. Make sure that His word has cleansed you. You have been baptized. Make sure that he is the vine in which you abide, to which are you connected. Make sure that you are bearing fruit and are not dry wood or a dead branch.
The Apostle Peter says in 2 Peter 1:10, “Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble.”
So to be holy is to be completely devoted to God. Just as Jesus came not to do his own will but the will of the Father who sent him, so also we must surrender our will to God and devote ourselves exclusively to doing His will. That is where holiness come from.
This is why Jesus says in the very next verses of John 15, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”
When your will is conformed to God’s will, your prayers get answered. So are you holy and devoted to God? That is the second feature of Christian worship. God wants living sacrifices who are holy and dedicated to Him.
Now the third essential feature of worship is that the sacrifice has to die. It has to be killed, cut up, and placed on the altar. Of this we read in verse 2.
Verse 2
2And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
So for the Christian, death is not the end. For the Christian, death is transformation. And for Christian alive with faith, in whom Christ dwells and lives and has made holy, death means being transformed from one degree of glory to another.
Paul speaks of this death to the self in many places.
He says in 1 Corinthians 15:31, “I die daily.”
He says in 1 Corinthians 9:27, “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”
He ends his letter to the Galatians saying, “From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.”
So there are many ways in which each of us must die daily. But for now it suffices to know that if following Jesus feels like death, like a sword is cutting you into pieces, then you are probably making progress.
He did after all tell us, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matt. 16:24).
And so what exactly your particular cross is, I leave to you and the Holy Spirit to work out (if you are unsure you can ask me), but all of us have a cross to bear, and all of us have death to die daily, all of us have an altar upon which God is asking us to lay down and die and trust him.
And while death is painful, and some of us feel too weak to even climb up upon the altar, remember what happens to the worthy sacrifice: God’s consuming fire transforms it into smoke. And as smoke, the sacrifice can now ascend to heaven.
That is the old covenant image of what Paul is describing here. He says, “And be not conformed to this world [below]: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
And so when you die to the world and to the flesh, when you refuse to be conformed into the world’s image and likeness, God transforms you by the renewing of your mind.
Unlike your body which cannot fly to heaven, your mind elevated by grace can ascend to God. Grace makes you fly. Grace transforms and renews your very nature (Col. 3:10, Eph. 4:23-24).
That is how Paul can say in Colossians 3, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God…Therefore put to death [slay/sacrifice/kill] your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”
He says the same in Ephesians 4:23-24, “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
So if you are struggling to deny yourself, if you are hesitant to climb upon the altar and count everything as loss, remember where living sacrifices go. The earthly part is burned up, and the spiritual part, the soul, the mind is transformed and ascends to God in love.
Is that your great ambition in life? To be united to God. To be able to say with Apostle, “I have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16).
Now do you remember what the fourth and final feature of all sacrificial offerings is? Salt. You need the salt to go with it.
Jesus says in Mark 9:49-50, “For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.”
So according to Jesus, salt signifies that which makes for peace. Peace with God, peace with one another, peace within oneself.
Paul says likewise in Colossians 4:5-6, “Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.”
And again, in Ephesians 5:2, “Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”
So salt signifies the grace that makes our life savory to God. The grace of peace. The grace of wisdom. The grace of discretion in our words. The grace of walking in love.
And so we find this fourth feature of worship when Paul says in Romans 12:3…
Verse 3
3For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
So the particular salt that will make the Romans a pleasing sacrifice to God, is the grace of humility. Of not thinking too highly of themselves, which would be a special temptation for those living in the urban capital of the empire in the 1st century: Rome.
But every church, every person, every living sacrifice, needs the salt of divine grace. Without grace, there is no savor. Without grace, there is no peace. Without grace, there is no wisdom, discretion, or walking in love.
And so do you have salt within yourselves as Jesus demands? Are you cultivating the grace of God at work within your soul? When God tastes the offering of your life, will it make him happy, or will he spit you out of his mouth for being lukewarm and unclean? Jesus says, “Have salt in yourselves.”
Conclusion
If the aim of your life is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, the joy will come when you stop thinking of yourself more highly than you ought, and when you start to think of God more frequently and more highly than you presently do.
And so heed the words of the theologian Ben Sirach who said, “When ye glorify the Lord, exalt him as much as ye can; for even yet will he far exceed: and when ye exalt him, put forth all your strength, and be not weary; for ye can never go far enough.” (Sirach 43:30).
May God grant you to extol His infinite greatness now and forever, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Sermon: The Divine Liturgy Pt. 1 - What Is Worship? (Psalm 29:2)

The Divine Liturgy Pt. 1 – What is Worship?Sunday, March 16th, 2025Christ Covenant Church – Centralia, WAPsalm 29
Prayer
Make your voice O Lord to resound within our souls, that having our hearts tested and pierced by Your Holy Word, we may be found altogether pleasing in your sight. Give now, what only you can give, light and life, salvation and peace. We ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Introduction
Consider for a moment two men. We’ll call one of them Richy and the other Gordy. Richy is an avowed atheist and unbeliever; Gordy is a faithful Christian. Both men are scientists, both are university professors, and both take pleasure in studying the natural world. These two scientists are outdoorsy types, they like to camp and hike and be out in the woods. And so one summer they plan to go exploring together. They travel to the Pacific coast and behold the ocean in all its mighty power. They visit old forests and touch trees large enough to drive through. They pitch their tents upon a hill, and on one clear night they both look out and see in the sky above, the cold moon, stars innumerable, the outline of our galaxy, and distant planets far away. And in that moment, a sense of fear and reverence comes upon them both, a sense of their own smallness and insignificance in the face of a world so vast.
The question I want to pose for you is this: What is the difference (or at least, what should be the difference) between Richy the atheist and Gordy the Christian in that moment under the stars? Put another way, What distinguishes Christian fear and reverence, from the atheist’s fear and reverence?
The answer the Bible gives (in Romans 1 and elsewhere) is that the unbeliever worships the creation, whereas the Christian worships the Creator.
Psalm 14 says, “The fool says in his heart, there is no God.” And therefore, when Richy is confronted with something transcendent, beautiful, awe-inspiring and glorious, he isn’t quite sure what do with it. There is tension within him.
The most reasonable thing to do would be to acknowledge and give thanks to some Creator and then search out at all costs who that Creator might be (go to Church!).
But if you refuse to do that, well your options are kind of limited.
You could choose to invent from your own imagination some story of how the world came to be (call it a big bang billions of years ago). You could invent your own deities or gods who created the universe. Take the Greek myths as an example of this impulse. The Bible calls this option idolatry and vain superstition.
Another option is you could choose to worship the thing itself as divine, as many other pagan religions have done. They offered sacrifices to sun, moon, and stars, to trees and rocks, making the whole world into a divine being worthy of worship. We call this species of idolatry pantheism or monism (all is one).
A third option, perhaps more common in our day, is the choice of irreligion and irreverence.
This is the person who has become so blind and numb to reality, that if they ever look at the stars, if they ever touch grass or taste the ocean’s salt spray, if they ever hold a newborn baby in their arms, they are unmoved. It doesn’t do anything for them. There is no fear or reverence or sense of wonder.
There are some people whose conscience is so seared, and whose mind is so darkened, that they cannot even recognize truth, goodness, or beauty, when it is staring them in face. The Bible warns of this kind of hardness of heart, where you become intellectually disabled from seeing God’s handiwork in the world.
Paul says in Romans 1:22, “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged [traded!] the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man…[they] changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.”
The difference between an unbeliever and a believer, between Richy and Gordy, is that when they behold something awe-inspiring, one is stirred up to give glory, honor, thanksgiving and praise to God (they sing the doxology), while the other is not.
The fool looks at the heavens and says there is no God. Whereas the Christian looks up and says with the Psalmist, “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, The moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him?” (Psalm 8:3-4).
The Christian feels his smallness and insignificance (not to mention his own sins and unworthiness), and then he rejoices, he glories, in that God cares for him, The Creator knows him by name, The Creator has numbered his hairs and his days and so loves him that he carries him in everlasting arms. The Christian glories in that the One who fashioned the stars fashioned him, and then came down from the stars and visited us. And not only did he visit us, He promised to elevate us and make us like the stars, numerous and glorious beyond our heart’s imagining.
Compare that joyful trembling with what the unbeliever feels or doesn’t feel. Yes, the atheist might feel his smallness, but it leads him to despair. He cannot believe that in a world so big, of uncountable galaxies millions of miles away, that the Creator of those marvels could care for him. That is too unbelievable. Too unrealistic. Too absurd to be true. And so the atheist chooses tocut himself off from God. He refuses to acknowledge Him or thank Him and worse he uses that denial of God’s existence to justify his own wicked lifestyle.
As my former Pastor Doug Wilson likes to say, there are two tenants to the atheistic worldview: “There is no God, and I hate him.”
Or as Jesus says in John 3:19, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
What happens to people who love the dark? What happens to societies, and nations that deny God and hate him? Or worse, to people who hear the gospel of Christ and reject it, spurning the blood?
If you read on in Romans chapter 1, The Apostle Paul says that those who deny God and refuse to give thanks, basically become gay and wicked. They become sodomites, lesbians, and like beasts enslaved to their appetites.
It says in Romans 1:26-31, “For this reason God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”
Is that not a description of America right now? Does it not terrify and grieve you that we have so expelled the True God from our public consciousness that He has given us over to a wicked conscience?
We are “inventors of evil things.” We boast and revel in what is contrary to nature and in the name of love and tolerance and scientific progress. We have more parks for pets than for children in our cities. We have chosen sterility and barrenness instead of fruitfulness. On one side people are acting like irrational animals, and on the other side people are trying to become one with the internet. There are some who have moved beyond transgenderism to transhumanism. This is what happens when you “do not like to retain God in your knowledge.” This is what happens when you refuse to give worship and thanks to the One who made you. The punishment in this life is that God gives you over to what you desire. The punishment is that he lets you debase yourself with things that are not fitting.
So how bad of a hangover does America need to have before we learn to live soberly and justly in the fear of God? Because we are on one long and insane bender.
So this is the choice before our nation in this hour, and it is the choice before everyone in this room: Choose this day whom you will serve. The living God or the self/the ego. The living God or mammon. The living God or deaf and dumb idols.
It says in Psalm 115:8, “ Those who make idols are like them; So is everyone who trusts in them.”
Meaning that if you worship what is false and dead and demonic, you become false and dead and demonic.
But if you worship what is true and living, good and holy, you become truly alive, good and holy. That is what right worship does to a person.
Paul says in Romans 8:29 that God’s destiny for us is that we be “conformed to the image of His Son.”
He says in 2 Corinthians 3:18, that when we behold with an unveiled face the glory of the Lord we are “being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
So the way to find out Who or What you areactually worshipping, is by comparing yourself with Jesus. Are you becoming more like Jesus, or less like Jesus?
What characterizes you more? The fruit of the Holy Spirit? Or the works of the flesh? If you are unsure, ask your spouse, or your children?
Into what image and likeness are you presently being conformed to? Because we are always changing in some direction, for better or for worse, towards Christ or away from Christ.
Paul says in Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
Those you are only two options. Conformity to some created thing, or conformity to the Creator.
And so if it is true that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, then we should want to know how to glorify God, and how to enjoy Him? And that is what this short sermon series I have entitled The Divine Liturgy is intended to help us with.
So with all that by way of a kind of manifesto and introduction, I want to use the rest of our time to briefly answer two basic but important questions:
Q1. What is worship?
Q2. How should we worship?
And to help us fill out our understanding of this what and how of worship, I am going to give you one Thesis or Principle in answer to each question.
Q1 – What is worship?
The answer to this question is found in our sermon text of Psalm 29, specifically verse 2. It says there, “Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name.”
This is a great definition of what worship is. Worship is the act of giving to God the glory that is due to Him.
And if that is our working definition, there are some further questions we need to ask like:
What is due to God? What do I owe Him?
What is glory? And how do I give it?
This bring us to our first Thesis/Principle which is…
Thesis #1 – Worship is a matter of justice.
As Christians we owe to God a double debt.
We owe him a debt as our Creator and Author of our being, and we owe him a debt as our Redeemer and Author of our salvation.
Now a debt accrues whenever you receive something that you did not deserve. And so ask yourself, Did you deserve to be created? How could you if didn’t exist?!
Paul asks this question rhetorically in 1 Corinthians 4:7, “What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?”
God says likewise in Job 41:11, “Who has preceded me, that I should pay him?”
So unless you made yourself and keep yourself in being by your own power, you are a debtor to Your Maker.
All of us have an umbilical cord through which God injects being into us. We are all still drawing our life from Him, even if we don’t know it. This is why atheism is so irreverent and foolish. You are hacking away at your own life source.
So as a matter of Justice, we owe to God whatever we received from Him; that is His due! And if we received everything from Him as an undeserved gift, then that means your whole life is grace stacked upon grace, it is mercy followed by mercy.
Even before God sent Christ to die for our sins, we owed to God an infinite debt. And so how much more when the Son of God took to himself our humanity and our sins, and suffered and died to bring us to God?
Paul says in Romans 8:12, “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. [what good did flesh ever do for you?!] For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify [put to death] the deeds of the body, ye shall live.”
God has so arranged the order of our salvation that when we acknowledge the debt we owe to God, and then receive by faith the payment of that debt that Christ offered on the cross, we become debtors to grace. We become debtors to the Holy Spirit. And that is the best kind of debt to owe, because it means you are recipient of grace upon grace.
NOTICE: You cannot both receive grace and have no debt to pay.
And so when say that Worship is a matter of justice, of paying our debt to God, what we are saying that worship is only and ever a response to God’s grace. God acted first to create you and then recreate you in Christ.
God took the initiative and even your response to His initiative was enabled by Him.
And so God only demands from us what is good for us. And because God has no need for us, it is in the very act of us giving to Him that we receive the benefit. This is why Jesus says, it is more blessed to give than to receive.
The Blessed God is a giver, and so when he commands that you give to him all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, He is telling you how to become truly alive. You give him back everything, because he gave you everything, and when you give him everything, He gives you even more.
That is how worship is a matter of justice when you are worshipping a God who is grace and goodness all the way through.
So that is Thesis 1 – Worship is a matter of Justice.
This leads us to our second question and second thesis.
Q2 – How Should We Worship?
Again, we find the answer to this question in Psalm 29:2, “Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.”
So how do we give to God the glory due to his name? By worshipping Him in the beauty of holiness.
Thesis #2 – Christians worship in the beauty of holiness.
What is the beauty of holiness?
This phrase beauty of holiness refers in the first instance to the beautiful and holy garments that the high priest had to wear when he offered sacrifice.
God says to Moses in Exodus 28:2, “And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty.”
And then we are given a description of this beauty of holiness of the high priest. He was to wear as his ministerial uniform:
Fine linen of blue, purple, and scarlet needlework.
An ephod and breastplate with an onyx stone on each shoulder that had the names of the tribes inscribed upon it, 6 on one side and 6 on the other, and then 12 gemstones on his chest, one for each tribe of Israel.
At the hem of his garment, he wore golden bells and colored pomegranates. And it says in Exodus 28:35, “And it shall be upon Aaron when he ministers, and its sound will be heard when he goes into the holy place before the Lord and when he comes out, that he may not die.”
So wearing this uniform was essential to come before the Lord, otherwise you die.
And then we read what was placed upon the head of the high priest. It says in Exodus 28-36-38, “You shall also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet: HOLINESS TO THE LORD And you shall put it on a blue cord, that it may be on the turban; it shall be on the front of the turban. So it shall be on Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall always be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord.”
So that was the originally prescribed beauty of holiness in which the high priest could give to God the glory due unto his name.
And of course, all of those external signs of beauty were pointers to the person of Jesus and the saints in Jesus.
What does the fine linen signify but the perfect humanity of Jesus. And for the saints, it says in Revelation 19:8, “And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”
What do the onyx stones upon the shoulders and the colored gemstones on the chest signify but how Jesus, the true Israel, bears our burdens, he wears us close to his heart, and then he carries us from the outer court into the holy of holies.
In Revelation 21 we see that these 12 gemstones become 12 foundations for the New Jerusalem. And what are those foundations but the preaching of the 12 apostles who are founded upon Christ the cornerstone?
What are the golden bells but the sound of Christ’s voice who announces that the kingdom of God is near, and that the priest from the order of Melchizedek has come.
What are the blue, purple, and scarlet pomegranates but the fruits of Jesus’ life, the many graces and virtues he bestows on those who hear the bells.
What is the golden plate upon the head, HOLINESS TO THE LORD, but the full divinity of Jesus, for as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:3, “the head of Christ is God.”
And so the only way to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, is to worship the Lord in the person of Jesus. Jesus is the beauty of holiness in whom all are prayers, thanksgivings, worship and praise are offered. This is why we pray “in Jesus’ name.”
Jesus is our beauty of holiness, and as members of his mystical body, we receive from him beauty and holiness into our own souls. That is what conversion is. That is what regeneration is. That is what justification, sanctification, and glorification effect in us. They are God transforming us from one degree of glory to another.
Conclusion
What is worship? It is giving to God the glory that is due to Him. Religion is a matter of justice.
How do we worship? In the beauty of holiness that is Jesus Christ.
So I exhort you with the words of our Psalm once again: “Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, Give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.”
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Sermon: Holy War (Esther 9-10)

Holy WarSunday, March 16th, 2025Christ Covenant Church – Centralia, WAEsther 9:1–10:3
Prayer
Father, we thank you that through Christ Jesus, your Word to us is peace. For as the angels sang to the shepherds on the night of Jesus’ birth, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, Good will toward men.” Please show to us again, as we conclude this book of Esther, your perfect peace and good will which you desire for all men. We ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Introduction
This morning, we come to the happy conclusion of the story of Esther. This is the 17th and final sermon on this book, which has been a great joy and a great challenge to interpret.
Recall that Esther is the book where the name of God is never mentioned on the letters of the page. And so, one of the major themes of this book has been: How do you live and act when God seems to be absent? What do you do when you feel alone in a vast empire that either ignores you or seems to be hostile to your very existence?
It is here in these final chapters of Esther that God gives to the Church Militant, to his Royal Bride, a pattern and a plan to become the Church Triumphant.
For it is here that God gives us a pattern, not only for survival and self-defense, but for victory and even conquest.
Of this martial spirit we read Exodus 15:3, “The Lord is a man of war: Jehovah is his name.”
And in Song of Solomon 6:4 God likens the church to a great army. He says, “Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, Comely as Jerusalem, Terrible as an army with banners…Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, Fair as the moon, clear as the sun, And terrible as an army with banners?”
Who is she? She is you and me. She is the Christian Church. When we sing in Psalm 84:1, “How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!” What we are saying is, “How beautiful is your war camp, O Lord of armies.” And so in keeping with this martial spirit, we find in the New Testament that the Apostles give many commands to the church to wage holy war.
Paul says to Timothy, “Endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Tim. 2:3).
He says in 1 Corinthians 16:13-14, “Keep watch, stand fast in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.”
He says in Ephesians 6:10-13, “My brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
The Church is a battleship, not a cruise ship. Christianity is warfare not a tropical vacation. And you would do well to remember that. As long you are in the body, you must heed the words of 1 Peter 2:11, “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.”
If you are a citizen of heaven, then you are a stranger to the world.
And as long as you are in the body, on this side of glory, every day is warfare. Every day is a battle between your flesh and your spirit, between sin and righteousness, between the light and the darkness.
And so if you would become like Timothy, a good soldier of Jesus Christ (and not a deserter), then you must learn to endure hardness. You must learn how to act like a man, and be strong, and do everything from love.
This means learning both defense and offense. You must learn to defend yourself from lies and deceit (1 Peter 3:15). And we must also learn how to storm the gates of hell and set the captives free (Matt. 12:28-30).
And so this morning I want consider our text from this perspective of holy war.
Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:16 that, “All scripture [referring to the Old Testament] is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: [so] That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”
So I want to gather up for us from Esther 9-10 some doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction so that you may be a complete man or woman of God. So I’ll give you the outline of our text which I have divided into four stages or phases for spiritual warfare.
Division of the Text
In verses 1-4 we have Phase 1: Assemble & Stand
In verses 5-16 we have Phase 2: Fight & Conquer
In verses 17-32 we have Phase 3: Feast & Remember
In verses 1-3 of chapter 10 we have Phase 4 – Seek Peace & Prosperity for Your People.
Phase 1: Assemble & Stand
We are told in verse 1 that the day of the king’s decree has come. It is the now the 13th day of the 12th month (Adar), and we saw back in chapter 7 that Haman was hung on 16th day of the first month (Nisan).
So it has been almost a whole year since Haman was executed, and Mordecai took his place. And during those months, Mordecai has been busy, writing a new decree, gathering support for the Jews, and as it says of him verse 4, “Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces: for this man Mordecai waxed greater and greater.”
The author is suggesting by the wording here that Mordecai is like a new Moses, and this day is a new Exodus.
We read in Exodus 11:3 God says, “Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold. And the Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants, and in the sight of the people.”
So just as Moses was great in Egypt, so also Mordecai is great in Persia. And just as Israel had favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so also the Jews have favor with “all the rulers of the provinces, the lieutenants, and the deputies, and officers of the king, helped the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them.”
So with the power of the law on their side, we read in verse 2, “The Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their hurt: and no man could withstand them; for the fear of them fell upon all people.”
Here we see the Jews Assemble and Stand. And so while the Jews are a minority scattered throughout those 127 provinces, by coming together as one people in each of those provinces, “no man could withstand them.”
This is the power of unity, and unity is a prerequisite to victory. And if unity in Christ is the source of the church’s strength, where do you think the devil will try to attack us? From within. He will try to create schisms, factions, infighting, and division in the body.
And so if we would have victory seeing God’s kingdom and justice manifest on earth, then we must be jealous to guard and pursue the unity of the church.
And indeed, this is exactly what the Apostle Paul commands in Ephesians 4:3, “Endeavour/strive/make every possible effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
It is for the unity of the church that Jesus prays in John 17:20-23, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.”
When the church is united in love, the world is moved to believe that God sent Christ to love them. They visit the church and say, “look at these people, they actually love each other. They are all different, and kinda weird, but it is undeniable that there is love here. They sing these Psalms with strange rhythms and yet it is loud and with one voice. They kneel and confess their sins which means they must have sins to confess, just like me.”
When we love God and we love one another, it is the most powerful testimony to God’s love for sinners. That God loved us first, and made us lovely. And then we love one another with the very love with which we have been loved with. That is what a Spirit-filled church looks like: the fruit of the spirit, love.
And so when we assemble together and stand, we should think of ourselves not as passive observers watching a show, but as soldiers who are waging holy war by prayer, by song, by confession, by putting to death the evil the remains within us.
“He that is not with me is against me” Jesus says (Matt. 12:30). The Church is God’s War Camp, and only holy people can wage holy war.
Of the purpose of our assembly, Paul says in Hebrews 10:24-25, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
So just as the Jews assembled in their cities and stood firm, so must we, assemble and stand, and stir one another up to love and good works.
This is where holy war begins, in love for God, and love for one another. Which brings us to phase 2…
Phase 2: Fight & Conquer
We read in verse 5, “Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction, and did what they would unto those that hated them.”
We are then given a detailed casualty report.
The ten sons of Haman, killed and then hung at Esther’ request.
500 men in Shushan the palace.
75,000 in the rest of the empire.
And then 300 more in Shushan the next day.
And the text emphasizes for us, three times, that while the law permitted them to take the spoils of their enemies, the Jews did not lay a hand on the plunder. Why is this?
The reason for this is at least twofold.
First, it was to demonstrate that unlike Haman who used the king’s authority for his own personal agenda, the Jews were using the king’s authority for mercy and justice.
These enemies had ample notice and warning. They had plenty of time to convert (as many people did), or to lay down their arms. And yet despite the authorities being on the side of the Jews, these people so hated them, that they chose to observe Haman’s decree instead of Mordecai’s decree. And what was their reward? They suffered Haman’s end.
“Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.” If you play evil games, you will win evil prizes.
A second likely reason for the Jews not taking the spoils was in acknowledgement of Saul’s failure on this point with the original King Agag. God said to Saul, “obedience is better than sacrifice,” and here now the Jews are as making restitution to God for that transgression long ago.
So this refusal to take the spoils is a testimony to the king and to all the empire, that this war was waged not from greed, or the desire for any material gain, but only from necessity and self-defense.
In the civil realm, this was a just war with a just end. And like Joshua’s conquest of Canaan, God signifies by these historical events, the future conquest of Christ and His Church over the world and the forces of darkness.
And so while the Jews lawfully and righteously wage this war against flesh and blood, what it signifies for the church militant, for you, is the war between truth and falsehood.
For as Paul says 2 Corinthians 10:3-6, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.”
So for the Christian, who is the enemy you most need to fight and conquer? Yourself. Your flesh. Your passions and desires which the world and the devil try to play upon.
Paul says in Colossians 3:4, “Put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”
Where does Jesus say evil comes from? He says in Mark 7:21-23, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”
There can be no conquest of the world outside until your inner man, your interior world, your mind has been conquered with truth.
It says in Proverbs 25:28, “He that hath no rule over his own spirit Is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.”
So this second phase of holy war, after you have assembled together with God’s people, is to then fight and conquer yourself.
You must rule your own spirit. You must kick out sinful fantasies, wandering eyes, lustful desires. And how do you do this?
David, a true warrior asks the same question. He says in Psalm 119:9-11, “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.”
The Word of God, the Sword of the Spirit concealed within your heart, is where the power to rule yourself lies.
Without that rule, you are a city without walls. But with that rule, what can you become? A castle fortress. A city on a hill. A royal house and temple where God is worshipped and nothing unclean enters.
Now after a great battle, in which God gives you the victory, it is most appropriate to then celebrate and remember that it is God who gave you that victory by His saving grace. Which brings us to phase 3 of holy war.
Phase 3: Feast & Remember
We read in verse 17, “On the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of the same rested they, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.” And in verse 19, “the Jews of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.”
So for Esther and the Jews the feast of Purim was established. A feast to remind themselves of how God worked evil for good. A feast to remind themselves that the king’s heart is a stream in the hands of the Lord, who turns it whithersoever He will (Pr. 21:1). A feast to remind themselves that while Haman’s lot was cast into the lap, its every decision is from the Lord.
The purpose of Christian holidays, of special feast days, and Lord’s Day Worship, is to memorialize God’s faithfulness to us, because we are quick to forget.
We all suffer from short term memory loss when God is the subject. We forget the many sins God saved us from. We forget the purpose for which God gave us new life. We forget the future hope that He promised us. And so we need daily, weekly, constant reminders that Christ died for the ungodly.
We need reminders to rejoice, to be glad, for our reward is great in heaven.
Jesus says to his forgetful disciples in John 14:25-27, “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Without the Holy Spirit we forget who we are, we forget who God is, and we lose our peace (we lose our way). But when we remember and eat the body and the blood, the bread and the wine, the gospel is proclaimed to our very senses. The gospel is set upon your tongue like a coal from heaven’s altar.
And when you receive God’s peace, the Holy Spirit into your bosom, then you like Mordecai, can speak peace to all your brethren. Which brings us to the fourth and final phase of holy war.
Phase 4 – Seek Peace & Prosperity for Your People
The book of Esther ends with the king imposing tribute upon the land and upon the isles of the sea.
And this is the same language that is used elsewhere in Scripture to describe the global extent of the Messiah’s kingdom.
It says in Psalm 72:8-11, “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth…The kings of Tarshish and of the isles will bring presents; The kings of Sheba and Seba will offer gifts. Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him; All nations shall serve Him.”
Likewise in Psalm 97:1 we read, “The Lord reigns; Let the earth rejoice; Let the multitude of isles be glad!”
And in Isaiah 60:9, “Surely the isles shall wait for me, And the ships of Tarshish first, To bring thy sons from far, Their silver and their gold with them, Unto the name of the Lord thy God, And to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.”
And so signified by this tribute to Ahasuerus, is the tribute that the whole world shall bring to Christ.
And in the book of Acts we see the beginning of this fulfillment. Paul is an ambassador of the kingdom sailing from Island to Island, gathering souls as tribute for Christ.
The Apostle John sees the Revelation while he is exiled on the island of Patmos.
In the Old Testament, God’s people were usually shepherds, wandering about on the land, in the wilderness, around mountains, setting up altars to God. But when King Jesus arrives, who are his first disciples? Fishermen. Men who dare to exercise dominion over the waters. Jesus himself gets into a boat and teaches upon the waters. One of his miracles is that he literally walks upon the waters.
And so all of this sailing, and fishing, and treading upon the waters, even calming the storms of the sea, is signifying that the king of the waters, the king of Psalm 72 has come.
We sing in Psalm 29:3, “The voice of the Lord is over the waters; The God of glory thunders; The Lord is over many waters.”
Well how does the voice of the Lord go over the waters? By messengers. By apostles. By missionaries and evangelists. That is how Christ’s dominion extends from sea to sea, with every island bringing tribute to him.
And so our job, like Mordecai, like the Apostles, like fishers of men, is to gather tribute for Christ. We do this by preaching to our neighbors, near and far, that Jesus is Lord. Jesus is king. You don’t have to live under the bondage of sin.
For those under the devil’s sway, what reward does the devil pay out? The wages of sin is death. But for those who offer their lives as tribute to God, who surrender all to the Cosmic King, to them God gives a gift in return, eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
May God grant you to wage and win such holy war. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Sermon: The King's Jealousy (Esther 7-8)

The King’s JealousySunday, March 9th, 2025Christ Covenant Church – Centralia, WAEsther 7:1–8:17
Prayer
Father, we thank you for your inscrutable wisdom, and that by your wisdom, you work for our good all things, including the evil actions and intentions of the forces of darkness. Please help us to trace in our own lives, and to know in our souls, that you are that God who is fore us and not against us. We ask for this all in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Introduction
In Exodus 20, when God’s voice thundered from Mount Sinai, He delivered through the Prophet Moses the Ten Commandments, and in the explanation of the 2nd commandment God explains to His people why they must not worship other gods. He says, “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God.”
You shall not worship idols because I am a jealous God.
What does it mean for God to be jealous? Is jealousy a name worthy of the Divine Creator, who is omnipotent, all sufficient in Himself, who needs no others and to whom none can be compared? In what sense if any can God be called jealous? Why does He name Himself so?
A few chapters later we read in Exodus 34:14, “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”
And again, in Deuteronomy 4:24 it says, “For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.”
And again, in Nahum 1:2 the prophet says, “God is jealous, and the Lord avenges; The Lord avenges and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies.”
So the picture of God that Scripture often paints for us is that of a burning mountain of fire that consumes whatever comes near it. God is like an active volcano. Molten lava is pouring down the hillside to destroy the wicked.
Be holy as I am holy, God says. And so, David asks in Psalm 15, “Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? [Who can live on that volcano?] Only he that walks uprightly and works righteousness.”
And again, David asks in Psalm 24, “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart.”
The church fathers Origen and St. Augustine, both reflecting on God’s jealousy, conclude with one voice that the jealousy of God, far from being harmful to our health, is actually our whole hope of salvation. And to that conclusion we might wonder, uhm how? How is God’s volcanic jealousy in any way good news for us, least of all, our whole hope of our salvation?
The answer to this question is actually found here in Esther 7-8. For it is in the very reality of a husband’s love for his wife, and of a king’s love for his queen, that God’s jealousy for you finds its soil.
Where there is no jealousy, there is no love, St. Augustine says. For what husband who loves his wife, would not be enraged if she became a harlot? Or what king who loves his queen, would allow her to be assaulted and the assailant go unpunished? A husband without jealousy for his wife, is a husband who does not love his wife, and so it is with God.
It is this metaphor of marriage, of a solemn covenant between man and woman, that God takes up and uses to explain His jealous love for His people, and the wrath He reserves for those who assault His bride.
“Marriage is a great mystery,” Paul says in Ephesians 5, “but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”
We hear from the Prophet Zechariah, who was preaching in Jerusalem during the days of Esther, Mordecai, Ahasuerus, and Haman, that God’s jealousy for His people has been aroused.
It says in Zechariah 1:14, “Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: For I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction. Therefore thus saith the Lord; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: My house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of hosts.”
What does God’s jealousy mean for Jerusalem? It means God’s mercy will return to them, and His Holy House will be built up again.
Likewise, we hear later in Zechariah 8:2-5, “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy; With great fervor I am jealous for her.’ “Thus says the Lord: ‘I will return to Zion, And dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, The Mountain of the Lord of hosts, The Holy Mountain. Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, Each one with his staff in his hand because of great age. The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.”
Do you see what God’s jealousy does for His people? It is the promise of His return to them. The promise that God will make us into His Holy Mountain, His dwelling place, His temple, where little children are numerous and can play in the streets of New Jerusalem, and grandparents (even great grandparents) can sit and watch them in peace. This is what God’s jealousy forebodes, it is the expression of His burning love for His Bride which many waters cannot quench.
And so while the Prophet Zechariah is preaching in explicit terms the jealousy of God, the book of Esther is preaching that same message but in narrative form. For here we have illustrated at the climax of the book, at Esther’s second feast: the King’s jealous love that brings about the Jews salvation.
Division of the Text
Our text divides into three sections:
In verses 1-7 of chapter 7, The King’s Jealousy Is Stirred.
In verses 8-10, The King’s Wrath Is Pacified.
And then in all of chapter 8, we see The King’s Authority Is Given.
So let us briefly survey these three sections but with a special eye to how Christ fulfills this motif in His love for the Church.
Part 1 – The King’s Jealousy Is Stirred (Esther 7:1-7)
Recall that Haman has just been out and about in Shushan, extolling how great Mordecai is. And then chapter 6 ended with Haman being hastened away to this feast.
We read in verse 2, “And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? and it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom.”
So after that first feast and that sleepless night, the offer still stands, Ahasuerus is dying to know, what is Esther going to ask me for? What is the meaning of her risking her life to invite me and Haman to two feasts?
And then in verse 3 we have the big reveal, “Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request: For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king’s damage.”
What is Esther doing here?
First, she is tying her own personal fate as Queen with the fate of all the Jews (“I and my people”).
Second, she is heightening the threat and urgency, by stating that if she had been sold into slavery, she would have kept silent. But this is a decree so egregious and unjust, that it would be to the king’s loss to allow it to take effect. This is what she means by saying, “although the enemy could not countervail the king’s damage.”
So this is not just a threat against Esther and her people, it is also a threat to the king. Esther has now tied Ahasuerus’ fate and reputation in with her own and the Jews. This is persuasion at its finest, and every word of it is true.
It would be to the king’s great damage for the people of God to be exterminated by Haman in the king’s name. What did God promise to Abraham and his seed? “Those who bless you I will bless, And those who curse you I will curse.”
In verse 5 we then hear how the king responds, “Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so?”
Here is the jealousy of the king being stirred up to wrath. Name him and locate him and I will deal with him.
And then in verse 6, like the Prophet Samuel before King David, Esther points the finger and says, Here is the man. “The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman.”
This is news to Haman, who did not know that Esther was a Jew. And therefore, we read in verses 6-7, “Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen. And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath went into the palace garden: and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.”
If Esther had any doubts about the king’s love and loyalty towards her, the king’s wrath in this moment is a wonderful comfort to her soul. The fact that the king’s jealousy has been aroused is a sign of his love, and the fact that he is burning with anger against Haman, is a sign that justice shall soon be done. And so it is.
And this brings us to part 2…
Part 2 – The King’s Wrath Is Pacified (Esther 7:8-10)
Verses 8-10
Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon the bed whereon Esther was. Then said the king, Will he force the queen also before me in the house? As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon. So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.
Notice what makes satisfaction for the king’s wrath: the death of the evildoer.
Haman’s attempted murder of Esther, and his plot to hang Mordecai, are both criminal acts that God’s law punishes with death. Attempted murder is to be punished as murder.
And in this instance, Haman’s empire wide decree against the Jews, and the fifty-cubit-high gallows at his house, are public and incriminating testimony to his guilt. Far more than 2 or 3 witnesses could be supplied.
And so the king in his jealous wrath executes righteous judgment. By his own gallows Haman is hung, and only “then was the king’s wrath pacified.”
Again, we see that the king’s jealousy is the hope for the Jews salvation. He crushes the head of the serpent Haman, and then in chapter 8, He gives to Esther and Mordecai the authority that Haman had abused.
Part 3 – The King’s Authority Is Given (Esther 8:1-17)
There are three key gifts that Ahasuerus bestows, and each of them corresponds with a gift that Christ bestows.
1. We read in verse 1 that Ahasuerus gives to Esther the House of Haman. And what does this signify but Christ giving to His Bride, the New Eve, the New Jerusalem, power in His name over the forces of darkness.
Jesus says to his disciples in Luke 10:18-19, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
And in this is fulfilled the marriage blessing of Rebekah. It says in Genesis 24:60, “And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.”
So Esther and Mordecai, the disciples and the saints, we are all descendants of Rebekah. For as Paul says in Galatians 3 and Romans 4, those who put their faith in Christ the seed of Abraham, have not only Abraham as their father but God.
So when Jesus said, “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” That was because Christ was going to suffer and die to give us the House of Haman, Satan’s abode.
What does Jesus say in Revelation 1:18, “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. And I have the keys of Hell and of Death.”
What does Paul say in 1 Corinthians 3:21-23, “For all things are yours; Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.”
Jesus has the keys to Satan’s house, and he has bound the strongman so that we can now plunder his kingdom, waging spiritual warfare to liberate those in bondage.
Summary: The King gives to his bride the house, the gates, of our enemies.
This leads us to the second gift Ahasuerus bestows.
2. We read in verse 2, “And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.”
So while Esther signifies the bride of Christ. Mordecai signifies the apostles, the pastors, the elders in the church who receive from Christ the keys of the kingdom.
Remember that Mordecai is Esther’s adopted father. And how does the Apostle Paul speak of his relationship to the church?
He says in 1 Corinthians 4:15, “For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.”
Paul considers himself a spiritual father to the churches he planted.
And then he builds on this theme in 2 Corinthians 11:2 where he says, “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”
So Paul is a father, like Mordecai. The church is a daughter, like Esther. And Paul has betrothed that daughter (the church) to Christ and he is jealous to preserve her chastity for Christ.
And so to protect the bride, to keep watch over her, the king gives to a steward his signet ring, even as Christ gives the ministry of the word, the office of overseer, to the apostles and elders.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4:1-2, “Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.”
So it is not in our own name that we preach or speak or execute the pastoral office. It is only in the name of Jesus Christ, and by His commission, and in accord with His Word, that we exercise real spiritual authority. So when we say in the liturgy, “your sins are forgiven through Christ” you should hear that as if God himself is speaking, because He is.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:20, “We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.” This is what the king’s signet ring is for: reconciling sinners to God. Or Jesus says to the disciples in Matthew 16:19, “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
And this brings us to third and final gift, which illustrates how the king’s signet ring is used.
3.  We read in verses 7-8, “Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew…Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring: for the writing which is written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s ring, may no man reverse.”
So this third gift is the power to write in the king’s name. Next week we will consider in greater detail the content of this decree, but for now just observe the extent to which this new decree goes forth. Like the gospel, it is universal and communicated in every language. This decree is a foreshadowing of Pentecost.
Haman, like Satan, had promulgated in all the empire a law of death that led to confusion. Whereas Mordecai and Esther promulgate a new law that leads to life for the righteous, death to the unrepentant, and joy to all who receive the truth.
What else could be signified by this new decree, but the universal gospel of Jesus Christ, the New Testament, the Four Gospel Accounts, the 14 Pauline Letters that bear the king’s seal, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”
As we will see next week, this is in essence the same message that Esther and Mordecai author in the king’s name. A day of judgment is coming. The King’s armies shall defend the righteous. And anyone who attacks or attempts to kill the Bride, the Queen’s people, shall suffer punishment unto death.
Notice in verses 16-17, how this new law and decree is received: “The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour. And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.”
Remember what happened when Haman’s decree went forth? It says the city of Shushan was perplexed (Esther 3:15).
But what happens when Mordecai’s decree goes forth? An evangelical harvest. Mass conversion to the true religion. Gentiles becoming Jews.
This is what the gospel effects in those who believe: light, gladness, joy, honor, and feasting.
Conclusion
And so in closing let us return to the question we began with: What does it mean for God to be jealous?
It means that God burns with love for you.
It means that God loves you so much that He makes life apart from Him miserable.
The jealousy of God is your whole hope of salvation because it means that if you ever wander into idolatry, as our hearts are tempted to do, God will be provoked, and in His jealous love He will make your life miserable until you return to Him.
Paul warns of this spiritual fornication in 1 Corinthians 10:21-22 saying, “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?”
Who is the spouse of your soul? Who have you made a covenant with? Whose name were you baptized into and sealed with the king’s ring?
Where there is no jealousy, there is no love. And for those who have been joined to Christ by faith, to them the name of God is Jealous and His jealousy is our whole hope of salvation.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Sermon: A Sleepless Night (Esther 6:1-14)

A Sleepless NightSunday, March 2nd, 2025Christ Covenant Church – Centralia, WA
Esther 6:1–14On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus. And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? Then said the king’s servants that ministered unto him, There is nothing done for him. And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman was come into the outward court of the king’s house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. And the king’s servants said unto him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in. So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself? And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honour, Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head: And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour. Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king’s gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken. Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour. And Mordecai came again to the king’s gate. But Haman hasted to his house mourning, and having his head covered. And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends every thing that had befallen him. Then said his wise men and Zeresh his wife unto him, If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him. And while they were yet talking with him, came the king’s chamberlains, and hasted to bring Haman unto the banquet that Esther had prepared.
Prayer
Father, we thank you for the word of promise that you speak unto the church, that You who are “the God of peace shall soon crush Satan under our feet.” We ask now that you would hasten our enemies to destruction, even our own sinful flesh, and the devil, and all through the surpassing grace and power of Christ Jesus. In whose name we pray, Amen.
Introduction
Have you ever had a sleepless night? A night in which while your body might be very tired, but still your mind will not let you rest. To go without sleep is a great affliction for us creatures who God created to sleep (Ps. 127:2). And if you have ever suffered from insomnia, or paranoia, or incessant anxious thoughts, you know that a sleepless night can be a great affliction to both body and soul.
The Apostle Paul, in 2 Corinthians 11 includes sleeplessness alongside his many other afflictions. He says there, “in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness—besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.”
So if the Apostle Paul counted sleeplessness as an affliction, so can we. And here in our text what do we have but two men who cannot sleep: Haman and Ahasuerus. And then also, lurking in the background above and behind this sleepless night is The Divine Author of the story, God, who as it says in Psalm 121:4, neither slumbers nor sleeps.
So what is for us a privation and affliction, sleeplessness, is for God a mark of His perfection.
When we go without sleep, our judgment is impaired, our bodies break down. Studies have shown that driving drunk and driving after being awake for 20 hours, is basically equivalent.
But for God this is not so. God is never drunk or asleep at the wheel. His judgments are only and ever true, good, and beautiful. We get tired, God does not. We get weary, God is omnipotent and the fount of all refreshment.
And so while mortal men may struggle to sleep, their thoughts and desires not permitting them to rest, God’s thoughts and God’s desires for His people, for you, are only and ever and always good. Do you believe this? If not consider the words of the prophets.
God says in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
David says likewise in Psalm 139, “Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.”
So while you and I can really only focus on one thing at a time. God has no such constraints. All reality, all of history, all creation, every individual, is before His eyes as an ever-present now. This is part of what it means for God to be eternal and infinite and wise.What is eternity? The simultaneously-whole and perfect possession of interminable life. Meaning that in God there is no before and after, no beginning or end, no succession of moments, He is the same yesterday, today, and evermore.And what does God know in His eternity? It says in Hebrews 4:13, “There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”
And that means, even when your mind is distracted, or your mind is asleep in dreamworld. Your whole life, your thoughts, your actions, past, present, and future, are in the mind of God as one present moment. And this is how David can say, “When I awake, I am still with you.” Because God never went anywhere, and you are always in His mind, even when you are not thinking of Him.
This is one of the great truths of the story of Esther: God has an eternal and perfect but sometimes hidden plan for our good. And what we have here in Esther 6 is the beginning of that goodness breaking through the dark and brooding clouds. And so as we walk through this text together, I want you to consider the question:
What is the good that God has conspired in eternity to give Mordecai? Or more personally, what good has God planned for you who love Him?
Division of the Text
Our text this morning divides into three sections according to three key actions of the king:
In verses 1-3, The King Remembers Something.
In verses 4-9, The King Questions His Chief Advisor
In verses 10-14, The King Honors His Loyal Servant.
So let us briefly survey our text together.
Verses 1-3 – The King Remembers Something
So recall that about 4 years earlier, Mordecai had reported this assassination attempt, Esther had told the king in Mordecai’s name, but nothing was ever done for him (Esther 2:19-23). Instead, the very next verse we read was that Haman was promoted (Esther 3:1).
And so while Ahasuerus may have forgotten that he owed his life to Mordecai, God has not forgotten, and has chosen this night of all nights to call Mordecai’s unrewarded good deed to mind.
A question arises here about why the king could not sleep?
We know of course that God is the ultimate cause, but what are the human reasons for Ahasuerus’ insomnia?
Many possible answers could be given, but the most likely reasons are that the king is anxious about Esther’s behavior.
Why has Esther risked her life to invite the King and Haman to two feasts?
Why was Haman invited? What is Haman’s role in all this?
Are Haman and Esther plotting against the king? Are they romantically involved with one another? Is this the beginning of a coup? Is the king’s life in danger?
What is Esther going to ask for at the feast tomorrow? Why does she keep her husband in suspense?
These are just some of the possible questions and fears that might be keeping the king awake. Perhaps you can relate.
What about Haman? Why can’t Haman sleep on this night?
With Haman we have a more explicit answer. Haman is evil and he is anxious to have Mordecai hung.
The words of Proverbs 4:16-17 well describe Haman’s state, “For they do not sleep unless they have done evil; And their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence.”
So there is a restlessness, a sleeplessness that can come from being evil. And then there is a restlessness and sleeplessness that can come from being deeply concerned. And then there is the sleeplessness of God, who rules the dark, and loves to bring about great and miraculous reversals in the night.
We should also recall to our minds the date of this sleepless night. What day is it in the Hebrew Calendar?
We were told that Haman’s Decree against the Jews went forth on the 13th day of the first month (Nisan 13th). This is the day before Passover.
On that day Mordecai mourned, informed Esther, and Esther called for a three day fast. The first day of that fast was Nisan 13th, the second day Nisan the 14th, and then we are told…
On the third day of that fast (Nisan the 15th), she went before the king and threw the first feast.
And since for the Jews, the new day starts in the evening, when it says here in verse 1, “on that night could not the king sleep,” it is referring to the beginning of Nisan the 16th, which is the day of First fruits in the Hebrew calendar.
Guess what else takes place on Nisan the 16th? The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, of whom Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:20, “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.”
And so on this sleepless night, we have the beginnings of resurrection and glorification. Haman the enemy, the accuser of the brethren begins to fall. Mordecai the faithful servant of the king begins to rise, and all that is left is for all authority to be given to Mordecai and Esther so they can reverse the curse of their enemy.
Do you see the outline of the gospel here?
Continuing in verses 4-9, we then have the King’s interrogation of Haman. By now the king has determined to honor Mordecai, to remedy what he overlooked 4 years earlier, and it just so happens that sleepless Haman is seeking an audience with the king.
We might also note that if the king was suspicious about Haman before (wondering does Haman have designs on the throne?) he can test that suspicion here with a question.
Verses 4-9 – The King Questions His Chief Advisor
Now recall that in chapter 5, Esther made it ambiguous who her first feast was for. The King asked Esther what she desired, and she said, “If it seem good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him.” Who is the him? Haman or Ahasuerus?
And now here, Haman does the same thing, except the object in question is the king’s royal crown. Notice the way verse 8 is phrased, “Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head.”
Whose head? The horse, or the king? Do you see how Haman is leaving it ambiguous whether the king should honor (in Haman’s mind himself) by giving him the king’s own crown. But he leaves himself an out just in case his request is too overt and ambitious.
So from Ahasuerus’ perspective, what is Haman suggesting? He is suggesting that someone else should be equal to the king. In Haman’s mind, that is Haman. And if Haman wants the king’s clothing, the king’s horse, and the king’s crown, well what else might Haman want but the king’s wife as well, Esther!
So Haman’s response would almost certainly confirm any suspicions that Ahasuerus had. And therefore, it is two birds and one stone for him to have Vice President Haman walking around giving honor to Mordecai instead. At the very least, this well help put Haman back into his place.
We have then in verses 10-14, Mordecai’s exaltation and Haman’s humiliation.
Verses 10-14 – The King Honors His Loyal Servant.
Three observations from this section:
1. Observe that Ahasuerus calls Mordecai, Mordecai the Jew. How does he know this all of a sudden? Was it written in the chronicles? Did one of his other servants tell him? How does this king know this, but not Haman’s decree against Mordecai’s people? This is odd.
2. Observe that after Mordecai is exalted, what does he do? We see in verse 12, he simply comes back to work at the king’s gate. He has just been given the highest and greatest honor a person could receive, and yet unlike Haman who became great in his own eyes, Mordecai has learned humility.
And in this, Mordecai is avoiding the fall of his Benjamite ancestor King Saul.
We read in 1 Samuel 15, that after Saul failed to kill Agag, king of the Amalekites (Haman’s ancestor), God said to him, “When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel? Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.”
So this is Mordecai’s redemption moment. He has been rewarded, he has been honored, he has been exalted by the king above all others. And yet “Mordecai came again to the king’s gate.” He did not presume to take Haman’s position. He did not suddenly think himself above his present station. No. He simply went back to work as a servant of the king.
There is a great and important lesson here, and the wise will take it to heart.
3. Third and finally, observe that Haman is now being hasted/hurried to his destruction.
Three times Haman is said to be hasted away. First to honor Mordecai, then in mourning to his house, then to Esther’s feast. The man who once thought himself so dignified, who went on his leisurely way, for whom the world waited upon to act, now is getting his comeuppance.
And this is the reward for those who are hasty to do evil, who are quick to get angry.
The Prophet Isaiah speaks of such people in Isaiah 59:17 saying, “Their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed innocent blood: Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; Wasting and destruction are in their paths.”
Consider also the words of Proverbs 6 and how many of them are an apt description of Haman’s person. It says in Proverbs 6:14-18, “Perversity is in his heart, He devises evil continually, He sows discord. Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly; Suddenly he shall be broken without remedy. These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.”
God says, “all who hate me love death” (Pr. 8:36). And here now Haman who once hastened to do evil is being hastened to his own funeral.
Conclusion
I want to close with two exhortations based on this scene.
The first is that God’s judgments are often slow and then sudden. And that means you have to be patient in doing good especially when there seems to be no fruit, no reward, all while the wicked seem to flourish.
For almost 5 years, Haman was permitted to prosper and do evil, while Mordecai went unrewarded and overlooked. But then on one sleepless night, God suddenly renders his judgment. He reverses the roles.
And this how God likes to bring to pass the words of many Psalms, like Psalm 1, “the ungodly are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.”
Or Psalm 37 which says, “Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb.”
Or Psalm 125, which we love to sing, “no wicked ruler for long will remain, over the righteous one’s chosen domain.”
If you are in Christ, and Christ dwells in you by faith. Then you are God’s domain. You are God’s holy habitation. You are God’s temple, and He is jealous to protect His temple.
The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:17, “If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.”
The God who neither slumbers nor sleeps is watching over you day and night. His thoughts are vast and His intentions for you only good. And so do as He says in Psalm 37:34, “wait on the Lord, and when the wicked are cut of, you shall see it.”
My second exhortation is to seek glory, honor, and immortality from God. The Apostle Paul says in Romans 2:6-8, “God will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath.”
And likewise, he says in Romans 8:30, that those “whom God did predestine, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”
So do you believe that God wants to give you glory, honor, and immortality? In the words of Ahasuerus, “What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour?”
Do you believe that it makes God happy to give you good things, that God delights to honor those who honor Him?
If Ahasuerus rewarded Mordecai with royal robes, the royal horse, the royal crown, and the later the royal signet ring, are you going to say that God is more stingy than Ahasuerus? Are you going to say that God is less generous than this gentile king?
Consider again what the king remembers and rewards, and what the king totally overlooks in Mordecai.
Mordecai had transgressed the king’s law. He had offended Haman and provoked him to wrath, and for that transgression Mordecai’s life (and the lives of all Jews) hangs in the balance.
But Mordecai had also done a good work. He foiled an assassination attempt on the king. He showed himself loyal to the king in that instance.
Now which of those two actions was written down in the king’s chronicles? Which of these two actions did the king remember and reward?
Only the good work that Mordecai had done. And so also is it with God’s elect.
When you repent of sin and ask God to forgive you, He really does cover all your transgressions.
As it says in Micah 7:19, “God will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; And thou wilt cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”
And that means that in the final judgment, when Romans 2 comes to pass and God renders to every man according to his deeds, for those who are in Christ Jesus, only your good deeds are remembered and rewarded, and all your sins and regrets are as if they never happened. That is what the grace of Christ accomplishes in those who God justifies. And those he justifies he also…glorifies.
So not only does God want to come in and clean your dirty house. Not only does God want to renovate and purify your soul. He also wants to give you the Father’s mansion to live in. He also wants to make your soul glorious within.
It says in Psalm 45:13, “The royal daughter is all glorious within the palace; Her clothing is woven with gold.”
We are told in Revelation 21 that the New Jerusalem has streets of pure gold, and gates made of pearls. And that is a picture of what God wants to do in every saint. He wants the streets of your mind to be pure gold, full of charity, wisdom, and the knowledge of God.
He wants the doorways and the windows, the gates into your soul to be beautiful pearls, where only what is good and holy can enter in.
So if you feel like your soul is a leaking shed, or a rat-infested doghouse. God’s word to you today is exchange that shed for a holy temple. Exchange the slums of sin for a royal palace. This is the glory God delights to give the justified. This is the glory and honor the king delights to crown you with.
Jesus says to his disciples in Luke 10:20, “do not rejoice because evil spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
And in Revelation 20:12 we get are given a glimpse of was written in heaven next to our name. John says, “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” What works are these?
Ephesians 2:10 calls them the “good works which God prepared in advance for you to do.” From all eternity.
The only thing God will remember in the final judgment are your acts of loyalty to King Jesus. Your works of charity done by God’s grace.And it is these good works alone which shall be read from the king’s chronicles, announced before myriads of angels, and rewarded lavishly by God. For those who are in Christ Jesus, grace is crowned with glory.
So are you zealous for that crown? Are you zealous for good works (Titus 2:14). Are you zealous for God to glorify you? Because God has promised that those who He predestined, he also called, and those He called, He also justified, and those He justified, He also glorified.
May God hasten to give you such glory, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Sermon: The King's Favor (Esther 5:1-14)

The King’s FavorSunday, February 23rd, 2025Christ Covenant Church – Centralia, WA
Esther 5:1-14Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king’s house, over against the king’s house: and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the gate of the house. And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre. Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom. And Esther answered, If it seem good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him. Then the king said, Cause Haman to make haste, that he may do as Esther hath said. So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared. And the king said unto Esther at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed. Then answered Esther, and said, My petition and my request is; If I have found favour in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition, and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and I will do to morrow as the king hath said. Then went Haman forth that day joyful and with a glad heart: but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, that he stood not up, nor moved for him, he was full of indignation against Mordecai. Nevertheless Haman refrained himself: and when he came home, he sent and called for his friends, and Zeresh his wife. And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king. Haman said moreover, Yea, Esther the queen did let no man come in with the king unto the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and to morrow am I invited unto her also with the king. Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate. Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and to morrow speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows to be made.
Prayer
Father, we thank you that through the intercession of Your Son, we can find favor in your sight. And on that basis we now come boldly, like Esther, unto your throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help us in our time of need. Grant us Your Holy Spirit now, for we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Introduction
In Proverbs 18:12 it says, “Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, but before honor is humility.”
Here in Esther Chapter 5, we have a fulfillment of this proverb.
Queen Esther has humbled herself, she has fasted for two days from food and drink, and now in that fasted state, she arises on the third day to go in unto the king. If I perish, I perish she said, and now the time to possibly perish has come. This is humility.
At the same time, we see Haman, proud, prosperous, and pitiful. For although Haman is materially speaking, on top of the world: chief advisor to the king, glorious in his riches, he has a wife, friends, a multitude of children, and two exclusive invitations to dine with the King, still in his own words, “Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”
Haman is the man who has it all, a world of wealth, power, and status, and yet he is unable to enjoy any of it, because he is fixated one man’s refusal to bow. This is pride.
“Before destruction Haman’s heart is haughty, but before honor Esther humbles herself.”
This is the great contrast of Esther Chapter 5. The two figures closest to the king are the Queen and his Prime Minister. Both want something from the king, and both have made plans to get what they desire. Haman wants Mordecai swinging from the gallows, and Esther wants Haman’s decree overturned.
And so this morning, I want to explore three question that this chapter provokes.
1. Why does Esther delay her actual request until after two feasts with Ahasuerus and Haman? And we might also ask, why is Haman even on the guest list?
2. Why does Haman change his mind, and decide to hang Mordecai now, rather than keeping with the day in which the lots were cast? The whole purpose of casting the lots was to pick a day to have his vengeance, but now suddenly he can’t wait, and he wants Mordecai hung tomorrow.
3. What is the spiritual sense of all these events?
Q1 – Why does Esther delay her request?
First of all, recall the danger that Esther feels she is in.
For one, it is against the law to come into the inner court of the king uninvited, and those who do so are to be put to death, unless the golden scepter is held out (Esther 4:11).
Moreover, it has been a full 30 days since the king has called Esther into that court. And so Esther fears that the king’s love for her may have cooled.
And then on top that, we remember the fate of Queen Vashti. Vashti broke the law, she refused to come when she was called, and for this she was deposed. Esther of all people knows what happens to disobedient queens, for she would not be queen herself unless Vashti had transgressed.
And so this is a great risk she feels she is taking, first just to go in unto the king against the law, then to request that his chief advisor’s decree be overturned, and why? Well because I am actually a Jew, I have hidden that from you for 5 years of our marriage, and now I am asking you for my sake, to change the decree that just went forth in your name. Will you change the law for the sake of your wife?
Esther does not know if she has sufficient funds to write this check, to make this ask, at this time. And so having humbled herself and fasted, she now puts on her royal garments and risks it all. This is Esther casting a lot of her own. She is the lot, casting herself into the king’s court.
We read in verse 1, “Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel.”
Remember the third day is often in Scripture a day of judgment, a day of testing, a day of vindication for the righteous.
As it says in Hosea 6:2, “After two days will he revive us: In the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.”
And so Esther after fasting for two days is revived in her spirit though her body is weak. And on the third day she dawns her royal apparel in hope that she might live in the king’s sight.
And thus we read in verses 2-3, “And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre. Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom.”
So here Esther has survived the first test, she has run the first gauntlet and lived. And while she could make her big request now, when the king has just offered her up to half the kingdom, she chooses to entreat the king with a feast. However, there is something peculiar in her request.
Note carefully the wording of verse 4, “And Esther answered, If it seem good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him.”
Put yourself now in King Ahasuerus’ shoes. Who is the him that this banquet is for? If it is for Ahasuerus, why is Haman and only Haman invited too? This is an awkward date for the king and queen to have, why the third wheel? But if on the other hand this feast is for Haman, why has Esther just risked her life to make this invitation? Why would Esther throw a feast for Haman? Has something in the last 30 days changed that I don’t know about? Well, yes.
The King is in the dark here, but he is also intrigued. What does Esther actually want? What is she going to ask me for? And what does Haman have to do with it?
From the king’s perspective, this is all very odd.
So the King and Haman come to the feast. And this is likely a lunch feast because Haman is going to have enough time afterward to go home, talk to his family, and build gallows to hang Mordecai.
So they are at lunch, wining and dining, this odd trio. King, Queen, and Prime Minister. And you can just imagine the nerves that Esther must feel, the pit in her stomach (trying to eat), sitting at table her arch-enemy on one side, the man who has decreed her people’s destruction (though he does not know it yet), and on the other side is the man who has the power to turn the tide, her husband and king (who also does not know the decree is against her). Esther has a secret, and she has a request, but before she makes that request, she wants to be sure that Ahasuerus is on her side, and not Haman’s.
And so already she has sown suspicion in the king’s mind against Haman by inviting him and making it ambiguous who this feast is for. We read in verse 6 that as the wine course is being served the king asks, “What is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.”
The King’s favor is still there, the offer still stands, what does Esther want?
And yet again, she does not come out with it. Why?
Note the wording of her second invitation in verses 7-8, “Then answered Esther, and said, My petition and my request is; If I have found favour in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition, and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and I will do to morrow as the king hath said.”
So if there was any doubt in the king’s mind about who that first feast was for, here Esther leaves no doubt. This second feast is for the king and Haman, for them.
Esther is heightening the suspense. And it is this suspense, this suspicion about Haman, that is going to leave the king sleepless that night, as we will see in Chapter 6 verse 1, “       On that night could not the king sleep.”
So why does Esther do this? Why does she invite and involve Haman this way?
Humanly speaking, the most likely motive is twofold.
1. She wants to be sure she is truly in the king’s favor.
2. She wants to insinuate that Haman is not to be trusted.
We’ll explore this second motive in a future sermon, but for now just note that Esther is in a competition with Haman for the king’s loyalty and favor.
Ahasuerus had given Haman a blank check, his signet ring, to make whatever decree he wanted against that unnamed lawless nation. And so Esther has to find a way to wield a different kind of power, a power of persuasion, of insinuation, to undermine Haman and expose him.
So that’s part 1 of this chapter: a feast and an invitation to a second feast. And now in verses 9-14, the camera follows Haman on his way home.
Verses 9-10
9Then went Haman forth that day joyful and with a glad heart: but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, that he stood not up, nor moved for him, he was full of indignation against Mordecai.
10Nevertheless Haman refrained himself: and when he came home, he sent and called for his friends, and Zeresh his wife.
So recall that Mordecai had broken the king’s law by not bowing, and now Haman is enraged because Mordecai won’t stand. He won’t bow, he won’t stand, he won’t acknowledge Haman’s superiority. And this personal slight against his honor cannot be tolerated.
Haman regards Mordecai as the pebble in his shoe, as the lone cockroach in his spaghetti that must be exterminated by killing all cockroaches everywhere (the Jews).
Recall that earlier in Esther 3:6, Haman felt it was beneath him to take vengeance on Mordecai alone, and thus he plotted and schemed to destroy all the Jews, and all so that no one would think he was petty.
This is the great irony and folly of pride. Haman is a balloon so full of himself that even the slightest prick will pop him. When our pride is puffed up, we become extra-fragile to anyone’s disrespect. In fact, pride can even make you hallucinate, to see and hear things that were never said or done. The proud mind only has eyes and ears to find fault, and Haman finds that fault in Mordecai, and inflates it into a fault that is punishable by death.
So note that Haman’s pride makes him fragile. Haman’s pride also makes him easily angered. And while Haman at present can restrain himself, he will not be able to restrain himself for long.
We have then in verses 11-13, Haman giving vent to his rage.
Verses 10b-11
And when he came home, he sent and called for his friends, and Zeresh his wife.
11And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.
What kind of state must you be in to brag to your own wife about how many children you have? Or to brag to your own friends and wife about how rich you are? Haman cannot see how silly he looks.
Verse 12-13
12Haman said moreover, Yea, Esther the queen did let no man come in with the king unto the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and to morrow am I invited unto her also with the king.
13Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.
This is the great tragedy of Haman’s life. He is rich, powerful, and prosperous but he cannot enjoy any of it because of the poverty of his soul.
The prophet Jeremiah warns of this snare in Jeremiah 9:23-24 saying, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,’ says the Lord.”
Haman could have wielded his wealth, power, and influence for the glory of God and the good of God’s people. He could have been like Hiram of Tyre, building up the temple. He could have been like Cyrus the great, funding true worship of the true God.
But instead, Haman falls into the same snare as the devil. Not content with his already high position, he desires more than is good for him and falls (like the devil) to his own destruction.
To keep us from this same fate as Haman and the devil himself, The Apostle Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:17-18, “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.”
All this Haman could have had. But his hatred for Mordecai blinded him.
Finally, in verse 14 we hear the counsel of the ungodly, Haman’s wife and friends.
Verse 14
14Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and to morrow speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows to be made.
This is where Haman changes his mind. Up to this point, Haman’s plan was to wait until the 13th day of the 12th month (11 months from now) when Mordecai could be just another casualty amongst all the other Jews. The Jews are Haman’s cover to kill a single man.
But now, upon the advice of his wife and friends, he is persuaded to act now. So he has gallows made 50 cubits high. That is something like 75 feet high, about as high as a government building’s flagpole.
And then we’ll see in the next chapter that Haman does not even wait until the morning, he goes to the king in the middle of the night to ask for Mordecai to be hung. Talk about an impulsive decision, he does not even sleep on it.
Q2 – Why does Haman do this? Why does he change his mind?
We could answer question according to multiple causes:
1. Because he could not rule his angry spirit but instead gave vent to his hatred for Mordecai. When hatred is given both power and opportunity, murder is not far off.
2. Because when Haman gave vent, he was surrounded by evil counsellors (his wife and friends who make this whole ghastly proposal seem reasonable). Rather than bringing Haman to his senses, they encourage him in evil. Zeresh is like Eve in this moment, handing Adam the fruit that will kill him.
3. Because God, in His providence, permits the wicked to lay a snare for themselves, only to catch them in their own devices.
Who is going to hang tomorrow from those 50-cubit high gallows? Haman.
As it says in Psalm 7:15-16, “He made a pit and dug it out, And has fallen into the ditch which he made. His trouble shall return upon his own head, And his violent dealing shall come down on his own crown.”
This brings us to our third and final question, which is…
Q3 – What is the spiritual sense of these events?
If Jesus says that all of Scripture testifies to Him, where is Christ and His gospel here?
What is signified by Esther finding favor in the king’s eyes, but the church, the bride of Christ, finding favor with our king.
Like Esther, we must humble ourselves in prayer, in fasting, in mourning over our wretched condition, and then from that place of humility, we arise in faith to seek Divine Mercy.
Who does Jesus say went home justified between the Pharisee and the Publican? It was the man who beat his breast, who would not so much as lift his eyes to heaven, and called out, “God be merciful unto me a sinner.” After which Jesus says, “for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 18:14).
And isn’t this exactly what happens to Esther? After mourning and fasting for two days, she puts on the royal garments. And what are these garments but the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ? What are these garments but the clothing that grants you access to heaven’s throne?
And so when God sees you standing in His inner court (your prayer closet, your heart), wearing Jesus, What does he do? He welcomes you in! He extends the golden scepter. He says to you what the Father says to Christ at His baptism, “this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Do you know the Father’s good pleasure towards you? Do you believe that in Christ, God’s favor is unfailing towards you? That as it says in Psalm 30:5, “his anger is but for moment, but his favor is for a lifetime.” The Father’s discipline is temporary and even that discipline is because He favors you.
This is the good news that Esther foretells. And what happens when you are granted entrance into the king’s presence? He offers you everything.
Ahasuerus offered Esther up to half of his kingdom, but what does Christ offer His Bride? The whole thing. The entire kingdom. Everything. God and all things in God.
Paul says of this inheritance in Romans 8:16-17, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”
Conclusion
Perhaps you feel like Esther, and that God has not called on you for 30 days. Perhaps He feels distant, and you wonder if God’s affections towards you have cooled. Or perhaps your soul has never married God and called Him Savior.
If that is you, then remember that if the basis of God’s grace towards you was just you, and your chosen lifestyle, then grace would no longer be grace. But if the basis of God’s favor towards you is Jesus Christ, his death and his resurrection and his ascension and his constant intercession for you, well then that changes everything. Because God is never displeased with His Son.
Sin does indeed displease and dishonor our king, and this is why God feels distant at times even when He is ever present.But what displeases and dishonors God more is you keeping those sins and using those sins as an excuse to not come to him for mercy. For if favor with God came by the law, then Christ died for no purpose! Paul says in Galatians 2:21, “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”
And so what displeases God is when you refuse to put off the old man and put on the new (Eph. 4:24, Col. 3:10, Rom. 13:14).
What displeases God is a soul too proud to put on the royal garments. As God says in Habakkuk 2:4, “Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: But the just shall live by his faith.”
So you can be proud like Haman and pursue glory and honor and riches apart from Jesus. Or you can be humble yourself like Esther and seek glory and honor and riches by faith in Christ.
Paul says in Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please God: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
So are you diligently seeking Him? Because God is waiting at the doorstep of your heart, knocking and waiting anxiously for you to open up.
Perhaps you think to yourself, but it is dirty in here. My house is not clean, I haven’t confessed my sins in months (or ever!), the rooms of my heart are impure and filthy. Well then let God in so He can wash you! He already knows what is in your heart, and he knows it is actually way dirtier than you think it is. So open in faith to Him.
The reason the Father sent the Son to die was to dispel your fears, to conquer your doubts, and to give you a full assurance that God really does love you. Will you argue with the cross? Will you argue with the empty tomb?
Paul says in Romans 5:8-11, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath [God’s eternal displeasure] through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.”
What is the reward for those who by faith diligently seek him? For those who reach out and touch the golden scepter?
David says in Psalm 16:11, “In thy presence is fulness of joy; At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”
All this was purchased for you and is freely offered. So seek the king’s favor, and you will most certainly have it.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen

Sermon: If I Perish, I Perish (Esther 4:1-17)

If I Perish, I PerishSunday, February 9th, 2025Christ Covenant Church – Centralia, WA
Esther 4:1-17When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry; And came even before the king’s gate: for none might enter into the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. And in every province, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes. So Esther’s maids and her chamberlains came and told it her. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved; and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him: but he received it not. Then called Esther for Hatach, one of the king’s chamberlains, whom he had appointed to attend upon her, and gave him a commandment to Mordecai, to know what it was, and why it was. So Hatach went forth to Mordecai unto the street of the city, which was before the king’s gate. And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and of the sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them. Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to shew it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people. And Hatach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai. Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment unto Mordecai; All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days. And they told to Mordecai Esther’s words. Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer, Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish. So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.
Prayer
All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord; And thy saints shall bless thee. Please give us now such hearts to praise you and bless you at all times, so that whether we are enjoying good or enduring evil, we might know Your good purpose which cannot be thwarted and your reasons which far surpass our ability to understand. Help us now, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Introduction
Last week we encountered in Esther chapter 3, the great crisis moment of this book. Haman has devised a plan to exterminate the Jews, but as the Pur—the lot would have it, that day of destruction is still 11 months away.
We are told that the news of this death sentence, goes forth on the 13th day of the 1st month, which according to the Hebrew Calendar was the day before Passover (the day of Preparation). And so you can imagine the bitter irony of the Jews preparing to celebrate God’s deliverance, the birth of their nation, at the same time their own destruction has been announced. They are the lamb being prepared for the slaughter.
We are given a description of this death sentence in Esther 3:13 which says, “the letters were sent by posts into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey.”
So how would you respond to such news? Or to ask a better question, how should you respond, when it seems that God has permitted the wicked to prosper, and evil to have its day? In the words of Psalm 11:3 which gives voice to our cry, “If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?”
If the foundation of justice are destroyed, what can the righteous do?
In our text this morning, we are given an answer to that question. For it is here in the Jews response to God’s permission of evil, that the whole story turns. This chapter, this moment, these actions of Mordecai and Esther are the response that precipitates all the good that will follow. And so while Esther chapters 5-10 will describe many great reversals, and the triumph of good over evil, we must not forget when we get to those chapters, how that great salvation came about. For it is here in chapter 4 that we have the prelude to God’s deliverance, and the pattern for how we should respond in our times of crisis.
Division of the Text
Our text divides into three sections which could also be described as three stages in crisis response:
In verses 1-3, we have repentance.
In verses 4-9, we have a request for intercession.
In verses 10-17, we have courage and sacrifice.
So let us consider these three stages in depth.
Verses 1-3
1When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry; 2And came even before the king’s gate: for none might enter into the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. 3And in every province, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
Stage 1 of responding to your own death sentence is to grieve and lament.
And in Mordecai’s case, his suffering is unique in that he knows that he is the cause of Haman’s wrath, and thereby an indirect cause and occasion for all the Jews to be threatened.
Mordecai’s personal decision not to bow is having consequences far beyond his own person. What might have been intended as an isolated act of rebellion and pride, or an isolated act of faithfulness to God, (whichever position you take), one man’s actions are now affecting an entire nation (all the Jews throughout the whole Empire).
And so add to Mordecai’s lamentation, this knowledge that he is in some way responsible for this threat. If he had bowed, this would never have happened. If he had obeyed the king, this decree would never have gone forth.
This practice of tearing one’s clothes and putting on sackcloth and ashes, is a way of outwardly expressing that you are already dead. And by choosing to die before you die, to choose to suffer before you suffer, there is in this action a hope that mercy might be shown.
We see this practice amongst the Ninevites in the book of Jonah. Jonah comes preaching, “Yet forty days, and Ninevah shall be overthrown.” He announces their immanent doom. And how do the people of Ninevah respond to such a death sentence?
It says in Jonah 3:5-9, “So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?”
When you choose to die before you die, you are accepting God’s judgment and pleading for mercy. There is the hope that by voluntarily dying in advance, God might relent from the destruction He announced. Why kill someone who is already dead? This is what righteous Job does when he is struck by disaster, and it is what God Himself exhorts His people to do when disaster threatens them for their sinful lifestyles.
It says in Joel 2:12-14, “’Now, therefore,’ says the Lord, ‘Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him—’”
So it is not enough to simply go through the external ritual of tearing your clothes and wearing sackcloth and ashes (Pharisees and hypocrites can do that). What God is looking for is a torn heart, a repentant mind.
As it says in Psalm 34:18, “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.”
Likewise in Psalm 51:17 it says, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.”
So the proper response to the threat of death, whether justly or unjustly threatened, is to voluntarily die before you die, to tear your heart before the Lord and say with David in Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.”
Humility and repentance are always appropriate for us who sin. And this action of mourning our condition is to put into practice what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:31-32, “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.”
Stage 1 of crisis response is godly sorrow that leads to repentance. You must humble yourself in the eyes of God.
Now if repentance is Stage 1, what is Stage 2? Stage 2 is searching for someone to intercede.
I won’t read again all of verses 4-9, but here Mordecai makes known to Esther the decree against the Jews, and we read in verse 8.
Verse 8
8Also he gave Hatach the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to shew it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people.
Mordecai charges Esther to make supplication and make request before the king for her people.
This is a change in the command that Mordecai has been giving to Esther. Up to this point, Mordecai had charged Esther to conceal her people and her kindred, even from her own husband and king, and she complied. And so for almost 5 years of marriage, Esther has hidden her Jewish identity, and we saw back in Esther 2:20, that the text goes out of its way to tell us that even after her marriage to Ahasuerus, “Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him.”
So whatever reasons for that concealment (whether justified or not), they are now overthrown by this mortal threat. And Mordecai gives here the last charge he will give to Esther in this book. And in fact, by the end of the chapter we shall see that the roles will have reversed. It will be Queen Esther commanding Mordecai. Verse 17 says, “So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.”
So Mordecai’s last charge as father of Esther, is a charge for her to intercede on the Jews behalf, to reveal her identity and plead for the king to relent.
After sorrow, after repentance, the next action is to seek for an intercessor, a mediator, someone who can go where we cannot go, someone who can gain the favor of the power on high and obtain for us the salvation and mercy that we seek.
Who is Esther in this moment but a forerunner of Jesus Christ, the mediator between God and man? Esther is also a forerunner to the bride of Christ, the Christian church, the kingdom of priests, whose prayers are heard in the heavenly court.
It is not enough to simply mourn and lament your sin. You cannot enter the king’s gate in sackcloth and ashes. Mordecai needs what you and I need, namely, to be clothed with the king’s garments.
Or as Paul says in Romans 13:14, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”
Stage 1 is repentance; Stage 2 is finding a mediator who will plead your cause.
How does Esther respond to Mordecai’s charge?
We have here in verses 10-17, the first words of actual dialog between Esther and Mordecai. And at first Esther is hesitant to comply. She explains to Mordecai that he is asking her to risk her life.
Verse 11
11All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.
There is an important parallel here between Esther’s relation to Ahasuerus, and the Jews relation to God.
First, both relationships are covenantal. There is a covenant for marriage, and covenant between God and Israel.
Second, just as Ahasuerus has a throne and palace with inner and outer chambers, so also God’s temple has a throne with an inner and outer court. And these grades of separation from God are a spatial illustration of what God says to Moses in Exodus 33:20, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”
In order to see the king’s face, in order to come before the Lord, you have pass through the sword and be granted mercy.
We see God embed this principle in the Hebrew Festival Calendar. How often could the priest enter God’s throne room? Only once a year, on the day of Atonement, and that with much sacrifice, cleansing, and the putting on of holy garments. If you tried to enter God’s house uninvited, or in an unclean and unholy state, there was one law for you, death.
So Esther is being portrayed here as a kind of high-priest for the Jews. Mordecai wants her to enter the “most holy place,” the throne of Ahasuerus, and plead for mercy. But that means risking her life. That means hoping and praying the king is favorable and extends to her the golden scepter.
Again, we see the parallels between Esther and Christ, of whom it says in Hebrews 9:12, “by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”
So Esther must risk her own blood to enter. Mordecai knows this risk and thus he gives her a word of persuasive encouragement. And these are the first words of dialog that come directly from Mordecai’s mouth.
Verses 13-14
Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews. 14For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
Here we get a rare glimpse into the mind of Mordecai. And we find that there is in him a belief, a conviction, that God will not let Haman’s decree go uncontested.
If Esther does not intercede, Mordecai reasons, “then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place.”
Where is Mordecai getting that idea? How can he be so optimistic, so postmil, in this moment of crisis?
Well, the only reasonable explanation is that Mordecai knows the Scriptures. He knows what God had promised to Abraham, to make his seed as numerous as the stars. He knows that God had promised David a son to sit on his throne forever. He knows the law of God’s covenant, that even if they disobey and break covenant, God will eventually turn them back to Himself. He almost certainly knows the prophesies of his contemporaries, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Haggai, and Zechariah. And what all of these prophets foretell, is that although God will punish his rebellious people, he will bring them back to Jerusalem and have mercy on them.
So as the father of Esther, whose Hebrew name remember is Hadassah/Myrtle Tree, Mordecai knows (and perhaps even named Esther after this verse in) Isaiah 55:13, “Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: And it shall be to the Lord for a name, For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
If God has promised to plant the myrtle tree and remove the thorns and briers (evil men like Haman), then either God’s Word is false, or Haman’s plot will not go as planned. As Paul says in Romans 3:4, “Let God be true and every man a liar.”
Perhaps Mordecai will die in battle. Perhaps Esther will be found out as a Jew and executed as well. But this kind of wholesale wide-scale extermination of all Jews cannot succeed, because God has promised to preserve a remnant, plant that remnant, and make that remnant to flourish. “For if thou altogether hold thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place.”
So Mordecai, now the man of faith, exhorts Esther to take this truth and moment to heart. And without presuming to know how deliverance will come, or if it will come through her, he places before her in the form of a question, a rhetorical question that is, “who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
Who knows? God knows and only God.
And here Mordecai is being a good theologian. He does not presume to see into the secret will of God. He does not presume to know if Esther will succeed or not. He makes no promise that she will live. He does not pretend to be a prophet. He does not give her false hope. Instead, He soberly communicates to her the promise of God, and the possibility that God might use her to bring about a great deliverance. Deliverance is certain, but the means of deliverance are yet unknown.
This is how you read the story while you are in it. You must be sober, you must be prayerful, you must be humble, you must have faith. None of us are the Ultimate Author of our own story, but we can study God’s wisdom and ways in the lives of the saints and see certain patterns, certain themes and trials that recur, and while every story is unique, we should all desire to be Romans 8:28 Christians, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
So how can Esther love God in this moment? As Queen of Persia, love looks like seeking justice for all the innocent Jews throughout the Empire. As wife of Ahasuerus, love looks like keeping her husband from being deceived by a wicked adviser in Haman. And as adopted daughter of Mordecai, love looks like listening to him, and then seeking the courage to lay her down her life for her people. We hear in her own voice the fear and resolve.
Verse 16
16Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.
Jesus says there is “No greater love than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13).
And so Esther now joins Mordecai in choosing to die before she dies. She counts the cost, she calls for a fast, and she resolves that “If I Perish, I Perish.”
What is signified here by this three day fast, but the same three days of Christ’s death and burial. No food. No drink. Cut off from any natural source of life, and all in the hope that supernatural life, resurrection might come.
Where does that kind of courage come from? It comes from a heart that has truly died to this world, and desires nothing less than God. Of this singular and exclusive desire, we read in Psalm 73, “Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
Is God the exclusive and sole desire of your heart? And if not, don’t you know that every good thing you desire has its source and surpassing goodness in Him?
The way we conquer death is not by pride, or ignorance, or by trusting in flesh. It is by dying so that we might see God, and desiring Him above life itself. That is how you can say with Esther, If I Perish, I Perish.
May God grant you such courage and desire, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen.