The Great Reversal

If you have a Bible, go ahead and grab it. We have an awesome section of Scripture to go over tonight, I’m so excited to be looking at Esther 6. There is so much happening in this chapter that to fit it all in would take weeks but we are going to do our best. As we have gone through this book, I have just been blown away by God’s providence, that theme that we have looked at pretty much every week since we first began. I never get tired of reading and studying about the providence of God and just like God Himself, when it comes to the providence of God, you really can’t ever learn too much. I don’t know about you but I could certainly use some encouragement in my life. I don’t think anyone has ever said, “Please don’t encourage me, I don’t need it.” I think that deep down, we all want to believe that everything is going to be alright in the end right? No matter what this world may throw at you, you know that if you can just cross the finish line, everything will be fine. I think that we would all agree that we would be more willing and able to do and go through difficult things if we knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that we would accomplish what we set out to do. It may be hard, it may seem impossible but if you knew that there was a reward ahead of you, a reward that would surpass anything else of earthly value, you would strive with all your might to obtain because you knew that it was as good as yours. In Esther 6, we get a reminder of what life is often like for believers now and a reminder of what is in store for us in the life that is to come. In this chapter we are going to have a throwback to Esther 2 and I won’t recap that because it will happen for us in our passage as we read it. Tonight we are going to talk about the Christian’s reward. We’re going to talk about what we have to look ahead to and how the assurance of that reward will be able to tide us over until the day that it is ours. Let’s go to the Lord in prayer and then we will dive into Esther 6

Esther 6 ESV

On that night the king could not sleep. And he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. And it was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, and who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. And the king said, “What honor or distinction has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” The king’s young men who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.” And the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for him. And the king’s young men told him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.” And the king said, “Let him come in.” So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?” And Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?” And Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn, and the horse that the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown is set. And let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble officials. Let them dress the man whom the king delights to honor, and let them lead him on the horse through the square of the city, proclaiming before him: ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.’ ” Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry; take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned.” So Haman took the robes and the horse, and he dressed Mordecai and led him through the square of the city, proclaiming before him, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.” Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered. And Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not overcome him but will surely fall before him.” While they were yet talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hurried to bring Haman to the feast that Esther had prepared.

I know that there is a lot going on in that passage but before we get to the rewards, I want to take a couple minutes and point out to you how God’s providence continues to be at work both in the large scale and in the small scale of the universe.

God’s Providence and Esther 6

I want to remind you quickly of what we looked at last week. When we finished chapter 5, and we really didn’t read too much of it, Haman has made the decision of building gallows in order to kill Mordecai. He did this with the intention of killing Mordecai the very next day so he makes it up in his mind to go to the king with the request to have Mordecai put to death. But it’s possible that at the very time that Haman is having the gallows put together, the king is totally restless back at the palace. When it comes to the affairs of God, there is no such thing as coincidence. Everything happens according to God’s perfect will, perfect timing, and perfect providence. Esther 6 begins with Ahasuerus not being able to sleep. He’s tossing and turning, he can’t get his brain to turn off, I’m sure you know what that’s like. In a year with 365 days, the day that he struggles to go to sleep is on the eve of the execution of the man that saved his life back in Esther chapter 2. The king can’t sleep so he orders to have the book of memorable deeds read to him and we can assume that the book isn’t like 3 pages long. The Persian empire was an incredibly impressive empire. Up to that point in history, this was the greatest empire in the world but the part that is brought up is how Mordecai saved the king’s life. Not only has God in His providence kept the king from sleeping, He has even directed the readers to the very page that would end up saving Mordecai’s life. On top of that, it seems that the reason Mordecai was not rewarded back at the end of chapter 2 was so that God could intentionally save him here in chapter 6. If Mordecai was rewarded immediately in chapter 2, nothing would have stopped Haman from carrying out his plot in chapter 6. This is just insane and it is a great reminder to us that nothing is ever done accidentally in the hands of God. It’s also a good reminder that when it comes to the things of God, what we may perceive as a no is really just a “not yet” from God Himself. Everything that the Lord does serves His purpose. But providence continues to roll on. As the king is hearing about what was or wasn’t done for Mordecai, Haman comes strolling into the outer court of the palace. Haman comes in and the king asks, “What should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?” Haman is so caught up in his own pride that he assumes that the king must be talking about him and he has this plan all laid out of the man should be given royal robes that the king himself has worn, to ride on the horse the king has rode on, to have the crown put on his head and to have the man led through the city with servants proclaiming the excellencies of that man. And then comes the kicker, the King says to Haman, “Go find Mordecai the Jew and do exactly what you have said, leave nothing out from what you have mentioned.” As Haman is coming in to have Mordecai put to death, it is Haman himself that propels Mordecai to this state of exaltation and it is Haman himself who has to do this for Mordecai. We see in this chapter that the fall of Haman has already begun and that the rising of Mordecai has been planned by God from the very beginning. Now we don’t know what Mordecai thought of all this. The Bible doesn’t tell us but I am sure the irony of the event was not lost on him. The Bible does tell us however how Haman felt. There was shame, there was grief, as one commentator said, it is like Haman is already experiencing all the stages associated with death. So, I want us to look at our reward that is to come as followers of Christ and I want us to consider God’s timing when it comes to the receiving of our reward.

God’s Timing and Our Reward

The Bible is full of reminders that we as Christians are to receive a reward for our faithfulness to Christ. Peter writes in 1 Peter 5:4 “And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.” We also know that that which we receive from the Lord as the faithful is entirely different from that of unbelievers. Unbelievers receive nothing of eternal value. Solomon says in Proverbs 11:18 “The wicked earns deceptive wages, but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward.” The prophet Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 32:17-19

Jeremiah 32:17–19 (ESV)

‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you. You show steadfast love to thousands, but you repay the guilt of fathers to their children after them, O great and mighty God, whose name is the Lord of hosts, great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, rewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.

We know that there is a reward for us from the Lord, we know that we have an inheritance in Heaven that is being safeguarded for us, and we know that there is a crown that is given to all that are righteous in the eyes of God. What you may have noticed in these verses and from our time in Esther is that the reward is sure but we don’t fully possess it right away. We are often not immediately rewarded for our faithfulness and even that I want to be careful saying because the surety of our reward is there the moment that we believe. The moment that you become a Christian, your reward in Heaven is so certain that it is like we already have it in our arms, and we’ll talk more about that later. If you are a Christian now, you are as justified in Jesus Christ as you will ever possibly be. Right at this very moment, you possess the Holy Spirit inside of you. As we’ve talked about before, you right now have been given every spiritual blessing in Jesus Christ, that’s what Paul tells us in Ephesians 1:3 but Paul also tells us that our reward is still to come waiting for us in Heaven. The fullness of our reward is still to come. What we need to remember is that God’s timing and His giving is always perfect. He never rewards prematurely and He never fails to reward those that deserve it. As Christians, we know that the best is yet to come and while it may often feel like God has forgotten us, we know that He is faithful and that He will reward every act of service in His name according to His timing. Remember what Jesus says in Matthew 10:42 that even a cup of cold water given to a thirsty child in His name will not go unnoticed or unrewarded. Nothing that you do has ever been done in secret. The good and the bad has never gone without notice. As we look at Esther 6, we actually see that there are a surprising amount of similarities between the rewards that Mordecai received and what we will receive in Heaven. One of the first similarities is that just as the king of Persia is the one that gives the reward, the King of Heaven will be the one that gives us our reward. We saw this in 1 Peter 5 and Jeremiah 32. When the Lord rewards us on that day, it isn’t some intern angel that is bringing it to us. God Himself, the King of all Creation, is the one that rewards the faithful and the righteous. And the Lord does not just give us a participation trophy. He doesn’t give us a certificate with our name on it, He gives us perfection! He gives us His very self! Our reward is not something that is here today and gone tomorrow, it is something that is eternal, something that never diminishes in value, something that will far surpass any possible reward that we could receive here. In Heaven, the King does not just give a reward, He is the reward! Our reward is in Heaven because Jesus is in Heaven! In Esther 6, we see the king clothe Mordecai in one of the king’s own robes. In a very similar way, we will be clothed with the robe of our King as part of our reward. Isaiah 61:10

Isaiah 61:10 (ESV)

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;

my soul shall exult in my God,

for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;

he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,

and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

In Revelation 6:11 we read: “Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.” Here the saints in Heaven are given a white robe and this white robe is seen as the very robe of Christ’s righteousness given to all believers. Daniel Akin said, “The white robe symbolizes blessedness, dignity, honor, purity, victory, and most of all the imputed righteousness of Christ.” As Christians, all of the sin and unrighteousness that we possessed was given to Christ and all of His blamelessness, perfectness, sinlessness and righteousness was given to us. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:21

2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Not only are we given a robe of righteousness from our King, we also have a crown given to us by our king. All true believers will be rewarded a crown on the day of judgement. Paul writes in 2 Timothy 4:7-8 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” We read in 1 Peter 5:4 of the crown of glory that awaits us in Heaven. James in James 1:12 says, “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” We as believers have a crown of glory prepared for us that far surpasses any crown of gold that we could receive on earth. Another thing that is worth emphasizing is that on that day when we reign with Christ forever, our enemies, those that have hated God and His people will go through shame and dishonor while we will be rewarded for our faithfulness. In Christ, we will triumph. We are the overcomers of the world. 1 John 5:4 says: “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” John Calvin gives us a great reminder in his commentary on this passage. He says, “Having such a force to contend with, we have an immense war to carry on, and we should have been already conquered before coming to the contest, and we should be conquered a hundred times daily, had not God promised to us the victory. But God encourages us to fight by promising us the victory. But as this promise secures to us perpetually the invincible power of God, so, on the other hand, it annihilates all the strength of men. For the Apostle does not teach us here that God only brings some help to us, so that being aided by him, we may be sufficiently able to resist; but he makes victory to depend on faith alone; and faith receives from another that by which it overcomes.” The world is conquered not by our skills, not by our strength, not by our knowledge but by what Christ has accomplished and because we are partakers in Him, we share in His victory. We are co-heirs with Christ and because He reigns, we will reign with Him. Our lives as believers is so intertwined with Christ that His victory really is our victory. As you can see, there is much gain in following Christ. There is so much to look ahead to in Heaven that all the words of earth fail to do it justice. This reward is ours as followers of Christ. It is not hypothetical or temporary; it is real and forever. The king of Persia rewarded Mordecai for a day but our King will reward us every day for all of eternity. So, how do we know that we will receive it? Because Christ has promised it to us and He has never broken a promise.

The Assurance of Our Reward

In this life, we don’t get to experience the fullness of our reward, we have already talked about that. But that does not mean that it isn’t coming. Charles Bridges wrote, “No sinner since the fall of man has ever known the full reward of righteousness even in this life. It may be given as an afflictive dispensation- grace to support under trouble, and to triumph in the issue of it. It will probably be given as the harvest to the sower- after trying and anxious waiting. But whenever or however delayed, it is a sure reward. Righteousness is the seed. Happiness is the harvest.” I know that there are days where I feel as if I drew the short straw. There are days where I see unrighteousness in the world and think, “That certainly seems easier than being faithful and pursuing righteousness.” But when I am discouraged, and I am sure that you have all been discouraged in your walk with Christ, I know that my reward is sure and I know that if Christ has promised something for me, I can never lose that promise. Paul says in Philippians 1:6 “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:3-5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” Do you hear what Peter is saying about our reward? He says that it is imperishable which means it can never be destroyed. It is undefiled which means that it can never be defiled, it will always be perfect and pure. It is unfading which means that we never have to worry about if it will be here today but gone tomorrow. Some of you have your hearts set on so much stuff that is simply going to fade away and you have made that your god! Our reward does not fade away because it cannot fade away! And maybe most importantly, it is kept in Heaven for us. God holds it securely in His hands so that we may have it forever. He guards our reward so perfectly that nothing can ever remove Him or us from His hands. This is what Paul says at the end of Romans 8! It is because Jesus keeps us that He keeps our reward. Why would Jesus die to secure something for us that could be lost by our own will in a moment? Your reward in heaven and my reward in Heaven are so certain that we possess it now with the fullness of that reward still to come. Even now as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we can fear no evil because our Great Shepherd is with us. What can a shadow do to us? Absolutely nothing. The only thing it can possibly do is hide the fact that something is there. I know that we are all going through trials now but I also know that if we belong to Christ our reward is sure. I think of Stephen in the book of Acts who dies a martyrs death and the last thing that He sees before he goes to glory is Christ standing at the right hand of God, honoring his faithfulness. I also think of that moment in Return of the King, the last Lord of the Rings, when Aragorn is crowned king and as he walks through the crowd, he comes to the Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin, the four hobbits who all went on this nearly impossible journey to destroy Sauron and if you have seen the movie do you remember what happened as the four hobbits began to bow to King Aragorn? Aragorn said, “My friends, you bow to no one” and the entire kingdom that is there honors and bows down to those four little hobbits. Just think, at this very moment the angels in Heaven are overjoyed at your salvation, they are so caught up in holy love that they long to look to these things of salvation. While you are no king, you are no god, you are someone that is made in the image of God and if you are a Christian, you are a blood-bought Child of the King. As Christians, we bow to no one on this earth, we bow only to our King of Kings, knowing that one day, all the pain, all the trials, all the angst of this world will have been worth it because we will receive the reward that is in Heaven for us. We don’t have it all now but we know that we will have it one day in full. Can you say that though? Can you confidently say that there is a reward in Heaven waiting for you? How can you say it if you never believed in the first place? If you want a reward that will last forever, you must first seek the Giver of the reward first. Until you do that, until you cast down the rewards of this earth, the sin and self that so easily dies, you will never be able to have the reward that is to come. If you have never placed your faith in Jesus Christ, today is the day where you must do that. You must cast away earthly gain and cling to our Savior’s cross. In your heart of hearts, confess Jesus as Lord and ask Him to forgive you of your sins and to bestow on you His robe of perfect righteousness. Now is the time and now is the hour and may we all joyfully look ahead to the reward that is to come. Let’s pray.