In the Presence of the King (Part 1) (Audio)

In the Presence of the King (Part 1) (Esther 5:1-14) Yearly Theme:  “Love Is…” Series Title:  Never Give Up May 12th, 2019   Something to think about:   As I mentioned last week, “Our resolved to do the right thing often comes at a price.”    Our commitment to follow through with our convictions to do the right thing even when it means that we may be risking everything is something that Esther experienced even as the queen of the Persian Empire.  And what was Esther risking?  She was risking her own life to go before her husband (the King of Persia) unannounced.  Her reason for going:  To plead with the king on behalf of all the Jewish people in the empire to save their lives from a decree that he had just made to exterminate them.  After fasting for three days, she resolved to make her request known.  Let’s take a look…   Esther 5:1-14 (NLT)   1  On the third day of the fast, Esther put on her royal robes and entered the inner court of the palace, just across from the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne, facing the entrance. 2  When he saw Queen Esther standing there in the inner court, he welcomed her and held out the gold scepter to her. So Esther approached and touched the end of the scepter. 3  Then the king asked her, “What do you want, Queen Esther? What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!” 4  And Esther replied, “If it please the king, let the king and Haman come today to a banquet I have prepared for the king.” 5  The king turned to his attendants and said, “Tell Haman to come quickly to a banquet, as Esther has requested.” So the king and Haman went to Esther’s banquet. 6  And while they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, “Now tell me what you really want. What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!” 7  Esther replied, “This is my request and deepest wish. 8  If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request and do what I ask, please come with Haman tomorrow to the banquet I will prepare for you. Then I will explain what this is all about.” 9  Haman was a happy man as he left the banquet! But when he saw Mordecai sitting at the palace gate, not standing up or trembling nervously before him, Haman became furious. 10  However, he restrained himself and went on home. Then Haman gathered together his friends and Zeresh, his wife, 11  and boasted to them about his great wealth and his many children. He bragged about the honors the king had given him and how he had been promoted over all the other nobles and officials. 12  Then Haman added, “And that’s not all! Queen Esther invited only me and the king himself to the banquet she prepared for us. And she has invited me to dine with her and the king again tomorrow!” 13  Then he added, “But this is all worth nothing as long as I see Mordecai the Jew just sitting there at the palace gate.” 14  So Haman’s wife, Zeresh, and all his friends suggested, “Set up a sharpened pole that stands seventy-five feet tall, and in the morning ask the king to impale Mordecai on it. When this is done, you can go on your merry way to the banquet with the king.” This pleased Haman, and he ordered the pole set up.   Here's the key point this morning:   Key Point:  “Love never gives up even when its resolve is tested.”   We can be resolved to many different things.  Some things we can be resolved to will not benefit us in the least, but very well cause us or others great harm.  However, we can be resolved to do good things, that have very beneficial outcomes for others and ourselves.  Both of these examples can be found in this passage of Scripture today.  Let’s take a look…   Esther resolved to come before the king with her request, even if it meant death.   Esther 5:1 (NLT), On the third day of the fast, Esther put on her royal robes and entered the inner court of the palace, just across from the king’s hall.   Haman resolved to have Mordecai executed out of arrogance and pride.   Esther 5:14 (NLT), So Haman’s wife, Zeresh, and all his friends suggested, “Set up a sharpened pole that stands seventy-five feet tall, and in the morning ask the king to impale Mordecai on it. When this is done, you can go on your merry way to the banquet with the king.” This pleased Haman, and he ordered the pole set up.   Something to take home:   There’s a story told of the great missionary, David Livingstone, about a, “missionary society wrote to [him] and asked, ‘Have you found a good road to where you are?  If so, we want to know how to send other men to join you.’  [To which] Livingstone wrote back, ‘If you have men who will come only if they know there is a good road, I don't want them.  I want men who will come if there is no road at all.’”[1]    Are you committed to do the right thing even when your resolve is tested?  Or, are you prone to give up and not do the hard things that are required of those who seek to do the right things?  Do you easily buckle under pressure, or wilt when your back is up against the wall?   The Bible is replete with stories on both ends of the spectrum:  Those who give up, and those who press on.  However, the best example we have of risking it all isn’t found in the story of Esther, but the story of Christ.  He went the distance.  In Him, we see that…   Key Point:  “Love never gives up even when its resolve is tested.” [1] Good News Broadcaster, April, 1985,  p. 12.