Let us turn once again to that passage we read earlier in Esther chapter number 9. Esther chapter number 9 and verses 1 to 19, which will be our text for this evening's message. Esther chapter 9 verses 1 to 19. And our title for this message is this, Inevitable Judgment. Inevitable Judgment. I wonder if you ever finish a long day of work and you're quite tired and you might turn on the news at the end of the day, whether that's through the internet or on your television. Perhaps you look up some website to find out what's happening in the world, or you might turn on, I don't know, some YouTuber, talk about all the things that is going wrong in the world. And I wonder if you're a lot like many of us who lament at the things that are happening in our world at this present time. There's much to lament. There's much to find sorrow over, not just in foreign fields and far away, but also in our own nation in which we live. Injustice, corruption, lies, and it almost starts to feel like water off a duck's back. In one sense, it's been like this since the fall of Adam, for thousands of years. But I think we'd also have to recognize that there's something seriously going wrong in the moral decline in our nation, whether that's the schools, whether that's in government, whether that's in other parts as well. There's a war taking place on what was once considered common sense. And today, common sense is no longer that common. But when we pay attention to a lot of these things, there may be the temptation to go, well, it's all inevitable, isn't it? It's just, just give up. It'll just go the direction it's going. And things are looking pretty bleak. It's all over for the West. No, not necessarily. What does the word mean, inevitable? Inevitable means unavoidable, certain to happen. There's no doubt about it, it will happen. A man once said this, nothing is certain but death and taxes. He's not completely right. There's far more things that are certain than that, but there's a degree of truth to what he's saying. It's not the whole picture, is it? We know more than the certainty of death and of taxes. We know more because we believe the Bible, and the Bible has revealed many things of the future that are certain to happen. The day of judgment that is coming, the day of the Lord, that inevitable judgment that is coming to this world, and there'll be a new heavens. and a new earth when the Lord returns. In our text that we're going to look at here this evening, we see a taste of the victory, a taste, a foretaste of the victory that will be had fully at the end of time. It's victory for the seed of the woman over the head of the serpent. Over the seed of the serpent. That conquest that Conflict that has been taking place for thousands of years was seen thousands of years ago during the days of Esther, Ahasuerus, and Haman. And the victory for God's people is inevitable, no matter how bleak it may look, no matter how difficult it may look, no matter how doomed God's people may look at times. What is inevitable is the victory in Christ. To be on the right side of the inevitable judgment that is coming. Our first point that we're going to look at here this evening is this. An inevitable day. An inevitable day. Verse number one. Now in the twelfth month, that is the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution. In the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them. In this passage in verse number one, we can see that there are two decrees. There's a wicked decree that began with Haman, signed into law. And with the Medes and the Persians, that law cannot be changed. So, the king favors Esther and the people of God now. And there's another decree that has been written that though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them. But look at the day it happens on, the 12th month, that is the month Adar. That month, that's when the decree, the first decree of Haman was to come to pass. We remind ourselves of Esther 3 in verse 13. Esther 3 in verse number 13. And just reading, not necessarily the beginning of it, but at the end of it, it was to destroy and to kill. All the Jews, no matter whether young, old, or male, or female. But then at the end of it, it says, in one day, even upon the 13th day of the 12th month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them. But that day had come. So in chapter 9, in verse 1, that day has come upon us. That inevitable day of the decree of the king. and the two competing decrees are in conflict with each other. This specific day, you could say it was predetermined, foreordained. And why does this happen? Why on that specific day? Because there's a great power, King Hasuerus, through his decree, It has come to pass. He's the most powerful ruler in Persia, the most powerful empire the world had seen up until that point in time. There's also a certain arrogance with the Medes and the Persians that they felt like their decrees could not be undone because they could never be wrong, of course. They're unalterable. But friends, there is a decree that has been issued before the foundation of the world that is eternal, unchanging and unchangeable because of the wisdom of the king who issued it. And his power is far greater, infinitely greater than King Ahasuerus. And because of this decree, before the foundation of the world, outside of time itself, whatever the certainty of this day was from a human point of view, anything that has been decreed by our God, will certainly come to pass. Our Westminster Confession of Faith says this, God from all eternity did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and, very importantly, unchangeably, ordain whatsoever comes to pass. As our Confession of Faith rightly points out, God doesn't change his mind. He doesn't get a better idea down the line. He is all mighty, omniscient. He knows all things. He's infinitely wise. Infinitely. And this is God being God. See, rulers and kings will decree certain things, certain laws. And they can only carry out those laws, and they can only be carried out to the degree at which they have power. Whatever power they have. Well, God does not have limited power. Ahasuerus, as great as his power was, was still limited to his provinces. And he couldn't go any further than that. Biggest empire upon the face of the earth, but it was still limited. But God being God, he has freely and unchangeably, ordained whatsoever comes to pass." It's very important that we understand that. That we worship the God who knows the end from the beginning. Why? Not because He's learning things. Because He's ordained it. Because He's decreed it. Without Him, there's nothing in this world. that there be light. And there was light in Genesis chapter 1. He spoke it forth. This is God being God. We must not limit God. Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 17. Hebrews chapter 6 and verse number 17. It says this, wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability, that's the unchangeableness, you could say, of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath. His counsel is unchangeable. And then Acts chapter 2 and verse 23, Acts chapter 2 and verse number 23, It says, Him, this is Jesus of Nazareth, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. So from one perspective, this decree of God, which includes the crucifixion of Christ. This is the greatest, most horrible crime ever committed against a human being. The greatest miscarriage of justice from a human point of view. But in His all-wise, all-knowing counsel, being delivered by determined counsel and foreknowledge of God. Nothing is outside of the infinite, that's without limit, eternal and all wise decree of God. Nothing happens by chance, which is kind of why we should never say lucky. You know, people say, oh, you're very lucky. And sometimes I let it pass, but sometimes I don't. There's no such thing as luck, friends. We're blessed to be Christians. We're blessed to be here this evening. And this day, yes, it's been determined that we're looking in chapter 9, verse 1, the 12th month, that is the month Adar. It's been, you could say, foreordained by the King Ahasuerus, but above all else, it's been foreordained by God and His decree. The final judgment itself is a day, an inevitable day, an unavoidable day. Before this was reversed, this was a dreaded day for the Jews. But through the petitions of Esther, petitioning the king, that has been reversed. And no longer is this day of judgment hanging over their heads, this day of death hanging over their heads, a day of darkness, now it's a day of light because of the grace and the mercy of God. This day is not outside of the control of God, it has been ordained. God. Now the day of the Lord, when the Lord returns has not been revealed to us. We know, they knew when this day was going to happen. These decrees, these two decrees, one wicked and one good, counteracting it. They knew the exact day that was going to happen. It was like counting down the days to it in many ways. We don't know when the day of the Lord is. The secret things belong to the Lord our God. In Matthew 24, verse 35. Matthew 24 and verse number 35. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Verse 36, but of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. And the question is, do you think they were ready, the Jews, for when that day came? Do you think, oh, I'd forgotten all about it? No, they were ready. They knew when the day was coming. How can we be ready for the day of the Lord? We don't know when the time when the Lord returns and will come as a thief in the night, the scripture tells us. How are we ready? How are you ready? Looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, to trust His promises, to trust what He says in His Word, and to trust that one day the injustices that we see all around us will one day be dealt with. The earth groans and travails in pain this day, but there'll be one day they will be dealt with. Punishment will come justly. Far more power than the power of Ahasuerus, the king of Persia. Friends, we have to think about the future. The Jews have to think about the future. They have to be prepared. They have to be prepared to fight on that day, to fight for their lives. Because when that day came, they had to be ready. They had to be ready with their weapons. They had to be. We don't like to think about the future these days. We must. We must think about our eternal future. For we will be here for a brief moment in time, but coming is eternity. So number one, an inevitable day. Number two, an inevitable distinction. an inevitable distinction. By distinction, what we mean is superiority, rank, kind of glory. And Mordecai, through the providence of God, has been raised up. Now Esther and Mordecai, meekly, patiently, seeking God's help, praying before the Lord, but they have been exalted within the kingdom. They have been raised up within the kingdom. Verses 3 and 4 says this, and all the rulers of the provinces and the lieutenants and the deputies and the officers of the king helped the Jews because why? The fear of Mordecai fell upon them. For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went throughout all the provinces. For this man Mordecai waxed greater and greater." An inevitable distinction. An inevitable excellency. So Mordecai, by the grace of God, sees this greater He's been raised up. And Mordecai, you see throughout the book, he's not seeking his own ambition. He's not like Haman. Haman wants power. But Mordecai, earlier in this book, rejects giving homage or honor unto Haman. And that puts his life in danger. That puts the life, not just his life in danger, but the life of all the Jews. But God, in his mercy, through his providential hand, you could say his hidden hand, he raises up Mordecai. Why? For a specific purpose. To deliver and to take care of his people. For the good of his people. And this is because Esther has been brought into a place of influence, great influence. Why? For the good of her people. God cares. about his people. And God cares about his people and he also gives Mordecai this great distinction and privilege within the kingdom. The greater the kings, the greater the victories in battle, the greater the grandeur, the greater the glory for the kingdom, the greater the excellency. Think of it this way, and I think we struggle for it because many of our kings and queens, they're just there ceremonially. They're not there often fighting battles. But for most of human history, if the king appeared weak, open to attack, and often was attacked, the kingdom was weak. So for the sake of the entire kingdom, for the structure of the society, what needed to happen, there needed to be great respect, great fear before a king. This is of necessity, you could say, for the respect of the power. If anybody challenged that power, what would the kings often do? They would crush it. Make an example of them. so that this would not tarnish and encourage anybody else to raise up against. That's why you have things like treason, treason charges and things like that. An attack upon the king was attack upon the nation. And other rebellions were being encouraged as well. But can we think of a king whose glory, whose excellence, whose distinction has never in any way had any shadow of turning. In him is light and there's no darkness at all. And not only that, came into this world, assumed human flesh and came to suffer humiliation. The King of Glory came to suffer and to die. If we turn to Philippians chapter 2 and verses 6 and 7. Philippians chapter 2 and verses 6 and 7. It says this, who being in the form of God, says Jesus Christ, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, verse 7, but made himself of no reputation. Literally it means to empty oneself, but to make himself of no reputation. And looking upon and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. made in the likeness of men. And Matthew chapter 8 and verse 20, Matthew chapter 8 and verse number 20 says this. And Jesus saith unto him, the foxes of holes, the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man hath not where to lay his head. So we think of all the grandeur. Mordecai here, great in the king's house. His fame went throughout the provinces. He's all the splendor and the wonder of being part of and being honored by the King. But here you have Christ, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, whose glory never diminished, ever, but veiled in human flesh. A good way to think about this is, While we may not see the sun for a time, when the clouds come before, the sun does not go away, it's merely veiled. It is still there, it still shines with the same brightness, so it is with the Son of God in his divine nature, shineth forth in the same glory and beauty and radiance. He suffered in this world. He died in this world, not to defeat. To a regular ruler, this would be defeat. If a ruler dies, it's defeat. But he dies because he means to die. And through that death, he has victory over death. He conquers and takes away the punishment. And in this way, because he has been buried, he is raised from the dead, exalted, and now sits at the right hand of the majesty on high. And because of this glory, an inevitable distinction is upon him. We are victorious in him. He has taken our shame. He has taken our sorrow. He has taken our wounds. He has taken all these things that afflict us. See, they feared Mordecai in that day because they saw that the royalty were on his side, but also the king of heaven and earth was on his side as well. The fear of the Jews fell upon the people. Some converted as well and turned unto the Lord. But the royal household was on the side of the Jews. The royal glory was on the side of God's people. Now Mordecai waxed greater and greater, but the Lord Jesus Christ obeyed the law in the place of sinners. He grew and he waxed greater and greater through submission unto the Father in heaven. Just turn to one Text there in Psalm 1, verses 3 to 4. Psalm 1, verses 3 and 4. How can we bring glory to God? Psalm 1, verses 3 to 4. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither. and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. In contrast to the ungodly, the ungodly are not sober like the chaff which the wind driveth away. And that first Psalm speaks to that perfect man, the Lord Jesus Christ, who obeyed and kept that law perfectly. And through him, through his victory over death, Brings us on to our third point. We have an inevitable domination. An inevitable domination. Because of the decree, there's a wicked decree, there's a decree to reverse that in the Persian Empire, and the king is on the side the good decree. That will be victorious. Verses five and six. 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. Now again this is all those who are seeking to carry out the wicked decree of Haman. There were still those, many of them, who still wanted to carry out the wicked decree of Haman. And some of them were even found in the palace, verse 6. And in Shushan, the palace, the Jews slew and destroyed 500 men. It's interesting, isn't it? When you think of the palace, you think, you know, Anywhere in the empire, you think you're probably the safest to conspire and to plot against the Jews, it would probably be in the palace. But no. Even the sons of Haman are taken as well. Verse 10. The ten sons of Haman, the son of Amalatha, the enemy of the Jews, slew they, but on the spoil laid they not their hand. You see this, the ten sons of Haman, those who Haman would have boasted about at one point, they seek to carry out their father's plan. They seek to carry out this wicked decree. And you see this in this world as well. There's a decree, you could say, of the devil, the ruler of this world. But his decree will be defeated. His decree is do whatever you want. Just don't follow God. That's the devil's decree. Do what you want. Follow your heart. You shall not surely die. You shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. That's the message of the devil. But there's an inevitable domination of the seed of the woman over the seed of the serpent. In verse 13 of our text, then said Esther, if it pleased the king, that it be granted to the Jews which are in Shushan to do tomorrow also according unto the day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows. Now you may be reading that and saying, weren't they already What happened to them? A few verses earlier, they'd already been executed. They were already dead at this point. This was taking these 10 sons and doing what many did in the ancient world on display. For all to see, if you want to come after the people of God, if you want to come after the kingdom, this is your future. Send me a message, it's on display, death and destruction. And friends, we are surrounded by, we become so numb to it in many ways, death and suffering, illness, all these things, the short life we live. There was a time people lived 900 years in a fallen world before the flood. Now, If we live to a hundred, maybe the leader of the country might write you a letter. What has changed? Sin and what is surrounding us, whether we see graveyards or whatever else, or wars or hospitals or whatever, constant reminders of the way of sin. Go this way, there's death. Just constant reminders. You know, people often ask, why did God make the world like he did? Why is there suffering in the world? Well, I always remind them, it's like, God didn't make this world with suffering and illness and death. We brought that in. We broke his law and we incurred his righteous judgment. We are surrounded every single day with our health problems we have. There was no illness in the world until the fall of Adam. Painful reminders, all of us, and these remind, death reminds us that if we remain in unbelief, we have tastes of death, you could say, in this world, and there'll be the fullness of death to come. There are tastes of hell in this world, but not as bad as it will be. No matter how, you know, sometimes you'll see those pictures on the news and they're horrendous. You know, you'll see it in war zones and you see children and sometimes you'll see it makes you so sad, but that is still mild. to the torments of hell. The just torments of hell. Victory over, and it's, people who are in hell, they're not innocent victims. It's justice. It's the judgment of God. It is the holiness of God. It is the wrath of God. It is the righteous anger of Almighty God. See friends, we have to ask ourselves, whom will we follow? Whom will we follow in terms of our example? Will we follow the Haman's of this world? Plotting, scheming, seeking to erect their own ambitions, slandering and using distortions of the truth to take out their enemies and other things in order to exalt their own position. Or will you follow the examples of those like Haman and Esther who meekly sought the Lord? See, unbelievers, they may enjoy success to a degree in this world, to a degree, some brief wealth. At the end of the day, they face inevitable doom. They're defeated. They're on their way to destruction. I read a quote there today, it was like, the devil cannot make hell attractive, just the way to it. And it works that effect. See, the way to hell is very attractive to fallen men, but hell itself is not at all. And that's where that broad road leads to. Friends, Esther wants the 10 sons of Haman hanged for a warning. to all those who rebel, to all those who seek victory by those means against the king of kings. Which brings us to our fourth and final point, an inevitable delight, an inevitable delight, an inevitable day, distinction, domination, this victory for God's people, and then four, an inevitable delight, What happens when the enemies of God are removed and subdued? Verse 17, on the 13th day of the month Adar, and on the 14th day of the same rested day, and made it a day of feasting and gladness. This is a happy day. This is a happy day. Now to get to that point, we must not forget there was a lot of struggle and fighting and difficulty to get there. Verse 15, for the Jews that were in Shushan gathered themselves together in the 14th day as of the month Adar, and slew 300 men at Shushan, but on the prey they laid not their hand. You might think, well we know they're going to be victorious. What do we have to do? That's fine. Don't have to do anything. Don't. No. There are means by which God's people are victorious. They have weapons. There's a struggle. There's a difficulty. They fought with weapons. Verse 16, but the other Jews that were in the king's province gathered themselves together and stood for their lives. Knowing we know how this all ends, we're going to be victorious in Jesus Christ by faith alone, through grace alone, in Christ alone, and it's not of works lest any man should boast, it doesn't mean we sit around and do nothing, does it? We labor for The glory of Christ. And we have weapons that we engage in until that final enemy is put under the feet of Christ. That is death itself. What are our weapons today? Well, our weapons today are far more powerful than the weapons they were using in those days. In that specific battle, 2 Corinthians 10. 2 Corinthians 10. And verses 3 to 5, 2 Corinthians 10, verses 3 to 5. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty. through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God. Right now, we're in the midst of the battle phase. Right now, we are in the ugly, the difficult, the challenging part, facing the world, the flesh, and the devil. Did you ever see those old documentaries and they're showing images from World War I? And you'll see them in the trenches. And at the beginning, You know, they were hoping the war would be over quickly, and then over time, the mud comes, and the diseases come, and it becomes harder. Imagine if they knew at the beginning of the war, no matter how long they fought, they knew they'd be victorious. Would that not encourage them? They didn't know that, of course, back then. But we do in Jesus Christ. And at the end of this battle, no matter how much unpleasantness we go through, there's unavoidable gladness and joy awaiting the Christian. See, sometimes in the middle of wars and battles, you have no idea how it's going to end. Ukraine and Russia, we don't know how that's going to end. There's other battles taking place around the world, but there are battles we do know how they will finish. And this victory that the people of God have over their enemies who seek their destruction is but a taste of the gladness, of the victory, of the celebration that we will all have one day when the Lord returns. And during those difficult times, you see what they did? They gathered. Verse 15, for the Jews that were in Shushan gathered themselves together. Verse 18, but the Jews that were in Shushan gathered together on the 13th day thereof. Friends, we struggle together. We rejoice. together. At all moments we are to do these things together as one body and we must seek together. Romans 12 and verse 15. Romans 12 and verse 15. Rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that weep. We need to do all these things together as a body. If you go out to fight a battle, and what happens in the battlefield, one person runs out. Where's everyone else? You're looking around you. Well, they've run off that direction. Another person's run off that direction. It's a bit discouraging. But if you run out together, facing it as one, they assembled together, they gathered together, they prayed together earlier on this book. So should we. We suffer together, we rejoice together, and we will do so in heaven. It's a foretaste of heaven. We're not gonna be all by ourselves in heaven, are we? So we shouldn't seek to be in this world either. There are many things we don't know about the future. We don't know what tomorrow brings. We don't know how much longer any of us are gonna be upon this earth. None of us are even guaranteed another day in this world. But we do know certain things. We do know inevitable victory, full and entire, which we've had the taste of in this world, is coming. the future. They had hope in the days of Esther. They had hope because of that more powerful decree of King Ahasuerus. They could look forward with optimism and hope that God would deliver them. Friends, God has provided all that is needed for our deliverance. for neither death nor life, for nothing else in this world can separate us from the love of God. May we look forward, friends, to that which is inevitable, that day of the Lord, which is to us, who are believers in Jesus Christ, light, and not darkness like it is to the people of this world. It is good news to us in Christ. It's bad news to the people outside of Christ. Amen.