Esther chapter number four. And in this text that we read earlier in our service, our title for this message is this, Facing Grief, Facing Grief. Grief, tragedy, loss, bereavement, are very much themes of everyday life for many people in a fallen world. We live in a fallen world where there's sin and much suffering and anguish. And it's also a great theme of this chapter that we're going to look at here this evening in Esther chapter number four. And why is it such a theme? this theme of grief and mourning that we see. Well, you have to look a little bit at Esther chapter number three to know why Mordecai responds in the way he does in verse number one. Why there is such a need for great mourning. God's people, as we've seen, are in a foreign land under pagan rulers, often hostile to the truth. And during this time, when they're in exile from their home, their homeland, a wicked man by the name of Haman rises to power in Esther chapter number three. He is ambitious and he does not like his authority and what he believes belongs unto him He does not like that being challenged in any way. Mordecai challenges him in chapter number three, and it says at the end of verse two, chapter number three, but Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence. And Haman was incensed, he was angry, he was very wrath, but the wrath did not just go against Mordecai. The wrath went against the people of whom Mordecai was part of, the Jewish people, that is, God's people. And what took place in chapter number three as well, we see slandering and we see a horrible plan. horrible plan that emerges to destroy all. Verse 13 of the previous chapter, and the letters were sent by posts unto 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, to take the spoil of them for a prey." So, imagine that. All of the people of God. This was the visible church on earth at that time. And if you heard of a plan, in the news in the morning, to wipe out every single believer in Jesus Christ, in one day, what would be your reaction? If it was just across England. And take that maybe all across Europe, the plan was. And it was going with authority. of the rulers of that day. A time of terrible, terrible news. What they feared most became a reality. I wonder, friends, have you ever had times in your life when what you feared the most has happened? And I bet some people will be saying, of course we have. The longer we live on this earth, the more we often suffer. The more pain and loss we experience, the more devastation. Those moments when we feel, when we hear the news, physically exhausted, weak, ill, almost paralyzed. And if you haven't faced it, most likely you will. What will you do in such a day? How will you face grief? Our first point that we're going to look at as we look at this chapter is number one. Our first point of three, the torment of grief. The torment of grief. Verse number one, when Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent His clothes were put on sathgoth with ashes and went out into the midst of the city and cried with a loud and a bitter cry. I can imagine when you hear of news for the first time there's a sense of shock and almost like a scream comes out from Mordecai. He is absolutely Devastated. Notice here, Mordecai is not, oh, that's not good. He's not like detached. He doesn't take it in a cold, academic way. He doesn't say, well, it'll be okay, it'll be fine. See, often we can think of our Christianity, our trust in Jesus Christ, that no matter what happens, Nothing affects us. We're completely the same all the time. That's not true, is it? It's not. And sometimes we can have a caricature of what it means to be a Christian. Straight-laced and nothing bothers us at all. Almost like we have no emotions. Well, how did Jesus himself react? to death. If we turn to John 11. John 11 and verse 35. John chapter 11 and verse number 35 down to verse 38. Verse 35, Jesus wept. And this is speaking about when he hears that Lazarus is dead. Then said the Jews, behold, how he loved him. And some of them said, could not this man which opened the eyes of the blind have caused that even this man should not have died? Jesus therefore again groaning in himself, cometh to the grave. And it was a cave and stone lay upon it. Do you see how it's, this moves him. what would happen later on, he would say, Lazarus come forth. But even Jesus himself was not cold and detached and without feeling. Him who is the perfect example, perfect man, true God and true man, moved. You see, death remains a great enemy. Jesus Caird cares today. So even that death of Lazarus moves him in his human nature. the son of men. How did Mordecai react? Well, with sathcloth and ashes, it says in our text. What does that mean? Sathcloth was a kind of a very uncomfortable clothing, very rough, uncomfortable clothing. And ashes was kind of like a picture of ruin, desolation. It was also sometimes used kind of almost a picture of humility before God in the sense we are but of the dust of the earth. It was the outward expression of grief. It was the outward expression of mourning and debasement. And it wasn't just an outward expression of it and very much you could hear it with a loud and a bitter cry. We can only imagine the pain that caused Mordecai, who loved his people, felt when he heard that news. I guess what I'm pointing out here is this, you're not less of a Christian because you weep over many things that ought to cause us to weep in our day. In fact, I fear we do not weep enough in our prayers before Almighty God. Face and grief is not disconnected. It's not emotionally unavailable. I'd also like to point out as well, it's not losing control either. See, while we shouldn't bottle it up, We need to express it, you could say, but there are times wisdom dictates that we should, if we are maybe fathers around our children, our wives and other things in leadership roles, we don't always have the luxury of doing what we feel like. We need to keep it together. But at the same time, we're not to pretend, are we? We continue by God's Grace. If we turn to 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 7. 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 7. For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Yet When those moments come, when the phone rings and it's from the hospital, the doctor, the ambulance workers, when you hear that news, we are not robots. When you hear the loss of a loved one, you do need to grieve. Think of a pressure cooker. There needs to be the releasing of pressure on that pressure cooker. We do need to weep at times. But I think few of us have ever had the news that Mordecai has had here. It's that level. And that pain and anguish is not just felt by Mordecai, it's felt by all the Jews. Verse 3, 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 sathgothan ashes. And I think because we're so removed, so maybe that's from a couple of thousand years, we can forget the absolute, can you imagine going around and you see one group of a certain particular belief or whatever it is, their background, and they're all weeping and wailing. What a sight that would have been. Because this is devastating news. We'll remind ourselves of the news. The plot to destroy, with the King's authority, with the King's power, to destroy, to kill, not some, all Jews. Every single one. Young, old, women, children, everyone. Gone. That's the plan. That is the news. But Mordecai doesn't completely collapse, does he? He keeps going. See, we're all extremes. Perhaps we'll switch off and just try to forget whatever we've heard, or we completely give up. But if you see verse two here, Mordecai it says, and it came even before the king's gate, for none might enter into the king's gate clothed with saffloth. He moves toward the king's gate. And saffloth was not allowed within the courts. Kings didn't particularly like people being upset in their presence. It's no pretending here, but it's not giving up. He's proactive. He's not just making jolly, but he moves toward the king. Now, most earthly kings will, they'll see you crying. It's unsettling. They don't want to deal with it. In their courts, there will be fun. There will be things that make them happy. But there's one King you can mourn and weep before, and your tears will not be turned away if you come in the name of Jesus Christ. Psalm 34 and verse 18. Psalm 34 and verse number 18. It says this, the Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Psalm 51 and verse 17, Psalm 51. And verse number 17, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. So while earthly rulers, with all their merriment, with all their enjoyment, with all the things that they have, and they will, the Lord will not turn away you. who comes in humility, in your own sackcloth and ashes, before the King of kings and the Lord of lords, debased, saying, I am a sinner, but of the dust of the earth, nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling. He'll never turn you away if you come in the name of Christ. This brings us to our second point, the temptation of grief. The temptation of grief. So the torment of grief, the temptation of grief. So often when we deal with the unpleasantness of grief, and it is unpleasant, if you see a friend of yours, somebody you care about, they're upset, you want them to not be upset anymore, don't you? You want that outward saftoth and ashes to be removed. Verse 4 says this, and Esther's maids and her chamberlains came and told her. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved, and she sent Raymond, that's clothing, attire, to clothe Mordecai and to take away his saffloth from him. But he received it not. Esther loved Mordecai. We kind of do the same thing ourselves, don't we? We see somebody's upset and we want to cheer them up. But sometimes we don't necessarily deal with the source of the grief itself. Mordecai refuses to remove the robes of mourning because the issue is too serious. This is no light matter. Sometimes we can't make merry or crack jokes about serious matters. It's too serious and he must keep going in the sathoth and ashes. What's one of the best things we can do when we see somebody deeply, deeply upset, especially a dear believer? Doesn't mean that Esther's wrong or anything like that, but often what we can do is we don't listen first. We try to fix the problem first. What we often need to do is find out what the source of the problem is, don't we? And Esther does learn of the problem. says in verse 5, then called Esther for Hathak, 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. The information is passed on from the servants. Verse 7, it says this, and Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him and of the sum of money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the Jews to destroy them. The issue is seen. Esther then learns through them, verse 9, and Hathor came and told Esther the words of Mordecai. She learns what is the reason for this grief. Now, it depends what the issue is. I think in our generation, Everything upsets us, you know, the woke generation. And I think we need wisdom, don't we? And what is to be discussed and what shouldn't be discussed and all sorts of things. But when there's a serious matter, and this is a serious matter, we really do need to listen to people. We do need to hear what is going on with them. One of the things I feel many people miss in our modern day is just somebody there, not to come along and fix their problems in five minutes, but to come and to listen to them. And so often, the best thing you can do, people say, I don't know what to do for this person. Well, sit down and listen. Just listen. I don't know what to say, just keep listening. And that'll help people far more than you realize who are going through grief and loss. And it's not always pleasant. Sometimes we don't always wanna hear all the details, but to be there for people in their grief. It means a lot to people. Ecclesiastes chapter one and verse 18. Ecclesiastes chapter one and verse 18 says this. For in much wisdom is much grief. And he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow. You see what the temptation is this. The more I know, the more it's going to upset me. And we know it. And it's like, you learn of something, and it keeps you up at night, because you know it. All these things. But in much wisdom, there is much grief. And the more we're often going to suffer, and the more we serve people, but it's what we must do. The temptation in grief is to ignore it. The temptation in grief, the church matters especially. Oh, I have enough of my own problems to deal with. And we can become standoffish with people and all sorts of other things. Friends, we must keep reaching out to people and seeking to help them in a Christ-honoring way. In our day, But there's much isolation, there's much loneliness, in fact. There's, when people face bereavement, one of the things people can forget is a few weeks after their loved one has passed away, it could be a husband or a wife, and for the first time in their life, they are alone. I've never experienced that before. And they get a lot of support for those first two, maybe three weeks. But what ends up happening is from three weeks onwards and four weeks onwards, the shock wears off and maybe the support and people forget as time goes on and life moves on. But that's often when the worst pain is for people, widows and other people. So we need to think about people. were alone and suffering. And when we see, we may only see glimpses of the sathloth and ashes, that we do reach out and we do listen when there's an opportunity to listen, because that opportunity may not be there later on, a listening ear. So that brings us to our third and final point is this, the test of grief. The test of grief. So the torment of grief, the temptation of grief, and number three, the test of grief. There is a great test going on in this chapter, especially for Esther. And there's a test for us all when we face grief. How will we face it? Will we face it or will we run away from it? sorrow, and inner pain. Because pain, by its very nature, is unpleasant. We don't want to feel it, so we want to forget it. But we must face it. We must face it as Christians, faithfully walking toward our heavenly King. Come what may. None of us want to suffer, but we're willing. by grace alone, through faith alone, and Christ alone, to suffer for his great and mighty name. Tests will come. But there's a risk here pointed out here by Esther. Esther communicated with Mordecai from verse 10 down to verse 12. And again, Esther spake unto Hathak 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 cold, there is one law of his to put him to death." Now, Mordecai wants Esther. to petition the king on behalf of her people, and that comes with great personal risk to her life. If she does not have the golden scepter reached out to her, that great permission by the king of Hazoras, she will surely die. One law to put him to death, except such as whom the king shall put out the golden scepter that he may live. We still have scepters today. These are royal families will have the symbol. It was a symbol of power. You couldn't just go in to the court of a king without permission. So there's a risk. Now I say a risk because of course in the hands of God, There is no risk, is there? But humanly speaking, we know how this will all end, as in Christ will be victorious and you will come back. But between that and the other details of life, we don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow. We don't know how our life will end. She sees the danger and she says in verse 16, at the end of it, if I perish, I perish. She's willing to face the ultimate cost to do what is right. See Mordecai says to her, verse 13, that Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house more than all the Jews. Verse 14, for if thou altogether wholest 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. Don't think that you can escape, that you can hide away from what is happening. And that is the most tempting thing to do. That's the great test. When grief and sorrow and suffering and difficulty comes, do we hide away or do we do the unpleasant thing that we don't really want to do? Countless young men did what they didn't want to do during the First and Second World Wars. How many of them wanted to go over the top during the Battle of the Somme when bullets were flying? None of them. But they did it. They did their duty. Few survived. They were willing to do their duty for their country. And here is a great test for her. James 4 and verse 17. James 4 and verse number 17. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." And friends, that can be anything. If God has commanded us to do something, we say, We can think of all the physical risks, all the dangers, all of the reasons that we will put in our minds, the devil will put in our minds, and the world will put in our minds, all the excuses in the world not to do it, forgetting that God is in control of all the circumstances of life. We must obey him, no matter what it costs. If you look through the life of Abraham, he struggled greatly at the beginning of his life when he was Abraham. This is my sister Sarah. Why would he say such a thing? Why wouldn't he point out that this is my wife? He was afraid. He was afraid of the men, that they weren't believers, and what would happen to him. Later on, he faces great test as he's grown in Genesis chapter 22. Genesis chapter 22. And he's asked to do something incredibly difficult. Genesis chapter 22. And it came to pass after these things that God did tempt or try or test Abraham and said unto him, Abraham, And he said, behold, here I am. And he said, take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. You see a great change in him. There is no struggle with him. He trusts God. He has learned through experience to trust God. Then in verse 10. Verse 10 of Genesis 22, and Abram stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, here I am. And he said, lay not thine hand upon the land. But you see, he was willing to do it. He was willing to obey. He was willing to do whatever it took. See friends, in times of testing, in times of grief, and in times of difficulty, obeying God is rarely convenient in this world. If we have a Christianity of convenience, it will not be a Christianity of conviction. And I know a number of you have done difficult things and made difficult decisions in order to follow the Lord, even to travel and different things. But that is what we must do, to follow our King. It is rarely, rarely easy. And Esther faces the greatest challenge. She knows if she goes before the King, humanly speaking, it's almost certainly death for her. But she says, if I perish, I perish. Now, she doesn't go and think, you know what? I'm going to show him my beauty and that will win him over. She doesn't have any confidence in herself. What does she ask for? She asks for prayer. Verse 16, 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. Prayer. And not just prayer, with fasting. That's one thing we are, for the last, I don't know how long it's happened, but fasting is almost a forgotten, Completely forgotten doctrine. It's not even about necessarily depriving yourself of food or anything. Fasting is here when they're mourning. You're not exactly hungry when you're upset. And you remove all the things that would get in the way of prayer. It facilitates prayer. And when you're hungry and you're crying out to God, When you're weak, you pray with more urgency. Why? Because you have a greater sense of your own weakness, your own dependency. There are times of crisis when prayer and fasting is the right thing to do. I don't think fasting is something where you go, okay, on Wednesday at two o'clock, I'm not going to eat anything and I'll pray. Maybe, but it's usually in those times of crisis, and you'll see it throughout the scriptures. You'll see it throughout the scriptures. When difficulty comes, when crisis in a nation, when crisis, if you hear that a dear loved one is sick and in hospital, may not live throughout the night, fast and pray. This is a doctrine that is very important. But that we cry out to the Lord. You see, Esther's confidence was not in herself. Her confidence was in God. Friends, when you're going through difficulty and grief, do you ask for prayer? Or are you afraid to tell people what's going on in your life? We can present, everything's fine in my life. We need prayer, all of us. I need prayer, you need prayer. We all have various things. Some things are more of a sensitive nature than other things, and we need to be careful how we share them and other things like that, but we need the support of praying believers in Jesus Christ. She was going possibly to her death, she thought. And what does she need above all else? The prayers of the saints. And she needed heavenly power. She needed that power that would change the heart of the king. That's what she needed. That's what she needed. Friends, do you pray? Do you pray for people going through difficulty. Are you there for people when you listen? May that fuel your prayer for that person. May it lead you to the throne of grace. We all need heavenly help just as much as Esther, Mordecai, and the people of God needed at that time. So do we. Because there's two options in front of us. When we face grief, and I say when, not if, when, do we face it by faith? Or do we run away from it? This is not easy, but we need heavenly help in all these things so that we would not run in the midst of grief from our duties. that we were made steadfast, sure and unmovable in and through the power of God. All of these things are possible through the power of God. If we attempt them in our own strength, we will fall and we will fail. Amen.