LivePrayerSermon 1777. Esther's Exaltation-or, Who Knows?
(No. 1777)
A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, APRIL 27, 1884,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"Then Mordecai told them to answer Esther, "Do not thinkin your heart that you will escape in the king's palace, more thanall the Jews. For if you altogether hold your peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to theJews from another place, but you and your father's house shall be destroyed: and who knows whether you are come to the kingdomfor such a time as this?" Esther 4:13,14.
THE appeal of Mordecai in his pressing time of distress was to one single person, namely, to Esther. I believe that I shalldo better this morning by making my sermon an address to individuals than by speaking of nations or Churches. I assuredlybelieve that England has been raised up as a nation and brought to her present unique position that she may be the means ofspreading the Gospel throughout all the nations of the earth. I judge that God has blessed the two great nations of the Anglo-Saxonrace-England and the United States-and given them pre-eminence in commerce and in liberty on purpose, that in such a timeas this they may spread abroad the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Woe to these nations if theyfail to fulfill their solemn obligations! If, being raised up for a purpose, they refuse to perform it, they shall melt away.If, being armed and carrying bows, they turn back in the day of battle, both empires will perish as surely as did the powerof Macedon and the dominion of Rome. We ought to be very careful as a people to act upon the rule of righteousness and theprinciples of peace, for any other conduct is inconsistent with our high calling. We are entrusted with great opportunities-ifwe do not rightly use them, the New Zealander of Macaulay may yet survey the ruins of this empire city.
"You and your father's house shall be destroyed," said Mordecai to Esther, and he says the same to us! Oh, that England mayknow the day of her visitation! We might properly say of any Christian Church that it has its own appointed place in the purposesof Divine Mercy. If the candle is lit, even though it is set upon a golden candlestick, it is not lit for itself, but thatit may give light to all that are in the house. If any Church fails to bless others and so proves unfaithful to her solemntrust, the Lord will take away the candlestick out of its place and leave the unfaithful to mourn in darkness. Remember theLord's warning voice, "Go you, now, unto My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My name at the first, and see what I didto it for the wickedness of My people Israel."
Remember, also, unfaithful Jerusalem, whose house is left unto her desolate because she obeyed not the voice of the Lord.The Church in Rome was once a Church of high commanding influence for good-you know what it has become. Some other churchesare on the way, I fear, to the same dreadful end. God grant that none of the Churches with which we are connected as Christianpeople may ever either apostatize from the faith, or grow lax and worldly, or become indifferent to the Glory of God and thesalvation of men! I might thus speak to each Church and say, "Who knows whether you are come to the kingdom for such a timeas this?" My Brothers and Sisters, it is a wonderfully easy thing to denounce the faults of a government or of a nation-tocomplain of this being done, and of that being left undone-and this amusement may only serve to divert our conscience fromits more profitable duties at home.
But consider the matter and remember that in a free state we, each one, are part and parcel of the nation-and of the government-andwe are, each one, personally responsible, in our measure and degree, for all the acts of the nation. It is an easy matterto tie up our country to the halberdiers, like a criminal, and then to scourge it without mercy, but it would be a far moreprofitable business to use the whip of criticism upon ourselves! The same is true with regard to a Church. Men are too aptto condemn, in the mass, what they tolerate in themselves as individuals. But why are we so ready to accuse the Churches?Why are we so censorious as to what the Churches do and what the Churches are? Who
make up the Churches? Why, we, each one, by our influence, help to make the Churches good, or bad, or indifferent, as thecase may be!
Therefore, I will not waste time in generalities, but I will come to personalities. I will follow Mordecai's tack and speakonly to Esther-that is to say, to each one who may happen to be here to whom God has entrusted opportunity, talent and position.I would urge them to remember that there is a something for each Believer to do, a work which he cannot delegate to another.A task which it is his privilege to be permitted to undertake-which it will be to his solemn disgrace and detriment if hedoes not execute-but which will be to his eternal glory under God if he is found faithful in it. The Gospel assures us thatthe great Householder has committed talents "to every man according to his several ability." Our hope of success, this morning,in our sermon, shall lie in your individualizing yourselves and hearing the voice of the Spirit of God saying to each one,"Who knows whether you are come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"
I shall lay out my sermon in four parcels, arranging it under four words.
I. The first word is LISTEN! LISTEN to my words, as Mordecai desired Esther to listen to him. Listen while God, the Lord,speaks to your heart and calls you to your high vocation. Listen, first, to a question. Brother, will you separate your interestsfrom those of your people and your God? I do not think that Mordecai was afraid that Esther would do so, but still, it issometimes well to prevent an evil before we perceive it, and he did so by saying, "Do not think that you will escape in theking's palace." It was possible, that being a queen, it might enter into her mind that she would be safe even if all the restof the Jews were put to death. It would be a painful thing that her countrymen should be destroyed, but the stroke might nottouch her in the seclusion of the palace where she had, "not yet showed her kindred nor her people."
She would still remain the favored wife of the great king and she might, therefore, selfishly look to herself and leave thosewho were in peril to look to themselves or to their God, while she coldly hoped that the Lord would somehow or other givethem deliverance. Does that temptation come across the path of any one of us? It may. You may say, "I shall be saved thoughthe city should perish in its iniquity. Though the people are steeped in poverty and ignorance, I shall enjoy plenty and livein the Light of God. I know the Lord, myself, and that is my main concern. If the heathen perish, I am not one of them, andI am thankful that it will not interfere with my destiny." Will you argue in this selfish manner? Will you follow the wickedpolicy of separating your own personal interests from those of your Redeemer and His Church? If so, your ship is wrecked beforeit leaves the harbor!
You are no child of God if this principle holds the mastery over you! Your salvation lies not in your separation from Christand His Church, but in your union with them! Over the sea of life, there is no passing in safety but in the vessel which carriesyour Lord and His disciples. Are you going to sail in a separate boat, or will you try to swim across the sea in your ownstrength? Then look to yourself-and expect disaster! If your interests and Christ's are to be separated, you must supply yourselfwith atonement, with righteousness, with spiritual life and with heavenly food! Yes, you must make a Heaven for yourself.You cannot do this and, therefore, it would be your ruin to attempt to stand alone. Do you wish to be joined with Jesus soas to be rescued from Hell? I tell you, Sirs, there is no receiving Christ unless you receive His doctrine and rule! You mustreceive this Grace, also, namely, that you give yourself to Him to make His interests your interests, His life your life,His Kingdom your kingdom, His Glory your glory!
Your personal welfare will be found in submergence into Christ. Sink or swim with your Lord and His cause! Do you mean toseparate yourself from the Church of God and say, "I shall look to my own salvation, but I cannot be supposed to take an interestin saving others"? In such a spirit as that, I do not say you will be lost, but I say you are already lost! It is as necessarythat you be saved from selfishness as from any other vice! Some of our worst fetters are those which are forged by selfishness-andthis is one of the chief bonds which our Redeemer must burst for us. We must live unto God and love others as God has lovedus, or else we are still in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity. I conceive that nobody who professes to bea Christian would deliberately wish to set up a private estate apart from Christ and His cause. Then if you are partners inname, be partners in fact!
If you have fellowship with Christ-remember that it is of the essence of fellowship that you are in co-partnership with Him-ifHe is a loser, you are a loser and you are to fret about it. And if He is a gainer, you are a gainer and you are to joy therein!He bids you rejoice with Him that He has found His sheep that was lost! I ask again-Are you determined to set up a separateinterest from Christ? If you are, say so deliberately and count the cost. Mark that man, for though he may, in his selfishness,spread himself abroad and flourish like a green bay tree, yet the day shall come when he
shall wither and the place that knows him shall know him no more, forever! O professed servant of God, minister, deacon, orprivate church member, you shall perish if once you begin to live unto yourself! Remember those Words of God, you carelesswomen, "She that lives in pleasure is dead while she lives." And listen, you selfish religionists, to this Truth of God-"Ifyou live after the flesh, you shall die."
Listen to a second question. If you could separate your interests from those of the cause of God, would you thereby securethem? You are a Church member. You think, also, that you are a living member of the body of Christ-but you are tempted tolook to yourself and to leave others to their shifts. Listen-"Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king'spalace, more than all the Jews?" Is it so, that because you are, yourself, a member of a flourishing Church and because youenjoy all sorts of Christian privileges you, therefore, harden your heart concerning dying Churches and desponding saints?Do you imagine that the body can be sick and yet you, as a member of it, will not suffer? I tell you, if the Church of Godgoes aside, it will be to your injury! If the Truth of God is not preached, you will be a loser! If Christian life is notvigorous, you will be weakened! When a baneful atmosphere is over other Christians, you will breathe it! Sinners cannot beleft in their spiritual death without creating a foulness in the air which is to the peril of us all.
If this great city is left to seethe and rot in its infidelity and misery and filthiness, fancy not that you Christian peoplewill escape! You dwell with these outcasts and you are already feeling their influence-and will feel it still more if theydo not feel yours. How far and how deep that participation will go, I will not venture to prophesy, for I am no Prophet, neitherthe son of a Prophet-but there are elements now fermenting which threaten, first, the existence of the commonwealth and next,the liberties of Christian worship! Listen good, my Brothers and Sisters-things cannot long remain as they are. This greatflood of wretchedness must be stopped or it will sweep us all away!
I know not what of evil may yet come of the negligence of the Christian Church towards the population with which it is surrounded.Those wretched beings who starve in overcrowded rooms will not die unavenged if nothing more comes of it than the sin whichis begotten of need. If you live in a house well-ventilated and well-drained, and you have near you foul hovels-filthy, dilapidated,overcrowded-when the fever breeds there, it will not respect your garden wall-it will come up into your windows, strike downyour children, or lay you, yourself, in the grave! As such mischief to health cannot be confined to the locality in whichit was born, so is it with spiritual and moral disease-it must and will spread on all sides!
This may be a selfish argument, but as we are battling with selfishness, we may fitly take Goliath's sword with which to cutoff his head! You Christian people suffer if the Church suffers! You suffer even if the world suffers. If you are not creatinga holy warmth, the chill of sin is freezing you! Unconsciously, the death which is all around will creep over you who areidle in the Church-and it will soon paralyze all your energies unless, in the name of God, you awaken yourselves to give battleto it! You must unite with the Lord and His people in winning the victory over sin, or sin will win the victory over you!Listen to this and let it sink into your mind.
Next, remember, for your humiliation, that God can do without you! Enlargement and deliverance will arise to His people fromanother place if it comes not by us. If the Lord were tied up to any one man, or any one Church, or any one nation, it weretreasonable for that person, Church, or nation to be negligent! But as the Lord waits not for man, neither tarries for thesons of men, it becomes them to mind what they are doing. He can do without us! When He looked and there was no man, His ownarm brought salvation! And as it was of old, so will it be again. Remember that! The great Owner of the vineyard will havefruit at the end of the year and if yonder tree does not bear it, He will cut it down-why let it cumber the ground? If thefarmers consult their own gain and plot to gain the inheritance for themselves, their Lord will destroy them, "and will letout His vineyard unto other farmers which shall render Him the fruits in their seasons." He will effect His purpose! He willfetch home His banished. He will gather together His scattered sheep. He will cause the earth to be full of the knowledgeof the Lord as the waters cover the sea-and if we do not gather in the wanderers, or spread the knowledge of His Grace-thework will be done by more faithful men.
The Spirit says unto the Church in Philadelphia, "Hold fast that which you have, that no man take your crown." The crown ofthis Church has been soul-winning-suffer none to rob you of it! If any one of you has already gained the high honor of bringingsinners to Christ, do not lose it by a future life of sloth or powerlessness! Hold fast your zeal and perseverance, that youmay be rewarded at the last day. He can do without you-remember that, O servant of the Lord! We are apt to think ourselveswonderfully important and begin to fret if we are put aside from our work for a little
while, but perhaps this affliction is necessary to teach us-and to teach all that know us-to cease from man and to look toGod alone! It would be a sad thing to exhibit pride and self-conceit and provoke the Lord to show the world how readily Hecan dispense with our labors. With this Truth of God in view, my heart cries-
"Dismiss me not from Your service, Lord, But train me for Your will."
Here follows a still more sobering reflection. Remember, that as God can do without us, it may be He will do without us. Itmight come to pass that God will say, "I will no more bless the world by this England. She has become selfishly mercantile.She cares more for commerce than for righteousness-she is drunken and infidel-I will give her up. Her merchants care nothingfor the poor, whose labor is ill-requited. Let her pass away as all oppressors must and let the nations say-'Alas, alas, thatgreat city, that mighty city! For in one hour so great riches is come to nothing.'" He may say to any Church, "Repent! Orelse I will come unto you quickly and will fight against you with the sword of My mouth." "Ichabod" has been written beforeand may be, again, on places where once there shone upon the forefront the inscrip-tion-"Holiness unto the Lord." So, also,any man may be set aside, even as the Lord put away Saul and said to him, "You have rejected the Word of the Lord, and theLord has rejected you from being king over Israel." Though, like Samson, a hero may have slain his thousands and the hopesof Israel hang upon the hero-yet shorn and blinded, he may yet grind with slaves at the mill if his lusts enslave him!
The Lord may decline to use us if we are not prepared, in such a time as this, to do our very utmost and to lay ourselvesout for the cause of His Truth and Holiness. It may please the Lord to say of a wicked and slothful servant, "Take away histalent from him and give it to him that has ten talents." He may say to any pastor among us, "Let his habitation be desolateand his bishopric let another take." Listen, I pray you, to this warning from the Lord! Hear, O Heaven, and give ear, O earth,for the Lord will judge His people, and to whom much is given, of him shall much be required.
Listen to yet one thing more. How will you bear the disgrace if ever it comes upon you, of having allowed your golden opportunitiesto be wasted? What if Israel had been destroyed for lack of Esther's intercession? Her name would have been a byword amongother nations as a base and traitorous woman! If the people had been spared by some other means because she had refused hermission-as long as there lived a Jew, they would have kept no feast of Purim-but have cursed her memory! When I think of theneglects of our own ancestors, I am anxious that we take warning by them. There are, at this moment, valleys in the Highlandswhich are thoroughly Romish. Why? They were not carefully evangelized at the time of the Reformation! If the workers of thatperiod had done their work thoroughly, there would have been no Romish valleys in Presbyterian Scotland!
Ireland still cowers under the shadow of the Pope! There was a hopeful time when better things were promised, but this wasallowed to pass by-and what can be done to rescue Ireland now? Times do not tarry and tides do not wait- and if we do notavail ourselves of them while they are with us, our descendants may lament our neglects! I fear that the best among us canremember with regret times which we have suffered to pass over us unimproved. We can never call them back again! You did nottrain your children-they are men and women, now, and will not listen to you. Oh, parents, why did you not speak to them whenthey would have listened? But what if a whole life should glide away in living for yourselves, in living for your own comfortand enriching? What if you have done nothing, in all these years, for the cause of the Lord Jesus and the coming of His Kingdom?
What disgrace awaits the unfaithful servant! What dishonor awaits you! If you have been clouds without rain, wells withoutwater, smoking lamps giving no light, fields that yield no harvest, what must be your portion? Let every Esther resolve thatshe will never bring this ban upon her name! Let every man, woman and even child among us, knowing the Lord, feel that thevows of the Lord are upon us and that by imperative necessity we must serve according to our capacity the cause of God andHis Truth! If we should perish through our zeal for the Lord of Hosts, it will be grand, thus, to lose our lives! Thus muchfor the word, "Listen." May the Spirit of God sanctify your hearts by His Word.
II. I change a little and the call is now, "CONSIDER." Consider to what some of you have been advanced. You have been raisedto salvation! You have been lifted from the dunghill and set among princes! I have uttered the word, "salvation," and whatan infinity of goodness lies hidden there! In the music of that word, all sweetnesses meet together! What are the obligationsof one elected according to the foreknowledge of God, redeemed by the heart's blood of Christ and
quickened by the Holy Spirit? What manner of persons ought we to be? You have been raised to that honor, walk worthy
of it!
Besides that, some of you have been raised to a considerable degree of Christian knowledge. You are not mere babes in Grace-youare well instructed and you have had a blessed experience both of trouble and of joy which has made you strong in the Lord-andhas confirmed you in the faith and has admitted you into the inner circle where the joy of the Lord is best known. If I hadsaid that you had been elevated to be queens, like Esther, it would have been a poor elevation compared with that which youhave actually received! Some of you who are the favorites of Heaven have leaned your head on Christ's bosom and have beenpermitted to sit where angels would wish to be! You are near and dear to Jesus and espoused to Him in love. In addition toall this, the Lord has raised some of you out of poverty and brought you to comparative wealth, perhaps to positive wealth-andHe has given you positions which once you never dreamed of. To this He adds domestic comfort, health and prosperity in allits forms. The Lord has also given you talent. I fear we have, all of us, more ability than we use-but some have more talentthan they, themselves, are aware of-and this, perhaps, they display in business, but never in the cause of God!
Thus you are brought to the Kingdom of God, but why is it so? I want you to consider why the Lord has brought you where youare. Do you think that He has done it for your own sake? Does He intend all this merely that you may practice self-indulgence?Can this be the design of God? Do not think so! Has He done all this merely to give you pleasure? Not so! God's work is likea net of many meshes and these are all connected with each other. We are links of the same chain and cannot move without movingothers. We are members of one body and God acts towards us with that fact in view. He does not bless the hand for the hand'ssake, but for the sake of the whole body! Well then, dear Friend, you are saved that you may save! You are taught that youmay teach! You are confirmed in the faith that you may confirm others! Talents are allotted to you that you may turn themover and bring in heavenly usury for your Lord! Whatever you have is not yours to hoard for yourself, or to spend upon yourself,but that you may use it as a good steward of God! Who knows whether you are come to the kingdom which God has given you forsuch a time as this, when there is need of you and all that you have?
Consider, next, at what a time it is that you have been thus advanced. You have been instructed in the faith in a time whenunbelief is rampant. Why? You have been confirmed in full assurance at a time when many are weak and trembling. Why? You havebeen entrusted with talent in a time when multitudes are perishing for lack of knowledge. Why? You are found in the Churchwhen valued Brothers and Sisters are dying or moving off. Why is this? You have wealth when many are starving. Why is this?You hold a high position when many master spirits are leading men into infidelity, or ritualism, or communism. Why are youplaced where you are? Brother, your inevitable answer must be that God has put you where you are for some good purpose-whichpurpose must be connected with His own Glory-and with the extension of His Kingdom in the world. If, however, you think itenough to have secured a fortune, let me ask you-Do you think you are the proprietor of what you have amassed, or do you admitthat you are a steward? If you are a steward, use not the goods entrusted to you for your own ends, but for your Master's,for if you do not, you are a thief! Whenever a steward considers that the estate is his own property and not his master's,he is a thief and, before long, his master will deal with him and say, "Give an account of your stewardship; for you may beno longer steward."
Consider also, I pray you, under what very special circumstances you have come where you are. To you as an individual I distinctlyspeak, and to no one else. It was a very strange thing that Esther, who was the foster child of Mordecai, a humble Jew, shouldrise from lowly rank to be the queen of Persia! Out of all the women gathered from every province, how amazing that she shouldbe chosen to be queen! Special Providence selected the Jewish maiden for the throne! The same is true of each one of us nowoccupying a post of usefulness. David was taken from the sheepfolds-from following the ewes great with young-that he mightbe the shepherd of God's people, Israel. I am marveling to find myself where I now am-are not you? How came you into yourpresent pastorate, my dear Brother in the ministry? How did you gain that comfortable position which you now occupy in society?How came you, even, to be in the Church of God? Oh, if anybody had told yonder Brother, a few years ago, that he would behere, he would have sworn at them! But here he is, sitting at the feet of Jesus, charmed to be His disciple!
Now, consider what a wonder of Grace you are, what a singular favor it is that you are where you are! Should not these remarkabledealings of the Lord towards you bind you to the Divine service? Many a man of business here, today,
obtaining a satisfactory livelihood, has, a dozen times, been within an inch of bankruptcy and yet he has obtained help andpassed the rock in safety. Some of you have been well-near ruined several times-and yet you still have bread to eat and clothesto put on. It is a miracle in your eyes that you have not come to beggary! Let your special deliverances and memorable merciesbe as the tongue of persuasion, calling you to grateful service. Consider how great things the Lord has done for you and letus not have to say, "Many times did He deliver them, but they soon forget His works. They understood not His wonders in Egypt.They remembered not the multitude of His mercies."
Then I beg you to consider, once more, with what singular personal adaptations you are endowed for the work to which God hascalled you. I believe you are endowed with special capacity for a certain work, so that no one is so fit for it as yourself-youare a key to a lock which no other key will fit so well. God has prepared you for the work for which you are appointed. Isit not written-"Also unto you, O Lord, belongs mercy: for You to render every man according to his work"? Each laborer forthe Lord has his proper tools found for him. God does not, like Pharaoh, require us to make bricks without straw, nor to fightwithout weapons, nor to build without a trowel! The Lord provides lamps, oil and wedding garments for all who are called tothe Bridegroom's midnight banquet. You, my Brother, are equipped for such work as the Lord has appointed you-will you notat once get to your post?
You say, "If I could preach, I would do it gladly." You would not preach worthily unless you are, even now, prepared to doother service for which you are fitted. You would be a disgrace to the pulpit if you are useless in the home circle. If Godentrusts you with a single talent and you do not use it, neither would you use 10 talents, for he that is unfaithful in thatwhich is least, would be unfaithful in that which is greatest. "But," says one, "I can hardly get out to public worship! Iam a mother shut in at home with five or six little children." To you there is a little kingdom in your own household. Noone can bring up those little ones for the Lord as well as you can. Your influence over them is as strong as it is tender.Now, do not say, "Because I am not allowed to be a preaching woman, therefore I will not attend to the lowly care of my children."It is far better to train a little family for Jesus than to be attempting a work to which you are not called. Let each oneof you feel that he has come to his own little kingdom for such a time as this. You and your work fit each other-God has joinedyou together-let no man put you asunder.
Ask for more power from the Holy Spirit and if there happens to be a tool which the Lord intends for you which hangs a littlehigher than your present reach, get the ladder of earnest endeavor and you will soon attain to it! Consider how you can improveyourself. Give yourself to reading; study Scripture more and use all helps towards increased knowledge and efficiency. Ifa further qualification is within your reach, be eager for it, and even the reaching after it may be as great a blessing toyou as the talent itself!
III. Thirdly, ASPIRE. "Who knows whether you are come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Rise to the utmost possibleheight. Fulfill your calling to its loftiest degree. Not only do all that you are sure you can do, but aim at something which,as yet, is high up among the questions. Say to yourself, "Who knows?" That is what the ambitious man says when he aspiresto be great. When Louis Napoleon was shut up in the fortress of Ham and everybody ridiculed his foolish attempts upon France,yet he said to himself, "Who knows? I am the nephew of my uncle, and may yet sit upon the imperial throne." And he did beforemany years had passed. I have no desire to make any man ambitious after the poor thrones, honors and riches of this world,but I would gladly make you all ardently ambitious to honor God and bless men! Who knows? Does anybody know what God may doby you? Does anybody know what capacities slumber within your bosom? I suggest the enquiry and I will help you to an answer.
"Who knows whether you are come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Nobody knows to the contrary. I cannot tell but whatGod may bless you to this entire nation. Nobody will dare to say that He cannot! I cannot tell but what God may bless you,my Friend, to that part of London in which you live, even though you may be deeply conscious of its great needs and of yourown insufficiency. Who can tell what the Lord can or will do? Dear mother, who knows but what the Lord Jesus may bless youto all the members of your family, so that by your means all the little ones shall come to Him? Nobody has any right to speakto the contrary! Who knows but what God may bless you, dear teacher, to all your Sunday school class, so that you may meetthem all in Heaven? Nobody can declare that it shall not be so, therefore strive after it. The watchword is, "ASPIRE."
Further, nobody knows the limit of the possibilities that surround any man-should God please to use him. "Alas," cries one,"I am soon at the end of my powers." My dear Brother, if you begin calculating how much there is in you by
nature and how much you can do of yourself, you may as well end the enquiry by hearing our Lord's Words-"Without Me you cando nothing." Though you are no better than a mere cipher, yet the Lord can make something of you. Set one before a cipherand it is 10, directly. Let two or three nothings combine to serve the Lord and, if the Lord Jesus heads them, these nothingsbecome tens of thousands! Who knows what you can do? Shall the Church ever say, "Here is a problem we cannot solve?" Biteyour lip through rather than have it thought that you doubt the power of the Almighty! All things are possible to Him thatbelieves! You are able to take the land into possession, the Lord being your Helper. Go up against even these entrenched Canaanites,the walls of whose cities reach to Heaven, for you can drive them out!
You seem, in your own sight, to be as grasshoppers when compared with the sons of Anak. But the Lord on high is mighty andout of the weakest things He has ordained strength to His honor and glory! Young man, I trust you have given your heart tothe Lord-what are you going to do? You have come into some property unexpectedly, or you are promoted in a house of business-whatis the meaning of it? "Who knows whether you are come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" My talented Brother, shouldyou not take your share in battling with present evils? I believe that in dark times God is making lamps with which to removethe gloom. Martin Luther is sitting by his father's hearth in the forest when the Pope is selling his wicked indulgences-Martinwill soon come out and stop the crowing of the cock of the Romish Christ-denying Peter!
John Calvin is quietly studying when false doctrine is most rife and he will be heard of at Geneva! A young man is here thismorning-I do not know whereabouts he is, but I pray the Lord to make this to be an ordination sermon to him-starting him onhis life-work. I feel as if I were Samuel at Bethlehem, seeking for David, to anoint him with a horn of oil in the name ofthe Lord! Some beloved Brothers are here who have done a good deal and the Lord has blessed them, but their work is heavyand their hearts are weary. By the anointing which has given you the kingdom, I trust that you will not be weary in well-doing!Pluck up courage, for a grand future is before you! "Who knows whether you are come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"Be content to be a living sacrifice. Say with Esther, "If I perish, I perish. I am content to give myself up for such a cause.Come life, come death, I am all His! If I die in my Lord's work, I die content."
Further, "Who knows whether you are come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" You do not, yourself, know. I speak experimentally,using myself as an instance in the work which God has enabled me to do. If it had been revealed to me that I should have enjoyedthe opportunities which have fallen to my lot, I would never have believed it. If the Lord can use me, He can also use you!Only stand in a waiting posture, saying, "Here am I, send me!" and you shall see things which you dare not expect! If thecurtain could be drawn and you could behold the future, you would exclaim, "Is Your servant born of angels that he shouldattempt such things as these?" I do not suppose Peter, James and John had any inkling of what the Lord was going to do bythem when they left their boats and nets at His call. John dreamed that one day he might sit on an earthly throne and, hisbrother, James, on another. Though this was not to be, yet they have obtained a nobler heritage!
To each of us there is a share in the purposes of Heaven and this is a large enough kingdom! Who knows, Brother or Sister,whether you are put in your family to save your family? Who knows whether you are made to live in a back street to bless thatstreet? Who knows whether you are set down in a forlorn district to raise up that district? Who knows whether you are putinto that nation to save that nation? Yes, put into the world, in Christ's name, to save the world? Aspire to great thingsfor God!
IV. Our fourth word is-CONFIDENCE. "Who knows whether you are come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" If you are cometo the kingdom for such a time as this, be confident that you are safe. If God has brought Esther to the throne that she maygo in unto the king and save her people-go in, good Esther! Fear not the risk. Fast and pray your three days before you go,but be not dismayed! If the womanhood in you trembles in the prospect of a possible death, let confidence in God overrideyour fears! Ahasuerus cannot kill you! You cannot die! He can refuse his golden scepter to all the princes of the empire,but not to you-for God has placed you where you are and ordained you for His purpose! Rest assured if He had meant to destroyyou, He would not have shown you such things as these. Fall back on His past mercy and be confident!
What is more, if God has a purpose to serve by a man, that man will live out his day and accomplish the Divine design. Themore resistance he experiences, the more surely will his life-work be achieved. If all the devils in Hell rose up at onceagainst a true, devoted servant of God who has a work to do-in the name of the Lord he would drive them away as
smoke before the wind! David said, "They compass me about like bees, yes, they compass me about; but in the name of the Lordwill I destroy them." It is a bad day for anybody when he opposes himself to the manifest destiny of one of the Lord's commissionedones! I fall back often on the grand Truth of God of Predestination-it is no sleepy doctrine to me! If God's decree so runs,there is no altering, it! And if He has purposed it, there is no defeating it! Heaven and earth shall sooner fail than theeternal purpose!
Each chosen servant of God is like the Word which called him-as the Word of the Lord does not return unto Him void, but prospersin the thing of which He has sent it, even so shall it be with every servant of the Most High! A holy confidence in the Divinepurpose, instead of making men grow stolid and idle, may prove to be one of the mightiest impulses to the heroic life. Cromwell'sIronsides, to a man, believed in the everlasting purpose, therefore they were invincible, for no fear ever breathed upon them!Though the hosts of the tyrant may be innumerable, yet with the war cry, "The Lord of Hosts is with us," we will ride forthconquering and to conquer! Settle it in your mind that the Lord has called you to the work and then advance without questionor fear. Put your hand to the plow and pause not. Do the work with all your might.
Do not stand asking how-do it as if you can! Do not stand asking when-do it now! Do not say, "But I am weak"-the Lord is strong!Do not say, "But I must devise methods." Do not concoct schemes or tarry to perfect your methods-fling yourself upon the workwith all your might! Load your cannon with rough bits of rock or stones from the road if nothing better comes to hand. Ramthem in with plenty of powder and apply the fire. When you have nothing else to hurl at the foe, place yourself in the gun!Believe me, no shot will be more effectual than the hurling of your whole being into the conflict.
There was a man who strove, in the House of Commons, for what he thought would be a great blessing to seamen, but he couldnot prevail. At last he broke through all the rules of the House and acted like a fanatic-and when everybody saw that theman was so in earnest that he was ready to faint and die, they said, "We must do something"-and it was done! An enthusiasmwhich overpowers yourself is likely to overpower others. Do not fail from lack of fervor! Never mind if men think you arecrazy. When you are overwhelmed, yourself, the flood of zeal will bear all opposition before it. When you become so fanaticallyinsane as to be absorbed by a passion for the Glory of God, the salvation of men, the spread of the Truth and the reclaimingof the fallen masses-there shall be about you the truest sanity and the mightiest force!
May you feel such a passion concerning missions! May you feel that the Gospel must be preached to all nations! May you feelthat impulse, at this moment, while we worship God by giving our contributions to His cause.