Esther 4:14 For if you altogether hold your peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place… Reflect — I. THAT THE MAN WHO USED THESE WORDS WAS EVIDENTLY WELL AWARE THAT THE CAUSE OF GOD WAS NOT DEPENDENT ON THE AIDS OF MEN. This is evident if we consider — 1. The meanness of the instruments and the greatness of the work to be done. 2. How absolute are the promises of God, which show His determination to bless His people. 3. The power of God. These considerations ought to teach the instruments to be humble, and they ought also to confirm the faith of the people of God. II. THAT HIS PROVIDENCE DOES RAISE UP SUITABLE INSTRUMENTS TO CARRY FORWARD HIS WORK. III. THAT IT IS THE DUTY OF THOSE INSTRUMENTS TO GIVE THEMSELVES UP TO THE WORK. We are not only to study the book of God to know what is our duty in general, but also the book of providence to know what is the particular duty He designs us to do. We ought to study — 1. Our particular talent. 2. Our sphere. 3. Our circumstances. 4. The times. IV. THAT AN AWFUL DOOM RESTS ON THOSE WHO LISTEN NOT TO THE CALL OF PROVIDENCE. 1. We shall lose the satisfaction of doing good. 2. We shall not prosper. (1) Temporally. (2) Spiritually.Those who are not actively employed in the service of Christ feel most of the bitterness arising from doubts as to their actual condition and fears as to their spiritual state. Listlessness in the cause of Christ will be a cause of gloom on a dying bed. 3. There is an intimate connection between the degrees of glory in heaven and the exercises of activity here. (W. H. Cooper.) Parallel Verses KJV: For if thou altogether holdest 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: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? |
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