“All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king, who has not been called, he has but one law: put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live.
(Esther 4:11)
So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that she found favor in his sight, and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand.
(Esther 5:2)
Not just anyone can have an audience with the King. There is a rule in force here, a strict law, and it is binding upon all its citizens, all the subjects of the King. It was that way in the days of King Ahasuerus, and it is that way and has always been that way with the King of Heaven. But where Queen Esther feared for her life in the 3 days preceding her appearance in the court of the King, we need not likewise fear. For those redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ, the golden scepter was held out at the cross and it was there that we passed from death into life.
Queen Esther approached the court of King Ahasuerus with much trembling. It would not be known until she caught the eye of the King, whether she would find favor in His sight or not. There was but one law governing her close approach, “put all to death, except for the one to whom King Ahasuerus holds out the golden scepter.” For Queen Esther, there was reason to fear until that moment the scepter moved. Not so with the King of Kings. Before the day of entrance into His court, He has sent forth His only begotten Son. And His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus, has declared to all men, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:9).
Thus, those who tremble at the thought of appearing before God may find assurance in this life. Jesus came into this world not to condemn the world (although we are all worthy of God’s condemnation), Jesus came into this world that the world might be saved by His atoning death on behalf of sinners. Those who are fearful, knowing they are sinners, can find relief, they can find the golden scepter lowered at the cross of Calvary, through faith in Jesus’ name.
But the scepter is not lowered for everyone. Jesus came into this world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). He did not call the righteous to repentance, only sinners. The scepter is not lowered for the self-righteous or the impenitent. The scepter is not lowered for those who seek another way, there is no other way, no other door. It is written, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Jesus is the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6).
For you and for me, the matter of our entrance into the presence of the King of heaven can be and must be settled on this side of death. If the matter remains unsettled, we will find ourselves before the judgement seat of God clothed in the filthy rags of our paltry good works, and those works will be covered by the stench of our sin. The scepter will never be lowered for such a one as this and you and I will pass into eternal damnation (eternal death).
But through repentance and faith in God’s dear Son, we can, even now, while we are yet living, enter into the presence and fellowship of God. Even now we may have an audience with the King. We may enter into His courts with joy and not fear. Nothing bars the way to the Almighty’s throne room for those who trust in Jesus and are saved by His shed blood. They may “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and come into His courts with praise!” just as the Psalmist of Israel did.
While the scepter blocks the proud, the disobedient and the impenitent, it says to the blood-bought children of God, come, enter in, enter even now!
Dennis Gettman