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Raised Up For a Time
Such As This – Aug 31, 2008 – Esther 4:14
Intro: I love the
story of Esther. It is a story of
intrigue, plots, and twists. It is full
of defeats and triumphs. It shows how
the Jewish people are just a moment away from destruction yet God uses His
strategically placed people to save the day.
Esther is the beautiful and wise queen.
Xerxes is the foolish king is almost destroys his own love.
Haman is the sinister minister who because of wounded pride
destroys the people of God. Mordecai is
the courageous patriot who refuses to bow in the presence of evil. All the players in this story play their part
well. There are three lessons we will
learn from this book today.
1. True
prayer and trust will work things out for those trust in God. Our story begins
With the king
throwing a great feast and holiday. At
the height of the festival the
Drunken King
wishes to display his beautiful Vashti.
He summons her but she refuses
To come because I
believe she would not dishonour herself or the role as queen. This
Decision however came
with a price. Her refusal cost her
crown. At he advice of his
Counsellors the
King removed her as queen. For they saw
it as a public insult to the
Throne and to men
in general.
a. After a period of
time the King regretted his decision so a decree we made that all
Beautiful maidens
of the kingdom were brought to the
Queen. This is where we are introduce to Hadassah
adopted daughter of Mordecai the
Jew.
She is taken but before she goes her uncle tells her not to reveal her
nationality.
Hadassah’s
Persian same was Esther which means Star.
After a four year period
Esther was
chosen Queen.
b. This along with
Mordecai revealing a death plot against the King would position these
Two people strategic place for events in the
future. You see five years later Xerxes
Would promote a
man named Haman the Agagite as senior minister.
This promotion
Brought great
prestige and all were commanded to bow to him and when Mordecai
For religious
reasons refused Haman sought now just his death but all the Jews. At his
Request a decree
was made that on a certain day all the Jews would be destroyed.
c. This caused all
the Jews in
Sackcloth and
ashes. How many know this morning that
the Jews were in trouble?
Though the name
of God is not mentioned in this book we see His hand everywhere.
d. From this book we
the love of God for his people. How He
orders the steps of His
People and places
them in strategic positions to thwart the plans of evil men. When
Esther heard of
Mordecai’s condition she told him her position.
Talk about this Him
Responded by reminding
her in 4:13-14
1. Don’t
think that because of where you are you can escape. That is the thinking of
Many people. I am safe so it is not my problem or this is
to big, hard or too much
Trouble.
2. If
you remain silent help or relief will come from some other source. God will use
Others but you
will miss the opportunity, the blessing and choice of destiny. That
Happens so
often. Talk about Maury Blair’s mom
about Doug.
3. You
and your Father’s family will perish. This was a reminder that when we fail
To rise up to the challenge before us there
are consequences. There is no such thing
As a decision
without consequences. Even the smallest
ones. Talk about the Jungle
Mouth commercials
or the dial soap commercials. Talk about
Korah and Dathan.
4. You
have been raised up for a time such as this. Mordecai reminded Esther that
She had been
raised up to this royal position.
Strategic placed just for a time like this.
2. This leads into
the second point of this message. We
must be willing to risk all for
The sake of the people of
God. Esther decided that she
would go see the king and
If she perished
she perished. Esther in this way was
courageous, she saw her duty,
Responsibility
and she then made a decision to follow through.
Esther learned that
Day that courage
is not the absence of fear but the conquest of it.
a. The gospel has
only been advance by those who are willing to lose their life for it.
Everyone of the
apostles except John was martyred. Jesus
stated that only if we are
Willing to leave
all to follow him are we worthy of the gospel.
Talk about Matthew.
b. Willing to risk
all is the only way you will find out the depth of your love for Christ.
Talk about my
experience at SAIT. The Bible is full of
examples of men and women
Who risked all
for God. Abraham, Moses, Daniel, the
three Hebrew children.
c. Esther asked the
people to fast for three days and then she went to see the King. He
Extended his
sceptre and she requested that Haman and he come to dinner. They did
He asked what her
request was and she asked for Haman and him to come again
Tomorrow and she
would reveal it. She was very smart, she
created curiosity,
Anticipation and
suspense.
d. Haman was happy
about all this favour from the Queen until he saw Mordecai. He
Then decided at
the counsel of his friends to build gallows, asked the king to hang
Mordecai. He then went to see the king.
3. This lead to our
last point. Evil men will always get their
reward in the end. As
Haman is coming
to see the King. Talk about the king’s
sleepless night, Mordecai’s
Reward and
Haman’s humiliation. Read Ch 6.
a. In Chapter 7,
Haman goes to dinner, his plot is exposed by Esther, Haman pleads for
His life but
throwing himself on the Queen’s couch and is hanged on his own gallows.
b. Mordecai ends up with Haman’s estate, a new decree is
made for the Jews to defend
Themselves and Mordecai is promoted.
c. We learn that evil
will be exposed and can never be disguised for long. E.C.
Mackenzie reminds
us this morning that business of the church is to get rid of evil
Not to supervise
it.
d. The Psalmist wrote
that evil men seem to prosper for a short time but in the end their
Fate is one of
destruction. Remember evil
deeds are like fire, it can be hidden for a
Short time but smoke
can’t.
e. I wish to remind
you that one of the responsibilities of the church is act as a restraining
And enlightening
force. Ben Franklin states that evil
prevails when good men refuse
To do
nothing.
