Esther For such a time as this 4 2002 5 2006
For such a time as this
Esther 4:14-14
Proverbs 29:18 notes, "Where there is no vision, the people perish."
A vision is merely a mental picture, or word of what GOD WANTS TO SEE ACCOMPLISHED IN A GIVEN CHURCH OR GROUP.
I believe God wants people who: See the invisible; Hear the inaudible; Believe the incredible; Think the unthinkable; Will do the impossible; Will step out of the boat; Will Wade into the water;
Will Gird up their loins; Will go forth into battle;
God has called the church to such a time as this.
In churches you’ll find that: The majority sees the obstacles; the few see the objectives;
Vision is simply seeing the invisible, hearing the inaudible, believing the unbelievable and thinking the unthinkable.
Well, why do we need a vision?
"He who aims at nothing will hit their mark every time."
A few examples:
LOOK AT ABRAHAM.
He saw a city whose builder and maker was God. Therefore, he set off from his home in faith and obedience. He traveled to a land not knowing where he was going.
He went because he had a vision.
LOOK AT MOSES.
He left the ease of Egypt choosing to suffer afflictions with the children of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, and came back 40 years later to lead a rag-tag army through 40 years of wilderness wandering.
I want to tell you, you better have a vision and a Word from God if you’re leading 2 million people thru a Hot barren desert, and they’re: Grumbling; Complaining; Stiff Necked; Murmuring; You better have a vision.
LOOK AT THE APOSTLE PAUL
as he does a 180-degree turn and begins to preach the very Gospel that he once hated. A WORD - A VISION from God, directed these men.
Proverbs 29:18 notes, "Where there is no vision, the people perish."
This is a house of prayer.
This is a place of ministry.
This is a temple of worship.
This is a hospital.
The children of Israel could have gone from Egypt to the Promised Land in just 11 days -- 11 days! Nonetheless it eventually took them the sum total of 40 years!
Why? It took them that long to: Get Egypt out of them!!!
To Learn to truly trust God; To learn the lessons God had for them to learn; To have the necessary faith to go in and possess the land that God had promised to them 40 years earlier;
>>>>>>>>>>One of the most fascinating books in the Old Testament, if not in the whole Bible, is the book of Esther
…. It is the story of a beautiful queen, a deceived king, a deceitful noble and a very wise Hebrew brother. To condense the story, the nobleman wanted to kill all of the Jews.
He had his plan in place and the means with which to carry it out. Hope for deliverance was about gone when the wise Hebrew brother called on the beautiful queen, who was also a Jew, to intervene. Knowing that to interfere with the king’s business could possibly not only cost her, her royal position, but also her life, Queen Esther balked. At that point literally the whole Jewish race was facing extermination.
For you see, if the evil Haman’s plans were to succeed, God’s plan of salvation would have been thwarted for Jesus had to come as a Jew. In short, Satan was trying to stop Jesus before He was even born.
Mordecai, the Hebrew brother that I have been speaking about, then tells the queen, in Esther 4:14, "Who knows but whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"
In response to his words, Esther moved forth in courage and faith and the Jewish race were saved.
He has set us in: His Kingdom; in this world; in this community; in this church "FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS."
**** God has set you here for such a time as this!
You are not here: By mere coincidence; by mere happenstance;
n Because you had nothing better to do;
n Because you just happened to move here;
n Because you just wandered into this church;
***** But you are here because: God put you here; God ordained you to be here; God has spoken it to be so;
You are a vital asset to this church;
You were searching, and God brought you here for such a time as this.
Read Acts 17:24-28
We were born: According to a time table established by God Himself; To be who we are; To be where we are; To be what we are; To be like Jesus; For such a time as this!
God knows what He’s doing. Listen to Jeremiah 1:4-5
Did God have a hand in the birth and times of the Prophet Jeremiah?
I think the Bible speaks for itself. The same God that knows the number of hairs on your head also knows the time of your birth and the time of your death.
You are not here: By mere happenstance; by some mistake;
But, you are here by divine appointment "FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS."
1. THIS IS THE TIME this is a defining moment in the history of the church,
According to some experts, the number one and number two needs today among the people of America are, "To be loved and to be forgiven
2. GOD HAS GIFTED THIS CHURCH. This church has the means to do so much for the Kingdom of God.
The Bible says in Luke 12:48, “…For everyone to whom much is given, from him much is required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.”
The Living Bible puts it this way, "Much is required from those to whom much is given, for their responsibility is greater."
In the face of tremendous needs, God is calling us to do more. ..And we’re just a small church." I hear you.
However, God is calling us NOW "For such a time as this."
Tell me Who is going to: Reach this generation for Jesus; Those who have gone before us -- regardless of how greatly they were used of God -- cannot reach today’s generation. They are dead, we are alive. The torch of the Gospel has now been passed on to us.
1 Corinthians 6:2 declares, "...I tell you, NOW is the time of God’s favor, NOW is the day of salvation." Did you hear it? NOW -- "For such a time as this."
When the future King David was running from King Saul, God sent hundreds of thousands of men to help him. But, perhaps the most important men in the entire army were the 200 men of Issachar. They were chosen for their insight and foresight -- their ability to look beyond the details of day-to-day life, discern the underlying issues, and chart an accurate course into the future.
That is the so-called Issachar factor -- the ability to understand the times and know what God wants us to do.
Let us be like these men of Issachar -- let us understand the times today.
Times: The Bible speaks of our times as being very evil; exceedingly evil! Satan is on a rampage. Evil men and seducers are going from bad to worse. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that things can’t continue on this downward slide forever. Eventually something has to give. The times are so!
Sin is now out of the closet and in your face!
Do you have unsaved loved ones?
Now is the time to try and reach them.
Do you want to see your neighbors come to Christ?
Do you have a burden for the unreached masses of humanity? Work to reach them now!
Listen to John 4:35-36, " Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.
He is calling us NOW, "For such a time as this!"
Romans 8:38-39, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Would you say as Ester said, "If I perish, I perish" Lord, I’ve come unto the kingdom for such a time as this. Amen
." I thought immediately of that story of a father whose son had gotten into trouble and had come and asked forgiveness. His father had forgiven him, but the boy seemed to act as though all he needed to do was ask forgiveness and he could forget the whole matter. He didn't seem to realize that there was a great deal of suffering caused by his foolishness. So his father took him into the garage where he drove a nail into the wall. He handed his son a hammer and said, "Now, son, pull out the nail." The boy took the hammer and pulled the nail out and his father said, "That's like forgiveness, isn't it? When you do something wrong it's possible to pull out the nail by asking forgiveness." Then, handing the hammer back to his son he said, "Now, son, pull out the nail hole!"
There are decisions which we make, the full consequences of which can never be avoided, because we are dealing with the law of inevitable consequence; Mordecai wept because of this.
Also, he wept out of sympathy for the king and the kingdom because of the sorrow they unwittingly brought upon themselves. Mordecai knew that the Jews were under special protection from God wherever they were. As a Jew he knew the history of his race. He knew that no nation laid its hand upon the Jew in anger or in punishment with impunity. This is the thing that Hitler forgot.---, as every nation has been destroyed that has ever touched the Jew in anger.
{Esther 4:12-17 }
These words of Mordecai are the best known words from the book of Esther. He said to her, "Look, though you may not act, deliverance for the Jews will arise from another quarter," that is, God has an infinite number of ways to accomplish his will.
You and I may fail in the program that he gives us to do, but that doesn't stop the accomplishment of God's will. He will raise up another, or do it in some other way, or bring deliverance from another quarter, No, God is never hindered by man's failure. But we may miss out on the beauty of God's perfection for us -- we "suffer loss" {1 Cor 3:15}, as Paul puts it.
Mordecai also reminds Esther of these wonderful words, "Who knows whether thou art come to the kingdom for just such a time as this."
What is the purpose of that conversion? What did God have in mind when he saved you? Is it only that he might take you to heaven some day? Is it that you might have glory in the sweet by-and-by? No!
"Thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this."
In entering your life and heart, as a believer in Jesus Christ, God's whole desire for you is:
- that you might live in fruitfulness and victory right now, today,
- where you live,
- where you work,
- that there you might manifest the fullness of the character of God. Your conversion is but the point of beginning, and the main purpose of it is that you might learn to walk in victory over bitterness, resentment, malice, anger, lust, and every other manifestation of the flesh, right now! Thank God that is true.
The very purpose for his coming into our lives is that we might experience the glory of his presence -- right now!