For Such A Time As This Series

For Such a Time as This

Esther 1:1-9

Pastor Jefferson M. Williams

Chenoa Baptist Church

07-12-2020

Silence!

I walked into the small chapel on the campus on the church that I served at in Florida, fell on my knees, and wept hysterically. Mr dream job in Florida had turned into a nightmare and I had just had a meeting in which the pastor had made it clear that “it wasn’t working out.”

As I cried, the “whys?” came fast and furious:

Why would you open every door only to shut the door once we moved here?

Why would you give me my dream job on the beach, (the church is literally on an island), and take it away from me?

Why would you not simply provide a place for us to live that we could afford?

Why are you doing this us?!

Just then, my phone dinged and I received a series of text messages from God explaining in detail why He had allowed these things to happen. Then an angel appeared and touched my shoulder and said , “Get up. Let me show you the big picture” and I saw a vision….and a plate of oatmeal butterscotch cookies…

That’s not what happened. You know what I heard? Silence. Deafening, thunderous silence! When I needed to hear from God, when I needed an encouraging word, it felt like my prayers bounced off the ceiling and mocked me.

Have you been there? Have you gone through a time when you felt like God may have gone on vacation? Have you experienced what Andrew Peterson has described as the “holy, lonesome echo of the silence of God?” If so, you are not alone.

For Such a Time as This

This morning, we start a new sermon series from the Old Testament book of Esther. In the time that I’ve been here, I have preached through the books of Habakkuk, Jonah, and Galatians. We’ve gone verse by verse through Revelation 1-3, The Beatitudes in Matthew 5, the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6, we explored the lives of several Old Testament heroes, and we dove deep into the 5 Solas of the Reformation.

The sermon series is entitled, “For Such a Time as This,” from the famous statement Mordecai says to Esther in chapter 4. I believe this is the perfect time to preach this book because I believe that this church has been placed in this community for such a time as this to make an eternal impact for the Kingdom of God!

The book is only 167 verses in the Hebrew and 10 chapters in English. It takes about 10 minutes to read and I would encourage you to read it at least once a week during this series.

In our Galatians study, each week I reminded you that “those who dance are thought crazy by those who cannot hear the music.”

In the coming weeks, I will remind you of one of my favorite John Piper quotes,

[Slide] “God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.”

In Esther, we will learn that God is at work in spite of appearances. Often it is behind the scenes, quietly weaving circumstances together in order to bring about His will for our good and His glory. Theologians call this the “hiddenness of God.” We will talk more about this at the end of the sermon.

Turn with me to the book of Esther. It is in the Old Testament and is the last of the 17 history books, located between Nehemiah and Job.

Prayer

Promise Keeper

I mentioned the idea of the “big picture” a minute ago. I want to start this series by looking at the big picture of Scripture and how Esther fits in.

Keep your place in Esther and turn with me to Genesis 3.

In Genesis 3, Eve is approached by satan in the form a snake and he puts doubt into her head about God’s goodness. She takes the bait, eats the fruit in willful disobedience to God, and gives some to Adam.

We call this the “Fall.” God pronounces curses on the first couple and exiles them from the garden.

But it is the curse of the snake that is what I want us to look at:

[Slide] So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,“Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers, he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:14-15)

The word “offspring” (seed) is singular. God is saying that there will come a descendant of Adam and Eve that will defeat satan once and for all (crush your head), even though satan will strike at His heels repeatedly.