A Life Worth Living

A Life Worth Living

If you would, open your Bible to Esther 4. Today, we`re going to talk about something a little different than normal. The book of Esther is one of my favorites in the Bible and if I could, I would preach a whole series going through the Book of Esther. Before we begin reading Esther 4, I`m going to give you a little background knowledge about what is happening here, and it is going to come from Esther 3.

In the book of Esther, we see two guys named Mordecai and Haman. In Esther 3, the king promotes Haman to basically second in command only answering to the king and queen. Haman ordered those below him to fall down and worship him. Now, Mordecai is a Jew and he refused to do it and as you can imagine, Haman was not too thrilled about this. Haman then convinces the king to issue an edict to have every Jew destroyed, killed, and annihilated. This included young and old. This included men, women, and children. No Jew was to be saved. Keep in mind that Esther, the queen, is also secretly a Jew. Haman offered to pay the king 10,000 talents if he would sign this edict into law. Think about that. 10,000 talents. I looked it up and 10,000 talents in today's money would equal about $3.48 billion dollars.

Haman offered $3.48 billion dollars to have every Jew slaughtered like animals. All that happened in Esther 3 and so now when we get to Esther 4, keep that in mind as we read.

READ ESTHER 4:1-17

I believe that there is coming a day when we will be persecuted for being a Christian. I do not think we can say “if that day comes” anymore. Instead, we have to say, “when that day comes.” I believe that we will see it in my lifetime. Look at the world today, the stage is already being set for it. Christians today are killed in areas like the Middle East. People in China today, people are arrested for being a Christian. Even in Germany, you aren`t free to be a Biblical Christian. The United States is not too far behind. In the US today, it is not popular to be a Christian anymore. We are mocked, degraded, and looked down upon. We are labeled as extremists. There is even a group in government called the Secular Democrats of America and one of their biggest agendas that they are trying to push is to have Christian nationalist labeled as a terrorist. A Nationalist can be defined as a person who strongly identifies with their own nation and vigorously supports its interests. Basically, if you love God and country, they want you labeled as a terrorist. This country is slowly being warped into a country that is okay with Christians being out of the picture. In California, they are trying to ban the Bible. Persecution for Christians is coming whether we like it or not. In Esther, there was a plot to kill the Jews. Today, there is a plot to kill Christians. I believe we see a few things here in Esther 3 and 4 that we must expect if we are a true Christian.

1. A Walk with Christ Will Be Unpopular

READ ESTHER 3:1-6

Mordecai stood up for what was right and for what he believed in even when everyone else was telling him to fall in line. He knew the cost. He knew what would happen, but he did it anyway. When the situation arises, will you be able to do the same? Do you have enough faith in God to say no matter the consequences and no matter what may happen to me, I will continue to serve Him and make His name known? Being a Jew was not popular back then as you can tell by what Haman wanted the king to do. They were despised. They were mocked. They were outcasts. I want to tell you something… the day is coming where it will be the same for Christians. Today, we see the ball rolling in that direction. Today's society and culture is heading in a direction that no longer wants truth, but instead wants what makes them feel good and in a direction that allows them to do whatever they want to do. It is already becoming unpopular to be a Christian. We are depicted as greedy, narrow-minded hypocrites. In other countries, Christians are already being killed for their faith and believe it or not, that will soon come to the United States. We are headed in that direction. Haman had a plot to kill the Jews because they did not fall in line. There is a plot being orchestrated to kill the Christians that will not fall in line.