“FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS”
SCRIPTURE: ESTHER 4:13-17
I. INTRODUTION
A. ESTHER 4:13-17
When we review the book of Esther, we see that Ahasuerus was the king of Persia. God’s people, Israel, wee in the provinces of Persia. Its here that the king had the leaders of 127 provinces come to a feast celebration that lasted 187 days. This feast was a feast of drinking and sin. Its at this feast, the king sends for Queen Vashti to come and display her beauty. But the queen had enough decency for herself that she rejected the king. The king chose another queen in her stead. Esther, a young Jewess, is chosen. Her cousin, Mordecai offended Haman, a high official in the king’s court. Through the use of trickery, Haman gets the king to sign a decree that all Jews should be put to death. Once a decree is issued by a Persian monarch, it could not be altered. But God stepped in, and in His providential way delivered His people from the decree that Christ might come of their seed as promised.
B. ESTHER 4:14
Notice the phrase:
“For such a time as this.”
I raise the question--- “What time was it?”
II. IT WAS A TIME WHERE PLEASURE WAS THE ORDER OF THE DAY
C. ESTHER 1:7-8
Notice:
“The king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do
according to every man’s pleasure.”
These people cared more for pleasure than they did for God.
1. When it was time for them to worship and honor God, they chose to worship and honor pleasure.
2. When it was time for them study the Law of God, they chose to neglect the Law and party all the time.
Now what about us? Do our kids see us:
1. Attending the ladies’ Bible class or getting that extra sleep?
2. Attending the men’s Bible class or skipping class to hustle for that extra dollar?
3. Coming to mid-week Bible class to be taught or standing in the hallway gossiping while the teaching is going on?
4. Worshipping God in Spirit and in Truth or desiring for the worship services to be over?
5. Singing Psalms, hymns, and Spiritual songs making melody in our hearts or sitting, staring and being quiet while the singing is going on?
6. Go ye therefore into all the world and preaching the gospel to every creature or going out into all the world and try to sale our business to every creature?
7. Studying to shew ourselves approved unto God, rightly dividing the word of truth or neglecting the Master’s mandate and creating our own mandate?
Paul wrote that the time would come when men would be lovers of themselves more than lovers of God. In 2 Timothy 3:1, the Bible says:
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be
lovers of themselves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce breakers, false
accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady,
highminded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.”
Back to our theme, the Psalmist asks the question:
“What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the Son of Man, that thou visitest him?”
1. Is this the time that we love pleasure more than we love God?
2. Is this the time that We love God more than we love pleasure?
We must be willing to do what the Bible says in Matthew 6:33:
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness.”
If we don’t have a burning desired to:
1. Attend the ladies Bible class.
2. Attend the men’s Bible class.
3. Come to mid-week Bible class.
4. Worship God in Spirit and in Truth.
5. Sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs making melody in our hearts unto the Lord.
6. Go ye therefore into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
7. Study to shew ourselves approved unto God, be a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Then why should expect our children to have a burning desire to do right by the Lord?
Back in our text , Mordecai asked the question:
“Who knoweth whether thou art come to the Kingdom for such a time as this?”
III. IT WAS A TIME FOR STRONG DRINK
D. ESTHER 1:10-11
Notice, when the king was merry with wine, he tried to embarrass his wife. The Bible says he commanded men:
“To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to shew the people
and the princes her beauty: For she was fair to look on.”
Alcohol influences:
1. Husbands to beat on their wives.
2. Wives to poor mouth their husbands.
3. Men and women to disrespect their bodies.
4. Boys and girls to sell their bodies.
Statistics show:
1. Atleast 99 million people drink alcohol in the U.S. alone.
2. 1 out of every 8 adults drinks alcohol.
3. 4 out of every 10 women are alcoholics. (40%)
4. 6 out of every 10 men are alcoholics. (60%)
5. Alcohol effects 1 family in every 4.
6. 31% of high school students drink alcohol. (31 out of every 100).
7. 15% of high school students are heavy users. (15 out of every 100).
8. That’s 124 students per 1,000 in every high school that drinks.
9. In this city, 143 teenagers were arrested for breaking laws while under the influence.
10. The number one cause of death for a child 15-24 years is related to alcohol.
But our youth are not the only ones that are affected by alcohol. Alcohol is a contributing factor in:
1. 66% of the people who are in prison. (66 out of every 100).
2. 25% of all people who go to court and plead insane. (25 out of every 100).
3. 37% of all poverty. (37 out of every 100).
4. 65% of child abuse cases. (65 out of every 100).
5. 30% of all suicide. (30 out of every 100).
6. 50% of all motor vehicle accidents. (50 out of every 100).
7. 78% of all assaults. (78 out of every 100).
8. 85% of all murders. (85 out of every 100).
9. 59% of all divorces. (59 out of every 100).
The Wise Man Solomon was right when he said in Proverbs 20:1:
“Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not
wise.”
E. ESTHER 1:11-12
Now the phrase:
“To shew her beauty”
has two meanings according to their culture.
1. Fully dressed but without her veil, which would be a great insult to her.
2. She had to dance nude, except for the crown.
In any event, this was a time when men wanted women to disgrace their bodies. But notice what the queen did.
This lady chose not to give up her dignity. No matter how loud the men:
1. Whistled.
2. Yelled.
3. Begged.
4. How much the men paid, this lady did not give up her integrity.
She kept her clothes on!
The Bible says in 1 Timothy 2:9:
“In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with
shamefacedness and sobriety: Not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or
costly array: But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good
works.”
This shows that Christian women have no business going to extravagant lengths to draw attention to themselves. But, she should use her external features to decorate herself with good works of obedience to the Lord.
In our text, it was a time when:
IV. THE VALUE OF LIFE WAS CHEAP
F. ESTHER 3:5-6
Notice:
“Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom.”
Haman did not value life. What about us? This world believes in:
1. Abortions.
2. Euthanasia.
3. Drive-by-shootings.
4. Killing people for money.
The same people that believe in defending animals are the same people that believe in killing people. The statistics show that in this city:
1. 36 teens are killed due to an argument.
2. 70 teens are killed due to black on black crime.
3. 17 teens are killed due to drug abuse.
4. 90 teens witness to spouse abuse.
5. 18 teens are killed due to suicide.
6. 32 teens are killed by teenagers with guns.
7. 15 teens are killed due to accidental deaths.
But I am here to tell you that on the day of Judgment, there will be a whole lot more people that will lose their lives. Jesus Christ tells us in appointed principle, in Matthew 10:28:
“Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: But rather fear
him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
What time was it? It was a time:
V. FOR WICKEDNESS
G. ESHTER 1:7-8
Notice:
“They should do according to every man’s pleasure.”
It was a time for:
1. Fornication.
2. Cursing.
3. Foul language.
4. It was a time when men and women left their natural use and burned one for another.
The apostle Paul addressed this same problem in Romans 1:20. The Bible says:
“For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: For even their women did
change the natural use into that which is against nature; and likewise also the
men, leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lust one toward
another; Men with men working that which is unseemingly, and receiving in
themselves that recompense of error which was meet. And even as they did
not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate
mind, to do those things which are not convenient.”
The fulfillment of sexual desires is a priviledg of husband and wife.
H. 1 CORINTHIANS 7:1-3
Now I raise the question—“What if a man and a woman can not contain their sexual desires?”
I. 1 CORINTHIANS 7:8-9
The unmarried must avoid things which lead to fornication. Peter says in 1 Peter 2:11:
“Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly
lusts, which war against the soul.”
Paul says 1 Thessalonians 5:22:
“Abstain from all appearance of evil.”
VI. IT WAS A TIME WHEN MEN WERE INDIFFERENT TOWARDS SPIRITUAL THINGS.
They were preoccupied with:
1. Career decisions.
2. Dating.
3. Recreational activities.
4. Educational acceleration.
But they were not preoccupied with God. In Matthew 6:24, Jesus says:
“No man can serve two masters: For either he will hate the one, and love the
other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve
God and mammon.”
James says in James 4:4:
“Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever
therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”
We need to teach our youth to preoccupy their minds with good-Godly habits. They need to:
1. “Study to show ourselves approved.”
2. “Worship God in Spirit and in Truth.”
3. “Pray in the Spirit fervently.”
4. “Visit the sick and downtrodden.”
5. “Teach, baptize, and teach some more.”
Back in our text:
VII. IT WAS A TIME OF COVETOUSNESS
Instead of the people using the resources that they had, they desired things that belonged to someone else.
J. LUKE 12:16-21
Notice the characteristics of this man. He:
1. Hoarded his goods instead of using them properly.
2. Thought he had plenty of time.
3. Thought his soul could feast on things put in barns.
4. Commanded his soul, forgetting God’s commands over it.
5. Left God completely out of his plans.
In verse 20:
“God said unto him, thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: Then
whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?”
In Hebrews 13:5, the Bible says:
“Be content with such things as ye have.”
In the midst of:
1. Pleasure.
2. Strong drink.
3. Unethical dressing.
4. Unvalued life.
5. Wickedness.
6. Sexual impurities.
7. Spiritual indifference.
8. Covetousness.
VIII. IT WAS A TIME FOR THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD.
K. ESTHER 6:1
In the midst of:
1. Pleasure.
2. Strong drink.
3. Unethical dressing.
4. Unvalued life.
5. Wickedness.
6. Sexual impurities.
7. Spiritual indifference.
8. Covetousness
The king needed to hear God’s word.
God’s word, it:
1. Is a guide for true happiness (Psalm 1:1-3).
2. Makes wise the simple (Psalm 19:7).
3. Rejoices the heart (Psalm 19:8).
4. Enlightens the eyes (Psalm 19:8).
5. Helps the young man cleanse his way (Psalm 119:8).
6. Is a lamp and a light to guide one’s way (Psalm 119:105).
7. Provides great peace to those who loves it (Psalm 119:97-98).
8. Converts the soul (Psalm 19;7)
