For Such A Time As This
Have you ever wished that you had been born in a different time? Trekkies wish they would had been born three hundred years from now anticipating that much of what is now science fiction will become reality by then. Many young girls wish they had been born in the days of knights so princes that would duel over them. I have often wished that I had been born in 1842 or 52 instead of 1952. I could have been a real cowboy or a parson in a small Carolinian or Texas town. Even if I had been out of Bible College in 1952, my ministry would have been “easier” and certainly larger than it is now in an age that rejects truth.
You most likely know the story of Esther and how she became the instrument God used in saving the Jewish people by her marriage and intercession to a pagan king, but lets read a few verses of that story.
Esther 4:13-17
13 Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews.
14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
15 Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer,
16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.
17 So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.
(KJV)
While many girls might dream of growing up and marrying a king no devout Jewess would desire to marry a pagan nor would an uncle impress her into doing that normally. Yet, because they both did the abnormal and in some ways the unthinkable Esther was used by God and the Jews were spared. She was called into the kingdom for such a time as that. Her fasting and praying before she went in to the king shows her dependence on God. She knew what had happened to her predecessor for disobeying the king and she was right to think that he might kill her in a rage. The fact that she was still willing to do her duty shows her love for God and her spiritual maturity.
Why are we here? When you think that all that happened throughout the centuries to get your parents together and have you there has to be a reason why you are here in this time. Many family branches ended when the last member had no children. Some spread out like vines with couples that had fifteen children and each of them having nine or more. I am an only child and only here humanly speaking by the perseverance of my mother as my father did not want children because he was handicapped and knew he would have a hard time earning enough money to support children. If Dad’s desire had been fulfilled, my six grandchildren would not have been born. There were lots of variables that God worked together to get you here in this time and even in the birth order you are in as well as your gender. If you are the baby, your life developed differently than if you would have been the eldest or middle child. Girls are different than boys no matter what the culture says and God does not err and put the wrong gendered soul in a body. He had a reason for me to be male instead of a female. The branch of Shultz’s that I belong to would have died with me had I been born female. I’ve had a son so it has lasted at least one more generation before the Lord returns. I would not be a pastor if I were born a woman or at least not one biblically. I could have been in rebellion and heretical, but not a biblical pastor.
So, if I am here today as I am for a reason what could be that reason? There may be several in such a time as this.
To Catch The Falling
II Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; (KJV)
We are definitely living in an age of apostasy if not the one described here though I believe we are in the one that precedes the Rapture and the Tribulation. As Christians, we are here to stand for the truth and to try and catch some of these folks that are on the verge of or are falling away and to restore as many as possible. (James 5:20, 1 Peter 4:8)
To Light The Fire or Turn Up The Heat
Matthew 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. (KJV)
Can you see the iniquity around you? Do you know many that were once fervent for the truth and are now cold or indifferent? We are here to the light the fire of God’s love in those who are lost and to turn up the heat for the brethren who have wandered from the fire. It is our duty and as Mordecai told Ruth do we expect to escape if we allow the brethren to cool off? We fan our own fire as we fan theirs. We rekindle our love as we seek to cause the fire to burn in the hearts of the lost as the Lord talks to us in our ministry of reconciliation.
To Assure A Remnant
Luke 18:7-8
7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? (KJV)
The passage speaks of the end of the Tribulation and we know that there will be a remnant of faithful then. We are here today to provide a steadfast contingent of warriors that will endure long battles and encourage the faint hearted. We are to lead the charge and assure our fellow soldiers that God will avenge His elect and come again. By doing this the Saints will be here fighting and watching when He returns. He will find His Bride looking for Him. Our brethren in the Tribulation will be the answer of yes to His question about finding faith at His Coming. We being faithful at the Rapture will make it a double affirmative.
To Advance True Wealth
Luke 16:13 No servant 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. (KJV)
We live in a world where even those who name the name of Christ push material wealth or gain as a sign of holiness even though Paul says that godliness with contentment is great gain. (1 Timothy 6:6) We are in a gizmo and gadget crazy society. Bumper stickers proclaim that he who dies with the most toys wins.
Christians who are supposed to be just passing through should be pointing people to the true wealth of the Gospel rather than seeking possessions like they will live here forever or have a trailer hitch on their hearse. We here are here as eternal investment advisors. We should be stockpiling in Heaven, not here. Many of us have heart trouble for our hearts are misplaced. (Matthew 6:19-21)
To Adorn The Gospel
Phil 1:27-28
27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
Every precious stone has some sort of setting to display it and that display is usually as beautiful as the stone itself or at least not something that cheapens the gem or distracts from it. We have the pearl of great price in our hearts and our lives are the setting in which it is displayed. If we are not striving to be Spirit filled and holy we are displaying the Gospel in a cheap or distracting setting that affects the perceived value of it by those who view it thus they miss its true worth.
Our life should become or adorn the Gospel. If we are striving with one another instead of for the faith we are not adorning it but cheapening it. If we are wavering in our spirit we are allowing it to shine brightly and attract those that need to possess it.
To Share In His Sorrow
Matt 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. (KJV)
I believe that the time is coming when we in the first-world nations will start feeling the persecution that many of our brethren in other countries have been bravely enduring for years. This will fly in the face of the prosperity heretics who ignore what God is doing through the fires of persecution not prosperity in His Body around the world.
Paul said that it was not only given to us to have faith in Christ but also to suffer for His sake. (Philippians 1:29) That is something that no American wants to hear, yet millions of Christ’s followers suffer every day for His sake. We want the flowery beds of ease rather than be a soldier of the Cross.
To Share His Cup In Death
John 16:1-4
1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.
4 But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you. (KJV)
With that possibility of suffering there is also the great possibility that we may gain the martyr’s crown. Jesus did not refuse the cup in the garden and if He offers to us to share in that cup will we march off to death singing as the saints of old? Will we praise His name as we stand in the fire? Ladies, will you be as those dear Scottish women who told those who urged them to get their husbands to recant that they would rather catch their husband’s head in their apron then have them deny the Lord who bought them? I am afraid that while many of us that are here for that purpose will fall short of drinking that cup and may even deny Him. May it never be!
We are here called for such a time as this? Will you catch the falling? Will you light the fire turning up the heat? Will you work to ensure a remnant will be fighting beside you? Will you advance true wealth and deny mammon? Are you ready to share in His sorrows through persecution and to possibly drink the cup of death and gain the martyr’s crown? Will you seek the Lord like Esther and be willing to do the abnormal for God even if you perish? Can you say, “ Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him?” (Job 13:15) I pray that we will do so. Maranatha!
