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Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000709S
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00:01 (Breath of Life Theme Music)
00:06 Sermon #B709 - For Such A Time As This 00:20 Dr. Byrd: Esther 4:13.Esther 4:13-14. Esther 4:13-14. Just two verses of Scripture. We are going to read them now 00:31 and I will read it in your hearing. The word of God says, "Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, 00:39 "Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews." 00:46 Verse 14, "For thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement 00:55 and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: 01:04 and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" 01:14 That is the real tag of this sermon today for such a time as this. We are praying. God, we thank you. 01:22 We are grateful for the music that has inspired us today, 01:28 and the reminder that we must praise you for your grace and your mercy. 01:32 We thank you for the conversation we have had today with our special guest. 01:36 We thank you for all that has been said and done. Our worship and giving. Our worship and prayer. 01:42 But Lord, we need a word from you right now. Speak to your people. Speak to the computer airwaves. 01:51 Speak through the internet. Speak through smartphones. Speak through the television broadcast. 01:58 May your people not see me, but see thee living and working through me. Forgive me and my sins. 02:03 And Lord, as we always say when we get to the appeal, when we get to the appeal, just Lord show up and show out. 02:11 Show up and show out, and pricks someone's heart today. They might surrender and give their life to you. 02:17 Not I but Christ be seen, be felt, be heard. We praise you and we thank you. 02:24 We are begging for forgiveness of sin. It is in Jesus's name we pray. Amen, and amen for such a time as this. 02:41 Many people read the Bible, and when they read the Bible, they read the stories of amazing men. 02:49 Noah and Moses, Abraham and Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, Elijah and Elisha, David and Solomon, Peter, 03:07 James and John, the Apostle Paul, and Jesus the Christ himself. 03:18 But today let me be clear that the Bible also has lots of stories of incredible women too. 03:27 I wish I had a witness in this place. 03:29 Strong and brave women who led armies and challenge kings. Prophetic women who heard and obeyed the voice of God. 03:41 Wise women who made difficult decisions and led the people back to God. 03:49 Loyal women who stayed faithful to God even when their situations seen perilous. 03:56 Women who did the right thing no matter what anyone else did, but changed the course of history forever. 04:06 So on this Sabbath, let me begin by saying, do not forget the women. 04:12 Do not think that we made it where we are as men, as a church, as a community, as a people, without women. 04:23 Women are more than just child-bearers, child nurturers, food preparers, or homemakers. 04:32 Women are leaders, preachers, teachers, presidents, professors, doctors, dentists, accountants, attorneys, 04:46 judges, pharmacists, senators, congresswomen, mayors, mothers, and wives, all wrapped up in one. 04:56 All throughout history, God has placed women in specific places for such a time as this. 05:04 One example of this is Queen Esther. Now it's interesting my friends that out of all the 66 books in the Bible, 05:16 only two, Esther and Ruth are named after women. But somebody knows it's not always about the quantity. 05:26 It is about the quality. I wish I had somebody in this place. 05:30 So while there are only two books named after women in the Bible, women are all throughout the Bible. 05:39 I want to be clear with any biblical misogynists out there. That just because only two biblical books are named 05:46 after women does not mean that women are to be less than or inferior to men. Because in the Bible, 05:53 there are two books, Esther and Song of Solomon, that never mentioned the name of God in them. 06:02 But that doesn't mean that God is less than or inferior just 06:06 because the name of God is not mentioned in Esther or Song of Solomon, 06:10 nor does it mean that God is not all throughout these books. 06:14 Because if you read the book of Esther carefully, in the Book of Esther, 06:18 any reader with some level of discernment, comprehension, 06:23 and understanding recognizes that God is the main character in this book. 06:29 In fact, in the Book of Esther, God is putting himself on display, even though he is unnamed. Read Esther. 06:39 Yes, the book tells Esther's story, but the book is about God. God's awesome power. God's miraculous movements. 06:50 God's mind-blowing mercy. God's divine deliverance. God's astounding actions. 06:59 Don't get it twisted today. The Book of Esther is about God. 07:06 In Esther chapter 1, it begins by telling us of the massive Kingdom of Ahasuerus. Several years into his reign, 07:18 he calls a six-month strategic war-planning summit in the capital city of Shushan. He does this 07:27 because he's making preparations for the invasion of Greece because remember he wants to get back at him. 07:33 He's confident at this summit that he's going to be victorious over the Greeks. 07:40 He ends this six-month planning summit with a 7-day banquet. 07:47 He plans to have an extravagant celebration with the best decorations, the best food, and the best dishes. 07:58 But he also wants the best entertainment. 08:02 And his version of the best entertainment is putting his wife at the time, Queen Vashti, on full display. 08:12 He commands Queen Vashti to show up on the 7th day of the celebration and present herself. 08:20 But Vashti tells her husband, the king, "I am not coming to your party. I am not here to let my dignity 08:29 and my class be compromised by walking in front of some intoxicated, perverted men." The king is furious. 08:38 How dare she tell him, the king, her husband, what she is going to do. Because back in those days, 08:46 women were to do as women were told. 08:50 The king is livid, and he is concerned that his queen's actions would start a Women's Liberation Movement. 08:58 It's all in the Bible. Because if the queen got away with this kind of behavior, 09:02 then every other woman in the empire would feel empowered to do the same. So what does the king do? 09:10 He demotes her. She is no longer the queen. He then announces he is going to get a new queen. 09:18 And he makes it clear that no one better disobey the king, not even the queen or she will be replaced. 09:29 Now, for four years, there is no queen. But the Bible says in Esther 2, 09:36 that the king's staff members tell him it is time to select a queen. 09:43 They tell him to call all the beautiful young virgins of the land to come to Shushan and after a period of time, 09:48 let the young woman who pleases the king most become queen. King liked this. Ahasuerus liked this, 09:57 and he agrees to it. So all these women come to Shushan for a beauty competition. 10:01 There have to be thousands of women because remember it was every mother's 10:05 and father's dream for their daughter to be the queen, 10:08 and it was every young lady's dream in the Kingdom to become the queen. 10:11 Now, in chapter 2 of Esther, we then learn of Mordecai and Esther. They are both Jews. 10:19 They both live in Shushan. They are cousins, but Mordecai is about 15 years older than Esther. 10:27 Esther's parents died when she was a little girl, which means it left her an orphan. 10:32 So then, Mordecai raises Esther as if she were his own daughter. Esther was beautiful, the Bible says, 10:41 just gorgeous. She was noticed by the king's staff. 10:45 She was selected to be in the group that goes on to the next round of the competition that goes later to the 10:51 king's palace to live so she could continue to participate in the beauty contest for the queen. 10:58 Now, God's name is not mentioned in this book. And God's name is not mentioned yet in this story, 11:08 but God is moving. 11:10 The day has come that it's Esther's turn. It's time for her to appear before the king. Esther walks 11:19 before the king. Now remember, the king has seen thousands of women. 11:26 Not just the 400 that made it to the next round, 11:28 but he has seen thousands of women from all over the Persian Empire who wanted to be queen. 11:36 It was just the final 400 who make it to the palace. The king sees Esther. And after he has seen Esther, 11:46 he would never be the same again. He is wooed by her beauty. Smitten by her charm. Taken by her grace. 11:59 She's fine, and she's the one. He selects Esther to be his queen. 12:08 Now, I need you to understand friends what's going on here. Esther, a Jewish orphan. Esther, not a Persian, 12:18 is elevated to the highest position that any woman could have in the entire world at that time. 12:25 Again, God's name is not mentioned, but God is moving. 12:32 Mordecai tells her to keep her Jewishness a secret because there was a lot of prejudice in the Persian Empire, 12:40 just like there's a lot of prejudice in the world today. 12:43 Esther is Jewish. She is classy. She is charming. She is articulate. She is smart. She is beautiful, 12:55 and she is a woman. Esther is crowned Queen. But because he is concerned about his cousin who he has raised as 13:07 his daughter, Mordecai hangs around the palace. Mordecai hangs around the palace 13:17 because he has raised Esther as his child. He does not want anybody messing with his child. 13:25 I can relate. I have three daughters. To talk about me, to mess with me, to mistreat me is one thing. 13:38 But when you talk about my daughters, mess with my daughters, mistreat my daughters, we all have some problems. 13:48 I wish I had a witness in this place. 13:50 Mordecai hangs around the palace to get whatever word he can from Esther and about Esther. 13:56 And while he is hanging around the palace, he learns that two of the king's doorkeepers, 14:03 Bigthan and Teresh are their names, that they plan to assassinate the king. 14:10 Because these were officials who guarded the king's private quarters, they had access to the king. 14:15 They could kill him which reminds me, it's not always those on the outside you got to watch 14:19 but sometimes it's the ones on the inside that you got to keep your eyes on. 14:23 I wish somebody knew what I was talking about. 14:25 Remember friends on January 6, the attack on the United States Capitol did not come from the outside. 14:31 It came from the inside. It was not international terrorist. It was domestic terrorist. 14:38 It was not one political party trying to kill persons of the other political party. 14:43 It was people in the same political party trying to kill one of their own in their own political party. 14:51 I wish I had time. 14:52 Mordecai hears Bigthan and Teresh's plan. He tells Esther. Esther tells the king. 15:04 When the matter is investigated, it is true. Bigthan and Teresh are then hung on the gallows. 15:14 Mordecai's actions are written in the royal record because loyalty needed to be rewarded just as much as 15:22 disloyalty needed to be punished. Again, God's name is not mentioned, but God is moving. 15:31 We are now in chapter 3. And we meet a man by the name of Haman. Haman is a Persian. 15:39 Haman is on the king's staff. The king likes Haman and Haman is elevated in the Kingdom. 15:47 But there is bad blood between Haman and Mordecai. 15:52 Now, because of Haman's standing in the royal palace, when he walked in everybody bow down. 15:59 But Mordecai didn't bow. He didn't bow because he couldn't stand Haman. This made Haman's blood boil. 16:08 So Haman then strategizes to kill not only Mordecai but also Mordecai's people because if he just kills Mordecai, 16:17 Mordecai's people, the Jews, would later come and kill him. So Haman goes to the Persian astrologers 16:25 and magicians and tells them to come up with a day when they can execute the genocide of the Jews. 16:32 They give him a date. Haman then goes to the king and tells him that throughout the Persian Empire there are Jews 16:39 who are a threat to his empire and they need to be destroyed. The King thinks it's a great idea, 16:43 and he gives Haman his seal stamp so Haman can authorize the genocide of all the Jews in the Persian Empire. 16:51 We are now at chapter 4. We are now where our text of Scripture is. 16:58 There is wailing and there is gnashing of teeth among the Jews that on a specific date they are going to all be 17:06 killed. Mordecai is upset. He tells Esther what is going on. He tells her, "You've got to go to the king 17:16 and you've got to plead for your people." But see, it is really not that simple. 17:22 Because in Persia nobody including the queen went before the king without a personal invitation. 17:31 In fact, anybody who went into the presence of the king without being invited could be killed on the spot. 17:37 So Esther would not only be breaking royal protocol if she just went to the king without an invitation, 17:44 but she would also be risking her life. And the only way her life 17:49 or anyone else's life would be spared is if when she walked in that the king extended his golden scepter. 17:58 Esther then says in verse 16, "Go get all the Jews in Shushan and let's fast. 18:06 And I will go to the king, which is against the law. Good trouble: and if I perish, 18:12 I perish. But even if it costs me my life, I've got to do what I've got to do 18:21 and I've got to protect my people." Now notice I wish I had time. 18:26 Notice in the text that Esther does not mention prayer. She only mentions fasting. 18:35 And there can be however no fasting without prayer. I wish somebody knew what I was talking about. 18:41 For three days she prays, and she fasts. 18:45 Chapter 5 begins. Esther goes in to see the king. She walks in. She is graceful. She is beautiful. 18:55 She is charming. He looks at her and his mind goes back to when he first saw her. 19:03 He's got a smile on his face and without hesitation he extends the golden scepter, 19:12 and then he says, "Esther O Queen, what is your request because baby, I will give you half of the kingdom." 19:23 Now, you know Esther must have been a Bad Mama Jama if he is going to give up half of the kingdom just by him 19:28 looking at her. Are you hearing what I am saying? But Esther doesn't want half of the kingdom. 19:34 In fact, Esther doesn't want any of the kingdom. Esther just wants to save her people. 19:43 Esther then asks the king for a banquet with her, him, and Haman in Haman's honor. 19:54 The king agrees at this banquet. The first banquet, the King asks Esther what she wants, 20:03 but the timing isn't right. 20:05 That is what some of us have to realize sometimes that our timing is not God's timing. 20:10 God's timing is the best timing. So she replies, she says, "Okay. I just want another banquet tomorrow. 20:19 I want another banquet tomorrow with you, with me, and Haman again in Haman's honor. "But Esther" the king says 20:28 we already had a banquet. We are already here together. Why do we have to do this again tomorrow?" 20:35 God's name is not mentioned, but God is moving. 20:43 Haman is loving this. Two banquets on consecutive days in his honor, Haman's feeling good about himself. 20:53 He heads home, but on the way out of the palace he sees his rival. He sees his nemesis. He sees Mordecai. 21:03 And just the sight of Mordecai get his blood boiling. He's had enough of Mordecai. 21:12 And so he decides that he is going to kill Mordecai. The Bible says he erects some gallows 21:20 and decides he is going to hang and execute Mordecai the next day. Haman goes to sleep that night. 21:29 He sleeps soundly because he is dreaming about how he is going to kill Mordecai the next day. 21:36 Now back at the palace, and we are in chapter 6. The king is in his bed, just like Haman is in his bed. 21:44 But the difference between the king and Haman is, Haman can sleep, but the king can't sleep. 21:50 The king is tossing. The king is turning. And we don't know what the cause of the king's insomnia is, 21:57 but the king then does a strange thing. The king tells his staff to go get the royal records 22:06 and read them to him. And maybe he says do this because reading the royal records would help put him to sleep. 22:14 Again, God's name is not mentioned, but God is moving. Because remember friends, 22:23 it was put in the royal records five years earlier how Mordecai was the one who exposed the assassination 22:30 attempt on the king. When the king starts reading the royal records, he reads how Mordecai saved his life. 22:41 He all of a sudden gets up and says, "What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for saving my life?" 22:51 The king's servants answered, "Nothing." The king wants to change that now. The king wants to rectify that now. 23:02 God's name is not mentioned, but God is moving. 23:09 The next morning, Haman wakes up. He gets dressed. He goes to the palace for work. 23:18 And he goes to the king to ask the king to authorize the hanging of Mordecai 23:24 that he has built these gallows for already. But before he can ask the king for permission to hang Mordecai, 23:31 the king then asked him, "What do I do for a man that I want to honor?" 23:38 Now Haman thinks the king is talking about him, but the king is really talking about Mordecai. 23:46 So Haman answers and says, "Give him the best robe and let him ride on the king's horses." 23:54 Again, God's name is not mentioned, but God is moving. 24:00 The king then tells Haman, "Good idea. You go and hurry up and get the robe and the horse that you suggested 24:09 and give it to Mordecai and leave nothing undone for what you have spoken." Haman thinking it is for him, 24:17 it is for his archrival. Haman then leads the parade for the very man he wants to kill. 24:24 Somebody knows late in the midnight hour God will turn that thing around that he will work it out in your favor. 24:33 After the parade, Haman goes home to his wife and family. He thinks he is going to get some sympathy from them, 24:41 but he doesn't get it. In fact, his wife and his friends tell him, "You are the one that is going to die. 24:47 The Jewish man you are trying to kill is being honored by the king." 24:53 Haman goes back to the palace for a second banquet. He sits down at the king's table for another surprise. 25:02 The king asked the Queen Esther, "Esther, what do you want?" The timing is now right. The table is now set. 25:11 At this second banquet, Esther doesn't hesitate. We are now in chapter 6. Esther response, "Please O King, 25:21 spare me and spare my people. We have been sold to be destroyed and killed." The king looks at his wife 25:30 and he says, "Who is threatening the Queen's life? Who is he? Where is he?" Haman is sitting there sweating. 25:46 His face has gone red because he doesn't know what is going to happen. And remember, 25:52 he doesn't know that Esther is a Jew. Esther then looks him dead in the eye and she says, 26:01 "The adversary and the enemy is the wicked Haman." 26:09 The king is furious. He goes back in the recesses of his mind 26:16 and he remembers the decree Haman made him sign a couple of months earlier. 26:19 How Haman had misrepresented the Jewish people as a political threat to the Empire 26:25 and how he had literally signed a decree into law that involved the murder of his own wife. 26:32 All of a sudden guards cover Haman's face and the guards take him out to the very gallows that he had 26:44 prepared for Mordecai. They put him on the gallows that he built for somebody else, and he dies. 26:53 After Haman was hanged, Mordecai and Esther flourished in the Persian Kingdom of King Ahasuerus. 27:07 The king exalted Mordecai to second-in-command. And the king continues to love his queen against all odds. 27:23 Esther and Mordecai, the Jews had not just been spared, but they had also been elevated. 27:38 God's name is never mentioned in the Book of Esther, but God is always at work. 27:50 For the narrowing down of the thousands of women in Persia to the four hundred to the one Jew, 27:56 Esther, for such a time as this. 28:03 Thank you very much for tuning in to this week's Breath of Life broadcast. 28:07 We hope and pray that you've been blessed by Dr. Byrd's inspirational message. 28:12 If you would like to hear this sermon in its entirety, 28:14 please feel free to visit us at www.breathoflife.tv. 28:20 Or, call us at (256) 929-6460. 28:26 [END] |
Revised 2021-03-12