Is There Hope for America #2: for Such a Time As This

“IS THERE HOPE FOR AMERICA #2: FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS!”

ESTHER 4:14

INTRO: As we contemplate the idea of “America, A Christian Nation,” it seems

so hard for us to embrace because of the dramatic shift in morals

and ideas in this country in the last 40 years. America, as a Christian

nation sounds like an alien philosophy, an intrusion of religion into

the tranquility of a secular nation to many in our country today.

America’s moved toward atheistic ideals and dogmas have been taking

place at a time when most atheistic Communist states around this

world have been crumbling and people there are clamoring for the

Word of God. An incident at a book fair in Moscow about a decade

ago, when the Iron Curtain was dismantling, shows the hunger of

God’s word when a people realize the folly of unbelief and the fatal

results in people’s lives when God is ignored. Traffic lined up,

stopped in every direction, as people desperately tried to get a copy of

of one of fifty thousand Bibles being given away. Just as the rest of

this world is beginning to realize how foolish and fatal unbelief can be,

our country continues swiftly down a foolish and fatal path toward

godlessness and secularism.

Patrick Henry, a Christian patriot, the golden-tongued orator of the

Revolutionary period, said in his will, “I have now disposed of all my

property to my family. There is one more thing I wish I could give to

them. That is the Christian religion. If they had that and I had not

given them one shilling, they would have been rich; and if they had

not that and I had given them the world, they would be poor.”

Knowing the foundations of liberty, knowing the bedrock of Scripture

and the Christian foundations of this nation, Henry was willing to

sacrifice even his life to defend it. In March 1775, a month before the

shot was heard round the world ignited the Revolutionary War, Henry

said these words in his celebrated speech: “The battle, Sir, is not to

the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave…Why stand

we here idle? What is it the gentlemen wish? What would they have?

Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of

chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know what course

others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” (D.

James Kennedy with Jerry Newcombe. What If America Were A

Christian Nation Again? p. 233).

Friends, our beloved nation founded upon God and godly principles

demands an equal sacrifice from all of us. Listen to Mordecai’s words

to Esther in Esther 4:14—“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.”

IS THERE HOPE FOR AMERICA? Not if God’s people remain silent

and fail to fulfill the responsibility given to them by God. Our Lord

said in Matthew 5:13-16—“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt

have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good

for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye

are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.

Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a

candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your

light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and

glorify your Father which is in heaven.” I want to speak on the subject

today: FOR SUCH A TIME IS THIS!

FOR SUCH A TIME IS THIS, IT IS:

(1) TIME TO FIGHT FOR OUR RIGHTS

ESTHER 4:14a—“For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this

time…thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed.”

FOLKS, WE NEED:

A. THE COURAGE TO SPEAK UP. Do you recall when all the Jews of Persia

and beyond lived under the sentence of death? Esther 3:8-9 tells us, “And

Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad

and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and

their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king's laws:

therefore it is not for the king's profit to suffer them. If it please the king, let it

be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of

silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it

into the king's treasuries. And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave

it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy. And

the king said unto Haman, The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do

with them as it seemeth good to thee. Then were the king's scribes called on

the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all

that Haman had commanded unto the king's lieutenants, and to the

governors that were over every province, and to the rulers of every people of

every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their

language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the

king's ring. And the letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces, to

destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little

children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth

month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey.

The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was

published unto all people, that they should be ready against that day.”

Haman was incensed because Mordecai the Jew would not bow down to

him. He devised an evil plan to destroy all the Jews in Persia and the

surrounding areas. He slyly talked King Ahasuerus into this plan. The date

was set. The plan was put into motion, and thousands upon thousands of

Jews were to die. There was nothing to stop this wicked plan except the

hand of Almighty God! But God, as He so often does, intervened and

delivered His people. And He worked through a person to do it. This

person was Esther. Unknown to King Ahasuerus was the fact that his wife

and beautiful queen Esther was a Jew. In those days, the king’s power was

so great that Esther feared for her life just coming into his presence to ask

for a hearing. Esther was at first afraid and apprehensive but Mordecai

reminded her, “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?”

Folks, God’s people have kept silent too long! We are reaping the fruits of

our silence. Note Mordecai told Esther, “For if thou altogether holdest thy

peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the

Jews from another place…”. Mordecai said, “If you don’t speak up, God will

bring deliverance from another source.” But notice the last part of his

warning, “but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed…”. Folks, if we

don’t get involved, we will suffer loss! The reason our country is in the

moral crisis we find ourselves today is that God’s people have kept silent too

long! Saint Ambrose said, “Not only for every idle word must man give

account, but for every idle silence.”

B. THE COURAGE TO STAND UP. The Christian values and Biblical

principles which made this country great at the beginning have been swiftly

slipping through our fingers like sand because too many Christians are

“engaged simply in personal peace and prosperity,” as Dr. Francis Schaeffer

used to say. Friends, we are losing the soul of American because of what

those on the opposite side of what is good and godly do and say and what

we don’t do and say! Friend, the sins of omission—failing to do what we

should do and say—may be the very things that create greatest amount of

evil in our world today! Esther took a stand for what she knew was right!

The question is: Will we?

The Church has been given a commission, a command from God to “Go ye

into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15). All

we have to do to be disobedient is to do nothing! Say nothing, do nothing,

and we are guilty! By doing so we are indirectly to blame for the flood of

unbelief and wickedness upon our land.

ILLUS: One of the greatest military geniuses America ever produced was

General Douglas MacArthur. For fifty years he devoted his life to

this country. Do you remember what he said after he conquered

the empire of Japan? Was it “What is needed now are tax collectors

to collect taxes for the conquerors”? No. He said that what was

needed now was ten thousand missionaries for Japan. But they

didn’t come. Now we see how right he was.

Douglas MacArthur once made another very astute observation

that shows the importance of morality to our nation: “History fails

to record a single precedent in which nations subject to moral

decay have not passed into political and economic decline. There

has been either a spiritual awakening to overcome the moral lapse,

or a progressive deterioration leading to ultimate national disaster.”

(D. James Kennedy with Jerry Newcombe. What If America Were A

Christian Nation Again? pp. 233-234).

Folks, if God’s people could only see clearly, we would see what a great

honor and privilege it is to be a part of what God’s grace is doing in our

world today. We have more missionaries in this world preaching the gospel

than ever before. This world has more access to the gospel than ever before

via printed Word, satellite radio and TV, internet, etc. Queen Esther was

privileged to take a stand for her people! And the privilege is ours when we

boldly take a stand for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Haman’s evil plot

backfired on him and he was hanged on the very gallows he had created for

Mordecai. Friends, I believe you and I have been called by God’s grace to

live in America and serve in America “For such a time as this”!

FOR SUCH A TIME IS THIS, it is TIME TO FIGHT FOR OUR RIGHTS and it is…

(2) TIME TO BE FAITHFUL TO OUR REDEEMER

ESTHER 4:14b—“ who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for

such a time as this?”

A. WE MUST BE CONCERNED. When the choice was laid before Esther

notice what she did. Vv. 15-16 tell us—“ Then Esther bade them return

Mordecai this answer, 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.” It took faith

upon Esther’s part to stand up for her people. Friends, I want you to

notice the difference that faith makes. Esther said, “…so will I go in unto

the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.” At first

she was afraid and apprehensive but not faithful and fearless! What

caused Esther to act on the behalf of her people? CONCERN! One of the

things lacking in our Churches and country today is CONCERN. The

condition of our beloved country should trouble all of us! We are truly

living in a society today where many “call evil good, and good evil; that put

darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and

sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20). Friend, “if you have come to the place

where the terror of the law of God will not move you, and where the

tenderness of God's love and mercy will not melt you, this in itself is an

indication that your heart is not right in the sight of God. Brother, if your

heart is not right you are all wrong; if you do not want good things and love

good things and have not the yearning after God that you ought to have

and that can be satisfied alone by God, you are wrong” (Bible Illustrator For

do? :

Ø Unconcern causes us to neglect our spiritual responsibilities.

Ø Unconcern causes us to lose our vision for souls.

Ø Unconcern causes us to lose the vision of the importance of spirituality.

Ø Unconcern causes us to turn a deaf ear to the Word.

B. WE MUST BE CONSECRATED. Esther said, “…So will I go in unto the

king…and if I perish, I perish.” “If I lose my life in this attempt to save my