My dad wasn't a paid church minister, but he was a lay pastor and regularly presented sermons to vespers, church, and a homeless ministry. He and my mom did lots of ministry. He liked to type out his sermons before he gave them to people. We have them printed out and as pdf files. So I will be trying to type them into a more useable form. Here is one of them.
12/31/2013
II Timothy 3:1 "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited,, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-
These are "perilous times". Today's perils is the danger of all-out war in the Middle East, the saber-rattling by North Korea, and the continuing threat of bio-terrorism makes this a dangerous time to be alive.
Yet life goes on, uncertain perhaps, but we have business to attend to, classes to teach, orders to fill, patients to see, books to write, games to play, bills to pay, medicine to take, songs to sing, meals to prepare, and beyond that, there are the concerns of marriage, children, friends and family. It is easy to dismiss the large concerns of the world.
Someone has said that worry is "the interest paid by those who borrow trouble." Another person called worries "a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind." According to John Haggai, "In America, worry has become part of our national culture. You could write eon countless American gravestones the epitaph: "Hurried,, Worried, Buried."
Maybe our greatest fear is the fear of death. Hebrews 2:15 tells us that Christ came to deliver those enslaved by the fear of death. It's not just the fear of dying that troubles us, it's the thought of leaving this life with much to do. For some people living and dying can seem equally painful. How can we overcome our fear of what might happen in the future?
With all that looms before us, how can we move from fear to faith? In order to answer this question, let's take a look at the story of Esther. Even though the events took place 25 centuries ago, the story of her courage points the way to a life free from fear over what might happen tomorrow.
The year was 465 .C. A man named Xerxes was king of Persia. He ruled an empire even bigger than the empire of Nebuchadnezzar. His empire spread from India in the east to Greece in the west to Africa in the south to Turkey in the north. Our story takes place in one of his capital cities. In those days the Persian Empire had four capital cities. One we've heard of --Babylon. Two we have never heard of and a fourth one called Susa. It is in Susa where our story unfolds.
Archaeologists dug up Susa about 100 years ago and found ruins of the palace spoken of in the book of Esther. Susa is in Iran. There appears a large mound, flat on top, with ruins above it. That is all that is left of Susa.
In 4465 B.C. Susa was on of the world's great cities. Darius the Mede, father of king Xerxes, built his winter palace there. Archaeologists discovered a tablet that describes how he built the cit of Susa. Darius imported cedar from Lebanon, gold from Sardis, ebony and sliver from Egypt, ivory from Ethopia. After he died, Xerxes continued the work his father began. The capital was in Babylon. Susa was the winter palace.
The king of Persia kept his harem in Susa. The harem was a group of beautiful women who were at his beck and call. They were gathered from among the most beautiful women in the empire. They had a special diet and were taught a special way of life and their calling was to please the king. He would call the women in and they would serve him and do his bidding.
In the course of time, the king became enraged at Queen Vashti and began to look for the most beautiful, most attractive, most desirable woman to make her the new queen. He looked at one after another until at last he came upon a woman whose beauty, character, form and charm was such that he was completely taken with her.
Her name was Esther. She was a Jew. She was of God's chosen people and she became the queen of Persia. She was the most important woman in the realm--a Jewish woman, queen to a Persian king.
Life was good for Esther. Esther basked in the glory of being the chief woman of the realm and the one to whom everyone else bowed down to and paid homage.
A man named Haman came in to see the king. Esther knew nothing about it because in those days the king kept his business and his women apart. Haman came in with a story the king could hardly believe. He said, "Oh king, there's a certain people in your realm who are treasonous. They do not follow your law. They do not pay homage to you. They do not respect what you have done.
We must do something about these people." As a matter of fact, the things he was saying were not true. The Jews were not treasonous. But Haman, because he was a descendant of the Amalekites, the ancient enemies of the people of God, wanted to stir up trouble against the Jews.
The king asked, "What do you propose?" Haman answered, "If you will allow, I will write a decree and have you sign it with your signet ring and we will send a decree to the kingdom. The decree will be that on a certain day all the Jews will be put to death."
Haman's idea was to kill all the Jews in the Empire on the same day. Haman neglected to tell the king he was talking about the Jews. Not that it would make much difference to a Persian King. And so the decree was signed and sealed with the signet ring and it began to go out over all the land.
Mordecai, cousin to Queen Esther was a Jew serving in the court of King Xerxes. He was involved in the business affairs of the king, a man of good character, whom the king respected. When Mordecai heard what Haman had done, which would mean that he and his relatives would be put to death, he went to the middle of the city clothed himself with sackcloth and ashes and began mourning and wailing.
Esther had not heard about Haman''s plot so when she heard Mordecai was mourning,, she sent a messenger to find out what happened. He gave the messenger a copy of the decree and said, "Go to the queen and tell her that she is the only one who can save us. If she does not act, we will die."
In Esther 4:9-11 the messenger reported to Esther what Mordecai said. Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, "Everyone knows that for anyone to approach the king in the inner court without being summoned, the king has one law: that he should be put to death."
No one could come near without an invitation. If a man rushed in to see the king and the king didn't want to see him, without a word the man would be taken out and put to death. "The only exception to this is for the king to extend the gold scepter to him and spare his life." Esther said, "thirty days have passed since I was called to the king" (4:11b) It's hard for us to understand but remember this is an ancient Near East nation. During the 30 days the king had not seen Esther. Mordecai is saying, "Esther, you've got to save us." Esther is saying, "Before you ask me to do that, you've got to understand what the risk is. If I go in there and the king doesn't want to see me, I will be put to death even though I am the queen." She was counting the personal cost.
Before we take the first step, we need to count the cost. Nobody goes to war without counting the soldiers. If we want to be Jesus' disciple, it's going to cost something.
So Esther is saying to Mordecai, understand I am taking my life in my hands. She was queen. She had a good life. She had anything she wanted. Now Mordecai is saying, "Esther, it's time for you to put it all on the line."
The messenger tells Mordecai what Esther said. Mordecai's answer is the heart of the book of Esther. Mordecai sent back this answer, "Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" (4:12-14)
He says Esther, you're queen, but underneath beats a Jewish heart. You're one of God's people. Don't think that by remaining silent you can avoid persecution. Just because you're the queen, you are not out of trouble.
We should learn from this that there is no safety in this world, not even for the rich and powerful. Riches cannot save us from the troubles of the world.
Mordecai is saying, "if you don't help us, God is able to help us from some other source, but you will be destroyed." Then he says who knows but you came to a royal position for such a time as this"
Mordecai said, "Esther, what made the king pick you? You're the queen. Do you think that was by chance? Esther, the reason your on top is because God put you there. He put you there so that at the crucial moment of history you could deliver your people.
What a way of looking at the conditions of life, a way of understanding the work of God. Esther, are you here for this one thing? All that's happened is training for this moment.
Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai "Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast just as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king. and if I perish, I perish."
Mordecai's appeal to Esther was based on a great principle. The greater the privilege the greater the responsibility. The more we have,, the more we answer for. The more God has given the greater our responsibility to use it for His Kingdom.
What does this story teach us about our own fear of the future? For one thing, we learn that there is no safety in the world. Bad things happen to good people and we learn that there are no coincidences in life. We are there because God wants us to be there. Wherever we are, God has a hand in it.
Our highest calling is to be obedient to Christ. We must do what Esther did -- fast,, pray, and seek the Lord so when the time comes we do the right thing. The choice is obedience to God, leaving the results with him.
That's the meaning of "If I perish, I perish." Those are words of faith spoken by a woman who put her life in God's hands. There is no one so free as the person not afraid to die. If we aren't afraid to die, then we are free to serve the Lord and do whatever he calls us to do.
Four truths for the New Year
As we look to the year before us, for truths encourage us'
- God is already there because He goes before his people
- God Promises to be with us no matter what happens.
- If we know the Lord, the worst thing that can happen is we go to heaven, which is the best thing that can happen.
- We have the time we need to do everything God wants us to do.
That last point is important because many of us enter the New Year feeling rushed and harried. No matter what happens, we will have the time, strength, and wisdom we need to do everything God wants us to do.
That principle should not be stretched to mean we are guaranteed to accomplish all our goals so that every dream will come true. We live in a fallen world where things break and nothing works quite right. But given that limitation, we can have confidence that God will supply all that we truly need, when we need it, so that we can do his will.
No one can say what the New Year will bring. None of us knows if we will even be here 12 months from now. But that should not alarm us. To our fears the Lord says "Fear not."
Will things get worse? Fear not.
Will I lose my health? Fear not.
Will I keep my job? Fear not.
Will my loved ones struggle? Fear not.
Will I run out of money? Fear not.
Will tragedy strike my family? Fear not.
Will others ridicule my faith? Fear not.
Will my dreams turn to ashes? Fear not.
Will I face death? Fear not.
Any of those things might happen; Indeed some of them will happen eventually. But the Lord is with us today and tomorrow. We of all people should be optimistic as we face a new year.
We have a great future because we have a great God. Take our troubles, wrap them up, and five them to the Lord. This is going to be a great year but not without troubles, heartache, difficulty, or opposition. We'll have our share of hard times, but overriding it is the promise of God who said, "I will never leave you or forsake you."
On Christmas day 1939, King George VI of England gave a radio address to hos troubled nation. England was at war with Germany. Soon all of Europe would be at war. The king offered words of encouragement. He ended his remarks by quoting a poem by Louise Haskins, "The Gate of Year."
"I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: 'Give me a light, that I may tread safely into the unknown!' and he replied: 'Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.'"
What a word for us today. No one but God knows what the future holds. Let us do as the poet suggested and place our hands in the had of God. Let us go into the future with confidence, knowing that if God goes with us, we need not fear the future. To walk with the Lord is the greatest of all joys, and it is indeed safer than a known way.
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