TOUCH THE WORLD, IMPACT ETERNITY

TEXT: Esther 4:14

TOPIC: Touch the World, Impact Eternity

Pastor Bobby Earls, First Baptist Church, Icard, July 28, 2002

BIBLE SURVIVOR SERIES, Message 36

Take your Bibles this morning and open to one of the most interesting books in the Bible, and doubtless one of the books of the Bible that most Christians have never read, the book called Esther.

Let’s stand in honor of God’s word. (Read the Scripture)

“For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Esther 4:14, NKJV

Now more is needed I know to understand the meaning of this verse. Let’s begin by understanding the historical context.

The Book of Esther was written to record God’s sovereign hand over the people Israel. It is couched in the time period between the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon in

538 B.C., and during the 70 years of captivity in Babylon and Persia. This was also the time of Ezra the Priest and Nehemiah the layman, whom God used to rebuild the wall and temple in Jerusalem.

Chapter 1 tells us that Ahasuerus or Xerxes I reigned as King over Persia at this time. Some believe that Ahasuerus and Esther were the parents of the Cyrus of Isaiah 44:28; 45:1. Xerxes reigned over a kingdom, a great empire, from India to Ethiopia.

The book tells the beautiful story of how God rescued His people Israel from annihilation by an evil man named Haman, who happened to be the Hitler of his day. It’s also interesting that the name Haman sounds a lot like “Hangman,” which is a major pun for the story.

In addition to Queen Esther, King Xerxes and Haman, there is also the story of Mordecai, Esther’s uncle who had taken her in following the captivity of the Jews.

There is one person who is not mentioned in the book of Esther, even though He is the star of the book. Try as you might, you will not find God’s name mention in Esther. Allow His name is not there, His fingerprints are all over its pages.

With the historical context in place, and with the theme of the Sovereignty of Almighty God understood, let’s go back and take another look at this chapter. But before we do, please notice the title of my message, “Touch the World, Impact Eternity.”

(Share the story of our trip to Joshua, Texas, and SWBTS. Share about our tour of President Ken Hemphill’s office and the main picture over his desk. He commissioned a artist from Dallas to paint the picture depicting the seminary’s theme under his administration, which is “Touch the World, Impact Eternity.” Share how Southwestern claims that the sun never sets on its missionary endeavors. One half of all Southern Baptist missionaries today have passed through SWBTS.

Now look at verses 1 – 9, as I explain to you THE REASON WHY WE MUST TOUCH THE WORLD AND IMPACT ETERNITY.

THE REASON WE MUST TOUCH THE WORLD AND IMPACT ETERNITY, 4:1-9

EXP. The Jews had been placed under a death threat. Trusting wicked Haman, King Xerxes had agreed to Haman’s request that Mordecai and all his race of stubborn, and monotheistic worshippers be destroyed.

There is an interesting parallel found in the book of Esther. It is a picture of God’s love for his people, of His unchanging mercy and grace, and of His divine protection over the promised seed of Abraham.

Notice some of the parallels:

The people of Israel represent all of humanity who because of sin have the penalty of death upon us. “It is appointed unto men once to die.” The wages of sin is death.

Haman represents Satan, the enemy of God’s people who would have us bow down and worship him,

Esther is like Jesus, our intercessor, our redeemer.

King Xerxes is like God who has absolute power and authority over life and death, the Sovereign Ruler of the universe.

Mordecai is like the third person of trinity, the Holy Spirit who convicts us and reminds us of our sins.

May I say to you again this morning that all the world lies still under the deadly curse of sin. “There is none righteous, no not one.”

Our sin has left us hopeless and helpless. Without the mercy of God, and His sovereign plan of redemption for us, there is no hope.

So the question today is, how have we touched our world and impacted eternity?

(Share the illustration in Lucado’s Devotional Bible, pp. 556-557 from Esther)

The Reason we must touch the world and impact eternity is that the world is hopeless and helpless, dying in sin, and going to a devil’s hell, but we can help. We have the message of redemption. We can touch the world and impact eternity.

Notice second,

THE RISK INVOLVED WHEN WE TOUCH THE WORLD AND IMPACT ETERNITY, 4:10 – 17

Esther could have been put to death. We need to remember that there had been another queen once before who disobeyed and ignored the King’s commands and disrespected his position. King Xerxes could have easily have put Esther to death.

Yet, with the gently, conviction and persuasion of Mordecai, Esther complied at great risk to her own personal safety.

What did she risk:

Her life

Her position and reputation

Her safety and security

What are you willing to risk for a world at risk? Our world is lost but doesn’t know it.

Are you willing to risk your own comfort and leisure? Are we willing to risk our riches, our security, our life, our all.

III. THE RESULTS OF TOUCHING THE WORLD AND IMPACTING ETERNITY

The Deliverance of the Jews, chapters 7 and 8

The Destruction of the enemies of God’s people, chapter 9

The Designation of a time of Celebration and Remembrance, 9:18 The Feast of Purim