Religious But Lost

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Religious But Lost

Religious But Lost

Esther 4:15  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.

God is the greatest artist there ever will be. He often used pictures to show us Who He is and to show us what happens when man does not believe in Him. He is the Creator of all things. He is the everlasting God. Lost humanity does not like these facts, but not liking them will not change them. No one can attack God successfully. It is a fact that God IS. Thus it is important for us to be sure that we know and submit to the true God.

Deuteronomy 7:6  For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
7  The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:
8  But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
9  Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
10  And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.

The nation of Israel has faced many struggles over the centuries. Those struggles have all been due to her resistance toward God Who chose them. When Abram left Ur of the Chaldees with his wife, he was tested. We have already noted that he was reluctant to leave his extended family behind. He took them with him but God did not approve of that and God separated him from them.
We are told that his wife, Sarai, was a fair woman. Abraham knew the nature of wicked men. He knew they lust after fair women. Rather than trust the God who chose him, to lead him safely to the land He promised him, Abraham chose to lie about his wife on two occasions. He also convinced Sarah to agree to his lie. God exposed Abraham for his lie. He needed to learn to trust God faithfully. We know that God did not sanction Abraham’s lie. God did not need Abraham to lie in order to bring him safely into the land He promised him. God exposed Abraham’s lie to the very people he was trying to protect himself from. Those people needed to know the true God. The true God is all powerful and when He leads someone, He provides all that is needed to accomplish His purpose for that person/people.
The nation of Israel was protected as a young nation. It was given the opportunity to grow in numbers in a hostile environment. During the 400 years that Israel was in Egypt, they grew into a large number of people. They were not warriors. They were given a parcel of land by God and they more or less kept to themselves. They were not told to intermingle with the Egyptians. They were not to intermarry with them. God elevated them to a place where the Egyptians took note of them. After the death of Joseph, a new Pharaoh took over and he did not bother to study history. He looked at this large group of people and saw them as a threat to his nation. He did not know the true God and he did not understand that Israel was only in Egypt on a temporary basis. They had a land given to them by God. They did not need Egypt. God set the bounds for all nations and Egypt was not under any threat from Israel. Rather than seek to know God, the Egyptians stubbornly stuck to their pagan gods. Israel also stubbornly chose not to exalt God in their lives. They failed to see His blessings to them.
We fast forward to the time of the exile. For several hundred years, God had protected Israel from defeat by various enemies. He had punished them due to their rebellion against Him. He raised up prophets to remind them of who they were to be and of the blessings they could know if they would know and follow God. The nation chose not to listen to the prophets. They did not want to know God. They wanted to blend in with the nations around them. They had their eyes fixed on the material aspects of life, more than the spiritual aspects of life.
At the time of the book of Esther, there were a number of Jews that had been scattered throughout the Persian empire. God had brought the Babylonians into Israel/Judah to severely punish them. God opened the gates of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar and his men. The temple was laid bare and this pagan nation was allowed to take the gold and the holy vessels out of the temple. Even the holiest place in the temple was plundered and destroyed by the Babylonians. God withdrew His blessing from that place and it became nothing more than a treasure trove of gold and silver and precious stones.
As we have noted, a few Jews, like Daniel and Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah remained faithful to the Lord even though the Babylonians took them captive. They understood their captivity was not because their God was weak. They understood their captivity was due to the sins of their own people. In Daniel chapter 9, Daniel prayed that God would forgive his people. He included himself in that prayer. He was not a self-righteous man.
Mordecai trained Esther to be a secret Jew. The Jews were to be the people of God. However, Mordecai did not want to be known for that. He just wanted to blend in with the wicked society he was living in. He trained Esther to think the same way. She was a trusting woman. Sadly, she trusted in the wrong person.
In our text we read that Esther was willing to continue to trust in Mordecai’s counsel. She would prepare herself for an unplanned meeting with the king, who was supposed to be her husband, according to Persian law. Esther called for a fast for herself and her maidens and she also called on Mordecai and the Jews in Sushan to fast for three days and three nights.
God had long ago taught the nation of Israel the importance of a true Biblical fast. A true Biblical fast was always centred in God. It was designed to help those who would fast, to draw nigh to God. Rather than look for food as the stomach and mind would tell the person they were hungry, those hunger pangs were to be directed to seeking the Lord.
Esther did not know the Lord. She knew about fasting, but she did not know the true purpose of fasting. Keep in mind that God was using Mordecai and Esther to paint a picture of how not to live. He was also painting a picture of Himself as LORD. His name is never mentioned in the book of Esther. Those who are saved, can clearly see how He worked behind the scenes to protect His character. How could anyone trust in the God Who promised Abram/Abxraham that his seed would last into eternity, if Abraham’s descendants were destroyed? How could we trust in God for salvation, if He is not capable of keeping His promises. If God can be overpowered, then He is not the Almighty God.
Esther and Mordecai were in a desperate place. It was a place they had put themselves in because they wanted to live secretly.
Esther had no assurance that her plan would work. Mordecai had convinced her that she was the hope of the Jews. He did say that if Esther would not do as he told her to, that somehow, someone else would be the deliverer of his people. He did not believe that this situation was beyond human power to solve.
The nation of Israel today, still does not believe their problem is beyond a human solution. They just need a “president Trump” or someone like that to fix their problem. That is why the nation of Israel will fall for the antichrist. They know there is a Messiah coming. They have a fictitious idea of the messiah. They will embrace the man of sin as their supposed messiah. Mr. Trump is a good picture of that man of sin. He has not made a secret of his sinful nature. The courts have helped to put a spotlight on his sinful nature. Not all the accusations against him are true, but enough of them are. He is not the Saviour of the U.S. nor of Israel. He likes to boast. He has gained some respect in Columbia and will do so elsewhere. He has also endorsed gambling and drunkenness, along with promiscuity.
I do believe God put him in his current position. God did that for His own purposes. It is a warning to those who are born again, not to look to man for our help. We need to know the true God and trust in Him. He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Since that is true, those few who are born again Christians can stand upon the sure Word of God and we can spread that Word to our neighbours and others. We can be part of a good, local church that proclaims the truth. We still have an open door to meet publicly.
I spoke with a man recently who wants to see a church established in his area. He has some understanding of the Bible issue, but He is not convinced that the King James version is the absolute Word of God. He is willing to tolerate perversions and New Evangelical philosophy. If he is instrumental in seeing a church started in his area, it will be just another variety of a New Evangelical social club. It will accept the Emergent church philosophy and it might even be somewhat successful, numbers wise. It will be a failure before God.
The devil does not mind religious activity as long as it does not exalt God. God is not pleased with compromised religion. He has proved Himself to be well able to accomplish all of His promises. It is essential for His children to stand upon the truth and not apologize for It. Our world does not need phoney Christianity. It needs real Christians who will exalt the true God.
In our text, chapter 4 ends with the Jews in a very precarious place. They put themselves in that place. God would protect them in spite of their rebellion, not because of their rebellion. They faced challenges that could have been avoided, had they chosen to know and serve Him.
God has chosen true local churches to be His vehicle to make His name known in the New Testament era. We can be true to Him and we can be a light in this dark world. If we choose not to exalt Him, He will still work. His name will still be known. We will miss out on blessings, but He will be exalted. God’s clock is ticking. Things are steadily moving toward the trumpet sound. Are we listening?
Pastor Bartel

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