"If Not Now, Then When?" My Speech to the True Deliverance Ministries Conference

If Not Now, Then When?

The verse for this conference focuses on Esther, the Jewess
who was favored and called to be Queen of Persia and to save her people from
the evil Haman.

Here’s the verse:

“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?”

Esther had standing, she had favor, but until this point,
she really didn’t know it.

I think this problem plagues the Body of Christ in
particular and pro-family activists in general.

There’s a lack of boldness, there’s an obsession with
obeying rules that have been laid out unfairly, unjustly, unconstitutionally.

Church people are not bold. They are not speaking out. They
are afraid to be perceived as mean, they want to seem “loving” at all costs
when fighting against the LGBT Agenda. Militant homosexuality and transgenderism
is destroying our country and our culture, and the promoters of this bigotry
have been very clear about their intentions. They sound a lot like Haman, don’t
they?

Now we must not be “utterly silent”. The word Mordecai says
to Esther in Hebrew conveys a sense of complete silence. This is wrong. Someone
will rise up, sure, but we will see churches that say nothing – never be able
to say anything ever again.

We need to stand up
to this abusive LGBT Agenda!

Now, the question arises. Why don’t we see churches, why
don’t we see pro-family activists speaking out? It’s not for a lack of learning
techniques and strategies, I believe.

They lack boldness, they still fear the reproach of men, and
in my view the Body of Christ today still does not understand all that Jesus
has accomplished for us at the Cross. They are not established in
righteousness—God’s righteousness.

Consider what Isaiah the prophet outlined for us:

“In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be
far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not
come near thee.” (Isaiah 54:14)

That word “oppression” represents political tyranny. Indeed,
Jesus died on the Cross to free us from Satan’s power. He gave us His life, his
standing, his grace. He also freed us from political tyranny!

Jesus did not die on the Cross for you and me to sit in the
back of the bus! He died, rose again, and was seated at the Father’s right
hand. Did you know that God the Father seated us in Christ, too? Read Ephesians
2 and Colossians 3.

We are now kings and priests, a ROYAL priesthood! We have
come to the kingdom, just as Esther was royalty!

But what’s lacking still? Why aren’t we acting like it? We
don’t know the favor that we have. Look at what Esther did when she came before
the king without his invitation:

"1Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on
her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king's house, over
against the king's house: and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal
house, over against the gate of the house. 2And it was so, when the king saw
Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight:
and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So
Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre.” (Esther 5:1-2)

Notice that she obtained favor, and she touched the top of
the scepter.

Gold represents righteousness—God’s righteousness. Touch the
top of the scepter represents the revelation that wherever we go, His
righteousness covers us, protects us.

This righteousness is a gift that we are invited to
receive—and keep receiving!

“For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more
they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall
reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:17)

Notice that as we receive – and keep receiving—that
abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness, we REIGN in life? We are
indeed kings, we are royalty, and we have been called to such a time as this!

Now Esther was afraid, because she had not received a
command to appear before the King.

But we today, because we are in Christ, don’t have to wonder
if we have his favor.

Paul exhorts us:

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that
we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)

We have no reason to slink away from the fight!

“But wait! Didn’t Jesus say ‘turn the other cheek’?

The Sermon on the Mount is a full testimony of God’s
righteousness. No one can keep it. Especially that leper whom Jesus healed when
he came down the mountain.

If we were to follow the Sermon on the Mount, we would have
churches filled with the maimed and blind. Did Jesus not say “Cut off your hand
if it offends you? Pluck out your eye if it offends you?”

No. Jesus was not giving us commands on how to live. He
demonstrated that we cannot live the God kind of life that we are called to.

Jesus would take the hits on the cheek. Isaiah prophesied:

(I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that
plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.” (Isaiah 50:6)

Jesus bore our burdens and then some, going two miles when
asked to go one. Jesus turned the other cheek for us, so that we in turn do not
have to.

We need to stop turning our cheeks, folks. We need to start
turning over tables. We need to give up being “The Church of Nice” and Embrace
our righteousness, kingly calling to reign in this life, and to overcome all
this evil.

We are not called to suffer as Jesus did. If you think
about, that’s pretty offensive. None of us can suffer as He did:

“He became sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him”

We were bankrupt, with nothing, dead in our trespasses.
There is nothing that we can bring to God to make us worthy. God brought
Himself to us through His Son.

No, we are not called to be lambs to the slaughter, to
suffer with dignity, to lose beautifully.

Paul even rebukes this idea:

“36As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day
long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

“37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him that loved us.” (Romans 8:36-37)

Notice that part “NO! We are more than conquerors,
hyper-victors, through Him who loved us!”

It’s time to start acting that way. It’s time for us to be
established in His righteousness, not our own, and with that, we will see the
Body of Christ rise up:

“The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are
bold as a lion.” (Proverbs 28:1)

And

“No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and
every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This
is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me,
saith the LORD.” (Isaiah 54:17)

We don’t need concerned parents—we need angry parents. We
don’t need concerned Christians. We need to be like Paul and withstand this
evil to its face. We need to confront, exhort, and admonish, and reject the
shame and reproach of men.

Do we not believe God’s promise, that no weapon formed
against us shall prosper? Did you not see how Esther risked her life, and not
only was she spared, but she saved many other lives, too?

So the question comes back: If not you, then who? If not
now, then when?