- I'm Greg Laurie in Jerusalem, Israel. I just heard the news that Billy Graham has gone on to Heaven at the age of 99. It was my privilege to get to know Billy. About 30 years ago I met him and then about five years after that I began to be closer to him as a friend. He asked me serve in
his board of directors, I still serve as a board member for the Billy Graham
Evangelistic Association. And also as he was coming to the end of his crusade ministry,
as he was getting older, I was just starting our crusade ministry, and he asked me to help him with illustrations for his messages. And what a privilege
and an honor that was, to spend time with him. And people will ask, well
what was Billy really like? You know, there were
not two Billy Grahams, there was one Billy Graham. He was the same privately
as he was publicly. In fact, in many ways, he was even more impressive privately, because when you saw the real guy, you saw a genuine humility. In the pulpit, he was without peer, bold as a lion and preaching the gospel with fervor and passion. But privately, I have to say, Billy Graham was the most
Godly man I've ever met. When you would sit down with him, instead of talking about
himself as many like to do, Billy would ask you about yourself, and he would actually listen, and wanted to hear what you had to say. He was a very gentle
person, a very kind person. And just a great joy to spend time with. I remember one time I was
with him in Portland, Oregon, where he had just preached
and he left the stage and we were making our way to the car, I was going back to the hotel with him, and people were lined up on each side just in awe of this man of God, and he was that of course. And Billy just walked through, and we got in the car
and we're driving out, and Billy's in the backseat
next to his son Franklin, and his long time friend and aide, T.W. Wilson, was driving
and I was riding shotgun. So I wanted to compliment
Billy on his sermon, and I turned around and I said, "Billy that was a great message tonight." And he looked at me with
those steely blue eyes and he said, "It's just gospel." And I turned back around,
and thought well I knew that, but I was trying to compliment him, and then I turned back around and I said, "Well I loved your point about Jesus "re-sensitizing your conscience." And then he said, "Well he can." Here's what I learned, you couldn't put a compliment on him, it was like water off a duck's back. He didn't want to hear that. And he went back to his hotel and just wanted to hang out with friends and just be a normal person,
and he was a normal person. When you would have lunch with him, people would approach
him, he was very kind, he would stop, he would talk with them, ask 'em about themselves. He was just a wonderful man. And in many ways it's the end of an era. What a role he played. I mean not only was he
America's evangelist, and in many ways the
spiritual leader of America. Certainly the public face
of evangelicalism for years. But he was also a chaplain,
a pastor to presidents, going all the way back to Harry Truman, and every president, from Harry Truman on, had a relationship with him. Dwight Eisenhower and JFK, and Johnson, President Johnson was a
good friend of Billy Graham, as was President Kennedy before that, and then, of course, President Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton. I know I have them out of order, but they were all close to Billy. Barack Obama went and
visited Billy in his home. George Bush Sr. and George W.
Bush were friends of Billy. In fact George W. Bush tells the story of how he made a recommitment
to Christ talking to Billy. And of course, our current
president, Donald Trump, also was a friend of Billy Graham. I was with the president,
before he was the president, for Billy's 95th birthday, and he was there in
attendance with his wife, our first lady. I mean who else has had this kind of influence with presidents. And then there were other world leaders, like the Queen of England was profoundly impacted by
Billy's preaching there, as he held his great crusades in the UK. And then many other
world leaders. (chuckles) I remember I'd sit in his house, and I'd open up a book and
it was signed by Golda Meir. I'm here in Israel, she
was the Prime Minister, and I said, "Billy, you knew Golda Meir?" Yes, he knew her. Muhammad Ali came to visit him. It was unbelievable, so many people. And of course, I left out Ronald Reagan, which is a huge omission. President Reagan had a deep
respect for Billy Graham, and they were very close. And he would pray with these presidents, and tell them the truth from scripture. What a wonderful man of God he was. And he leaves an incredible legacy. And I just hope that we
all are inspired to walk with Jesus as closely as he did. You know the Apostle
Paul said that he wanted to finish his race with
joy, and Billy did that. In his later years, back in his home in Montreat, North Carolina,
that I visited a few times, it's a very humble home. Some of the cushions are threadbare, but it was a well lived
in home that he shared, of course, with his beloved wife, Ruth, who went to Heaven a number of years ago. They were so close. And I don't think he ever completely got over that of course. But Billy spent his later years there, and he would still pray, and, you know, he was struggling, I
mean he's 99 years old, but strong in his faith to the very end. And I'm just so thankful
that I had the privilege of knowing him, and I know
that I'll see him again. And, you know, one time I
asked Billy, in his home, when we were having lunch, I said, "Billy if an older
Billy Graham could speak "to a younger Billy Graham,
what would you say to yourself? "What would you tell a
younger you to speak on more?" And he said, "I would
speak more on the cross "than the blood of Christ," he says, "because that's
where the power is." It's a good thing to remember. And the best tribute any
person to pay to Billy Graham is to believe in Jesus, 'cause that was his passion. That was the gospel he
preached all around the world, and he lived a life that matched it. And so we say thank God for his legacy, and thank God for the great
impact, he didn't just have on the United States
but on the whole planet. And so, I'm gonna write
a little bit about him on my Facebook page and my Instagram page, and just share more things that I learned spending time with him. And we can thank God we had
such a wonderful representative of the Christian faith. God bless Billy Graham. (audience applauding) - Amen. Pastor Greg recorded that yesterday. America's pastor, right? What an incredible man,
what an incredible legacy. And I was even in the
coffee shop this morning, and saw that USA Today, I mean he's on every
cover of every newspaper, and I saw that USA Today
tomorrow is gonna print a 40 page tribute to Billy Graham. I thought that would be
really cool to look at. But now he is face to face with the Jesus that he so relentlessly taught and served all of his days. What a glorious reunion
that must have been, amen? (audience applauding) Well welcome, welcome
to Virtue Open House. How many of you are visiting today, you came with a friend,
or you're visiting, you're not plugged in any group. (audience applauding)
Awesome. Welcome, quite a few of you. Welcome to each of you have
your hands raised, welcome. We are so glad that you
accepted an invitation today by a friend or someone you know, or maybe you responded to an announcement that you heard at church, or
maybe even a social media post that you saw somewhere, whatever it was, we are so glad that you are here, that you're joining us today. This is Virtue Bible Study. And this is a place
where we give precedence to studying God's word, the Bible, what it has to say, and we do it together. Before we go any further this morning, let's go ahead and open
up in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we come before you now and we thank you so much for this place that you have provided for us, to come and to worship you
and to hear from your word and to fellowship with one another. Lord, we are so thankful for it. And Lord this morning we
ask that through your word, you would teach us, Lord, as we dig into this book of Esther. We pray that you would teach
us, we thank you for it. And Lord we also take this time
to lift up the Graham family as they are processing
and mourning the loss of Billy Graham, Lord we know that they are with joy that he is with
you, face to face with you, and with his wife. Oh, Lord what a glorious
reunion you two must have had, and we are anxious to be there as well. So, we pray for his family. We pray that you would comfort
them and strengthen them. And, Lord we just commit
this morning to you in Jesus name, amen. All right. Well for those of you
who are new this morning, we welcome you, my name is Tiffany, and I'm the Director of
the Women's Ministry here, under Kathy Laurie, Pastor Greg's wife. She's the Founder and
Executive Director of Virtue, and she wishes that she could
be here this morning with you. She was texting us this morning saying, I wish I could be there, but she actually just flew in from Israel. She went with a group
of friends and pastors, and they were invited by the
Israeli Bureau of Tourism, and she has assured me that
she's going to come back with some really special
stories to share with us. They've experienced some
things that they have never had the opportunity to experience on their trips to Israel in the past. So, we are looking forward to that, and we miss her today but she
sends her love to each of you. My husband is Gabe, and
he is the newest pastor here at Harvest, which is exciting for us. (audience applauding)
Thank you. We have two little ones, I have
a little boy Milo who's two, and I have a daughter, Paisley who's four. And isn't it interesting for
those of you that have kids or nieces and nephews or grandkids, isn't it interesting how
you begin to see your kids' personalities at such a young age, right? Even, it's almost like from the moment that you give birth to
them, you can see glimpses of their temperaments
or their personalities. So, my two year old,
Milo, he's pretty mellow, he's kind of a
go-with-the-flow type of boy, you know, tell me what
to do and I'll do it, tell me when to sleep and I'll sleep, and I'll eat when you want me to eat. He's kinda that type of
boy, for now, he's only two. And Paisley, my four year old, she is sweet, she is sensitive,
she is smart, she is tender, she is confidant, and she
is as stubborn as they come. She is a feeler of everything. And she's four and she's a little girl, so please somebody tell me
that I'm not the only one that has a four-year-old little
one that feels everything, but in the wise words of country
music artist Brad Paisley, she's a fighter when she's mad, and she's a lover when she's loving. All that to say, I remember a time, I may have shared this with you before. I remember a time a couple years ago, when we had just had
a rough go at the day. And we were just kind of both,
kind of at our wit's end, and I was getting ready
to kind of get on Paisley, kind of discipline her, and
I'm standing in front of her, and I look down, and start to talk, and then she's wearing this purple shirt, and I bought the shirt. And on the front of it in bold writing it says, "I'm still learning." And, in that moment, she had no idea what her shirt said, but in that moment she was thankful for it. Because instead of continuing on with what I was going to do, I bent down and I grabbed Paisley in a big bear hug, and I said, "Me too baby, me too." And she's just like, whatever
that means, but thank you. But, in that moment, and ever since then, the Lord has used that to remind me that we are all still learning. One of the girls from Orange
County texted me last night, and she said, "I'm with a
couple of the Virtue girls "at coffee and we think we
should make Virtue shirts "that say I'm still learning." I said, "Agreed. "I would be the first to wear one." But that word learn is important. That word learn, it signifies a process. And that's a process that
we engage here at Virtue, learning from the word of
God, week in and week out. It's a process, we will
forever be learning in the spaces and places that God has us, has called us to, this side of Heaven. You know, in the Bible,
in the New Testament, one of the only, if not the
only, autobiographical statement that Jesus ever made is in
Matthew Chapter 11, verses 28 and 29, when he says, "Come
to me all you who labor "and are heavy laden, and
I will give you rest". He says, "Take my yoke upon you", and he says, "and learn from me, "for I am gentle and lowly in heart, "and you will find rest for your souls." In those verses, Jesus is telling him, he's telling him, telling
us, to learn from him. And as we continue to
learn more about Jesus, who he was, and who he
is and what he loved and what broke his heart, we are going to continue
to find that deeper rest, that peace for our souls that
we are all searching for, that our world is searching for. And it's evident that there's
a whole lot of searching going on in our world today, isn't it? And the more we get to know God, the more we get to see
that we can trust him, because we get to see his
goodness and his faithfulness towards us all throughout his word. Warren Wiersbe said, and
I love this, he said, "Life is simplified and unified "around the person of Christ". Simplicity and unity. "Life is simplified and unified "around the person of Christ", and we get to know the person
of Christ through his word. You know it's no secret that to you, or there's no secret to you or to me today that in this day, as each day passes, our culture is aggressively pushing out Judeo-Christian beliefs. Pushing out biblical
standards and principles and morals and values, in which God has designed us to live by for our good and our protection. It's crazy out there. Just watch one day of the
news and you'll see it. It's no secret that we're daily losing to materialism and secularism,
and this moral relativism, this idea that we're going to
give into the lie that there's no absolute standard for what
is right and what is wrong. In fact, today the motto is
you make your own standard. We live in a day that we
wear shirts and post things and see on Pinterest, and
coffee mugs, follow your heart, have an open mind, the power
is yours, it's all about me. If I feel something, it must be true. We've become this society that's become unfortunately indifferent and apathetic to the word of God and the things of God. We have lost our conscience. We live in a day that we
know is pushing out prayer and the Bible, and the very
history that our country was founded on, the principles of God. And our culture's moral compass
and Christian conscience, and ethics and integrity
are systematically and progressively being
phased out piece by piece, and all at the same time,
both at the same time. And so many women, Christian women, and non-Christian women
alike, we are allowing the culture, and media, and society to dictate and to train us in
what it means to be a woman. And what it means to be a young woman, and what it means to be simply a girl. And what it means to be an old woman, a relevant woman, a strong woman, an influential woman, a wife, a mom, and that's a frightening thought. Because if we're not
receiving our standards and our principles and
our morals and values from the word of God,
where are they coming from? The media, talk shows, blogs, magazines, social media, the lives of celebrities that we catch glimpses of
on Instagram or reality TV? These things in and of
themselves, they're not all bad, but when they become the primary
source of our perspective, when they become the primary
source of our information or our insight and what
we apply to our lives, something is missing, something is wrong. And it's clear it's wrong
because these things that have become the standard in that, divorce rates are up,
suicide rates are up, depression rates, anxiety,
all of it, rocket high. And ladies we are here to tell you, I am here to tell you the
word of God, most importantly, tells you that God has
such a better plan for us. Such a better plan. (audience applauding) And in order for us to live the way that God has called us
and intended us to live, we have to be women
who learn what that is, and what that looks like. We have to learn about who Jesus is and what he says by being in his word. Here at Virtue, we have seen
God's goodness in his word and through his word, and
we invite you here today, and we are all here today
because we don't want a single woman to miss it. We are here to talk
about God's word together and hopefully give you the encouragement and also the tools that you
need to study it for yourself to study it for ourselves. And through this, let me tell you some really special things happen in the connections that
you make with each other, in the fellowship with each
other, in your small groups, out on the patio, as
you're walking to group, let me tell you, some really
awesome things happen. This study is not a book study, though there is a place for that. This is a place where we
study the book, the Bible, because we believe it's essential. We believe that every part of scripture, everything in this book is God breathed, we believe it's useful, one way another for showing us truth, for
exposing our rebellion, for correcting our
mistakes, for training us to live the way God has called us to live. We believe that it's through God's word that we are put together and shaped up for the tasks that God has for us. That's the message
translation of 2 Timothy 3:16. We believe what the Psalmist
says in Psalm 119:105, that God's word is a lamp for our feet and a light onto our path. We believe what the
Psalmist says in Psalm 119:9 that in order to live a life of purity, that we need to take heed
according to the word of God. We believe it's essential
to study God's word here, also because God tells
us to study his word. In Joshua 1:8, God tells
us that we shall meditate on God's word, day and night,
so that we can be careful to do all that is, that
we can do according to all that is in it. We believe what Jesus
tells in Matthew 4:4, that man shall no live on bread alone. That food alone is not our
only source of substance, but our primary source of
substance is by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, that's God word. We believe it's important
to learn the word of God, because Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 2:16 to do our best to
present ourselves to God. A workman who need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth, that means to go in and
know what things are true and what things are not true that our culture is throwing at us, and against what the Bible has to say. We believe that the
Bible is alive and living and guess what, contrary
to what liberal host TV show host Joy Behar has to say, we stand with Vice President Pence, and we believe that the
word of God is alive and it's living and it speaks to us. (audience applauding) We believe that the account of God, we believe in the account
of God's word from Genesis to Revelation, precept upon
precept, line upon line. We believe that the word of
God is fully trustworthy. As our final and sufficient
authority for all of life, and that's an excerpt from
Harvest's Statement of Faith. We study the word of God because
we want to learn from it. And if you're visiting us today, or even if you're not, it's a good, I mean even if you're not new, you're all obviously here. We just finished the book of Nehemiah, so it's a great time
to be here this morning because we finished the book of Nehemiah which was so impactful and
encouraging to us as a body and us as individuals, but
now we're going to be starting a brand new book, the book of Esther. And today is just the
introduction to Esther, and I am gonna try with everything I have to not jump the gun on
teaching chapter one, any of the chapters, and
this is just an overview, I've told myself that 100 times, this is just an overview,
and I look forward to digging with you next
week into chapter one. So let's talk about Esther for a moment. You know, there are only two
books in the entire Bible named after a woman, one is
Esther and the other is Ruth. And we're not told
exactly who wrote Esther, but it's pretty telling that
whoever it was was Jewish and also someone who had
intel on what was happening in the Persian Court. Someone who had access
to detailed information. Just saying those words
reminds me of Fox News this last week, but, the Book of Esther
recounts a story of a girl, a beautiful, young, orphan girl. An unspecified Jewish girl
who rose from obscurity to royalty. The story of Esther
takes place back in Susa, one of the Persian capitals during the reign of King Ahasuerus, better know by his Greek
name of King Xerxes, and I'm gonna call him
King Xerxes this morning because that Persian
name, I get stuck on it. But, the timeline is
especially interesting in this Book of Esther,
because it's the story of action and passion and
power and deceit and egoism and politics and anger and greed, it all takes place after the temple was built under Zerubbabel, and before the walls were
completed under Nehemiah. So the Book of Esther isn't necessarily in chronological order
in the books of the Bible that these three books,
Ezrah, Nehemiah, and Esther, they're referred to as the
books of history in the Bible, and if it were to take place
in chronological order, it would happen, actually, in between chapter six and seven of Ezra, after the return that Zerubbabel
lead back to Jerusalem, and before Ezra took his group. You see, when Israel was taken
into captivity in Babylon, and then they were released, remember, there was a decree given by
Cyrus, and they were released, we talked about that in Nehemiah. We know that there were many
that returned with Zerubbabel, and there were many
that returned with Ezra to their destroyed homeland,
they began to rebuild. And we talked about
that a lot in Nehemiah, but what we didn't talk a
lot about was the fact that most of the Jews that
were taken into exile, they actually did not pack
up and go back to Jerusalem, they actually stayed
there, in this pagan land. You know, by this time,
they would've had children, and probably grandchildren, and the initial generation,
they should've gone back, that was the place that God
has chosen for them to live, but after being in
captivity for so many years, at this point, the treatment
that they were receiving, it wasn't horrible. They had become accustomed
to the new normal there, and really we all know that, we all know how much
everyone loves moving, right? So this story of Esther,
which was her Persian name, her Jewish name was Haddasah, and I always have loved that name. A story of Esther, the story of Mordecai, which was her older cousin,
who was a good and Godly man, and he actually cared for
Esther since she was an orphan. This story of King Xerxes, his wife, Vashti the Queen, the story of man named Haman, who was a power loving, bitter man, who was unfortunately given a significant amount of authority in Susa. This story is a story of
God's divine providence. It is the record of God's
providence for his people, even though, they had chosen
to not go back to Jerusalem. And what's interesting,
and what's intriguing about this Book of Esther
is that God himself is not mentioned anywhere in this
book, not once, not in any form. But, still, this is
fully a story about God. We see his sovereignty, which is God's supreme authority and power,
we see his faithfulness, which his constant, staunch, steadfast and firm loyalty to Jerusalem. We see his hand in every
detail that takes place in Jerusalem, and on this Earth, whether we recognize it, whether we notice it or see it or not. Matthew Henry said, "If
God's name isn't here, "his fingers are." So here are the Cliff Notes version, here's the Cliff Notes
version, a preview if you will, of the story of Esther. So here's Esther, this young, Jewish girl, who lived in Persian, which
is now modern day Iran, and her parents had died, so
her older cousin Mordecai adopted her and raised her. And Mordecai was a Godly man. And one day, the King, King Xerxes, he threw this huge party, this huge party which
lasted days upon days, and on the final day of the party, the King wanted to show and
impress all of his guests and his friends, he
wanted to impress them, by showing them his wife,
Vashti, she was beautiful. So on the final day of the
party, he called for his wife, and much to his surprise, much to all of the guests' surprise, his wife refused to come. Queen Vashti refused to
come, and this was huge, the king was furious at this. That she had denied him, so he removed Queen Vashti
from her royal position, and he actually banished her
from his presence forever. So now, naturally, the king
needed a new queen, right? So, in efforts to find this new queen, he did what every man would do. He hosted a lavish royal beauty pageant, (audience laughs) that also lasted days upon days. And women all across the Persian empire were gathered together. So Esther, this young, beautiful, unknowingly Jewish girl, was gathered, with many other young, beautiful women, and she was taken into the palace. And I can guarantee that
the competition was fierce. Esther probably felt super inadequate. But, out of all of the women
that the king reviewed, Esther was chosen by the king. Esther was chosen ultimately
by God for the throne. And Mordecai, her cousin,
he was a minor official in the Persian government, and he was outside of the gate one day, outside of the palace, and
he overheard a couple of men talking about how they were plotting to assassinate King Xerxes, and so right away he sent word
to his younger cousin Esther, and he said, Esther, you have
to notify the king right now of this plot of him being assassinated. So she reported the plot to King Xerxes, and she gave credit in that to Mordecai, and the plot was thwarted, and
Mordecai's act of kindness, his honesty, was then preserved in what's called the
Chronicles of the King, which is a sign of God's
providence as well, which we are gonna learn
more about in later weeks. But then there was the
King's right hand man, Haman, and Haman I mentioned he
was a wicked, prideful man, who would, worked in the palace, so everyday he would walk by the gate, and because of who he was,
because of his position, people would bow to him, but as he walked through the
gate, Mordecai refused to bow. Mordecai was a God fearing man, and this upset Haman, so dramatically, he was angry that Mordecai never bowed, so he devised this plan
to have Mordecai hung, and even further than that, he devised a plan to have
every Jew in Persia killed. And Haman brought this plot to the king, and somehow the king bought into it and he agreed to annihilate
the Jewish people. And he agreed to hang
Mordecai on the specific day that Haman had requested. Meanwhile, again, Mordecai at the gates, hears of this plan to assassinate,
to annihilate the Jews, and he shared it with
Esther, he called Esther, and he challenged Esther
with those famous words that most of us are familiar with, Esther 4:14, Esther, for if
you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews
from yet another place. But you and your father's
house will perish, yet who knows Esther, whether
you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this. Let me tell you to read
those words and not dig in is so hard, but it going to be, gives us something to look forward to, it's so packed with goodness. But, ultimately, Esther received
Mordecai's encouragement, and she agreed to go before the king, which was huge, it was dangerous. At that time, you couldn't
just go before the king, even if the king was your husband, you really had to be
summoned to some degree. But before Esther decided
to go to the king, she told the Jewish
people by way of Mordecai, she said, "Gather the Jewish
people together and pray "and fast for me." And then risking her
life, brave young Esther approached the king with a plan. And it's interesting, Esther
didn't just jump right in, and I know what I would I would do, you know, the door's open, and I'm like Haman wants to kill the Jews! (audience laughing) But she had a different plan. She actually invited the
king and Haman to a party where she would eventually tell them that she herself was Jewish,
which they did not know, and then she would reveal to them Haman's plot to kill the Jews. And when the King heard this plot, especially after hearing
that Esther was Jewish, he was furious and he actually
ordered Haman to be hung on the very same gallows that Haman had built to have Mordecai hung on. Talk about providence. And then Mordecai was
promoted to Haman's position, and the Jews were granted
protection throughout the land. Their lives were spared,
their lives were delivered. And the people celebrated
God's tremendous deliverance on their behalf and they celebrated with this festival called Purim. And it was instituted then, and it is still being celebrated today. In the Jewish culture at
this celebration of Purim, they actually read the Book of Esther, they read it in the evening and
they read it in the morning. And every time the name Haman is spoken they all boo you know, ahhh Haman. But Purim is one of the most widely celebrated festivals in Israel. Purim in Israel is embraced
by really, the whole country. The remembering and
celebrating their deliverance. And actually this year,
we're embarking upon Purim. It's February 28th through March first, so it's coming up here. I mentioned that Esther is
a book of God's providence and his faithfulness. That word providence,
it's a theological term, theological word used to
describe a biblical truth. Something like trinity or
rapture or incarnation. Those words are not necessarily
in scripture themselves, but the truth of what they
are is painted on every page. That biblical truth, providence, it's the way the God
is directing the world. He is moving it into tomorrow. He is moving it into the
future by his providence. I thought this quote was so cool, it says, "Providence
connects the unseen God "with the visible creation
and the visible creation "with the work of redemption "and redemption with personal salvation "and personal salvation
with the end of all things. "Providence means that the
hand of God is in the glove "of human events." Providence means that God
is working our daily lives, not just big picture,
but in our daily lives. Providence means to provide. God has provided, he
will continue to provide. J. Vernon McGee said
in a message on Esther, he said, "Providence is the unseen rudder "on the ship of state. "God is the pilot at the
wheel during the night watch. "As someone has said, he
makes great doors swing "on little hinges." This truth of God's providence is painted all throughout Scripture
and in our lives today. Remember Moses, the
story of Moses as a baby? God brought together a little baby's cry and a woman's heart down by the Nile River in the same place at the
river when Pharaoh's daughter went to bath there. The Lord made it so Moses let out a cry. And that cry reached
the heart of a princess. And God used it to change
the destiny of a people. That is God's Providence. That was the hand of God. C.H. Spurgeon said, "The
keys of providence swing "on the girdle of Christ. "Believe it, Christian,
nothing occurs here "without the permit or the
decree of your savior." That is providence. So what does that mean for us? Well, you know, it's a popular belief that after God created the world he simply just left it to its own devices and now he just kinda sits back and watches it all play out. This would be the belief that
some have similar to fate. Others believe that God
has so rigidly determined all that is to happen in this world that what we do in this life,
it doesn't really matter. But neither of those
beliefs are absolutely true. And God makes that clear
all throughout his word. All throughout scripture Jesus teaches, the Bible teaches both
the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. There's a balance there. Divine providence is
taught in Romans 8:28, this is in your lesson
that you have today. It says, We know that
all things, God works, in all things God works
for the good of those who love him and who have
been called according to his purpose. All things means all things. God is never out of control. In the tough things that
we don't understand, in our own lives or the things that we see going on in the world today. We may not be able to see it yet, but we know that God
allows things to happen for a reason, and we know that God has a good plan, and that
he is actively moving in our daily lives. The doctrine of divine providence can be summarized this way, God in his eternity past, before time, in the counsel of his own
will, ordained everything that will happen, but in
no sense is God the author of sin, nor is human
responsibility removed. There's a balance there. You may not see it, you may not feel it, you may be thinking God,
what are you doing here? God what are you doing in my life? Where is your hand in this? Lord, why are you being quiet Lord? I wanna encourage you this morning, if you're in a season like that, and you feel like Lord, I
don't see your hand in this, I wanna encourage you, keep going. Keep doing the next thing. Keep putting one foot
in front of the other, keep moving with obedience
that you know that God has called you to. This book is a book
about divine providence and we will continue to see that. But this book is also a story
about a girl named Esther. It was a critical time
for God's people then, and you know what? It is a critical time
for God's people now. Politically, socially, spiritually. You know, if in Esther's day Haman's plot wasn't addressed, it
would have spelled out complete destruction for the
Jews, complete annihilation. But in God's providence, it was. And in the same way, in
our world today there are all sorts of evil agendas
swooping in on our generation that the enemy is aiming to use to bring about destruction on Christians, on Israel, on the United
States, in the world. And sadly so many of us are just, we just wanna be comfortable. We just wanna be safe. We wanna enjoy living
in the king's palace. Kind of just accessing
for our own benefits this royal inheritance,
this royal heritage that we've received. However, on the other hand, there are many Esther like men and women
who feel the rightful weight of responsibility. Who know and sense the
purpose of their calling. Men and women who are eager to rise up and willing to fight the good fight. And those are the people
we want to identify with. We wanna identify with
Esther and Mordecai, and Billy Graham. Esther was the primary catalyst for change and rescue in her day
and God knows that there are some of us, hopefully
all of us in this room who would stand up and
be willing to be used as a primary catalyst
for revival and spiritual awakening in our day. In our home, in our
families, in our school, in our government, in
whatever sphere of influence that God has called you to,
for such a time as this. Kathy this week, in her blog post wrote, "What if we truly believe
that God has put us "where we are, in that
family, in that neighborhood, "in that school, in that
cubicle for such a time as this? "To live our lives for others. "What we do is important. "Even the small things,
when we do it for others "with great love. "If only we could see
the underside of our life "we could see God in it, even
in the tiniest of details. "Like running to FedEx," she writes, "on an errand for your
absent minded mother-in-law "when you already have
a zillion things to do. "Or sitting in a hotel room at five a.m. "writing a blog post
about making a difference "right where you are. "Seriously, if we could only
see God in all the details, "we would relax and smile at our future. "Like Esther we are living inside the gate "with God's loving hand upon us. "So let's walk boldly," she says, "From the most minor
details to the enormous, "at times overwhelming,
situations God has us right "here, right where we are,
for such a time as this." Kathy. You know, Esther was virtuous. Esther was a woman of virtue. Esther was willing, she
was willing to leave her comfort zone and step out. Esther was wise in many ways. Esther had a mentor, she had
Mordecai who was standing in the shadow, someone how
held the torch high for her. Esther was a leader. She understood the big picture. She mobilized a team of
people to do the work that God had called her to do. Esther was willing to take a risk. And at one point she said,
if I perish, I perish. She laid her life on the line. And God is searching for those of us who are willing to risk it all in order to fulfill the purposes that
he has for each one of us. In order to thwart the enemy's plans and in order to see the
full potential awakened. Most importantly Esther
was a part of a plan. She was a part of God's
divinely ordained plan. The bible says in 2 Timothy 1:9, it says, God has saved us and called
us with a holy calling, not by our works but by
his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began. At a time when God
probably seemed withdrawn, or maybe he seemed even
absent from the situation of the Jewish people or in Esther's life, we see that God was working. And God still is working in our lives. Even in the very center
of the Persian kingdom he protected this group
of people, his people, who even chose to remain
in this pagan land. And those people experienced
God's gracious protection. They experienced his mercy towards them. Esther was sent as a catalyst at a specific time in history. She was hand picked by a
king, but more importantly she was hand picked by the ultimate king to accomplish his sovereign plan. And similar to that,
although much much greater, God the Father sent
Jesus at a specific time in history to redeem a fallen humanity. God sent Jesus to save us, to redeem us. Both Esther and Jesus
were put in harm's way. And they were both used
to bring about God's plan of redeeming a people in spite
of opposition and danger. Where Esther halted the
hand of an evil enemy, Christ, Jesus Christ completely
defeated the ultimate enemy at the cross indefinitely. As Pastor Billy Graham
said, it is in the cross and the blood, that's where the power is. Esther risked her life to save the Jews, but Jesus, he gave his whole
life to save the world. Where Esther risked being
removed from an earthly place, Jesus, he intentionally
gave up his Heavenly place. He willingly left the perfect
paradise of an eternal palace to enter into this broken,
messed up dying world. We are so grateful for Esther's example. She moved with courage when fearfulness would have been easier. But, we are in awe of
what Jesus Christ did. He stepped down from on
high when he didn't have to, to give his life for you and me. He's the perfect advocate
against whom no enemy can stand. And let's be reminded, he is working. He is working in our daily lives. And I know that there are
some of you here today, and you just feel like I don't see it. God I don't know what
you're doing in this. And I wanna encourage you,
just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Keep being obedient, stay
in his word, learn from it. Come to bible study, be
surrounded by a group of girls who wanna pray
for you and love on you and pour into you. It doesn't just stop
here in the sanctuary. You go home, you have
a lesson in your hand, you have a bible in your
bag, and you go home and you open that lesson,
you open that bible and the Lord continues to
work in you and through you. And I wanna say this morning that, for any of you that might
feel like you know what? I'm in a season, I just,
I wanna be prayed for, I just want someone to grab
my hands and pray for me. 'Cause I don't see what's
going on right now. We wanna do that. We wanna pray for you. Your group leader wants to pray for you, your assistant leader
wants to pray for you, your support leader wants to pray for you. We wanna pray for you. Our pastors wives wanna pray for you. So today, after group
time, I wanna encourage you to come back down. Don't just go straight to the parking lot. Come back down and say listen,
I just, I just wanna pray. And we'll pray for you. Or we just wanna meet you. Before we dismiss this
morning I wanna pray. But we also wanna show you
a video that we recapped for you, specifically for you this morning that tells the story of four girls who have attended Virtue and their lives have been greatly impacted by Virtue and we hope that you're encouraged by it. So we're gonna pray and
after that you can go ahead and turn your attention to the screens. Heavenly father we come before you now and Lord we thank you so much
that you are in the big things and that you are in the
little details of our life. You are moving, God. You are sovereign. You are a God of divine providence. You provide, you have provided. Lord we we recognize you as such. And Lord right now I
wanna lift up this group of ladies, Lord, I know that some of us are in situations where
we might be thinking Lord where are you in this? Lord I pray that you would
give them a special touch, a special word. That you would minister to their hearts in a way that only you can. You know, while our heads are
bowed and our eyes are closed, we just talked about Jesus
and the price that he paid, the sacrifice that he made on our behalf to forgive us of our sins,
to ensure for us eternity in Heaven so that we
know where we're going when we die. And also he came to give us
life and life abundantly, here on Earth. And I'd be amiss to not ask if there are any of you here this morning
that would like to give your life to Jesus Christ. You would like to commit your life to him. Maybe you haven't done that before, but you want your sins forgiven, you want the hope of Heaven. You wanna see God's hand in your life. You wanna be assured of it. I'm gonna give you a
second to raise your hand. Those of you that are Christians,
just be praying right now. Is there anyone here that
would like to give your life to Christ this morning? Just raise your hand
so I can pray for you. Heads bowed and eyes closed. There may be some of you
here to day that you think, you know what, I just need a fresh start. I just wanna recommit my life to Jesus. I wanna say Jesus I'm in
it, I'm in this with you. I wanna recommit my life to you. I wanna learn from you. God bless you. Just raise your hand
so we can pray for you. God bless you. Lord we just pray for these women who are raising their hands right now. Lord, I pray that you would meet them exactly where they are. For those of you that raised your hand, would you just repeat this after me, dear Jesus, I wanna
recommit my life to you now. I ask you to forgive me of my sins, and I want a fresh start. I ask you into my heart,
to be my savior, my God and my friend. In Jesus name, amen. Lord, we pray for these
women, we pray that you would go with them, I pray that
you would use their leaders and their group to minister
to their hearts as they go. We ask these things in Jesus name, amen
