"It Just So Happens" - Esther 6 (Larry Malament)

Sermon Quotes:

Bryan Gregory: “There is no event so commonplace but that God is present within it. And to acknowledge that simple but profound reality means that the details of our lives have a greater depth than we can possibly fathom, a greater significance than we could ever hope for, and a greater importance than we can even imagine. To appreciate that is to live differently. Every day becomes a walk of faith. Every day, regardless of what it holds, becomes an opportunity for God to work. Every day is filled with potential “divine appointments”.  Who knows what moments today will be pivotal in your life? Who knows what God might be ordaining through a phone call or email that you receive? Who knows what circumstances God is lining up in your life that you cannot see right now? Who knows what decisions will become hinges in his providential hands? And who knows – as hard as it can sometimes be to accept it – what disappointments, closed doors, and trying situations God might be using in his ever-so-subtle way to work out his plan for your life?  The truth is that there are no coincidences in the world or happenstances in our lives. Everything that happens is under the superintendence of our sovereign God, who subtly and providentially works out his purposes, even through seemingly insignificant events like a Persian king’s insomnia or a common Roman cross.  There is no such thing as chance or luck or accident in the Christian’s journey through this world. All is arranged and appointed by God…therefore let us seek to have an abiding sense of God’s hand in all that befalls us, if we profess to be believers in Jesus Christ.” 

Iain Duguid: “The unimaginable became reality on the cross as Jesus endured the full measure of the shame and separation from God our sin deserved. It was our sin that required him to remain on the cross, exposed to public scorn, until his work of redeeming us by paying the full price for our sins was accomplished.”

Iain Duguid: “Indeed, if we are exalting Christ as Lord in our hearts, and are trusting firmly in God’s providence to do what is good for our souls and to bring glory to himself, why are we so troubled? Why are we so filled with doubts and fears about our own futures, or the future of our children, or the future of our churches? God will accomplish his purposes, often slowly and imperceptibly, but nonetheless certainly. Sometimes he will do it through human agents who willingly submit to him. Sometimes he will do it by directing those whose hearts are at enmity to him, so that their sinful motives accomplish his perfect purposes. Sometimes he will do it through collaboration of a whole series of seemingly trivial circumstances. But in light of the great and precious promises of God, this we know for sure: our God will save his people. In the light of the cross, we know that his salvation cannot be thwarted. In the light of these heavenly realities, what is left for us to do but to bow our hearts and knees before him and sing his praises?”