Well, people often say, seeing is believing. But now with our technology, with Photoshop, with now with artificial intelligence, we know that seeing is not always believing. That we can't always actually believe what we now see and hear.
Kind of sad, isn't it, in one way. But for followers of Jesus Christ, we don't say seeing is believing, but rather we say believing is seeing. That is for the Christian, as Paul would say, that we live not by sight, but by faith. That we look at the things which are unseen.
We look at the things which are invisible. Because, says Paul, the things which are not seen, and these are the important things, are eternal. And so faith sees the invisible. Faith trusts God in the darkness. Faith listens to God in the silence. And without faith, it is impossible to please God.
Do you understand that? Without faith, it is impossible to please God. And one of the reasons we're looking at this Old Testament book of Esther on these Sundays, because we want our faith, which often is wavering, which often is rather shallow, which sometimes falters, we want our faith to be strengthened. And in the book of Esther, we read of an evil edict. There's an evil man called Haman, and he arranges in the powerful Persian kingdom, stretching there in Central Asia, all the way from India right to the shores of Northern Africa, in this huge kingdom, the kingdom of Persia. Haman, who's the number two in the kingdom, as it were, he arranges for an evil edict to be passed.
What is it? To destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children. That's Esther 3 verse 13.
Did you get it? Not just a victory over the Jews, but to kill them, to destroy them, to annihilate them. Now that was 2,500 years ago. The French have a saying, saying that the more things change, the more they're the same.
Have things changed over 2,500 years. Haman has gone. Hamas is here. Just think, tomorrow is the anniversary of that terrible butchery, savagery, murder as Hamas went from Gaza into Israel and killed 1,200 people, innocent people, took hostages and so on.
And what is their design? What is the design of Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, the youthies and so on? The same as Haman did 2,500 years ago to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children. But in the darkness, in the gloom, God's glorious light is about to shine as we are learning in this book of Esther. That in life, things are not always what they seem.
What you see is not always true reality, because the book of Esther is reminding us of something very, very important, something we need to understand wherever we are in our spiritual pilgrimage as it were, that God is working silently and invisibly in our lives. And the darkest hour is often before the perfect dawn of a new and glorious day. And that God, the supreme God, the only God, the God who is the creator of the heavens and the earth, the God who is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, this God, the true God, the only God is always faithful. And His power is invincible and His promise is unassailable. He's always in control, yes, even in the midst of chaos. And in the most chaotic time of your life and mine, we have this assurance as we follow Jesus Christ that God is in control.
Therefore, here's the lesson, we're going to see over and over and over again, therefore trust Him. If you believe that there's a God, if you believe that God is sovereign, if you believe that everything is being worked out according to His purposes, in the most chaotic time, in the darkest time, in the middle of the fiercest storm, we are to trust Him because I'm told in the Bible that I am to live by faith. Not by that which is seen, but that which is unseen. The things which are seen are temporal, Paul says, but the things which are not seen are eternal. And so the just, the righteous shall live not by what they see, not by following the dictates of our world, but we are to have faith in God. The just shall live by faith. Now from Esther 6 and 7, if you have your Bibles, you can turn there with me. I want to paint five scenes very quickly which will, I trust, will strengthen our faith. If you're like me, your faith, sometimes it's strong and sometimes it's weak.
Sometimes it falters. Sometimes spiritually speaking, we seem on the mountaintop. Other times we're down in the valley, but we want each day of our lives, not knowing what will be in that day, we want every day to have our faith strong in God, rooted in the promises of God. Now in Esther 6, verses 1, 2, and 3, here's the first scene, and it is a sleepless night, I've called it a sleepless night. Esther 6 then, verse 1, on that night, the king, King Ahasuerus of Persia, the king could not sleep. And he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. And it was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs who guarded the threshold and who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. And the king said, what honor or distinction has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?
The king's young men who attended him said, nothing has been done for him. Now in the previous chapter, to give us the context, Esther, the queen, she's Jewish, but she's now the queen to the Persian king, King Ahasuerus. She gains a sympathetic audience with the Persian king. At great personal risk, she's gone before the king to advocate for the deliverance of the Jewish people from this evil edict which has been manipulated by Haman, the king's right-hand man. This edict to annihilate all Jews throughout the kingdom. She herself is Jewish.
Her people are Jewish. And so, at great personal risk, she goes in front of the king, believing that she has been raised up, that is raised up by God for such a time as this. And if the king extends his golden scepter, she will be allowed to speak.
And the king does this. He puts out his scepter, and she goes forward and touches it. And he asks her, what's your wish?
I'll give it to you, up to half of my kingdom. And perhaps strange to us, Esther does not immediately give the reason why she's in front of the king, but rather says, I want to invite you and Haman to a special feast which I've prepared. And at the banquet, the king again asks Esther about her request. And in response, again, strange to us, Esther invites Haman and the king to another banquet to be held the following day. And we read in Esther 5 last week that leaving the palace, the evil Haman is bloated with his own arrogance.
His ego is inflated to an all-time high. He had been invited, he's been invited to a private banquet with the king of Persia and with his queen. Only the three of them, and he boasts in his riches, his family, his promotion, his career, life for Haman is all about me, my, and myself. Life is all about Haman. The only fly in the ointment is that wretched Jew Mordecai who sits at the king's gate and who refuses to bow before him. When Haman goes home and tells his wife and friends all about this, they have the drastic but the ultimate solution to deal with Mordecai. Yes, it's true, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the edict is going to come into force for all of the Jews to be annihilated, but Haman, before that, why not get rid of Mordecai right now? And they recommend that these gallows are built, seventy-five feet high.
That's high, isn't it? And you need to go to the king and get permission from the king the following day to hang Mordecai. I wonder if Esther and Mordecai that night lost a bit of sleep, as they may have heard about these gallows or even heard them being built.
Seventy-five feet. But there was one man who didn't sleep well that night. One man had insomnia. Chapter 6, verse 1, on that night the king couldn't sleep. The invisible hand of God is keeping a king awake. In fact, history is going to be changed over a king having a sleepless night. And King Ahasuerus does what many of us do when we can't sleep, myself included.
What do we do? We read. But he's a king. He doesn't actually have to read, but he calls for the chronicles and has them read to him. And so the chronicles, the history of the kingdom of Persia, are read to him. And by coincidence, as it were, the very record from the Persian chronicles being read to that king that night when he can't sleep is the record of the conspiracy against him by these two men, Bacthana and Teresh, to assassinate the king. A conspiracy which had been discovered by this man, Mordecai, and communicated to the king.
And that was five years ago. So the king asked, well, what happened to this man, Mordecai, who exposed this assassination attempt? What honor was granted to him? And he's told to his surprise, well, actual fact, king, no honor was bestowed upon him. And so the king thinks, well, we've got to recognize this. This man saved my life. He saved the kingdom.
Think of how God's care over the smallest detail takes place. And so when we read chapter 6, chapter 5 ends with Mordecai going home, furious at Mordecai refusing to bow before him, that wretched Jew, his friends and his advisors telling him to build a gallows. That very night, on that same night, is the night the king can't sleep. And this is one of the pivotal points in the drama of Esther, isn't it? That's the first scene, a sleepless night. Finally, a huge ego, verse 4. The king can't sleep, had the chronicles read to him.
Now it's morning. And the king said, who's in the court? Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king's palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for them. And the king's young men told him, Haman is there standing in the court.
He's the prime minister. And the king said, let him come in. So Haman came in and the king said to him, what should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?
Here's ego, a huge ego. And Haman said to himself, whom would the king delight to honor more than me? And Haman said to the king, for the man whom the king delights to honor, let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn. And the horse that the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown is set. And let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king's most noble officials. Let them dress the man whom the king delights to honor. Let them lead him on the horse through the square of the city, proclaiming before him, thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor. Another amazing coincidence. Haman just happens to come to the king's palace early in the morning.
Don't you marvel at the timing of God. He is there to obtain the king's permission to hang Mordecai on the gallows which were built during the night. But the king has something else in mind. He'd been disturbed.
And that sleepless night that the man who had done so much to prevent an assassination attempt had not been honored. And so he says to Haman, now if we're going to honor a man, someone that the king delights to honor, what would you do? And Haman, of course, first thinks of himself. Are you that kind of individual?
If it's all about you? That was Haman. See, pride treats others with contemptuous superiority. And the thinking and the world view of Haman, it was impossible that the king would delight to honor anyone other than himself. His haughty spirit is going to precede his fall.
Here's the third scene, pride before destruction. Verse 10, then the king said, don't you love this? Then the king said to Haman, hurry, take the robes and the horse. I mean, this is Haman's suggestion. Take the robes and the horse as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew who sits at the king's gate.
Leave out nothing that you have mentioned. So Haman took the robes and the horse, and he dressed Mordecai and led him through the square of the city proclaiming before him, thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor. Then Mordecai returned to the king's gate, and Haman hurried to his house mourning and with his head covered. And Haman told his wife Zaresh and all his friends everything that happened to him. Then his wise men and his wife Zaresh said to him, if Mordecai before whom you have begun to fall is of the Jewish people, you will not overcome him, but will surely fall before him. While they were yet talking with him, the king's eunuchs arrived and hurried to bring Haman to the feast that Esther had prepared. Imagine Haman's total surprise, complete shock, when the king orders Haman to honor Mordecai the Jew who sits at the king's gate. King Ahasuerus now knows that Mordecai is a Jew.
The honoring of Mordecai is to be done immediately right away with the attention to the smallest details. You planned it Haman, now you execute it. Haman had been planning the execution of Mordecai, now he's planning to honor Mordecai.
What brilliant irony in this story. And in accordance with the king's commands, Haman arranges his honor. He leads him through the city square in horseback. He's wearing the royal robes, ones that the king himself had worn. He's proclaiming to everyone that this is the man that the king delights to honor. How the mighty Haman has fallen. His head is covered in a sign of mourning. In less than 24 hours, his joy, which we read of in chapter five, is now turning to mourning. I find it very interesting, as we read in verse 13, that Haman's wife and advisors show some understanding of Jewish history by remarking that Haman will not overcome Mordecai. Indeed, rather than Mordecai falling, Haman himself is going to fall. And these words must have sounded like nails in Haman's coffin. Proverbs 16 verse 18, pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Haman is proud. He's got a haughty spirit and he's begun to fall. He's hastily summoned back to the palace, the feast which has been prepared by Esther for himself and the king is now ready. So here is the fourth scene, Esther's petition verses one through six.
You following this? So the king, what is happening very, very quickly here? So the king and Haman went into feast with Queen Esther.
This is the second feast. And on the second day as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther, what's your wish? Queen Esther, it shall be granted to you.
And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled. Then Esther answered, if I find favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish and my people for my request, for we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our reflection is not to be compared with the loss to the king. Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, who is he?
And where is he who is there to do this? And Esther said, a foe, an enemy, this wicked Haman. Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen. They're now at their second feast, and again the king says, queen, what's your request? And Esther, this woman of grace, this woman of elegance, this woman of skillful courage, makes it known to the king that she is Jewish, and that she and her people are to be, I quote, destroyed, killed, and annihilated.
If we had just been sold into slavery, king, I wouldn't have mentioned anything. But the edict for the total annihilation, for the genocide of a nation as such, that she is now asking the king for her life to be spared and the life of her people. In response to the king's question, as to the identity of the individual who would presume to take the life of the queen and her people, Esther clearly and courageously identifies Haman. Could you imagine him sitting there with a cup of wine to his lips when she says, him, a foe, and an enemy, this wicked Haman, this evil man, and he's terrified before the king and the queen.
His fall is accelerating with alarming speed. The final scene, today a king's decision, verse seven. And the king arose in his wrath from the wine drinking and went into the palace garden, but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm was determined against him by the king. And the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was.
And the king said, will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house? As the word left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman's face. Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king said, moreover, the gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king is standing at Haman's house, 50 cubits high, that's 75 feet. And the king said, hang him on that. So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai, then the wrath of the king abated.
What a story. The king is so angry because the very life of his queen is threatened, that he goes into the palace garden to cool off and meantime Haman is there begging for his life because he knows, verse 7, that harm was determined against him by the king. And when the king returns he sees Haman falling on the couch where Esther sat. Haman, who was angry that a Jew Mordecai would not bow to him, is now begging for his life from a Jew Esther. Our Persian protocol was very clear. We could understand that no one was to go near to the king's harem, which was supervised by the eunuchs.
No man was allowed to speak privately to the queen or to the wives or the concubines in the palace, far less touch them. Haman's behavior is absolutely outrageous and when the king returns to the room and sees what Haman is doing, he considers that Haman is assaulting his queen. And immediately Haman's face is covered, a sign of death. His faith is sealed.
His fall is completed. Haman, the man who conspired to murder the Jewish people, is now himself going to be put to death. And you love this man, Harbonah.
He seems a very smooth individual, doesn't he? As he says, you know, the gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, is standing at Haman's house, 50 cubits high. Pretty obvious that Harbonah doesn't like Haman, doesn't he? I'm reminding you, this is the man that saved your life, O king. The king's decision, hang him.
Hang him on that. And the very gallows which Haman had prepared for Mordecai now becomes the instrument of death for Haman. Haman is hanged, 75 feet high. You want to be exalted, Haman? You want everyone to see you?
You're the big shot? Ah, he's put up high, but it's the very means of his death, poetic justice. Don't rebel against God. Don't oppose God. Remember in our study of 1 Peter we saw that God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. There is one sure attitude that God is opposed to. There is one sin which God is always against, pride, pride. God's opposed to the proud. And we see the hubris and the sheer arrogance and ego of this man Haman, and he's brought down low. God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. You see the humility in Esther.
Now, let me conclude with four lessons as I try to draw this together. Let me say broadly, this is maybe an obvious point, but I think practically many of us live as if we were atheists. I don't think there'd be many atheists sitting in this sanctuary this morning. I don't think there are many atheists listening on live stream.
If you are, we welcome you. But I think most of us would say we believe in God. Do we always live as if we believe in God? You see, God is alive. He's a living God.
God cannot die. He's the Alpha and the Omega. He's the God who was, who is, and ever shall be. He's the eternal God. He dwells in eternal now. He's the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity.
He is God, and there's no one like Him. And if that is true, our faith is to be in Him. We worship a living God.
As we were singing here, we were not just singing some nice songs or with a nice lyric. We are directing our praise to the living God. And this God is actively alive in our lives. We had sung to us last week His eyes on the sparrow, and I know He watches me. You say, well, that's very comforting, John. Yes, it's very comforting, but it's also rather convicting, isn't it? That God saw exactly every single thing you did during the week, your thoughts, and that God is at work.
So here's the first lesson. God is at work in the silences and seemingly hopeless situations of life. God is at work in the silences and seemingly hopeless situations of life. How could the Jews living in Persia with His mighty King, King Ahasuerus, how could they succeed against this irrevocable edict by the Persian superpower which was passed into law, and the law of the Medes and Persians cannot be revoked, and the law was to destroy, to kill, to annihilate all of the Jews, young and old, men, women, and children. It seemed totally hopeless, but what a dramatic reversal in the chapters that we've read.
Then number two in the kingdom, at the height of his pride, experiences supreme humiliation hanged on his own gallows. God is at work in the silences and seemingly hopeless situations of our lives. We think of that nationally, internationally, but we also can bring it right down to our individual lives. You ever been in a hopeless situation with people who take their lives because they think life is hopeless? Life can't change. If you're such a person today, I want to tell you that God is a God of hope. He's a living hope. That whatever the difficulty, however dark the night or fierce the storm or how fiery that firmness is, God is a living God and He's a hope. Do not despair, look up, have faith in this living God.
And whatever our circumstances, in the hopeless situations of life, and I'm sure all of us, if we've lived a few years, to a greater or lesser extent, have come up with seemingly hopeless situations in our life. What are you to do? What am I to do? I'm to trust God. Do I understand how it's going to work out? No, I don't.
When that edict is passed in ancient Persia, did anyone know how it was all going to work out? No, but their trust is in God and He's at work in the silences and seemingly hopeless situations of life. Here's the second lesson. God is at work through the seemingly insignificant circumstances of life. Much of life is routine, isn't it? Much of life, what happens to us, seems rather insignificant, seems rather random. And there are many coincidences in the story, from a human perspective, the king's insomnia, the king being read that very night, the account of Mordecai uncovering the conspiracy, Haman arriving at the palace that very morning at the right time. All of these things seem rather insignificant. Who hasn't had a sleepless night?
Who hasn't turned up a bit early? Through the seemingly insignificant circumstances of life, God is at work. You know, for the Christian, there are no coincidences with God. God accomplishes His purposes through all of the circumstances of life. We who follow Jesus Christ don't believe in luck.
We don't believe in horoscopes. We don't believe in blind faith. We believe we have faith in a living God, and our life is surrendered totally to Him. He is our Creator. We're accountable to Him in His grace. He has saved us. He's our Heavenly Father, and we are to surrender everything in life, including the seemingly insignificant circumstances to Him.
He's sovereign over all. Now, as I say, for those of you who have lived a few years, think back over your life. Don't you see some amazing circumstances in your life, chance encounters, seemingly insignificant circumstances, but when you look back, the whole trajectory of your life seemed to change.
At the time, it was insignificant. At the time, it just seemed a coincidence. But as you look back, you see that God has been superintending and taking these events and organized things in life to bring us to a certain point.
God is at work, and God's timing is perfect. Soon after we arrived in the United States, Kenea and I had been married a few years. We both come from very prolific families, and we thought we were going to have about ten kids.
At least I thought ten, maybe a little less than that. But like many couples, you just think God's going to bless you. He's going to give you all of these children. After a while, you think no children arriving. Now, we find ourselves in Dallas. I'm enrolled as a student at Dallas Theological Seminary. No children arrive, so we pray and we inquire about adoption.
Very sad, very tough. We're told different things. You're not American citizens. No, we're not. We had cards telling us we were aliens. We were in on a student visa. No, you're not Americans. Sorry. Furthermore, you've got no income.
That's true. I'm at seminary. I wasn't allowed to work. I was there as a full-time student. The other thing we're told you've got an uncertain future.
Well, humanly speaking, yes. I had no idea. We thought we were going to go back to Scotland. Where were we going?
What church? We didn't know. Was it uncertain?
No. It's certain to God. He has not yet revealed it to us. We're trusting Him, but that doesn't work when you're dealing with secular people. And then, my dear wife, in conversation with one of the professors at his wife, one of the professor's wife at Dallas Theological Seminary, she mentioned as well that they had no children and had applied to an adoption agency and were on their waiting list.
They got all of these rules and regulations that you have to go through. And so we rejoiced in that. And then a short time later, she says to Goodney, I'm pregnant.
Praise God. And she said, I'm going to mention, it was a very small adoption agency in Dallas, I'm going to mention your name to them. We thought, OK, but we're still not Americans. I still have no income. I still have an uncertain future.
What's changed? But God moved the heart of the director of that small agency that reached out to her. We met her along with some other couples, and it seemed very, very bleak, humanly speaking. And yet we look back and think, in the purposes of God, God brings to us at the right time and arranged in what, humanly speaking, to be a hopeless situation for God and His grace. To give us a little baby boy in His purposes. And I'm saying that we have a wonderful God. And in the hopeless situations of your life, in the middle of the seemingly insignificant circumstances of life, do not give up. Do not despair. Don't be bitter against God. This is an opportunity for you afresh to put your trust in God, not knowing how the story is going to end, but knowing this, that God, even as we're singing, works everything for His glory and our good.
Here's the third lesson. God is always faithful to His promises. Even Haman's wife and friends seem to realize that God cannot be opposed, chapter 6, verse 13. If He's of the Jewish people, you will not overcome Him.
Why is that? All of the might of Persia, the super power of the day, could not stop the purposes of God revealed in the Abrahamic covenant that those who bless Israel, God will bless. That those who curse Israel will be cursed. And this woman, Haman's wife, and the advisers seem to realize that if you oppose the Jewish nation, it's you that's going to fall.
And that was the case. And when Haman opposes God's people, there's no place of safety for him, no place to hide. And if God, in His grace and love, watched over His ancient people, Israel, as He continues to do, surely those of us who through faith in His Son have God as our Father know that God is always faithful. There is not one promise of God that He will revoke. We're to claim that promise.
Will you claim it? Him that comes to me, I will in no wise cast out. I will give you eternal life, and you shall never perish.
I am with you even to the end of the age. Yes, even though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you will fear no evil for I am with you. And as the people of God, we claim these promises because God never ever goes back on His promises. He's always faithful to His promises. He's always faithful to His covenant. And He works out His purposes in ways that we often don't see, certainly don't understand, but we as His people know that we are loved with an everlasting love. Therefore, I'm to trust this God and I'm to love this God with all of my heart.
Here's the last one. The cross of Jesus Christ is the greatest victory of all. When we think of evil being reversed as it was in the story of Esther, at the cross, it seemed as if Satan, evil and darkness triumphed. Here's the only innocent human being, our Lord Jesus Christ. Truly God and truly man. The only one who never sinned.
The only perfect man. Think of His teaching. Think of His miracles. Think of His tenderness. Think of His care. Think of Him stretching out His hand to heal the leper.
Think of Him taking the little children in His arms and blessing Him. This is our magnificent Savior. No spot, no stain, absolutely flawless, pure in everything He did, in everything He said, in everything He thought, and yet wicked, evil hands take Him and nail Him to a cross. The Holy One is taken by unholy hands and crucified.
But what a dramatic reversal. From the darkness of the cross shines the glorious light of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ because our Savior rises from the dead. Sorrow is turned to joy. Shame is turned to glory. Condemnation is turned to salvation.
Death to life. And all of the evil of Satan, all of the evil of sin, all of the evil of hell can never, ever stand against the purposes of God. He is victorious. Sin and death and Satan could not keep Him bound.
And He rises. He bursts through the bonds and the chains of sin and darkness and is alive forevermore and calls on all of us to do what? To repent of our sins, to acknowledge that we have sinned or we may not be as evil as Haman.
We probably have never conspired to murder someone. But even if we had, even the worst of sinners, like the thief on the cross is welcomed into the kingdom of God, if we acknowledge our sin and look and look to Christ alone who comes to save us, to wash us, to transform us, and to give us a life that nothing in this world could, can come close to. And that is to our sins forgiven and of the joy of eternal life. As I met a couple of days ago with a family of Karen Tinsley, and Karen had had dementia and Alzheimer's, that even in the midst of that she is confessing her faith in her Jesus Christ who loves her. The wonder that even the worst of disease and even death itself cannot separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore, I say to you, if you've never yet cried out to Christ for salvation, will you do that? The Bible says whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
What does that mean? Saved from your sins, cleansed from your sin, given eternal life, a new life. The old is gone and the new has come. And that now with us, you can begin this wonderful adventure of faith, of day by day, trusting our Savior and following Him, turning from the darkness, following the One who still says, I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. We're going to stand and sing in a moment of the love of God, a song based on that wonderful verse that if you've been raised in Sunday school in a Christian home or in a church, you know John 3.16, that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Just think of the wonder of the gospel, that whoever you are, God's love comes to you. And then Christ, it embraces you. Will you acknowledge your sin and look to Christ, the Son of God who died for your sins, was buried and rose again and call on Him to save you and to cleanse you and to save with His help.
I will follow Him all of the days of my life and I will trust Him whatever the circumstances because I know that all of my life is in the hands of my God who is sovereign over all. Father, we humble ourselves. We thank You for this wonderful story.
More than a story, historical fact. And may, as a result of our meditation this morning, may our faith be strengthened. We confess that our faith is sometimes weak.
We confess like Haman, we're sometimes very self-centered, very proud, very self-serving. Forgive us, Father. We turn from that sin. We want to be humble in Your presence and to know and experience Your blessing. There are some here, perhaps some boys, girls, older people who have never yet trusted Christ. Father, open their eyes.
I do pray that they will turn to Christ and Christ alone for salvation. Thank You for Your great love for us and as we have this lunch, we thank You for it. Bless our time on the fields. Protect us, Father. Help us to build on the friendships we have, to make new friends so that we can encourage each other more and more as we await the soon return of our magnificent Savior. And again, as we have prayed, watch over Israel. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem. We pray for our own nation, for our president and administration as they have difficult decisions to make as well. Have mercy upon them, Father, and guide them and us. In Christ's name, Amen.
