In Philippians chapter one, I'd
like to read the first 12 verses of this first chapter, but I'd
like to drop down to verse 12 before we read this whole section. Verse 12,
and we're gonna be looking at a subject of God's will even
in the minutia, the minutest. of things, and Lord willing,
this is going to lead us into a study of the book of Esther.
But as we look here in this passage of scripture in verse 12, but
I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which
happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance
of the gospel. the things that have happened
to me. Now untold things had happened
to the Apostle Paul. In Corinthians, there's a list
of things that he endured for the gospel's sake. He endured
all things for the elect's sake, he tells us. But in that verse
12, it talks to us about that the things which happened unto
me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of
the gospel. Now, I think if we look at the
Bible, we're going to find that that is a real premise that we're
going to find in the scriptures, that everything happens for the
furtherance of the gospel. And I'm going to say this about
the fall of Adam and Eve. It happened for the furtherance
of the gospel. God's purpose there. All right,
let's back up to verse one of the book of Philippians. And
it says, Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ
to all the saints in Christ Jesus, which are at Philippi with the
bishops and the deacons, bishops and deacons. Now, when we read
this, sometimes I just put the saints which are at the dowels
or rescue or wherever. That's this letter was written
to God's people wherever they are. Grace be unto you and peace
from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank
my God upon every remembrance of you. always in every prayer
of mine for you, all making requests with joy for your fellowship
in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident
of this very thing, that He, Christ, God, which began a good
work in you, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because
I have you in my heart, in as much as both in my bonds and
in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. Did you notice
he had the word bonds there? He's been in prison at this time.
Confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. For God is my... is my record,
how greatly I longed after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. And this I pray, that your love
may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment,
that ye may approve things that are excellent, that ye may be
sincere and without offense till the day of Christ. being filled
with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ unto
the glory and praise of God. But I would ye should understand,
brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen
out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel." Now untold things
had happened to the Apostle Paul, but one of the things that I
think about is that the Apostle Paul, before he was an apostle,
before he was called unto salvation, before he was a believer, before
in his old life, he was drawn to hear a man preach the gospel. Now, he had really bad intentions
at that meeting. He had really bad intentions
at the preaching of the gospel by Stephen in the seventh chapter
of the book of Acts. He is there and he heard that
wonderful gospel message and he really could not have anything
to say against it because it was the history of his people.
He was of the tribe of Benjamin. It was the history of Israel.
And Stephen comes down and says, you have always been opposed
to God. He speaks of the natural heart
of natural man. And here is a man standing there
that claims to believe all the word of God, all the word that
God has given to us. The Old Testament didn't have
the New Testament at the time. And Stephen preaches that word
to him. And he is sent into a dither. breathing out threatenings and
slaughter. He is so incensed by the preaching
of the word that he said he knew. And Stephen was taken out, and
by the consent of Saul of Tarsus, was stoned to death and killed,
and they took him off and buried him. Now, how long after that
we find that the Lord God Almighty appeared unto him on the road
to Damascus, I'm not for sure. But it wasn't too long after
that, and he's been stewing in this hatred of hearing the Gospel
of Stephen preach Christ and Him crucified. And that's a summation
of every sacrifice in the Old Testament, Christ and Him crucified. There's the type, here is the
antitype, the Lord Jesus. So all the things that have fallen
out to me have fallen out for the furtherance of the gospel.
And we find that principle found throughout the scriptures, that
the things, the minutia, the most insignificant things that
take place as we read them in the scripture or in our own lives,
God has a purpose and a reason for them. And sometimes as we
get into the book of Esther, we find that the word, the name
God is not found in that book. And for that reason, many of
the ancient scholars said, let's don't put it in the Canon. It's
not worthy to be put in the Canon. Another thing that they found
fault with, that there was not one quote of the book of Esther
in the New Testament. Christ didn't use that. You know,
as we look at this book, though, we'll find out, I believe, that
that is on purpose that God did that. He's going to show us what
he does from behind the scenes. He is going to show us what he
can do, what he does, what he promotes from behind the scenes.
You know, we find with regard, and we're gonna be across the
scriptures tonight looking at things, but would you join me
over in the book of 1 Samuel, some words that our sister had
to say. Our sister in Christ, a believer
in Christ Jesus, a believer in the Messiah had been given to
her in the book of 1 Samuel. We find in 1 Samuel chapter two,
1 Samuel chapter two, And let's read verses six, seven, and eight.
We have here in this passage of scripture, Hannah, her prayer. I love reading this. I love what
is mentioned in this passage of scripture. And you know, I
love what the preacher had to say to her. And I love her response. The preacher had to say to her
that she was drunk in church. And her response is, I poured
out my soul unto the Lord. Now, the Lord has given her a
child, and here in the book of 1 Samuel 2, verses six, seven,
and eight, we read these words. The Lord killeth and maketh alive. He bringeth down to the grave
and bringeth up. Now we can spiritualize this
and see what God does for us when he saves our soul. He brings
us down to make us alive. He kills us that he might make
us alive. But we also find out that God deals in his glorious
manner in all of these things. The Lord maketh poor. and maketh
rich, verse seven. He bringeth low and he lifteth
up. God deals in his miraculous way,
gracious way, personal way, in all of these what seem to be
just normal activities, these things, we can hear the Apostle
Paul say, in all these things, he is working out for the furtherance
of the gospel. And there, verse eight, he raises
up the poor out of the dust. He lifted up the beggar from
the dunghill to set them among princes, to make them inherit
the throne of glory, for pillars of the earth are the Lord's,
and he hath set the world upon them. He will keep the feet of
his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness, for by
strength shall no man prevail. He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will, even the minutest thing. Most of you, all of you know
that when I was in Florida, my oldest living brother passed
away. I have to regard this as for the furtherance of the gospel. In some way, everything is for
the furtherance of the gospel. Now for a small part of it, his
three children have asked me to say a few words when we gather
together down there to put his ashes. Well, there's only one
thing we can say, is the gospel. Now, I'm not gonna say much about
Ken because he didn't believe it. He didn't hold to it. He had a little profession of
faith, but he didn't have the word. In the book of Hebrews, the book
of Hebrews chapter one. Now notice here in the book of
Hebrews, this is such a outstanding statement. Hebrews chapter one. And I can't help but think of
our missionary brother Lance Heller being here one time and
preaching from this passage of scripture. And the last prophet. Here it says, Hebrews chapter
one verses One through three, God who at sundry times in diverse
manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets.
Now, how did God speak to them? Holy men of God spake as they
were moved by the Holy Spirit. God gave it to them. They didn't
have to see the event to be able to write about it and have faith
in the event. How many of us believe that the
Lord Jesus Christ healed a leper? but it's written in the word.
We have to believe it. Either we're going to believe
it or we're not going to believe it. And it is that way with anything
that Christ ever did during his personal ministry. How many believe
that he met a woman at the well? Well, the scriptures say he did,
so we're just going to accept that as the truth. God gives
us the faith to believe that. Hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his son. whom he hath appointed heir of
all things, by whom also he made the worlds. Now notice this,
who be in the brightness of his glory and the express image of
his person and upholding, notice this, upholding all things by
the word of his power. when he had by himself purged
our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high.
He upholds all things by the word of his power." Now, we're
going to spend some time as we go through the book of Esther
on just some of the minutiae, just the most minuscule things
that take place. How God moves in the most minuscule,
the most unobservable, the most minutia, and works out according
to his eternal everlasting purpose, his covenant of grace in the
hearts of his people, just like he promised he would do. It may
seem such an insignificant thing, but we find out that God works
everything for the furtherance of the gospel. In the book of
the Psalms, Psalm 103, would you turn there with me to the
book of the Psalms? Psalms, it has so much to say. It's a hymn book, it's a song
book. When we were going through here
many years ago, we didn't get a quarter of the way through,
but someone said, as we read the Psalms, these, many of them,
are the prayers we wish we could pray. They are so succinct. And so the Lord is not offended
if we look at these as our prayers, because there is his word, and
God is the only one that loves to hear about himself. Praise
to him. In Psalm 103, in the 103rd Psalm,
there in verse 19, Psalm 103, verse 19, The Lord hath prepared his throne
in the heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over all. The most insignificant, minutest
things that so often people just pass by, God rules over all of
that too. Everything. You know, we may
not think that when we have a cold, it's because of God's purpose.
But we will certainly be more settled in Christ if we do look
at it that way. If we consider that everything
that comes in our path is absolutely prescribed by Almighty God and
nothing is left to chance, nothing is left to luck, nothing is left
out. It is all because of the person
and work and ministry of our Savior. In the Chronicles it says, thou
reignest over all in thy hand and and thy power with thy might. But while we're here in the book
of Psalms, Psalm 75, if you would, Psalm 75, as we look at the word
as it says about every activity of God, he has prescribed. Nothing
is unprescribed and nothing is made up in time. God does not
react. God acts. He acts from a covenant
of grace. He acts from a purpose of grace.
He acts from a predetermined activity by God. He never reacts
to a situation. He's always active, proactive. And here in the book of the Psalms,
Psalm 75, we read these words, Psalm 75, and there are verses
six and seven. Psalm 75, verses six and seven. And as we read through here,
we're finding that everything sets us up for a proper study
of the book of Esther. Even though the name of God is
not mentioned there, even though it's not quoted in the New Testament,
we can look through here and see God in His glorious activity
in preserving His people, and He does the same for His people
today. Here in the book of the Psalms,
Psalm 75, or six and seven, for promotion cometh neither from
the east, nor from the west, nor from the south, but God is
the judge. He putteth down one and setteth
up another. That is God's job, and that's
God's business, and that's God's purpose. And it doesn't matter
whether it's a dog catcher or president. He raises, put one
down, he raises another up. And, you know, sometimes we say,
well, he raised one up that I'm in favor of, but he didn't raise
this one up that I'm in favor of. You know, we'd have a whole
lot more. rest in God if we realize that
everyone that rises is from God and everyone that fails is from
God. And it's not because of us or
our choice of them, it's of God. Now that doesn't mean don't vote,
not to vote your choice, not to vote what you feel, but that
falling out is all of God. Everyone, every bit, all right? The God's eternal care and oversight
and direction of all his creation has a very real goal, the furtherance
of the gospel. His message is going to get to
somebody that he intends to get it to. It is never sent to someone
he did not intend it to. He is very careful where the
gospel is declared. He is not wasting the preacher's
time and he's not wasting his time. Now the preacher may say,
I don't see anything happening. That doesn't mean that God is
not taking care of the minutia. God's people are being built
up. Faithfulness is being practiced. Well, there's two verses in the
book of John I want to look at. One of them tells us about what
God knows and what the Lord knew about men and what he knew about
what he would do. And here in the book of John
chapter two, in John chapter two, we find this message that
the Lord shares with us about all men. He knows about all men. John chapter two, verse 23. John
chapter two, verse 23. Now when we get to the book of
Esther, we can ask the question, why were all the Jews in captivity
to begin with? Why was it necessary for someone
to be raised up to deliver them? God, God, God. They're there on purpose, according
to the eternal purpose of God. All right, here in the book of
John, John chapter two, verse 23. Now, when he was in Jerusalem
at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name,
and when they saw the miracles which he did, but Jesus did not
commit himself unto them because he knew all men. He knew, why didn't he commit
himself unto them? Well, a bunch of them only had
some inkling of some kind of man-made faith overseeing the
miracles take place. But he did not commit himself
to them because he knows all men. Now, keep that in mind when
we turn over to John chapter six. In John chapter six, he
even asked his disciples a question about how are we gonna feed so
many people? Here we have a whole host of
folks, and they're all hungry, and some of the disciples says,
just tell them to go over there and buy the market. And it tells
us here in verse five of John chapter six, when Jesus then
lifted up his eyes and saw a great company come unto him, he saith
unto Philip, whence shall we buy bread that these may eat? And this he said to prove him
For he himself knew what he would do. Now, there's never been a
time that he hasn't known that. In eternity past, in our present
time or eternity future, he has always known what he would do. It has been purposed. It has
been absolutely purposed. Why did he choose Judas? because he intended to choose
Judas. Not only was it purposed in the
covenant of grace, but it was purposed in his word. His word
declared it. Why is it in his word? Because
that's what he had purpose to be written down before the foundation
of the world. So even the minutia, the very
people he selected, why didn't he pick someone that had a little
more gumption than Peter? because he knew all men and he
chose Peter on purpose. Why did he choose the rest of
them? They all denied him because he knew all men and he chose
them on purpose. The word of God must be fulfilled
that he would go alone. He would go alone. Jehovah is executing his purpose
even through the wickedness of men And devils? Those devils that were in that
one person and he cast them out into a swine. They were there
on purpose. And Jesus Christ met that person
on purpose. It was decreed before the foundation
of the world, their paths would meet. I must needs go and see
the man that has all of these demons. Just the same words are
about him meeting the woman at the well. All things that have
taken place from the creation must minister to his glory and
to the glory of his bride. Everything will read down to
the glory of God. We cannot and we should not try
to understand it, but we have the privilege of believing it.
I don't understand all the things that happen and how they work
into God's eternal purpose. I'm the first one to raise my
hand and says, I don't understand why he would do that. But I know
from the scriptures that he has done it on purpose. Nothing falls
out by accident. Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning of the world. I wish I knew what was going
to, I could determine what was going to happen in the next hour.
You know, I was really distraught because our sermon audio took
away one of our days with 200 downloads. There was 200 downloads
and it disappeared. I told Nancy this morning, they
brought it back. I didn't have to worry about
it. What things I get upset about? Well, the Lord says, I'm in absolute
control. Nona to God are all his works
from the beginning of the world. Acts chapter 15 and verse 18.
But let's go over to the book of Isaiah. The book of Isaiah
chapter 46. In Isaiah chapter 46, we have
these words about God's eternal purpose. These words. While I was gone, I was given
my grandfather's Bible and my grandmother's Bible. A lot of
family history in there. Some of it I had never heard
of. I read in there about a brother being born in December of 1946
and drowning in May of 1951. Heard about it all my life. How could that? Why? For the furtherance of the gospel. That is the answer I'm gonna
give. For the furtherance of the gospel. All things have fallen
out for the furtherance of the gospel. All right, we notice
here in the book of Isaiah chapter 46 and verse 10, Declaring the
end from the beginning. Was it in God's purpose that
my brother drowned? Yes. Yes. Declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times, the things that are not yet done, saying,
my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. Now sometimes
God's pleasure and our will collide. But you know what? God's will
will happen. I will do all my pleasure. I will perform all my will. Declaring the end from the beginning.
You know the Lord shares this about Are not five sparrows sold
for two farthings? Book of Luke, chapter 12. Are
not two sparrows? Now, you know, a sparrow's not
much. Sparrow is just pretty insignificant. The book of Luke, chapter 12,
verse six and seven. Are not two sparrows sold for
a farthing, or two farthings? Let's go over there. The book
of Luke, chapter 12, verse 6 and 7. Are not five sparrows sold for
two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? Two sparrows. I've seen flocks
of sparrows that must have had a thousand. are not two solfer
farthing, two farthings. Verse seven, but even the very
hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore, ye are of
more value than many sparrows. The blood of Christ, the blood
of Christ, So we see here that God has so much interest in all
his people that even the hairs of their head are numbered. Now
that is, my mother never counted all my hair and she loved me. God Almighty has all our hair
numbered. are not five sparrows sold for
two farthings, and not one of them falls to the ground without
him." How interesting he does this. Now, as we think about
some of the minutest things, I would like to draw your attention
to a verse found over in the book of Esther. Would you join
me in the book of Esther? Lord willing, we're gonna use
this passage or this book for our study on Wednesday night.
The book of Esther. And chapter six. Now in the book of Esther, there
is a term called Ahasuerus. Now Ahasuerus is the same kind
of term that we would say for pharaoh or president. It's not a name, it's a title. There were a number of Ahasueruses. Now nobody is for sure the name
of this person. It's not necessary. God had him
written about and he's Ahasuerus. Now he's the king and he is the
king over a very, very large area. He is king clear over to
India. 120 provinces. He has a vast
territory that he rules over and he rules over this territory. He is He practices the divine right
of kings. If he didn't drop your scepter,
his scepter towards you, you could be taken out and killed
instantly. Now we'll look at that later
as we go through this book. But one night, on that night,
could not the king sleep? Now how many nights have you
woke up and the first thing you want to read is, well, let's
just say tax law. It's the first thing you're interested
in reading, right? Tax law. Well, this king, he
can't sleep on purpose. On purpose, he cannot sleep.
God intended for him to wake up or never get to sleep to begin
with. And he commanded to bring the
book of the records of the Chronicles, the events that took place in
his kingdom. Bring the book of the Chronicles. He didn't ask for the Saturday
Evening Post. He didn't ask for some novel. He didn't ask for some poem.
He asked for the Chronicles on purpose. They read before the king and
it was found written. Now of all of the things that
his scribe could have read about in those chronicles, they could
have again, because this is several years into this Ahasuerus reign. I think I went back to the day
he was put in office, the day he was raised to king, and how
glorious it was, how much pomp and glory it was. But this particular
scribe turns to the place in these books, this scroll, in
the Chronicles, because the king can't sleep and he wants something
read to him, turns to the place and is found written that Mordecai
had told Abigtha and Teresh, two of the king's chamberlains,
the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on the king
Ahasuerus. of all the places to read. Now
we're going to find out that this plays a very important part
because there's somebody who wants to destroy all of the Jews.
And if this hadn't been read this night, if this king hadn't
had trouble sleeping this night? If that man who read to him hadn't
found this place that night? If Mordecai's name hadn't been
read that night? We can just think all of the
minutia that took place here in just a simple thing. The king
said, what honor and dignity hath been done to Mordecai? Now
this is some time previous to that. Why didn't Mordecai get
rewarded earlier? because God didn't intend for
him to get rewarded earlier. This is the appropriate time.
And it goes on to say, what honor and dignity hath been done to
Mordecai for this, then said the king's servants that ministered
unto him, there is nothing done for him. Talk about the right time to
read the right place, the very right night. God moves in his
glorious way, his wonders to perform. He rules among the armies
of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay
his hand or say, what doest thou? at the very appropriate time
in a very pagan country, run by a very pagan king, who has
a whole bunch of God's people, Jews, as their captives. We have
this read to us, and it's gonna make it so wonderful to go through
this book and see how God has worked wonders just like this
time and time again. In the most simple things. You
know, we read about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They are
ordered to bow. And they said, if it be so, our
God whom we serve is able to deliver us. But if not, be it
known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods. If he wants to, he can. If he
doesn't, we're not going to worship your gods. of all of the glory of that tabernacle,
and I cannot even imagine what it looked like, that you just
read about how beautiful it must have been from just a material
standpoint. You know, even God shares with
us how those people got the wisdom to do it. I gave it to them. They would not have had it unless
I gave it to them. And we read there in the book
of Exodus chapter 28 through chapter 36 about the people that
were given wisdom to do that. Just the smallest, most insignificant
things the Lord takes care of. In the book of Ruth chapter one,
why in the world was there a famine in Israel that took a family
to Moab? Well, it doesn't take us very
long to find out why. Now I've read many commentators
they find fault with that man and his wife and two sons leaving
Israel when there was a famine. They should have stayed put.
They should have worked it out. But God moved on them to go to
Moab. Now Moab is not a place that
they were supposed to go to. But there was an elect lady in
Moab. Now when When Naomi told her
daughters to leave, go back. My sons are dead. I'll never
have children that you could marry. Go back, take care of
it. One of the daughters went back
to her family and to her gods. And Ruth told her mother-in-law,
your God is my God. Why did they go over there? A
famine took them to Moab and they were declares of the truth
about the gospel. One of the things that is so
interesting to me is about Naaman. Naaman was a warrior. Naaman
was a man of battle and he captured a little Israelite girl. Now
all of the... calamity was caused in the family
that this girl was snatched out of. We hear that happening today
and we feel for the family that their children have been snatched
away from them. Well, this time God put this
little girl in a household of a leper. And she just simply
said, you know, if I wish he would go over and talk to Samaria
and talk to the prophet, Lord, take care of him. Why is she
there? On purpose. The smallest, most
insignificant thing, heart wrenching thing. is found out, they brought
a way captive out of the land of Israel, a little maid. Then
we read about Naaman and what happened to him. There come up
the woman of Samaria to draw water, who's there. Why did she
come at the time she did? Because she didn't want to face
the ridicule of the other ladies. And she came at that time, and
that's exactly when the Lord met her. You know, as I think
about this, Pastor Mahan coming from Kentucky to Central Point,
Oregon. Of all of the lesser places in
the world to go to, he had preached in all over the world and yet
he came to Central Point and I got to hear the gospel. A meeting at a funeral. I met Joe and Duane at a funeral
and they said, would you come up to the Dow's? And I hear about
a lady wanting to go to church in the Dow's on her anniversary. A lady moves into our, next to
our old building, who's a real estate agent. And she asked us
if we're interested in buying a church building. We're in it. A preacher tells his flock, Lazarus
had to give his consent before the Lord can raise him. Now,
I just cannot understand. He's just expressing his belief
is what he's doing. But through that, we've had someone
come to our church. The most, what? The minutia, the most insignificant
things that take place. It looked like the next word
of God that we're going to look at and study is the book of Esther,
and it is full of these things. God's oversight, God's control,
God's protection of his people. I will never leave you nor forsake
you. Some find great issues with this
book because God is not mentioned, and some find it great issues
with it because it's not mentioned in the New Testament. But there
is such an outpouring of the glory of God found in the book
of Esther. as God moved in his mysterious
ways his wonders to perform a divorce of a queen, the raising of Esther. A man who was ready to kill all
of the Jews and he's hung on his own gallows. How God protects
his people. Would you turn with me in closing
to the book of Ezra? Ezra chapter one. Ezra chapter one. We were just,
I was just taken aback by this passage of scripture. I shouldn't
have been. But to just read this Ezra chapter one verses one through
three, it says, now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia,
that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be
fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of
Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and
put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia,
the Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth,
and he hath charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which
is in Judah. Who is there among you of all
his people? is God be with him and let him
go to Jerusalem which is in Judah and build a house of the Lord
of God, the Lord God of Israel. He is the God which is in Jerusalem. All right, whoever wants to go,
go build it and I'll take care of the expense. We're gonna go
on and find that. A man, a pagan king, hadn't thought
a sane thought in his life. is stirred by the Spirit of God
to fulfill the word of the prophet Jeremiah. 70 years after they've
been put in captivity, they're gonna go back. And that's what
we find in the book of Ezra. Well, as we look here, I encourage
you, if you would, read the first chapter of the book of Esther. And if you feel more inclined,
read the 10 chapters. And if you feel more inclined,
Dial it up on the internet and have some man read it to you
or woman read it to you and you read along and you'll find it's
a glorious time that God working all things after the counsel
of his own will for the furtherance of the gospel.