Fate Does Not Exist

Father, we thank you that you are, we can't see you.

You are invisible to us.

You are hidden to us.

But we thank you, God.

We thank you, Lord, that you are present, that you are powerful, and that you are active.

We thank you, Father, that you caused all Holy Scripture to be written,

that the words are here, that are here, the words that you wanted to have written,

that you were the one responsible for having these words recognized by people as having ultimately come from you.

And you are the one who has had them preserved so that we today can read them.

So we ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would come and move within us gently but deeply at the level of our heart

so that we might receive all that you will give us through your word

and that we will respond with gratitude and praise.

And that we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior.

Amen.

Please be seated.

So a couple of people will know what I'm referring to when I share this.

But about a month or so ago, maybe a little bit more than that,

I and several others started to pray quite seriously that something wouldn't happen.

And many people who know lots of things about how organizations work said that not only was it wrong for us to even ask that it wouldn't happen,

but it didn't matter if we prayed because what we were praying about to not happen was going to happen.

And then a couple of weeks ago, when the time came for this thing to happen,

that people said we shouldn't have been praying about because it was going to happen,

there were powerful people, it had been publicized, etc.

Well, the thing we prayed about didn't happen.

Like our prayers were answered.

It's quite remarkable, isn't it?

And it's not, I mean, I'm sharing that because it's interesting.

How did, like, what is it that happens in prayer?

Sometimes when we pray about things, we're praying for a miracle.

You know, we're praying that maybe the cancer which is there will be gone.

And if it's gone, it's probably a type of a miracle.

If you, when the Dig and Del videos become available from the last one,

I really encourage you to go and listen to the one by Greg Kopchick.

I encourage you to listen to all of them, but go watch the one by Greg Kopchick.

And he tells you about something that happens that the non-Christian doctor had to acknowledge that it maybe was a miracle,

that there's no other explanation for what happened.

And we pray for that.

But for most of our prayers, we pray for things that involve God's providence,

that God will act through the normal, natural course of events,

so that something that we think is needed actually happens.

And that's actually how most prayer works.

Some of you know, in the Battle of Dunkirk, giving a very old example,

in Dunkirk, over 300,000 British troops were trapped along the edge of the sea.

They'd been caught flat-footed by the Nazis.

And the Nazi army was pushing them back, and they had their back to the sea.

And the Nazi generals were all calling for the annihilation of the British forces.

And the King of England at the time, with the permission of the Prime Minister,

while this was all happening, when it looked completely and utterly bleak,

he did something which no politician would do today in the Western world.

He got on the radio and called the nation to prayer.

Believe it or not, 1940, that's what he did.

He called the nation for a day of prayer for deliverance of the third of a million soldiers.

Now, what happened, as you know, you don't actually always know that,

because usually now modern movies, like there was a good movie about Dunkirk made about a year ago,

and it completely omitted this from the entire account.

But for some inexplicable reason, Hitler decided that the Nazi generals and the army would stop.

They just, yeah, I mean, that's what happened.

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, from the British point of view and from a world history point of view,

because the Nazis were evil.

But for some inexplicable reason, Hitler ordered the generals to stop,

rather than continuing to press on the battle.

There were other things that happened, and of course there was other actions.

But at the end of the day, after a day of prayer by the British people for deliverance of their troops,

over 300,000 troops, the biggest military evacuation in history was in fact successful.

And, I mean, it's not a miracle on one level, is it?

But isn't it something odd?

Isn't that how all of our prayers work?

That we ask that somebody will arrive safely, or that the promotion will happen,

or some other type of thing,

or that something that a powerful group of people want to have presented,

and we pray that it won't be presented, and it isn't presented.

And it's not a miracle, it's something else.

It's providence.

The story that we're going to look at today,

and in fact the entire book, if you could look at the title up here above me,

you'll notice that I've called the sermon series,

The Story of Esther,

The Hidden God in a Broken World.

And I think it was Amy who picked the image, or maybe it was Jen.

I know that sort of the artwork was done by some combination of the two of them.

It's not Ottawa here, but it's appropriate that it, I think it's Manhattan,

so it's appropriate that they picked as the image,

the center of a major, I mean, the Americans in a center have an empire.

But the book of Esther is all about precisely that.

I don't know how many of you know this, and I haven't talked about it in the sermon,

but the word God never appears once in the book of Esther.

Never appears once.

And many people throughout the years have been bothered by the fact

that there's a book in the Bible that never mentions the word God.

But what the book of Esther is really all about in a very, very powerful way

is just how the world actually works.

That in the world, it actually is.

We live in a broken world.

Not a perfect world, but a broken world.

A world where there is genocide, where there is sexual assault,

where there is robbery, where families break up,

where institutions don't act in a just and merciful way,

but act in a terrible way.

And we live in a broken world.

And in this broken world, there is a hidden God.

The hidden God still operates in this broken world.

And he operates according to his own purposes and his own plans.

And we as Christians know that the hidden God actually exists.

So we're to pray to him that he will act.

And we are to seek his will and his guidance.

But the book of Esther, in a sense, it's not a book of doctrine.

It's a story.

But by telling the story, it helps us to feel and get an image or a sense of how it is that divine providence works.

That even though human beings do what human beings are going to do,

and even though human beings are completely and utterly free,

and because human beings are completely and utterly free,

they are responsible for what they do.

But in the midst, or in the fact, even though every human being is free,

and human beings act according to their own plans and purposes,

sometimes very, very evil, and sometimes very, very virtuous,

that somehow or another, the Lord is still king,

and he is moving all things in human history towards his end.

That's what divine providence is.

That the Lord is sovereign over all things, over everything,

at the same time that human beings are free.

And I can say that,

and for many of you, you start to have intellectual problems,

and that's fine.

We'll maybe talk about a couple of them over the next couple of weeks.

But what the book of Esther does is help us to feel it,

to see what it's like to be in a world that's broken,

where the hidden God is still present, powerful, and active,

and moving things towards his desired end.

So if you have your Bibles, turn to Esther chapter 6,

Esther 6 · chapter mention

which is where we are.

Those who don't have your Bibles with you,

you can either pick up a Bible,

or the text will be above us on the stage.

And just to sort of cap up to where we are in the story,

because we're in chapter 6 of the story that began at chapter 1, verse 1,

what's happened so far,

what's sort of immediately important for you to know,

is that genocide has been planned and is organized,

and it's all set to go against the Jewish people.

And it's going to be happening about 9 or 10 months down the road,

but it's all planned, it's all organized,

it's a fait accompli.

Nothing can stop it,

the genocide against every Jewish person in the empire,

in the Persian empire.

And a woman by the name of Esther,

and in a sense her conversion is reported

in chapter 4 of Esther,

of the book of Esther,

she is a woman who's lived like a Persian,

has a name,

she's named after the goddess Ishtar,

she looks like a Persian,

eats like a Persian,

worships like a Persian,

lives like a Persian,

and she's done all of this

under the direct instruction of the man

who was her adopted father by the name of Mordecai.

She becomes one of the queens of Persia,

Mordecai confronts her in chapter 4 of Esther,

and in that confrontation,

it's her conversion moment,

and out of this conversion moment

is that she has to come and try to speak to the king,

risk her life to speak to the king,

to plead for her people.

There's great prayer for this,

she actually does go,

and the king does spare her life.

She asks to have the king and Haman,

who is responsible for the genocide,

have a feast,

and that's what happened last week,

but lo and behold,

after this great act of courage by Esther,

she stumbles.

She doesn't follow through.

When it comes time to say,

King, I ask you here to plead for my life

and for the life of all of the Jewish people,

she's not able to do it.

She stumbles.

And all she can say is,

could you come tomorrow?

And she doesn't realize this, of course,

but by asking to come tomorrow,

she puts her adopted father's life in jeopardy

because Haman, that evening,

plans to have Mordecai,

the next day,

impaled on a stake

so everybody can see.

And Esther doesn't realize

that she's just risked,

potentially,

is going to have her adopted father

killed by her enemy.

And that's where the story continues.

Chapter 6, verse 1.

So on that night,

that's the night of the feast

and the night before the next day

when the second feast,

when hopefully Esther will have the courage

to talk to the king.

On that night,

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.

Now just sort of pause here for a second

because this is actually,

this is something that you wouldn't know.

I didn't know this

when I was just reading through the book.

I mean,

I've read through the book

quite a few times.

First of all,

literally in the original language,

the Hebrew,

good not sleep,

that's a perfect translation,

but literally it said,

it says,

sleep fled from the king.

Sleep fled from the king.

And for some scholars,

when they look at the whole literary structure

of the book,

and we can see it in a moment,

actually,

if we think about it,

this is a turning point

in the entire book.

On one hand,

the interpretive key to the book

is what's said around the time

of Esther's conversion.

Mordecai,

who has become now converted himself,

he says that,

I know that the Lord

will deliver his covenant people,

whether it's through you or not,

he will deliver his people.

But,

Esther,

are you here for such a time as this?

In other words,

has God in his providence

made you a queen of Persia

so you can be the one

that the Lord uses,

humanly speaking,

to deliver his people.

And Esther says,

I'm going to pray,

I will do it,

and if I perish,

I perish.

On one hand,

that little interaction

is the interpretive key

to the whole story,

but at a literary level,

this is the turning point

in the whole story.

At this point in time,

from the story on,

it is going to become clear

that that which could not change,

the genocide of the Jewish people,

because once the Persian,

once the king of Persia

has made a decree,

it cannot be changed.

That which is humanly impossible

to change will change,

and the Jewish people

will not die by genocide.

I know I'm speaking

a little bit ahead,

but this is the turning point

in the story,

a sleepless night,

a sleepless night

by the king.

And as part of that

sleepless night,

him asking to have

a book read to him,

hoping that maybe

these pleasant things

in the past

and the droning

of the person's voice

will help him

to fall asleep.

And one of the things

which is so interesting

about this

at a literary level

is that it's emphasizing

God's providence

to help to make it clear

that this is no human action

and help you to understand

that everything

that's been going on

in this book

is helping us

to understand

the Lord's providence.

It was by providence

that Queen Vashti

was banished.

It was by providence

that Esther became

the queen.

It was by providence

that Mordecai

gives instructions

that prevent the king

from being assassinated.

It is by providence

that Mordecai

wasn't rewarded.

It was by providence

that Esther was able

to go

and the king

showed her favor

so that she did not die.

And that even now,

even though now

Mordecai is in danger

of being killed

by Haman,

the Lord is acting

providentially

throughout this

and he does this

by having the man

have what many of us

have on a regular basis,

a sleepless night.

He has a sleepless night.

So what happens

with this sleepless night?

We'll look at verses

two and three.

So he asked for the book.

He asked for a book

to be read

of memorable deeds.

And so verse two,

and it was found written

in that book

how Mordecai

and the king

doesn't know

that Mordecai

is the man

who raised Esther.

And he doesn't know

that Mordecai

is Jewish

because Mordecai

means

worshipper of Marduk,

worshipper of Marduk.

And so

it was found

how Mordecai

had told

had told

about Bithana

and Teresh,

two of the king's eunuchs

who guarded

the threshold

and who had sought

to lay hands

on king

Assyrus,

Xerxes.

In other words,

they'd planned

to assassinate him.

And the king said,

what honor

or distinction

has been bestowed

on Mordecai

for this?

And the king's

young men

who attended him

said,

nothing has been

done for him.

Now just sort of pause.

If you've been following

along every week

and can remember

every word

that I said,

by the way,

I can't remember

every word

that I said

so I don't expect

anybody here

to remember

every word

that I've said.

There's five years gap.

So by providence,

Mordecai wasn't

rewarded immediately

five years ago.

By providence,

it slipped

the king's mind.

This is a huge faux pas

in the ancient world

and a huge faux pas

for a king like this

who desires

who has to reward

loyalty in such a way

that people will see

that he's rewarding

loyalty

and rewarding heroism.

And by providence,

five years earlier,

when Mordecai reports

the plot

to assassinate the king,

the king forgets.

And now,

after a sleepless night,

he is reminded.

And so he says,

well,

let's see what happens.

What's going to happen?

He has to deal

with this faux pas.

Verse four,

and the king said,

who is in the court?

Now,

Haman,

that's the man

who's planned

the genocide,

who's an anti-Semite.

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.

Another way to interpret

that would be

impaled on a stake

that he had prepared

for him.

And the king's young men

told him,

Haman is there

standing in the court.

And the king said,

let him come in.

Now,

just,

now remember this.

Haman

had gotten mad

at Mordecai

the night before.

He'd gone to talk

to his wife

and his advisors.

His wife

and his advisors

said,

what we need to do

is you need to get

a place

that's really public

and put a stake on it

and the next day

you need to go

and get Mordecai

and impale him

on the stake

so everybody can see.

And that's what happened

just before this

and Haman loved the idea.

That's exactly

what he wanted to do.

He did high fives

all around the room

for a great idea,

a great plan.

Had the thing built.

He's rushing in early

to get the king's permission

to have Mordecai

impaled on the stake.

And what's probably

happening here

is that when Haman comes

and he comes in

really early

so he makes sure

he gets on the appointment

list in time

to be able to speak

to the king.

And probably what goes

through Haman's mind

when the king

summons him in right away

is,

wow,

everything is going

my way.

but little does he know

that the king

is calling him here

to reward Mordecai.

Those of you

who are here

in time

to confess your sins

at the start

of the service,

many people

dislike the phrase

miserable offenders.

How many of you

were here early enough

and you remember

that phrase

in the confession?

Miserable offenders.

And the old word

for miserable offenders

isn't,

it isn't saying that,

you know,

we all feel miserable.

It might be that

when you were saying

that not a single person

in the room

felt miserable.

That miserable offenders

is an old English

and miserable,

miserable here means

worthy of pity.

Worthy of pity

or an object of pity.

So what the phrase

is actually saying

is to God

in the prayer

is that we are

objects of pity

because of our offenses.

And what that means

in the old prayer book

is that if you could

look at things

from God's point of view,

you could see

that if we live

our lives

and die

without giving

our lives to Jesus,

we are objects

of pity.

We don't realize

that what we are doing

is charting a course

for eternal separation

from God.

And you can see here

right now

that in a sense,

Haman,

right this moment,

filled with vim and vigor,

feeling happy,

feeling pumped,

feeling affirmed,

feeling that everything

is going his way,

feeling that the future

is just going to be

better and better

and better.

Tomorrow,

today is going to be

better than yesterday

and the day before this

is going to be

even better than today.

But the fact of the matter

is that each of us

reading this story

at this moment

know that he is

an object of pity.

He is coming

to get Mordecai

killed.

The king has summoned him

to reward Mordecai.

He is a miserable offender.

He is an object of pity.

So,

verse 6,

Haman comes in

to see the king.

So,

Haman come in,

came in.

And the king

said to him,

what should be done

to the man

whom the king

delights

to honor?

And Haman

said to himself,

whom would the king

delight

to honor

more than me?

Whom would the king

delight to honor

more

than me?

See,

his pride

blinds him,

doesn't it?

He doesn't say,

I don't know,

king,

like,

who is he

who you want to honor?

Sort of depends.

You know,

like,

are they poor?

They might like money

if they're,

you know,

if they,

you know,

they're widowed,

they might like

a new wife,

like,

like,

maybe they want

a promotion,

like,

you know,

he could have said

that,

but his pride

blinds him.

See,

this is one of the

things,

one of the reasons

why humility

is such an important

virtue for Christians

is that humility

helps you to enter

the real world.

Pride keeps you

from the real world.

and,

um,

so he's going to,

he doesn't even do this,

he's so filled with pride,

he's just so filled

with thinking

everything's going his way,

he doesn't even ask

any type of context,

he immediately starts

thinking of himself

and what he'd like

and so his request

reflects that.

You have to remember

he can't get promoted

any higher

and he's already

very,

very wealthy.

So what he suggests

to the king

is this,

verse 7,

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,

that's the crown

is on the horse

by the way,

that was the thing

they did sometimes,

put crowns on the,

the royal,

the royal horse

had its own crown

and let the robes

and the horse

be handed over

to one of the king's

most noble officials.

Let them dress

the man,

the official that is,

whom the king

delights to honor

and let,

that is,

the noble

lead the man

on the horse

through the square

of the city,

that is where everybody

is and where all

the talking

and the gossip,

that's where the internet

is,

that's where Google

is,

it's where the newspapers

are,

where everybody knows

what's going on,

proclaiming before him,

thus shall it be done

to the man

whom the king

delights to honor.

And,

and that's where he stops.

Now,

you know,

it's interesting

if you think about it,

like the way

the modern world works,

the modern world

extols three things.

it tells us

that we have

to be autonomous,

it tells us

that we have

to be authentic,

in other words,

we have to be

true to ourselves,

and it tells us

that what has

to happen

is that the world

has to affirm us.

It's very,

very powerful

in,

in all sorts

of different ways.

And it's,

it's funny

because you see,

Haman is living

the Canadian dream.

Haman is living

the Canadian dream

as articulated

by Hollywood

and by educational

institutions.

He's autonomous,

he has his power,

he's being completely

and utterly

true to himself.

He's true to himself,

hates Jews,

loves himself,

loves money,

loves prestige,

and he imagines

a world

where not only

is he powerful

and autonomous,

and where he's

being true to himself,

but what really

he needs

to have it

be completely

and utterly perfect,

is lots of

affirmation

and applause.

Because it's very,

very interesting.

In the modern world,

it's not about

learning how to,

to,

to reciprocate

affirmation,

but in,

in,

for the,

the social,

so much of the

social justice stuff,

so much of educational

stuff,

so much of Hollywood,

is it's this.

I need to be

affirmed.

And that's,

Mordecai is living,

I mean,

not Mordecai,

Haman is living

the Canadian dream.

But he is a

miserable offender.

I mean,

that's what the story

is revealing.

So he says

all of this,

and then he's

probably,

after he said it,

you know,

nowadays,

it's almost probably

as if he drops

the mic after

saying all of this,

and just sort of

takes a step back,

waiting for the king

to say,

yeah,

that's it,

let's do this for Haman.

But instead,

after he's dropped

the mic,

after he stands

back like this,

ready for the applause,

the king drops

the bombshell on him.

Verse 10.

Then the king

said to Haman,

hurry,

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

but Haman

hurried

to his house

mourning

with his head

covered.

You know,

one of the things

about God's providence

is

by God's providence

some of you

know the rest

of the story,

you know that Haman

is going to come

to a bad end.

I should have said

a spoiler alert

but I'm sure

some of you

have read ahead

to know that

that's going

to happen.

But this is actually

by God's providence

an opportunity

for Haman

to repent,

isn't it?

If you think about it.

Like one of the things

which is very interesting

in the Bible,

especially in the book

of Romans,

the book of Romans

says that in the last day

when the Lord judges

the living and the dead,

every human being

that exists,

no one will have

an excuse

about the Lord's

judgment against them.

Nobody will be able

to say,

oh but you didn't

take into account

this or you didn't

give me enough

opportunities,

whatever.

And I mean

it's just sort of said

but a story like this

helps us to feel it.

He could have mourned

and said to himself,

maybe I'm on the wrong path.

Maybe I have a problem

with pride.

Maybe I shouldn't

hate Jewish people.

But he doesn't

mourn any of those things.

What he mourns

is that

I didn't win.

I failed.

I was humiliated.

I did not get

what I wanted.

See, there's a difference

between mourning

a type of sorrow

over our life

that actually

leads to death

and a type of sorrow

that leads to life.

And Haman

chooses a sorrow

that will contribute

but will continue

on towards death.

You see something else

very true to life

as well.

Verse 13,

and Haman

told his wife

Zeresh

and all his friends

everything that

had happened to him.

Then his wise men

and his wife

Zeresh

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.

And it's very interesting.

None of them said,

maybe we shouldn't

help you come up

with this plan

for genocide.

Like, isn't it so true?

It's like they all

back off and say,

whoa, like you're toxic.

You shouldn't have made

such stupid decisions.

I didn't have anything

to do with that.

Like, I never gave you

any type of advice.

I never just last night

said maybe you shouldn't

have a gallo made.

Like, none of them

take responsibility.

It's very, very true to life.

Like, none of them

take responsibility for it.

But instead,

they pile on the guy

who's already down.

Verse 14,

And while they were

yet talking with him,

the king,

king's eunuchs

arrived and hurried

to bring Haman

to the feast.

That's the second feast

that Esther had prepared.

And we'll look at that

next week.

So how does this

sort of all tie together

with some of the things

that we've been looking at?

You know,

some of us

have problems

with the idea

of providence,

that the Lord

is present,

powerful,

and active,

that he's hidden,

and that he's moving

all things

towards his desired end,

and we have problems

with that.

We do.

But, you know,

it's interesting

that

at the same time

that we have problems

with that,

the fact of the matter

is,

is that at the serious

intellectual level,

when people become serious

in a worldview

without God,

what you end up seeing

is a world

where there's not providence,

but fate,

a fate

that you cannot avoid.

Stephen Hawkins,

who just died

a little while ago,

he was a very important physicist,

and one of the things

that he was seeking

to try to figure out,

there's different names for it,

but he was trying

to figure out

a unified theory

of everything.

some people call it

the theory of everything,

some people call it

the final theory,

some people call it

the ultimate theory,

some people call it

the mastery theory,

sometimes it's mentioned

and called

the unified theory

of everything,

and it's the idea

that there's going to be

some way to come up

with a scientific equation

and a scientific theory

that will ultimately

explain everything.

And why would they think that?

Because they would say

that if you look at life

without God,

then what you have

is science,

and science measures

cause and effect.

It means that

I push this

and it moves.

Everything is,

something causes

something else to happen,

and that something

causes something else

to happen,

and in theory,

if you could get enough

of the right variables

and have the right type

of equation,

in theory,

according to this world,

where everything has,

every effect has a cause,

every effect has a cause,

and that effect

becomes a cause

of something else,

in theory,

you can come up

with a unified theory

of everything,

and you can predict

everything that's going

to happen.

But in such a world,

there is no human freedom.

There is nothing

called human responsibility.

There is nothing

like love.

It's an entire world

of fate,

of inexorable,

unstoppable,

scientific,

of processes

of cause and effect

that just move us around,

and that human beings

are no different,

ultimately,

than little corks

in the ocean

that just move around

and get banged around

and move by the tide

and the wind

and the waves

and just move

wherever they are

as we are completely

and utterly pushed

by these physical forces

that we have

no control over.

And at a serious level,

that's really

the only option

there is

outside of the

Christian worldview.

If you could put up

the first point,

Andrew,

because the Lord

is Lord,

fate

does not exist.

It's not just

through science

that people worry

about fate.

It's interesting

how many movies

talk about

the whole idea

of fate.

I'm watching

a series

with my wife

right now

called

The Man in the High Castle,

and one of the

premises of that

is that there isn't

fate,

that people can

choose their own fate.

I mean,

it's just affirmed.

There's no particular

reason for believing it,

but it's just

completely and utterly

affirmed,

and it expresses

this fundamental

human desire

that fate

can't be true.

In the ancient religions,

fate was true.

The gods would have

you fated

to do a particular thing,

and you couldn't

avoid it happening.

In Hindu worldview,

through the whole

cycle of karma,

you are fated

to a certain spot,

a certain location,

in a certain life,

and there's nothing

you can do about it.

That there is this

overwhelming problem

of fate,

yet at the same time,

human beings

react to this

and say there has

to be something

that's not true,

that that can't be true.

Our understanding

of creation,

our understanding

of reality,

which seems to push

us to think

that there has

to be a fate,

that can't be true.

There has to be

some other option.

There has to be

some place

for human freedom.

There has to be

some place

for me to have

some control.

There has to be

some place for love.

And it's only

in the Christian faith

that that is made clear.

The Bible reveals

that because the Lord

is the Lord,

fate does not exist.

There is no fate.

Instead,

if you could put up

the next point,

the Lord is the good

king moving all

things to his desired

end,

and he is the just

judge who will

judge every human

being.

The Lord is the good

king moving all

things to his desired

end,

and he is the just

judge who will

judge every human

being.

See,

what the book of

Esther reveals

and what the Bible

reveals is that

the Lord is a just

judge.

He really is.

Human beings are

free.

We make our own

decisions.

You look through the

book of Esther.

It's the king who

decides to get

drunk.

It's King Xerxes

who decides to get

drunk.

It's King Xerxes

who, while he's

drunk, demands

his wife, one of

his wives, one of

his queens, Vashti,

come and do

something indecent.

It's her decision

to say no to that.

It's his decision

to punish her and

punish all of the

women.

It's his decision

to do a horrible

thing that ends up

leading to Esther

being the queen.

It's Haman's

decision to be

anti-Semitic and

to plan genocide.

It's Haman's

decision that he

wants to have

Mordecai killed.

These are all

their decisions.

It's not that the

Lord forced them

to do that.

These are all

their decisions.

And so the Lord

is a just judge.

He judges us

according to what

we do.

There is real

human freedom.

But at the same

time, the Bible

teaches a second

truth at the same

time, that not

only is he the

just judge who

judges human

beings on the

basis of their

free acts, what

they've done and

what they've not

done, but at the

same time, he is

the king.

And he is not a

God who, like

open theists, try

to say that he

doesn't actually

know what's going

to happen.

He's just trying

to muddle through,

and as he's

trying to muddle

through, eventually

he'll have some

type of a plan.

No, that's not

the way the Bible

describes the

Lord.

And he's not

just sort of

acting on a

whim.

I like Daniel.

You know, I

don't like Bob.

I like Sue.

You know, I

don't like, you

know, Mary.

He's not a God

who's just filled

with whims.

He's not capricious.

He's not trying to

muddle through.

He's not sort of

having to struggle

with human beings.

He's not saying,

I have to struggle

with George.

He's not doing

what I want him

to do.

I've got to

struggle with him

because, you

know, dang it,

Church of the

Messiah is just

not doing what

I want.

How do I win?

No, he doesn't

do that.

And he's not

just up in

heaven waiting

for human beings

to act and

they say, okay,

that's what

they're going to

do?

Well, then this

is what I'm

going to do.

That's what

they're going to

do?

Well, this is

what I'm going

to do.

He's not doing

that either.

But all the way

through the Bible,

right from

Genesis chapter

three when human

beings fell,

right from

Genesis chapter

three when

human beings

fell, he

has an end.

He has

something that's

going to happen

in the future.

And he is

king.

And even

though human

beings act

with their

freedom,

sometimes

virtuously,

sometimes with

evil, he

is moving,

while respecting

human freedom,

he is moving

all things

towards his

desired end,

which we

know will be

when the

Lord returns.

And there

is a

judging of

the living

and the dead,

and there's

a new

heaven and

the new

earth.

So in

some ways,

the end

is also

the beginning.

He is

sovereign.

It's

Spurgeon said,

I think it was

Spurgeon who

said, he never

wants to

separate the

truth that the

Lord is king

from the

truth that the

Lord is judge,

judge, because

they're friends,

which is a

wonderful phrase,

they're friends.

And one of the

things we have to

fight against is

that some

Christians talk

as if freedom

is so important

that you have to

deny that the

Lord is sovereign,

and other

Christians talk so

much about the

Lord being sovereign

that you have to

forget that human

beings are

responsible, and we

have to hold the

two truths

together, because

that's what the

Bible teaches.

He's king, and

he's judge.

He's a good

king, and he's a

just judge.

And one of the

reasons that we

can say that these

things are both

true is because of

Jesus.

If you could put up

the third point, and

by the way, I

adapted this, just so

you don't think I'm

really clever.

I adapted this from

something I read in

J.I. Packer like

a hundred million

years ago.

I'm pretty sure it

came from Packer,

and I've just

adapted it slightly, so

the shout-out goes

to him, not

to me.

The cradle and

the cross reveal

the crown, and

the cradle and

the cross reveal

the judge.

And that's the

thing which is so

wonderful about the

Christian faith.

In John chapter

118, it says that

Jesus is the one

who makes God

known.

And the word

that it, and what

it's basically saying

is when we look at

Jesus, that we

understand more fully

and completely who

God is, who the

Lord is as the

king.

of all things.

We don't have a

king who's

distant, who's

locked out of his

creation, who's

cold and

heartless.

He's not like a

divine watchmaker who

made creation, wound

up the watch, and

then he's off on a

holiday doing

something else while

natural laws just

work.

No, we see the

Lord reveals that he

is active and present

in his creation when

we see the cradle,

we see Jesus being

born, we see his

humility, we see his

lowliness, we see his

desire to be the

Lord among us, to

bring a people to

himself.

And in the cross, we

see him dying to

redeem us.

And when we see the

cradle and we see

the cross, we

understand why it is

that we can trust that

he wears the crown,

that he is the king of

all things, the Lord of

all creation, that he is

moving all things to

their proper end.

Who is he who is

moving all things to

their proper end?

Not a God who is

evil, not a God who

is unjust, not a God

who does not care about

his creation, not a

God who is powerless,

but a God, the Lord,

who was born amongst

us, God amongst us,

and who died on a

cross for us, and that

is the one that we

trust is the God of

providence, who is

moving all things to

their proper end.

That is the God who

wears the crown, the

one who came in a

cradle and died on a

cross.

And why can we trust

that he is a just

judge?

Because he is not

some guy manipulating

us and pushing us

here and there, who

doesn't understand

human weakness, who

doesn't understand the

profound need that we

human beings have for

a savior.

What reveals the

justness of the judge

and how we will

judge?

What reveals that is

the cradle and the

cross.

The cradle and the

cross reveal the

crown.

The cradle and the

cross reveal the

judge.

If you could put up

the final point.

You know, as I've been

going through the book

of Esther and before

that, Ruth, because

both Ruth and Esther are

all about helping us at

a literary level to feel

the doctrine of

providence, to see how

it works.

Rather than giving us a

series of propositions, it

helps us to enter into a

world where God is

hidden, but he's present,

powerful, and active.

That's what Ruth and Esther

do.

And it really has helped my

prayers.

It really has.

I hope it helps yours.

That's why, as our final

point is, Lord, please grow

in me a lively, living,

trusting, knowing that you

are sovereign and your

providence is real.

That you are sovereign and

your providence is real.

Could you all stand, please?

One of the things I hope you

get from that is that the

whole point of the cradle

and the crown is that you

have an opportunity to

repent now.

If you've never given your

life to Jesus, call out to

him.

Don't have a mourning or a

sorrow or an unhappiness

about your life that's just

focused on yourself and is

a type of death, but to

use that unhappiness and

sorrow to realize your

profound need for the one

who is revealed through the

cradle and the cross.

And to begin to know the

Lord's providence in your

life.

And so you figure out that

prayer for yourself, but I

urge you to call

call upon him.

I'm going to ask those of

you, if you put up the

fourth point, that would be

great again, Andrew.

I'm going to ask people if

you would pray that.

Those whom the Lord has

moved, if you would pray

this with me and then I'll

just close.

And then Daniel's going to

come up and finish this off

with intercessions.

But let's just pray that

together.

Lord, please grow in me a

lively, living, trusting,

knowing that you are

sovereign and your providence

is real.

Father, bring this home to

us in a very powerful and

deep way.

Bring this home to me, that

you really are present,

powerful and active even

when you are hidden.

And that you do answer

prayer.

Even prayers, Father, which

other people say are

impossible, that you answer

them.

And in all things, Father,

help us just to desire to

know you and to be known

by you and to grow in these

great virtues.

And we ask this in the name

of Jesus.

Amen.