Ray Stedman on Esther 7: The chapter opens with an intimate supper in a private banqueting room where Queen Esther, the king, and Haman, the evil prime minister, are gathered, and it closes with a man nailed, screaming, to a tree until he is dead. Here is one of those frequent timeless foreshadowings of the … More A Tale of Two Suppers
Bob Deffinbaugh comments at Bible.org: A sleepless night for the king changed the course of history and resulted in the deliverance of the Jews throughout the Persian Empire. In reality, it was a divinely orchestrated sequence of events. Those events nullified the law wicked Haman had passed by deceiving the king and spared the lives … More Sleepless in Susa
When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as … More Three Themes from Titus 3
Now tell me, was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?” And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From man,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John … More Will you say anything rather than acknowledge being in the wrong?
“The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.”— Proverbs 16:33 “God’s dice always have a lucky roll,” said Sophocles, one of classical Athens’ three great tragic playwrights. Here’s what Charles H. Spurgeon has to say, in Morning and Evening: If the disposal of the lot is the … More Spurgeon: If the disposal of the lot is the Lord’s, whose is the arrangement of our whole life?
“The kindness and love of God our Saviour.”—Titus 3:4 C.H. Spurgeon, in Morning and Evening: HOW sweet it is to behold the Saviour communing with His own beloved people! There can be nothing more delightful than, by the Divine Spirit, to be led into this fertile field of delight. Let the mind for an instant … More Spurgeon: Nothing more delightful
John Piper, in a sermon, “O,That You Knew the Terms of Peace!” (Luke 19:41-44) I want you to imagine a scene with me. There is a young doctor who has a wife and three small children. He volunteers to take a dangerous six-month mission assignment to a place where there is an epidemic of a … More He knew his days were numbered
Marching Off The Map A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. —Proverbs 16:9 Haddon Robbinson: Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans. Our lives are subject to detours and corrections that we never expected or imagined. Abraham and Sarah could testify to that. They were … More Unexpected detours
Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, … More Esther: Better do my duty and die for my people than shrink from my duty and die with them.
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us … More Piper: The meat in the middle of the sandwich is our blessed hope
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