God’s Golden Moments (Esther 4:12-17)
One summer, I was knocking doors with a girl my age as part of a campaign effort. One afternoon, we started knocking on the doors of an apartment complex, and the first gentleman we met sat down and studied the Bible with us. Joe then wished to be baptized, and Monica and I took him to the church building and baptized him. Joe has been faithful to Jesus since then.
When we told our fellow campaigners where Joe lived, they were shocked—they had already knocked every door in that complex. Joe just happened to be gone when the others were there; if we had knocked on another door first and learned the group had already been there, Monica and I would have left, but we knocked on Joe’s door first. Things aligned just right for me to teach and baptize Joe. I believe with all my heart that God providentially brought Joe and me together so that Joe could come to Christ. It was one of “God’s Golden Moments.”
God works golden moments for you, too. Have you ever bumped into an unfaithful Christian in the grocery store and been able to express your concern? Have you ever talked with someone about Jesus and found her uninterested until something happened in her life which brought her to Jesus? Have you ever known a child come to VBS, be excited enough that the whole family starts attending worship, and then see the entire family come to the Lord?
Scripture teaches this: “God provides golden moments to share his truth.”
Scripture
When Mordecai learned of Haman’s plot to kill all the Jews, he asked his first cousin Queen Esther to speak to the king. When he found the queen reluctant to do so, Mordecai told Esther, “And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Est 4:14). And the Book of Esther—which never once uses the word “God”—shows how God provided a golden moment to Queen Esther and how the queen rose to the challenge.
Think about Joseph. His brothers sold him into slavery, and he ended up in prison until he interpreted dreams for Pharaoh telling of seven years of plenty to be followed by seven years of famine. God providentially raised Joseph from being a slave to being the prime minister of Egypt to save the descendants of Abraham. When Joseph made himself known to his brothers, he said, “God sent me before you to preserve life” (Gen 45:5).
In the apostolic age, God created golden moments for his people to share his truth. Sometimes God did so through miracles. A great crowd came together at Pentecost because they had heard a great sound like a rushing wind. God told Philip to go and join himself to the eunuch’s chariot. An angel told Cornelius to send for Peter, and Peter had a vision that he could convert Gentiles; then, when Peter arrived at Cornelius’ home, Cornelius and those he had gathered into his home spoke in tongues.
God also used providence to bring an evangelist and a sinner together. “And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. . . . Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word” (Acts 8:1, 4). If Stephen hadn’t been martyred, if persecution hadn’t arisen, the church would not have been scattered and gone “about preaching the word.”
The healing of Aeneas brought “all the residents of Lydda and Sharon” to the Lord (Acts 9:35). Aeneas had been paralyzed for eight years (Acts 9:33), Peter healed him in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 9:34), he immediately rose, and the people of the town believed on Jesus (Acts 9:35). If Aeneas had not been paralyzed, if he had not been in a spot where Peter saw him, Lydda and Sharon would never have heard the message and turned to the Lord.
God’s providence worked in the life of Onesimus. He, a slave, ran away from his master Philemon. Onesimus went to Rome, and somehow encountered an imprisoned Paul and the apostle converted him. Notice what Paul wrote to Philemon: “This perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while that you might have him back forever” (Phil 15).
Application
“God provides golden moments to share his truth.” God will put you with people where you can teach his word. Since God will give you golden moments, what should you do?
One: You Perceive
You must Perceive God’s golden moments; be looking for God’s golden moments. Jesus told the Twelve, “Before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness” (Lk 21:12-13). Paul recognized his opportunity in Ephesus: “I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me” (1 Cor 16:9).
Perceive the opportunities around you. Is someone experiencing loss and thus more open to the gospel? Do you sit down in a restaurant and see someone reading his Bible? Does a friend ask you why you can’t go antiquing with her on Sunday morning? Always be on the lookout and Perceive opportunities to share the gospel.
Two: You Pray
Prayer’s power is found in speaking to the Creator of the universe. Jesus said, “I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Lk 11:9). For what should you pray?
Pray for Opportunities
Paul asked the Colossians to Pray that he might have opportunities to share Jesus: “At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison” (Col 4:3).
When you get up, Pray this simple prayer: “God, give me a soul today.”
Pray for Boldness
After Peter and John had been threatened by the Sanhedrin for preaching Jesus, they reported to the church what they had been told. The church prayed and said, “And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness” (Acts 4:29). Guess what happened? “And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31). Paul asked the Ephesians to Pray “that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel” (Eph 6:19).
When you get up and Pray for God to send you a soul, Pray for boldness.
Three: You Prepare
If you’re praying to a God who answers prayer to send you a soul, you had better be ready when that soul comes. To be ready, you had better know the Scriptures. Paul told Timothy, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15). Wouldn’t you be ashamed if a soul started asking you simple questions about how to become a Christian and you couldn’t answer them? How can you rightly handle the word of truth if you can’t tell someone how to become a Christian?
Could you this very morning tell someone how to become a Christian? Could you back up your statements with Scripture? If you can’t back up what you say with Scripture, you’d better do some studying, for without Scripture, it’s just your word and your word can be wrong. The author of Hebrews gave those Christians a stark rebuke: “Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God” (Heb 5:12). Don’t let that be said of you! Be a teacher! Teach a soul today as God gives you a golden moment.
God has given you a golden moment this morning to examine your soul and to be ready before him. Are you ready before him?
This sermon was originally preached by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., at Church of Christ Deer Park in Deer Park, Texas.