god uses unbelievers to accomplish his will god uses unbelievers to accomplish his will

Your sons shall be shepherds for forty years in the wilderness, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness, until your corpses lie in the wilderness. Now relax your hand! And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. A) We bow in submission before the mysterious ways of God. Get our Question of the Week delivered right to your inbox! 1:21). God often reveals himself in most unexpected ways. But most of the time we wont see it fully until we finally arrive in heaven. Philippians 3:4-7 - although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. Solomon was DaVinci, Einstein, Bach, Jordan, Augustus, and Shakespeare rolled into one superior man. God is unimpressed by our collection of readers, likes, retweets, friends, connections, or admirers. Covenant judgment was about to be poured out upon Israel. You have entered an incorrect email address! They looked to themselves for their power. Often in the confusion of life, we cant see the ends, much less the means God intends for us. 1 John 5:14. He didnt accept evil apathetically, he was appalled by it. At times, God enlisted non-believers to help His people through the ages. But to the rest I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he must not divorce her. No, its a mystery. The fact that God ordains both the means and the ends should surely encourage us as we face our own trials. As we saw in the first four verses of this book, Habakkuk was confused. Even today there are those who are arrogant and have no honor for God as He reveals Himself in Scripture. When he went before Pilate, the Roman governor received an urgent message from his wife: Dont have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him (Matthew 27:19). Including those who dont believe He exists. He recognized what was evil because he believed Gods law. All of these people are unlikely choices to be used by God since they didnt truly know or believe in Him. Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. God uses all those who humble themselves before the cross, boasting only in him his strength, his wisdom, his righteousness, his accomplishment. In Acts 13:41 he said, Behold, you despisers, Marvel and perish! No buildings, streets, or hospitals have been named in honor of me. Another unlikely person used by God was King Cyrus of Persia. Its something we can clearly see within the pages of our Bible. C) We place our confidence in Gods ultimate purpose for us. New American Standard Bible Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. Those who read my words are in many different situations: May I repeat what I just said: He has not brought us this far to cause us to fail. Even Jesus cannot save a man who claims his sin is not really sinful. WebGod was about to turn to the Gentiles as He judged Israel as a nation for her unbelief. Paul also made this clear in Romans 9-11. Joseph made Egypt phenomenally wealthy during the years of the famine. In many cases without them even realizing that they were being used by God. Jesus said the unbelievers failed to give him food, drink, nurse him in His sickness, or visit Him in prison. But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive out of those men who went to spy out the land. We should never presume to say to an unbeliever, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. We cant know that. But if anyone says to you, This is meat sacrificed to idols, do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for conscience sake; I mean not your own conscience, but the other mans; for why is my freedom judged by anothers conscience? Summary But all of them come from the hand of the Lord. Did Jesus Descend Into Hell? But Moses said to the Lord, Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought up this people from their midst, and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. There he said in 1 Corinthians 14:21, With men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people; And yet, for all that, they will not hear Me, says the Lord. He directly quoted the covenant warning of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Deuteronomy. Unbelievers Are blinded by the God of this world 2 Corinthians 4:4 Verse Concepts 14:16, God, who is all powerful and infinitely sovereign, tells Moses, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land. Why didnt God just part the Red Sea? Later Pilate gave in to pressure and ordered Jesus crucified. Compared to you or me, King Solomon had it all wisdom, wealth, fame, power. WebJohn 3:16. 55:8-9). For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Eternity will reveal how your faithful service was used by the Lord in amazing ways. Anyone who resists God risks falling into spiritual deception (2 Unbelievers Are blinded by the God of this world 2 Corinthians 4:4 Verse Concepts Click here. Remember my imprisonment. This week I ate lunch with a man who has recently become an acquaintance through an e-mail correspondence. God strengthened Cyrus so that he could conquer nations and overcome opposition Thus says the Lord God to His 2. They intend to be their own god. In 609 Judahs King Josiah was killed in battle against Egypt. But Habakkuks confusion was not doubt. He clings to his sin like a drowning man to an iron life preserver. They scoff at kings, And princes are scorned by them. For who resists His will?, For He says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.. Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation., Truth Of God Is denied by Unbelievers, the Truth of God Is denied by Unbelievers, Unbelievers Are blinded by the God of this world, Unbelievers Will be classed with outbreaking sinners in eternity, Unbelievers Their lifetime spent in vanity, Unbelievers Shall be judged by God's word in the last day, Will be classed with outbreaking sinners in eternity, Shall be judged by God's word in the last day. The Pharisees believed they were serving God but in reality, they didnt even know Him. When Judas actually betrayed Jesus in the Garden, Peter immediately sprang to his defense. God doesnt need men, but God chooses to use men at times to accomplish His sovereign will. Steven Lee is the Pastor of Preaching & Vision at. 4:5). 1 John 5:14. Jesus point is clear, The King will answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.. And that is okay. WebWhat if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 1 Peter 2:8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. Providence means that God is in charge of the entire universe at all times and nothing happens outside his control. All of it happened according to Gods plan. Because God does miracles by His own power. Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave; the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace. In spite of our slownessand even sinGod will bless and use us to fulfill His purpose of blessing all nations through Christ, because of our relationship to the Father through the Son. But we need to grow in faith and obedience. 10 people that God used to accomplish his purposes I. Paul: The one with a shameful past and challenging present (4:18) Colossians 4:18 - I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. A God who can bring something good out of betrayal can be trusted to accomplish his work in your life. 17:8-13). Here is my answer: He allowed Judas to betray Jesus so that Jesus could become the Savior of the world. Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.. Judas professed Christ but he did not possess him, which is why he is in hell today. Able to do exceedingly and abundantly using unlikely people to further His plans. Unbelievers Are blinded by the God of this world 2 Corinthians 4:4 Verse Concepts He uses believers and unbelievers. He stands behind it indirectly, but He directly stands behind good. Why did a holy God allow such evil to continue? That pagan nation was struggling against Egypt for dominance. If your rsum is sparse, your intellect feeble, your skills unimpressive, and your wisdom just average, fret not. He mustered his army and went after the Jews in hot pursuit. They move ahead as a determined army spreading violence. He has not brought us this far to cause us to fail. The purpose of www.drivennails.com is to help train expository preachers in sermon construction and delivery, to train inductive Bible study writers and teachers, and to edify the saints with the Word of God. Gods Ability To Use Unlikely People Even Unbelievers. But now, I pray, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared, Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now., but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the. The unbeliever has made an exchangethe truth for a lieand the devil is happy to facilitate the swap by presenting the sinner with a wide array of lies from which to choose. Those who turn in humble trust to the Lord, who rest in His work of redemption, who seek to walk in his ways, and who turn in humble repentance when they fail, will receive His righteousness, and blessing forever. God reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne ( Psalm 47:8 ). In spite of our slownessand even sinGod will bless and use us to fulfill His purpose of blessing all nations through Christ, because of our relationship to the Father through the Son. And, "Who Are The Sons of God in Genesis 6? Surely you shall not come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. The Lord can never be blamed for evil, but evil does not take p. God never does evil Himself. But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.. Through one mans treachery, Jesus proves himself a man of peacenot a man of war. In heaven, each mans praise will come to him from God, and God will be glorified for sovereignly using sinners for His good purposes (I Cor. And Jesus said, For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind. Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, We are not blind too, are we? Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, We see, your sin remains. Before the Apostle Paul wrote his letter he was known as Saul. Anyone who resists God risks falling into spiritual deception (2 And how will they hear without a preacher? Moses was sent by the Lord multiple times to Pharaoh asking for the release of the Hebrews. WebWhat if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 1 Peter 2:8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed (Genesis 12: 3). God didnt want to lead the people around the Red Sea by the way of the Philistines knowing they might get scared and run back to Egypt (Ex. When God determines where we will end up, he also determines how we will get there. For this reason God purposefully led the wondering multitude to a place where there was no possible way of escape from Pharaoh and his army, humanly speaking. 4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. God was revealing that He was going to use this ungodly power for judgment upon his own straying people. They do whatever they want. We return now to the original question: Why did God allow Judas to betray Jesus? Dont mistake temporary material victories for true success. God will bring ultimate and final judgment upon all ungodliness. Therefore if the whole church assembles together and all speak in tongues, and ungifted men or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad? Verse Concepts. Copyright 2002-2023 Got Questions Ministries. God has the amazing ability to do things that simply do not make sense to mankind. Because God created all He can use anything in creation. Jump to Previous But to the rest I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he must not divorce her. I cant charge an exorbitant hourly fee for my time. After God redeemed Israel from Egypt through a series of ten miraculous plagues, he had Moses lead the people of Israel out of Egypt near the shore of the Red Sea. Jesus, in the Olivet Discourse, gave the parable of the sheep and the goats. We know from the sowing and reaping principle that t here will be degrees of torment in the lake of fire. Peter didnt see it, he only saw the treachery of Judas. When Isaiah 53:1 speaks of the future coming of the Messiah, literally it says, who would have believed the thing reported? His birth as a baby who would grow up, suffer and die was most unexpected. Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it. It doesnt mean everything will also go perfectly or the way we hope. Although God was at work in the betrayal, you couldnt see it that night. The Lord did it, but He did it through Moses. A most astonishing way of fulfilling that prophesy. 1:15-16), later to be thrown in the Nile (Ex. He wants us to trust in Him, to rely on Him, to cry out to Him, and then give Him glory for delivering us. Be encouraged, child of God. The new king was deposed after three months. He has but one endto make us like Jesus. 10:14-15). Thanks for your interest! So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophecy is for a sign, not to unbelievers but to those who believe. God calls the autistic man to give the most profound articulation of his simple faith. Do not begrudge your weakness. Do you merely profess Christ and trust in your religious habits to save you, or do you possess Christ in your heart by faith? the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. Though absolutely sovereign, all knowing, all wise, and everywhere present, God uses sinners to accomplish His will. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy. Herod the Great tried to kill him in Bethlehem. (1 Corinthians 1:2629). It is not our responsibility to determine how God will use us, but it is our responsibility to be faithful to obey the Word of God. Soon they will be raised up from that struggle to full power. The Pharisees came out and began to argue with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, to test Him. We when we dont know if something is Gods will, we pray, Yet not my will but yours be done (Mt. Gods plan included the time of Jesus deathPassover, the placeJerusalem, the opposition by the Jewish leaders, and the betrayal by Judas. Psalm 109:8Replaced by another manMatthias (see Acts 1:20). By his treachery he established the very cause he set out to destroy. God will use it even if you do not understand how. Sign up to join over 20,000 subscribers receiving our weekly sermon email. Which is why they completely missed the Messiah when they stood right beside Him. Two questions confront us as we consider the story of Judas: Last weeks sermon dealt with the first question. The fact that God ordains both the means and the ends should surely encourage us as we face our own trials. And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst? God picks the scrawniest little girl to lead off on his kickball team. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. It was the tech team, the web master, the secretary, or whoever posted my sermon on line. He is working all things after the counsel of His will (Eph. But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you. In Jeremiah 13:20 it said, Lift up your eyes and see Those who come from the north . Jeremiah 25:32 says, Behold, disaster shall go forth From nation to nation, And a great whirlwind shall be raised up From the farthest parts of the earth., Habakkuk 1:6, For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans, A bitter and hasty nation Which marches through the breadth of the earth, To possess dwelling places that are not theirs..