god uses unbelievers to accomplish his will

Though absolutely sovereign, all knowing, all wise, and everywhere present, God uses sinners to accomplish His will. 28:36, The LORD will bring you and the king whom you set over you to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods wood and stone. God doesnt need men, but God chooses to use men at times to accomplish His sovereign will. I have not been named most influential, listed as most attractive, or voted most likely to succeed. 4:5). Thanks for your interest! In Acts 2 God poured out His Holy Spirit on the disciples who spoke on the streets of Jerusalem in the languages of the Gentiles who were present. They have heard that You, O. His plan in doing so was to bless all people. Judas professed Christ but he did not possess him, which is why he is in hell today. These lessons simply teach us that God can take that which is evil and use it for his own good purposes. It forces us to live by faith, which is how He wants us to live all the time because it gives Him glory. A man who lived in a time in which only Jews served the one true God. 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. Moses give the Israelites specific instruction and visible representation from the invisible God. God has the amazing ability to do things that simply do not make sense to mankind. I dont have any letters after my name. 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. It becomes all the more bold in lawlessness. God is unimpressed. But we need to grow in faith and obedience. shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it. WebGod Can Use Unbelievers part 1: Cyrus 1. The Lord can never be blamed for evil, but evil does not take p. God never does evil Himself. As a place to begin, consider three verses dealing with Judas. Say to them, As I live, says the Lord, just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will surely do to you; your corpses will fall in this wilderness, even all your numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me. He didnt accept evil apathetically, he was appalled by it. He dealt with his doubts and confusion in the right way, he turned to God, not to his own understanding. And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away. What does it mean that God came from Teman (Habakkuk 3:3). He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day. Thus they plundered the Egyptians ( Exodus 12:36 ). Yet both declare His awesome glory. Now and then we advance to Easter morning where we discover Gods purpose in our pain. 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. Amen. 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. I have received no honorary doctorates. Most people in the world have no experience of lasting joy in their lives. This is a true mystery, which we may explain in various ways but will never fully understand. Everything was planned by God down to the tiniest detail. But we need to grow in faith and obedience. He stands behind it indirectly, but He directly stands behind good. Things may seem impossible, and for men, they might be impossible, but nothing is impossible with God (Lk. Is that a contradiction? Training for Preachers and Teachers of God's Word, Want to know what an RSS feed is and how it works? 28:25, The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them; and you shall become troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth. Having all the wisdom in the world didnt guarantee fidelity. Until that man turns from his sinwhich in his case means acknowledging his behavior as sinand runs to the Cross of Christ he cannot be saved. In fact, in one place in scripture, God said that what He was doing could not be understood even if He explained it. I sit on no boards. My ministry is small locally, but gigantic because of the faithful service of others. God has already determined the end from the beginning (Isa. 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. He chooses to use sinners to accomplish His sovereign will, often in ways we dont even understand. In the beginning Satan challenged Gods right to rule. One of the most remarkable things about the Scriptures is how they preserve for us what we regard as our highest dignity, which is the right to exercise our own will. Psalm 109:8Replaced by another manMatthias (see Acts 1:20). This New-Babylon marched through Canaan and took hostages (one of them was Daniel). Here we see that when believers are doing the will of God, obeying the Word of God, and serving even the least of the Saints, they are Gods instruments, doing Jesus will, ministering to Jesus people, His body, His bride. Moses didnt have any power to bring the ten plagues upon Egypt either. The phrase all this refers to the betrayal, the circumstances surrounding it, and the circumstances flowing from it. But God gave the command, Moses obeyed the command, and in a sense Moses divided the Sea, as the Lord commanded, and in a more ultimate sense God did the miracle and divided the Red Sea. Their horses also are swifter than leopards, And more fierce than evening wolves. When Judas actually betrayed Jesus in the Garden, Peter immediately sprang to his defense. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. C) God uses all eventsgood and badto accomplish his purposes. It can be fairly said that the common people by and large respected Jesus and responded positively to his message. So the emphasis of the chapter is on Gods working out His purpose through ordinary people who obey Him. International Standard Version. All four gospel writers agree that three times Pilate rendered the same verdict regarding Jesus: I find no fault in him (John 19:6 NKJV). Embrace your weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon you to reveal Gods surpassing greatness (2 Corinthians 12:9). Here are some examples: This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask ", Writing & Teaching Inductive Bible Studies. God uses the overwhelmed and disheveled mother to nurture her children into spiritual giants. Why would God allow his Son to suffer such indignity at the hands of one who claimed to be his friend? In Acts 2 God poured out His Holy Spirit on the disciples who spoke on the streets of Jerusalem in the languages of the Gentiles who were present. In fact, in one place in scripture, God said that what He was doing could not be understood even if He explained it. Solomon was given a mind like no one before and like none even after him (1 Kings 3:12). His story is unique in that he claims to be a Christian even though he has chosen a way of life that God calls an abomination. Although God was at work in the betrayal, you couldnt see it that night. 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). The mind of evil changes from bad to worse being taken in by successes in conquest. And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst? If youd like an interesting Bible study, take a look at the trials of Jesus. 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. But what they do is not going to bring them true blessing. A prophecy we can imagine would have seemed quite improbable to those who heard. I think we can learn some great lessons by answering these questions. 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. 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? 1:22). To say it another way, there is a man in hell today who has been there for 2000 years even though what he did advanced Gods plan to save the world. Do not begrudge your weakness. The Lord said to Moses, How long will this people spurn Me? Including those who dont believe He exists. The new Pharaoh saw the Israelites as a plague in the land. Later Pilate gave in to pressure and ordered Jesus crucified. Anyone who resists God risks falling into spiritual deception (2 He stands behind it indirectly, but He directly stands behind good. 21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man. The Lord can never be blamed for evil, but evil does not take p. God never does evil Himself. We are called to be among his faithful people. When you find yourself in a tight spot and you cant see any way of deliverance, have faith in God, obey His Word, and wait for the salvation of the Lord. Sign up to join over 20,000 subscribers receiving our weekly sermon email. 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. We return now to the original question: Why did God allow Judas to betray Jesus? 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Nothing that happened to Jesus that night or later on Good Friday made sense when it happened. And he was an exalted and successful king. He is the preeminent insider who knew Jesus as well as anyone has ever known himyet in the end never really knew him at all. Though absolutely sovereign, all knowing, all wise, and everywhere present, God uses sinners to accomplish His will. The Pharisees believed they were serving God but in reality, they didnt even know Him. They had fast horses and were more fierce (more alert, fierce, and sharp) than the hungry wolves that come out to hunt in the evening. We might be a life-hacking, productivity guru. Covenant judgment was about to be poured out upon Israel. But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. As for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land and who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report concerning the land, even those men who brought out the very bad report of the land died by a plague before 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. How will they preach unless they are sent? Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. No, its a mystery. We see this all the way through the Bible. Their end will be most awful. As they plotted how to murder Jesus they had no idea they were accomplishing Gods will. WebGod was about to turn to the Gentiles as He judged Israel as a nation for her unbelief. It will be a most terrible judgment. 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. Paul used this verse from Habakkuk to warn the foolish despisers of the gospel. Does God sometimes use evil to accomplish His plans (Habakkuk 1:5-11)? God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will. If God did the miracles without Moses, amazing things would have happened, but the people would not have known what was going on or what to do. Yet, Solomon turned away from God (1 Kings 11:4, 912). Be encouraged, child of God. 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. 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. According to the number of days which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall bear your guilt a year, even forty years, and you will know My opposition. And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. As for you, 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. God often reveals himself in most unexpected ways. Were on a mission to change that. Suggestions? God promised to precede Cyrus and destroy all opposition that Cyrus would face: 'I will go before you and make the 3. His plan in doing so was to bless all people. 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. In the beginning Satan challenged Gods right to rule. And, "Who Are The Sons of God in Genesis 6? WebAnd then they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the Devil, who had caught them and made them obey his will. He uses believers and unbelievers. That doesnt lessen his guilt, but it does increase our appreciation of Gods sovereignty over the affairs of men. WebThe Scripture teaches that God achieves His purpose in unbelievers. but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. Judas didnt know itand doesnt get any credit for itbut his dastardly deed actually fulfilled predictions given by the Holy Spirit hundreds of years before he was born. How does this truth apply to Judas? His betrayal proved that the Jewish leaders were far from innocent bystanders in the death of Christ. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth (Isaiah 53:7). Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.. Through one mans treachery, Jesus proves himself a man of peacenot a man of war. They do whatever they want. Here are some examples: Moses had great faith! Habakkuk 1:5, Look among the nations and watch Be utterly astounded! This truth about Judas illustrates Gods control of every event in the universe. So through his death, he can have everlasting life on earth. A third reason God had Moses raise his staff and hands before dividing the Red Sea is that God delights to use sinners to accomplish His sovereign will. For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son for those who believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.. God has the amazing ability to do things that simply do not make sense to mankind. In the providence of God, the betrayal by Judas actually advanced Gods purpose in the world. Gods plan even extended to having Jesus buried in a borrowed tomb (see Isaiah 53:9). God himself had foreordained every detail surrounding the death of his Son. God promised to precede Cyrus and destroy all opposition that Cyrus would face: 'I will go before you and make the 3. WebGod was about to turn to the Gentiles as He judged Israel as a nation for her unbelief. Literal Standard Version. Peter didnt see it, he only saw the treachery of Judas. Here are some examples: They all come for violence; Their faces are set like the east wind. God uses all those who humble themselves before the cross, boasting only in him his strength, his wisdom, his righteousness, his accomplishment. The new king was deposed after three months. His words imply that all the torment will be tolerable. God ordains the means and the ends of life. Eternity will reveal how your faithful service was used by the Lord in amazing ways. Isaiah 28:11 warned, For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people. Jeremiah 5:15 said, Behold, I will bring a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel, says the LORD. Gods Prophet Jeremiah warned of Gods judgment. Which is why they completely missed the Messiah when they stood right beside Him. Just as He did with Pharaoh who placed no faith in the God of Israel. Second, the proper response to any trial or danger is to not fear but stand by and see the salvation of the Lord. How many times do we fret and worry and then see the Lord deliver us and realize that all of our anxiety and fretting was for naught, that it accomplished nothing, but was an expression of our sinful doubt? In this period of Judahs last kings, the Prophets warned of the fulfillment of this covenant promise. He wants us to trust in Him, to rely on Him, to cry out to Him, and then give Him glory for delivering us. And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away. We have one life to use, and the usefulness of that one life depends not on our rsum or even how much we know. Lest he misunderstand, I also told him that going to Calvary Memorial Church cannot save anyoneor help save anyone. He is working all things after the counsel of His will (Eph. God uses all those who humble themselves before the cross, boasting only in him his strength, his wisdom, his righteousness, his accomplishment. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; Immediately the boys father cried out and said, I do believe; help my unbelief.. Even Jesus cannot save a man who claims his sin is not really sinful. In many cases without them even realizing that they were being used by God. And it is just like God to ask us to do hard things, things that seem impossible, that we know in our hearts we cant do. So continue to trust in Him and you wont be disappointed. 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. You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent. In the healthiest churches, we find a holy conspiracy between pastors who gladly care for the sheep, and sheep who do what they can so that the pastors might serve joyfully. International Standard Version. Do not lament your insufficiency. God has sinners pray and answers the prayers of sinners that are according to His will, getting glory for himself. 16 But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. Why bother praying to a God who isnt? How beautiful! God uses pathetic people for his glorious purposes to show his superior power. Now relax your hand! And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. Causing a sacrifice to take place that would open salvation up to all people. They move ahead as a determined army spreading violence. I answer yes. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. He stands behind it indirectly, but He directly stands behind good. He has many means to accomplish that holy purposeincluding some that are difficult to understand. Our accomplishments do not justify our existence. One final point is in order. for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. The fact that God ordains both the means and the ends should surely encourage us as we face our own trials. In this wilderness they shall be destroyed, and there they will die. As for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land and who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report concerning the land, even those men who brought out the very bad report of the land died by a plague before the Lord. They scoff at kings, And princes are scorned by them. They had been in Egypt under Egyptian task masters for 400 years. He has but one endto make us like Jesus. God will surely judge all rebellion, secret and open. But most of the time we wont see it fully until we finally arrive in heaven. How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who are grumbling against Me? As we saw in the first four verses of this book, Habakkuk was confused. Romans 8:28 says, For those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. All things includes both good and bad things. Assyria had fallen when Nineveh, its capitol, was destroyed in 612 BC. In fact, in one place in scripture, God said that what He was doing could not be understood even if He explained it. Sighing deeply in His spirit, He *said, Why does this generation seek for a sign? (Video #2), Lesson 2: Gods Use of the Ungodly Habakkuk 1:5-11. We need to be reminded again and again that we are like grass disposable, temporary, fleeting, momentary. He could have rained fire and brimstone down on them. God even gave prophecy through Isaiah that this very thing would take place. It was their God, or at least the God of Moses, that just killed all the first born of Egypt. God wants to use those who look away from their self-sufficiency to his all-sufficiency. They were afraid. Anxiety, worry, anger, never help remedy the situation, they are emotions that compound our trials and betray that in our hearts we dont believe God, dont trust God, and dont think He is good. Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Jesus is truly the lamb without blemish who died for the sins of the world (John 1:29). There is no better example of Gods providence at work through the actions of a sinful man. Gods sign of judgment was that they would hear foreign language on the streets of Jerusalem, speaking in a language they did not understand. God is not finished with you yet, so dont give up on him. 28 who says of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built,, and of the temple, Your foundation shall be laid. . WebGod Can Use Unbelievers part 1: Cyrus 1. WebJohn 3:16. God uses all those who humble themselves before the cross, boasting only in him his strength, his wisdom, his righteousness, his accomplishment. Dont mistake temporary material victories for true success. God chooses the custodian with a heavy accent to share the gospel and save lives. We see this all the way through the Bible. Get our Question of the Week delivered right to your inbox! We are saved by living faith in the Son of Godnot by outward religious observance. 55:8-9). I cant charge an exorbitant hourly fee for my time. Nothing is ever left to chance with God. All rights reserved. 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. your corpses will fall in this wilderness, even all your numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me. The evil ones believe pridefully that their own imagined gods have blessed them. WebGod will never set man's will aside and use him for a good purpose without his being willing to be used.

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