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

Thus they plundered the Egyptians ( Exodus 12:36 ). WebGod will never set man's will aside and use him for a good purpose without his being willing to be used. Do not begrudge your weakness. Many believed they were going to die and complained to Moses (Ex. God is still using unlikely people to accomplish His will on earth today. 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. 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. 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? 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.. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven, will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. Consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. He stands behind it indirectly, but He directly stands behind good. In the beginning Satan challenged Gods right to rule. The Prophet was told to look around him and see what was going on among the nations, observe! I am sure God has many reasons for doing the things He does in the way and timing of His choosing, but lets consider some likely reasons He used Moses, a sinner, to be the instrument of His sovereign, miraculous work of dividing the Red Sea. We are here and gone again. Including those who dont believe He exists. He wants us to trust in Him, to rely on Him, to cry out to Him, and then give Him glory for delivering us. B) We entrust our lives to the God who cares for us. 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. But we need to grow in faith and obedience. I believe that t he Lord is here suggesting that the eternal torment that unbelievers will experience will be on a scale from more tolerable to less tolerable. In the beginning Satan challenged Gods right to rule. 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). Jump to Previous So the emphasis of the chapter is on Gods working out His purpose through ordinary people who obey Him. 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. Going to church wont make you a Christian any more than sleeping in a garage makes you a caror going to a donut shop makes you a cop. God reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne ( Psalm 47:8 ). 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. Eternity will reveal how your faithful service was used by the Lord in amazing ways. God uses all those who humble themselves before the cross, boasting only in him his strength, his wisdom, his righteousness, his accomplishment. The evil ones believe pridefully that their own imagined gods have blessed them. His son Jehoahaz became king. Training for Preachers and Teachers of God's Word, Want to know what an RSS feed is and how it works? So through his death, he can have everlasting life on earth. also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,But He does according to His will in the host of heavenAnd among the inhabitants of earth;And no one can ward off His handOr say to Him, What have You done?. Gods Prophet Jeremiah warned of Gods judgment. Jesus is truly the lamb without blemish who died for the sins of the world (John 1:29). He stands behind it indirectly, but He directly stands behind good. He has not brought us this far to cause us to fail. 1 John 5:14. He may for a time use the ungodly to bring deserved chastising upon the hypocrites among His own people, and to show his uncompromising wrath upon those left to what we all deserve aside from the work of his grace. Now and then we advance to Easter morning where we discover Gods purpose in our pain. God even gave prophecy through Isaiah that this very thing would take place. Understanding God in Troubled Times 46:10). We are saved by living faith in the Son of Godnot by outward religious observance. God wants to use those who look away from their self-sufficiency to his all-sufficiency. God strengthened Cyrus so that he could conquer nations and overcome opposition Thus says the Lord God to His 2. He stands behind it indirectly, but He directly stands behind good. Israel as a nation had rejected the promises of Moses and the Prophets culminating in the demand for the death of Jesus, Gods Messiah. God used this unlikely group of people to accomplish His greatest work and they had no idea. Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. More insights from your Bible study - Get Started with Logos Bible Software for Free! God had not yet told Moses what He was going to do, but Moses knew the Lord did not redeem the Israelites from Egypt to have them slaughtered. The terms Neo-Babylons and Chaldeans are used interchangeably for the people of that Empire. Pentecost was a sign to the unbelieving of Israel that they had broken the covenant and stood deserving of Gods judgment and wrath. That literally means, I find no basis for any of the charges brought against this man. In modern terms, you might call it a Summary Judgment in favor of Jesus. God has already determined the end from the beginning (Isa. It becomes all the more bold in lawlessness. Every evil in the world must somehow serve Gods purpose. Amen. The Lord can never be blamed for evil, but evil does not take p. God never does evil Himself. It was their God, or at least the God of Moses, that just killed all the first born of Egypt. First, the people of Israel were for the most part leaderless. Do not lament your insufficiency. It forces us to live by faith, which is how He wants us to live all the time because it gives Him glory. Verse Concepts. In 609 Judahs King Josiah was killed in battle against Egypt. So continue to trust in Him and you wont be disappointed. Our prayers do not alter Gods eternal decree. 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. But all of them come from the hand of the Lord. God uses all those who humble themselves before the cross, boasting only in him his strength, his wisdom, his righteousness, his accomplishment. WebGod 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. All of our resources exist to guide you toward everlasting joy in Jesus Christ. 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? Nothing that happened to Jesus that night or later on Good Friday made sense when it happened. Yet He was still able to accomplish His will through them. All of it happened according to Gods plan. He stands behind it indirectly, but He directly stands behind good. You are going to need it as we search the Scriptures to answer these two questions. Questions? "Equipping and encouraging people to keep believing in Jesus", Copyright 2020 Keep Believing Ministries. In Acts 13:41 he said, Behold, you despisers, Marvel and perish! 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). Gods plan even extended to having Jesus buried in a borrowed tomb (see Isaiah 53:9). It was a period of apostasy and violence. 13:17). As with the raising of Moses hands by Aaron and Hurt, sharing the gospel, or praying, God delights in and receives glory for himself, when we submit to His will, live by faith, and obey His Word. Now if You slay this people as one man, then the nations who have heard of Your fame will say,read more.Because the Lord could not bring this people into the land which He promised them by oath, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness. But now, I pray, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared, The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations. 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. So the Lord said, I have pardoned them according to your word; but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord. For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? 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. The fact that God ordains both the means and the ends should surely encourage us as we face our own trials. We pray because God is sovereign and all powerful. 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. (see Matthew 27:5). Matthew 26:3-5 informs us that the leaders of the Jews were looking for an opportunity to arrest Jesus and put him to death. 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. We have one life to use, and the usefulness of that one life depends not on our rsum or even how much we know. Jump to Previous I am not a rising star in any field, industry, or arena. The people of Israel, were backed up against the Red Sea with Pharaohs army charging at them. That is what moving forward would require, or so it seemed. The greater the pain, the harder it is to see Gods fingerprints. And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. God promised to precede Cyrus and destroy all opposition that Cyrus would face: 'I will go before you and make the 3. Were they to march into the sea holding their little ones, driving their cattle, and pushing their elderly? But what a privilege it is to be used by God! His plan in doing so was to bless all people. The unbelievers, become confused, not remembering ever having the opportunity to serve Jesus. God will bring ultimate and final judgment upon all ungodliness. Dont get me wrong, wisdom is important. 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. (Video #2), Lesson 2: Gods Use of the Ungodly Habakkuk 1:5-11. Sign up to join over 20,000 subscribers receiving our weekly sermon email. Wisdom alone, though, is insufficient. I dont have any letters after my name. The story of Judas teaches us that nothing happens by accident. As far as Pilate was concerned, he was ordering an innocent man put to deathwhich is why he tried to wash his hands of the whole affair. Compared to you or me, King Solomon had it all wisdom, wealth, fame, power. WebThe one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. We need to be reminded again and again that we are like grass disposable, temporary, fleeting, momentary. 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. 10:17 Paul writes, So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ. When we preach the gospel to someone and they come to saving faith, we dont boast that we have saved them but that God has saved them, though we were the instruments of Gods saving work. WebThe Scripture teaches that God achieves His purpose in unbelievers. Gods plan even extended to having Jesus buried in a borrowed tomb (see Isaiah 53:9). Before the Apostle Paul wrote his letter he was known as Saul. WebGod 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. 2) If Jesus did descend into hell, why? 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. 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.. He could have rained fire and brimstone down on them. Here is my answer: He allowed Judas to betray Jesus so that Jesus could become the Savior of the world. But before his salvation took place God was still using Him. A God who can bring something good out of betrayal can be trusted to accomplish his work in your life. That doesnt lessen his guilt, but it does increase our appreciation of Gods sovereignty over the affairs of men. 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. Unbelievers Are blinded by the God of this world 2 Corinthians 4:4 Verse Concepts The total number of prophecies is well over 100. Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. C) God uses all eventsgood and badto accomplish his purposes. 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. God himself had foreordained every detail surrounding the death of his Son. But sometimes we forget that when God ordains a particular end, he also ordains the means to that end. Do not begrudge your weakness. But through the lens of the New Testament, he is seen as a wicked man. They make a joke out of those who dare to not submit to them. Often in the confusion of life, we cant see the ends, much less the means God intends for us. So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. by Bob Burridge 2013, 2015 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. A nation would come to judge them speaking in a language they did not understand (Deuteronomy 28:49). Thanks for your interest! Why? I answer yes. Assyria had fallen when Nineveh, its capitol, was destroyed in 612 BC. Solomon was DaVinci, Einstein, Bach, Jordan, Augustus, and Shakespeare rolled into one superior man. During his ministry his greatest opposition came from the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes and the teachers of the Law. Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? This doesnt erase tragedy or transform heartache, but it gives us a divine perspective on the hard times of life that enables us to keep on going when wed rather give up and quit. Why did a holy God allow such evil to continue? 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). We see the same thing after the Israelites cross the Red Sea and are attacked by the Amalekites (Ex. Each time Moses would perform a mighty sign to convince Pharaoh of Gods power but each time God would harden his heart. His words imply that all the torment will be tolerable. In the time of the New Testament after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we see the expansion of Gods Covenant to include Gentile believers drawn to the Savor by the Gospel. This New-Babylon marched through Canaan and took hostages (one of them was Daniel). Now relax your hand! And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 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. In such a manner Judas served Gods purposes through his wicked act of betrayal. And that is okay. WebGod never does evil Himself. Really, its just fine. Here are some examples: I have an unimpressive family background and do not come from a long line of important people. You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent. Even his enemies played into Gods handthough they did not know it at the time. The Pharisees believed they were serving God but in reality, they didnt even know Him. God promised to precede Cyrus and destroy all opposition that Cyrus would face: 'I will go before you and make the 3. Jesus, in the Olivet Discourse, gave the parable of the sheep and the goats. Showing us that our God can and will use anyone even though they dont know Him. so that they might escape from the devil's snare, even though they've been held captive by him to do his will. This week I ate lunch with a man who has recently become an acquaintance through an e-mail correspondence. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. Here are the two great texts to keep in mind regarding Gods providence and our own personal experience: The first is the famous statement by Joseph to his brothers in Genesis 50:20, You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good. The second comes from the familiar words of Romans 8:28, And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. These verses teach us that God is able to take the worst things that happen in life and turn them for our good and his glory. Pharaohs heart was hardened again. Those who were rebelling against God had become apathetic. 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. Wisdom didnt guard him against a wandering heart. At times, God enlisted non-believers to help His people through the ages. Embrace your weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon you to reveal Gods surpassing greatness (2 Corinthians 12:9). 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. God uses all those who humble themselves before the cross, boasting only in him his strength, his wisdom, his righteousness, his accomplishment. 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. 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. He has but one endto make us like Jesus. WebThe one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. Just as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things! (Rom. God wanted the people of Israel to look to Moses as their God appointed human leader and deliverer. I also answer yes. WebGod Can Use Unbelievers part 1: Cyrus 1. They were evil cowards who hated the Son of God but feared a popular uprising if they tried to arrest him. But now, the grief of the Egyptians had subsided and was replaced with anger and regret. Do not begrudge your weakness. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Causing him to not let the people go. Because God created all He can use anything in creation. 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.