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. WebJohn 3:16. The gospels writers emphasize that although the Jewish leaders earnestly sought for witnesses who could testify against Christ, they found no one willing to come forward. But among the leaders of the nation, only a few followed Christand they became secret believers for fear of persecution by their brethren. 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. God uses pathetic people for his glorious purposes to show his superior power. God sovereignly saves sinners, yet, He often uses sinners to accomplish His sovereign will. But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it. Philippians 3:4-7 - although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. 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. God could have had the earth swallow up the Amalekites. He stands behind it indirectly, but He directly stands behind good. Holman Old Testament Commentary: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah by Trent Butler. 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. Every evil in the world must somehow serve Gods purpose. At times, God enlisted non-believers to help His people through the ages. In fact, in one place in scripture, God said that what He was doing could not be understood even if He explained it. My ministry is small locally, but gigantic because of the faithful service of others. They wanted him dead and used Judas as a convenient means to that ugly end. 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. Our prayers aline us with Gods eternal decree. God uses pathetic people for his glorious purposes to show his superior power. One final point is in order. He clings to his sin like a drowning man to an iron life preserver. This could be the begging of a time of great growth for the church. 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 Ability To Use Unlikely People Even Unbelievers. God promised to precede Cyrus and destroy all opposition that Cyrus would face: 'I will go before you and make the 3. At my own local church, and everywhere else I go, faithful men and women record my sermons in audio and sometimes video. Paul, in writing to Corinth, corrected the Churchs misuse of speaking in foreign tongues. Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? At the beginning of their sojourn, Joseph was ruler of Egypt, a son of Jacob, and watched over his own. It is only as we look back that we see clearly that God was there all along, working behind the scenes for our good and his glory. So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. God Himself said that He used Pharaoh so that His name would be known on all the earth. The 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. The Pharisees came out and began to argue with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, to test Him. The trials that were meant to establish his guilt ended up establishing his innocence for all the world to see. Now and then we advance to Easter morning where we discover Gods purpose in our pain. Other examples could be added to this list. Judas served Gods purposes even though what he did was wrong and he ended up in hell. So He brought their days to an end in futility And their years in sudden terror. The articles posted on this website are here to provide information about the Bible and specific topics related to the Reformed Faith along with it's application in our daily thoughts and activities. I have not been named most influential, listed as most attractive, or voted most likely to succeed. It is a warning to Israel that if they should break Gods covenant, calamity will come upon them revealing the wrath of the offended God. 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. Everything was planned by God down to the tiniest detail. Eternity will reveal how your faithful service was used by the Lord in amazing ways. We live most of our days in Good Fridayenduring confusion, opposition, disappointment and the many tragedies of life. You have entered an incorrect email address! 55:8-9). Two questions confront us as we consider the story of Judas: Last weeks sermon dealt with the first question. WebJohn 3:16. We are here and gone again. One swing of his sword whacked off the ear of Malchus, servant to the High Priest. 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. But what they do is not going to bring them true blessing. God uses the overwhelmed and disheveled mother to nurture her children into spiritual giants. God could by-pass us and do everything himself, but He does not. shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. Guiding our world whether we are able to see it or not. 1 John 5:14. Everything else in the story fits into Gods plan: The crown of thorns, the scourging, the trials, Pilates testimony, his verdict of death, a man to help carry the cross, the place of deathGolgotha, and the moment of death3 PM, the time when the Passover lambs were sacrificed at the Temple. God will use it even if you do not understand how. even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Literal Standard Version. Many believed they were going to die and complained to Moses (Ex. When Moses spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people mourned greatly. In the providence of God, the betrayal by Judas actually advanced Gods purpose in the world. so that they might escape from the devil's snare, even though they've been held captive by him to do his will. or will we in our rebellion demonstrate the just curse of His covenant warnings? WebGod will never set man's will aside and use him for a good purpose without his being willing to be used. First, we see the faith of Moses. This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask Including those who dont believe He exists. 10:14-15). 16:30), when he uses you or others, delivering you from your trials, be sure to praise, thank, and give Him all the glory for sovereignly using sinners. Were they to voluntarily all drown? By his treachery he established the very cause he set out to destroy. He has many means to accomplish that holy purposeincluding some that are difficult to understand. Then the Lord heard the sound of your words, and He was angry and took an oath, saying, Not one of these men, this evil generation, shall see the good land which I swore to give your fathers. Do not lament your insufficiency. 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. Everything fits into Gods plan. Though there were still many who had remained faithful, others no longer followed the words of the Prophets. Your children, however, whom you said would become a preyI will bring them in, and they will know the land which you have rejected. It is a mighty nation, It is an ancient nation, A nation whose language you do not know, Nor can you understand what they say. . WebGod Can Use Unbelievers part 1: Cyrus 1. So through his death, he can have everlasting life on earth. Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys; turn tomorrow and set out to the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.. It will be a most terrible judgment. 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. This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask 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. His words imply that all the torment will be tolerable. The fact that God ordains both the means and the ends should surely encourage us as we face our own trials. I have received no honorary doctorates. I have an unimpressive family background and do not come from a long line of important people. And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away. But all of them come from the hand of the Lord. 12:35-36). But we need to grow in faith and obedience. A second reason, related to the first reason, is that God knew that by doing His miracles through Moses, Moses would then in turn give glory to God. 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. A) We bow in submission before the mysterious ways of God. When Judas kissed Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter impulsively grabbed his sword and started swinging. And he was an exalted and successful king. So the emphasis of the chapter is on Gods working out His purpose through ordinary people who obey Him. As the persecution he inflicted was just the jump-start the early church needed to start taking the Gospel to the rest of the world. And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Remember my imprisonment. 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. 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. 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. It was the tech team, the web master, the secretary, or whoever posted my sermon on line. God is unimpressed by our collection of readers, likes, retweets, friends, connections, or admirers. 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. But we need to grow in faith and obedience. It was their God, or at least the God of Moses, that just killed all the first born of Egypt. I have not written a New York Times Bestseller, and no one has publicly endorsed, recommended, or vouched for me. For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? 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. Our prayers do not alter Gods eternal decree. But now, the grief of the Egyptians had subsided and was replaced with anger and regret. "Equipping and encouraging people to keep believing in Jesus", Copyright 2020 Keep Believing Ministries. This week were looking at the other side of the equation. If youd like an interesting Bible study, take a look at the trials of Jesus. Pentecost was a sign to the unbelieving of Israel that they had broken the covenant and stood deserving of Gods judgment and wrath. A lesson worth considering, but not the main lesson I want to focus on, is that God often put us into situations where only He can deliver us. At times, God enlisted non-believers to help His people through the ages. Do not lament your insufficiency. Able to do exceedingly and abundantly using unlikely people to further His plans. 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. This was Moses advice to the people of Israel when facing the imminent threat of death, and it is true for us as well when facing any trial. An unlikely person to be used by God. Gods Prophet Jeremiah warned of Gods judgment. Jesus says much the same thing in his famous prayer just before Judas arrives: None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that the Scripture would be fulfilled (John17:12b). Here is my answer: He allowed Judas to betray Jesus so that Jesus could become the Savior of the world. Thanks for your interest! 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. But we can find hope in knowing that God is in control, He works all things for our God, and no suffering we face know will even be able to cast a shadow on the glory we will receive in Heaven. I sit on no boards. 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. Will we show forth Gods glory in our obedience and in our receiving of His covenant blessing? 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. God asks us to do things we cant do, because it makes us trust IN HIM, not ourselves. Now relax your hand! And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. We know from the sowing and reaping principle that t here will be degrees of torment in the lake of fire. They do whatever they want. They gather captives like sand. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 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. WebGod never does evil Himself. Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife? The fact that we cant conceive of free choice coexisting with Gods predestination simply reminds us once again that he is God and we are not. His betrayal proved that the Jewish leaders were far from innocent bystanders in the death of Christ. I dont speak on any circuits, have given no TED talks, and have been the keynote speaker less than once. The coming of Messiah was unexpected. I was not a cum laude graduate. They live as if there was no Creator, no moral law, no accountability. God promised to precede Cyrus and destroy all opposition that Cyrus would face: 'I will go before you and make the 3. Gods plan even extended to having Jesus buried in a borrowed tomb (see Isaiah 53:9). Really, its just fine. The evil ones believe pridefully that their own imagined gods have blessed them. (1 Corinthians 1:2629).
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