5:14). 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. God Can Use Unbelievers part 1: Cyrus God sometimes use evil to accomplish His plans (Habakkuk Because God created all He can use anything in creation. In Acts 1:16 Peter declared that the Scripture had to be fulfilled. He meant that the Old Testament predictions (he cites Psalm 69:25 and Psalm 109:8) regarding Judas were bound to come true. Your children, however, whom you said would become a preyI will bring them in, and they will know the land which you have rejected. They have no respect for the leaders of other nations. God Often in the confusion of life, we cant see the ends, much less the means God intends for us. Summary Wisdom alone, though, is insufficient. 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. 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. 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. Everything fits into Gods plan. God Uses Many People to Accomplish His Purposes 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). A nation would come to judge them speaking in a language they did not understand (Deuteronomy 28:49). They move ahead as a determined army spreading violence. But our God is mightier than any office or country. 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. They deride every stronghold, For they heap up earthen mounds and seize it. Psalm 109:8Replaced by another manMatthias (see Acts 1:20). Consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. Why would God allow his Son to suffer such indignity at the hands of one who claimed to be his friend? 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. 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). (see Matthew 27:5). All rights reserved. Moses give the Israelites specific instruction and visible representation from the invisible God. And goes on to say, How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? Remember my imprisonment. Does God sometimes use evil to accomplish His plans (Habakkuk 1:5-11)? The evil ones believe pridefully that their own imagined gods have blessed them. Here are some examples: For he sees that even wise men die;The stupid and the senseless alike perishAnd leave their wealth to others. One swing of his sword whacked off the ear of Malchus, servant to the High Priest. I dont have any letters after my name. God answered him. Thanks for your interest! God uses pathetic people for his glorious purposes to show his superior power. When God does something completely different and unexpected (Numb. But God did just that and used a sinning Gentile to begin the process of restoring Israel. What does it mean that God came from Teman (Habakkuk 3:3). If one of the unbelievers invites you and you want to go, eat anything that is set before you without asking questions for conscience sake. 1:8). Later Pilate gave in to pressure and ordered Jesus crucified. He fought against God and hoped to destroy the early church. Egypt made his brother, Jehoiakim, the new king over the Jews. His silence spoke more loudly than the foolish claims of his lying accusers. Herod the Great tried to kill him in Bethlehem. Paul also made this clear in Romans 9-11. Steven Lee is the Pastor of Preaching & Vision at. But he chose instead to allow himself to be arrested, knowing that this would fulfill Gods plan. for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. When they offered him 30 pieces of silver, he readily accepted even though that was the going price for a slave. Thus they plundered the Egyptians ( Exodus 12:36 ). Gods Ability To Use Unlikely People Even Unbelievers. 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. Lest he misunderstand, I also told him that going to Calvary Memorial Church cannot save anyoneor help save anyone. Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. Even those who dont believe and even speak against. verses about Unbelievers Their chargers charge ahead; Their cavalry comes from afar; They fly as the eagle that hastens to eat. 1:15-16), later to be thrown in the Nile (Ex. Click here. Does God Accomplish His Purpose in Our They had been in Egypt under Egyptian task masters for 400 years. You have entered an incorrect email address! A God who can bring something good out of betrayal can be trusted to accomplish his work in your life. There is no better example of Gods providence at work through the actions of a sinful man. During his ministry his greatest opposition came from the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes and the teachers of the Law. During this period, foreign powers invaded Israel again and again, and inside the nation known as Gods people, evil and immorality raged. And that is okay. Our accomplishments do not justify our existence. They do whatever they want. Fifth, and the point I want to focus on, is that the Lord 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. I find this very interesting and encouraging. He is working all things after the counsel of His will (Eph. In those moments we often feel alone in the chaos of circumstances as life tumbles in around us. Assyria had fallen when Nineveh, its capitol, was destroyed in 612 BC. 1 John 5:14. 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. The mind of evil changes from bad to worse being taken in by successes in conquest. Though absolutely sovereign, all knowing, all wise, and everywhere present, God uses sinners to accomplish His will. The fact that God ordains both the means and the ends should surely encourage us as we face our own trials. B) We entrust our lives to the God who cares for us. In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives. At times, God enlisted non-believers to help His people through the ages. Now relax your hand! And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. It was all the Lord. Yet, God used him to rebuild the temple and allow Jews to return to their 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. Including those who dont believe He exists. 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. Get our Question of the Week delivered right to your inbox! Two verses later, in Rom. 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. Because God is utterly unimpressed by my rsum. Then his mind changes, and he transgresses; He commits offense, Ascribing this power to his god.. He stands behind it indirectly, but He directly stands behind good. At times, God enlisted non-believers to help His people through the ages. God even gave prophecy through Isaiah that this very thing would take place. His betrayal proved that the Jewish leaders were far from innocent bystanders in the death of Christ. God use non-believers to help His people God uses pathetic people for his glorious purposes to show his superior power. When Judas actually betrayed Jesus in the Garden, Peter immediately sprang to his defense. In the process, we will also find an answer to a third question, Who are the sons of God in Gen. 6? If you like solving mysteries, you will love this, "Churches are going apostate inside their comfortable church buildings! When we reach a dead end in our own resources, God can part the sea of the impossible and get us through, but I digress. 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. 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. The people of Israel, were backed up against the Red Sea with Pharaohs army charging at them. Believer, dont think that your faithful service to your local body of believers is insignificant or accounts for little or nothing. Every evil in the world must somehow serve Gods purpose. Habakkuk 1:7-11, They are terrible and dreadful; Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves. 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. God Were they to march into the sea holding their little ones, driving their cattle, and pushing their elderly? I might preach to 100 people on Sunday morning in my own little church, but I preach to thousands over the internet. God Uses Many People to Accomplish His Purposes 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 Can Use Unbelievers part 1: Cyrus He uses believers and unbelievers. Pharaohs heart was hardened again. WebGod was about to turn to the Gentiles as He judged Israel as a nation for her unbelief. The unbelievers, become confused, not remembering ever having the opportunity to serve Jesus. It will be a most terrible judgment. We when we dont know if something is Gods will, we pray, Yet not my will but yours be done (Mt. Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. His words imply that all the torment will be tolerable. 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.
