But sometimes we forget that when God ordains a particular end, he also ordains the means to that end. Thats where the judgment will come from. Is that a contradiction? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife? Yet both declare His awesome glory. And did not believe in His wonderful works. Wisdom alone, though, is insufficient. It was their God, or at least the God of Moses, that just killed all the first born of Egypt. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. When God desires to save someone, He raises up Christians to preach the gospel. And he was an exalted and successful king. 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. Egypt and the Neo-Babylonians were competing for world dominance. WebJohn 3:16. Moses give the Israelites specific instruction and visible representation from the invisible God. God use non-believers to help His people Paul, in writing to Corinth, corrected the Churchs misuse of speaking in foreign tongues. Jesus, in the Olivet Discourse, gave the parable of the sheep and the goats. Israel as a nation had rejected the promises of Moses and the Prophets culminating in the demand for the death of Jesus, Gods Messiah. 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. Suggestions? 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. 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.. 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.. Pharaohs heart was hardened again. I think we can learn some great lessons by answering these questions. Judas solved their problem by volunteering to betray the Lord. He could have just caused them to drop dead. verses about Unbelievers Every evil in the world must somehow serve Gods purpose. "Equipping and encouraging people to keep believing in Jesus", Copyright 2020 Keep Believing Ministries. While not all became believers, many felt a strong attraction to his message. God used this unlikely group of people to accomplish His greatest work and they had no idea. 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. 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. During his ministry his greatest opposition came from the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes and the teachers of the Law. And He *said to them, Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, Move from here to there, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. If not, we have reason to question whether our faith is real. 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. Peter told the early Christians that the Scripture had to be fulfilled. He meant that the betrayal had to happen the way it did. We should never presume to say to an unbeliever, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. We cant know that. 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. The total number of prophecies is well over 100. As a place to begin, consider three verses dealing with Judas. The very first verse my daughter ever memorized was Isaiah 40:8, The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. It seemed like an odd one to begin with, but now in retrospect it might have been the best one. He told the people that Pharaohs army would be wiped out, though he did not know how. But he chose instead to allow himself to be arrested, knowing that this would fulfill Gods plan. Verse Concepts. Israel stumbled at the stumbling stone, the suffering messiah (Romans 9:31-33). He has not brought us this far to cause us to fail. This warning was made clear in the ancient covenant revealed long before through Moses in Deuteronomy 28. God Sighing deeply in His spirit, He *said, Why does this generation seek for a sign? The trials that were meant to establish his guilt ended up establishing his innocence for all the world to see. 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. In fact, in one place in scripture, God said that what He was doing could not be understood even if He explained it. Did Jesus Descend Into Hell? That leads me to ask a simple question: Are you a professor or a possessor? His son Jehoahaz became king. Because they did not believe in GodAnd did not trust in His salvation. They have heard that You, O. Peter didnt see it, he only saw the treachery of Judas. This week I ate lunch with a man who has recently become an acquaintance through an e-mail correspondence. Guiding our world whether we are able to see it or not. So through his death, he can have everlasting life on earth. We might make Jim Collins proud, but God yawns at our leadership abilities. 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. God is not the author of sin, but He can use sinful men to attain an objective. First, the people of Israel were for the most part leaderless. Which is why they completely missed the Messiah when they stood right beside Him. The fact that God ordains both the means and the ends should surely encourage us as we face our own trials. We turn now to consider how the sin of Judas served many good purposesnone of which were seen that night and none of which diminish his true moral guilt. 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?. We when we dont know if something is Gods will, we pray, Yet not my will but yours be done (Mt. Its okay to be a nobody, if in all you do, you serve Somebody. This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask We might be a life-hacking, productivity guru. Providence means that God is in charge of the entire universe at all times and nothing happens outside his control. 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. 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.. 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. 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. 55:8-9). Does God Accomplish His Purpose in Our Although God was at work in the betrayal, you couldnt see it that night. There are so many amazing things in these few verses. God commissions the invalid retiree to uphold dozens, even hundreds of missionaries on the field. God has sinners pray and answers the prayers of sinners that are according to His will, getting glory for himself. Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, We see, your sin remains. God use non-believers to help His people Its something we can clearly see within the pages of our Bible. God Can Use Unbelievers part 1: Cyrus God Uses (1 Corinthians 1:2629). Lesson 7 The Interpretation of Scripture, Lesson 5a Boundaries of the Doctrine of Creation, Primeval Chronology by Dr. William Henry Green, Lesson 8 Gods Special Providence & Miracles, Lesson 10 Assurance of Grace and Salvation, Lesson 2 Christian Liberty and Liberty of Conscience, Lesson 3 The Regulative Principle of Worship, Lesson 4a The Elements of Regulated Worship, Lesson 4b The Elements of Regulated Worship, Lesson 1 An Overview of Special Eschatology, Lesson 2 -The Great Tribulation of Matthew 24, Lesson 3 The Millennium of Revelation 20, A Guide for Small Group Bible Study Leaders, Defending the Biblical Faith by what God Shows Us, Lessons in the Westminster Shorter Catechsim, The Inspiration of the Treasured Word of God, Summary of the 45th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America, The Holy Spirit In the Ministry of the Word, The Necessity of Biblical Love in the Believers Life, Keep Your Bible Skills Sharp and Ready (part 2), Keep Your Bible Skills Sharp and Ready (Part 1). God will deal with them according to his plan, but first, He will use them for His own covenant judgment. Your children, however, whom you said would become a preyI will bring them in, and they will know the land which you have rejected. 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. At my own local church, and everywhere else I go, faithful men and women record my sermons in audio and sometimes video. God doesnt need men, but God chooses to use men at times to accomplish His sovereign will. They had been in Egypt under Egyptian task masters for 400 years. 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. They sweep through like the strong winds from the East gathering up captives that number like the grains of sand. But we need to grow in faith and obedience. Just as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things! (Rom. In the beginning Satan challenged Gods right to rule. WebThe Scripture teaches that God achieves His purpose in unbelievers. or will we in our rebellion demonstrate the just curse of His covenant warnings? ", Writing & Teaching Inductive Bible Studies. But we need to grow in faith and obedience. Jesus is truly the lamb without blemish who died for the sins of the world (John 1:29). Verse Concepts. There is no better example of Gods providence at work through the actions of a sinful man. Though there were still many who had remained faithful, others no longer followed the words of the Prophets. A most astonishing way of fulfilling that prophesy. I am not a rising star in any field, industry, or arena. 1 And Saul approved of his execution. Because God does miracles by His own power. Habakkuk 1:7-11, They are terrible and dreadful; Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves. God has the amazing ability to do things that simply do not make sense to mankind. 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. Even today there are those who are arrogant and have no honor for God as He reveals Himself in Scripture. Other examples could be added to this list. I dont speak on any circuits, have given no TED talks, and have been the keynote speaker less than once. The way of the wicked is like darkness;They do not know over what they stumble. It doesnt matter if you have theology degrees or mothered a dozen healthy, happy children or started several 501(c)3s to feed the poor and end trafficking. It becomes all the more bold in lawlessness. 28:49, The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand. A prophecy we can imagine would have seemed quite improbable to those who heard. Though used by God for his purposes, the ungodly are still evil. 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. WebGod will never set man's will aside and use him for a good purpose without his being willing to be used. Were they to march into the sea holding their little ones, driving their cattle, and pushing their elderly? 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.. He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will. Often in the confusion of life, we cant see the ends, much less the means God intends for us. 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. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. His betrayal proved that the Jewish leaders were far from innocent bystanders in the death of Christ. So the emphasis of the chapter is on Gods working out His purpose through ordinary people who obey Him. Moses didnt have any power to bring the ten plagues upon Egypt either. Training for Preachers and Teachers of God's Word, Want to know what an RSS feed is and how it works? God was about to turn to the Gentiles as He judged Israel as a nation for her unbelief. God use unbelievers to accomplish his will God