in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. Recent events may not have gone how you hoped and the signs may seem bleak. so that they might escape from the devil's snare, even though they've been held captive by him to do his will. God uses pathetic people for his glorious purposes to show his superior power. When the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the calamity and said to the angel who destroyed the people, It is enough! Fourth, Gods command seemed impossible to obey. It was their God, or at least the God of Moses, that just killed all the first born of Egypt. Wisdom didnt ensure obedience. Do not lament your insufficiency. This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask The unbelievers, become confused, not remembering ever having the opportunity to serve Jesus. It appears that between 11 PM Thursday night and 7:30 AM Friday morning, Jesus underwent six different hearingsone before Annas, two before Caiaphas, one before the Sanhedrin, and two before Pontius Pilate. Herod the Great tried to kill him in Bethlehem. 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. What Jesus Wants Emphasized In His Church! The Bible says, God was well pleased through the message preached to save those who believe (I Cor. 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. In fact, in one place in scripture, God said that what He was doing could not be understood even if He explained it. They had been in Egypt under Egyptian task masters for 400 years. The Lord even tells Moses to do it, divide it! God doesnt need men, but God chooses to use men at times to accomplish His sovereign will. 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 manner of the judgment would be unexpected. God strengthened Cyrus so that he could conquer nations and overcome opposition Thus says the Lord God to His 2. Remember my imprisonment. They were the ones who asked for valuables from the people of Egypt, who were so fearful and stricken with grief that they gave the departing Israelites their riches, literally paying the Jews to leave Egypt (Ex. 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. God has the amazing ability to do things that simply do not make sense to mankind. 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. 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. Grace be with you. Because God created all He can use anything in creation. God doesnt need men, but God chooses to use men at times to accomplish His sovereign will. So through his death, he can have everlasting life on earth. God chooses the custodian with a heavy accent to share the gospel and save lives. You truly never know God could be doing something right that we wouldnt understand even if He told us. 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. . 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. Their end will be most awful. Amen. Nothing that happened to Jesus that night or later on Good Friday made sense when it happened. He uses believers and unbelievers. the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. When they offered him 30 pieces of silver, he readily accepted even though that was the going price for a slave. The Neo-Babylonians were dominated by Chaldean kings. Why? God uses the overwhelmed and disheveled mother to nurture her children into spiritual giants. Soon they will be raised up from that struggle to full power. Psalm 69:25Reputation destroyed forever. This is the attitude of the evil heart in all ages. 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. First, we see the faith of Moses. They will be held guilty. Though absolutely sovereign, all knowing, all wise, and everywhere present, God uses sinners to accomplish His will. The way of the wicked is like darkness;They do not know over what they stumble. 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. 17:8-13). God could have had the earth swallow up the Amalekites. 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. 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. A most astonishing way of fulfilling that prophesy. Its okay to be a nobody, if in all you do, you serve Somebody. That pagan nation was struggling against Egypt for dominance. A complete answer is impossible for who has known the mind of the Lord (Isa. In the beginning Satan challenged Gods right to rule. Sighing deeply in His spirit, He *said, Why does this generation seek for a sign? God will use it even if you do not understand how. 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. Stating that the plans of men are many but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. His silence spoke more loudly than the foolish claims of his lying accusers. Jesus waved him off by declaring, All this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled (Matthew 26:56). 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. Gods plan even extended to having Jesus buried in a borrowed tomb (see Isaiah 53:9). And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. His betrayal proved that the Jewish leaders were far from innocent bystanders in the death of Christ. But before his salvation took place God was still using Him. As a place to begin, consider three verses dealing with Judas. Two questions stand out: 1) Did Jesus actually descend into hell? But they feared to do it during the Feast of Unleavened Bread because of the crowds that thronged Jerusalem. His words imply that all the torment will be tolerable. Yet He was still able to accomplish His will through them. Rejoice that Christ is all-sufficient and always dependable. I might preach to 100 people on Sunday morning in my own little church, but I preach to thousands over the internet. He is working all things after the counsel of His will (Eph. This week were looking at the other side of the equation. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. 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. Verse Concepts. 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 the words of a 19th century writer, hatred, treachery and deceit will not prevail against the church of God. How beautiful! Another unlikely person used by God was King Cyrus of Persia. Is it true that God cannot look upon sin? And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away. Why? 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. He used sinners to accomplish His sovereign will. He does this for obvious reasons. Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. Causing a sacrifice to take place that would open salvation up to all people. 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. The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who are grumbling against Me? In spite of all this they still sinned And did not believe in His wonderful works. Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? They post my sermons on the web and people listen to or watch me preach all over the world. We pray because God is sovereign and all powerful. by Bob Burridge 2013, 2015 But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.. 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? We need to remember that God uses the foolish. We all understand that God intended that Jesus would die for the sins of the world. They mock authority and law, and believe that might makes right. They still look to their own strength and ability as if they were divine and answer to no authority above their own. In fact, in one place in scripture, God said that what He was doing could not be understood even if He explained it. 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. Understanding God in Troubled Times Also, be sure to stop by our prayer wall. The book of proverbs also gives us insight into this. He told Moses, Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. But how? 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. There are so many amazing things in these few verses. The evil nations God was raising up to judge his rebellious people were self-centered. God has already determined the end from the beginning (Isa. The fact that God ordains both the means and the ends should surely encourage us as we face our own trials. Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. At times, God enlisted non-believers to help His people through the ages. He clings to his sin like a drowning man to an iron life preserver. Psalm 109:8Replaced by another manMatthias (see Acts 1:20). Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.. We know from the sowing and reaping principle that t here will be degrees of torment in the lake of fire. 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. How can I believe in the goodness of God when there is so much evil in the world? Here are five specific prophecies that were fulfilled when Judas betrayed Jesus: Psalm 41:9Close friend will betray Christ (see John 13:18). But now, I pray, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared, 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., but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the. 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. Eternity will reveal how your faithful service was used by the Lord in amazing ways. Scripture even points to the fact that God used Cyrus even though he didnt know God. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. I think we can learn some great lessons by answering these questions. Unbelievers Are blinded by the God of this world 2 Corinthians 4:4 Verse Concepts The sheep representing believers who did Gods will and the goats representing unbelievers who do not do Gods will. Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. The Prophet was told to look around him and see what was going on among the nations, observe! Even those who have a very low view of Gods sovereignty, if they pray, pray because God is perfectly sovereign, otherwise prayer would be an exercise in futility. He stands behind it indirectly, but He directly stands behind good. Moses was sent by the Lord multiple times to Pharaoh asking for the release of the Hebrews. 1:15-16), later to be thrown in the Nile (Ex. Thats generally the way life is for all of us. All of these people are unlikely choices to be used by God since they didnt truly know or believe in Him. Zechariah 11:13Judas would give the money back. 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).
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