Your children, however, whom you said would become a preyI will bring them in, and they will know the land which you have rejected. 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. 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. God was rejecting their national privilege, and turning to the Gentiles to populate his Covenant Nation on Earth. 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. My ministry is small locally, but gigantic because of the faithful service of others. Before the Apostle Paul wrote his letter he was known as Saul. I might preach to 100 people on Sunday morning in my own little church, but I preach to thousands over the internet. God has the amazing ability to do things that simply do not make sense to mankind. 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. 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. God has already determined the end from the beginning (Isa. 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 dealt with his doubts and confusion in the right way, he turned to God, not to his own understanding. God is unimpressed. 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? 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. Wisdom alone, though, is insufficient. 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. 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. They deride every stronghold, For they heap up earthen mounds and seize it. Dont get me wrong, wisdom is important. 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. The Lord did it, but He did it through Moses. Moses was sent by the Lord multiple times to Pharaoh asking for the release of the Hebrews. Amen. Do not lament your insufficiency. The thing he values the most is dragging him down to eternal damnation. Not one of these men, this evil generation, shall see the good land which I swore to give your fathers. The sheep representing believers who did Gods will and the goats representing unbelievers who do not do Gods will. Grace be with you. 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. WebThe Scripture teaches that God achieves His purpose in unbelievers. Verse Concepts. Wisdom didnt guard him against a wandering heart. But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive out of those men who went to spy out the land. This is a true mystery, which we may explain in various ways but will never fully understand. Moses didnt have any power to divide the Red Sea. 1:37). 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. For he sees that even wise men die;The stupid and the senseless alike perishAnd leave their wealth to others. God often reveals himself in most unexpected ways. Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. 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. All of these people are unlikely choices to be used by God since they didnt truly know or believe in Him. Pharaohs heart was hardened again. I didnt attend an Ivy League school. Two questions confront us as we consider the story of Judas: Last weeks sermon dealt with the first question. We see this all the way through the Bible. 1 John 5:14. Habakkuk 1:5, Look among the nations and watch Be utterly astounded! I dont speak on any circuits, have given no TED talks, and have been the keynote speaker less than once. 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.read more.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. Finally, they suborned perjury by putting forward false witnesses who produced contradictory testimony. Sign up to join over 20,000 subscribers receiving our weekly sermon email. But what they do is not going to bring them true blessing. In those moments we often feel alone in the chaos of circumstances as life tumbles in around us. 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. 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. Everything was planned by God down to the tiniest detail. Unbelievers Are blinded by the God of this world 2 Corinthians 4:4 Verse Concepts Pastor, Expository Preacher, Author, Trainer of Preachers and Bible Teachers. But the fact of the matter is it wasnt me! Get your Bible. Why? We should never presume to say to an unbeliever, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. We cant know that. 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. Peter told the early Christians that the Scripture had to be fulfilled. He meant that the betrayal had to happen the way it did. I was not a cum laude graduate. God then raised up Moses and his brother Aaron as instruments to deliver the people of Israel from cruel bondage. 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. When Judas actually betrayed Jesus in the Garden, Peter immediately sprang to his defense. They looked to themselves for their power. He wants us to trust in Him, to rely on Him, to cry out to Him, and then give Him glory for delivering us. It was the tech team, the web master, the secretary, or whoever posted my sermon on line. He stands behind it indirectly, but He directly stands behind good. 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. But it does mean everything will happen as God sees fit. An unlikely person to be used by God. 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. Often in the confusion of life, we cant see the ends, much less the means God intends for us. Christianity is not about religion, its about a life-changing relationship with the Son of God. even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. His plan in doing so was to bless all people. WebGod Can Use Unbelievers part 1: Cyrus 1. The glory of His nature and attributes will be made known in full. We are called to be among his faithful people. 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. 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. He has many means to accomplish that holy purposeincluding some that are difficult to understand. He fought against God and hoped to destroy the early church. Their horses also are swifter than leopards, And more fierce than evening wolves. 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. 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. Jesus point is clear, The King will answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.. Thus they plundered the Egyptians ( Exodus 12:36 ). Does God sometimes use evil to accomplish His plans (Habakkuk 1:5-11)? 1 John 5:14. The Lord said to Moses, How long will this people spurn Me? Here are five specific prophecies that were fulfilled when Judas betrayed Jesus: Psalm 41:9Close friend will betray Christ (see John 13:18). In spite of all this they still sinned And did not believe in His wonderful works. We might be a life-hacking, productivity guru. 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. Stating that the plans of men are many but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. 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. Gods Prophet Jeremiah warned of Gods judgment. Do not lament your insufficiency. Nothing that happened to Jesus that night or later on Good Friday made sense when it happened. 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.. He had great trust in the truth of God. Nothing is ever left to chance with God. 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. Yet both declare His awesome glory. Each time Moses would perform a mighty sign to convince Pharaoh of Gods power but each time God would harden his heart. God will use it even if you do not understand how. shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it. In such a manner Judas served Gods purposes through his wicked act of betrayal. They sweep through like the strong winds from the East gathering up captives that number like the grains of sand. C) God uses all eventsgood and badto accomplish his purposes. Solomon was given a mind like no one before and like none even after him (1 Kings 3:12). Yet He was still able to accomplish His will through them. When God does something completely different and unexpected (Numb. God may ordain to use their wickedness, but this does not make it morally right. Another unlikely person used by God was King Cyrus of Persia. Thanks for your interest! Grace be with you. This warning was made clear in the ancient covenant revealed long before through Moses in Deuteronomy 28. He didnt accept evil apathetically, he was appalled by it. After God redeemed Israel from Egypt through a series of ten miraculous plagues, he had Moses lead the people of Israel out of Egypt near the shore of the Red Sea. WebThe Scripture teaches that God achieves His purpose in unbelievers. God is not the author of sin, but He can use sinful men to attain an objective. I am not a rising star in any field, industry, or arena. But they feared to do it during the Feast of Unleavened Bread because of the crowds that thronged Jerusalem. 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. In their very act of oppression, they unknowingly serve the glory of the Creator. We know from the sowing and reaping principle that t here will be degrees of torment in the lake of fire. Soon they will be raised up from that struggle to full power. Gods Ability To Use Unlikely People Even Unbelievers. Yet, God used him to rebuild the temple and allow Jews to return to their land. 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. 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. We see this all the way through the Bible. But sometimes we forget that when God ordains a particular end, he also ordains the means to that end. And that is okay. One final point is in order. 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. God was revealing that He was going to use this ungodly power for judgment upon his own straying people. A) We bow in submission before the mysterious ways of God. 17:8-13). 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! As Christians, we have nothing to fear or worry about because we know that God is in control. I think we can learn some great lessons by answering these questions. Causing him to not let the people go. God uses all those who humble themselves before the cross, boasting only in him his strength, his wisdom, his righteousness, his accomplishment. I have an unimpressive family background and do not come from a long line of important people. He used sinners to accomplish His sovereign will. 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. Even today there are those who are arrogant and have no honor for God as He reveals Himself in Scripture. 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.. Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Things may seem impossible, and for men, they might be impossible, but nothing is impossible with God (Lk. But most of the time we wont see it fully until we finally arrive in heaven. Comments? Holman Old Testament Commentary: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah by Trent Butler. Eventually, Pharaoh decided to use the Jews for slave labor. They thank me for posting my sermons on the internet. 28 who says of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built,, and of the temple, Your foundation shall be laid. . What an honor to serve the King of kings. But as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness. Believer, dont think that your faithful service to your local body of believers is insignificant or accounts for little or nothing. So through his death, he can have everlasting life on earth. Moses was an instrument, a tool, a vessel for Gods use, and so are we all. But this much is clear: He never believed that Jesus was guilty of any crime. Because God created all He can use anything in creation. Will we show forth Gods glory in our obedience and in our receiving of His covenant blessing? We know from the sowing and reaping principle that t here will be degrees of torment in the lake of fire. God promised to precede Cyrus and destroy all opposition that Cyrus would face: 'I will go before you and make the 3. Do not lament your insufficiency. (1 Corinthians 1:2629). So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. 6:10). 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. If so, did he have a choice? Literal Standard Version. There is no better example of Gods providence at work through the actions of a sinful man. When you find yourself in a tight spot and you cant see any way of deliverance, have faith in God, obey His Word, and wait for the salvation of the Lord. Gods plan even extended to having Jesus buried in a borrowed tomb (see Isaiah 53:9). The new Pharaoh saw the Israelites as a plague in the 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. 1:15-16), later to be thrown in the Nile (Ex. They do whatever they want. 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. We when we dont know if something is Gods will, we pray, Yet not my will but yours be done (Mt. God blesses those in whom he stirs to obedience, and judges disobedience. It becomes all the more bold in lawlessness. I dont have any letters after my name. All rights reserved. They will be held guilty. And how will they hear without a preacher? He has not brought us this far to cause us to fail. 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.
Crawford County Wanted List,
Articles G