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.. 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.. 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). 1 John 5:14. Paul, in writing to Corinth, corrected the Churchs misuse of speaking in foreign tongues. If not, we have reason to question whether our faith is real. This New-Babylon marched through Canaan and took hostages (one of them was Daniel). 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. Their horses also are swifter than leopards, And more fierce than evening wolves. WebGod 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. 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. The repentant show Gods unmerited grace to undeserving sinners, and reveal the merciful blessing and goodness of God. 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. Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. I have not written a New York Times Bestseller, and no one has publicly endorsed, recommended, or vouched for me. Each time Moses would perform a mighty sign to convince Pharaoh of Gods power but each time God would harden his heart. When we dont see the ungodly punished immediately, or when they seem to be successful in their evil ways, we should not assume that God is beaten or is pleased to turn His head. 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. Here are some examples: Another unlikely person used by God was King Cyrus of Persia. This doesnt erase tragedy or transform heartache, but it gives us a divine perspective on the hard times of life that enables us to keep on going when wed rather give up and quit. But what a privilege it is to be used by God! The story of Judas teaches us that nothing happens by accident. 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.. Even Jesus cannot save a man who claims his sin is not really sinful. 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. In 609 Judahs King Josiah was killed in battle against Egypt. Grace be with you. 1:21). God commissions the invalid retiree to uphold dozens, even hundreds of missionaries on the field. Two questions stand out: 1) Did Jesus actually descend into hell? Get your Bible. 4:5). shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it. He betrayed the Lord but ended up vindicating him. 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. 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. 14:11). God picks the scrawniest little girl to lead off on his kickball team. He stands behind it indirectly, but He directly stands behind good. The Pharisees believed they were serving God but in reality, they didnt even know Him. We are called to be among his faithful people. To say it another way, there is a man in hell today who has been there for 2000 years even though what he did advanced Gods plan to save the world. Yet, God used him to rebuild the temple and allow Jews to return to their land. Many that people can plan to do much but is God that will always have the final say. God has sinners pray and answers the prayers of sinners that are according to His will, getting glory for himself. Impatience and failing to trust God is never helpful. Prayer is one of the means God uses to accomplish His sovereign will and get glory for himself. God strengthened Cyrus so that he could conquer nations and overcome opposition Thus says the Lord God to His 2. We when we dont know if something is Gods will, we pray, Yet not my will but yours be done (Mt. But they feared to do it during the Feast of Unleavened Bread because of the crowds that thronged Jerusalem. He clings to his sin like a drowning man to an iron life preserver. Often in the confusion of life, we cant see the ends, much less the means God intends for us. Being a creative, innovative or highly effective leader is insufficient. In spite of all this they still sinnedAnd did not believe in His wonderful works. In this period of Judahs last kings, the Prophets warned of the fulfillment of this covenant promise. Psalm 109:8Replaced by another manMatthias (see Acts 1:20). It can be fairly said that the common people by and large respected Jesus and responded positively to his message. But as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness. This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask God is unimpressed. God is unimpressed by our collection of readers, likes, retweets, friends, connections, or admirers. If your rsum is sparse, your intellect feeble, your skills unimpressive, and your wisdom just average, fret not. 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. He wants us to trust in Him, to rely on Him, to cry out to Him, and then give Him glory for delivering us. We concluded that the Bible doesnt give us a final answer regarding why Judas betrayed Jesus Christ. 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. How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who are grumbling against Me? They wanted him dead and used Judas as a convenient means to that ugly end. 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 will surely judge all rebellion, secret and open. When Moses spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people mourned greatly. However, he had Aaron and Hur hold up Moses arms and had Joshua lead the armies of Israel. WebThe Scripture teaches that God achieves His purpose in unbelievers. He sent His son to pay a most costly price for the sin of His people, for those who trust in Him. 55:8-9). Why? 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. When Judas kissed Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter impulsively grabbed his sword and started swinging. 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. God could by-pass us and do everything himself, but He does not. God has the amazing ability to do things that simply do not make sense to mankind. From the earliest days of Jesus life we find the Jewish leaders conspiring against him. Because God does miracles by His own power. The coming of Messiah was unexpected. 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. It will be a most terrible judgment. Dont get me wrong, wisdom is important. I might preach to 100 people on Sunday morning in my own little church, but I preach to thousands over the internet. 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. Be encouraged Christian, God intends to use you in all your multifaceted weakness and obscurity for his glory. Because God is utterly unimpressed by my rsum. Gods Ability To Use Unlikely People Even Unbelievers. God uses all those who humble themselves before the cross, boasting only in him his strength, his wisdom, his righteousness, his accomplishment. There is no better example of Gods providence at work through the actions of a sinful man. It only made sense on Sunday morning when Jesus rose from the dead. His purpose in creation will stand. International Standard Version. I have an unimpressive family background and do not come from a long line of important people. Christianity is not about religion, its about a life-changing relationship with the Son of God. Paul used this verse from Habakkuk to warn the foolish despisers of the gospel. 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 ordains the means and the ends of life. This is the grace of God as revealed in His merciful covenant. They were in an impossible situation with no way out. He told Moses, Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. But how? or will we in our rebellion demonstrate the just curse of His covenant warnings? Herod the Great tried to kill him in Bethlehem. Remember my imprisonment. He dealt with his doubts and confusion in the right way, he turned to God, not to his own understanding. 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. God Himself said that He used Pharaoh so that His name would be known on all the earth. 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. 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. Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills. And that is okay. No, its a mystery. 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. and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They do whatever they want. 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. 1:37). The phrase all this refers to the betrayal, the circumstances surrounding it, and the circumstances flowing from it. So the emphasis of the chapter is on Gods working out His purpose through ordinary people who obey Him. In the eyes of the Jews, Saul would be seen as a warrior of the faith. Sign up to join over 20,000 subscribers receiving our weekly sermon email. Is that a contradiction? Amen. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. It forces us to live by faith, which is how He wants us to live all the time because it gives Him glory. 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. Dont mistake temporary material victories for true success. God uses pathetic people for his glorious purposes to show his superior power. Even today there are those who are arrogant and have no honor for God as He reveals Himself in Scripture. The evil ones believe pridefully that their own imagined gods have blessed them. Egypt and the Neo-Babylonians were competing for world dominance. When Judas actually betrayed Jesus in the Garden, Peter immediately sprang to his defense. Habakkuk learned that the material success of the ungodly is not a reliable measure of their true success. 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. Anyone who resists God risks falling into spiritual deception (2 One swing of his sword whacked off the ear of Malchus, servant to the High Priest. C) We place our confidence in Gods ultimate purpose for us. 10:14-15). God uses all those who humble themselves before the cross, boasting only in him his strength, his wisdom, his righteousness, his accomplishment. For he sees that even wise men die;The stupid and the senseless alike perishAnd leave their wealth to others. The gospel writers record many Old Testament prophecies that were fulfilled in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. WebGod will never set man's will aside and use him for a good purpose without his being willing to be used. We see this clearly in the life of Christ. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. Zechariah 11:1230 pieces of silver (see Matthew 26:15). God calls the autistic man to give the most profound articulation of his simple faith. Providence means that God is in charge of the entire universe at all times and nothing happens outside his control. (Bible quotations are from the New King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.). Those who were rebelling against God had become apathetic. When they offered him 30 pieces of silver, he readily accepted even though that was the going price for a slave. So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. 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, shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it. God used this unlikely group of people to accomplish His greatest work and they had no idea. But Habakkuks confusion was not doubt. The purpose of www.drivennails.com is to help train expository preachers in sermon construction and delivery, to train inductive Bible study writers and teachers, and to edify the saints with the Word of God. The terms Neo-Babylons and Chaldeans are used interchangeably for the people of that Empire. God himself had foreordained every detail surrounding the death of his Son. We have one life to use, and the usefulness of that one life depends not on our rsum or even how much we know. Showing us that our God can and will use anyone even though they dont know Him. 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. Nothing that happened to Jesus that night or later on Good Friday made sense when it happened. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. Were they to voluntarily all drown? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you. In fact, in one place in scripture, God said that what He was doing could not be understood even if He explained it. That doesnt make us anything more in Gods eyes. He mustered his army and went after the Jews in hot pursuit. Not one of these men, this evil generation, shall see the good land which I swore to give your fathers. God sovereignly saves sinners, yet, He often uses sinners to accomplish His sovereign will. 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. Then God, in His sovereign power and will, takes our weak and fallible service, and accomplishes His will, like parting the Red Sea. While not all became believers, many felt a strong attraction to his message. And he was an exalted and successful king. I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel, which they are making against Me. But if anyone says to you, This is meat sacrificed to idols, do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for conscience sake; I mean not your own conscience, but the other mans; for why is my freedom judged by anothers conscience? 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. 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. Today, the weapons of force have improved, yet all the more they take whatever they want, and give only when it serves their purpose. They post my sermons on the web and people listen to or watch me preach all over the world. These lessons simply teach us that God can take that which is evil and use it for his own good purposes. He stands behind it indirectly, but He directly stands behind good. Through one mans treachery, Jesus proves himself a man of peacenot a man of war. His silence spoke more loudly than the foolish claims of his lying accusers. Psalm 69:25Reputation destroyed forever. They have heard that You, O. God was about to turn to the Gentiles as He judged Israel as a nation for her unbelief. 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. Gods plan even extended to having Jesus buried in a borrowed tomb (see Isaiah 53:9). For I will work a work in your days Which you would not believe, though it were told you.. It becomes all the more bold in lawlessness. God promised to precede Cyrus and destroy all opposition that Cyrus would face: 'I will go before you and make the 3. Thus they plundered the Egyptians ( Exodus 12:36 ). You have entered an incorrect email address! We know from the sowing and reaping principle that t here will be degrees of torment in the lake of fire. They had no weapons to fight Pharaohs army, no experience in war, no ability to defend themselves, and no way of escape. Philippians 3:4-7 - although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. The trials that were meant to establish his guilt ended up establishing his innocence for all the world to see. Every evil in the world must somehow serve Gods purpose. WebGod never does evil Himself. Moses was an instrument, a tool, a vessel for Gods use, and so are we all. They were evil cowards who hated the Son of God but feared a popular uprising if they tried to arrest him. Consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. Jesus immediately restored the ear and told Peter to put down his sword. I find it remarkable how consistently the New Testament writers see the hand of God in the events surrounding the death of Christ. 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. 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? 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). So through his death, he can have everlasting life on earth. Now relax your hand! And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. Our prayers do not alter Gods eternal decree. We see this all the way through the Bible. Because God created all He can use anything in creation. The Israelites and the church did face some tough times and we may too. But we learn that over time a new Pharaoh arose who did not know Joseph or respect what Joseph had done (Ex. When God desires to save someone, He raises up Christians to preach the gospel. 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. 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.
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