Evident Grace Sunday Recap from 05.20.18 Big Picture Question: What does God use to accomplish His will?

Evident Grace Sunday Recap from 05.20.18 Big Picture Question: What does God use to accomplish His will?

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Sunday, May 20, 2018, Evident Grace Fellowship looked at 1 Samuel 16:14-23:

1 Samuel 16:14 Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. 15 And Saul’s servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well.” 17 So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” 18 One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the Lord is with him.” 19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.” 20 And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul. 21 And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. 22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” 23 And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.

From those scriptures, we attempted to answer this Big Picture Question:

Big Picture Question:  What does God use to accomplish His will?

And we found these three answers:

God uses evil.

God uses providence

God uses the gifting of His people

Let’s look at our first point.

God uses evil.

1 Samuel 16:14 Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. 15 And Saul’s servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you.

God will use all things to bring about His will, even evil itself.  Satan and God are not in a battle.  God battles no one.  He is the sovereign ruler of all things, and all things serve His purposes.  Here is a brief example of how evil, specifically demonic forces, interact with Jesus.

  • The demons know that Jesus has come to earth from heaven to judge them (Rev 19:15)
  • Jesus has come to destroy the kingdom of darkness (Gen 3:15, Rom 16:20)
  • Jesus has disarmed the demonic order of their power (Col 2:15)
  • Jesus has set the captives free from sin and death (Rom 6:23, Rom 8:2).
  • The demons call Jesus the “Son of God” a clear declaration of Jesus’ divinity (Matt 26:63-64; John 5:17ff; 10:33-36). The demons recognize Jesus as the “Holy One of God” which is always a reference to God almighty
  • Ultimately, God will punish Satan and his demons by casting, Satan, demons, and all of hell into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:10).

God uses providence

16 Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well.” 17 So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” 18 One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the Lord is with him.” 19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.” 20 And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul. 21 And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. 22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.”  

God specifically orders all things to bring about His will.  Though David is set apart to be king, very few people know who he is.  By bringing David into the work of Saul, David will gain stature and respect among the people.  Here, God is providentially ordering all of these circumstances both to begin judgment on Saul and to bring about David’s reign.

What is exactly providence?  Here are two definitions:

Westminster 5.1 God, the great Creator of all things, doth uphold, direct dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by his most wise and holy providence, according to his infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of his own will, to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.

Providence is the means by which God directs all things — both animate and inanimate, seen and unseen, good and evil — toward a worthy purpose, which means His will must finally prevail. (Unknown)

God uses the gifting of His people

23 And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.

God has gifted each one of His children with specific talents for the use and advancement of the kingdom.  David couldn’t have known that while he spent hours playing the lyre while tending sheep, that God was preparing him to serve Saul and ultimately be king himself one day

Big Picture Question:  What does God use to accomplish His will?

Truth:  All things serve God’s will, including evil, His people, and their gifting, for the ultimate purpose of His glory and His people’s good.

Action:  Live knowing that at no point and time have you frustrated or stopped the will of God. 

Application:  Pray for an enabling faith to both do God’s will and walk in grace when you feel you failed. 

 

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