I will not say “can God,” “For with God nothing shall be impossible,” (Luke 1:37) but I will say does God ever use the lost to call His children to Himself?
It takes very little effort to look around and see that the world is most generally filled with wicked people, people that seem to be what we will call decent, upstanding, good people, but because they do not honor Jesus Christ as Lord, the Word of God says, in many places, that they are wicked. It is also not difficult to see that there are many false prophets that have gone out into the world, (1 John 4:1) and there always has been, those who seem righteous, but whose hearts are far from the Lord, (Matt. 15:8) or they are demons who seem to be as ministers of righteousness. (2 Cor. 11:14) The question is, does God use these wicked, lost people who at best only profess Him only with their lips to bring to Himself those He has called to Himself. “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.” (Gen. 50:20)
The answer is yes, He does, even though the intent of those who are such that stand behind the pulpit, those on your television screen or on nearly every media device is to keep you misinformed, to bring upon you the knowledge of a false perspective of the Scriptures. In every case though there must be one truth, those that are seeking the Lord must be diligently seeking Him, this is our part. Will they be chosen? Only if God does the choosing. “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:44)
So, these, to place them all into one generalized category for ease of interpretation, false prophets, are doing the work of the Lord, even in the most minor form, whether they have intended to or not. In every person, in every individual, there is a need for God, for we were made in His image, (Gen. 1:27) the majority will push this need away, and for more reasons than any one man can explain, they will stifle that knowledge within themselves. Those who begin, even in the faintest of ways to listen, to heed the call, will immediately begin to be deceived. “And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth.” (Mark 4:5) And it matters not if the one bringing them the truth is a man of God or a false prophet.
It is here that what can be best described as that spark within the lost is momentarily ignited, here is where that part of us that is made from the image of God will realize that either this is the truth of the Almighty, or this is a deception. I have heard over my short and evil life many times the phrase of “Satan whispering in the ear” of an individual, but rarely do I hear of anyone saying that God is whispering to these people. Call it what you will, but it is at this moment that man’s cognitive thoughts kick in, whether they are knowledgeable or weak minded, here is where they all can see that this is truth, or determine of themselves that it is not.
It may be an instant, a moment, or it may take years, it does not matter, what matters is that the person, all people, are without an excuse. (Romans 1:20) Those who lie in this area will more than likely always lie, there is great pleasure in manipulating people, whether it is a small cult, or an entire religious organization, rarely do these individuals admit to the knowledge that they are speaking lies, but those in the pews, those on the other side of that monitor, that television screen, that cell phone, they can.
Every single time that my lovely wife and I would return home from church, we would discuss what the pastor said, not occasionally, not sometimes, every time, and everything was judged against what the Word of God says. This is called diligently seeking the Lord. It is why for some it can be many years before they come to the realization that the one they have been entrusting to give them the inerrant Word of God properly has not been, and it is why they will have no excuse on their day of accounting (Romans 14:12) if they do nothing about it. And it is why those who preach a false doctrine will receive the greater damnation. (James 3:1)
If you do not check everything that the person behind the pulpit says against the truths of Scripture, the one behind the podium, the one on the other side of that monitor that is deceiving you will not pay the price for your inadequacies, you will. It is not God’s fault that you did not diligently seek Him, it is yours.
