Featured Can an unsaved person lead others to Jesus?

I knew a man who went from a drunk & fornicator to preacher, & he delivered powerful sermons who led dozens to Christ. Then, he slipped back into his old sins, adding dope and theft to them. unfortunately, he died in that state, dying the "rock star death" of washing down too many pills with too much moonshine.

Now, several people claimed he was never saved anyway, and he had no 'faith' to lose, but I heard him preach on several occasions, and his sermons were straight from the Bible and very-powerful, & I found it hard to believe an unsaved person could preach with such power.

After studying s'more history, etc. I came to believe GOD can use anyone for anything, so the real argument is whether that man was saved or not. But I believe the HOLY SPIRIT led him in his preaching, However, I fear for his soul, as he died at a party & had no time for any "deathbed confession". And even if he was unsaved himself he did lead many to Christ.

OTHER READERS' opinions, please?

 

But David , when confronted with his sins, immediately admitted them & prayed to God for forgiveness, & accepted his punishment without complaint.

In Solly's day, it was not unusual for a king to have umpteen wives & concubines. God allowed it then. But where Solly lost it was when an Egyptian wife led him to start worshipping idols.

Jesus caused Peter to do that because Peter had boasted that he'd never deny Jesus, no matter what. And, after the 3rd denial, Pete was very, very remorseful and ashamed. He had not turned his back on Jesus completely; he'd only had a temporary lapse brought on as punishment for boasting. And Dave & Pete didn't die in sin. But we don't know if Solly went to paradise upon his death or not.

Jonah never abandoned God, either. And I believe that when he went thru Nineveh's streets, he hollered more than "Within 40 days, Nineveh shall be destroyed". I'm sure he told its people who would do the destroying if they didn't repent. But again, the man I was talking about died in a sinful act, so I don't really know what his status with God was at his death.

 

Several of Jesus' disciples were Zealots, a group of Jews who hated Rome & the Romans & who would work violence against them when they could. Among the Zealots were Simon, (called the Zealot) Judas(not Iscariot) and Judas Iscariot.

J.. I. was deeply disappointed that Jesus did not advocate the freeing of the Jews from Roman rule. Apparently, this disappointment was so intense that it caused him to overlook Jesus' Gospel, His miracles, and His real purpose for coming to earth, as well as not seeing His deity.

The temple police sent to arrest Jesus didn't know Him by sight(Remember, Isaiah described Him as being quite ordinary-looking) and judas agreed to point Him out by a greeting kiss. He knew Jesus often went to the garden of Gethsemane to pray, so Judas led the fuzz there, and pointed Jesus out with a greeting kiss.

But J. I died in sin. Jesus had said one of His disciples was a devil. He also said better for that man if he'd never been born. And J. I. led no one to Jesus for salvation.

 

No, but Jesus knew Peter's human weakness would briefly rise to the forefront of his mind, and He was actually admonishing Peter for boasting. thus, satan was able to arouse Peter's fear of being arrested for following Jesus. No, God didn't do it, but He allowed Satan to do so.

 

I don't know. However, he died at age 43 from ingesting a combo of liquor and dope, which is quite a Christ-denying act.

 

History is plain that the Zealots were a class of Jews who were very-opposed to Roman rule & wouldn't hesitate to use violence against Romans when they believed they could get away with it. same as other such groups, some members were more-fervent than others. Sor example, Barabbas was an extreme Zealot, much-admired by the Jews in general for giving the Romans a bad time, but there's no evidence that any of Jesus' disciples who were Zealots worked any violence against the Romans.

As for Judas Iscariot, he was the treasurer for the disciples, and a thief:

John 12:
4 But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, 5 “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.

It's very unlikely that Judas was ever saved, but we can only speculate as to whether he led anyone to Jesus or not. However, scripture DOES say Jesus gave the power to work miracles to ALL the disciples, but we know for sure what eventually became of Judas, as Jesus said, "Better for that man if he'd never been born".