Sermon Central
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Favoritism In High Places Series
Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Jan 18, 2021 (message contributor)
Summary: God is at least fair with everyone, but has the prerogative to be especially gracious with those He has chosen.
Favoritism in High Places?
1.Penicillin was invented by Alexander Fleming in 1928.
What Happened: Halfway through an experiment with bacteria, Alexander Fleming up and went on vacation. Slob that he was, he left a dirty petri dish in the lab sink.
Big Discovery: When he got back, he found bacteria had grown all over the plate, except in an area where mold had formed.
As a Result: That discovery led to two things: 1) penicillin and 2) Mrs. Fleming hiring a maid. {source rd.com]
2. Sometimes thing happen by accident, but, even in this case, effort was underway.
3. One current fad is “manifesting,” the idea that by saying, writing, or brainwashing ourselves, we can make our dreams come true. We can get that dream job or whatever, apart from discipline, work, etc. Like all similar and sometimes occult like practices, the lure is control.
4. Sin is about control. Satan wanted to be in control. Adam and Eve wanted control.
5. Walking with God means surrendering control to Him. And it means accepting what He declares is so, whether we like it or not. And one thing that can be difficult to accept is God’s sovereign choices. They are difficult not because who or what is chosen, but because of who or what is not.
Main Idea: God is at least fair with everyone, but has the prerogative to be especially gracious with those He has chosen.
I. Because God Has CHOSEN Only Some Does Not Make Him Unrighteous (Rom 9:14-18): The Midrash on Pharaoh.
? There are four ways to interpret this text.
? 1. Some think the giving of mercy or withholding it is in the context of nations or people groups, not individuals regarding salvation. God chooses Israel as a nation, but rejects Esau (Edom) as a nation.
? 2. This is about individuals and about salvation.
? 3. This is about both individuals and nations (my view); I suggest evidence of both.
? 4. Always room for something we haven’t thought of or do not see.
What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion." So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.
A. We are not ENTITLED to God’s mercy – it is a gift He controls. (14-16)
1. God does not need to deal with us evenly (Matthew 20:1-16, passim)
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing…He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman,‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying,‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’But he replied to one of them,‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’” (Matt. 20:1-15).
2. Because we are rebels and members of Adam’s sinful race by birth, He has no obligations to us.
The Palestinians who were within the borders of Israel and left when the Arabs attacked decades ago were not allowed back in. Those who remained were give full rights as Israeli citizens. We are like the Arabs who sided with the enemy and deserted.
God allows some of us deserters back into the country – His Kingdom -- with full rights, while others receive the due consequence of their choices. It isn’t equal, but on one is shortchanged. We have a problem with that.
