I'm Kind of Partial, Myself
2018 Sunday Sermons • Sermon • Submitted
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Does God love and treat everyone the same?
Does God love and treat everyone the same?
Distinction, Yes
Distinction, Yes
for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
It is foolishness to think that God makes no distinction. This is a distortion of truth.
God loved Moses and Israel in a way He did not love Egypt and the Pharaoh. The children of Israel walked across on dry ground. The army of Egypt drowned, walking literally in their footsteps.
In God so loved THE WORLD that He sent His son so that πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων - all the believing, or all who believe would be saved.
God has NEVER blurred the lines between His people and His enemies.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.
hostel to God; enmity against God; an enemy against God
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is not confused. He knows His sheep. He knows your heart.
Partiality, No!
Partiality, No!
rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.
Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.
It makes no difference if you are slave or master to God. HE is the master and is unimpressed with your socio-economic status
For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.
For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.
It makes no difference if you are slave or master to God. HE is the master and is unimpressed with your socio-economic status
For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.
There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.
For God shows no partiality.
God judges according to His own Righteous standard: His law. Christ Himself
rom 2:
The Law of God and the Cross of Christ are absolute equalizers of men
But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
Please know that the just condemnation of God on sin and sinners knows no partiality, no favoritism, takes no bribes, makes no deals.
Wealth matters not
Wealth matters not
and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Why would it? How can jewels impress the God who created them.
There is no power to impress God. He LITERALLY can do what He wants, and always does.
Individuals and churches, however do fall prey to this pernicious sin
When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”
: Ananias and Sapphira
Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.”
matt 20:
But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
To be Christ-like is not to seek after wealth and prominence. Neither is it to esteem others who have it because they do. Being Christ-like is having a servant’s heart, and valuing the same in others.
Much more than issues of wealth and influence, the bigger picture is no partiality
No Racial Divide
No Racial Divide
No Inter-marriage in Old Testament
No Inter-marriage in Old Testament
Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman. And they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it. Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth. And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them came out. And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he departed.
When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. And Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned. Let her not be as one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb.” And Moses cried to the Lord, “O God, please heal her—please.” But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.” So Miriam was shut outside the camp seven days, and the people did not set out on the march till Miriam was brought in again. After that the people set out from Hazeroth, and camped in the wilderness of Paran.
Numbers 12:
Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.
The prohibitions against inter-marriage were always about not polluting faith in God. They had nothing to do with race or ethnicity.
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?
God is very consistent in the distinctions He makes.
Jesus was not a bigot
Jesus was not a bigot
Syrophoenician (Caananite) or gentile woman approaches Jesus about her daughter
He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
For Jesus, the comment was about bringing her to humility. His love and approval are clear in His declaration of her great faith.
And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
The old children's’ song is right: Red and yellow, black and white, all are precious in His sight!
Unity across lines in Christ and His Church
Unity across lines in Christ and His Church
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
...to the Jew first is a historic truth, not a priority for evangelism
Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
Here = in the church of the Lord Jesus
no ethnic, no cultural, no socio-economic division
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
and no white washing… unity among diversity because God has broken down the walls of separation in the person and ministry of Jesus.
This blended, innumerable multitude is what has begun in the work of the churches of Jesus and will be completed on the Day of The Lord that His glory may fully be seen among all.
Nothing short of this vision is gospel hope.
The Statement on Social Justice & the Gospel.
The Statement on Social Justice & the Gospel.
XII: We affirm God made all people from one man. Though people often can be distinguished by different ethnicities and nationalities, they are ontological equals before God in both creation and redemption. “Race” is not a biblical category, but rather a social construct that often has been used to classify groups of people in terms of inferiority and superiority. All that is good, honest, just, and beautiful in various ethnic backgrounds and experiences can be celebrated as the fruit of God’s grace. All sinful actions and their results (including evils perpetrated between and upon ethnic groups by others) are to be confessed as sinful, repented of, and repudiated.
Guilty of all
Guilty of all
Note that our text clearly states that partiality within the family and church of God is sin.
The Sin of partiality
The Sin of partiality
But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
XIV: We affirm that racism is a sin rooted in pride and malice which must be condemned and renounced by all who wo uld honor the image of God in all people. Such racial sin can subtly or overtly manifest itself as racial animosity or racial vainglory. Such sinful prejudice or partiality falls short of God’s revealed will and violates the royal law of love. We affirm that virtually all cultures, including our own, at times contain laws and systems that foster racist attitudes and policies.
So, what do we do?
So, what do we do?
1. We preach the gospel of Jesus
1. We preach the gospel of Jesus
because the answer to a sin problem is gospel!
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
To believe is to put all our eggs in 1 glorious basket for the salvation of our own souls and that of our loved ones
There are no new approaches, technologies, or methodologies to improve upon the gospel.
There are no secular solutions or social programs to the problem of sin, only Jesus!
And that not only from the pulpit, but in all walks of our life.
2. We root it out among us ourselves, as the family of God
2. We root it out among us ourselves, as the family of God
This, and other sins must not be tolerated among the righteous, whether directly in regards to church affairs, or also in the lives of the membership.
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
This is NOT different or necessarily more important than other sins in this regard.
Neither is it a lesser sin to be overlooked.
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
It ought to be that the church is blameless before the outside world because we correct each other before the world even has opportunity to condemn.
That is not unique to partiality. That’s just being a church member 101, but has sadly been lost among us
Better is open rebuke
than hidden love.
Faithful are the wounds of a friend;
profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
Friends don’t let friends drive drunk
Brothers and sisters in Christ don’t let brothers and sisters in Christ harbor sinful pride and resentment, such as the sin of racial partiality in their hearts and lives
3. We do NOT allow this or any other issue to distract us from our primary focus of worshipping God rightly, evangelizing, and discipling
3. We do NOT allow this or any other issue to distract us from our primary focus of worshipping God rightly, evangelizing, and discipling
Between Sundays, Wednesdays, Revivals I am approaching 300 sermons to you. To my knowledge, the topic of racism has popped up here and there but never been the focus of a sermon before now.
article VIII
We Deny that political or social activism should be viewed as integral components of the gospel or primary to the mission of the church.
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
This is an issue of loving our neighbors as ourselves. This sin is a distraction from gospel ministry. It will be addressed biblically and in a balanced way.
Partiality is sin. The Law of God and Gospel of Jesus Christ apply equally to all. May God grant us repentance where needed, and hearts for our neighbors going forward that we may love God supremely and our neighbors truly. May God additionally grant that we not be led by any agenda except that found in His Word and as we are led by His Spirit.