Brian and Kim DeFore's daughter,
Amanda, is going to have surgery this Tuesday morning, so everybody
remember her. She has a cancerous tumor in
her kidney, and they're going to remove it. So I pray the Lord
will be pleased to give the doctors the wisdom and ability to do
that. I've entitled this message, Discriminating
Grace. Now that word ought to get our
attention, discriminating grace. One of the greatest evils of
the human race is discrimination. It's behind most of the problems
in the world. One group, one person oppressing
another group or person believing that they have a superiority
over that group or that person and they have the right to that
behavior. That's discrimination. The most
glaring example, I suppose, would be Adolf Hitler in the last century. He believed the Aryan race to
be superior to all other races. And he felt it to be his moral
obligation to stamp out other races, particularly the Jews,
so there could be a pure race. The monstrosities that have arisen
from discrimination, enslaving people. That was legal in this
country 159 years ago. You could make people your slaves. All of us have had to deal with
somebody getting an unfair advantage over us because of some kind
of discrimination. There's no one that is exempt
from that. People will be given favoritism
because of their appearance, because of their sex. Because
of their age and this is discrimination and it's evil. Most wars, maybe
all wars have discrimination somewhere as the cause of those
wars, a right to take what belongs to somebody else. But did you, there's one kind
of discrimination that's good. The discrimination we just read
of in this verse of scripture, who maketh thee to differ? Literally, who discriminates
with you? Who distinguishes you from another? The fact of the matter is if
God didn't discriminate, none of us would be saved. Now this
is that one who has no respect of persons too. I love to think
of, he demonstrated on the cross that truly he has no respect
of persons. When sin was found on his son,
he killed him. And yet the discrimination spoken
of in our text, if God didn't discriminate with us and make
us to differ, we would be in hell right now. All men would be in hell right
now. If he gave everybody exactly
what they deserved and treated everybody fairly, every one of
us right now would be in hell and no one would be saved. Thank
God, I hope I'm saying this reverently, I hope I'm saying this from the
very depths of my heart. Thank God for his discriminating
grace. Now notice the last phrase of
verse six, that no one of you be puffed
up for one against another. Swollen. An inflated view of
yourself. And that's behind every form
of discrimination, isn't it? An inflated view of yourself
that makes you think you have the right to treat someone else
that's inferior to you. Well, this was going on in the
church of Corinth. They had these inflated, puffed up views of
themselves. As a matter of fact, Paul uses
this term with regard to the Corinthians six times in this
epistle. You're puffed up, you're inflated. You have an inflated
view of yourself. And I dare say that everybody
in this room has an inflated view of themselves. Wouldn't
you say? There's no question about it.
You're puffed up one against the other. And that's what caused
all the conflict in this church where you have these inflated
views of yourself or the group you're in. It will always lead
to some form of discrimination. Now to these people with this
inflated view of themselves, he asks this question, who made
you to differ from another? What do you have that you didn't
receive? You didn't earn it. You didn't
merit it. God gave it to you. What do you have that you didn't
receive? Now, if you received it, why
do you glory? As if it wasn't given to you,
you earned it. It came to you by way of merit
or right. Who maketh thee to differ from
another? Now, I have no doubt that Paul
is alluding to Exodus chapter 11, verse seven. Would you turn
with me there? Verse six, but. There shall be a great cry throughout
all the land of Egypt, such as there were none like it, nor
shall be like it anymore, but against any of the children of
Israel." Listen to this language. Shall
not a dog move his tongue against man or beast? that you may know
how that the Lord doth put a difference." He discriminates between the Egyptians and Israel. Now, the initial difference between
the Egyptians and Israel was that Israel were slaves to the
Egyptians. That's the initial difference.
They were living in brick homes that the children of Israel were
made to make the bricks and build. There was a big difference, but
that difference changed. And the Lord makes sure we know
that he says, I am the one that makes the difference. Now the children of Israel. were
just as sinful as the Egyptians, just as evil, had the same bad
nature. God wasn't doing this for the
Israelites because they were better. He was doing this because
he made a discriminating choice to do this by his grace. If he didn't, Israel would be
in hell and the Egyptians would be in hell, but God made the
difference. Now, when the land was covered
with frogs, can you imagine how horrible that would be? Slimy
frogs, everywhere you go in your room and your bed, you'd open
the cabinets there, the frogs would be. There wasn't one frog
in the land of Goshen where the Israelites were. Not one. Why? The Lord discriminated. He made a difference. When the
dust was changed to lice. Have you ever had lice? If you have, you don't like it.
Can you imagine being covered with lice? How miserable that
would be. And all of the children of Egypt
were covered with lice. Even their animals. But not one
person in the land of Goshen had life. You know why? Because God discriminated between
the Egyptians and Israel. Before he sent the swarms of
flies, God said to Pharaoh, I have put a division. This is what
God did. I have put a division between
my people and thy people. So all of Egypt is corrupted
with flies. I hate flies. I mean, they're
so gross. And when you see them get on
your food, you don't want to eat it. They're filthy. They're
dirty. Can you imagine being completely covered with flies? Everybody. One fly in the land of Egypt,
I mean, Goshen, where the Israelites stayed. You know why? The Lord
discriminated. The Lord made a difference between
the Egyptians and Israel. And then we have the disease
on the livestock. Every cow, every sheep in Egypt
died. There was a grievous, I can't
remember what it's called, but they all died. And he sent people
into Goshen to find out and there wasn't one cow in all of the
land of Goshen that belonged to the children of Israel that
died. They were all healthy. Who made
that difference? God in his discriminating grace. And then in Egypt boils Covered
man and beast. Oh, the horror of that. Everyone had these tumors sticking
out of them. Not one person in Israel, in
the land of Goshen did. Why? Because God put a difference. God discriminated. And then the
hail that came down. Everybody that was outside of
shelter was killed by that hail. Not one drop of hail fell in
the land of Goshen. God discriminated between the
Egyptians and Israel. And then you think of that swarm
of locusts that comes into Egypt and it eats every green thing.
There's nothing left. Not one locust made it in the
land of Goshen. Because God discriminated between
the Egyptians and Israel. And what about that darkness
that might be felt where for three days, nobody would get
up. The darkness was so thick in
Egypt, but it was light in Goshen. They didn't have that. Why? God discriminated. And you know, the Passover. Everybody
in a house with the blood over the door was spared in mercy.
Everybody outside of a house, God killed the firstborn. Now this ought to just get a
hold of our hearts. If I have an interest in Christ,
if I have a knowledge of Christ, if I love Christ, here's the
reason God made the difference. Don't you know that's over the
road to you? God made the difference. Back to the question, who made
thee to differ? Now, first let's consider that
there is in fact a vast difference between the believer and the
unbeliever. There's a vast difference. But I have to say this first,
there's a sense in which there's no difference at all between
a believer and an unbeliever in this sense, my old man. Paul put it this way in Romans
chapter three, verse 23, for there's no difference. There's
no difference between one man and another man. You take the
most moral upstanding man you know, and the biggest scumbag
you know. In God's sight, maybe not in
man's sight, but in God's sight, there's no difference. All have
sinned. and come short of the glory of
God. And the fact of the matter is
that fine upstanding person in God's sight, he's nothing but
sin and nothing but evil. And in The difference between a believer
and an unbeliever, well, an unbeliever and a believer both still have
a sinful nature. Now, a believer has a nature
that he didn't have before God saved him, but he still has that
evil nature that's no better, that's no different than it was
when the Lord first saved me. It's just as bad as it ever was.
I have the same appetite for sin, and you do too. Thank God
we have a new nature that puts a restraint on that old man.
I'm thankful for him, the new man, but I've got a nature that's
just as bad and just as sinful as it ever was. And if I said
it wasn't, if I said, I'm getting more holy, I'm getting more like
Christ, that'd be a lie. As far as my old nature,
now I trust I've got a new man that loves Christ. I know I do.
But I've got an old man that's just as sinful as it ever was. So in that sense, there's no
difference. I can't look at an unbeliever and think, look at
that person. What a horrible person. I'm just
as bad by nature, by choice. That's what I am. And if I look
at anybody like that, I'm totally wrong. The problem is that most people really don't
believe this. They really believe there is
a difference. If you believe there was no difference, you
and I would quit mistreating people. It would be a utopian
society. Nobody really believes that,
though. What a difference there is between
the believer and the unbeliever. One is loved by God. The other
is not. God said, Jacob have I loved,
Esau have I hated. And this difference was made
in eternity for the children being not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil. that the purpose of God according
to election might stand, not of works. That's God's purpose.
Salvation is not going to be by works. It was said unto her,
the elder shall serve the younger as it's written. Jacob have I
loved, Esau have I hated. That's God speaking. And this
distinction was made When I didn't have any good works to commend
me, didn't have any bad works to disqualify me. It was made
before the foundation of the world. The believer has spiritual
life, a new nature partakers of the divine nature. The unbeliever
doesn't have that. And this accounts for the myriad
differences between the two. There is a big difference between
a believer and an unbeliever. A believer loves God. An unbeliever
has no love for God. Could care less about God. A believer believes. An unbeliever
has nothing but unbelief. A believer, by the grace of God,
repents. He's in a continual state of
repentance. An unbeliever has no repentance. There are different desires.
One desires to be found in Christ. The other could care less. There
are different ambitions. One wants the glory of God. The
other doesn't care anything about the glory of God. One has ears
to hear. The other doesn't. One performs
good works. The other is reprobate concerning
every good work. Uh, what a difference there is
in providence to the one, to the believer. Everything's working
together for his good. Everything to the unbeliever,
everything's working together for his destruction. What a difference
there is between a believer and an unbeliever. What a different
view they have of the world. The unbeliever loves the world. The believer hates the world
that has no love for God. When it comes time to die, look
at the difference. The believer knows that righteousness
is his because the righteousness of Christ is his and he can die
in peace and joy and believe it's the best day of his life
is the day of his departure. Paul said, for me to live is
Christ and to die is gain. Best day of my life. The unbeliever,
oh, he doesn't have that hope. He doesn't know what's going
to happen. Maybe he thinks he will be in heaven, but he's going
to find out he wasn't. Think of the difference in eternity.
One with Christ, perfectly conformed to his image in heaven, singing
the praises of the land, the other suffering the torments
of hell eternally. What a difference who maketh
thee to differ. Even in the distinctions between
men, all men were not created equal.
I know that's in our constitution, but it's not so. All men were
not created equal. Now we have the right, all men
have the right to be treated fairly. Everybody ought to be
treated fairly. There shouldn't be one group
that gets more than another group. Every group ought to be treated
fairly and has that right. But all men were not created
equally. Some are born much more intelligent than others. Some
are born much more physically gifted than others. Who made that difference? Some
are born to wealth. and economic advantage. Others
are born in poverty. Why? Who made that difference? Some are born with educational
advantage. Some never have an education.
Who made that difference? You think of the difference that
makes. And who made that difference? Some are born with parents who
are going to make sure they have the opportunity to succeed. Oh,
that's so important. A parent putting its child in
a place where they could succeed. Some people are born with parents
who could care less and they could care less about the outcome
of their children or making them do right. Somebody says, now, wait a minute.
At least I had a work ethic. At least I've worked to get what
I've got. Who gave you that work ethic?
There's only one reason you have that. If you have any success,
who gave you that success? You can't say I made myself to
differ. What do you have that you didn't
receive, that wasn't given to you? If you've received it, then
it was given to you. Freely. And you did not earn
it. So why do you glory, Paul says,
as if there were some merit or power in you that caused you
to do it? Now, like I said, if this were believed, discrimination
would be gone. And this would be a utopian society.
It really would. But it's not believed. You know
that. As long as men are fallen, you're going to have all these
one group or one man oppressing another. That is the part of
fallen human nature. Now, we've considered natural
differences. Let's talk about how God made
you differ spiritually. We saw how he made the Israelites
to differ from the Egyptians in such a powerful way. We've
seen how any difference I have not physically, he made the difference.
What about spiritually? Let's go back to the believer
and the unbeliever. We've already seen there is a vast difference.
There's a great gulf fixed and it's due to God's discriminating
grace. Now, before I get into this,
I want us to remember if God didn't discriminate, no one would
be saved. Don't look at this as a bad thing.
This is a good thing. This is the one time discrimination
is good and you and I wouldn't have any hope of being saved
if God did not discriminate in his grace. You know, his discrimination
is having mercy on us and giving us grace in spite of who we are
in ourselves. I love this definition of grace,
in spite of. In spite of. Now I want you to
think about this difference the Lord made between the believer
and the unbeliever. If I am a believer, it's because
God chose me to be a believer before time began. He didn't look through the telescope
of time and say, hey, I see Todd's going to believe. I'm going to
elect him. Oh, that's foolishness. When somebody speaks of election
in that light, it's blasphemous. It's God's sovereign choice of
his people that he made before time began when he gave me to
his son. And his son, this is before I
was ever born. This is before I had any existence.
He gave me to his son. And the Lord Jesus Christ agreed
to be my surety, to bear full responsibility for my salvation. God made me to differ. Oh, how
he made me to differ in eternal election. I love election. I love the God of election. I
love the truth of election. I love the doctrine of election.
It glorifies God and it gives this sinner hope. He saves freely
by his grace. And this is God's discriminating
grace. This is what the Bible teaches. I know the world doesn't
like this, but you know, I don't care. It's still what the Bible
teaches. And I like it this way because it gives me hope. God
discriminates. He, he does something for sinners
because he will. This is because of his grace,
because of his glory. How the son made you to differ
when he came here with you in him. And when he kept the law,
you kept the law. And when he died on Calvary's
tree, you died on Calvary's tree. And when he was raised from the
dead, you were raised from the dead. Paul said, I'm crucified
with Christ. He made you to differ. You didn't
do anything for this. You didn't earn this. He did
it all. How God the Holy Spirit made
you to differ when you were birthed by him. You were dead in trespasses
and sins. You were born into this world
dead, D-E-A-D, dead in trespasses and sins. You might have even
be religious, but you didn't have any care for the living
God. You didn't have any desire to be found in Christ. You were
satisfied with things the way they are. And he gave you life.
Partakers of the divine nature birthed into the kingdom of heaven. What glorious grace. He made you to differ. He gave
you that new nature. He birthed you. That nature didn't
come from you. Think of this. Partakers of the
divine nature. You have a nature that does not
commit sin. Oh, holy nature, born of God,
who made that difference? What do you have that you did
not receive in every aspect? Have you ever thought, I know
you have, have you ever thought about how delusional pride is?
How utterly unreasonable and crazy it is. What do you have
that you didn't receive? Do you have a hope in Christ?
He gave it to you. Do you have faith? By grace you
save through faith and that's not of yourselves. It's the gift
of God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. Are you in a state of repentance
all the time, a change of mind concerning yourself, God, how
he saves you? Who gave you that repentance?
You love God. Who gave you that love? You persevere
in the faith. How many people have you seen
fall away and you're still continuing? Why is that? Who made you to
differ from somebody else? Aren't you thankful for discriminating
grace? You know, one believer bears more fruit
than another. That's true. You've seen that.
One's more gracious. One's more lowly. One's more
loving. Who made him to differ from the
other believer? He said, for me is thy fruit found. Somebody
has a clearer understanding than somebody else. Who made that
difference? Is it because the one was smarter than the other?
No, God made the difference. There may be one preacher who
is used by the Lord more than another preacher. Is that because
the preacher that's used more is better? No, God made the difference. In all things, the Lord makes
the difference. Someone is more zealous, there
ought to be, shouldn't we all be so zealous that we're consumed
with a zeal for his glory? Someone demonstrates that more
than others who make the difference. in every aspect, naturally or
spiritually, who made the difference. Now, this is the question he
asks. Who makes you to differ? If you're a believer, you do
differ. Who makes you differ? What do you have that you didn't
receive, that he gave it to you? You have a hope in Christ? Somebody
else doesn't? Who gave you that hope? He is
the difference. Not any merit in us. It's not
because one worked harder than the other or one had to exercise
his free will and the other didn't. All that stuff is nonsense and
foolishness. God makes the difference. And if God can do anything for you,
you know what I'm saying so. I don't have to argue this. I don't have
to try to convince anybody of this. You know it's so. And if you don't know it's so,
if you disagree with this, well, let me tell you something. He
hadn't made a difference to you. He's left you to yourself. If
he's done something for you, you're gonna say, this is how
he saved me. He made the difference. Now, if you received it, a gift
from God, Paul says, why would you glory as if it came to you
through your hard work or your effort and not as a gift? But I sought it. Why did you
see? I love when David said, when
the Lord said, seek ye my face, my heart said, thy face, O Lord,
will I seek. You know when you seek the Lord?
When he tells you, seek the Lord. Now, somebody says, well, I,
if I can't do anything unless he enables me to, I might as
well go ahead and of living differently and eat and drink. Tomorrow we
die. Nothing I can do about it. Well,
you'll go to hell thinking that way. I don't know what else to
say about that. That's your attitude. All you're
doing is showing that you will be in hell with that kind of
attitude. That's a wrong attitude. But let me say this about this
discriminating grace. This discriminating grace does
not shut anybody out. It brings people in. Amen? It doesn't shut anybody out.
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's part of the gospel. I
want to be saved, but he said no to me. No, he didn't. If you
call, whosoever shall call shall be saved. The Lord said, all
that the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh
to me. I will in no wise cast out. Now, why has the sinner
come? He was given by the Father. That's why he comes. But when
he comes, he's received. And if you come to Christ, you
will be received. This thing of God's discriminating
grace doesn't shut anybody out. It brings people in who would
have otherwise been damned. Now, isn't that a glorious verse
of scripture? Who makes you to differ from
another? In things natural, you're different
from other people. You have different talents, different
skills or lack thereof. Who made you to differ? The Lord
did. He made you to differ as to how
you were raised. He made you to differ. Oh, salvation. We know it's his making the difference.
What do you have that you didn't receive? Nothing. Now, if you
received it, why do you glory and take credit for it and act
like it came from you? Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your discriminating grace. For Lord, we confess if you didn't
do that, we would not be saved. But Lord, we stand amazed that
you Gave a people to your son. Oh, what a difference you made
for them and how your son was willing to come to this earth
and keep the law for them and put away their sin. And you've
given your spirit to them to give us faith. We thank you for
the difference you've made and Lord deliver us. from glory as if we didn't receive
it. We thank you that you've made
the difference. In Christ's name we pray, amen.