Welcome to the Truth Network Podcast.
Welcome to the Truth Network Podcast. He which have followed me in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory, he also shall sit upon 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel. Gives them a little bit of tidbit information there, but look at verse 29. And everyone that hath forsaken houses or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my name's sake shall receive in hundredfold and shall inherit everlasting life.
That was the agreement. Verse 30, but many that are first shall be last, and the last shall be first. Interesting sentence given at the end of something like this and why did he do that in verse 30? Well, he introduces the subject of grace.
This whole thing of the first shall be last and the last shall be first. That's an introduction to grace. So then he begins in chapter 20.
That's where I want you to look. He explains it further. Not always did Jesus explain further what he said. Sometimes he did, sometimes he didn't.
But this statement he realized there needs to be some further explanation. Let me give a parable about this as Jesus often did. Look at verse one of chapter 20. For the kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that is an householder or means owner, a farmer or a vineyard owner which went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. So he went in what we would call the first hour and hired these laborers and they began to get back to the vineyard and start working. But he goes back the third hour and he saw others standing idle in the marketplace and said unto them, go ye also into the vineyard and whatsoever is right I will give you and they went their way.
Again he went out about the sixth hour and ninth hour and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle and saith unto them, why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, because no man hath hired us.
He saith unto them, go ye also into the vineyard and whatsoever is right that shall ye receive. So when even was come, the Lord of the vineyard said unto his steward, call the laborers and give them their hire beginning from the last unto the first. So the ones he hired early in the morning were the first ones there but they're the last ones to get paid.
Interesting. Verse nine, and when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, that means they only worked about an hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came they supposed that they should receive more or should have received more and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it they murmured against the good men of the house saying, these last have wrought but one hour and thou hast made them equal with us which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
But he answered one of them and said, friend, and then interesting, this guy just shows attitude after you just paid him a job he didn't have till you showed up and hired him but he says, friend, friend I do thee no wrong. Didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is and go thy way. I will give unto this last even as unto thee.
Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil because I am good? So the last shall be first and the first last for many be called but few chosen. Jesus gives this illustration that literally these men that had worked all day and they didn't like the pain.
We're gonna dig into this just quickly but I wanna do a bit of an exhaustive study. If this is an introduction to grace as Jesus is, by the way, listen, grace wasn't even yet part of the Christian life because Jesus had not yet died and rose again and ascended back into glory. We didn't have full access to all the riches of Christ and heavenly blessings because he hadn't, we hadn't purchased our redemption yet. So Jesus is saying this is what it's going to be. This is how the kingdom of heaven is going to work and he says that literally as these first laborers watch everybody that came in after them getting the same pay and they thought that they should give more and he gives them what they asked and what they agreed on which was the penny and they complained about it and murmured and the farmer basically, the owner says, listen, is this not what we agreed on? I did thee no wrong and he says this, the money I gave you, that's yours. Go your way and do what you want with it but I'm gonna do what I want with mine and that's the owner's right.
Y'all agree with that this morning? An introduction to grace. I hope that, boy, this helped me.
I hope this will help you. Lord, I love you. Pray that you'd bless this morning. Lord, as we begin this, what I would call a shot in the arm revival, I believe everything that encourages us spiritually begins with grace. Lord, we would have nothing without your grace and we need it today and I need it right now.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen. If I can, let me just first give you what I would call the context, okay? In this story, it represents to us the kingdom of heaven and we know that from verse one in chapter 20. He says, likened unto the kingdom of heaven. Now, I want you to understand this. What Jesus was getting ready to explain through parable was how the dispensation of grace would work and how the distribution of the gospel would work.
It's all combined in this one little parable. You see, the Jewish people were those first laborers. They were the chosen. They were the first one that literally God had chosen. But the Gentiles, which are you and me and all that, they were literally the laborers that were hired later on in the day. Literally, the Jews were the first chosen, but they rejected Christ. And so, the Gentiles represented those that were hired into the whole system a little bit later on. And by the way, you and I are, I believe, the 11th hour laborers. It's interesting, this is all about the kingdom of God and that we all, no matter whether we were hired at first or we were hired at the last, however we entered into his vineyard, we all would be fellow heirs with Christ if we'd been saved. It's to show us that God is not a debtor to anyone. It's to show us that many times, men who appear to be first will end up being last and that those that sometimes appear that they're going to be last end up first.
We think of the Apostle Paul that came after the initial disciples, the inner circle, and yet Paul surpassed them in writing of the word of God and Paul was the one that introduced the gospel to the Gentile. He came last, but he ended up first. I think about the prodigal son. He left home. He rebelled. He went away with riotous living and that older brother is the one that stayed home. He was the older brother. He was the first and yet who ended up getting the celebration and the fatted calf and the ring and the robe? It was the last that ended up becoming first because of the attitude of the heart. Dear friend, you and I don't become first because of our work. We become accepted because of his grace.
Now I'm going somewhere with all this. This is to show us this passage that reward is not based on performance. Reward is based on grace. So are you okay if I jump into it real quickly this morning? Are you okay with that? Say amen. I want you to see first the contract. The contract. Now this is an introduction to grace.
This is how Jesus said grace is going to work. I wanna know everything I can about this passage. Notice the contract.
First thing under that is this. Who hired them? Who hired them? If we're gonna understand this, who hired them? Verse one, the Bible says for the kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that is a householder which went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard.
The owner sought after the laborers. It was his house, his property, his vineyard, his tools, his supplies, his money, and God is the owner not just in this parable but in our life. It's his. He owns it. He created it. He created you. He created me.
He created the earth. He is the owner. You see, this owner didn't need the laborers. The laborers needed the owner. The Bible says that God is whose we are and whom we serve. God hires laborers that he does not need and pays them a reward that they do not deserve. Now listen to me.
These laborers would not have even known where to find the vineyard. The owner came not just early in the morning but the owner came numerous times during the day. Aren't you glad that Jesus came back to you even though you didn't say yes the first time you heard the gospel and even though you didn't accept it the first time you heard the truth? Aren't you glad he didn't just stop at the first hour of the day but he came back at the third hour and the sixth hour and the ninth hour and the 11th hour. Can I get an amen this morning? Amen. The owner initiated the relationship.
The Bible says we love him because he first loved us. You and I were standing idle in the marketplace of life but thank God he came by and sought us. The only way I could describe this is growing up I was an only child. My mom lost a baby before me, lost one after me and so I was an only child and I absolutely loved it.
I got all the attention, all the presents, all the gifts, all the food, I got it all. And it came back to haunt me because now I have all the metabolism and I have all the airline and I have, okay anyway we won't go through all that. I'll never forget at what they called Women's Hospital.
They're in Greensboro. My wife, we were preaching a revival in Maryland and this church in Maryland, we were preaching this revival and there were like seven or eight women pregnant in this church and I got up the first night and I said, can I tell you something? I don't know what's in the water around here but my wife's not allowed to drink it and the next day my wife showed me the pregnancy test that she was pregnant with our first child. We went back and forth on the names that we were gonna, my favorite town in the world is Cody, Wyoming so we talked about it, I was gonna name him Cody and we just talked about it. Once we found out it was a boy, we were going through all the boy names and different things and we didn't really decide till kinda he was born and our son came out, first time, you know, and y'all remember you're a parent, that first child and you're just not ready or prepared to love something like that. You see, your wife or your mate, it takes time. You date them and you get to know them and you form a bond and you share interests and dreams and all those things and all of a sudden one day, I don't know exactly when it happens or whatever the case might be.
You just know I love them and I just don't think I can live life without them but when your first child comes out, it's instantaneous and as I held him and we decided that we would name him the third, I don't know if he likes that or doesn't like that. I guess I'll never be honest with us about that. I loved him like I could never describe but he didn't love me. He couldn't. He had no ability to and for the first time in your life, you love an object, a person that does not love you back and that's exactly what you and I were. We didn't know how to love God. We didn't have the ability. We didn't know him but he loved us.
He initiated that relationship with us and we love him now because he loved us when we couldn't even love him back. Who hired them? The owner came and found them.
Number two, where were they hired? Well, verse three, the Bible uses this term and does later on in the passage as well that the Bible says that this owner went out the third hour and saw others, he said, standing idle in the marketplace. So in verse one, that's where he went but it doesn't say that particular term but we find out later that what it was called was the marketplace and this is where all the people, individuals that were there, they were there to be hired by someone and it literally means they didn't have work, they didn't have an owner, they didn't have a boss, they didn't have somebody that had hired them or was gonna pay them wages and so they were there to be hired and by the way, the soul of man, even right now, it literally stands in the marketplace waiting to be hired by somebody and if you've never been saved, you don't know it right now but you're in the marketplace and you're waiting to be hired by somebody. Now get this, do you know that that owner that day wasn't probably the only man that was hiring?
And can I tell you something? While God is at the marketplace looking for you just as this owner was looking for laborers, I guarantee you that Satan is just as busy hiring in the marketplace and we have a generation of young people that don't realize it but literally, Satan is bidding on their lives. That's why the Bible says, choose you this day whom ye will serve, we're gonna serve somebody and it's either gonna be the Lord, it's gonna be ourselves, it's gonna be Satan and dear friend, I want you to know that the owner isn't the only one there at the marketplace looking for laborers and Satan is just as busy doing it right now. The Bible says, whosoever will may come. God's hiring today, interesting. May I say this, that many refuse the Lord's offer and they choose to serve a different owner and they live to regret it.
You see, we have young people, teenagers here, not just in this building but in this country. They're deciding who they're gonna serve. They're deciding who they're gonna work for.
They're trying to choose whose vineyard they're gonna help grow and it's a scary decision. Number three, what were they hired to do? What were they hired to do?
Verse one, now put on your big boy britches, okay? Verse one, for the kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that is a householder which went out early in the morning to hire what? To hire what? Laborers. Laborers, so we're talking about the contract here, we're talking about the agreement. What were they hired to do? They were hired to serve. They were hired to labor. They were hired laborers. Now, like I said, now put your seatbelt on.
Are you listening? They were not hired to run the vineyard. They were not hired to fix the vineyard. They were not hired to advise the owner on how to run the vineyard. They were not hired to tell the other laborers how to do their job. They were not hired to sit back and critique those who actually were working in the vineyard. They were not hired to sit and drink grape juice and enjoy the blessings of the vineyard while others were working in it. They were not hired to be the owner. They were hired to be the laborer. They were hired to serve. Don't you think it's ironic that vineyard work is much like church work? Vineyard work and church work, it involves pruning and dressing and digging and watering and fencing and weeding and late nights and early mornings. And by the way, the vineyard is God, it's God's, He's the owner and we are called to labor and serve and dress up the vineyard for Him, not for us. I guess I'm gonna get off that one.
I thought that was a better point than apparently it seems to be. Next part of the contract, what were the wages? What were the wages going to be?
Look at verse two. And when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, a denari they call it, it was literally at that point what you would pay a normal rate for a day's work. So we see first that he says a penny. It was promised to those that he hired early. But what is interesting that beginning in verse seven and those that were hired at the third hour and the sixth hour and the ninth hour and the 11th hour, look at verse seven, it says they say unto him because no man hath hired us, he said unto them, go ye also into the vineyard and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.
Now there's no dollar figure put on it. I mean the ones that jumped right onto the truck and went to work early that morning, they agreed for a penny a day. But those that were hired later on, the owner just said, listen, what is right you'll receive.
No particular number, just whatever is right, remember that. Last, I would ask you this, what was the time period that they were hired for? Look at verse two, and when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a what, a day. So a day was the period of time that they were chosen for. That's why literally the Bible says, choose you this day whom you will serve. You see the time of life is the day in which the Bible says we must work the works of him that sent us. Job chapter 14 has an interesting take, I want you to see this. Job have some insight here, seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou has to point at his bounds that he cannot pass, speaking of God, look at verse six, turn from him that he may rest, till he shall accomplish as an hireling his day. Our life is literally referred to as a day, and in fact the Bible says a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as a day in heaven, literally that our life goes by so quickly, it's just a day. Isn't that interesting?
The Jews were called early in the morning, the Gentiles were called later in the day. I was saved as a young man at nine years of age in a Christian home. Some of you were saved in your 20s or 30s after being involved in a life of sin.
We have some who have been saved in the middle of their life and we've even had some through the ministries of this church that have been saved in their 80s, 90s, and even in the early 100s before they died. Isn't that interesting? So we've seen the context and the contract, now number three, and we're not far from being done.
I want you to see the compensation. We're looking at this whole thing, look at verse six, excuse me, verse eight. Verse eight, so when even was come, all this had transpired, now the day is done. So when even was come, the Lord of the vineyard. Wow, now we're introduced, it was householder.
Now we're given a little bit more information. Don't you love how God speaks? See, you and I, if we're not careful, we can get in ministry and think we're just serving a boss. But he is Lord. Wow. So when even was come, the Lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, call the laborers and give them their hire beginning from the last unto the first.
Can I give you just a little bit of information here? You notice that they did not come to get paid till the owner called. Their day wasn't done till the owner said it was. May I say this, I don't care what sickness you may have, what disease you might have, I've sat in homes and hospital beds and I've told people this and I'm gonna tell you again, I don't care what you have, you are safe as safe can be till it's God's time to take you in your life.
No disease will ever take a child of God. Your day's not done till the owner says it is. And when your work is finished, then it's time to come in. The work was not done till he said it was done. He said it was done, notice the order of the reward given. He started with the last ones that arrived.
Isn't that interesting? And I don't know, maybe during this period of time, those that had been there early in the morning, they had been working all day, you would think that maybe they would think, okay, we're gonna get paid first, we've been here the longest. But no, they had to sit and watch everybody else that had just showed up, they had to watch them get paid and maybe that time period, maybe all during that, it was just churning inside and maybe it set a little bit wrong with them. But I do know that as they watched all of them get paid, the Bible says a penny. They were all paid the same.
Those that had worked an hour and those that had worked three hours and those that had worked six hours and those that had worked nine hours and those, they were all getting a penny. So maybe those that were there first thought, if they're getting that, surely we're gonna get more. But the last shall be first and the first shall be last. Do you know at the rapture, listen to me, though the dead in Christ shall rise first, yet we which are alive and remain on whom the ends of the 11th hour has been laid, we shall be caught up together with them in the clouds. The first shall be last, the last shall be first.
There is no seniority, there is no favorites. It literally is this, that all of us will enter into heaven with our glorified bodies together. Verse nine says this, and when they came that were hired about the 11th hour, they received every man a penny. A penny, the compensation.
Now you would think, okay, they're all thrilled. They didn't have work, they didn't have a job, they all had families, they all had to try to put food on the table, you would think, hey, but this job, the owner showed up and hired us, we're thankful, we're grateful, I can take this full day's wage and I can go provide food and put food on the table, but they all weren't happy. So I want you to notice, fourthly, the complaint. Verse 10, but when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more, and they likewise received every man a penny, and when they had received it, they murmured against the good men of the house, saying, these last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
I don't know about you, but sometimes us laborers can get a bit cantankerous. I want you to notice, number one, they were discontent. They were discontent. You see, in verse 10, the Bible says that when they came, they supposed, they supposed that they should receive more, and they murmured about it, they supposed. You know, oftentimes, you and I think we have too little and others have too much of the blessings of God, and then we think that we do too much and others do too little in the work of God. We think that they have too much of the blessings of God and I have too little, and I'm over here doing too much of the work of the God, and they're doing too little, and oftentimes, you and I can suppose things in our life.
We begin to make judgments and comparisons, and we become discontent as we look around and we see the grace that God has bestowed on fellow laborers, and we become discontent. Thank you for listening today. We hope you received a blessing from our broadcast. The Kirtland Baptist Church is located at 4520 Old Hollow Road in Kernersville, North Carolina. You may also contact us by phone at 336-993-5192 or via the web at kirtlandbaptistchurch.com. Enjoy our services live and all our media on our website and church app. Thank you for listening to the Kerwin broadcast today. God bless you. We'll see you in the next episode of Kirtland Baptist Church.
