we are returning uh this morning after some time to our study in the gospel of matthew and we come today to matthew chapter 19 and 20 we looked at last time uh the rich young ruler and uh we began we ended that last sermon at verse 26 so i'm going to back up and read at verse 16 of Matthew chapter 19 found on page 980 in the Bible our text will begin at verse 27 this morning but to set the context we'll look more fully at this section again beginning at verse 16 and behold a man came up to him saying teacher what good deed must I do to have eternal life and he said to him why do you ask me about what is good there is only one who is good if If you would enter life, keep the commandments. He said to him, which ones? Jesus said, you shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. Honor your father and mother. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself. The young man said to him, all these I've kept. What do I still lack? Jesus said to him, if you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor. and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me when the young man heard this he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions and jesus said to his disciples truly i say to you only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven again i tell you it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of god when the disciples heard this they were greatly astonished saying who then can be saved but jesus looked at them and said with man this is impossible but with god all things are possible now our text then peter said in reply see we have left everything and followed you what then will we have jesus said to them truly i say to you in the new world when the son of man man will sit on his glorious throne you have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of israel and everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for my name's sake will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life but many who are first will be last in the last first 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 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 11th hour he went out and found others standing and he said to them why do you stand here idle all day they said to him because no one has hired us 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 labors 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've 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'm doing you no wrong do you not agree with me for a denarius take what belongs to you and go I choose to give 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 so the last will be first and the first last may the lord bless the hearing of his word beloved the lord we have this morning a powerful teaching from christ on the principle that the kingdom of god operates that's what i want to think about with you for a minute and that principle is that of grace we say that a lot we use the word a lot but do we understand the concept and what it looks like in the life of God's people you remember years ago I told the story of my children we were driving to Escondido uh candidating here so far back now and my youngest son as we were driving through Seattle outside of Seattle toward Tacoma and remember the story I told you dad there's some some really neat lights behind you and I said no son those are not neat lights I'm getting pulled over right now so I did everything in my sort of repertoire pulled out everything I could to convince this cop to be merciful and to show me grace I didn't quite play the pastor card but I thought about it i remember the cop looked at me and he said son it doesn't work like that it doesn't work like that and so he gave me a shiny piece of paper that had a great do on it i thought about submitting that to the escondido deacons but i didn't think that would work real well have you thought about the fact if the kingdom of god operated on the principle of works, a covenant of works, we might say, for breaking the law, what that would be like for us? Do you have thought about that? How wonderful is the fact that the kingdom of God operates on the principle of grace? The law came through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. That is the wonderful news about how the kingdom of God operates. And the great truth of it is we believe that anything that we have and anything that we are, anything that we accomplish, none of that is the basis upon entering the kingdom of God. It's all a gift. It is all a gift of God to you. Undeserved. Nothing that you merited. and that something God in His goodness did for you while considering you, that He freely chose to bring you into His kingdom. We've been looking at that in Matthew. Carried into His kingdom as infants. But this is very important today where we are in Matthew's gospel for understanding because we are not wired this way. We are not wired. We're still wired in many ways as Adam was in the garden. as you know, the worst sort of approach to God and his kingdom is to think that we deserve anything that we have, or that we who have been here the longest in the kingdom of God and have done the most are, as the disciples were wrestling with, the greatest in the kingdom. Remember, that was the great question at the beginning of chapter 18. Jesus has been combating all of this. He's rewiring them, if you will, to understand how the kingdom of God operates and on what principles it operates different than the original setting in the garden. When we all live thinking that the sacrifices that we make in this life, the work that we do in the kingdom of God, the involvement even in the church, the attendance in the church, the denial of ourselves in so many ways, how easy it is to think. That those are the bases upon which God is really pleased with us. I say emphatically today, if we forget the basic teaching here of Christ, we've lost the narrative. And that's an easy narrative to lose by our default. Everything in this life is graciously given to us. The very presence of being in the kingdom from an early age, if you can testify to that today, is an extraordinary testimony of grace in your life. It's a testimony of how gracious he has been with us and to not appreciate that makes us think that the relationship with God is one of contract. To not appreciate what I'm going to unfold today is to live under the relationship with God thinking that it's one of contract. One that never really takes into heart or consideration what the landowner has done for you. Jesus is now addressing this. He's explaining this to his disciples of what should be the attitude. And I think attitude is absolutely right here. The attitude of all of those who are in his kingdom, who labor in his church. If we forget this, we lose the entire basis of the gospel and his acceptance of us. now you remember the context here which is so vitally important he had set in stark contrast last time infants being carried little ones into the kingdom with the rich young ruler they there was a juxtaposition there they were set side by side to make a great point of contrast that infants are helpless and they have to be carried into the kingdom and they have no strength in themselves. But in contrast, this man had come up to Jesus, this very remarkable man, the kind of man that people prize in life, the kind of man that people are mesmerized by in life. He's rich, he's strong, he's young, he's a ruler, he's everything moral and good outwardly. Something was missing in his life. He had everything, but he knew he didn't have something. And deep within his heart, it bothered him. Something was missing. He had no certainty of where he was going when he died. He had no certainty. And so he asked this important question, what shall i do to inherit eternal life well having everything he had nothing but in his heart you know this conception in his heart is the common conception that the good works that we do in this life the keeping of the law is the basis of entering that kingdom that was the whole point of that section that was his default thinking i i trust you heard our president the other day say if i can save 7 000 people a week from being killed i think that's pretty good i want to try to get to heaven if possible and then he said i hear i'm not doing well i hear i'm at the bottom of the totem pole but if i can get to heaven this will be one of the reasons well there it is there's there's the default thinking. There's the thinking of the rich young ruler. That is not a man we need to pray for, obviously, who understands the Christian gospel. Our president does not understand the Christian gospel. That's just what the rich young ruler said. I've kept all the law from my youth. But there was one sin in his life he knew he was not doing so well with after jesus had exposed it you are a covetous man and so go sell all that you have if you want to enter the kingdom here's the standard give everything you have since that grip has a great grip on your life give it all to the poor then you'll have treasure in heaven then you'll notice the emphasis treasure in heaven the disciples are blown away the disciples are absolutely blown away at this if that guy can't be saved if this moral upright good man who's done so well in this life who's such a model citizen who does everything well and is present in the kingdom who can and jesus gave a devastating response he would say the same to president trump today the very same thing if you stop all the wars in this world i want you president trump to do something else go sell all that you have give to the poor then come follow me what are you doing that's that's despair and jesus gives in the midst of this a beautiful gospel statement with men it is absolutely impossible to enter the kingdom on that principle but with god all things are possible because the kingdom of god operates on an entirely different principle man can't do it before god but god can make this so so two things have happened at this point right peter has been told you know you think about all that the lord had done for him but peter has just been told that his entire salvation rests upon something that god can do for him and of course jesus is god he's standing there he had come to go to the cross to make the atonement but i want you to look carefully now verse 27 where we pick up then then peter said in reply see we have left everything and followed you what then will we have you understand the question i um if you're looking looking at the situation that's in front of them this guy has just walked away he couldn't endure the heat if you will he wasn't willing to give up his riches he won't really follow jesus but but in peter's mind is you know we really have we we've left all we've left our families we um using jesus's language didn't first go bury dad we um we've left all to follow you jesus unlike this guy so that must mean we get something that must mean something now maybe we shouldn't be too hard on peter here i think it's a it's a good question it's an important question he's still processing all of this but he looks at life and you know he thinks he thinks you know we really have sacrificed a lot we really have counted the cost that has to have some kind of reward isn't that true of us today um i could say to all of us in many ways we've made real sacrifices being christians haven't we i hope so that's kind of what it means to be a follower isn't it i can look at my life as a pastor i've i've had to sacrifice being with my family we we went where we're called i'm not with my family i had to go where the lord sends for many of you it's you can say you know i've always been in the church i i've been i've been very faithful to be in church i can't i can never remember a time i didn't confess him or know him And if you look at your life, isn't it just true? You've built your whole life around the church and the community, haven't you? We serve on boards, we serve as elders, we serve as deacons, we have many of you, you serve constantly in the life of the church. You've given a lot. You wouldn't miss worship. Most people today aren't in church in Escondido. Ever think about this? They haven't made real sacrifices like us. You might say, you know, I've had to pay. I've heard it along the way a lot. I've had to pay a lot of money to put my kids through Christian school. I've made real sacrifice. We pass the coffee can. We tithe. Doesn't all that mean something? right? Sacrifice. All that we do for the kingdom of God. The surprising thing here is Jesus's response, as always. You never, he always keeps us on our feet. Jesus responds in verse 28, and he says to them, truly, I say to you, in the new world, When the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel and everyone who has left houses and brothers and sisters or father or mother or children or lands for my name's sake will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. That is a remarkable thing. What a shocking turn. It's counterintuitive almost. He says, you're right. You're absolutely right. That's my call on your life. When I come again in glory, you're going to sit together on thrones in the judgment day with me. You will become judges of the unrighteous. You're going to get that great privilege. And I see your sacrifice. I see how willing you've been. That's evidence of true Christianity, isn't it? It's evidence. You've not put your family before me. You've not put your houses before me. You're willing to drop it all for me. When I look at your life, I see real sacrifice in your life. He's not saying this to mock. He's being really truthful. You would sell your house for me in a moment, wouldn't you? You would go to Timbuktu if you had to, if I called, wouldn't you? And separate from your family? You would put me first, haven't you? You have. This is not meant to discourage. It's meant to encourage. This thing does happen in the life of true believers. It's His calling. You follow. You follow Him. He's first. That's a true believer. You are not in His kingdom or in His church because of dad or mom. Not lands and money. Not like the prodigal who just wants the money so then he can leave. No, no, no, this is real. Your chief concern is not those things. It's me. And I got really good news for you. You're going to get all kinds of reward for that. And don't miss what he says. In the kingdom, when I come, you who have followed, We get nervous about this verse, but we should let it and hear it for what it's saying to us. You will receive a hundredfold and eternal life. That's what the rich young ruler asked for. Remember? The very question of the rich young ruler. For his saints, Jesus says, you who have followed me and put me first, you're going to receive all that. There is, hear me, great material reward when I come. Nothing like you've ever seen. And I'm going to give you eternal life. Oh yeah, you'll receive a hundredfold in the kingdom of heaven. This is most certainly my calling on my children. I see what you're sacrificing and who you're doing it for. Now, how do we feel at a moment like this? It may be challenging some of us as to whether we've really sacrificed anything, and that's a good thing to think about because the calls of Jesus are very real in that regard. What have you sacrificed? Why are you doing this? Are there things in life that we're way more devoted to? Well, that's every sinner, but Jesus is speaking of something that is a reality for the true believer. See how he always keeps us on our feet? In Christ's infinite wisdom, he knows the human heart. And how easy it would be after saying all of that and affirming all of that to think that the basis for reward is my following. That's the crucial point to what I'm trying to make here. That the basis for the reward is my following and my denial and my sacrifice. So now Jesus helps us to understand because he follows up with a very important statement. You'll notice in verse 30, but many who are first will be last and the last first. What in the world does that mean? And the only way to understand that is to understand the parable that follows because it explains this. you notice in verse 1 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 the parable is a beautiful parable it's a powerful parable it's a clear parable jesus portrays uh himself as the landowner if you will they're the house master as one who went out early in the morning to find all these laborers for his vineyard He's up early, this master and this landowner. And the landowner here is clearly representing of the Lord Jesus Christ coming and bringing people into his kingdom, that Christ is building his kingdom and that he's saving and that he's bringing people in. He's building his church. That's what the vineyard represents here. The vineyard is symbolically representing of the church of Jesus Christ. And the Lord is constantly filling that vineyard. He's filling that vineyard with the language of the parable with laborers. Christ is represented here as tending this vineyard, as caring for his vineyard. And it's an amazing thing because the emphasis of the parable is so much on the character of this land owner that he cares about the labors in the vineyard. It's interesting in verse 2 that we have stated after agreeing with the labors for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. These are the first ones who came in. These workers are offset from all the other workers that are about to come in. You can't miss it. Notice they first have to agree on the payment. Once I know the wage, once I know what I'm getting, I'll be willing to work. In other words, I need to get paid what I'm worth. That's the spirit of the first group that comes in, the early workers. A denarius, of course, in that day was a day's wage for the average labor. And Jesus is prompting us to struggle over the attitude of the first worker. Something's not right here. Something's not right. And I would say that I think this translates to how many operate in the kingdom of God and in the church. How many are in the church for the wrong reasons? They've never really understood that the ability to come and enter the vineyard is one of the greatest blessings of this life that they didn't deserve. The danger, of course, is that they were the first workers. We've been here, you know. We're here by birthright, you might say. Our family has always been here. We've been baptized into all of this right from the beginning. And mom and dad has been in this. Grandma and grandpa has been in this. Notice the relationship to the landowner, though. It's cold. It's contractual. It's empty. It's heartless. They are not overwhelmed to be in the vineyard. There's no real joy to worship the landowner. To love this good man who would consider them from the beginning. There is no sense here of knowing who it is that brought them in. Do they know him? Do they understand him? That's the question. When we come to verses 3-7, we have a radically opposite thing portrayed that the landowner decided, the housemaster decided to add to his vineyard. And so you'll notice that he goes out at the third hour and he sees some standing in the marketplace. He sees them. and he says to them, you guys, you also, you know, he goes out about the third hour, and he saw some standing, and I was idle, they're idle in the marketplace, he said to them, you go into the vineyard too, and whatever's right, I'll give you, notice, no negotiation, and then he went out again for six, so they went out, they went, going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same and then about the 11th hour he went out and found others standing and he said why are you standing idle come into the vineyard it's amazing parable this is really a powerful parable the thing that that does stand out you can't miss is the emphasis on the hours according to our hours the landowner went out at 9 a.m and then he went out at 12 and then he went out at 3 and then he went out at 5 p.m. And what we find here is just there's no bargaining. There's no agreement as to wages. The simple statement stands out, whatever's right, I'll give you. There was a man in our community known as Dan the Man. I don't know if you've ever met Dan the Man. He's a very needy man. He has cerebral palsy. He's almost killed in a car accident. He's usually downtown. You can't miss him. He holds up a sign for kettle coffee. I talked with him yesterday. I don't even think he's getting paid for it. Maybe he is. He's joyful. He talks with everyone. He's kind of loud. He can't do much. He really can't do much. I can't imagine Dan the man asking what do I get today? He's just happy to be alive. He's happy to be able to do something. Beloved, to be in the kingdom, to be in the church is the greatest gift. To have a seat in his kingdom, to serve in his house of a character of a man like this, to labor in his vineyard is the pearl of great price. Don't miss the point of the parable. If we don't stop and say at this point, what kind of land owner is this? What kind of house master is this? We've missed it. It wasn't so much the labor he was really seeking for. It was the point that the landowner was deeply burdened that so many were idle. And outside the vineyard. And that it would be really good for them to be brought into the vineyard. It's good for them. It's safe for them. It's right for them. And he cares about them. That they're alone. And they're on the outside. And none of these later workers is their negotiation. And I think this captures the ministry. It so beautifully captures the ministry. Every week, Jesus comes with a tender voice and he offers a place in his vineyard. Yesterday I was at Home Depot and it's 100 degrees out yesterday and you go over there on Valley Parkway and there's all kinds of people standing out there. And so I walked up to a man and I said, what are you doing out here? And he says, well, I just got out of prison I got married last week. I've stopped the drugs and the alcohol. I'm really trying to clean up my life. And he says, I'm really trying now to do what's right and support my wife. I'm hoping someone will come and pick me up today. The whole thing was illustrated right there. Day laborers are standing out there all day long until 5 p.m. in the heat of the day, waiting for someone to pick them up. What kind of owner is this who sees that, sees them standing alone and simply hires them because he's full of compassion? They're wandering. They have no purpose. Beloved, this is the gospel. Who was Jesus coming to to make this point to us? He was coming to the blind, the lame, the sick, the deaf, the lepers, the maimed. And he called them into his vineyard. Remember the parable that's about to come in chapter 22 compared with Luke. The imagery of the parable is the first ones didn't really want to be there. throws a great feast this great man throws a great feast this great king and they just made excuses there was no heart there it just wasn't there so he says that's it i want you to go out to the blind the lame the poor and the maimed and bring them in all of this is to say that there are those who have terribly lost sight of the fact that any place in the vineyard any place in the church any place in the kingdom is all of grace. And what a privilege. The beauty is that God has come after laborers for the work He needs because He's merciful. Jesus leaves us with this thought. Imagine hiring someone at 5 o'clock. The workday ends at 6. how much does you get out of a man like that? It speaks something of the incredible mercy and the grace of the landowner who would hire for only one hour of work. Or what about the thief on the cross? Hands tied behind his back. Now, the tie to Peter's question. Well, we've left all. We've made all these sacrifices, you know? what do we get? Comes in verse 8. When evening had come, 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. See how he's answering verse 30 of the last chapter? Many who are first will be last, and the last first, pay them first. well that's exactly what happens here i know no business owner here by the way who would pay a man who worked only one hour the same wage as someone who worked all day yesterday in that hundred degree heat i don't know one here who would do that someone who's been there and loyal all their life and done all this stuff and been a loyal worker right and and sacrificed so much and done so much. I know no one who would say, you know what, I'm going to pay the last guy who came in at the very last hour the same wage. This operates on an entirely different principle, doesn't it? What we find in verse 9 is that the ones who came in at the 11th hour received a denarius, but the first came, we read, they complained because they thought they would receive more they complained against this man they complained against him again they never saw the incredible privilege to even be there to begin with saying essentially what are you doing these last worked only one hour and you made them equal to us who borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat. What if God today filled the Escondido URC with all those on the streets in Escondido and brought them in? Do you think many of us might look at them and say, they didn't build this community? They didn't start our school. They haven't sweat. They haven't paid. You think we might avoid people like that? Not trusting them? Friend, I'm doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? take what belongs to you and go? Am I not allowed to do? I choose to give this last worker as I give you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity? So the last will be first and the first last. you've made them equal to us. We've been in the kingdom from the beginning. We follow, we serve, we do. And they had no concept of grace. And so they never appreciated the landowner. They didn't know him. They didn't know what kind of a person he really was. you understand so the last will be first and the first last those who are first and i say this whether early or late whether early or late if you get the point are those who realize in their lives the incredible grace of god in their life that he saved them by grace that he gave them a place in the kingdom and all of it is a free gift. The wow of this should be, you considered me from the beginning? You thought about me from the beginning? You put your sign on me from the beginning. Why did you do that for me? You gave me the privilege to worship you from the beginning. When so many are still outside today, what kind of man are you? Wow. How could you love me like that? The response should be, thank you, Lord, for being so good to me. And thank you, Lord, for being so good to them at the 11th hour. If you want to give them more, go ahead. I've been here all along by grace. I don't think in all the passages I've worked through so far, there's anything that reveals more of the incredible love of God and grace to you. And that's meant for you to say, Lord, I see it. What a landowner you are. What a gift you've given. May this change your whole relationship to the landowner today. And since by grace may it inspire you by great gratitude and love to desire to worship him and care about those 11th hour people, right? For a place in his vineyard. And tonight, guess what? This gracious, good landowner has invited you to a feast. He's going to spread his table for you. He's invited all of you to come. You want to make an excuse to a man like this? how could we when he's loved us like this amen heavenly father thank you for such grace in our lives i don't deserve this forgive us for the cold contractual approach to you not appreciating the marvelous grace that you've given to us in christ jesus thank you for bringing us in Thank you for giving us a place to serve the King. Fill your hall, fill your courts, fill your kingdom with these idle people, O Lord, who need grace just like we do. Hear our prayer and be merciful to us. In Jesus' name, amen.