Okay, Matthew chapter 20. I'm taking the title for the
message found down in verse 16. Direct your attention down to
verse 16. The last shall be first and the
first last. For many be called, few are chosen. Now it seems to be in our mind
seemed to be a contradiction. The last being first. When I was a young lad in school,
I was quite the track star, and we always tried to run a race
to be first. We didn't try to compete to be
last. We always tried to run the race
to break the ribbon first, that line across the finish line.
But here, the way of grace is just the opposite. The opposite. That is, the way of grace in
the gospel, to remove any idea of boasting in the flesh, the
last shall be first, and the first shall be last. That's the
way of grace. As Paul expressed it, God forbid
we should glory except in Christ in Him crucified. For who maketh
thee to differ from another? What do you have that you did
not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why would you glory
as if you had not received? Everything we have in the way
of salvation is the free gift of His grace, grace unto us. Now remember the Lord gives this
parable to further answer the question that Peter had asked.
When he said in chapter 19 verse 27, then Peter, then answered
Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all and we have
followed thee. What shall we have? Well, they
had everything, didn't they? Everyone with the Lord Jesus
Christ. The way of salvation in the Lord
Jesus Christ is a way of all grace. 1 Peter chapter 5, the
God of all grace who has called us to his eternal glory by Christ
Jesus. After you have suffered a while,
make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you to whom
be glory and dominion both now and forever. Salvation is always
by the grace of God, not of reward. The way of salvation is always
by the sovereign mercy and sovereign love and sovereign grace of God. And that's the message of this
parable. All the Lord's people are justified by His grace, justified
freely by His grace through the redeeming blood. They're redeemed
by the blood of Christ and they're all equally rewarded based upon
His mercy, not our merit. Based upon His mercy, not our
merit. All of God's elect from the first
Jew that was saved to the last Gentile that will be saved, salvation
is all of grace. He's the God of all grace. From
the thief on the cross called in the last hour of his life.
He didn't work, he didn't witness, wasn't baptized, and yet the
Lord said, you're going to be with me in paradise. That last
man was first. From the thief saved in the last
hour of his life to young Timothy, who was called as a very young
man. Salvation is of the Lord from
the first sinner saved, Adam. Adam was the first sinner saved
to the last sinner that is called out. Salvation is all of God,
all of grace, and all in the Lord Jesus Christ. All of God's
elect, all of his people, were all loved with the same eternal
sovereign love. I have loved thee with an everlasting
love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee to myself.
All of God's elect were chosen in electing grace, were they
not? He said, many are called, but
few are chosen. He said, you didn't choose me,
I've chosen you. We're bound to give thanks to
God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath
from the beginning chosen you unto salvation. All of God's
elect were justified and chosen, justified by the blood of Christ,
freely by his grace. All are clothed with the same
righteousness. Believers enjoy a perfect, full,
everlasting righteousness. You know what that is? Not of
my doing, his. He is the Lord, our righteousness,
blessed is the man to whom God imputeth righteousness without
works. All were called out of darkness into God's marvelous
light. We have nothing to boast of. It's all of grace, all of
grace. All were called out of darkness
into God's marvelous light. He says, Peter writes this in
his epistle, 1 Peter 2, 9. But you are our chosen generation.
You're a royal priesthood. You're a holy nation. You're
a purchased people that you should show forth the praises of him
who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Who
did that? He did that. All of grace, all
of God, all the elect of God, all the bride of Christ, the
church of the firstborn, All those found in the Lord Jesus
Christ are all rewarded with the same reward. Reward, duh. I emphasize that
because a lot of people think that they are working for rewards. We're not. What is the believer's
reward? Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's our exceeding great reward,
as Abraham said. When you find that word in Scripture,
reward, in reference to the believer, it's always in the singular.
It's never plural. Never plural. Look it up. I've
looked it up several times. Here's a good example of that.
Colossians 3. Whatsoever you do, do it heartily
as to the Lord, not unto man, knowing that of the Lord you
shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the
Lord's Christ. You got it? Christ is our reward. Christ is all and in all. In
Him was all the fullness of a Godhead bodily, and we as believers are
complete in Him. Nothing lacking. Nothing lacking.
In Christ we are complete. Christ is all. Now, the question
is, is He enough? Is He enough? If He's all you
have, you have everything God has determined. for His people
to have, determined freely by His grace. God who spared not
His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not
with Him also freely, freely, Romans 8, 32, freely give us
all things? Now it is common and natural
for sinful, fallen men to think that salvation is based upon
their morality or their merit, or their church service, or their
works. Now, when I was a young boy going
up out in the Rocky Mountains, I took part in a program known
as the Boy Scouts. All of you heard about the Boy
Scouts. Well, when you join the Boy Scouts, they encourage you
to earn merit badges. I've got a drawer full of merit
badges from my Boy Scout days. And if you work and you work,
and you earn different merit badges in camping, or hiking,
or fishing, or whatever it may be. Now, they may change the
rule, but when you get to 60 merit badges, you become what
is known as an Eagle Scout. I mean, you're an Eagle Scout.
How'd you get there? By your merit badges. Salvation is just the complete
opposite. Just the complete opposite. It's
not merit badges, it's mercy. Mercy. It is of the Lord's mercy
that we're not consumed because His compassions fail not. Now
sad to say, And this is sad to say, I don't say this, I say
this with a weeping heart, with a broken heart, because I grew
up in works religion. I cut my teeth on works religion.
It's sad to say that most religions are based upon the scheme of
works, working your way to the top. It's almost like we talk
about the corporate ladder, climbing the corporate ladder. I tell
folks when I'm out, around here working on the building and I
climb up a ladder, I say, I'm finally climbing the corporate
ladder. But salvation is not like that.
We're not climbing to get to the top. We're resting in the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's common for religious people
to be motivated by service to receive, and they say, bigger
rewards. I'm going to have a bigger mansion.
Really? You think you're sending up material
by your works to build you a bigger mansion? Mansions in the sky? Is that all you're interested
in? Mansions in the sky? Believers are interested in Christ.
He's our dwelling place. They promise bigger rewards and
glory for More service, don't they? Or they say this, they
motivate people by either promise of reward or fear of punishment.
If you don't do certain things, you're going to lose your rewards.
You'll just be, you know, down here on a lower level. And those
who have worked so hard will be up here. Now, my friend, again,
that's nothing but works religion. Works religion won't save. Works
religion won't say. A true devoted service to the
Lord Jesus Christ is motivated by love. Motivated by gratitude. The love of Christ constrains
us. The love of Christ constrains
us. The love of Christ and gratitude
in everything give thanks. We are thankful people. Everything
we have, everything we know, everything we are, everything
we will be one day. is all of God's grace. My merit
has nothing to do with it. My morality has nothing to do
with it. Not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. In the kingdom of God, salvation
is all the reward of eternal life, is based upon the free
and sovereign grace of God. I've been preaching this for
40 years. And the reason I've been preaching this for 40 years
is because the Lord taught me how God saves sinners back years
ago, when I was just a young man. The Lord revealed the gospel
to me how God saves sinners by His grace, how God can be just
and the justifier of the ungodly. Now I said all that, and I used
12 minutes of my time, but I said all that to set the table for
this parable. Because that's the message of
this parable. Found here in Matthew 20, down one verse one, down
to verse 16. In verses one through verse seven,
there was an agreement made, a covenant made between the householder,
the Lord of the vineyard, and the goodman of the house, and
the labors to work in the vineyard. Let's read it again. Matthew
20 verse one, for the kingdom of heaven is like, like a man
that is a householder, which went out early in the morning
to hire laborers in his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the
laborers for a penny, a penny a day, he sent them a multitude,
doesn't say how many he hired, he hired a multitude, sent them
out into the vineyard. And he went out about the third
hour, nine o'clock, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace
and said to them, go! Go ye also into the vineyard,
and whatsoever is right I'll give it to you." Notice he doesn't
mention anything about a penny. And they went their way, and
again he went out the sixth hour, the ninth hour, likewise, the
eleventh hour, and he went out and found others standing idle,
and said to them, why do you stand here all day idle? And he said, they said unto him,
because no man has hired us, no one has called us. And he
said unto them, go. Go ye therefore into the vineyard
and whatsoever is right, I'm going to make it right. The good
man of the house is going to make it right. So we see an agreement
and a covenant was made and the Lord went out and found some
labor in his vineyard. Now we know this parable is an
earthly story that represents a spiritual truth, okay? The
Lord Jesus Christ is a householder. He's the Lord of the vineyard.
who does the finding, who does the hiring, who does the sending
of labors into the field, and they all agree because they've
been called to labor for a penny. Now, it's not that the Lord needs
us, not at all. We need Him. God is a debtor
to no man. He is divine. We are the branches. Verse 3 and 4 tells us where
did he find these sinners, these laborers, these sinners, they
were in the marketplace, not working, but being idle, standing
and doing nothing. And that's a picture of where
God finds us. Doing nothing to merit salvation. He finds us dead in sin. He finds us this way. Ephesians
2 verse 12 tells us that At that time, you were without Christ,
being alien from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the
covenants of promise, having no hope without God in this world,
but now are made nigh by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's how we're made nigh, by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord called us out of darkness. into His marvelous light, translated
out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear
Son. The Lord finds us dead in sins and quickens us to life
and sends us into His vineyard, His vineyard there is a picture
of the church, to labor for Him. You have to be quickened until
we're dead. The vineyard here, as I said, pictures God's church. His call. The word church means
those who are called out. As the Lord calls us to Himself,
some are called early in the morning, 6 a.m. Some are called
the third hour of the day, 9 a.m. Some are called the sixth hour,
12 noon. Some are called the ninth, around
3 o'clock. Some are called to eternal life
in the Lord Jesus Christ in that last hour of their life, the
eleventh hour. But all were called by the God
of all grace. They were all called to go and
labor in the vengeance of the Lord. The Lord sovereignly calls
out His people as it pleases Him. Some at an early age, some
later on in life. But He calls them and He puts
them into the ministry to serve Him. Every believer is in the
ministry. Did you know that? Every believer
is in the ministry. We're all the body of Christ,
and He has chosen us to serve Him. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians
4, seeing we have this ministry as we have received it of the
Lord, we don't quit. We do not faint. We faint not.
We have this ministry, and He sends us into His vineyard. Now, we've seen a hint of this
before. Turn back to Matthew 9. Remember
there he said, pray to the Lord of the harvest that he would
send forth laborers into his vineyard. Matthew chapter 9,
let's see if we can find it, verse 36 I think it is. Matthew
9 verse 36, but when he saw the multitude he was moved with compassion
on them because they fainted and were scattered abroad as
having Saturday brought a sheep having no shepherd. Then he said
unto his disciples, the harvest truly is plenty, but the laborers
are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of
the harvest that he would send forth laborers into his vineyard
or into his harvest. Pray that the Lord would do that.
The servants of the Lord labor in the vineyard of the Lord,
in the service of the kingdom of God, by watering with the
Word, planting the seed of the Word, but always we wait upon
the Lord to give the increase. Now, if you want to turn with
me, you can, but if you don't want to, find 1 Corinthians chapter
3. Paul writes about this in 1 Corinthians
chapter 3. where it says, who is Paul, or
who is Apollos, but ministers by whom you believe, 1 Corinthians
3 verse 5. Who then is Paul? You remember
they were saying, well, I'm a Paul, I'm Apollos, thinking that it
recommended them to God because of who they heard the gospel
by. Who then is Paul, and who is
Apollos, but ministers, 1 Corinthians 3 verse 5, ministers by whom
you believe, Even as the Lord gave to every man, I have planted,
Apollos watered, God gave the increase. So then, neither is
he that planted anything, neither is he that watered, but God that
gives the increase. Now he that planteth and he that
watereth are one. Every man shall receive his own
reward." Notice, reward. according to his own labor, Christ,
according to his own ministry, blessed according to God's purpose.
For we are laborers together with God. You are God's husbandry. You are God's building. So God
calls us and sends us into his gospel vineyard. It's interesting, the ones whom
the Lord called later on in the day, He mentions not a penny,
he mentions no wage. He says, whatever's right, that's
what I'm gonna give you. We know that the God of all the
earth will do right. I'll give you what is right. Our Lord always does that which
is right. He generously gives and we graciously
receive all that He gives by, how do we receive Christ? By
faith. By faith is a gift of God. being
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ. Now look at verse 8. So when
the day was come, here's payday, evening has come, payday, the
Lord of the vineyards said to his steward, call the labors,
give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And we'll go through this here.
In just a minute, the last one received, the last one that was
sent, the last one that was sent, and the first one that was sent,
they all received exact same thing. One penny. One penny.
Our Lord's payday at the end of time is not based upon the
scale of deserving, but rather upon the scale of His grace.
Everyone in that day of judgment will all be rewarded with the
same thing. Those believers in Christ Him. Him alone. Him alone. Now we're
going to see that. Turn over here to Matthew 25.
Matthew 25. When the Lord comes in that last
day. Matthew 25. About verse 30 I
think it is there. Let me get over there. Matthew
25. Verse 31. When the Son of Man shall come,
in His glory and all the holy angels with Him. Then shall He
sit upon the throne of His glory, and before Him shall be gathered
all nations. He shall separate them one from
another. The shepherd divided the sheep
from the goats, and He shall set the sheep on His right hand,
the goats on His left. Then shall the King say unto
them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. It's the kingdom prepared given
to them as an inheritance of grace, the whole inheritance
of grace. is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. We've been made heirs of God
and joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse nine, those
who were called and sent into the vineyard at the 11th hour
received the exact same thing as a man who had labored out
there all day long. Those that were hired the first
hour, they supposed that they should receive more, but they
likewise received one penny, didn't they? Verse 10, but when
the first came, they supposed, now that's our problem. We suppose,
I thought, well, I thought God would do this, or I thought God
would do that. No, he does what's right. They
supposed that they should have received more, and they likewise
received every man a penny. And verse 11, when they received
it, they murmured against the goodman of the house. those that
were hired and called the first hour, supposed they should receive
more. Maybe they thought they should
have a penny per hour. But here's the analogy. Many
religious lost men think they deserve more than others based
upon their service. They will say, well, that's unfair. They will say, well, that's not
right. They say, well, when we talk about God's sovereign mercy
and sovereign grace, don't the lost religious man kick and butt
and complain about the way of God's saving mercy, God's saving
mercy in Christ alone? Well, we just read a moment ago,
it's not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy. They murmured and complained
against God, the good man, the God-man of the house. Don't do that. Don't murmur and
complain. Be content with such things as
God has given us. He's given us all things. They
murmured and complained against the good man, the Lord of the
vineyard. Remember when the young man came
to the Lord and called him good master? Remember the Lord corrected
him, said there's none good but God. He is the good master. He is the God-man mediator. One God and one mediator between
God and man, and that is the man, the good man, the God-man,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now here's my thinking on this,
and we can liken this to those Jewish believers who kicked and
bitterly complained about God saving Gentile dogs. You made
them equal to us. You remember those Jews who said
you must be circumcised after the manner of Moses or you cannot
be saved. Remember when they had that first
Bible conference in Jerusalem and Peter stood up and cleared
the air and said we believe that God's going to save them exactly
like he saved us. We believe through the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ they shall be saved even as God saved
us. He saves every sinner whom he
wisely saved by his grace. whether it be a Jewish, most
Jewish Jew, like Saul of Tarsus, or a Gentile dog. God saves sinners
by his grace. That's the grace of God. All
sinners are justified freely by his grace. In Christ, we're
all one. Paul writes about it in Galatians
3. There's no more Jew or Gentile,
but we're all one in Christ. And if you be Christ, then are
you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise of God.
Blessed is the man whom God imputes righteousness without works. Now look at the Lord's gracious
answer, verse 13. But he answered one of them and
said, Friend, I love that. Friend, I'm not going to do you
wrong. I do thee no wrong. Didn't you
agree with me for a penny? Yeah, he did. Take that thine
is, and go your way, and I'll give unto this last, even as
unto thee." And then this plain statement of grace. Is it not
lawful? Is it not right? Is it not proper
for me, as the good man, as the Lord of the harvest, the Lord
of the vineyard, the God of heaven and earth, is it not lawful for
me, verse 15, to do what I will with my own? Is your eye evil
because I'm good? Will you kick against the sovereign
providence of God? The Lord saves sinners as it
pleases Him when it pleases Him. Paul writes about it, when it
pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb, called
me by His grace to reveal His Son in me, immediately I conferred
not with flesh and blood, immediately I went and preached the gospel
of God's saving grace. God will have mercy on whom He
will. Now that's not the first time
we've seen that. You remember, turn back to Matthew 11. That's
the first time we've seen God declaring His sovereign grace,
His sovereign mercy. Matthew 11, verse 25, at that
time, Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord
of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes, that last hour
of man. Even so, father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. All things, verse 27, Matthew
11, are delivered unto me and my father. No man knoweth the
son but the father. Neither knoweth any man the father
save the son, and he to whomsoever the son will reveal him. Sovereign mercy. We read in Romans
9, it's not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, it's
God that show mercy. We studied in our study through
the book of Psalms. Not unto us, O Lord, Psalm 115,
verse one. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but in thy name give glory for thy mercy and thy truth's
sake. Wherefore should the heathen
say, where is now their God? Our God's in the heavens, and
he has done whatsoever he had pleased. All the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing, He doeth according to His will
in the armory of heaven among the habitants of this earth,
and none can say unto Him, Lord God, that's not right, shall
not the judge of all the earth do right. I know that the Lord
is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatsoever the
Lord please, that did He in heaven and earth see in all deep places.
Now look at the last part of verse 15, Matthew 20 verse 15.
Is thy eye evil because I'm good? You remember that old saying,
and maybe this is where it comes from, that man gave me the evil
eye. Have you heard that saying? Maybe
it comes from this statement here. But our Lord is saying,
you think evil of me because I'm good? That is the way of
this fallen, sinful flesh. That's just the way of this sinful,
fallen flesh. Is not I evil because I'm the
sovereign God of all the earth? You think evil of me because
I will have mercy on whom I will? Verse 16 in closing. He tells
Peter this. Remember, he's giving this parable
to the apostles, to Peter and John and James. So the last The
last shall be first, not maybe, first, first. And the last, the last shall be first and the
first last. For many be called, few are chosen. And this is repeated. We're going
to see this statement again found in Matthew 22 verse 14 is a reference
there. And let me just make this comment,
and I'll close. Many hear the call of the gospel. Those many Jews heard the gospel
from the lips of the Lord and his apostles, but they were never
affectionately called out of darkness in his marvelous light. But the chosen few, the few God
has chosen in that covenant of grace, The chosen few here with
the heart of understanding, quickened by the Spirit of God, effectually
called out of darkness into God's marvelous light. They're given
life in Christ because they were chosen in electing love and sovereign
grace and given to the Lord Jesus Christ in that eternal covenant. Our Lord said that in John 6.
All that the Father giveth to me, they will come to me, and
those that come to me, I'll never, no never cast them out. In Revelation 17, remember we
studied through the Revelation, and in verse 14 it talks about
and describes those who are with the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord
Jesus Christ is Lord of Lords, King of Kings, and they that
are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful. He's made us so
by His grace. So, many that are first shall
be last, and the last shall be first. God saves His people by
His sovereign grace, giving Him Christ before the foundation.