Our Lord is still speaking about
striving to enter in at the straight gate And he has just said That
many will Seek to enter in But will not be able And they'll
stand at the door knocking saying Lord Lord open unto us And he'll
say I don't know you. I don't know where you're where
you're from and And then he makes this statement in verse 30, and
behold, there are last which shall be first. And there are
first which shall be last. And of course, as always, the
context is very important. This is a paradox, or what's
called a paradoxical statement. The primary definition of a paradox
is a statement that seems self-contradictory. it would seem like on the surface
that you can't be both first and last if by very definition
if you're first you're not last by the definitions of the words
but a paradox is not a false statement it only seems to be
it only seems to be contradictory the word paradox can be used
as a statement that is self-contradictory. But we know that's not the case
here because of who's speaking. It's the Son of God speaking.
So there are two considerations that make a paradox in the classic
sense of the word where it only seems to be contradictory. There
are no contradictions in the scripture. It's God. He doesn't contradict himself.
People do, but not Him. There are two considerations
that make a paradox only seem to be contradictory, and they
are time and sense. You might say, well, you can't
be both first and last, but you can't be first and last at the
same time and in the same sense, but you may be first for a while
and then last later. You see the importance of time
in it. And also, You may be first in
one sense and last in another. We see an element of time in
our text, in the context. Listen, look at what he said
in verse 30 again and notice the language even more closely.
Behold, there are last which shall be first and vice versa. There's those that are now and
there's what they shall be. Those two words are and shall
are indicative of time. And so we see already that this
is not a contradiction. But also there's the consideration
of sense. A believer can be both rich and
poor at the same time. This seems contradictory because
the very definition of what it means to be rich would seem to
preclude being poor, but a believer might be rich in earthly temporal
things and yet poor in spirit. He may be a mercy beggar spiritually,
while rich in another sense. So he or she is rich and poor
at the same time. but in a different sense. There
are other paradoxes in the scriptures. If you read Mark 10, 27, you'll
find that it is both possible and impossible for a sinner to
be saved. It's important to understand
both. If you don't understand that with men it is impossible,
then you will deny the gospel of free grace. taught clearly
throughout the scriptures. And if you do not understand
that with God, all things are possible, including the saving
of a sinner, including the Holy God, declaring a sinner to be
perfectly righteous and just. If you don't understand that,
then you have no gospel at all and no hope, only despair, hopelessness. The Lord Jesus Christ said in
Matthew 5, 4, blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be
comforted. You know the word blessed there means happy? You would not be violating the
meaning of the original language at all to say, happy are they
that are sad. That's a paradox. Just like our text. How can you
be happy and sad? That doesn't seem possible. by
the very definitions of the words. It's not that we're happy and
sad about the same thing, or in the same sense at the same
time, but we are both. All the time. We mourn our sin,
and the truth of that is we mourn who and what we are. And what
we've done, too. We mourn that. But we are blessed
of God, happy to be forgiven for what we are and what we've
done. I can weep at Calvary because
my sin crushed the Son of God, but I can laugh there too because
that precious blood has washed my sins away and I see the very
glory of God on full display in Christ crucified. I see the forgiveness of sin.
We know what forgiveness of sin is, but what does it look like?
It looks like Christ crucified, and that's what it looks like.
And this reminds us of another paradox. God is invisible. He's
spirit, and yet we see him all the time. We see him by faith. We don't see him in the same
sense, in the same way. God is also past finding out,
Romans 11, 33. Zophar asks in Job 11, 7, Canst
thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty
unto perfection? And yet we do know Him. This
is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God
in Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. Believers are a walking
paradox. We mourn and rejoice at the same
time. We can do nothing, and yet we
can do all things. We are both dead and alive at
the same time. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves
to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
So in the specifics of our text there are those who are first
In time, this is the meaning of the word first. They're first
in time, first in place, first in rank, first in worth, first
in honor. It can mean any of those things
or a combination thereof. But there are those who are first
in those things that shall be last in those things. Last in
worth and honor. place and rank Think first of all how thoroughly
this sets forth the sovereignty and the preeminence of the one
who is speaking Think about the whole context of this now in
verse 23 that man asked Lord are there few that be saved and
And in every phrase of our Lord's answer, he reveals himself to
be sovereign. Remember it with me. The Lord
didn't answer him the way he expected to be answered. He wanted
a number, he wanted a percentage maybe. But I'll tell you this, from
our Lord's answer, it's clear that this man asked the right
person. The only one who can answer the question is the one
who does the saving, my friends. And that's Him. He is the master
of the house, verse 24. It's His house. He decides who
gets in and who don't get in. It's He runs the house. He's
preeminent in the house. And who enters and who doesn't
is His prerogative. That's just simple, isn't it?
It's His house. At your house, you may let somebody
in, you may not, depending on who they are to you. The whole matter, secondly, hinges
upon when he rises up. Verse 24, when once the master
rises up and shuts the door. When does he do that? When he
gets good and ready, that's when. You see, This is one of the very
primary things that religion misses. They like to make the
sinner be in charge and make the decisions and determine everything.
It's not so. The master of the house determines
everything. He is salvation. Grace ends and
the weeping and gnashing of teeth that we read about in verse 28
begins When the Lord gets good and ready and he rises up, that's
it. That's the dividing line right
there. He's sovereign. He himself is access into life. We know that the straight gate,
the narrow gate, is that which leadeth unto life. And we know
that Christ is that gate. He said, I am the door. And he
makes reference to himself as the door in our text, also in
verse 24. And then he shuts the door in
the text. It's a question of when he rises
up, but what he does when he does is he shuts the door. False religion loves to picture
their Jesus as standing outside the door and knocking on the
sinner's heart, hoping that they'll let him in. They violate the word of God
in order to picture him that way. The master of the house
does no such thing. He is the door and it's his house
and you're the one on the outside. Unless and until he lets you
in. That's pretty clear. And when
he gets good and ready he shuts the door and it's over when he
does that. It's over. No man can open it. He does it. He does it when he
wants to. He does it for his own reasons.
And he does it with unquestionable authority. And now here in our text he reveals
himself to be the one who decides who gets in and who doesn't.
The ones that came in, the first ones, the ones that were there
on time were there on time because of him. And the ones who are last, who
get shut out, they get shut out because of him. There are many
at first that are going to be last and last. They're going
to be first. We see who enters in and who
does not are separated by time in the text. And that's a true
consideration now. But it's not just time. It's
not just the door is open for a little while and then he shuts
it. We know better than that from all of the scripture. We
know who gets in and who doesn't. Who gets in are those who were
chosen of him from the foundation of the world. Blessed be the
God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has chosen you. From
the beginning has chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit. and believe the truth. All that
the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to
me they don't get shut out. You see the ones that come and
do get shut out are the ones that don't come through the straight
gate. They want to enter in but not by the straight, not by Christ.
They love the idea of heaven. They love the idea of escaping
the consequences of their sin but they hate the Son of God.
That's clear in the text. The first in the context are
those who are in the house. They got there and were let in,
were brought in. And the last are those who are
not. This whole passage is not about
different echelons of people in glory. Religion will twist
this and try to teach that from it. It violates the text. It
violates the whole Bible. It's not in glory. Some are going
to be more preeminent than others. We're all going to be just like
Christ. That ought to put that argument to bed right there.
How can you be more like Christ and less like Christ if you're
exactly like Christ? And it's all grace. If I don't
receive anything based on anything I do but on what he did, if my
reward in heaven is based on who he is and what he did, how
can there be any lesser extent of that? He's perfect in what
he did. Perfect. The whole passage, let me start
this again. The whole passage is not about
different echelons of those who are in the house. It's about
who gets in and who don't get in. Who gets in are the first. The ones who came before the
door was shut. And the last are those who don't. Turn with me with that in mind
to Matthew chapter 19. And I just camp out right there for
the rest of the message because we're going to refer back to
this quite a bit. Matthew 19 verse 27. I want to read a fairly lengthy
passage here and just make a few comments on it. Verse 27, Matthew 19, Then answered
Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all and followed
thee. What shall we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them, Verily
I say unto you, that ye which have followed me in the regeneration,
when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye
also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel. 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 an hundredfold, and shall inherit
everlasting life. But many that are first shall
be last. Many that haven't done that,
and it looks like, boy, they're doing well now. They don't have
it forsaken. They seem like they're blessed
of God. They're the lowest in rank, in honor, in stature before
God. And the last shall be first. Now look at verse one of chapter
20. 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. 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. And he said unto them, go ye
also into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you. And
they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth
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? And they say unto him, because
no man hath hired us. Why do you reckon that was? He saith unto them, go ye also
into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right you shall receive. 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 first unto the last. No, I'm sorry, I said that backward.
That'll call even more attention to it now. I messed it up. Beginning from the last. That's
the way we think it ought to be though, right? First to last.
No, not our master. Beginning from the last unto
the first. And when they came that were
hired about the 11th hour, they received every man a penny. 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 man 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. But he answered one of them and said, friend, I do
thee no wrong. Didst not thou agree with me
for a penny? Take that thine is and go thy
way. You remember what he said to
the Pharisees who want the approval of men and the praise of men?
He said they have their reward. Take that and go. Those who always think they should,
they want what's coming to them. They've worked hard and they
think they want what God owes them because they think he owes
them a lot. Yeah he owes them a lot alright,
a lot of hell. But he said they have their reward.
Here they are right here. 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. Now we begin to understand a
little more about what this is to be last and first. Notice
a few things about those who were dissatisfied with that penny.
Their estimation of what they deserved was based on a comparison
with others. Oh, that's faulty. There's a
problem with that. You say, well, I'm not a thief
and a murderer. I haven't done all those bad. That's the Pharisee
and the publican. I thank thee, Lord, that I'm
not like other men. If your righteousness means you're not as bad as old
Joe down the street, you have no righteousness before God.
You're going to be last in rank and status. You're going to be
right at the bottom of hell. That's what that means. There
is nobody that God's gonna think any less of than you. That's not good. Merit in God's kingdom is not
based on comparison. It's not based on what you do
at all. It's based on what the master says is right. Did you
see that in that text there? What's right. And I'll tell you what's right
for those who hate God, who have a problem with the way God does
things. You know what's right for them? Hell. What's right for those who receive
His goodness, who hadn't really done anything and yet receive
a full day's wage. You know what's right for them?
Glory. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
is their righteousness. They're not under law, but under
grace. What the master thought, his
estimation of things meant nothing to these ones. Absolutely nothing. They just wanted to receive what
they felt they had earned. That's a big problem now before
God. If you think that way, you're in trouble. Secondly, they didn't
have any honor at all. They were dishonest and deceitful.
They had agreed for a penny, had they not? And now they're
demanding more. Where's the honor in that? What's
your word worth? Theirs wasn't worth anything.
Our Lord said, by your words, you shall be justified. And by
your words, you'll be condemned. That's the sense in which that's
true right there. One of them. Thirdly, they said
in verse 12 that they wanted what they wanted because of how
hard they worked. We've borne the burden and the
heat of the day. What they felt they earned was
not based on the word of the master, but it was based on how
much they did. That's a problem too. Look how
hard we worked, look what all we endured, look at all of the
things that we've been through. In spiritual terms, that's a
big problem. You know what the believer's attitude is? Here's what believers say, for
this is the love of God that we keep his commandments, and
his commandments are not grievous. We haven't borne any burden,
have we? I love Him. I want to keep His
commandments. But they're not grievous unto me. You know why?
Because I'm not under the yoke of the law. It's not incumbent upon me to
perfectly keep His commandments in order to be saved. Because
Christ is my righteousness. Therefore, there's no burden.
They're not grievous. The commandments are summed up
in loving God and loving your brother. Is that hard for you?
Now, there's no believer that thinks they've ever done that,
really. Not perfectly, you know, by any stretch of the imagination.
But is it hard for you to love God? Do you sit around all day
thinking, boy, oh man, I'm trying to love Him, but... It's hard not to, isn't it, when
you know Him? be hard not to. Our love's not
meritorious. Our love is fickle. Our love
is full of sin. Be just flat blunt about it.
Is it hard for you to love God? It's not hard for me to love
you either. It's really not. Maybe every once in a while.
Y'all are thinking, well Chris it's kind of hard for me to love
you sometimes. But here we are still aren't we? Here we are. It'd be hard not to. Could you
stay away? Could you just go out into this world and not be
with the sheep for any length of time? His commandments are
not grievous. Here's a new commandment. He
said that you love one another. That doesn't grieve me to do
that. That's a great blessing. As he enables me to love you
more and more. That's not a burden for me, is
it you? By God's grace, it's not. All
but to the unbeliever. It's boy, look what we've born,
look what we've done, look how much we've given, look how much
we've borne the burden and heat of the day. That's the attitude.
The believer counts it a privilege to do anything. I'd rather be
a doorkeeper in God's house than to dwell in the tents of the
wicked. We don't trust our love. We know
our love is not meritorious. Christ is our righteousness,
but at the end of the workday, God's sheep are not going to
say, boy, serving Christ sure was hard. They're going to say,
what a privilege. To those who were first, serving
the master was a burden. Fourthly, what they said was
hateful to others. You see, here again, the law,
don't you? First of all, they hated the
master. They were angry at him for what he did. And what had
he done? Exactly what he said he was going
to do. That makes a lot of people mad, did you know that? That
God does what he says he's going to do, that makes people mad.
But not everybody, thank God, by his grace, not everybody But
think about this, not only did they hate the master, they hated
the ones that were working with them. The law is fulfilled in
this, you love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind,
soul and strength and your neighbor as yourself. They're on the wrong
end of both of it. God's people are on the right
end of it because Christ is their righteousness. And their keeping of the law,
the law is fulfilled in them. and that God sent his son to
be the propitiation for their sin. But they were resentful
against the ones that worked with them. It showed how they
really felt about the master and it showed how they really
felt about the other workers who labored with them. Instead
of being happy for them, they were envious and wanted them
to get less than they did. That's not love. They hated the master and they
hated their neighbor. If I love you, would I want to
be more rewarded than you? Would that even enter my mind? I want more jewels in my crown
than Vicki. What? That's contrary to grace. It's contrary to the love of
God which he sheds abroad in the hearts of his people. Why did the others get what they
did? Did you notice it in the text? Not because they agreed to it.
Not because of any legal contract or agreement. Because the master was good. Is your eye evil because I'm
good? What's he referring to there? Giving them a penny. Well,
they didn't really do anything. They got what they got because
of the goodness of the Master. They wouldn't have anything at
all unless the Master had come and found them. Did you notice
the words? Nobody would hire us. You know how that works. The bosses come around and They
say, who's an electrician? I've got some experience in that.
Come on with me. I got some electrical work I
need done. Who's a mason? Come on. I got some work for
you. Who's a carpenter? I've got some. Come on. Let's
go work. You know who's left? Those who can't really do anything
good. That's who the Lord went and
got. and said, come on, you can work for me. That's my testimony. The Lord put me to work for him
when nobody else would have anything to do with me. And not only did the Lord hire
them, he gave them a full day's wage just because he was good. They got what they got, not because
they were good. They didn't have any skills at
all. Nobody would hire them, but because he was. That's who the Lord hires, the
weak, the foolish, the base, those that are not. to bring
to naught the things that are. That is exactly the teaching
of our text. There are those that are first
in rank and status that God has no thought for at all. And there are those which this
world has no use for that are first to him. They're the reason he came down
here. Some are going to look at the
master and how he does things and be real happy about it. And some are going to look at
the grace of God, the goodness of the Lord Jesus Christ and
be angry. And he will say to the angry
ones, go thy way. You have your reward, a little
recognition in this life. A little fame, a little self-righteous
satisfaction in the way things work in this world. You have
your reward. Get on with it. What about the
other ones? They're still serving him. What
about those ones in the tech that just had work? They're still
serving him. Every day. Still serving him. The Lord is teaching again that
our thinking of things is not His. He said in Isaiah 55, 8,
my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,
saith the Lord. By man's way of thinking, the
Pharisees would be first. They'd be the first ones to enter
in. Highly religious, knowledgeable in the scriptures, morally blameless
according to men, but the Lord had mercy on publicans and sinners. those who were last in the estimation
of men and he told the Pharisees you're going to die in your sins
because you believe not on me. We've said that in order to be
both first and last it seems there's a timing difference in
our text but of course there is. They're first now, they're
preeminent now, they're recognized now. They feel pretty good about
themselves now but not for long. There's also a difference of
sense, and it's a question of who it is who does the calculating.
Who is the one who estimates who's first and who's last? The
Pharisees considered themselves righteous, but the Lord said
they were whited sepulchers and described them this way in Matthew
23, 27, full of all uncleanness. I don't know how you could put
anybody down any harder than that. Full of all uncleanness. There's not one bit of wicked,
vile, disgusting sin that you're not full of. That's harsh. So the difference in first and
last is not just a question of time. For now, men consider the
righteous to be foremost in honor before God, those who are outwardly
moral and are highest in the estimation of the world to be
most honorable in the sight of God. One day, it'll be seen and
known to be quite different. He hath chosen the chief of sinners
and hath rejected the Pharisee. Although right now, even right now, without the consideration
of time. It's a question of whose estimation,
whose reckoning of things we're talking about. For example, in
Mark chapter 12, 41, it says, Jesus sat over against the treasury
and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury and many
that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor
widow and she threw in two mites which make a farthing. And he
called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I
say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast more in than
all they which have cast into the treasury. Wait a minute. If we'd have been watching that,
he was sitting over there watching. If we were watching with him
there, we'd say, well, they cast in a lot, and she cast in a little.
Our Lord said, no, it's the other way around. By whose estimation? His. That's how I want to reckon
things, don't you? By his way of thinking. By the
way he sees things. We quoted well ago from Matthew
5 and saw a paradox there, happy or the sad. Think about what
else our Lord said there with this same consideration of perspective
and estimation of things. In the perspective and estimation
of the world, those who are rich are blessed. Oh boy, you know,
they got a promotion, they're doing real well, they got a lot.
Boy, the Lord's blessing them. The Lord said, blessed are the
poor. Poor in spirit. The world would say, blessed
are the strong-willed and aggressive and assertive. Those are the
ones, you know, who are gonna prosper. The Lord said, blessed
are the meek. The whole shooting match is going
to be theirs one of these days. The world would say, blessed
are the righteous. Our Lord said, blessed are they
which are hungry for righteousness. You know why you're hungry for
it? Because you don't have any of it. They're devoid of it, but they
need it. They need it. The world would say, blessed
are they who have no troubles. Our Lord said, blessed are you
when men persecute you and revile you. Even that which might not
seem to be contrary to man's estimation really is. Think about
this one. Blessed are the pure in heart.
You might say, well, everybody would agree with that. Even the
world would agree, blessed are the pure in heart. But think
about it. Man can't even see the heart. How is he going to
estimate that? We would say the pure in heart
are the ones who do good things. Christ told those who do good
things, depart from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you. Only God can look on the heart. And he only sees one thing or
lack thereof. He's looking for one thing. You
know what he's looking for? Christ. God either sees purity or corruption. Blessed are the pure in heart. Purity is not I did my best.
Purity is not my good outweighs my bad, even if you had any good.
Purity means clean. Lord, if you will, you can make
me clean. Only Christ can do that. He does
it if he wants to. And he does it with his precious
blood. John said, unto him that loved
us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. Pure means
without blemish, that he might present it to himself. He gave
himself for the church. that he might present it to himself,
a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
but that it should be holy and without blemish. Pure means without
guilt. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justify. Who is
he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. Blessed
are the pure in heart. So another way of saying God
either sees purity or impurity is to say he sees Christ or he
don't. Christ with us is the gospel. They said when he came down here
to this earth, got good news for you. Glad tidings, good tidings
of great joy. What is it? Emmanuel, God with
us. Christ with us is gospel. Christ for us is salvation. If he be for me, who can be against
me? Christ in us is glory. It is said in the word to be
the hope of glory, but it's a sure hope. It's a hope that will be
realized and experienced before long. It's a sure and steadfast
hope. The message of our text is clearly
taught in the story of the Pharisee and the Publican. You remember
the story. Two men went into the temple to pray, the one a
Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself. God, I thank you that I'm not like other men,
extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast
twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican standing far
off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but
smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
And the Lord Jesus said this, I tell you, this man went down
to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone
that exalteth himself shall be abased. The first shall be last. Remember, it's first in estimation,
in value, in worth, in status, in honor. And he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted. The Pharisee was first and the
publican was last in every way except one. This is the point
I'm trying to make. In every way, everybody would
say that Pharisee's first and that publican's last. And it
was true in every way except one. The estimation of Christ. Those workers in the parable
in Matthew 20, they thought they were last. The first They thought they were last,
but the Lord said, you come first. Remember that, when he was paying
them? I want to start with the last,
their first. When he was giving, when he was
expressing his goodness, he said to those last ones, you're the
first in line. You're last in every other way
except to me. To me, you come first. The ones that nobody wanted.
He says, not only do I want you, you are my priority. How gracious is our Master. It's important to see one last
thing in that parable in Matthew 20. Notice that what the first
ones received was according to a legal verbal binding agreement. I agreed with them for a penny,
and I gave them a penny. He said he would give them a
penny, and if he had not, they could
have sued him. Verbal agreement, that was binding.
They got what was legally right. You don't want that. The last
ones in verse 7, what did he say to them? Whatever's right,
I'll give it to you. They hired on, not on the basis
of legal contract, but on the basis of simple trust. They trusted him. He could have
said at the end of the day, well, it's not right to give you anything.
You don't have any skills. You didn't hit a lick. You were
late. But they got what they got because
he was good. And they trusted him. He didn't say he was going to
give them anything, did he? Just what's right. What is right to
those whom He's chosen from the foundation of the world in Christ
is life everlasting. It's everything good that God
is capable of giving because He chose them in Christ. You don't have to trust Him,
aren't you? By grace are you saved through
faith and that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God. Lot of
works lest any man should boast. But I got a question for you
this morning. Do you trust him? Do you trust him to give you
what's right? He is the good master. You can
trust him. I can tell you that from experience.
You can trust him. Let's pray.