Matthew chapter 20, and we can
read it in verse 1, down through verse 16. Matthew chapter 20, verse 1. For the kingdom of heaven is
likened to a man that is not a householder, which went out
early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. And
when he had agreed with them, 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 said unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard,
and whatsoever is ripe 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 said unto him, Because
no man hath hired us. He said unto them, Go ye also
into the vineyard, and whatsoever is ripe, that shall ye receive. So when even was come, the Lord
of the harvest, the Lord of the vineyard rather, said unto his
steward, call the laborers and give them their hour, their wages,
beginning from the last until the first. And when they came
that were hard about the eleventh 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. 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 are borne the burden and heat of the day.'
But he answered one of them and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong. Dist thou not agree with me for
a penny? Take back thine ears and go thy
way. I will give unto thee's 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 are
chosen. Now some might interpret this
parable that the Lord is speaking here to the self-righteous lost
people. And I suppose we might look at
it that way, but it seems to me a better interpretation of
this parable is to correct the self-righteous attitude that
sometimes afflicts the believer, the righteous people. And it's
not that there's plenty of parables and plenty of sayings of our
Lord that He directed at self-righteous lost people. He did a lot of
that. He wrote a whole parable, spake
a whole parable to them who trusted in themselves that they were
righteous and despised others. And he told some of the Pharisees,
he said, you fellows indeed appear righteous outwardly, but within
you're full of hypocrisy and dead men's bones. And all you
do in your life, you do it to be seen of men and to have the
praise of men. So the Lord had much to say to
the self-righteous lost people. But this parable here seems to
be directed at those who truly believe the gospel. those who
were in the kingdom of God. We can see that there in verses
1 through verse 7. This man who owned this vineyard,
who was surely meant to depict to us the Lord Jesus Christ,
he went out at these different hours and he called these men
and told them where to go. You go into my vineyard." And
told them what to do when they got there. Work. You labor in
my vineyard. And he calls them laborers. Now,
these aren't the self-righteous people that the Lord said in
another place, depart from me, you workers of iniquity. These
weren't those people and they weren't those kinds of people.
These here were true believers. that had been called and had
truly labored in the vineyard, the kingdom of our Lord Jesus
Christ. And here through verses 10 through
verse 12, it was these same people that had been called of the Lord
and sent into this vineyard that they were complaining. And you'll
notice there, the ones that were complaining was the ones that
had truly worked the hardest. They had borne the burden and
the heat of the day. And yet they were the ones that
were complaining. And to me, this tells us here
that it's not people outside the kingdom of Christ. It's not
the false professors. It's not lost people who are
self-righteous. But it's those who have slipped
into this attitude and fell into this attitude of self-righteousness
and legality and even pride. And yet they're true believers.
The children of God have been called to the Lord and labored
in His vineyard. And these laborers here that
first were hired, that the Lord first called, they started out
no doubt good. They got up early one morning,
and you can almost see them in your imagination. They're out
on the street corner waiting for somebody to hire them. They
need to make a living. And they're waiting there, and
the good man, he's called the good man of the house, this man
who owns this vineyard, he comes here, and he finds them, and
he hires them, and he agrees with them for a penny a day,
and he sends them out into his vineyard to work, and you can
imagine they're happy. They're glad to labor in his
vineyard. They know he's a good man. He's
a just man. They're going to be paid for
their wages. They're assured of that. They're going to have
money to support themselves and their family. And they're so
happy about this. But the problem came, and this
is amazing. Their problem arose when they
saw the man who had hired them, how good he was and how generous
he was. to others that had not worked
as near, as hard as they have. And that's amazing when we consider
and remember that this is children of God. These are people who
truly worked in His vineyard. And you'll notice here in verse
12, their complaint and who it's against. In verse 10 and verse
11, their complaint when they saw, look here in verse 10, When
the first came, the first that had been hard, they supposed
that they should have received more. And they likewise received
a penny. And when they had received it,
they murmured against the good man of the house. They murmured
against the Lord. And this is what they said. These
last have labored but one hour. And thou hast made them equal
unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day."
Now you look at that on the surface, and you would agree that these
have a legitimate complaint, until the Lord answers them there
in verse 15. Is it not lawful for me to do
what I will with mine own? He did them no wrong, did He?
He paid them just what He agreed to pay them. But their whole
complaint was, He has all this goodness, and He has this riches,
and if He's going to be any extra and do any extra for anybody,
it ought to be us. Because we're the ones who borne
the burden and the heat of the day. And that was their complaint.
True Christians, true believers can fall into this trap. Not only true believers, but
the best of believers. The best of Christians can fall
into this trap, and they have fallen into it. It's not the
new beginners. It's not the young Christians
that fall into this. It's the old Christians, the
experienced ones, the ones who have labored all the day long.
They're the ones that fell into this trap. The same men who were
called laborers, and they labored well, yet they fell into this
trap. of complaining against the good
man of the house. And their complaint was, he was
too good to others. Could a believer fall into this
trap? He can, he can. It wasn't that he did them wrong, but it was like I said, if there's
any extra goodness, it should be directed to them. They had
labor. And you notice here in my text,
this wasn't a passing thought. This wasn't something that afflicted
them for just a few hours. This really disturbed these men.
They were so upset about this, the Scripture said they began
to murmur. And it so upset them, they said, we can't get this
out of our thoughts. We're going to talk to him about
it. And they approached the good man of the house and complained
out loud about it. Don't just tell us they had a
certain degree of misery about them. They actually went into
this man's house and talked to him about his goodness toward
these men who had labored so long. You and I have been studying
the book of Galatians, and I think the key verse, one of the key
verses to the book of Galatians is found in Galatians 5, 7, and
it says this, You did run well, who did hinder you? You did run
well. When you began with Christ and
His grace, and you just had Him to cling to, you ran so well. Now somebody will say, and people
have actually said this, and I know in a sense this is so
true, that we should be more concerned about our beginning
than anything else. If we begin well, we'll end well. Grace begun is heaven won, and
that's the truth. We believe that, don't we? But
you know it's not only important to begin well and to end well,
it's so important to continue well. From start to finish, stand
fast in the liberty every day, not only to begin in grace, but
to continue in grace and grow in grace and knowledge. It's
important how we began, but ain't it so important that we continue
as we began? As you have received Christ Jesus
the Lord, walking in Him, and what I see these men right here,
they weren't walking in Christ. They weren't walking in Christ.
I think it will help us if we realize something that we seldom
want to admit, a believer can greatly err. A true child of God can fall
into error. He can backslide. He can become
self-righteous. He can entertain a legal attitude. He can grow proud and miserable. And I think that's the very reason
the Lord wrote this parable to deal with this attitude of self-righteousness
and pride. Let me give you these three examples
here, I believe, that teaches us that this was for believers.
If we'll consider the context, look here first of all in verse
20 and verse 21. And I want us to see these three
examples here. They're short, but if you look
at this parable in the light of its context, you can see that
these disciples, these apostles of the Lord, were full of themselves. Pride and self-righteousness
and legality had creeped in and got such a hold of them, and
that's why the Lord spoke this parable, to straighten their
attitude out. Look in chapter 20 and look in
verse 20 and verse 21. Now look at this attitude. Look
at the pride here. Look in verse 20 and 21. If you
want to read the account that Mark gives, he gives it in chapter
10. But look here in verse 20. Then
came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshiping
him and desiring a certain thing of him. Now Mark says James and
John came, and here Matthew says they brought their mother, and
this is what they desired. They asked him, and they had
their mother to ask him, and here's what it was. What wilt
thou? She said unto him, Grant that
my two sons may sit the one on thy right hand, and the other
on thy left, in thy kingdom." Now what kind of request is that?
Ain't that amazing? I'm not for sure if they knew
the kind of kingdom that our Lord was going to set up. Maybe
they thought our Lord was going to set up an actual kingdom there
in Jerusalem, and threw off the yoke of the Roman government,
and he's going to ride a white stallion, and he's going to have
these captains, and they wanted to sit on his right hand and
his left hand. Maybe they thought about glory. I don't know what kind of kingdom
they were thinking about. But ain't it a spirit of pride? Who in the world would think
himself worthy to sit on the right hand and on the left hand
of the Son of God in His glory and in His kingdom. And the twelve got mad at him.
Mark says the other ten apostles were mad at him. Who do you fellows
think you are? Lifted up in pride. And look
here how the master dealt with him. Look here what he says in
verse 26 and verse 27. But it shall not be so among
you, But whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister. You want to be so great to sit
on my right hand? Then let the great ones be the
ministers. And look what he said in verse
27. Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.
Let him be your slave to carry your water and your food to you.
Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to
minister and to give His life a ransom." There's the pride.
There's the pride the Lord is dealing with. They thought there
was somebody. Look over here in the 19th chapter at the context.
Look in verse 13 and through verse 14. Well, you know this
account here. Mark gives it. I like Mark's
account a little bit better. But look here in verse 13 and
14. Now look at this. You just wonder how arrogant
we would have to be to turn away little children who were being
brought to the Lord Jesus Christ by their mothers to be blessed.
I don't care who it is. If somebody's coming to Christ
to be blessed, you don't turn them away. Look at what it said
in verse 13. Then were there brought unto
him little children that he should put his hands on them and pray,
and the disciples rebuked them. Now he didn't say here they were
brought to the baptistry, or they were brought to the bucket
to be sprinkled. If anybody reads that in here,
they're twisting something. But they brought them to Christ. And Mark says he took them up
in his arms and blessed them. But look what they did. They rebuked them. They rebuked
the mothers that brought them. We're too busy for this, they
said. We're involved in this great work. We're great men with
a great message. Get these kids out of here. We
don't have time for this. That's what they said. They rebuked
the mothers for bringing these children. But look what the Lord
said. Suffer little children and forbid
them not. to come unto me, for I am such
as the kingdom of heaven." They didn't have time for the babies,
but Christ did. Christ did. Now that's pride,
ain't it? That's a certain degree of legality. And it got a hold of these apostles'
heart. And then, also here in the 19th
chapter, and you're familiar there with the context, this
rich man, right after the Lord rebuked his disciples for turning
these infants away, there in verse 16, this rich young ruler
came to the Lord Jesus and wanted to know what he could do to have
eternal life. And the Lord said, Why are you calling me good?
There's one good, but God. Do you believe I'm God? You believe
I'm God? But if you'll have life, if you'll
enter into life, keep the commandments. He said, which ones? And all
the commandments he gave was towards man. Don't you kill,
don't you steal, don't commit adultery, don't bear false witness.
And he said, all these have I kept from you. And the Lord said,
you lack one thing. Go sell all that you have and
give to the poor. And you come and follow me and
you'll have eternal life. And Peter got a hold of what
he said. And Peter shows what kind of attitude he was in. Look
here now in verse 21. Look at this. Peter heard our
Lord say that. In verse 21, ìIf thou wilt be
perfect, go sell that thou hast, and give to the poor. Thou shalt
have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me.î And look
in verse 27. ìThen answered Peter and said
unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all and followed thee. What shall
we have?î Therefore, ain't that something? If that fellow's got
treasure in heaven and all he's done is forsake his riches, what
in the world we going to have? And that's the question that
he asked the Lord. I've forsaken all I have. And these brethren
have forsaken all they have. What are you going to give us?
Take an inventory, wouldn't you? He's taken inventory. That's
what Peter was doing. It caught his ear. You know what
happens when we start taking inventory. All we've done, all we've given,
all we've helped, we see the good things that we've done. But we seldom see the bad things
we've done. It's not a good thing to start taking inventory. Do
you know that? And it's not a good thing to start bargaining with
the Lord either. Bargaining. That was Peter's whole problem.
He wanted to bargain. Bargain with the Lord. Of course,
the Lord answers him here. Look at this. Look what he says
in verse 28. Look what a gracious answer.
Verily I say unto you, ye that have followed me, in the regeneration
when the Son of Man shall sit upon the throne of His glory,
ye shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel. Now, I'm not for sure what the
Lord was telling Peter here, but I think what He was telling
was this. Your preaching and your epistles
that your apostles write, your preaching and your epistles,
your writings is going to judge this world. Those who believe
your testimony concerning me is going to be saved. Those who
believe not are going to be condemned. That's what John said about his
writings. These things have I written unto
you that you may know that you have eternal life. All these
things have I wrote, he said, that you believe my testimony,
you believe Christ is the Son of God, you'll have life. And
those who believe not are going to be condemned. They're going
to be judged according to the writings and preaching of these
apostles. I think that's what the Lord's
telling them. If that's not what He's telling them, then He's
telling them literally, you're going to sit one day upon thrones
and judge the twelve tribes of Israel. But that was a gracious
answer. And what he says here in verse
29 of the 19th chapter, look at this. Everyone that hath forsaken
houses, now this is his answer to Peter, what are you going
to give us? Everyone that hath forsaken houses, or brethren,
or sisters, or fathers, or mothers, or wife, or children, or land,
for my name's sake, shall receive none hundredfold. Now Mark says
they'll receive it in this lifetime. In this lifetime they'll receive
a hundredfold and then in the world to come, life eternal. What are you going to give us?
This is his answer to it. His answer to Peter. We've forsaken
all and Christ was dishonest with him. He said every man,
not only you Peter, but everybody that's forsaken houses and lands
and wives and husbands and children, to follow me for my sake in the
gospel, they're going to receive a hundredfold in this lifetime
and in the world that's to come, life eternal." Now that was a
gracious answer to Peter. But boy, he turns around in this
parable and corrects his bad attitude. If you look at this
answer of our Lord to Peter, from a literal standpoint, Peter
and everybody else was a gainer by it. That's what he tells them. that have forsaken mothers and
fathers and wives and houses and children and land, they'll
receive a hundredfold in this lifetime. Mark said it. If you
look at that from a literal standpoint, boy, everybody that forsakes
all of these things and follows Christ, they're a gainer if you
look at it from a literal standpoint. What did Peter give up to follow
Christ? He never had much, did he? He had a terrible education. They looked upon him and John
and said, boy, these are unschooled people. These are illiterate
people. Unlearned. He didn't have a very
good job. He was a fisherman. He didn't
have enough money to pay his taxes. The Lord sent him down
and caught a fish with some money in his mouth to pay his taxes.
What did he give up? He didn't have much to give up,
did he? Peter said, we've forsaken all.
What have you forsaken? You ain't got much. But this,
listen to this. If we look at this from a literal
standpoint, when Peter was called to follow the Lord, I'm telling
you what he wound up with so many brothers and sisters and
mothers and fathers. Had more houses than he could
stay in. More beds than he could sleep
in. More tables to eat at. Peter, Peter got to know some
pretty powerful people. And he got to travel much more
than he would have if he hadn't began to follow the Lord. He
was in Simon the Tanner's house out on the Mediterranean sea
coast. And that's a beautiful place. I've seen pictures of
it. Part of the old house is still there. Simon the Tanner.
And boy, he ate seafood and slept there on the coast. Cornelius
was probably a wealthy man. He was an influential man. Peter
preached to his whole house and spent several days with him.
We got records that he wound up in Babylon preaching to them.
History says he went to Rome, took his wife with him. Let his
wife, Paul, sit around with him. He had it pretty good, didn't
he? He had it pretty good. He gained a lot more. when he
forsook Christ, when he forsook this world to follow Christ and
to preach his gospel, than he would have ever had before he
followed Christ. He'd have wound up living up
there in Galilee, around Nazareth, that despised place with nothing. Boy, I tell you, in this matter,
literally, in this matter of taking up our cross and following
the Lord Jesus Christ, You and I cannot lose. We cannot lose. We give up little, and what have
we gained? I'm talking about literally,
just looking at it from a literal standpoint. The Lord Jesus said the Father
knows what you have need of every day, and He'll supply all your
needs according to His riches in glory. What needs are you
talking about? All your needs. Everything that you need. And
how much more has He given us over and above what we actually
need? And He's given it to us, ain't He? Now, are you a loser
by taking up your cross and following Christ? No, we're not, are we? We're not. But look at this from
a spiritual standpoint, and I think that's what the Lord is meaning
in particular here. What had Peter given up? What
have you and I given up to follow Christ? sinful pleasures, temporal gain, wasted lives,
wasted time, wasted possessions, slaves of the devil, burden of
self-security. Ain't it wonderful to lay that
down? What have we given up? Self-righteousness. We've given up our own way, our
own thoughts, and what have we gained? Forgiveness of sins. A righteousness to clothe the
shame of our nakedness. Justified from all things. Have the spirit of adoption been
given God's smile? been given peace to our conscience,
we have a friend a stick of closer than a brother, the comfort of
hope, exceeding great and precious promises, and you could go on
and on and on. Who's the gainer in this matter
of self-denial and fallen Christ? We are, aren't we? Godliness is profitable unto
all things. I have been promised of the life
that now is, and that which is to come. We're the gainers, brothers
and sisters. And look here at the last portion
of verse 29, and he says this, and in the world to come, Mark
says, life eternal and shall inherit life eternal. What we've given up to follow
Christ, It can't be compared to what we've gained, can it?
In this life or in that life that's to come. This is a gentle
rebuke here to Peter with his attitude of bargaining. Ain't
it amazing? I'm going to bargain with the
Lord. Lord, I'll give up this for you give me. Lord, I'll do
this for you do for me. Ain't that an awful attitude
to have? Lord, we've given up all to follow
Thee. What shall we have, therefore?
What do we possibly have that we could trade for God's blessings,
His covenant blessings? He hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places, blessings we can't earn, blessings
that we don't merit, blessings that we cannot trade for. He's
blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus. This bargaining attitude is no
good. It reveals an attitude of self-righteousness and pride. It overestimates us and what
we possess. And it underestimates those covenant
blessings of this triumphant God. It's a bad attitude. It's
a bad attitude. And notice especially Peter.
And I think he's speaking here especially to Peter. Because
he said here in verse 13, he answered one of them. So I think
he's speaking here especially to Peter. And where's Peter opposing
him at? And where does this whole attitude
oppose the Lord at? But right in this one place.
It says, chief redeeming glory. That's where they were opposing
the Lord at. Ain't that what he said there in verse 10 and
11, in chapter 20? They suppose that they should
have received more, and they complained against him. These
have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal to
us. And there in verse 15 again, is it not lawful for me to do
what I will with my own? You know what the Lord's chief
glory is, that he can do what he will with his own will. It's
his grace and it's free. It's his mercy, he can give it
or withhold it. It's his prerogative who to bless,
when to bless, and how to bless. And that's where they oppose
him at, right there. These are your blessings, but
we're more deserving of them than those people. And the Lord
said, wait just a minute, bud. Wait just a minute. You've opposed
me at my chief glory. What's mine is mine to give to
whom I please. And that's what you're complaining
against me about. And that's what this attitude
does of self-righteousness. This attitude is not the attitude
of a young Christian. That's what makes this attitude
so mysterious. It's not the young Christians
that thinks this way, but it's those who have labored long and
hard. It's the older Christians. Ain't
that a mystery? They come here and you see it
on their faces. Man, they're tired. The sun's
shined on them all day, and you can tell it by looking at their
skin. There's blisters on their fingers. Their hair's been mingled
with their sweat, and their shirt is white with dried sweat. These
fellows have labored. They've toiled. And yet that's
the very people that fell into this trap. And it's usually older
people, older Christians, that have labored. They've suffered
some disappointments and some setbacks. And they've been tried
and tested. And then they see the Lord begin
to bless some young believer that's not near as experienced
as they are. And don't know near as much as
they know. But the Lord begins to bless
that young believer's work. And they become so envious. And
they fall into this attitude of pride and self-righteousness. You've not blessed me like that.
I've labored long and hard, and I've suffered all these trials,
and now look how you're blessing that man. And I deserve to be
blessed. Could a believer fall into that?
There's been a lot of believers fell into that, and a hard trial
to get out of it. A hard trial to get out of it. Boy, when pride and self-righteousness
get a hold of us, it's tough, ain't it? But we don't start
out with this attitude. These didn't start out with this
attitude. They started out being happy to be working in the vineyard.
It's just when they saw the goodness of this man towards those who
hadn't worked years long and labored years hard that their
complaint arose in their heart. And the whole problem, I think,
with Peter, he was trying to bargain with the Lord. And that
won't work. It won't work. It's grace and
it's free grace. And it's mercy and you can't
earn it. It's God's blessing and He won't bargain with them. Notice something else here in
verse 12. It's not only this bargaining
attitude, but notice the judgmental and jealous attitude. Notice
what he said again here in verse 12. This is what they come to the
Lord and say. These last have wrought, they've worked, but
one hour. How did they know that? They've been watching them. They've
been watching them. We've been watching these fellows.
They're not near as good as laborers as we are. They just got started. They haven't worked up a sweat.
We saw them cut down several vines that was ready to bloom. And here, look at this. You've
made them equal with us. Made them equal with us. Looking at other people. Judging
other people. Condemning other people. You
know the worst job I think in this world would be Clarence
and Gail's job. I'd much rather have my job than
their job. Wouldn't it be awful to be a treasurer? When you backslid, you know,
and you get cold and dippin' in your heart. You know what I'd start thinking
if I was a treasurer? I don't know if Clarence ever thought
this or not, but you know what I'd start thinking? That old fellow over
there, he don't give anything. Clarence knows everything. Everybody
in here, Clarence knows what you give. Because he has to count
it. And I just wonder sometimes,
I ain't going to talk to you about this. I don't even want
to know. Oh, so and so. He don't hardly
give anything. And look how the Lord has blessed
him. It just ain't right. It just ain't right. That's the
way I think. I wouldn't want to be a treasure. These fellows
will watch you. You ever wonder how that prodigal
son's brother knew what the prodigal son was doing? He's wasted your
substance with rowdyism." How did he know he was rowdy? How
did he know he was with harlots down there? He'd been slipping
down there and watching him, or had somebody doing it. A judgmental
attitude. And that's exactly what Peter's
attitude was. Watching others and judging and
condemning them. In verse 16, The Lord begins
to teach His disciples, all of us, lessons concerning His kingdom
and what He's teaching them right here and in other places in the
Scripture, that everything is backwards. Everything's backwards
in the kingdom of Christ. We raise our children to be independent,
don't we? And we should. Whatever you get
in this world, you earn it. Don't you go on welfare unless
you absolutely have to. You get you an education, you
get you some training, you get you a skill, and you be independent. Don't you have to depend on anybody.
Don't you be a taking charity and things like that. And then
when it comes to coming to Christ, we have to tell them to throw
everything down and come and be saved by charity and receive
everything. It's backward in the kingdom
of Christ. And he says right here in verse
16, the last shall be first and the first last. Let me give you
these ten things right quick. He that thinks he's first is
last. And he that thinks he's last
is first. That's the way it is in Christ's
kingdom. The humble are exalted and the proud are abased. The
empty are filled, and the full are sent away empty. The ignorant
and unlearned are taught of God, and the understanding of the
prudent is brought to nothing. Those who confess their blindness
are given sight, and those who say, We see, remain blind. Those
who lose their lives for Christ's sake and the gospel, they find
their lives. And those who find their lives,
they lose their lives. The poor inherit the earth and
the rich lose all. Those who laugh are cursed and
those who mourn are blessed. The strong fall and the weak
stand. Those who are loved of this world
are cursed of God. And those who are hated by this
world are loved. That's the rules of Christ's
kingdom. The Lord Jesus looks down upon our poor fallen humanity
and he says to all of us, here's the rule of my kingdom. Don't
ever forget this. This is the rule of my kingdom.
My kingdom is not like your kingdom. My kingdom is a heavenly kingdom,
a gracious kingdom. And here's the rule of it. Don't
ever forget this. This is the rule of my kingdom.
My thoughts are not your thoughts, and my ways are not your ways. That's the rules of Christ's
kingdom, ain't it? It's right backwards from what you and I
know. Let me tell you this right quickly,
and I'll close. Five quick things. If you and I would seek to maintain
a gracious attitude before the Lord, number one is this. If we could ever keep this in
our hearts, think of all the people around us who have died
and are dying lost. And before God, there's no difference
in them and us. We were born just like they were
born. We live just like they live. The only difference was
God was pleased in sovereign grace to save us. All for Christ's
sake. Don't get away from this. Live
in the light of this every day. He chose you. He redeemed you. He called you. He gave you life
and all things that pertain to life in Godliness. He's given
you everything. And He's passed by so many others.
Don't ever forget that. And He made the difference. He
made the difference. Realize you and I have nothing
to bargain with. All we have is weakness and sinfulness. Can we trade our misery for eternal
life? Will we dare bring our bucket
of maggots to trade for a T-bone? It's unreasonable to bargain
with God. Stop bargaining and bow. Just bow. And number three, let this mind
be in you, which was in Christ Jesus. When He was found in fashion
as a man, just like you and I are, what did He do? He humbled Himself
and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Let this mind be in us. Don't get exalted. Don't become
proud in self-righteousness. We're just men. That's all we
are. We, sinful men, humble ourselves
and be a follower of God. That's dear children. We know
nothing. We are nothing. We have nothing.
Let Christ be all. And without Him, we're nothing
and have nothing. And what He does and teaches,
we don't know. Honor your brothers, honor your
sisters above yourself. Always honor your brothers and
sisters above yourself. Seek their good above your own
good. Seek their gifts. Seek to cultivate
them. Pray God's blessings upon them. Since I've heard of your faith
in Christ, I've ceased not to pray for you. I tell you, the
best antidote against jealousy is to pray for the person you're
jealous of. The best antidote against hatred and ill feelings
against somebody is to pour your heart out to God to bless those
people. Pray for the brothers and sisters. Number five, leave your reward
in the hands of God Himself. Let Him decide that issue. If
there's any well done's to be said, don't you dare say them
to yourself. And don't even desire that other
people say them to you and about you. Let God be the one to say
it. Well done, thou good and faithful
servant. Let Him be your reward. Let Him
reward you. And let Him decide what it will
be. Don't bargain with Him. I'm telling you what, He can
give you more than you can ever imagine, than you can ever think. Why would we bargain when He's
willing and able to bless us to a greater degree than we could
ever ask or think? Leave that with Him. Be ye steadfast,
unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. For as
much as you know, your labor's not in vain in the Lord. He's
not unrighteous to forget your work and your labor of love. But just do it and forget about
it. If there's any rewards, if there's
any well-dones to be said, let God say them. Let God say them. May the Lord bless His Word.
Let's pray.