The first last and the last first. What does that mean? The disciples watched while that
rich young ruler left in sadness. because he was not able to give
up his possessions and become one whose only treasure was in
heaven. Peter, his penchant for saying
really dumb things at this time comes in full display. Now, as they were watching that
man leave, who did not give up all, verse 28, then Peter began
to say unto him, lo, we have left all and followed thee. And in Matthew's account, he
says, along with that, what shall we have therefore? What is in
this for us after we've made this great sacrifice? What is
in this for us? We've left everything and we
have followed thee. Matthew's account said, then
answered Peter. No one asked him anything, but
then answered Peter. What is in this for us after
all the sacrifice we have made? Question. Is leaving all and following
Christ a sacrifice or a privilege of grace? Let me repeat that. Is leaving all and following
Christ a sacrifice or is it a privilege of grace? Now, Peter says something
really dumb and really not true. I think it sounds kind of like
some of the songs in our hymn book. All to Jesus I surrender. All to him I freely give. I will ever love and trust him
in his presence daily live. All to Jesus I surrender. Humbly
at his feet I bow. Worldly pleasures all forsaken. Take me, Jesus. Take me now. Peter's statement at this time
is somewhat like that. But you know, through Peter's
dumb statements, The Lord uses that to teach us some of the
most glorious truth concerning his gospel. And through this
dumb statement, we are given what is personally my favorite
parable. We're going to be getting to
that in a moment. But lo, we've left all. I think of Paul's words, I've
suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung. Now Paul used that language.
When is the last time, and I say this, I don't want to be crass,
but it's what Paul's saying. When's the last time you flushed
the toilet and thought of all your sacrificing and all your
giving up? That's what Paul says about it.
I've suffered the loss of all things and do count it as nothing
more than dung that I may win Christ and be found in him. Verse 28, then Peter began to
say unto him, lo, we've left all in the fall of thee. And
Jesus answered and said, verily, I say unto you, there is no man
that hath left house or brethren or sisters or father or mother
or wife or children or lands for my sake and the gospel that
he shall receive a hundredfold. You can't be the loser and fall
in Christ. You can't out give him. Even in this life, you'll
receive a hundredfold. Now, does that mean if I give
$10, I'll get back a thousand? That's the way most people would
look at that. You give to get. But that's not
what the Lord is saying. But you think about this. You
know, when my mom died, two different women from other churches, I
preached and called them up and said, I wanna be your mother.
I have many mothers. I have many fathers. I have many
lands. I don't have any doubt that if
I was in a tight place, everybody in this room would let me stay
with them. I have no doubt. Every believer has many brothers,
many sisters. What a blessing it is to be a
follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is such a thing as leaving
something for Christ's sake and the gospels. Now, let me give
you a story that I've used this as an illustration, but I've
never given the full story because I didn't know it until this week. I ran across it and it was a
real blessing to me. This is a true story. There was
a man by the name of Bill Borden and his parents were rich. They had become rich in Chicago
from real estate transactions, they owned silver mines in Colorado,
and they were multimillionaires back at the turn of the century.
And in 1908, Bill Borden, who was 21 years old, had $1 million
of his own. Now, somebody says, that doesn't
sound like that much, what it does to me, but that was the
equivalent of $40 million at that time. $40 million, that's
a lot of money. He went to Yale and graduated,
and then he gave every dime to foreign missions. I feel quite
sure that he didn't try to advertise that. Somebody just found out
about it and told, you know, somebody's going to find out
something like that. And they tell, and he gave every dime
he had to foreign missions. And then, against his dad's wishes,
he moved to Cairo, Egypt. to study the language there so
he could preach the gospel to the Muslims. He left everything
to do that, and his dad did not want him to do that. He had a
bright future, and he was throwing it all away. And after he had
been there for three weeks, he contracted spinal meningitis
and died. He's buried there to this day.
His tombstone is there to this day. And they sent his belongings
back, and his father found this. In his Bible, no reserve, no retreat, no regrets. Now I could talk about what a
great guy he was, but that would be inappropriate. What a great,
infinitely great savior he had. that would cause him to say,
no reserve, no retreat, no regrets. That's how he felt about what
was doing. It certainly was not a meaningless
life. It was, by the grace of God,
a glorious life. I hope that, I hope the Lord
will put that in our hearts, from such a love to Christ, no
reserve, No retreat. No regrets. But Peter says, what's
in this for us? We're going to get to that in
Matthew's account. He doesn't only say, we've left everything.
He says, what are we going to have there for? What is in this
for us? What kind of payment shall we
receive for our great sacrifices? What kind of reward will we,
Receive for what we've done here on earth. We've left everything
and follow thee that miserable rich young ruler He couldn't
do it. He couldn't pay the cost but we did What is in it for
us? Now this kind of thinking has
spawned the idea of heavenly rewards The more you put in and
do it here the better you'll have it in heaven The more you
will enjoy heaven. I even had a man say to me a
preacher He said to me, I believe my enjoyment of heaven will be
in direct proportion to my personal obedience here on earth. A preacher told the story of
a wealthy lady who died and went to heaven. When she got there,
there was a big spacious mansion. And she thought, this is my eternal
home. And the angel said, no, it's
not your cleaning ladies. She was shocked. My cleaning ladies? He said, no, your house is over
there. It's a little two-bedroom, one-bath bungalow. Wasn't much
to it. And she said, why am I getting
such a small house? She said, well, you didn't send
any building material up by your good works and the things you've
done. And your cleaning lady, oh, her
life was filled with good works, and she sent up enough stuff
here to have a big mansion. Where does that kind of foolishness
come from? And it's wicked foolishness. Call it what it is. It's wicked
foolishness. Well, that's lost preachers trying
to motivate lost people. That's all it is. lost preachers
who have no understanding of the gospel, trying to motivate
people to do things. This whole kind of thinking is
mercenary. There's no love in it, no love to Christ, no love
for your brethren wanting to get a higher place than them. But at any rate, the Lord does
say, He shall receive a hundredfold now and this time houses and
brethren and sisters and mothers and children and land with persecutions
and in the world to come. You'll be persecuted if you preach
the gospel. You can be sure of that. But in the world to come,
I love to think of the world to come. This is just a passing
vapor. It's not gonna last much longer.
Old Paul said to dies gain for a believer. Blessed are the dead
that die in the Lord. In the world to come eternal
life, but many that are first shall be last and the last first. Now this was the Lord's answer
to Peter's question. We've left everything, what's
in it for us? Now turn back to Matthew chapter
20. This is Matthew's account of
the same event. Verse 27, then answered Peter
and said unto him, behold, we forsaken all and followed thee.
What shall we have therefore? What's in this for us? What kind
of reward are we going to receive? What kind of payment are we going
to have? And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you,
that you which have followed me in the regeneration, when
the son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, you shall
also 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 namesake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit
eternal life. But many that are first shall
be last, and the last shall be first for." Now here is the Lord's
explanation of what this means. Many that are first shall be
last, and many that are last shall be first for. And we're
given the parable of the workers of the vineyard. And I suppose
that this is my favorite parable because it's so utterly unlike
the way we think. This is altogether other, just
like God is altogether other. He's just not like me and you. This is God. Four, the kingdom
of heaven. That's the kingdom where the
Lord just said to that rich young ruler, it's harder for a camel
to go through an eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter
the kingdom of heaven. If you have any possessions,
you're not going to get there. This is the same kingdom where he
said, my kingdom is not of this world. This is the kingdom he's
talking about. And anytime we hear that, it
ought to really catch our attention. The kingdom of heaven. Well,
what's it like? For the kingdom of heaven is
likened to a man that is a householder, that represents the Lord, which
went out early in the morning, six o'clock in the morning actually,
to hire laborers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the
laborers for a penny a day, Now that is a Roman coin, a silver
coin that would have represented a day's wages. It's not a penny
as we think of a penny, but let's, for argument's sake, let's think
it's worth $10. He hired them for a penny a day,
a working man's wages. 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, 9 a.m., and saw others standing idle
in the marketplace. Now, I got to thinking about
these fellas. You know what, I bet they were in bed at 6 a.m. How come they weren't there?
I think they were in bed. And whenever the word idle is
used, why stand ye idle? That means worthless and lazy.
That's what the word means by definition. And what he's saying
to these people, why are you conducting yourself in this worthless
and lazy manner here at 9am? Verse four, he said unto them,
go ye also into the vineyard and I'll rate your pay for nine
hours a day. No, he said whatsoever is right. That is critically important.
Whatsoever is right, that will I give you. Now, if a man goes
to hell, if I go to hell, I'm getting what is right. I'm being
paid exactly for what I deserve. But here's the glory of the gospel.
If a man goes to heaven, he's getting what is right. It's called
justification. The Lord has made it with regard
to every believer that you have never sinned. You stand before
God without guilt and without sin. That's what justification
is. And when you enter heaven, it'll be because it's right.
He said, whatever is right. Notice he doesn't say, that will
I pay you. He says, that will I give you. You know, every believer
knows if you're given justification, it's not because you personally
earned it, it's because he gave it to you. Whatsoever is right,
the glory of my saving, redeeming work, whatsoever is right, I
will give you. And they went their way. Verse
five, again, he went out about the six hour, noon, Fellow standing idle, I guess
they slept even later. I don't know, I'm just making
suppositions, I realize that, but where were they at nine o'clock?
Where were they at six o'clock? He goes out at noon, he says
the same thing to them, whatever's right I'll give you, you go work.
And then at three p.m., same thing, what have these guys been
doing all day? Who knows? But he says the same
thing to them. Whatsoever's right, that shall
you receive. And then we read in verse six,
and about the 11th hour, 5 p.m., he went out and found others
standing idle. And that's not a good thing.
That's not just they didn't have work. They were worthless. They were lazy. They were useless.
That's what the word means. Standing idle. Here it is 5 o'clock. They haven't done anything all
day. They've been utterly worthless. And about the 11th hour, he went
out and found others standing idle and saith unto them, why
stand ye here all the day idle? They said unto him, because no
man hath hired us. Now, I'm not sure that I believe them. I really
am not. I mean, where were they all day?
If they would have been there at three o'clock, he would have
hired them. If they would have been there at noon, he would
have hired them. If they would have been there at nine, he would have hired
them. If they would have been there at six, he would have hired them. But they weren't
anywhere to be found, and here they are at five o'clock standing
idle. And what does the good man say? They said unto him,
because no man hath hired us, he saith unto them, go ye also
into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. Whatever's right, whatever's
just, whatever's righteous, that is precisely what you are going
to receive. Now let's say, $10 an hour was what the penny amounted
to, $10 an hour. Verse eight, so when even was
come, the Lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, call
the labors and give them their hire beginning from the last. The fellows who only worked one
hour unto the first, the fellows who worked 12 hours. At 12 hours
in the hot sun, working in the vineyard is not easy. An hour
is much more tolerable, there's no doubt about that. Obviously,
some did much more work than the others. And by our standards,
they would deserve more pay. Verse 9. And when they came forth that
were hired about the 11th hour, they received every man a penny. The same thing that the 12-hour
laborers had agreed for. Now, the 12-hour laborers worked
12 hours. Maybe they got paid $120, 10
bucks an hour. These one-hour laborers were
paid $120 for one hour's work. Big difference. And remember, he said whatsoever
is right, I'll give you. But, verse 10, when the first
came, they supposed that they should have received more. Now put yourself in their place.
Would you make the same supposition? I worked 12 hours. He worked
one hour. I did 12 times more than him.
I made the owner much more money. I did more things. I did more
work. I should get more. Everybody in this room and outside
of this room would make the same supposition. I should get more. And can you imagine how shocked
they were when they received a penny? The same thing that
the one-hour workers received. Something's wrong with this. Something is unjust. Something
is not right. Now, wait a minute. What did
you agree to work for at 6 a.m.? A penny. A penny. Do you have any reason
to think that you should be getting any more than what the good man
of the house said he'd give you? A penny. There was nothing unjust
going on. Verse 11, and when they had received
it, They murmured against the good man of the house saying,
these that have wrought but one hour and thou has made them equal
unto us which have borne the burden and the heat of the day. Now, working for the good man
was a burden to them, wasn't it? You know, I can say this so,
truly about religion. Religion's a very unhappy thing.
You have men and women doing what they really don't want to
do and not doing what they really want to do. And that's what these
men express. You've made them equal to us
which have borne the burden and the heat of the day. Now let
me make three observations about this murmuring. Number one, these
men had a commercial spirit. What's in it for us? What kind
of pay are we gonna get? This is play for pay. It's not love. If a mother has a sick child,
Is she gonna refuse to care for it if she's not paid a good wage? No, she loves that child. The kingdom of heaven is about
love. God is love. And these men had nothing but
a commercial mercenary spirit. Next, they had a competitive
spirit. You've made them equal with us. Well, we're better than
they are. We've done more than them. And
you put them on the same plane as us. This thing of competition
for who's the holiest, who's the godliest, who's the most
useful, who has God used the most. There's, you know, when
you have that kind of attitude, you can't rejoice in what the
Lord does with somebody else. It was a competitive spirit. It was a commercial spirit. It
was a competitive spirit, and it was a complaining spirit.
They murmured. They murmured at the good man
of the house, this is not fair. Now what I thought about was
the elder brother. You read about him in Luke chapter 15, he sees
that worthless brother of his who has taken all of his daddy's
money and wasted it on harlots and he comes back and he's angry. Why are you treating him this
way? Why, he's wasted all your money
on harlots and you give him the best robe? Him? You give him
the best robe, the righteousness of Christ? You give him that
eternal ring signifying your eternal love? You put shoes on
his feet and enable him to walk in the gospel? That's unfair. I don't like that. You've made
him, I'm a better son than he is. You've made him equal to
me. I think of Romans chapter 9, for the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand not of works, but
of him that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger as it's written, Jacob have I loved,
Esau have I hated. What should we say then? Is that
unfair? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. Perish the thought of such thinking,
for he says to Moses, I'll have mercy on whom I will have mercy.
I'll have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then,
it's not of him that runneth nor of him that worketh, but
of God that showeth mercy. Well, you'll say to me, why is
he yet found fault for who has resisted his will? I mean, if
he hardens Pharaoh's heart, and if he hardens my heart, and there's
nothing I can do with it, how can he hold me responsible? Who
hath resisted his will? Nay, but, O man, who are you
to reply against God? You know, men complain with God's
grace is what they're complaining with. You see, that man was gracious
to that one-hour worker, wasn't he? Oh, what generosity, what
grace, what goodness he demonstrated to that one-hour worker. And
what was the 12-hour worker's response? That's not fair. Understand, fair is hell. If God gives me and you, What
we have earned in and of ourselves, there's only one end. Hell. That's what fair is. But oh, how good, how gracious
is God. And look what he says. But he answered one of them and
said, friend, I do thee no wrong. Didst not thou agree with me
for a penny? Yeah, that's exactly what they
agreed for. Take that thine is, and go thy
way. I will give unto this last even
as unto thee. You see, God's God. You know
what that means? He does exactly what he wants.
all the time, and whatever he does is good, whatever he does
is right, and it's right because he does it. He said, I'll give
to this last, even unto thee. Is that sinful on my part? Is
that unfair because I'm gracious to this man? If I give somebody
in this room $100, am I a bad person because I didn't give
it to everybody in here? No, it was an act of grace. graciousness
on my part. That's what the Lord says. Is it not lawful for me to do
what I will with my own? How are you going to answer that? This is God. Yes, it's lawful
for him to do whatever he wills with his own. He does whatever
he wills with his own. He does whatever he wills, you
see. He's God. He doeth according to his will
in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? He is God. Can I not do what I will with
mine own? Is thine eye evil because I'm
good, because of my goodness and generosity? Are you going
to charge me with being unfair and wrong and evil? Can you see
the monstrosity of every time that we think, and I've done
it, you've done it, any time we think that's not fair, that's
not fair. All of a sudden we become God's
judge. I mean, you don't have any reason
to sit in judgment upon God. So then, verse 16, here's what
all this means. The first, the last shall be
first, and the first last. We've left everything to follow
thee. What are we gonna have? The last
are gonna be first, and the first, they're gonna be last. You ask,
oh, let's take the thief on the cross.
Let's take Lot. Let's take the publican in the
temple. Should these men be equal to
Moses, Abraham, David, and Paul? Ask Moses, Abraham, David, and
Paul. I know what they'd say. Yes, we're saved the same way,
by the righteousness of Christ, because of the electing mercy
of God, because of the power of the blood of Christ, because
of the grace of the Holy Spirit. We're saved the same way. We
don't want a higher position in glory. We don't deserve a
higher position in glory. If you deserve a higher position
in glory, I hope you get one. I really do. I hope you get one.
But it ain't gonna happen. It ain't gonna happen. It doesn't
work that way. You know, there's an Old Testament story in 1 Samuel
30 that teaches the same thing, where the men who fought, all
of a sudden, Belial, the wicked, worthless men, that's what that
word means, when they went to get the spoils from Ziklag, where
the Amalekites had taken the spoils, and David went back,
and those men, and 600 men went after them, 200 were too tired
to get across the brook. And they stayed back and didn't
go to the fight, and 400 men went and destroyed the Malakites,
they came back. And then the scripture says,
all of the sons of Beelzebul said, these fellows that didn't
work, they don't get any of the spoils. We'll give them their
wives and children back, but they're not getting any of the
wealth. They're not gonna get any of the riches. But I love
what David said. David said, these would be David's spoils.
These are David's spoils. These are the greater David's
spoils. And he gives to every man exactly
as he will. And it became a statute in Israel
that everybody got the same thing. You can read about this in 1
Samuel chapter 30. And I love the way he ends this.
So the last shall be first, the first last, for many be called. You know who's included in that?
Everybody. Listen, if you come to Christ, you won't be refused. If you come to Christ for mercy,
you won't be turned away. If you seek Him, you will find
Him. That's the promise. The call
is to all men everywhere. God commands all men everywhere
to repent. Don't look at this and think,
well, there's no point in me seeking the Lord. You seek, you'll
find. You knock, it'll be open to you.
Ask and you shall receive. Anybody who comes to mercy is
received. Him that cometh to me, I'll in no wise cast out.
Aren't you thankful for that? Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. That being true. Few elected. Few chosen. Does the Lord have more people
than the devil? You know, that's a little silly. Whoever the Lord has, whether
it's more or less, it's the ones he's chosen. And many are called,
everybody is, including you. And if you do respond to his
call, you'll find out you were chosen. Many be called if you
were chosen. Let's pray together. Lord, how we thank you for your
word, how altogether other, how altogether glorious, how altogether
God-like your gospel is. And Lord, we stand amazed that
you would be pleased to reveal yourself to us. Lord, to think that when You give us Your salvation. Because
of Thy blessed Son, You give us what is right. We give thanks. Lord, enable us to preach Your
gospel in this generation. Bless us for Christ's sake. In
His name we pray. Amen.