The Reward of the Righteous

today to turn with me to the
book of Matthew, chapter 20. Now, this is a very, very familiar
passage of scripture. In fact, a friend of mine recently
was subpoenaed as a witness in a very important court trial
and had something to do with the Church and the school and
the federal government and wages and things like this. And the
judge on the bench asked my friend if he could interpret the parable
in Matthew 20. And my friend said, I can. And
so the judge sat and listened and had the lawyers sit and listen
and all the court while this man interpreted the parable of
Matthew 20. Very important. And I'll tell
you, it answers some questions that you might have on your mind
and heart. I think I'll call this message,
What About Rewards in Heaven? Just about all the preachers
are preaching rewards in heaven, talking about cabins and castles
and talking about clowns and stars and talking about all these
different rewards that we're going to receive when we get
to heaven. Some folks are going to live in mansions and some
in cabins and Some are going to have seven or eight crowns
and some none. What does the Bible teach about
reward in heaven? Degrees of glory. Is there such
a thing? Well, you'll find the answer
right here in Matthew 20. Let me read it. And this is, when
you want to interpret the scripture, first of all, find out who's
teaching. To whom is he speaking? And what's
the subject? That's Bible. Who's speaking? To whom is he speaking? And what's
the subject? Now, you notice chapter 20 begins
with for, F-O-R. That's not a way to begin a new
thought, is it? A new subject? You see, when
the Bible was written, it wasn't written in chapters and verses.
Did you know that? is written in epistles and books
and paragraphs. There were no chapters and verses.
It was translated from Hebrew and Greek into English and other
languages, over a thousand different languages. They put in the chapters
and verses so we could find things, conveniently find and remember
things. But I'll show you in a moment
that this parable begins in the preceding chapter. It doesn't
begin right here. Let me read it to you. is like unto a man that is a
householder, which went out early in the morning to hire laborers
for to work in his vineyard. He went out about six o'clock
in the morning, very early. And when he had agreed with the
laborers for a penny a day, a penny, a Roman penny a day, whatever
that amounted to, he sent them to work in the vineyard. And
he went out about the third hour, that's 9 a.m. now, the third
hour is 9 a.m. And he saw other men standing
idle in the marketplace. He said, Go work in my vineyard,
and whatever's right, I'll give to you. And they did. And then
about the 6th hour, 12 noon, and the 9th hour, 3 p.m., he
did the same. And about the 11th hour, now
my friend, this is 5 o'clock in the evening. The fellows that
were out there working in the vineyard had been out there since
6, some of them since 9, some since 12, some since 3, and here
it is 5 o'clock in the evening, one hour before dark, and he
went out and found some men standing in the marketplace, and he said,
why are you fellows standing here idle? And they said, nobody's
hired us, nobody's hired us. He said, go ye also into my vineyard,
and whatever's right, I'll give you. So when the evening was
come, work was over, 6 p.m., the Lord of the vineyards said
to his steward, call the laborers from the vineyards, all of them,
and give them their hire, beginning at the last. The ones hired at
5 o'clock, pay them first. And then the ones hired at 3,
one at 12, one at 9. The ones that were hired first
this morning, pay them last. And when they came, the girls
that were hired at the 11th hour, everybody received the same wages.
Everybody got a penny. Those hired at 5 o'clock received
a penny, those at 3, 12, 9, 6. And when the first came, the
fellas that had been working all day in the vineyard, they
thought they should have received more than these other fellas.
They worked longer, but every man received the same. And when
they received the same, and when they received it, they murmured.
They found fault with the good men of the house. And they said,
why these lads, these people that you hired at 5 o'clock only
worked an hour. And you've made them equal with
us. You've made them equal with us.
And we born in the heat of the day. And he answered one of them
and said, friend, I did thee no wrong. Did you not agree with
me to work for a penny, is that correct, a Roman penny? Yes,
we did. Then take that which is yours
and go your way. I will give unto the last even
as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do
with my own what I will? Is your eye evil because I'm
good? So the last shall be first and
the first shall be last. for many because and few are
chosen." Now, as I said to you, this parable that I've just read
to you has its beginning back in the preceding verses in chapter
19, because our Lord Jesus Christ is speaking, and he's speaking
to his disciples, and he gave them this parable. And there's
a reason for it. Here's the reason. If you go
back to chapter There was a very wealthy young man who approached
our Lord, a very wealthy young man, and he said to the Lord,
he said, Good Master, what good thing shall I do to inherit eternal
life? And you know the story. The Master
told him, he said, Well, if you want to do something, if you
want to gain eternal life by doing something, by working,
then keep the commandments, keep the law, live perfectly. Well,
he said, I've done that. Well, the Lord exposed his covetousness
and his greed and his self-righteousness and his selfishness by saying,
well, go sell what you have and give it to the poor. You're a
rich man and your next-door neighbor is doing without. You have plenty
of clothes and people around you are naked. You have a lot
of food and people around you are starving. You don't love
your neighbors yourself. You haven't kept the law. Go
sell what you have and give it to the poor. And this young man
turned and walked away. for he had great riches and great
treasures. Our Lord said, Go, sell what
you have, give it to the poor, take up your cross and follow
me, and you'll have treasure in heaven. But no, he wanted
his treasure on earth. He had great wealth and great
riches, and he turned and walked away. Now then, the Apostle Peter,
remembering what the Lord had said to that rich young man,
In verse 27 of chapter 19, the apostle Peter walked right up
to the master, and he said to him, Master, behold, we apostles
have forsaken all that we have and followed you. What will be
our reward? What shall we have? You see this? You with me? The Master just
said to that rich young man, sell all you have, give it to
the poor and follow me and you'll have treasure in heaven. And
the young man turned and walked away because he had great riches.
And that's when Peter said, Now Lord, behold, we apostles have
forsaken all and followed you, what shall we have? Now the disciples
didn't have the wealth that young man had. They didn't have the
treasure that young man had, but all that they had They had
given up. They'd given up their boats,
their vocation, their labor, their families, their friends.
They'd left everything. They'd denied themselves. They'd
followed Christ. While others rejected him and
denied him, these disciples denied themselves and they followed
Christ. They literally had forsaken all. Now Peter's asking, what
reward shall we have? What part will we play in the
kingdom? What shall be our reward? Now then, the Master answers
them in verse 28. Now this is no small matter to
these disciples, and our Lord didn't treat it lightly. But
he answered them very candidly, very positively, and very tenderly. And he said to them, talking
to his disciples, he said, you that have followed me, you that
have followed me, and they indeed have, they'd given up their work
and they'd walked with him. They'd given up their families
and walked with him. They left all they had and they
followed Christ. Now he said, you men, you twelve,
that have followed me in the regeneration, in the regeneration,
the word is in the reformation, in the regeneration, when the
Son of Man shall sit on his throne of his glory, you shall judge. the twelve tribes of Israel."
Now, what is he saying to these twelve apostles? What is he saying to them? In
the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on his throne in
his glory, you shall sit on thrones also and judge the twelve tribes
of Israel. Well, this is not the grace of
regeneration. I know that because in the new
birth the apostles have no part. And then I know this is not the
resurrection and the last judgment. Peter's got no right to be judge
and sinner because he was a sinner himself. John has no right to
be judge and sinner. The Apostle Paul has no right
to be judge and sinner sitting on the throne of God. God's committed
all judgment to the Son. So he's not talking about the
twelve apostles sitting on twelve thrones up yonder in the resurrection
at the great white throne judging anybody. What our Lord's talking
about here is right then, right then. For that was the Reformation. As John the Baptist said, the
kingdom of heaven is at hand. The Lord Jesus, after he died
on the cross, was buried and rose again, sat down at the right
hand of God. He's the king. He's the king
priest. He reigns. You see, the old tabernacle
is gone. Christ is our tabernacle. The
old high priest is gone. Christ is our priest. You see
that? The old atonement is gone. Christ
is our atonement. The old covenant is done away.
Christ is the new covenant. This is a new day. This is the
regeneration. This is the day the Lord hath
made. And these twelve apostles had a particular, particular
office and service in that day. The Lord commissioned them. empowered
them, and gifted them, made them apostles. There aren't any apostles
today, there weren't but twelve. And those twelve were apostles
who saw the Lord, who received their message directly from them,
and had supernatural, unusual power to raise the dead, heal
the sick, restore the blind, the lame, they had unusual power,
and they even wrote the scriptures. They judged Israel. They judged
all men. We read their words with authority. Christ said to his twelve apostles,
he that heareth you, heareth me. You speak for me. When you
go into town, they won't receive you. Shake the dust off your
feet as a testimony against them. What you bind on earth will be
bound. What you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. These
twelve apostles had power. They were judges. Paul wrote
to one of the churches. He said, now you better straighten
yourself up. You don't want me to come down
there. I couldn't say anything like that. I'm just a man like
you, sinner saved by grace. I preach the gospel. I'm not
an apostle. There aren't any apostles. The
twelve apostles, now Peter looked at the Lord. After that young
man had walked off and he said to the Lord, we've left everything,
we apostles have left everything and followed you. In this day
of denial, in this day of crucifixion, in this day of hate, In this
day when you're despised and spit upon and hated of all men,
we followed you. Now what are we going to have?
And our Lord said, Behold, I say unto you, ye that have followed
me in the regeneration, in the reformation, in this day, in
the day of the revelation of the kingdom of God, when all
of the Old Testament types and shadows and pictures are fulfilled,
you'll be judges, you'll be authorities, you'll be men gifted. God will
use you mightily. But not only you. Not only you,
everyone, not only you disciples, but all who believe, all who
pay the price of discipleship, shall receive a hundredfold.
Houses and brothers and sisters, Mark said, right now at this
time. Right now. And in eternity, everlasting
life. You see that? Oh, we're blessed
now. We're blessed now. I have many
homes. Many homes. I can go to places
all over this country and stay in homes and eat at tables. I
have brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers. I have friends everywhere. Brethren, every believer is part
of a huge, great family. And what I have is yours. What
you have is another believer's. Yeah, he said everyone. Everyone
is blessed. But, look at verse 30. Now watch
this. But many that are first. shall be last, and the last shall
be first. Now you disciples are special,
you're apostles, you're men of power and gifts, and you're special. But let me tell you this, you're
the first, you first trusted in Christ, you first heard the
gospel, you first preached the gospel. But I'm telling you this,
I'm warning you, I'm warning you against falling into a legal
spirit, a legal spirit of merit, position, power and rewards,
the first shall be last and the last shall be first. Beware of
calculating rewards and crowns and positions in a kingdom where
such a legal spirit is entirely out of place. That's when the
Lord gave that parable. Boy, he said, now watch it my
friend, are you with me? This young rich man couldn't
part with his riches and follow Christ. The disciples did. What
they had they parted with. They were hated and despised.
They were all martyred except John who died in exile. And Peter
said, well now we've left everything and followed you. What are we
going to have? He said, you're special. You're somebody. And God's honored
you and God's going to use you. God's going to use you. But let
me tell you this now, Peter. The last shall be first and the
first shall be last. I say unto you, now watch that
next verse, chapter 20 verse 1, I say unto you, a certain
man had a vineyard, and he went out into the vineyard, out into
the marketplace, at six o'clock in the morning, and he hired
some men, and told them he'd pay them a penny, I'll pay you
a penny. And at nine he hired some more,
and he said I'll pay you what's right. He never repeated the
penny again, just said I'll pay you what's right. Twelve, three
in the afternoon, and he hired some people at five p.m., and
they went out to work. And then when the day was over,
he went to the steward and said, I call them all in from the fields,
from the vineyard, and start paying them. And give them all
the same thing. Give them all a penny. And pay
the last first, and the first last. For verily I say unto you,
many are called, but few are chosen. And many that be first
shall be last, and the last shall be first. My friends, all the
children of God are loved with the same love. All the children
of God are chosen by the same grace. They're all redeemed by
the same blood. They're all justified by the
same Spirit. They all wear the same wedding
garment. They all wear the robe of Christ's righteousness. They're
all called to the same heaven and the same hope and the same
glory. They're all sons of God. They're
all joint heirs equally with Jesus Christ. That's what some
of these people that were hired early in the morning, they came
in to the master and they said, those fellows that came in last
year, you made them equal with us. Well, my friends, in the
kingdom of God, that's true. We're all equal in Christ because
we're all complete. You see, Christ is our wisdom,
and I have as much wisdom as you do, spiritually. And the
fellow that's been saved by Christ when he's 60 years old, he has
the same wisdom Christ, the same righteousness, the same redemption,
and the same life, the same sanctification. We're complete in Christ. We're
all the same. There are no degrees of glory.
There are no literal crowns and stars and cabins and castles
in heaven. When our Lord said, in my Father's
house are many mansions, the word mansions doesn't mean a
literal castle or mansion, it's dwelling places. That's what
Paul said in Corinthians. He said, if this earthly tabernacle,
a tent, be dissolved, I have a dwelling place, a building,
not made with hands, not sticks and stones and marble, but spiritual,
eternal in the heavens. All God's children are the same.
They're no degrees of glory. They're not passing out rewards
in heaven to those that work the longest or serve the hardest
or gave the most. Because we're redeemed by grace
alone. Let me show you something. It's
true on this earth that all believers are not called to Christ at the
same age. Timothy. Paul said of Timothy,
from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures. that are
able to make thee wise unto salvation. But Saul of Tarsus, Paul was
40 years old before God saved him. But I tell you this, when
a man is saved is when it pleases the Lord. Now if he wants to
call one at 12, that's fine, like those he called at 6 in
the morning. If he wants to call one at 20, fine, call like 9
in the morning. If he wants to call one at 40,
that's fine, 12 noon. If he wants to call one at 60
or 55, that's 3 in the afternoon, and if God Almighty, in his good
pleasure, chooses to wait until a man's 75 or a woman to save
their souls, hire them at 5 in the evening, they'll walk in
heaven crowned, robed, loved, received, and glorified as much
as that one saved when he was 15 or 20. That's what Christ
is teaching in this parable. Because men are saved when it
pleases the Lord. And then it's true on this earth.
Now listen to me, on this earth, I know all believers don't have
the same offices and the same gifts. No, so the Holy Spirit
gives gifts according to his will. He gives some the gift
to preach, but he gives it. He gives some the gift to sing,
but he gives it. He prospers some financialists
so they can support more than others, but he's the one who
gives it. You can receive nothing except it be given you from above. What do you have that you didn't
receive? Who made you to differ? The Holy Spirit gives gifts as
he will. But let me tell you something.
In glory, all these gifts cease. I'm not going to be a preacher
in glory. You're not going to be a deacon in glory. cease in
glory. We know in part, we preach in
part, we see through a glass dimly, but when that which is
perfect is come, we're going to know as we've known. You don't
think somebody's going to run around in heaven talking about
a good sermon he preached. Why, he'll look at that sermon
and think, boy, that was terrible. That's terrible. Because it's
so far beneath the knowledge we'll have then, the glory we'll
have then. This is nothing. You're going
to take it up there? Paul said, well what I heard
up there I can't even tell you down here in your language. You
couldn't understand it. It's true that all believers
do not have the same measure of faith. There's little faith
and great faith and much faith. We all don't have the same measure
of growth, but we're complete in Christ. I'll tell you if a
steel post is in the ground here and there's a little vine and
a big vine wrapped around it. You move the post, both of them
are false. And so it doesn't matter whether you have little
faith or great faith or long faith or short faith, it's Christ,
the object of faith, that keeps you, not your faith. And it's
true that all believers do not have the same opportunity for
service. You men, some of you work in the steel mill and the
coal mines and the railroad and ashton oil and other places.
Some of you men are physicians, some are lawyers, some are working
in the stores. I got all day to study the word,
to go out and preach, to hold these television services. Why
should I be rewarded more than you? Without you I wouldn't have
this program. Without that church in Ashland
I wouldn't be here tonight preaching. We're all his servants. We serve
where he puts us, when he puts us, with the gifts he gives us,
and the ability he gives us, and we're still unprofitable
servants. I tell you this, this business
of rewards in heaven turns my stomach. It's contrary to grace,
it's contrary to the scriptures, it's contrary to the glory of
God, it's contrary to kindness, it's contrary to love, it's contrary
to the teaching of Christ. When this life is over and prophets
and apostles and missionaries and pastors and deacons and all
God's little children, The folks that have been in a long time,
the folks that haven't been in long, are gathered before him.
They'll be saved by Christ, redeemed by Christ, robed in the righteousness
of Christ, accepted in the beloved, and we'll be one in him. And
the first will be last, and the last will be first. That's what
our Lord showed in that parable now, and you better learn it.
But you made them equal with us. Well, God called me when
I was 24 years old. That's when I learned the gospel.
I baptized a man not long ago who was about 70. Now then, I've
enjoyed knowing Christ all these years. It's been a blessing. It hasn't been a chore. It hasn't
been a difficult time. I've already received a blessing.
How can I talk of sacrificing for Christ in the light of his
sacrifice for me? I've never resisted under blood.
It's been a joyful life. It's been a happy life. It's
been a rejoicing time. Would you say, would you give
up for Christ, preacher? Well, I gave up my unrest and
got his peace. I gave up my guilt and received
his grace. I gave up my misery, received
his mercy. I gave up my poverty for his
plenty. I gave up my sorrow for his joy. I gave up my rags for his righteousness. I never gave up anything. I never
have. And you haven't either. Everything
we have, we've received. It's all been a blessing. And
you're asking God to reward me for what he did? I preach a little,
but it's not I, it's Christ in me. You sing a little, but it's
not you, it's Christ. Somebody else serves, or somebody
else takes care of the building. It's not you, it's Christ. And
I'll tell you this, it's disturbing to me to think that any believer
would covet a higher place in heaven than somebody else. What
happened to this business, I'm less than the least of all the
saints. What happened to this business, I'm the chief of sinners. What happened to this business,
I'm not worthy. How can you want a larger mansion,
a bigger crown than someone else, so you can brag? Well, I'll tell
you who's going to have the crowns, Jesus Christ. They'll be on his
head. And when this passing life is
over, and my days shall be no more, and I stand with Christ
in glory, looking over life's finished story, then shall I
know not what he owes me, but how much I owe him. All right,
right for this tape. What about reward? until next
week god bless you

The Reward of the Righteous

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

The Reward of the Righteous

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

More from Henry Mahan

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Henry Mahan

Books by Henry Mahan

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book