Turn to Romans 4.16, my faith looks up to thee, thy
Lamb of Calvary. My subject tonight, Romans 4.16,
therefore it is of faith, therefore it, it is. of faith. That's where it is. It is a faith, that it may, that
it might be by grace. That's why it's a faith, that
it might be by grace. You know why it's of grace? To
the end, to the end results, that this promise might be sure. It is a faith And it's of faith
that it may be by grace, free grace, and it's by grace that
it might be certain, because there's nothing certain in anything
else. That this promise might be sure and certain to all the
seed. Not only, not to that which is
of the law, the Jews, but to that also which is of the faith
of Abraham. And we're going to find out about
that, who's the father of everybody who believes. A question constantly
arises. I met it again recently. Why
do you fellows feel led to speak so often, so often on the subject
of Christ and faith in Christ and the gospel of Christ? I meet
it everywhere I go. Other preachers tell me they're
constantly meeting with this question. Well, why do you just
preach Christ? Well, I can give you dozens of
reasons. One of which is this, because
everything's in Christ. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and we're complete in Christ. And he of
God is made unto us all we need, all we need. Jesus Christ is
made to me all I need. But here are several reasons
that I've jotted down. The first one is this. I preach
the gospel of Christ. Every time God gives me the privilege
to preach, because the gospel is indeed the chief glory of
God. It's the chief glory of God.
I was preparing the message. I was coming home this morning
by plane. I was preparing this message
a few days ago, and I looked at this scripture, and I confess
unto you, when I looked at the scripture, I said, now how am
I going to preach Christ with this? That's just the way I think. I look for Christ. If I'm reading
in Malachi or Deuteronomy or Revelation, I look for Christ,
John. I just look for Christ. And I look for Christ to be my
comfort and my joy, and if he can do that for me, he can, through
me, be a blessing to you. But this is the cheap glory of
God. I want you just to, you don't need to turn. Let me just
dash through these scriptures and read some to you. Listen
to this. Paul talking about the gospel, he said, according to
the glorious gospel of the blessed God. That's 1 Timothy 1.11, and
this is the true translation of that. This is so. It's according to the gospel
of the glory of God. That's what Paul's saying there.
According to the gospel of the glory of God, which has been
committed to my trust. That's what he's saying. And
here's another one that he says over here in 2 Corinthians 4,
he says this, listen, If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them
that are lost, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the
minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the gospel
of the glory of Christ should shine unto them. What gospel
is this? The glory of Christ. The glory
of Christ. I say harping on it, but how
can you harp on something so beautiful? Those who love it never get weary
of it. It's the children's bread. I'll
tell you a second reason. Moses asked the Lord to show
him his glory, and he showed him his grace in Christ. And here's the second reason
that I jotted down, why I stay on this theme and ring this bell
so constantly and continually. Because this gospel is indeed
the power of God unto salvation. When in life's transit dream,
Bridget just sang, and I cross death's cold, sullen stream,
and death waves o'er me road, bless Savior, then in love, receive
myself above a ransomed soul. Well, I'll tell you, if he does,
it'll be in Christ. It'll be in Christ. Romans 1.16 says this, Paul said,
I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It is the power of
God of the salvation. If anybody in this congregation
is saved, it'll be by hearing the gospel of Christ. It won't
be hearing me talk about the Bork hearings or the Persian
Gulf situation or civil rights or wrongs or abortion. It'll
be tonight. If you wake up in the morning
and look at your wife and say, who are you? and die two days
later, whether you're in heaven or hell will depend on whether
you heard the gospel tonight and believed it." That's serious. Whether you heard the gospel
tonight, heard it, heard it. Blessed are your ears, they hear.
And he said this in 1 Corinthians 1 verse 18. about the gospel
being the power of God, he said in 1 Corinthians 1.18, "...for
the preaching of the gospel, the cross, is to them that are
perishing foolishness, but to us who are saved it is the power
of God." Paul said to the Thessalonians, I know your election, brethren,
because our gospel came to you in power. What I'm saying, my
friends, is this. that the gospel of Christ, the
clear gospel enunciated and proclaimed and defined from the word of
God, is the actual seed of life by which men live. That's right,
that's Christ. He is the gospel. You can't separate
the written word from the living word. And when a man, son of
God, inspired by the Spirit, preaching the word of God, giving
the report that God has given of his son, preaches it clearly
in the power of the Holy Spirit, life is being given. That's true. Seed is being planted. And sinners
are being called from spiritual graves by... Look at Ephesians
1, I'll show you that. Ephesians chapter 1, now listen
to this. Ephesians 1 verse 12, or verse 11, 12, and 13. Now here you have the providence
of God, the predestinating purpose of God, the election of God,
all these things, and it comes down to hearing. It starts with
God's election and comes down to your hearing. Now listen,
Ephesians 1.11, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance. You know, Peter said, reserved,
undefiled, fate is not away, an inheritance. Being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will. Now don't stop there. My fatalistic,
theological, predestinarian friends, don't stop there. Don't stop
there. What's done in eternity is not
going to do you any good unless it's manifested in time. Don't
you stop there. Because God didn't stop there.
There's a colon there. That we should be to the praise
of his glory who first trusted in Christ in whom you also trusted,
when? After you heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, after you believed,
you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. When did you
participate in this gospel? After you heard it. When were
you saved? After you heard it. When did you believe? After you
heard it. You heard the gospel. And I'm going to keep preaching
it because I believe somebody is going to hear it. You're going
to hear it. And then thirdly, I continually
preach this gospel because it's the sinner's only hope, the hope
of the gospel. He has given unto us a living
hope, a good hope through the gospel. Let's look at Colossians
1. Listen to this, Colossians 1,
3-5. Paul said to the church at Colossae,
We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ
Jesus and the love which you have to all the saints, and for
the hope which is laid up for you in heaven. whereof ye heard
before in the word of the truth of the gospel." Where did you
hear about this hope? You heard it in the gospel. That's
where you heard it. Turn one page to Colossians 1,
verse 21. And you, and you Gentiles who
were sometimes, verse 21, alienated. What's an alien? Well, he's not
a citizen. He's a stranger and a foreigner
and an enemy in your mind by wicked works. Yet now hath God
reconciled you in the body of his flesh through death to present
you holy, unblameable, unreprovable in his sight, if you continue
in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the
what? From your denomination, from your experience, from your
baptism, from your profession, from the hope of the gospel.
The gospel is my hope. My hope is built on nothing less,
I mean this, I don't just sing it, I mean it, than Jesus' blood
and his righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but I wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
I stand. Here's the fourth reason. I continue,
continue to preach this gospel. God willing, I'll preach it again
Sunday morning. It's the song of the redeemed
in heaven. That's what they sing in glory
unto him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own precious
blood. Unto him be glory, honor, dominion,
and power both now and forever. That's the song of the redeemed.
We sing that song in glory because we learn it here. We don't sing
about our accomplishments, our works, our deeds. We sing of
his grace. And then, you know, the Lord
said in Philippians 2.9, Wherefore God hath highly exalted him,
and given him a name which is above every name, that at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven, earth, and under
the earth, and every tongue shall confess that he is Lord. That's
the song of the redeemed. Now, then, we don't like to admit
this fifth reason, but here's the fifth reason why I I'm going
to rehearse this in your hearing again the next time I preach. I preach the gospel often because
we human beings are so foolish. Yes, we are. Somebody read it,
Charlie did a moment ago, man at his best state. And I looked
at that center reference and he said, settled. at his settled
state. Some of us ought to be settled,
we've been here long enough. But man at his settled best state
is altogether vanity. He rememberth our frame, he knoweth
that we're dust. And we're so fickle and so foolish
and so fallible and it's so easy under heaven, it's so easy to
get entangled and taken up with other things and other pursuits
and forget the gospel. Did you know that? Oh, not me.
Oh, no? Be careful now. I tell you, these worldly toys
are awful inviting sometimes to get enamored with. That's
right. Jobs and hobbies and all these,
just keep naming them. They're easy to get taken up
with, and it's a subtle attacked of Satan to do one thing. 2 Corinthians 4, listen to this,
2 Corinthians 11 rather, 2 Corinthians 11 verse 1, therefore, seeing
we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, I have this
ministry, it's a merciful ministry, a merciful act of God to give
it to me, I'm not going to quit, we faint not, we don't quit,
we're not going to surrender. But we have renounced the hidden
things of dishonesty, craftiness, not walking in craftiness, not
handling the word of God deceitfully and covetousness, not becoming
hucksters and merchandisers of souls, but by manifestation of
the truth of the gospel, commending ourselves to every man's conscience
in the sight of God. Oh, I was reading 2 Corinthians
4. Look at chapter 11. That's the one I want. 2 Corinthians
11, verse 1. And Paul says, Would to God that
you could bear with me a little in my folly, and indeed bear
with me. For I am jealous over you with
godly jealousy, for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may
present you as a chaste virgin to Christ, but I fear, lest by
any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve, deceived her through his
subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity
that's in Christ. Turn over to Galatians 1, here's
another comment that he makes about this, about the fickleness
and foolishness of this humanity. In Galatians 1, 6, I marvel,
Paul said, I actually marvel that you are so soon removed
from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another
gospel. That amazes me, Paul said. Look at Galatians 3, listen to
this. Galatians 3.1, O foolish Galatians! O foolish Galatians! Who hath bewitched you that you
should not obey the truth? Behold, for whose eyes Jesus
Christ has been evidently set forth, crucified among you. What
had these Galatians done? They had tried to mix grace and
works. They had gotten away from the clear, true gospel of Christ.
Tell me the old, old story, the hymn writer said, tell me the
story often, for I forget so soon. The early dew of morning
is passed away at noon. Tell me the story simply, as
to a little child, for I'm weak and weary, I'm helpless and I'm
defiled. Spurgeon one time told about
the farmers of old. This may have been a saying when
I was young, but I don't remember hearing it. I have heard them
talk about it in Mexico, but Spurgeon said the farmers of
old would put three grains of corn in every hill. Three grains
in every hill. One, two, three. And they would
say as they planted them, one for the worm, one for the crow,
and let us hope the other will grow. Is that not this business of
preaching to God? One for the worm, one for the
crow. By God's grace, let's hope some
of it will grow. Maybe it will. But that's why
I preach the gospel so often, regularly. So many more reasons
I could give you, but let's go to our text. Enough of that.
Let's go to the text and look at the good news of the gospel
of Christ, and let me speak for a few moments the time that's
left on how this salvation, this glorious salvation is received. Now, look at verse 16 of Romans
4. He says, and let's just stay
right with it, Therefore it is a faith. I'm going to tell it
often, tell it simply. Now, you listen to it. It is
a faith. What is it? What is it? It is a faith. What is a faith?
What is this it? Therefore, it is a faith. What's
this it? Well, this is salvation. This
is redemption. This is justification. This is
life. It is salvation. It is what Paul
was talking about in Ephesians 1 when he said, God has blessed
us with all spiritual blessings and the heavenlies in Christ.
That's the it. The it is the sheer mercies of David. That's
the it. The it here are the promises
of the everlasting covenant. The it here is the eternal inheritance
under power, fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. In
one word, this is what Paul is saying. Salvation is by believing
on Christ. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath life. He truly believes, truly believes
with a heart of faith in the true Son of God. He has, not
shall have, he hath everlasting life. There was a preacher who went
over and preached for Spurgeon. A brother, Roe, from Australia,
knows this. So these Englishmen are an odd
lot. But he went over to Spurgeon's tabernacle and he was preaching
on, He that hath the Son of God hath life. He said, H-A-T-H. That spell's got it. And Spurgeon,
after the man got through, said, That's a strange way to spell,
but I like it. Got it. He that hath the Son
hath life. That spell's got it. That's what
he's talking about, it, it is our faith. Let's go to the next
word, it. So that's salvation, that's all
that God has for the sinner, purpose purchased and applied.
It is by faith, through faith, our faith. What is faith? Now, I do this for my benefit,
not only for yours. What is faith? my faith looks up to thee." What
is faith? Well, some of the old writers
have, I looked at all the different definitions, there's two that
stood out, that just, you know, when you read things, something
jumps out and meets my need, I trust it will be yours. But
some of the old writers have defined it in two ways. Number
one, three words. The first one is renunciation.
Renunciation. Self-renunciation. That's repentance. That's conviction. That's being
brought low. That's being stripped. That's
being laid bare. I renounce myself. It's self-renunciation. I am nothing, have nothing, know
nothing, deserve nothing but God's judgment and wrath. That's
serious and that's sincere renunciation. Secondly, reliance. What is that? That's dependence.
Reliance is dependence. Dependence on the person and
work of Christ alone. Renunciation and just, like I
was holding my, you know I had a new grandbaby. I was over there
holding him today. He's about 10 days old. Now you talk about reliance,
he just, you know, he just, I don't know how to describe how completely
he rests in your arms. There's no way he's got anything
going for him, anything, nothing going for him. And that's the
way I sleep in the arms of Jesus. I've got nothing going for me. He woke up and he started wanting
to eat. Their mouth gets to going. That's
me. I've just got to have him. I
can't do nothing for myself. That's reliance. The third word
is appropriation. Renunciation. Nothing. Reliance. Cast myself on Him. Appropriation. That's looking to Him. That's
confessing Him. That's resting in Him. That's
saying, Father, I do believe. I do believe, and you know all
things. You know I believe. You know
my heart. That's confessing Christ Christ.
That's what you did a few Sundays ago. I want the whole world to
know I'm dead and buried and risen with Christ. I ain't perfect
in myself, but I am in him. That's a pretty good definition,
isn't it? Here's another one, if you want
to turn to 2 Timothy 1.12. Here's another one that I've
given to you before, but here's that repetition. We forget so
soon, 2 Timothy 1.12. Listen to Paul here. This was
Spurgeon's favorite, 2 Timothy 1.12. He said, For to which cause
I also suffer these things, nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know
whom I have believed. Now, that's first word, knowledge. You can't trust him whom you
don't know. Now, Bob preached on this Sunday
morning. I know who he is, as opposed to the false Christ.
as opposed to the Christ of the modern pulpit. I know who this
Christ is. I know this man, who he is and
what he did. That's where his fame arises,
from who he is and what he did. Isn't that what you dealt with?
That's what Paul said, I know who you pray to. I know this
man you pray to. You're talking about my Lord. I know him. I
know whom I have believed. Secondly, he said, and I'm persuaded,
I'm convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he is able. He is not only willing, but he's
able. He's able to do what? He's able to keep, he's able
to save, he's able to redeem, he's able to save to the uttermost,
he's able to raise my body, he is able. He's able. That's all that's important,
if he's willing and able. He's able to do all these things
for me, because he has somewhat to offer. He's the priest who
has somewhat to offer. That's pleasing to the Father,
and not only pleasing to the Father, but honoring to the Father,
and not only honoring to the Father, but sufficient to meet
the needs of God's justice and holiness and righteousness. He's
able. Orwood didn't quit there, though. He said, he's able to
keep that which I've committed, committed to him. I don't hold
part of it, like the Galatians who were steeped in this error,
put one foot on Christ and one foot on my work. But it's just
all on Christ. I've committed it all to him.
But, now go back to the text and watch what Paul does. Paul,
instead of defining, illustrates. Are you with me? It, the promise,
the sheer mercies, the inheritance, justifications, it's a faith.
Now, Paul, and definitions are helpful. And those two I just
gave you are helpful, but we better understand truth by example
than we do by lesson. That's so. It's just so. Show
me. Show me. All right, so he shows us here
in chapter 4. He gives us Abraham as an example
of faith. See that, Tom? Abraham is an
example of faith. What I've been talking about,
about renunciation, reliance and appropriation, knowledge,
confidence and committal, is illustrated right here, illustrated
in the life of a man who knew God. And I tell you this about
him. Number one, he believed God.
That's what, look at verse 2, or verse 3. For what saith the scripture?
Abraham believed God. He believed God. He didn't just
believe there is a God and didn't just believe in God, but the
bin of his will, the bin of his will, the bin of his heart, the
tenor of his life, of his soul, was to God. And he proved it
over and over again. He believed God. He did believe
God. He had his lapses and moments
of doubt and failure a lot of times, I'm sure, but he did believe
God. He believed God. I wish I could
express the difference in believing there is a God. Like James says,
you believe there is one God, the devil believes that. Believing
there is one God and believing God are two different things.
And Abraham believed God. I'll tell you this, secondly,
about him. Abraham believed God and therefore he believed God's
promise. Now, listen to me. What Abraham
had, he had in promise he didn't have in reality. Did you know
that? What he had, he had in promise. Abraham never, as far
as I can understand, owned a foot of land. Abraham was a wanderer
and lived in tents all his life, but he believed God. God said,
I'm going to give you a land. His seed inhabited it, but he
didn't. But he believed God, he believed the promise. Look
down here at verse 21, Romans 4, and being fully persuaded
that what God had promised he was able to perform. That's faith. Abraham believed God. As far as Abraham was concerned,
a promise was as good as a revelation. Can you do that? Noah, being
moved with fear of things not seen and not realized, he believed
God. You know, I have never seen a
soul rise from the grave or a body, never have, but I believe it.
There are four powers. A fellow gave me one, and he
said, Here are four monumental, amazing feats that will trial
your faith. I said, What are they? He said,
Creation, Incarnation, Regeneration, and Resurrection. Explain them,
apart from faith. We believe that the worlds were
created by the word of God. You prove it. We believe that God became a
man and walked in human flesh. Prove it. We believe that sinners, dead
in trespasses and sin, are regenerated by the Spirit of God and receive
the life of God in their souls. Prove it. We believe that all that are
in the grave shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that
hear shall live." Prove it. You can't do it, can you? Faith
is the proof of things not seen. I don't need your proof. I have
God's word. That was Abraham. See what I'm
saying? Abraham believed God, and to
Abraham what God said in Thomas was as good as done. was as good
as done. He just walked on about his business,
knowing that generally it was done, because God promised it. And that's the way I feel about
this business of death and resurrection and eternity and life after death. God said so. That's sufficient. It's in Christ. And I'll tell
you this about Abraham's faith. Now, hold on. He believed God.
And he believed God's word. But Abraham's faith had an eye
to the central point of that promise. And that's the Messiah. Did you know that? Abraham believed
that these promises and these blessings were in a person. He
met Melchizedek. Abraham met Melchizedek. Abraham,
the father said to him that he would have a son, and of that
son's seed he would raise up a people that numbered the stars
of the sky and the sands of the seashore. And he took his son
up there toward that mountain to sacrifice him, and his son
said, Where is the lamb? He said, There'll be a lamb.
There'll be a lamb. God has provided himself a lamb. And that's what Christ said.
Abraham didn't just walk around wandering in the wilderness believing
something without any kind of foundation or central point. Everything God promised and everything
God said was a central point with Christ. And that's the reason
Christ said, Abraham saw my day and he was glad. Rejoiced to
see my day, he saw it and was glad. So our faith, we believe
God, the promises of God, the word of God, and we believe the
central point of all God's promises and purposes and redemption is
in, because of, and for the glory unto us through Christ. You got
that? That's where it is, Christ. And
then Abraham considered no difficulty too great. His faith did not
consider who hoped against hope. It says here that his body, look
at verse 19, and being not weak in faith, he considered not his
own body dead when he was a hundred years old, and Samuel was nearly
a hundred years old, and a dead wound didn't shake his faith.
Then why do we go around quaking under the persecution and charges
of a few peanut human beings? Let them shake our faith. A dead
wound didn't shake Abraham's faith. He believed God was going
to give him some. You know, when it comes down
to it, his faith, verse 20, he staggered not at the promise
of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith. Now, watch
this statement, giving glory to God. We'd better do it that
way. Let's see how my faith looks
up to thee. In a sense, it is my faith, it
is faith from my heart, my heart believes. I don't have to give
God the glory, he gave me the faith. I believe God. I believe his word. I believe
his word. And the central point of faith
is Christ and his person and work. And there's no difficulty
too great, but there's just one reason, this side of heaven,
that that exists, that condition exists in my heart, and that's
by the grace of God. So he gets the glory. That's
very important. This is the faith that saves. Now watch this, let me give you
this. Therefore the promise is a faith
that it might be by grace. It can't be grace and works. Salvation can't be a gift and
a reward. It can't be. It just can't be. It is a faith that it might be
by grace. Salvation cannot be by grace
and works both. You've got to read this, Romans
11. You need to put this away in your computer there. File
it away. Romans 11, verse 5. Now watch
it. Romans 11, 5. Even so then, at
this present time also there is a rendement according to the
election of grace, and if it's by grace, it's no more of works. Otherwise, grace is not grace.
But if it is of works, then is it no more grace, otherwise work
is not work. See, isn't that clear? You put
a star by that. That's all you need. If it's
of grace, it's a gift. If any works is mixed, it's not
a grace and it's not a gift. If it's of works, it's of works.
If any grace is mixed, it's not of works. It's got to be of grace. The religious world is intent
on mixing this. They're intent, they're dedicated.
This was the Galatian era, and they're intent on mixing it.
But what does the law require? You that would be under the law.
Pastor, tell me, you that would be under the law, what does the
law say? Do you know what the law says? Well, our Lord defined
the law, and you know this. This is so familiar to you. He
was speaking to those law people. who were seeking to establish
a righteousness by their personal obedience to the law, and he
said, you've heard the law, you've heard it said by them of old
times, thou shalt not kill. But he said, the truth of that
is, thou shalt not even entertain a hateful thought against a person. That's what the law said. He
said, you've heard it said by them of old times, thou shalt
not commit adultery. Well, he said, but here's the
interpretation of the law, thou shalt not even entertain a thought
on the subject. He said, you've heard it said
by them of old times, thou shalt not forswear thyself, thou shalt
not swear. He said, I say unto you, let
your yea be yea, and your nay nay, and anything added to that
sin. He said, you've heard it said
by them of old times, that an eye for an eye, a tooth for a
tooth, that's most of our philosophy. He said, I say unto you, if a
man ask you for his coat, give him your overcoat too. If a man asks you for you to
go a mile with him, go two. That's the law. Well, I tell
you, when I hear that, I know one thing. James comes along
and says to offend in one point is to be guilty of blasphemy,
murder, adultery, theft, lies, and idolatry. I don't even have
to be in idolatry just to offend back in this other point. I'm
guilty of the whole law, and so when I run into that, I say
this, what is there in me that has ever or ever will meet even
one requirement of God's law? So what am I going to do? By
the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified. Cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things demanded of the
law. So what am I going to do? Well,
I'm going to flee to the gracious, merciful Christ. And I'll tell
you, well, preacher, then what does grace require? You've told
me what law requires, what works requires. What does grace require?
Nothing from you. No, it requires something. It
requires a perfect love, but not yours, his. It requires a
perfect obedience, not yours, but his. It requires a debt. an ignominious, hateful death
under the judgment and wrath of God, but not yours, his. It requires a resurrection and
intercession, a mediator most powerful, accepted, not you,
but him. And if he meets all those needs,
I can say with the Apostle Paul, then who is he that condemns?
It's Christ that died, yea, rather than is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also, in addition to all this,
calls my name. Look back at the text, Romans
4, verse 16. It's a faith, brother. That's
what Charlie said, brother. Brother, it's a faith, brother.
I'll tell you why it's a faith, brother, that it might be of
grace, isn't that right? And you know what's of grace?
That it might be sure. You can't be sure if this thing
hinges on you in any shape, form, or fashion. You can't be sure. You can't be sure. What's this?
To the end. That's the end result. That's
the fulfillment of God's purpose. That's the end. Receiving the
end of your faith. What's that, John? The salvation
of your soul. the end, to the end, watch it, that the promise,
who made that promise, the Father, might be sure, oh, I like that,
sure, to all the seed. Who are the seed? Those who believe,
the children of Abraham. My Lord gave a story one time.
My Lord gave a story. that a certain man, a husband
of mine, that owned a great vineyard, went down to the marketplace
one morning at 6 a.m., right at the crack of dawn, when the
day began, and he saw some men standing around. He said, you
fellows want to work? And they said, sure do. He said,
you go to my vineyard, and when the day ends, I'll pay you a
penny, which was, I'm sure, a great amount, a sufficient amount.
Well, they went, and so at nine o'clock he came back down to
the marketplace and he saw other men standing around. He said,
you men want to work? They said, sure do. He said,
you go to my vineyard, and when the day ends I'll pay you a penny. And at noon he did the same thing.
At three in the afternoon he did the same thing, just three
hours left to work at 5 p.m., one hour before quitting time.
He came walking down to the market place and there was some fellas,
he said, you fellas want to work? They said, sure do. He said,
go to my vineyard. And when the evening comes, I'll
pay you. Six o'clock, quitting time. Whistle blew. All the men
came and lined up. And he said, line up in this
order. The ones that I hired last, first. Five o'clock. get first, and
you know he paid them first. And when everybody was paid,
they looked in their hands, and every one of them had the same
thing. The fellow that worked one hour
had the same thing as the man that worked twelve hours. And
some of them got upset. Now, the master, you can't make
this walk on four legs, but the master, because God's people
ain't going to get upset. because they have Christ. But
these fellas got upset, and they said, well, you gave us a penny,
and those fellas that worked one hour, you gave them a penny.
He said, what did I promise you? And I called you to work. They
said, a penny. He said, what you got there? I said, a penny. He
said, can I not do with my own what I will? Is your eye evil
because mine's good? Because I chose to give these
men what I chose to give them, it's mine, and I'll do with my
own what I will. Well, what I'm saying is this.
I'm saying whether you're called to God as a fuzzy-cheeked youngster,
or whether you're called to God as a grisly old man, the reward
is Christ, and that's sufficient. And it's all of grace. Grace,
grace, grace. We've got nothing to expect and
nothing to command and nothing that belongs to us by nature. It's all free grace. And it is
of faith that it might be of grace, and it's of grace that
it may be sure to all to see. That's a beautiful scripture.