WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.000 It's unfair he didn't pull that guy over. I had this last December. 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:11.000 We were in the town of Sabi and my whole family in the car and we stopped dead at the stop street 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:13.000 because I know the cops are there. 00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:19.000 So I stopped dead, put my left indicator out, start turning. They pull me over, all my kids are in the car. 00:00:19.000 --> 00:00:24.000 So Vanessa says to me, there must be for a license. This because thankfully you stopped. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:29.000 I said, I know. Then the guy tunes me for 20 minutes how I didn't stop. 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:34.000 And I'm telling him I did stop. And then other cars don't even pause. They just. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:39.000 I said, hey. He says, I'm talking to you. Then I went so far as to tell him, 00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:44.000 listen, Yapal, I'll pay your salary. You. Am I on your payroll? 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:48.000 And Vanessa's shooting my arm. Calm down, calm down now. 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:54.000 It's unfair when kids need to clear the table and only one's really helping, and the other one is unfair 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:58.000 when people receive different gifts at Christmas. You ever look at the assessors at Christmas time? 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:03.000 When new job descriptions are issued in the workplace? When promotion comes to another person instead of you? 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:10.000 When the kids have a fight and you got three kids and there's two chocolates left? It's a war. Because life's unfair. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:16.000 And we're going to learn through this passage of scripture this morning that God's ways are unfair. 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:22.000 Sometimes they're very unfair. And sometimes we're going to learn to be very grateful for the level of God's unfairness. 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:29.000 Because if God was fair, we'd all go to hell. We should all pay for our sin because sin has separated us from God. 00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:37.000 What's fair about the Son of God, who has committed absolutely no sin, becoming sin for sinners? 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:41.000 That sinners can be declared righteous as if they'd never sinned. 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:47.000 There's nothing fair about it. So the very next time you want to moan at God for being unfair, 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:52.000 thank him rather and say, thank you, Lord, that you so unfair. 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:58.000 The nature of the kingdom of God was a constant surprise to Jesus' Disciples remember 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:04.000 they had no framework to understand the kingdom of God, their understanding. 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:11.000 For those history buffs among us, their understanding of the messianic kingdom carried an eschatology, 00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:18.000 which means a belief that all of a sudden the end of this world is going to come where God is going to come 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:23.000 and reign through his Messiah. And they also didn't quite understand him. 00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:30.000 Even in John 7, when Jesus says, I know my Father, I know where I'm coming from, they say, 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:36.000 how can you Be the Son of God. Because when the Messiah comes, no one's going to know where he comes from, 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:41.000 which is not true. The Bible says he'll be born in Bethlehem. They just didn't know. 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:47.000 There was no place in ancient Israel for an understanding of a suffering servant. The Messiah doesn't come to suffer. 00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:52.000 They don't understand Isaiah. Messiah comes to rule. They didn't understand a Messiah who dies. 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:58.000 He comes here. He dies for the sins of the world. We put our trust in him. 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:04.000 We believe everything is going to be different. And then he pushes off again in clouds. 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:08.000 He makes it obvious, and he's gone. You're supposed to be here. 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:15.000 They couldn't understand a supernatural future where the kingdom we live in here is constantly invaded 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:22.000 by the kingdom of heaven, that every time there's a supernatural event, God just opens the curtain 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:28.000 and comes and messes with us and goes back again. And definitely they couldn't understand that 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:35.000 before this Messiah comes and goes again, he gives a mandate to those who believed in him 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:39.000 that they must go into the world and preach that same message. 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:45.000 They've got to go and take it to the ends of the world. In other words, house, it's not enough to believe in Jesus. 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:51.000 You have to receive his mantle on your life, and you have to go and talk about him to others. 00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:57.000 It is expected of every disciple of Jesus to talk about Jesus to other people. 00:03:57.000 --> 00:04:03.000 God's kingdom was so different from what people thought it would be. And his disciples, 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:10.000 the people who listened to him, had such difficulty in trying to understand the concepts that Jesus was talking about 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:16.000 that he started to talk in parables that they can get the idea of life in the kingdom. 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:23.000 And so talking about God's unfairness. This morning we're going to look at the parable of the workers in the vineyard, 00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:30.000 otherwise known as the parable of the hours. It kind of seems unfair when you first read it, 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:35.000 but what Jesus wanted to do was redefine fairness. 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:41.000 And Jesus wants the people of the world to understand that when you come into this kingdom, 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:47.000 everything you think you know is turned upside down. And so you have to live for that kingdom's interests. 00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:54.000 So point number one for this morning is a point that none of you have ever thought in your whole lives. 00:04:54.000 --> 00:05:00.000 What do we get out of this? This parable is told because of what preceded it. 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:07.000 What happened Just before this conversation, the disciples had witnessed Jesus interaction with a man 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:13.000 that the Bible calls the rich young ruler. And this is a serious young man who comes to Jesus 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:20.000 in Matthew 19:16, and he says, teacher, what good deed must I do to inherit eternal life? 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:26.000 Now remember the context. The Pharisees had just come to Jesus and had just asked about divorce. 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:32.000 Remember? Is it okay for us to divorce our wives? What are the Pharisees really asking? 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:38.000 What's the way that I can treat my wife least well and still get into heaven? I just want to check. 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:44.000 The rich young ruler wants to know what's the least I can do to get away with that? I also can go to heaven. 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:49.000 I don't want to mess with heaven, but I also don't want to give too much. So what's the least I can do? 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:55.000 So Jesus tells this young man, give your money to the poor. How much? All of it. 00:05:55.000 --> 00:06:01.000 And then come and follow me, and you can be my disciple. And of course, this rich young man is very upset. 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:07.000 And so what Jesus is saying is, I want to deal with the hooks that will keep you from following me with all your heart. 00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:13.000 And in your life, your hook is your riches. You'll follow me in inverted commerce, 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:18.000 but your heart will always follow your riches. And you can't have one foot there and one foot there. 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:24.000 And I want you to follow me. So that's what I want you to do. Why did the man need to do anything? 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:30.000 Why did he need to give his money away? You can imagine the disciples are asking this question. 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:37.000 And so Jesus responds in chapter 19, verse 23. I tell you the truth, it's very hard for a rich person 00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:42.000 to enter the kingdom of heaven. I'll say it again. 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:49.000 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. 00:06:49.000 --> 00:06:56.000 It's a metaphor. Jesus is using an example to show everybody that it's very, very difficult 00:06:56.000 --> 00:07:02.000 or even impossible for rich people to make it into heaven. 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:09.000 Why? Because it highlights the attachment to wealth, reliance and faith. And when people are attached 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:16.000 to wealth as their confidence, it's an obstacle to spiritual life and salvation. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:22.000 You see, poor people so easily give their lives to Jesus because they've got nothing to lose. I just gain. 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:27.000 The rich guy is in the exact same position. He just doesn't know it. 00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:33.000 So he's deceived by the false power of wealth. And so Jesus said to him straight away, 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:39.000 give up everything. Come follow me. This guy doesn't. He walks away. 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:44.000 And so then Jesus said, it is impossible for a rich person to make it. 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:51.000 Verse 25. The disciples were astounded. Then who in the world can be saved? They asked. 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:57.000 Jesus looked at them intently. Please see that Jesus looked at them intently. This is important, what's coming. 00:07:57.000 --> 00:08:03.000 Humanly speaking, it's impossible. But with God everything is possible. 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:09.000 Humanly speaking, whatever you're facing is impossible. But with God it's possible. 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:15.000 Now remember, the context is salvation. That's where this is going. 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:21.000 And you gotta love Peter because many of us identify with him. He's one of those disciples that speaks, then thinks. 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:27.000 Like most husbands in marriage, we speak, then we think, was that good? 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:33.000 And just the look on the auntie's face tells you that may not have been first prize for now. 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:40.000 Then Peter said to him, we've given up everything to follow. You look at these words, what will we get? 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:47.000 No selfishness there. And if we're honest, many Christians think from time to time, what's really in this? 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:54.000 For me, when God gets a grip on my life and he starts to convince me about the kingdom of God 00:08:54.000 --> 00:09:01.000 and I start to make adjustments and I start to orientate my life around Jesus and the cost of following him. 00:09:01.000 --> 00:09:08.000 And things do start to shift. Friendships, investments, time spent. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:14.000 I bumped into a wonderful young man this morning in this very building. I hope he doesn't mind me telling the story, 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:21.000 but some of you that sit on the outskirts over there, when you looked at the side screens, 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:27.000 did you notice they didn't jump as they normally do? When the bass, it's always the bassist fault. 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:33.000 But when that bass is. And the speakers go along, and then there wasn't that this morning. 00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:40.000 You know why? Because a guy sitting in this church who used to work for the SABC some time ago 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:46.000 used to play golf on Sundays and God spoke to him and said, go play golf on Saturdays. 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:52.000 So he plays on Saturdays, comes to church on Sunday, and when it comes to church on Sunday, 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:58.000 he couldn't stand that bumping for the last couple of weeks. So he arrived with methods to stop it. 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:05.000 This morning we had beautiful sight and no nausea because somebody's life is starting to adjust 00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:11.000 around things that God's speaking to him. But for all of us, as we start to adjust, 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:17.000 we do begin to think, Lord, I'm feeling the real cost of following you. What's in this? 00:10:17.000 --> 00:10:23.000 What do I actually gain? And sometimes you can ask that question in a non selfish way. 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:29.000 I give up my everything to follow you. But Lord, what do I get? What happens next? 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:36.000 And this is Jesus response to Peter, verse 28. I assure you, Peter, I assure you that when the world 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:43.000 is made new and the Son of Man sits upon his glorious throne, you who have been my followers 00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:50.000 will also sit on 12 thrones. To judging the 12 tribes of Israel. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:57.000 And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property 00:10:57.000 --> 00:11:04.000 for my sake will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life. 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:10.000 This is a deal right over here. What did it mean to them? 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:17.000 It meant to those disciples they would enjoy a unique honor in eternity. Not for their work, 00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:24.000 not for their fruitfulness or their results, but for their devotion. 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:30.000 Jesus turned to these 12 young men and he said, come and follow me. 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:37.000 And we know that 11 of those 12, plus Matthias, later followed him. And their reward forever 00:11:37.000 --> 00:11:44.000 was going to be that they would sit in leadership roles, literally judging the tribes of Israel. 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:50.000 Now, I don't know about you, but if you ever want to know God's unfairness, this is an example. 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:57.000 Because if I was an Israelite and I needed people to judge the 12 tribes of Israel, 00:11:57.000 --> 00:12:04.000 can I tell you who I'm going to go with? Abraham, Isaiah, Moses, Jeremiah, Elijah, Solomon, 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:11.000 maybe even David. I'm not going with these 12 young guys who are still arguing 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:17.000 who's going to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven when they get rebuked by going to preach 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:23.000 the gospel in a town, and they ask Jesus if they can burn the place alive? 00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:29.000 Remember, can we call down fire from heaven? These young men have got such attitudes. 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:35.000 Who's going to sit on your left? Who's going to sit on your right? Well, when he tells them 00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:41.000 the most basic principle about yeast, they want to know, is it the food of the Pharisees? 00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:47.000 These guys were dumb. They were youngsters. They're teenagers. They just don't have it. 00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:53.000 And you know what Jesus says to them? Because I said, will you follow me? And because you said, yes, 00:12:53.000 --> 00:13:00.000 I'm going to do something that's going to qualify you to lead through the centuries. 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:07.000 And all it's based on is not your ability, your temperament, or your experience. 00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:13.000 It's simply based on your absolute willingness to say yes. 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:19.000 When I ask you to do something, you will inherit eternal life. You will sit on thrones in heaven with me. 00:13:19.000 --> 00:13:26.000 Does it make you think about heaven for a minute? Don't know about you, but when I look at that, 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:33.000 contrary to some popular concepts and paintings, the Bible doesn't say, when we get to heaven, 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:40.000 we wear little white sheets, grow little tiny little wings and play little harps, and float from cloud to cloud. 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:47.000 God help us if that's heaven. You see, when Jesus renews all things, he recreates heaven and earth. 00:13:47.000 --> 00:13:53.000 Our resurrection bodies will dwell in a restored creation. 00:13:53.000 --> 00:13:59.000 We won't suffer from disease, death or suffering. That's our future. We will worship. 00:13:59.000 --> 00:14:06.000 We will fulfill the mandate originally given to Adam and Eve to rule the earth and develop 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:13.000 the riches and the farmland made within it. We will work joyfully. 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:20.000 So many of you go visit a farm or you go to a seaside and you just feel, ah. 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:26.000 Don't you ever feel that sense of belonging? You go to the Drakensberg, you get that sense of belonging. 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:32.000 Something here fits. You walk into a botanical garden, something here fits. 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:39.000 Because made within you from the time you were born was the desire of God that a beautiful earth 00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:46.000 would be looked after by his people without corruption and pain. And that's what the future looks like. 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:52.000 You're just getting a reminder, a little inkling as to what your future will look like. 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:59.000 One day, many familiar activities will be gone. Many occupations will be unnecessary in heaven. 00:14:59.000 --> 00:15:06.000 There will be no soldiers, no surgeons, no prison guards, no ambulance drivers. 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:13.000 But we will fulfill the work God originally intended for us. And those original disciples 00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:20.000 of Jesus who risked everything to follow him, they will lead the way. What are we going to get? Peter asked. 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:27.000 What are we going to get? You know, there's something right and there's something wrong about that answer. 00:15:27.000 --> 00:15:34.000 He's right to expect reward. What do we get? But can I say this? We should be expecting reward for others, 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:40.000 not for us. Godly parents should hope to see their children in heaven. 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:46.000 Those who evangelize their friends want to see their friends there. Godly business people 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:53.000 who have invested their finance for the sake of the kingdom will reap a harvest eternally because of others. 00:15:53.000 --> 00:16:00.000 I think if believers are asking the question, what do we get out of it? There's a selfish motivation, 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:07.000 there is a manipulation. We should do good for the Lord's sake. See, the Lord doesn't say 00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:13.000 that we'll earn rewards, but he says he'll grant us rewards. 00:16:13.000 --> 00:16:19.000 If you even give a cup of water to someone in my name, I will reward you. You don't earn the reward. 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:25.000 It is a gift from your Father in heaven. Our reward. You and me in this room today, 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:32.000 and everyone watching and listening, our reward is fellowship with our Father forever. 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:39.000 Our reward is acceptance and the ability to please him and to honor Him. 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:46.000 Do you know, in the time to come, even those who have amassed crowns of reward, 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:52.000 they never get to boast about their crowns. All they get to do is take their crowns off 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:58.000 and throw them at the feet of a king who gave it to them in the first place. 00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:05.000 A greater honour to give bounds to honour him. And he will honor you for what you have done, 00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:11.000 and you will honour him back. And there will be this continual giving and receiving of honour 00:17:11.000 --> 00:17:17.000 from the throne, but no self seeking at all. And then Jesus has to end that little story. 00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:24.000 So ends it with the next verse, verse 30. But many who are first will be last, and the last first, 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:31.000 the new living translation says. But many who are greatest now will be least important then. 00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:37.000 And many who seem least important now will be the greatest then. 00:17:37.000 --> 00:17:43.000 And these apostles fall into the category of the least in the natural order. 00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:50.000 The nothings, the nobodies, the weak, the foolish in this life don't seem to get ahead. 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:56.000 They don't seem to achieve. It's always those born with a silver spoon in their mouths 00:17:56.000 --> 00:18:02.000 that seem to get ahead according to this world's economy. But somehow the apostles 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:09.000 were assigned to the world that the last will be first and the first will be last. 00:18:09.000 --> 00:18:16.000 These young irresponsible men and women who just didn't know much, but who decided to follow Jesus. 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:23.000 We're going to be entrusted with messages and lessons and supernatural power and that we're going 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:30.000 to be sent into the world with the gospel. And you know what? Because they know that the last 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:37.000 will be first and the first will be last, they will never ever again doubt their incompetence. 00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:43.000 And what Jesus wanted to break over their lives is what some of us hold onto. 00:18:43.000 --> 00:18:49.000 Whenever God's called us to do something, we always remember and list to him the reasons we can't do it. 00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:56.000 And God is saying, I know you can't, which is why I've called you. 00:18:56.000 --> 00:19:03.000 It is your very inability, your ability to be weak, foolish, nothing and nobody. 00:19:03.000 --> 00:19:09.000 That is what I want in you. Because my glory will be seen through you. 00:19:09.000 --> 00:19:16.000 And please remember this, when nothing, nobody, weak or foolish, is defined around you, 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:22.000 it is often simply your impression of your. Excuse me. Think of Gideon. 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:28.000 I am the least of the least. He was not. He was a mighty man. He just didn't know it yet. 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:35.000 And I wonder how many of you are sitting in the nothing nobody, weak and foolish category by your own choosing. 00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:42.000 And the Lord comes to you this morning to say, that which has been classified as last needs to start becoming first. 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:48.000 I need to start doing something inside of you. These disciples were as far away from being the first as possible. 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:55.000 I think they represented those Jesus spoke about in the Beatitudes, Matthew 5:3. 00:19:55.000 --> 00:20:02.000 God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:09.000 The message Bible puts it this way. You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope, 00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:15.000 with less of you, there's more of God and his rule. 00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:22.000 The amplified version puts that same verse like this. Blessed, spiritually prosperous, 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:29.000 happy and to be admired are the poor in spirit, those devoid of spiritual arrogance, 00:20:29.000 --> 00:20:36.000 those who regard themselves as insignificant, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, both now and forever. 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:43.000 What do we get? You get moved up the line from insignificance to significance when you simply say, yes, lord. 00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:50.000 That's point one of six for this morning. Point two, the call to the work. Remember verse 27. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:57.000 We've given up everything to follow you. What will we get? And now Jesus tells that Beautiful story. 00:20:57.000 --> 00:21:04.000 Matthew 21. For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early one morning 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:11.000 to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay the normal daily wage and sent them out to work. 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:18.000 It's about 7:00am at 9:00 in the morning. He was passing through the marketplace, 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:24.000 saw some people standing around doing nothing. So he hired them, telling them he would pay them, 00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:31.000 listen, whatever was right at the end of the day. So they went to work in the vineyard at noon 00:21:31.000 --> 00:21:37.000 and again at 3 o' clock. He did the same thing. At 5 o' clock that afternoon 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:43.000 he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, 00:21:43.000 --> 00:21:49.000 why haven't you been working today? They replied, because no one hired us. 00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:55.000 The landowner told them, then go out and join the others in my vineyard. 00:21:55.000 --> 00:22:02.000 And now comes the superlative greatness of of Jesus storytelling. That evening he told the foreman 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:09.000 to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first. 00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:16.000 Only Jesus. When Those hired at 5 o' clock were paid, each received a full day's wage. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:23.000 When those hired first came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. 00:22:23.000 --> 00:22:30.000 But they too were paid a day's wage. When they received their pay, they protested. 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:36.000 Hello, South Africa. They protested. Where was I? 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:43.000 Those people worked only one hour and yet you've paid them as much as you paid us 00:22:43.000 --> 00:22:49.000 who worked all day in the scorching heat. This is so South Africa. 00:22:49.000 --> 00:22:56.000 He answered one of them, Friend, I haven't been unfair. Didn't you agree to work all day 00:22:56.000 --> 00:23:03.000 for the usual wage? Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you. 00:23:03.000 --> 00:23:10.000 Is it against the law for me to do what I want to do with my money? Should you be jealous? 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:17.000 Listen. Should you be jealous because I'm kind to others? So he repeats himself. 00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:23.000 Those who are last now will be first then. And those who are first will be last. 00:23:23.000 --> 00:23:30.000 That story is bookended. It starts at the end of chapter 19 and goes into chapter 20 00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:36.000 where he says, last will be first, first will be last. And he puts the story smack bang in the middle 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:42.000 to say, I want to show you how Kingdom Economy works. It's a wonderful teaching 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:48.000 because the owner paid all the workers the same amount regardless of the hours they put in. 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:55.000 Do you understand that from the morning, 7 o', clock, noon, 3 o', clock, 5 o', clock, 00:23:55.000 --> 00:24:01.000 the owner of the field is constantly having to bring in workers. 00:24:01.000 --> 00:24:07.000 Can you just first see, the whole point of this is the size of the harvest. 00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:13.000 There's too much harvest for the current workers in another place. Jesus says, pray to the Lord of the harvest. 00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:19.000 The harvest is ripe, the workers are few. Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send workers into the harvest. 00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:26.000 All he's doing here is adding workers to the harvest field and the outcome that monetary value 00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:33.000 is not dependent on their effort, but on the timing of the call of the owner and on the generosity the owner. 00:24:33.000 --> 00:24:40.000 So no matter what hour you call to work in, you rely on the faithfulness and the generosity of the owner. 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:47.000 Number three, God's unfairness. Have you ever noticed that God's generosity takes two forms? 00:24:47.000 --> 00:24:53.000 Firstly, God gives gifts we don't deserve. And secondly, God withholds punishment we do deserve. 00:24:53.000 --> 00:25:00.000 That's the generosity of our God. But today, so many people take God's generosity for granted. 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:07.000 Amazing grace has become boring grace. And it's become boring because some of us have forgotten 00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:14.000 that we were desperate sinners with no hope in this world until God reached down to us by His Holy Spirit. 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:21.000 And because God blesses you, you start to look at your life and feel, I am actually a step up. 00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:28.000 I live in a nice house, I drive a nice car, I have nice clothes. I am actually a step up on so and so. 00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:34.000 And I don't give as much time to so and so as I would. And what we're going to see here 00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:41.000 is that God in his unfairness, wants to go to the lowest, the worst, the most desperate. 00:25:41.000 --> 00:25:47.000 And he wants those who have to look after those who haven't. And he wants to invert it. 00:25:47.000 --> 00:25:53.000 That is the nature of the gospel. He takes you from nothing, makes you something, 00:25:53.000 --> 00:25:59.000 gives you the message of the gospel, then tells you to go very much back to those you don't have. 00:25:59.000 --> 00:26:05.000 That's what he's going to tell you to do. And suddenly you're no longer walking in boring grace. 00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:11.000 It is amazing grace. Because every time you tell your story, Philemon verse 6 becomes real to you. 00:26:11.000 --> 00:26:18.000 I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith so that you will come to a fuller understanding 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:24.000 of every good thing you have received in Christ. It's when I preach the wonder of Jesus 00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:30.000 that I fall in love with Jesus again. Imagine you're one of those workers. 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:37.000 You start sweating at 7am the end of the day. You're exhausted, you're sweaty, you're filthy. 00:26:37.000 --> 00:26:43.000 You walk up to get paid. These guys come and they get paid the same as you. 00:26:43.000 --> 00:26:49.000 You got to think, oh, great, this is my payday. Today. I score extra. 00:26:49.000 --> 00:26:55.000 Then you go to the front of the queue and you get exactly what that guy did. 00:26:55.000 --> 00:27:01.000 Your heart is exposed in a moment. How can this be? 00:27:01.000 --> 00:27:07.000 Interestingly, the owner is behaving fairly. He's paying them exactly what he said he would. 00:27:07.000 --> 00:27:13.000 Here's the problem. Because someone else gets what I think I should be getting, 00:27:13.000 --> 00:27:19.000 or what I think I've been promised, I immediately start to want more. 00:27:19.000 --> 00:27:25.000 I'm not happy with what we agreed with. The moment we've agreed to something 00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:31.000 and he gets similar to me and he hasn't worked like I have, something in me starts to stir. 00:27:31.000 --> 00:27:37.000 Let me ask you this. Now who's being unfair? The workers who didn't get hired until the last hour 00:27:37.000 --> 00:27:43.000 also had hungry babies at home. And what Jesus is trying to show us is that the one who works 00:27:43.000 --> 00:27:50.000 at the end and gets paid the same as the one at the front is receiving the kind of fairness or unfairness 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:56.000 that is only found in the Kingdom of God. In the Kingdom of God, you never get what you deserve. 00:27:56.000 --> 00:28:03.000 In the Kingdom of God, you're always blessed with what you don't deserve. And when you receive that, 00:28:03.000 --> 00:28:09.000 you walk in amazing grace. Not one Amen. But thank you for listening. Whatever. 00:28:09.000 --> 00:28:16.000 You know, if you look at the story, this parable from the perspective of God's unfairness, 00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:22.000 it's actually quite touching. Because there's a migrant field worker standing on a street corner 00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:28.000 hoping someone will give him a job. And God wants to have sympathy for these people in this parable. 00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:34.000 They've waited all day. They haven't been hired. It's late afternoon. 00:28:34.000 --> 00:28:40.000 They've also got children at home that need to be fed. They're literally living on a daily wage. 00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:47.000 And one of the things that the Lord of the Harvest wants you and I to know is that work, 00:28:47.000 --> 00:28:53.000 the ability to work, gives you a place in life. The ability to work gives you a supply of resources, 00:28:53.000 --> 00:29:00.000 a sense of purpose, even if only for a day. And the Lord of the Vineyard knows that. 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:06.000 And that's why work, even in our country, is to be honored. Because it gives people opportunity 00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:12.000 and gives you purpose. It gives you a place in life, a supply of resources, an ability to participate. 00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:19.000 So can I throw this in quickly? If you have been given an opportunity to work, 00:29:19.000 --> 00:29:25.000 please do what you do with all your heart, as unto the Lord, honor him in everything. 00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:31.000 You do that whoever you are, your workplace says, we are privileged to have them working with us. 00:29:31.000 --> 00:29:37.000 The kingdom of God reverses the order that is present in human affairs. 00:29:37.000 --> 00:29:44.000 Jesus wants those who are first to think about those who are lost. Consider them, pray for them, 00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:50.000 act for them, put them first. How wonderful when business owners don't follow the principles of this world, 00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:56.000 but they look after their staff and their employees and they care for them. 00:29:56.000 --> 00:30:02.000 Now understand, we don't go to work for money. We go to work for purpose. 00:30:02.000 --> 00:30:08.000 It's never about the bottom dollar, because can I tell you something? If your work is all about the bottom dollar, 00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:14.000 you are often no more than a prostitute. You're simply available to the highest bidder. 00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:20.000 But if your work is linked to purpose, you work at the place God's called you to because he wants you there. 00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:26.000 And he will reward accordingly. The quickest way I've seen the enemy take effective people out 00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:32.000 of what they're supposed to be doing and put them in the wilderness is he always offers them a little bit more 00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:38.000 and before you know it, you've gone for five, ten grand a month. Excuse me, 00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:44.000 You've gone for five or ten grand a month more that God could have provided and sold out 00:30:44.000 --> 00:30:50.000 because you went for money instead of purpose. Always remember to do what you do 00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:56.000 because of the purpose of God. The call of God for where you are, where you are, why you are, where you are. 00:30:56.000 --> 00:31:02.000 Are you alright? Number four. Almost done. Comparisons will always get you down. 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:09.000 Do you notice how Jesus emphasizes the way that the vineyard owner orchestrates payment? 00:31:09.000 --> 00:31:15.000 Listen, if I don't want chaos in my hand on my life, okay? And I've employed a whole lot of people late 00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:21.000 and I know what's coming, all I'm going to do is the guys, I said I'd pay, I pay and leave 00:31:21.000 --> 00:31:27.000 so that when I then bless the others, they don't know that I'm come to me in front of my gates. 00:31:27.000 --> 00:31:33.000 But Jesus positions it because he wants to show us the problem with the power or the curse of comparison. 00:31:33.000 --> 00:31:40.000 So he starts the story and inverts it and blesses the wrong people first so that he has to say, 00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:46.000 friend, I haven't been Unfair? Didn't you agree to work all day for the usual wage? 00:31:46.000 --> 00:31:52.000 They had agreed. What's wrong here in this picture? Is it that they're not adequately paid? 00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:58.000 No, the issue that's wrong here is that those people who didn't work as long or hard as us 00:31:58.000 --> 00:32:04.000 has got what we've got. I now have a problem. Never mind. You said that's what I would get. 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:10.000 I have a problem with it because they get what I got. Where we're flirting with at the moment 00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:16.000 is the righteous person who's only done a few things wrong in life and the person who has been 00:32:16.000 --> 00:32:22.000 a major sinner their whole life. What you don't understand you're doing is you said 00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:28.000 it's not fair for him to get the same forgiveness that he gets because the one who caused a major accident 00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:34.000 should always get more punishment than the one who skipped a stop street. 00:32:34.000 --> 00:32:40.000 It's our way of fairness. It also inverts, which means the one who's done wrong 00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:46.000 should never get what the one who's done more right should get. And we have a problem with God's unfairness. 00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:52.000 And you know where it starts? The problem with the thief on the cross next to Jesus, 00:32:52.000 --> 00:32:58.000 who he says, today you'll be with me, who hasn't had an opportunity to even go work in the vineyard 00:32:58.000 --> 00:33:05.000 for an hour and gets the exact same reward of eternal life as those who follow Jesus their whole lives. 00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:11.000 The problem was the comparison. And Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:12, 00:33:11.000 --> 00:33:17.000 we do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. 00:33:17.000 --> 00:33:23.000 When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they're not wise. 00:33:23.000 --> 00:33:29.000 I've worked in a scorching heat the whole day. I should get more than him, never mind what was promised. 00:33:29.000 --> 00:33:35.000 Why? Because I'm comparing. And my level of comparison is always me, myself and I and my own little life. 00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:41.000 I don't even look beyond. Imagine the contrast for a moment. A person who doesn't earn what they should, 00:33:41.000 --> 00:33:47.000 but they're really thankful that they even have a job. Imagine the person who says, 00:33:47.000 --> 00:33:53.000 I'm not earning what I know I'm able to earn, but I'm so grateful God has given me purpose. 00:33:53.000 --> 00:33:59.000 So different to the one who walks in comparison. It literally changes your perspective. 00:33:59.000 --> 00:34:05.000 And can I tell you something? In human experience, this can be devastating. 00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:11.000 Have you ever thought you're doing quite well? You're happy, your car starts and all four wheels actually go. 00:34:11.000 --> 00:34:17.000 You opened your cupboard, if you have one, and you've got three, four outfits you're able to put a different one on. 00:34:17.000 --> 00:34:23.000 Today. You go to work, you're reasonably happy, your football team's doing all right. 00:34:23.000 --> 00:34:29.000 You know what I'm saying? It's a good day. Then you go to a brier you're invited to. 00:34:29.000 --> 00:34:35.000 Someone's meat's better than yours. The vehicle they drive, the clothes they wear, the holidays they've been on. 00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:41.000 How long does it take before you're actually well looked after? Life suddenly seems poor 00:34:41.000 --> 00:34:47.000 in comparison to someone who's living the life that you aren't living. And how quickly envy creeps in. 00:34:47.000 --> 00:34:53.000 And people tell you their stories of their overseas holidays. And the closest you've ever been to a plane 00:34:53.000 --> 00:34:59.000 is to watch it fly over. But the point is, you are happy in that life until. 00:34:59.000 --> 00:35:05.000 And what Jesus wants to show us in this life. When you set your heart on serving the gospel, 00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:11.000 the moment you start looking at what others have got, the curse of comparison causes envy. 00:35:11.000 --> 00:35:17.000 And envy sours your heart to everybody else. I mean, when the Pharisees brought Jesus to Pilate 00:35:17.000 --> 00:35:23.000 and said, crucify him, Pilate recognized straight away that those rulers wanted to crucify him out of envy. 00:35:23.000 --> 00:35:29.000 They're well off, they're well positioned, they respected, they have the highest offices. 00:35:29.000 --> 00:35:35.000 But you know what? They. They can't do the miracles like this usurper. 00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:41.000 They're well respected, they're loved. They have first place at all the synagogues 00:35:41.000 --> 00:35:47.000 and all the weddings and all the banquets. They are actually number one. 00:35:47.000 --> 00:35:53.000 But they're hacked off in their hearts because another guy comes who has more influence over people 00:35:53.000 --> 00:35:59.000 than they do, and now they want to kill him. It was pure envy. 00:35:59.000 --> 00:36:05.000 Point 5. This parable is trying to draw two landscapes. There is the worldly order of competitiveness, 00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:11.000 and the first with silver spoons rule the roost. And there is this divine order of love in action 00:36:11.000 --> 00:36:17.000 where God takes those whom the world has rejected. And God makes them beautiful. 00:36:17.000 --> 00:36:23.000 And not only does he make them beautiful, he puts purpose in their lives and he brings the two worlds together 00:36:23.000 --> 00:36:29.000 so that we can invert this world through our world. Can I suggest that the hand of God 00:36:29.000 --> 00:36:35.000 reaching into the desperate world of human need is possibly the Bible's most pervasive theme. 00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:41.000 We all hear the story of David and Goliath, and you think of David and faith, 00:36:41.000 --> 00:36:47.000 and how about the fact that there were a people oppressed that God wanted freed? 00:36:47.000 --> 00:36:53.000 Think the same thing of Moses and the Exodus story. God breaks into great human need 00:36:53.000 --> 00:36:59.000 and he says, I want to invert it. Because so many who are first are actually last, 00:36:59.000 --> 00:37:05.000 and they just don't know it. They're blinded by what they have, the little glass cocoon they live in 00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:11.000 of material wealth. And if you're a student of history, just go back to the early 1920s, 00:37:11.000 --> 00:37:17.000 remember 2008, when people put confidence in their wealth and suddenly money meant nothing. 00:37:17.000 --> 00:37:23.000 Just look at our neighbors up north, where suddenly money means nothing. 00:37:23.000 --> 00:37:29.000 And those who are first realized they actually last. But those who are lost have been sent 00:37:29.000 --> 00:37:35.000 into the harvest field even in the last hour to go and reap a harvest of those who always thought they were first. 00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:41.000 I need a close. So let me just say this now again, hear what I'm saying, not what I'm not saying, okay? 00:37:41.000 --> 00:37:47.000 But from our perspective, point six, ours is a gospel of cheap grace. 00:37:47.000 --> 00:37:53.000 You see, God is not stingy with grace. God is not stingy with grace. 00:37:53.000 --> 00:37:59.000 But for you and I, grace is cheap. Grace costs the father everything. 00:37:59.000 --> 00:38:05.000 The guy who owned the vineyard had to pay all the money. The guys who were working just had to work. 00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:11.000 Didn't cost him anything, just a bit of time. The cost was always to the owner. 00:38:11.000 --> 00:38:17.000 He offers us the ability to move. Get out of your seat and move from last to first with a simple invitation. 00:38:17.000 --> 00:38:23.000 Come and follow me. And when you do, you suddenly find the Lord rewards your work with more work, 00:38:23.000 --> 00:38:29.000 more interesting, creative adventures. And you will work in this life and you will work in the life to come. 00:38:29.000 --> 00:38:35.000 Remember, Adam and Eve were put in a garden to look after it, to tend it, to rule, to have dominion. 00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:41.000 And when the new Earth and the new heavens come, we're still going to work. 00:38:41.000 --> 00:38:47.000 I think most of us are just going to be farmers. The only part. Can I be honest with you? 00:38:47.000 --> 00:38:53.000 The only thing in heaven I struggle with me personally, is I don't think there's going to be biltong. 00:38:53.000 --> 00:38:59.000 No. Because something has to die, and I don't think God's going to do that. 00:38:59.000 --> 00:39:05.000 So I think there's going to be a world where, oh, Lord, help us, the Vegans. Happy? 00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:11.000 Just think about it. But we will rule. And God wants us to rule here 00:39:11.000 --> 00:39:17.000 and some of you in this room right now who have been living, and you live under a story of I am the last. 00:39:17.000 --> 00:39:23.000 God says to you, I want you to start thinking in terms of first. Why? 00:39:23.000 --> 00:39:29.000 Because Revelation 5:10 says, and you have caused them to become a kingdom of priests for our God, 00:39:29.000 --> 00:39:35.000 and they will reign on the earth. God wants you to take the reign, the rule of heaven, 00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:41.000 and implement it in your marriage, with your children, in your Workplace, among your family and friends, 00:39:41.000 --> 00:39:47.000 wherever you have influence. He wants you to invert and he wants you to start looking after 00:39:47.000 --> 00:39:53.000 those that are lost and working to move them towards what is first. 00:39:53.000 --> 00:39:59.000 And I close by saying this. As disciples, you and I become the touch point 00:39:59.000 --> 00:40:05.000 between the visible and the invisible landscape, where the needs of this earth, 00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:11.000 primarily for forgiveness and salvation, then down to material needs, 00:40:11.000 --> 00:40:17.000 where those needs are met through a church that understands that we bring the invisible to the visible. 00:40:17.000 --> 00:40:23.000 We are touch points who are going to go into the harvest field no matter which hour. 00:40:23.000 --> 00:40:29.000 We've been called into worship and we're going to serve the King. 00:40:29.000 --> 00:40:35.000 And some of you got saved when you were 10, 12 years old, and you're now in your 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:41.000 maybe even 90s. And you serving the Lord. You've been in the harvest field since 7am 00:40:41.000 --> 00:40:47.000 There are people watching this and there are people who are in this room right now. 00:40:47.000 --> 00:40:53.000 You're in the 11th hour and you're about to enter the harvest field. 00:40:53.000 --> 00:40:59.000 And the gross unfairness of God is that you will both be rewarded with the exact same eternal life 00:40:59.000 --> 00:41:05.000 and fellowship with God, your father. Stand with me, please. 00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:11.000 Thank you so much for being a part of our meeting today. Can I just ask two things? 00:41:11.000 --> 00:41:17.000 The first is if today the message has in any way been useful to you, 00:41:17.000 --> 00:41:23.000 would you mind just maybe liking it or putting perhaps a statement down or a comment down 00:41:23.000 --> 00:41:29.000 that we can know how the ministry has helped you, Maybe a thumbs up, maybe you can subscribe to the channel, 00:41:29.000 --> 00:41:35.000 do whatever, just so we can know what impact this message may be having on you. 00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:41.000 And secondly, you may be someone who's saying, greg, I hear you. 00:41:41.000 --> 00:41:47.000 And this hope that Jesus has for us can come into my heart and it can change me. 00:41:47.000 --> 00:41:53.000 But the reality is that I don't even know if I know Jesus. I want to say two things to you right away. 00:41:53.000 --> 00:41:59.000 The first is he's near you right now. The Bible says if you believe in your heart that he is the Lord, 00:41:59.000 --> 00:42:05.000 and if you confess him with your mouth, you will be saved. Which means you just need to where you are, 00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:11.000 turn to the Lord Jesus Christ even now and just say, lord, here I am. 00:42:11.000 --> 00:42:17.000 I recognize who you are. I confess my sin to you. I acknowledge you as Jesus Christ, 00:42:17.000 --> 00:42:23.000 the Lord of all, the Son, of the living God. And I want to follow you. 00:42:23.000 --> 00:42:29.000 I want to become a disciple of yours. I want to give my life to you, Lord. 00:42:29.000 --> 00:42:35.000 And you can pray that prayer right now between you and the Lord. 00:42:35.000 --> 00:42:41.000 Secondly, you can get hold of us. We could either send you some material. 00:42:41.000 --> 00:42:47.000 We can put you in touch with a really good church near you. If you live in our area, 00:42:47.000 --> 00:42:53.000 you can come to us, you can follow us on YouTube. But it is good to get connected 00:42:53.000 --> 00:42:59.000 into the family of God, to get connected into a local church that your life changes 00:42:59.000 --> 00:43:05.000 being surrounded with the family of God. Please stay in touch. God bless you.