Jesus Speaks About Grace

[0:00] Years ago, and I know that this was a friend of the world of the house, parents gave their children unique names.

[0:17] If Cedric were to name Danielle and Abigail using this methodology, perhaps Cedrica and Cedrino would have been the names of his girls.

[0:53] That's exactly right. I guess my daughters, rather than Danielle and Alex, would have been Lindinique. Lindshell, Lindshell.

[1:05] Okay, Lindshell. But there are really some lovely names that people have possibly chosen for their children.

[1:22] Faith is one of them. Right? We're not familiar with that one. Faith. And then there's joy.

[1:35] And there's hope. I don't know if there's anyone... Have you heard the name mercy before? Mercy. Mercy, really. Mercy. Mercy.

[1:48] And then there's another one. Grace. Grace. That's right. That's a common one. What a beautiful name that is. Grace.

[2:01] It's not just beautiful because of the way it sounds, but it's beautiful because of what it means. Grace. Imagine calling your daughter Grace every time you look at her and you think of Grace.

[2:17] God's grace. How we can preach to the names that we give to our children. Grace. God's unmerited favor. Grace. We live by it.

[2:41] We're saved by it. The Lord God Almighty gives us grace to endure.

[2:53] Everything that we are is an expression of God's grace. Yes, even the unbeliever receives common grace.

[3:04] Grace. The Bible teaches us that it is he who causes the rage before, both of the just and the unjust. Grace is the believer's bread.

[3:16] Grace marks our relationship with God. You see, being company, God gives us grace because of who we are and because of who we are.

[3:28] Justice says give him what he deserves. Grace says give him unmerited favor.

[3:41] Grace. Aren't you glad for grace? Aren't you glad for grace? Let us pray. Father, we preach on this wonderful word that truly means the world to us. Grace.

[4:02] We ask the Lord that you would be pleased to grant to us grace, grant to me grace, or some of the other. So that I might receive from you as I share your word to those you love.

[4:20] And I thank grace or more to them indeed to all of us so that we would hear a life. And that we would follow a life. In Jesus' name.

[4:31] And all God's people say, Amen. man. We continue a five-part series this morning on the topic is Jesus Speaks. Jesus Speaks.

[4:44] That's how we've covered Jesus Speaks about greed, worry, and sin. Today we come to this fourth installment of our five-part series. Jesus Speaks about grace. I'm going to invite you now to turn in your Bible to Matthew chapter 20. Matthew chapter 20 and there we will read verses 1 through 16. And I'm going to struggle because my glasses are as good as they used to be. I did. Great. So we can try this now. I'm going to try this and see how this goes. I really should have got the big things here. Oh my. Let's try like this. Let's see if this works. All right. Let's do this.

[5:53] Okay. For the kingdom of heaven. I'm sorry. Does anyone have a Bible? I'm going to give you this one. Yeah. I think that will happen.

[6:12] I'm sorry. Perhaps it's the lighting here. I'm not sure. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

[6:23] Thank you so much. Oh, sorry. All right. Matthew chapter 20. For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. All right. The kingdom of heaven. This is Jesus speaking now. And Jesus says, for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Verse 2. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius, a day, he sent them into his vineyard. So the master goes out to hire laborers. He perhaps goes to an area where they would traditionally congregate. And he agrees with some of them, not all of them. He agrees with some of them to work in his vineyard for a specified amount, a denarius, a day's wage. Verse 3. And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace. So having hired the first set of workers, right, having hired the first set of workers, and having agreed with them, that word agreed is very important in this context. The master agreed with the first set of laborers to pay upctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctctct

[8:27] There is no clear amount that is given to these workers. He says, whatever is right, I will give you. This is the third hour now.

[8:38] So now we've got two sets of workers. Those who went early in the morning. Those who went the third hour. And then in verse 5, Jesus says, So they went, going out again, going out again, about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same.

[8:59] So the master went out two other times. Went out in the sixth hour and the ninth hour, and he did exactly the same as he did during the third hour.

[9:10] So now we have four sets of workers. Those who agreed to Daenerys at the beginning. Those who agreed that the master will, you know, take care of them somehow.

[9:25] During the day, at the end of the walk period. And then in verse 6 it says, And about the eleventh hour, he went out and found others standing.

[9:39] Note this verse here. This has some peculiarities too. Because firstly we see that he went out the eleventh hour. This is one hour before they had to get off from work.

[9:51] Just one hour. The master goes out again. And the Bible describes these people.

[10:05] These people that he saw. They were standing idle all day. And he said to them, Why do you stand here idle all day?

[10:17] That's a question he asked of this group, the men of the others. They said to him, Because no one has hired us. Notice that?

[10:29] No one has hired this group of people. Does it speak about them? Does it say something about them? Do they have some history?

[10:39] No one has hired us. Then he said to them, You go into the vineyard too.

[10:51] Accept them into the vineyard. And you might think that this master is a little confused there. Because he was saying, Perhaps he ought to hire everybody at the beginning of the day.

[11:02] And take them all there. But no, He has five lots of people that he sends into the vineyard. And verse 8.

[11:14] Okay. And when evening came, The owner of the business said to his former, Call the laborers and pay them their wages.

[11:25] See that? He says, Pay them their wages. That's point one. Point two. He says, Beginning with the last. You know this guy?

[11:35] He doesn't say, Begin with the first. He says to the former, Pay these laborers their wages, Beginning with the last.

[11:47] And then move to the first. Start with the last and move to the first. And when those hired about the 11th hour came, Each of them received, Guess how much?

[12:01] A denarius. Remember that that was the promise he made To those who started. So those who started at the 11th hour, Who worked just for one hour, Received what the master has promised To those who were working all day.

[12:22] Now, Guess what those people who were working all day Must be thinking. They must be thinking, Man, This is a good thing here. It may be faith. These brothers who just started, Who just came here for an hour.

[12:34] Certainly those of us who were working under the sun's heat, The sun's rays, With our hands, Are messed up.

[12:45] He's still something like that. He's steady. That's not the night. All day. Surely, We're going to receive at least 12 times. Because we were 12 hours, They only were 1 hour, And they got a denarius.

[12:57] So surely we're going to get 12. Verse 10, Now when those hired first came, They thought they would receive more.

[13:09] But each of them also received a denarius. Now listen, Let's pause for a moment. Remember what Jesus said. Jesus is stating this parable.

[13:21] Go back to verse 1. Jesus said, For the kingdom of heaven, Is like a master of a house. So here Jesus is telling us, Telling a parable, About what the kingdom of heaven, Is like.

[13:38] And Jesus, Here, You and I would ordinarily say, That the kingdom of heaven is like this. This seems to be, Funny math here. The guys who came in, At the 11th hour, Received the denarius.

[13:52] And those who came in at the beginning, Received the same thing. Something must be wrong. And indeed, In verse 11, On receiving their pay, Those who came at the 11th hour, Grumbled at the master of the house.

[14:10] Listen to what they said. These last worked only one hour. And you have made them equal to us, Who have borne the burden of the day, And the scorching heat.

[14:27] For the master replied, To them. This is how he starts it. Friend. Somebody starts, Friend. You gotta watch out, What they're about to say.

[14:38] He says, Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree, With me for denarius? Take what belongs to you and go.

[14:50] I choose to give, I choose, I choose to give, To this last worker, As I give to you. That's my choice. Verse 15.

[15:02] Am I not allowed to do, What I choose, With what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge, My generosity? Verse 16.

[15:16] So the last will be first, And the first last. Now what kind of economy, Is this, This master, Is operating in?

[15:30] Gives to, The last, First, Not only that, He gives it, The same amount, That he gave, To those, Who were working, All day.

[15:44] This parable, Is not disjointed, From, The rest of, Matthew. As a matter of fact, If you start, At verse 20, It gives you a sense, That there must have been, Something that came before us.

[15:59] Take a look at it again. In verse 1, Of chapter 20, It says, For the kingdom of heaven. It's like a master. Which suggests, That Jesus must have been, Talking about something, Prior to that.

[16:13] He says, For the kingdom of heaven. So this could easily, Have been, A part, Of, Chapter 29. So the question is, What is it, What were they talking about, That caused, Jesus, To introduce, This, This, Particular, This, Particular, Parable.

[16:35] Let's take a look at it, For a moment. If we go up to, Verse 27, Of chapter, 29, Of, Sorry, Of 19, Chapter 19, Of verse, Chapter 19, Verse 27, It says to us, That then Peter said in the fire, See, We have left everything in full view.

[16:59] What then will we have? So Peter here, The disciples are talking about being rewarded. Right? What are we going to get? What is in it for us?

[17:14] What's in it for us? And Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, In the new world, When the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, You who have followed me, Will also sit on twelve floors, Judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

[17:31] And everyone, Jesus says, Who has left houses, Or brothers, Or sisters, Or father, Or mother, Or children, Or lands, For my name's sake, Will receive a hundredfold, And will inherit eternal life.

[17:47] But, But, Many who are first, Will be last, And the last first. Remember that's how we have in the power of it.

[17:59] Many who are first, Will be last, And the last first. So what is the sense? What is Jesus, What is Matthew, In recording these verses, What is he trying to say to us, In essence?

[18:20] I believe, That the essence of this passage is this, In the world, Reward is based on one's efforts, In the kingdom, Reward is derived, From God's grace.

[18:40] In the world, Reward is based on one's efforts, In the kingdom, Reward is derived, From God's grace. And to help us to, Navigate quickly, Through these verses, I've organized my thoughts, Around, Seven, Brief thoughts.

[19:05] So I'm going to take a little, Longer than others. But we're going to get through it. So I want us to consider, Seven things, That this parable, Of equal wages, For unequal work, Teaches us, About grace.

[19:28] This parable, Of the laborers, In the vineyard. What does it teach us, About grace? The first thing that I believe, That teaches us about grace, Is that those who would receive grace, Be no residence, A background check, Does no matter, What you're doing, Prior.

[20:02] I think that that comes out clearly, In these verses, In these verses, We see the, The master of, The vineyard going, Into a field, Into an area, Looking for, Day laborers, Looking for these guys, Who are hanging around, Waiting for someone, With his truck, To come, And, Pick them up, And take them to work.

[20:26] And you've seen, Situations like this before, Nobody goes and asks, For a, Character reference, Or, A police certificate, Or anything of that nature, They just look, And they just pick out, Pusses that they think, Would qualify, For the job.

[20:46] No experience required. No resume, Is needed. Jesus says, In verse one, Verses one and two, The kingdom of heaven, Is like a monster of a house, Who went out early in the morning, To hire laborers, For his vineyard.

[21:06] After agreeing with the laborers, For a denarius a day, He sent them into the vineyard. Aren't you glad today, That Jesus did not say, That the kingdom of heaven, Is like a master, Who goes out to get, Astrophysicists, Do ask, For their, For their qualifications, Jesus says, And the kingdom of heaven, Is like this, One who goes out, And seeks out, People of, Low standing, As far as society is concerned, Those who would receive, Grace, Do not need, That brown chest, These, Day laborers, This should not be lost, From us, I don't want us, To lose sight of the fact, That these were, Ordinary people,

[22:07] So, Some other category, Of vocals, Could have been used, But, Jesus, In this, Example, In teaching us, About grace, About God's grace, He talks here, About day laborers, Perhaps, Not as educated, Maybe, Most of them, Didn't finish high school, They were, Unskilled, And perhaps, Some of them, Had a path, Perhaps, Some of them, Were, In jail, And they couldn't get, Any other, Occupation, No other career, It is possible, That some of them, Would have had a reputation, Maybe, Some of them, Had a reputation, For hard work, Maybe, Who knows, Maybe,

[23:10] Some of them, Might have worked, For the master, Before, However, Given their response, In the end, That we have already seen, It would seem, That they had not, Walked with him, Before, Certainly, They could not, Recall, The experience, Perhaps, Today, Perhaps, Today, You are, Sitting, In the seat, Of a day worker, You, Without a resume, That demonstrates, Qualifications, For grace, In fact, That's the way you feel, I don't qualify, For grace, Indeed, Sin, Seems to, Have, Overwhelmed, Your, Circumstances, You've been, Overwhelmed, By, Sin, In and out, Of something, That you know, Is ungodly,

[24:10] Well, I'm glad, That the parable, This parable, That we come to today, Is about, Those rough, Day workers, It reminds me, That no matter, Our, Path, We're all, Candidates for grace, No matter, Where you are today, Reminds me, That, No matter, Where you are, Today, You're a candidate, For grace, Yes, No matter, Our sin, And no matter, Our guilt, There is, Still grace, That overbides, And let me say, To you, Here, Now, That perhaps, You say, Well, These guys, Who were chosen first, Surely, They didn't receive, Any grace, Because they got, The same amount,

[25:11] But the fact of the matter, Is, They were chosen, They didn't have to be, Chosen, In the first place, The master chose them, So they too, Were beneficiaries, Of grace, Yes, No matter, Our sin, And no matter, Our guilt, There is still grace, That is able, To overwhelm, Our experiences, And our conditions, You remember, The hymn writer, Who penned the words, Of marvelous grace, A marvelous grace, The hymnist writes, Marvelous grace, Is, Of our dear, Loving Lord, Grace, That exceeds, Our sin, At our guilt, Yonder, On calvary's mouth, Of poor, There where the, Blood of the land, Was spilled, Grace, These, Day laborers,

[26:14] See, Grace, Having been hired, Without a resume, Without, Without, Without, Any, Indication, That they, Qualify, For the job, The second, The thing that I believe, That this, Parable teaches us, Is that, Grace, Is not transferable, The invitation, Is, Personal, Did you see that?

[26:42] Grace, Is not transferable, Not transferable, The master, Did not say, To these, Neighbors, Would you, Recommend somebody, To me, Would you, Or would you go, And bring another, Person with you?

[26:58] He didn't say that, He extended the invitation, To these, Going out, About the third hour, He saw, Others standing, In the marketplace, He spoke to them, And he said, You go into the vineyard too, And whatever is right, I will give you, So they went, Going out again, About the sixth hour, And the ninth hour, He did the same, And about the ninth hour, He ran out, And found, Others standing, And he said to them, Why do you stand here, Idle?

[27:33] This grace, God deals with us, God extends grace to us, It's for us, The invitation, Was extended to others, And the master himself, Did that, While one might tell a friend, We can tell a friend, About God's, Amazing grace, Ultimately, The invitation, Is personal, And it's not done, For all, The third point, That I believe, That this parable, Is teaching us, About grace, Is that quality, And quantity, Of work, Are not determinants, For grace, Quality, And quantity, And of work, Are not determinants, For grace, That's what, This parable, Is teaching me, Consider verses, Verses 8, Through 12, When evening came,

[28:34] The owner of the million, Said to his father, Call the laborers, And pay them their wages, Pay them all their wages, He didn't say, Go and check to see, What they had done, He didn't say, Check to see, Whether the guys, Who came in, In the third hour, Or the sixth hour, Or the ninth hour, Or the eleventh hour, Performed as well, As those, Who, Came in, On books, All day, He didn't, He did no such strength, He did no such strength, He did no such strength, But I wonder, As you think, About this, As you think about this, Horrible, Do you think it's fair?

[29:24] Do you think it's fair? There's something about, We'll come back to that, In a moment, There's something about, This account, Something about this, Horrible, That reminds me, Of the lost sheep, In Matthew, 18, Verses 12, What came, And even the parable, Of the prodigal son, There's something about this, That just, It seems to, To link, You can, You can, You can get a sense, That, It is the same, God, That we are dealing with, The same shepherd, The shepherd, The master, And the father, Is the shepherd, They all speak, To the shepherds, Of the father's, Special care, For the one, Who is lost, Not, Not to the exclusion,

[30:24] Of the others, Not to the exclusion, But there is this, Heart, There is this, Special place, In the heart, Of the father, Is the special place, In the heart, Of the shepherd, For the one, Who, Is lost, Having decided, To pay, The workers, Who all receive, The same amount, There is no indication, About quality, There is no indication, That he checked, For quality, None, Whatsoever, Support, That I'm making, Here to us, This morning, Saying to us, That grace, God's grace, Is not dependent, Upon our work, God's grace, Is not dependent, Upon the quality, And the quality, Of your work, That's why, It's grace, It's undeserved, It's God, A merit, Of favor, So today, You might say,

[31:26] You might see, Like, This sometimes, But you feel, You know, I haven't done enough, I haven't been, Good enough, In fact, I've been, Quite the opposite, But a buddy of mine, Sent me, Realizing that I had this, Message to preach, This morning, Sent me a, Quotation, That I want to, Share, With you, It says, But the kingdom, Of God, Does not operate, On the basis, Of commercial, Convention, God rules by grace, Not by desert, The rewards, Which thus, Which this gospel, Has, So persistently spoken of, Are not earned, Nor are they, Proportionate, To human effort, This gospel, About which we,

[32:27] Speak, Is a gospel, Of grace, Is a gospel, Of grace, Is not a gospel, Of what you, Deserve, Is not a gospel, Of what you, Have earned, It's not, Proportionate, To human effort, Jesus, Is saying, To us, In, This, Parable, That quantity, And quantity, Of work, Are not determinants, For grace, Perhaps, Perhaps those, Full day, Workers, Believe, As I said earlier, That, It was a mean, Unbeneficiary, In the grace, Because, He didn't work, In all day, But you see, The point of this, Parable, Is, Exactly that, That the minister, Had no regard for, For that whatsoever, He had no regard, For the fact, That they were there, All day, He treated them, All, The same, He let out,

[33:29] Into the marketplace, Every few hours, Looking for some more, Upon whom he might, Bestow, Grace, Grace, What else is this, Parable, The fourth thing, I believe, Is that, People's views, Is, Don't determine, The grace, That you, And I receive, People's views, Don't determine, The grace, That you and I receive, Take a look at verse 11, Well let's start, With number 10, Now when those, Hired first came, Remember now, What happens, At this point, Is that, Everybody has been paid, Except those, Who came, First, Who started, First, Everybody's, Godless, Seeing, Denarius, Then it says, In verse 10, That when those,

[34:29] Hired first came, They thought, They would receive more, Right, That seems reasonable, But each of them, Also received, The denarii, And on receiving it, They grumbled, At the master, Of the house, Saying, These, Last, Worker, All, These last, Walked, Only one hour, And you have made them, Equal to us, Who have borne the burden, Of the day, And the scorching heat, Now I need not tell you, Behemoths, That you and I, Are just like these people, We compare ourselves, With each other, We compare ourselves, And that's a part, Of the problem, That we have, As Christians, They were not concerned, About whether, They were receiving, Their contractual obligation, They were more concerned, About what, The master, Did, For others, And they started to complain, And they started to grumble,

[35:31] You and I, Can rest assured, That God, Does not, Is not moved, By the opinion, Of others, When it comes to grace, God's going to bless you, Whether, Your neighbor likes it, Or not, He's going to extend grace, He's going to save you, Whether, Your neighbor wants, Him to do it, Or not, Their views, Just like these workers, Those people about whom, I just spoke, Their views are of no, Importance, They don't factor in, They're not considered, Notice that the, Full day workers, Did not say, That their contract, Was violated, They didn't say that, They didn't come to the match, And say, You listen, You know, You violated the contract, Because they couldn't say that,

[36:33] It was agreed, That this is what, They would receive, And they got, Precisely what, Was agreed, But instead, In essence, Their argument was, This is their argument, You giving them, Too much grace, You giving them, Too much, You being, Too kind to them, You being, Generous to them, Here we were, Working, In your vineyard, All of these years, Keeping the doors, Of the church open, All of these, Years, Preaching, Sunday, After Sunday, Here we were, Living holy lives, And everybody knows it, And then, Johnny Pum, Lately, Comes around, Look, At what you do, For him, Look, It is, Unworthy, How the master,

[37:34] Of the vineyard, Responded, Take a look, At verse 13, He replied, To one of them, Friend, You know, When you get in an argument, With somebody, He says, It's a friend, You know, Something is about to come down, To go down, Friend, You know, He's about to tell him something, He, The master, Exposed, Their merit, Based position, And revealed, Their selfishness, These, Laborers, Felt, That, The master, Ought to have, Taken his, Money, The master's money, And the master, Ought to have, Payed people, Based on merit, They're telling the master,

[38:35] What to do, With his, Money, The master, The master said, Am I doing you wrong, I'm doing you, No wrong, I'm doing you no wrong, Did you not agree, They may not agree, They may not agree, They may agree, The qualification of this, Last group of, Woffers, This very last group of, I want us to, Take a look at them, Just for a moment, Within the context, Of what, We now speak about, Remember, We said that people's, Views, Do not factor in, Whether we receive, Grace or not, Look at what, They say, About themselves, Themselves, They said, About themselves, That no one, Would hire us,

[39:35] That was the opinion, In the marketplace, These fellows over here, I take in there, Because, They're lazy, Or you can just look at them, Big belly fellows, Oh jeez, You know, They can, Excuse me, Big belly belly, Excuse me, Big belly belly, Excuse me, Excuse me, Excuse me, Excuse me, Excuse me, Excuse me, Excuse me, Excuse me, Oh, Oh no, Oh you know what, There's some skinny fellows, They might as well have, Big bellies, Because they wasted their, Skinniness, But, They can't lift up, They can't lift up, But you know, Let's get back on track now, But hear about, These, People, Their neighbors had, Opinions, About them, No one would hire, Them,

[40:37] Good for nothing, Because his master, He hired them, He extended grace to them, These were likely, The least desirable, Workers, I wonder, If you've ever been, In a place, Where those, Day workers, Were, Have you ever been there, Where, Perhaps, Others thought, That you were not worthy, Or perhaps, You even thought, That you, Were unworthy, Of grace, Are you there now, Are you, In that place, Right now, You feel, That there is, Something, In your life, That, God, I need some grace, I need some grace, To handle this situation, That something, Has befallen you, Well, Here's what you need, To know, About grace,

[41:37] That father sees, And knows, And extends, An invitation, For you, To come, And to receive, Grace, And I can pray, And ask the Lord, For grace, Lord, Grant grace to us, Grant us grace, In, Situation, A, B, Or C, And we see, The attitude, Of the master, He gives grace, Truly, Gives grace, Even, At the 11th hour, When you think, That they're just coming now, They're coming to, To take the car, Right now, I have, Mind you, I have six months, To deal with this situation, To come here now, And be, Grace, For you to deal with, That situation, Grace, Grace, What we must see,

[42:42] No matter where we are in life, No matter what we think of ourselves, Or what others think of us, Someone shared, This with me, What we must see, Is not only that Jesus is gentle, Toward you, But that he is positively, Drawn toward you, When you are most sure, He doesn't want to be, When you are most sure, He doesn't want to be, It's not only that he is not, Repelled by your fallenness, He finds your need, And emptiness, And sorrow, Irresistible, That's the kind of God, We serve, That's what this parable is telling us, This parable is telling us, That when we think, That we are at his lowest, He is, At his most, Merciful, He finds us,

[43:46] He finds our need, He finds our emptiness, He finds our sorrow, Irresistible, That's why he goes back, Goes back, And he goes back, And he goes back, The next thing, I believe that this parable, Teaches us, Is that there is just, One grace giver, There's only one, There's only one grace giver, It was the master, Of the vineyard alone, Who determined what, Each would receive, He did it alone, There is no place, In this parable, Where we see the master, Of the vineyard, Consulting with anyone, He didn't consult, With, The foreman, He instructed, The foreman, He didn't consult, With the workers, He said, This is what I'm going, To do for you, Matter of fact,

[44:50] The master, Makes it real clear, And he says, This is my stuff, This is my money, You would have, Tell me, What to do, With my face, Verse 30, Friend, I'm doing you no wrong, Did you not agree, With me for, For a denarius, Take what belongs to you, And go, I choose, He said, I choose, It's the Lord's, Choice, It's God, Doing the choosing, It's him, Making the decisions, Aren't you glad today, That we, Serve a God, Who is sovereign, Who is, Providential, Even, Who, Acts and operate, In our, Affairs, He knows, Where you, And I are, And he, Chooses, He says, I choose, To give, This last workup, As I give to you, Am I not allowed, To do what, I choose, With what, Belongs, To me,

[45:52] We know, That everything, Belongs, To, The Lord, God is, Full of grace, And mercy, The sixth thing, This parable, Teaches about, Is truly, The benefits, Of grace, Are too, Valuable, To be earned, It's too valuable, To be earned, The things, That God, Gives to us, Too valuable, To be earned, Perhaps you are, Unconvinced, That the workers, Who started earlier, And received, What was promised, Brought what, Brought more, Than they deserve, Maybe you don't, You're not convinced, Of that, You might even, Feel that way, About, Those hired,

[46:54] Nets, Surely, You can't, Feel that way, About those, Who were hired, And they never, Vowed, Surely, You can't feel that way, You don't feel that, You don't believe, That, That they, Put in, A full day's work, Though they received, A full day's pay, Surely, You don't believe that, The truth is, That, None of them, Could have, Walked hard enough, None of us, Work hard enough, To earn, The grace, That God, So freely, Gives, To us, That is why, This can't be, A merit based thing, That is why, We can't work hard, Enough for it, You can't work hard, Enough for salvation, You can't work hard, Enough for it, You can't work hard, Enough to be, Able to, Endure, Some of the, Trials, And tribulations, That are so, Common in life,

[47:57] Commentator, Reminds us, That the God, Who pulls, The flowers, And feeds, The birds, He gives us, More, Than we deserve, That is the main, Principle of this, Parable, That we get, More than we deserve, That we get, More, Than we, Can earn, The emphasis, On this, Of this parable, Is really not, On the full day, Workers, Not really, It's not about them, That's, Yeah, They're here, The full day, Workers are here, And we already said, That this is, God extended grace to them, Because they didn't have to be children, But it's really, Not about them, This parable, Is truly, About the others, Particularly those, Who were, Chosen, During the 11th hour, Because Jesus, Wanted us to see, Something here, They,

[48:58] Did not, And they, Could not, Walk, For what, They, Received, That's what grace said, Grace exceeds, All you and I, Can do, After hiring, Everyone he needed, He still, Caught others, Likely, That they didn't belong, To a union, To whom they, To complete, But he still, Gave them, A full day's pay, Who still gave them, A full day's pay, You see, Let me tell you, Something about grace, With this parable, Teaches that, Father helps us, To see that, This, Master of the vineyard, Is no one's debtor, At all, Who gave them, More than they, Deserved, No one could, Truly, Complain, David reminded us, Of this truth,

[50:02] God is no one's debtor, In 1st Corinthians, Chapter 29, Verse 14, This is what it says, But who am I, What is my people, This is David now, Praying to the Lord, He's collecting, Goods to construct, The capital, He says, But who am I, What is my people, That we should be able, Thus to offer, Yellily, Then he says, For all things, Come from you, And your own, Have we given, To you, David recognizes, That everything, Belongs to the Lord, And he says, We hear, We hear saying, That we are giving, To the Lord, He says, But the reality is, That everything, Comes from you, And we are giving, Back to you,

[51:03] What, You have, Given to us, Grace, It's too valuable, To be earned, Too valuable, God's blessings, Are too valuable, To be earned, And, Seventh and final point, This powerful, Teach us about, Many, Who are caught, Who are first, Will be last, And the last first, Many, Many, Who are first, Will be last, And the last first, I will admit, That this is hard, To understand, What does it mean, What does, What does, What does Jesus, Truly say to us, Does he say to us, That, You know,

[52:04] Maybe some would get, From this, That, We are to be last, That Christians, Are to live a life, Of poverty, Um, I don't think, That's it at all, Scripture, Does not support that, Is it that, Those who, Have been, Believers, Longest, Are going to be, Disadvantaged, Or are, Disadvantaged, I don't believe that at all, In fact, I think that the parable, Speaks specifically, To that as well, Is taken, Along with the conversation, That Jesus had prior, With his disciples, Jesus is emphasizing, That those recently converted, Do not stand, To be,

[53:05] Less beneficiaries, Of grace, Than others, In other words, Jesus is saying, You know, You can't be, Half saved, Or you can't be, Partly saved, Jesus is making the point, That one, Will not be, Half saved, Or half blessed, So though you might, Become a, Christian, Or you might, Receive grace, For something, Later in life, Or just, Momentarily, Just, Just recently, Sorry, Jesus is saying, You are not, Trailing, You are not behind, Others, Yes, There will be, People in heaven, Who like, One of the thieves, Crucified with Jesus, Have been converted, On their deathbed, See that's the point,

[54:08] You are left behind, The message to, His disciples, The message to, His disciples, And to us, Is, That we should, Not begrudge, Them, We should not, Begrudge people, Who, You know, Sometimes you see, Someone who's been, Living, A sinful life, Decades, And they later do, Then, I shouldn't say, That they wait, But sometimes, Later, Much later in life, The Lord saves them, And you wonder, It's like, All of these years, We've been laboring, The only thing, Jesus is helping us, To see, That there is no distinction, Between, Such individuals, And ourselves, We should rejoice, Because we're not, We're not being, Short changed, By what the Lord, Is doing, For that, We're not being,

[55:09] Short changed, Because of the reward, That our neighbors, Receive, See, This, Incoming, That Jesus, Teaches us about, In this parable, This is turning upside down, What we're used to, Jesus, Jesus turns it, Upside down, Now, I'm not saying, To you, Who are employed, Don't go to work, Tomorrow, And do this now, What Jesus did, I'm not saying, Not at all, Right, But Jesus turns it, Upside down, Grace is, About God, And, Compensation, You know, This reward thing, That, That we want, That these, Full day laborers, Were looking for, Compensation, Is about us, Grace is about God, And compensation, Is about us, Compensation, For work, Is about us, Compensation,

[56:10] Is about, Hours, Work, Quality of work, Giver, This and that, Grace is about, The goodness, Of God, And you tell me, Where you want to be, Grace, Or you want to be, On the other side, You want to be, You want to be compensated, For being good, Or you want grace, Compensation is, About fairness, You know, You compensate, Grace, Is about generosity, Compensation, Lead to arrogance, Or in some instances, At low self-restade, Grace is the, Bleeding ground, For humility, Grace, I have it, I am who I am, Because, Of God alone, Compensation, Compensation, Is selfish, Grace, Is self-last,

[57:12] Compensation, Is about, The accumulation, Of stuff, Grace, Right now, Just, As you are, Yes, You, Can, In this moment, In this moment, Right now, You can have all the grace you need, Despite who you are, Where you, Have been, What you have done, I'd rather, Have grace, Than have, What I deserve, Than have, What I deserve, See you today, Because, Of grace, That have, What I deserve, Rather, Than have, What I deserve, So, We can, See you today, Just a couple, Four, You, Because,

[58:13] God is gracious, To us, He stands, Grace to us, We ought to be gracious, To others, I wrote that down, Trembling, Because, Yesterday, I had occasion, I could have extended grace, To something, And I didn't do that, I didn't do that, And this was, And, Interestingly, This person was looking for me, And, I made a mistake, I didn't agree with him, What I would pay him, I thought, He, He would know, That I would do, What, What he would do, To ordinarily, But he changed, The spirit of me, He said, No, I don't work, By the hour anymore, I work based on the task, And I was, Taken about by that, And I said, Okay, What do you want, Take it, And that's the end of it, That was not, A gracious response, To that person, He and I, We need to talk, My point is, The Lord God, Is gracious to us, And we ought to extend,

[59:14] Grace, To others, The second point is, That Jesus Christ, Is the embodiment, Of God's grace, The essence, Of God's grace, Jesus Christ, Comes to us, Even now, Our prayer, Even now, Is that, The eyes of those, Who are, Unsaved, Will be, Opened, God would extend, Grace, To be unsaved, That he would be pleased, To open their eyes, Our prayer is, Grace, Than those, Who, Be grace, To endure, Some challenging,

[60:16] Circumstance, Grace, To overcome, Some difficulty, And the Lord, Would be pleased, To, Extend grace, These are some of the words, Of the song, That we will sing, Just a moment, Your grace, That leads, The sin of hope, In the God's prayer, From death, To life, Forever, And sings, The song, Of righteousness, By blood, And not by marriage, The love of the Lord, And it's not our own, That we receive, Christ, For us, Lord, we ask in the name of Jesus that these would not be empty words to us.

[61:25] Lord, that our hearts would be glad today as we reflect on this parable. Lord, that we would see ourselves truly as we are.

[61:37] Ordinary is need of grace. Need of grace every day and every hour. Lord, we pray that you would grant to us the well of all the reminder, presence to ask you for grace, Lord, by your Holy Spirit.

[62:01] Cause us, O Lord, to rely not on our ability, but rather, Lord, on your grace.

[62:12] Lord, we'd rather have grace cause that to be our true disposition. Lord, we would rather have grace. Rather have grace.

[62:24] Lord, help us today. Lord, help the one who is struggling today with sin.

[62:36] Help the one who is struggling today dealing with a difficult circumstance. Lord, let us extend, O Lord, grace to us as our prayer.

[62:50] Lord, as you did in the parable extend grace to us as our prayer. Lord, if you have, if you have grace, you have to do it. We have to handle it, Lord. We have to handle it. So, Lord, we ask for grace.

[63:03] but help us to see ourselves the way you see us or be our prayer truly Lord is that the things that we preach about the things that we read about the things that we pray about that they will become real more real in our lives Lord help us to leave them out grant to us grace to live them out God is grace to walk as you would have us to walk God is grace to live with one another as you would have us to live with one another Lord we pray even though earnestly most earnestly Lord for those whose eyes are darkened by sin who don't know you Lord we ask that you would write grace to them in the name of Jesus we pray and all God's people say

[64:25] I invite you to please stand as we sing grace grace grace the only place that leaves the same home from death to life forever and saints of song of righteousness Yes Yes Yes Verse 2.

[65:33] Verse 2.

[66:03] Verse 2.

[66:33] Verse 2.

[67:03] Verse 2. Verse 2.

[67:37] Verse 2. Verse 2.

[68:11]

[70:11] Verse 2. Verse 2. Verse 2. Verse 2. Verse 2. Verse 2.

[70:23] Verse 2. Verse 2. Verse 2.