Alright, this morning we want to look at another parable in the gospel of Matthew. So please turn with me to Matthew chapter 20. Matthew chapter 20. Alright Matthew chapter 20, we’re going to look at verse 1 through verse 16. So this is the Word of God.

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ So he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.’

“So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’ And when those who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius. And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’

But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’ So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.”

Alright, we’re going to look at this parable, sometimes called the parable of the vineyard but I’ve chosen to entitle this parable “The First Will Be Last”. And I believe that this is the point of the parable. So I give you upfront alright as to what the point of this parable is. But I’m just wondering how many of you are actually familiar with this parable or even have heard of it. Maybe some of you have never heard of it. Maybe some of you or maybe many of you have heard of it but not quite sure what this parable is about or what the Lord Jesus Christ is teaching here. Now, remember that our Lord Jesus Christ when He was on earth, His primary way of teaching His disciples was through parables. So there must then be an important message here.

But as we look at this parable, it is helpful for us to note what went before alright this parable. In other words, why did Jesus tell this story here? Now if you look with me at the previous chapter (and that is chapter 19 alright)- in chapter 19, now before Jesus told this parable we are told by Matthew here that He had an encounter with a young man. Now we know that this was a young man because in verse 20 of chapter 19 we are told “the young man said to Him”. So this was a young man. And we know that this was a rich man because elsewhere in Luke we are told that this was a rich man. And so we often refer to this man as the rich young man.

And so Jesus has an encounter with this rich young man. And it’s important to look at that encounter in order to understand this parable. And so here in chapter 19 and verse 16, we are told: “And behold, one (that is the rich young man) came to Jesus and said (in this translation it says), “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?””. And so this rich young man came to Jesus and asked a question, and this is the question. Now listen to the question very carefully in order to understand what he was asking. He asked: What good things must I do so that I may inherit eternal life?

Now you see in the young man’s mind, now he figured that in order to inherit eternal life, in order to be saved, in order to go to heaven (now that is the various ways of putting it) that we must do some good deed. But he was testing Jesus and say okay, what are some of the good deeds? What are some of the good things that I must do in order to inherit eternal life? Is it perhaps charity? Is it perhaps being kind to people, or is it perhaps I must be a vegetarian? What kind of good things I must do that I may inherit eternal life? And so you see in the mind of this young man here that is his understanding about receiving eternal life.

Now we know that that is a common understanding. In fact, every human religion alright teaches that we must do some good things in order to inherit eternal life or in order to go to heaven. Now surprisingly as the story goes on alright, Jesus actually told him that if you really wonder alright what good things a man or a person must do in order to inherit eternal life, He said let me tell you alright. So He said to this young man alright that if you (in verse 17): “He said to him, “So why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, and that is, God.” But if you want to know alright- if you want to know. If you want eternal life, now keep. “Keep the commandments.”. Keep the Ten Commandments.

Now that was what He was referring to here which He kind of mentioned in verses 18 and 19 alright kind of summary where He mentions a few of them. Well, you must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not bear false witness. You must honour your father and mother. You must love your neighbour as yourself. In other words, Jesus says that you really want to know how a person might enter into heaven or might inherit eternal life, you see, that is the way that you live a perfect life. You live a life of perfect obedience to God. As it were, Jesus is kind of going along with him. Now you see, the disciples heard the whole conversation because the disciples were with Him alright with Jesus there.

And so the disciples asked the question in verse 25 alright and the disciples’ question is this: “When the disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?””. Now the disciples knew that that was difficult, and Jesus gave an illustration that to do that alright, if you want to go to heaven by keeping the Ten Commandments perfectly is like a camel going through a needle’s eye. If that can happen, then it’s possible for people to enter into heaven by doing good things. What good things must I do to inherit eternal life? And so the disciples alright heard that and they say if that is the case, if that is the standard as it were, if that is the demand, then who then can be saved?

Verse 26: “And Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.””. That is the point. Jesus said if you want to go to heaven by doing good works, that is simply impossible. You want to inherit eternal life by keeping the Ten Commandments, that is impossible. So with men, it is impossible. Now that much the disciples saw it. But I said with God all things are possible. Salvation is only possible with God, not with us. And still, they make a mistake because the following verse (in verse 27): “Then Peter answered and said to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You.””.

You see, the rich young man realised that that was not possible for him because when he was pressed further, he realised that no, it was not possible for him to keep the Law of God perfectly because he was not willing to give up all his treasures. But the disciples said alright- Peter said but we have done that. We have done that. We have given all alright. We have forsaken all or left all to follow You. So what do we get? Now you see, in both the disciples’ mind as well as the rich young man’s mind, you see gaining benefit from God is like a trade-off alright, this trading you see. It is like you know I give up something and God will give me something. It’s like how much can I give up so that God can reward me.

So it is based on a reward basis. They think of salvation, they think of all of God’s blessing. They think of all of God’s gift as you know a reward basis, on merit alright. So these are people who believe in meritocracy alright in this matter. Now so Jesus responded to Peter in verse 28 alright. And Jesus said to be sure alright now to be sure God will be fair. Now sometimes people think that salvation is by grace alone alright. It’s only all of God without any. You see, then we think of this fairness issue. Now you say, Jesus says first of all to be sure God will be fair.

Verse 28: “Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the generation, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.”. You say don’t worry alright. God will be fair. Now sometimes we think about ourselves, said we have sacrificed so much for God. Surely God is going to repay me. Now see for sure alright, to be sure God will be fair. But that will mean trouble. Now if we think of our relationship with God in that way, now Jesus said that is going to spell trouble for us.

And so He ends by saying in verse 30: “But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”. Now note He makes this statement alright as a conclusion to that encounter alright with the rich young man and also with the response of the disciples. So He concluded with that statement. So this statement served as a conclusion to the previous encounter alright conversation. But it also served as an introduction to this present alright parable here. So after saying that, now He said then let Me tell you a story alright- let Me tell you a story: “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner”. So He tells the story. And you see, you note that at the end of the story He said this in verse 16: “So the last will be first, and the first last.”.

Now obviously that this parable has something to do with what happened before alright in chapter 19. So you can say that this statement alright served as a conclusion of the last encounter and introduction here. Or you might say that this statement served as what we call the beginning and the end of this parable. It’s like a bracket alright like keep this we called it the book ends alright to keep this parable together. Alright now let’s go to the parable itself alright. That’s the reason why Jesus told this. You see something that Jesus wants to correct here. There is something that Jesus wants to point out here as a result of this encounter alright. So He said you people missed something here alright. So let Me tell you a story.

Now so note this story here. I think the storyline is not very difficult alright to follow except that it is hard for people. People find it perplexing alright. So the storyline, not very difficult. So what is the storyline? He say that it’s about a landowner who went out. He needed some workers alright. So here obviously he’s hiring what we called those day contract workers alright. So he went out early in the morning, he got some workers. Now remember that the Jewish workday begins at sunrise, that is at 6 am, not like us alright. We start work at 9 am or 8:30. We always say nine to five alright, that is our workday. But for them, it begins at 6 am and ends at 6 pm alright. So that’s workday.

So he went at the very beginning of the day at 6 am. He called some workers. He said come and work for me and I’ll pay you a day’s wage. So a denarius is a day’s wage. Maybe they also have some kind of minimum wage. So they know this is the day’s wage. Alright, so agree. Everybody knows that that is a fair pay for a day’s work. Then verse 3 alright he went out again. Maybe he needed more workers, so he went out again. Then he saw some people, so he called them alright at the third hour. Third hour means 9 am alright. So he called them to join the labour force.

And then he went out again alright in verse 5 at the sixth and the ninth hour alright. So he went out 6 am, 9 am, 12 pm and then 3 pm. Ninth hour, 3 p.m. And so we have these workers. Then he was walking around, then he saw some people still idling around. And so he went to them alright at the last minute, we called it last minute the eleventh hour. So eleventh hour is 5 pm alright, just one hour before 6 pm alright. So the eleventh hour, in verse 6: “So about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day long?’”. And they said well, no one hired us. He said come and join alright. So at the eleventh hour, so he employed some more people.

So I say the storyline not too difficult to follow. And then we come to verse 8. So the evening had come, the owner of the vineyard alright said to his steward and said call these workers to come and give them their salaries alright. So what happens is that they call those who came last first, those who were hired at the eleventh hour in verse 9 and they received a day’s wage. They must be real happy alright. They were thinking, maybe using a calculator alright. One denarius for six to six alright. So work one hour is how much? And then they get one whole day’s wage. So they’re very happy. But then you know everybody gets a day’s wage, regardless of how many hours they worked for that day. And then came those who worked at the start of the day alright, 6 am.

And when they came, verse 10, they supposed that they will receive more alright. If these people get this much alright a day’s wage (one denarius), now surely we should get more. So they came, but they get exactly the same amount. And so they were not happy, just like probably most of us alright. We’re not happy. Now how can it be? Not fair. Now this owner not fair. And these people just work one hour, one day’s pay. I work the whole day also one day’s pay. Where got justice? And so that’s the problem. Alright so now we see the problem alright when we come to the end of the story. Not just they who see the problem. I think the people who read this story also see the problem, cannot. Cannot. And so what could be the explanation?

Now maybe if you ask Jesus, and you might expect Jesus to explain something like this. Well, the reason why these people who came in last alright they get the day’s wage, and the reason why these other people who came in first alright they also get the same pay. Well, the reason is this. Now when you read, now some people may think oh, maybe this is an explanation. We want explanation. We are not happy just to you know accept this as it is. As I say, you might have heard this story before, this parable before. Now I’m not sure if you have resolved that. Have you resolved that problem here? Well, some people think that well, this is just unfair, unreasonable.

But maybe there is a reason alright. The reason could be some people who started early alright but they were lazy. They were instead of doing their work they were doing something else. Then you know the owner noticed that you see. The last group of people, they worked hard alright. So okay, they deserved. So it’s still about merits alright. These people deserve. You start early in the morning, but what did you do? You’re playing with your handphone alright. You’re not working, and that’s why you get the same pay. Or maybe you know maybe there’s another explanation. And maybe you know when the owner gave money to these people you know give to the last group of people who came and worked at the eleventh hour alright, and then he gave them one hundred ringgit alright- one hundred ringgit.

Let’s say one hundred ringgit is one day’s wage. One hundred ringgit. And then those who came early in the morning also get one hundred, but it’s one hundred dollars alright. So it’s different. USD alright. So I said okay, fair, fair, fair. You see, we will try to rationalise. Some people are trying to rationalise. Maybe that is the case, that’s why okay, it’s fair. It’s good, good story alright. Anyway, there is still fairness at the end because we cannot accept injustice. There’s something about us alright cannot accept injustice alright, about this thing about being unfair. So there’s must be some way to explain so that everything is fair alright. But that is not the case alright- but that’s not the case. It’s very clear here that they all receive ringgit alright, no different. All denarius, all the same amount alright.

So we still have to solve the problem. So how do we resolve this and what is Jesus teaching here? So the question then is: How are we to understand this parable? How are we to understand this seemingly you know perplexing story here told by the Lord Jesus Christ? Now the answer lies in the phrase: “The first will be the last, and the last first.”. So if you understand what that phrase means, then you’ll understand the parable alright. And so therefore we need to kind of figure out what Jesus is saying because I say He begins that way, He ends the same way although in the reverse alright- in the reverse order because at the end He says and the last will be first and the first last. So what is Jesus saying? Now what is Jesus saying?

Well, Jesus, remember, deals with a problem or issue about salvation. What must I do? What good things must I do to inherit eternal life? You see, that is the issue that Jesus is dealing with. And He is dealing with people’s misunderstanding of how to inherit eternal life, people’s misunderstanding of how to be saved. Maybe some of us still have that misunderstanding, and that’s why Jesus wanted to correct that. He said you all get it wrong. You think that that is the way to be saved. Now, how do these people think about salvation? Well, if you look with me to the gospel of Luke- to the gospel of Luke.

In fact, Luke points this out again and again. Not just Luke perhaps, but the whole of Scripture brings this up again and again because it’s such a problem with us. It sticks with us. This thing sticks with us. See, people tend to think of salvation that way. And that’s why every man, the human religion is created. It teaches salvation the same way as these people think about salvation. So you look at Luke chapter 15. Luke 15:1-2, we read here about the tax collector and the sinners coming to Jesus. They drew near to Jesus to hear Jesus, to listen to Jesus. And then we are told in verse 2 that “the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.””. What is the problem with that? What is the problem in verse 2?

The problem is the mentality of the Pharisees and the scribes. They say it cannot be. How can you receive bad guys, people who have not performed well? It’s immoral people. The tax collectors and the sinners, sinners in the Bible in a sense refer to the prostitutes. These are immoral people. They don’t deserve salvation. How can Jesus receive them? How can God receive people like that? And so Jesus has a type of string of parables to help to make this point or to help them see this, the problem of theirs alright. And so He told the parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son.

And then in verse 28 alright the same chapter in verse 28 about the elder brother. The elder brother was angry and would not go in. Therefore, his father came out and pleaded with him. And so he answered (verse 29) and said to his father: “‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; yet you never gave me (your young goat or) a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends.” You never reward me. I worked hard you know, bore the burden and the heat of the day. I’m the good guy, not this tax collector and the sinners. We are the Pharisees. We are the godly people.

Look at us. We go to church. You see, Jesus said that this is the problem. You think of your salvation in terms of performance, in terms of your good life. And therefore, you despise others who don’t perform well. And so in chapter 18 (Luke chapter 18), we see Luke coming back to this again alright. In chapter 18 and verse 9, we read here about Jesus telling another parable to some. And why? Because verse 9 tells that to those people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous. Again the same problem. These are the people who think that they are good enough to deserve salvation, to deserve God’s blessing. God will be unfair if God doesn’t save me because I’m such a moral guy. I’m such a pious, religious person.

And so Jesus said wait, wait, wait. Let me tell you. Two men went to the temple to pray, one the Pharisee. And this is the Pharisee. Now, he felt so good about himself, he’s not like the other man alright. And even when he prayed, he praised himself. Oh God, I’m not like the other guy. I’m a good man alright. I don’t do this, I don’t do that. I fast alright you say twice a week. I give tax of all that I possess. I’m a religious man, so I deserve salvation. And to his surprise. Now to the surprise of the hearers, Jesus said not this man who is received by God. Jesus says in verse 14: “I tell you, this man (this tax collector) went down to his house justified”, accepted by God, received by God.

This guy, this tax collector, he inherit eternal life rather than the other guy. You see, like I said, Jesus has to come back to this again and again. It’s so ingrained in our mindset, ingrained in the way we think about salvation. It’s always about performance. It’s always about how good we are. It’s always about God must save me. How can God doesn’t save a person like me? If God doesn’t save me, then save who? You see, men will justify themselves alright, so please about themselves. The rich young man, he was so pleased about himself. And God said go and keep the Ten Commandments, he said from youth I’ve kept all the Ten Commandments. What do I still lack?

Now that is this attitude that Jesus sees again and again. And you know that the Apostle Paul was the same before he became a Christian. He boasted about himself- the Hebrew of Hebrews as to the law blameless, a perfect man. God must save me. You see, it is this kind of a thing that Jesus is talking about. And that’s why when we come back to Matthew chapter 20, remember that’s the reason why Jesus tell this parable. It’s about this rich young man’s attitude. It’s about even these disciples who say oh this guy, he is not willing to give up his treasure but we have given up all. The pride of our people in the church.

Now sometimes we condemn the other people you know all these other people, they don’t understand but we understand. We are reformed Christians. We believe in the doctrine of grace. And so what, God you know? So would You now reward us? We still think of this reward basis because of our performance. Maybe because we believe the right doctrine; because it’s about we. It’s about me. This parable is to teach us that it’s not about you. It’s not about how good you are or how correct is your beliefs. There should be no pride. There’s nothing that we can boast in when it comes to salvation. With men, it’s impossible. If you want to think of inherent eternal life by some kind of performance (but what must I do), then there’s nothing you can do to inherit eternal life. Nothing. And so Jesus tells this parable.

And so you see that the parable is to explain, is to point out to us. It is to emphasise that salvation is all of grace. Salvation is all of grace, not of us. It’s impossible with men, but all things are possible with God. It’s from God. Salvation is by grace alone. Now there are just four things I want to now point out here about grace. Now in order to understand this truth alright that salvation is by grace alone, we need to understand what that means alright what grace is. Now we can sometimes you know talk a lot about grace without understanding what it is. Now just four things alright I believe that we can see from here that Jesus brings from that point. He said salvation is not of man, it’s of God. It’s by grace alone, and this is what it means.

Four truths about grace. Number one, to understand grace- to understand grace, we must, first of all, see that God is no man’s debtor. God is no man’s debtor. In other words, God owes us nothing. If God doesn’t save a single person on earth, He’s still the fair and the just God. You see we humans, we like to think of God as our debtor. God owes me. They say it’s again you know our human DNA alright. We think that way. In fact, that is human’s idea of God. Our idea of God is that He is there for us. He exists for our glory. Now the chief end of God is to glorify men and to enjoy him forever. What? That is our theology? That is what God is all about.

And because of that mindset, because of that thinking, we think that God ought to give us food, that God ought to give us job, that He must give us health. If God doesn’t heal me; if God doesn’t give me food, if God doesn’t give me a job, what kind of God is He? Not doing His job. You see, that’s why people can get angry with God. That’s why we can get angry with God. How dare we get angry with God! He owes us nothing. God is no man’s debtor. And that is also the reason why people get angry with the doctrine of election.

Now you discuss election, it’s a very emotional you know thing when you talk to people about the doctrine of election. Not as if that is not in the Bible. You can actually open up the Bible and see the word ‘elect’ there. You can see you know everywhere in the Bible that God tells us, the Bible tells us that before the foundation of the world God has already chosen. You mean it’s not in the Bible? It’s not in yours? But this is not the point. It’s not about whether it’s there but whether we can accept it or not. That’s why there is heated argument about this kind of doctrine. But my question is: Why? Why so angry about this?

If I tell you- if I told you that God before the foundation of the world has already decided whom He wants to save and whom He doesn’t want to save, why are you so angry about that? Not fair, you see. That’s the problem you see when you read a parable like that. That is our first feeling, isn’t it? Not fair. How can He give these people only one denarius and give the other the same amount? Why do you feel not fair? Because you think that God owes it to you. God owes us salvation. He must save us. If He doesn’t, He’s not a good God. The same thing if you think about it.

Now all our problems with God, we curse Him, we get angry with Him for our pains, for our suffering. We turn to God and say why God? Why do you dare to charge God with that? Because He owes it to us that we cannot have suffering. If we suffer, it is His problem. He’s not taking care of us. It’s that mentality that Jesus is trying to correct here alright. So if you were to understand grace, this is the first thing you must understand. And therefore in the parable in verse 13, you see here: “And he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong.”. Did I owe you anything? I give you, I called you to work for me at the beginning of the day at 6 am. We agreed on this amount and I pay you that amount. One denarius.

That’s why he said did you not agree with me for one denarius? Then you still judge me as owing you? How is that right alright- how is that right? How is that right for us to accuse God of all the things that people accuse God of? How is it right? If only you understand what the Bible teaches about God. Now, so that is grace alright. To understand grace, we must, first of all, remember that God owes us nothing. He’s not obliged at all. Secondly, second truth about grace is this, that we can never make Him our debtor. The first is that God is no man’s debtor. And second, we can never make Him our debtor.

Now sometimes people think okay, I know. Maybe I can accept that God doesn’t owe me anything, but I can do something to make Him owe me something alright. I can make Him obligated to me. You see in our thinking that it is like I said it’s so common. This is so natural of us. We are human alright. Now how do we make God obligated to us? Now sometimes you hear people say something like this. They say if you put God first in your life. Now sometimes people say out of good intentions you know you must put God first in your life. And they say that if you put God first in your life and serve Him faithfully, He will surely bless you, for God is no man’s debtor.

You heard that before? That’s a lie. That’s a deception. That is not biblical truth, but we speak as if it is biblical truth. If you come to church you know, don’t worry. You know God will have you pass your exam. Now my question is: If you put God first, if you serve Him faithfully, if you honour Him in your life, in your family, in your work, in your business and still you fail, and still you suffer, then what? Not fair. You see, once you think that He’s not fair, that is what Peter is saying: “Look, we have left all and follow You. What now do we get?”. Now you owe us ah. Now God over us. That is trying to make Him our debtors. But to understand grace alright, we must understand this, that we can never make Him our debtor.

Maybe I shared this before. There’s a pastor who received a letter from his member, and the member was perplexed. So he has a question he wanted to ask the pastor, just like many of us alright. Sometimes we are confused about something or maybe perplexed of something. And then we thought that maybe the pastor would have the answer. And so he wrote and asked. He said I’m in great perplexity. I’ve been praying for a long time for something, but I do not get it. God does not answer my prayer. Look, I have been a member of the church for thirty years, a Sunday school superintendent for twenty-five years, and yet God does not answer my prayer. Can you explain to me?

Now how would you explain to a person like that? I’m not such a good Christian. I’m faithful, I go to church every Sunday, I’m serving in the church, but simple prayer also God doesn’t answer. What is wrong here? So he wants the pastor to explain, and this is what the pastor said in reply. The pastor said this man thinks that because he has been a consistent church member for thirty years, a Sunday school superintendent for twenty-five years, that God is under obligation to answer his prayer. Then he said God will not answer our prayer when we approach Him in that way. Now that is m now trying to make God obligated to us or our debtor. Oh, we have left all. So God, now what do we get?

Now in this parable, that’s what Jesus is saying. Never think that God can ever be made our debtor. Number three. Thirdly, if we are blessed by God and if we are saved, it is all of grace alright- it is all of grace. Whatever we have in life is a gift from heaven. Every day is a gift from God. We get to live another day. At the beginning of the day, this is my favourite prayer. God, thank You for another day because it’s not guaranteed. It can only be guaranteed by God Himself. And He doesn’t give you another day because you did well yesterday alright. So okay, one more day. So today we try hard alright- we try hard, then we get another day. It is not like that. All good gifts come from above, from God.

That’s why we ought to be thankful for everything that we have in life- every breath, thank God for the family that you have, thank God for the job that you have, thank God for friends that you have, thank God for the church that you have. Every good gift comes from above. So if we get something alright- if we have something, we must see that it is because it is a gift from God. It is grace. You say what is this grace alright? Well, grace is not like in chapter 19 alright and verse 20 of Matthew. Now, grace is not like the young man who says all these things I have kept from my youth, what do I still lack? Now that is not grace. That is work that is earned. Grace is not earned.

Grace is not like what Peter said in verse 27: “We have left all. So what do we get?”. Now, this kind of thinking is not thinking in terms of grace. It’s thinking in terms of reward. What do I still get? Grace is not like in chapter 20 in verse 11 when they received it, they complain against the landowner saying these last men have worked only one hour, you make them equal to us. But we have borne the burden and the heat of the day. That is not grace. We have done it. We have done so much. That is not grace. But rather, grace is as Paul puts it this way in Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9, Paul says this is grace. This is why we are saved.

You know why you are saved? You know if you believe that you are going to heaven, do you know why? Well, listen to Paul in Romans chapter 9 beginning in verse 11: “(for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil) that the purpose of God according to election.”. Now just in case some of you say oh, I’ve never see the word ‘election’ in the Bible. So you see now alright. “To election might stand”. In other words, I. I decide. That’s what election here means. I choose. That’s why you are saved. According to election might stand not of works, not of your effort, but of Him who calls.

It is: “it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.””. Why? “As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I hated.” What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” So then (verse 16) it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.”. It’s God. That’s why Jacob is saved and not Esau. It’s not about their work. It’s not about their birth right that Esau was born first, so he deserved. No, no, no, it’s of God who saves, who shows mercy, who has compassion, who decides. So that is grace.

So if we are saved, remember it is because of grace. Nothing about our performance. And finally, those who try to be saved by their own efforts will be lost. That is what Jesus is trying to say in this parable. These people like the rich young man, these people like this first group of workers, these people who think about we, who performed well, we have given up all. We have been so obedient. Those who try to be saved by their own efforts will be lost. That is the meaning of those who are first. The first will be last. Those who are being employed first here, he said the first- the first are those who think that they deserve something because of their effort. That’s what the first refers to.

The first are those who worked for their salvation. The first are those who kept thinking about their church attendance, about their tithings, about their baptism, about all the work they’ve done. He said the first will be last. Last here means they will not be saved. They will not be saved. They will not get into the kingdom of God alright. They will not inherit eternal life. Why? Because they came on the basis of their merits, the basis of their long hours, the basis of their status, the basis of them being a Jew or them being from Christian homes, basis of having attended Sunday school, the basis of having been baptised, having been a church member for a long time, and so on and so forth.

You can just add, and then we tell God there’s no way You can kick me out of heaven alright. No way man. I can bring all my records alright and those are filthy rags alright. Those are filthy rags. All our righteousness is as filthy rags to God. So those who try to be saved by their own effort will be lost. Have you come to Jesus Christ? Now that is our only hope. That’s only hope because He has done it all. He came and He lived a perfect life, a life that we could not have lived. And He died so that all our wrongs and all our sins may be forgiven by God. That is the only way to be saved. Let us pray.

“Our Father in heaven, we know that there is nothing that we have done and nothing that we can do to be saved and to inherit eternal life. But we thank You that You have provided the only way and that is through Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we want to thank You for Him who came and died for us. For these, we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.