https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/LaborersInTheVineyard.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Matthew 20:1-16<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. The context of the parable<\/p>\n
A. A rich, young ruler had come to Jesus asking how to be saved. – Matthew 19:16-22<\/p>\n 1. Jesus told him to follow the law, but the young man wasn’t satisfied with\nthis. He wanted something more.\n 2. Jesus told him that if he was aiming for perfection, sell all that he had and\nfollow Jesus – Matthew 19:21\n
3. However, this was too much of a commitment for the young man.<\/p>\n a. He was wealthy and he was unable to give up his wealth, even to\nplease God.\n B. Jesus comments on this to his disciples. He tells them that it is difficult for the rich\nto enter the kingdom of Heaven. – Matthew 19:23-26\n 1. It is not that the way is not opened to them. It is that their wealth is too\noften more important.\n 2. The disciples are amazed. If the rich, with all the opportunities gained by\ntheir wealth, could not be saved, then what hope have the not-so-wealthy?\n 3. If it was just up to man, then the disciples are right – no one could be\nsaved. However, it is not up to man, but up to God. God can make the\nimpossible happen.\n
C. Peter then asks what will they receive for following Christ – Matthew 19:27-30<\/p>\n 1. Jesus had offered the rich young ruler perfection. The disciples had done\nwhat was asked of the young ruler, though the value of what they gave up\nmay not have been nearly as great. What would they receive?\n 2. It is not a bad question. Each Christian should know the value of his life as\na child of God. Why are you a Christian? What benefit will you derive from\nbeing a Christian?\n
3. Jesus said that in a certain time:<\/p>\n
a. The period of regeneration (or new birth)<\/p>\n
(1) A reference to Christians being born again – I Peter 1:22-23<\/p>\n (2) Jesus said that only by being born again could a person\nenter the kingdom – John 3:3-6\n
(3) We put on Christ through baptism – Galatians 3:26-29<\/p>\n (4) Being baptized into Christ means we walk in a new life –\nRomans 6:3-4\n
b. At the same time, Jesus will be sitting on the throne<\/p>\n
(1) Jesus is now at the right hand of God, ruling – I Peter 3:21-22<\/p>\n
(2) Christ is now reigning – I Corinthians 15:23-26<\/p>\n
c. The twelve then are also now sitting on thrones judging Israel<\/p>\n (1) This is one of the things the disciples received for following\nJesus.\n
(2) They brought the message of God<\/p>\n
(3) What they taught judges the world – Matthew 18:18<\/p>\n
(a) Not to say they made up the rules.<\/p>\n
(b) They delivered the rules that came from heaven.<\/p>\n
4. What about the rest of us?<\/p>\n a. If we are willing to put Jesus absolutely first in our lives – before\nfamily, homes, or careers\n
b. We will receive much more<\/p>\n
c. We will have eternal life<\/p>\n
II. The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard<\/p>\n
A. A landowner goes out early in the morning to hire laborers.<\/p>\n
1. The landowner is God<\/p>\n
2. The laborers are people who when hired become members of the church<\/p>\n
B. An agreement is reached between the landowner and the laborers<\/p>\n
1. God offers eternal life to those who serve him.<\/p>\n C. Periodically, the landowner goes out and finds more laborers and they too are\ninvited to work\n
1. They are offered payment of whatever is right.<\/p>\n
2. Those called are at various stages of their life. <\/p>\n
a. Some find God and agree to work for him in their youth.<\/p>\n b. Others are looking for God (employment), but they do not find Him\nuntil later points in their lives.\n D. At the end of day, the landowner chooses to pay every worker an equal amount,\nno matter how long they served.\n
1. This causes those who started early to complain.<\/p>\n
2. However, the landowner points out that he paid what was agreed.<\/p>\n 3. Their complaint was that he was gracious to those who came later. –\nMatthew 20:13-15\n
III. What can we learn from this parable?<\/p>\n
A. Everyone should respond when they are called<\/p>\n 1. All the workers in this parable immediately went to work when they were\ncalled.\n
2. No one said “I’ll start later when it is not so hot.”<\/p>\n
3. This is not a parable to justify putting off becoming a Christian. <\/p>\n 4. These people were looking for work (Christianity), but some were unable\nto find it until later in life.\n
5. But once found, they went immediately to work.<\/p>\n
B. Those called are workers<\/p>\n
1. There is a contrast between those working and those standing idle.<\/p>\n
2. Too many want to be employed by Christ, but don’t want to work<\/p>\n a. There is a story about a fellow who was employed by a duke in\nEurope. “James,” said the duchess to the employee, “how long have\nyou been with us?” “About thirty years,” he replied. “According to\nmy records,” said the duchess, “you were employed to look after\nthe dog.” “Yes, Ma’am,” James replied. The duchess said, “James,\nthat dog died twenty years ago.” James said, “Yes, ma’am; What\nwould you like me to do next?”\n b. That seems to describe some members of the church. They avoid\ndoing anything until they must.\n
3. No offer is made to the idle, only to the workers.<\/p>\n
C. We should not question God<\/p>\n
1. God has the right to do as He pleases.<\/p>\n 2. The Jews did not like the offer of salvation being extended to the Gentiles –\nRomans 9:20-24\n 3. If God chooses to be generous to some, what right do we have to\ncomplain. Is not our own salvation due to God giving us what we did not\ndeserve?\n
D. We should not envy fellow Christians<\/p>\n 1. Remember Peter’s question in Matthew 19:27? It is easy for faithful\nChristians to think, “I have done more than others; therefore, I deserve\nmore than others.”\n
2. We must learn to walk humbly before God<\/p>\n a. The Gentiles must not become prideful because they replaced the\nJews – Romans 11:11-22\n
b. We must walk humbly with our brethren – I Peter 5:5-6<\/p>\n c. Even when we do our best, we are only doing what God expects of\nus – Luke 17:10\n
E. We must labor faithfully<\/p>\n
1. If we do our part, God will definitely do as He has promised.<\/p>\n 2. The fact that each will receive the same reward cannot be used as incentive\nto do the least we can.\n 3. All the workers were busy picking grapes, from those hired early in the\nmorning to those hired late in the evening.\n 4. If they had not worked, the landowner would not have been pleased and\nthey would not have received compensation.\nIV. When you know what you should do, do not delay. Give God the best service that you\ncan.\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 20:1-16 I. The context of the parable A. A rich, young ruler had come to Jesus asking how to be saved. – Matthew 19:16-22 1. Jesus told him to follow the law, but the young man wasn’t satisfied with this. He wanted something more. 2. Jesus told him that if he was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[536,451],"class_list":["post-47443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-preaching","tag-teaching"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":60433,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/on-this-rock-matthew-1618\/","url_meta":{"origin":47443,"position":0},"title":"On This Rock (Matthew 16:18)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 23, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Joe Greer Lessons to Build Your Faith","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63005,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/lessons-from-matthew\/","url_meta":{"origin":47443,"position":1},"title":"Lessons from Matthew","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Warfel, Jr. of Palestine, IL April 8-13, 2018 My Beloved Children (I John) Mankind Is My Business Christianity Concentrate (Matthew 5-7) Compassion (Matthew 9) This Isn't What I Expected (Matthew 11) Does Jesus Offend You? 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I have a question, you might be able to answer.\u00a0In Matthew 19:18-19, why did Jesus only cite six of the ten commandments to the rich young ruler and not all?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37638,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-i-am-old-then-ill-be-good\/","url_meta":{"origin":47443,"position":3},"title":"When I am Old, Then I’ll be Good","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 25:1-13 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 parable of the vineyard workers we learn that salvation is available to all who will come to the Lord, no matter when it is done - Matthew 20:1-16 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jesus in his mercy chooses to treat all alike. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When an elderly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67354,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/reasons-to-believe-in-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":47443,"position":4},"title":"Reasons to Believe in Jesus","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 7, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Matthew 1-2 by Don Bunting One (or Two) Chapter Lessons","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33905,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-humble-servant-king\/","url_meta":{"origin":47443,"position":5},"title":"Jesus – Humble Servant King","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 4, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ross Ward Text: Mark 11:1-11 The king of the Jews enters Jerusalem Mark 11:7-11 - on a colt donkey Zechariah 9:9-10 - fulfilling prophecy Significance of Donkey Horse symbol of war Size Strength Speed Chariots - Zechariah 9:10 Donkey symbol of peace Jesus was not a conquering King taking\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47443\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}