July 10, 2025 • 26 mins
In Matthew 20:1-16, Jesus tells a parable about vineyard workers who receive equal pay despite working different hours, revealing how God's grace transcends our human understanding of fairness.
• God's grace often offends our human sense of fairness, especially in reward-oriented cultures
• Our fallen human nature struggles to comprehend heavenly grace that treats all believers equally
• Churches should celebrate new believers with genuine excitement regardless of their background
• Salvation is purely God's gift of grace, not based on works, church membership, or human traditions
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Thank you, reminder for us to recall in today's
divisive and dark culture, fromfoundational truths and
scripture to the hot topics oftoday's culture.
Allow this podcast to inspireand motivate you on your faith
journey.
Well, good morning, pastor,steve.
Good morning, glad to be herewith you again.
Great to be here.
Welcome to everyone who'swatching or listening.
(00:40):
We're on episode 21 thismorning and we're going to be in
Matthew, chapter 20, verses 1through 16, the workers in the
vineyard.
So I'm going to read that andwe'll jump right in.
So Matthew, chapter 20, verses1 through 16.
For the kingdom of heaven islike a landowner who went out
early in the morning to hirelaborers for his vineyard.
(01:01):
When he had agreed with thelaborers for denarius for the
day, he sent them into hisvineyard.
When he had agreed with thelaborers for denarius for the
day, he sent them into hisvineyard.
And he went out about the thirdhour and saw others standing
idle in the marketplace, and tothose he said you also go into
the vineyard and whatever isright I will give you.
And so they went Again.
He went out about the sixth andninth hour and did the same
thing, and about the eleventhhour he went and found others
(01:24):
standing around and he said tothem why have you been standing
here idle all day?
They said to him, because noone hired us.
He said to them Go into thevineyard too.
When evening came, the owner ofthe vineyard said to his foreman
Call the laborers and pay themtheir wages, beginning with the
last group to the first.
When those hired about theeleventh hour came, each one
received a denarius.
When those hired about theeleventh hour came, each one
(01:44):
received a denarius.
When those hired first came,they thought they would receive
more, but each of them alsoreceived the same pay.
When they received it theygrumbled at the landowner saying
these last men have worked onlyone hour and you have made them
equal to us who have borne theburden in the scorching heat of
the day.
But he answered and said tothem Friend, I am doing you no
(02:05):
wrong.
Did you not agree with me for adenarius, take what.
So the opening question,Steve's kind of spur us on this
morning, is why does God's gracesometimes offend our human
(02:32):
sense of fairness?
Speaker 2 (02:34):
It's a good question, I think, especially in America,
we're wired for a reward system, and the better we do or the
better we comply, the better wefollow the rules, the more we
achieve it's usually associatedwith greater reward, and so I
(02:56):
think it's probably human nature, at least in our culture, to
feel like we're being wronged insome way If someone else who
hasn't done as much as us shouldpossibly get the same reward
that we would get.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Yeah, and just like you said, the human comparison
to God's grace.
I think in a sense God did notwire us in a way to fully
understand his generosity andhis heavenly grace towards us.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
I think it's beyond our comprehension, to be honest
with you, when you look at thefallen state of humanity and
that God offers the same graceto every one of us.
That just doesn't register forus.
If I'm a good person, I don'tcuss, drink, chew or run with
(03:51):
girls that do, I don't kick mydog, I don't mistreat my wife,
how in the world can a guythat's been a vile human being
get the same grace from God thatI got?
That's why I say I think it'sbeyond our comprehension to be
honest.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Right, I was visiting a church member one time and he
said come here, he's about 80,85, and he showed me this chain.
I mean that's the best chain ofmedallions of perfect Sunday
school attendance for like 30years.
And you can tell that was his.
He was prideful of that, thatwas serious for him and I think
(04:33):
that goes in line with just whatyou said, just the human nature
that we have to work towardssomething you know.
Yes, now Scripture is veryclear.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Yes, now Scripture is very clear and there's been
very little written on it.
There is reward for being oneof God's children and being
obedient, and so the concept ofreward is huge throughout the
New Testament and I thinkprobably the average academian
(05:01):
the guys who write the books areafraid to address it for
whatever reason because there'svery little written about it,
but the concept of reward isthere beginning to end.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Right, let's talk a little bit about the
relationship between works andreward.
We know that it's good to work,you get rewarded here, but
there's also rewards in heaven,and Scripture actually says that
if you seek rewards here onearth, that you'll lose rewards
in heaven, and so let's talk alittle bit about that.
What does that mean, steve?
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Well, it's another example of our human nature.
We love to be recognized, welove plaques, we love bonuses,
we love whatever that says to uswe appreciate you, you're doing
a good job, we want you to knowit, and I think the
understanding of Scripture isthat you live obedient.
(05:57):
You do what you ought to do forChrist and you are willing to
be patient for him to reward youin due time in his timing.
But as humans, we want to berewarded now for what we've done
.
We can't help ourselves, and soI think what the Lord is saying
(06:22):
there, if I understand itcorrectly, is that if you've got
to be rewarded for what you didright now, that's fine, you can
have that, but there's nothingfor you in heaven.
When I call you home, you'vereceived that reward.
You had to have your due now,and so I think that's the
(06:47):
hardest thing for a believer isto just serve the Lord
faithfully and let the reward beHis deal.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Yes, yeah, why do you think?
And let's just walk through.
Well, these questions will walkthrough the scripture that we
just read in Matthew, chapter 20.
Why do you think the earlyworkers were so upset?
Why wasn't their wage goodenough?
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Yeah, well, it's back to that human nature.
I've been out here all day.
I came early this morning andyou know I love to say this is
the formation of the first everworkers union.
You know, because you knowtheir rights are being violated.
(07:28):
They worked all day and gotpaid the same money as some guys
who worked a fraction of thetime they work.
So what we have going on hereis collective bargaining.
Right, you know, lord, you, yougot to straighten this problem
out.
So again, it's our human nature.
We feel like we did more thansomebody else.
(07:52):
But the point of this parableis, when God saves you, you do
nothing.
So whether you got saved ateight years old or at 88 years
old, the salvation is still anact of holy God.
You didn't do anything to earnthat, and so you have no rights
(08:14):
to demand anything.
That's right, and so I thinkthat's the point of the parable.
When a person comes to Christ,you get all that Christ offers
you.
At whatever point in your lifejourney, you come to him, and if
the average Christian is smart,that's very refreshing.
(08:35):
You know, I mean and I've evendone it you know you're by a
bedside, you're praying withsomebody.
They're on their last leg,no-transcript for 50 years.
And now he's going to come toJesus.
(08:56):
He's going to be all right.
You know, it's just our humanthinking.
It just doesn't seem fair.
But God's grace for us is notfair to begin with because none
of us deserve it.
And so even if we come to theLord at eight years of age, his
(09:16):
grace is adequate but it's notdeserved.
So that's the hard part for usto get.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Right, this works-based mindset that we have
.
We've said it over and overagain, this human nature.
Whenever we're in the kingdomof God, we're in the family of
God and we see someone acceptChrist and inside of our own
hearts maybe there's someill-intended malice or jealousy
(09:45):
or whatever it is.
Does that prove that someone isnot saved or does that prove
that someone may just not fullyunderstand the Scripture and
understand the grace of God?
Could be either.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Could be they're not saved and it could be that they
don't really understandScripture.
I've made reference to this insermons before.
Back when we used to do the oldschool Wednesday night prayer
meeting and pastor would teach alittle devotional on Wednesday
night and then you'd entertainprayer requests and some guy
(10:16):
would raise his hand and say Ihave a praise, I got a big
promotion at work and it comeswith a huge raise.
I just want to thank the Lordfor that.
And you could watch the facesaround them and you could tell
that they were not celebratingwith it.
What they were most likelythinking is well, why did you
get a raise?
Why?
(10:36):
did you get a promotion.
Why did you get a promotion?
I should have gotten apromotion.
If you really understandwalking with the Lord, you ought
to be each other's greatestcheerleader.
See those believers sittingaround.
That guy should be celebratingwhat Christ is doing in his life
.
But instead we tend to fallinto carnal thinking.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
In ministry today, the people who come into the
kingdom.
I mean there's situations in mymind that I can think of
through the years where, justlike you were saying, at the
deathbed of someone and I meanI'm thinking of a good friend
that was a homosexual, I mean helived like the Dickens his
whole life and then he just cameto the Lord at the last minute
(11:23):
I think that if we begin tounderstand the grace of God in
that way, I think that shouldmotivate us even more to build
his kingdom, because his graceis open to everyone.
That's right.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
That's the beautiful thing about God's graces it is
exclusive to anyone who'sbreathing.
You know it's open.
My own mom and dad came to theLord very late in life, both of
them just a couple of yearsbefore they passed on.
(11:58):
And, as I've talked about manytimes, my dad could be about as
vile as any human being walking.
My mother, while she had a verydistinct sense of right and
wrong, was a very ethical personin many ways, could outcuss
anybody walking, you know, andhad no use for God or his church
(12:22):
90% of her life.
And yet God saved those twopeople and in our human way of
thinking you could look ateither one of them and say what
that's not right.
You know there ought to be somepunishment here.
My dad, who lived a very, veryevil life, died in his sleep,
(12:47):
peaceful, and I've often toldGod that ain't right.
He should have suffered, but inGod's grace he takes us the way
that he wants to take us.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
That's his choice, that's right.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
And so yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
You know, Steve, I don't think we ever really
understand God's grace unless weexperience it personally.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Oh yeah, this is what I tell people about the
different flavors ofChristianity.
It's really pretty easy tounderstand if you think about it
.
People who come to Christ andthey really have not lived a
difficult life, maybe they wereblessed to grow up in a
(13:33):
Christian home, they've not seendrugs and alcohol and
fistfights at home and thesekind of things their salvation
is just as genuine, but it's amilder salvation experience.
I often find what I mean bythat is, you know, they worship
(13:54):
in a milder way.
People who live like theDickens and come to Christ.
You know, you've heard the oldsaying we work hard and we play
hard right.
Well, I find that people whosinned hard and then come to
Jesus, they tend to worship hardRight, because they are so
thankful They've been on theother side and they, they've
(14:18):
seen it and they know what it isand it profoundly affects them,
and so they cannot help butworship heart.
That's why I preach all thetime that people need to worship
in their own personality, whothey are.
The guy beside you may bedancing, raising his hands, you
(14:38):
may be sitting there with yourarms crossed, but you love Jesus
just as much.
But your experiences do notlead you to a more pronounced
worship, and so we just got togive each other room, because
God's grace works at all phasesof every life experience.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Right, and I've always found this interesting in
my studies People responddifferently to worship,
depending on the environment too.
Yes, you know, like, forexample, the second great
awakening on the frontier inAmerica, it was a very outward
emotional response becausepeople were living in the woods,
they had a different livingthan London and England and
(15:25):
Europe and all that area.
The revival was happening, butthey were responding differently
.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
So how does this parable the workers in the
vineyard reshape our view of theprodigal son story in Luke 15?
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Well, we tend, when we look at Luke 15, to focus
primarily on the prodigal sonand his coming home, which is a
beautiful picture of God's grace.
We need to be reminded anybodywho may be listening to this
when it airs if you're livingout in the pig pen, you can come
(16:03):
home.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Right.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
And what Satan wants to tell you is that if you're in
the pig pen, you've gone toofar.
Yeah, god won't possiblyforgive you and bring you home,
and that's a lie straight out ofhell.
The other part of that parableis his brother, and his brother
represents what I like to callthe super Christians.
(16:27):
You know, we deal with themeven today.
They're not living a bad life,but they spend their time
observing everyone else to seewhat they're doing wrong, and so
God gives the prodigal son thesame grace he gave his brother,
(16:49):
and simply, there ought to be agreat celebration when someone
comes home to the Lord whetherthey've been gone a short time
or a long time, there ought tobe a celebration that takes
place.
I've often said and I heard thisoriginally from Henry Blackaby
he said when a couple's goingthrough a divorce at the church,
(17:11):
the lights ought to come on atthe church and people ought to
be on their knees until thatcouple comes back together.
Amen, come on at the church andpeople ought to be on their
knees until that couple comesback together.
Amen, you know.
And then there ought to be acelebration that God has
delivered.
And so, yeah, we see in theprodigal son and in the parable
(17:33):
of the vineyard the workers.
The same troops, just adifferent expression.
You know, the workers were mad.
Some people got paid the sameas them.
The brother is mad.
There's a celebration for thisguy.
That's messed everything up.
But the truth is in Scripture.
When Christ saves a soul,there's a celebration in heaven,
(17:59):
and the celebration doesn'tvary based on the number of sins
or the depth of sins that aperson came to Christ with.
It is a saved soul joining thefamily of God.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Right Amen.
I mean, that's just like you'repreaching through Colossians
right now and the sufficiency ofChrist.
Right Amen.
I mean, that's just like you'repreaching through Colossians
right now and the sufficiency ofChrist.
And you talked about thejustification through his blood
and how God sees us, the way hesees Jesus.
I mean, my human brain justcan't truly comprehend that.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
I know I find that profound.
But just as he says I'll removeyour sins as far as the East is
from the West, God has theability, being God, to make
himself forget your sin, and hehas the ability to look at you
and look past your imperfectionand see you as Christ presents
(18:57):
you Right, you know, and to methat's just incredibly amazing.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Amen, amen.
So how can this challenge, thechallenge we see in the Vineyard
Parable, help us as a church tolook for, look toward help new
believers?
How does this translate intoday's time, in our church, to
be a blessing to new believers?
Speaker 2 (19:24):
We've got to try to help our people, who've been
believers for a substantialamount of time, to understand
that people need the same Godthey have.
If you're not careful, the loveof Christ is expressed inward
(19:45):
and we're not good sometimes ofexpressing it outward, to those
who are not already in the body,and so we ought to have a
celebration every time somebodycomes to Christ.
You know, for years whensomebody came to Christ or
joined the church, you kept themdown front afterwards and
(20:08):
everybody came by and greetedthem and welcomed them to the
family.
And we've gotten away from thatbecause you have 1,000 people
in church and six will come downand welcome them.
Everybody else trying to beateach other understand the
(20:33):
specialness of that moment whena person comes to Christ, the
preciousness of it and how itought to be celebrated.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
You know, from just the perspective of being at a
smaller church compared to here,I think it happens so often
here, which is amazing, praiseGod.
Yeah, and I think, because ithappens so often, it becomes a
normal process of worship andit's not something new, whereas
if you're at a smaller church, aperson may get saved once every
(21:05):
six months and it's like, oh,wow, this is something new and
exciting, and so you're right,just constantly keeping it in
front of our people and teachingthem, yeah it's forever a
teaching thing.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
And look, you use the phrase small church.
I think a church can only besmall in number.
I'm going to talk about it in afew weeks.
I pastored early in my ministryin Alabama at a little church
in a closed farming communityand if you saw one or two saved
(21:36):
a year, look, it's like somebodyin a big city having 200 saved
that year.
Statistically you did as goodas them, or maybe better.
So numbers are relative Right.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Amen, amen.
And just a couple of scripturesto kind of close us out with
Matthew, chapter 20.
Romans 9, 15 says for he saysto Moses, I will have mercy on
whom I have mercy and I willhave compassion on whom I have
compassion.
And then that just proves andhones in on the fact that God
(22:12):
will give grace to whom he willgive grace to.
And Luke 23, 42 through 43 saysand he said Jesus, remember me
when you come into your kingdom.
And he said to him truly, Iwill say to you today you will
be with me in paradise, andobviously that's the thief on
the cross at the very end of hislife.
(22:34):
Ephesians 2, 8 through 9,.
For by grace you have beensaved through faith, and this is
not your own doing, it is thegift of God, not as a result of
works, so that no one may boast.
You know, I'm just going to saysomething.
I was raised Catholic and Iknow whenever we say anything
about the Catholic church on thepodcast, I'm going to end up
getting comments and everything,which is fine.
I'll answer them.
But the truth of the matter isis that, no matter what my
friends in the Catholic Churchsay about their doctrine, what
(22:57):
they truly believe and act outis that there's a works-based
system to their belief.
And I think this justdemolishes.
I mean this parable demolishesthat.
Sure it does.
And I think this justdemolished, I mean this parable
demolishes that.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Sure it does.
We have to remember theCatholic Church is based on the
Word of God and church tradition.
We're based solely on the Wordof God and so there are a lot of
variations to what they believethat they created themselves,
and that's fine.
They certainly feel like theycan defend those positions and I
(23:33):
feel like I can destroy thosepositions based on the Word of
God.
I'm not critical of theCatholic Church.
I just want people to have thebest understanding of Scripture
they can have.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Correct.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
And that's why I say it here all the time we are to
do good works out of our lovefor Christ.
After he's come into our lifeand radically changed us, the
natural position of our demeanorshould be to do good, but we
don't do good, hoping he'llnotice and then have favor on us
(24:10):
.
That's just not what Scriptureteaches.
And so, yeah, they're church,they can do what they want, and
we're just going to try to be asfaithful as we can to the Word.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Amen.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
But I do want to address the faith on the cross
creates a theological problemfor most people.
He didn't go through acatechism, he didn't go through
a church member class, he wasn'tbaptized, he didn't subscribe
(24:46):
to any theological confession offaith.
All of the things that we havein our human design created that
, we think, keyholes God intohow he can save someone.
A thief in the cross justdestroys every bit of that.
He never spoke in tongues.
(25:07):
I mean, there's a whole elementout there If you don't speak in
tongues, you're not saved.
And so I think what the thiefin the cross is?
A screaming statement that Godsaves and he can save whomever
he wants to save and he'll do itthe way he wants to do it.
(25:29):
And in our own humanity we canstruggle with it all we want,
but he is God.
He's the one who saves.
That's right.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Yes, Imagine if that one part is not in Scripture and
it's there for a reason.
You know it's there for areason, just for the point you
just mentioned.
Yes, you know, yes.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Yeah, and God forbid.
He didn't belong to any certainchurch.
Right, Because there are wholedenominational belief systems
that believe if you don't belongto their church you can't
possibly go to heaven.
That's right.
They need to read the Bible.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Yes, good deal.
Well, thank you, pastor Steve,appreciate you today, brother,
oh my blessing.
And yeah, good deal.
Well, thank you, pastor Steve,appreciate you today, brother,
oh my blessing.
And on the next one, guys,we'll see you then.
Thank you, reminder for us to recall in today's
divisive and dark culture, fromfoundational truths and
scripture to the hot topics oftoday's culture.
Allow this podcast to inspireand motivate you on your faith
journey.
Well, good morning, pastor,steve.
Good morning, glad to be herewith you again.
Great to be here.
Welcome to everyone who'swatching or listening.
(00:40):
We're on episode 21 thismorning and we're going to be in
Matthew, chapter 20, verses 1through 16, the workers in the
vineyard.
So I'm going to read that andwe'll jump right in.
So Matthew, chapter 20, verses1 through 16.
For the kingdom of heaven islike a landowner who went out
early in the morning to hirelaborers for his vineyard.
(01:01):
When he had agreed with thelaborers for denarius for the
day, he sent them into hisvineyard.
When he had agreed with thelaborers for denarius for the
day, he sent them into hisvineyard.
And he went out about the thirdhour and saw others standing
idle in the marketplace, and tothose he said you also go into
the vineyard and whatever isright I will give you.
And so they went Again.
He went out about the sixth andninth hour and did the same
thing, and about the eleventhhour he went and found others
(01:24):
standing around and he said tothem why have you been standing
here idle all day?
They said to him, because noone hired us.
He said to them Go into thevineyard too.
When evening came, the owner ofthe vineyard said to his foreman
Call the laborers and pay themtheir wages, beginning with the
last group to the first.
When those hired about theeleventh hour came, each one
received a denarius.
When those hired about theeleventh hour came, each one
(01:44):
received a denarius.
When those hired first came,they thought they would receive
more, but each of them alsoreceived the same pay.
When they received it theygrumbled at the landowner saying
these last men have worked onlyone hour and you have made them
equal to us who have borne theburden in the scorching heat of
the day.
But he answered and said tothem Friend, I am doing you no
(02:05):
wrong.
Did you not agree with me for adenarius, take what.
So the opening question,Steve's kind of spur us on this
morning, is why does God's gracesometimes offend our human
(02:32):
sense of fairness?
Speaker 2 (02:34):
It's a good question, I think, especially in America,
we're wired for a reward system, and the better we do or the
better we comply, the better wefollow the rules, the more we
achieve it's usually associatedwith greater reward, and so I
(02:56):
think it's probably human nature, at least in our culture, to
feel like we're being wronged insome way If someone else who
hasn't done as much as us shouldpossibly get the same reward
that we would get.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Yeah, and just like you said, the human comparison
to God's grace.
I think in a sense God did notwire us in a way to fully
understand his generosity andhis heavenly grace towards us.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
I think it's beyond our comprehension, to be honest
with you, when you look at thefallen state of humanity and
that God offers the same graceto every one of us.
That just doesn't register forus.
If I'm a good person, I don'tcuss, drink, chew or run with
(03:51):
girls that do, I don't kick mydog, I don't mistreat my wife,
how in the world can a guythat's been a vile human being
get the same grace from God thatI got?
That's why I say I think it'sbeyond our comprehension to be
honest.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Right, I was visiting a church member one time and he
said come here, he's about 80,85, and he showed me this chain.
I mean that's the best chain ofmedallions of perfect Sunday
school attendance for like 30years.
And you can tell that was his.
He was prideful of that, thatwas serious for him and I think
(04:33):
that goes in line with just whatyou said, just the human nature
that we have to work towardssomething you know.
Yes, now Scripture is veryclear.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Yes, now Scripture is very clear and there's been
very little written on it.
There is reward for being oneof God's children and being
obedient, and so the concept ofreward is huge throughout the
New Testament and I thinkprobably the average academian
(05:01):
the guys who write the books areafraid to address it for
whatever reason because there'svery little written about it,
but the concept of reward isthere beginning to end.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Right, let's talk a little bit about the
relationship between works andreward.
We know that it's good to work,you get rewarded here, but
there's also rewards in heaven,and Scripture actually says that
if you seek rewards here onearth, that you'll lose rewards
in heaven, and so let's talk alittle bit about that.
What does that mean, steve?
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Well, it's another example of our human nature.
We love to be recognized, welove plaques, we love bonuses,
we love whatever that says to uswe appreciate you, you're doing
a good job, we want you to knowit, and I think the
understanding of Scripture isthat you live obedient.
(05:57):
You do what you ought to do forChrist and you are willing to
be patient for him to reward youin due time in his timing.
But as humans, we want to berewarded now for what we've done
.
We can't help ourselves, and soI think what the Lord is saying
(06:22):
there, if I understand itcorrectly, is that if you've got
to be rewarded for what you didright now, that's fine, you can
have that, but there's nothingfor you in heaven.
When I call you home, you'vereceived that reward.
You had to have your due now,and so I think that's the
(06:47):
hardest thing for a believer isto just serve the Lord
faithfully and let the reward beHis deal.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Yes, yeah, why do you think?
And let's just walk through.
Well, these questions will walkthrough the scripture that we
just read in Matthew, chapter 20.
Why do you think the earlyworkers were so upset?
Why wasn't their wage goodenough?
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Yeah, well, it's back to that human nature.
I've been out here all day.
I came early this morning andyou know I love to say this is
the formation of the first everworkers union.
You know, because you knowtheir rights are being violated.
(07:28):
They worked all day and gotpaid the same money as some guys
who worked a fraction of thetime they work.
So what we have going on hereis collective bargaining.
Right, you know, lord, you, yougot to straighten this problem
out.
So again, it's our human nature.
We feel like we did more thansomebody else.
(07:52):
But the point of this parableis, when God saves you, you do
nothing.
So whether you got saved ateight years old or at 88 years
old, the salvation is still anact of holy God.
You didn't do anything to earnthat, and so you have no rights
(08:14):
to demand anything.
That's right, and so I thinkthat's the point of the parable.
When a person comes to Christ,you get all that Christ offers
you.
At whatever point in your lifejourney, you come to him, and if
the average Christian is smart,that's very refreshing.
(08:35):
You know, I mean and I've evendone it you know you're by a
bedside, you're praying withsomebody.
They're on their last leg,no-transcript for 50 years.
And now he's going to come toJesus.
(08:56):
He's going to be all right.
You know, it's just our humanthinking.
It just doesn't seem fair.
But God's grace for us is notfair to begin with because none
of us deserve it.
And so even if we come to theLord at eight years of age, his
(09:16):
grace is adequate but it's notdeserved.
So that's the hard part for usto get.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Right, this works-based mindset that we have
.
We've said it over and overagain, this human nature.
Whenever we're in the kingdomof God, we're in the family of
God and we see someone acceptChrist and inside of our own
hearts maybe there's someill-intended malice or jealousy
(09:45):
or whatever it is.
Does that prove that someone isnot saved or does that prove
that someone may just not fullyunderstand the Scripture and
understand the grace of God?
Could be either.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Could be they're not saved and it could be that they
don't really understandScripture.
I've made reference to this insermons before.
Back when we used to do the oldschool Wednesday night prayer
meeting and pastor would teach alittle devotional on Wednesday
night and then you'd entertainprayer requests and some guy
(10:16):
would raise his hand and say Ihave a praise, I got a big
promotion at work and it comeswith a huge raise.
I just want to thank the Lordfor that.
And you could watch the facesaround them and you could tell
that they were not celebratingwith it.
What they were most likelythinking is well, why did you
get a raise?
Why?
(10:36):
did you get a promotion.
Why did you get a promotion?
I should have gotten apromotion.
If you really understandwalking with the Lord, you ought
to be each other's greatestcheerleader.
See those believers sittingaround.
That guy should be celebratingwhat Christ is doing in his life
.
But instead we tend to fallinto carnal thinking.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
In ministry today, the people who come into the
kingdom.
I mean there's situations in mymind that I can think of
through the years where, justlike you were saying, at the
deathbed of someone and I meanI'm thinking of a good friend
that was a homosexual, I mean helived like the Dickens his
whole life and then he just cameto the Lord at the last minute
(11:23):
I think that if we begin tounderstand the grace of God in
that way, I think that shouldmotivate us even more to build
his kingdom, because his graceis open to everyone.
That's right.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
That's the beautiful thing about God's graces it is
exclusive to anyone who'sbreathing.
You know it's open.
My own mom and dad came to theLord very late in life, both of
them just a couple of yearsbefore they passed on.
(11:58):
And, as I've talked about manytimes, my dad could be about as
vile as any human being walking.
My mother, while she had a verydistinct sense of right and
wrong, was a very ethical personin many ways, could outcuss
anybody walking, you know, andhad no use for God or his church
(12:22):
90% of her life.
And yet God saved those twopeople and in our human way of
thinking you could look ateither one of them and say what
that's not right.
You know there ought to be somepunishment here.
My dad, who lived a very, veryevil life, died in his sleep,
(12:47):
peaceful, and I've often toldGod that ain't right.
He should have suffered, but inGod's grace he takes us the way
that he wants to take us.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
That's his choice, that's right.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
And so yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
You know, Steve, I don't think we ever really
understand God's grace unless weexperience it personally.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Oh yeah, this is what I tell people about the
different flavors ofChristianity.
It's really pretty easy tounderstand if you think about it
.
People who come to Christ andthey really have not lived a
difficult life, maybe they wereblessed to grow up in a
(13:33):
Christian home, they've not seendrugs and alcohol and
fistfights at home and thesekind of things their salvation
is just as genuine, but it's amilder salvation experience.
I often find what I mean bythat is, you know, they worship
(13:54):
in a milder way.
People who live like theDickens and come to Christ.
You know, you've heard the oldsaying we work hard and we play
hard right.
Well, I find that people whosinned hard and then come to
Jesus, they tend to worship hardRight, because they are so
thankful They've been on theother side and they, they've
(14:18):
seen it and they know what it isand it profoundly affects them,
and so they cannot help butworship heart.
That's why I preach all thetime that people need to worship
in their own personality, whothey are.
The guy beside you may bedancing, raising his hands, you
(14:38):
may be sitting there with yourarms crossed, but you love Jesus
just as much.
But your experiences do notlead you to a more pronounced
worship, and so we just got togive each other room, because
God's grace works at all phasesof every life experience.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Right, and I've always found this interesting in
my studies People responddifferently to worship,
depending on the environment too.
Yes, you know, like, forexample, the second great
awakening on the frontier inAmerica, it was a very outward
emotional response becausepeople were living in the woods,
they had a different livingthan London and England and
(15:25):
Europe and all that area.
The revival was happening, butthey were responding differently
.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
So how does this parable the workers in the
vineyard reshape our view of theprodigal son story in Luke 15?
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Well, we tend, when we look at Luke 15, to focus
primarily on the prodigal sonand his coming home, which is a
beautiful picture of God's grace.
We need to be reminded anybodywho may be listening to this
when it airs if you're livingout in the pig pen, you can come
(16:03):
home.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Right.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
And what Satan wants to tell you is that if you're in
the pig pen, you've gone toofar.
Yeah, god won't possiblyforgive you and bring you home,
and that's a lie straight out ofhell.
The other part of that parableis his brother, and his brother
represents what I like to callthe super Christians.
(16:27):
You know, we deal with themeven today.
They're not living a bad life,but they spend their time
observing everyone else to seewhat they're doing wrong, and so
God gives the prodigal son thesame grace he gave his brother,
(16:49):
and simply, there ought to be agreat celebration when someone
comes home to the Lord whetherthey've been gone a short time
or a long time, there ought tobe a celebration that takes
place.
I've often said and I heard thisoriginally from Henry Blackaby
he said when a couple's goingthrough a divorce at the church,
(17:11):
the lights ought to come on atthe church and people ought to
be on their knees until thatcouple comes back together.
Amen, come on at the church andpeople ought to be on their
knees until that couple comesback together.
Amen, you know.
And then there ought to be acelebration that God has
delivered.
And so, yeah, we see in theprodigal son and in the parable
(17:33):
of the vineyard the workers.
The same troops, just adifferent expression.
You know, the workers were mad.
Some people got paid the sameas them.
The brother is mad.
There's a celebration for thisguy.
That's messed everything up.
But the truth is in Scripture.
When Christ saves a soul,there's a celebration in heaven,
(17:59):
and the celebration doesn'tvary based on the number of sins
or the depth of sins that aperson came to Christ with.
It is a saved soul joining thefamily of God.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Right Amen.
I mean, that's just like you'repreaching through Colossians
right now and the sufficiency ofChrist.
Right Amen.
I mean, that's just like you'repreaching through Colossians
right now and the sufficiency ofChrist.
And you talked about thejustification through his blood
and how God sees us, the way hesees Jesus.
I mean, my human brain justcan't truly comprehend that.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
I know I find that profound.
But just as he says I'll removeyour sins as far as the East is
from the West, God has theability, being God, to make
himself forget your sin, and hehas the ability to look at you
and look past your imperfectionand see you as Christ presents
(18:57):
you Right, you know, and to methat's just incredibly amazing.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Amen, amen.
So how can this challenge, thechallenge we see in the Vineyard
Parable, help us as a church tolook for, look toward help new
believers?
How does this translate intoday's time, in our church, to
be a blessing to new believers?
Speaker 2 (19:24):
We've got to try to help our people, who've been
believers for a substantialamount of time, to understand
that people need the same Godthey have.
If you're not careful, the loveof Christ is expressed inward
(19:45):
and we're not good sometimes ofexpressing it outward, to those
who are not already in the body,and so we ought to have a
celebration every time somebodycomes to Christ.
You know, for years whensomebody came to Christ or
joined the church, you kept themdown front afterwards and
(20:08):
everybody came by and greetedthem and welcomed them to the
family.
And we've gotten away from thatbecause you have 1,000 people
in church and six will come downand welcome them.
Everybody else trying to beateach other understand the
(20:33):
specialness of that moment whena person comes to Christ, the
preciousness of it and how itought to be celebrated.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
You know, from just the perspective of being at a
smaller church compared to here,I think it happens so often
here, which is amazing, praiseGod.
Yeah, and I think, because ithappens so often, it becomes a
normal process of worship andit's not something new, whereas
if you're at a smaller church, aperson may get saved once every
(21:05):
six months and it's like, oh,wow, this is something new and
exciting, and so you're right,just constantly keeping it in
front of our people and teachingthem, yeah it's forever a
teaching thing.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
And look, you use the phrase small church.
I think a church can only besmall in number.
I'm going to talk about it in afew weeks.
I pastored early in my ministryin Alabama at a little church
in a closed farming communityand if you saw one or two saved
(21:36):
a year, look, it's like somebodyin a big city having 200 saved
that year.
Statistically you did as goodas them, or maybe better.
So numbers are relative Right.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Amen, amen.
And just a couple of scripturesto kind of close us out with
Matthew, chapter 20.
Romans 9, 15 says for he saysto Moses, I will have mercy on
whom I have mercy and I willhave compassion on whom I have
compassion.
And then that just proves andhones in on the fact that God
(22:12):
will give grace to whom he willgive grace to.
And Luke 23, 42 through 43 saysand he said Jesus, remember me
when you come into your kingdom.
And he said to him truly, Iwill say to you today you will
be with me in paradise, andobviously that's the thief on
the cross at the very end of hislife.
(22:34):
Ephesians 2, 8 through 9,.
For by grace you have beensaved through faith, and this is
not your own doing, it is thegift of God, not as a result of
works, so that no one may boast.
You know, I'm just going to saysomething.
I was raised Catholic and Iknow whenever we say anything
about the Catholic church on thepodcast, I'm going to end up
getting comments and everything,which is fine.
I'll answer them.
But the truth of the matter isis that, no matter what my
friends in the Catholic Churchsay about their doctrine, what
(22:57):
they truly believe and act outis that there's a works-based
system to their belief.
And I think this justdemolishes.
I mean this parable demolishesthat.
Sure it does.
And I think this justdemolished, I mean this parable
demolishes that.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Sure it does.
We have to remember theCatholic Church is based on the
Word of God and church tradition.
We're based solely on the Wordof God and so there are a lot of
variations to what they believethat they created themselves,
and that's fine.
They certainly feel like theycan defend those positions and I
(23:33):
feel like I can destroy thosepositions based on the Word of
God.
I'm not critical of theCatholic Church.
I just want people to have thebest understanding of Scripture
they can have.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Correct.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
And that's why I say it here all the time we are to
do good works out of our lovefor Christ.
After he's come into our lifeand radically changed us, the
natural position of our demeanorshould be to do good, but we
don't do good, hoping he'llnotice and then have favor on us
(24:10):
.
That's just not what Scriptureteaches.
And so, yeah, they're church,they can do what they want, and
we're just going to try to be asfaithful as we can to the Word.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Amen.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
But I do want to address the faith on the cross
creates a theological problemfor most people.
He didn't go through acatechism, he didn't go through
a church member class, he wasn'tbaptized, he didn't subscribe
(24:46):
to any theological confession offaith.
All of the things that we havein our human design created that
, we think, keyholes God intohow he can save someone.
A thief in the cross justdestroys every bit of that.
He never spoke in tongues.
(25:07):
I mean, there's a whole elementout there If you don't speak in
tongues, you're not saved.
And so I think what the thiefin the cross is?
A screaming statement that Godsaves and he can save whomever
he wants to save and he'll do itthe way he wants to do it.
(25:29):
And in our own humanity we canstruggle with it all we want,
but he is God.
He's the one who saves.
That's right.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Yes, Imagine if that one part is not in Scripture and
it's there for a reason.
You know it's there for areason, just for the point you
just mentioned.
Yes, you know, yes.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Yeah, and God forbid.
He didn't belong to any certainchurch.
Right, Because there are wholedenominational belief systems
that believe if you don't belongto their church you can't
possibly go to heaven.
That's right.
They need to read the Bible.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Yes, good deal.
Well, thank you, pastor Steve,appreciate you today, brother,
oh my blessing.
And yeah, good deal.
Well, thank you, pastor Steve,appreciate you today, brother,
oh my blessing.
And on the next one, guys,we'll see you then.
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