WE ARE STUDYING THE FOUR GOSPELS MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE AND JOHN TO KNOW THE LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST.
TO KNOW HIM IS TO LOVE HIM.
Our Savior was rejected in Nazareth see;
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth.
The Wedding at Cana.
Then He;
Cleanses the Temple.
We see that He;
Knows What Is in Man.
He then tells us how to get saved;
You Must Be Born Again!
For God So Loved the World!
Jesus ends His Ministry in Judea and;
John the Baptist Exalts Christ.
Jesus finished His Ministry in Judea and went up to Galilee but did not take the long road the Jews normally take to avoid going through Samaria but went straight to a place called Sychar near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there.
Jesus and the Woman of Samaria.
Jesus returned via Samaria to Galilee and we see The Rewards Of Service John 4:28-38, The Growth Of Faith John 4:39-45 and lastly The Reward Of Trusting Jesus’ Word John4:46-54.
The Rewards Of Service
Back in Galilee after a year in Judea;
Jesus Ministers to Great Crowds.
Nazareth’s loss was Capernaum’s gain. The people in the latter city recognized that His teaching was authoritative. His words were convicting and impelling.
The Sermon on the Mount.
And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
The Beatitudes. Salt and Light.
Lust-Divorce-Oaths.
Retaliation and Love Your Enemies
Secret giving and secret praying
How to pray and how to fast
What to Seek and Whom to Serve
Do Not Be Anxious
Judging Others
Ask, and It will Be Given & The Golden Rule.
A Tree and Its Fruit
I Never Knew You
Build your House on the Rock.
The Authority of Jesus
Rewards Of Faith, The Great Physician
The Helper Of The Needy And The Friend Of Sinners
a Sermon Christ in Me by Dr. Sidlow J. Baxter.
Jairus daughter Restored to Life, a Woman Healed, Jesus Heals Two Blind men, Jesus Heals a Man Unable to speak.
Hope for the hopeless. Tender Ministry to Maid and Women. Curing the Incurable and Raising the Dead
The sending forth of the twelve in Chapter 9 opens the third year Jesus’ public ministry
The Harvest Is Plentiful, the Laborers Few
The Mission to Israel.
Not Peace, but a Sword
Messengers from John the Baptist
Woe to Unrepentant Cities
Come to Me, and I Will Give You Rest
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
God’s Chosen Servant
The Sign of Jonah
Return of an Unclean Spirit
Jesus’ Mother and Brothers
The Parable of the Sower
The Purpose of the Parables
The Parable of the Sower Explained
The Parable of the Weeds
The Mustard Seed and the Leaven
The Parable of the Weeds Explained.
Jesus’ Parables of the Hidden Treasure-The Pearl of Great Value-Fishing Net.
New and Old Treasures.
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
The Death of John the Baptist told to Jesus
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand men plus women and children.
Jesus Walks on the Water.
Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret
Traditions and Commandments
What Defiles a Person
The Faith of a Canaanite Woman
Healing and feeding the multitudes
The Pharisees and Sadducees Demand Signs
The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees
Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ
Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection
Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus
The Transfiguration
Jesus Heals a Boy with a Demon
Jesus Again Foretells Death, Resurrection and pays The Temple Tax.
Who Is the Greatest?
Temptations to Sin
A Prayer for the world to a New Life.
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
If Your Brother Sins Against You
The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant
Teaching About Divorce
Let the Children Come to Me
The Rich Young Man
RICHES IN THE KINGDOM
Matthew 20:1-16
“For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.
And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny 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 said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.
Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.
And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.
So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.
And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.
But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.
And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,
Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?
Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.
Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.”
Frederick Brotherton Meyer, a contemporary and friend of D. L. Moody and A. C. Dixon, was a Baptist pastor and evangelist in England involved in ministry and inner city mission work on both sides of the Atlantic presents it to us this way regarding Matthew 20:1-16
THE BARGAINING SPIRIT REBUKED
This parable originated in Peter’s question. He had seen the rich young man go away sorrowful, because he could not meet the test which had been put to him; and he contrasted with that great refusal the swift willingness with which he and his fellow Apostles had left all to follow the Lord Jesus.
“Take care,” said Jesus, “or your bargaining for the rewards of the Kingdom, will put you down among the lowest; while they who don’t bargain will come out at the top.” The last made no agreement; they came in at the eleventh hour, and were only too glad to take the vineyard path, leaving the vine owner to give what he thought right. The first “agreed,” taking care to strike a bargain of so much money for so much work. But they would have done better if they had left the payment to the grace of their employer. “For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace, to the end that the promise may be sure to all the seed,” Rom_4:16, R.V.
We thank William MacDonald (1917-2007) who, for more than forty years, written directly about the key issues of Christianity. Leaving a promising business career as an employed investment analyst with First National Bank of Boston “at the foot of the Cross”, he had travelled worldwide, proclaiming the unsearchable riches of Christ for the Believer’s Bible Commentary on Matthew 20:1-16
Concerning Rewards for Labor in the Vineyard
20:1, 2 This parable, a continuation of the discourse on rewards at the end of chapter 19, illustrates the truth that while all true disciples will be rewarded, the order of rewards will be determined by the spirit in which the disciple served.
The parable describes a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers to work in his vineyard. These men contracted to work for a denarius a day, a reasonable wage at that time. Let us say they began to work at 6:00 a.m.
20:3, 4 At 9:00 a.m. the farmer found some other unemployed laborers in the market place. In this case there was no labor-management agreement. They went to work with only his word that he would give them whatever was right.
20:5-7 At noon and at 3:00 p.m. the farmer hired more men on the basis that he would give them a fair wage. At 5:00 p.m. he found more unemployed men. They were not lazy; they wanted work but hadn’t been able to find it. So he sent them into the vineyard without any discussion of pay.
It is important to notice that the first men were hired as a result of a bargaining agreement; all the others left the matter of pay to the landowner.
20:8 At the end of the day, the farmer instructed his paymaster to pay the men, beginning with the last hired and working back to the first. (In this way the earliest men hired saw what the others received.)
20:9-12 It was the same pay for all—one denarius. The 6:00 a.m. men thought they would receive more, but no—they too got one denarius. They were bitterly resentful; after all, they had worked longer and through the heat of the day.
20:13, 14 In the farmer’s reply to one of them we find the abiding lessons from the parable. First he 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 to you.” The first bargained for a denarius a day and got the wage agreed on. The others cast themselves on the farmer’s grace and got grace. Grace is better than justice. It is better to leave our rewards up to the Lord than to strike a bargain with Him.
20:15 Then the farmer said, “Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?” The lesson, of course, is that God is sovereign. He can do as He pleases. And what He pleases will always be right, just, and fair. The farmer added, “Or is your eye evil because I am good?” This question exposes the selfish streak in human nature. The 6:00 a.m. men got exactly what they deserved, yet were jealous because the others got the same pay for working fewer hours. Many of us have to admit that it seems a bit unfair to us, too. This only proves that in the kingdom of heaven we must adopt an entirely new kind of thinking. We must abandon our greedy, competitive spirit, and think like the Lord.
The farmer knew that all these men needed money, so he paid them according to need rather than greed. No one received less than he deserved, but all received what they needed for themselves and their families. The lesson, according to James Stewart, is that the person “who thinks to bargain about final reward will always be wrong, and God’s loving-kindness will always have the last unchallengeable word.” The more we study the parable in this light, the more we realize that it is not only fair but eminently beautiful. Those who were hired at 6:00 a.m. should have counted it an added recompense to serve such a wonderful master all day.
20:16 Jesus closed the parable with the words, “So the last will be first, and the first last” (see Mat_19:30). There will be surprises in the matter of rewards. Some who thought they would be first will be last because their service was inspired by pride and selfish ambition. Others who served out of love and gratitude will be highly honored.
Deeds of merit as we thought them,
He will show us were but sin;
Little acts we had forgotten,
He will show us were for Him.
—Anon
Please pray the Holy Spirit-The Paraclete will use these sermons and studies to bring many to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
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