The first part of the service was as enjoyable as any funeral can be. Two of Ed’s sons talked about the man’s history and his character. He was described exactly as I had known him. And then there were things that I would probably not have known had I not been there Thursday. He was a generous, helpful, fun-loving, family-loving man. I had no reason to doubt any of the good things which were said about him. It wasn’t exaggeration. BUT two aspects of the service disturbed me. First, I didn’t know the hymns which the congregation was asked to sing. And the words in them reeked with heresy. Then in the course of the service, the church bishop got up to present the “spiritual message.”
I have been to funerals officiated by many different religious denominations. This man’s message could have been presented in any number of them – except for the fact that he quoted the Book of Mormon as much as he did the Bible, and he quoted the Doctrines and Covenants at least three times as often as he did the others. Essentially, he took what the sons had said about the character and work of my friend and said that these things made him fit for God. Several times he pointed to this thing or that thing in the man’s life, saying that these were his “bona fides.” This is apparently a term which has been redefined by Mormonism. Instead of it’s true meaning, “in good faith” – or as it is to many people – “something genuine” – to them it apparently refers to those deeds or documents which open doors, gains admission and earns special privileges. Essentially, the speaker said that Ed had done enough really good things in this world to earn him a special position in the next world.
I wouldn’t have been surprised if that speaker had quoted the parable in this morning’s scripture. There are thousands of false teachers, who suggest that working in the Lord’s vineyard is how common laborers like us gain access to the Kingdom of Heaven. But the theme of this scripture has nothing to say about salvation from sin or entrance into Heaven. This evening I plan, Lord willing, to outline what the Lord was trying teach us here, but this morning, I’d like to try to lay a little groundwork.
The Kingdom of Heaven is ALL ABOUT THE HOUSEHOLDER.
“The kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder.” I won’t beat around the bush with you – this man represents the Lord, Jehovah, the one true & living God. The vineyard is His, and you could say that represents His creation. The fruit of that vineyard is His, and it grows first and foremost for God’s glory. That is why we ought to be thankful for every flower and vegetable in our gardens. We ought to give thanks for every mouthful of food, every sunset & every sweet scent our lungs enjoy. The service which the workers perform throughout the day belong to the householder. Sure there is pleasure in hard work, in accomplishment, in muscles which ache because of our labors. And there is often reward for the labor done – both temporal and spiritual rewards. But still, it is God’s service, whether the laborer thinks of it that way or not. Obviously the penny is the Lord’s – whatever reward we receive for our labors in this world. Verse 15 says that the rules about this work and this reward are Jehovah’s as well. “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?” If you want to live contrary to the law of God, you may be able to get away with it for a while. But eventually, the Lord’s laws will be applied. Not only is the vineyard, the fruit and service God’s, but so also are the laborers.
I have not changed my definition of the “kingdom of heaven” since Matthew 13 or anywhere else. I believe it to be the rule of heaven, or the rule of the God of heaven, over His creation. There are citizens in that kingdom – people who have been invited and adopted into the family of the King. And there are felons – non-citizens – rebels who are doing all that they can to either overthrow the lawful government of God, or simply trying to live as though they were themselves kings and queens. But the pusillanimous efforts of wicked men mean nothing to the omnipotent sovereign King of kings.
This parable is not so much about the workers and their rewards as it is the householder who employed them and paid them.
The Kingdom of Heaven is A PLACE OF WORK.
If you would look up all those verses which begin with the words, “the kingdom of heaven is like…….” you’ll find that most of them speak of “fields” and various kinds of work. “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.” Please notice a few things in passing – There is nothing said in this parable about “harvest” or “fruit.” Of course, the purpose of a vineyard is the production of grapes – that is to be understood. But there may be eleven months of work before one month, or one week, of harvest. For many crops there is far more work in the growing than in the harvesting. Fruit is the finished product of what might have been a year’s worth of hard work. Something else to note is that these laborers were potentially hired for more than just that day. “And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.” The scripture doesn’t say that the householder hired them for that day and promised them a penny.
The Lord’s kingdom is about work, not about ease and idleness. Granted, our Creator has built into us a desire for fellowship with him “in the cool of the evening.” And it might be argued that actual “rest” is a necessary result of the effect of sin in us. But remember that the sinless Creator “rested” on the seventh day. It is absolutely necessary that we get a certain amount of rest every day. But beyond this, the fact remains that we have been created to serve the Lord by tending to His vineyard. After describing the creation of our first parent, Genesis 2:15 says, “And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” This was before the entrance of sin into the equation. God created us to worship and to serve Him – and included in that is serving in His vineyard.
Clearly, God hates idleness. “And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace” and he put them to work. “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?” The Lord put those people to work, eventually paying them exactly what He offered His first hires. The householder was disgusted that there were potential workers standing around doing nothing.
Friday, the morning, the day after the funeral, Judy quoted to me the first part of Titus 3:5-7 – “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Then she said that even though a man’s good works cannot save, it must be admitted that many people who claim to be saved by God’s grace, do next to nothing to actually serve their Saviour. On the other hand, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, some Catholics and a few others put the true children of God to shame when it comes to laboring in their Master’s vineyard.
What are YOU doing to produce fruit for the glory of the Lord? I’m not asking what are you doing in order to be saved from your sin, but what are you doing for the glory of Christ? The lost very often work far harder for their god than Christians do for theirs.
The Bible says, “Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.” Some of you young people need to praise God for your parents who taught you how to work hard. Not every young person – perhaps I should say – not many young people today know the benefits of hard work. Proverbs 31 describes what may be the ideal Christian woman. Verse 27 says, “She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.” Ecclesiastes is correct – “By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.” I watched a short documentary on old fire lookout towers of Idaho; it was very interesting. A few are still being used for fire detection while some are rented out as vacation cabins. But some are falling into destruction after only a decade or two of disuse. It is the natural result of idleness.
As I was looking up that word in the Bible two interesting tidbits jumped out at me. Ezekiel 16:49 declared that part of the sin of Sodom was “pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness.” The second thing was found in II Peter 1, which refers once again to work and the service of the Lord. Peter says, Beyond faith, “giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be BARREN nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The word “barren” – “you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful” is the Greek word usually translated “idleness.” “Idleness” and “barrenness” are obvious synonyms – they are twin brothers or twin sisters.
Since the Kingdom of Heaven is a place of work you might expect that it is also a PLACE OF WORKERS.
These people were standing around in the Greek “agora,” doing nothing. Nothing? They weren’t doing nothing! They were doing things – perhaps lots of different things. They were talking; they were joking with one another; they were boasting about things in their past. Perhaps they were grousing and complaining about their lives, their families, even their king. They were doing things, but they were actually only “spinning their wheels.”
We are all “spinning our wheels” until we have been employed by the householder. No matter what else you might call it, we are wasting our time, if what we are doing is not being done for the glory of the Lord. But as illustrated by this parable, the service of God is by invitation only. Sure, one of those unemployed men might have snuck into the vineyard and started working, but he had no guarantee of payment. But the truth of the matter is that no one went to the vineyard until they were invited.
The blessings of the Kingdom of Heaven are all about God’s calling – His invitation. I know that I often quote I Corinthians 1 – but there is usually a good reason for it. “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world … and God hath chosen the weak things of the world …….. And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.”
In Philippians 3 Paul was talking about Himself and his rather poor labours in the vineyard of God. He sais, “I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win (approval of) Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Paul considered himself “called” into the Lord’s vineyard, just as the men of our parable were called.
A few moments ago I quoted from II Peter 1 as I spoke about “barrenness.” Add to your faith virtue; and knowledge, temperance; patience; and godliness; and so on. “For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Now let me read on – “But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he WAS purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”
Only some of those who dwell in the Kingdom of Heaven have actually been called into citizenship and the service of Christ. “Brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” Don’t these scripture imply that the proof of our calling into the Kingdom of Heaven is to be found in our labor? We are not serving God in order to be invited into God’s kingdom as full citizens, we are serving because we have already been received that blessed invitation.
The Kingdom of Heaven ENDS IN REWARD.
This will make up much of my evening message, so I’ll not go into detail at this time. But it needs to be clearly understood that this penny does not represent citizenship or a key into Heaven. These vineyard workers, these vine-dressers, are not being adopted into the family of the householder. They are being rewarded for their service.
The Bible is quite clear on this point. All our righteous works are as filthy rags before the holy God. That is why it is “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” “Wherefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in God sight; for by the law if the knowl3edge of sin.” “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” “For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.”
But that doesn’t mean that God is not aware of our Christian service performed out of love and thanksgiving. “And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.” “His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” “Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.”
Citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven is by invitation only – it is by the grace of God, not by way of any of our works. Our service to God may prove that we are bona fide citizens, but they are not keys to unlock the gates of Heaven. So again, what evidence is there that YOU are a child of the King? Is there found in you – genuine, humble repentance and faith in Christ? Ye must be born again before you can be a servant in the kingdom of Heaven.