It’s Not Fair (Robert Madu)

0:00:04.960 --> 0:00:06.200 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:06.240 --> 0:00:09.280 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:09.440 --> 0:00:11.600 Be sure to subscribe so we can get you these 0:00:11.640 --> 0:00:20.120 new sermons every week. Hope you're blessed today. 0:00:20.760 --> 0:00:22.800 I welcome our EPAM all around the world. Would you 0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:23.560 help me welcome them? 0:00:23.600 --> 0:00:24.599 Put your hands together. 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:32.040 And when you're a preacher, but you come to church 0:00:32.080 --> 0:00:34.040 but you don't preach, you want to make sure that 0:00:34.080 --> 0:00:36.440 you've got a great preacher somebody you want to listen to, 0:00:37.000 --> 0:00:39.440 So I do today. My oldest son, Elijah's gonna come 0:00:39.440 --> 0:00:40.920 tell you who we've got preaching today. 0:00:41.080 --> 0:00:46.200 He's not preaching today. That would be a plot twist. Man, 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:48.400 it's us. What would you do if I said, and 0:00:48.520 --> 0:00:49.840 our preacher for today. 0:00:49.560 --> 0:00:51.800 I'm gonna have to tag in my boy PGF over here, 0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:52.560 my boy Graham. 0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:56.360 I think you. I love it. Man. 0:00:56.400 --> 0:00:58.720 It's a special day today because we've got a very 0:00:58.760 --> 0:01:01.200 special guest, Robert mad in the house. 0:01:01.960 --> 0:01:04.160 And yeah, come on, give it up. 0:01:05.200 --> 0:01:08.440 And honestly, it's not really accurate. I know we always 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:10.200 say this, but it's not really accurate to call him 0:01:10.240 --> 0:01:13.360 a guest because he's family. Mister Chunk's actually told me 0:01:13.440 --> 0:01:17.000 that second to my parents. He's actually preached the second 0:01:17.040 --> 0:01:18.839 most times out of anyone in. 0:01:18.720 --> 0:01:20.039 This pull pick. Can we give it up for that? 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:24.319 Come on, but come on, y'all, we got one of 0:01:24.360 --> 0:01:27.520 the best dressed pastors in the game coming all the 0:01:27.560 --> 0:01:30.920 way from Dallas, Texas. He's a father of three, a 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:34.959 husband to Taylor Madou, and the pastor of Social Dallas Elevation. 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:37.040 If y'all are not standing up, I need y'all to 0:01:37.040 --> 0:01:37.320 stand on. 0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:39.800 Y'all speed and help me give a warm welcome the 0:01:39.920 --> 0:01:40.880 pastor Robert. 0:01:40.920 --> 0:01:56.800 But do somebody give Jesus just the best shout of 0:01:56.920 --> 0:02:00.720 praise that's your God for them? Come on, don't give 0:02:00.760 --> 0:02:04.000 a little too golf clasp across every location. If you 0:02:04.120 --> 0:02:07.040 love Jesus and you're not ashamed about it, come on, 0:02:07.080 --> 0:02:10.120 would you just take about ten more seconds and give 0:02:10.160 --> 0:02:14.240 them the place that he's worthy of. Oh, come on, somebody, 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:18.040 praise them like you know dead things okay, come alive today. 0:02:18.680 --> 0:02:21.880 Come on, praise them like you know. Chaine could break today. 0:02:22.320 --> 0:02:28.639 Anything could happened in this place. How you're feeling elevation? 0:02:30.680 --> 0:02:35.680 Anybody come with some expectancy for what God's gonna do today? 0:02:36.680 --> 0:02:38.720 Toe you what. I didn't wait to get here to 0:02:38.760 --> 0:02:43.119 get ready for church. I got ready before I got here, 0:02:44.040 --> 0:02:46.520 got my faith level up, and I says, God's gonna 0:02:46.520 --> 0:02:51.519 do something incredible in this house today. Just in case 0:02:51.520 --> 0:02:53.840 your neighbor didn't have their coffee, would you just elbowed 0:02:53.880 --> 0:02:56.680 them across every location, say something's gonna happen today, something, 0:02:57.200 --> 0:03:06.320 Something's gonna happen today. I remain standing because Elijah took 0:03:06.320 --> 0:03:08.720 the words out of my mouth. I don't consider myself 0:03:08.760 --> 0:03:14.119 a guest here. I do consider myself family and been 0:03:14.160 --> 0:03:18.560 coming here for years. But I don't take it lightlying 0:03:19.720 --> 0:03:22.760 the honor of the privilege to stand on this stage 0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:23.840 in this house. 0:03:24.919 --> 0:03:27.880 This is not ordinary. This is holy. 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:30.160 And one of the worst things you can do is 0:03:30.200 --> 0:03:34.079 to treat something holy ordinary. 0:03:35.320 --> 0:03:36.640 Just get used to it. 0:03:37.680 --> 0:03:41.160 Just get used to pass Stephen my past abridge. 0:03:41.240 --> 0:03:44.440 Get used to that. Oh, that would be crazy. 0:03:45.280 --> 0:03:48.320 And every time I walk in here, I'm reminded of 0:03:48.360 --> 0:03:53.040 the faithfulness of God and that this did not happen overnight. 0:03:54.320 --> 0:03:57.080 This is decades of faithfulness. 0:03:58.240 --> 0:04:04.400 Decades are saying yes when it was tough, decades of 0:04:04.520 --> 0:04:07.800 showing up when you didn't feel like two to be specific, 0:04:08.840 --> 0:04:12.000 two decades. Anybody can be faithful for a day, but 0:04:12.160 --> 0:04:16.279 be faithful for decades, that's a big deal. And so 0:04:16.320 --> 0:04:19.039 many times we celebrate what God does through people, but 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:23.360 we don't pause to go what did it cost them 0:04:23.400 --> 0:04:27.200 to do that? And before I say anything, especially because 0:04:27.240 --> 0:04:29.840 he's here, I want to thank God for the gift 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:33.960 that is impastor Stephen Fredick and his wife Hollid for 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:38.400 the sacrifice, for what it cost you to do this. 0:04:38.560 --> 0:04:41.159 Come on across every location. I need you to clap 0:04:41.200 --> 0:04:44.120 through your hands hurt. And I want them to know 0:04:44.160 --> 0:04:47.560 how much we loved him, the whole Ferdick family, how 0:04:47.640 --> 0:04:51.680 much we appreciate him. Come on, y'all can do better 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:56.159 than that. We are grateful. We don't take you for granted. 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:03.640 That's the thing. He can call anybody, literally anybody to 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:06.839 preach and so I'm so honored to be here. My 0:05:06.880 --> 0:05:09.080 wife sends her love again. I'll bring your gredients for 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:13.760 the great country of Texas. We passed through a church there, 0:05:13.720 --> 0:05:17.240 a social Dallas turned five years old this year and. 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:20.200 Seeing God do awesome things. 0:05:20.279 --> 0:05:23.520 But I always get an excused absence to pull up 0:05:23.520 --> 0:05:26.120 to elevation. So we're gonna have fun. Are y'all tired 0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:29.000 of standing. When you word O shoes, that's on you 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:32.120 stay standing. I want to jump straight to the Word 0:05:32.160 --> 0:05:36.359 of God because I do have a word to preach today. 0:05:37.839 --> 0:05:43.640 There is a story told by the greatest story teller 0:05:44.320 --> 0:05:48.480 ever that is stuck in my head. And since it's 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:51.560 stuck in my head, I want to just preach out 0:05:52.720 --> 0:05:54.880 what's a been in my mind? Can we thank God 0:05:54.880 --> 0:06:00.960 for this worship team? Come on, love y'all in the atmosphere, 0:06:02.080 --> 0:06:05.240 go with me to the Gospel of Matthew chapter number 0:06:05.279 --> 0:06:10.599 twenty Matthew twenty, and I want to look at verses 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:16.880 one through sixteen. Matthew Chapter twenty will start at verse 0:06:16.920 --> 0:06:18.960 one and we'll land at verse sixteen. Now, some of 0:06:19.000 --> 0:06:21.200 you all like, ooh, that's a lot of scriptures. We 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:25.640 need all of it for you to really feel this story. 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:30.880 Matthew chapter twenty. Once your God had say yeah, if 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:32.880 you need some time to find it, say how long 0:06:33.800 --> 0:06:37.359 I heard you. I'm gonna wait for you. Thank you 0:06:37.400 --> 0:06:45.720 so much, declares for the Kingdom of Heaven is like 0:06:45.760 --> 0:06:48.520 a landowner who went out early in the morning to 0:06:48.600 --> 0:06:52.640 hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them 0:06:52.680 --> 0:06:56.239 a denarius for the day and send them into his vineyard. 0:06:57.279 --> 0:06:59.320 About nine in the morning, he went out and saw 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:04.400 others stand in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:07.359 you also go and work in my vineyard and I 0:07:07.400 --> 0:07:11.200 will pay you whatever is right, so they win. He 0:07:11.240 --> 0:07:13.560 went out again about noon and about three in the 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:17.240 afternoon and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon, 0:07:17.240 --> 0:07:21.080 he went out and found still others standing around, and 0:07:21.120 --> 0:07:24.720 he asked them, why have you been standing here all 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:29.040 day long doing nothing? Because no one has hired us. 0:07:29.360 --> 0:07:33.720 They answer, He said to them, you also. 0:07:33.520 --> 0:07:37.000 Go and work in my venue. 0:07:37.200 --> 0:07:41.480 Now that's wild to me, because the workday ends at 0:07:41.520 --> 0:07:46.360 six o'clock. How are you hiring people at five o'clock 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:52.760 to go work for one hour? But the landowner felt 0:07:52.800 --> 0:07:56.240 that was necessary. When evening came, the owner of the 0:07:56.320 --> 0:08:00.360 vineyard said, no, no, no, look go up, go up. 0:08:00.520 --> 0:08:02.760 The one hired him says, when Edie came, the only 0:08:02.840 --> 0:08:05.400 vendor sent to his foreman called the workers and pay 0:08:05.480 --> 0:08:08.920 them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and 0:08:08.960 --> 0:08:11.760 going on to the first. The workers who were hired 0:08:11.760 --> 0:08:15.160 about five in the afternoon came and each received a 0:08:15.280 --> 0:08:21.080 denarius humm full days pay for an hour of work. 0:08:22.200 --> 0:08:30.280 So when those who are hired first, they they see, 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:33.720 what haven't you expected me to say expected? 0:08:35.200 --> 0:08:36.840 And I expected you to say expected. 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:43.000 Most of the pain and the frustration in our lives 0:08:44.080 --> 0:08:48.120 is not from what happened, it's from what we. 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:50.880 Expected. 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:58.240 Anybody ever dealt with the pain of unmet sometimes unexpressed 0:08:59.360 --> 0:09:03.040 expect They expected to receive more. But each one of 0:09:03.080 --> 0:09:05.960 them also received the denarius. When they received it, they 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:09.839 began to grumble against the landowner. These who were hired 0:09:09.880 --> 0:09:11.800 last worked only one hour, they said, and you have 0:09:11.880 --> 0:09:13.800 made them equal to us, who have borne the burden 0:09:13.840 --> 0:09:15.680 of the work and the heat of the day. But 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:18.840 he answered one of them, I am not being unfair 0:09:18.920 --> 0:09:23.640 to you. Friend. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:29.360 Take your pay and go. I want to give to 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:31.960 the one who was hired last the same as I 0:09:32.040 --> 0:09:34.960 gave you. Don't I have the right to do what 0:09:35.040 --> 0:09:38.120 I want with my own money. What I say to 0:09:38.160 --> 0:09:41.360 my wife sometimes but I just don't always work out? 0:09:44.120 --> 0:09:51.960 Or are you envious? Because I am generous? So the 0:09:52.120 --> 0:09:57.520 last will be first and the first will be last. 0:09:57.600 --> 0:10:03.040 Can you say a man? He man? I want to 0:10:03.080 --> 0:10:05.520 preach today just using this as a thought. 0:10:06.080 --> 0:10:15.000 It's not fair. It's not fair. Look at your neighbor 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:16.720 one more time, whichever one you like the best, and 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:17.480 just say neighbor. 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:20.720 Don't be afraid to talk to him, Say neighbor. 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:28.480 It's not fair. It is not fair. Father, have your 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:34.000 way speak to us today. Amen, you may be seated 0:10:34.040 --> 0:10:43.360 in the presence of the Lord. It's not fair. 0:10:46.840 --> 0:10:48.080 Elevation fam. 0:10:49.000 --> 0:10:54.640 I started preaching before I had kids, started preaching before 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:59.040 I had offspring. And when I was preaching before I 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:02.480 had kids, I would listen to other preachers who would 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:06.480 always use their kids as an illustration in their messages, 0:11:07.240 --> 0:11:10.600 and I would secretly and quietly judge them on the inside, 0:11:11.240 --> 0:11:14.559 thinking to myself, come on, bruh, where is the creativity. 0:11:15.240 --> 0:11:18.160 Surely you can find another way to illustrate the text 0:11:18.240 --> 0:11:20.680 besides talking about your kids all the time. 0:11:20.720 --> 0:11:21.400 That's what I said. 0:11:21.960 --> 0:11:26.000 Then I had kids, three of them, and I realized 0:11:26.000 --> 0:11:29.480 that if you don't talk about your kids while you're preaching, you. 0:11:29.400 --> 0:11:30.240 Ain't doing it right. 0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:32.960 You ain't do it right because from the moment these 0:11:32.960 --> 0:11:37.200 little humans are conceived, you will be inundated with all 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:41.959 kinds of illustrations and moments that just makes you pause 0:11:42.040 --> 0:11:45.439 and go, oh, I hear you, Lord, I hear you Lord. 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:48.320 How mean you know God will use your kids to 0:11:48.440 --> 0:11:49.160 speak to you? 0:11:49.920 --> 0:11:50.640 Yes, he will. 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:53.240 He will use your kids to speak to you. As 0:11:53.280 --> 0:11:55.520 a matter of fact, he will use your kids to 0:11:55.720 --> 0:12:00.840 show you. You that part at that moment where they 0:12:00.840 --> 0:12:04.080 are overreacting the smallest thing and they just go off 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:06.319 and they're having just this crazy reaction. I'm like, what 0:12:06.400 --> 0:12:09.559 in the world is wrong with you? And God's like, wrong, question, 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:14.960 what's wrong with you? She's eight, you're forty two. What 0:12:15.200 --> 0:12:16.679 is wrong with you? 0:12:16.840 --> 0:12:16.960 Oh? 0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:18.920 Hell, He'll use your kids to speak to you. So, 0:12:19.200 --> 0:12:22.160 my wife and I we have three kids, three kids eleven, 0:12:22.440 --> 0:12:27.120 ten and eight, two girls and one boy. They are 0:12:27.559 --> 0:12:32.800 distinctly different, unique in their personalities. Yet they are unified 0:12:33.120 --> 0:12:35.640 in their vision for us as parents. Oh, they got 0:12:35.800 --> 0:12:38.600 unity in their vision. And here is their vision. Here 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:42.200 is their vision statement for us. Here it is keep 0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:45.599 it fair. That is the vision statement. Not just to 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:49.760 my kids, up, every single child around the world. Keep 0:12:50.320 --> 0:12:53.120 it fair, keep it for Hey, that's not fair. You 0:12:53.160 --> 0:12:56.160 better keep it fair, y'all. Before there was a laborers union, 0:12:56.400 --> 0:12:59.439 before there was an HR department, there were kids tell 0:12:59.480 --> 0:13:02.320 my wait a minut. You can't do that. That's not fair. 0:13:02.400 --> 0:13:05.079 I'm not exaggerating. There is not a week in the 0:13:05.200 --> 0:13:07.840 Madu household that I don't hear that phrase right there. 0:13:07.920 --> 0:13:09.680 That's not fair. That's not fair. 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:11.600 He got to go to Lego Lane. We didn't get 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:15.600 to go to Lulu Living. That's not fair, Dad. How 0:13:15.679 --> 0:13:17.319 much she got to stay up late? How come I 0:13:17.360 --> 0:13:21.040 don't get to stay up late? That's not fair, dad? 0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:22.439 He got to stay. 0:13:22.160 --> 0:13:25.240 Home from school? That's not fair. I'm like he was sick, 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:28.480 he had the flu. You want the flu? Yes, all right, 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:29.760 come in, let me lay hands on you for you 0:13:29.760 --> 0:13:33.000 get the flu? Fair that that's not fair. How many 0:13:33.120 --> 0:13:37.120 know kids are born with this innate sensitivity to an 0:13:37.200 --> 0:13:42.040 equity and disparity. They are looking forward, they have fairness 0:13:42.160 --> 0:13:46.840 detectors on the inside of them. It's funny. Researchers even 0:13:46.920 --> 0:13:50.080 did some research and found out that even as early 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:56.360 as infants, they're already able to recognize inequity, as early 0:13:56.400 --> 0:13:58.520 as twelve months old, before they can even have the 0:13:58.559 --> 0:14:04.959 words to articulate it. There's some an end then that's going, ah, this, this, 0:14:04.960 --> 0:14:06.400 this hain't right. If you don't believe me do the 0:14:06.440 --> 0:14:08.320 test out the service. Just pass out some cake to 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:10.360 some kids and not one of them will just take 0:14:10.360 --> 0:14:12.240 the cake like this. No, they're gonna take it and 0:14:12.240 --> 0:14:19.000 go and look, that's not fair. And I share that 0:14:19.040 --> 0:14:23.040 with you today. Who can I be honest, because I 0:14:23.080 --> 0:14:28.320 don't think we outgrow that. I just think we get 0:14:28.440 --> 0:14:32.720 more subtle and sophisticated in the way we express it. 0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:43.640 Were little statements like must be nice. It gets it 0:14:43.680 --> 0:14:48.120 gets more problematic when you feel like the person who's 0:14:48.200 --> 0:14:55.280 not being fair is God. Elevation family, what do you 0:14:55.440 --> 0:15:00.720 do when you feel like God is not being fair? 0:15:01.640 --> 0:15:03.320 I know you can't say anything because you want to 0:15:03.320 --> 0:15:05.560 make everybody think that you walked in here very spiritual 0:15:06.040 --> 0:15:07.840 and you just you know, pray all the time and 0:15:07.880 --> 0:15:09.000 just lift up your hands. 0:15:09.600 --> 0:15:13.080 But what do you do when you feel like God, 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:16.120 this is not fair. 0:15:17.280 --> 0:15:20.520 God, I've been coming to church faithfully, like I've been 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:23.440 doing good this year, Like I've showed up faithfully, and 0:15:23.840 --> 0:15:26.120 I've been serving any chance that I get. And God, 0:15:26.440 --> 0:15:28.600 I've been tithed and I've been tithing this year and 0:15:28.640 --> 0:15:30.640 I've been doing good. Lord. I gave him the year 0:15:30.720 --> 0:15:36.520 in offering my word of the Year was promotion and 0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:43.440 I lost my job. That's not fair. God. I've been 0:15:43.480 --> 0:15:45.920 doing my best. I'm single, and I've been trusting you 0:15:46.000 --> 0:15:48.160 for my spouse, and I've been doing it right, and 0:15:48.200 --> 0:15:50.320 I've been living holy, and I've been being pure and 0:15:50.320 --> 0:15:52.240 i've been I've been doing the best I can. And 0:15:52.320 --> 0:15:54.120 I've been really believing that you would blessed me with 0:15:54.240 --> 0:15:56.320 somebody to spend the rest of my life with. And 0:15:56.840 --> 0:16:04.360 it's not happening. Meanwhile, my coworker, I ain't living holy. 0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:09.800 Who've been with Ronnie? Donnie and everybody she gonna walk 0:16:09.800 --> 0:16:20.600 in talk about Guess what? God, That's not fair. God, 0:16:20.760 --> 0:16:25.280 My mom. All she does is pray. All she does 0:16:25.360 --> 0:16:28.040 is read the word. All she does is help people. 0:16:29.160 --> 0:16:34.400 And she's gonna get breast cancer and I'm gonna pray 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:38.000 and fast and cry out to you and she doesn't 0:16:38.040 --> 0:16:46.160 get healed. God, that's not fair. If you've ever felt 0:16:46.240 --> 0:16:51.440 like God hasn't been fair, come with me to this 0:16:51.560 --> 0:16:55.440 story in Matthew Chapter twenty, This story that you will 0:16:55.440 --> 0:16:58.600 only find in Matthew's Gospel. Oh yes, Marky Mark, don't 0:16:58.600 --> 0:17:01.200 talk about this, Doctor Luke, don't talk about this. Loved John, 0:17:01.240 --> 0:17:05.439 don't talk about this, Only Matthew leave it to the 0:17:05.480 --> 0:17:10.520 tax collector to find the one story where he said, 0:17:10.520 --> 0:17:13.640 hold on the Matthew and Matthew in this story right here. 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:18.240 Only Matthew gives us this story in Matthew Chapter twenty, 0:17:18.480 --> 0:17:21.680 where Jesus begins to teach, as he often did by 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:25.720 giving parables. Jesus would often tell parable stories. It was 0:17:25.880 --> 0:17:30.800 one of his greatest mediums for articulating how his kingdom works. 0:17:30.960 --> 0:17:34.520 He would tell these stories, these parables. In fact, he 0:17:34.560 --> 0:17:37.800 would lock in the parable the logic of how his 0:17:38.000 --> 0:17:41.240 kingdom works. Because you understand that your God is a king, 0:17:41.560 --> 0:17:44.359 and he has a kingdom, and there's a system the 0:17:44.400 --> 0:17:48.040 way his kingdom works. He didn't get voted in, he 0:17:48.080 --> 0:17:51.040 didn't get elected in. Your God is sovereign and he's 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:55.520 a king, and often his kingdom is completely antithetical to 0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:58.320 how the system of this world works. So he would 0:17:58.440 --> 0:18:01.240 hide the logic of his kingdom him in the language 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:04.359 of these parables. I love parables because one of the 0:18:04.359 --> 0:18:07.800 principles of the parables is you hold on to truth 0:18:08.160 --> 0:18:11.560 that you discover better than the truth that's just delivered. 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:15.280 So often he would give you the parable and wouldn't 0:18:15.280 --> 0:18:17.800 even give you the explanation. He tell the story and 0:18:17.800 --> 0:18:21.040 then walk on the stage. He who has an ear 0:18:21.600 --> 0:18:24.439 let him hear. He just give you the story because 0:18:24.480 --> 0:18:27.560 he wanted you to meditate on that story. He wanted 0:18:27.600 --> 0:18:30.359 you to savor the story. He wanted to hit you later. 0:18:30.440 --> 0:18:32.119 He wanted it to hit you later. He wanted you 0:18:32.200 --> 0:18:34.160 to be eating hummus and peda one day and go 0:18:37.760 --> 0:18:42.720 I'm the lost sheep. He left the knighted out the day. 0:18:44.960 --> 0:18:47.639 He would do that on purpose. That that's the power 0:18:48.119 --> 0:18:50.399 of the story. And so he tells the story in 0:18:50.440 --> 0:18:53.359 Matthew chapter twenty. But anytime you're looking at a Jesus story, 0:18:53.480 --> 0:18:56.399 you got to ask yourself what made him tell the story. 0:18:57.119 --> 0:18:58.959 In order to find out what made him tell this story, 0:18:59.080 --> 0:19:04.679 we got to back that thing up biblically to Matthew 0:19:04.720 --> 0:19:10.200 chapter nineteen. Matthew chapter nineteen, something interesting happens. Jesus is 0:19:10.320 --> 0:19:14.199 Chillaxon and this rich young ruler, this rich young ruler 0:19:14.400 --> 0:19:17.280 comes up to Jesus. He's a baller, he's a shock callar, 0:19:17.440 --> 0:19:19.800 he's doing a well, he's an influencer, he's got money. 0:19:19.880 --> 0:19:22.040 And he walks up to Jesus and he says. 0:19:21.920 --> 0:19:26.840 Hey, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? 0:19:27.280 --> 0:19:30.399 What must AH do? See this is a business dude, 0:19:30.440 --> 0:19:34.280 so he thinks transactionally, that's his logic. He's hey, I 0:19:34.320 --> 0:19:37.080 got to do something to get something? So what must 0:19:37.119 --> 0:19:41.200 I do to inherit eternal life? And I love it? 0:19:41.200 --> 0:19:43.400 Because Jesus goes, all right, you want to play this game? 0:19:43.480 --> 0:19:45.240 What must I do to get? 0:19:45.359 --> 0:19:45.560 Never? 0:19:45.640 --> 0:19:47.960 Mind has to be given. It's just grace you but 0:19:48.000 --> 0:19:49.400 never Okay, you want to play this game? He goes, 0:19:49.440 --> 0:19:52.440 all right, well, just keep all keep all the commandments. 0:19:53.200 --> 0:19:55.359 He can keep the keep the commandments. He says, what 0:19:55.400 --> 0:19:59.199 well I've done that? Oh wow, okay, you've done all that. 0:19:59.400 --> 0:20:04.720 He goes, all one thing you lack, Sell everything you got, 0:20:05.520 --> 0:20:09.000 give it to the poor, and then you'll have treasure 0:20:09.000 --> 0:20:11.159 in heaven. And I want you to come follow me. 0:20:12.400 --> 0:20:14.680 Can you imagine that that's a big invitation right there? 0:20:14.960 --> 0:20:17.840 The fact that Jesus even gave him the opportunity to 0:20:18.200 --> 0:20:21.199 follow him. This rich young ruler, y'all could have been 0:20:21.240 --> 0:20:25.199 the thirteenth Disciple. Ooh, Jesus, give everybody the opportunity. He 0:20:25.240 --> 0:20:27.320 did not remember one dude was possessed by a demon. 0:20:27.400 --> 0:20:29.159 Jesus cast it out, and the gy was like, can 0:20:29.240 --> 0:20:34.280 I go with y'all? And Jesus like, Northam, no, we goodness, 0:20:34.359 --> 0:20:38.240 just go back and tell everybody what I did for you. 0:20:39.920 --> 0:20:43.800 But this rich young ruler, he gets the invitation of 0:20:43.880 --> 0:20:47.400 a lifetime. You're gonna get the greatest apprenticeship of a lifetime. 0:20:47.520 --> 0:20:50.639 You'll get to roll with Jesus. Just sell everything you have. 0:20:51.080 --> 0:20:56.840 And the Bible says that he walked away bitterly because 0:20:56.880 --> 0:20:59.280 he had a lot of positions. But the real thing 0:20:59.400 --> 0:21:03.160 is his possess has had him. Oh. 0:21:03.200 --> 0:21:04.399 I don't want to go there because this is not 0:21:04.440 --> 0:21:04.919 my sermon. 0:21:05.560 --> 0:21:09.800 But it's scary when idols form in your heart because 0:21:09.840 --> 0:21:12.879 sometimes you don't even know it's an idol until God goes, 0:21:13.359 --> 0:21:17.919 can I have it? This man didn't know that his 0:21:18.000 --> 0:21:21.840 possessions had him until God said can I have it? 0:21:22.520 --> 0:21:29.320 And he walked away. Meanwhile, Peter is watching the whole thing. Oh, 0:21:29.359 --> 0:21:31.639 you need a Peter. You need a Peter to say 0:21:31.680 --> 0:21:34.080 the thing that nobody else will say. 0:21:34.119 --> 0:21:35.400 They thinking that, and. 0:21:35.359 --> 0:21:39.200 Peter walks this watches this guy walk away, and Peter goes, 0:21:39.240 --> 0:21:44.320 hold on and head, we gave we left everything to 0:21:44.320 --> 0:21:49.280 follow you. Jesus, hold on, we did what this brother 0:21:49.760 --> 0:21:58.080 could not do. So since we left everything, what do 0:21:58.200 --> 0:22:04.600 we get And Jesus goes, oh, Peter, you get a story. 0:22:05.400 --> 0:22:09.479 You get a story. There was a landowner that had 0:22:09.520 --> 0:22:13.800 a vineyard and had workers in his vinyard. And this 0:22:13.960 --> 0:22:19.960 landowner started looking for workers in his vineyard. I like 0:22:20.040 --> 0:22:23.840 this landowner. He's got a big vineyard and he's looking 0:22:24.040 --> 0:22:27.439 for workers in his vineyard. In that time period, you 0:22:27.480 --> 0:22:30.399 would not have people that were on your payroll working 0:22:30.480 --> 0:22:31.119 in your vineyard. 0:22:31.359 --> 0:22:32.720 That was not the culture of the day. 0:22:33.280 --> 0:22:35.639 You often would go to the marketplace and you would 0:22:35.720 --> 0:22:38.119 hire people for the day. So the very fact that 0:22:38.160 --> 0:22:41.240 this landowner is going out and it's looking for workers 0:22:41.560 --> 0:22:44.719 is letting us know what season it is. Yeah, it's 0:22:44.760 --> 0:22:46.919 letting us know the season. Because you didn't need a 0:22:46.920 --> 0:22:50.920 lot of workers for the planting season. You certainly didn't 0:22:50.920 --> 0:22:53.920 need no workers for the waiting season. But when the 0:22:53.960 --> 0:22:59.560 harvest hit, you needed all the help you could get, y'all. 0:22:59.560 --> 0:23:03.360 When the harvest hit, you needed as many hands as 0:23:03.400 --> 0:23:05.320 you could get because how many No, you didn't have 0:23:05.400 --> 0:23:08.320 all day to get the harvest. There was a season 0:23:08.640 --> 0:23:11.440 there was a window that you had to get the harvest. 0:23:11.600 --> 0:23:13.520 So I'm talking about landowners would be like, hey, come on, 0:23:13.600 --> 0:23:15.240 you can work. You can work. What you got two hands? 0:23:15.320 --> 0:23:16.920 Come oh you go only got one, But that's cool. 0:23:16.920 --> 0:23:19.920 Come on, you can work too, because when the harvest hit, 0:23:20.119 --> 0:23:23.240 you needed as many workers, as many hands as you 0:23:23.280 --> 0:23:26.760 could get. The landowner was not looking for spectators. He 0:23:26.880 --> 0:23:29.080 was looking for workers. He was looking for somebody that 0:23:29.119 --> 0:23:31.679 would roll up their sleeves and say, I realized that 0:23:31.680 --> 0:23:34.200 there's a harvest that is ripe, and we got to 0:23:34.280 --> 0:23:37.240 get this harvest in. And how many No, the bigger 0:23:37.280 --> 0:23:40.600 the harvest, the more hands you need to pull in 0:23:40.680 --> 0:23:42.720 the harvest. Let me tell you why some of y'all 0:23:42.720 --> 0:23:45.560 ain't shouted because you think God called you to just 0:23:45.600 --> 0:23:48.320 come to church and sit on your blessed assurance and 0:23:48.359 --> 0:23:50.920 hear a cute little message and go home. No, no, no, no, 0:23:51.280 --> 0:23:54.400 we need workers in the Kingdom of God because there 0:23:54.520 --> 0:23:59.359 is a harvest that is plentiful. There is a harvest 0:23:59.600 --> 0:24:02.280 that is already and we need people to say I'll 0:24:02.280 --> 0:24:05.680 do whatever it takes to get the harvest in. Can 0:24:05.720 --> 0:24:08.080 I just stop right here and thank God for the 0:24:08.280 --> 0:24:12.879 workers at elevation church that help bring in the harvest 0:24:13.119 --> 0:24:15.840 and eat kids right now, saying I gotta be here 0:24:16.000 --> 0:24:19.120 because the harvest is here in the parking lot, saying, 0:24:19.160 --> 0:24:21.200 come on this way. You know what some of y'all 0:24:21.240 --> 0:24:23.640 are like in the parking lot, Come on this way. 0:24:23.800 --> 0:24:28.560 It's okay. Why because the harvest, when the harvest hits, 0:24:29.240 --> 0:24:32.439 you need all the help you can get. Asked me 0:24:32.520 --> 0:24:35.879 how I know our church has been in fourteen different 0:24:36.040 --> 0:24:39.600 venues since we started sitting up and tearing down God 0:24:39.680 --> 0:24:42.160 blessed us with a building or believing God to raise 0:24:42.200 --> 0:24:44.240 the money to renovate the building. Ooh, but let me 0:24:44.280 --> 0:24:47.119 tell you we still setting up pipe and trade every 0:24:47.240 --> 0:24:50.000 single Sunday. And why are we doing it? Because the 0:24:50.040 --> 0:24:54.720 harvest hit. And when the harvest hits, you need all 0:24:54.720 --> 0:24:57.840 the help you can get. I wonder if God is 0:24:57.840 --> 0:25:00.560 waiting for you to put your hand to the plow 0:25:02.400 --> 0:25:04.600 or have you gotten so use to just come to 0:25:04.680 --> 0:25:08.119 church and receive Him like us a buffet saying that 0:25:08.200 --> 0:25:11.360 was good this week, bless God, come back next. 0:25:11.160 --> 0:25:11.920 Week for some more. 0:25:13.040 --> 0:25:16.320 No, no, no, no, he wasn't looking for spectators, he 0:25:16.400 --> 0:25:20.720 was looking for workers. It's interesting because I like this 0:25:20.840 --> 0:25:23.520 landowner because later we will find out in the text 0:25:23.920 --> 0:25:26.960 that he has somebody that can pay these workers. 0:25:27.400 --> 0:25:28.760 He's got a forman that can pay him. 0:25:29.760 --> 0:25:31.879 And I'm thinking, if you got somebody that can pay him, 0:25:32.200 --> 0:25:35.280 surely you got somebody that can pick them. 0:25:35.400 --> 0:25:36.520 But the landowner doesn't like that. 0:25:37.119 --> 0:25:43.919 The landowner is so obsessed with going out and picking them. 0:25:44.720 --> 0:25:49.160 He wants to because I can't get anybody to pay you. 0:25:49.160 --> 0:25:51.919 You can get reward from other people, but when it 0:25:51.960 --> 0:25:58.120 comes to calling, when it comes to picking, I want 0:25:58.160 --> 0:26:00.680 to do that because you will never forget the day 0:26:01.240 --> 0:26:05.320 that you were standing in the marketplace desperate, knowing that 0:26:05.320 --> 0:26:07.159 you wouldn't be able to eat that day if you 0:26:07.200 --> 0:26:09.600 didn't find work. And I don't want you to forget 0:26:09.600 --> 0:26:12.840 the moment when I came out to the marketplace and 0:26:12.880 --> 0:26:17.520 said you you, oh, right here you. I want you 0:26:17.600 --> 0:26:22.000 to feel the joy of being chosen, of being picked. Oh. 0:26:22.160 --> 0:26:27.560 I like this land owner because he likes to pick 0:26:27.600 --> 0:26:29.679 his people. Help other person next to you, just in 0:26:29.680 --> 0:26:31.919 case they're falling asleep, and say, he chose me, he 0:26:32.000 --> 0:26:38.840 chose me, he chose me. He goes out and he 0:26:39.320 --> 0:26:42.639 picks each and every one of them. Tex says, he 0:26:42.680 --> 0:26:46.480 goes out at six am, He goes out again at nine, 0:26:46.920 --> 0:26:49.560 He goes out again at noon, He goes out again 0:26:49.600 --> 0:26:53.080 at three, and goes out again at five. Five times 0:26:53.560 --> 0:26:56.520 he goes out to pick. Now that confused me, because. 0:26:56.280 --> 0:26:58.320 I'm like landold a, Are you confused? 0:26:59.400 --> 0:27:02.080 Why you keep on out to pick people? 0:27:02.600 --> 0:27:05.280 Seems like to me, if you know your land, you 0:27:05.320 --> 0:27:07.560 should just go out once at six am and say, hey, 0:27:07.600 --> 0:27:11.520 I'm hiring y'all. Come on, Why does the landowner keep 0:27:11.600 --> 0:27:15.520 going out five times he goes out to pick people? 0:27:15.640 --> 0:27:17.920 First of all, lets us know he's got land big 0:27:18.040 --> 0:27:21.000 enough that he needs a lot of workers. But he 0:27:21.080 --> 0:27:23.240 keeps going out because maybe the Texas letting us know. 0:27:23.440 --> 0:27:26.560 That's exactly what Grace does. How many are thankful for 0:27:26.600 --> 0:27:30.280 God's grace that'll keep going out and keep reaching out 0:27:30.320 --> 0:27:32.480 for you. Come on, even when you think that Grace 0:27:32.480 --> 0:27:34.800 should have just said that's enough. I already went out once. No, 0:27:34.880 --> 0:27:36.919 I'm gonna go out again, and I'm gonna pick you, 0:27:37.119 --> 0:27:38.840 and I'm gonna choose you. I don't know about you, 0:27:38.960 --> 0:27:41.480 but I'm thankful for the grace of God that keeps 0:27:41.520 --> 0:27:45.119 pursuing me, that keeps chasing after me. He says, I'm 0:27:45.119 --> 0:27:48.760 will keep going out, and he goes out five times, 0:27:49.000 --> 0:27:51.240 which made me think she said, went out five times? 0:27:51.680 --> 0:27:54.760 Do we have five categories of workers? He went out 0:27:54.760 --> 0:27:59.080 of six nine, now three and five, So we got 0:27:59.119 --> 0:28:04.120 five categories of workers? Right? Wrong, We don't have five 0:28:04.200 --> 0:28:07.440 categories of workers. Because you'll notice that there's something distinctly 0:28:07.480 --> 0:28:11.840 different about the six am crew. The people that got 0:28:11.880 --> 0:28:16.159 picked first, they had a different arrangement than the rest 0:28:16.440 --> 0:28:19.520 of the workers. So really we got different times. But 0:28:19.560 --> 0:28:22.720 it's really only two categories of workers. The six am 0:28:22.760 --> 0:28:25.440 crew is distinctly different from the rest. 0:28:25.920 --> 0:28:26.800 For I tell you how the different. 0:28:26.880 --> 0:28:30.240 Let's just talk about these six am thief They got 0:28:30.280 --> 0:28:33.960 picked first. Doesn't it feel good to get picked first? 0:28:35.160 --> 0:28:37.680 Six am people? You know they weren't there at six o'clock. 0:28:38.280 --> 0:28:40.960 You know they were there at like five forty. Those 0:28:40.960 --> 0:28:43.240 six am people, they're like, you know, to be on 0:28:43.320 --> 0:28:46.800 time is to be late. To be early is to 0:28:46.800 --> 0:28:49.920 be on time, and to be late is unacceptable. I'm 0:28:49.920 --> 0:28:52.920 going to be here at five forty five and I've 0:28:52.920 --> 0:28:55.600 already got my resume. Yes, have how many vineyards I've 0:28:55.600 --> 0:28:58.520 worked at? Yes, I'm very good, I'm very talented and 0:28:58.880 --> 0:29:01.480 they were there, and they were they had their resumes. 0:29:01.520 --> 0:29:03.480 Can you see them? You know those six am people, 0:29:03.640 --> 0:29:05.880 they're here in the room today. The six am people 0:29:05.880 --> 0:29:07.840 are the people back in school when you wanted to 0:29:07.880 --> 0:29:11.040 cheat on their test and they see you trying to 0:29:11.080 --> 0:29:15.280 cheat and they'll be like, well six am people, six 0:29:15.360 --> 0:29:18.640 am people, Oh you got it together. You got your resume. 0:29:18.920 --> 0:29:20.920 So you know, the six am people were there and 0:29:20.960 --> 0:29:22.680 they were looking to get hired. They're like, oh, we 0:29:22.680 --> 0:29:24.479 got it, we got it. We know we gonna get picked. Oh. 0:29:24.480 --> 0:29:26.600 Here comes to landowner and in my mind, the landowner 0:29:26.640 --> 0:29:30.000 pulls up in this one fifteen and he says, hey, 0:29:30.720 --> 0:29:34.280 y'all looking for some work. They're like, of course, been 0:29:34.360 --> 0:29:38.240 here early. You saw a resume on LinkedIn, right, Yeah, okay, 0:29:39.160 --> 0:29:44.840 so leanolds I I'm hiring. Getting the truck. They're like, yeah, okay, 0:29:44.920 --> 0:29:49.000 well we will, but put put one second. One second, Hey, 0:29:49.040 --> 0:29:51.040 come on, get in the truck. No, no, we we 0:29:51.120 --> 0:29:58.800 want to. But just we you discussed compensation. Compensation, man, 0:29:58.880 --> 0:30:00.960 come on, man, don't you want to look Look, I'll 0:30:00.960 --> 0:30:05.880 pay you whatever's right, whatever's right. Yeah, right, we need 0:30:05.920 --> 0:30:10.200 to know what are we going to get before we 0:30:10.800 --> 0:30:11.640 go to work. 0:30:12.680 --> 0:30:16.280 And then I was like, all right, how about a denarius. 0:30:16.880 --> 0:30:22.120 Full day's work, full days pay denarious bed Now let's 0:30:22.120 --> 0:30:22.800 get in the truck. 0:30:22.880 --> 0:30:24.400 Someony are like, I didn't see that. In the text, 0:30:24.480 --> 0:30:25.480 it's in verse number two. 0:30:26.040 --> 0:30:29.000 In verse number two, it says on Matthew, Chapter twenty, 0:30:29.560 --> 0:30:34.640 it says that he agreed to pay them a denarius 0:30:34.680 --> 0:30:38.240 for the day and sent them into his vineyard. He 0:30:38.600 --> 0:30:42.680 agreed that That word agreed in the original language is 0:30:42.720 --> 0:30:46.680 the word SYMPHONYO is where we get this word symphony. 0:30:47.360 --> 0:30:49.360 It means that they had to go back and forth 0:30:49.400 --> 0:30:52.719 between until they got to an agreement, that there was 0:30:52.920 --> 0:30:55.960 a bargaining, and then finally they said they said, good, 0:30:56.160 --> 0:31:00.400 all right, we'll go now that we know what we get. 0:31:01.320 --> 0:31:03.680 The rest of the crew had a different set up. 0:31:04.320 --> 0:31:06.160 Let me show you this set up is in verse 0:31:06.160 --> 0:31:10.760 four and five. It says he told them, that's the 0:31:10.760 --> 0:31:13.080 rest of the workers. You also go work in my 0:31:13.120 --> 0:31:21.560 finger and I will pay you whatever's right. So they went, no. 0:31:21.840 --> 0:31:27.240 Going back and forth, no negotiation, whatever you think is right, cool, 0:31:27.880 --> 0:31:28.800 we just want to work. 0:31:29.360 --> 0:31:33.200 Do you see the difference. So one group has a contract, 0:31:34.120 --> 0:31:40.560 the other group has trust. One group is trusting the compensation. 0:31:41.160 --> 0:31:43.920 The other group says, I just trust the consistent character 0:31:44.240 --> 0:31:47.560 of the landowner, and whatever the landowner thinks say is right. 0:31:47.640 --> 0:31:51.280 I'm cool with that. Right there, one group is walking 0:31:51.320 --> 0:31:53.840 by agreement. The other group said, I'm walking by faith. 0:31:54.360 --> 0:31:57.040 I just trust that the landowner is gonna do whatever 0:31:57.520 --> 0:32:02.959 is right and he will determine what the pay is. 0:32:03.720 --> 0:32:06.959 Do you see the difference between the six AM people 0:32:07.800 --> 0:32:08.720 and the rest. 0:32:09.240 --> 0:32:13.200 One said I want to make sure I get what 0:32:13.320 --> 0:32:15.320 I deserve, and the. 0:32:15.280 --> 0:32:19.360 Other group said, I'm just gonna trust the consistent character 0:32:20.000 --> 0:32:24.880 of the landowner and whatever you think is right, I'll 0:32:24.880 --> 0:32:31.480 go with that. I love this five PM crew. When 0:32:31.520 --> 0:32:33.040 I get to Heaven, I want to talk to them. 0:32:34.560 --> 0:32:38.320 I do because I want to ask them what made 0:32:38.400 --> 0:32:44.760 you stay at the marketplace all day when you weren't picked. 0:32:46.920 --> 0:32:52.000 What made you sit there watching people pass you by, 0:32:53.080 --> 0:32:58.160 watching other people get noticed before you. Why would you 0:32:58.240 --> 0:33:01.400 stay there till five a clock when you know there 0:33:01.520 --> 0:33:03.760 was only gonna be an hour lift of wood? What 0:33:04.160 --> 0:33:06.760 would make you say? That's my question for them, And 0:33:06.800 --> 0:33:09.120 then I want to thank God for the landowner who 0:33:09.160 --> 0:33:12.960 says that even at five o'clock, I'll still go out 0:33:13.480 --> 0:33:16.320 just in case there's some people who have been overlooked. 0:33:16.640 --> 0:33:18.400 Just in case, there's some people. 0:33:18.320 --> 0:33:20.920 That didn't look like they were gonna be the best, 0:33:21.200 --> 0:33:24.000 I'm gonna keep going out for them. I don't know 0:33:24.040 --> 0:33:26.680 about you. Maybe you had the best resume, maybe you 0:33:26.720 --> 0:33:28.440 were one of the ones that were picked first. But 0:33:28.520 --> 0:33:30.840 I want to thank God that he still goes out 0:33:30.840 --> 0:33:33.800 for the five PM people. I want to thank God that, 0:33:33.920 --> 0:33:37.000 even when I've been overlooked, that even when nobody said, oh, 0:33:37.000 --> 0:33:38.840 you don looked like he got what it takes. There's 0:33:38.880 --> 0:33:40.560 a god who says, no, you don't know what I 0:33:40.600 --> 0:33:42.200 can do with him. You don't know how it can 0:33:42.280 --> 0:33:47.640 change her life. Give me her. He went out and 0:33:47.720 --> 0:33:51.720 he picked the five PM people. Now, these five PM people, 0:33:51.760 --> 0:33:54.840 we got to talk about him, because that's why the 0:33:54.880 --> 0:33:57.560 text wants us to talk about them. The ones in 0:33:57.600 --> 0:34:00.480 the middle are just feeling in the story. He wants 0:34:00.560 --> 0:34:03.200 us to look at the six al in the five pl. 0:34:03.600 --> 0:34:06.840 How you know, because he says the last shall be 0:34:06.880 --> 0:34:09.719 first and the first. 0:34:10.480 --> 0:34:13.799 He's pulling us to the extremes. That's why he had 0:34:13.840 --> 0:34:17.040 them go. So these five PM people, they're funny because 0:34:18.680 --> 0:34:22.040 if there's only a work day that ends at six 0:34:22.080 --> 0:34:26.240 o'clock and I got hired at five. Okay, here's my question. 0:34:26.800 --> 0:34:33.840 How far is the vineyard from the market blaze? Fifteen minutes? Okay, 0:34:34.800 --> 0:34:37.359 you get to work at five fifteen, work day ends 0:34:37.360 --> 0:34:45.080 at six. You got orientation. Now we have five thirty five. 0:34:45.520 --> 0:34:48.920 You gotta get your badge, take your picture, get your 0:34:48.920 --> 0:34:51.759 bag and go down to the vineyard. By the time 0:34:51.840 --> 0:34:54.600 you get down to the vineyard, y'all's five point fifty. 0:34:56.080 --> 0:35:00.799 How many grapes you picking up? And ten minutes can 0:35:00.880 --> 0:35:03.760 you imagine you picked up three? Great birth The whistles 0:35:03.760 --> 0:35:08.520 blow and your shift is over, and now it's time 0:35:08.560 --> 0:35:13.800 for everybody to get paid. And the landowner calls this 0:35:13.880 --> 0:35:15.439 form an open and says, ain't coming real quick. 0:35:15.719 --> 0:35:16.400 It's like, what's up? 0:35:16.880 --> 0:35:18.680 He said, Hey man, I know you're about to pay him, 0:35:19.160 --> 0:35:20.759 but I want to do something different this time. 0:35:21.360 --> 0:35:23.480 It's like something different. You always want to do something. 0:35:23.280 --> 0:35:32.239 Different, oh lord, And and he goes, okay, here's what 0:35:32.280 --> 0:35:37.120 I want to do. Let's pay the five PM workers first, 0:35:38.040 --> 0:35:42.360 and then let's plan he pay the six AM workers last, 0:35:43.520 --> 0:35:44.360 and pay them. 0:35:44.239 --> 0:35:48.520 All the same. The four foreman's like, you're trying to 0:35:48.520 --> 0:35:52.400 get me a shot okay, So can you see him? 0:35:52.440 --> 0:35:54.839 You got to see it. Can you see them lined up? 0:35:56.040 --> 0:35:59.680 Can you see the five pm people? They're down here? 0:36:00.040 --> 0:36:02.560 Can you see the six am people, y'all they've been 0:36:02.600 --> 0:36:07.120 working since six a m. Their hands have blood and 0:36:07.239 --> 0:36:11.480 callouses on it. They're sweating, they're bent over. God, I 0:36:11.480 --> 0:36:13.279 can't believe it was this hot. 0:36:13.320 --> 0:36:15.200 It always gets hot during this time. 0:36:15.400 --> 0:36:19.560 They Can you see them? They smell like outside. Meanwhile, 0:36:20.719 --> 0:36:25.840 the five pm people smell like lelavo and look so 0:36:26.000 --> 0:36:31.759 fresh and so clean. And here comes the foreman to 0:36:31.840 --> 0:36:40.480 the five pm people. First, Denarius, No, no, no, you're 0:36:40.520 --> 0:36:42.920 you serious of a four days path. 0:36:43.280 --> 0:36:45.520 I didn't do anything. Look I got three grapes in 0:36:45.600 --> 0:36:47.320 my bag and I didn't No, no, no, no, I 0:36:47.360 --> 0:36:47.840 can't take this. 0:36:47.880 --> 0:36:50.120 I can't take this. No I didn't do anything. Let 0:36:50.160 --> 0:36:51.160 me go pick some more grapes. 0:36:51.520 --> 0:36:56.880 No, this is the will of the landowner. 0:36:58.680 --> 0:37:01.120 Take it. There's too much. I can't take it. Let 0:37:01.120 --> 0:37:03.240 me let me go try to arn it and do something. No, 0:37:04.480 --> 0:37:07.800 this is what he wants. And all of a sudden 0:37:08.640 --> 0:37:13.839 they are standing there with gratitude, knowing they shouldn't even 0:37:13.880 --> 0:37:15.240 been picked in the first place. 0:37:16.960 --> 0:37:22.680 They only got five grapes, and yet they got paid 0:37:23.200 --> 0:37:29.360 a full day's work. Meanwhile, the six am people are watching. 0:37:29.400 --> 0:37:39.120 The whole thing must be nice? Are you serioh? 0:37:39.239 --> 0:37:40.480 Did did you see what I see? 0:37:40.520 --> 0:37:42.560 They just paid them for a whole day's work. 0:37:42.600 --> 0:37:45.000 You think they picked five grapes or I cannot believe. 0:37:45.160 --> 0:37:47.120 But then it hits them. Oh wait a. 0:37:47.160 --> 0:37:49.720 Minute, if they got. 0:37:52.440 --> 0:37:55.840 If they got a full days paid for only an hour, weapout. 0:38:00.280 --> 0:38:02.920 Oh can you see I'm getting excited. Let's just imagine 0:38:02.920 --> 0:38:04.560 that these nears is like two hundred dollars. You know 0:38:04.600 --> 0:38:05.800 how you start doing You start doing that and the 0:38:05.880 --> 0:38:13.280 thing gone, damn, two hundred und dollars. The Amazon cart 0:38:13.320 --> 0:38:16.319 is full. Oh they're planning a trip to the Bahamas. 0:38:16.640 --> 0:38:20.680 They are so excited. And then the four men comes 0:38:20.719 --> 0:38:28.480 home and goes Denarius what and all hell breaks loose 0:38:30.400 --> 0:38:38.040 and they can't stand it, and they crumbled against the landowner. 0:38:39.200 --> 0:38:48.280 That's not fair. What's wild is the landowner kept his word. 0:38:52.280 --> 0:38:57.640 You negotiated, he didn't cheat you. You said you wanted 0:38:57.680 --> 0:38:59.759 the Narius. That's what you got. 0:39:00.160 --> 0:39:02.759 Why would the land owner do the Why would the 0:39:02.840 --> 0:39:06.200 land owner make them watch everybody. 0:39:05.600 --> 0:39:08.960 Else get paid? Because there's something God will always do 0:39:09.160 --> 0:39:12.160 in you. He wants you to see other people get blessed. 0:39:12.320 --> 0:39:14.160 He wants you to see other people that you don't 0:39:14.200 --> 0:39:17.160 think deserve the grace of God. He will bless them 0:39:17.239 --> 0:39:20.239 right in front of you, because that's actually good for 0:39:20.320 --> 0:39:21.320 your little soul. 0:39:21.800 --> 0:39:25.160 He wants to say, ok, can you still trust me 0:39:26.320 --> 0:39:27.200 when you see. 0:39:27.000 --> 0:39:31.959 Somebody get something that you don't think they deserve. This 0:39:32.000 --> 0:39:36.120 is their issue. It's not what they got paid. It's 0:39:36.239 --> 0:39:39.799 what somebody they thought didn't. 0:39:39.560 --> 0:39:46.560 Deserve it God paid and they grumbled against them. 0:39:47.080 --> 0:39:52.759 Okay. Hold, that was my intro to get you to 0:39:52.800 --> 0:39:57.839 this point. In every Jesus parable, you got to ask 0:39:57.880 --> 0:40:06.600 yourself this, who are you in the story? Who are 0:40:06.680 --> 0:40:11.160 you in this story? Why are you thinking about it? 0:40:11.640 --> 0:40:15.799 The landowner is taken? I know, I know because you're like, well, 0:40:15.800 --> 0:40:20.799 I do have some properties, and I just say, landowner's taken. 0:40:22.080 --> 0:40:30.720 That's it, landowner's God. So are you the five PM 0:40:30.760 --> 0:40:39.239 worker just grateful and he called you just thankful to 0:40:39.320 --> 0:40:42.560 be in the vineyard? Or you the six a m 0:40:42.880 --> 0:40:52.799 worker always got your hand down? Stand? Who are you now? 0:40:52.800 --> 0:40:56.440 Before you say you're a five PM person, Let's be honest. 0:40:56.760 --> 0:41:02.719 We all got some six am. And as I land 0:41:02.719 --> 0:41:04.840 in the plane, I want to give you some blues 0:41:04.880 --> 0:41:09.359 clues of how you can know you got some six 0:41:09.400 --> 0:41:13.120 a M in you. You know you're a six a 0:41:13.280 --> 0:41:16.839 M worker. Hear me? You know you're a six am 0:41:16.920 --> 0:41:22.319 worker when you always have a grumble, a grumble. They 0:41:22.520 --> 0:41:26.399 grumbled against the land on the m grumble. See that 0:41:26.400 --> 0:41:29.080 that word grumble is interesting because it's not like a loud, 0:41:29.160 --> 0:41:31.680 defiant fist saying I can't believe this. It's actually just 0:41:31.760 --> 0:41:37.239 under your breath. It's bitterness under your breath. Believe I'm 0:41:37.440 --> 0:41:40.319 coming to this church. For a long time, I've been 0:41:40.320 --> 0:41:43.040 doing anything to bless me always all the other people 0:41:43.200 --> 0:41:47.960 I've her twenty years doing nothing. It's it's it's a 0:41:48.040 --> 0:41:52.760 it's a grumble. Are your complaints louder than your praise? 0:41:56.520 --> 0:41:58.680 You do know that God does not inhabit the complaints 0:41:58.719 --> 0:42:01.920 of his people. He inhabit it's the praises of his people. 0:42:02.040 --> 0:42:02.600 And one of the. 0:42:02.520 --> 0:42:05.200 Ways you know you got some six AM in you 0:42:06.200 --> 0:42:11.879 is when you always got a grumble, always complaining. You said, 0:42:11.880 --> 0:42:14.839 the average person complains fifteen to twenty times a day. 0:42:16.000 --> 0:42:18.120 Let's be honest. There's Rookie numbers. For some of us, 0:42:19.480 --> 0:42:22.040 you always have a grumble Number two. You know you 0:42:22.120 --> 0:42:25.320 got some six AM in your system when you expect 0:42:25.360 --> 0:42:31.040 what was never promised? Why do you have an expectation 0:42:31.280 --> 0:42:35.680 for more? You negotiated the contract. Many of us are 0:42:35.760 --> 0:42:39.759 mad at God because we're expecting something from him that 0:42:39.840 --> 0:42:43.600 he actually never promised you at all. That was something 0:42:43.640 --> 0:42:45.719 that you came up with, That was something that was 0:42:45.760 --> 0:42:50.439 in your own mind. Are you mad at God because 0:42:50.480 --> 0:42:55.719 you're expecting something from him that he never promised you? 0:42:55.719 --> 0:42:58.680 You know you got some six AM in your system. 0:42:59.160 --> 0:43:06.760 When you struggle to celebrate other people, when God blesses 0:43:06.800 --> 0:43:11.759 somebody else, your immediate reaction is them, Are you for real? 0:43:12.880 --> 0:43:20.320 They don't deserve that. I've been saved way longer than them. 0:43:20.520 --> 0:43:23.759 Do you celebrate other people that? That's one of the 0:43:23.840 --> 0:43:28.880 signs you got some six AM in you last one, 0:43:29.320 --> 0:43:31.360 you know you got some six AM in your system. 0:43:32.200 --> 0:43:34.800 When you think God owes. 0:43:34.680 --> 0:43:41.160 You hear me, this is often one of the casualties 0:43:41.160 --> 0:43:47.319 of faithfulness. It's entitlements. You think, well, because I have 0:43:47.480 --> 0:43:50.080 been serving it, because I have been doing this, God, 0:43:50.160 --> 0:43:53.680 you must perform this way God, because I did show up. 0:43:53.880 --> 0:43:56.319 You must heal and God, because I did get in 0:43:56.400 --> 0:43:58.759 the offering, you better open up the window of heaven. 0:43:59.040 --> 0:43:59.960 What is going on? 0:44:00.360 --> 0:44:00.600 God? 0:44:00.760 --> 0:44:04.360 Have you been shaking your fist at God thinking that 0:44:04.440 --> 0:44:06.360 he owes you something. 0:44:06.640 --> 0:44:09.040 This text is a warning to all of us that 0:44:09.200 --> 0:44:12.879 don't let your faithfulness become entitlement to where you. 0:44:12.880 --> 0:44:16.440 Start looking up to God thinking he owes you something. 0:44:16.680 --> 0:44:20.160 Can I tell you something? God doesn't owe you anything 0:44:20.360 --> 0:44:23.719 because He already gave you everything. If he never gave 0:44:23.760 --> 0:44:26.960 you another dollar, if he never opened up another door, 0:44:27.200 --> 0:44:29.960 if he didn't do anything but sin, his only son 0:44:30.320 --> 0:44:32.520 to die on a cross for your. 0:44:32.400 --> 0:44:34.200 Sins, wouldn't that be enough? 0:44:34.600 --> 0:44:37.840 And I'm looking for some five pm people who. 0:44:37.680 --> 0:44:39.800 Say I'm not gonna have my hands out. 0:44:39.800 --> 0:44:42.120 Going God, you owe me more. I'm gonna have my 0:44:42.200 --> 0:44:43.439 hands up going God. 0:44:43.480 --> 0:44:45.360 I thank you for what you've done. 0:44:45.560 --> 0:44:47.480 God, Thank you for saving me. 0:44:47.840 --> 0:44:50.719 God, Thank you. I could have been stuck in my sins. 0:44:50.800 --> 0:44:55.200 But thanks be unto God for your faithfulness, for your kindness, 0:44:55.400 --> 0:44:59.600 for your goodness. Oh God, you don't owe me anything. 0:45:00.000 --> 0:45:04.960 Oh you everything you want to know. If you're six 0:45:05.600 --> 0:45:09.879 am person or a five pm person, watch this. Check 0:45:09.920 --> 0:45:17.640 your hands, Check your hands. Six am people always have 0:45:17.760 --> 0:45:20.960 their hands out looking to the right and the left. 0:45:21.800 --> 0:45:24.560 I can't believe I didn't get them. I can't believe 0:45:24.600 --> 0:45:25.440 they God blessed. 0:45:25.520 --> 0:45:28.320 I can't believe they got more opportunity. They always have 0:45:28.480 --> 0:45:31.239 their hands out looking to the left and the right. 0:45:31.280 --> 0:45:36.040 But five PM people always have their hands up. They 0:45:36.200 --> 0:45:40.000 just can't believe that God called them. They just can't 0:45:40.000 --> 0:45:43.160 believe that God chose them. I don't know about you, 0:45:43.480 --> 0:45:45.680 but I'm gonna spend all of my life being a 0:45:45.719 --> 0:45:48.560 five PM person. I know where I could be, I 0:45:48.680 --> 0:45:50.719 know where I should be if it had not been 0:45:50.760 --> 0:45:53.080 for the grace of God. I'm gonna left here. It 0:45:53.160 --> 0:45:56.600 is both of my hands. Who am I that you would. 0:45:56.360 --> 0:45:58.920 Think about me? Who am I that you would choose me? 0:45:59.160 --> 0:46:01.959 Come on, I want all the five PM people. Would 0:46:02.000 --> 0:46:04.320 you open up your mouth and give God some praise 0:46:04.560 --> 0:46:05.880 and just thank him. 0:46:06.160 --> 0:46:09.240 Thank him for his salvation, thank him for his mercy, 0:46:09.560 --> 0:46:12.400 thank him for his goodness, thank Him for blessing you 0:46:12.440 --> 0:46:13.560 when you didn't deserve it. 0:46:13.840 --> 0:46:17.160 None of that. I don't deserve anything. I'm lifting both 0:46:17.280 --> 0:46:18.120 on my hands. 0:46:23.960 --> 0:46:30.440 I'm telling you the casualty of faithfulness. Sometimes his entitlement, 0:46:32.440 --> 0:46:36.080 thinking that because I've been showing up. Because I've been 0:46:36.080 --> 0:46:39.799 doing this. God, you owe me when God doesn't owe 0:46:39.880 --> 0:46:46.840 you anything. Look at his grace even to the six 0:46:46.920 --> 0:46:54.040 am people. I'm not being unfair to you, friend, Friend, 0:46:55.360 --> 0:47:00.759 I kept my word. You wanted a contract instead of 0:47:00.840 --> 0:47:08.239 just trusting my character. But it's not fair. Yeah, thank God. 0:47:08.320 --> 0:47:14.839 It's not fair because grace is not fair. Fair because 0:47:14.880 --> 0:47:18.839 I spend an eternity in hell. Fair because this should 0:47:18.840 --> 0:47:21.560 have been k me on the cross. That's fair, thank God, 0:47:23.440 --> 0:47:29.879 he ah, fair, Grace. It's not fair. I'm gonna ask 0:47:29.880 --> 0:47:35.719 every head be bowed and I'll be closed today. I 0:47:35.840 --> 0:47:42.319 really felt like this message was for today somebody who's 0:47:42.320 --> 0:47:46.680 been maybe shaking your fist at God, and I'm begging 0:47:46.719 --> 0:47:52.560 you to turn your entitlement into gratitude. Gratitude is the 0:47:52.719 --> 0:47:59.480 antidote for complaining, for bitterness, for being stuck, just to 0:47:59.520 --> 0:48:04.759 say God, I thank you, thank you if you're here today, 0:48:04.760 --> 0:48:06.160 and you be so honest to say you know what, 0:48:06.160 --> 0:48:10.239 there's a lot of six am. It's been creeping in. 0:48:11.680 --> 0:48:15.680 My complaints have outweighed my outweighed my praise and my thanksgiving. 0:48:16.960 --> 0:48:20.520 And today you need to turn from being a five 0:48:20.560 --> 0:48:22.960 PM person to a six am person. If that's you 0:48:23.040 --> 0:48:24.200 and you know this word was for you, would you 0:48:24.280 --> 0:48:26.399 just lift up your hand just as the sign to say. 0:48:26.360 --> 0:48:28.440 Lord, I hear you, I hear you. You don't know 0:48:28.560 --> 0:48:29.120 me anything. 0:48:30.000 --> 0:48:32.560 I'm gonna start with gratitude. I see those hands. Anybody 0:48:32.600 --> 0:48:35.560 else cross every location, thank you God, thank you, Jesus. 0:48:36.000 --> 0:48:40.120 Chrace is not there. Thank God. We don't get what 0:48:40.200 --> 0:48:44.160 did we deserve heads to about. I'll still closed across 0:48:44.200 --> 0:48:46.279 every location in this room. If you've never taken that 0:48:46.280 --> 0:48:50.880 first step is just to say, Jesus, my life is yours. 0:48:52.400 --> 0:48:54.719 Some of you maybe eve been trying to earn salvation, 0:48:54.800 --> 0:48:56.400 thinking well, I'll come to God when I get my 0:48:56.440 --> 0:48:58.600 life together. I'll come to God when I do more. 0:48:58.840 --> 0:49:03.360 It's not about doing it, it's about receiving what was 0:49:03.400 --> 0:49:04.560 already done for you. 0:49:05.760 --> 0:49:06.920 He's a good landowner. 0:49:08.200 --> 0:49:11.960 He loves you. He's a landowner that keeps going out. 0:49:12.080 --> 0:49:17.080 He'll wait till five o'clock if he has to looking 0:49:17.120 --> 0:49:19.799 for you. So if you're here today, I don't care 0:49:19.800 --> 0:49:23.160 if it's one person, You're worth it. Say today's day. 0:49:23.160 --> 0:49:24.799 I need to give Jesus my life. Would you just 0:49:24.840 --> 0:49:26.960 lift up your hand as a sign to say I'm 0:49:26.960 --> 0:49:29.800 coming home. I'm giving him my heart today. Thank you Jesus, 0:49:29.840 --> 0:49:31.200 Thank you God, Thank you God. 0:49:31.320 --> 0:49:31.520 Yeah. 0:49:32.120 --> 0:49:38.239 See those hands, Yeah, somebody lifting up both of their hands. Absolutely, 0:49:40.080 --> 0:49:43.399 that's what five PM people do. They lift up both 0:49:43.440 --> 0:49:47.239 of their hands. Anybody else, come on, I want to 0:49:47.320 --> 0:49:50.680 lead you in this prayer just before a pastor comes. 0:49:50.680 --> 0:49:51.960 I'm going to give you the words, but you just 0:49:51.960 --> 0:49:56.080 say it from your heart. Say Jesus, I believe that 0:49:56.200 --> 0:50:00.640 you are the son of God. Jesus, I believe. Did 0:50:00.719 --> 0:50:03.799 you live the life that I was supposed to live 0:50:04.840 --> 0:50:09.120 and you died the death that I was supposed to die. 0:50:09.280 --> 0:50:13.799 You took my place. So my response is to give 0:50:13.840 --> 0:50:18.840 you everything. Come into my life, forgive me of my sins, 0:50:20.000 --> 0:50:24.800 make me brand new. From this moment forward, I'm walking 0:50:24.840 --> 0:50:29.840 with you in Jesus' name. Amen a man, Amen, Amen, 0:50:29.920 --> 0:50:32.560 Come on, give God one more hand? Can I'm afraidse elevation? Man. 0:50:35.960 --> 0:50:38.560 Hey, I hope you enjoyed the podcast, and if you did, 0:50:39.080 --> 0:50:41.680 make sure to share it and subscribe so we can 0:50:41.719 --> 0:50:44.319 get you all of these new messages as soon as 0:50:44.320 --> 0:50:47.120 they're available. I also want to take a moment and 0:50:47.200 --> 0:50:49.000 thank all of you who are a part of Elevation. 0:50:49.480 --> 0:50:52.799 Whether you support us financially, or serve with us, or 0:50:53.239 --> 0:50:55.920 just share these messages, it's because of you that we're 0:50:55.960 --> 0:50:58.920 able to reach people all around the world. And if 0:50:58.920 --> 0:51:01.239 you want more and from on how to be a 0:51:01.239 --> 0:51:05.080 part of Elevation, click the link in the description. Thanks 0:51:05.120 --> 0:51:07.719 again for listening. Make sure to leave a review, share 0:51:07.760 --> 0:51:09.160 the message and subscribe. 0:51:09.520 --> 0:51:10.160 God bless you.