"Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard" Kathryn Kuhlman Be a Faithful Worker

Today, while we have our little heart -to -heart talk, I'm going to ask you to just sit down and listen. As together, we study the Word of God. Sometimes, you know, I say to you, well, I'll just speak loudly enough so that you can just go right on with what you're doing. Keep right on washing your dishes, sir. Cleaning the house, sir. I'll just speak loudly enough so that... You can keep on working and hear me too. But today, we're going to study one of the parables. And I'm going to read the first 16 verses of the 20th chapter of Matthew. And immediately, you'll recognize the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labors into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labors, now watch, there was an agreement. When he had agreed with the labors for a pity 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 he said unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. And 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? And they said unto him, Because no man hath hired us. And 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 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 received it, they murmured against the good man 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 the 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 go thy way i will give unto this lust even as unto thee is it not lawful for me to do what i will with mine own is thine I evil because I am good? So the last shall be first and the first last. For many be called, but few chosen. And so here we have the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. And I've just read from the 20th chapter of Matthew. The first 16 verses of this chapter contain the parable. And we ask, what was the subject that our Lord intended to illustrate when he made use of this parable? There have been many, many interpretations of this parable. And let us just for a very few minutes see what the Lord was trying to say. For no word is ever wasted. Every time there was a parable given, Jesus had a reason for giving it. To take the parable out of its context and to study it alone is absolutely impossible. We dare not take a parable or any portion of the Word of God or anything that Jesus said or did out of the context. We would destroy the meaning entirely if we did so. Observe first the boundaries of the parable. The final verse of this 19th chapter reads, But many shall be lost that are first, and first that are last. And then the 16th verse of the 20th chapter reads, So the lost shall be first and the first last. In the first verse, We have the principle of Jesus. Jesus works on principle. Always know that. Jesus has a principle. And the sooner that you and I realize his principles and work accordingly, it will be a great day for us. You know, sometimes I think principle is so lacking in our generation. Honestly, sometimes I think the word principle has been completely taken out of our vocabulary and our thinking. Until very few men are men of real principle. But Jesus is a man of principle. And the first verse here, we have the principle of Jesus. And in the second, an interpretation of that principle. Many shall be lost that are first and the first that are last. Watch it. We go a little further back and ask, what was... The occasion for the giving of this principle of Jesus. What made him say, many shall be last that are first and the first that are last? Well, leave it to Peter. He always spoke where angels feared to tread. Leave it with Peter. Loudmouth Peter. But I love him. Oh, I love him, I guess it's because he and I have so much in common. We just never had sense enough to keep our mouths shut, you know. We always wanted the answer. We were always analyzing it. And instead of keeping our thoughts to ourselves, we came right out and asked why. Oh, how thankful we are for Peter and all of his questions. Now watch that 27th verse. Then answered Peter and said unto him, Lo, we've left all and followed thee. What then shall we have? We've left everything. I've left all my fishing nets. I've left everything that was important to living. I've left the whole thing. Now tell us, what are we going to get out of it? And it was because of that question that our Lord used this principle. It was because of that principle, resulting from that question that our Lord gave this parable. And so again, we must go back a little further. We cannot take anything out of its context. So we have to go back to the story of the young ruler to whom Jesus had said, We've got to go back to the young ruler because that was the reason in the first place that Peter asked the question. What do we have to gain when we have left everything to follow him? Because, you see, they had heard the young ruler, the man who had great possession, a clean record, a fine temperament. And the young ruler stood. confronting Jesus. And he had heard Jesus tell the rich young ruler that he would have to submit himself to him. And he went away. He clung to his possessions. And Jesus interpreted that as we saw in our previous study. It's hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. It is easier, Jesus said, for a camel to go through the needle's eye than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. Now Peter comes forth and says, All right, Lord, we have left all. and followed thee. What then shall we receive? What is to be our gain? Master, thou hast called the rich young ruler to sell all to follow thee and he's turned his back and gone away. We weren't rich but it was everything that we had. You see, it wasn't the amount. It was the responsibility of giving all of that which they had. For Peter to have given up that which he surrendered when Jesus said, come and follow me, was just as much to him, meant just as much to Peter. As the rich man's richest. Mm -hmm. So Peter says, what's the use? What shall we gain? And the Lord gave him a wonderful answer to that question. Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of his glory. And he was looking on to something in the future and telling them what they would gain in that future order that should be set up. They would gain authority as his administrators in that kingdom. And not only so, but everyone that hath like houses or brethren or sisters or father or mother or children or land, for my sakes, shall receive a hundredfold and shall inherit eternal life. The reward is not just the reward that we receive today. Now. No God does not make full settlement in January. Oh, that's a wonderful answer, that of Jesus. They would gain authority, friendship, eternal life. But do not forget that many shall be lost that are first and first that are last. And so the Lord first answered that question of Peter's, and then he uttered that word of warning. Service and its reward. And that's just the heart of this parable, the labors in the vineyard. service unto him and the reward for that service. Not as considered the parable, the figure. First, it's a man who is a householder and who has a vineyard. It's his vineyard. It's his property. Never lose sight of it. Notice carefully that the picture the Lord draws here is of a man with a vineyard, his property. He hired laborers to do his work in his vineyard. It's interesting here that the Lord took a day, 12 hours. Are there not 12 hours in the day? Here they are. He went out early. At the third, the sixth, the ninth, the eleventh hours, the owner, the master, he went out and hired the laborers at these intervals during the day. They were all called by the master. And there's no word in this parable of men asking for work. The laborers were not seeking work. They were outside the vineyard, but he called them inside and set them to work. And they all came in when he called them. Many were called early. They went in and worked. At the third hour, others went in. At the sixth, the ninth, the eleventh hours. When he called them in, not one refused. There's not a word here that... tells us that one refused. They came in when they were called. It's an eastern picture of a householder, a vineyard, a work to be done in a vineyard. He went out. The laborers went into work when they were called. They did not ask to go. They agreed for a penny. There was an agreement. It was a bargain. It was the contract. There was principle involved. And then the day closed after the 11th hour, and the last hired did one day's work, just one day only. But he was faithful in the work that he did in that one hour. He was just as faithful in that one hour of work as the one who had done five hours of work or eight hours of work. Having agreed with the first, he paid the workers according to the agreement. We're not told that he made any agreement differently from the first than the last. The agreement was the same with the last that was hired as the first, and he paid them according to his own will. He gave every man a penny only. also gave a penny because he was faithful. Of course, in the natural, we can understand the murmuring. But if we also were inclined to murmur the story, it's because we have not yet caught the real significance of the parable or what Jesus was intending to teach. First... Of all, the master dealt with the last man as unto the first. The first supposed that they would receive more, and they likewise received every man a penny. We agree that a bargain is to be kept, a contract is sacred. If you agree with me for a penny, if justice is done, have you any right to object to my generosity? Has not this man a right to do what he wills with his own? It's his vineyard. He's the master. That is the only question that arises as to whether this householder had a right to do what he liked with his own. And the implication, the question of Jesus was that he had such a right. Yet the teaching of the parable shows that the right is invested in something else. And so we come to that teaching. It must be found in the strict limits of the context. Now remember, there is no question of salvation here whatsoever. It is wholly one of service. I want you to see something. Those who were called were not just lazy loiters. They all entered the vineyard when they were called. Get that. You must see that. That's the whole meaning of the parable. That fellow who went in at the eleventh hour never had a chance before. He had not been called before. But when sent, he went in, was paid on the basis of the fact that for one hour he was faithful. The man who went in early had served through all the burden and the heat of the day and was faithful to his work. The parable therefore illustrated the payment of reward to loyalty, fidelity of opportunity. It does not mean that if a man has an opportunity and does not take it and wastes the fleeting hours of his life, then he'll get the same reward as the man who has toiled through all the live long day. No, ma 'am. Our Lord was simply emphasizing this one matter, fidelity to opportunity. I was called young in life. I do not believe that when my life... is over with and I will have preached my last sermon and lived my last day here on earth, that my reward will be any greater than that one who may be called in this last day. God may this very hour call some man, some woman into his vineyard. And say, I've got a great work for you in this last hour before the great catching up. And if that one in this last hour will be true and faithful, sacrificing all, giving everything that he has in the carrying out of God's purpose and plan in this last hour, that one's reward will be just as great as the reward that I might... have received for having given my entire life into service. Sure. I've had a wonderful life. My whole life. One of great satisfaction knowing that I have spent it in the will of God. If you want to know something, that in itself is the greatest reward that I could ask. In that, I have had even a greater reward than the man who is giving just the last hour of service to him. Mm -hmm. Has he called you into the vineyard? If he has only one thing ought to fill your mind, your heart, your thinking. Be true. Do that job well. Do it well. Great shall be the reward in knowing you have given him your best, even in the last hour.