{"id":1532,"date":"2014-07-23T12:46:19","date_gmt":"2014-07-23T12:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christian-gospel.info\/?p=1532"},"modified":"2014-07-23T12:46:19","modified_gmt":"2014-07-23T12:46:19","slug":"thoughts-on-the-labourers-in-the-vineyard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christiangospel.online\/?p=1532","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts on the labourers in the vineyard"},"content":{"rendered":"

Matthew’s gospel may be divided by the expression “When Jesus had finished\u2026”, 7:28, 11:1, 13:53, 19:1, 26:1. The subject of reward is introduced by the question of the young man in 19:16. Eternal life = life of the age = life under the Messiah in the Kingdom, in Old Testament expectation.\u00a0 The covenant of the law was designed to make Israel into a holy nation under the Messiah, Exodus 19.\u00a0 The question in the mind of the man is, “How do I know I have done enough?”\u00a0 Christ maintains the law in His answer, but, in grace, substitutes “Honour thy father and mother” for “Thou shalt not covet”, which he knew the man had broken, and which would slay him as it had slain Saul of Tarsus, Romans 7:7-13.\u00a0 He now needs to show he does not covet by selling his goods and giving to the poor. Verses 23,24.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A rich man enters the sphere of profession, the kingdom of heaven, with difficulty, but a rich man enters the kingdom of God, the realm of reality, only by the grace of God. Verses 25,26\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 To be saved is equivalent to entering the kingdom of God, hence the question of the disciples “Who then can be saved”.\u00a0 The answer to who can enter the kingdom of heaven has been answered already.\u00a0 In effect, “Rich men, but with difficulty”.\u00a0 To enter the kingdom of God and cling onto the love of riches is an impossibility, hence the question of the disciples. Verse 27\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Peter wishes to know beforehand what his reward will be in the kingdom of God.\u00a0 He has misunderstood the command “sell that thou hast, and give to the poor”, verse 21.\u00a0 This is not work done to receive salvation\/place in the kingdom, but a right attitude of finishing with self in order to come into the good of grace. Verses 28,29\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Grace gives the apostles a place, but all who have turned from the earthly for His name’s sake, shall also receive the reward that grace gives.\u00a0 Note the comma in verse 28.\u00a0 It is not “followed Me in the regeneration”, but “Followed Me, in the regeneration\u2026”.\u00a0 Amillenialists have to read it without the comma, (as Matthew Henry does) and make the regeneration now, even though it is “followed Me”, not “are following Me”. Leave one house and receive 100 back can only happen by grace.\u00a0 Note it is “houses, or brethren”, not “houses and brethren”.\u00a0 It is the principle that is in view, not the extent of the practice.\u00a0 The receiving hundred-fold is not necessarily now.\u00a0 Nothing to do with going “full-time”, or as a missionary.\u00a0 All believers have left the earthly for the heavenly, but their attitude to things afterwards is the test.\u00a0 Peter did not leave his wife, for he lead her about, according to 1 Corinthians 9:5. Only believers inherit eternal life, for it is their reward for service rendered as sons and heirs.\u00a0 Sinners may receive eternal life as a gift, hence the parable of good Samaritan.\u00a0 The man who wanted to inherit must realise he cannot as a sinner, even whilst trying to keep the law, but he can receive life as a gift from the good Samaritan.\u00a0 As long as he looked on himself as being the good Samaritan, (as many still do, clinging to works), and not as the man in the gutter, he would never have eternal life. Verse 30\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The young man thought himself first in the keeping of the law, but finds himself last, condemned by the last of the ten commandments.\u00a0 Peter thought himself first, but a similar reward, or better, is available to all who work out the principle of grace in their lives. This is illustrated by the parable in 20:1-16. Those hired first, the “first ones”, verse 8, agreed the price of a penny for the day.\u00a0 Those hired later, even to the last, the eleventh hour workers, were engaged only on condition they would get what was right.\u00a0 Whether that was a penny, or more or less than a penny, was up to the householder.\u00a0 He only undertook to give what was just, or righteous.\u00a0 The eleventh hour workers therefore would only expect a fraction of what the first workers would receive.\u00a0 They do not appear to know beforehand what the first workers are expecting. The first workers made the mistake of reckoning naturally and not reckoning justly.\u00a0 They received their just reward- but so did the last men.\u00a0 The fact that it was the same as theirs was not the point.\u00a0 What is righteous is in view. No wrong had been done to them. The householder wills to give unto these last, even as unto the first, for they have an even amount; each has a penny.\u00a0 The affairs of the householder, how he organised things, were entirely a matter for him. Then he asks a question.\u00a0 Have you displayed a false view of things by my right conduct?\u00a0 Or does the cause lie elsewhere, even in thy wrong attitude to reward?\u00a0 The latter is the case.\u00a0 So it is that those who are “first”, not in time, nor in effort, nor in trials, but first in their own thoughts, thinking themselves more worthy than others to receive a reward, shall find that their attitude has deprived them of the best reward.\u00a0 They will get their “penny”, because the Lord will not be in debt to any, but proportionately, they will receive less.\u00a0 So it is that a right attitude to reward will turn a “last” labourer into a “first” labourer.\u00a0 Many are called to serve Christ, (that is, many as opposed to the few who are chosen, but only a few are first-class labourers, in that they are not working for reward, but for Him, or to use the phrase of verse 29, “for My name’s sake”, and not for their own advancement’s sake. In verses 17-19 this is perfectly expressed.\u00a0 The One who had every claim to be first, was going to be last on the cross, but in resurrection would be “the first of them that should rise from among the dead”. Then comes a negative example in verses 20-28.\u00a0 James and John want to be first, but must learn to be martyrs, last, in order to be first.\u00a0 Whosoever will be chief (first) among you, let him be your servant, verse 27, and then the perfect example of this again, in verse 28. In verses 29-34 the subject is rounded off.\u00a0 The two blind men are introduced by Matthew, for they illustrate the blindness of James and John, who must learn to be delivered from Jericho blindness, so that they may join in the Jerusalem joy of the next chapter. There is a similar use of a miracle in Mark 8.\u00a0 Verse 18, having eyes, see ye not?”\u00a0 Then the blind man healed gradually, the only miracle recorded at Bethsaida, despite Matthew 11:20,21.\u00a0 The disciples see men as trees walking in the next incident, as they tell what a poor vision of Christ the people have, and then Peter sees clearly, “Thou art the Christ”.\u00a0 As John says, “We beheld His glory”.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lessons: All reward is of grace.\u00a0 We cannot merit it of our own strength. All reward will be just. All reward lies in the hand of the Lord, according to His estimate, not ours. All reward is undeserved, so none should complain. All reward will be adjusted according to heaven’s reckoning, which is totally different to that of men.\u00a0 “My thoughts are not your thoughts\u2026”\u00a0 Two mites are more than a walletful.\u00a0 A cup of cold water is a great gift, not un-noticed by the Lord.\u00a0 A boy gave his sandwiches, and fed 5000 plus, whereas the disciples were helpless to do anything, and thought only in money terms.\u00a0 Three and a half years is a long time, John 14:9. All rewards will take account of opportunity, length of time available, effort, etc, but also will be regulated by whether “His name’s sake” governed our thinking.\u00a0 Any work done simply for reputation or self-satisfaction will be seen as second-rate.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Matthew’s gospel may be divided by the expression “When Jesus had finished\u2026”, 7:28, 11:1, 13:53, 19:1, 26:1. The subject of reward is introduced by the question of the young man in 19:16. Eternal life = life of the age = life under the Messiah in the Kingdom, in Old Testament expectation.\u00a0 The covenant of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[264],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thoughts-on-the-labourers-in-the-vineyard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiangospel.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiangospel.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiangospel.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiangospel.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiangospel.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/christiangospel.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1532\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiangospel.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiangospel.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiangospel.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}