Sunday Message – Today Jesus 112

25/02/07
<Matthew 20:1-16>
The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
1
"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. 2He
agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. 3"About the third hour he went out and saw others
standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is
right.' 5So they went. "He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. 6About the eleventh
hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing
nothing?' 7" 'Because no one has hired us,' they answered. "He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.' 8"When
evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the
last ones hired and going on to the first.' 9"The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a
denarius. 10So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a
denarius. 11When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12'These men who were hired last worked only
one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.'
13
"But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? 14Take your pay
and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15Don't I have the right to do what I want with my
own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?' 16"So the last will be first, and the first will be last."

THE LAST WILL BE FIRST

• God has given all grace to us when we have the desire to meet Him
• Are we able to be the first among the multitudes? God is the greatest and He is the first. Thus,
only those who has a Master in their lives can be at the front
• Our Lord Jesus Christ follows the Father. There is a Source in our lives, thus we cannot walk by
ourselves
• We shouldn’t do things as and when or how we like, because we have a Master
• There is a Master in our family and within the relationship with our spouses
• A couple who has seen the Lord in their lives will not quarrel because those who have seen the
Lord will let go of themselves
• We must teach our children and do our work according to God’s instructions
• Are we able to hear God’s teaching and instruction from morning till now?
• Who or what are Christians? We, Christians, are found by God, who has a purpose for finding us
• We will see evidences after we’d restored the grace of being called
• If the Master wants us to earn money, then we will definitely see ourselves earning money. This is
the evidence
• Thus, anyone who believes in the Lord is a Believer, who has been born again
• Most people do not have a Master in their lives. Their lives are in a loss, which resulted in them
living either very loosely or diligently
• Their lives are in a loss means they need to use their own efforts to gain something. Those with a
Master just have to get the things they need from the Master
• A person is already under a curse for not able to see God and living without a Master
• We need not wait for a person to face some problems before we can say that the person is under
a curse. Everyone who does not know God is already under a curse
• On the other hand, it does not mean that a person is not under any curse if he does not have any
problem
• We must know the things that are beneficial for us. Everything that we need to strive hard for, is
not going bring us any good

Read <Matthew 20:1-16>

• v3 Everyone in this world who does not know God is doing nothing. Vineyard = Heavenly
Kingdom
• v4 Everyone who enters the vineyard will be paid
• v5 The Master will continue to look for people and have them brought into the vineyard
• v12 A lot of people may ask, “why are the workers paid the same, regardless of the time they
entered the vineyard?” In fact, God’s grace is infinite. Thus, there is no way we can measure His
grace
• A prostitute receives the same grace as a Pastor. This is because, without God’s grace, everyone
of us will fall since we are all sinners. However, our crowns defer according to the things we do
• Some Believers may ask, “why do some people receive the same grace when they are less
‘spiritual’”? They compare because they have not understood what God’s grace is about
• v13 All of us were dead initially. Thus, the sooner we enter the vineyard, the better it will be for
us
• God’s grace is beyond measure

1. All of us are God’s hired workers

1) The Master went out personally to hire the workers = God has personally called us to be
Saints
• We are able to know God today because God has came to ‘hire’ us personally
• God found us through His workers
• None of us can boast about anything because all of us are called by God, Himself
• Our perspective will change after we’d known this truth
• All our money comes from the Master. Regardless of our conditions, all are given by the
Master for the purpose of teaching and evangelising.
• We might be housewives, who are busy with a lot of housework daily. However, when we
quiet ourselves down, we are able to hear the Master telling us that the job we do is most
precious, since it is given by Him.
• Even if we are looked down upon by others in our Company, we must know that the job
we hold comes from God
• The Lord is watching over us 24 hours a day
• We need not envy anyone because God has already given us the best
• Believers fall because they’d not lived within God

2) We are hired to work in the vineyard

• We are all hired to enter the vineyard and there is a reason for Him to hire us. Thus, all of
us have a precious mission to accomplish
• We are not hired to do nothing
• In fact, vines are the most difficult to be taken care of because it takes a lot of effort to
take care of them
• The roots of vines can go very deep. Thus, they can gain the most nutrients from the
ground
• As a result, grapes are used for making wine and vinegar
• Jesus told us that He would remove those bad grapes timely. Otherwise, the good grapes
will be affected by the bad ones.
• In other words, Jesus will trim the vine timely
• Only vines that have a solid foundation are able to bear good fruits
• Everyone will bear different fruits after hearing the Gospel. Some will become like Paul
while others will become like King Saul
 • We all are the branches of the vine

3) Work in the predetermined time

• God had hired people to work in the vineyard at the right time
• No matter how clever we are, all of us are only limited to having 24hours per day because
this is fixed by God
• We must understand the desire of our Lord and work hastily in the vineyard within the
specific and limited timeline
• Those who did not work in God’s timing will lose out many blessings.
• The people beside us will receive blessings from us. Thus, we must work within the
timeframe set by God

4) Will get the wages

• Those who enter the vineyard to work will definitely receive their wages. Thus, even
though people might not buy our idea after we’d shared the Gospel with them, the seed of
Gospel has already been planted
• We will definitely see the result if we continuously wanting to bless others daily with a
truthful heart in front of God.
• Our wages do not come in the future. We will receive our wages now
• We can receive wisdom even when we are resting or reading the newspaper. Of course,
this does not include reading those “unhealthy” news
• When we want to set ourselves apart from others and be used by God, we will receive
wisdom regardless of what we do. We don’t receive wisdom only by going into the
University

2. The grace we receive are all the same and great <1Cor 4:7>
1) Everything comes from God’s grace
• We will receive God’s grace regardless of what we do
• All the conditions, talents, knowledge, etc we received come from God’s grace. Thus,
nobody can boast about anything

2) The grace received by every Saints is too great beyond measure. Thus, no one can compare
to see who is better <Eph 1:15-23>
• The grace we received is all the same = wages are all the same. It is because God’s
grace is really too great
• Grace is too great = there’s nothing more successful than being God’s children
• Grace is too great = there’s nothing greater than God coming into our lives personally
• There’s nothing greater than the salvation that God has given us. Thus, nobody can
compare himself with others
• Paul even said that he was the worst of all sinners. It means that nobody was worse off
than he was. Thus, only by the grace of God that we can be cleansed
• St Francis always proclaimed that he was a sinner when everybody thought that he was a
good and holy person. For, he knew that he always needed God to forgive his sins
• A non-full-time Believer who has a very accurate perspective of the Gospel and never lets
himself dwell in the world will receive far more grace than a full-time Pastor who leads a
very ordinary life
• Therefore, we should always value ourselves. Our Lord’s grace cannot be measured
 • E.g. It is measurable (i.e. understandable) for a very smart and capable person to work in
a big organisation. However, it is immeasurable for a beggar to be made a Prince and be
accepted into the Palace. It is all by grace.

3) This infinite grace is hidden in all the conditions of every Saint <Eph1:15-23, 5:15-21, 4-6>
• All the grace we receive are in all our current conditions
• The Bible has shown us that a prostitute who had restored God was able to save the
whole Israel. On the other hand, a High Priest who had not restored God would always
cause others to fall
• Therefore, no matter if we are rich, poor, lowly or highly educated, we are able to save a
generation after we’d restored God’s grace
• Joseph was a prisoner initially. However, he was proven to be a ‘Prime Minister’ after he
had restored God

4) Regardless of the conditions we have, as long as we are able to discover God’s perfect will,
the conditions we have will be used to bless an era <Acts 1:8>
• We must discover the mysteries in the problems and conditions given by God now:
(1) Our conditions and problems are not unique
• E.g. are we penniless now? A lot of people are also penniless. However, our
financial problem will make us want to get closer to God. How can this be
compared to those who are penniless yet do not know God?
• E.g. we cannot just give up on our children when they are very naughty, thinking
there is no way out for them. If we were to pray properly, we will realize that a lot
of parents will also face agony because of their children
(2) Our conditions and problems are definitely related to the people we love and
intercede for, our Pastor and our ministries.
• E.g.: A lot of people have experienced the pain of raising a child up. However, we
can be used by God to bless an era and those people around us, if we are able to
raise up 3 children by following God’s guidance
• God doesn’t give us our conditions without a purpose
• The people whom God has placed beside us will have worse conditions than we
are. Thus, we are able to boast of God’s grace
(3) Very few people in this world will be satisfied and joyful for the conditions they
possess. This is true even for God’s children
• Thus, everyone wants to outwit each other and be envious of others
• Everyone wants to boast about their better side and hide their ugly nature
• Nobody will praise God because of his conditions, regardless of whether the
conditions are good or bad. Most people will start complaining once they have
problems or conditions that are not to their favour
• God is looking for the person who knows that he is complete just because he is God’s
child. That person is able to give thanks to God for everything
• Everybody can face others only when their conditions are better
• We know that God can use us despite our conditions after knowing these 3 mysteries.
Therefore, nothing is able to make us weak

3. Some are in front, and some are at the back. Where do the differences come from?
1) The Bible says that there are some in front and some at the back. The differences:
• It does not depend on how long we have known God. It depends on how much we love
God
 • A lot of Believers are still complaining daily despite having known God for a long time.
Very few people will remember that everything comes from God’s grace when their
conditions are not good. There are some who cannot complain or hate people because
they’d seen God’s purpose
• It does not depend on our conditions. It depends on whether we know that our conditions
can be used by God
• Some people are being bound because of their good conditions, while others are bound
because their conditions are bad
• Thus, we shouldn’t say that others have better conditions than us because all of them
could be used by God
• We need not feel inferior or want to compare our conditions with others
• It does not depend on the amount of fruits we have. It depends on how loyal we are

2) Build the altar = format our lives with God’s word

• The more a person prays, the more attacks/hints he will receive if he didn’t format
because he does not have a foundation at all
• We must understand the meaning of “format”
• Format means to let the ideology of the whole Bible become our lives
• Thus, a person who has formatted before will not lose their sight from the Bible. We can
receive all answers from the Bible
• A person who has formatted before will know God’s perfect will and is able to
communicate with God. This is how we can know the answer the moment we pray
• We will be accused and be deceived by Satan if we do not have God’s truth

3) Joined and held together

• We must be joined and held together by our conditions, spouses, ministries,
congregation, etc
• That’s the only way for us to have a foundation in our relationship with the congregation.
Our foundation comes from the experiences we have over the years through the Holy
Spirit
• Our ministries must have a foundation too. E.g. our Sunday School or SSG
• We must know that our ministries are given to us by God. Only then, we will not give up or
be disheartened easily
• Our relationships with the Pastor, brothers / sisters and our ministries must have a
foundation

Sharing and Prayer Topics

1. I am called to be a worker of the Heavenly Kingdom: How did God come and call me
personally? What did God ask me to do everyday? Have I acquired my lifelong timetable? How
much rewards (gifts, fruits of lives) have I received so far?
2. I have already received infinite grace: Do I truly understand the infinite grace in me? Are there
always ironies that lead to comparisons and struggles with others, in my life? Have I clearly seen
that God is going to fulfil great things using the conditions in my life?
3. To what level has my life grown? How is my current communication with God? As I pray, do I
receive faith, rid myself of all fears, become joyous, have an anticipating atmosphere & content,
etc? Do I have Christ’s desire, plan and timetable in all my inter-relationships?