^{It is Grace, Not Debt, in the Sovereignty of God}

^{Val Griffiths}

^{(An exposition of the parable “The Labourers in The Vineyard” – Matthew 20:1-16)}

^{When I first studied this parable I found it somewhat difficult to find an application for us as truth today. Because of its dispensational setting I was rather inclined to set it aside as being a message for Israel, which of course it is. However, since all scripture is profitable for doctrine, I found wonderful fundamental truth illustrated so clearly in the parable and embodied in the above heading which I have given to this discourse.}

^{I decided to put into practice the Berean approach to the study of the Word. I must confess that I had preconceived ideas about what the parable is teaching but somehow they did not stack up, as the saying goes. If you have an interpretation dominating your thoughts how can you hope for new light? In fact this is what Dr. Bullinger points out in the first paragraph on page seven of his book How to Enjoy the Bible.}

^{He says, “…when we study the Word of God, as a whole, …not to treat it as something which we have to interpret, but as being that which God had given in order to interpret Himself and His will to us”. The profundity of this statement  dawned on me 20 years ago and I discovered that for 30 years prior to this I had been, in fact, doing what Dr. Bullinger was warning about in his book.}

^{Let me illustrate what I mean. I used to tale the Bible, like an English scholar often takes a piece of obscure literature and express my understanding of what I thought the writer was saying.}

^{Again let me give you a homely illustration. My son John and his wife Rosie love English literature and poetry and the other night John read a poem and we were all given the opportunity of interpreting it. Needless to say we all arrived at different conclusions, but it was great fun.}

^{But why the confusion? No doubt it was because of the different degrees of appreciation of the poetic art that we each had. Some of us had less imagination than the others.}

^{Sadly, many in Christendom, treat the Bible like that. But God is not a God of confusion. He has one meaning for what He says and it is for us to seek it out. He shows us in His word how to do that. In fact He commands us to do it.}

^{“Study to show thyself approved unto God … rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). It is called “Rightly dividing the word of truth”. This involves simply taking a common sense approach to the Scriptures by asking ourselves, “to whom was it written?, when was it written?, why was it written?, what were the circumstances that prompted the writing?, and what is the context of the writing?”}

^{So let us apply this reasoning to Matthew 20:1-16. Even one of the above questions, honestly answered, is sufficient to put us on the right track.}

^{To whom is the passage addressed?}

^{Think about it for a moment. Is He talking to us? We tend to put ourselves in the center – God is. The Bible is not always talking about you or me.}

^{What were the circumstances?}

^{Let us see the context of the passage. This is a most important aspect to consider. Please read chapter 19:16 to the end of the chapter.} 

^{16And, behold, one came and said unto him, "Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" 17And he said unto him, "Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. " 18He saith unto him, "Which?" Jesus said, "Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,  19Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. " 20The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? 21Jesus said unto him, "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. " 22But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.  23Then said Jesus unto his disciples, "Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.  24And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. " 25When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, "Who then can be saved?" 26But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." 27Then answered Peter and said unto him, "Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?" 28And Jesus said unto them, "Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my names sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. 30But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first."}

^{Peter asks the Lord a question. “…what shall we have therefore?”}

^{The Lord answered Peter’s question in verses 28-30 and went on to teach Peter a lesson that we all need to learn. How do I know that the next chapter is in consequence to Peter’s question? Verse 1 starts with the little word “for” in the A.V.}

^{Now let us consider the parable.}

^{I think that we can safely conclude that the Lord was talking to Peter and the circumstances were because of Peter’s question. Let us summarize the parable.}

^{Putting it in a nutshell, the householder hired some labourers early in the morning and agreed to pay them a penny at the end of the day for their work and they were happy with this. Then he hired other labourers at various times during the day and they were promised they would be paid “what was right.” With just an hour left of the day he again employed more labourers with the promise again that they would be paid “what was right.”}

^{At the end of the day he paid all his labourers one penny each which was the figure set with the labourers who started early in the morning.}

^{The fellows that were hired first grizzled. There was no grizzling from the fellows that were hired last. The householder said that he had made an agreement with them and was sticking to it. A deal is a deal after all. Where do your sympathies lie? I wonder what he industrial courts would say about this today?}

^{Was Peter’s question impertinent?}

^{Remember what he said. Please read 19:27 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? What does this imply? Peter was saying, “but we have sold everything and followed you. What will we get?” was he saying, “You owe me – you are in debt to me?” Do you think that the Lord did owe Peter anything, or was Peter in His debt?}

^{He could have said something like this to Peter, “Peter, remember that I called your father Abraham out from among all of the other nations and gave him and his children, which includes you, a land and the promise of becoming a great nation and this promise was unconditional. I also promised that you and your people would have all of these blessings if they were obedient to me. Let me remind you about some of the blessings you were promised. You and your people were to become a nation of priests and reach all the nations of the world and tell them how I love them, as I love you Peter. You would always have a full basket and the best of health and happiness if you were obedient to Me. All of these blessings are yours because you have followed Me, Peter; do you think that you have earned more?”}

^{Well, the Lord could have said something like that but He didn’t. the lord was very gracious in His reply. He did agree that those who followed Him would be greatly blessed in the way that He indicated, then He carefully pointed out His sovereignty with a masterful story.}

^{Let us now analyze the story.}

^{Should the labourers engaged early in the morning have complained? Certainly not! They had agreed to one penny for the day ad the householder was not in any debt to them in any way. They had been treated honestly and fairly. They might have thought that the householder owed them more but such was not the case. They were paid that which was right. The Lord was clearly telling Peter that God was not indebted to him in any way.}

^{What about the labourers who came later in the day? Obviously there was no question of debt here. They all received the one penny. Did they earn it? The payment of one penny was obviously fair or else the labourers hired early in the day would not have agreed to it, so the fact that those who came later in the day received the same was payment that they had not merited. In theological circles, what do we call a favour from God (the householder in the parable) which we do not merit?}

^{It is grace. It is never because of the debt which we may consider that God owes us because of our service to Him.}

^{More to the point of the parable, what about the favours that Peter had received which I have already outlined above and that he had not merited?}

^{They are given because of God’s grace.}

^{Peter asked the question, “What shall we have therefore?”}

^{The Lord may well have said. “Do you know that all that you have received of Me is not in payment of any debt that you might claim that I owe you but because of my grace toward you and, why are you so favoured, Peter? You shall sit on a throne in judgment on Israel. Did you earn that, Peter?”}

^{Indeed it is not because of debt that we are so favoured but because of His grace and His sovereignty.}

^{The word that He said to Peter long ago is truth for today.}

^{We who belong to the church which is His body, which such a wonderful high calling to the “far above all” position know that our hope is not founded on any service that we give, or have given. God owes us nothing. What God has done for us is because of His great grace and His sovereign choice.}

^{We are the ones who are indebted to the grace of God and His Sovereignty.}

^{I believe that this is the message of the parable for us today.}

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