Matthew 7:28-29 "Shock and Awe" (Part 2)

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No Compromise Radio Thanks for tuning in to No Compromise Radio with pastor and author,

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Dr. Mike Ebendroff. Today on No Compromise Radio, we'll be hearing Pastor Mike open the

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Word of God in a recent message he preached at Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston, Massachusetts.

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Now let's join Pastor Mike in progress as he preaches through the scriptures, verse by verse with no compromise.

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Turn with me if you would to Luke chapter 13. Luke chapter 13. Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to him about the

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Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. Here this horrible man

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Pilate has some henchmen to go in and murder some of the people in the temple.

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There's already blood in the temple with the sacrifices. Now the slain, executed people's blood is mingled with this blood.

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Soldiers of Pilate do this. And they say to Jesus, I mean everybody knew about this back then.

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Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners, verse 2, than all the other Galileans because they suffered this fate?

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We know that if you're a bad sinner then our theology says you're going to really get it. And so they really got it.

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They must really be bad. That's how they were thinking. And what does

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Jesus say? Oh that's horrible theology like Job's comforters. Don't fall into that trap of teaching people bad theology.

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Jesus didn't do any of that. What does he say? Verse 3, I tell you, no.

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But unless you repent you will also likewise perish.

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Everyone's in danger. Heart attack, car wreck, plane wreck, choke on food.

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Verse 4, do you suppose that those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem?

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I tell you, no. But unless you, you can feel that long

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Nathan -like finger coming out. Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

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I can't help but think about the tower, the twin towers that fell, 9 -11 -2001.

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How many people died? 6 ,000. Yet 6 ,000 people die every day.

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Is it a tragedy? Of course. But Jesus wants us to get ready for that eternal, that judgment day.

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I'm shocked he says this. This is kind of a red alert for the soul. Repent.

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Here's what Jesus says, are you prepared? Who preaches like that?

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Our life is such a vapor. We all die and then judgment. Shame on those who just pat people on the proverbial forehead and say, everything's going to be good.

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Everything's going to work out all right. There's a movement now going on in churches where hell isn't to be talked about.

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Let's have a five -year moratorium on talking about homosexuality is sinful.

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That's not what Jesus did. Dozer said, we dare not settle down to try to live as if things were normal.

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Nothing is normal while sin and lust and death roam the world, pouncing upon one and another till the whole population has been destroyed.

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We have to preach repentance. And when Jesus preached it, people were shocked. I think they'll do the same thing to you.

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Ezekiel, repent and turn away from all your transgressions. John the Baptist, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.

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The 12 disciples sent out by Jesus were preaching that men should repent. Peter, after Christ ascension, repent and let each one of you be baptized in the name of Christ Jesus.

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Paul preached repentance and you are to preach repentance.

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Repentance for the forgiveness of sin should be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning with Jerusalem, Luke 24, 47.

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When you preach the gospel, I think you should say, repent and believe. Circumcise yourselves to the

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Lord, wash your heart from the wickedness, break up, follow ground, turn, whatever words you want to use. Number four, be amazed at Jesus' full disclosure of the risk associated with following him.

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He didn't really kind of do this. I'll tell you this is an easy thing and then it was a bait and switch. Be amazed at Jesus' full disclosure of the risk associated with following him.

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We should be amazed. My goal here today is these are some amazing things that Jesus did and I think we could learn as well from him.

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Let's turn to Luke chapter 14, please, from Luke 13 to Luke 14. Again, the only one from Matthew 7 is found in the authority.

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But I wanted to spill over a little bit more. I love to preach and I love to study the preacher of preachers.

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Be amazed at Jesus' full disclosure of the risk associated with following him. Luke 14 .28,

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a fascinating, wonderful passage of building. Now, let's look at it.

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Luke 14 .28, for which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?

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Implied in the question is, nobody does something that's that silly. Otherwise, there are ramifications.

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When he has laid a foundation, is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, this man began to build and was not able to finish.

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Go to any third world country and you see foundations and structures that aren't all the way finished.

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They begin to build and they don't finish it. And if you were to meet the builder, you wouldn't go, kudos, great job, way to go.

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Jesus says, you want to follow me? You better get out your Excel spreadsheet and do the calculations to see if it is worth it.

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Because if your hope is anything less than the forgiveness of sins and eternal life, it is not going to be worth it because it's going to cost you everything.

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Jesus says, basically, calculate the cost because when it comes to following me, you have a white flag to put up for unconditional surrender.

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That's the only option. The other option is anything less than putting your arm up with a white flag is putting your arm up with some kind of weapon pointed at Jesus.

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Jesus says, count the cost because you don't get to continue to like yourself, you don't get your own privileges.

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Oh, Jesus might grant you the continuation of your marriage and your relationship with your kids and your job at work, but he may just take it and you better be willing to lose it all.

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White flag or weapon, make your choice. You better get your spreadsheet out and figure it out a little bit.

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You can't just go, oh, I think so. If I use the language of the street, here's the lesson

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Jesus is using. Look before you leap. You better just take a look over that edge because it's a long way down.

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And if you don't look before you leap, people will ridicule you. You're going to be laughing stock.

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Oh, I'll start to follow Jesus and then it's not worth it. What do

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I do? Can I remain neutral? Verse 31, I'm amazed,

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I'm dumbstruck, et pleso, or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with 10 ,000 men to encounter the one coming against him with 20 ,000?

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Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.

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If the first lesson is look before you leap, the second one is something very close.

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You must leap. Look before you leap, but you can't remain neutral.

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And now, says Jesus, you've got to go for it. The sinner must act. And I'm amazed that Jesus just...

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You know, I'm so amazed that unless God's working in someone's life, nobody could be saved. Oh, I guess that's the way it's supposed to be.

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No decision is a decision. Jump in the right direction.

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And then he says in verse 33, so then none of you can be my disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.

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Let me tell you this. Someone said this to me a long time ago, and I think it's true. When was the last time after you gave the gospel to someone, you challenged them to count the cost and tried to talk them out of it?

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To say, you know what, I just told you these are the parameters for eternal life, forgiveness of sins, substitutionary atonement, physical resurrection, belief in Christ Jesus means turning away from yourself and believing in him, eternal life with God incarnate in heaven.

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But then how many of us, when it comes to evangelism, says, now, I've told you that and that's all true, and it's worth it all.

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But you better look before you leap, and you better leap in the right direction. Who tries to talk people out of it anymore?

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We're so worried about some kind of getting a tick mark in our Bible. I've led 14 .5 people to the

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Lord. See my Bible? I have news for you. I have no tick marks in this Bible because I don't lead anybody to anything.

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Oh, I might preach the gospel, and God might be pleased to use sinful people. But how about preaching the gospel and not giving them a truncated message that says, he's a savior, he's got hell insurance, he loves you, he wants to give you a full life.

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You come to Jesus, and your marriage is going to be great, your kids are going to be great, everything's going to be great, your sports team's going to win, he's crazy about you.

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So people do come to Jesus and have your marriage be wonderful. Jesus says, you come to me.

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By the way, that kind of preaching doesn't make anybody sit there and go, oh, I'm struck out of my mind.

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Who does this? The Pharisees don't, the Sadducees don't, TBN people don't, God Channel doesn't, nobody does this.

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Where is it? But preaching that says, it's all or nothing, look before you leap, it'll make you go, that's right.

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I don't know what kid just did that or if that was John Makarovsky. At least

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Makarovsky's listening to the message. And lastly, number five, be amazed at Jesus's proclamation of God's free and sovereign grace.

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Be amazed at Jesus's proclamation of God's free and sovereign grace. Number one, be amazed at his authority.

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Number two, be amazed that he deals with sin. Three, amazed that he stresses repentance.

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Four, total disclosure. And number five, his proclamation of God's free and sovereign grace.

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No one says, oh, I'm amazed to find out that God helps those who help themselves.

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Who said that, by the way? Well, I just said it, but it's from Gandhi. Nobody's amazed because that's the

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American work ethic. That's the Western work ethic. That's the Eastern sinful work ethic where we all say, we just try, we cooperate.

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It's God and me. When I get to heaven, it's high -five God, we did it, my brother would say. But grace is amazing because God doesn't say, you contribute 1 % and I'll do the rest.

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You take the first step and I'll come over here. I'm waiting for you. Jesus is standing at the door and knocking, and he's a gentleman

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Jesus, and he would never kind of knock your house down. And who is amazed at that teaching?

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I'm not amazed at that teaching. It's all around there, but it doesn't amaze me, doesn't astonish me.

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That's just how the world thinks of grace. People think grace is owed them. They think of unconditional election, and their first response is, well, what if God didn't choose me?

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Friends, that is always and forever the wrong way to think about grace. That doesn't think about grace properly, it misunderstands grace.

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It shows it in your heart, you don't understand what the free, sovereign grace of God even is.

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Now, certainly, immature people in Christ and new Christians, they're grasping things. I'm not slamming them.

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Ignorance is fine for the immature, but immaturity isn't good when you've been a

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Christian for 5, and 10, and 15 years. Even back in Matthew chapter 5, approved by God are the poor in spirit.

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Approved by God are those who mourn. Approved by God are those who are gentle. It's the absolute grace of God.

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Turn with me to Matthew chapter 20, we're going to have to end here. I want to show you the utter, sovereign, naked, alien grace of God.

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It's crucial. It is the message of Christianity.

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And for this cooperating kind of get -together, God does his part, you do yours, meet in the middle,

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God's given pervenient grace to everyone, God's given common sufficient grace for everyone, and now he's waiting for you to do your part.

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That doesn't shock, that doesn't awe, that doesn't astound, that doesn't make me go, but this passage right here in Matthew 20, it makes me say,

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I can't think of hardly any other passage that's like this. That as we watch

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Jesus correct these people, I think you'll feel the correction in your own heart to remind even the most mature

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Christian here, that we need to be reminded about the sovereignty of grace. It's implied in the name, grace is sovereign, but now we've so gone away from grace, we have to say it's sovereign grace.

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Grace is always sovereign. But now we need to be reminded that it's sovereign grace. And here is this passage that is ekpleso.

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In the context of salvation, dealing with the rich young ruler in chapter 19, Jesus says in chapter 20, verse 1 of Matthew, buckle your seatbelts, for the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.

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Typically, you'd do that 6 a .m. to 6 p .m. I'll be going to San Francisco tomorrow, and I'll drive by Home Depot's, and there'll be hundreds of people out there every day, day workers trying to get a job, day laborers.

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Verse 2, and when he had agreed with the laborers for Denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard.

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It's early in the day, it's a full day's work, it's full good day's pay, normal.

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They wanted to work, they're desperate for work. Here's God, don't forget, talking about this landowner who says,

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I pick you, but it means I don't pick you. Don't ever forget that. Picking some, not picking others. When he agreed with the laborers for Denarius, he sent them into the vineyard.

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Verse 3, and when he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace or in the agora, start the day at 6, that's 0 hundred for the thinking back in those days.

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Now, it's three hours later, it's 9 a .m. Some people standing around, they didn't get hired by someone else.

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Said to those, verse 4, you go too into the vineyard, and whatever is right, I'll give you. And so they went.

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Had to trust him, take him at his word, he'd do the right thing. Whatever's right,

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I'll do. I'll be righteous. He went again about the 6th, noon, and the 9th, 3 in the afternoon, and did the same thing.

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No reason given, maybe extra work, doesn't matter, that's not the point. And about the 11th hour, 5 p .m.,

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they only worked till 6, he went out, found others standing, and said to them, why have you been standing here idle all day long?

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These people are desperate, they got to get some food for their family and some money, they'll do anything. Verse 7, because no one hired us.

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You two go into the vineyard. It's a drum roll.

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Don't melt, missus. And when evening had come, the kurios, owner, lord of the vineyard, said to his foreman, call the labors, pay them their wages.

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Okay, no harm, no foul, pay their wages. Okay, everything's going along well.

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So far, I haven't really thought... Bless so. I almost spit, actually.

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I almost just a huge spit came out. Beginning, he'd say with the first and then the last,

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I wouldn't be shocked. Beginning with the last group to the first. Here we see what's going on.

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Here we get a little inkling, pay them their wages. They had to pay at the end of the day, that was according to Mosaic law,

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Deuteronomy 24. And Jesus, the master storyteller, is about ready for the ekpleso moment.

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By the way, if you'd say, send the people who came at 6 a .m. privately, keep all the others over here.

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We'll pay them and send them on their way. Privately, those at 9 o 'clock were hired. The landowner will take care of them, but that's not how he did it.

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Send them all. When those hired about the 11th hour came, each one received a denarius.

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Hallelujah. I'm supposed to work for denarius. He hired people to work all day for denarius.

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These people must be thinking, I got a denarius to work one hour. Wouldn't you be happy? One hour.

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Now, if you've been working for three hours, what's your mind doing right now?

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The abacus of your mind is going, wow, three days work. What if you've been there since noon?

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Six days work. What if you've been there since nine? I'm going to Tahiti. I mean, you're thinking, this is,

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I guess I couldn't go. You're thinking this, and if you showed up at 6 a .m., you're thinking, I get 12 days work.

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And you are just sitting there cracking your knuckles going, I'm stylish. This is excellent.

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Seems logical. Seems right. But it doesn't factor in grace.

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The first had been paid, sent away, no murmuring. The last had been paid, sent away, no murmuring.

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But they're all together here. So everyone can understand as Jesus drives this home like a nail gun.

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When those hired first came, verse 10, they thought they would receive more.

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They also received each one a denarius. And when they received it, they grumbled at the landowner.

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Grumbling in progress, gangismus, over and over, complaining, whispering, muttering.

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Who can tolerate this treatment? Call the unions. I'm calling

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J. Sekulow live. If Johnny Cochran was alive, I'm calling him too. This is unfair.

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I'm displeased. I'm disappointed. Verse 12, saying, these last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.

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But he answered and said to them, that's the last click, young man.

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He's listening, isn't he? He's listening. But he answered and said to them, friend,

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I'm doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?

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You want fairness? I gave fairness. You want justice? I gave justice.

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I was good just to pick you and not pick someone else. Take what is yours, verse 14, and go your way.

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But I wish to give this last man the same as you. It is my prerogative to grant sovereign grace.

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And when I want to be generous, I get to be generous. We eat, sleep, and live in a works righteousness system.

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We are like the proverbial goldfish in the bowl of works righteousness. And when grace comes along, we flinch and we don't like it.

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How can that be? They get grace and sovereign grace. How can Jeffrey Dahmer get saved on his deathbed?

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If it was a real conversion, you mean Jeffrey Dahmer is going to be in heaven, and if Mother Teresa believed what she believed when she died, and Mother Teresa is not going to make it because she's trusting in works?

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Something's not right. And you know what's not right? Our view of grace. We don't understand grace.

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We can't even really sing if we're not careful. What's so amazing about grace? Amazing grace?

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We don't sing that because it's God and me together. Verse 15,

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Jesus gives two questions shot across their bow as they leave.

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It is not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own, is it not?

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Or is your eye envious because I am generous? Is your eye, do you have an evil eye, an envious eye, a jealous eye?

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The last shall be first and the first shall be last. The spiritual point is this.

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God with his sovereign grace grants generous salvation to all believers, completely and according to the riches of his grace.

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Whether you're saved early in life or late, whether you're a social rascal or some pastor's kid, whether you're weak, mature, strong, first century, 21st century,

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American, Indian, Jew, Gentile, rich, poor, child, elderly, slave, free, missionary, every

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Christian by the sovereign hand of God receives the crown of life and the crown of righteousness. And anything less than thinking about grace, we'll try to think about what we owe, are owed by God, and then the shock and the awe is gone.

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The sovereign grace of God, picking and choosing, doing what he pleases.

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Matthew 8, 1 says, When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him.

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Homework remains the same. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And ask God to let you be amazed as if you're reading the

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Scriptures for the first time again. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroff is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

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Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible -teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life -transforming power of God's Word through verse -by -verse exposition of the sacred text.

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Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston.

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You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.

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The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE, its staff or management.