Spiritual Depression Pt.9: Laborers in the Vineyard

All right, we're up to part nine of our series on spiritual depression by the good doctor of Martin Lloyd -Jones.

And tonight he uses, well, if you saw the, it's part nine, laborers in the vineyard.

We're back again to Matthew chapter 20, using the parable of the vineyard owner and the laborers as an example.

I want to read through the parable. It's only 16 verses. It's not long because it's important that we get the context for this.

For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.

When he had agreed with the laborers for denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard and he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace.

And to those he said, you also go into the vineyard and whatever is right I will give you.

And so they went. Again, he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour and did the same thing.

And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around and he said to them, why have you been standing here idle all day long?

They said to him, because no one hired us. He said to them, you go into the vineyard too.

When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, call the laborers and pay them their wages beginning with the last group to the first.

When those hired at the eleventh hour came, each one received a denarius. When those he hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius.

When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner saying, these last men have worked only one hour and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.

But he answered and said to one of them, friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?

Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give this to this last man the same as to you.

Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?

So the last shall be first and the first last. That's a great parable and it can be used for a couple of different applications, but we'll get to that in a minute.

I want to begin again with a quotation from the beginning of the chapter. This is from Martin Lloyd -Jones.

I called your attention to this particular teaching that is enshrined in this parable as part of our general consideration of the subject of spiritual depression, or if you prefer it, the subject of unhappiness in the life of the

Christian, the miserable Christian. I feel that we have arrived at a turning point.

So far we have been considering difficulties, which I would put into the category of preliminary difficulties, those initial stumbling blocks, difficulties arising from a lack of clarity with regard to the entry into the faith and the

Christian life. Now a few reminders are in order as we proceed.

First, there is no stage of the Christian life that is without some sort of danger. What the good doctor has just said is that up until this point, the first eight chapters have been focused on those who are entering into the kingdom and committing some sort of error or sin, which has led them to spiritual depression.

The danger that comes with the

Christian life comes in three major areas of life. The world system, we know that the world system is set against the kingdom of God, so we always have to be aware of the world system.

The flesh, we know that James tells us how temptation stirs up that sin and that winds up leading to some sort of a downfall.

And of course, the devil, and the good doctor has focused on that a little bit.

We must always remember that we are in spiritual warfare, even whether it's the world system, the flesh, or the devil, it is in fact still spiritual warfare.

That's why he has titled it spiritual depression. Another point we need to focus on is we are not ignorant of the danger of these temptations, for we are warned repeatedly in scriptures.

We're not ignorant of the schemes of the devil. There's no reason for a Christian, especially a committed

Christian who has been in a church and studying the Word of God, should not fall, be susceptible in a naive way to the temptation of the devil, because there is adequate warning in the scriptures for any mature believer.

We're all going to sin, nobody's going to be perfect, but we should not fall prey to the schemes of the devil because we are forewarned.

Now the issue at hand in this doctrine of what we're looking at today, the labors of the vineyard, is the doctrine of perseverance.

That would be like, it comes under that general heading, but it gets more specific than that. Though the gospel has been presented to us and we have been converted, though we have started correctly and are in the

Christian life, though we have heeded the warnings about the initial difficulties, yet if we do not continue, if we do not maintain our course in the same way, we shall soon get into trouble.

That's what we're looking at, somebody who is already in the kingdom and they are moving along in the

Christian life and then running into trouble. It's typified by the people who were hired first in the vineyard.

You see the difference? Remember what we, I think I have a slide that says it. Jesus was saying to those

Jews who had believed him, if you continue in my word, you are truly disciples of mine.

Notice, if you continue in my word, we know that there are some make -believers, if you will.

That was my uncle. My uncle liked to call, he says three types of people that come to church is the believers, the non -believers, and the make -believers.

But Jesus deals with this in the parable of the sower, that there are some people who, where the seed falls, and it appears as though they're going to bear fruit, they grow, but then it's choked out and they're proven to be false professors.

So it's those who continue in the word after a profession that we know are true believers.

And you will know the truth and the truth will make you free. The truth will make you free.

All right. In other words, the importance of continuing is a very vital principle and that is what

I want to consider with you in the light of this parable. Now, I have to say this up front here.

This parable has often been misused in many different ways. There are some who use it to either approve or disprove the viability of collective bargaining.

Oh yeah, you'd be amazed. There are some, however, who see that some of the laborers who were included at the 11th hour shows that some people will be converted late in life and they put off making a profession of faith because they want to wait.

All right. They delay repentance to a later date with the idea of repenting at some future time when it's more convenient.

All right. Now, wouldn't that be nice if you could live a riotous life right on up and then, you know, on your deathbed, repent.

There are some people who actually try to get this from this paragraph. That's a tragic mistake.

And Bishop Ryle says this so well. Look what he says. Bishop Ryle says that the dying of the dying thief, few are ever saved on their deathbeds.

One thief on the cross was saved that none should despair, but only one that none should presume.

Yes. Thank you,

Bishop Ted. Okay.

The main point of the parable, and this is something very important, is that the gospel is all of grace from beginning to end.

Whenever you go to, whenever you see a parable in the scriptures, you need to understand something.

There is always one overriding principle, and all the other information is to support that principle, not to give you many different aspects of the kingdom.

Notice in Matthew chapter 13, how many different parables are there concerning the kingdom.

Each one of those parables, whether it be the sower, the wheat and the tares, the leaven and the bread, the mustard seed, each one of those parables gives you a different aspect of the kingdom.

The kingdom of God is so complex that we couldn't possibly make a parable that would encompass every aspect of the kingdom.

So you have all of these different parables to show one particular aspect of the kingdom, and sometimes people take some of the minutiae that is only meant to make the parable understandable, and they try to put another principle in there, and that too can lead to error.

For example, if you look at this parable, which is talking about those who are entering the kingdom at different stages of life, you'd say, well, the first ones bargained.

They bargained, and they worked for it. So what do we have? We don't have salvation by grace alone.

What do we have? You got to work for your salvation. But that's not what the parable is saying.

In fact, the parable is saying just the other, the opposite. It's only by grace, whether you come into the kingdom at an early age, or whether you come into the kingdom late in your life.

And it was last week that we looked at the pitfall of those who came in late.

What's the pitfall of those who came in late? They look back, and they despair. Why? A wasted life.

Oh, look at all the years I wasted when I could have been working for the kingdom. And we see how that's not the intent of the parable.

They should be joyful that they got in. All right, that's what

I just said. Last session, we examined those who were hired at the end of the day, and they have their own particular issues to deal with.

Today, we're going to be examining those who were hired first, and those people have their own pitfalls as well.

What the parable is saying, it's not good enough to start well, but to continue well.

And we must be careful here not to take the parable further than Christ intended. Again, that's just another warning.

But those who were hired first agreed to their wages, so there was an agreement. And again, don't take that into the spiritual dimension.

This is so that we understand why these people went astray, because they knew what they were going to get.

In other words, they knew the terms of their employment. Now, Martin Lloyd -Jones interprets that there was something wrong in their thinking, even at the beginning.

I'm not convinced, and I don't think it's necessary for the parable either.

He actually eliminated one whole point that he made, because I just didn't necessarily agree.

I don't think there's anything wrong with them agreeing for a wage.

Again, as long as you don't take that over into the spiritual, that we're going to agree with Christ, okay, I'm going to bargain, all right, what do

I get if I go to heaven? That would be taking the parable wrong. Second point is they were keeping track of their deeds.

How do we know that? Because at the end of the parable, they're complaining, and what are they complaining about?

We were under the scorching sun all day. We did this. They were keeping track of what they did.

You follow? And why were they keeping track of what they did? Because the other guys didn't have to do that.

They came in at the very end of the day, which means they were also keeping track of what the others were doing.

Okay, so here they are. They're gainfully employed, but they're keeping tabs.

All right, this is what I'm doing. Now, they've already got an agreement. They know what they're getting paid, and yet they're keeping tabs.

I'm doing this. What are they doing? All right, keeping their eyes are divided. All right, and this is clearly seen in their attitude at the end of the day.

After seeing what the latter employees received, what was their thought? We're going to get more.

If those who only worked an hour got a denarius, which, by the way, translates into about a day's pay.

If they got a denarius, oh, certainly we're going to get more. They were keeping score.

Okay, they were thinking that they deserved more based upon the length of their service.

The third point, which comes out of the second point, is they then begin to grumble. They're upset.

Their emotional status has changed based upon what they thought they deserved. Now, remember, one of the things we're keeping in mind here is the emotional status, because that is one of the biggest factors in people going into spiritual depression, is their emotional status.

All right. And what changes their emotional? They were happy to be hired. They were getting paid.

And then what? Something happens. And now they're grumbling. They're upset.

And they feel like they've been cheated. Okay. But the landowner gave them exactly what they had agreed upon.

They were not treated poorly. They got exactly what they deserved.

And they violated the scripture. Do all things without grumbling or disputing.

All right. That's what Paul says. So that you will prove yourself to be blameless and innocent children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you appear as lights in the world.

Let's just pause here for a minute. Take it out of the parable just for a moment.

Do all things without grumbling or disputing. In the workplace or wherever we are, within the church, do we do all things without grumbling and disputing?

We are those who are supposed to represent. Remember, in fact, remember one of the principles that Dr.

Jones has given us is what is one of the major factors for people not coming into the kingdom from a human perspective?

The status of the people who are in the churches. In many churches, what you see is the same type of division, grumblings, disputings, clicks, preferential treatment that you see in the world.

And that ought not to be. And this is exactly what we're seeing here again from a completely different perspective from what we looked at in the earlier lessons.

But here it boils down to the same thing. I'm looking at, I've got my agreement. I know what

I'm doing, what I'm supposed to be doing. I get what I deserve. But I'm upset because somebody else got something and they didn't deserve it.

Do all things without grumbling or disputing. The fourth point, and the most serious, is they believe the landowner was unjust.

That's what they're saying. Christians often forget that the kingdom of God is all of grace from beginning to end.

What difference does it make at what stage in life you get grace? We start,

I wonder how many people, how many Christians are going to be disappointed when they get to heaven. That's tongue -in -cheek.

But think about it. If I, I mean, if,

I mean, praise God we'll be fully sanctified and glorified when we get there. But if it weren't for that, how many

Christians would be upset? I wanted,

I expected to get much more than this. He got the same. I was better than him.

Many Christians, when faced with difficulties, begin to think that God is unfair, which means he is unrighteous.

Think about how dangerous that is. Is there any wonder why Christians are miserable?

If you think that God is unfair, that means he's unrighteous. If God is unrighteous, what does that mean?

It means we don't have a Savior. What a miserable thing self is.

What an ugly thing. What a foul thing. We are all guilty of this, every one of us, in some shape or form.

The devil comes to us and we listen and we begin to doubt whether God is just and righteous in his dealings with us.

Self needs to be exposed for what it is. Sin in its ugliness and foulness needs to be unmasked.

Okay? Now obviously these

Christians are not happy. If you think that somehow God has shortchanged you, you're not going to be happy.

They cannot be since they believe that they have been wronged by God. And notice I did take heed to put quotations up there because obviously that is part of my sarcasm.

They may not even be able to articulate that God has somehow been unfair. They simply feel that way.

You see how in this book we have to keep the continuity of all the earlier chapters? Remember last week was what, feelings?

Right? You've got to be careful. Remember, you can't control your feelings.

Your feelings come from what you believe to be true. And that's why it's so important.

So you don't chase your feelings, you search for truth. And the truth is what makes you free and the truth is what will change your emotional status.

So if you believe, if you really believe that you've been shortchanged, you're going to be envious.

You're going to be upset. So as Martin Lloyd -Jones puts it, they are miserable

Christians. What then is the remedy for this particular manifestation of spiritual depression?

Very simply, the principle is that in the Kingdom of God, everything is essentially different from everything in every other kingdom.

For he says in effect, the Kingdom of God is not like that which you have always known.

It is something quite new and different. I had an old pastor who when I was quite young said, he says, let me just give you a quick rule of thumb.

He says, whenever somebody offends you, he said, think of what is your first response and then do the opposite.

Because our first response is usually right from the flesh. Right. And we need to understand that the

Kingdom of God is unique. It's different than anything else. Just think about some of the principles that Jesus taught.

And I'm just going to give you one and then get to the main principle. Do you want to have enough money in this world? Then be generous and give.

What does the world say? Want enough money in this world? Save, stow it away, be frugal.

But Jesus says, no. You want to have enough? You want to have all the necessities of life?

Give, press down, shaken. Okay. The principle that is behind this parable, and this is simply, this is the overriding principle of this whole lesson,

Matthew 26 is verse 16 of the parable. So the last shall be first and the first last.

I say, wait a minute. Why would that be the main principle? I'm glad you asked, because I am going to show you why.

Remember how we always emphasize context? Okay. What prompted

Jesus to relate this parable to his disciples? Oh, by the way, this is another one of those cases.

Remember I told you that there's, if you're a geometry student, you need to talk to yourself. Okay. If you're exegeting scripture, you need to talk to yourself.

Okay. What prompted Jesus to give this parable? Remember he's given this parable to his disciples.

What prompted this? Let's go back to chapter 19. The rich young ruler visits

Jesus. And what happens? He goes away grieving. Why? Because he told him he had to sell all his stuff.

And all he did was show the attitude of his heart that money was more important than the kingdom. Okay. So Jesus says to his disciples at the end of the encounter with the rich young ruler, truly

I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, then who can be saved?

You got to love the apostles, right? Because they just say what we're thinking, especially

Peter. All right. Then who can be saved? And remember what Jesus says.

He says with men it's impossible, but with God, all things are possible. Okay. Then Peter, after Jesus says that, then

Peter says, behold, we have left everything and followed you. What then will there be for us?

What then will there be for us? Poor Peter.

And Jesus said to them, truly, I say to you that you who have followed me in the regeneration, when the son of man will sit on his glorious throne, you also shall sit upon 12 thrones, judging 12 tribes of Israel.

Jesus tells them basically there's no unfairness. There's no unrighteousness.

There's no injustice. But then I did.

All right. Everyone who has left houses, et cetera, et cetera, will receive many times as much and will inherit eternal life.

All right. So Jesus was gracious in that he shows them that there's not going to be any injustice, but then he gets to the principle.

What do you think the very last verse of that chapter says? Verse 30 of Matthew 19.

But many who are first will be last and the last first. What comes then?

Parable of the laborers in the vineyard. And that parable, right? The main principle.

And how does it end? That parable is sandwiched between this verse and this verse.

What's the main principle? What is Jesus trying to say? You got to change the way you think.

That's it. A number of years ago, my brother -in -law, who is a minister and a biblical counselor, did a whole series for us here at Hope.

And it was called the number one problem you have is the way you think. All right. And we need to start thinking along kingdom principles, not along worldly principles.

And this is one of the pitfalls that's so easy to fall into. All right. Even the disciples needed to be cautioned about thinking this way that, you know, if you want to be number one, you know, what do you do?

Jumping up and saying, we're number one, we're number one. OK. So here's the way he sums it up.

Now, I am a Christian. And because I am a Christian, I am in the kingdom of God. And all my thinking has got to be different.

Everything here is different. I must not bring with me those old ideas, those old moods and concepts of thought.

We tend to confine salvation to one thing, namely to forgiveness. But we have to apply the principle throughout the

Christian life. So what are we to do?

How do we remedy this? How can we stop falling into the trap of looking at things through worldly eyes?

The good doctor gives us a couple of practical. First, stop thinking in terms of bargaining in the kingdom.

All right. It's amazing. Ever hear of foxhole or jailhouse conversions? You understand what that is?

Does everybody know what I mean by that? No. There's many stories about soldiers who were in the front lines and under heavenly fire.

And they call out to God and say, God, if you get me out of here, I'll follow you for the rest of my life.

That's a foxhole conversion. I can tell you how many times as a police officer, I dealt with guys in jail and they cry out in jail.

God, if you help me get out of jail, I'll devote the rest of my life to you. And you know the percentage, the percentage of those that are real and genuine.

I'm not saying that it never happens there. I know some people who have, you know, come out of jail or come out of, you know, and they, but usually, overwhelmingly, and I know the percentage is like over 90 % are spurious professions.

Yes. Yeah, it's interesting for anyone who ever watches Jeff Durbin's testimony, he actually had a foxhole experience where like he thought he was going to die and he promised to follow

God and then it's interesting because he just discusses how he like went right back to his ways and then it wasn't until later on that he actually got saved.

Yeah, yep. So we have to stop thinking in terms of bargaining. You don't bargain with God.

If you're in a foxhole and it's like, Lord save me, I repent of my sin, period. That's it.

And if you want to take my life, well, that's nevertheless my will, but I'd be done.

Isn't that the way we're supposed to pray? Okay. There's no bargaining. God is sovereign and will bring things about according to his will.

And that's the lesson that Jesus gave Nicodemus, even in salvation. The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going.

So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. Didn't mean to flip that over.

Do you realize, should we pray for revival? Yes. Because we pray for revival, should we expect it?

It's going to happen immediately. You want to say yes, but you have to pray, nevertheless not my will, but I'd be done.

God, you can't manipulate the Holy Spirit. We are told to pray.

We are to pray for the things that he tells us to pray for. Pray for revival. Pray for the conversion of souls.

But at the end of the day, it's nevertheless not my will, but I'd be done. And yes, that's not contradictory to pray and you will receive.

Second, stop keeping a record or a count of your works. The church is full of bookkeepers, keeping tabs.

We only have one bookkeeper and we only need one bookkeeper. And nobody can do a job as good as she can anyway.

But you know what I mean, keeping count. Keeping a record usually leads to error, because you're always going to err on your own side.

Learn how to do your work for the glory of God alone. Now, are you promised rewards for faithful service?

Yes. Praise God. And I look forward to them. But do you work for the glory of God alone?

If you're working for the rewards, you've got to be careful.

It's not wrong to desire them, you know, but we have to be very, very careful.

Because remember when James and John asked to be seated, one on the right, one on the left. All right.

What was the final outcome of that? Number one, that was not theirs to ask. You remember what he told them?

You ready to undergo the baptism that I am? They prayed for position in the kingdom.

He says, okay, trouble's coming. I'm going to give you trouble. Be careful what you ask for.

Don't even keep records for your own accounting. When you give to the poor, do not your left hand know what your right hand is doing?

That's obviously we understand that. That's what he's saying here is don't be a record keeper.

Don't keep tabs. Don't because it's going to get to you. You realize if you start going down and checking everything good deed that you did, what is that going to do for you?

It's going to build up your pride. Look what I've done. And be careful that I remember what happened to Nebuchadnezzar.

Look what I've built. I've done this by my hands. And he wound up eating grass.

Third, rejoice in the fact that in the kingdom, it is all of grace. Notice, it's not enough just to recognize this fact, but to rejoice in it.

Can you rejoice that the person who is saved on their deathbed is going to get the same heaven that you're going to get?

That's what it boils down to. And I'll close with his quotation.

That is the secret. Not watching the clock, not assessing the amount of work, not keeping a record in a book, but forgetting everything except the glory of God, the privilege of being called to work for him at all, the privilege of being a

Christian, remembering only the grace that has ever looked upon us and removed us from darkness to light.

That's what it's all about. So when we pray, and again, I just want to go back and clarify this because I don't want anybody getting the wrong impression.

I'm not saying that prayer is not effective. What I'm saying is, God will answer the prayers in his time and in his way.

And the answer to your prayers, because he has promised that he will answer the prayers of the righteous.

The answers may not come in exactly the way you think that they should come. Does that make sense?

Questions? Yes. Reminds me of the, we had recently heard about the missionary that came home on the ship after a lifetime of service overseas and on the ship was a president or some very big wig and when they arrived at the port and everybody's cheering and screaming and adoring the person coming to the president or whoever it was.

It was Teddy Roosevelt. Teddy Roosevelt. And then coming back from safari.

Oh, safari. Oh, right, right. He came back from a short safari. So you could tell the rest of the story if you want.

No, go ahead. I defer to the bishop. Don't you hate wives like that?

They always come up and they get you. My wife is just like that. I can't tell you how many times she's put me in my place.

That's tongue in cheek when I say don't you hate wives. I love my wife. She's exactly what

I need because she knows exactly what to say when I go wrong. Huh? Yeah.

I tell her she knows that. I told her five years ago I loved her. Is that anything strange?

Gin, if you're watching, she's going to watch this. She knows my sense of humor.

She doesn't always appreciate it, but she knows it. Any other questions? Yes. Yes.

Our prayers are one of the means that he uses to accomplish his purpose. He decrees not only the end, but the means.

So if you have an unsaved loved one, you should be on your knees praying fervently for the salvation of this loved one.

And when that person comes to Christ, all right, then it's in measure, large measure, it is because of the prayers that you have uttered.

Yes. Yeah. My whole point and what

I was saying tonight, and that's why I was trying to clarify it, is you can't use your prayers to manipulate

God. That's really the point. People getting into the bargaining situation, you know,

Lord, if you do this, then I'll do that. You know, that's the danger.

We are, look, even in the Sermon on the Mount, all right, where Jesus is answering the questions about praying.

How should we pray? All right. He says, don't forget, he says, your Heavenly Father knows what you need before you ask.

So he knows what you're going to pray for, even before you ask. But then he goes right on and tells you how to pray.

Don't pray like the Gentiles, just long, meaningless repetitions, all right, but pray from the heart.

Pray like this, in this manner. And then he gives us the Lord's Prayer, you know, showing us what our petitions, you know, should look like.

He doesn't say, I know what you need anyway, so don't worry about asking. He says, no, you ask. You follow?

So again, my caution was about using prayers or anything else or obedience, trying to manipulate