Christ's Great Mission
(No. 3532)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1916.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"Even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to
give His Life a ransom for many." Matthew 20:28.
THE mission of Christ to our world was distinct and definite. The
ministry of the Gospel should be alike clear and transparent. It was
but the other day I read a letter from the deacon of a church in which,
speaking of his minister, he said, "We ought to understand geology
thoroughly, for we usually hear something of it, at least once every
Sunday. There is one thing, however, we shall never be likely to
understand under our present friend's ministry– he seems utterly to
ignore the Doctrine of the Atonement. I have not heard him allude to it
for the past three months, nor do I know, for certain, whether he
believes it or not. Though he sometimes alludes to Jesus Christ as an
example, I have neither heard of Christ dying, nor Christ buried, of
Christ risen, or Christ pleading in Heaven at all! In fact, it seems to
me I might as well attend a Socinian chapel." Well, God forbid that
such a reflection should ever be cast on me! Is it not my constant
endeavor to bring you back, Sabbath after Sabbath, to the same old, old
story of the Cross and of the Redemption by blood which was then and
there worked? This bell has but one note! It may be repeated, I
sometimes fear, with too much monotony. Still, the tone is clear. I
know that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. There is
salvation in none other name under Heaven. The Propitiation which God
has set forth for human sin is alone efficacious. There is no remission
without blood. Full salvation is to be procured only through the wounds
of Jesus slain. There is no salvation in Heaven or earth beside. We are
coming to that same story again. It never wearies the Believer's ears,
nor does it ever fail to be the Power of God unto salvation to everyone
who believes! I want my text to speak this evening! Let me, then, begin
by expounding it, word by word–and after that let me explain the
Doctrine to which it gives most distinct prominence.
I. THE PLAIN DECLARATION.
"The Son of Man!" So does our Lord Jesus Christ speak of Himself. In
relation to our fallen humanity, it sounds humble, but in the light of
Prophecy, it is full of dignity. " The Son of Man." This is none other
than the true Messiah– the Son of God, Infinite, Eternal, Co-Equal
with the Father–and yet He chooses to call Himself, full often, "the
Son of Man." Perhaps because as it was man who committed sin, it is man
who must make an Atonement for sin to the injured Law of God! Man was
the offender, man must suffer the penalty. As in one man the whole
family died, in another man they must be made alive, if made alive at
all. Jesus tells us that He is a Man–thoroughly a Man–one like
ourselves. The Son of Man, a Man among men, bone of our bone and flesh
of our flesh–not wearing a fictitious manhood, but a real Humanity
like our own! This we must always bear in mind, for without it there
could be no Atonement at all. Jesus is not merely a Son of Man, but He
is preeminently the Son of Man foretold in the prophecy of Daniel and
predicted on the threshold of Paradise in the language of the first
promise, "The Seed of the women shall bruise the serpent's head." He is
the Man, the Second Adam in whom men are made alive. Being thus found
in fashion as a Man and having taken upon Himself the Federal Headship
of man, He was qualified to become man's Substitute and to make an
Atonement for human guilt. Dwell on this blessed Truth of God, my dear
Hearers! Dwell upon it, those of you who are not saved–look wistfully
at it for the encouragement it offers you! The Person in whom you are
admonished to trust is not only God–or His unclouded Glory might
strike you with awe and His terrors might justly make you afraid–but
He is also Man–and this ought to attract you to Him, for He is akin to
yourselves in nature and sympathy. Sin excepted, He is in no wise
different from you! Oh, may you not well draw near to Him without
appalling dread, and with inspiring confidence, since He calls Himself
the Son of Man and bids the sons of men come and put their trust under
the shadow of His wings?
He "came"–that is the next word in our text. "The Son of Man came."
Strange the errand and unique as the blessed Person who undertook it.
Thus to come He stooped from the highest Throne in Glory down to the
manger of Bethle-
hem–and on His part it was voluntary. We are, as it were, thrust upon
the stage of action–it is not of our will that we have come to live on
this earth. Jesus had no need to have been born of the virgin! It was
His own consent, His choice, His strong desire that made Him take upon
Himself our nature, of the seed of Abraham. He came voluntarily on an
errand of mercy to the sons of men! Dwell upon this thought for a
moment. Let it sink into your mind. He who was King of Kings and Lord
of Lords, the Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace,
voluntarily, cheerfully descended that He might dwell among the sons of
men, share their sorrows, bear their sins and yield Himself up a
Sacrifice for them, the innocent Victim of their intolerable guilt! If
the angels burst out in song on that first Christmas night. If they
made Heaven and earth ring with their sweet harmonies, much more may we
who have a share in the redemptive work of the Incarnate God burst out
into song as the news greets us that Heaven descends to earth, that God
comes down to man, that the Infinite becomes an Infant, that the
Eternal, who has life in Himself, deigns to dwell among the dying sons
of men! Surely a way from earth to Heaven will now be opened up, since
there is a way from Heaven to earth, so sacred, yet so simple! The same
golden ladder that brings the blessed Visitant down to our humanity
will also take us up to the Divinity of God, to see Him as our
reconciled Father. "The Son of Man came."
The next words are startling, for they reveal a singular intention, far
different from the usual aim and end of messages and errands. "The Son
of Man came not to be served, but to minister." Let me give you the
exact translation, "Not to be served, but to serve." That is the
nearest approach to a literal rendering I can supply. He came not to be
served, but to serve! He had not a selfish thought in His Soul! Though
He had set His heart upon being the Incarnate God, He had nothing
whatever to gain by it. Gain? What could the Infinite God gain?
Splendor? Behold the stars–far away they glitter beyond all mortal
count! Servants? Does He need servants? Behold angels in their
squadrons–twenty thousand, even thousands of angels are the chariots
of the Almighty! Honor? No, the trumpet of fame forever proclaims Him
King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Who can add to the splendor of that
diadem that makes sun and moon grow pale by comparison? Who can add to
the riches or the wealth of Him who has all things at His disposal? He
comes, then, not to be served, but to serve! And you see Him in the
workshop serving His reputed parent. You see Him in His home honoring
His blessed mother with all filial obedience. You see Him at the
noontide of His wonderful career in the midst of His disciples, much
more their servant than their Master, though He always maintained
precedence by His own Sovereign counsel, and by their weak
apprehensions. As He takes the basin, and the pitcher, and the
towel–and washes His disciples' feet–you can see the meekness of His
disposition. And soon after this, you see Him giving Himself up–His
body, His Soul, and His Spirit–in order that He might serve us! And
what if I say that even at this very moment, as the Son of Man in
Heaven, He continues a kind of service for His people? For Zion's sake
He does not hold His peace and for Jerusalem's sake He does not rest,
but still continues to intercede for those whose names He bears upon
His heart! Hear it, then, all you people, and let everyone that hears
hail the gracious fact–be you saints or sinners, be you saved already,
or thirsty for the knowledge of salvation–the thought that Christ's
errand was not to aggrandize Himself, but to benefit us, must be
welcome! He does not come to be served, but to serve. Does not this
suit you, poor Sinner–you who never did serve Him, you who could not,
as you are, minister to Him? Well, He did not come to get your service!
He came to give you His services, not that you might first do Him
honor, but that He might show you mercy! Oh, you need Him so very much!
And since He has come not to look for treasures, but to bestow
unsearchable riches–not to find specimens of health, but instances of
sickness upon which the healing art of His Grace may operate–surely
there is hope for you! I think were I just now seeking Christ, and
sorely cast down in spirit, it would make my heart beat for joy to
think that Jesus came to serve, and not to be served. Perhaps I would
say, He knows my case and He has come to serve me, poor me! Do I not
need washing? Why should He not wash me? The dying thief rejoiced to
see in his day the fountain which Jesus had opened! Why should not I
see it, too, and have a washing from that precious One who came to
serve the vilest and the meanest of the sons of men? Behold! Behold and
wonder! Behold and love! Behold and trust! Jesus came from the right
hand of God to the manger, to the Cross, to the sepulcher, not to be
served, but that He might serve the sons of men!
Pass on to the next words, "And to give His Life," or, more correctly,
"and to give His Soul." We have no lives to give. Our lives are
forfeited–they are due to Divine Justice. Christ had a Life of His own
which was, by no means, due to God on account of any obligations. He
had not sinned, but He gave His Life. The death of Christ was perfectly
voluntary. As He was free to come, or not, so He was not under any
constraint to give His Life, but He did so, and that of His own free
will! The grand objective of His coming to this earth was to give His
Life. Read the text again. "The Son of Man came not to be served, but
to serve, and to give His Life." Our Lord Jesus Christ did not come
into this world merely to be an Example, or merely to reveal the
Godhead to the sons of men. He came to make a Substitutionary
Sacrifice. He came to give His Soul as a ransom! If you do not believe
this Doctrine, you do not believe Christianity. The very pith and
marrow, the very sum and substance of the mission of Jesus Christ is
His coming to give His Life that He might stand in the place of those
for whom He died. He came on purpose to give His Life. Now to give the
soul is something more than to give the life. He died, 'tis true, yet
He did more than die–He died by an outpouring of all His Life-floods,
by the endurance of an anguish such as no ordinary mortal could ever
have borne. Of old 'twas the blood that made Atonement. The animal was
presented in sacrifice, but the animal was no sacrifice till it was
slain–and then when the purple stream smoked down the altar's side,
and the bowels of it were cast upon the altar, then it was that the
sacrifice was truly presented. Jesus Christ gave up the very essence of
His Humanity to be a Substitutionary Sacrifice for us! His spirit was
tortured with pangs that are past conception, much more past
description! He said, "My Soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto
death." He was like a splendid cluster put into the winepress, and the
feet of eternal vengeance trod upon Him till the sacred wine of His
atoning blood streamed forth to save the sons of men! He gave His very
Self, His entire Self, His soul, His Life, His essential Being, to be a
ransom for the sons of Adam! Oh, that I could turn your eyes to that
great sight! Behold how He gave His Life! Would to God that for a
moment your thoughts were fixed on those five streaming wounds, those
sacred fountains of life, and health, of pardon and peace to dying
souls! Oh, that your eyes could but gaze within the wounds, into that
heart boiling like a cauldron with the wrath of God, tossed to and fro,
heaving within itself, oppressed, burdened, tormented and filled with
terrible anguish! Oh, that you could see it! Oh, that you could
understand that He came from Heaven to suffer all this, to give Himself
up thus, that He might be, instead of us, the Victim of a vengeance we
deserved–that His griefs might avert our ruin, that His pangs might
rescue us from destruction! He drank the cup of condemnation dry! Not a
drop was left and, in so doing, He poured out His Soul unto death!
Moreover, His death is our ransom. So it is written, He came to give
His Life "a ransom." No one here, I suppose, needs to have explained to
him what a ransom means. It may be fairly illustrated by the old Jewish
ceremony of the redemption money. Every male person among the Jews
belonged to God and he must be redeemed. There was a settled price. The
rich were not to give more–the poor should not give less. The same
amount was fixed for all. The tithe drachma was paid by every Jew. Then
he was enrolled as one of the Lord's redeemed, of whom you so often
read. Failing that, he would have been cut off from the congregation of
Israel. That piece of money stood instead of the man–it was his
ransom. He was not to die–he was to live as a redeemed person! That is
just what Jesus has done for His people! He has put Himself, His Soul,
His devoted Life, His accomplished death before God in the place of our
soul, of our death, of us! And every man who has Christ to be his
Substitute is a redeemed man! He is one of the Lord's ransomed people
and shall go to Zion with songs of everlasting joy upon his head. But
every man who has not accepted Christ remains an unredeemed man, under
the curse and subject to the Divine Wrath–under the slavery of Satan
and awaiting the sentence of an utter destruction! Jesus Christ came to
give His Life as a ransom. As a slave is redeemed by the payment of a
price, so Jesus redeems us from the curse of the Law under which we
were by nature, having Himself come under the Law. He redeems us from
the death which was due to us by Himself enduring a death which was a
full equivalent in the estimation of God. He gave His Life as a ransom.
Our text says "for many." We might with greater force and stricter
accuracy translate it, "He gave His Life as a ransom in the place of
many." The word, "for," there, has a substitutionary meaning, "He gave
His Life instead of many." Indeed, this is the point of the
sentence–One stood for many! Jesus suffered for many! He put Himself
into the place of many! Mark the word, "many." With this we finish the
exposition. It does not say "all." There are passages which speak of
all. They have their meaning. None of them, however, refer to the
substitutionary work of Christ. Jesus Christ did not give His Life as a
ransom in the place of all mankind, but a ransom in the place of many
men. Who are those many men? Bless God, they are many, for they are not
a few! But who are they? God knows. "The Lord knows them who are His."
You may ascertain as much as you need to know by answering a plain
question. Do you trust Jesus Christ with your eternal destinies? Do you
come, all guilty as you are, and rely upon His blood to take that guilt
away? Do you confide in Jesus, and in Him, alone? If so, He died for
you, and in your place–and you shall never die! This is your comfort,
that you cannot die! How can you perish if Jesus was put into your
place? If your debt was paid of old by Christ, can it ever be demanded
of you again? Once paid, it is fully discharged–the receipt we have
gladly accepted–and now we can cry, with the Apostle, "Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is
he that condemns? It is Christ that died; yes, rather that has risen
again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes
intercession for us."
See here the mainstay of every Believer's confidence! He knows that
Christ died for him because he has put his trust in His blessed
mediation. If Jesus died for me, then I cannot be condemned for the
sins which He expiated. God cannot pu-
nish twice for the one offense. He cannot demand two payments for one
debt. The Believer, therefore, finds sweet solace in the song which
Toplady composed–
"Turn, then, my Soul unto your rest,
The merits of your great High Priest
Speak peace and liberty–
Trust in His efficacious blood,
Nor fear your banishment from God since
Jesus died for thee."
Thus did the Son of Man give His Life a ransom in the place of many.
And such do I believe to be a fair and honest exposition of the words.
II. SOME POSITIVE IMPLICATIONS.
The main drift of the text is the Doctrine of a vicarious or
substitutionary Atonement whereby Christ's ransom suffices in the place
of many. On this let me give to each thought but a sentence or two. It
would seem that man is not delivered from the bondage of his sins
without a price. No one goes free by the naked mercy of God. Every
captive exposed to God's vengeance must be redeemed before he is
delivered, otherwise he must continue a captive. Broad as the statement
may appear, I venture to assert by Divine Warrant that there never was
beneath the cape of Heaven a sin forgiven without satisfaction being
rendered. No sin against God is pardoned without a propitiation! It is
only forgiven through the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ! It never
can be remitted without the penalty having been exacted. The Divine Law
knows of no exception or exemption. The statute is absolute, "The soul
that sins, it shall die." Every soul that ever sinned, or ever shall
sin, must die, die eternally, too, either in itself or in its
Substitute. The justice of the Law of God must be vindicated. God
waives none of the rights of justice in order to give liberty to mercy.
Oh, my Hearers, if you are trusting in the unconditional mercy of God,
you are trusting in a myth! Has someone buoyed you up with the thought
of the infinite goodness of God? I would remind you of His infinite
holiness! Has He not declared that He will by no means spare the
guilty? No debt due to God is remitted unless it is paid. It must
either be paid by the transgressor in the infinite miseries of Hell, or
else it must be paid for him by a Substitute! There must be a price for
the ransom and evidently, according to the text, thatpricemust be a
soul, a life! Christ did not merely give His body, nor His stainless
Character, nor merely His labors and sufferings, but He gave His Soul,
His Life, as a ransom! Oh, Sinner, Almighty God will never be satisfied
with anything less than your soul! Can you bear the piercing thought
that your soul shall be cast from His Presence forever? Would you
escape the dire penalty, you must find another soul to stand in your
soul's place! Your life is forfeited. The sentence is passed. You shall
die. Death is your doom! Die you must, forever die, unless you can find
another life for a sacrifice in lieu of your life! And know that this
is just what Christ has found. He has put a Soul, a Life, into the
place of our souls, our lives. How memorable that text, "Without
shedding of blood there is no remission." Why? Because "the blood is
the life thereof." Until the blood flows, the soul is not divided from
the body. The shedding of the blood indicated that the soul–the
essence of the being–had been offered! Oh, blessed, forever blessed be
the crowned head of Him who once did bear the Cross! He has offered for
His people a Soul, a Life, a matchless Soul, a Life unparalleled! No
more can Justice require! Vengeance is satisfied! The price is paid,
the redeemed of the Lord are completely free!
The question has been asked, "If we are redeemed by the blood of
Christ, who receives the ransom?" Some have talked as if Christ paid a
price to the devil! A more absurd imagination could never have crossed
human mind! We never belonged to the devil. Satan has no rights in us.
Christ never acknowledged that he had any and would never pay him
anything! What then? Surely the ransom price was paid to the Great
Judge of All. This is, of course, but a mystical way of speaking. A
metaphor is employed to bring out the meaning. The fact is that God had
sworn and would not repent, that sin must be punished! In the very
essence of things, it was right that transgression should meet with its
just recompense. There could be no moral government kept up, there
could be no unimpeachable governor unless conviction followed crime and
retribution was exacted from the guilty. It was not right, nor could it
have been righteous, on any ground, for sin to have been passed over
without its having been punished, or for iniquity to have escaped
without any infliction! But when Jesus Christ comes and puts His own
sufferings into the place of our sufferings, the Law is fully
vindicated, while mercy is fitly displayed! A man dies–a Soul is
given, a Life is offered–the Just for the unjust! What if I say that
instead of Justice being less satisfied with the death of Christ than
with the deaths of the ten thousand thousands of sinners for whom He
died, it is more satisfied and it is most highly honored? Had all the
sinners that ever lived in the world been consigned to Hell, they could
not have discharged the claims of Justice! They must still continue to
endure the scourge of crime they could never expiate. But the Son of
God, blending the Infinite Majesty of His Deity with the perfect
capacity to suffer as a Man, offered an Atonement of such inestimable
value that He has absolutely paid the entire debt for His people! Well
may Justice be content since it has received more from the Surety than
it could have ever exacted from the sinner. Thus the debt was paid to
the Eternal Father.
Once more. What is the result of this. The result is that the man is
redeemed. He is no longer a slave. Some preachers and professors affect
to believe in a redemption which I must candidly confess I do not
understand–it is so indistinct and indefinite–a redemption which does
not redeem anybody in particular, though it is alleged to redeem
everybody in general! A redemption insufficient to exempt thousands of
unhappy souls from Hell after they have been redeemed by the blood of
Jesus! A redemption, indeed, which does not actually save anybody,
because it is dependent for its efficacy upon the will of the creature!
A redemption that lacks intrinsic virtue and inherent power to redeem
anybody, but is entirely dependent upon an extraneous contingency to
render it effectual! With such fickle theories I have no fellowship!
That every soul for whom Christ shed His blood as a Substitute, He will
claim as His own and have as His right, I firmly hold! I love to hold
and I delight to proclaim this precious Truth of God! Not all the
powers of earth or Hell, not the obstinacy of the human will, nor the
deep depravity of the human mind can ever prevent Christ seeing of the
travail of His Soul and being satisfied! The last jot and tittle of His
reward shall He receive at the Father's hand. A Redemption that does
redeem! A Redemption that redeems many, seems to me infinitely better
than a redemption that does not actually redeem anybody, but is
supposed to have some imaginary influence upon all the sons of men!
Our last question I must leave with you to answer. Did Jesus Christ
redeem you? Ah, dear Hearer, this is a serious matter. Are you a
redeemed soul or not? It is not possible for you to turn over the books
of destiny and read between the folded leaves. Neither need you wish to
do so. This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ which is to be preached to
every creature under Heaven–"He who believes and is baptized shall be
saved." Therefore, everyone that believes and is baptized, being saved,
must have been redeemed, for He could not have been saved otherwise! If
you believe and are baptized, you are redeemed, you are saved! Now for
your answer to the question–Do you believe? "I believe," says one, and
he begins to repeat what they call the "Apostle's Creed." Hold your
tongue, Sir! That matters not–the devil believes that, perhaps more
intelligently than you do–he believes and trembles! That kind of
believing saves no man! You may believe the most orthodox creed in
Christendom and perish! Do you trust–for that is the cream of the
word, "believe"–do you trust in Jesus? Do you lean your whole weight
on Him? Have you that faith which the Puritans used to call
"recumbency," or, "leaning"? That is the faith that saves–faith that
falls back into the arms of Jesus, a faith that drops from its own
hanging place into those mighty arms and rests upon the tender breast
of the Lord Jesus the Crucified! Oh, my Soul, make sure that you trust
Him, for you have made sure of everything else when you have made sure
of that! Has God the Holy Spirit taught you, my dear Hearer, that you
cannot safely rely on your own good works? Has He weaned you from
resting upon mere ceremonies? Has He brought you to look to the
Cross–to the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, alone? If so, Christ
redeemed you–you can never be a slave again! Has He redeemed you? The
liberty of the Believer is yours, now, and after death the Glory of
Christ shall be your portion, too! Remember the words of the dying monk
when putting aside the "extreme unction" and all the paraphernalia of
his apostate church–he lifted up his eyes and said, "Tua vulnara,
Jesu! Tua vulnara Jesu!" "Your wounds, oh, Jesus! Your wounds, oh,
Jesus!" This must be your refuge, poor broken-winged dove! Fly there
into the clefts of the rock, into the spear-thrust in the Savior's
heart! Fly there. Rest on Him! Rest on Him! Rest with all your weight
of sin, with all your blackness and your foulness, with all your doubts
and your despairs–rest on Him! Jesus wants to receive you! Fly to
Him–fly away to Him now–
"Come, guilty souls, and fly away,
And look to Jesus' wounds–
This is the accepted Gospel day,
Wherein free Grace abounds.
God loved His Church and gave His Son
To drink the cup of wrath–
And Jesus says He'll cast out none
Who come to Him in faith."
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: MATTHEW20:1-28.
Verses 1, 2. For the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a man that is an
landowner, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his
vineyard. And when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day,
he sent them into his vi-neyard.It was a fair wage. It was for fair and
healthful work which they were to do in the vineyard. They were happy
men to be hired so early in the morning. Never do those who serve
Christ reject Him and though in this parable some are represented as
finding fault with their wages, yet Christ's true servants do not so.
Their only request is, "Dismiss me not from Your service, Lord." They
feel it to be reward enough to be permitted to go on working. Indeed,
this is one way in which we get our wages during the day. If we keep
one precept, God gives us Grace to keep another! If we perform one
duty, God gives us the privilege to perform another! So we are paid
well. We work in the work. We say not "for the work," for we are
unprofitable servants. Yet is there the penny a day.
3. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle
in the marketplace. It was bad for them to be standing there. No good
is learned by idlers in idle company. Idle men together kindle a fire
that burns like the flames of
Hell.
4, 5. And said unto them; Go you also into the vineyard, and whatever
is right I will give you. And they went their way Again he went out
about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. Much more out of
charity than out of any good that he could get from them. Especially
was this manifest when it got towards the latter end of the day. So
late, so very late, it was but little they could do. Yet for their good
he bade them come in.
6. And about the eleventh hour Why, then, surely the day was over! They
were ready to put away their tools and go home. But–
6. He went out and found others standing idle, and said unto them, Why
have you been standing here all day idle? "Why? Can you give a reason
for it? Why stand here in the marketplace, where men come together on
purpose to be hired? Why do you stand here, you able-bodied ones that
still might work? Why do you stand here all day? That you should be
idle a little while is bad enough. Why do you stand here all day, and
why do you stand here all the day idle, when there is so much work to
be done, and such a wage to receive for it?"
7. They said unto him, Because no man has hired us. He said unto them,
Go you also into the Vineyard and whatever is right, that shall you
receive.And so the great landowner was glad when he had emptied the
marketplace of the idlers, and brought in from early morning, even till
sunset, so many that should be at work–happily at work there. I wonder
whether there are any here early in the morning of life who have not
yet come into the vineyard? If so, the Master calls you! Are you in
middle life? Have you reached the sixth hour, and are you not enlisted
in His service? Again the Master calls you! And if you have reached the
eleventh hour, where are you? Decrepit–leaning on your staff–leaning
downward to your grave? Yet if you are not called now, now He calls you
and bids you, even at this late hour, come into the vineyard!
8. 9. So when evening was come, the lord of the vineyard said unto his
steward, Call the laborers, and give them their hire, beginning from
the last unto the first And when they came that were hired about the
eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.And when souls come to
Christ, however late it is, they have the same joy, the same matchless,
perfect peace, the same salvation, even, as those who have come while
yet they are young! True, they have lost many days, many hours of happy
service. They have permitted the sun to decline and have wasted much
time, but yet the Master gives them the same life within them, the same
adoption into the family of God, the same blessing!
10. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have
received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.Why, there
are some of us who have now been in Christ's vineyard ever since we
were boys, but we must not think that we shall receive, or can have,
more than those who have just come in! I have heard people say, "Why,
here are these people just lately converted, and they are singing and
rejoicing! And there are some of the old people that have been
following the Lord for years–and they do not seem to have half the
joy! No, no. That is true. It is the old story of the elder brother and
the prodigal over again. But do not–do not let us repeat that forever
and ever! Do not let us get off of the lines of free, rich, Sovereign
Grace, and begin to think that there is some desert in us, some merit
in us. Oh, my Brothers and Sisters, I will be glad enough to sit at the
feet of the meanest child of God, if I am but to be numbered in the
family–glad enough to have the same salvation which the dying thief
obtained, though only at the last moment he looked to Christ! Yet there
is this spirit that will grow up–that some who have been longer in the
work ought certainly to have more joy, more of everything, than those
that have just come in. See the answer to it.
11-16. And when they had received it, they murmured against the good
man of the house, saying, These last have worked but one hour and you
have made them equal to us, which have borne the burden and heat of the
day. But he answered one of them and said, Friend, I do you no wrong.
Did not you agree with me for a penny? Take that which is yours
andgo your way: I will give unto this last, even as unto you. Is it not
lawful for me to do what I will with my own? Is your eye evil because I
am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many are
called, but few chosen. The great principle of Election in Divine
Sovereignty will crop up, not in one place, but in many! God will have
us know that He is Master, and that in the Kingdom of Grace He will
have mercy on whom He will have mercy, and in the distribution of that
Grace He will give according to His own good pleasure! And the moment
we begin to murmur or set up claims, He answers us at once with, "Is it
not lawful for Me to do what I will with My own?" Yet that
unevangelical spirit, that un-gospel spirit of fancying that we have
some sort of claim or right will come in–and it must be sternly
repressed. It is of Grace –of Grace alone–of Grace to begin with, of
Grace to go on with, of Grace to close with! And human merit must not
be allowed to put a single finger anywhere! "Where is boasting, then?"
says the Apostle. "It is excluded." It is shut out–the door shut in
its face. It must not come in. If you and I serve God throughout a long
life, we shall certainly have much greater happiness in life than those
can have who come to Christ only at the last. But, as far as the Gospel
blessing is concerned, which Christ gives, it is the same salvation
which the newly-born Christian enjoys as that which the most advanced
Believer is now enjoying! It is to every man the penny bearing the
King's own impression!
17-20. And Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples
aside on the way, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem,
and the Son of Man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto
the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death. And shall deliver Him
to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify Him: and the
third day He shallrise again. Then came to Him the mother ofZebedee's
children with her sons, worshipping Him, and desiring a certain thing
of Him.Then, in the most inopportune time in all the world, when Jesus
was talking of being mocked and crucified, and put to death, here comes
Mistress Zebedee with an ambitious request about her sons!
21. AndHe said unto her, What do you wish?She said unto Him, Grant that
these, my two sons, may sit, the one on Your right hand, and the other
on the left, in Your Kingdom. He is thinking of a Cross, and they are
dreaming of a crown! He is speaking of being mocked and put to death,
and they have ideas of royalty, that they want to have the chief place
in the coming Kingdom! Oh, how like ourselves! Our Master thinks of how
He can condescend, and we are thinking of how people ought to respect
us, and treat us better than they do! Oh, the selfishness that there is
in us! May our Master's example help to stay it.
22-24. But Jesus answered and said, You know not what you ask. Are you
able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with
the baptism that I am baptized with? They said unto Him, We are able.
And He said unto them, You shall, indeed, drink of My cup, and be
baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit at My
right hand, and at My left is not Mine to give. But it shall be given
to them for whom it is prepared by My Father And when the ten heard it,
they were moved with indignation against the two brothers.Thus showing
that they were exactly like they, "For," they said, "look at these
two–this James and John–they want to have the preference over us! We
will not have it." It was exactly the same spirit in each one–ambition
in them all for priority of honor. Ah, dear Friends, it often happens
that when we are so intent in our condemnation of others, it is only
because we fall into the same sin! Some, I have no doubt, whatever,
hate the Pope because they have the essence of popery in themselves.
Two of a trade will never agree–and one man is very angry with another
because he is so angry–and one is quite indignant that another should
be so proud. Heis not proud. He is proud to say he is humble–he is,
therein, proving how proud he is! Oh, that those beams in our eyes
could be taken out. Then the specks in our brothers' eyes would
probably no more be seen.
25-28. But Jesus called them unto Him, and said, You know that the
princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they who are
great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you:
but whoever will be great amongyou, let him be your servant And whoever
will be first amongyou, let him be your slave. Even as the Son ofMan
came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His Life a ransom for
many.