We continue to study the Word of God, and especially the teaching of our Lord Jesus in Matthew chapter 20, verses 1 to 16. And in this parable, the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, we have been studying last week the remarkable character of this parable, the unique character of this parable, you might say. And we saw that this parable is remarkable in that it is a diagnostic parable. That is, a parable that diagnoses our thoughts and the attitudes of our hearts.
Now just to summarize very quickly for the benefit of those who were not here last Sunday, we looked at various expositions or interpretations of this parable by the various authorities, the commentators. And we saw that these interpretations as suggested by them simply do not meet the understanding of this parable. Because we saw that whichever way they explained it, there was something found wanting. There was something inadequate. Some suggested, as we saw, that this speaks of the goodness of God. And we found that this exposition is really quite inadequate. Because, for one thing, we saw that the extent of God's goodness, if this is supposed to explain the goodness of God, is highly limited — limited, in fact, to the average wage of the laborer, to one denarius. And that is hardly a very large sum to express the bounty and goodness of God. The goodness of God is much more seen, for example, in that person who owed a million dollars and was freely forgiven. There we can speak of the goodness of God in His forgiving love. But in this parable, when we are talking about a mere denarius, we are hardly in a position to speak much about the goodness of God. And even less is the goodness of God to those who came first. We saw that if this speaks of the goodness of God, then it is a diminishing goodness of God. That is, the goodness of God is at least considerable to those who came last. But it diminishes as we proceed, and to those who came first, there was nothing to speak of at all regarding the goodness of God. In fact, they felt themselves to be very badly done by. They felt themselves unjustly treated.
So we went on looking at various expositions or explanations of this parable, and found that really none of them answered the questions that come to our mind. And the reason was because all alike had failed to see the remarkable character of the Lord's words here. That it is a diagnostic parable. A parable that diagnoses your thinking. That, like a sharp sword, as Hebrews chapter 4, verse 12 says, the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword, and penetrates into your heart, and into your mind, and into your very intentions, revealing what your real intentions are. And this is exactly what this parable does. Like a sharp knife, it penetrates into your mind, and there discerns what normally is undiscernible, between the thoughts and intentions. It examines the motives of your heart and of your mind, laying bare your heart before God and before yourself, if you have eyes that are willing to look at your true condition.
So this truly is a remarkable parable. And I said also last time that it is truly a fact that no one ever spoke, or taught, as the Lord Jesus has spoken and taught, that He was able to use teaching in a manner that not even the greatest teachers in this world have ever been able to use it. And He has been able to do this in so remarkable a way, that we find ourselves utterly exposed before Him. That we may come with pretense to Him, but then He simply shows us what we really are like. This is truly remarkable. And many times when you study the Lord's teaching, you cannot but feel uncomfortable, because you know that those words are speaking straight to you, and you almost wish that it will speak to the next person, but His words are addressed straight to you. And you realize that even if you try to be hypocritical, it is most difficult to run away from the force of His words.
Now then we went on to look at the parable, and we saw that it had to do with a person, the owner of a vineyard, who, as the time approached for the harvest, found it necessary to employ more workers as the day proceeded, in order to beat the deadline. There is something quite remarkable about the weather in the East. I don't know why it is, but the weather is so much more predictable in the East than it is in the West, for some unknown reason. I'm sure those of you who are from China will know that the Chinese agricultural calendar is astonishingly accurate. Amazing. It can predict that it's going to rain on that day, and it rains on that day. And you wonder, how do they know this? When the rainy season is going to begin on that day, it sure begins on that day. The weather is so much more predictable, for some reason. I don't know whether recent atmospheric tests or nuclear bombs or underground tests in any way have altered this matter. But I used to be amazed at the Chinese calendar, the accuracy of the Chinese calendar. And this holds to some extent also in Israel. And hence, people were quite aware of when the rainy season was about to set in. And those who want to harvest their crops, whether it be of wheat or of fruit, would try to beat the deadline of the cold or of the frost.
And so, as the day proceeded, as the time went on, the director of the vineyard, the steward, saw that the job would not be finished without hiring more people for the work. And so he did. And this is the parable, that as the day proceeded, people were hired: at nine o'clock in the morning the second group, that is. The first group started work at five or six o'clock in the morning. The second group starts work about nine o'clock in the morning. The next group at twelve. The next group at three. And the last group at five. The day finishing at six o'clock, at sundown. And the master begins the payment from those who started last. And He gave those who had worked only one hour one denarius. And so the next group thought that they were going to get more, and they got the same. And the next group thought they were going to get more, and they still got the same. And when it came to the first group, who had worked the whole twelve hours, they also got only one denarius. That's why it's so unsatisfactory to speak about the goodness of God there.
And so, when the first group came, they felt justified in expecting a much larger payment than those who had gone before. But they got the same. Then what we saw was that their reaction was one of bitterness. They were very upset about being paid the same amount of money as those who had worked the whole day.
Now the whole parable is to teach us something. And last time, I asked you right at the beginning — and those of you who have come today, of course, will not have the benefit of that experience — to ask you, what do you feel as you read this parable? What do you feel? Do you feel that God is rather unjust? God is rather arbitrary? Or do you feel that He is rather kind? And what you feel depends on which group of people you felt able to identify with. And it is a matter of fact that the majority of people identify either with the first group or with one of the earlier groups. Very few, if any, identify with the last group.
And what does this tell us? This tells us something about our attitudes, our mentality. What is our mentality? Our spiritual outlook. Well, our outlook is one of "me first." My interests come first. The first group of people were upset. For what reason? Why should they feel upset? As the owner of the vineyard said, "You agreed with me for one denarius for the day's work. And I am giving you what we agreed on. Right?" At the beginning of the day, we agreed. Our contract stipulated that you will get one denarius. And here is your one denarius. What are you complaining about? Well, legally speaking, they had no claim. It's true that they had agreed on one denarius. That's what they got. But why then are they upset? Well, because they felt it's unfair. It's unfair that these people who worked one hour got one denarius, and they worked 12 hours and they still got one denarius.
What is the definition of fairness? Unfair, on whose definition? Well, fairness or unfairness depends very much on where you stand and how you look at the matter. Those who came last were not complaining about unfairness. But those who came first regarded the thing as unfair. Why? Because there is an attitude of envy. What causes an attitude of envy? What causes this way of thinking? As we saw last week too, that attitudes are most important.
And before we start analyzing the new kind of attitude that we should have — which is not difficult to understand, but hard to implement. Indeed, impossible to implement, because we are all by nature camels. We are all by nature groaning and grumbling and mumbling that God is unfair to us. And because of that, it is easier for the camel to get through the eye of a needle than for us to get through, unless God transforms us radically.
What is it to become a Christian? And I come back to this again and again because the Lord Jesus comes back to this again and again. He wants us clearly to understand what it is to be a Christian. How do you understand being a Christian? Are you still thinking of being a Christian in terms of going to church? Of reading your Bible? Of getting baptized? Of subscribing to a certain creed? Of believing this and believing that to be true? Now, all this is part of it. But the point is that this is a very secondary part of being a Christian. What we must understand is what is the vital essence of being a Christian. It is true that Christians get baptized. It is true that they read their Bible. It is true that they go to church. These are things that they do. But these are things that they do correctly only if there is a real change in their lives.
Being a Christian is not merely doing all of those things. It doesn't depend on how large is the Bible you hold. It doesn't depend on how often you go to church. It doesn't depend on any of these things. Not even that you were baptized. What does it depend on then? It depends, the Lord Jesus says, on a complete change in outlook. A change in the way you think. A change in your attitude. That is what a true Christian is about. If your way of thinking has not changed, then it doesn't really matter whether you were baptized or not. As far as God is concerned, He is not interested in that in the first instance. Baptism is not even meaningful until there is the outward expression of that inward change. If there has not been an inward change, and you go and get baptized, your baptism is not going to help you at all. It just makes you a nominal Christian. You got the name of being a Christian. There is no reality inside of you. Nothing has changed inside of you.
So let me read to you again Romans chapter 12, verse 2, which tells us and touches on this very point, that being a Christian involves this kind of transformation. And here we read from verse 1. A very well-known verse, but the point is not whether we know it well, but whether we have applied it. You are not going to be saved because you know the Bible. You are going to be saved only because you practice the Bible. There are going to be an awful lot of theologians — and there I say it — but there are going to be quite a lot of theologians in hell. Because it is not, as the Lord Jesus says, whether or not you know the truth; the question is whether you do it. Blessed is he who knows these things, the Lord Jesus says, and does them. Knowing it is not enough. And in fact, because you know it and you don't do it, so much greater is the condemnation. If you didn't know it, you might still have some excuse. Having known it and not doing it puts you under the severity of God's judgment.
And so Paul says here, in Romans 12, verse 1: "I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice." Have you done it? I don't ask, do you know it? Have you done it? "Holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." Then the second verse: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind." If you say that you are a Christian, let me ask you, is your mind renewed? If not, what kind of a Christian are you? The renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God.
You know, one of the greatest problems among Christians today, as they often come and tell me, is they don't know what the will of God is. "What is the will of God?" Why do you not know the will of God? Because your mind has not been changed. It has not been renewed. There is no use for me to tell you what the will of God is, because I don't know what God's will is for you in your particular life. You've got to find out what that will is. And the only way you can find that will is by your mind being changed so that God can speak to you. That you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. There is no use giving a session on how to know the will of God until the person's mind is changed. But when your mind is changed, you don't need lessons about knowing the will of God. You will know the will of God. So we must begin at the right place.
Becoming a Christian, Paul tells us here, has to do with not being conformed — not being pressurized into thinking in the world's way of thinking — but being changed in one's thinking. How difficult that is. Last Friday, we had a very interesting discussion on healing. The Word of God is shocking, isn't it? And so, as we discussed the matter, we realized just how much conformed we are to the world. We have changed maybe somewhat, but our thinking is still, to a great extent, conformed to the general pattern of the way in which non-Christians think. So we can rightly say, to a Christian: what difference is the way you think from that of a non-Christian? In fact, is that not the very thing that non-Christians say? That you Christians think in much the same way as any non-Christian does. And that is why you behave in the same way as the non-Christian does. Because when your attitudes do not change, then neither does your conduct change. You still behave in the same way as the non-Christian.
Little wonder that the non-Christian says, "Why should I be a Christian? Why should I become a Christian when you behave in the same way as I do? When you think in the same way as I do? When you are just as selfish as I am?" To that, of course, there is no reply. There is no excuse. The Christian should not be the same as the non-Christian. His thinking should have been changed. Now that is the fundamental thing about being a Christian. An utter change, a complete change.
When Paul says that becoming a Christian is to become a new person, that's exactly what he wants to say. How can you be a new person when you think in the same old way that you thought before? How can you be a new person when you behave in the same way as you behaved before? When you are still as rude as you were before. When you are still as bad-tempered as you were before. When you are still as selfish as you were before. What's the meaning of saying that you are a new creature, a new creation in Christ Jesus, in 2 Corinthians chapter 5? That has no meaning. Little wonder that the world looks at us and says, "That's Christianity? Well, if that's Christianity, you keep it. I don't need this kind of stuff. I'm doing very fine as it is." And they are right. The Christians have changed little or not at all. And if that is so, then we have a church full of Christians who are nominal Christians, Christians in name only.
Now these are the kind of parables that the Lord Jesus uses to show us how little we have changed. So He tells His disciples the parable. He tells His hearers the parable and says, "Listen to this parable." And so they are listening to the parable, and then He says, "How do you feel about it? How do you react to this parable?" Now, "God is unfair." Right. "God is unfair, isn't He?" Now, now you know how you think. Why do you say He's unfair? Because, like these people, you have the same attitude, the same way of thinking. If you had another way of thinking, you wouldn't think God is unfair. But because you are thinking as you do, the Lord Jesus is showing — now I have let you see your own condition. Now you should realize that you haven't changed. Or not changed much.
What then should we change into? What should be the new way of thinking? What should the new attitude be? Now, if you had reacted to this parable in such a way that you felt very happy — "So good. So good that they got the same denarius as we did." Even if you identified yourself with the first group, if you had a new way of thinking, you would have felt very happy for those who came after. Why? It's not natural to feel that way, is it? Of course it's not natural. If you were in the first group, you wouldn't naturally rejoice with those who worked only one hour. But if you had the changed mentality, if your mind had been renewed, you would not have had the selfish unhappiness. Because it is the selfishness that made the first group unhappy. If they were unselfish, they would have been happy that those people who could not find a job earlier could now take home the same pay, so that their children would not be hungry, that their wife would have something to cook for the family to eat. They would feel — you would feel happy if you had that mentality. But we don't have that mentality, do we? Not unless we have changed.
We are envious. Don't say you're not envious. If you are not, then you have really changed. Let's take the example. If somebody comes into church and greets you warmly, you feel very happy. But two of you come in, and he greets the one next to you very warmly and didn't even notice your existence. "Hey, how are you today?" And you are standing there. "Well, when is he going to greet me? Doesn't he see me? Am I invisible?" So that one is talking happily to your friend, and leaves you standing in the cold. And so the steam is coming up. The blood pressure is coming up. "What kind of guy is this?" Why are you upset? Because he didn't take notice of you. He only took notice of your friend. But you say, "That's natural." Of course it's natural. That's the whole point. You are a natural man. You haven't become a spiritual man yet.
The day you can see your friend receiving the honor and not you, and still rejoice in it, you have become a spiritual man. Now, if the first group of people had that mentality, they wouldn't have worried at all. But we can't feel that way. We can't think that way. We are natural. Natural means selfish. What does natural mean? Natural means self-centered. That's the natural man — that's self-centered. He puts number one first. That's why he's number one. He's always number one in his own eyes. He is king of his little world. And his little world is where his skin is. And within the limits of his skin, he is the king — at least to some extent.
Or let's put it another way. Your parents prefer your brother or your sister, not so much you. You feel really jealous and bitter. "I'm as good as my brother and my sister. My parents are really unfair, really biased. Okay, maybe my brother is a little bit more good-looking than I am. Maybe he's a little bit taller. So what? Quality does not come in quantity." So he's always favoring that one. He doesn't look at me. He gets double pocket money, I get half pocket money. Really unhappy about this. "It's not fair. It's not fair." You say, "Of course it's natural for me to feel like that." Of course it's natural. That's the whole point. It's natural. But becoming a Christian is to become supernatural. We are born of the Spirit of God. And the day you can see your parents being more kind to your brother or your sister and still be happy about it, you have become a spiritual man. Being a Christian — no one ever said that being a Christian is to be natural. It is to become supernatural. What does it mean to be born of the Spirit? To be born again? There's no meaning whatsoever unless it means that because God has done His work in us, we think in a totally new and different and unexpected way. We are truly Christians when we behave in a very unexpected manner. That's what makes a Christian extraordinary. That's what makes, or ought to make, a Christian stand out in his generation, because you do not react in what is called the natural, selfish way.
But we can't react in this way. We cannot. Because we are by nature selfish. We can't do this. That's exactly what Christianity is about. It is God coming into your life and making you different. Making your whole reaction different, making your thinking different, making us a different person altogether. Now, unless Christianity is supernatural, then what are we talking about? What point is there in being a Christian? What point is there? You ask me, tell me, why should I be a Christian at all? If I behave like any non-Christian, what's the point of my being a Christian anyway? Just so that I can get extra security, a nice comfortable feeling that I have been to church today? Well, that's not what Christianity is about. Christianity is about a transformation. A whole new change of attitude. And this cannot be done by man. That is what it means to say that we are saved by grace. It means that I cannot change my thinking like this. It is not a moral change which I simply decide to do. I cannot do it. It is God's power coming into my life, coming into your life, and changing you.
When we are changed in this way, a Christian becomes extraordinary. His conduct becomes remarkable. Of course remarkable, because he stands out from the crowd. That is why the Lord Jesus says, "You are the light of the world." If you have been changed, you become light. Because your behavior is different. It is absolutely astonishing to the world that anyone thinks or behaves like this. They cannot understand this. Your friend there, who worked only one hour, gets the same pay as you. You say, "Great." You congratulate him. You say, "That's wonderful. I am so happy for you." The non-Christian says, "You mean it? You can't be serious." "Oh yeah, I am serious. I really thank God for you, that you have the same pay as I have." I bet you don't think like this. Come on. Your face will get long. "The boss is unfair. I am going to go on strike. I am going to sue him in court. I am going to take him to the unions. This is not fair treatment." Oh, that's the natural man.
But when you behave in the spiritual way, people just can't comprehend it. They are so astonished, their mouth drops open. "This can't be — he behaves like this?" When you are criticized, when you are judged, you feel, "Unfair, unfair. Nobody understands me. All these people gang up against me. They are bad people, unfair people, small-minded, selfish people." You feel like that? Or is it ever the case that when someone criticizes you — I mean, or speaks to you about your faults — and you know that they speak out of love, that you feel so grateful, so thankful, that they care for me so much to tell me my faults?
I am not speaking about talking about people behind their back, because that doesn't help them at all. That is slander. You don't help anybody by talking about him behind his back, because he can't do anything about it. He doesn't even know that you are saying these things about him. That is evil. That is vicious. But do you ever thank God for the people who come up to you and tell you, with love, maybe with grief, your faults, suggesting that maybe you could change, maybe you could improve? Do you feel grateful, or do you feel offended, angry, bitter? Just read the book of Proverbs, and you will see that the spiritual man's reaction is entirely different. When you tell him his faults and you tell him frankly, he is so grateful. "You care for me so much to tell me my faults. You took the trouble to do all this for me, to show me what I am really like, all my failings. I am so grateful to you. Thank you for being so kind to me." Do you react like that? If you do, then you are a spiritual man. I have yet to see many of these spiritual men. Because when you tell them their faults — "Ah, you misunderstood me. No, no, no, that is not what I meant. No, no, no, that is not fair." That is the way we react.
This is the remarkable thing. You see, this is the change of attitude. You see the character of a person and his attitude in the way he reacts, in the way he behaves. You see, a spiritual man — you cannot even punish him. Because every punishment to him is a blessing. He thanks you so much for this kindness that you have done to him. So grateful. It is really wonderful. We must learn to become spiritual. Learn to grow in the grace of God. To think in a new way. To thank God for those enemies of ours who have done us such kindness — even sometimes maliciously. Yes, even maliciously. Every day, I tell you the truth, I learn to thank God and to pray for those who have slandered me, spoken evil of me. And I know that they did not mean it in a bad way. They didn't mean it. Maybe they have been taught in this way, that their doctrines are in that way. And we must understand them. We must be loving to them. We must be patient, kind. And it's hard to learn. Very hard to learn. Because we are always wanting to justify ourselves. Justify ourselves, as our sister Betty was saying in the prayer fellowship just now. Our natural man is like this.
Just this week — some of you may know — one of the best known church leaders in Taiwan, Wu Yong, Wu Yong Zhang Lo, was in Montreal in these last few days. And he asked to see me. And an arrangement, a meeting was arranged whereby we were able to spend a couple of hours of fellowship together. And of course, he had heard of some of the problems out west. And he wanted to ask me what was behind these problems. And then he felt that these things were unjust, that it was not right. And he wanted to effect a reconciliation. I said to him, "Brother, just leave me where I am. I don't want the glory again. I don't want to be lifted to those heights again, where everyone bows down to you, everyone sees you as this great church leader." I said, "I like to learn to be last. I like to learn to be humbled, down there. I want to be low. I don't want to go up to those heights again. I felt that those things were bad spiritually for me. Just leave me where I am. And don't go around there saying good things about me out there." God has blessed me so much through these trials and these tribulations. It has been such a blessing, I said to him, that I like to stay just where I am. And I really mean this. This is not a question of humility. I have come to see the goodness of God. The greatness of His divine purpose. Even when people malign you, misrepresent you, say evil things about you. How much more should we be grateful when those who love us tell us our faults? And who hasn't got faults? When those who love us take the trouble to deal with us, for our good, that we might truly become the men of God that God would have us to be.
You see, this is what we mean by being a Christian. It means an utterly new way of thinking, a new mentality, that can rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Now, these people in the parable, the first group, could not rejoice with those who rejoice. Did not those people rejoice when they got that denarius for which they worked only one hour? They rejoiced. They were dancing for joy. Just like Pumpkin and Boo were doing yesterday. You see, dancing unto the Lord. I said to them, they must teach us how to do that. Maybe they will give us a demonstration on the platform one of these days, and then we will all get up and dance for joy to the Lord. Now, these people who got the one denarius certainly were dancing for joy. But could the first group rejoice with those who rejoice? No. But that's what a Christian should do.
In Romans chapter 12, verse 15, Paul says exactly this: "Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep." We can't rejoice with those who rejoice. Because we only rejoice when something good is done to us. Why should we rejoice when something good is done to him? We haven't got this kind of mentality. We can't think in this kind of way. Why can we not think in this kind of way? Because our self comes first. We don't identify with other people. This is the great problem, both in the church and for every Christian individually. If our thinking changes, our attitude changes, when we become true Christians, we would have no trouble rejoicing with those who rejoice. No trouble at all.
Let me give you the example like this. If somebody praised your wife, would you feel very jealous? "You praised my wife and you didn't praise me?" This is completely unfair. But do you feel like that? Well, not unless your marriage is broken down. I mean, if you love your wife, and someone praises your wife, you feel so happy. "Oh, yeah? You think my wife is that good? Really? Oh, so nice, so happy." Somebody says your wife's cooking is fantastic. Oh, you feel happy. Why? Because she is part of you. Praising her is praising you, is it not? You have identified fully with her, so you rejoice with those who rejoice. Of course, your wife feels good too. Needless to say, somebody said her cooking is nice, she feels happy, and you feel happy too. Now, if your marriage is in trouble, of course, praising your wife does nothing to you. You say, "Who said the cooking is good? It's rubbish." But you see, this is exactly the thing. It depends how you react to her — it depends on your relationship to her.
Now, would the wife feel jealous because someone praised the husband? Of course not. She is so happy that her husband is praised. "How come somebody didn't praise you but praised your husband, and you feel happy?" Because your husband is part of you. You identify with him. Or have you ever seen a parent who got jealous because somebody praised the child? "Your son is so good. What about me? What are you praising my son for?" Of course you would say, "What kind of a parent is this? Something's wrong with this parent." I mean, I praised his son and he got jealous? Of course not. The father is so happy that the son is praised, or the daughter is praised, and you feel so happy about it. You feel grieved if someone says something bad about your son. Of course you feel grieved. You grieve with those who grieve, you rejoice with those who rejoice, if you identify with them.
So now let's return to the example of your friend. How much do you love your friend? Now if somebody comes in and greets your friend and talks warmly with him and forgot that you existed there, well, you wouldn't worry that much if you really loved your friend. You would rejoice with your friend. You'd feel happy. "That's fine. No problem." Someone praised your friend — why should you feel jealous? You'd feel jealous if you did not love him. But if you loved him, you identified with him, you wouldn't feel jealous. You see, that's the difference in mentality.
But our love is limited to our husband, our wife, our children. We cannot love beyond that. If we did, we would begin to have this new way of thinking. You wouldn't be jealous. If you really loved your friend, and he got a pay raise, he got double the pay you got, why should you be jealous? You'd be so happy. "I love him so much, and he got double the pay that I got. Marvelous. So marvelous." Why? Because when you love a person, you cease to be self-centered to the extent that you love the person.
# The Principle of First and Last — Grace and Transformation (Matthew 20:1-16)
Look, what happened in regard to the rich young ruler, you remember? The rich young man came to the Lord Jesus and said, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" You see, this is part of the answer to that question still. It's all connected to chapter 19, as you can see from the first word of chapter 20, verse 1: "For the kingdom of heaven." The "for" is explanatory. It connects chapter 20 to chapter 19. It's all part of the same explanation.
The rich young ruler had said, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" What was the Lord's answer, you remember again? His answer was, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." That was His answer, remember? Chapter 19, verse 19. Now that is the very foundation of New Testament teaching. It is the very foundation of New Testament teaching. It goes through the whole New Testament. It occurs twice in the Lord's teaching in Matthew alone. Not only in Matthew 19:19, but also in Matthew 22, verse 39. Paul uses it again and again in Romans chapter 13, verse 9, and in Galatians chapter 5, verse 14. The apostle James does the same thing in James chapter 2, verse 8. The apostle John goes through it virtually the whole of John's letter — the first letter of John is all exposition on this very teaching of loving your neighbor as yourself, even laying down your life for your neighbor. This is the foundation of New Testament teaching.
He says to the rich young ruler, "You ask me what you must do to inherit eternal life? I'll tell you what you must do. Go out there and love your neighbor as yourself." And we saw how little did this rich young man understand it. He said that he had done this since his youth. He had never even begun to do it, never mind since his youth. He didn't understand what the Lord was saying. The fact is that you cannot by nature love your neighbor as yourself. You cannot do it. And that is why it goes on. It is not a teaching of salvation by works, whereby you go out and love your neighbor. You can't do it. You just try it. Try it and you'll see you can't do it. The Lord's teaching is showing this rich young ruler that his whole mind and mentality has to be changed, as Paul is saying, that the Spirit of God has to come into his life and change his whole makeup, his whole character, until he becomes a new person who can look at a brother and a sister and love him as himself.
That is the marvel of being a Christian. But without doing that, you do not enter the kingdom of God. You do not enter the kingdom of God. Remember that well. Unless God so changes you, you will not enter the kingdom of God. You will not inherit eternal life. Because that's the Lord's answer to that question. "What must I do?" You ask me what you must do. I tell you what you must do. Love your neighbor as yourself. Go out there and become My disciple. Sell what you have and follow Me. We have expounded all that in detail as the fulfilling of loving your neighbor as yourself. Can you do it? No. Can I do it? No. I can't do it. Because without God's transforming power, none of us can do it.
What must we then do? We can only kneel down and say, "Lord, have pity upon me. You come into my life and change me." What does grace do? What is the definition of grace? Grace is God's transforming power to change you when you can do nothing for yourself, when you are weak and helpless. That is grace. You can see that definition of grace in Titus chapter 2, verse 11. And I'd like to read Titus 2:11 to you, because we often don't understand what grace means. Grace is not just some kind of a free gift that you put in your pocket and walk away with, as I have many times pointed out to you. If you understand grace like that, you have not understood the Bible at all. And many preachers imagine that grace is like a life that is given to you as a gift. You take a package like this and you store it away, and you are saved. That's not grace at all. Grace is something active. Something powerful. It is God's power coming into your life and changing you.
Titus chapter 2, verse 11: "For the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all men, training us." Notice what grace does. Grace trains us. That's what transformation is. It is a process. It doesn't mean that overnight you immediately find it very easy to love everyone. It is a process of training. "Training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sober, upright and godly lives in this world." Now that's the definition of grace. To live a godly life in this world by the grace and power of God. That's what grace is. It is not some kind of a present, I repeat again, that you can simply take and stuff in your pocket and forget it until you get to heaven. It is not a one-way ticket to heaven that you can just collect, no matter how you behave. No, no, no. Grace is something that comes into your life, training you to renounce ungodliness and making you holy and righteous.
Now by this time I hope we really understand this parable. As I said at the beginning, there is nothing hard to understand. The difficulty begins when we practice it, when we try to do it. Because of our self-centered nature, we find it almost — not almost, but in fact — impossible to do it. And every day you can see in the Christian life, and we observe in the Christian life, how selfish is the Christian. How disgraceful is the Christian. Would to God that we understand what it means to be a Christian.
If somebody is interested in a girl that you are interested in, how do you feel? Do you say to him, "Oh, you're interested in my girlfriend? Go ahead." Not at all. "I'll show you who is the better man. The better man wins here." How difficult it is to change, that we can say if two guys love the same girl, the spiritual man says, "Go ahead. I am not in this race. You take her." What a spiritual man this is. "Go ahead. You take her." You think it's easy to be a Christian? That is Christianity. And the spiritual man will say, "If God so pleases that I should have this girl, He will give her to me. If not, so be it." But we are realists, are we not? We understand that human nature doesn't change so easily.
I think one of the saddest passages in the Bible that I know, that I read again and again, is in Philippians chapter 2. In Philippians chapter 2, Paul says this concerning his co-workers. And this is what he says here. He says that concerning Timothy, he wants to send somebody to the church in Philippi, but he can't find anyone to send except Timothy. Now that is not the tragic part. The tragic part is what he has to say about the so-called Christian workers that are around. In verse 19, it reads like this of chapter 2 of Philippians: "I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I may be cheered by news of you. I have no one like him who will be genuinely anxious for your welfare." And what I regard as one of the saddest verses in the Bible, in verse 21: "They all look after their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ." But Timothy's worth you know. Of his long list of co-workers, he could think only of Timothy to send. Why? Because the others, to a greater or lesser extent, put their own interests first, not those of Jesus Christ. And a person who does not put the interests of Christ first will not put the interests of you first. That's for sure. Because his interest is paramount. He is self first, me first.
How few people there are who put the kingdom of God first. Who seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. We all know these verses. Which of us practice them? That is the question. We all know that we need to be changed. Which of us conduct ourselves as changed people? When I look at Christians, when I associate with Christians, I marvel only at this: how right Paul is. We don't need to make excuses for ourselves as Christians. We ought to be ashamed of ourselves. Because if we look into our hearts, we can see that our own interests are always primary. They always come first. But let us bear in mind the warning that the Lord Jesus tells us here. That those who put their own interests first will be last in the kingdom of God. They will not even find a place in the kingdom of God. That is the warning.
Now with one more thing I'd like to notice as we close. And that is this. You will notice that those who put their own interests first, by now you will have seen very clearly, are the people who always have grievances, who are always grumbling. That means people who put their own interests first are always unhappy people. Always unhappy people. They are unhappy Christians. They are Christians who don't know what it is to have peace and joy. There are many people who say to me, "But the preacher told me that if I become a Christian I have peace and joy." Well, the preacher lied. He didn't tell you the whole truth. Only when you become a true Christian, only when your whole attitude changes, do you have peace and joy. Because now everybody else's joy is your joy. You are happy not only when your wife is praised, when your children are praised. You are happy when this brother is praised, this sister is praised. Because they are all your brothers and sisters. You have identified with the whole body of Christ. You rejoice.
A person who has this kind of attitude is virtually invincible. You cannot get him down. You cannot get him down because such a person — he may sometimes be discouraged, but you can't knock him out. Why? Because his heart is big. He has so much to be happy about. He is the kind of Christian who knows what it means to say that God works everything for good to those who love Him. Every disaster becomes a blessing. God will turn every last to a first. He will turn everything upside down to your benefit and to your glory. Because in your being glorified, He is glorified. Isn't that remarkable? That is why God wants to glorify us. You read that in Romans chapter 8, verses 28-29 onwards: "Whom He did foreknow, them He did foreordain to be conformed to the image of His Son." He goes on: "Those He did foreknow, He also glorified." Glorified. When you put yourself down, God lifts you up. When you put yourself up, He brings you down. The last will be first. The first will be last.
One concluding point that I would like you to observe from all this. In our analysis of this, we must understand that there are two kinds of first and two kinds of last. There is the first which has to do with external circumstances. He who knows this masters the world. The Lord Jesus says, "I have overcome the world." What do we mean by this? Well, quite simple. You may be first by reason of circumstance. Or you may be last by reason of circumstance. It makes no difference. What really matters is whether you are first or last internally in your attitude. He who knows what it is to be last spiritually will be first spiritually. That is, no external circumstance can bring him down.
Let's return to this parable for a moment. You don't understand what I am saying so far? Take these people who were first. Their circumstance was that they were first. That is the external circumstance of the matter. But had they had a new and different attitude, and learned to rejoice with those who came last, would they not have been first again? What I mean is this: their attitude prevented them from receiving of the goodness of the master of the vineyard. Do you not see it? Think what would have been the attitude of the master of the vineyard, had these people who were first — and saw those who were last receive the same pay as they did — rejoiced in it. Congratulated the people who were last that they got the same pay. Praised the owner of the vineyard for his excellent wisdom and goodness. What do you think the owner of the vineyard would have done? You don't have to guess very hard what he would have done. It is their grumbling, rebellious, hard attitude that made it impossible for him to extend his goodness also to them.
This is what the Lord wants to teach us. What our external circumstances really are doesn't matter. You may be born in a rich family. That is your external circumstance. Or you may be born in a poor family. That is your external circumstance. But you who have the right attitude inwardly never become a slave to circumstance. The rich person who behaves arrogantly, who thinks he is first because he is rich, is a fool. And he who behaves with an inferiority complex because he is poor is also a fool. The greatness of a man has nothing to do with his external circumstance. The spiritual greatness of a person depends on his internal attitude. He who is poor and yet knows that in his poverty he is rich in Christ is a spiritual giant. He is truly great. And he who is by external circumstance rich but behaves in humility, that person is also great. You see, the external circumstance really doesn't make any difference. We are never victims as Christians of the external situation. We may be first or we may be last outwardly. It doesn't matter. But what matters is whether we are first or last inwardly. That is what matters. Because if you are always right inwardly, your external circumstance will also be changed by God. If you are last in this world, God will make you first. If you are poor in this world, God will make you rich in His kingdom. He is the Lord. And through your right attitude, you make it possible for God in His power to transform your circumstance.
Yet there are people who, though their outward circumstances are good, yet behave in utter poverty. They are real beggars inside of them. And you know what I say is true. There are millionaires who are nothing but beggars. And there are poor people who are exceedingly rich in their inner person. I have seen in China Christians who have nothing, are absolutely destitute, who live literally on bread and soup, who have a joy and a peace and a power that I have never seen in the well-to-do people. They have the true freedom. They knew really what it is, even though they are last, because they learned the secret inwardly.
In other words, when you understand the Lord's teaching here, you know that no external circumstance can bind you. Every circumstance can be reversed around. Every circumstance can be turned upside down. Every circumstance where it is a first can become a last, and where it is a last can become a first. That is the glory of being a Christian. That is the power of being a Christian. That is the joy of being a Christian. You cannot be defeated because God's power will always operate on your behalf to turn things upside down.
You see, in order for a first to become last — who changes the first to the last and the last first? That is what the parable is telling us. God is the one who can reverse every situation, can turn everything upside down. But He is telling us by what principle God's power comes into operation. Have you experienced God's power to change circumstances? Oh, He can. God's power can change everything. But it depends on your attitude. Why is it that some Christians constantly experience the miracles of God's power? Because they have learned the secret of the changed mind, the changed attitude. They constantly experience the miracles of God's power.
I have shared with you — I have through my Christian life experienced miracle after miracle after miracle. It is a life of miracles. In every area, in every department. Whether it was in healing the sick, in all kinds of sicknesses. Whether it is in financial areas. Whether it is in spiritual areas. I have constantly experienced God's power. Why? Because I am better than anyone else? Of course not. Because I tried to learn one thing: to implement the Lord's teaching into my life. To obey His teaching. To fulfill that teaching. To seek to be the kind of person God wants me to be. And if you do that, you will see that God is the living God. First does not automatically become last. Last does not automatically become first. Somebody has to do it. It is God who changes it. God turns everything upside down. He turns the whole world upside down through His servants. And we can be His servants if only we let God change our whole way of thinking.
And once you do that, you don't have to defend yourself. You don't have to be jealous. Why do we not have to be jealous? Why should you be jealous? Your God will straighten every account for you. Your God will set everything right. Somebody slapped you across the face. You have to hit him back? Foolish man. Why do you have to hit him back? He is first. You are last. He is first because he got the other man. He slapped you across the face. He is glorified and you are humiliated. Your face is red with his fingerprints there. "What happened to your face?" "I got slapped." Humiliated. Why do we want to fight back? Because we don't know God. As simple as that. When you know God — he slapped you across the face. Poor man. Wait till you see God's fingerprints on his face. Poor man. You will say, "Lord, have pity upon him. Don't hit him too hard."
You know God as your Father. You wait till somebody — you go and hit somebody's child, and you have to reckon with his father. What kind of a father do you have? You go and hit somebody's child, and his father will come, six foot six. "You hit my son? How dare you hit my son?" The son doesn't have to fight with you. He can't fight with you. Even if he can, he doesn't have to fight with you. His daddy will settle the account. That is the point of the Lord's teaching. When He says, "When somebody hits you, turn the other cheek." Because God is my Father. I don't have to hit you back. Oh no. He will straighten the account. You say something bad about me. It's okay. You have to reckon with my Father. He will settle the account. I don't have to quarrel with you. This is the whole attitude of the Christian. The first will become last. God is the one who changes the whole order of things. God will make things right again. That is the living God. If you don't believe in the living God, what do you want to be a Christian for?
I have complete confidence in God. Therefore if this guy who worked only one hour got one denarius — hallelujah, that's great. When I am in need, my God will not leave me in need. He will take care of my need too. Just as He takes care of that man's need, He will take care of my need too. Why should I be unhappy? I think God is so good. He is so kind. He is so gracious. That is what it means to be a living Christian. Why do we find it so difficult not to be envious? The answer is very simple when you come to it. Why don't we love our neighbor as ourselves? The answer is very simple. Because we don't know God as the living God. If we knew God as the living God, why should we not love the neighbor as myself? Why should I not? The question becomes the other way around. It's not "why should I?" The question is "why should I not?" When I know God as the living God, I have more than enough for myself. God's grace is so abundant, I have got enough to love Him with too. My whole attitude changes. And this becomes progressive. The more you do His teaching, the more you see how great is God's power. The more you see how great is God's power, the more you will do His teaching. And so it goes on.
Wonderful is the Christian life. Wonderful indeed. May you experience it. May we understand this parable. Let us be quiet before God in prayer.