Understanding the Kingdom of God (Pt 23) : God's Unfair Kingdom: Why the Last Will Be First - Understanding Divine Grace Through the Parable of the Workers

It's unfair he didn't pull that guy over. I had this last December.

We were in the town of Sabi and my whole family in the car and we stopped dead at the stop street

because I know the cops are there.

So I stopped dead, put my left indicator out, start turning. They pull me over, all my kids are in the car.

So Vanessa says to me, there must be for a license. This because thankfully you stopped.

I said, I know. Then the guy tunes me for 20 minutes how I didn't stop.

And I'm telling him I did stop. And then other cars don't even pause. They just.

I said, hey. He says, I'm talking to you. Then I went so far as to tell him,

listen, Yapal, I'll pay your salary. You. Am I on your payroll?

And Vanessa's shooting my arm. Calm down, calm down now.

It's unfair when kids need to clear the table and only one's really helping, and the other one is unfair

when people receive different gifts at Christmas. You ever look at the assessors at Christmas time?

When new job descriptions are issued in the workplace? When promotion comes to another person instead of you?

When the kids have a fight and you got three kids and there's two chocolates left? It's a war. Because life's unfair.

And we're going to learn through this passage of scripture this morning that God's ways are unfair.

Sometimes they're very unfair. And sometimes we're going to learn to be very grateful for the level of God's unfairness.

Because if God was fair, we'd all go to hell. We should all pay for our sin because sin has separated us from God.

What's fair about the Son of God, who has committed absolutely no sin, becoming sin for sinners?

That sinners can be declared righteous as if they'd never sinned.

There's nothing fair about it. So the very next time you want to moan at God for being unfair,

thank him rather and say, thank you, Lord, that you so unfair.

The nature of the kingdom of God was a constant surprise to Jesus' Disciples remember

they had no framework to understand the kingdom of God, their understanding.

For those history buffs among us, their understanding of the messianic kingdom carried an eschatology,

which means a belief that all of a sudden the end of this world is going to come where God is going to come

and reign through his Messiah. And they also didn't quite understand him.

Even in John 7, when Jesus says, I know my Father, I know where I'm coming from, they say,

how can you Be the Son of God. Because when the Messiah comes, no one's going to know where he comes from,

which is not true. The Bible says he'll be born in Bethlehem. They just didn't know.

There was no place in ancient Israel for an understanding of a suffering servant. The Messiah doesn't come to suffer.

They don't understand Isaiah. Messiah comes to rule. They didn't understand a Messiah who dies.

He comes here. He dies for the sins of the world. We put our trust in him.

We believe everything is going to be different. And then he pushes off again in clouds.

He makes it obvious, and he's gone. You're supposed to be here.

They couldn't understand a supernatural future where the kingdom we live in here is constantly invaded

by the kingdom of heaven, that every time there's a supernatural event, God just opens the curtain

and comes and messes with us and goes back again. And definitely they couldn't understand that

before this Messiah comes and goes again, he gives a mandate to those who believed in him

that they must go into the world and preach that same message.

They've got to go and take it to the ends of the world. In other words, house, it's not enough to believe in Jesus.

You have to receive his mantle on your life, and you have to go and talk about him to others.

It is expected of every disciple of Jesus to talk about Jesus to other people.

God's kingdom was so different from what people thought it would be. And his disciples,

the people who listened to him, had such difficulty in trying to understand the concepts that Jesus was talking about

that he started to talk in parables that they can get the idea of life in the kingdom.

And so talking about God's unfairness. This morning we're going to look at the parable of the workers in the vineyard,

otherwise known as the parable of the hours. It kind of seems unfair when you first read it,

but what Jesus wanted to do was redefine fairness.

And Jesus wants the people of the world to understand that when you come into this kingdom,

everything you think you know is turned upside down. And so you have to live for that kingdom's interests.

So point number one for this morning is a point that none of you have ever thought in your whole lives.

What do we get out of this? This parable is told because of what preceded it.

What happened Just before this conversation, the disciples had witnessed Jesus interaction with a man

that the Bible calls the rich young ruler. And this is a serious young man who comes to Jesus

in Matthew 19:16, and he says, teacher, what good deed must I do to inherit eternal life?

Matthew 19:16

Now remember the context. The Pharisees had just come to Jesus and had just asked about divorce.

Remember? Is it okay for us to divorce our wives? What are the Pharisees really asking?

What's the way that I can treat my wife least well and still get into heaven? I just want to check.

The rich young ruler wants to know what's the least I can do to get away with that? I also can go to heaven.

I don't want to mess with heaven, but I also don't want to give too much. So what's the least I can do?

So Jesus tells this young man, give your money to the poor. How much? All of it.

And then come and follow me, and you can be my disciple. And of course, this rich young man is very upset.

And so what Jesus is saying is, I want to deal with the hooks that will keep you from following me with all your heart.

And in your life, your hook is your riches. You'll follow me in inverted commerce,

but your heart will always follow your riches. And you can't have one foot there and one foot there.

And I want you to follow me. So that's what I want you to do. Why did the man need to do anything?

Why did he need to give his money away? You can imagine the disciples are asking this question.

And so Jesus responds in chapter 19, verse 23. I tell you the truth, it's very hard for a rich person

to enter the kingdom of heaven. I'll say it again.

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.

It's a metaphor. Jesus is using an example to show everybody that it's very, very difficult

or even impossible for rich people to make it into heaven.

Why? Because it highlights the attachment to wealth, reliance and faith. And when people are attached

to wealth as their confidence, it's an obstacle to spiritual life and salvation.

You see, poor people so easily give their lives to Jesus because they've got nothing to lose. I just gain.

The rich guy is in the exact same position. He just doesn't know it.

So he's deceived by the false power of wealth. And so Jesus said to him straight away,

give up everything. Come follow me. This guy doesn't. He walks away.

And so then Jesus said, it is impossible for a rich person to make it.

Verse 25. The disciples were astounded. Then who in the world can be saved? They asked.

Jesus looked at them intently. Please see that Jesus looked at them intently. This is important, what's coming.

Humanly speaking, it's impossible. But with God everything is possible.

Humanly speaking, whatever you're facing is impossible. But with God it's possible.

Now remember, the context is salvation. That's where this is going.

And you gotta love Peter because many of us identify with him. He's one of those disciples that speaks, then thinks.

Like most husbands in marriage, we speak, then we think, was that good?

And just the look on the auntie's face tells you that may not have been first prize for now.

Then Peter said to him, we've given up everything to follow. You look at these words, what will we get?

No selfishness there. And if we're honest, many Christians think from time to time, what's really in this?

For me, when God gets a grip on my life and he starts to convince me about the kingdom of God

and I start to make adjustments and I start to orientate my life around Jesus and the cost of following him.

And things do start to shift. Friendships, investments, time spent.

I bumped into a wonderful young man this morning in this very building. I hope he doesn't mind me telling the story,

but some of you that sit on the outskirts over there, when you looked at the side screens,

did you notice they didn't jump as they normally do? When the bass, it's always the bassist fault.

But when that bass is. And the speakers go along, and then there wasn't that this morning.

You know why? Because a guy sitting in this church who used to work for the SABC some time ago

used to play golf on Sundays and God spoke to him and said, go play golf on Saturdays.

So he plays on Saturdays, comes to church on Sunday, and when it comes to church on Sunday,

he couldn't stand that bumping for the last couple of weeks. So he arrived with methods to stop it.

This morning we had beautiful sight and no nausea because somebody's life is starting to adjust

around things that God's speaking to him. But for all of us, as we start to adjust,

we do begin to think, Lord, I'm feeling the real cost of following you. What's in this?

What do I actually gain? And sometimes you can ask that question in a non selfish way.

I give up my everything to follow you. But Lord, what do I get? What happens next?

And this is Jesus response to Peter, verse 28. I assure you, Peter, I assure you that when the world

is made new and the Son of Man sits upon his glorious throne, you who have been my followers

will also sit on 12 thrones. To judging the 12 tribes of Israel.

And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property

for my sake will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life.

This is a deal right over here. What did it mean to them?

It meant to those disciples they would enjoy a unique honor in eternity. Not for their work,

not for their fruitfulness or their results, but for their devotion.

Jesus turned to these 12 young men and he said, come and follow me.

And we know that 11 of those 12, plus Matthias, later followed him. And their reward forever

was going to be that they would sit in leadership roles, literally judging the tribes of Israel.

Now, I don't know about you, but if you ever want to know God's unfairness, this is an example.

Because if I was an Israelite and I needed people to judge the 12 tribes of Israel,

can I tell you who I'm going to go with? Abraham, Isaiah, Moses, Jeremiah, Elijah, Solomon,

maybe even David. I'm not going with these 12 young guys who are still arguing

who's going to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven when they get rebuked by going to preach

the gospel in a town, and they ask Jesus if they can burn the place alive?

Remember, can we call down fire from heaven? These young men have got such attitudes.

Who's going to sit on your left? Who's going to sit on your right? Well, when he tells them

the most basic principle about yeast, they want to know, is it the food of the Pharisees?

These guys were dumb. They were youngsters. They're teenagers. They just don't have it.

And you know what Jesus says to them? Because I said, will you follow me? And because you said, yes,

I'm going to do something that's going to qualify you to lead through the centuries.

And all it's based on is not your ability, your temperament, or your experience.

It's simply based on your absolute willingness to say yes.

When I ask you to do something, you will inherit eternal life. You will sit on thrones in heaven with me.

Does it make you think about heaven for a minute? Don't know about you, but when I look at that,

contrary to some popular concepts and paintings, the Bible doesn't say, when we get to heaven,

we wear little white sheets, grow little tiny little wings and play little harps, and float from cloud to cloud.

God help us if that's heaven. You see, when Jesus renews all things, he recreates heaven and earth.

Our resurrection bodies will dwell in a restored creation.

We won't suffer from disease, death or suffering. That's our future. We will worship.

We will fulfill the mandate originally given to Adam and Eve to rule the earth and develop

the riches and the farmland made within it. We will work joyfully.

So many of you go visit a farm or you go to a seaside and you just feel, ah.

Don't you ever feel that sense of belonging? You go to the Drakensberg, you get that sense of belonging.

Something here fits. You walk into a botanical garden, something here fits.

Because made within you from the time you were born was the desire of God that a beautiful earth

would be looked after by his people without corruption and pain. And that's what the future looks like.

You're just getting a reminder, a little inkling as to what your future will look like.

One day, many familiar activities will be gone. Many occupations will be unnecessary in heaven.

There will be no soldiers, no surgeons, no prison guards, no ambulance drivers.

But we will fulfill the work God originally intended for us. And those original disciples

of Jesus who risked everything to follow him, they will lead the way. What are we going to get? Peter asked.

What are we going to get? You know, there's something right and there's something wrong about that answer.

He's right to expect reward. What do we get? But can I say this? We should be expecting reward for others,

not for us. Godly parents should hope to see their children in heaven.

Those who evangelize their friends want to see their friends there. Godly business people

who have invested their finance for the sake of the kingdom will reap a harvest eternally because of others.

I think if believers are asking the question, what do we get out of it? There's a selfish motivation,

there is a manipulation. We should do good for the Lord's sake. See, the Lord doesn't say

that we'll earn rewards, but he says he'll grant us rewards.

If you even give a cup of water to someone in my name, I will reward you. You don't earn the reward.

It is a gift from your Father in heaven. Our reward. You and me in this room today,

and everyone watching and listening, our reward is fellowship with our Father forever.

Our reward is acceptance and the ability to please him and to honor Him.

Do you know, in the time to come, even those who have amassed crowns of reward,

they never get to boast about their crowns. All they get to do is take their crowns off

and throw them at the feet of a king who gave it to them in the first place.

A greater honour to give bounds to honour him. And he will honor you for what you have done,

and you will honour him back. And there will be this continual giving and receiving of honour

from the throne, but no self seeking at all. And then Jesus has to end that little story.

So ends it with the next verse, verse 30. But many who are first will be last, and the last first,

the new living translation says. But many who are greatest now will be least important then.

And many who seem least important now will be the greatest then.

And these apostles fall into the category of the least in the natural order.

The nothings, the nobodies, the weak, the foolish in this life don't seem to get ahead.

They don't seem to achieve. It's always those born with a silver spoon in their mouths

that seem to get ahead according to this world's economy. But somehow the apostles

were assigned to the world that the last will be first and the first will be last.

These young irresponsible men and women who just didn't know much, but who decided to follow Jesus.

We're going to be entrusted with messages and lessons and supernatural power and that we're going

to be sent into the world with the gospel. And you know what? Because they know that the last

will be first and the first will be last, they will never ever again doubt their incompetence.

And what Jesus wanted to break over their lives is what some of us hold onto.

Whenever God's called us to do something, we always remember and list to him the reasons we can't do it.

And God is saying, I know you can't, which is why I've called you.

It is your very inability, your ability to be weak, foolish, nothing and nobody.

That is what I want in you. Because my glory will be seen through you.

And please remember this, when nothing, nobody, weak or foolish, is defined around you,

it is often simply your impression of your. Excuse me. Think of Gideon.

I am the least of the least. He was not. He was a mighty man. He just didn't know it yet.

And I wonder how many of you are sitting in the nothing nobody, weak and foolish category by your own choosing.

And the Lord comes to you this morning to say, that which has been classified as last needs to start becoming first.

I need to start doing something inside of you. These disciples were as far away from being the first as possible.

I think they represented those Jesus spoke about in the Beatitudes, Matthew 5:3.

Matthew 5:3

God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

The message Bible puts it this way. You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope,

with less of you, there's more of God and his rule.

The amplified version puts that same verse like this. Blessed, spiritually prosperous,

happy and to be admired are the poor in spirit, those devoid of spiritual arrogance,

those who regard themselves as insignificant, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, both now and forever.

What do we get? You get moved up the line from insignificance to significance when you simply say, yes, lord.

That's point one of six for this morning. Point two, the call to the work. Remember verse 27.

We've given up everything to follow you. What will we get? And now Jesus tells that Beautiful story.

Matthew 21. For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early one morning

to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay the normal daily wage and sent them out to work.

It's about 7:00am at 9:00 in the morning. He was passing through the marketplace,

saw some people standing around doing nothing. So he hired them, telling them he would pay them,

listen, whatever was right at the end of the day. So they went to work in the vineyard at noon

and again at 3 o' clock. He did the same thing. At 5 o' clock that afternoon

he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them,

why haven't you been working today? They replied, because no one hired us.

The landowner told them, then go out and join the others in my vineyard.

And now comes the superlative greatness of of Jesus storytelling. That evening he told the foreman

to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first.

Only Jesus. When Those hired at 5 o' clock were paid, each received a full day's wage.

When those hired first came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more.

But they too were paid a day's wage. When they received their pay, they protested.

Hello, South Africa. They protested. Where was I?

Those people worked only one hour and yet you've paid them as much as you paid us

who worked all day in the scorching heat. This is so South Africa.

He answered one of them, Friend, I haven't been unfair. Didn't you agree to work all day

for the usual wage? Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you.

Is it against the law for me to do what I want to do with my money? Should you be jealous?

Listen. Should you be jealous because I'm kind to others? So he repeats himself.

Those who are last now will be first then. And those who are first will be last.

That story is bookended. It starts at the end of chapter 19 and goes into chapter 20

where he says, last will be first, first will be last. And he puts the story smack bang in the middle

to say, I want to show you how Kingdom Economy works. It's a wonderful teaching

because the owner paid all the workers the same amount regardless of the hours they put in.

Do you understand that from the morning, 7 o', clock, noon, 3 o', clock, 5 o', clock,

the owner of the field is constantly having to bring in workers.

Can you just first see, the whole point of this is the size of the harvest.

There's too much harvest for the current workers in another place. Jesus says, pray to the Lord of the harvest.

The harvest is ripe, the workers are few. Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send workers into the harvest.

All he's doing here is adding workers to the harvest field and the outcome that monetary value

is not dependent on their effort, but on the timing of the call of the owner and on the generosity the owner.

So no matter what hour you call to work in, you rely on the faithfulness and the generosity of the owner.

Number three, God's unfairness. Have you ever noticed that God's generosity takes two forms?

Firstly, God gives gifts we don't deserve. And secondly, God withholds punishment we do deserve.

That's the generosity of our God. But today, so many people take God's generosity for granted.

Amazing grace has become boring grace. And it's become boring because some of us have forgotten

that we were desperate sinners with no hope in this world until God reached down to us by His Holy Spirit.

And because God blesses you, you start to look at your life and feel, I am actually a step up.

I live in a nice house, I drive a nice car, I have nice clothes. I am actually a step up on so and so.

And I don't give as much time to so and so as I would. And what we're going to see here

is that God in his unfairness, wants to go to the lowest, the worst, the most desperate.

And he wants those who have to look after those who haven't. And he wants to invert it.

That is the nature of the gospel. He takes you from nothing, makes you something,

gives you the message of the gospel, then tells you to go very much back to those you don't have.

That's what he's going to tell you to do. And suddenly you're no longer walking in boring grace.

It is amazing grace. Because every time you tell your story, Philemon verse 6 becomes real to you.

I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith so that you will come to a fuller understanding

of every good thing you have received in Christ. It's when I preach the wonder of Jesus

that I fall in love with Jesus again. Imagine you're one of those workers.

You start sweating at 7am the end of the day. You're exhausted, you're sweaty, you're filthy.

You walk up to get paid. These guys come and they get paid the same as you.

You got to think, oh, great, this is my payday. Today. I score extra.

Then you go to the front of the queue and you get exactly what that guy did.

Your heart is exposed in a moment. How can this be?

Interestingly, the owner is behaving fairly. He's paying them exactly what he said he would.

Here's the problem. Because someone else gets what I think I should be getting,

or what I think I've been promised, I immediately start to want more.

I'm not happy with what we agreed with. The moment we've agreed to something

and he gets similar to me and he hasn't worked like I have, something in me starts to stir.

Let me ask you this. Now who's being unfair? The workers who didn't get hired until the last hour

also had hungry babies at home. And what Jesus is trying to show us is that the one who works

at the end and gets paid the same as the one at the front is receiving the kind of fairness or unfairness

that is only found in the Kingdom of God. In the Kingdom of God, you never get what you deserve.

In the Kingdom of God, you're always blessed with what you don't deserve. And when you receive that,

you walk in amazing grace. Not one Amen. But thank you for listening. Whatever.

You know, if you look at the story, this parable from the perspective of God's unfairness,

it's actually quite touching. Because there's a migrant field worker standing on a street corner

hoping someone will give him a job. And God wants to have sympathy for these people in this parable.

They've waited all day. They haven't been hired. It's late afternoon.

They've also got children at home that need to be fed. They're literally living on a daily wage.

And one of the things that the Lord of the Harvest wants you and I to know is that work,

the ability to work, gives you a place in life. The ability to work gives you a supply of resources,

a sense of purpose, even if only for a day. And the Lord of the Vineyard knows that.

And that's why work, even in our country, is to be honored. Because it gives people opportunity

and gives you purpose. It gives you a place in life, a supply of resources, an ability to participate.

So can I throw this in quickly? If you have been given an opportunity to work,

please do what you do with all your heart, as unto the Lord, honor him in everything.

You do that whoever you are, your workplace says, we are privileged to have them working with us.

The kingdom of God reverses the order that is present in human affairs.

Jesus wants those who are first to think about those who are lost. Consider them, pray for them,

act for them, put them first. How wonderful when business owners don't follow the principles of this world,

but they look after their staff and their employees and they care for them.

Now understand, we don't go to work for money. We go to work for purpose.

It's never about the bottom dollar, because can I tell you something? If your work is all about the bottom dollar,

you are often no more than a prostitute. You're simply available to the highest bidder.

But if your work is linked to purpose, you work at the place God's called you to because he wants you there.

And he will reward accordingly. The quickest way I've seen the enemy take effective people out

of what they're supposed to be doing and put them in the wilderness is he always offers them a little bit more

and before you know it, you've gone for five, ten grand a month. Excuse me,

You've gone for five or ten grand a month more that God could have provided and sold out

because you went for money instead of purpose. Always remember to do what you do

because of the purpose of God. The call of God for where you are, where you are, why you are, where you are.

Are you alright? Number four. Almost done. Comparisons will always get you down.

Do you notice how Jesus emphasizes the way that the vineyard owner orchestrates payment?

Listen, if I don't want chaos in my hand on my life, okay? And I've employed a whole lot of people late

and I know what's coming, all I'm going to do is the guys, I said I'd pay, I pay and leave

so that when I then bless the others, they don't know that I'm come to me in front of my gates.

But Jesus positions it because he wants to show us the problem with the power or the curse of comparison.

So he starts the story and inverts it and blesses the wrong people first so that he has to say,

friend, I haven't been Unfair? Didn't you agree to work all day for the usual wage?

They had agreed. What's wrong here in this picture? Is it that they're not adequately paid?

No, the issue that's wrong here is that those people who didn't work as long or hard as us

has got what we've got. I now have a problem. Never mind. You said that's what I would get.

I have a problem with it because they get what I got. Where we're flirting with at the moment

is the righteous person who's only done a few things wrong in life and the person who has been

a major sinner their whole life. What you don't understand you're doing is you said

it's not fair for him to get the same forgiveness that he gets because the one who caused a major accident

should always get more punishment than the one who skipped a stop street.

It's our way of fairness. It also inverts, which means the one who's done wrong

should never get what the one who's done more right should get. And we have a problem with God's unfairness.

And you know where it starts? The problem with the thief on the cross next to Jesus,

who he says, today you'll be with me, who hasn't had an opportunity to even go work in the vineyard

for an hour and gets the exact same reward of eternal life as those who follow Jesus their whole lives.

The problem was the comparison. And Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:12,

2 Corinthians 10:12

we do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves.

When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they're not wise.

I've worked in a scorching heat the whole day. I should get more than him, never mind what was promised.

Why? Because I'm comparing. And my level of comparison is always me, myself and I and my own little life.

I don't even look beyond. Imagine the contrast for a moment. A person who doesn't earn what they should,

but they're really thankful that they even have a job. Imagine the person who says,

I'm not earning what I know I'm able to earn, but I'm so grateful God has given me purpose.

So different to the one who walks in comparison. It literally changes your perspective.

And can I tell you something? In human experience, this can be devastating.

Have you ever thought you're doing quite well? You're happy, your car starts and all four wheels actually go.

You opened your cupboard, if you have one, and you've got three, four outfits you're able to put a different one on.

Today. You go to work, you're reasonably happy, your football team's doing all right.

You know what I'm saying? It's a good day. Then you go to a brier you're invited to.

Someone's meat's better than yours. The vehicle they drive, the clothes they wear, the holidays they've been on.

How long does it take before you're actually well looked after? Life suddenly seems poor

in comparison to someone who's living the life that you aren't living. And how quickly envy creeps in.

And people tell you their stories of their overseas holidays. And the closest you've ever been to a plane

is to watch it fly over. But the point is, you are happy in that life until.

And what Jesus wants to show us in this life. When you set your heart on serving the gospel,

the moment you start looking at what others have got, the curse of comparison causes envy.

And envy sours your heart to everybody else. I mean, when the Pharisees brought Jesus to Pilate

and said, crucify him, Pilate recognized straight away that those rulers wanted to crucify him out of envy.

They're well off, they're well positioned, they respected, they have the highest offices.

But you know what? They. They can't do the miracles like this usurper.

They're well respected, they're loved. They have first place at all the synagogues

and all the weddings and all the banquets. They are actually number one.

But they're hacked off in their hearts because another guy comes who has more influence over people

than they do, and now they want to kill him. It was pure envy.

Point 5. This parable is trying to draw two landscapes. There is the worldly order of competitiveness,

and the first with silver spoons rule the roost. And there is this divine order of love in action

where God takes those whom the world has rejected. And God makes them beautiful.

And not only does he make them beautiful, he puts purpose in their lives and he brings the two worlds together

so that we can invert this world through our world. Can I suggest that the hand of God

reaching into the desperate world of human need is possibly the Bible's most pervasive theme.

We all hear the story of David and Goliath, and you think of David and faith,

and how about the fact that there were a people oppressed that God wanted freed?

Think the same thing of Moses and the Exodus story. God breaks into great human need

and he says, I want to invert it. Because so many who are first are actually last,

and they just don't know it. They're blinded by what they have, the little glass cocoon they live in

of material wealth. And if you're a student of history, just go back to the early 1920s,

remember 2008, when people put confidence in their wealth and suddenly money meant nothing.

Just look at our neighbors up north, where suddenly money means nothing.

And those who are first realized they actually last. But those who are lost have been sent

into the harvest field even in the last hour to go and reap a harvest of those who always thought they were first.

I need a close. So let me just say this now again, hear what I'm saying, not what I'm not saying, okay?

But from our perspective, point six, ours is a gospel of cheap grace.

You see, God is not stingy with grace. God is not stingy with grace.

But for you and I, grace is cheap. Grace costs the father everything.

The guy who owned the vineyard had to pay all the money. The guys who were working just had to work.

Didn't cost him anything, just a bit of time. The cost was always to the owner.

He offers us the ability to move. Get out of your seat and move from last to first with a simple invitation.

Come and follow me. And when you do, you suddenly find the Lord rewards your work with more work,

more interesting, creative adventures. And you will work in this life and you will work in the life to come.

Remember, Adam and Eve were put in a garden to look after it, to tend it, to rule, to have dominion.

And when the new Earth and the new heavens come, we're still going to work.

I think most of us are just going to be farmers. The only part. Can I be honest with you?

The only thing in heaven I struggle with me personally, is I don't think there's going to be biltong.

No. Because something has to die, and I don't think God's going to do that.

So I think there's going to be a world where, oh, Lord, help us, the Vegans. Happy?

Just think about it. But we will rule. And God wants us to rule here

and some of you in this room right now who have been living, and you live under a story of I am the last.

God says to you, I want you to start thinking in terms of first. Why?

Because Revelation 5:10 says, and you have caused them to become a kingdom of priests for our God,

Revelation 5:10

and they will reign on the earth. God wants you to take the reign, the rule of heaven,

and implement it in your marriage, with your children, in your Workplace, among your family and friends,

wherever you have influence. He wants you to invert and he wants you to start looking after

those that are lost and working to move them towards what is first.

And I close by saying this. As disciples, you and I become the touch point

between the visible and the invisible landscape, where the needs of this earth,

primarily for forgiveness and salvation, then down to material needs,

where those needs are met through a church that understands that we bring the invisible to the visible.

We are touch points who are going to go into the harvest field no matter which hour.

We've been called into worship and we're going to serve the King.

And some of you got saved when you were 10, 12 years old, and you're now in your 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s,

maybe even 90s. And you serving the Lord. You've been in the harvest field since 7am

There are people watching this and there are people who are in this room right now.

You're in the 11th hour and you're about to enter the harvest field.

And the gross unfairness of God is that you will both be rewarded with the exact same eternal life

and fellowship with God, your father. Stand with me, please.

Thank you so much for being a part of our meeting today. Can I just ask two things?

The first is if today the message has in any way been useful to you,

would you mind just maybe liking it or putting perhaps a statement down or a comment down

that we can know how the ministry has helped you, Maybe a thumbs up, maybe you can subscribe to the channel,

do whatever, just so we can know what impact this message may be having on you.

And secondly, you may be someone who's saying, greg, I hear you.

And this hope that Jesus has for us can come into my heart and it can change me.

But the reality is that I don't even know if I know Jesus. I want to say two things to you right away.

The first is he's near you right now. The Bible says if you believe in your heart that he is the Lord,

and if you confess him with your mouth, you will be saved. Which means you just need to where you are,

turn to the Lord Jesus Christ even now and just say, lord, here I am.

I recognize who you are. I confess my sin to you. I acknowledge you as Jesus Christ,

the Lord of all, the Son, of the living God. And I want to follow you.

I want to become a disciple of yours. I want to give my life to you, Lord.

And you can pray that prayer right now between you and the Lord.

Secondly, you can get hold of us. We could either send you some material.

We can put you in touch with a really good church near you. If you live in our area,

you can come to us, you can follow us on YouTube. But it is good to get connected

into the family of God, to get connected into a local church that your life changes

being surrounded with the family of God. Please stay in touch. God bless you.