Parables of Salvation, Part 1

Jesus, as we know, began His ministry among His own people, the house of Judah. And as we also realize, the Jews of His day saw themselves as being some of the greatest lawkeepers of all time. And that goes back for hundreds of years, because as we know, the house of Israel first, the northern tribes went into captivity, and they were uprooted, deported all the way over to Mesopotamia, and then disappeared in history through the eyes of most, and then migrated to the north and to the west and around the world. The house of Judah held on for another 150 or so years, or a little better, and then they too went into captivity. And they went into captivity, had hands of the Babylonians, and many were taken to Babylon.

That's where we come across Daniel and friends over in Babylon. And yet, after a period of time, King Cyrus gave the decree to send them back home. And many, not all, but tens of thousands, went back home to Judah, rebuilt the city, rebuilt the wall, rebuilt the temple, and began a process over the next 400 to 500 years where they added so many regulations to the law. They wanted to make certain that they never, ever go down that road again of profaning the Sabbath and going off into captivity. And so when Jesus came, he came to a group of people who, in many respects, saw themselves as being these great law keepers. The most powerful sect of Judaism was, of course, the Pharisees. And we find the Pharisees very concerned about keeping the minute points of the law, especially the law, as they had defined it and added to what God had given. Nicodemus was a Pharisee. The Apostle Paul, earlier in life, was a Pharisee. He called himself a Pharisee of the Pharisees. Let's turn over to Matthew 23. Matthew 23. And this is one of the chapters where Jesus had differences with the Pharisees. Matthew 23. And in verse 1, Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples, saying, Therefore, whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works, for they say and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do to be seen by men. And it goes on talking about phylacteries and borders on the garments and best places at the feasts and best seats in the synagogues and wanting to be called rabbi. And of course, the rest of the chapter, we have many woes that Jesus pronounced on the Pharisees. But this is one place where it shows us that the Pharisees didn't understand why Jesus was here. In fact, they didn't even recognize Him as being the Messiah. Nicodemus, even that night there in John 3, said, We know you're a teacher sent from God. But as far as the role as a Messiah, the one to fulfill all the Messianic prophecies, they didn't recognize Him at all.

Now, the message of Jesus Christ was of the kingdom of God. We find that from His first statement there in Mark 1, verse 15. The message of Jesus Christ was the kingdom of God, and the message of the kingdom of God is a message of salvation. Jesus came to teach the way to salvation. He said that He is the door, or that He is the way to eternal life.

And He consistently taught that salvation is a free gift. And a free gift cannot be earned. All the law-keeping of a lifetime. Any of you may have old, old booklets of the church. I have many of them. They go way back. But if you look at the old booklet, what do you mean, salvation? And there, as Mr. Armstrong would often highlight in all capital letters, he writing about salvation and how it is a free gift.

In all capital letters, he said, all the law-keeping of a lifetime will not earn salvation. Because we're talking two different things. Salvation is a gift. But because we are the ones who receive God's grace, God's forgiveness, it compels us to live differently. To live within the parameters of the law which God has given us well. So the two go together. And like when we went through the book of James, James says, I'll show you my faith by the way I live my life, by my works. Now, it has been a long time ago that we covered in a sermon some of the parables of the kingdom. In Matthew 13, we have a number of those parables. The parable of the sower, the wheat and the tares, kingdom is like leaven, kingdom is like treasure hidden in a field. And I intended to get back to some of the parables of salvation. And I want to do that today. I will refer from time to time to this book. And it's just called The Parables of Jesus. It's written by James Montgomery Boyce. And the parables of Jesus. And the way Boyce is B-O-I-C-E. But he divides them into parables of the kingdom. He has a section on the parables of salvation. We won't cover all those today, but a number of them. He has a section on the parables of wisdom and folly. Another one, the parables of Christian living. Another one, the parables of judgment. But we're going to focus on some of these that fall in the category of the parables of salvation. Now, let's turn to Luke 15, because we find three parables grouped together. Luke 15. Three parables. The first one is the parable of the lost sheep. We may tend to think of it as the ninety-nine and the one.

The next one is the parable of the lost coin. Those two are a bit shorter, four verses and three verses. And then the bulk of the chapter is spent discussing the parable of the lost son. As oftentimes it's called, we probably know it better as the parable of the prodigal son. But the prodigal son, the wasteful son, is not the only one in the story.

But those are the three that are included here in this chapter. They're grouped together. And I want to deal with them together, since they have a similar message and a similar focus. Now, verses 1 through 3, we have a bit of a setting that's offered. Verse 1, that all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to him to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained of saying, this man receives sinners and eats with them. And so he spoke this parable of them saying. And so what follows is based upon the fact that they were rather astounded, if not condemnatory, about the fact that he freely and openly met with sinners.

You remember how he went to the homes of some who were even tax collectors, horrors of horrors. And after all, when he came to the earth, every last person who walked, and for that matter, everyone on earth today, would follow the category of being a sinner. And Jesus Christ was sent. And God gave his only begotten Son that we might have eternal life, might have salvation, ultimately.

Now, we need to remember that each parable here is about salvation. Jesus reached out to those who were sinners rather than the self-righteous leaders of the day, because they were blinded, obviously. He told them that many times. The Pharisees identified any person who did not observe the law as they viewed the law, all of the extra regulations, like you can carry the weight of X number of figs on Sabbath day and no more. They viewed anyone who did not keep that law as being a sinner.

But those were the people Jesus freely mingled with. He did not despise them. He loved them. He served them. He reached out to them. He healed them. He forgave them their sins. But these parables reveal the depth of God's love as he reaches out to human beings who do not deserve a thing from God.

You see, by keeping law, God is not indebted to us. He does not have to give us eternal life. By keeping law, we demonstrate that we believe in a way of life. He has freely given us forgiveness, and we want to live by the way of life that He says His people should follow.

When God called us, we didn't deserve a thing from Him. And we still don't. What we deserved was death. And God is in the business of forgiving. And maybe we need to remember that. Humanly, we tend to be in the business of punishing. But God is in the business of forgiving and writing off debts. Well, the first two parables, Jesus emphasizes the loss sustained by an owner.

And He also speaks of the owner's anxious and desperate search for what was lost. One time it was a lost sheep, one time it's a lost coin. And then demonstrates or describes the great joy that was found whenever that lost was found and returned. And then the third parable focuses on the same thing, but also takes a rather insightful look into what the lost son, the prodigal son, went through as he woke up.

Or I love the way the old King James says, When He came unto Himself, when the lights came on, when He had, I think a counselor would call it an agogic moment when they are lightened and their eyes can see. But it also tells the story of this other son, this other son. The prodigal's repentant heart is contrasted with the resentful attitude of the older brother. And hopefully we can always identify ourselves with the prodigal son, that we woke up one day and we came back and got us welcomed us back.

And may God help us to never identify with the older son who looked down his righteous nose and condemned the one that came back late. Well, let's go ahead and survey these parables beginning in verse 3.

Verse 3, What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses, one of them does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. And so verse 7 tells us what we're talking about. We're not talking about sheep. We're talking about human beings. We're talking about the great joy in heaven and the great joy that should be here on earth whenever a sinner's eyes are opened and they come back and they're brought back. And God carries this on his shoulders as well. Each of these will end with this type of a thought that there's great rejoicing with the return of one who was lost. Alright, just four verses there. Very short. Next parable, verse 8.

Or what woman having ten silver coins? If she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it. And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together saying, Rejoice with me, for I have found the peace which I lost. Verse 10, likewise, I say unto you, There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. And we often times are the baptism. Often times with a prayer with the laying on hands. We'll make reference to that. That we realize that there is joy in heaven. The angels of God are shouting and praising together with God and Jesus Christ.

That one person has been called repentance. And the baptism and the prayer with the laying on hands is pretty much the culmination of the beginning of a process that continues throughout life. So we can relate with these. If we had a hundred head of livestock and lost one. I remember as a lad, I don't think we ever had a hundred head of cattle. But we had oftentimes 60, 70, 80, I think as many as 90. And every day in the wintertime, get home from school, that was the job. Go load up some hay. Go somewhere, feed the cattle. Go find, if it was bitterly cold, go find a windbreak along some cedar trees. And bust the bales and kick them off. We also counted. And there were many times when there was one not there.

And it was amazing how my dad had worked with those cattle so long that he could pretty much piece out well, you know, he could describe. Well, the cow with thus and such markings. Now they were all herford and to most people they all looked the same. Brown with white faces. But he could describe, okay, yeah, that's right. That's right. That one's not here. And so we'd go looking. We'd go looking.

And many times find one found a windbreak somewhere and had given birth to a calf. Once in a while, we'd find one that had died. And just a few times one had fallen prey to a pack of coyotes and at any rate. But you stop, you go, you look, you find. Same with a coin. Something of great value. You have 10 of them. You lose one. You drop everything to go find that one.

Well, verse 11. Then he said a certain man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, Father, give me this portion of goods that falls to me. So he divided them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. Marginal note, wasteful living. If you receive an inheritance, I mean, how many times do we hear stories of someone who gets a great inheritance or someone who wins a lottery? And how quickly it can, you can turn around and they're broke. They have nothing. They've spent it. They had a lot of good time. Maybe they bought a lot of neat stuff. But it's gone. It's gone. And you can't get that back. Verse 14, but when he had spent all, there arose a certain famine in that land and he began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. Now, again, we're talking here from the point of view of the Jewish audience. Jesus speaking to Jews. And I think we probably miss a lot how demeaning, how devastating this is to have ruined your entire life. That all you can do is go out there and slop the hogs, feed the pigs. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate and no one gave him anything. Verse 17, but when he came to himself, he said, How many of my father's hired servants have bred enough and to spare and I perish with hunger? I will arise and go to my father and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants. He just wanted to go home where he had a place to stay and where he had some food and had something to do. We have a man who has come to the point of repentance. His eyes are open. And you know, he's not playing the blame game as humanly we often do. He didn't blame it on his older brother. He didn't blame it on his parents. He didn't blame it on his society. One of the great manifestations of God's hand in our lives when we're called is, we realize, I am accountable. I am responsible for my decisions and my actions. And he began to take responsibility. And he wanted to go home. And he not only wanted to go home, he started taking steps headed that way. And he arose and came to his father. Now, some of you may remember, it wasn't that many issues back in the Good News magazine. Mr. Weber, I love his series of articles. I love the way he can reach out to the heart. But Mr. Weber, in an article, spoke about this prodigal son and highlighted how the father every day looked for that son to come back.

But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. The father every day looked for that son. His heart cried out and yearned for the day he'd look. And on the horizon, there comes a somebody. And lo and behold, that somebody that day was his younger son. And he wasn't in the punishment game. He ran and had compassion, fell on his neck and kissed him. Verse 21, the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in Your sight. And you know the statement here reminds me of David's psalm of repentance after the sin with Bathsheba and all the events around that, the plotting of the murder of Uriah. He wrote psalm 51, and he said, Father, against you and you only have I sinned and done this evil in Your sight. And he took the sin as his own. He didn't try to blame it on anyone else. And there's a lesson for us as well, because humanly, we like to play the blame game. From the very beginning, we see that back in Genesis 3.

I didn't do it. This woman made me do it. I didn't do it. The serpent made me do it. And humanly, we play the blame game instead of honestly before God saying, I'm the problem. Forgive me. Receive me back. Father, I have sinned against heaven and in Your sight and am no longer worthy to be called Your son.

Of course, the Father probably thought, now You're worthy to be called my son. But the Father said to His servants, bring out the best robe and put it on Him. Put a ring on His hand and sandals on His feet. Bring the fatted calf here and kill it. Let us eat and be merry. For this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found, and they began to be merry.

That would make a wonderful story if it were just in there. But we have a whole other dimension to look at. Verse 25, now, His older son, remember He had the man had two sons. The older son was in the field. The older son obviously wasn't looking every day at the horizon to see if his little brother was making his way back home. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, Your brother has come, and because he has received Him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.

Did he rejoice? No, we've read this story before, haven't we? But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore, his father came out and pleaded with him because the father had gotten his younger son back. And now he wanted to go out and see if he could bring his older son back too. Pleaded with him. So he answered and said, Father, lo, these many years I have been serving you, I never transgressed your commandment at any time. And yet you never gave me a young goat. He said, you gave him a fatted calf, or you didn't even give me a little goat. That I may make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours, let's read that again. As soon as this son of yours, he couldn't even call him his own little brother. As soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood, you know, as students of human nature, methinks that perhaps he was a bit more interested in getting some of the inheritance money back than he was in getting his little brother back. Your livelihood with Harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him. And he said to him, son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found. So looking at these three, the most obvious similarity is that something of value has been lost. A sheep, a coin, a son. It binds these three together. Each of these represent sinners who ran a miserable state of having cut themselves off from God, by the way that they lived their life.

But Jesus Christ was teaching. There's always hope. There's always hope. And to any family who has weird little ones, and you've seen them reach a certain point, and they go off, let us never give up hope. Let us never stop praying for them. Let us remember God is not through with any of them. He's not through with us yet either. When God first called us, we didn't deserve one thing. And we still don't deserve a thing. What we deserve, what we brought on ourselves is the death penalty. But again, God is in the process of paying that through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. In the first two parables, the loss is sustained by the owner. And it shows the owner's anxious, desperate search for what was lost, and then great joy when the lost is found. In the third parable, we focus on people. And it has the same theme. It gives us an insightful look into what the lost son went through, and then what went wrong with the thinking of the older son. But in each case, the owner continued to view that which was lost as having the greatest value, and began to look for it. He began to search. Does an owner of a flock of sheep ever get to where that they carelessly write off even one? I don't think so. As someone who has a lot of valuable coins, they forget to where that one's lost, and they just forget about it. Now, and certainly, losing one human being, we never forget about that, because God is the one who said... And... used to come easier. 1 Timothy 2, verse 4. God, who will have all to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. That's what God wants. He began a spiritual creation back in Genesis. Let us make man in our image after our likeness. And that speaks of being of the God-kind and the eternity that God has in mind. And would any parent forget one child that is lost? I don't think so. The owners in the first two searched diligently. The father in the third daily watched and longed for the return of that wasteful son. But you see, in these three parables, another commonality is that God is the one who lost a sheep. And God is the one who lost a coin. And God is the one who lost a son and had another son who needed to have his eyes opened as well.

We'll come back to Luke, but let's turn back to Isaiah 59. Isaiah 59.

And let's read verse 2. Isaiah 59 verse 2, where Isaiah, under inspiration, writes, But your iniquities have separated you from your God, kind of like a prodigal son once upon a time, who took what he had and went and wasted it and went down the life of sin and cut himself completely off from the family.

And your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. Well, let's back up a little to Isaiah 53, because here too, in this chapter, it speaks of how we, like sheep, have gone astray every last one of us. But God has a plan for that. Isaiah 53 verses 6 and 7.

He's talking in this chapter about Messiah, the one who would come as the Lamb of God and pay the price. The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened and not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. Isaiah 55. 55 verse 7. Verse 7, Yes, God's in the forgiveness business, and it would behoove us to learn to be in the same business. Sin separates us from God, and God is pictured as having held out by that which was lost something of the highest, greatest value and esteem. Even when we cut ourselves off from God by our own sins, he diligently watches long after and awaits our return. Jesus in His ministry said, seek and you shall find. But I think the greater lesson, all of these have to do with seeking and finding, and I think the greater lesson is that God the Father seeks those who are cut off, those who have become lost. He looks for those who will come to be saved and have a knowledge of the truth. Back to Luke, but this time let's notice Luke 19. Luke 19. Now another time we'll look at some of the other parables of salvation. But here's one beginning in verse... excuse me, I'm getting ahead of myself. Luke 19 verse 10. Luke 19 verse 10. This is the story of coming across Zacchaeus, chief tax collector, and going to his house. Verse 10. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. That's why He came. And that should be our modus operandi as well. God is pictured, Christ is pictured, as grieving and sinking, finding and then rejoicing over the return of His children.

The first two parables of chapter 15 describe God as seeking and finding, but you know sheep and coins do not repent. The third one brings in the specter of repentance. God seeks, God finds us, but it hinges upon repentance and steps back toward God. And then God runs out to meet us. Now, back to chapter 15. Luke 15. Each one ends with the thought that there's joy in heaven when a sinner returns. Verse 7, I say to you that likewise there's more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 just persons who need no repentance. Verse 10, likewise I say to you there also is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Verse 33, it was right that we should make merry and be glad for your brother was dead and is alive again and was lost and is found. When God in that sense finds a sinner, that person begins to experience a miracle of regeneration, of being changed, of being transformed. Like the prodigal, he or she comes to their senses and begins to recognize and to acknowledge sin, begins to cry out to God, and then takes steps to go in that direction of going back to God. In the prodigal son's life, we notice progressive steps of sin. We tend to get ourselves into sin by stages and then we tend to get ourselves out with God's help in stages as well. But sin always destroys everything that it touches. The prodigal son had everything. He was given an inheritance as a young man. What could have been had he had his wits about him, but it wouldn't have made as good a story as this. He had everything, but he walked down the path of sin. He rebelled against his heavenly Father is what we're really talking about. He wanted total complete independence and he got it. He squandered everything that he had. He ended up in a most desperate condition. He ended up slopping hogs, feeding the pigs, and cried out. That's a vivid picture of where sin always leads. It always destroys. I had a most fascinating conversation, I'll just say, this year with someone traveling through.

He's from the West Coast. He's a member of the greater body of Christ. I'll just say that. But he was needing help. He was looking for a minister of the Church of God, anything. He didn't care. We shouldn't care either, I don't think.

He called me, left a message. When I got it, I called him and went and met him. He's dying of AIDS. He's dying of AIDS. It was a fascinating education because I said, I wish you'd educate me.

How does a person go down that path? The mantra of the gay lobby is, a person is born that way. And he says, then they're in denial. They don't understand. He said it almost always goes back to horrible abuse at a young age. And he explained things of age 7 to 15 in his own household that just totally... Satan would totally break down this concept of our anchor in life, the family, as it's intended to be. And so, he had to leave home and went out west, got into a lifestyle. And then he came to the church of God some years ago. And like I said to him, I said, the wonderful thing of God's forgiveness is that it doesn't matter what we've done. God wipes the past clean. But I said, it seems like all consequences aren't created equally. He says, I know. I've got a consequence that will cost me my life in due time. And so, anyhow, it was a fascinating insight into the steps into that lifestyle and the denial of those into it. I mean, there's the gay lobby that wants us to believe there's 10% of the population. Whereas maybe there are 2%. Maybe. And they want everyone to believe that God created them that way. But this man said, in their heart of hearts, they know. They were not created that way. They became that way because of what was done to them. And anyhow, just the denial. So, interesting. But the prodigal son, step by step into sin until he's in bondage, and then he has nothing to live for. And he decides, I want to go back home. Well, as there are steps into sin, there are steps out of sin. Luke 15 again, verse 17. But when he came to himself, you know, this speaks of the first step of the opening of the person's eyes. That moment of enlightenment. Or, as Saul, who became the Apostle Paul, these scales fell from his eyes, which caused physical blindness, but also represented his eyes were closed. He couldn't see. He was the Pharisee of the Pharisee. Up to that point, he could not see what God was doing. The opening of eyes. Sin has the ability to blind us to our own condition. There are those embroiled in sin and lifestyles of sin who deceive themselves into thinking they're happy when in reality they're miserable. That's something else the man said. They are in absolute misery. When it comes down to it in their heart of hearts, they are miserable. With sin, we can imagine we're free, but in reality, we're in absolute slavery. We are shackled, and the first step out of sin is a recognition of our blindness, a repudiation of Satan's lives, an awakening to reality, and a desire to take steps out of that sin, that lifestyle that has cut us all from God. The second step is honestly confess sin. We see that in verses 18 and 19.

The young man said, I will arise and go to my Father, and will say to Him, Father, I stand against heaven and before You. I'm no longer worthy to be called Your Son. Make me as one of Your hired servants. The Son did not speak of so well, just write it off while I was just sowing youthful wild oats. He didn't blame it on Father, Mother, Community, older Brother. He took ownership. He blamed no one but Himself. And then the third step, the third point is to take steps in returning to God. Verse 20, He arose and came to His Father. Thinking about it doesn't bring someone back. All the good intentions of the world doesn't bring someone back. There are intentions and there are actions, and God is looking for actions. Confessing is one step, but unless then it's backed up by taking steps to return to God. It's of no value. But again, the story doesn't end there. We have an older son. He became angry. He was resentful at what the younger brother had done. And I suppose there was a degree of anger simmering there for a long time that came spewing out. We look at that, though. The older son became resentful toward the younger one, refused to come in as we read there in verses 29 and 30. In one sense, it would be easy to sympathize with him. You could see someone thinking, well, yeah, but I've stayed here in the family business or family whatever. I've remained here and I've listened and there are an awful lot of eyes already. And I've done everything Dad's done and I haven't sinned against. And you know what? It dawns on us that the older brother is like Pharisees. We've always been here. We've always obeyed. We're the great lawkeepers of all time. They were very proud of that heritage. At one point, I think it was in John 9, they said, we have Abraham our father. And that's when Jesus said before Abraham was, I am. And they went ballistic. They didn't see. Or did they? Sometimes. Sometimes there were those who did see. And Christ said, therefore, your sin remains because you do see. The older son represented the Pharisees. God help us that the older son does not represent us. Because in reality, we are the prodigal son. Well, what was wrong with the older son? Well, on one hand, he loved property more than people. He loved property more than people. I think he would have been happier had the inheritance money come back rather than his old brother. He became angry that the money had been squandered even though his little brother came back. We can only surmise and wonder, but the Bible doesn't tell us. Perhaps he viewed the little brother as a threat. Perhaps he thought, Dad will now take some of what is mine and give it to the little brother who blew it all. As if there would be something wrong with that. Thank God our older brother doesn't view us that way. Because that's a specter of this story too. We have an older brother who is so happy to see us when our eyes open. And we recognize what we've done. And we cry out to our father. And we ask forgiveness. And we start taking steps of repentance. We have an older brother who loves us so much that he went through all that he went through so that we can have life eternal.

The older brother, another specter here of his problem, was that he had an inflated estimate of himself. He was a man of great pride. And that pride led him to scorn the other. And we read there in verse 30 where he said, This son of yours. I think I have the wrong verse there, but you remember where we read that and I'm not seeing it right off. Oh, it is verse 30. I need extra giant print. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your likelihood. No, the father gave the boy an inheritance. No strings attached. Devoured it with harlots. You killed, you know, you, Dad, you're part of this problem too, in this boy's mind. You killed the fatted calf for him. Well, it was a young man of great pride. It's a young man. We don't know what their ages were. But he saw himself as the one who had always been there. He had been loyal. He had been hardworking. He had been obedient. Or so he thought. And yet we find that he too was rather blinded. He too was rather blinded. He saw himself as being something very important. And someone else's repentance and return as being unimportant. Luke 18. Luke 18. Verse 9 actually begins another one of these parables of salvation. We may look at somewhere down the line here in a number of weeks. But just notice verse 9. This is the story of the two men who went up to pray. Verse 9. Also, he spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. Kind of sounds like an older son back in chapter 15. He trusted in himself that they were righteous. The older brother was so sure he was righteous. He had always been obedient. He had always kept what his father had said. And despised others. He certainly looked down and despised his little brother. The older son pictures the Pharisees. The Pharisees trusted in themselves. They looked down upon others who were not as, quote, holy, unquote, as they were. And let us beware lest we look down on those who are not in God's church. And sometimes within the body of Christ, we even find that we can look down. We have those who look down on people who aren't of the same organization. Let us beware that we do not resent those God calls. Let us beware we do not resent those who come along later than we did. Let us remember that not God is not through with any human being. And that includes us. Yet, He's not yet through with any of us. But the message of Jesus Christ was a message of salvation. And salvation is offered to those who have that moment of enlightenment. They awake and see themselves for what they are. Cry out to God for forgiveness and take steps to return.

The prodigal son embodies that person and God help us to identify with him. The older son pictures Pharisees who saw themselves as the great law keepers of that time. They were faithful and obedient and strict, but they were blind to their own pride. The law pointed toward Jesus Christ and toward eternal salvation. In this book by Boyce, there's one quick quote on these parables. He says, We are never so like God as when we rejoice at the salvation of sinners. We are never so like Satan as when we despise those who are thus converted and think ourselves superior to them. I think it says a mouthful. The older son refused to recognize the prodigal as even being his own brother. Your son is this way. The father, in essence, said, Let's celebrate. Let's rejoice because your brother was dead and now he's alive. He was lost and now he's come back.

Let's consider another parable.

Matthew 20 This first half has to do with the parable of the vineyard. As I've mentioned before, I prefer to call it the parable of the eleventh hour because that tells us just immediately. Several of these have to do with somebody having a vineyard. But the parable of the eleventh hour tells us exactly which one we're talking about. This parable we have rightly viewed as a parable teaching that there are various principles of judgment, one of which is time. God judges us based upon what we do with the time that he gives us for a Christian calling.

It also reminds us we don't enter the kingdom of God based on seniority. Once again, this is a parable of salvation. And salvation is a free gift. And we don't have to run the Christian race X number of years in order to earn. In fact, we can't earn salvation. It's a gift.

A larger number of years should give us every advantage in our calling, but not necessarily so because, you see, there are a lot of landmines out there. The cares of this world might trip us up and choke us. We might be tripped up by overmuch grief. There are landmines out there. But it should give us every advantage because we have more time.

Chapter 20 verse 1, the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now, when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, the denarius was viewed as being basically a day's wage. This is the only time it mentions how much he was going to pay them for their work. A denarius, a day. He sent them into his vineyard, and he went out about the third hour. So, by the way, the Jews reckoned, we would envision starting at 6 a.m. Third hour is 9 a.m. Sixth hour is noon. Ninth hour is 3 in the afternoon. Eleventh hour is 5 p.m. And quitting time is 6 p.m. Long day. He went out about the third hour and saw other standing idol in the marketplace and said to them, You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right with you, I will give you. Whatever is right, I will give you. So they went. Again, the sixth hour, again, the ninth hour, and did likewise. Verse 6, and about the eleventh hour, he went out and found other standing idol and said to them, Why have you been standing here idle all day? They said to him, Because no one hired us. He said to them, You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right, you will receive. So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first. So he's going to begin with those who only worked one hour and progress to those who worked twelve hours.

So when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received the denarius. Hmm, puzzling! But you see, the denarius represents salvation, eternal life. And God is the one, after all, who said, When Moses wanted to see him in his glory, He said, I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy. And God can give what He has, however He decides to do so. But when the first came, so these are the people who worked twelve hours. When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more, and they likewise received a denarius. And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner. Uh-oh. Let us be careful. We don't see our name written here on the margin.

Well, I've been around the church for fifty-seven years. I've been around for forty-three years. And these other people, there's been around three years. A lot of lessons here in this story. But, you know, seniority is not in God's plan. There might be seniority in where you work. There might be certain benefits after X number of years, but there's not a seniority plan in the calling of God.

Verse 12, saying, these last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us! Uh-oh. I think pride's woven into this story as well. Equal to us who had borne the burden and heat of the day. But He answered one of them and said, Friend, I'm doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Well, of course they did. Take what is yours and go your way.

I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your I evil because I am good? So the last will be first, and the first last, for many are called, if you are chosen. Interesting that we find similar statements bracketing this parable. If we look at the last verse of chapter 19, but many who are first will be last and the last first. And then the story actually ended as we read in verse 16 with the same statement.

Who are the last? Who are the first? Well, the parable tells of an owner who has a vineyard, who needed laborers for that day. At the beginning of the day, he hired all that he could, sent them out early to work. He agreed with them to pay them a denarius.

He went out and looked for more at 9 and at 12 and at 3 and even at 5. And he sent them out. He didn't say a denarius, but he said, I'll give you what's right. None of these workers knew what they would be paid.

Now, as we look at this story, we realize analogies break down along the way most of the time. If this were a real-life situation, we would have some immediate problems with that business. Here's a businessman who pays people who work 12 hours the same as he pays those who work 1 hour.

Okay, we're going to have a problem. And also, we realize people talk, employees talk. More hour would be out the window when they realize, you know, I worked excellent with hours. You got paid the same as me. You know how people will rumble and mumble and let us be careful we don't cast stones.

Well, the same story may be told of us in another way. And, you know, it seems unjust in the way the workers are paid. And yet, the owner is right in stating that I can pay whatever I want. I can do with what is mine, anything I want to. Well, the landowner is God the Father. And he's in the business of calling people to be a part of his family.

And he calls people at different times. Yes, time is a part of the specter of this parable, and rightfully so. Some are called and look at the Apostle John. He may have had a Christian race of approaching seventy years before his ended. But then look at James' brother of John, son of Zebedee. He may have had twelve years, maybe, at the most. And there in Acts 12, he's killed with the sword. One has seventy years, another one has twelve.

And we've all known people. If you've been around the Church of God for a while, you've known some who thirty, forty, fifty years under the belt of the Church of God, their life ends. They're awaiting the time of the resurrection. Sometimes we have those who are called to the church and repent and are baptized, but it is then two years later.

Maybe less. Their life ends. And they too sleep in the grave, awaiting the salvation that God has promised to them. Let's look at this parable in the context of the first three. The first three came about as an answer of Christ to the scribes and Pharisees who condemned Him for eating and spending time with sinners. Jesus during His ministry even went to Samaria. Remember how the woman of Samaria was surprised that He would come and have anything to do with her, a woman of Samaria?

But Jesus came to prepare His own people for the fact that the calling of God was going to start going to all the world. And we see in the early chapters of the book of Acts that that was a trial for the church. It was a Jewish church almost exclusively to begin with. It was a challenge for them to realize God is calling other peoples, and like Peter was shown through the sheet that came down, that you don't call any man common or unclean. You don't call any man common or unclean.

There would be those who come along later when compared to the house of Judah. Now, God began working long ago with Abraham and the children of Israel. And this remnant, the Jews of Christ's day, were very proud of that heritage. But with the ministry of Jesus Christ, God began calling various ones to His eternal family.

Now, Romans 2, I think we're through there in Matthew, but Romans 2. Paul wrote the church at Rome. Rome was pretty much a mishmash of people, a mixed salad of all kinds of peoples from far and wide, largely a Gentile area, but you had a little nucleus of Jews.

And in the book of Romans, he hadn't been there yet. He wanted to come. He wanted to bring about a certain gift for them. He wrote in such a way as though he were their pastor. He certainly was the Apostle, had oversight of that area. And in the first chapter, he jumps right on the Gentiles with both feet. As far as the world around us, everything you look at, you have the evidence of this all-powerful Creator God. But then in chapter 2, he turns to the Jews. He turns to his own people, because he was of the house of Judah, even though he was a Benjamite. That was a part of the house of Judah. And in verse 1, therefore, you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge and other, you condemn yourself for you who judge, practice the same things.

Years ago, many of us remember Herbert Armstrong would say, those who accuse are guilty of the accusation. I wonder if he got it from this verse. There's a lot of good common sense, horse sense behind that. And that is just the frailty of human nature. You see different ones accuse, and when you look behind the scenes, they are the ones guilty of the accusation. Verse 2, but we know the judgment of God, or that the judgment of God, is according to the truth against those who practice such things.

And do you think this, O man, you who judge, those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? And I'll let you go on and read this section. We have in chapters 9 and 10 and 11 Paul describing how God was grafting others into the stock of Israel and spiritually becoming the Israel of God, regardless of what people they were.

Now, in Boyce's commentary, or his book, let me just read a little bit here from pages 60-61 on this. He says, but instead of remembering that what they were and had accomplished would do entirely the grace of God, they began to suppose that the benefits of their position were really due to their own efforts. Now, this is going back to the thought of the parable of the 11th hour. A little later, he says, In each, the faithful, hardworking people are resentful of the owner's generosity to those who deserve less as they envision it. The root problem is envy. The root problem of the Pharisee and the tax collector is pride.

It's a problem for any who think that because they have served God faithfully for however many years they deserve something from God. We never deserve God's favors. If we think we do, we are in danger of losing them entirely. Look at this parable, the 11th hour, and we can draw three lessons. First of all, God is in debt to no man.

God is in debt to no man. All of these workers worked for however many hours. Those who worked all day long thought they had earned something more. Another lesson is that God cares for people more than things. God cares for people more than He cares for things. He's not like the older brother of the prodigal son who was more concerned about the inheritance that had been lost than his little brother returning. God's in the business of bringing all to salvation. And He came looking as this landowner.

He came looking and here were individuals. And each one would have had his own needs. And each may have had their own family. And so He chose to make an investment.

Even though they worked half a day, or a third of the day, or a twelfth of the day, He paid them well and made an investment in their lives. And God makes lots of investments in our lives as well. And then thirdly, let's never lose sight of God's salvation, God's gift of salvation. As He said here, many who are first will be last and the last first. And God says, I will have mercy upon whom I have mercy.

It is a gift. Salvation is the gift of God. We can never earn it. We certainly don't deserve it. So as we summarize these, actually four, and there are three more we'll come back to another time. As we summarize these, regardless of how far we go astray, God desperately seeks to find all who have strayed. Yes, I stopped my clock. It had eight seconds. I can take a hint. It doesn't have to yell at me. Regardless of how we go astray, God desperately seeks to find all who have strayed.

Another thought, restoration to God like the prodigal hinges upon heartfelt repentance, genuine confession, and steps to return. Another thought from these parables, let us always rejoice as someone returns. Always rejoice. Another thought, let us remember we are the ones in debt to God. We can't work our way out of that debt. His salvation, His mercy is freely given. Another thought, humility. Humility will take us down the path of salvation. Anything from this last parable, we can also summarize and say, let us rejoice.

If you've been sitting here in the body of Christ for a few decades, let us rejoice. God has given us more time to work on self, more time to work on some of the sins, weaknesses, the tendencies that we all have. He's given us more time to work out our own salvation. Have a wonderful day. Wonderful Sabbath, everyone.