Southern Christian
University
Matthew, Mark,
Luke, & John
Class Session 09
James A. Turner
We begin with Matthew 18:15
for this Class Session. And if thy brother sin against thee, go
show him his fault between thee and him alone: If
he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. Think how many matters would be settled in a
very peaceful way if all of us would do according to the instruction here in
verse fifteen. If a brother has done us
wrong, we are under responsibility to go and show him how he has done wrong, and
as stated here, if he hear thee,
thou hast gained thy brother.
Sometimes when we go to show him he has done wrong, we may find out that
he has not done anything wrong. It may
be that we have just interpreted his motives in the wrong way. It may be that he thought that he was doing
the best thing for us when he did what he did.
But, anyway, there is the personal responsibility. We are not to go around slandering him, and
telling everybody how bad he has treated us.
But we are to go to him in person and say, look, brother, I believe you
did me wrong here. And if the man is the
kind of man that he ought to be, that ought to settle the matter. But verses sixteen and seventeen tell us what
is to be done if he does not hear you personally. But
if he hear thee not, take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two
witnesses or three every word may be established. So I take it from the latter part of verse
sixteen, that would mean those two or three witnesses would hear the matter and
would raise some questions as to whether or not he was ready to make things
right, and, if so, that would settle it.
But if that does not settle it, if he is still not ready to do what is
right, then verse seventeen applies.
And
if he refuse to hear them, tell it to the church. And if he refuse to hear the church, also let
him be unto thee as the Gentile and the publican. This is the second time that Matthew has used
the word church. Remember in Matthew
chapter sixteen verses eighteen and nineteen, he used the word church and kingdom
interchangeably. Here he uses the word church twice in verse seventeen. If
he refuse to hear the church, also let
him be unto thee as the Gentile and publican. Surely that would mean that the church would
withdraw from a man who had done a brother wrong and would not repent of his
wrongdoing. The Jewish people counted
the Gentiles as a very unclean people.
They thought that it was even wrong to go into the house of a
Gentile, and, of course, they hated the
tax collectors, and so Jesus chose those two.
He is talking to Jewish people so
they would understand that that meant to withdraw fellowship from them.
Matthew 18:18, Verily I say unto you, What things
soever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven:
And what things soever ye loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Remember that the Holy Spirit was to guide
the apostles into all truth. And when
the Holy Spirit guided them into truth, they taught what the Holy Spirit had
given them. Then it was binding on earth
and it was binding in heaven. Remember
John chapter sixteen, in that last discourse that Jesus gave his disciples
before the cross, he said, It is
expedient that I go away, for if I go not away, the Holy Spirit will not come. But if I go away, the Holy Spirit will come. And he went ahead to tell what the Holy
Spirit would do, that it would guide the
apostles into all truth. The Holy Spirit
would be taking the word of Christ and declaring it to them, as given in on
down from verses ‑‑ begins with sixteen and verse seven, I believe,
and on down through about fifteen. Jesus
said, speaking of the Holy Spirit, he shall not speak of himself. But
whatsoever things he shall hear these shall he speak, and he shall take of me
and shall declare it unto you. So
all of the teaching of the apostles is just as authoritative as that which is
spoken by Jesus during his personal ministry.
And so whatever they taught on earth is bound in heaven and whatsoever
ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. And remember that we are not to try to make
laws for God, but we are to live according to the instruction of the New
Testament, nothing more and nothing less.
And especially is that the case
in respect to what we are to do in the matter of worship. The Lord has given us adequate instruction,
and we are not to come short of those five items of worship on the first day of
the week, nor are we to try to add to and try to make something else as a matter
of worship when the Lord has not made it.
Verse nineteen, Again I say
unto you, If two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they
shall ask, it shall be done of my Father who is in heaven. So there is great power in prayer. For
where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of
them. That is a wonderful promise given there in verse
twenty. It does not take a large
audience of people to worship God in a very acceptable way, but when only a few
people are gathered together sincerely to worship God and worship him in spirit and in truth according
to his instruction, then verse twenty gives the promise that Christ will be in
the midst of them. Where two or three are gathered together
in my name, there I am in the midst of them. Now, some few use this in the wrong way to
justify the idea of a family meeting by itself to worship. But remember that the Bible commands that we
assemble together for worship on the first day of the week (I Corinthians 16:1-2,
11:33,
Acts 20:7; Hebrews 10:24-31). If we assemble together for worship, and there
ought to be a hundred present, but there are only six or seven, and they
worship the Lord sincerely, the Lord is still going to be in the midst of
them.
Beginning with verse twenty‑one,
we have the parable of the unforgiving servant, and this is a great parable,
and it's recorded only by Matthew. The
parable on forgiveness is a parable that needs to be taught in every church
throughout the whole wide world. And
there are surely some good lessons that each of us need to learn from the study
of this parable. Jesus gave this parable
as a result of Peter's question, Then
came Peter, and said to him, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and
I forgive him? Until seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee,
Until seven times:
But, Until seventy times seven.
Don’t you think that Peter thought that he was really coming with a big number
when he said seven times? I believe I
read that according to the custom of the Jewish people, they didn't think that
a man needed to forgive any person more than three times. But here if that be the case, Peter doubles
it and adds one to it. How oft shall my brother sin against me,
and I forgive him? Until seven
times. But the Lord said I say not unto
thee, Until seven times:
But, Until seventy times seven.
That would be four hundred and ninety times. Do you think the Lord was trying to set a
maximum when he said seventy times seven?
I believe we recognize that if you forgive the same person that many times,
you would be in such a habit of forgiving him, that you would just continue to
do so. And there is to be no limit to
our forgiveness. As long as a person who
has done wrong repents and asks for forgiveness, we are to forgive them. In Luke chapter seventeen verses three and
four, Luke records that Jesus said,
If thy brother sin against thee, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive
him. And if he sins against you seven
times in a day, and turns and says, I repent; forgive him.
So forgiveness is not to be
limited to a number of times. When
anyone does wrong and they repent, we are to forgive them of that
wrongdoing. And then Jesus gives the
parable. Therefore
is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, who would make a
reckoning with his servants. And when he
had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him that owed him ten thousand
talents. But forasmuch as he had not
wherewith to pay, his Lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and
children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and
worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And the Lord of that servant being moved with
compassion, released him and forgave him of the debt. Now, consider the meaning of this
parable. One was brought before the
king. The king was making a reckoning
with his servants, and when he began to reckon with one of his servants, or
slaves, he found that one owed him ten thousand talents. I am reading from the American Standard version
of 1901. And I believe it is the same in
the New American Standard Bible. It says
that this talent was probably worth about a thousand dollars. I have seen it estimated up to sixteen
hundred dollars, but let us just count it to a thousand. So a thousand dollars, and he owed the king
ten thousand talents. Multiply a
thousand times ten thousand, and you come out with ten million dollars. And if the man was having to pay interest on
that debt, like so many American people are paying, he would not even be able
to pay the interest on the debt, much less the debt!
For instance, if you have a lot
of charge cards, you are probably paying about eighteen percent interest on
those charge cards. Do you know what the
interest would be on ten million dollars for a year? It would be one million, eight hundred
thousand dollars for just the interest.
And there is no way that an ordinary man could begin to get out from
under a debt like that. The Revised
Standard Version that I have has in the footnote that a talent was more than
fifteen years' wages for a laborer. Now,
fifteen years times ten million dollars, that would come to a hundred and fifty
thousand years, or fifteen hundred lifetimes at a hundred years each. So consider what this servant thought. In verse twenty‑six, The servant therefore fell down, and
worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. There was absolutely no way that an ordinary
person could pay that kind of debt. It
would be very hard for the average well‑established business to begin to
pay the interest on a debt like that, much less an individual. Who is
represented then as the king who is making a reckoning with his servants? Surely the king in the parable is God, and
the ten thousand talents then represents the debt of every unredeemed sinner,
that he owes a debt that he cannot pay!
Verse twenty‑six shows that
the servant did not have any understanding of his great debt, and that is probably true of nearly every
unredeemed sinner. In fact, many who
have obeyed the gospel do not recognize that they would have such a debt, were
it not for the fact that Christ has taken and removed that burden for us and
has forgiven us of the debt. So Christ
has taken that debt upon himself for those who have obeyed him, that unpayable
debt. Remember Romans 6:23, For the wages of sin is death, but the free
gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Salvation is a gift. It cannot be earned! And there is no way, that regardless of how
humble and how kind and how reverent a person is, that on his own he can pay
the debt. But sometimes it looks like
some of us as church members think that somehow or other that we haven't done
very much that is really wrong, and all that we have got to do is, Lord, just give us a little time and we
will pay thee all. We need to be moved
with humility. Do you remember that
parable of the servant, as given in Luke chapter seventeen, that how the master
would say to the servant when he comes in from the field to serve me and then
you can eat. And Jesus concluded the
parable by saying after you have done all that is bidden you, then say, we are still unprofitable servants. So that is where we sit. All
have sinned and come short of the glory of God,
Romans 3:23. The debt is a debt beyond our ability to pay,
but we can thank God and sing with real gladness that he paid it all, that
Jesus took that debt of sin upon him when he died on the cross. And by our obedience to him, he paid that
debt for us. But notice why this parable
is usually referred to as the parable of the unmerciful servant. As beginning with verse twenty‑seven, And the Lord of that servant being moved
with compassion, released him, and forgave him of the debt. Now, that is what God and Christ have done
for us. They have released us and have
forgiven us, every redeemed sinner.
Every person who has obeyed the gospel of Christ and continued to try to
follow Christ closely fits in that category of “Jesus Paid It All” And we need to sing such songs as that one
with real understanding and with hearts of joy and gladness for what the Lord
has done for us. released him and forgave him the debt. Remember that one of the primary differences
between the Old Testament law and the New Testament law, as we have stressed
already from Hebrews chapter 8:12, For their sins and their iniquities will I
remember no more. When sins are
forgiven under the law of Christ, they
are not brought against a person anymore.
Now, if he sins again and does not repent, then those sins are against
him, but once sins are forgiven under
the law of Christ, those sins are never brought against a person again. Remember that was not true under the Old
Testament religion. They even had that
annual day of atonement on the tenth day of the seventh month when the high
priest had to go into the most holy place of the tabernacle. Leviticus chapter
sixteen gives the details of all those things that were to be done on that day.
Verse twenty‑eight is about
the unmerciful servant. But that servant went out. The one that had been released, the king had
had compassion on him and had released him, just canceled out his debt, forgave
him the debt, that debt that he could not have even started paying the interest
on. But
that servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, who owed him a
hundred shillings:
And he laid hold on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay what
thou owest. Do you see his
bad spirit? He goes out and takes him by
the throat and says pay what you owe me, like he was going to choke him to
death if he did not pay it. And note
that he owed him only a hundred shillings.
The footnote for shillings in my Bible says, “half pence or seventeen
cents”. And so a hundred shillings would
be seventeen dollars. And this man that
had been forgiven of that enormous debt would not think about forgiving his
fellow servant who owed him such a small debt.
Took him by the throat
saying, Pay what thou owest. So his fellow servant fell down and besought him. He did the same thing. This man who has received the compassion and
been released of his debt, did the same thing that this fellow servant is doing. So
his fellow servant fell down, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me,
and I will pay thee all. He did
the same thing that this man who had been forgiven of his enormous debt had
pleaded. Have
patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Well, even though a shilling was counted as a
days' labor for an ordinary worker at that time it still would not be but a
hundred days' work. And so that debt was
surely possible for him to pay. What
does this represent, this seventeen dollars?
I believe some reckon it as being worth twenty cents. So let us move it up to twenty dollars. What does this reference represent? Wouldn't that represent what we may be called
on to forgive others for? Think of it in
comparison, that enormous debt that no ordinary person could even pay the
interest on, much less pay the debt, but here a small debt that a man could
reasonably pay. But no, sir, he would
not show him any mercy. He would not
show him any compassion like the king had showed compassion to him. Verse thirty, And
he would not:
But went and cast him into prison, till he should pay that which was
due. So when his fellowservants saw what
was done, they were exceeding sorry, and came and told unto their Lord all
that was done.
Those fellowservants surely did
the right thing when they told what this man, who had been forgiven of such an
enormous debt, and then he goes out and finds a fellowservant who owes such a
small debt and would not have any compassion on him. Then
his Lord called unto him, and said unto him, Thou wicked servant. So Jesus is saying that a child of God who
will not forgive a brother when he repents is a wicked servant.
Then his Lord called him, unto him, and saith unto him, Thou wicked
servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou besoughtst me:
Shouldest not thou also have had mercy on thy fellowservant, even as I
had mercy on thee? But he was not
ready to show any mercy. And his Lord was wroth, and delivered him
to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due. So shall also my heavenly Father do unto you,
if ye forgive not every one his brother from your hearts. Not hypocritical forgiveness, but true
forgiveness. And so shall also my heavenly Father do unto you. In other words, all that enormous debt that
you cannot pay is back on you again.
And, please, at the end of verse thirty‑five, write down in your
Bible James 2:13, and let that reference speak
to you also. In James 2:13,
James says that we ought to live as being under a law of liberty, and that judgment is without mercy, that is
verse thirteen, to him who have
shown no mercy, and mercy glorieth against judgment.
Well, do any of us want to stand
before God in judgment and be judged strictly on the basis of justice? Or do we want to stand before the Lord in
such a way that we can receive mercy? If
we have not shown mercy to others, then we will be doomed in that day of judgment. Judgment
is without mercy to him that hath shown no mercy. Now I think maybe some go to the other
extreme in respect to this that you are to forgive a brother whether he repents
or not. I am not sure that that is the
case. Come back to Luke 17:3‑4,
If thy brother sin against thee,
rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day,
and turns again, saying, I repent; forgive him. And let me ask the question? Does God forgive sin unless the sinner
repents? And I believe each one would
say no, that there must be repentance before there is forgiveness of sin. Does God expect man to do that which he does
not do himself? I just do not believe
that he does. Now, if we are going to go
to either extreme, then I say go ahead and forgive the brother whether he even
thinks about repenting after you have told him and after two or three others
have talked to him and after it is been carried before the church. It would be better to go to that extreme than
not forgive a brother when he has repented.
That surely would be true. It is
also true that regardless of what a person has done against us, that we are not
to harbor ill will and hate toward the person.
We should desire that that person should repent and we should be ready
to take those steps on our part to encourage such. And surely if there is any signs of
repentance, we ought to be ready to forgive the person. I do not like to see brethren trying to force
people to go up and make a confession in church. If a man does wrong and he comes back and
shows himself to be very humble, I think we ought to be ready to not press a
man to an extreme point. We ought to be
ready to grant forgiveness when we see that he's making a real effort to make
things right again.
Chapter Nineteen.
And
it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these words, he departed from Galilee, and came into the borders of Judaea beyond the Jordan. I am beginning here with chapter
nineteen. Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem
for that final trial entry and for that final week of his ministry. And thus Matthew says it came to pass when
Jesus had finished these words, evidently referring to the parable of the
unforgiving servant, that he departed from Galilee and
came to the borders of Judaea beyond the Jordan. Mark's account reads with a little more
clarity than Matthew's account in the latter part to that verse, came into the
borders of Judaea beyond the Jordan. Mark has borders of Judaea
and beyond the Jordan. Judaea, of course, would be entering into
that territory, primarily that would be west of the Jordan river, but Mark's
account, and beyond the Jordan, that would be part of that area, of the two‑and‑a‑half
tribes that chose their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan during the
days of Moses. And that territory was
allotted to the two‑and‑a‑half tribes, the tribe of Reuben
and the tribe of Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh. They had large herds of cattle, and they saw
that that territory was good territory for their cattle. That territory was what they had taken from
those kings on the east side of the Jordan,
and they requested of Moses that they wanted that territory.
At first Moses thought that they
were rebelling, and he really came down on them, but finally they got an opportunity
to tell him that they would be ready to crossover and make battle with the
other tribes until they had taken the land of Canaan, but they just wanted
their territory on the east side of the Jordan.
When Moses finally gave them an opportunity to answer, and they came
with that answer, he said it would be well if you will do that. But if not, be
sure your sins will find you out.
Well, when the time came with Joshua as their leader, they were surely
ready to do as they had promised Moses that they would do. They said to Joshua, we are not only ready to
do as we have promised, but we are ready to deal with those who will not do as
you instruct. And great multitudes followed him; and he healed them
there.
Matthew 19:3, And there came unto him, Pharisees trying
him, saying, Is it lawful for man to put away his wife for every cause?" These Pharisees, were holier than thou
fellows who thought that they were so righteous and so intelligent, and had so
much wisdom that they were not like other people, that they were far above the
average people, and they tried their best to ensnare Jesus with some of their
questions, and that is what they are trying to do here. They
came trying him, saying, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for
every cause? Notice how Jesus
answered. And he answered and said, Have ye not read, that he who made them
from the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a
man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife:
And the two shall become one flesh? Do you see that verses five and six is a
quotation from Genesis 2:24. Remember that before God made woman, he
brought before Adam all of the animals and all the creatures that God had
created for Adam to name. Adam was a
very intelligent being, and he gave names to all of those animals that God had
created.
How would you like to have a job
like that? To bring all those animals
before you that you had never seen before and have the responsibility of naming
them? Surely Adam had great
intelligence, and with that great intelligence, he must have observed that for
all those cattle and animals that God had created that there was male and
female, but that none of them were suitable for him. And it was at that point that God caused a deep
sleep to fall upon Adam and took a rib from his side and made woman. And Adam said, this is bone of my bone and
flesh of my flesh, she shall be called woman.
Then God, as it were, joined those two together in marriage and said,
for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave unto
his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.
The marriage relationship, when it is the right kind of marriage
relationship, is the closest of all human relationships. Paul used the marriage illustration
relationship to represent that close relationship between Christ and his
church. In Romans the seventh chapter,
it speaks to those who know the law, how that the law hath dominion over a man
so long as he liveth. According to the
law of a woman's husband had dominion over her as long as he liveth, but if the
husband be dead, she was freed from that law so that she was no adulterous,
though she be married to another man. Wherefore my brethren ye also are become
dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye should be married to another,
even him that is raised from the dead, that ye might bring forth fruit unto God.
In Ephesians chapter five, the
wives are to be in subjection to their own husbands as unto the Lord and as the
church is to Christ, and husbands are to love their wives as Christ also loved
the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it and
wash it by the water with the word. And
then he concludes, I speak of a great mystery, the mystery of Christ and his
church. So, again, using the marriage
illustration to illustrate the close relationship between Christ and the
church, and the church is the bride of Christ, and so the marriage relationship
is the closest of all human relationships.
Now, surely the relationship between parents and their children are to
be close. But it is not to be as close
as that husband and wife relationship, because
they become one flesh. When
marriage is consummated by sex, then they become one flesh. So that there are no more two, but one
flesh. So instead of Jesus just coming
right out with the answer no. and that you are not to put away your wife for
every cause here in the beginning, he first calls attention to marriage as God
gave it in the beginning. And sometimes
that is a good way to begin the answering of a question today, have you never
read or begin answering the question by asking the questioner a question. And Jesus used that process on many occasions.
Continuing with verse six, What therefore God hath joined together,
let not man put asunder. They say unto
him, Why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorcement, and to put her
away? And that is from
Deuteronomy chapter twenty‑four verses one through four, where the law
gave instruction that if a man married a woman, if he saw something in her that
he did not like, he could write her a bill of divorcement. So I guess they think that they have really
gotten Jesus backed up against the wall when they said to him, why then did
Moses command to give a bill of divorcement and to put her away?
He saith unto them, Moses for the hardness of heart suffered you to
put away your wives: But from the beginning it hath not been
so. Of course, we know that
actually the law was given by God. But
it is spoken of as Moses' law because God gave the law through the medium of
Moses. Jesus tells the reason why God
allowed husbands to give their wives a bill of divorcement. It was because the
people had become so sinful and so hard‑hearted. Remember the law was given because of
transgression until the seed should come to whom the promise was made, and it
was ordained by angels in the hands of the mediator. Paul asked the questions in Galatians chapter
three, Wherefore then serveth the
law. And then answers it. I believe that is Galatians three and
nineteen beginning. (A brief recess was
taken.)
Students, we were talking about
how that the Old Testament law was added because of transgression. The law
specified a number of crimes that people were to be put to death for, a number
of capital crimes, and yet we've got people today that will say that the Bible
says thou shalt not kill, referring to the sixth commandment of the law. And, of course, it means that you are not to
commit murder. But if you will, turn to
Genesis the ninth chapter. It has been
God's law, if I understand correctly, that every murderer is to be put to death
since the time that Noah and his family came out of the ark after the flood.
Look at Genesis 9:6, Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be
shed:
For God made man in his own image Do you think that law has ever been canceled? I believe that God has always and still
intends that governments are to put
murderers to death and any government that goes contrary to the death penalty
for murderers, is going contrary to the law of God. And one of the reasons why we have so much
crime in our land today is because the average person on death row does not
really expect to meet with the death penalty.
I believe the average number of years is around thirteen years that a
person would have an opportunity to bring case after case in the courts to try to be freed again. But after God gave the Ten Commandments, then
notice as recorded in Exodus chapter twenty.
Notice then in chapter twenty‑one and verse twelve, Whoever strikes a man, so that he dies,
shall be put to death. But if he did not
lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand; then I will appoint
for you a place to which he may flee.
And the people of Israel
were later instructed to set aside six cities of refuge. Three of them were on the east side of the Jordan,
and three of them were on the west side of the Jordan. The purpose of those cities were if man
killed another person accidentally, he could run to one of those cities of
refuge. And the roads were to be kept so
that they were within reach. And then
the avenger of blood could not kill him as long as he stayed in the city of
refuge. Of course he would be tried, and if it was found that he did it
accidentally, then he was to stay in the city of refuge until the death of the
high priest. If he left the city of
refuge before the death of the high priest, then the avenger of blood could
kill him.
Exodus 21:14,
But if a man willfully attacks
another to kill him deliberately, ye shall take him from my altar, that he may
die. So murder under the law was always
counted as a capital case. Verse
fifteen, Whoever strikes his father,
or his mother, shall be put to death.
Verse sixteen, Whoever steals
a man, whether he sells him, or is found in possession of him, shall be put to
death. Verse seventeen, Whoever curseth his father, or his mother,
shall be put to death. So there
are four crimes that carried the death penalty.
Turn to Leviticus chapter twenty.
It is another chapter that has a number of death penalties. Reading from verse one of Leviticus chapter
twenty, And the Lord said to Moses,
say, to the people of Israel, Any man of the people of Israel, are of the
strangers that sojourn in Israel, who
gives any of his children unto Molech; shall be put to death:
The people of the land shall
stone him with stones. And
further instruction in verse five, if they did not put such a person to death,
then that family was to be cut off. Then will I set my face against that man,
and against his family, and will cut them off from among their people. Him and all who follow him in playing the
harlot after Molech. And there are
several references in regard to any form of idolatry like that, a person was to
be put to death. And then verse nine
again is one that we've already read, Who
curseth his father or his mother shall be put to death: He
hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood is upon him. Verse ten, If
a man commits adultery with a wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the
adulteress shall be put to death. The
man who lies with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness. Both of them shall be put to death.
Leviticus 20:12,
If a man lies with a male, as with a
woman or a homosexual, according to the law, was to be put to
death. Of course, notice that adultery carried
a death penalty under the law. If a man lies with a male, as with a
woman, both of them have committed an abomination: They
shall be put to death; their blood is upon them. Verse fourteen, If a man takes a wife and her mother, also it is wickedness: They
shall be burned with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness
among you. So a man takes a wife
and then has sex with her mother, they would be burned with fire. Verse fifteen, if
a man lies with a beast, he shall be put to death. With so many homosexuals and lesbians in our
society, will sex with a beast come next?
Verse fifteen reads, If a man
lies with a beast, he shall be put to death:
And ye shall kill the beast. And
if a woman approaches any beast, and lies with it, ye shall kill the woman, and
the beast:
They shall be put to death; their blood is upon them. If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his
mother, they were to be put to death.
Verse eighteen, If a man lies
with woman having her sickness, they were to be put to death. And verse twenty‑seven, A man or a woman, who is a wizard, shall
be put to death:
They shall be stoned with stones:
Their blood is upon them.
So the Old Testament law carried the death penalty for a number of
different crimes. We got off on that
because Jesus in his reply said Moses did it because of the hardness of your
heart, and remember that the people had become very sinful and very hard‑hearted. And the Old Testament law was destined to the
needs of the people to give them a greater knowledge of right and wrong and to
make sin exceeding sinful as Paul expressed it in the seventh chapter of the
book of Romans and it served that purpose well.
Matthew 19:8
again, He saith unto them, Moses for
your hardness of hearts suffered you to put away your wives:
But from the beginning it hath not been so. So Jesus is saying that is not the way that
God planned it in the beginning, and I am carrying you back to the way that God
planned it in the beginning. I say unto you, whosoever shall put away
his wife, except for fornication, and shall marry another, commiteth
adultery:
And he that marrieth her when she is put away commiteth adultery. So a man who puts away his wife except for
fornication or except for unfaithfulness to the marriage vows, then he has done
wrong. And if a man does put away his
wife because she has been unfaithful, then the person that marries her when she
is put away commiteth adultery. Notice
that the disciples were very surprised at the strictness of the law of Christ
in respect to marriage. I guess they
pretty well approved of a man putting away his wife, at least for a number of
different causes. That would have been
the popular thing of the day. Is not
that the popular thing, in our day? Most any person who wants to get a divorce
in this day in time is to do is just carry the case before the judge and the
divorce will soon be granted. But that
does not make it right. Remember the Old
Testament almost closes with a statement, I
hate divorce, saith the Lord. I
think that is in chapter two of the book of Malachi. God wants us to understand that he hates
divorce today.
But the disciples were very
surprised. And so they responded. Verse ten, The
disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not
expedient to marry. But he said unto
them, Not all men can receive this saying, but they to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs, that were so born from
their mother's womb. And that
would mean that they were born not having normal sex drives, and therefore no
need for them to be in a marriage relationship.
And there are eunuchs that
were made eunuchs by men. And, of
course, that would be by surgery. And I
think we have talked about how that it was the pattern of many governments of
that day to have a number of eunuchs in administering some of the affairs of
government. It was the pattern for governments to have those that were made
eunuchs by surgery to serve in places of government. And remember those four fine Hebrews: Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. The
last three, I am getting their Bablonian names rather than their Jewish names.
They were made eunuchs and were put through three years of training to prepare them
to serve as officers in the government of Babylon (Daniel 1:1-21).
Do you can see the advantage of
having men like that? They would not
have a wife and children, and so they could really give themselves to the affairs of the
government. And it looks like it was
pretty well the case with many of the governments of that Old Testament period,
to have several eunuchs in administering the affairs of government. The third kind of eunuchs is given in the
last part of the verse there, That
made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. I think the apostle Paul may have fit
into that category. He was not married,
and there is no indication whatever that he had ever been married. There are some few men that can exercise such
control over themselves, and they can serve the Lord very freely. Paul surely was able to do more missionary
work than any of the other apostles. In
I Corinthians 15:10, he says I labored more abundantly than they all. So Paul did more missionary work than all twelve
of the other apostles, but there are not many that fit in that category. When the Corinthians wrote a letter to Paul
asking him a number of questions about marriage, that they had asked the
question whether or not a man should marry. That is their first question as
given in I Corinthians 7:1, and he answered by
saying, It is good for a man not to
touch a woman, meaning not to be married, but
because of fornication let each man have his own wife and let each woman
have her own husband. The Gentile society of Corinth
was so immoral in regard to sex that Paul says the safe course is for each man
is to have his own wife and each woman to have her own husband. And here Jesus said, He that is able to receive it, let him receive it. And Paul gave some further instruction in
that same chapter relative to another question that pretty well fits in this
same category, that if a man was not strong enough to be without having a
marriage companion, even though the great stress of the time, Paul did not want
to cast a snare before them.
Matthew 19:13, Then were there brought unto him little
children, that he should lay his hands on them, and pray:
And the disciples rebuked them.
Mark's account, says that Jesus was moved with indignation when the
disciples rebuked the parents for them bringing their little children and
wanting Jesus to lay his hands on them and pray for them. And
Jesus said, Suffer the little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me:
For to such belongeth the kingdom of heaven. And he laid his hands on them, and departed
thence. And, behold, one came to him and
said, Teacher, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why askest thou me
concerning that which is good? One there
is who is good. And, of course,
Jesus was God. And I am made to wonder why his question, Why
asketh thou me concerning that which is good, is he saying do you recognize
that I am God, one there is who is good?
Remember John's statement in the beginning of his gospel book, In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that
was made. So just like God and
the Holy Spirit, are persons of the Godhead,
Christ is God too. One there is who is good? But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the
commandments. He saith unto him,
Which? And Jesus said, Thou shalt not
kill. Thou shalt not commit
adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Honor thy father and thy mother. And, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as
thyself. The young man saith unto him, All
these things have I observed:
What lack I yet? And Jesus said unto him, If thou wouldest be
perfect, go and sell that which thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt
have treasure in heaven:
And come and follow me. But when
the young man heard the saying, he went away. Notice that he is a young man, and he came
running to Jesus. I think we will take
time to read Mark and Luke's account of this.
But when the young man heard the
saying, he went away sorrowful: For he was one that had great
possessions.
Matthew 19:23,
And Jesus said unto his disciples,
Verily I say unto you, It is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of
heaven. And again I say unto you, It is
easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter
into the kingdom of God.
When the disciples heard it, they were astonished exceedingly, saying,
Who then can be saved? And Jesus looking
upon them, said to them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things
are possible. A rich man can turn
from putting his trust in his riches and trust in the Lord, and then he can be
saved, but there are not many rich men
who turn from their trusting in riches
and put their trust in the Lord. Then answered Peter and said unto him,
Behold, we have left all, and followed thee; what then shall we have? And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto
you, that ye who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man
shall sit on the throne of his glory.
And Christ is now sitting on the throne of his glory. Ye
also shall sit upon the twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
And notice that the following applies to every child of God that has
done this, as well as to the apostle. And every one that hath left houses, or
brethren, or sisters, or father or mother, or children, or lands, for my sake, shall
receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life. And we will notice from Mark's and Luke's,
that that is talking about in this lifetime, receive a hundredfold. But
many shall be last that are first; and first that are last.
Turn next to Mark's gospel. And we will pick up with chapter ten and
verse one, and I believe we will be reading the same thing we read from
Matthew. And verse one is the reference
that I called attention to that Mark makes it a little clearer that Jesus came
in the borders of Judaea and beyond the Jordan. So that would be the ministry as it is
sometimes referred to, beyond the Jordan. And
multitudes came together unto him again; and, as he was won't, he taught them
again. And there came unto him
Pharisees, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? Trying him.
And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you? And they said, Moses suffered to write the
bill of divorcement, and put her away.
But Jesus said unto them, For your hardness of heart he wrote you this
command. But from the beginning of the
creation male and female made he them.
For this cause shall man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave
to his wife. So God made them
male and female, and he intended that one man and woman should live together as
long as they both shall live. And the two shall become one flesh: So
that there are no more two, but one flesh.
What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. And in the house the disciples asked him
again of this matter. And he saith unto
them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, commiteth adultery
against her. And if she herself putteth
away her husband, and married another, she commiteth adultery. So the one who is unfaithful to the marriage
vows, the innocent party, does have a right to marry again except for the cause
of fornication as given in Matthew.
Mark 10:13, And they were bring unto him little
children, that he should touch them. And
the disciples rebuked him. This
is the reference that we're talking about.
But when Jesus saw it, he
was moved with indignation, and said unto them, Suffer the little
children to come unto me, forbid them not:
For of such belongeth to the kingdom of God.
Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child. So Jesus is stressing the importance that
accountable people are to be humble before God like little children. And
he took them in his arms, and blessed them.
And laying his hands upon them.
And as he was going forth into the way, there ran one to him. Now, this is a parallel. This is a young ruler. And notice that he is a young man, a very
rich man, but he ran to Jesus. And said, Teacher, what shall I do that I
may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said
unto him, Why callest thou me good? None
is good save one, even God. Thou knowest
the commandments. Do not kill. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal.
Do not bear false witness. Do not
defraud. And honor thy father and thy
mother. And he said unto him, Teacher, all
these things have I observed from my youth. Notice the difference in Mark's account. And
Jesus looking upon him loved him.
Please underscore or highlight the latter part of verse twenty‑one,
looking upon him loved him. Jesus knew
that his riches had become an idol, that he was putting them before his
obedience to God. And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and
said unto him, One thing thou lackest: Go
sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure
in heaven. And come, follow me. Why did Jesus say that to this young rich
man? I do not believe we have a reference where Jesus told any other person to
do that other than this rich young ruler.
The point is that the man was putting his trust in material things. One
thing thou lackest. Go sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the
poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven:
And come, follow me.
Anytime a person is giving
liberally of his material things as Jesus set forth in the latter part of
Matthew six, he is laying up for himself treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt
and where thieves do not break through or steal. Or as given in I Timothy chapter six, Timothy
charged those that were rich at Ephesus not to put their trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God
who giveth us richly all things to enjoy, that they do good, ready to distribute, willing to
communicate, laying up for themselves a good foundation against the time to
come. So you see how those
references fit together. But his countenance fell at the saying,
and he went away sorrowful:
For he was one that had great possessions. Like all other young men, that young man did
not stay young for many years, and when he died, he was not able to carry any
of those material possessions with him. He
will stand unprepared before Christ in judgment unless he repented, and there
is no indication that he did. If this is the case he will be condemned because
he put his trust in worldly riches rather than in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy.
Now, the Lord wants us to have
plenty. There is much instruction in the
Old Testament about how the people of Israel
would be wonderfully blessed when they did the will of God, and that God wants
us to have plenty. Most of us surely enjoy not only the necessities of
life, but many things that we count as necessities actually are luxuries and we
do not understand it. I think sometimes
it would be good for all of us to have hot water turned off for a few days so
that we can be reminded what a luxury it is for us to not only have water but
hot water in our houses, and to be able to take a hot tub bath or hot shower
any time you want to. And Jesus looked round about, and saith
unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. And
the disciples were amazed at his words.
But Jesus answered again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard it
is for them that trust in riches. Now, notice the difference there,
them that trust in riches. A Christian
is commanded to work as given in Ephesians four, let
him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands
at the thing that is good, that he may give to them that are in need. The Bible teaches that every Christian who is
an able‑bodied person, able to work, should not only provide well for his
family, but up and beyond have something to give to those who are in need. But Jesus said to the disciples, children how hard it is for them that
trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God. And, again, a person can put his trust in
material things and at the same time be a very poor person. If he has that desire, that extreme desire
for those material things, and he takes that course, then he fits in that category as
described again in the sixth chapter of I Timothy, They that will be rich fall into a temptation and a snare, and
many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in perdition. Anytime you see that word perdition, that is
talking about everlasting torment. For them that trust in riches to enter
into the kingdom of God.
It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich
man to enter the kingdom of God.
And they were astonished exceedingly saying unto him, Then who can be
saved. Jesus looking upon them saith,
With men it is impossible, but with God, for all things are possible with
God. Peter began to say unto him, lo, we
have left all and followed thee.
Do you remember about the occasion when Jesus called Peter and James and
John? When they were fishing, how they left their boats and followed Jesus. The sons of Zebedee left their father and the
servants in the boat and left.
Mark 10:29,
Jesus said, Verily, I say unto you,
There is no man that hath left houses or brethren or sisters or mother, or
fathers or children, or lands for my sake, and for the gospel's sake, but he
shall receive a hundredfold now in this time. Do you see that plain statement from
Mark? Now in this time, houses, and
brethren, and sisters, and mother and children, and lands with persecution, and
in the world to come eternal life. So
wonderful blessings then will come to the person who has to leave or does leave
to serve the Lord. This passage is
saying that he will have many who will treat him as a brother. We have many women in the church who will
treat him as sisters or mothers. I think
every gospel preacher has had the experience of having many a good Christian
woman who were ready to feed them and maybe look after other of their needs
like they would have done for their own children or better. Or
father, or children, or lands, for my sake, and for the gospel's sake, but he
shall receive a hundredfold, now in this time.
Houses and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands
with persecution, and in the world to come eternal life. But many that are first shall be last; and the last first. And they were on the way going up to Jerusalem.
And Jesus was going before them.
And they were amazed. And they
that followed were afraid. And he took
again the twelve and began to tell them the things that were going to happen to
him. Now, this makes the third
time that Matthew has recorded, and I am not sure about Mark, but this is the
third time that Jesus had emphasized to the apostles some of those things that
were going to happen to him relative to his death.
Mark 10:33, Saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered
unto the chief priests, and the scribes; and they shall condemn him
to death. Now, all these
things are fulfilled in detail. So the
Son of man is going to be delivered unto the chief priests and the scribes, and
they are going to condemn him to death. And shall deliver him unto the Gentiles. Why?
Because the people of Israel
did not have a right any longer to exercise the death penalty. They had to go to Governor Pilate for that, and
so when they went to Pilate for him to give judgment against him, that
fulfillment shall deliver him unto
the Gentiles. And they shall mock him, and shall spit
upon him and shall scourge him. And all of those things happened. You remember how those soldiers put a crown
of thorns upon his head. They put a robe
on him, and a reed in his hand, and they bowed down and worshipped him in
mockery. They spit upon him, and Pilate
had him scourged. And scourged him. And the Gentiles, of course, did that. And
shall kill him. And after three days he
shall rise again. And there come near
unto him, James and John the son of Zebedee saying unto him. And this is also in Matthew twenty, the
parallel reading. Teacher we would that thou shouldest do
for us whatsoever we shall ask of thee.
And he said unto them. What would
ye that I should do for you? And they
said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on the right hand, and one on
the left in thy glory. These disciples
are expecting him to be an earthly king.
We know that to be the case from Acts chapter one verses five and six
before Jesus ascended on that occasion.
He said John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with
the Holy Spirit not many days hence. And
the apostles asked the question? Wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom
to Israel? So those twelve apostles after all the long
period of about three‑and‑a‑half years of being with Christ
in that earthly ministry, they were still expecting him to set up an earthly
kingdom. Do you not think that this
reference here strongly indicates that?
The sons of Zebedee want places of honor. They want one to sit on the right hand and
one on the left when he came into his glory.
Verse thirty‑seven, They
said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on the right hand, and one on
the left hand, in thy glory. But Jesus
said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask:
Are you able to drink the cup that I drink? Or to be baptized with a baptism that I am
baptized with? Of
course, Jesus was talking about his coming death upon the cross as a baptism,
in other words, he would be overwhelmed
in suffering upon the cross. And they said unto him, We are able. Of course, they did not really understand
what they were saying. And Jesus said unto them, The cup that I
drink ye shall drink; and with the baptism that I am baptized with you shall ye
be baptized.
That would surely mean that those
apostles were going to suffer for the cause of Christ. And in the twelfth chapter of the book of
Acts, remember that James, one of these brothers that wanted a place of honor,
was beheaded by Herod. And when he saw
it pleased the Jews, he had Peter put in jail and was going to put him to death
after the Passover, but the angel of the Lord released him. So those disciples did not begin to realize
what they were saying when they said we are able. But according to tradition ‑‑ I
believe it said according to tradition ‑‑ that all of them were put
to death maybe with the exception of the apostle John, the brother of James,
that other son of Zebedee. And, of
course, John was exiled on the isle of Patmos for the
word of the Lord as we read in the first chapter of the Revelation. And
Jesus said unto them, The cup that I drink, ye shall drink. And with the baptism that I am baptized
withal shall ye be baptized. But to sit
on my right hand or on my left is not mine to give. Notice that, it is not mine to But it is for them for whom it hath been
prepared. And who has it been
prepared for? For those who humbly serve
the Lord and others as given in Matthew's account. And
when the ten heard it, they began to be moved with indignation concerning James
and John. They are moved with
that spirit of unkindness. They are
jealous, and it indicates that all the rest of them expected an earthly
kingdom. And these two brothers, as they
saw it, were trying to move ahead of them.
That kind of spirit usually holds today, when say employees in a
business, one fellow is trying to take those steps to move ahead without any
real merit to their moving ahead, others become jealous. And
when the ten heard it, they began to be moved with indignation concerning James
and John. And Jesus calling them to him,
saith unto them, Ye know that they who are accounted to rule over the Gentiles
lorded over them; and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it is not so among you:
But whosoever would become great among you, shall be your minister:
And whosoever shall be first among you, shall be servant of all. So the Lord is saying the way up is first the
way down. Those who become great among
you shall be your minister. Whosoever shall be first shall be the
servant of all. For the Son of man came
not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and give his life a ransom for
many.
I believe we will go ahead and
read the rest of the chapter. And they came to Jericho.
As we follow Jesus, we are not going to be all the time looking to see what
our brethren can do for us for Jesus
said, I came not to be ministered
unto, but to minister. And he
gave his life as a ransom for many. And they came to Jericho:
And as he went out from Jericho with his disciples a great multitude
followed him. The son of Timaeus
Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the way side. And when he heard that it was Jesus the
Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on
me. This blind man had some good
instruction about Jesus, and when he learned that it was Jesus, he showed his
faith in him by crying out, have mercy
on me. The disciples rebuked him,
but he did not take no for an answer. And many rebuked him that he should hold
his peace: But
he cried out the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on
me. And Jesus stood still, and said call
ye him. And they call the blind man,
saying unto him, Be of good cheer, rise; and he calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment sprang up. Cannot you just see how quickly he is
responding? And came to Jesus. And
Jesus answered him and said, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? And the blind man said unto him, Rabbi, that
I may receive my sight. And Jesus said
unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And straightway he received his sight and
followed him.
Turn next to Luke chapter
eighteen and we will pick up with verse fifteen, and we will be reading several
things like we have read from Matthew and Mark.
And they were bringing unto
him also their babies, that he should touch them:
But when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. Surely it would be the parents that they were
be rebuking. Do not be bringing your
little babies to Jesus. But Jesus called them unto him, saying,
Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not:
For such belongeth to the kingdom of God.
Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter
therein. (A brief recess was
taken.)
I believe we were ready to turn
back to Matthew's account, beginning with chapter twenty. In this chapter we have another parable that
is given only by Matthew, the parable of the Laborers In The Vineyards. For
the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that was a householder, who went out early
in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. And when he agreed with the laborers for a
shilling a day, he sent them into the vineyard. And he went out about the third hour,
and saw others standing in the marketplace, idle. And to them he said; Go ye also into the
vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you.
And they went their way. And
again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did
likewise. And about the eleventh hour
he went out, and found others standing, and he saith unto them, Why
stand ye here all the day idle? They
say unto him, Because no man hath hired us.
He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and when even was
come. The Lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward,
Call the laborers. A steward is
one who is in charge of possessions of another.
So he is the one over the servants and who does the paying. And
when even was come, the Lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the
laborers, and pay them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. Now, remember about those last workers that he
told him to go in at the eleventh hour, there was just one more hour left in
the day.
And
when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every
man a shilling. That was a
price for a days' work as promised to those who were hired early in the
morning. And
when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more. And they likewise received every man a
shilling. And when they received it, they
murmured against the householder, saying, These last have spent but one
hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, who have born the burden of the
day and the scorching heat.
But he answered and said to one of them, Friend, I do thee no wrong:
Didst not thou agree with me for a shilling? Take up that which is thine, and go thy
way: It
is my will to give unto the last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will
with mine own? Or is thine eye evil
because I am good? So the last shall
be first, and the first last.
Now, notice that Jesus introduces the parable in verse thirty of the
nineteenth chapter, that many shall be last that are first and first that are
last. And he ends this parable by
saying, so the last shall be first and the first last. So the kingdom of heaven is like unto man who
was a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. Early in the morning would be the beginning
of the day, the first hour of the day according to Jewish time, and that would be our time, six o'clock in
the morning. The kingdom of heaven is
like a man who is a householder, who went out early in the morning to hire
laborers into his vineyard. Well, what
is the Lord's vineyard today? The Lord's
vineyard is the church. And when we get
to the parable of the ‑‑ in chapter twenty‑one about the
wicked husbandmen, we will turn from Isaiah and read about the vineyard of the
Lord. The church today is God's
vineyard. And the kingdom of heaven is
like a man that was a householder. And
surely then the householder in the parable would represent God. And
went out early in the morning to hire laborers
into his vineyard. Now he
did not go out to hire those who would do everything but work, smoke their
cigarettes and take as many breaks as they could, but he went to hire laborers
into his vineyard.
Now, notice that, the Lord has
just one vineyard and that is the church (Mathew 16:18;
Ephesians 1:22-23,
4:45),
and he hires laborers to work in his vineyard. And
when he had agreed with the laborers for a shilling a day, he sent them into
his vineyard. Not Martin
Luther’s or Joseph Smith’s vineyard but into His vineyard. And
he went out about the third hour.
The third hour in Jewish time would be nine
o'clock in the morning. So
the sun would be just beginning to get good and warm at nine o'clock, would not it?
And saw others standing in
the marketplace, idle. Were they
people who did not want to go work early in the morning? And so they were idle,
not working. And to them he said, go ye also into the vineyard; and
whatsoever is right, I will give you.
The steward did not agree on an amount for them. And
they went their way. And again he went
out about -the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. The sixth hour would be twelve o'clock, and the ninth hour would be three o'clock in the afternoon our time. And
about the eleventh hour, he went out and found others standing. And he saith unto them, Why stand ye here
all the day idle? Now, how
could they have been standing there all the day idle, because no man had
hired them, because the householder had gone out the first hour of the day,
and the third hour of the day, and the sixth hour of the day, and the ninth
hour of the day. In other words, gone
out at six o'clock, nine o'clock, twelve
o'clock and three in the afternoon.
So how could they have been telling the truth that they had been
standing there all day idle because they had not had the opportunity to
work. They
said unto him, Because no man hath hired us.
He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and when even was
come, the Lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the laborers, and
pay them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. Now, remember the first, those who went in at
that first hour of the day, which would be six
o'clock in the morning our time, he had agreed with them to pay
them a certain amount, a shilling a day.
But he has the steward to pay them beginning with those who went in at the
eleventh hour. And when they came, they that were hired about the eleventh
hour, they received every man a shilling.
And when they that were first came, they supposed that they would
receive more, and they likewise received every man a shilling. Boy, it made them angry. They thought that
the Lord was treating them wrong. They
had borne the heat of the day, the scorching heat of the day! They had worked all day and still just
received the same as those who went in at the eleventh hour. And
when they received it, they murmured against the householder. Not against the steward, but against the
householder. Saying, these last have spent but one hour, and thou hast
made them equal unto us, who have borne the burden of the day, and the
scorching heat.
You know that the sun can get Scorching
hot at about twelve to two in the afternoon, and they may have been telling the
truth. They had been there all day. We
have borne the burden of the day in scorching heat. But remember they got the pay that the
householder had agreed to pay them. They
had agreed with the steward to work for a shilling a day. I guess they said, “give us a shilling a day”
when he went out to hire them. They have
gotten their shilling, but they do not like it.
But he answered and said to
one of them, Friend, I do thee no wrong:
Didst not you agree with me for a shilling? Take up that which is thine, and go thy
way. Does not verse fourteen
imply that they had gotten mad and even cast their shilling down? And he tells them to pick it up that which is thine and go thy way. It
is my will to give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will
with mine own? God surely has a
right to do as he will in that respect.
He has a right to give a man eternal life, if he is an old man before he hears the gospel, and he goes into the kingdom and as it were
serves for one hour, then he is going to receive eternal salvation, just like
those who entered in while they were young and served a lifetime. Or
is thine evil because I am good? So the
last shall be first, and the first last.
In nearly every church, there are
those who have the firster spirit. We
were the first ones who became members of this church, and for many years we
have sacrificed to help this church grow. We worked hard, and we contributed
liberally to pay for this building! In substance they are saying, “And we are
more important than others in the church, but that is a wrong attitude.
And, again, go back to the
Parable Of The Servant, in Luke 17:7-10, when
you have done all that is forbidden you, We
are still to say, we are unprofitable servants, we have done only that which
was bidden us to do. And we might
raise the question, why then did the Lord say unto those firsters, take up that
is thine, and go thy way. I reckon, that
that means that the Lord will have mercy even on those with that kind of spirit
that if they have served well. The Bible
teaches that our Lord is a God of
all mercies
There may be quite a number in
the church today that think that they ought to be rewarded in a greater way because of a lifetime of service, and
there are some who turn away from the Lord after they have served many
years. And remember Ezekiel eighteen
says that, the righteous deeds which they have done will not be
remembered, but in the sin that they have sinned in them shall they die. But the Lord has a right to reward a man who
has worked only a few years. From time
to time, you hear of people in their eighties, or in their nineties obeying the
gospel. Maybe they have never been well taught as to what the truth is and they
enter in at an old age. If they are
faithful in those remaining months and years, then they will be rewarded like
all faithful workers in the vineyard of
the Lord. It is still right for God to
do that. Please remember that salvation
is a gift of God (Romans 6:23). He has a right to give gifts to those that
have served him, even if it is just a short time.
There are some that have tried to
use this as a basis for deathbed repentance, but notice that they did go in and
work one hour according to the parable.
So it does not give the idea of deathbed repentance. They had labored in the vineyard, but it is
surely a good parable that we need to think about. We are to work in the Lord's vineyard
as good servants and good laborers, and we are not to be jealous of
those who enter in at an old age and serve the Lord well. We should be thankful that they enter in and
thankful that the Lord is ready to give them a full reward. And surely it teaches that they will receive
a full reward.
Matthew 20:17, And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem.
We have read the parallels, at least in Mark about this. Jesus
was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples apart and
on the way he said unto them. Behold, we
are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered
unto the chief priests and the scribes, and they shall condemn him. And shall deliver him unto the Gentiles to
mock, and to scourge, and to crucify:
And the third day he shall be raised up.
Then came to him the mother of the sons of Zebedee with their sons,
worshiping him, and asking a certain thing of him. And he said unto her. To the mother of those sons. What
wouldest thou? She said unto him,
Command these two sons may sit, one on thy right hand, and one on thy left
hand, in thy kingdom. So
according to Matthew's account, the mother makes the request for them. But
Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink the cup that I am about
to drink? They say unto him, We are
able. Like Jesus said, they
did not know what they were asking. They
did not know that they were going to have to suffer so many things for
him. They
say unto him, We are able. He saith unto
them, My cup indeed ye shall drink, but to sit on my right hand, or on my left,
it is not mine to give, but it is prepared for whom it has been prepared of
my Father. And, of course,
the heavenly Father has prepared that those who give themselves to serve God
and others, that they will be given places of honor.
Matthew 20:24, And when the ten heard it, they were moved
with indignation concerning the two brethren.
But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the rulers of the
Gentiles lord it over them, and their
great ones exercised authority over them.
Not so shall be among you: But whosoever shall be great among you, shall
be your minister; and whosoever will be first among you, shall be your
servant:
Even as the Son of man came
not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for
many. So we need to receive the
teaching that the Lord has given us that we are to humbly serve God and
others. We are not to be expecting
others to minister unto us. Sometimes we
have members in the church that are expecting the church in every way to
minister to them, rather than their being interested in having a part in ministering
to others. I am not saying that there
are not those in the church that need to be ministered unto, because there are,
but some have a wrong attitude in that respect.
And as they went out from Jericho, a great multitude followed him. And, behold, two blind men sitting by
the way side.
Do you remember that Luke said a certain
blind man? And Mark called the man's
father by name and called the blind man by name, Bartimaeus. But here Matthew says two blind men. How are
you going to reconcile these differences?
They are talking about the same occasion. Two of them speak as if there is only one
blind man. Mark calls him by name, Bartimaeus, and Luke says a certain blind
man. And some would say this is an outright contradiction. How do you account for it? Well, if Bartimaeus is the one who persists
in crying out, thou Son of David, have mercy on me, and the other blind man was
not so persistent, would not it be in order for Mark and Luke to just speak of
the one that was so persistent. I
believe that would be the answer to the difficulty. Should not this instead of weakening our
faith strengthen our faith? If the Bible
is a fraud, surely they would have all three accounts speaking of two blind men
or else all three speaking of one blind man.
Let us notice again Matthew’s account. Matthew 20:30,
And, behold, two blind men, sitting
by the way side, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying,
Lord, have mercy on us, thou Son of David.
And the multitude rebuked them, that they should hold their peace:
But they cried out the more, Lord, have mercy on us, thou Son of David. And then the disciples, according to the
other accounts, joined in, but the multitude first rebuked them. And it may be that one of them after being
rebuked and rebuked, that he did not continue to cry out. But Bartimaeus continued to cry out. He did not stop him. And
Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I should do
unto you? They say unto him, Lord, that
our eyes may be opened. And Jesus being
moved with compassion touched their eyes:
And straightway they received their sight, and followed him. Let us be reminded again that a number of
times in the gospel accounts, we read
about Jesus being moved with compassion.
And we cannot follow the Lord on numerous occasions without being moved
with compassion because of our seeing the needs of other people, and we need to
be moved with compassion toward them.
Matthew Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter twenty-one is about Jesus' triumphant entry into
Jerusalem, And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and came to
Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying unto
them, Go into the village that is over against you, and straightway ye shall
find an ass tied and a colt with her:
Loose them, and bring them unto me.
And if any one say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need
of them; and straightway he will send them.
Now this has come to pass.
Now remember Matthew's account showing what Jesus does is fulfillment of
Old Testament scriptures. Now this has come to pass that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, tell ye the daughter of
Zion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek,
and riding upon an ass, upon a colt the foal of an ass. That reference is from Zechariah, chapter
nine and verse nine. So it was even
prophesied as to how Jesus would go into Jerusalem
for his triumphant entry and for the last week of his ministry. And surely it was in order for Matthew
writing to the Jewish people to show that this is the fulfillment of what the
prophet has said, that Jesus would ride into Jerusalem
on a colt, the foal of an ass. And the disciples went and did as Jesus
appointed them, and brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their
garments, and he set thereon: And the most part of the multitude spread
their garments in the way; and others cut branches from trees and spread them
in the way. And the multitudes that went
before him, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David:
Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the
highest. And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, Who is
this? And the multitude said, This is
the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee.
And Jesus entered into the temple of God, and cast out them that sold.
The parallel references, show that he got there in the evening of that
first day, and then, I believe, when you put them together, he went in the next
morning and started cleansing the temple.
And remember this is the last cleansing of the temple. In John's account, we have already read about
Jesus cleansing the temple during the early part of his ministry. And here he cleanses the temple again in a
very similar way what he had done the first time. And
Jesus entered into the temple
of God and cast out all them that sold and
bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the
seats of them that sold the doves. And
he said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer;
but ye make it a den of robbers. And
the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw
the wonderful things that he did.
They saw with their eyes the wonderful things that he did, but they are not pleased about it. Instead of rejoicing, it makes them mad. Saw
the wonderful things that he did. And
the children that were crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of
David; they were moved with indignation.
And said unto them, hear thou, what these are saying. And I believe I am right saying that one of
the parallels reads to the point they were saying to him stop these children from
crying after you like they are doing. And Jesus said unto them, did ye never
read out of the mouths of babes and sucklings, thou hast perfected praise? And that is from the eighth chapter of Psalm
and verse two, another Psalms that has some things about Christ. And
he left them, and went forth out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.
I believe we will go ahead and
read the chapter and then turn and read the parallels. Now in the morning
as he returned to the city, he hungered.
And seeing a fig tree by the way side, he came to it, and found nothing
thereon but leaves only, and said unto it, Let there be no fruit from thee
henceforth for ever. Some have
been ready to be critical, why did the Lord curse this fruit tree? He should have known there was not any fruit
on it. A certain kind of fig trees,
small figs come on at the time that the leaves start coming on. This tree had leaves and gave the appearance
of having fruit, and he goes to it and there is no fruit, and he curses that
fig tree. Are there not some in the
church that have leaves, but no fruit.
They have the appearance of being on the Lord's side, but they are
bearing no fruit for the Lord John 15:1-8. And remember the parable of the tares and the
parable of the fish net, both good and
bad, and that the angels will make a separation. All of us need to ask ourselves the question,
what kind of a tree are we? Do we have
just leaves only, or do we have a lot of fruit along with the leaves ‑‑
good fruit? And immediately the fig tree withered away! And when the disciples saw it, they marveled,
saying, How did the fig tree immediately whither away! And Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily
I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this
which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be
thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. All things whatsoever ye ask in prayer,
believing, ye shall receive. At
least we need to remember that great blessings can come through prayer if we
ask and believe that he can do it and will do it for us. Now, I am not sure that that applies to us to
the extent that it did to the apostles, but, at least, we are to be persistent
in our prayers as taught especially by the Parable Of The Widow And The Judge
as given in Luke's account (Luke 18:1-8). And the person that went to his neighbor in
the middle of the night because somebody had come to visit them and they did
not have any food for them (Luke 11:5-13). I
hope we will get around to reading those references.
Matthew 21:23,
And when he was come into the
temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was
teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? And who gave thee this authority? Notice the chief priests and the elders, and
Jesus had said that they will condemn him, and deliver him to the
Gentiles. And
Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one question, which if
ye tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven, or from men? Verse twenty‑five is surely an
important question, a question that just makes all of the difference. Whence
is it, from heaven or the earth?
Everything that we do, especially in regard to worship and obedience to
the Lord, whence is it, from heaven or from men? Each individual needs to give careful
attention as to whether this is from the Lord or is it from men. And
they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will
say unto us, Why then did ye not believe him? Remember the chief priests and the elders and
the scribes and Pharisees as a people had rejected the baptism of John. And remember Luke 7:30, the Pharisees and
the lawyers rejected the counsel of God and against themselves, be not baptized
of John, which means that they stayed in a lost condition. And here these men are in a lost
condition. But they want to know why Jesus
was cleansing the temple. By what authority doest these things? And who gave thee this authority? Verse twenty‑six, But if we shall say from men; we fear the
multitude; for all hold John as a prophet. They were between a rock and a hard place,
weren't they? And they answered
Jesus, and said unto him, We know not.
And it would be like a man pleading the Fifth Amendment today, wouldn't
it, he is not going to testify against himself?
He also said unto them,
Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. But what think ye?
Even though he does not tell them
by what authority he is doing the things, he does try to get them to
think. Even though these people are
wicked, he at least gives them an opportunity to understand and turn. And so he says to them, What think ye? And so this parable
is given to the chief priests and the elders.
What think ye? A man had two sons; and he came to the first,
and said, Go work to day in the vineyard.
And he answered and said, I will not:
Afterward he repented himself, and went.
And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: And
went not. There are two
sons. He goes to one son and said go
work today in the vineyard. And surely a
father would have a right to say to his son, Son go to work in the vineyard, but this first son answered
in a bad way, I will not. He was a
stubborn and rebellious son, and even after he repented and went, that still
does not mean that he gave a good answer at first. He gave a bad answer, I will not. But afterward he repented himself and
went. And
he came to the second, and said likewise.
And he answered and said, I go, sir:
And went not. Now, this second one gives a good answer. There is
nothing wrong with his answer. What is wrong is that he did not live up to
what he had said. He did not go to work
in his father's vineyard. Which of the two did the will of his
father? They say the first. Would not the Father represent God? And he, in substance, has said to men go and
work in my vineyard. The first son that
said he would not go may represent the publicans and the harlots. Which
of the two did the will of his father?
They say, The first. So
Jesus has the chief priests and elders to answer and condemn themselves,
because they made out like they were ready to do the will of God, but they were
hypocrites. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the
publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. So would not the
contrast be that the first son would represent the publicans and the harlots, that
they repented and went. For John came unto you in the way
of righteousness, and ye believed him not. And so that second son, represents the chief
priests and the elders. For John came unto you in the way of the
righteousness, and ye believed him not:
But the publicans and the harlots believed him:
And ye, when ye saw it.
Saw the publicans and the harlots going into the kingdom
of God, those who had been stubborn
and rebellious, but they still turned around and went. They saw them entering in, but they still did
not repent. Did not even repent yourselves afterward, that ye might
believe him.
Matthew 21:33,
Hear another parable. He is still talking to the chief priests and
the elders, and this parable is recorded by Mark and Luke. We come now to The Parable Of The Wicked Husbandmen. And, of course, the meaning of it is that the
ruling group of the Jews, the chief priests and the elders and the scribes and
the Pharisees were those who were wicked husbandmen. Hear another parable:
There was a man that was a householder, who planted a vineyard. The householder again would represent God. He has planted a vineyard, and we will turn
in a few minutes and read from Isaiah chapter five about that vineyard. There
aas a man that was a householder, who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about
it, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower. Somebody could watch from the tower and see
that nobody entered in to steal the fruit of the vineyard. And
let it out to husbandmen and went into another country. And when the season of the fruits drew near,
he sent his servants to the husbandmen to receive his fruits. And the husbandmen took his servants, and
beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants unto them in
like manner: But
afterward he sent unto them his Son, saying, They will reverence my Son. And, of course, that Son is Jesus. He knows exactly what they are going to do to
him, as he is already told his disciples.
The chief priests and the elders are going to condemn him. But
the husbandmen when they saw the Son, said among themselves, This is the heir;
come, and let us kill him, and take his inheritance. And they took him, and cast him forth out of
the vineyard, and killed him. Jesus
knows exactly what they are going to do to him.
As given in the thirteenth
chapter of Hebrews, they crucified him outside the camp. Jesus knows exactly what they are going to
do. The writer of Hebrews is talking
about we have an altar. Hebrews 13:10,
We have an altar, whereof they have
no right that serve the tabernacle.
Remember that when Hebrews was written, the Jewish people as a whole
were still trying to worship according to the Old Testament religion. For
the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the holy place by the
high priest as an offering for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify
the people through his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us therefore go forth unto him without
the camp, bearing his reproach.
Does not that give real meaning to they are going to cast him forth out
of the vineyard.
Matthew 21:39, And they took him and cast him forth out
of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the Lord of the vineyard
shall come, what will he do unto those husbandmen? Again, Jesus has these chief priests and
elders for a second time to condemn themselves.
They say unto him, He will
miserably destroy those miserable men, and will let out the vineyard unto other
husbandmen, who shall render to him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in
the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the
head of the corner:
This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes? Notice the quotation is from Psalms 118 and
verse twenty‑two following, that Jesus is the stone that they are going
to reject, but he is still going to be
made the head of the corner. Therefore I say unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and shall
be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And he that falleth on this stone shall be
broken to pieces. But whosoever shall it
fall, it will scatter him into dust. And
when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard this parable, they perceived
that he spake of them. And when they
sought to lay hold on him, they feared the multitudes, because they took him
for a prophet. Our time is nearly
up. Actually we are down to chapter
twenty‑two as a beginning place.
But I think we will give a little more time to these last few verses of this
parable, of the wicked husbandmen. Please
remind me to turn and read from Isaiah chapter five about God's vineyard.
Thank you for your good
attention.