Matthew 20:1-7 "For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that
is an householder, which went out to hire laborers into his vineyard. (2)
And when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them
into his vineyard. (3) And he went out about the third hour, and saw others
standing idle in the marketplace, (4) And said unto them; Go ye also into
the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their
way. (5) Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.
(6) And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing
idle, and saith unto them Why stand ye here all the day idle? (7) They
say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also
into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive."
I'm going to speak on the subject, "God and I Don't Always Agree." God
and I don't always agree. We get along fairly well, but we don't always
agree. I could give a subtitle to the message "Whatsoever is right, that
shall ye receive." I'll read it for you in our text. "Go ye also into the
vineyard, and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive." Now I'm going
to read two other verses for you. Listen carefully. "But when the first
came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise
received every man a penny" Now, that's a measure of money, but not like
our penny. "And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman
of the house, Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast
made them equal unto us which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst
not thou agree with me for a penny?" I call your attention to the little
statement that's made on more than one occasion here: "Whatsoever is right,
that shall ye receive." This will be one of the most unusual sermons, because
I'm going to tell you how God and I sometimes have a little controversy
with each other. I want you to listen carefully, especially toward the
last half of the message.
Let me tell you the story. A certain man went out to hire some workers
to work in a field. The Bible says he goes out early in the day. We find
out later on in the story that it was six o'clock in the morning. he hires
some workers to work in his field. Then we find that he needs some more,
so he goes out at nine o'clock in the morning to hire some more workers
to work in his field. he goes out again at noon and hires some more workers
to work in his field. He goes out at three o'clock in the afternoon and
hires some more workers to work in his field. he goes out at five o'clock
and hires some more workers to work in his field. All of them work until
six o'clock at night. That means that some people worked twelve hours,
and some people worked nine hours, and some people worked six hours, and
some people worked three hours, and some people worked one hour. Now, when
pay time came, he gave them all exactly the same amount of money. Those
that went to work early in the morning began to complain about it. They
said, "This is not fair because we've worked twelve hours. These rascals
over here get the same amount of money we get, and they've only worked
for one hour. It's not fair." Now, I'll be honest with you. This parable
has always bothered me. They got the same wages - I don't mean per hour,
I mean per day. The fellow that worked one hour got exactly the same amount
of money that the fellow got who worked for twelve hours. What is God trying
to teach us, here? Don't miss this statement here. What is God trying to
teach us? I believe God is trying to teach us that we do not always agree
with Him. I know I dead sure don't. I don't agree with God here. You think
it's fair - now be honest - Do you think it's fair for the fellow who works
for twelve hours, all the day long in the hot sun and the heat of the day,
and he gets the same wage as the fellow who works from five until six in
the evening? I don't believe that, but God does. It doesn't make sense.
I just don't agree with God on this parable. I cannot see that it's right
for a man who works twelve hours to be paid the same as a man who works
one hour. By the way, that's what faith is. Faith is believing that God
is right, even when we disagree. Don't miss this now. See, you and I don't
think like God. You say, "It doesn't make sense to me." But see, it so
happens that you and I are flesh. I'm convinced that one of the reasons
that God put this parable here is to let us know that we don't always see
things just eye to eye. I cannot see the logic, but I know it's right.
You say it's right to give a fellow the same wages from five to six as
you give the fellow that worked twelve hours? Yeah. You say, "You believe
it's right?" No, I don't believe it's right - but I believe it's right,
because I trust God's judgment more than mine, you see. It doesn't make
sense to me, but it doesn't have to make sense to me.
Let me give you our definition of faith. This is what faith is to you:
"I have confidence to believe that He will do it like I think it should
be done." When you say, "I have lost my faith in Him." It means that He
finally did something like you didn't think it ought to be done. Now, that's
not faith at all. You didn't have faith in Him. You didn't have faith in
Mr. Sisson over here until he did something with your child that you didn't
agree with. You say, "Well, I've lost my faith in him." No, you never had
any faith in him. You only believed he was right if you agreed with the
way you would have done it, but it so happens you've never been a principal
of an elementary school. That's the great secret of First Baptist Church
of Hammond, Indiana. Most of you have never pastored a church, and because
you've never pastored a church, when I do something you don't agree with,
you believe that I know more about pastoring a church than you do, and
you trust me. That's what faith is. But our definition of faith - I'll
give it again: "I have confidence to believe that He will do it like I
think it should be done." And that is the kind of feeling that most of
you have in your leaders. That's not faith. For example, I can't lead a
choir. It would be a joke. I could make them stand up together, and sit
down together, and hold their books right, but you have never heard such
a special as we would have if I led the choir. But there's sometimes that
you might lead the choir, that I don't think you're doing it right. But
faith is, I think you're right and I'm wrong when I disagree with you.
I'll say it again - that is the great secret of this church. You don't
agree with me sometimes, but you say, "I've never pastored a church, and
if I have you could put my church in a corner of one of these sections.
I've never had the load to carry that Bro. Hyles has to carry, so I don't
agree with him always, but when I disagree, I think he's right and I'm
wrong concerning the work of the church.
The next step is this. First step, I have confidence to believe He will
do it like I think it should be done. The next step in faith is this: I
cannot see it, but God will explain it someday and then I will understand."
That is not pure faith. You say, "I trust God to explain later the things
I don't understand. I think that someday he would explain to me, so I trust
Him. Isn't that pure faith?" No, it is dead sure better than the first
one, but it is not pure faith. Somebody wrote a song, "We Will Understand
It Better All By and By." Now, you say, "Okay, God and I don't agree on
this. I would not have done it this way if I had been God, but I believe
that one day God will explain it." Now, that is better than the first,
but pure faith is, "I agree with God, but if I don't see it eye to eye,
I think He's right and I'm wrong. And if I die, and never understand why
He did what He did, I still believe God was right and I was wrong. If I
get to Heaven and in eternity, I never learn why God did what He did, I
still believe that God was right and I was wrong. Pure faith. Let me give
you the three steps again: No faith is, "I have faith in Him as long as
He does it like I think it should be done." (That's what most of you have).
Second, "I have faith to believe that He is right and I am wrong, and someday
I will understand." Third (pure faith) is this: "I don't agree with God,
but if I never find out why it was for good, I still believe that God is
right."
I'm going to tell you some things that God and I disagree about. Follow
me carefully. This is going to shock you. You may fire me after this sermon.
I'll just get my Bermuda shorts out and go to Florida and play shuffleboard.
I don't agree with God that Aiken and his family should have been stoned
because he got that wedge of gold and that Babylonian garment. here is
a guy that got a new coat and a piece of gold for his wife. That's all
he did. Now, I think he should have gone to jail for a month, but he got
stoned to death. And his wife was stoned to death, and she didn't have
anything to do with it! Before I get through, you're not going to believe
in God.
See, your God has to do it like you see it. That's not the true and
living God. That's idolatry. Let's go a step further. I don't think God
should have killed Ananias and Saphira because they didn't give all the
money they got for their house. That doesn't make sense to me. I'm sorry.
I love You. I trust You, but I don't agree with You. I expected lightning
to strike. But now wait a minute, I don't agree with that. I just think
that was over doing it. Here's a couple - they may have tithed and gotten
killed for it. They sold a house and did not give all the profits to God,
and God killed them! I mean right there in church! I don't agree with that.
I don't agree with God in letting Peter preach at Pentecost. I think
John should have preached on Pentecost. Here's a guy who fifty days ago
was cussing. Fifty days ago he denied Jesus. Fifty days ago he denied the
Faith. Fifty days ago he said he didn't belong to the First Baptist Church
of Jerusalem. Fifty days, and now look at that rascal! That cussin' man
who left Jesus in His darkest hour - I don't think Peter ought to have
preached on Pentecost. I think John the Beloved should have preached on
Pentecost. Anybody here still believe in God?
I'll tell you something else I don't believe in. I don't believe God
should have put Rahab the harlot in Hebrews chapter eleven. You understand
that here was a gal that was a prostitute - sold her body to wicked men.
She sold her body to the sales men who came into Jericho, and God put her
in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews! I don't agree with that. By the way,
you don't either. If she came to First Baptist Church, you wouldn't even
sit within ten rows of her. But God put that former whore in the eleventh
chapter of Hebrews. I just don't agree with it. I just do not agree. And
while we're talking about this, I don't think God made a good choice in
Saul to be the king. While we're talking about this, this is where I really
have a controversy with God: I don't believe God should have chosen Jacob
to make a prince and named the nation Israel after Jacob. Why that sorry,
good-for-nothin', effeminate. . .he wore an earring, I think. He probably
wore a necklace. He's home making chili while his brother is out hunting.
God have mercy on his sissy soul! Nothing irritates me any more than to
be in a hotel room and trying to get some news, and some man is cooking.
Men weren't made to cook! Men weren't made to wash the dishes. But this
sorry rascal deceived his brother, and got the birthright (which means
he got the double portion of his father's inheritance). He got to be in
the lineage of the Messiah, and he was given the priestly rights in the
family. That's what he stole from his brother. And then, when his father
was sick, he tricked his father, made his father think he was his brother,
and got the blessings that Esau should have gotten. Why, you sorry Jacob!
And do you know what God did? He turned around and named an entire nation
after him. He named His nation after him. I think they ought to be called
the "Abrahamites" instead of the Israelites. I'm saying I don't always
agree with God.
I don't agree that God should have chosen three murderers to write over
a third of the Bible. Four elevenths of the chapters of the Bible were
written by murders - Moses, Paul, and David. Now, you wouldn't do that.
I'm saying I've got some problems with God today. I don't agree. While
we're griping, this is one that I need some explanation about. Do you know
who God called the wisest man in the whole world? A guy who had seven hundred
wives and three hundred substitutes. God called him the wisest man in the
whole world. I have some problems with God, here. I don't agree with God
for sending the flood. I don't agree with God for sending the flood. I
don't agree with God in calling David a man after His own heart. I really
think this is dirty - I don't believe it was right when Moses didn't get
to see the Promised Land or go in it. All he did was lose his temper. Do
you ever lose your temper? Moses lost his temper, got mad at the southerners
(he said, "Whoa, ye rebels!"). You'd better watch it. God has a certain
hedge He's built around southern people. I don't agree.
I don't agree that God should let Satan do what he did to Job. I don't
agree that God should turn Lot's wife just because she looked back. That's
all she did. Now, I don't agree with that. It doesn't say she did anything
else. She just looked back. I don't agree. I don't agree that God should
use David to write so much of His Bible after his sins. I don't believe
that God should choose Jonah for the great revival in Ninevah. I don't
agree that God should have chosen a man with Matthew's dishonest background
to be an apostle and writer the first book in the New Testament. I don't
believe that God should have made Isaac marry somebody he had never seen.
I mean, this guy went out to the home country and brought a bride. She
may have weighed five hundred pounds. She may have had a big wart right
on the end of her nose. She may have had only one tooth. It didn't matter.
I don't believe in a fellow having to marry someone he's never seen.
I don't agree in blessing Old Testament men that had several wives.
I don't agree with God there. I don't agree with that. I don't agree with
God giving the prodigal son more attention than he gave the son who stayed
home and worked all the time. I don't agree with that. I don't agree with
God allowing my mother to have to go through the many battles that she
had to endure. I don't agree with the many battles that have come my way
all these years. I don't agree with God making Mrs. Evans endure what she
goes through. And to be quite frank with you, I don't really understand
the plan of salvation. Oh, I know it. But, it looks to me like a guy that
lives a really good life, ought to go to Heaven. Here's that thief on the
cross...He never did one solitary thing but trust Jesus. He goes to Heaven.
Then there's a guy that never stole anything, never robbed anybody, never
committed a crime, but he dies and goes to Hell. That doesn't make sense
to me, but bless God, it doesn't have to make sense to me!
I believe God is right. I've said all these things I would have done
differently from God. But, in every area, I believe God is right and I
am wrong. He may choose some day to explain to me why He is right and I
am wrong, but He doesn't have to explain to me. I still believe that God
is right. I believe that God was right when he put Rahab in the "hall of
heroes" in Hebrews eleven. I believe God was right when He chose Peter
to preach on Pentecost. I believe God was right when He sent the flood.
I believe God was right when He killed Ananias and Saphira. I'm saying
I don't agree with Him, but I'm flesh and He's God. I'm weak, He's strong.
I'm sinful, He's perfect. he's God. He makes no mistakes! You say, Bro.
Hyles, we'll understand it better by and by. We may, but I don't have to.
If God never tells me when I get to Heaven why these things happened, He
is still my God and I trust Him. For, He is God; He is good; He is omniscient;
and, he is right.
The greatest joy of the Christian life is to trust Him and need no explanation.
The greatest thing that you can do for God, is to trust Him and ask for
no explanation, either here or in eternity. So, God was right when He stoned
Aiken. God was right when He killed Ananias and Saphira. God was right
when He chose Peter to preach on Pentecost. God was right in putting Rahab
the harlot in the "hall or heroes." God was right in choosing Saul to be
king. God was right to make Jacob a prince and to name a nation after him.
God was right to choose three ex-murderers to write four elevenths of the
Bible. God was right when He called Solomon the wisest man in the world.
God was right when He sent the flood. God was right when He called David
a man after his own heart. God was right by not letting Moses enter into
the Promised Land. God was right in letting Satan do what he did to Job.
God was right in turning Lot's wife into a pillar of salt. God was right
in using David to write so much of the Bible after his great sins. God
was right to choose Jonah to preach the great revival in Ninevah. God was
right to choose Matthew as an apostle. God was right to give Isaac a wife
he had never seen. God was right to bless Old Testament men who had more
than one wife. God was right in not letting Paul tell us what he saw in
the third heaven. God was right when the prodigal son got more attention
than the faithful son that stayed home. God was right. He is always right.
he is God. It pleases God when you and I look to Him, and you can say,
"I don't understand everything. I may not agree with everything. But, I'm
wrong, and You're right." For He maketh no mistakes. He is God; He's good;
and He's omniscient. As our text said this morning, "Whatsoever is right,
that shall ye receive.
