How is God Just and Generous in Salvation? | Matthew 20:1-16
Series: All!
Jesus has all authority,
So that all nations
Might pledge all allegiance to him.
Title: “How is God just and generous in salvation?”
Scripture: Matthew 20:1-16
Heavily indebted to Douglas Sean O’Donnell’s commentary for this message. (See below)
Bottom line: God’s gift of salvation is both just and generous:
It’s just, so we don’t grumble about God’s mercy to anyone;
It’s equally gracious, so we don’t begrudge his unequal generosity.
Main point: God’s gift of salvation is just and generous.
A. God’s gift of salvation is just, so don’t grumble (complain) about God’s undeserved grace (or mercy).
B. God’s gift of salvation is equally gracious (to all), so don’t begrudge (look upon with disapproval) w/God’s unequal generosity. (Envious or jealous)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
SERMON OUTLINE & NOTES
MAIN REFERENCES USED
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Discussion questions for group and personal study.
Reflect and Discuss
1. What does the parable of the workers in a vinevard teach us about
God's grace?
2. How does the misguided approach of the disciples beginning in Matthew 20:20 parallel your own approach to God and the Christian life?
3. How does Jesus' healing of the blind men in Matthew 20:29-34 contrast with the request for privilege by James and John in the previous paragraph?
4. Why can't grace and pride coexist? Can you think of other Scriptural passages that speak to this truth?
Final Questions (optional or in place of above)
What is God saying to you right now?
What are you going to do about it?
Find our sermons, podcasts, discussion questions and notes at https://www.gracetoday.net/podcast
Weekly questions I answer in preparation for the sermon:
Q. What do I want you to know?
A. That God is just and generous in saving people.
Q. Why?
A. Because we tend to live as if we deserve it. And there’s very little gratitude in that perspective. In fact, we do not deserve it.
Q. What do I want you to do?
A. Evaluate your relationship with God. Do you believe you deserve salvation? (You don’t) Do you believe you can earn your salvation? (You cannot)
Q. Why?
A. Because salvation is a gift to the damned. None of us deserve it. All of us need it.
OUTLINE & NOTES
Introduction
Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer (/ˈdɑːmər/; May 21, 1960 – November 28, 1994), also known as the Milwaukee Cannibal or the Milwaukee Monster, was an American serial killerand sex offender who killed and dismembered seventeen men and boys between 1978 and 1991.[4] Many of his later murders involved necrophilia,[5] cannibalism, and the permanent preservation of body parts—typically all or part of the skeleton.[6]
Although he was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder,[7] schizotypal personality disorder,[8] and a psychotic disorder, Dahmer was found to be legally saneat his trial. He was convicted of fifteen of the sixteen homicides he had committed in Wisconsin and was sentenced to fifteen terms of life imprisonment on February 17, 1992.[9] Dahmer was later sentenced to a sixteenth term of life imprisonment for an additional homicide committed in Ohio in 1978.
On November 28, 1994, Dahmer was beaten to death by Christopher Scarver, a fellow inmate at the Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin.
Jeffrey Dawlmer coming to Christ. Stone Phillips interviewed Dawlmer where he learned that Dawlmer, his father and his pastor all testify that Jeffrey believes we all will stand before Christ and answer to him. He trusted Jesus as Lord and savior according to all 3.
Dateline NBC has also broadcast an interview with Dahmer. Conducted by Stone Phillips and first broadcast on March 8, 1994, this 90-minute episode—titled Confessions of a Serial Killer—features interviews with Dahmer and his father conducted at Columbia Correctional Institution. Dahmer's mother is also interviewed for this program.[363]
Context:
“The time had come for the owner of a vineyard to harvest his grapes. The permanent workers on his farm were not numerous enough to complete the harvest in time, so when harvest time came, as many farmers did in the ancient world and still do today, he went looking for day laborers he could hire. Such laborers customarily came to the marketplace in the hope that they would be chosen to labor that day and would gain the standard pay for a day’s work in Israel, which was one denarius”
Excerpt From
Matthew - An Expositional Commentary
R.C. Sproul
https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewBook?id=0
This material may be protected by copyright.
God’s gift of salvation (eternal life; kingdom of God; kingdom of heaven) is generous in just, gracious, and merciful.
The landowner was
Just—he paid them all what he agreed to pay them which was fair market value (one day laborers wages). And they all agreed to this up front. They all were paid the same amount. They were probably happy at the beginning of the day because someone hired them enabling them to gain a wage that day. While their circumstances did not change during the day, their expectations did.
Perceived as unjust—the workers who were first hired perceived this generosity to be unfair because the last were paid for a full day when they worked < a full day. As a result, they grumbled/complained to the landowner.
Grace—While some worked all day (earning their fair share of the wages), the rest worked less than a day and yet were generously paid more than they deserved.
Mercy—Some did not get what they deserved (in their minds) which was more than what the latter workers received. Yet, none of them deserved the work. They were mercifully given the opportunity to work when they had no way to create payable work on their own. They were literally at the mercy of a landowner hiring them that day.
8A little bit more…
Also, keep in mind that this was a time of harvest requiring extra workers. Therefore, in addition to his normal crew, he was bringing other day laborers who needed any kind of work they could get. Therefore, it’s safe to assume that they were harvesting grapes—not just tending to the fields.
This matters because it reminds us that this imagery is about more than grace, mercy and justice. It’s about the harvest. God doesn’t just graciously save people to save them. He saves them to serve…in the harvest. This is part of what is referred to as the “Lordship debate”. Does Jesus save, end of sentence. Or does Jesus save that we might join him in saving others? I believe it’s both—and. I believe that we demonstrate that our faith is genuine and our salvation real when we join him in the harvest. Otherwise, I think it’s safe to say there’s evidence to the contrary.
When someone saves your life, you feel like you could do anything for them.
When you are forgiven a great debt, you live your life grateful for what you don’t deserve—more life.
When Jesus saves you from sin and death, shame and guilt, hell itself, and you understand this, you find yourself eager to serve God and serve people to this end.
Do you?
“In the parable, a large group of the workers received grace. One group received justice. However, no one received injustice. But the workers who labored all day thought they received injustice. They thought the owner owed them something”
Excerpt From
Matthew - An Expositional Commentary
R.C. Sproul
https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewBook?id=0
This material may be protected by copyright.
“If we were to try to list everything God owes us, it would be the easiest task we were ever assigned, one we could complete in record time. The truth is, He owes us nothing except His wrath as punishment for all our sins”
Excerpt From
Matthew - An Expositional Commentary
R.C. Sproul
https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewBook?id=0
This material may be protected by copyright.
Yet, we owe God an infinite debt—our sins are debts against a holy God. Like the servant who owed the king a gazillion dollars, we owe God way more than we could ever pay back.
Excerpt from David Platt:
Main point: God’s gift of salvation is just and generous.
A. God’s gift of salvation is just, so don’t grumble (complain) about God’s undeserved grace (or mercy).
B. God’s gift of salvation is equally gracious (to all), so don’t begrudge (look upon with w/God’s unequal generosity. (Envious or jealous)
Symbolism:
Landowner/Master = God the Father; the Lord God
Workers = Christians; some more and some less in the eyes of the world (and the church)
Harvest = Work of the gospel in the world
Matthew 9:37-38 says, “Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.””
Matthew 9:37-38 NIV https://bible.com/bible/111/mat.9.37-38.NIV
JUSTICE - getting what you deserve
GRACE - getting what you DON’T deserve
MERCY - NOT getting what you deserve
“Whenever Jesus teaches on grace…he teaches lordship salvation.” -O’Donnell
“The traditional Protestant position is that salvation is
by grace alone in Christ alone
through faith alone,
but such faith is never alone—it produces fruit.
Faith loves.
Faith works.
Faith obeys. If such fruit is not found, then the assurance of salvation cannot (should not) be offered. Jesus must be both Savior AND Lord.” -O‘Donnell
A last point:
2 rules to the grace game:
Grace and works. Jesus calls us laborers and workers in his kingdom harvest work. Everyone of them in this parable works in the vineyard, presumably for the harvest. The master goes and puts the idlers to work because grace by faith WORKS!
Grace and rewards. These workers were GIVEN a job to work. Jesus rewards every worker who works (gives evidence he’s a worker (Christian)). And they’re doing a specific work too. They are working in the kingdom harvest. Are we?
Conclusion
Bottom line:
Q. What do I want you to do?
A. Stop grumbling and begrudging God and people who are just and generous.
Q. Why?
A. Because he tells us to. Because you know that God is just and generous and that’s enough.
Notes
“20:1-16 Different hours, same wages?
Christ told a parable about a landowner who paid the same wages to all his workers even though they had done vastly different amounts of work. God has the sovereign right to reward us for our work as he sees fit.
Anything he gives us, whether small or great, is a gift of grace and is more than we deserve.” -Wilmington’s Bible Handbook
MAIN REFERENCES USED
“Preaching the Word” Commentary, Douglas Sean O’Donnell, Edited by Kent Hughes
“Matthew” by RC Sproul
“The Bible Knowledge Commentary” by Walvoord, Zuck (BKC)
“The Bible Exposition Commentary” by Warren Wiersbe (BEC)
“Exalting Jesus in Matthew” by David Platt (CCE)
Outline Bible, D Willmington
NIV Study Bible (NIVSB)
ESV Study Bible (ESVSB)