 So, okay, here we are, Matthew 20. We're going to be looking today at a parable, and the parable is traditionally referred to as the parable of the laborers, and you'll see that in just a moment. So let's begin reading together here in Matthew chapter 20, at verse one. I'll read verses one through 16, reading the entire parable to you, and we'll get into our study. For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard, and he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace and said to them, you also go into the vineyard and whatever is right, I will give you. And they went. Again, he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour and did likewise. And about the 11th hour, he went out and found others standing idle and said to them, why have you been standing here idle all day? They said to him, because no one hired us. He said to them, you also go into the vineyard and whatever is right, you will receive. So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, call the laborers and give them their wages beginning with the last of the first. And when those came who were hired about the 11th hour, they each received a denarius. But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more and they likewise received each a denarius. And when they had received it, they murmured against the landowner saying, these last men have worked only one hour. You made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day. But he answered one of them and said, friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things or is your eye evil because I am good? So the last will be first in the first last for many are called but few chosen. So what we have here is a parable and we're going to look at it in layers. So I'll begin by introducing it this way. I'm going to take you through this parable and I'm going to treat it in successive layers. I'm going to give you a certain amount of information. I'm going to go back and give you some more information. Then I'm going to go back a third time and then give you information and application. So I'd invite you just to be patient with me as I try to lay this down for you because this is something you could probably in five minutes give the meaning. But in order to give understanding and give you more context so that you are able to say also that's what this parable is all about. It's going to require me to spend some time with you and that's what I'm going to do to lay it as I said in some layers. And so I'll begin with the first layer. I'll move to a second, move to a third bring application. And that's how I plan on dealing with this particular story that we have before us. So let me begin by saying this. Throughout the New Testament, Jesus gave instructions to his disciples. And he often would use what are called parables. Now when you look at your Bible, there are Bible scholars who will differ on the amount of parables that Jesus actually gave. But the number of parables that you can find in scripture run from anywhere from 37 to 39 parables. That Jesus gave as he illustrated things concerning the kingdom of heaven. When you read the word parable and for me I need to remind myself that some who are attending this fellowship or who will hear this particular message perhaps were not raised in a church environment and thus you never heard the word parable or what it means. And it may be a common word that people use today but you don't know how that word applies to the Bible. So let me give you some insight into what a parable is. Because what we have here is one of the parables of Jesus Christ and as mentioned Jesus gave up to 39 different illustrations that are called parables. So the word parable, first the word speaks of placing one thing by the side of another in order to draw a comparison. Someone has said a parable is a story in which the nature and history of God's kingdom is figuratively portrayed. In its most simple definition a parable is an earthly story that contains a heavenly meaning. And Jesus would take that which is familiar in order to communicate what is unfamiliar and he used parables in his teaching that he might share insights into what is called the kingdom of God. Now one of the things about a parable that I find interesting is that it is intended to both conceal as well as to reveal. And you might find that interesting, some of you may, to conceal as well as reveal. In other words, he gave parables because to some it would remain obscure and to others they would say, so that's what it means. Now when you look in Matthew, for example, chapter 13, and we were in Matthew a while back now and we looked at a series of parables that are found in Matthew chapter 13. Jesus was speaking and he had just given a parable and he was questioned, it's found in Matthew 13 verses 10 through 13. Because it says the disciples came and said to him, why do you speak to them in parables? He answered and said to them, because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has to him more will be given and he will have abundance. But whoever does not have even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables because seeing, they do not see, hearing, they do not hear, nor do they understand. So the parables would separate the disinterested and lazy listener from the one who had an interest. Jesus often taught through the use of illustrations in order to provoke people to search for the meaning. Approximately one third of his recorded teachings came through parables. And according to Proverbs 25-2, it is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings to search out a matter. And so when Jesus would give a parable, there were the lazy listeners with no interest whatsoever who would say, I don't get it at all. And there would be others who would say, what does that mean and how does that apply? All you need to do within yourself if you want to check your spiritual temperature is ask yourself, how much do you really want to know what's being taught? How much do you really want to know about Jesus Christ? And parables were intended to reveal that. There needs to be a hunger for spiritual truth. And the hunger for spiritual truth that lies within us can be pulled out by the Lord Jesus Christ. And he did so using parables. But there needs to be a hunger for spiritual truth to seek. Like it says in Isaiah 55 verse 6, seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. For Jeremiah 29, 13, you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. Remember what Jesus in Matthew 5, 6 said when he said, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. They shall be filled. Or when he said in Matthew 7, 7 and 8, ask it will be given you. Seek, you will find. Knock, it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds, to him who knocks it will be opened. So there's a hunger. And so Jesus would speak concerning parables. So the lazy listener, the one who says if it's not predigested and easy to understand, I have no interest in it. Those people had a tendency of just walking away. But the others who were thinking, I would like to know the things of God. When Jesus would speak with a parable, it would cause them to pursue it even further so that they might have clarity and understanding. You see the same message that awakens one person can harden somebody else. The person not interested in directing their attention to know a matter will reject it. There's an instance that we find in the Gospel of John, it's found in chapter 6. When Jesus was speaking to them and he had said, you need to eat of my flesh and drink of my blood. And as he was saying that to these would-be disciples, the Bible tells us in verse 60 of John 6, many of his disciples when they heard this said, this is a hard saying, who can understand it? And then later on in verse 66 it says from that time many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more. This is a hard saying, who can understand it? I'm just abandoning this, it isn't worth it. I don't get it. And there are a lot of people sadly like that. Parables have been called mirrors as well as windows because we can see ourselves in them and they help us see life through them. This particular parable that we're looking at reveals God's justice, His sovereignty, and it shows us His grace. And as I was mentioning, I'm going to give to you layers so that ultimately when I come to the conclusion, hopefully it'll make some sense to all of us. And so let me begin by looking at verse 1 and how he says the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning. So what we have here is a wealthy landowner. And this landowner, this wealthy man needs laborers to work in his field. He had an estate and on his estate is a large vineyard. To properly work the vineyard requires a large force of what are called day laborers. During the summer, the weather is hot. The work is long. It's very difficult because it's hot. It's necessary to gather in grapes before what is called the rainy season. So Jesus says this particular landowner didn't have enough help to work the field, so he hires day laborers. Now a day laborer was generally an unskilled individual. He was unskilled at a trade and he lived just above the poverty level. And because they were unskilled, they often worked hard jobs for low wages. They were hard workers but often were taken advantage of. Now that was true then. It's true to this day, isn't it? And God still is aware of that. As a matter of fact, in your Bible, in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, God actually gives commands concerning the treatment of day laborers. It's found in Deuteronomy 24 verses 14 and 15. Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns. Pay him his wages each day before sunset because he is poor and is counting on it. Otherwise, he may cry to the Lord against you, you will be guilty of sin. You hire a man, you pay the man. We all know that, don't we? You hire a man, you pay the man. And he's saying this is right. If you've hired him, you pay him. He's poor and he's needy. And that's how we will take care of those who have need. Now you may say, well, that's the Old Testament. Well, in the New Testament, James chapter five verses one through four says it like this, listen you rich people weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth is rotted and mouths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look, the wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. God in the old as well as the new cares about the down and out. You just see that through the whole Bible. With that said, that gives us insight into this parable because Jesus points out that the landowner was good and did not take advantage of them but he was fair and he was honest. And so you have in verses one and two that he went out early in the morning. He spoke to laborers. He agreed on a wage. And the wage they agreed on Jesus says is a denarius. A denarius is a generous wage. It was equal to the daily pay of a Roman soldier. They were gonna begin work at 6 a.m. which was called the first hour. But you see in verses three and four that he once again goes out about the third hour and he sees others that are standing idle in the marketplace. So he returns at 9 a.m. finds laborers standing idle. It's not that they are lazy, they are unemployed. In verse four he tells them go into the vineyard and whatever is right I will give you. Verse five again he went out at the sixth hour which is noon and the ninth hour which is 3 p.m. He does the same thing. He's searching for laborers for the vineyard. Verses six and seven tell us it's the 11th hour and he once again goes out he finds others standing idle. So he questions them why have you been standing here idle all day? In verse seven the answer no one has hired us. They were possibly the unwanted ones. They were the old, the weak or those who were simply less productive. What does he do verse seven? Go into the vineyard and whatever is right you will receive. No comment is recorded concerning their pay. So that means they trust him to pay them. He's obviously known to be a righteous and fair man. Jeremiah 22.13 says it like this. Woe to him who builds his house without righteousness and his upper rooms without justice who uses his neighbor's services without pay and does not give him his wages. I remember many years ago now a man I knew who would hire day laborers eventually because he had a lot where he kept many of his tools and equipment. He began allowing some of them to live on the lot and they would live this one particular location I walked into and saw it was actually I was taken to it and shown it by the owner and he says this is where some of my workers live. I let them live here and that's part of their wage. And you know I was a young man at the time and I walked in and I looked at it and it wasn't even a shack. It was less than a shack. It had slats but the slats were not connected so there were gaps in it so that cool air would blow through. It had a very rudimentary floor. I don't even remember if it had any wood or concrete. Could very well have been just the dirt floor that had covering over it. It had a hot plate and then there was a cot that was on the side. There was no running water. There was nothing there. They had an electrical system where they ran a line and had a single light bulb so the guy could turn the light on and off. And what he was doing is he was letting the workers live in this particular place and using it as a salary that he was giving them for the hard labor that they were doing. And I was a young man. I have to tell you he's 30, 31 years old at the time and I started thinking this just isn't right. How can you do this and think that you're giving these people something good? How can you do that? Well I let them drive my truck once in a while. Really? But you don't pay them. And I'm again, a young man. You know, very little experience in life at 31 but I'm beginning to think there's something wrong here. You don't take advantage of human beings like this and think you're being generous to them. That's just not right. Or perhaps he thought it was. And the sad thing is he was a believer. He was a believer. And that's what started me thinking about these things and thinking, well wait a minute, the Old Testament says that you don't withhold the laborer. You don't withhold from him his wage. Whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien who's dwelling in your land. There's a fairness and a justice in paying a wage that is earned. And we need to remember that. Maybe as a nation we need to remember that. There's a righteousness and a justice in paying for the labor that has been performed. And so we have to be aware of those kinds of things. And so as I look at this, I can't help but begin to realize that sometimes we simply don't seem to understand what the Lord is saying to us when it comes to treating other people properly. In verse eight it says, when evening had come the owner of the vineyard said, call the laborers. Bring him in cause he's gonna pay them. And notice he begins to pay them beginning with the last and moving to the first. So that would give those who have labored the longest opportunity to watch the proceedings. You see according to verses nine through 11 the ones who worked an hour received their denarius. Well that causes the early workers to think that they're gonna receive much more. But when receiving it they're surprised. They received only at denarius. Well verses 11 and 12 says when they received it they murmured against the landowner. And they say, we carry the burden and suffered the most. Why did we get such a low wage? What are they saying? Well they're saying this isn't fair. We worked so hard surely we earned the pay because of our hard work. But notice verses 13 through 16 he answers and says, friend I'm doing you no wrong. Why? Because you agreed on the wage. You worked the 12 hours you agreed to work. I paid you the wage you were initially expecting. So take what is yours. That was the terms originally wasn't it? And then he asks the question in verse 15. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil? Because I'm good. Is it not right? Do I not have the right to use my goods in the way that I desire? Or is your eye evil? When you speak about the evil eye and I grew up, I don't know if there's anybody who grew up in a similar way, maybe there are some in this room or not perhaps I was the only one who was raised with superstition. My mama used to talk about the evil eye. Anybody here ever heard that? I'm sure I'm the evil eye. You know there were all kinds of little things I grew up with that were just scary and not right. Kukui and you name it. I mean the boogeyman and you name it. I mean that's how I was raised, right? So mama told me about the evil eye and so I didn't know what evil eye was but according to the superstitious tradition she was raised with, it's different than what this is. And there's a reason I'm bringing this up to you because some of you may confuse the two. That's why I'm bringing this up. It's not to give you a lesson on superstition. It's just to say how I understood it and how I was taught and what it actually really is. So the way that we were taught there was you could actually curse somebody and this and that. And there were, well no I won't even go there but that's how, well I will. I'll tell you one story. My mom told me about an egg and a fever and I had been, I had a bad, some of you know what I'm gonna say, right? You better not do this. I was a little boy and I had a fever and a neighbor came and she was a witch. And so she took an egg and rolled it over my body. And then my mom said she broke it and opened it up and it was all bloody and my temperature left me. So that's how I was raised. In the kukui, the boogeyman, I would stand at the light switch in my bedroom and I would hit it and I'd take two steps and dive onto my bed so kukui wouldn't grab my legs. So I was raised with soup. Some of you had the boogeyman stories too, you know? La Giorona, you name it, I heard it. That's the truth, that's just the way I was raised, right? So I heard the term evil eye and I was thinking certain things. So what is an evil eye? Well when Jesus speaks concerning an evil eye, is it because your eye is evil? That's a phrase that's used more than once in the scriptures. It's the word your eye is evil is Jesus saying because your eye is what focuses on life. When your eye is not focused properly then everything you see is gonna be misunderstood and an evil eye is an envious eye and that's what he's saying here, he's saying you're envious. He says you're seeing something and you're envious of it. Is it because you're envious is what he's saying. You're thinking that because you worked all these hours that somehow you deserve more than the person who didn't work as many hours. So are you envious of that? Do you think that you deserve more than somebody else because you worked harder at it? And so that's how he's dealing with it and he says because I am good, does that bother you? Do you not understand in other words, we're gonna look at this, we're gonna add a layer in a moment but because you don't understand my goodness you naturally are responding with resentment. That's what you're doing. Is it because I am good and your eye is evil that you don't understand what's going on? And that's how he addresses. So your problem is rooted in a belief that your hard work makes you worth more and just because you want extra pay doesn't mean you deserve extra pay. So we'll move into another layer now. Let's look at this and say first in verse one when he's speaking concerning the kingdom of heaven. He said it is like a landowner. So Jesus is teaching us what the kingdom of heaven is like. Now it's important to know that he's speaking about salvation. He is speaking about salvation and not rewards for those who are saved. In verse 28 of chapter 19 he had spoken to them about rewards for following him but now he's speaking concerning the gift of salvation that is graciously given to those who serve him. It is important for us to understand that salvation is not earned but is a gift that is received by faith. In my background growing up the way I did and I think some of you grew up similarly so I'll say it like this. I always believed that the harder you worked the more certain you could be that you could be saved. So a hard working religious person somebody who did a lot of charitable things somebody who gave their life will say to going for me I was raised in the Catholic faith and so the man who became a monk or became a priest or whatever and my estimation was that much closer to God because of his difficult vocation that he chose and the hard work that he would put into that and so in my mind from the time I was a child the harder you worked the more assured you may be of getting saved. And so I can still remember wanting at the age of about nine years old wanting to be a priest or a monk. I actually was more inclined to becoming a monk than a priest that's a fact because I wanted to live in a cave and eat granola. That's, this is true, it's funny now but I thank you for laughing it is silly but that's just a fact that's just how I thought. I thought that if I would go into a cave just me and some health food and just stay there and not be tempted by the things of the world and just spend time with God then I would surely deserve to enter into heaven that's how I thought and many people to this day think the same thing. I didn't know the grace of God. That's what this is by the way it's illustrating the grace of God. I didn't know the grace of God did you? I didn't. Hard work earns salvation, I thought. Working hard, praying, reading the Bible, memorizing, doing things that that shows that I want God that shows it. Strong tradition in my family of religion. I've said this before but to illustrate my aunt I have an aunt who is my mom's oldest sister who was born in Jalisco, Mexico. Was brought here as a child to the United States by my grandparents but they took my aunt back to Jalisco to be baptized because one of the priests, we had a priest in our family who was either a bishop or he was a high church official so we have a strong religious tradition of people who were highly placed in the church in like as a bishop and so my grandparents at that time took my aunt back to Mexico so that my aunt could be baptized by this high ranking church official. That was in our blood. That was in our tradition in my family. That's how I was raised and so I thought that a person who is completely dedicated, doesn't marry, lives in isolation as most surely has a better opportunity to enter into the kingdom of heaven than some regular person who's out there just sinning like crazy and then suddenly at the end of their life becomes religious. That's how I thought and so I thought that way until I was in my early teens and I tried very hard to be a model Catholic, a model kid until I was about 15. I had been told by my dad because my mother's suffered with a series of illnesses from illnesses like epilepsy to others. My father had told me when I was six years old or so and I was crying myself to sleep because my mom was in the hospital, she went to the hospital quite often when I was a child. My father came into my room as I was weeping on a pillow and I still remember this and it's funny. So many years and I was crying myself to sleep and my dad says, why are you crying? And I say, cause mama is sick and my dad said, if you're a good boy, she'll get well. And so I did my very best to become the best kid you've ever met. There are pictures of me as a little boy sitting quietly because I thought if I did bad, my mom would stay sick. I'm gonna be good. That's what I chose. I was one of the best kids you'd ever know. They would tell my parents how good David is till I was 15. When I got to be 15, I got tired. I can't be good. She's still sick. She's even getting sicker. And that's when my logic kicked in and my evil nature kicked in and I said, if my goodness doesn't make her sick, neither will my badness. And that's when I began to drink and that's when I moved into drugs and that's when I began to rebel and that's when I began to do the things that I did. Lying, stealing, you name it, I didn't care cause my badness didn't affect her health any more than my goodness did. So you can't imagine how at the age of 20 when I start hearing people tell me about the gospel of Jesus Christ, how that affected me because in my mind, God only accepts good people. He doesn't accept the bad ones. The bad ones don't deserve to go to heaven only the good ones do. And so I did not believe it and when people would say that to me, I would, that God loved the world, God gave his son that you could come to Christ and he'll now, you gotta be kidding. I would tell him, no, I'm sorry, with respect because I thought that a person with religious faith was someone to respect. I just didn't agree with them. I wasn't angry at them. I just didn't agree with them. You think that God does these things? You don't know. I've been praying for my mother all my life. She's not well. Don't you tell me there's a God who cares? Please don't, because I don't believe it. I hadn't seen it. I went down and down and down so far finally at the age of 20. There was a man by the name of Chuck Smith, some of you have heard of him. And Chuck Smith hated hippies. Chuck would go to Huntington Beach with his wife Kay and the hippie kids would walk by in the late 60s and he would look at him and he'd turn to his wife and he would say, why don't those dirty pigs get a job? Look at them. Look at them. They're loaded. They're barefoot. They're just, oh, oh. And then he'd turn to his wife Kay looking for some support and he was already pastoring. And he'd look to his wife for supporting all she'd be doing is crying. God saved those kids. And Chuck says, that's what turned his heart. The tears of a wife who saw the off scouring of children. The day laborers hired at the 11th hour who have no value, nobody knew, nobody cared about. They just didn't have, nobody hired us. And she would cry for him. And Chuck, he didn't like us. There's no doubt that there's, I hung out at Huntington. That's where I hung out. There's no doubt in my mind that I walked by him, a dirty little loaded hippie kid. I have no doubt that I did that because he was there all the time and he was praying. And that's where we parted. That's where we'd hang around, Huntington. And so there he is thinking about this and hating what we represented when the Holy Spirit broke his heart and the Holy Spirit did a move. You see, I got saved in 1970. This month, 46 years ago, I gave my heart to Christ, transformed, transformed. Walking into a place, into a church, loaded. I had just drunk some beer. Walking into a church, I smoked some pot, expecting to get kicked out and welcomed by the Spirit of God. Listen, I don't understand what is happening to the church today. May I be honest with you when I say this? See, I was saved in a massive movement of the Holy Spirit, where sin was sin and righteousness is right. We didn't have a confusion. Listen, I didn't get saved saying, now that I'm saved, I can still drink. Are you kidding me? That's what was leading me to hell. I got away from that garbage because Jesus Christ gave me the new wine of the Spirit. Why do I need the old? But we today, we don't, here we go. We do not, we don't understand it. We don't understand Jesus Christ is worth everything, everything that you have. There's nothing you have that is worth more than Jesus Christ and when He transforms a life, He transforms it for the good. You don't give up anything. You gain everything. We don't understand it. We're living in a time where entertainment and personality and popular preaching is more important than transformation. God by His Spirit makes a brand new person. I've said it this way, though I do agree with helping people who are struggling. Of course, we have ministry here called lion tamers and others because we will help you and disciple you so that you can be right and going strong with Jesus. Of course, I believe in discipleship. In my case, we didn't have lion tamers. What we had is a one step program. You come to Jesus, everything else is taken care of and that's what happened with me. I took one step to Christ and Jesus Christ changed my life and so I know what it's like to be the off scouring. I know what it's like to be the laborer at 11 o'clock that nobody wanted. I know what it feels like. Forgive the tears. I gotta stop preaching. I gotta start writing books. You don't hear my voice when I'm writing. I hate the emotion I show. I hate it. I really do. I hate it. I'm macho. You don't know. You don't know. But when God begins to speak to my heart, He comes out. I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful to God. The Lord changes life and it doesn't matter if you worked and bore the heat of the day or if you stood there idle until the 11th hour. He wants you equally. And there are people who've forgotten where they came from, the first hour workers. We have borne the heat of the day and we're getting the same thing. These people who did nothing for 11 hours and are you mad at me because I'm good? Are you mad because of my grace? It was the grace that saved you. You ought to be grateful for that. See, I am grateful for what the Lord has done. I am grateful to God. And so we'll take it another layer. As we know that salvation is an unearned gift and is not the result of self-effort, Jesus is teaching us about this landowner, vineyard, and laborers. First, the landowner and the vineyard represents God and the world that He owns. Deuteronomy 1014 says, indeed, heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it. Psalm 24, verse one, the earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world and all who live in it. So the landowner and the vineyard, God and the earth. The laborers are believers who are working in the field of the Lord. In Matthew 9, 37 and 38, it reads, He said to His disciples, the harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. So the laborers are believers working in the field of the Lord. Third, the denarius represents eternal life, which is received graciously as a gift from God. Fourth, the unwanted laborers represent the unsaved human beings who are called to salvation. Fifth, all believers are equally to receive the gift of eternal life. So what do we see? Well, we see that God initiates salvation. Notice with me that the workers were not seeking Him, He came and called them. Salvation is initiated by God. In John 6, 44, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws Him. Luke 19, 10, the Son of man came to seek and to save what was lost. Secondly, God establishes terms of salvation. God established the pay. The workers simply agreed to receive what He gave. Some worked longer under harder conditions but they received the same pay. A third thing, heaven is never full enough for the Lord. He seeks laborers until the final hour. He went out in the third, the sixth, the ninth and 11th hour to hire more workers. And that shows us that He continues seeking laborers until the final moments. Ezekiel 33, 11, say to them, as I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from His way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways for why should you die, O house of Israel? In Romans 2, 4, don't you realize how kind, tolerant and patient God is with you? Don't you care? Can't you see how kind He has been in giving you time to turn from your sin? Pastor Chuck, when the Lord spoke to him and he began to welcome us into his church, knew that we were gonna be messy and we were. He tells the story of how that these people who came in used to sit there barefooted, which was me, I was one of them, and how when we would cross our legs sometimes, and you could do this in these views here, we would cross, I got my toe stuck in the communion cup more than once. You know the little holders there? And he would say they'd say how gross is this? These kids are getting their toe stuck in the communion cups. But He welcomed us in. He welcomed us in a way because God doesn't want His house to be empty because it's never full enough. It's never full enough. He wants more. He wants more. Jesus Christ goes out to get the ones that nobody wants. Now in this room here I have some beautiful people. There's no doubt about it. You were the intellectuals. You were the good looking ones in high school, college perhaps. You were the one that played ball and people liked to be around you because you were one of those special guys who could play good football or baseball or whatever. And people were naturally liked you. You were a president perhaps of the class. You were something special and people knew your name. You'd walk through the school. You'd be going from class to class and people would say, oh, how are you? How are you doing today? And you got used to that. Why, you were a beautiful person. Everybody knew you. I wasn't that beautiful person. I was the other one. I was the one that would walk from class to class and nobody knew me. I was the one that would sit by myself and eat my lunch by myself because nobody would sit and eat with me. I was that kid. I was the one that didn't have a friend. Long time. I wasn't the beautiful person. I was the invisible one. When you're a kid, that matters. You get some new clothes. You wear them to school. You think they're cool. And your friends all say, man, are you kidding me? Your mother dresses you funny and you feel all like, oh, wow, man. Penaltons were real cool when I was going to school. They still are for a lot of people. Penaltons. My mom didn't get me a penalton. She got me some knockoff from pennies. And it was cheesy. I still, I had two of them. I still, I have a picture of me with one. I'll burn it when I go home, but I have two of them. Mama just, we just couldn't afford a penalton. Penalton is expensive. We didn't have the money for a penalton. I mean, we didn't have money to buy hamburgers. We didn't have money to do anything because the way I was raised, you know, we didn't have two nickels rubbed together for a long time. And so for me, I wouldn't even tell my parents. I'm like so many of you. I wouldn't tell my parents when my shoes were in need of either re-solding or new ones. I would just take cardboard and I'd put them in. Some of you know what I'm talking about. I would get cardboard and I'd put them in and I would actually keep my parents from knowing I needed shoes. I wouldn't tell them, because we didn't have money to buy shoes. And so what I did is I would just put the cardboard in there. And the way my mom would know I needed new shoes is there were holes in my socks. And she'd find them and she'd say, David, let me see your shoes. And then they'd take me and buy me shoes. I wouldn't tell my parents I had a need for anything. Because my parents and we didn't have any money. We didn't have money. We were not in poverty level. My dad made sure the bills were paid, but we didn't have extra. We didn't, you know, for us a vacation, we didn't know really what those were outside of camping outside some place. That's what we did. To go to a meal and buy something in a restaurant. I didn't go to a restaurant to buy my own meal till I was 17 years old. Never been to a restaurant. We didn't do that. We didn't have the money for that. People understand what I'm saying. That's just the way it was. We didn't have money. I took to stealing so I could have money to buy my drugs. I took to stealing and I bought money so I could buy t-shirts and things like that. That's what I did. I'd steal and then I'd sell and then I'd buy. That's what I did. You know, and that was just it. So I was not the cold person on campus. I was the, who are you person? That's who I was. Good with it. That's what it was. So can you imagine when it came to my attention that there's a God who loves the world and I'm part of that world? And that means he loves me. And I came to realize that it doesn't matter who knows my name because there's one who does and his name is Jesus and he called me by name. That matters. My, I've told this story before and I'm about to wrap up a couple of thoughts but I had an uncle named Louis. Some of you have heard this story. Forgive me for repeating it. My uncle Louis was an alcoholic. He married my aunt Tilly. My aunt Tilly was one of my mother's older sisters. I loved my aunt Tilly. She had several children and some of them by different fathers. I think she had five or six kids through at least three different men. That was my aunt. I loved her to pieces and she was an alcoholic and so was my uncle. And so on Saturdays when I was growing up often my mom and dad would put the kids in the car we'd go to where my aunt lived because they were drunk at the table already by noon. And we would come to the house and my brother and I would play with our cousins while my mom took care of my aunt and my dad took care of uncle Louis because they were already drinking their very cheap wine. That just was the way it was. That's how I grew up. Watching my parents take care of people in need. My relatives. My uncle Louis was injured on the job and he was made a semi-invalid. He couldn't hold a job anymore. That's part of the reason he decided drinking was better than just sitting around. And he used to get into his little beat up pickup truck and he would drive through neighborhoods and he would pull over to where the trash was and he would pull the trash items out of the trash that he could salvage. I was embarrassed of my uncle Louis because in the 50s we would say, because we were kids, we didn't understand. I've learned since, but then I didn't understand. We would say that he's a trash digger. That's what they used to use the term. I don't know if anybody here has ever heard that term but the word trash digger was a very negative thing. He digs in the trash and he pulls up. He's a trash digger. I was embarrassed of my uncle Louis but my uncle Louis loved me to pieces. He used to tell me that, he said David and he was from Columbus, South Carolina. He'd say, David, like that. David, you're the apple of my eye. And I'd say, I don't wanna be no apple in anybody's eye. What are you talking about apple? And I get mad and I tell my dad, what's he talking about? What do you mean I'm an apple in his eye? And my dad, seriously, it's a true story. My dad said, no, that simply means he really loves you, Dave. Your uncle loves you. I didn't appreciate that. I didn't understand that. I'm no apple. I don't like that. I was about nine years old or so right in that area. I wanted a bicycle, a Schwinn bicycle, red and white. It had to have on the handle grips, it had to have streamers that came out. So when I was going very fast, it would whip behind me. I had to have a Schwinn bicycle. So I started cutting out things from Sears and Robuck and various other things and I would get these pictures of these bikes and I would write, I sure like my Schwinn bike and I would put this in my dad's lunch or I would put it on the seat of his truck so when he opened up to go to work, there'd be a note. I sure like my Schwinn bike. And I was doing that because I wanted a Schwinn for Christmas. And so Christmas Day comes, I'm about nine years old and I'm in my room and my dad says, Uncle Louis and Aunt Tilly are coming over and I said, great, I love them. And they show up and my dad says later on in the afternoon, he says, Dave, oh by the way, could you go out to the patio? There's something there for you. Oh man, it's my Schwinn bike because when I had gotten up and opened up the presents that we had, there was no Schwinn there. So I know for sure I'm gonna, now, oh wow, oh great. I go walking out there, well guess what? My Uncle Louis had dug in the trash and he had found a bicycle and he took it home to his little shop and he painted it red and white because he knew I wanted a red and white Schwinn bike. But how straight can you draw when you're drunk? It looked like it had lightning bolts and there was a, and it was, I still remember standing there looking going, I hate this, I hate this. I was so angry. My dad said, what, this is a piece of junk. He got it out of the trash, I can't believe this. I was so mad, I won't drive this, I won't drive this. We used to say drive in a bike, do you drive a bike? But anyway, I won't drive this. Go to your room. I went to my room, I still remember sitting there, I was, my dad walks in, he says, your Uncle Louis loves you and he worked hard to put this together for you. Well I'm never gonna, I'm never gonna write it. No, you're gonna write it. He made it for you because he loves you. The best he could do for you, David, you ought to be grateful and you go out there right now and you tell your Uncle, thank you. And I did, I went out, thank you. Now the Holy Spirit taught me to love that bike. Even before I was saved, my dad's words were used by God, I guess, in some way to connect. It's true, love is more important than the gift itself. And I began to be aware of that. That's one of the steps that God, I believe, used to help me to come to faith in Christ. Love is more important than things. And so the Lord one day reminded me, he said, you know, you were used by the world, you were trashed by the world and you were dumped in a trash can on the curb by the enemy, by Satan, you were trash. And Jesus in his little pickup truck came driving down that street. And he pulled over and he said, I can do something with this. And he pulled you out and he made you brand new. Never forget that. Never forget that. And I haven't forgotten that. I know where I came from. I knew what I did. I know what I've done. I know what I am. And that's why I cry. Because I know how good he is. His gift was free. It wasn't because I deserved it. It wasn't because I tried so hard to earn it. It's because he loved me and he loves you too. The kingdom belongs to God and he brings laborers in because he wants to give you something you can't have in this world. And that is eternal life. He can give it to you if you take it. That's how it works. You see the Lord did not save people of noble birth. He didn't save many influential. He chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. He chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of the world and the despised. The things that are not to nullify the things that are so that no one can boast before him. No matter how many hours each person worked, they all received a full day's wage. The Lord has a way of reaching us even in the last moment, like the thief on the cross who's about to go into eternity and he's there next to Jesus. And Jesus says, today you shall be with me in paradise. It is not too late. It's not too late. It is never too late to get right with God. Father, we ask that you would work with us, that you would have your way in us. Oh, thank you Lord, that you take what the world considers to be trash and you turn it into your treasure. Lord bless you. And I ask Lord that you would do your work in our hearts even now. Lord, may we be thankful to you for the goodness that you have shown us. And Lord, we bless you for the work that you're doing in us and even as our eyes are closed, our heads are bowed, perhaps there are some in this room that the spirit of God is speaking to and you need to get right with him. And as our eyes are closed and our heads are bowed, if God is saying you need to get right with me right now and you need prayer, would you raise your hand and let me pray for you right where you're at? Just raise your hand. Father, you see these hands. You know what's going on in each one of these hearts and I'm asking that you would reach down now and you would touch them. Lord, that they might know your goodness and your grace, wash and cleanse them, work within them, make them new and Lord, glorify yourself as you do so. We will follow you all the days of our lives and we thank you Lord for your goodness to us and bless you. Thank you. You can put your hands down. And Jesus, I ask you keep moving in us to your glory in your name, amen, amen. Let's all stand. Amen. We'll close with a word of prayer and I thank you for your patience. Listen, I don't know why, but lately I just tear up a lot and I know some get uncomfortable with it. I'm not comfortable with it either. Forgive me if it offends any here. But you know what, when the Spirit of God begins to tell me how good he is, I can't help it. It just comes out, man, you know, I'm sorry. I really am, I'm embarrassed. I mean, I'll go in right now. I'll go tell my wife, I'll say, I hate this. I hate it, I'm not this, but you know what? It's just guys, we'll close in a moment. It's just, I have such a passion and a burden for people to be right with God. I want you to know Jesus. I want you to love the Lord. I want you to serve God. And God has placed it on my heart. You know, listen, I'm 66 years old. I don't, you know, I'm being real and not melodramatic. I know that my time is not long. 10 years, 20 years, I don't know. But I'm gonna go out in a blaze of glory talking about Jesus Christ. And I want you to know him too. That's my heart. That's my heart.