Like an archer who wounds at random is one who hires a fool or any passer-by.
(Proverbs 26:10 NIV)
As I read the above verse in scripture I immediately thought of the verses in scripture below concerning the owner of the vineyard and even now I ask myself if God wanted me to know that others also have read and would read the verse above and think of the verses below and think Him an unwise employer who employs His ministers or workers of the Gospel with unwise methods rather than with all wisdom, harmony and order. Therefore, I ask of the Lord of the harvest now, “Oh Lord, you alone know all things and you alone stand sovereign above all things and all peoples of the earth. You own all things and you are the Creator of all things of heaven and of the earth. You possess all wisdom, knowledge and understanding and who are we, the dust of the earth to know your ways. Yet O Lord, I desire to defend your honor, I desire to uphold your glorious Word. You have no need for anyone to defend you, nor do you have need to defend yourself, because to you alone has always existed and shall continue to be, all glory, honor, power, praise, dominion and rule forever and ever. Halleluyah. And although it is a certainty you are victorious and all your ways shall always prevail, allow me Lord, according to what you have shown me, speak for you as it was with Moses in the wilderness, for surely who was Moses to speak on your behalf to a people, and yet, you bestowed the man Moses the greatest of privileges, that He would personally, intimately and powerfully know you and be the “mouthpiece” of God, so if it pleases my Lord, let me your lowly servant who is unfit to be compared to your prophet Moses even in the slightest, but even now O Lord my God, your servant can receive by your Spirit, wisdom and boldness to speak of you and speak well, so that a people will know and a people will be silenced in their foolish ways. I pray now O Lord, that if I have found favor before your sight you would enlighten my spirit, you would fill your Word into me and place your will upon my lips and open my mouth so I may speak and your ways will be heard. Let it be so O Lord my God, that it is I who has the privilege, it is I who am humbled by your grace and if you will allow it a people will hear your Word and according to your grace and mercy, gain understanding towards your good, perfect and pleasing will. Amen. With that prayed, I now invite you Into My HEART...
Therefore, beloved one, as it is always fitting let us take in the Word of God, and I pray, He will open our eyes, ears and heart to perceive His truth, gain wisdom and knowledge of the High Holy One, and through it, not count God in no way a fool, but praise Him both now and forever, for He is the Wise God who does all things perfectly and is worthy of all glory and praise. Amen! Receive the Word of God (Matthew 20:1-16):
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.”
This doing “nothing” can be compared to men who desire direction [the Gospel of Jesus Christ] and yet no one has given them direction [they have yet to receive the call to become workers of the Gospel].
He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went.
This “whatever is right” can be compared to the glory and riches in Christ, that all who remain steadfast with Christ shall receive when He returns, whether they were steadfast with Him a day or a lifetime. Halleluyah!
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing.
About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
This “and found still others standing around” can be compared to the Gospel being preached to all “creatures” and then the end shall come (see Matthew 24).
“‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
This “no one has hired us” can be compared to a people yet to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’ “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
The above is full of glorious blessing. The spiritual ramifications of His Word, I have been presenting to you according to the will of God. His name be praised forever and ever. Amen. Now here, we see the owner of the vineyard in which is Christ, the foreman are His holy angels, the workers are His Gospel messengers, and this “Call the workers” is the voice of the arch angel. This “and pay them their wages” is according to the Lord’s promise, “a worker is worthy of his wages.” This “beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first” is according to the grace, mercy, harmony and order of all things holy with God and His Word. He has no favorites, no one has outdid the other, but all workers have their work, and if one has labored a lifetime or whether one has labored a day, in Christ, we all are equally blessed and this is our pay—To have the privilege to be in His holy presence forever and ever. Amen!
“The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner.
This “denarius” was the equivalent in the time of Jesus as compensation of a days work for a day laborer.
This is the shame the Lord spoke to me concerning the verse in Proverbs and of this Parable. An unwise worker says and does the following, “they began to grumble against the landowner.” Let this not be you or I, for when you think you have done anything worthy of anything, heed what the Lord has said in all wisdom and grace to His workers, “For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.” (John 4:37-38).
‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius?
The Lord of glory; the Lord of the harvest spoke wisdom to us and was not unwise in His dealings with us, when He said, ‘If you want to follow me [count] the cost, and again, wisdom is made known in God’s Word, as it makes known, “For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin” (Hebrews 12:3-4).
What can be said of such grumbling when the Word of God in such an instance says, “Do everything without grumbling or arguing”? It leads to no good place, for what we receive from the owner of the vineyard is what we receive, yet know this! Whatever we receive is far more than we deserve. Thank you Jesus for dying for us, paying the cost of sin and laboring in that most glorious manner in which no man whether they consider themselves great or small has labored. Praise your holy name!
Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
And here we have the culmination of God’s glorious work and glorious will. He is the generous owner. We in Christ are His most privileged workers. Envy has no place with God, and He alone has every right to do with what is rightfully His and He alone in His majesty, halleluyah, exalts whomever He sees fit, and know this, those who humble themselves shall be exalted and those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and according to the Word of the Lord, in such a manner, “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” Amen.
Praise the Lord who is owner of the vineyard and is generous in all His dealings! Amen.
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