DYING AT 10:30
Scripture: Matthew 20:1-16
I. The Householder = Master of the House --> God is the Householder
A. Hiring --> God hires labourers in kindness to them, to save them from
idleness and poverty, and pay them for working for themselves.
1. The Devil by his temptations, is hiring labourers into the field, to feed swine.
It’s a pig’s life.
2. God, by his Gospel, is hiring labourers into his vineyard, to dress it, and
keep it, paradise-work.
B. The Vineyard is His Vineyard--> The Church is God's Vineyard
C. Who Are You Working For?
II. God's Children Must Work
A. Some stand Idle
Define Idle:
692 argos {ar-gos'} from 1 (as a negative particle) and 2041; TDNT - 1:452,76; adj
AV - idle 6, slow 1, barren 1; 8
1) free from labour, at leisure
2) lazy, shunning the labour which one ought to perform
For Synonyms see entry 5814
Prov 19:15 “Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer
hunger.”
Ezekiel 16:49 “Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of
bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.”
1. The soul of man stand ready to be hired into some service or other; it was created
to work, and is either a servant to iniquity or a servant to righteousness.
2. A man may go idle to hell; but he that will go to heaven, must be busy.
a. Jesus starts to work early
Luke 2:49 “And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?”
b. Redeeming the time
Eph. 5:16 “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”
Col. 4:5 “Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.”
B. Standing Idle in the Marketplace--> A place of concourse.
58 agora {ag-or-ah'} from ageiro (to gather, probably akin to 1453);; n f
AV - market 6, marketplace 4, street 1; 11
1) any assembly, especially of the people
2) the place of assembly
2a) for public debating,
2b) for elections
2c) for trials
2d) for buying and selling
2e) for all kinds of business
3) market place, street
In essence, the activities of life in this world.
C. Hired
1. For a penny = 4 farthings = 15 cents = a day's wage (not an insignificant amount)
2. For a day = a man's average life span (The time of life is the day.)
It is a short time; the reward is for eternity, the work is but for a day.
3. God turns away none that are willing to be hired.
III. Significance of the Day
A. Jewish time:
Early in the morning = before 6 a.m.
Third Hour = 6 to 9 a.m.
Sixth Hour = 9 to 12 p.m. midday
Ninth Hour = 12 to 3 p.m.
Twelth Hour = 3 to 6 p.m.
Eleventh Hour = 5 p.m.
B. Hours of the Day = various ages of life
Notice is taken of the several hours of the day, at which the labourers were hired.
This may be, and is commonly applied to the several ages of life, in which souls
are converted to Christ.
John 11:9 “Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk
in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.”
The average life span in the U.S. is approx. 72 years for man. (threescore and ten)
Psalms 90:10 “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of
strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”
If you divide 72 years by 12 hours, each hour is equal to 6 years. Then:
1. Early in the Morning = Perhaps called (hired) before birth as
4404 proi {pro-ee'} from 4253 adv
AV - in the morning 5, early in the morning 2, early 2, morning 1; 10
1) in the morning, early
2) the fourth watch of the night, from 3 o'clock in the morning until
6 o'clock approximately
a. Jeremiah-->Jer. 1:4-5 “Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
(v. 5) Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”
b. John the Baptist --> Luke 1:13-15
(v. 13) “But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.”
(v. 14) “And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.”
(v. 15) “For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine
Nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his
mother’s womb.”
c. Samson --> Jud. 13:5 “For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”
Judges 13:7 “But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son;
and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of
his death.”
Judges 13:24 “And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.”
2. Third Hour = Birth - 18 yrs. --> Infant to young adult
a. Timothy --> II Tim 3:15 “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
b. Josiah --> II Chron 34:3 “For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.”
c. Samuel --> I Sam 2:18 “But Samuel ministered before the LORD, being a child, girded with a linen ephod.”
3. Sixth Hour = 18 - 36 yrs. --> Young Adult to Middle age
4. Ninth Hour = 36 - 54 yrs. --> Middle age to Latter Life
5. Tenth Hour = 54 - 60 yrs. --> Latter Life to Senior Citizen
6. Eleventh Hour = 60 - 66 yrs. --> Senior Citizen to Golden (Silver) Years
7. Twelth Hour = 66 - 72 yrs. --> Golden Years to the breaking of the cord
Eccl. 12: 1-7 READ
-->Some are called to the vineyard very early in life to begin their work.
-->Others are saved and called into the vineyard in middle age.
-->Others are hired into the vineyard in old age, at the eleventh hour, when the day of
life is far spent, and there is but one hour of the twelve remaining.
"While there is life, there is hope."
There is hope for old sinners; true repentance is never too late.
IV. We must work
A. While it is Day
John 9:4 “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night
cometh, when no man can work.”
Heb 3:13 “But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of
you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”
V. Reckoning Time
A. Evening Time
3798 opsios {op'-see-os} from 3796;; adj
AV - even 8, evening 4, in the evening + 1096 1, eventide + 5610 1,
at even + 1096 1; 15
1) late
2) evening
2a) either from three to six o'clock p.m.
2b) from six o'clock p.m. to the beginning of night
Evening time is reckoning time. Faithful laborers shall receive their reward when they die. Ministers call them into the vineyard, to do their work; death calls them out
of the vineyard, to receive their penny: and those to whom the call into the vineyard
is effectual, the call out of it will be joyful.
B. But, not everyone answers the call to labor when their hour is come. Some delay.
Oh, I'll make it in at the eleventh hour.
MANY WHO EXPECT TO MAKE IT IN AT THE ELEVENTH HOUR,
DIE AT TEN-THIRTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DYING AT 10:30
Hebrews 9:27 “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”
I'm afraid that God has laid upon me the responsibility to tell someone,"Go to Work!"
"You are going to die at 10:30, Go to Work!!" "You will never see the Eleventh Hour
in this world, Go to Work!!!"
Eccl. 12:6 “Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.”
Loosed = snapped, broken
Golden Bowl --> Broken
Broken = crushed, to be crushed, get crushed, to crush in pieces
Pitcher Broken
07665 shabar {shaw-bar'} a primitive root; TWOT - 2321; v
AV - break 115, destroy 9, break in pieces 8, break down 4, hurt 3,
torn 2, give birth 1, crush 1, quench 1, misc 6; 150
1) to break, break in pieces
1a) (Qal)
1a1) break, break in or down, rend violently, wreck, crush, quench
1a2) to break, rupture (fig)
1b) (Niphal)
1b1) to be broken, be maimed, be crippled, be wrecked
1b2) to be broken, be crushed (fig)
1c) (Piel) to shatter, break
1d) (Hiphil) to cause to break out, bring to the birth
1e) (Hophal) to be broken, be shattered
Eccl. 9:10 “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.”
There's no work in the grave.
Eccl. 9:12 “For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.”
Matthew 25 The Virgins 5 Wise and 5 Foolish --> Don't be foolish
