Following the Way of Jesus Series.

Jesus and Rewards - The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

Matthew 19:27–20:16 (ESV)

Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last.”

I want us to note again the connection of today’s text to what Andy spoke about last week.

The disciples, perplexed at the stringent demands of Jesus around the rich and the Kingdom of Heaven, observed that unlike him, they had left “everything” to follow Jesus. The rich young ruler refused to surrender his possessions and his life to follow Jesus but Peter and the disciples gave up their jobs, left their families and freinds and the easy, comfortable life of routine to risk all in following Jesus. Doesn’t that qualify them for “eternal life”? Doesn’t it count as the “good thing” needed to inherit it?

Jesus did not deny their sacrifice, saying: “Truly, I say to you, in the new world (lit: paliggenesia which can be translated, “regeneration” or “new birth” as used by Titus in Titus 3:5 “the washing of rebirth.” So it refers to the rebirth of this world - “the new heaven and the new earth”(Rev 21:1) - as it is renewed in righteousness, with the erradication of sin, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel - (All believers will sit on the throne of Christ (Rev. 3:21), exercising authority over the people of the earth (Rev. 2:26), while the apostles are uniquely ruling restored Israel) - And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.” (Matt 19:27-30) Mark reports that Jesus said the person who gives up those things for His sake and the gospel’s “who...receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.” (Mark 10:30).

But in talking about their collective sacrifice in following Jesus, saying “What shall we have”? Peter demonstrates that he’s not so different from the Rich Young Ruler after all, “What must I do to inherit eternal life” is not far away from Peter’s, “look at all the things we have sacrificed to inherit eternal life”!

To which Jesus responds, “But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”(Matt 19:31). And then He tells a parable to illustrate his point which ends with the phrase in reverse, “So the last will be first, and the first last.”(Matt 20:16).

This is the framework into which what has gone before is encased within what is about to come! (A reminder that though the Bible is inspired, Stephen Langton who provided our modern chapter divisions, way back in 1228, had a bad day and should not have separated chapter 20:1–16 from 19:16–30.

The lesson to draw out from this statement, as Andy also emphasized last week, is that the normal human ways of working; the everyday system of who is most valued, who is more important; who has influence, does not apply in the Kingdom of Heaven, in the same way as it does on earth.

The earth lauds, rulers and the rich; the educated and the superior; Jesus lauds; children and insignificant fishermen, as well as despised tax-colectors and labeled sinner. He prizes women and outcasts; Gentiles and Jews. Everythign is turned on its head here. The values of this world are not the things that God values - 1 Cor 1:26-30 “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption”

and this is going to be reinforced in this parable with the word “for” showing the connection with what has gone before the parable explains why and how, “the last will be first, and the first last.”(Matt 20:16).

I. A STORY ABOUT BEING FIRST AND LAST:

Talk of rewards and riches led Jesus to talk about a wealthy landowner who agreed a reasonable day’s pay - “a denarius a day” - (four denarii would buy a lamb) to all of the labourers who agreed to work in his “vineyard”.

(a). Background details of the story:

Now before we get into details here, its worth noting that F. W. Beare appropriately entitled this story ‘The Eccentric Employer’. It was not meant to reflect normal, everyday economic practice, nor to be a pattern for labour relations. This is a story, readily available because wealthy landowners and vineyards were a common site in Israel and a fitting and understable example of what Jesus wants to teach us here about working for God and rewards.

The landowner’s vineyard needed workers to prepare, plant, harvest and prune the grapes of his vineyard. The work was hard at times as vineyards generally were planted on terraced hillsides, most of which were stony, and the terraces needed to be dug out the tiers and the stones were then used to build small retaining walls on the outside edges to stop land slippage and support growing vines. The terraced areas had to be filled with good soil, most of which often had to be carried a considerable distance up the slopes from more fertile ground below. You this was demanding, manual labour which required a lot of labourers at different times of the year.

This is where the hiring of labourers comes in! In a scene reminiscent of pictures of the Great Depression, people would turn up each day at a designated place, waiting to be hired. Employment in this industry was not an every day thing; it was a daily possibility, with only a daily wage guaranteed and no extra days necessarily available!

The denarius was a normal day’s wage for a Roman soldier bit it may have been on the generous side for a farm labourer, because labourers were usually unskilled at a trade and were near the bottom of the social-economic scale, many of them not far above beggars.

There were no Trade Unions in those days and no collective bargaining on required minimum wages, so it was easy for a wealthy landowner to exploit a needy workforce, except the Law of Israel prevented this - “You shall not oppress your neighbor, or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until morning” (Lev. 19:13). And again, “You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets, (for he is poor and counts on it), lest he cry against you to the Lord and you be guilty of sin” (Deut. 24:15).

In this case, this landowner was being fair, even generous in offering a denarius for a day’s work. This was agreed at the start of the day and everyone hired got what was agreed!

However, herein lay the problem from which the seeds of an employment dispute arose!

(b). An employment dispute!

The Jewish twelve-hour day from sunrise to sunset mentioned in this story, represents the equivalent of our 6 a.m., 9 a.m., noon, 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. During each of these times, the owner went out and hired labourers for his vineyard.

During “the third hour” he “saw others standing idle in the marketplace” without any work and thought, ok, I’ll employ them, ‘go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you. So they went.” This happened again on “the sixth hour and the ninth hour” and even at “the eleventh hour” saying, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ sending them to work in his vineyard to work.

Now, this is not to be read as a rebuke of an idle workforce but rather, the generous motivation on the part of the landowner to provide work for the workless labourers who are likely to go hungry without it.

In terms of payment for work, the landowner simply said that he would pay them “whatever is right” (v. 4) which sounds like, the appropriate hourly portion of a denarius!

However, when the day’s work ended and it came time to pay the workforce, those who had worked all day were peturbed and a little excited to discover that the last to join the workforce, who worked the least number of hours, got paid a denarius, whilst they watched on - they thought they would receive more - let the owner be as generous as he likes, as long as he is equally generously gives us a bonus because after all they had borne “borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.”

To their horror and outrage, alas they “also received a denarius” which led them into a major sulk in which they understandably “grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’”

Now, it’s hard not to be sympathetic to their complaint! It appears that those who had “borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’” had indeed been exploited, until you remember that the owner paid them what was agreed. He did not lie to them, nor mislead them. He paid them the agreed, good and fair wage for their day’s work.

They objected to the readiness of the owner to pay everyone that rate, regardless of how long they had worked! “We worked harder, we deserve more!” was their complaint, except they got what was promised initially and that was a generous rate for a day’s labour.

(c). Wages and Charity:

Wages are what you get, normally at the end of a period of work. Wages are the agreed rate, whether you like it or not, that you receive for your labour.

Charity on the other hand is what someone gives you, without condition. If you deserved it, it would cease to be charity. But charity is not only the giving of money, it is the quality of being kind to people, of not judging them harshly, of aiming to do them good - “It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.” ― Mother Theresa.

And it was charity, not wages that was really in dispute here! Because what they were really objecting to was the generousity of the owner to those who had not worked so long and hard. It wasn’t so much that he was unfair it was that because he had not been generous to them, he should not have been generous to anyone! The owner should not so such charity, if his charity, disadvantages me!

This is the issue! It’s arises from resentment; a concept that charity should not be given to “the undeserving poor” and a belief that some are more deserving than others. If there is charity being distributed, we should get the lion’s share! Haven’t we put more into the system; haven’t we enough problems of our own; without helping out all in sundry overseas; what about our poor? You get the point!

To this, the owner of the vineyard, looking one of those disgruntled workers in the eye, said: “Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge (Lit: have an evil eye see Matt 6:23; Mark 7:22) my generosity?’ ”

This is the issue! Does a person, who has the means to help another, have the right to help that person? It challenges us to the core, when we find ourselves resenting the poor and the needy who receive handouts whilst we have to work to earn our way, until of course we remember that many of those poor and needy are incapable or unable, either by virtue of health; lack of skills or social status to acquire work and meet their own needs!

R.T. France observed: “In an age of unemployment (cf. Josephus, Ant. xx. 219–220), when there was no state security to fall back on and no trades union power to protect the worker, when an employer could literally ‘do what he chose with what belonged to him’ (v. 15), the employer’s action in taking on additional workers whose productivity could not possibly match the wage they were paid may be understood as ‘the behaviour of a large-hearted man who is compassionate and full of sympathy for the poor’ (Jeremias). The essential point of the parable is that God is like that; his generosity transcends human ideas of fairness. No-one receives less than they deserve, but some receive far more.”(Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary)

Selfishness sees what it wants to see!

The envious eye leads to a bitter heart! But it is so damaging to live like this to the soul - “You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” ― John Bunyan

“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”― Martin Luther King, Jr.

If we do this, we will not spend all our time worrying about why we are so often disadvantaged by others, rather we will rejoice and celebrate that God calls us to be generous enough to let “the last...be first, and the first last.”

II. AN INSIGHT INTO THE NEED FOR PERSONAL RECOGNITION!

So, again we need to see that with the statement, “the last will be first, and the first last” Jesus is turning the world’s values upside down!

Peter said, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” that his ‘sacrifice’ (Matt 19:27–29). In his mindset, such self-sacrifice deserves reward. A reward that is earned by him and his fellow disciples for faithful service rendered - a special place, even the chief place in the the Kingdom of Heaven(see ahead the mother of James and John asking for them to be vice-regents with Jesus - Matt 20:20-28).

Jesus responded to those seeking special places of honour, saying, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”(Mark 9:35).

Peter’s desire for recongition and reward, however understandable as a human emotion, starts in the wrong place!

He is thinking of reward when he should be thinking of God’s generousity; he is thinking of earnings when we should be thinking of privilege; he is thinking of what he has sacrificed, but not thinking about what Christ is about to sacrifice on his behalf! - Matt 20:18 “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles tto be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

That’s the wrong way to look at service in the Kingdom of Heaven! This parable is emphasizing not our sacrifice but the Lord’s generousity; not our rewards for labour; but the privilege of being invited to labour for Him in the first place! After all, the call to “follow me” is not a demand to unwilling slavery but an invitation to willing service and sacrifice!

God’s standards are not those of strict reward for services rendered, so that none of us has a claim as of right on his goodness - Eph 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not of yourselves it is the gift of God. Not of works, so that no one can boast.”

Peter makes a valid assumption that God will be “no man’s debtor”(Rom 11:35) but this must not be taken to suggest that loyal service guarantees a greater reward, so that the first disciples ‘who have borne the burden of the day’ will have precedence over those who come in after.

The ‘rewards’ God gives are not calculated like that and from the viewpoint of human justice they may sometimes look unfairly generous

We should be grateful that we are privileged to work in God’s vineyard, whether we work for a single hour; or bear “the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’”

In the Kingdom of Heaven, we must move away from talking about rewards based on what we deserve, dependent upon how long we have served and move towards and understanding of gratitude for being invited to serve, however long we have to serve.

“Jesus offers himself to us without measure and calls us to himself on the same basis. Our relationship with him is to be one of trust and love, with generous giving and receiving. Bargaining is utterly foreign to this kind of relationship.”(Frank Stagg: Commentary on Matthew)

Jesus calls us to folow Him, not for reward because the greater rewards are for those who seek no reward. All we ask is for the opportunity to work in his vineyard. His generosity is far greater than the wages guaranteed for our labour - “when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’” (Luke 17:5-10).

III. A REMINDER OF THE SCANDALOUS GRACE OF GOD!

To understand the parable’s spiritual meaning it is necessary to understand who and what are represented in it.

Jesus explicitly said the parable is about “the kingdom of heaven” (v. 1). The vineyard is therefore the kingdom itself, the owner of the vineyard is God the Father, with the labourers being citizens of the Kingdom who are called to work in the vineyard.

These are calle to labour in the work of the Kingdom, however long or short and never to forget the privilege that is theirs, to be so-called because the underlying principle of the parable is that God has a right, to give grace to whoever He wills, however undeserving!

So, whether we are, to use the language of R.T. France “the lucky late-comers” having come to Christ late in life, or the “the jealous regular workers” whom have served Christ since our earliest days, rather than begrude our brethren, whom come to Christ later in life, we should rather thank God for His kindness and graciousness to sinners. (France: Commentary on Matthew’s Gospel).

This point is made again explicitly in the Parable of the Lost Son, in Luke 15:11-32:

You recall how, when the younger, wayward son returns after his life of “wild living” having “spent all”, his older brother, broods with resentment because the younger son is rewarded with a party whilst he gets nothing, at least in his own mind, forgetting, as His father reminds him so beautifully, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”(Luke 15:31-32).

And why was this story told in this form by Jesus, according to Luke? “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” (Luke 15:1-2). They jealousy “begrudge”(lit: have an “evil eye”(v15) the grace shown to those who are Lost, whom Jesus goes out to find!

They object to “the tax collectors and sinners who are drawing near to Him”(Luke 15:1). Indeed, they would rather remain outside of the Kingdom of God, than to be associated with such riff-raff. They would rather deny any connection with such reprobates, refusing to acknowledge them as a “brother”(Luke 15:27) referring to them as, “this son of yours” (Luke 15:30), rather than to rejoice in the gracious, saving generousity of a loving Father!

Oh how hard and uncharitable the human heart can be! We forget that the, “God, who needs nothing, loves into existence wholly superfluous creatures in order that He may love and perfect them. He creates the universe, already foreseeing - or should we say "seeing"? there are no tenses in God - the buzzing cloud of flies about the cross, the flayed back pressed against the uneven stake, the nails driven through the mesial nerves, the repeated incipient suffocation as the body droops, the repeated torture of back and arms as it is time after time, for breath's sake, hitched up. If I may dare the biological image, God is a "host" who deliberately creates His own parasites; causes us to be that we may exploit and "take advantage of" Him. Herein is love. This is the diagram of Love Himself, the inventor of all loves.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves.

God’s grace to the undeserving should be a cause for joy, not for jealousy as Luke 15 repeatedly makes clear. We worship a God who rejoices over the Lost, and we follow a Saviour who has “come to seek and to save that which was lost”(Luke 19:10).

If we see see someone come to Christ on a deathbed, after a life of profligacy and infidelity, we should rejoice with “the angels of God, over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10) for God is once more, glorified through His marvelous grace.

“It is a measure of our failure to share God’s values that we feel a natural sympathy with the complaint of v. 12, however much we accept the cool logic of vv. 13–15. ‘It is frightening to realize that our identification with the first workers, and hence with the opponents of Jesus, reveals how loveless and unmerciful we basically are. We may be more “under law” in our thinking and less “under grace” than we realize. God is good and compassionate far beyond his children’s understanding!’ (Stein).” (R.T. France).

“The last will be first, and the first last” - God’s values turn the world’s values on its head.

Man demands justice and reward for the deserving and punishment for the undeserving; God witholds the just penalty for sin by showing mercy and forgiveness to the undeserving, whether they think they are undeserving or not! This parable is a defense of the free grace of the gospel against the protests of those who stumble over this great truth!

Let me illustrate this by referring you back to an OT example to make this point! The prophet Ezekiel, whilst preaching to the children of Israel confronted their rebellion by pointing out that they were actually accusing God of being unfair and unjust - ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’(Matt 18:25,29) . “The fathers eat the sour grapes, but the children’s teeth are set on edge” which in effect meant, our ancestors sined and we are carrying the blame for it!

To this God replies: “As I live,’ declares the Lord God, ‘you are surely not going to use this proverb in Israel anymore. Behold all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die’ ” (Ezek. 18:2–4).

Now let me ask you, is God unfair for saying, “The soul who sins will die’ ?” After all, God by definition is the Supreme Being, and as such He has a right to rule and a right to set the moral standard of the Universe. And, sin by definition is an act that we carry out that we know to be wrong, an act of commission; or an act that we do not carry out, that we know to be right. “Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God”(Westminster Shorter Catchism Q.10). So should not God have the right to say, “The soul who sins will die’ ?” Is that not fair? Is that not just?

And here is the sentence, as the Apostle Paul says: “the wages of sin is death” and here is the bad news, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”(Rom 3:23). , So, how can God be accused of being unfair, if He prescribes the penalty for sin; applies the standard for judgment and then implements it?

Now of course you can argue that God should not apply such a standard, and you could refuse to accept God’s right to do this, but this would change nothing at all about the truth and reality of the fact that we are all nonetheless going to before God in judgment one day! Such an argument is like a murderer in the High Court, complaining that because he neither thinks he has committed a crime, nor does he recognise or respect the authority of the Judge in sentencing him to a life imprisonment, that he should not therefore be sent to prison!

If we break the law we should expect to be punished - “The soul who sins will die’ ?” - God prescribes the standard for righteousness, and the penalty for breaking His law. - God is not unjust and He does not simply let people off! - “There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to every man who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God” (Rom. 2:9–11).

And again, “From the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality” (Col. 3:24–25). God punishes those who do wrong and blesses those who do right, with utter impartiality.

So what hope is there for us? “Who then can be saved?”

If “all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment,” (Isa. 64:6) what hope is there for us? Listen to this! “The wages of sin is death, BUT the GIFT of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ ourt Lord.”(Rom 6:23). For, God “made Him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in Him, we might become the righteousness of God”(2 Cor 5:21).

And this reminds us again of why the Parable is taught. We must learn that when it comes to salvation, we should not be demanding fairness from God, we should be requesting mercy! And mercy is available, freely, to all who will receive it! This is God’s free grace! This is amazing grace! This is scandalous grace!

We don’t get what we deserve, we get what we need! “Mercy and grace to help us at our time of need” -

“Plenteous grace in thee is found, grace to cover all my sin; Let the healing streams abound; make and keep me pure within. Thou of life the fountain art; freely let me take of thee, Spring thou up within my heart; rise to all eternity.

Thou, O Christ, art all I want; more than all in thee I find. Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, heal the sick, and lead the blind. Just and holy is thy name; I am all unrighteousness. False and full of sin I am; thou art full of truth and grace.”

(Charles Wesley: Jesus Love of My Soul).

And this is beautifully demonstrated at the cross at the most personal level imaginable! The criminal who hung next to Jesus did not curse or lament his misfortune. He did not excuse himself or blame others, he simply said: “Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom” and he heard the most wonderful words: “I tell you, Today, you shall be with me, in Paradise”(Luke 23).

Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to thy bosom fly While the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high: Hide me, O my Savior hide, till the storm of life be past; Safe into the haven guide, O receive my soul at last

Other refuge have I non; hangs my helpless soul on thee; Leave, an, leave me not alone, still support and comfort me. All my trust on thee is stayed, all my help from thee I bring; Cover my defenseless head with the shadow of thy wing.

(Charles Wesley: Jesus Love of My Soul).

And my dear Christian friends, this is a message we have to continually remind ourselves and relearn as a Church! The gospel is freely available to the undeserving; however bad they’ve been and however much they have fallen! - “the last will be first, and the first last”

Remember how, Peter forgot this principle in relation to the Gentiles, when he refused to eat with Gentiles and accept them unless they became Jewish; only to be rebuked by God and reminded that he must not call something “unclean that I have called clean”(Acts 10:15).

Peter has to relearn the Gospel. To relearn that “everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins hthrough his name.”(Acts 10:43).

The gospel is not about reward for service but grace for sinners!

God offers it equally to all, regardless of our past record of service or neglect; worship or worthlessness; law-abiding status or criminal record; tax contributing virtue or tax-avoiding vice; commendable, public repurtation of shameful, disreputable reputation. God welcomes sinners, whoever they are and whatever they have done, and it s a privilege to be able to draw near to Jesus and to be found in and by Him, the Lost who have come home!

“The last will be first, and the first last”

Whether we have struggled with much failure in our Christian life due to sinful indulgence and indicipline or shunned sin and desired holiness more than anything else, we shall still be saved, equally! Judged yes, some escaping “as through fire” but still saved, yes; otehr saved because their good works go before them and they have built well upon Christ’s foundation, yes!

But whether a timid believer or a brave martyr, we shall each of us “inherit the kingdom” and each receive “the crown of life” (James 1:12; Rev. 2:10), “the crown of righteousness” (2 Tim. 4:8), and the “crown of glory” (1 Pet. 5:4) in that eternal abode of the righteousness!

“Believing tax collectors, prostitutes, criminals, and social outcasts will have the same heavenly residence as Paul, Augustine, Luther, and Wesley. There are no servant quarters or lower-class neighborhoods in heaven. Everyone will have a room in the Father’s house specially prepared for him by the Son...And every one of His children will enjoy equally the fullness of His presence there.”(John MacArthur jr).