Parables Of The Kingdom Parts 8 & 9

WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel ✦✦✦ A New Teaching Series THE PARABLES AND THE LOST TRIBES OF ISRAEL Proving the Singular Mission of YAHSHUA Through Every Parable He Taught ✦✦✦ PARTS EIGHT & NINE WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD — AND — Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 1 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel THE HUSBANDMEN The Timing of the Kingdom — and the Transfer of the Kingdom Matthew 20:1–16 | Matthew 21:33–46 A Midweek Bible Study Rev. John Shane Vaughn First Harvest Ministries International Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 2 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel INTRODUCTION TO TONIGHT'S STUDY Beloved — tonight we are going to take up two parables together — because YAHSHUA spoke them back-to-back during the most intense week of His ministry. They belong as a pair. They cannot be fully understood apart from each other. The first parable is the Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20). It deals with the timing of the Kingdom — the long working day, the laborers called at different hours, and the place every faithful servant receives at the end. The second parable is the Husbandmen (Matthew 21). It deals with the transfer of the Kingdom — the wicked stewards who lost the vineyard, the heir they slew, and the new nation to whom the stewardship would be given. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 3 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Read together — these two parables tell the story of how YAHWEH ran the vineyard, how He fired the original stewards, and how He hired a new people to bring forth the fruits of the Kingdom. Let us open our Bibles. Let us read carefully. And let us see — once again — that every word YAHSHUA spoke was about the recovery of His scattered people. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 4 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel PART EIGHT THE WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD The Long Working Day of the Kingdom And the Penny Every Laborer Receives Matthew 20:1–16 Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 5 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel THE TEXT BEFORE US Matthew 20:1–2 “For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.” Matthew 20:3–7 “And he went out about the third hour... the sixth and ninth hour... about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?” Matthew 20:8–10 “So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.” Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 6 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Matthew 20:16 “So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.” This is one of the most misunderstood parables in the entire Bible — and one of the most encouraging to the awakening saints of the last hour. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 7 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel I. THE VINEYARD IS ALWAYS THE SAME Before We Can Understand the Workers, We Must Identify the Vineyard. In every parable where YAHSHUA uses the image of a vineyard, the vineyard is the same thing. He did not vary the symbol. He drew it directly from the Hebrew prophets. Isaiah 5:7 “For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant.” Notice the precise language. The vineyard is the House of Israel. The men of Judah are His pleasant plant inside the vineyard. The vineyard is the Kingdom planted in the earth — the covenant family of YAHWEH consisting of all twelve tribes. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 8 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel And the grape was the national emblem of Israel and Judah — a vine laden with fruit was carved above the very entrance to the Temple in Jerusalem. Every Jew who saw the vineyard parable knew immediately what YAHSHUA was talking about. The vineyard is the Kingdom-people of YAHWEH on earth. It is the same in this parable, in the Husbandmen parable that follows, and in every prophetic reference from Isaiah to Revelation. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 9 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel II. THE HOUSEHOLDER AND THE LONG DAY YAHWEH Is the Householder. The man who went out early in the morning to hire laborers is YAHWEH Himself — the Lord of the vineyard, the Owner of the Kingdom-people, the Master of the harvest. And the long day of His hiring stretches across the entire age of His absence from the earth — the roughly two thousand years between the first coming of YAHSHUA and the return of the King. The twelve hours of the parable cover the long working day of the present age — from the first century to this very hour. Five Hiring Calls Across Two Thousand Years. Read carefully — the Householder went out five separate times during the working day: Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 10 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel •The early morning hour — the first laborers called and sent into the vineyard. •The third hour — more laborers found in the marketplace and sent in. •The sixth hour — another company hired and sent in. •The ninth hour — yet another wave of laborers. •The eleventh hour — the very last call, with only one hour of light remaining before sundown. Five hirings. Five waves of laborers brought into the vineyard of YAHWEH. And — beloved, listen carefully — the eleventh-hour workers represent the awakening Two-House remnant of our own generation. We are not first-hour saints. We are eleventh-hour saints. We were called late in the day — when the sun was already setting on the long age of scattering. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 11 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel III. THE TWELVE HOURS AS REAL HISTORY Trace the Working Day Across the Centuries. The twelve hours of this parable map onto the actual history of the recovery of the lost tribes. Let us trace it: •FIRST HOUR — The first-century apostles. YAHSHUA said, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel... ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” The first laborers were sent. •THIRD HOUR — The fifth and sixth centuries. The migration of peoples into the appointed places of the earth — the regions YAHWEH had marked for the lost tribes to settle. The gospel followed wherever they went. •SIXTH HOUR — The age of further consolidation. New laborers joined the brethren — bringing the Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 12 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel study of eloquence, law, architecture, and culture to the maturing Kingdom-people. •NINTH HOUR — The Reformation Period of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The bones, which had been rattling together, became covered with sinews, and the skin began to cover. Wycliffe — the Morning Star of the Reformation — appeared. The Bible was translated into the common tongues. The Lollards, Caxton, Erasmus, Tyndale, Coverdale, Ridley, Cooper, Latimer, Cranmer — laborers entered the vineyard. •ELEVENTH HOUR — Exactly 2,520 years from Israel's deportation — beginning in the nineteenth century — the Spirit of YAHWEH breathed upon the scattered seed. The Bible Societies were started. The Wesleys, Whitefield, Rowlands, Venn, Fletcher — and many others — changed the aspect of irreligion, bribery, and corruption into a zeal for YAHWEH. In this same eleventh hour of the World Wars, the sons and daughters of Israel were sent out to heal the broken-hearted. •MIDNIGHT — Of course — at midnight, the Bridegroom cometh. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 13 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Two thousand years of working day. Five waves of called-out laborers. One Kingdom vineyard being prepared for the appearing of the King. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 14 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel IV. THE PENNY — A PLACE IN THE KINGDOM What Is the Penny Every Worker Receives? The Greek word is denarion — the standard day's wage of a working man in the first century. It was enough to live on. It was the basic, dignified payment for honest labor. But in this parable the penny is not money. The penny is a place in the Kingdom. Every faithful laborer — whether called at the first hour or the eleventh — receives a place in the coming Kingdom of YAHWEH. The Generosity of the Householder. Notice how YAHWEH operates. He did not pay the laborers according to the time they worked. He did Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 15 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel not pay them according to the results they produced. He paid them according to their needs. The eleventh-hour man had the same problem of a livelihood and paying his bills as the twelve-hour man. And so the eleventh-hour man received the same penny. This is the heart of YAHWEH revealed. The late- coming laborer is not despised. The late-coming laborer is not put on probation. The late-coming laborer is not given a smaller share. The eleventh-hour saint of FHMI — awakened in this generation to Sabbath, Torah, the Sacred Names, the Two-House gospel — receives the same place in the Kingdom as the first-hour apostle. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 16 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel V. THE MURMURING OF THE FIRST-HOUR WORKERS Matthew 20:11–12 “And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.” Who Murmured? And Why? Here is where almost every commentator misses the parable. They assume the murmurers are lifelong Christians complaining about deathbed converts getting the same heaven. But that is not what the parable says. Listen carefully. The Householder calls. The faithful laborers come. Christians do not murmur when other people are saved. They rejoice. They celebrate. They throw a party in heaven. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 17 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel So who is the murmuring complainer in this parable? Not the saved. Not the working laborer. The Murmurers Are Those Who Lose Their Worldly Place. The murmuring is the Kingdom citizens of Israel who see their vast fortunes and prominence — which they had in worldly Babylon — taken away from them when the regeneration of the Kingdom comes. All had worked hard in the stress of the times. But many had worked for the wrong kingdom. Many had built their empires of wealth, status, denominational power, political position — and at the time of reckoning, they discover that the lowly eleventh-hour saint who labored only for the Kingdom is given an equal place. It is the contrast between those who labored for selfish advancement in the social, political, and religious life of Babylon — and those who humbly Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 18 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel witnessed in the spirit of YAHSHUA to the needs of their fellow man. The first-hour murmurer is the Babylonian-Christian success story. The eleventh-hour quiet saint is the awakening remnant of Ephraim. And the eleventh-hour saint is given equal honor at the end of the day. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 19 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel VI. THE LAST SHALL BE FIRST Matthew 20:16 “So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.” This Is Not a Contradiction. It Is a Distribution. All receive the penny — all receive a place in the Kingdom. But there is also a distribution of positions in the regeneration of the Kingdom based on quality of service. •Those who worked simply for gain — piling up money, ignoring the Kingdom responsibilities — were placed last. •Those who were humble, merciful, righteous, loving — and who had been mistreated by the worldly first-hour types — shall find themselves first. The Lord will give a just distribution of wealth and ability in the Kingdom according to the righteousness Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 20 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel of YAHWEH. Not according to denominational rank. Not according to social prominence. Not according to political influence. The eleventh-hour Sabbath-keeper in a small congregation may rule over the megachurch celebrity preacher in the regeneration of the Kingdom. That is the great reversal. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 21 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel VII. ENCOURAGEMENT TO THE ELEVENTH-HOUR SAINTS Beloved — This Parable Is For You. Almost every saint hearing this study tonight is an eleventh-hour saint — called late in the working day, after centuries of Babylon-mixed Christianity, after the long captivity of the scattered tribes, after the world has aged into its final hour. DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED. Do not look at the first-hour saints of the apostolic age and wonder why you did not get called sooner. YAHWEH does not call any worker before His time for that worker. Do not look at the ninth-hour Reformers and feel small. They were not better than you. They were called for the work of their hour. You were called for the work of yours. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 22 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Do not measure your reward by the number of hours you have labored. Measure your reward by the faithfulness of your labor in the hour you were called. The eleventh-hour saint receives the same penny as the first-hour apostle. And the great reversal is the eleventh-hour saint may finish first. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 23 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel PART NINE THE HUSBANDMEN The Vineyard Taken from Wicked Stewards And Given to the Nation That Will Bring Forth Fruit Matthew 21:33–46 Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 24 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel THE TEXT BEFORE US Matthew 21:33 “Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.” Matthew 21:34–39 “And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another... last of all he sent unto them his son... they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.” Matthew 21:42–43 “The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner... Therefore say I unto you, THE KINGDOM OF GOD SHALL BE TAKEN FROM YOU, AND GIVEN TO A NATION BRINGING FORTH THE FRUITS THEREOF.” Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 25 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel This is the most explicit Two-House statement YAHSHUA ever made. He named the transfer of the Kingdom out of the hands of Judah and into the hands of another nation — and He named it five days before His own crucifixion. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 26 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel I. THE FIVE FEATURES OF THE VINEYARD YAHSHUA Drew the Parable Directly from Isaiah 5. Isaiah 5:1–2 “My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: and he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein.” Every feature YAHSHUA mentions in Matthew 21 was already prophesied by Isaiah seven hundred years earlier. The Jewish leaders heard the parable and they knew exactly which Old Testament passage He was quoting. Identify the Five Features. •THE VINEYARD — the House of Israel and Judah, the Kingdom-people of YAHWEH. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 27 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel •THE HEDGE — the divine protection. YAHWEH hedged Israel about with covenant promises that no enemy could touch as long as they walked in obedience. The same hedge that Satan complained kept him from Job — kept the enemy from Israel. •THE WINEPRESS — the perfect system of sacrifices and atonement established in ancient Israel. The crushing of the grape to bring forth the wine prefigured the suffering of the Messiah and the cleansing of the Kingdom-people. •THE TOWER — the Throne of David, which was the earthly seat of the throne of YAHWEH. The scepter shall not depart from Judah — Genesis 49:10. The tower was the centerpoint of the Kingdom government. •THE HUSBANDMEN — the religious and political stewards entrusted with the running of the vineyard — the priests, the elders, the rulers of Judah. YAHWEH built a complete, fully-equipped Kingdom infrastructure. The vineyard had everything it needed to bring forth fruit. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 28 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel The only variable was the faithfulness of the stewards. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 29 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel II. THE SERVANTS AND THE SON YAHWEH Sent His Servants. Israel Killed Them. Throughout the long history of the Mosaic period, YAHWEH sent His prophets — His servants — to the husbandmen of Israel and Judah, that they might receive the fruits of the Kingdom. The priestly tribe of Levi resented the bold and fearless action of the prophets. The prophets came with Thus saith YAHWEH on their lips, and they frequently denounced the empty formalities and hypocrisies into which the priestly House of Judah had fallen. Matthew 23:31–32 “Ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.” Listen to that challenge. Fill ye up the measure of your fathers. YAHSHUA was challenging them to do their worst to Him — as their fathers had done to Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 30 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel YAHWEH's prophets of former days. And they afterwards carried it out to the bitter end. And Last of All — He Sent His Son. When the long succession of prophets had been beaten, stoned, sawn asunder, and killed — YAHWEH sent His Heir. His only begotten Son. YAHSHUA the Messiah. Matthew 21:37–39 “But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.” They did not just want to silence the Son. They wanted to seize the inheritance. They wanted to take the Kingdom for themselves — without the King. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 31 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 32 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel III. WHY THEY WANTED TO SEIZE THE INHERITANCE Listen to the Husbandmen's Logic. Matthew 21:38 “This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.” What were they trying to seize? •They wanted to control the world and restore a Jewish kingdom of their own making. •They wanted to overthrow Roman power and seize the Promised Land for themselves. •They wanted to exclude the rest of Israel — the lost ten tribes — from the inheritance forever. •They wanted to operate the Kingdom without the King — to keep the Throne while removing the rightful Heir. They demanded the crucifixion of the Messiah not just to silence Him, but to prevent Him from ever reigning. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 33 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel And They Brought the Sentence Upon Themselves. Matthew 21:40–41 “When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.” They pronounced their own judgment. He will miserably destroy those wicked men. And the word miserably was fulfilled to the letter at the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD — when the horrors of the siege, the destruction of the Temple, and the burning of the city were so extreme that even the Roman historian Josephus could not write of them without weeping. What surprises us is that the Jewish leaders did not see the meaning of the parable up to this point — and were so Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 34 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel easily caught in the trap of pronouncing their own sentence. Truly — they had eyes and could not see. The mysteries of the Kingdom were hid from them. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 35 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel IV. THE TRANSFER STATED PLAINLY Matthew 21:42–43 “Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.” Stop. Read That Statement Again. TAKEN FROM YOU. GIVEN TO A NATION. This is YAHSHUA's own voice. Not the words of Paul. Not the speculation of a theologian. Not the doctrine of a later council. The King Himself. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 36 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel And the language is precise. The Kingdom shall be TAKEN from you — and GIVEN to a NATION. The Kingdom did not become formless. The Kingdom did not become invisible. The Kingdom did not become heavenly. The Kingdom was transferred from one nation to another nation — and YAHSHUA Himself said so. What Is the Difference Between a Nation and a Country? The difference is genetics — bloodline — covenant inheritance. A country is a geographic and political entity. A nation is a people united by lineage, covenant, and calling. Many countries can make up one nation. The Kingdom passed from the country of Judea to the nation of regathered Israel — scattered across many countries, but Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 37 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel united by one covenant and one Two- House calling. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 38 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel V. THE KINGDOM WAS NOT GIVEN TO THE CHURCH Here Is Where the Modern Pulpit Stumbles. Almost every Christian commentator will read Matthew 21:43 and say, “The Kingdom was taken from the Jews and given to the Christian Church.” But that is not what the text says. YAHSHUA did not say the Kingdom shall be given to a church. He said given to a nation. The Church Is Not the Kingdom. The Church is the gathered assembly of saints. The Kingdom is the government. The Kingdom sustains the Church and puts the power of its throne behind the work of the Church. When the Kingdom is in place — the Church functions correctly under its protection. When the Church is Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 39 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel divorced from the Kingdom — the Church falls into ten thousand denominational fragments and loses its power. The Throne of David is at the head of the Kingdom. The Law of YAHWEH is national and not only the law of the Church. The Israel race is the basis of both the Kingdom and the Church. To say that the Christian Church received the Kingdom is to confuse the assembly with the government — and to evade the plain Two-House meaning of YAHSHUA's words. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 40 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel VI. WHO THEN IS THE NATION? YAHSHUA Did Not Speak Vaguely. When YAHSHUA said the Kingdom would be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof — He did not leave us guessing. The Hebrew Scriptures had already identified that nation a thousand years before He spoke. The Nation Has Specific Characteristics. The nation that receives the Kingdom must be: •A nation set aside and rejected for a time — and now restored to prominence. •A nation brought out of obscurity and hiddenness — and now made visible. •A nation that is the same as the rejected stone now becoming the head of the corner. •A nation symbolized by a stone — Daniel's stone- Kingdom cut without hands. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 41 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel •A nation that bears the fruit of the Kingdom — Torah, the Sabbath, the feasts, the Sacred Names, the gospel of the coming government. Only one people in all of history fits that description — the regathered scattered tribes of Israel. The lost House that was set aside for the long captivity, hidden in the field of the world, and now being raised up as the stone Kingdom that fills the earth. Daniel's Stone-Kingdom. Daniel 2:34–35 “Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet... and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 42 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Daniel saw it. YAHSHUA quoted it. The stone that was rejected becomes the stone-Kingdom that fills the earth. Christ is not the stone in this parable. Christ is the King. The stone is the new husbandman-nation — the regathered Kingdom-people — given the stewardship to bring forth the fruits of the vineyard. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 43 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel VII. THE WARNING AT THE END OF THE PARABLE Matthew 21:44 “And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.” Two Different Encounters With the Stone. Listen carefully. Both encounters are unpleasant — but they are not the same. •TO FALL ON THE STONE — is to humble yourself before the Kingdom-people and the Kingdom-government. You will be broken. You will be reshaped. You will have your traditions shattered. But you will live — and you will be restored. •TO HAVE THE STONE FALL ON YOU — is to resist the Kingdom-government until it crushes you. It will grind you to powder. Whatever you have built that opposes the Kingdom will be reduced to dust. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 44 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel The choice is not whether to encounter the stone. The choice is whether to fall on it willingly — or to be ground by it unwillingly. This is why FHMI exists. We are calling saints to fall on the stone now — to be willingly broken of denominational tradition, willingly broken of Babylonian doctrine, willingly broken of personal- escape gospel — and to be reshaped into vessels of the coming Kingdom-government. Because the alternative is to be ground later when the stone falls on the Babylonian system in which the modern church has built its house. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 45 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel VIII. THE FRUITS THE NATION MUST BRING FORTH YAHSHUA Specified the Condition. The Kingdom was not given to the new nation as a free gift with no expectation. It was given on condition that the nation bring forth the fruits thereof. Matthew 21:43 “given to a nation bringing forth THE FRUITS THEREOF.” What are the fruits of the Kingdom? •Obedience to Torah — the Law of the King observed by His people. •Keeping of the Sabbath — the sign of the covenant displayed publicly each seventh day. •Keeping of the appointed feasts — the moedim that mark the prophetic seasons of YAHWEH's calendar. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 46 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel •Restoration of the Sacred Names — YAHWEH and YAHSHUA spoken in their covenant authority, not replaced with pagan titles. •Recovery of the Two-House gospel — the regathering of all twelve tribes proclaimed and practiced. •Training of the saints to rule and reign — not retirement to heaven, but preparation for governmental responsibility. These are the fruits of the vineyard. These are the deliverables of the new husbandmen. And these are precisely the fruits the awakening Two-House remnant is now bringing forth in this hour. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 47 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel IX. THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS FINALLY UNDERSTOOD Matthew 21:45–46 “And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.” They Knew. They Just Did Not Care. Notice — at the very end, the priests and Pharisees finally understood the parable. They perceived that He spake of them. They knew YAHSHUA was identifying them as the wicked husbandmen. They knew He was announcing the transfer of the Kingdom out of their hands. They knew He was the rejected Stone who would become the cornerstone. And their response was not repentance — it was to plot His murder. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 48 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel They proved the parable true the very moment they understood it. And the Same Pattern Operates Today. When the modern church finally perceives that the Two-House gospel applies to them — that they have been the unfaithful stewards of a Kingdom they did not fully understand — that the Kingdom is now being transferred to the awakening remnant — the response will not be uniform. •Some will repent — and join the new stewardship. •Some will plot — and try to silence the message, exactly as the first-century priests tried to silence YAHSHUA. FHMI is part of the awakening remnant. We are speaking the same parable YAHSHUA spoke. And the responses we Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 49 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel receive are the same responses He received. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 50 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel REFLECTION — BOTH PARABLES TOGETHER Three Questions for Tonight's Class: 1. If I am an eleventh-hour saint — called late into the vineyard, after centuries of Babylon-mixed Christianity — am I laboring with gratitude for the place YAHWEH has prepared, or comparing my hours to others? 2. If the Kingdom has been transferred from the original stewards to a nation bringing forth the fruits — am I personally bringing forth those fruits (Torah, Sabbath, feasts, Sacred Names, Kingdom gospel), or am I still expecting the Kingdom on the strength of someone else's labor? 3. Will I fall on the Stone willingly now — letting my traditions, my comforts, and my familiar Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 51 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel denominational identity be broken — or will I wait until the Stone falls on me at the end of the age? Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 52 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel CLOSING WORD — ONE STORY, TWO PARABLES When we read these two parables together, the story becomes one continuous narrative: YAHWEH planted a vineyard. He hired stewards to keep it. The original stewards beat the prophets and slew the Heir. The Kingdom was taken from them and given to a new nation. That new nation has been called into the vineyard at five different hours of the long day. And the eleventh-hour saints are called last — but receive the same penny — the same place — as the first-hour apostles. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 53 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Beloved — that eleventh-hour call has come to us in this generation. We are the late laborers. We are the new husbandmen. We are the stewards of the recovered vineyard. And we are bringing forth fruits the modern church has not seen in centuries. The vineyard is being restored. The fruits are being gathered. And the Householder is coming home — to settle His accounts and reward His workers. Next in the Series — Part Ten: The Marriage of the King's Son — and we will see how YAHSHUA continued the same Two- House story in Matthew 22, when the original wedding guests refused the invitation, and the King sent His servants out into the highways to compel the lost tribes of the scattered nations to come in. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 54 WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD & THE HUSBANDMEN — Parts Eight & Nine: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel ✦✦✦ Rev. John Shane Vaughn First Harvest Ministries International The Parables and the Lost Tribes — Parts Eight & Nine: The Workers in the Vineyard & The Husbandmen Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 55