If you have a copy of God's Word, I invite you to turn to Matthew's Gospel chapter 20 this evening, Matthew's Gospel and the chapter number 20. And we'll begin our reading at the opening verse of this chapter, Matthew's Gospel chapter 20 and the verse number 1. Lord Jesus Christ is a speaker here and he said, for the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, which went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny 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 he said unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They said unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also, into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. So when even was come, the Lord of the vineyard said 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. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more, and they likewise received every man a penny. When they had received it, they murmured against the good man 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. But he answered one of them and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong. Didst thou not now agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way, and I will give unto this last even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is I evil because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last. For many be called, but few chosen. Amen, and we'll end our reading there just at the natural break at the verse 16. Let's seek the Lord again. In a word of prayer, our loving father, we come before thee. Lord, we pray that as we meet around the word, oh God, use this word to the saving of the lost. We think of those who find themselves well into the day of life, and still they're not saved. Still, oh God, they know nothing of what it is to be under the care of the good man of the house. O be gracious, to such we pray. Grant, dear God, even the simplicity of this message, it be used to the saving of the soul. May, dear God, there be a turning on to Christ. Therefore, I pray, gracious Father, that thou will fill me with the Holy Ghost, that I might preach the word as it ought to be preached. Grant, O God, boldness to speak forth thy word. We offer prayer. and through the Savior's precious and holy name. Amen and amen. Tonight we come to the 17th and the last message in this series of occupational messages. Over the last number of weeks, the last number of months, we have considered various texts, various passages of scripture that have lent themselves to preaching gospel messages suited for builders, teachers, surgeons, firefighters, fishermen, bakers, civil servants, mothers, cleaners, reporters, chefs, lawyers, soldiers, accountants, and undertakers. But there was one grouping of people that I felt I needed to base a gospel message upon as I close out this series of messages. And that grouping of people is the unemployed. While many people in this congregation and in this building tonight find themselves in some form of employment, there are those for various reasons who are not employed. Some of those reasons may be very simple. For example, there are those with us tonight and you're too young to be employed. You're too young to be in a place of employment, you're but simply a child and therefore it would not be right for you to go into some form of employment. There are others and you've reached the latter end of life and you're quite happy not to work because you've reached retirement years and so you no longer need to work because you've made so much money during your lifetime. And then there are others and they have some kind of sickness. It might be a mental sickness. It might be a physical sickness that inhibits them from entering into the labor market. And then there are those and they can't find work. Well, they can't find work at least that which they have trained for. They can't find some kind of suitable employment for the field that they have studied for and that they've trained for. And then there are others and, well, they simply don't want to work. They're quite happy just to live on. benefits. Today in the United Kingdom unemployment stands at 3.8% of the entire population. It is the lowest level since 1974. That means that there are only 1.3 million people unemployed in the United Kingdom and 32.75 million people in employment. Now, with a population of about 66 million people in the United Kingdom, over half of the population finds themselves unemployed. It might be because they are children. It might be because they are in retirement. It might be for the various reasons that I have intimated to you. In Northern Ireland, their unemployment rate fell to a historic low in the first quarter of 2019. It has reached something like only 2.9%. of the population. However, there is another ratio known as economic inactivity, and that rate is the highest in all of the four nations of the United Kingdom, whereas the average for the United Kingdom is something like 20.8% of the population. There are those in Northern Ireland, 26.5% of our population who are economically Now that would include students, that would include retired individuals, the sick and the disabled, and as I said, those who simply just do not want to work. And as I thought about this message and as I thought about this grouping of people, thinking about those who presently have no occupation, my mind was taken to this account in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 20. in which the Lord Jesus Christ likens the kingdom of heaven to be like a householder who owns a vineyard. And so tonight I want to simply preach a message, the final message of this series, a gospel message for the unemployed. Now the picture before us and the scene before us in Matthew chapter 20 was quite typical of Bible times and like many today who find themselves in a steady job for years, possibly even decades, long-term employment was a luxury afforded to only a few during the life and the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. It seems to be that many were involved in either daily employment or a weekly form of employment that would soon come to an end. And what we have here in this chapter, Matthew 20, is we find that the land of Israel has come into the time of harvest. It's a time for the gathering in of the grape. It's a time of the bringing in of the harvest from the vineyard. Now, you would understand that that is seasonal work, that it doesn't happen in the early, well, it would have happened in Israel in probably the early months of the year, but it doesn't happen in the winter months. This is something that was seasonal. And so the vineyard owner, the householder, he goes out into the community order to gather laborers to do this back-breaking work on his behalf. Now, just like we have unemployment or, sorry, employment agencies today, there would have been specific places within the town that this man would have went to in order to find these men. These men would have congregated, maybe early in the morning, as it were, offering their services to the individual, gathering in the marketplace just before dawn, again, making themselves available to those who would hire them for the day. Now as I thought of this and this scene before us, I thought of simply two things. A two-pointed message. Can I say that the first is most definitely the longest of the two, and so don't get agitated as we go through the message. But just simply two thoughts that I find here in Matthew chapter 20. I want you to notice firstly with me the opportunities presented. The opportunities presented. On a number of occasions, the vineyard owner, he makes his way to this marketplace for the purpose for the purpose of hiring labourers to gather in harvest. Numerous opportunities are presented to these workers to be employed in the services of this man of wealth. He's a good man. He's a good man of the house. He is a man of outstanding wealth. He doesn't have to gather this in for himself. He is the means and the ways by which he can employ others in this great service. Enough to pay each man a penny a day. He has all of the wealth required. And his desire is to bring them under his care. To bring them under his governance, as it were. And he's going to provide for them. the end of the day. Now it seems to me from my reading at least from verse number one of this parable of the Lord Jesus Christ that the householder goes and seeks these laborers, goes to the location where these day workers would be found. We find him going there at the first hour of the Jewish working day. Now the first hour was 6 a.m. 6 a.m. was the initial hour that the Jewish man would go out to his place of work. Because we read in verse number 20 that this man went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. Now I want you to notice that little phrase, early in the morning. It translates to mean the dawn or the watch break. The watch break. Now the Jews divided their nights into three watches. Initially in the Old Testament, I believe in the New Testament it moves to four watches, but in the Old Testament there were three main watches. There was what was known as the first watch, or the beginning of watches. And then there was the middle watch, and then there was the morning watch. And the dawn, the rising of the sun. was the last night watch. It was the morning watch. And this seems to be the time of the day that this vineyard owner goes to find those who are willing to come under his rule and under his care. Now while often this parable is applied to the believer, and our need to go into God's vineyard and to labor for him, and he himself will pay us at the end, reward us for our labors. Yet tonight I want to apply this parable in the gospel. And as we do so, as we think about the morning watch, as we think about this early time of the day, I start to think, is this not surely, is this not surely applicable to boys and girls and teenagers that are found in this gospel service this evening? Because if we take the Jewish working day, that 12-hour day, as a representation of our entire lifespan, condensed into 12 short hours, will end surely the beginning of the day, the early watch, the morning watch, the dawn, refers us, I believe, to those who find themselves in the years of adolescence, years of infancy, and years of teenage days. It is when we're found in such days. that God often calls us unto himself. And just as the good man of the house called these workers unto himself, so in the gospel and in childhood days God calls boys and girls and teenagers unto himself. Is that not the case? Or maybe you this evening? I address every boy and girl in this house, and what a blessing it is to have children under the sound of the Word. I address every teenager in this house this evening. Is that not the case, that in childhood days God has called on to you? Maybe it's been through the counsel of a saved parent. Maybe by means of a Sunday school teacher. Maybe a children's meeting worker. Maybe a youth leader. God has called you in the gospel as they are presented to you, the truth of God's Word. He called you the first time you ever sinned. Is that not the case? He called you the first time you ever lied. He called you the first time you ever disobeyed your parents. He called you the first time that you ever stole, for you felt the guilt of it, the disgrace of it. You felt the conscience pricked, the heart troubled, the soul becoming agitated because you were aware that beyond the eyes of man, beyond the eyes of a parent, God was looking. God was looking and God was seeing you. He became aware that there was, as it were, God Himself drawing near. He felt His Spirit convicting you. He called you, even the first time you sinned. He called you when the conscience was sensitive to sin. He called you when the heart was tender to the gospel. He called you when your ears were opened to Him in the gospel. He called you, and He does call you tonight, boys and girls. In this house tonight, God calls you unto himself. And so I would encourage every boy, every girl, every teenager in this house who have yet not turned from their sin and on to Jesus Christ, I would encourage you to Jesus Christ. I would encourage you to trust in Jesus Christ, to repent of your sin, and to turn to him for mercy. I would encourage you, the youngest child, to take yourself off now to God in prayer, just where you sit, in the pew. Bow your head in prayer, cry to God for mercy, cry to Him in the words of the public, and God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Pray tonight, God, save my soul. Yes, my little soul. my soul that will live on for all of God's eternity. This precious thing that God has put into me that will never die. Lord, save my childish soul and make me your child and bring me in to the family of God. I tell you, there's no better time to work There's no better time to work than the first hours of the day. And with regard to salvation, there's no better time for serving the Lord than in your earliest days of life. No better time to come to Christ than as a child. Timothy, Paul writes to him, "...as from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation to every one that believeth." I believe that children can come to Christ as much as an adult. I believe that if they've come to the years of understanding, if they grasp the very truth, I'm a sinner. and Christ is a Savior of sinners, then I believe that God can gift to them the gifts of faith and repentance, and they can abandon themselves to God, and they can trust in Christ for salvation, and He will save them from their sin. Boys and girls, God can save you in this house tonight. Oh, that you might be saved. The words of Christ ring us true and clear. When he first uttered them, when he found his feet walking on this earth, he said, suffer, little children, and forbid them not to come on to me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven. Boys and girls, will you come? Will you come to Christ? Teenagers, will you come to Christ as he encourages you to do? Children, in this meeting, can I say this to you? The promises of God are as much for you as they are for some adult in this house tonight. What are those promises? Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. Boys and girls, come to Christ. Come to the Savior. He'll not cast you out. It's as good for you as it is for someone in their 80s. Maybe you're eight tonight. Maybe you're 10. Maybe you're 12 or 14 or 18. He'll come. He'll draw you. And he'll no wise cast you out. He would say to you, come on to me. All ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." I tell you, there's no age limit to that promise. I read of no qualifying statement in Scripture that says this is for a 20, a 30, a 40, a 50, a 80-year-old. Christ makes it so general, all-embracing, come on to me. Oh, boys and girls, come on to Christ. before sin gets a hold of you, before you get dragged down into bad company and you find yourself away from the house of God and away from your godly parents, come to Christ, be saved. Christ will save you. Remember now, boys and girls, remember now, thy creator in the days of thy youth. While the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. And so he goes out at the breaking of day, the early, the early time to call people on to himself. But aware of his need for others, workers, to join that first intake of laborers, the vineyard owner returns. to the same place to secure the services of others at the third hour, the third hour of the day. Verse three, and he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. Now the Jewish third hour, it corresponds to our 9 a.m. And so it's still early, early enough. early enough for those workers to be brought under the householder's care. Now to me, the third hour corresponds to that period of life whenever a person finds themselves in the early years of adulthood. We would say the 20s, possibly the early 30s. Sad to say, there are some who waste life's early years. Those who only come to their senses in early adulthood, their teenage years are but a blur to them. They've lived for sin, they've lived for themselves. And thank God, God, in His mercy and His grace, He speaks to them. They're in their twenties, their early thirties. God so woos upon their heart that they understand that life is full of empty promises, and that Satan has come to steal and to kill and destroy, and they're found running to Christ, and they're saved in those early twenties and early thirty years tonight. May I'm speaking to someone, and that's your age. Here you are, you're in your twenties, you're in your thirties, and you've already wasted some of the best hours of life's little day. Someone who has given their teenage years to sin, maybe someone tonight who sacrificed their purity on the altar of fleshly gratification, maybe someone here tonight who has destroyed their body with toxins and substances that God never intended that body of yours to be filled with someone whose life and who's filled their lives with worldly pursuits and pleasures, all of which have taken their toll upon the body and upon the mind of that individual. If you're not that person, maybe you've even walked on the clean side of life, but if you are that person, then I would encourage you to go no further in sin. before that spiritual idleness that has marked your childhood days, that idleness that has caused you to say no to God and to the gospel on so many occasions. Lest that spiritual idleness continues in your life and it becomes more entrenched within your life, let me encourage you to turn from your sin and to venture on Christ for salvation. Venture on Christ tonight. Venture on Him for salvation. Have you ever thought that before you even reach life's noon, you may be in God's eternity? Have you ever thought of that? Before you ever reach life's noon, you might be taken out into God's eternity. Are there not already friends there? Old schoolmates, acquaintances, social friends of yours already out into God's eternity. Think of your school friends and some have been taken out by car accident, maybe by some sickness, by some illness. People of your own age that have gone out to meet their maker, spiritually unprepared. Who's to say? before you reach the middle years of life, you'll not be gone, gone from this world, but to go into the next. Who's to say that before you ever reach your 35th birthday that you'll not be in God's hell? And so I would implore you, If tonight you're hearing God's voice in this gospel meeting, harden not your heart. Harden not your heart. Oh, but sinner, yield. Yield to His appeals. Yield to His wooings. Yield to His call to you in the gospel. Run to the cross. Run to Christ. The servant or the master, the owner, goes again. Verse five of the chapter informs us that the vineyard owner, he makes another trip to the marketplace, this time at the sixth hour of the day, 12 noon, 12 noon. Now to the Jew, that time marked the middle part of the 12-hour working day. Half of the hours of labor were gone. Only six hours left to work. Half gone, just half to go. And as I thought of the sixth hour, I thought of life's middle years. That time between mid-30s and early 40s. Because if we take Psalm 90 and the verse 10s, three score years and 10s, 70, to be the normal span of life, then 35, 35 marks the median point of life. 35. Now there might be someone here tonight and that's where you've reached. You're in the middle part of life. You've settled down. You've bought your own home. You're maybe just starting to pay off the mortgage. you're planning to get married or you are married and maybe God has blessed you with some children. The madness, the randomness of childhood and youthful days have now morphed and progressed into a much more tranquil way of life that sees you working now from nine to five, enjoying life in general, going on your summer holidays, enjoying Maybe some pastime, involved in some kind of club, some type of sporting activity. And you're maybe at this stage in your life. Everything's running smoothly. All you ever dreamed as a teenager, you now possess. car in the driveway, home to live in, lovely wife, handsome husband, some beautiful children around you, bit of money in the bank for a rainy day. Seems to me everything is running smoothly and really, really the thought of God, the thought of eternity, the thought of the judgment, really that plays no part in your thinking. No, your social calendar is full of all of the things that you want to do. As it were, the bucket list, there's a lot of things still to be marked off. And really I have too much to do, too much to think about, too much to concern myself with. And so I find myself in the middle years of life. But what about God? What about eternity? What about your soul? Is it the case that you find yourself now in the middle years of life and you've neglected God's salvation up until this moment of time, that which you've known from a child? You're still neglecting, still rejecting, still spurning, still turning away. You're into some sort of spiritual doze or sleep. and is seeing you drifting down the river of life, not aware that at any moment you could be plunged into God's eternity. 35 years of age and still not saved. Oh, that this message would alert you and arise you from such a sleep and propel you to the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 5 tells us that the vineyard owner goes again It's now the ninth hour of the day, 3 p.m. 3 p.m. in the afternoon. The midday glare of the sun has now passed. The afternoon breeze would have been sweeping over the land and yet, and yet there was still a place, there was still a place for others to join. who had already heeded the call of the householder. There's still a place. Such, so late on, there's still a place. Three o'clock in the afternoon. I think this refers to the time of life, we would say, the 50s. We're taking the 12-hour working day, 70 years, that's what, God and His will. If he so permits, gives us, and if more, that is his prerogative, but three score years and 10, the 50s. Maybe you're in your 50s. Maybe you're in your 50s. Many years have passed since you first heard the gospel, and you're still not a Christian. You're still not saved? Fifty years of sin to answer for at the judgment? Fifty years of sin to meet God with? Fifty years of sin to be punished for in God's hell? Fifty years and still not a Christian. Oh, the tragedy of it all. Slowly the sands of life are slipping through life's hourglass, and soon the last grain of sand is going to fall, and your soul will go out into God's great and unending eternity. And yet the wonder of the gospel is this, that he still calls you He still calls you on to himself, even as you find yourself at this stage of life. Just as the vineyard owner called these men at the ninth hour of the day, so God is calling you. May today you come. May this evening you repent and believe the gospel. By the time we reach verse 6 of the chapter, 11 hours of the working day have passed. It's now 5 o'clock. 5 o'clock in the evening. 11 hours since he first went out, calling those who had come. But he goes again. He goes again to call one last time, one last visit to the market, one last opportunity to be given to these individuals to come, just one more call and then night cometh when no man can work. And so he goes out again, he goes out Just an hour before the tools are downed. Just an hour before the rewards are given out. Just an hour before the wages are paid. Just an hour before payment for labor is given. He makes a fifth trip to the place of gathering. We read the account in verse six. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They said unto him, Because no man hath hired us. And he said unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. Five times he leaves home. Five times he goes to the place of market, the place of gathering. Five times He calls these individuals to come under his care. Five is the number of grace. The number of grace. God in grace calls men and women, even at the 11th hour, of life's little day. And surely it is only grace that God calls you as a 60-year-old, as a 70-year-old, as an 80-year-old in this house. It is only grace that causes him to call you for one last time, because night's coming, the night of eternity. And many times has he called you, and those calls have fallen on deaf ears. And many times have you spurned him. What's to say that it's not the final call tonight. What's to say it's not the final call? What guarantee do you have that he will call you again? Oh, you may live 10, 20, 30, 50 years from now, but who's to say that he'll call you again? Who's to say that you're not found in the 11th hour of your life. The 11th hour speaks to those, I believe, of those who are nearing the end of life's journey. We would say those who are in the final lap of life's race, here they are, they're heading towards the goal, the prize, they're in the home straight. Those that are in the 11th hour, maybe you're in the sunset years of life and still unconverted. Does it concern you? Does it concern you that there is a life of unforgiven sin, ready there to meet you at the judgment? Are you troubled tonight with the thought that despite all the gospel privileges that I've enjoyed in my lifetime, does it concern you that tonight you're still a stranger to grace in God? There is a word of hope for you. in this parable, that at the 11th hour, there's still room for you. At the 11th hour, God still calls you. At the 11th hour, there is a place for you in the family of God if you would only but trust Him, trust in what He did for sinners at Calvary's cross. I tell you, God is able to convert a gray-haired man or a gray-haired woman as much as He can convert a 30 or 20-year-old. Now, you may feel that mercy has passed you. You may feel that the time of gospel opportunity for you is closed. But Matthew 20 brings this thought that he still calls at the eleventh hour. Did he not call the dying thief and save him at the eleventh hour? Mr. Spurgeon, when he preached on this text and thinking of those at the 11th hour and liking in them, as I have been doing this evening, to the sinner who comes in old age, he said these words, blessed be the name of God, that such sinners are brought in, poor, decrepit old creatures. That's how he spoke. Past labor and good for nothing, yet they are saved. Yes, even those who have worn themselves out in the service of Satan, God is willing to receive. The devil's hacks Christ will not cast away. They who have nothing left that is of any use in the world, Jesus Christ graciously receives at the eleventh hour. Sinner! Christ graciously receives at the eleventh hour. Come to Him! Come to Him! Even though it is the eleventh hour. Two points, second point not long. The reward promised and paid. The vineyard owner agreed to pay the first workers that were employed at the dawn of day a penny for their labors. Those that came in after at the third, the sixth, the ninth, and the eleventh hours were promised by him that whatsoever's right that he would give them. Now you can imagine the surprise. Just imagine you going to work tomorrow, and payment was given at the end of the day, and you started at six o'clock in the morning, and some individual came in just an hour before the work was done, and the employer brought you both into the office, and he set down a lump of money for you that was corresponding to the same lump of money for the individual. You wouldn't be too happy about that. Here I've worked for 12 hours, and he's only or she's only worked for an hour, and the payment is the same. There's something unjust with respect to that. There's something not right with respect to that payment, and this is what happens. You can imagine then the surprise when those that had labored the least received the same pay as those who had labored throughout the entire day within the vineyard. That seeming injustice caused those who entered the vineyard at dawn to murmur and complain, and then verbalize that complaint to the vineyard owner, informing him, these last have wrought, these last have wrought, verse 12, but one hour, and that was made them equal, equal unto us, which have borne the burden and the heat of the day. Now the owner of the vineyard dismisses their complaint by reminding them that it is in his power. It's in his power to dispense his wealth as he sees fit. It's not in their power, but in his power alone. And so he asks his accusers in verse 15, is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? That silences them. puts them in their place, as the owner reminds them that the rewards were his, not theirs, to distribute. As I thought of that, I thought of this equal payment, as I thought of that equal payment to each worker, I thought, is that not the case? That all who come to Christ, regardless of what time in life they come, that they all are given the exact same benefits and they enjoy the exact same blessings. Because every sinner, regardless of whether you come to Christ as a child or whether you come to Christ as an 80-year-old, every sinner on coming to Christ receives the forgiveness of sins when they confess their sin to God. Every sinner receives the righteousness of Christ that brings him into a right standing before God. Every sinner receives peace with God as the finished work of Christ answers all sin's charges on their behalf. Every sinner receives free unfettered access to the throne of grace and prayer. Every sinner receives membership into the family of God as they become a son or a daughter of God through the new birth. Every sinner receives eternal everlasting abundant life through faith in Jesus Christ. Every sinner receives heaven and all the blessings of that better land. God makes them equal. One preacher put it like this, there may be some old man who has lived to be 90 and who was only saved in the last year of his life. When he enters heaven, he will sit as much beside Christ as one like Timothy. who was called in his early youth, preached the gospel during a long course of youthfulness, and died with honors on his head. God displays his sovereignty in choosing the persons who shall be saved, in selecting the time when they shall be saved, and in their ultimate reward. And when he does, folks, none of us will charge him with injustice or unfairness, because it's in his right. It's in his right. And so to you who have been spiritually idled all your life, God holds out the promise, despite your years of sin, all gospel blessings, all gospel benefits can be yours tonight as you turn from sin and trust in Jesus Christ. But lest someone be here this evening What I've just said causes you to foolishly presume that you'll leave your salvation to the 11th hour and you'll reap all of the benefits that there are in the gospel. If there be someone here tonight like that, I want to remind you that you might be already in the 11th hour, even though you're just 10, even though you're just 15. even though you're just 33, even though you're just 48, even though you're just 56 or 72, you may already be at the 11th hour. None of us know where we are on life's timescale. None of us are to boast ourselves of tomorrow. And so you would do well To heed the counsel, behold, now is accepted time. Behold, now is a day of salvation. My closing challenge then, and my closing counsel is this, why stand ye here all the day idle? Why, sinner, do you stand idle? as God calls you in the gospel. Why stand where you presently are? And where are you? Under condemnation, an object of divine displeasure, fit fuel for hell. And you sit there idle. Why stand ye here all the day idle? Go. Go where, preacher? Go to the cross. Go to the blood. Go to Christ and be saved from your sin. And you will find that there's a place for you, as these people found that there was a place for them. May you arise from your spiritual idleness and may you go to Christ tonight. May this night be the night that you're saved and ready for heaven. May God bring you on to himself this evening. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Let's pray. With our heads bowed, our eyes closed, can I say, that this vineyard owner, he was the good man. He's the good man. There's no master like him. There's no Lord like him. There's no savior like him. There is no other savior, but there's none like him. Will you come? He's called you. Early in life, throughout life, Here you are, you're in the latter end of life and you're still not saved. He calls you. The 11th hour. One last call. One last call. Before night falls. Before death comes. Before judgment breaks. One last call. Will you come? If I can help you in any way, you need help with respect to these things. I'm there at the door, you need to speak. We pray that God will give you the courage to speak, to say, preacher, I need to speak with you tonight. Here I am. All my life I've stood idle. And it comes to this call, the call of the gospel, but tonight I'm coming. I'm coming to Christ, can you help me? I'd be glad to take the Word and show you how you can be saved. Call to Him. Boys and girls, come to Christ. Young people, come to Christ. Adults, come to Christ. Be saved. May God draw you unto Himself this evening. Our loving Father, our gracious God in heaven, we thank Thee that God in grace calls sinners unto Himself. Call the sinner, open their ear, He would have them come under His care. He would have them to come under His banner of love. He would have them to come under His wealth and His rich provision. Oh God, we pray that they would not stand. Just stand back and do nothing. Oh, may there be an arising and going on to Christ and going on to Jesus. May there be a sinner tonight. May they be saved from their sin. And grant, dear God, thy power to be known among us. For we offer prayer in and through the Savior's precious and worthy name. Amen and amen.