Have you ever run in a race? I guess most of us have at one time or another. I remember one race particularly. It was a very important race, because they were giving away a free car, and I was desperately interested in winning that car. I was six years old, and the car was a toy. But I ran as fast as I could, and I won the car. I played with it on the living room floor for a long time after that.

Then there was the race during a college picnic, where we had tandem bicycles, and the fellows were steering, and the girls were helping in the engine room behind. I was so concerned about winning that race that the girl and I started off too fast, and her feet left the pedals and never got back on the pedals the whole race. I didn’t know why everyone was laughing as we crossed the finish line, but we won!

We are all in a race today–the race for the kingdom. And Jesus told a parable about this race for the kingdom in Matthew 21:28-32:

“But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, the first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.”

This parable presents two classes of people. The first group are the ones who make no profession, but who end up working in the vineyard.

They end up in the kingdom of heaven. The second group make a great profession, but they stop right there. And in the end, the kingdom is taken away from them.

Jesus described this second group in yet another of His vineyard parables. Those who were supposed to be the keepers of the vineyard killed not only the servants of the vineyard owner, but his own son as well. And after they had killed the heir, the command was given,

“The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.” Matthew 21:43.

The news about the kingdom is good news for publicans and harlots, but it can be bad news for religious people who have felt secure in their morality and have never recognized their great need for something more than simply to make a profession. To say, “I go, sir,” is not enough.

To try to discover more about this strange kingdom that admits publicans and harlots and yet closes its door to the “good” people, let’s look at one of Jesus’ own disciples, Matthew, who was a tax collector.

“As Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.” Matthew 9:9.

My, that was sudden, wasn’t it? Matthew must have been surprised at the invitation, but he did not hesitate. You read the inspired commentary and you find that Matthew had already heard of Jesus. His heart had been touched, and he had been convicted of sin. He was a cheat and a liar. Publicans were known for this. That’s the way they made their living–ripping people off. But beneath the unpromising exterior, Matthew was open to the gospel about the kingdom.

However, he didn’t think there was the ghost of a chance for him to enter the race. He was painfully aware of the gap between his own lifestyle and that of the Jewish leaders whom he supposed to be as righteous as they were moral. So he never thought that he would receive an invitation to enter the race, until the day he heard the friendly words of Jesus, “Follow me.”

Matthew left everything and followed. This was the chance of a lifetime. It was what he wanted more than anything else.

Word went around town concerning what had happened to Matthew. Other publicans and sinners dared to hope. And when Matthew had a feast and invited all his friends, they came eagerly to listen to this Jesus. Matthew didn’t have any righteous friends. They were all publicans and sinners, just like himself. But this was the opportunity Jesus had been longing for, and He did not hesitate to accept, in spite of what He knew the priests and rulers would think of such a gathering.

Verses 10-13:

“Behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick, But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

What is Jesus saying here? He is saying that no one is going to be really interested in the good news about the kingdom until he realizes his great need.

One time a young man from the state college in California came to some meetings my dad was holding. He was a distance runner, and he was good. He kept coming to the meetings, and the Spirit of God spoke to his heart. He was convicted concerning the Sabbath and all the rest of it, and he was struggling, trying to decide what to do.

Hebrews 12:1 talks about the race for the kingdom, and says,

“Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”

This young man was being convicted that he should become involved in a race with far bigger stakes than the prizes in the earthly races he had entered up until that time. But he was not certain it was worth the sacrifice.

About that time there was a race scheduled for Sabbath. It was a distance race, his specialty. He went to the race and started running. He was way ahead of the rest. But the harder he ran, the more he kept thinking about the seventh day being the Sabbath. He was in the last quarter of the race when suddenly he stopped and walked away. He went home and kept the rest of that Sabbath. His decision was made. He had finally recognized his greatest need was to win in the race for the kingdom, and he became involved in the right race.

The Jewish leaders who condemned Jesus for associating with publicans and sinners did not understand this. They were involved in their own race, a race to get ahead of the next person in morality and standards and behavior. And the race for the kingdom didn’t fit in with their plans.

No one is motivated to enter a race if he thinks he has already won. The Jewish leaders thought they had already won. They were selfsatisfied. Were they not the chosen people?

Didn’t they pay tithe and fast and attend church faithfully? Didn’t they offer their long prayers at the appointed hours? Didn’t they wash before meals? Didn’t they make the proper sacrifices in the temple? The Bible says time and again that the people just before the second coming of Christ will be very similar to the ones who were living when He came the first time. So it is possible that there are people today who find the message about the race for the kingdom unnecessary. Could there be some of us today who think we have already attained and have no need to enter the race?

Let’s add one more text to this study, Luke 7:1-10. In this passage we see the man who had asked for Jesus to come and heal his servant. He was a Roman army officer, a centurion. The Jewish leaders had come to Jesus with a request from him, and they added, “He is worthy, for he built us a synagogue.” He deserves your attention. He merits what you can give him.

Jesus started out toward the centurion’s home, but when the centurion heard that Jesus was coming, he sent word back to Jesus saying, “I am not worthy. I’m not even worthy for you to come under my roof.”

Jesus was astonished at the faith of this man, and after commenting on what great faith he had, Jesus made this statement,

“I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 8:11,12.

It says that those from the east and west come and sit down. What does that mean? Watchman Nee, in his book Sit, Stand, Walk, brings out the truth that to sit down in God’s kingdom means to rest from labors, to cease from our own efforts to accomplish what only God can do.

This race for the kingdom is a sitting-down race! We can’t even start it, much less finish it on our own. And that’s a hard lesson to learn. Even for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, it came hard.

Abraham came from a far country. He and his wife Sarah had no children, and this was embarrassing. In those days, it was a status symbol to have at least one son. For a person whose name meant “Father of a multitude,” “Mother of nations” that was hard to take. So Abraham and Sarah began running around, trying to help make things happen. And things happened all right. A son was produced–the wrong one. And he brought nothing but heartache and trouble. At this point Abraham and Sarah weren’t even in the race.

Jacob didn’t understand about a sitting-down race either. He had been promised a birthright, but it looked like the promise was not going to be fulfilled. Jacob began running around, trying to make it happen in his own strength, and he kept running for twenty years before one night at the brook when he finally understood how to enter the race for the kingdom.

Those who receive the prize in this race for the kingdom will have learned to sit down. They will have learned not to depend on their own efforts. They will have learned that “the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.” They will learn that the race has already been won, and all they can do is to accept.

Does this mean we do nothing? No, this sitting down is extremely active! It involves not fighting when your instinct is to fight. The people of Israel had to do that, in their battle recorded in 2 Chronicles 20. They were told,

“Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord.” Verse 17.

It involves going forward at the very time when going forward seems the most impossible-not going forward to fight, but going forward in faith. The people of Israel had to learn that, too, at the Red Sea. They were surrounded by the enemy. Ahead was a sea that seemed impossible to cross, and Moses told them, in Exodus 14,

“Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.” “The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.”

And then he said,

“Go forward.” Verses 13-15.

Why do the publicans and harlots go first, even ahead of the children of the kingdom? Because they find it easier to admit and realize their need. They have spent so much time fighting and knowing that they are losing, that they are willing to try another way. That is why they find it easier to give up and depend on the only One who can make it happen.

The children of the kingdom need to learn the same lesson, but at times the struggle is harder for them. And there will be some painful shifts at the very end, just before Jesus comes. Thousands who have thought they were children of the kingdom will walk away from the whole package, rather than humble themselves to accept salvation as a gift.

It happened after Matthew’s feast; it is happening today. Thousands are making the same mistake as did the Pharisees whom Christ reproved. Such people trust in themselves. They do not realize their spiritual poverty. They insist on being saved in some way by performing some important work. And when they see that there is no way of weaving self into the work, they reject the salvation provided.

Will you accept the invitation today to enter the race for the kingdom-by accepting that which has already been won? Are you willing to join the publicans and the harlots and the sinners and those from the east and the west, and sit down in the kingdom of God?