thrones judging the twelve tribes, and that all sacrifices for His Name's sake should be rewarded in this life an hun- dred fold, closing with the words of the , Golden Text, " B u t many that are first shall be last and the last shall be first.'' The Parable of our lesson follows with the words of the Golden Text trans- posed. It is evident then that the Parable must find its explanation in the light of these twice repeated words. The Call. It is a truism that no parable can be made to go on all fours; that is, all of the details of a parable are not intended to teach truth, and the gravest injustice is often done in the effort to press all of the details into an interpretation of the text. This parable has had a great many explana- tions which seem to us to be f ar from satisfactory. God is not represented here as hiring servants as men hire them. He is represented, however, as a householder, and the servants repre- sent those who are related to Him as believers. There is no question of sal- vation in the parable for salvation can- not be by any means related to work. " B y grace ye are s a v e d" (Eph. 2:8). ' ' The g i ft of God is Eternal Life (Rom. 6:23). God has need of work- ers and calls those who are His own to service. The call comes through the Word, or through the Spirit or by His Providence. " Go y e " is the command, into my vineyard. There are five dis- tinct calls noted. Early in the morning, at daybreak, because the work is great and pressing, the third hour, the sixth hour, the ninth hour, the eleventh hour. There was a response to each call. God does not call the ambitious to His ser- vice. How could He? The gift of life implies a call to service. Service is the normal occupation of the believer. The Condition. The vineyard is the common term to represent the place of service (Mark 12:1-9; Matt. 21:28-41). There is work demanded, and there is room for all of God's servants. The conditions are simple. Work is to be done for Him who hath called us. We are to obey instructions. The work is His. He plans it; we prosecute it; each must do the task allotted. " T o every one his w o r k " ;(Mark 13:34). There are messages to carry, there is seed to sow, there is property to be man- aged, vines are to be pruned, grapes are to be gathered, money is to be invested, there are fields to be ploughed, there are sheep to be fed and lambs to be tended; there is the work in the house
and in the field; the duties are varied; the work is important, and the time is short. Go work today (Matt. 21:28). The laborers are few (Matt. 9:37). The Householder will do the right thing by every workman. Go to work now. The night comes when no man can work. (John 9:4). The Compensation. When even was come He called the laborers and paid them. This was according to Jewish law. " T h ou shalt not defraud thv neighbor, neither rob him; the wages of him t h a t, is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning (Lev. 19:13). Every one received the same amount and there was perfect jus- tice in the payment. The eleventh hour workmen were paid what the house- holder deemed right, and the early morning workers were paid according to the agreement entered into when they were hired. Some had worked longer than others, but every man was paid in full. The men were lined up for t payment beginning with the last employed and ending with the first. In this way the truth was brought out concerning the heart of the early work- ers; had they ben paid first and gone away there would have been no ground for complaint. Service for the Lord is not measured by quantity but by qual- ity. This is wonderfully illustrated in the awards for service in 1 Cor. 3:12-15, the motive in service playing the prom- inent part. Jacob bargained with the Lord and promised .that if He would bless him he would give Him a tenth. (Gen. 28:20-22). And this in the face of the fact that God had already prom- ised to be with him, bless him and bring him back to the land and give him the land for a possession. The Complaint. The early dawn workers found fault with the House- holder. They called in question the equity o. the settlement. Had they lived in our day, they would have called a strike and boycott. The essential truth in the lesson is found in the answer given . by the Householder. " F r i e n d, I do thee no wrong.", " I s it not lawful for me to do what I will with my own ?" " I s thine eye e v i l ?" First, remember, it is not designed to teach that all who labor will be saved. Salvation is not in question, but Service is the theme. Second, it does not teach that rewards will be equal, no matter what the ser- vice. That would not .be just, and other parables teach the contrary.
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