Evening journal., 1910-08-13
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BIBKEzM TSISDfHS
@GO YE ALSO INTO THE VINEYARD
Matthew 20: 1-16.-August IA.
at rst shall be last and the last shahbe

Grape culture was one of the main
industries of the days of the great
teacher. The stony hillsides Of
Palestine were once terraced and ex-
tensiyely used as vineyards. On our
recent visit we noted with particular
interest the revival of this custom, as
one Of the evidences of the beginning
Of restitution of the Holy Land
Acts 3 1921.
The grapevine was honored of the
Master, in that he used it in a para
BILE, to symbolic himself and the
church, saying, IL am the Vine. We are
the branches" my Father IS the
husbandman;" Herein is my Father
glorifled, that We bear much fruit"
Every branch in me which beareth
fruit he pruneth il that IL may bring
forth more fruit" Every branch in
me that beareth not fruit he taketh
away"
Our present study, the parable OF
the laborers, is in full accord with
the foregoing, but shows the matter
from a different standpoint. II shows
how each one of the Lords conse-
Grated church, each heir of the Mes
slanic Kingdom shortly TO be estab-
lished is privileged to be a co-laborer
with Lord and Master and was the
Heavenly Father in the vineyard
work-tending the vine, looking out
for the injurious pests. keeping the
soil I'm good condition, assisting every
way In the production of much fruit
and of the fine quality. Evidently
many Christian people do not ap-
preciate the privilege of being la
borers in the church of Christ
building one another up in the most
holy faith" until we all come to the
full stature of a man in the Amounted
One.
St Paul appreciated this privilege
greatly. saying. God hath made us
qualified servants of the New Gov
enant. So then we, as ambassadors
for God. beseech men, Be We recon-
ciled to God. @ Corinthians 5:20D
Whoever Is negligent of his oppor-
tunities to serve others who manifest
a hearing ear, a humble heart and a
teachable spirit shows his own lack
OF appreciation of Gods message. He
thus indicates that he has not come
to a. knowledge Of God nor to a
knowledge Of the Truth respecting
the divine plan. And indeed the
scriptures declare that a deep knowl-
edge of God, his word and his pur-
poses, is attained only as a gift OF
God. bestowed only upon those who
are in a humble, faithful, Jealous at
titude of mind-"To you it is given
to know the mysteries of the King
dom of Cod
The things pertaining to Gods
Kingdom. I'm its future operation to-
ward the worl for a thousand years
I . ~r.1rr n
creature, shortly. But now II is ap-
propTiate. and is the Divine Will. that
these things should be known only IL
the church, the consecrated, the
spirit-begotten sons Of God Likewise
there are important truths ne~tainine
TO the Kingdom class, the church
which is being prepared to he the
bride of Christ and his ioint-heirs IN
the Kingdom Aud these things are
likewise intended to he comparative
" secret-to be clearly and full I'M
derstood only by such as have made
covenant with the Lord by sacrifice
Psalms 5O.5O "The secret of the
Lord is with them that reverence him
and he will show them his Covenant
PSALMS 25:14) All such in close
sympathy with the Divine purposes
will be anxious to serve the Lord, the
truth and the brethren And such
from time to time will be specially
sent into the vineyard, and viii be
specially used of the Lord for the
assistance of his consecrated people
IN various ways.
The word penny" here is from the
Greek denarius, a silver coin o
about II cents value. But the value
of money has so changed IN recon
years that today a labOrer's wage II
proportion to other things would b.
considerable more. The denarius wa
the Roman standard of that time. Al
the Ira is the Italian standard, tn
mark the German standard. the
franc the French standard. the shill
ing the English standard and thu
dollar the American standard. 1t i
worthy of note that in one Of tn
fine old English cathedrals the rec
ords show that its excellent chisc