The Brinkley argus., 1914-07-03
LESSON FOR JULY 5
THE LAeoRERs IN THE VINE
 YARD.

LESSON TExT-Matt. D:1-1s
 GOLDEN TEXT-"E1e maksth his sun to rise on thsrevil and on the good, and ssndeth rain on the just and on the un- Just" Matt. 6:6.
 This Is another lesson connected with our Lords Perean ministry. ]. The Calls to eervice, w. 1-7. To get correct setting we must re- turn to Peters question. 1917. which in turn grew out of our Lords deal ings with the rich young ruler (see lesson of June 21st). and which called from Jesus the exclamation, Tt is hard for a rich man to enter the king dom of heaven" (19:23). At this the disciples were exceedingly surprised and exclaimed. "Who then can be saved?" (v. 25). Jesus replied, With God all things are possible" There upon Peter said, To, we have left all and followed thee; what then shall we have?" The young man refused to leave his all and follow, whereas the disciples had and Peter seems to desire to know what advantage had accrued to them, what reward they were to have.
 Jesus Answers Peter.
 Jesus closed his answer to Peter by saying, Many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first" (v. 30) and illustrates his reply by the parable which is our lesson. Many who do not stipulate a reward shall be first, while many who work and work long, but work only for a re- ward, will be last. Preceding this Jesus definitely told Peter that the twelve should be associated with him judging the twelve tribes of Israel and that all who had left all to fol- low him should receive an hundred (see chapter 1928, 29), that is, they would gain what the young ruler sought by doing what he failed to do. Historically this is illustrated by the Jew and Gentle, Matt 8:11, 12; Luke 13:2S-30 Rom. g. 30-33.
 Parable of the Kingdom.
 Jesus says this is parable of the Kingdom, hence the householder repre- sents God tcf. 1927; 21:33, 43) the vineyard is the kingdom. see Isa 2:7; Matt 21:33. The king is seeking laborers to labor in his vineyard. He began in the early morning (v. D and with those whom he employed he made definite agreement. The penny had a value of about seventeen cents and represents an average days wage at that time No one works for God without fair wage, Eph. 6.S; Heb. 6:10 Notice. before they were set to their task God called them. The call was to service. Mark 1:17- He goes out again at the third and the sixth and the ninth hour. finds other laborers. making no definite agreement with them but sends them into his vineyard to work. He led them into the work and they trusted him for wages. At the eleventh hour he found idlers. and asked them the reason (v. 6), they replied that no one had employed them and them too he sendsjinto the vineyard without any bargain as to wageg None except those at. the third hour had any in- timation. as to their wage and they were toreceive whatsoever Is right.
 Thoso called at the first may put Tn longer hours but produce a poorer quality of service than others called at later time. The character ot the service is of greater value than the amount rendered and the higher the service the greater the proportionate reward. We get in this life about what we work for.
 K. The Reward Of Service, w. e-16. At the end of the day the Lords steward rewards each man. beginning with the last and ending with the first (v. 8. The first one is paid ac- cory1ing to the strict letter of the agreement, and the last Is likewise paid in strict justice but in a most liberal manner. He, too, was worthy for he worked throughout all the time that was for him available. Giving an equal reward to all was k tast of the character of those men who entered the vineyard fin the 'early mnenlnx. The Lords answer (vv. l3-1G) b a fourfold one CD T did thes no wxung:" the contract had been uvea ID to to the very letter. ,(2l Tt is my will to give. even as unto thee: tho. Lord has a right to be genssous if he O desires, (S) Tt is lawful for nc to do what will with mine own" God has right to exer- else. such a preEuBative and man has no right to complain. Rom. s:1b-zl. (4) '"Is thine eye evil hecause nm goo az" The ground of'this complaint was. that of envy
 IIa-rhe Teaching. We must be- ware of trying to make this parable teach more than is written. To right fully understand our Lords dealings with those who serve him we must , con stder others of his parables. This one hos two chief lessons; first, that priority of time or even length Of service Is not the all-essential requi- site: and second. that our fidelity to and use of our opportunity is the chier desideratum. Along with this there. are of course other lessons, In answer to Peters question our Lord showed him and his fellow disciples that the last might he first
 1 Teu 'em you saw tt In the Argus NNheneyer You Need 0esleral Toni