The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1914-07-01
INTERNATIONAL,
LESSON
By E. o. SELLERS, Director Of Evening
Department, The Moody Bible Institute,
Chicago.J
LESSON FOR JULY 5
THE LARoRERs IN THE VINE.
YARD.

LESSON TEXT-Matt. 2o:1-1s.
GOLDEN TEXT-"He maketh his sun
to rise on the evil and on the good. and
sendeth rain on the just and on the un-
just" Matt. 5:4.
This is another lesson connected
with our Lords Perean ministry.
!: Tho Calls to Service, w. ~.
To get a 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, ut Is
hard for a rich me- to enter the king
dom Of heaven" (19:23). At this the
disciples were exceedingly surprised
and exclaimed, who then can be
saved?" ". 25). Jesus replied, with,
God all things are possible" There
upon Peter said, "Lo, 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" .(y.
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 shouldt receive an hundred.
fold and would tnherft eternal hfe
(see chapter 1925, 29), that Is, they
would gain what the young ruler
sought by doing what he failed to dG
Historically this is illustrated by the
Jew and Gentle, Matt. !S:1l. r.; Luke
13:28-30; Rom. 9:30-33.
Parable Of the Kingdom.
Jesus says this Is a parable Of the
kingdom, hence the householder repre-
sents God (cf. 1927; 1888, 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 ". u
and with those whom he employed ne
made a definite agreement. The
penny had a value of about seventeen
cents and represents an average days
wage at that time. No n works Tor
God without q fair wage, Eph. 6:8;&
Heb. $40. 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 ". g., they replied that no
one had employed them and them too
he sends into the vineyard without any
bargain as to wages; None except
those at the third hour had any in
timation as to their wage and they
we're to receive whatsoever Is right"
Those called at the first may put in
longer hours but produce a poorer
quality of service than others called
at a later time. The character Of 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. II we are seeking
pleasure, wages or fame we usually
get that to which we give ourselves
with wholehearted abandon. If with
God we work as faithful servants
and leave the reward we will receive
above that we ask or think"
u. The Reward Of Service, W.. BIO.
At the end of the day the Lords
steward rewards each man, beginning
with the last and ending with the
first ". 81. The first one Is paid &C
cording 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 a
test Of the character Of those men
who entered the vineyard in the early
morning. The Lords answer wv.
1879 is four-fold n % I did
thee no wrong" the contract had been
lived up to to the very letter. CD
1T is my will to give, even as unto
thee" the Lord has a right to be
generous If he so desires. (3) 1T Is
lawful for me to do what / will with
mine own" God has a right to exer-
else such a ~prerogative and man has
no right to complain, Rom. 9:15-21.
(4) rs thine eye evil because / am
good?" The ground of this complaint
was that of envy. Our God has a
right to do as he pleases and he al
ways pleases to do right. The one
who serves for. love not only gets a
full days pay. but gets satisfaction as
we'll, whereas the one who serves for
wages will get that for which he
serves only, he will be minus the
satisfaction. Thus we see how Jesus