Middletown transcript., 1914-07-04
LESSON FOR JULY 5
THE LABoRERs IN THE VINE.
YARD.

tHE EAbOhEhS IN The VINE.
YARD.
LESSON TEXT-Matt. 2O:1-16.
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. 5:45.
This is another lesson connected
with our Lords Perean ministry.
!. The Calls to Service, w. ~.
To get a correct setting we must re-
turn to Peters question, 1877, 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, 1T is
hard for 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?" ". 25). Jesus replied, with
God all things are possible" There
upon Peter said, 10, 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" ".
S0) 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
fold and would inherit eternal life
(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, II; 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; 21:S3, 43); the
vineyard is the kingdom, see lisa. 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 he
made a 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 a fair wage, Eph. 6:8;
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 ". g., they replied that no
One had employed them and them too
be 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
onger hours but produce a poorer
Iuality of service than others called
It 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
-eward. We get in this life aho1t
What we work for. If we are seeking
pleasure, wages or tame we U.s. 4t,-4y
get that to which we give ourselves
With wholehearted abandon. If with
God we work as faithful servants
md leave the reward we will receive
above that we ask or think"
u. The Reward of Service, w. s-16.
1t the end Of the day the Lords
teward rewards each man, beginning
With the last and ending with the
lrst ". 81. The first one is paid &C
.ording to the strict letter Of the
.greement,, and the last is likewise
,aid in strict justice but in a most
LIBERAL manner. He, too. was worthy
or he worked throughout all the
ime that was for him available.
living an equal reward to all was a
est of the character of those men
Vho entered the vineyard in the early
morning. The Lords answer wv.
3-15) is a four-fold one (D Il did
hee no wrong" the contract had been
lved up to to the very letter. (2)
It is my will to give, even as unto
hee;" the Lord has a right to be
enerous if he so desires. (S) 1T is
awful for me to do what l will with
nine own;" God has a right to exer'
ise such a prerogative and man has
o right to complain, Rom. 9:15-21.
4) 'Ts thine eye evil because I am
ood?" The ground of this complaint
vas that Of envy. Our God has
light to do as he pleases and he al
rays pleases to do right. The one
Tho serves for love not only gets a :
Ill days pay but gets satisfaction as
ell, whereas the one who serves for
ages will get that for which he
erves only, he will be minus the
abstraction. Thus we see how Jesus
sveals the real motive of their com
laint, viz, it was for envy.
III.-The Teaching. We must be-
are Of trying to make this parable
ZACH more than is written. To right