Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.
The householder tells the first-hired workers to take the wage they agreed to for the day and go their way, asserting his right to do what he will with what is his and to give to the last hired even as to the first, which does them no wrong since they receive in full what was promised. His reward is a free gift of grace and liberality, not a debt earned by works or claimable as a right, and it is not measured by length of labor, hardship, or amount accomplished, but by the spirit of faith, love, and trust brought to the work. The complaint against his goodness rebukes a grasping, mercenary spirit that bargains for a fixed sum, expects greater honor for long service, and turns envious and jealous when others are made equal. In contrast the last workers trusted him to do what was right without fixing a sum, and they illustrate the penitent sinner who comes late in humble faith, expects little, is thankful simply to be accepted, and is greatly surprised to receive a full day's wage he knows he has not earned. Those called late may through grace be accounted first and receive the chosen reward, while those who stipulate their own wages and exalt themselves fix their own destiny and are found last.
The Householder's Settlement
The word is a dismissal to the workers hired first, bidding them take the wage agreed for the day and go their way, with exactly what was promised put into their hands. The householder keeps his agreement and honors the settled sum while he freely gives the same amount to those hired last. In the same breath he asserts his own right to do what he will with what is his, to use his own as he chooses and to give to the last hired even as to the first.
To pay the last in full does the first no wrong and is no injustice, since they receive the agreed wage in full and the settled penny is not made unjust by generosity to another. Their complaint that the late workers were made equal only exposes resentment at equal treatment and envy of his goodness. The same liberality is to be shown in making Christian books available at low prices on special occasions, that more may receive their light.
The contrast turns on the bargain: the first stipulated a fixed penny, while the last agreed to no set sum but trusted the owner to do what was right and just, leaving payment in his hands without asking how much it would be. They trusted his promise of a just wage and brought faith and loving trust into the work, and for that spirit they were placed first, whereas those who labored all day would have remained first had they served in the same trust instead of bargaining as though the Master would deal unfairly. Their reward is therefore measured by his generous purpose and not by hours worked, amount accomplished, or visible results, though this seems unfair by human reckoning.
Those called late had not been available to refuse the morning call, so their receiving the same reward does not excuse any who refuse the call or who merely agree with truth without obeying it. Nor does lifelong service give ground to claim greater reward, for self-exaltation can make those who might have been first last. The saying belongs to the parable of the householder.
Reward by Grace Alone
The householder pays the first exactly what was agreed and freely gives the last the same, doing the first no wrong, and their complaint only exposes envy at his generosity. The parable sets right principles against treating divine favor and the righteous reward as earned by works, for the reward rests on generous purpose rather than human merit. Keeping the agreed wage for the first while giving the same to the last is not unfair, because length or hardship of service earns nothing and resentment of generosity reveals a grudging spirit. Long service, hardship, and sacrifice give no title to preference or honor above others, since service is a privilege rather than a basis for pride or a claim on God. No one can claim the gift as a right or boast over another, but all are saved by grace alone and those who receive it should welcome others receiving the same.
Its value is measured by the spirit in which it is done, not simply by how long a person has labored. Claiming a greater reward for lifelong service is warned against, for God regards the spirit of the work, and self-exaltation can make those who might have been first last. The last trusted the promise to do what was right and just, bringing faith into the work, and they were placed first; those who worked all day would have remained first if they had served with loving trust instead of bargaining for a fixed reward. Christ does not measure service by amount of labor or visible results but by the spirit of faith and love brought to it. The late-called had not been available to refuse the morning call, so equal pay for them does not excuse those who refuse the call or merely agree with truth without obeying it.
God's reward is governed by his goodness and sovereign generosity, not by comparisons of how long or how hard others have served. His treatment of servants follows the principles of his kingdom rather than human expectations of equal pay for equal hours or human standards and opinions. What seems unfair by human reckoning reflects that his ways and thoughts are higher, for he does not measure by hours worked or visible results but by the spirit brought to the work. Servants are not to treat work as a claim to reward proportionate to labor or to compare themselves with others, since the master is free to give the last even as the first from generosity. The Lord himself determines each worker's reward according to the spirit and principles guiding it, so purity of motive and earnest desire to glorify him can bring the same reward to one who accomplishes less as to one who accomplishes more.
Even one who enters late and serves only a short time may receive generously according to gracious purpose rather than amount of work or personal merit. The eleventh-hour workers are poor sinners who know their unworthiness, long neglected the vineyard, yet come thankful for a chance to work, glad to work at any price, asking no questions about reward and leaving payment with the employer in faith. When they receive a full day's wage their time seems so short and the wages so large that they are greatly surprised, knowing they have not earned it, and the kindness in the employer's countenance fills them with gratitude and joy never forgotten. Those brought in at the eleventh hour, if earnest, are accepted and used and receive the same payment as those who began earlier. Even after time and talent have been spent selfishly, those who begin now can receive acceptance and eternal life, and late faithful ones given a place when those with greater light and opportunity turn away are rewarded for faithfulness and duty rather than length of service.
Long service and hardship do not entitle anyone to a larger reward, as those who treated service as earning salvation and expected a set return for years of work wrongly did. Time, talents, and abilities are themselves entrusted by God, so service gives no ground for selfishly demanding more. Eternal life is his gift, given on condition of entire obedience.
The Grasping Spirit Exposed
The command to take the agreed wage and go exposes a grasping, mercenary, hireling spirit that treats service as a bargain and tries to make terms with God. It rebukes entering His work only for remuneration, fixing a stated amount of work for a certain sum, and claiming favor and reward as something earned by works rather than received by free grace. Those who serve in this spirit think their work is of greater value than the work of those who come later, measure their labor as more worthy, and work only for the wages they hope to receive. Many professed believers still carry this spirit, believing long service, hardship, or sacrifice entitles them to preference and honor above others. The answer that the master keeps his agreement while freely giving the same to the later-hired shows his generosity is no injustice, and he has full right to do what he will with what is his.
Resentment that the last are made equal and complaint against the householder's goodness reveal envy, jealousy, suspicion, distrust, selfishness, and resentment of another's fair reward. The first laborers receive exactly what they agreed to for a penny, yet their complaint exposes envy at generosity that does them no wrong. His liberality toward the last is presented not as ground for complaint but as reason the first should not resent them. Such grumbling treats God's goodness itself as an offense and shows a heart that needs to be changed and purified.
Expecting greater reward, honor, wages, or recognition for lifelong service reveals self-seeking that can make those who might have been first last. Self-exaltation, disparaging others, measuring one's service against theirs, and demanding a larger share because time, talents, and abilities seem greater in one's own eyes are condemned as unworthy motives. In God's estimation those who so value their own labor above another's are last, for eternal life is His gift on condition of entire obedience and time and ability are themselves entrusted by Him. The warning applies to those who refuse the call or merely agree with truth without obeying it, since the later-called had not been available to refuse the morning call. Service does not give ground for selfish demand, and length of labor does not make service worthy apart from the spirit in which it is done.
Christ's servants are instead to trust the Master to deal fairly and rightly, serving in dependence on God rather than for praise, compensation, or self-advancement. Like the last workers who agreed to no set sum and left payment in his hands, they are to bring faith, love, and loving trust into the work and meet His goodness with gratitude and joy rather than grumbling. Those who worked all day would have remained first if they had served in that spirit instead of bargaining for a fixed reward. A purified, changed heart no longer sets its own value on its own labor or another's, but recognizes the householder's liberality and accepts his decision about reward.
The Last Workers Welcomed
The last workers stand for the penitent sinner whom Christ accepts when he comes late in humble faith, knowing his unworthiness, expecting little, thankful simply to be accepted, and obedient to His commandments. They trusted the householder's promise and brought faith into their work, and for that spirit they were placed first, for the Lord values the spirit of loving trust above bargaining for a fixed reward. The reward given them is graciously greater than their short service seems to merit, bestowed according to God's gracious purpose and not according to amount of work done or personal merit. Such kindness fills the undeserving worker with gratitude and joy that is never forgotten.
They are eleventh-hour workers who after long neglect come at last, thankful for a chance to work, glad to work at any price, leaving payment with the employer in faith and asking no questions about reward. When they receive a full day's wage their time seems so short and their wages so large that they are greatly surprised, because they know they have not earned it. The kindness in the employer's countenance goes to their hearts and fills them with thanksgiving and love toward the one who accepted them. The dying thief is such an eleventh-hour laborer, casting his helpless dying soul and body on Christ in faith, patience, contrition, and earnestness, with hope mingled with anguish as one who fully realized that Jesus could save him and that without Him he would be lost, eternally lost.
Many such eleventh-hour laborers will come out of the ranks of the world and out of the churches, even the Catholic church, whose zeal will far exceed that of those who have stood in rank and file to proclaim the truth heretofore. They will come to the front when the crisis and season of calamity over religious liberty comes, seeing the battle coming, giving the trumpet a certain sound, girding themselves with the whole armor of God, exalting God's law, holding to the faith of Jesus, and maintaining the cause of religious liberty. Those reached through house-to-house Bible work may thus be prepared to choose rightly during the crisis, even amid deceptive miracles. The one-hour laborers brought in at the eleventh hour are given a place when people who had greater light and opportunity turn away.
Those called late may through Christ's grace be accounted first and receive the chosen reward, for late arrival does not prevent receiving His favor. They are rewarded for faithfulness and duty, not length of service, and they take the place and crown of those who reject their privileges, while the Lord supplies new workers to fill places left vacant through death or apostasy. It is not too late even at the eleventh hour to receive forgiveness and make wrongs right and to share in the gift given to others. But those who will not work without the wages they themselves stipulate are the first-hired who at the close of the day find themselves last, and by that self-seeking spirit they fix their own destiny.
The Vineyard and Its Laborers
The vineyard is the Lord's work of carrying salvation and gospel truth to those in darkness. To labor in that vineyard is to enter the gospel ministry of warning sinners, winning souls, explaining Scripture, and teaching present truth. That same work includes bearing the burden of souls by books that express faith and give light, which gives fitness and experience for ministry, while using one's powers for books and pictures that do not express faith is refusing to labor in the vineyard for selfish interests. The vineyard is a place where everyone can do good work for the Master, and its servants are called to earnest, persevering labor that opens new fields and warns the world rather than limiting work to churches already richly served.
Every Christian man and woman in every sense is called to labor in the vineyard, and there are to be no idlers. Every member of the household of faith has work assigned and a place, whatever its burden, and each should persevere in it, increasing in usefulness and bearing fruit for God. The work of communicating heaven's light is not for ministers alone but rests on every church member, including those serving in office work, who are to work with devotion and unselfish purpose for the salvation of souls. That service is to be done anywhere and everywhere to the utmost of ability, without seeking the position that brings the most enjoyment or gain, in a spirit of personal sacrifice rather than selfishness.
Men standing idle in the marketplace are to be put to work and given a portion of the vineyard, with their blunders corrected and themselves set to work again to learn to trade upon their talents by using them. Usefulness does not require long education in one central place, for God Himself is teacher to those who improve their talents where they are, sends them teachers, and heavenly intelligences wait to cooperate with them as missionaries in the dark parts of the earth and in home missionary work in large cities. They must be distributed to cities and towns and along the highways and hedges to call men to come, for all things are now ready, and God's servants are to enter the cities to work with God for the winning of souls. The call reaches home and foreign fields, large cities, neglected peoples, the young at home and school, and literature work with letters, tracts, and papers, and God Himself teaches and leads workers in every part. Young people in particular are to follow Christ and faithfully seek to save souls rather than pursue their own pleasure, consecrating themselves unreservedly, using powers of mind for God instead of self and property-getting, studying Scripture and spiritual knowledge, warning sinners and winning souls to Christ until the warfare is ended.
Faithful workers are prayerful, trusting, self-denying, and restrained in appetite and passion, so that their lives show the truth's power and their work bears effect. They are earnest, persevering, humble, energetic, and unselfish, wide awake and zealous for the salvation of fellow men, giving themselves unreservedly and pressing in at every opening after the Saviour's example of self-denial, sacrifice, and faithful, earnest labor. They do not measure every hour or seek to do as little as possible, but seek to do much for Him, counting themselves unprofitable beside the Saviour's work. They send up earnest prayers in faith for fellow workers not fully in the truth, feel the worth of the soul for whom Christ died, handle sacred things with sacredness rather than as common labor, avoid trifling frivolities, and cease being fruitless cumberers of the ground by centering affections and hopes in God.
God accepts willing, devoted, consecrated service, even from the humblest servant and those who seem unlikely or discouraging choices. He sees in them abilities that can be developed, and as they keep learning His providence fits them for work within their capacity while the Holy Spirit gives them power to speak. Young people who consecrate their abilities to God can thus become earnest, persevering, successful laborers, turning sinners to Christ and pointing the unbelieving and desponding heavenward. Such labor need not consist of continual argument or much speaking, for consistently living out faith is acceptable service, and the reward includes souls won, the consciousness of doing right, and at last welcome to the joy of the Lord when the work is ended.
The parable's call to labor runs through the ages and remains urgent near the close of earth's history. Those who know the truth must go to work in some part of the vineyard where workers are greatly needed, with a burden for souls, rather than sitting at home in ease and calling the church to themselves. Workers are not to wait for a regular process but should take up the work where they are, including in irregular lines, giving themselves wholly to God, placing themselves where He is working, keeping step with His people and work, and going without the camp bearing the reproach. God's servants are to keep widening their efforts, reach new fields, train others to work alongside them, and find a way forward when the way is not prepared, learning by experience what it means to be laborers together with God. Those called to labor in new fields bear the burden of the message to raise up Sabbathkeepers, though not everyone who can assist is called to give himself wholly to teaching the truth or to travel extensively.
Faithful Stewardship Today
The householder's freedom to honor the agreed wage for the first while freely giving the same to the last shows a generosity that does no wrong, and that same generosity calls for making books of light available at low prices on special occasions so more people can receive them. The Lord of the vineyard who pays the last even as the first requires equity and just judgment from all who serve Him, for He sees the whole field, the places where memorials for truth should stand and the fields unworked and destitute of facilities. Means are therefore not to be absorbed in one place or selfishly used in one line of work to carry out large human plans, and every building is to be erected with reference to other places that need similar buildings, bringing the building to the means rather than gathering means from every possible source. Other parts of the vineyard must have a chance to gain facilities and plants must be made in other cities, with many small sanitariums rather than one mammoth institution where the high spiritual standard is hard to maintain, with treatment rooms established in many cities and hygienic restaurants started so people may learn health reform. God Himself is ruler and counselor and guardian of every sanitarium that shall be established, and He Himself will teach and lead and guide the men He has in all parts of His vineyard.
His work is one shared cause, one field with servants working in different places, to be carried forward without selfish rivalry or sectional jealousy. Those truly converted care about every part of it and not only the work they oversee, and willingly help wherever help is needed. Managers in every place are to make God their confidence and power rather than be bound with human cords to one great center and power or be asked to subscribe to human contracts, and all, high and influential as well as lowly, are required to work in perfect harmony under God without binding or attaching the various institutions to that center. Entrusted resources are to be used wisely according to His own will rather than divided through sectional interests, for He has authority to give to the last as generously as to the first.
Laborers in the vineyard are the workers employed in God's cause, and their service is not to be prescribed by human rules contrary to their convictions of duty but to be sought in direction from God, with those unable to support themselves helped to labor according to their ability. Their wages must not be cut down without their consent and without understanding their situation, especially when their work brings means into the treasury to sustain the cause, for God's cause can afford to be fair and true and to deal on right principles. To cut wages in that way changes God's order, turns the back and not the face, and reveals a selfish character in those handling sacred things before heaven and men. It brings families into strait places, oppression and want, gives occasion for the enemy to tempt and discourage workers, and can drive them from the field. When lack of means pressures a reduction, the true situation should be published openly and those employed asked if they could do with less, for every arrangement is a sacred transaction between man and his fellow man in which workers have as much right to a voice as men in trade, and workers together with God must not be handled coolly and indifferently as inanimate objects without voice, but with discrimination, judgment, justice, righteousness, and a cleansed will under sanctification of the Spirit.
Workers in the Lord's vineyard are to follow the self-denying example of Christ Jesus as their Pattern and not set a high price upon their own labors or seek higher and still higher wages. Setting a high price misrepresents Christ and spoils the spirituality of men in responsibility, and the desire for high wages is an evil liable to crop out anywhere. Those who begin new work, especially leaders, must set an example of self-denial from the start so that associates whose wages are not high will not feel wronged, because God's people are to be a missionary people with many laborers set at work and supported in the vineyard.
As owner of what is His, the master has the right to decide how to use what belongs to Him, and property, good abilities, quick perceptions and understanding, talents and means are entrusted by Him as a stewardship to be put into active use in the Master's service during one's lifetime to do good and glorify God. Parents are stewards of their means, not bound to pass them to their children merely because they are their children, but should consider need and wise use and give to God's work while they live, bringing satisfaction now and reward hereafter. Faithfulness in that which is least qualifies for heavier responsibility, while covetous desire to retain all possible in one's own hands and selfish advantage of others for gain perverts God-given powers, roots out love for humanity and love for God, makes men selfish, penurious and overbearing, brings bitterness, loss of peace and confidence among brethren and reproach upon the cause, and turns qualifications that would have given energy, efficiency, humility, respect and influence for good into a power for great harm.
Men standing idle in the marketplace are to be put to work in God's vineyard, and the last will be given even as the first. A portion of the vineyard is to be apportioned to idle men, including youth without long education in one central place, with their blunders corrected when they err and with them set to work again to learn to trade upon their talents by using them. Usefulness does not require long central training, for God Himself is teacher to those who improve their talents where they are and sends them teachers, and heavenly intelligences wait to cooperate with them as missionaries in the dark parts of the earth and in home missionary work in large cities. Those called late and without central training will do good work in the Master's vineyard and must be distributed to cities and towns and along the highways and hedges to call men to come, for all things are now ready. Those employed in God's work are responsible for using all their abilities faithfully in His service rather than leaving God-given abilities unused, and for taking up responsibility in that labor.
The householder tells the first-hired workers to take the wage they agreed to for the day and go their way, asserting his right to do what he will with what is his and to give to the last hired even as to the first, which does them no wrong since they receive in full what was promised. His reward is a free gift of grace and liberality, not a debt earned by works or claimable as a right, and it is not measured by length of labor, hardship, or amount accomplished, but by the spirit of faith, love, and trust brought to the work. The complaint against his goodness rebukes a grasping, mercenary spirit that bargains for a fixed sum, expects greater honor for long service, and turns envious and jealous when others are made equal. In contrast the last workers trusted him to do what was right without fixing a sum, and they illustrate the penitent sinner who comes late in humble faith, expects little, is thankful simply to be accepted, and is greatly surprised to receive a full day's wage he knows he has not earned. Those called late may through grace be accounted first and receive the chosen reward, while those who stipulate their own wages and exalt themselves fix their own destiny and are found last.
The Householder's Settlement
The word is a dismissal to the workers hired first, bidding them take the wage agreed for the day and go their way, with exactly what was promised put into their hands. The householder keeps his agreement and honors the settled sum while he freely gives the same amount to those hired last. In the same breath he asserts his own right to do what he will with what is his, to use his own as he chooses and to give to the last hired even as to the first.
To pay the last in full does the first no wrong and is no injustice, since they receive the agreed wage in full and the settled penny is not made unjust by generosity to another. Their complaint that the late workers were made equal only exposes resentment at equal treatment and envy of his goodness. The same liberality is to be shown in making Christian books available at low prices on special occasions, that more may receive their light.
The contrast turns on the bargain: the first stipulated a fixed penny, while the last agreed to no set sum but trusted the owner to do what was right and just, leaving payment in his hands without asking how much it would be. They trusted his promise of a just wage and brought faith and loving trust into the work, and for that spirit they were placed first, whereas those who labored all day would have remained first had they served in the same trust instead of bargaining as though the Master would deal unfairly. Their reward is therefore measured by his generous purpose and not by hours worked, amount accomplished, or visible results, though this seems unfair by human reckoning.
Those called late had not been available to refuse the morning call, so their receiving the same reward does not excuse any who refuse the call or who merely agree with truth without obeying it. Nor does lifelong service give ground to claim greater reward, for self-exaltation can make those who might have been first last. The saying belongs to the parable of the householder.
Reward by Grace Alone
The householder pays the first exactly what was agreed and freely gives the last the same, doing the first no wrong, and their complaint only exposes envy at his generosity. The parable sets right principles against treating divine favor and the righteous reward as earned by works, for the reward rests on generous purpose rather than human merit. Keeping the agreed wage for the first while giving the same to the last is not unfair, because length or hardship of service earns nothing and resentment of generosity reveals a grudging spirit. Long service, hardship, and sacrifice give no title to preference or honor above others, since service is a privilege rather than a basis for pride or a claim on God. No one can claim the gift as a right or boast over another, but all are saved by grace alone and those who receive it should welcome others receiving the same.
Its value is measured by the spirit in which it is done, not simply by how long a person has labored. Claiming a greater reward for lifelong service is warned against, for God regards the spirit of the work, and self-exaltation can make those who might have been first last. The last trusted the promise to do what was right and just, bringing faith into the work, and they were placed first; those who worked all day would have remained first if they had served with loving trust instead of bargaining for a fixed reward. Christ does not measure service by amount of labor or visible results but by the spirit of faith and love brought to it. The late-called had not been available to refuse the morning call, so equal pay for them does not excuse those who refuse the call or merely agree with truth without obeying it.
God's reward is governed by his goodness and sovereign generosity, not by comparisons of how long or how hard others have served. His treatment of servants follows the principles of his kingdom rather than human expectations of equal pay for equal hours or human standards and opinions. What seems unfair by human reckoning reflects that his ways and thoughts are higher, for he does not measure by hours worked or visible results but by the spirit brought to the work. Servants are not to treat work as a claim to reward proportionate to labor or to compare themselves with others, since the master is free to give the last even as the first from generosity. The Lord himself determines each worker's reward according to the spirit and principles guiding it, so purity of motive and earnest desire to glorify him can bring the same reward to one who accomplishes less as to one who accomplishes more.
Even one who enters late and serves only a short time may receive generously according to gracious purpose rather than amount of work or personal merit. The eleventh-hour workers are poor sinners who know their unworthiness, long neglected the vineyard, yet come thankful for a chance to work, glad to work at any price, asking no questions about reward and leaving payment with the employer in faith. When they receive a full day's wage their time seems so short and the wages so large that they are greatly surprised, knowing they have not earned it, and the kindness in the employer's countenance fills them with gratitude and joy never forgotten. Those brought in at the eleventh hour, if earnest, are accepted and used and receive the same payment as those who began earlier. Even after time and talent have been spent selfishly, those who begin now can receive acceptance and eternal life, and late faithful ones given a place when those with greater light and opportunity turn away are rewarded for faithfulness and duty rather than length of service.
Long service and hardship do not entitle anyone to a larger reward, as those who treated service as earning salvation and expected a set return for years of work wrongly did. Time, talents, and abilities are themselves entrusted by God, so service gives no ground for selfishly demanding more. Eternal life is his gift, given on condition of entire obedience.
The Grasping Spirit Exposed
The command to take the agreed wage and go exposes a grasping, mercenary, hireling spirit that treats service as a bargain and tries to make terms with God. It rebukes entering His work only for remuneration, fixing a stated amount of work for a certain sum, and claiming favor and reward as something earned by works rather than received by free grace. Those who serve in this spirit think their work is of greater value than the work of those who come later, measure their labor as more worthy, and work only for the wages they hope to receive. Many professed believers still carry this spirit, believing long service, hardship, or sacrifice entitles them to preference and honor above others. The answer that the master keeps his agreement while freely giving the same to the later-hired shows his generosity is no injustice, and he has full right to do what he will with what is his.
Resentment that the last are made equal and complaint against the householder's goodness reveal envy, jealousy, suspicion, distrust, selfishness, and resentment of another's fair reward. The first laborers receive exactly what they agreed to for a penny, yet their complaint exposes envy at generosity that does them no wrong. His liberality toward the last is presented not as ground for complaint but as reason the first should not resent them. Such grumbling treats God's goodness itself as an offense and shows a heart that needs to be changed and purified.
Expecting greater reward, honor, wages, or recognition for lifelong service reveals self-seeking that can make those who might have been first last. Self-exaltation, disparaging others, measuring one's service against theirs, and demanding a larger share because time, talents, and abilities seem greater in one's own eyes are condemned as unworthy motives. In God's estimation those who so value their own labor above another's are last, for eternal life is His gift on condition of entire obedience and time and ability are themselves entrusted by Him. The warning applies to those who refuse the call or merely agree with truth without obeying it, since the later-called had not been available to refuse the morning call. Service does not give ground for selfish demand, and length of labor does not make service worthy apart from the spirit in which it is done.
Christ's servants are instead to trust the Master to deal fairly and rightly, serving in dependence on God rather than for praise, compensation, or self-advancement. Like the last workers who agreed to no set sum and left payment in his hands, they are to bring faith, love, and loving trust into the work and meet His goodness with gratitude and joy rather than grumbling. Those who worked all day would have remained first if they had served in that spirit instead of bargaining for a fixed reward. A purified, changed heart no longer sets its own value on its own labor or another's, but recognizes the householder's liberality and accepts his decision about reward.
The Last Workers Welcomed
The last workers stand for the penitent sinner whom Christ accepts when he comes late in humble faith, knowing his unworthiness, expecting little, thankful simply to be accepted, and obedient to His commandments. They trusted the householder's promise and brought faith into their work, and for that spirit they were placed first, for the Lord values the spirit of loving trust above bargaining for a fixed reward. The reward given them is graciously greater than their short service seems to merit, bestowed according to God's gracious purpose and not according to amount of work done or personal merit. Such kindness fills the undeserving worker with gratitude and joy that is never forgotten.
They are eleventh-hour workers who after long neglect come at last, thankful for a chance to work, glad to work at any price, leaving payment with the employer in faith and asking no questions about reward. When they receive a full day's wage their time seems so short and their wages so large that they are greatly surprised, because they know they have not earned it. The kindness in the employer's countenance goes to their hearts and fills them with thanksgiving and love toward the one who accepted them. The dying thief is such an eleventh-hour laborer, casting his helpless dying soul and body on Christ in faith, patience, contrition, and earnestness, with hope mingled with anguish as one who fully realized that Jesus could save him and that without Him he would be lost, eternally lost.
Many such eleventh-hour laborers will come out of the ranks of the world and out of the churches, even the Catholic church, whose zeal will far exceed that of those who have stood in rank and file to proclaim the truth heretofore. They will come to the front when the crisis and season of calamity over religious liberty comes, seeing the battle coming, giving the trumpet a certain sound, girding themselves with the whole armor of God, exalting God's law, holding to the faith of Jesus, and maintaining the cause of religious liberty. Those reached through house-to-house Bible work may thus be prepared to choose rightly during the crisis, even amid deceptive miracles. The one-hour laborers brought in at the eleventh hour are given a place when people who had greater light and opportunity turn away.
Those called late may through Christ's grace be accounted first and receive the chosen reward, for late arrival does not prevent receiving His favor. They are rewarded for faithfulness and duty, not length of service, and they take the place and crown of those who reject their privileges, while the Lord supplies new workers to fill places left vacant through death or apostasy. It is not too late even at the eleventh hour to receive forgiveness and make wrongs right and to share in the gift given to others. But those who will not work without the wages they themselves stipulate are the first-hired who at the close of the day find themselves last, and by that self-seeking spirit they fix their own destiny.
The Vineyard and Its Laborers
The vineyard is the Lord's work of carrying salvation and gospel truth to those in darkness. To labor in that vineyard is to enter the gospel ministry of warning sinners, winning souls, explaining Scripture, and teaching present truth. That same work includes bearing the burden of souls by books that express faith and give light, which gives fitness and experience for ministry, while using one's powers for books and pictures that do not express faith is refusing to labor in the vineyard for selfish interests. The vineyard is a place where everyone can do good work for the Master, and its servants are called to earnest, persevering labor that opens new fields and warns the world rather than limiting work to churches already richly served.
Every Christian man and woman in every sense is called to labor in the vineyard, and there are to be no idlers. Every member of the household of faith has work assigned and a place, whatever its burden, and each should persevere in it, increasing in usefulness and bearing fruit for God. The work of communicating heaven's light is not for ministers alone but rests on every church member, including those serving in office work, who are to work with devotion and unselfish purpose for the salvation of souls. That service is to be done anywhere and everywhere to the utmost of ability, without seeking the position that brings the most enjoyment or gain, in a spirit of personal sacrifice rather than selfishness.
Men standing idle in the marketplace are to be put to work and given a portion of the vineyard, with their blunders corrected and themselves set to work again to learn to trade upon their talents by using them. Usefulness does not require long education in one central place, for God Himself is teacher to those who improve their talents where they are, sends them teachers, and heavenly intelligences wait to cooperate with them as missionaries in the dark parts of the earth and in home missionary work in large cities. They must be distributed to cities and towns and along the highways and hedges to call men to come, for all things are now ready, and God's servants are to enter the cities to work with God for the winning of souls. The call reaches home and foreign fields, large cities, neglected peoples, the young at home and school, and literature work with letters, tracts, and papers, and God Himself teaches and leads workers in every part. Young people in particular are to follow Christ and faithfully seek to save souls rather than pursue their own pleasure, consecrating themselves unreservedly, using powers of mind for God instead of self and property-getting, studying Scripture and spiritual knowledge, warning sinners and winning souls to Christ until the warfare is ended.
Faithful workers are prayerful, trusting, self-denying, and restrained in appetite and passion, so that their lives show the truth's power and their work bears effect. They are earnest, persevering, humble, energetic, and unselfish, wide awake and zealous for the salvation of fellow men, giving themselves unreservedly and pressing in at every opening after the Saviour's example of self-denial, sacrifice, and faithful, earnest labor. They do not measure every hour or seek to do as little as possible, but seek to do much for Him, counting themselves unprofitable beside the Saviour's work. They send up earnest prayers in faith for fellow workers not fully in the truth, feel the worth of the soul for whom Christ died, handle sacred things with sacredness rather than as common labor, avoid trifling frivolities, and cease being fruitless cumberers of the ground by centering affections and hopes in God.
God accepts willing, devoted, consecrated service, even from the humblest servant and those who seem unlikely or discouraging choices. He sees in them abilities that can be developed, and as they keep learning His providence fits them for work within their capacity while the Holy Spirit gives them power to speak. Young people who consecrate their abilities to God can thus become earnest, persevering, successful laborers, turning sinners to Christ and pointing the unbelieving and desponding heavenward. Such labor need not consist of continual argument or much speaking, for consistently living out faith is acceptable service, and the reward includes souls won, the consciousness of doing right, and at last welcome to the joy of the Lord when the work is ended.
The parable's call to labor runs through the ages and remains urgent near the close of earth's history. Those who know the truth must go to work in some part of the vineyard where workers are greatly needed, with a burden for souls, rather than sitting at home in ease and calling the church to themselves. Workers are not to wait for a regular process but should take up the work where they are, including in irregular lines, giving themselves wholly to God, placing themselves where He is working, keeping step with His people and work, and going without the camp bearing the reproach. God's servants are to keep widening their efforts, reach new fields, train others to work alongside them, and find a way forward when the way is not prepared, learning by experience what it means to be laborers together with God. Those called to labor in new fields bear the burden of the message to raise up Sabbathkeepers, though not everyone who can assist is called to give himself wholly to teaching the truth or to travel extensively.
Faithful Stewardship Today
The householder's freedom to honor the agreed wage for the first while freely giving the same to the last shows a generosity that does no wrong, and that same generosity calls for making books of light available at low prices on special occasions so more people can receive them. The Lord of the vineyard who pays the last even as the first requires equity and just judgment from all who serve Him, for He sees the whole field, the places where memorials for truth should stand and the fields unworked and destitute of facilities. Means are therefore not to be absorbed in one place or selfishly used in one line of work to carry out large human plans, and every building is to be erected with reference to other places that need similar buildings, bringing the building to the means rather than gathering means from every possible source. Other parts of the vineyard must have a chance to gain facilities and plants must be made in other cities, with many small sanitariums rather than one mammoth institution where the high spiritual standard is hard to maintain, with treatment rooms established in many cities and hygienic restaurants started so people may learn health reform. God Himself is ruler and counselor and guardian of every sanitarium that shall be established, and He Himself will teach and lead and guide the men He has in all parts of His vineyard.
His work is one shared cause, one field with servants working in different places, to be carried forward without selfish rivalry or sectional jealousy. Those truly converted care about every part of it and not only the work they oversee, and willingly help wherever help is needed. Managers in every place are to make God their confidence and power rather than be bound with human cords to one great center and power or be asked to subscribe to human contracts, and all, high and influential as well as lowly, are required to work in perfect harmony under God without binding or attaching the various institutions to that center. Entrusted resources are to be used wisely according to His own will rather than divided through sectional interests, for He has authority to give to the last as generously as to the first.
Laborers in the vineyard are the workers employed in God's cause, and their service is not to be prescribed by human rules contrary to their convictions of duty but to be sought in direction from God, with those unable to support themselves helped to labor according to their ability. Their wages must not be cut down without their consent and without understanding their situation, especially when their work brings means into the treasury to sustain the cause, for God's cause can afford to be fair and true and to deal on right principles. To cut wages in that way changes God's order, turns the back and not the face, and reveals a selfish character in those handling sacred things before heaven and men. It brings families into strait places, oppression and want, gives occasion for the enemy to tempt and discourage workers, and can drive them from the field. When lack of means pressures a reduction, the true situation should be published openly and those employed asked if they could do with less, for every arrangement is a sacred transaction between man and his fellow man in which workers have as much right to a voice as men in trade, and workers together with God must not be handled coolly and indifferently as inanimate objects without voice, but with discrimination, judgment, justice, righteousness, and a cleansed will under sanctification of the Spirit.
Workers in the Lord's vineyard are to follow the self-denying example of Christ Jesus as their Pattern and not set a high price upon their own labors or seek higher and still higher wages. Setting a high price misrepresents Christ and spoils the spirituality of men in responsibility, and the desire for high wages is an evil liable to crop out anywhere. Those who begin new work, especially leaders, must set an example of self-denial from the start so that associates whose wages are not high will not feel wronged, because God's people are to be a missionary people with many laborers set at work and supported in the vineyard.
As owner of what is His, the master has the right to decide how to use what belongs to Him, and property, good abilities, quick perceptions and understanding, talents and means are entrusted by Him as a stewardship to be put into active use in the Master's service during one's lifetime to do good and glorify God. Parents are stewards of their means, not bound to pass them to their children merely because they are their children, but should consider need and wise use and give to God's work while they live, bringing satisfaction now and reward hereafter. Faithfulness in that which is least qualifies for heavier responsibility, while covetous desire to retain all possible in one's own hands and selfish advantage of others for gain perverts God-given powers, roots out love for humanity and love for God, makes men selfish, penurious and overbearing, brings bitterness, loss of peace and confidence among brethren and reproach upon the cause, and turns qualifications that would have given energy, efficiency, humility, respect and influence for good into a power for great harm.
Men standing idle in the marketplace are to be put to work in God's vineyard, and the last will be given even as the first. A portion of the vineyard is to be apportioned to idle men, including youth without long education in one central place, with their blunders corrected when they err and with them set to work again to learn to trade upon their talents by using them. Usefulness does not require long central training, for God Himself is teacher to those who improve their talents where they are and sends them teachers, and heavenly intelligences wait to cooperate with them as missionaries in the dark parts of the earth and in home missionary work in large cities. Those called late and without central training will do good work in the Master's vineyard and must be distributed to cities and towns and along the highways and hedges to call men to come, for all things are now ready. Those employed in God's work are responsible for using all their abilities faithfully in His service rather than leaving God-given abilities unused, and for taking up responsibility in that labor.