Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
In the parable of the vineyard workers the householder answers those hired first and paid the same penny as those hired last down to the eleventh hour, asserting his lawful right to do as he chooses with his own goods and rebuking their resentment of his generosity as an evil, envious eye. As the householder, God has the right to deal with His servants according to His own generous purpose and the principles of His kingdom, which stand above human standards, measures of merit, and comparisons of work done. His favor and reward are free grace and not wages owed for hours, works, or longer service, so those who come to Christ late in humble trust receive the same reward as those who labored all day. He honors service by its spirit, faith, love, and purity of motive rather than by length of time or amount of labor, and long service gives no claim to greater reward. Complaining at His generosity to others exposes a self-seeking, hireling spirit that bargains for fixed pay and treats service as earning salvation, while hearts cleansed from selfishness welcome His liberality to first and last alike.
Parable Setting and Wording
The saying is the householder's reply to the first-hired workers when they murmured at receiving only the agreed penny after those hired at the eleventh hour were made equal to them. In the parable of the vineyard workers in Matthew 20:1-16, those engaged first bargained for a fixed wage of a penny, while those called later trusted the householder to give whatever was right without making terms. When payment came he gave the last the same as the first, paying a full day's wage for short labor, and the first complained at being put on a level with the last. Their faith and willingness to serve without demanding reward led him to place the last first, and those who had labored all day would likewise have remained first if they had served with love and trust instead of bargaining. Their humble trust, surprise at generous payment, and gratitude picture the poor sinner who comes late to Christ in humble faith and obedience and is accepted with a reward greater than expected.
At the story level the first clause asserts the owner's lawful right to use his own property and goods as he chooses and to give to the last even as to the first. Since the agreed wage was fully paid, the earlier workers suffered no wrong and his generosity was not wrongdoing or injustice to them. Receiving what was rightfully promised gives no one title to begrudge another person's gift. The second clause means that resentment of the owner's goodness is an evil, envious, grudging eye toward another's good fortune. The early workers resented the householder because he was good in treating the last as generously as them, though he had kept his agreement.
The vineyard represents the world and God's work, especially the work of presenting truth to those in darkness and laboring for the salvation of fellow men. It is work for the Master in which every person can do good, with suffering people everywhere providing opportunities. Laborers are those who give themselves to it, trusting God's direction and depending on Him for wisdom, strength, blessing, and salvation. Every man and woman who is a Christian in the full sense is called to be a worker there, wide awake and zealous, working in unison with heavenly messengers moving on hearts and consciences, and following the Saviour's example in self-denial, sacrifice, and faithful, earnest labor. The parable is to be studied and applied to school life, where faithful cultivation of the land and unselfish care for the buildings cause the love of sports and amusements that perplexes school work to pass away. God accepts for this vineyard labor, especially entering the ministry, men with really good abilities, who are greatly benefited by even a few months' instruction in the common branches of education, in the truths of God's word for this time, and in the prophecies, which disciplines the mind, develops its powers, and makes them useful in advancing His glory.
God's Right and Goodness
As the householder, God has the right to deal with His servants and the whole human family according to His own will, His generous purpose, and the principles of His kingdom, which are higher than human standards, opinions, measures of merit, or comparisons of work done. His ways and thoughts are higher than ours, and the owner's freedom to act as he chooses with what is his represents God's freedom to give reward according to grace rather than the amount of labor, hours, or visible results. God's favor is free grace and not payment owed for works, so His goodness in blessing another is no injustice to others and must not be met with an evil, envious, grudging eye. He honors humble, trusting service that does not bargain for compensation, and He wants love rather than eagerness for pay to motivate the work, even summoning workers into the cities to labor with Him for souls.
His generosity in giving from what is His own does no wrong to those who receive exactly what was promised them under agreement. The early workers suffered no injustice when the agreed penny was paid in full, and they had no cause to complain when the same was freely given to those hired later. Their murmuring exposed envy at another's good fortune, a grasping spirit displeased that the last were made equal to the first. The value of service is therefore measured by the spirit in which it is given and not by length of time, so no one is entitled to begrudge another's gift or to seek increased reward and higher status because he came first. That same liberality requires letting light reach people, as in allowing Christian books to go at low prices rather than withholding them.
God owns all things and has full right to reserve a portion for Himself and to direct its use as He pleases. He provides bodily necessities and tender mercies to all, yet lays His hand upon a reserved portion as His own and requires gifts and offerings, even firstfruits and choicest possessions, to sustain His work. Those abundantly supplied are to help supply the needy, and this requirement gives opportunity to develop Christlike character fitted for His family in the heavenly courts. He tests men and women, youth and children, to see that justice and righteousness are maintained in rendering to Him what is His own, and gratitude and love should move all to hearty acknowledgment of His righteous requirements.
He has the same right to do as He wills with what belongs to Him as persons. He assigns each person a place in His moral vineyard according to His good pleasure, to be accepted and filled with ready performance of every duty however difficult it may seem. He chooses and equips workers for that vineyard, and His goodness in calling the inexperienced and discouraged whom others might overlook should not be resented, for He sees promise in them and through providence and the Holy Spirit prepares them for work suited to their abilities. In prayer for the sick the outcome is to be entrusted to Him rather than demanded on human terms, seeking to enter and accomplish His purpose and accepting His will, since He may answer at a different time or in a different way for what is better and for His own glory through those who wholly follow Him. In bereavement the loved ones who are the Lord's property may be trusted to Him even when His purposes remain mysterious, because His love is greater than human love and Jesus gave His life to redeem them.
The Lord owns the vineyard and directs its cultivation Himself, and His plans rather than human plans that dishonor His law are to govern it. No human center is to bind all other parts to itself with human contracts and control, because the men and the institutions belong to God to manage. Each worker, high and lowly, has his own part to act in perfect harmony under God as ruler and counselor and guardian, as He teaches and leads and guides in every part of the field. What belongs to Him is to be used according to His purposes and not selfishly concentrated in one place or line of work, but responsibilities are to be planted in many places so the light spreads much farther. God's work therefore requires equity and just judgment, with resources also providing facilities for other fields where the work is needed.
Grace and Equal Reward
God's favor in the parable is free grace, not a wage owed for works, hours labored, or visible results, and it is not governed by claims of greater merit or longer service. The householder has the right to give from what is his own according to his gracious purpose rather than human standards of merit or measures of work done, and his goodness in doing so is no injustice to those who receive what was agreed. That generosity is not to be begrudged, for resentment of another's blessing exposes an envious, grudging spirit of comparison toward God's goodness.
Those who enter Christ's work at the eleventh hour receive the same penny and reward as those who labored all day, for length of service does not limit God's free and generous giving. It is not too late to learn forgiveness and make wrongs right, as seen in the dying thief whose faith was earnest, patient, and repentant, conscious of sin and wholly dependent on the mercy of Jesus, entrusting his helpless life to Him, showing that salvation rests on Christ's power and mercy rather than length of service. Earnest latecomers who put on Christ and share heavenly truth are accepted by the Lord and worked through by Him to receive the same reward as the first workers, and through grace and faithful presentation of truth those called at the eleventh hour may be accounted first. Those with few opportunities may respond to the light they receive and serve faithfully, while people with great light and privileges may reject Christ and lose the place and crown that others will receive. In the final crisis over religious liberty many will come out of the world and out of churches, and their zeal will exceed that of long-standing professors.
The last workers trusted the householder to give what was right without demanding or bargaining for a reward, and his generous payment surprised them and drew out gratitude. That humble trust pictures the poor sinner who comes late to Christ in humble faith and obedience and is accepted with a reward greater than expected. Even penitent sinners who enter His service at a late hour are graciously accepted by Christ and rewarded beyond expectation when they come in humble faith and keep His commandments.
God values and honors service according to the spirit, faith, love, purity of motive, and desire to glorify Him brought to the work, rather than by length of time, amount of labor, comparative capacity, learning, advantages, hours worked, or visible results. Workers who serve long are not entitled to greater recognition merely because of their service, for the Lord rewards according to the spirit in which the work is done. His dealings may seem unequal by human standards, since He deals by the principles of His kingdom rather than human measures of fairness and comparison, yet He is just and generous.
Long service does not entitle the first workers to a larger reward than the householder chooses to give others, and they should have seen His action as generous rather than grounds for complaint. Pride, bargaining for a fixed wage, stipulating one's own pay, selfishly measuring reward by work done, faultfinding, and grumbling can make those who might have been first last. Those who will not work without the wages they themselves stipulate fix their own destiny by their spirit of work and are found last at the close of the day, while entering the design of the divine Planner requires daily self-denial, cross-bearing, and following Christ to be instructed and guided. The parable does not excuse refusing a call to work and accepting it only later.
Envy and Hireling Spirit
Complaining when God treats others generously shows an envious, grasping and unpurified heart that resents His goodness instead of recognizing His liberality. Such fault-finding judges one's own labor and another's by a self-serving measure, turning generosity into an occasion for grievance. A heart purified from selfishness sees the same act as generous and has no ground for complaint, because the agreed payment has been fully given and no wrong has been done. Resentment at equal payment to latecomers therefore exposes selfishness and the need for inward change.
The question about doing what one wills with one's own rebukes serving as hirelings who bargain for a fixed wage and stipulate their own pay. It forbids measuring every hour's work, regarding early labor as more valuable, and expecting greater wages because one came first. Those who will not work without wages of their own stipulating place themselves among those first called who at the close are found last, fixing their own destiny by their spirit of work. Disciples are instead to serve without seeking reward matched to labor, without comparison, self-exaltation, or feelings of superiority.
Claiming preference and larger reward because of long service, hardship and sacrifice exposes self-righteousness, distrust of God, and desire for honor and advancement. Counting years of hardship as a claim treats service as earning salvation and breeds a fault-finding spirit that objects when God is gracious to others. This particularly rebukes the pride of the Jews in being called first and their resentment that Gentiles should share equal privileges in the kingdom. The envious eye begrudges another's good fortune because the owner is good, yet since reward is by grace and not owed as payment for works, no one can claim superior standing. The first and the last share the same eternal reward, so those who know they are saved by grace should welcome rather than envy one another's share.
Service therefore gives no ground for pride, self-importance, superiority, or devaluing and judging the work of others by human standards. True service springs from love and dependence on God as joyful cooperation with Him, not work done for wages, praise, or self-advancement. Workers labor in different parts of one field and must not compete, feel possessive toward another's part, or cherish sectional jealousy, which hinders the work of warning the careless and saving the lost.
Vineyard Work and Stewardship
There is work for everyone in the Lord's vineyard and no idlers are allowed to stand by, for every man and woman, high and lowly, member and minister, has an assigned part to act in perfect harmony under God as ruler, counselor and guardian. Each is to trust His direction for wisdom, strength, blessing and salvation, with individual responsibility not to wait to be carried along, since salvation has been brought within everyone's reach at infinite cost and the work of sharing heaven's light belongs not to ministers alone but to all His people, including students united with the Saviour who become valuable workers in winning souls through persevering daily effort that increases usefulness and bears fruit to His glory.
The call summons workers to open new fields and labor personally for people rather than remain among churches already possessing many advantages, and to enter the cities where many souls need the gospel and can be won. It extends to laboring among foreigners who have not heard the truth with souls as reward, to using abilities faithfully, and to seeking help for needy fields when supporters neglect their duty. The same summons applies to sacred office work, where laborers send up earnest prayers in faith for fellow workers not fully in the truth, feel the worth of souls for whom Christ died, and handle sacred things with a sense of sacredness, for trifling frivolities grieve angels and doing sacred work with no more sense of sacredness than common labor fails what the vineyard requires, calling fruitless cumberers of the ground to consecrate themselves to God and center affections and hopes in Him. Those called as full-time teachers bear the burden of the message and work especially to establish believers in new fields, including Sabbathkeeping, while others may assist without giving themselves wholly to the work.
Acceptable vineyard labor is whole-hearted, self-denying, self-sacrificing service after Christ's example, laboring earnestly and unselfishly for others' salvation without seeking personal ease, position, enjoyment or gain, but serving wherever needed according to ability. Those who labor whole-heartedly to the utmost of their ability do not put the highest value on their own services, swell with pride and self-importance, measure every hour's work with exactness, study how little may be done to reach the lowest standard, or set a high price on labor, but compare their efforts with Christ's work, count themselves unprofitable servants, and lay hold of the fullness of Christ in order to do much for Him. Wages are a sacred transaction to be dealt with fairly without arbitrary cutting that brings want and drives workers away, the penny is given to those who labor not to those who loiter, so receiving reward does not remove the need to act one's part faithfully, with fruit revealing the character of the work. Even the humblest servant can serve, and reward is the assurance of doing right through consistently living out faith rather than by much talking or continual argument.
Christ sees promise in people who seem discouraging and welcomes them into His vineyard, and through providence and the Holy Spirit He fits them for work within their abilities. He keeps calling men standing idle in the marketplace into service and gives them a part even when they have not been trained in a central school, apportioning work to idle men, correcting their blunders and setting them to work again instead of hindering them by detaining them for long preparation, for talent is learned by use. Those who improve their talents where they are are blessed with God-sent teachers, and God will have good missionaries in home fields, cities and towns who never go to a central school. God accepts for this vineyard labor men and youth with really good abilities who consecrate themselves to Him unreservedly, turning powers of mind into a heavenly channel, and such are greatly benefited by even a few months' instruction in common branches, present truth and prophecies, which disciplines the mind, develops its powers, makes them intelligent in spiritual knowledge and the things of the kingdom, and fits them to warn sinners, win souls to Christ, point the unbelieving and desponding heavenward, and go from light to strength until welcomed to the joy of their Lord.
What belongs to God must be used according to His purposes, for He has the right to give from what is His according to His own will and His generosity toward others is no injustice to those receiving what was promised, while an evil eye is an envious or grudging response to another's good fortune and service is measured by spirit not length of time. Christian books expressing faith and giving light are therefore to reach people at low prices rather than have their light withheld. Resources are not to be selfishly concentrated in one place or line of work or possessively held, but shared with other fields where work is needed, with equity and just judgment providing facilities elsewhere, and excuses and selfish desires must be put away to give earnest help to the neglected work among colored people rather than begrudge effort or resources. Parents as stewards of God-entrusted property, talents and means are to decide thoughtfully whom to benefit rather than enrich children merely because they are children, considering the afflicted, the poor and those likely to use means wisely, but not entrusting wealth to unbelieving children who already have abundance and serve the world, putting good abilities, quick perception and understanding of the word to active use in the Master's service to do good and glorify God, which gives energy, efficiency, humility and influence for good, whereas use for selfish gain perverts powers into selfishness, penuriousness, overbearing dealing and harm that reproaches the cause. Making a will does not excuse withholding surplus from God's cause while living, but what is lent is to be used to advance His work, with faithfulness in that which is least and without covetously retaining more than can be well managed, for means remain the Master's to advance His work rather than property reserved for heirs.
The parable in which the world is represented as a vineyard is to be studied and applied to school life, where faithful cultivation of the land and unselfish care for buildings remove the love of sports and amusements that perplexes school work. It directs training youth in common branches, present truth and prophecies to warn sinners and win souls, and defines canvassing with books that express faith as gospel vineyard work bearing the burden of souls and learning to win people to truth, so that selling books and pictures that do not express faith because financial prospects are more flattering is refusing to labor in the vineyard, using God-given powers for selfish interests, forgetting what is owed to Him who gave His life, turning from conviction, receiving a worldly stamp, and losing time, opportunity and fitness for ministry. God owns the vineyard and directs its cultivation and the workers in every part Himself by teaching, leading and guiding, rather than by human plans, contracts or concentration under one group, with responsibilities planted in many places so light spreads farther and no human center binds all other parts to itself with control. Workmen belong to God who directs their service, so no person should prescribe another's duty contrary to conviction but each should seek direction from God, workers beginning new parts of the work are to receive help from those with experience without any group regarding itself as independent, and parents must not leave children's education to others like idlers.
In the parable of the vineyard workers the householder answers those hired first and paid the same penny as those hired last down to the eleventh hour, asserting his lawful right to do as he chooses with his own goods and rebuking their resentment of his generosity as an evil, envious eye. As the householder, God has the right to deal with His servants according to His own generous purpose and the principles of His kingdom, which stand above human standards, measures of merit, and comparisons of work done. His favor and reward are free grace and not wages owed for hours, works, or longer service, so those who come to Christ late in humble trust receive the same reward as those who labored all day. He honors service by its spirit, faith, love, and purity of motive rather than by length of time or amount of labor, and long service gives no claim to greater reward. Complaining at His generosity to others exposes a self-seeking, hireling spirit that bargains for fixed pay and treats service as earning salvation, while hearts cleansed from selfishness welcome His liberality to first and last alike.
Parable Setting and Wording
The saying is the householder's reply to the first-hired workers when they murmured at receiving only the agreed penny after those hired at the eleventh hour were made equal to them. In the parable of the vineyard workers in Matthew 20:1-16, those engaged first bargained for a fixed wage of a penny, while those called later trusted the householder to give whatever was right without making terms. When payment came he gave the last the same as the first, paying a full day's wage for short labor, and the first complained at being put on a level with the last. Their faith and willingness to serve without demanding reward led him to place the last first, and those who had labored all day would likewise have remained first if they had served with love and trust instead of bargaining. Their humble trust, surprise at generous payment, and gratitude picture the poor sinner who comes late to Christ in humble faith and obedience and is accepted with a reward greater than expected.
At the story level the first clause asserts the owner's lawful right to use his own property and goods as he chooses and to give to the last even as to the first. Since the agreed wage was fully paid, the earlier workers suffered no wrong and his generosity was not wrongdoing or injustice to them. Receiving what was rightfully promised gives no one title to begrudge another person's gift. The second clause means that resentment of the owner's goodness is an evil, envious, grudging eye toward another's good fortune. The early workers resented the householder because he was good in treating the last as generously as them, though he had kept his agreement.
The vineyard represents the world and God's work, especially the work of presenting truth to those in darkness and laboring for the salvation of fellow men. It is work for the Master in which every person can do good, with suffering people everywhere providing opportunities. Laborers are those who give themselves to it, trusting God's direction and depending on Him for wisdom, strength, blessing, and salvation. Every man and woman who is a Christian in the full sense is called to be a worker there, wide awake and zealous, working in unison with heavenly messengers moving on hearts and consciences, and following the Saviour's example in self-denial, sacrifice, and faithful, earnest labor. The parable is to be studied and applied to school life, where faithful cultivation of the land and unselfish care for the buildings cause the love of sports and amusements that perplexes school work to pass away. God accepts for this vineyard labor, especially entering the ministry, men with really good abilities, who are greatly benefited by even a few months' instruction in the common branches of education, in the truths of God's word for this time, and in the prophecies, which disciplines the mind, develops its powers, and makes them useful in advancing His glory.
God's Right and Goodness
As the householder, God has the right to deal with His servants and the whole human family according to His own will, His generous purpose, and the principles of His kingdom, which are higher than human standards, opinions, measures of merit, or comparisons of work done. His ways and thoughts are higher than ours, and the owner's freedom to act as he chooses with what is his represents God's freedom to give reward according to grace rather than the amount of labor, hours, or visible results. God's favor is free grace and not payment owed for works, so His goodness in blessing another is no injustice to others and must not be met with an evil, envious, grudging eye. He honors humble, trusting service that does not bargain for compensation, and He wants love rather than eagerness for pay to motivate the work, even summoning workers into the cities to labor with Him for souls.
His generosity in giving from what is His own does no wrong to those who receive exactly what was promised them under agreement. The early workers suffered no injustice when the agreed penny was paid in full, and they had no cause to complain when the same was freely given to those hired later. Their murmuring exposed envy at another's good fortune, a grasping spirit displeased that the last were made equal to the first. The value of service is therefore measured by the spirit in which it is given and not by length of time, so no one is entitled to begrudge another's gift or to seek increased reward and higher status because he came first. That same liberality requires letting light reach people, as in allowing Christian books to go at low prices rather than withholding them.
God owns all things and has full right to reserve a portion for Himself and to direct its use as He pleases. He provides bodily necessities and tender mercies to all, yet lays His hand upon a reserved portion as His own and requires gifts and offerings, even firstfruits and choicest possessions, to sustain His work. Those abundantly supplied are to help supply the needy, and this requirement gives opportunity to develop Christlike character fitted for His family in the heavenly courts. He tests men and women, youth and children, to see that justice and righteousness are maintained in rendering to Him what is His own, and gratitude and love should move all to hearty acknowledgment of His righteous requirements.
He has the same right to do as He wills with what belongs to Him as persons. He assigns each person a place in His moral vineyard according to His good pleasure, to be accepted and filled with ready performance of every duty however difficult it may seem. He chooses and equips workers for that vineyard, and His goodness in calling the inexperienced and discouraged whom others might overlook should not be resented, for He sees promise in them and through providence and the Holy Spirit prepares them for work suited to their abilities. In prayer for the sick the outcome is to be entrusted to Him rather than demanded on human terms, seeking to enter and accomplish His purpose and accepting His will, since He may answer at a different time or in a different way for what is better and for His own glory through those who wholly follow Him. In bereavement the loved ones who are the Lord's property may be trusted to Him even when His purposes remain mysterious, because His love is greater than human love and Jesus gave His life to redeem them.
The Lord owns the vineyard and directs its cultivation Himself, and His plans rather than human plans that dishonor His law are to govern it. No human center is to bind all other parts to itself with human contracts and control, because the men and the institutions belong to God to manage. Each worker, high and lowly, has his own part to act in perfect harmony under God as ruler and counselor and guardian, as He teaches and leads and guides in every part of the field. What belongs to Him is to be used according to His purposes and not selfishly concentrated in one place or line of work, but responsibilities are to be planted in many places so the light spreads much farther. God's work therefore requires equity and just judgment, with resources also providing facilities for other fields where the work is needed.
Grace and Equal Reward
God's favor in the parable is free grace, not a wage owed for works, hours labored, or visible results, and it is not governed by claims of greater merit or longer service. The householder has the right to give from what is his own according to his gracious purpose rather than human standards of merit or measures of work done, and his goodness in doing so is no injustice to those who receive what was agreed. That generosity is not to be begrudged, for resentment of another's blessing exposes an envious, grudging spirit of comparison toward God's goodness.
Those who enter Christ's work at the eleventh hour receive the same penny and reward as those who labored all day, for length of service does not limit God's free and generous giving. It is not too late to learn forgiveness and make wrongs right, as seen in the dying thief whose faith was earnest, patient, and repentant, conscious of sin and wholly dependent on the mercy of Jesus, entrusting his helpless life to Him, showing that salvation rests on Christ's power and mercy rather than length of service. Earnest latecomers who put on Christ and share heavenly truth are accepted by the Lord and worked through by Him to receive the same reward as the first workers, and through grace and faithful presentation of truth those called at the eleventh hour may be accounted first. Those with few opportunities may respond to the light they receive and serve faithfully, while people with great light and privileges may reject Christ and lose the place and crown that others will receive. In the final crisis over religious liberty many will come out of the world and out of churches, and their zeal will exceed that of long-standing professors.
The last workers trusted the householder to give what was right without demanding or bargaining for a reward, and his generous payment surprised them and drew out gratitude. That humble trust pictures the poor sinner who comes late to Christ in humble faith and obedience and is accepted with a reward greater than expected. Even penitent sinners who enter His service at a late hour are graciously accepted by Christ and rewarded beyond expectation when they come in humble faith and keep His commandments.
God values and honors service according to the spirit, faith, love, purity of motive, and desire to glorify Him brought to the work, rather than by length of time, amount of labor, comparative capacity, learning, advantages, hours worked, or visible results. Workers who serve long are not entitled to greater recognition merely because of their service, for the Lord rewards according to the spirit in which the work is done. His dealings may seem unequal by human standards, since He deals by the principles of His kingdom rather than human measures of fairness and comparison, yet He is just and generous.
Long service does not entitle the first workers to a larger reward than the householder chooses to give others, and they should have seen His action as generous rather than grounds for complaint. Pride, bargaining for a fixed wage, stipulating one's own pay, selfishly measuring reward by work done, faultfinding, and grumbling can make those who might have been first last. Those who will not work without the wages they themselves stipulate fix their own destiny by their spirit of work and are found last at the close of the day, while entering the design of the divine Planner requires daily self-denial, cross-bearing, and following Christ to be instructed and guided. The parable does not excuse refusing a call to work and accepting it only later.
Envy and Hireling Spirit
Complaining when God treats others generously shows an envious, grasping and unpurified heart that resents His goodness instead of recognizing His liberality. Such fault-finding judges one's own labor and another's by a self-serving measure, turning generosity into an occasion for grievance. A heart purified from selfishness sees the same act as generous and has no ground for complaint, because the agreed payment has been fully given and no wrong has been done. Resentment at equal payment to latecomers therefore exposes selfishness and the need for inward change.
The question about doing what one wills with one's own rebukes serving as hirelings who bargain for a fixed wage and stipulate their own pay. It forbids measuring every hour's work, regarding early labor as more valuable, and expecting greater wages because one came first. Those who will not work without wages of their own stipulating place themselves among those first called who at the close are found last, fixing their own destiny by their spirit of work. Disciples are instead to serve without seeking reward matched to labor, without comparison, self-exaltation, or feelings of superiority.
Claiming preference and larger reward because of long service, hardship and sacrifice exposes self-righteousness, distrust of God, and desire for honor and advancement. Counting years of hardship as a claim treats service as earning salvation and breeds a fault-finding spirit that objects when God is gracious to others. This particularly rebukes the pride of the Jews in being called first and their resentment that Gentiles should share equal privileges in the kingdom. The envious eye begrudges another's good fortune because the owner is good, yet since reward is by grace and not owed as payment for works, no one can claim superior standing. The first and the last share the same eternal reward, so those who know they are saved by grace should welcome rather than envy one another's share.
Service therefore gives no ground for pride, self-importance, superiority, or devaluing and judging the work of others by human standards. True service springs from love and dependence on God as joyful cooperation with Him, not work done for wages, praise, or self-advancement. Workers labor in different parts of one field and must not compete, feel possessive toward another's part, or cherish sectional jealousy, which hinders the work of warning the careless and saving the lost.
Vineyard Work and Stewardship
There is work for everyone in the Lord's vineyard and no idlers are allowed to stand by, for every man and woman, high and lowly, member and minister, has an assigned part to act in perfect harmony under God as ruler, counselor and guardian. Each is to trust His direction for wisdom, strength, blessing and salvation, with individual responsibility not to wait to be carried along, since salvation has been brought within everyone's reach at infinite cost and the work of sharing heaven's light belongs not to ministers alone but to all His people, including students united with the Saviour who become valuable workers in winning souls through persevering daily effort that increases usefulness and bears fruit to His glory.
The call summons workers to open new fields and labor personally for people rather than remain among churches already possessing many advantages, and to enter the cities where many souls need the gospel and can be won. It extends to laboring among foreigners who have not heard the truth with souls as reward, to using abilities faithfully, and to seeking help for needy fields when supporters neglect their duty. The same summons applies to sacred office work, where laborers send up earnest prayers in faith for fellow workers not fully in the truth, feel the worth of souls for whom Christ died, and handle sacred things with a sense of sacredness, for trifling frivolities grieve angels and doing sacred work with no more sense of sacredness than common labor fails what the vineyard requires, calling fruitless cumberers of the ground to consecrate themselves to God and center affections and hopes in Him. Those called as full-time teachers bear the burden of the message and work especially to establish believers in new fields, including Sabbathkeeping, while others may assist without giving themselves wholly to the work.
Acceptable vineyard labor is whole-hearted, self-denying, self-sacrificing service after Christ's example, laboring earnestly and unselfishly for others' salvation without seeking personal ease, position, enjoyment or gain, but serving wherever needed according to ability. Those who labor whole-heartedly to the utmost of their ability do not put the highest value on their own services, swell with pride and self-importance, measure every hour's work with exactness, study how little may be done to reach the lowest standard, or set a high price on labor, but compare their efforts with Christ's work, count themselves unprofitable servants, and lay hold of the fullness of Christ in order to do much for Him. Wages are a sacred transaction to be dealt with fairly without arbitrary cutting that brings want and drives workers away, the penny is given to those who labor not to those who loiter, so receiving reward does not remove the need to act one's part faithfully, with fruit revealing the character of the work. Even the humblest servant can serve, and reward is the assurance of doing right through consistently living out faith rather than by much talking or continual argument.
Christ sees promise in people who seem discouraging and welcomes them into His vineyard, and through providence and the Holy Spirit He fits them for work within their abilities. He keeps calling men standing idle in the marketplace into service and gives them a part even when they have not been trained in a central school, apportioning work to idle men, correcting their blunders and setting them to work again instead of hindering them by detaining them for long preparation, for talent is learned by use. Those who improve their talents where they are are blessed with God-sent teachers, and God will have good missionaries in home fields, cities and towns who never go to a central school. God accepts for this vineyard labor men and youth with really good abilities who consecrate themselves to Him unreservedly, turning powers of mind into a heavenly channel, and such are greatly benefited by even a few months' instruction in common branches, present truth and prophecies, which disciplines the mind, develops its powers, makes them intelligent in spiritual knowledge and the things of the kingdom, and fits them to warn sinners, win souls to Christ, point the unbelieving and desponding heavenward, and go from light to strength until welcomed to the joy of their Lord.
What belongs to God must be used according to His purposes, for He has the right to give from what is His according to His own will and His generosity toward others is no injustice to those receiving what was promised, while an evil eye is an envious or grudging response to another's good fortune and service is measured by spirit not length of time. Christian books expressing faith and giving light are therefore to reach people at low prices rather than have their light withheld. Resources are not to be selfishly concentrated in one place or line of work or possessively held, but shared with other fields where work is needed, with equity and just judgment providing facilities elsewhere, and excuses and selfish desires must be put away to give earnest help to the neglected work among colored people rather than begrudge effort or resources. Parents as stewards of God-entrusted property, talents and means are to decide thoughtfully whom to benefit rather than enrich children merely because they are children, considering the afflicted, the poor and those likely to use means wisely, but not entrusting wealth to unbelieving children who already have abundance and serve the world, putting good abilities, quick perception and understanding of the word to active use in the Master's service to do good and glorify God, which gives energy, efficiency, humility and influence for good, whereas use for selfish gain perverts powers into selfishness, penuriousness, overbearing dealing and harm that reproaches the cause. Making a will does not excuse withholding surplus from God's cause while living, but what is lent is to be used to advance His work, with faithfulness in that which is least and without covetously retaining more than can be well managed, for means remain the Master's to advance His work rather than property reserved for heirs.
The parable in which the world is represented as a vineyard is to be studied and applied to school life, where faithful cultivation of the land and unselfish care for buildings remove the love of sports and amusements that perplexes school work. It directs training youth in common branches, present truth and prophecies to warn sinners and win souls, and defines canvassing with books that express faith as gospel vineyard work bearing the burden of souls and learning to win people to truth, so that selling books and pictures that do not express faith because financial prospects are more flattering is refusing to labor in the vineyard, using God-given powers for selfish interests, forgetting what is owed to Him who gave His life, turning from conviction, receiving a worldly stamp, and losing time, opportunity and fitness for ministry. God owns the vineyard and directs its cultivation and the workers in every part Himself by teaching, leading and guiding, rather than by human plans, contracts or concentration under one group, with responsibilities planted in many places so light spreads farther and no human center binds all other parts to itself with control. Workmen belong to God who directs their service, so no person should prescribe another's duty contrary to conviction but each should seek direction from God, workers beginning new parts of the work are to receive help from those with experience without any group regarding itself as independent, and parents must not leave children's education to others like idlers.