Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.
The householder went out again about the sixth and ninth hours and hired more idle workers from the marketplace for his vineyard, as he had done before, promising to give them what was right. The story is the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, picturing the kingdom of heaven and God's repeated calls to the human family continuing through the day. Its reward is given by free grace and generous purpose, not earned by works, and the worth of service is measured by the faith and love brought to it rather than by length of labor or visible results. Those hired late had not refused an earlier call but had been unemployed because no one had hired them, and they trusted the owner's justice while the first-hired bargained for a stated wage. There is therefore work for everyone and none should remain idle, and those who serve must not claim greater reward for longer service or grumble at generosity to later workers.
Narrative and Setting
The householder went out again about the sixth hour, which is midday, and about the ninth hour, which is mid-afternoon, and did the same as before by hiring more laborers for his vineyard. He continued to go out at different times through the day to add workers to his service, promising them what was right and calling them at successive hours rather than only in the morning. Those hired at these later hours joined the same work as the earlier workers and left their wages to his discretion, trusting his justice and equity to do what was right. Their hiring belongs to a parable in which workers called at different times receive the same pay, showing that the value of service is measured by the spirit of faith and love in which it is given and not by how long a person has labored or how much work is performed.
He found the workers standing idle in the marketplace and sent them into the vineyard, with the assurance that they would receive what was right. The later-hired workers asked no questions about wages but trusted the master's promise, so their reward rested not on the amount of work they did but on the generosity of his purpose. The call applies to mission service even late in the day, urging those still idle to labor with the assurance of fair treatment. Giving people opportunities for service rather than holding them back allows them to learn how to use their abilities by putting them to work, with mistakes corrected as they serve, instead of remaining inactive when they should use entrusted abilities to serve and win souls.
The repeated hirings belong to the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, which pictures the kingdom of heaven and God's dealings with the human family through calls continuing through the day. The repeated hiring follows God's purpose and standards rather than human expectations, and the kingdom is governed by His generosity and justice rather than by human rules of earning reward. The equal wage given to those hired later displays the householder's liberality, which workers free from selfishness recognize rather than resent. The parable shows Christ calling people to labor for Him throughout the ages, and its call remains urgent near the close of earth's history, with the vineyard representing work in which every church member has a part and service in communicating heaven's light is not the responsibility of ministers alone.
Those called at the sixth and ninth hours had not been present in the morning and had not refused the first call, but were unemployed because no one had hired them. Their later invitation does not excuse trifling with the first call of mercy by those who hear it, nor does it excuse people who hear the truth and reject it.
Reward by Grace
The parable sets God's free grace against the idea that His favor and the reward of the righteous must be earned by works, to correct a grasping, mercenary spirit. The worth of service is measured by the spirit of faith and love brought to the work, not by how long one has labored, how much is accomplished, or its visible results. Sincere work done to glorify God receives the same reward as greater work, for God does not measure service by hours worked. The reward rests on the householder's generous purpose and liberality, which stands higher than human standards of fairness, for God's kingdom is not governed by fixed human rules of earning. The equal wage given to those hired later displays that liberality, and workers free from selfishness recognize it rather than resent it.
Those hired at the sixth and ninth hours and afterward left their wages to his discretion, trusting his justice and equity to do what was right, while those hired first received what they had agreed upon. They went to work just as those hired earlier had, trusting His goodness rather than bargaining for a fixed reward. Christ so accepts humble, penitent sinners who enter His service even late, obey His commandments, and serve in thankful faith. The poor sinner who has long neglected the work may come in humble faith, grateful simply to be accepted, and receive far more than expected, joyful that God accepts him and serving with humble gratitude moved by love rather than eagerness for compensation.
By contrast the first-called workers illustrate a hireling spirit: they bargain for a stated wage, make terms with God for a set reward, serve for expected payment, regard their work as more valuable than that of later workers, and foster a calculating, faultfinding spirit. Treating service as a claim to fixed payment for long service and hardship fosters an unchristlike spirit and exposes the belief that larger reward or salvation is so earned. Those who insist on wages they set for themselves are represented by those called first who end up last, whereas faithful workers serve without making their own terms.
Those who serve must not grumble at the householder's generosity to later workers, claim preference and greater reward because they have worked longer, or resent His goodness to others. Such self-congratulation and focus on reward, rather than the privilege of serving Christ, reveal self-advancement, distrust of God, jealousy toward others, and a selfish heart that needs to change, failing to see His liberality. The reward is given by grace, not owed as payment for merit, and no one can claim a privileged place or begrudge another's reward, for service is valued for love and faithfulness rather than its length or amount. Eternal life is God's gift on condition of entire obedience, and time, abilities, and service are entrusted by Him rather than grounds for selfish claims, self-righteousness, or treating service as a debt owed.
People who receive the truth and begin working with Christ at the eleventh hour receive the same reward as those who have worked all day. The dying thief is such a late-hour laborer, who in faith, patience, contrition, and earnestness cast his helpless, dying soul and body on Jesus, fully realizing Jesus could save him if He would, with hope mingled with anguish that otherwise he would be eternally lost. The one-hour laborers hired at the eleventh hour represent people brought into God's work late who faithfully devote their abilities and resources and receive the reward for their faithfulness. Yet the vineyard reward is given to those who work, not to those who remain idle, for receiving it involves doing one's part faithfully. The Lord gives a place to workers with varied abilities and opportunities and honors each according to faithfulness rather than capacity, learning, or status, and work and its fruit reveal character.
Service is an invitation to labor for Him, not a basis for exalting self, disparaging others, or seeking wages, praise, and recognition. Work is made spiritual through love, dependence on God, cooperation with Him, and implicit faith that removes needless worry and anxiety, calling workers to carry His message and examine their hearts against self-exaltation and unfair judgments. Work in the vineyard is whole-hearted labor to the utmost of ability without setting the highest estimate on one's own services, without swelling with pride and self-importance, without measuring every hour with exactness, and without studying how little may be done to reach the lowest standard. Workers compare their efforts with the Saviour's work and account themselves unprofitable servants, aroused to grasp the fullness of Christ in order to do much for Him. The marketplace idlers represent spiritual idleness, which is unfaithfulness and brings a penalty, so that even otherwise worthy actions receive no credit when all one's work bears the mark of unfaithfulness.
Late Workers and Last Days
The repeated hirings at the sixth and ninth hours show Christ calling people to labor for Him throughout the ages, and that call remains urgent near the close of earth's history. In the closing work of the third angel's message, many who have long remained idle and indifferent will heed God's call and enter active service for the Master. God has useful work for humble people with varied talents, at home and abroad, and they can serve acceptably even without ordination.
In the last crisis many late-called souls will come out of the world and out of the churches, even the Catholic church, with zeal far exceeding those who long stood in rank to proclaim the truth. These eleventh-hour laborers will see the battle over religious liberty coming, give the trumpet a certain sound of warning, come to the front when calamity comes, gird themselves with the whole armor of God, exalt God's law, adhere to the faith of Jesus, and maintain the cause of religious liberty, yet they will receive their penny the same as the others. With the period of probation fast closing and the opportunity to give the last message of mercy to the lost soon past forever, God calls for the help of everyone who loves Jesus now, and there are to be no idlers in the Master's vineyard. The later hiring also illustrates that faithful workers who enter the work when it has grown harder will receive their reward.
Meaning of the Vineyard
The vineyard is the Lord's work of saving fellow men, and all who are Christians in every sense are to be workers in it, wide awake and zealously laboring for the salvation of others after the Saviour's example of self-denial, sacrifice, and faithful, earnest labor. Christ expects those in His vineyard to work and wants no idlers, but calls each to take part in serving for time and eternity, to fill the position God assigns and faithfully perform every duty, using all abilities faithfully and taking up entrusted burdens rather than standing back. Those hired enter God's work to bring people to the truth and to use what has been entrusted to them in its service.
The Lord's vineyard is large and worldwide and still must be done, needing laborers in many places, for the householder keeps going out through the hours to call and place men in all parts of it. It covers all portions of the field, and every portion, including the most destitute regions left without culture and without facilities, is to receive proportionate work and means from the Lord's treasury to place it on a proper basis. Piling over-abundance into expensive buildings in one place while other places have nothing violates this order, and unfaithful stewardship of this kind will stand exposed; every building erected is to be erected with reference to other places that will need similar buildings, giving other parts of the vineyard a chance to have facilities and letting plants be made in other cities. Serving Him in His vineyard requires equity and just judgment, with advance not blocked by selfishly using in one place or in one line of work all the means that can be secured, and those responsible for one part caring about and helping other parts rather than concentrating resources on their own interests. He Himself teaches, leads, guides, rules, counsels and guards each worker, high and lowly alike, each having a distinct part to act in perfect harmony without being bound to one central human power, since human centralizing of burdens and control leaves much undone and hinders the light from reaching farther.
No idlers in His vineyard will find an abundant entrance into Christ's kingdom, for God has given to everyone a work, and all powers and means are to be exercised in His service outside and beyond the home, with every member of the family educated to work for the Master. By continually working in Christ's lines workers learn to do more efficient work and to use influence as a blessing, and the wider the sphere of usefulness the more good is accomplished by making known the unsearchable riches of Christ and showing that the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. Work done from hour to hour passes beyond recall and decides destiny for eternity, so time as a precious talent is not to be squandered but kept in touch with divinity through uplifted hearts to receive strength and grace to cooperate with God in saving souls, cherishing a missionary spirit to give the message of mercy to those who have not heard it, who will receive it and reflect its light to others, by daily opportunities to speak truth, hand a tract, or present a book. Faithful work in one portion of the field requires planning for all portions, including the Southern field, with sanctified ability to distribute labor and means proportionately.
The vineyard is the gospel ministry in its various lines, the highest of all work and no inferior matter, blessed of God above all other work, and those who ignore the ministry ignore Christ. The repeated going out means God now calls for more men, for whole armies of large-hearted and large-minded young men with deep love for Christ and the truth, to strengthen the outposts as faithful sentinels in every part of the world. Young men must not be deterred from entering the ministry nor drawn by glowing representations out of the path where God bids them walk into other courses of study such as medical lines when they ought to be preparing for the ministry.
The vineyard image includes the home, where older family members are to cultivate this part of the Lord's vineyard by patiently teaching younger children and sharing the knowledge God has given them. Work in the Lord's vineyard includes a mother's work in her own home, and a mother with an unbelieving, profane, abusive husband who makes training the children hard, undermines her authority, and opposes prayer and the Bible should not leave her children to seek religious work elsewhere, but her appointed vineyard work is to remain at home and counteract the godless influence of the father.
The world is a vineyard calling for practical education in cultivating the soil and in various lines of manual labor, to be studied together with the other parables that use this figure. Those who go forth from schools to engage in mission work need this experience to be fit to take hold of any line of work in the fields to which they are called and to instruct others as they have been instructed, and no work is more effectual than that done by those educated in practical life. Faithful cultivation of school land by students and disinterested care of school buildings makes the love of sports and amusements that causes perplexity in school work pass away.
Vineyard work is exercising powers of mind in God's service, studying the Scriptures, warning sinners, winning souls to Christ, turning sinners to Christ and pointing the unbelieving and desponding heavenward, walking in the light from one degree of light and strength to another. It is working for God in the ministry to advance His glory by explaining the Scriptures, lecturing upon the prophecies, and teaching the truths of God's word for this time. God still calls young men to be earnest, persevering, successful laborers and would accept their service if consecrated unreservedly, yet many are wise in worldly things but not intelligent in spiritual knowledge, so there are but few to do this accepted work when there should be many, and those who do it will when the warfare is ended be welcomed to the joy of their Lord. Those He accepts need good abilities and cultivated talents, with the mind disciplined, its powers developed, and understandingly directed by education in the common branches and in Bible truth, for Christ is best glorified when they serve Him intelligently, since ignorance does not increase humility or spirituality and the truths of the divine word are best appreciated by an intellectual Christian.
The means entrusted to parents and to people are to be used during their lifetime to advance the work in God's vineyard, which still needs to be done. Laboring in the Lord's vineyard means using one's abilities in God's service rather than for selfish gain. Abilities used for that work can do much good, while abilities turned to selfish gain can do harm.
Call to Active Service
There is work for everyone in the Lord's vineyard and none is to remain idle, for Christ expects all to work and wants no idlers. Each person in God's household has work assigned and should put abilities to use as an earnest, efficient worker, serving God where they are and taking up the work at hand. That call applies to every church member, each having work in serving others and saving souls, and members should help new converts find work without crowding one another out. The work is not to be chosen for personal enjoyment or gain, nor is anyone to think they can help only by preaching, but it calls for self-sacrifice and service to the full extent of ability.
Workers are to be wide awake and zealously labor for the salvation of others in self-denial, sacrifice, and faithful earnest labor after the Saviour's example. All Christian men and women are to give themselves unreservedly to present truth to those in darkness, availing themselves of every opening where hearts are moving and honest souls troubled by the signs of the times ask what will be the end of all things. They are to use every opportunity to bring truth to people in darkness and labor for their salvation in unison with heavenly messengers instead of sleeping. All who profess Christ have work assigned and should persevere in seeking greater usefulness, for daily effort increases ability to work effectively and bear fruit for God, and the invitation of mercy is to be spread widely while there is still time.
Consecrated workers labor for Christ with reward to come later, winning souls from darkness and error and preparing them for His coming. Working with Christ helps believers grow spiritually, understand His work and sacrifice, and value people in light of the price He paid for them. The repeated going out through the day shows workers are needed throughout the day for earnest, persevering labor for souls, especially in new fields rather than only among churches already well served. That requires renewed consecration, courage, and activity, beginning where one is without waiting for a regular process, serving in self-sacrificing ways that win souls, entering cities and neglected areas without delay, for refusing that work for selfish ease leaves souls without help while doing even unpleasant work to save them brings spiritual strength and blessing.
Ministers are to give idle ones work in the vineyard rather than hold them back, for workers learn to use their abilities by putting them to work. The owner returns even later in the day to hire those still idle in the marketplace and send them to work, so ministers should assign the standing idle work in God's vineyard, correct their mistakes when needed, and put them back to work. Mistakes should be corrected so workers can continue serving, and using their abilities teaches them how to use their talents. Professed disciples who let souls perishing without Christ die while entrusted talents remain bound in a napkin and buried must be aroused with sleeping churches to unearth talents, minister to others, and enlighten them with salvation, since saving souls belongs not to ministers alone but to all who profess truth. As soon as a church is organized the minister is to set members to work, devoting more time to educating them how to work and extend knowledge of truth than to preaching, then pass to other equally important fields, selecting and training worthy young men as co-laborers, proclaiming the message to those who have not heard it.
God still calls young men and youth to be earnest, persevering, successful laborers if they consecrate themselves unreservedly. That vineyard work is exercising powers of mind in God's service, studying the Scriptures, warning sinners, winning souls to Christ, and pointing the unbelieving and desponding heavenward, walking from one degree of light and strength to another. Trained youth who unite with Christ become valuable workers, yet many are wise in worldly things but not intelligent in spiritual knowledge, so there are but few to do this accepted work when there should be many, and those who do it will when the warfare is ended be welcomed to the joy of their Lord. The great moral vineyard now calls for workers in foreign lands as well as in the world and in the church, who must be fitted by educating and training schools, have the greatness of the work impressed upon them, and bring practical godliness into daily experience to be useful in any place, with provision made for workers in both home and foreign fields. The gospel ministry in its various lines is the highest of all work and no inferior matter, blessed of God above all other work, and God now calls for more men, whole armies of large-hearted and large-minded young men with deep love for Christ and truth to strengthen outposts as faithful sentinels in every part of the world, not to be deterred from entering the ministry nor drawn out of the path where God bids them walk into other courses such as medical lines when they ought to prepare for the ministry.
The vineyard is a field of service in which every accountable person should watch for and improve opportunities to do good, including helping suffering people. The continuing call through the sixth and ninth hours applies to medical missionaries, who are to leave comfortable or self-serving work and serve in neglected fields where their labor can bless and save souls.
Each must faithfully use entrusted abilities and opportunities according to what has been received, serving in one of the Lord's various departments and taking appointed places. People of every capacity are to take part in spreading the light of truth, the church is accountable for those still in darkness, and the present time is a God-given opportunity in which to serve and develop Christlike character. Those who know the truth should take up their share rather than remain idle or draw people to themselves, using entrusted abilities to serve and win souls, cultivating neglected parts and laboring to the full extent of ability without choosing work for enjoyment or gain.
Christ continues calling people at different times and sees potential in those who may seem discouraging, unqualified, unlikely, or unprepared. As they remain learners and respond, His providence fits them for work within their abilities and the Holy Spirit gives power to speak and to do work suited to them. True toilers show the power of the truth they share by being prayerful, faithful, self-denying, and restrained in natural appetites and passions, and their labor is effective. Though serving in different parts of one field, they belong to one vineyard and should labor without selfish or sectional rivalry to warn the careless and save the lost.
Vineyard work includes writing missionary letters to friends and strangers, distributing tracts and papers to neighbors, and sending literature through the mail to those willing to read, with all who do this with humble heart, connected with God and beginning with prayer, educated to become acceptable workers. It embraces gospel work and canvassing under the Master's watchful care wherever laborers work, with calls to educate and encourage workers and to make practical preparation for His cause. Those in the world longing for truth will, when converted, become intelligent helpers serving God's cause, proving by faith and works that labor put forth for them was not in vain.
Many laborers are to be set at work and supported in the Lord's vineyard, and those doing good work but unable to support themselves must be sustained and not sent away. Wages and circumstances of workers in God's cause must be treated fairly rather than cut without their consent or understanding. Because God's people are to be a missionary people following the self-denial of Jesus as Pattern, workers must not set a high price upon labors or seek higher and still higher wages so fellow laborers whose wages are not high feel wronged, but should come prepared for self-denial and labor for souls without expecting financial support or large wages, cooperating with those serving God and not having work prescribed by others nor regarding themselves as an independent whole.
Everywhere is the Lord's vineyard where work is to be done, and no one is to wait for a regular process before making efforts but should take up work right where they are. Many should work in what are called irregular lines, stepping out of regular lines to do self-sacrificing work by which souls are won, learning by experience what it means to be laborers together with God. People may be called to different kinds and measures of service, with those called to new fields bearing the burden of the message through prayer, holy living, and teaching truth to raise up Sabbathkeepers, while not everyone is called to serve wholly or travel extensively. The vineyard call does not justify leaving ordinary work and family responsibilities to place undue burden on the church, and some who think the Lord has called them to this work need to give up that idea. The Master knows and watches over workers wherever they labor, giving Himself fully to guide, sustain, and strengthen those who preach the Word, while the church and its institutions should send laborers into the field and support their continued growth rather than centralize control.
Being a laborer means sacred responsibility for souls, including earnest prayers in faith for fellow workers not fully in the truth and feeling the worth of the soul for whom Christ died. The work requires a sense of the sacredness of handling sacred things rather than trifling frivolity or treating it as common labor or ordinary employment, demanding devotion, faith, and unselfish purpose for salvation of souls. Those who are fruitless cumberers of the ground must consecrate themselves to God and center affections and hopes in Him.
God has given to everyone a work with all powers and means to be exercised in His service outside and beyond the home, every family member educated to work for the Master, and no idlers will find abundant entrance into the kingdom. His servants are constantly to enlarge the circle of efforts, constantly to do more, never less, until the work widens to encircle the world, taking up neglected parts and going forth beside all waters to win sinners rather than spending time only on those who already accepted truth. Work done from hour to hour passes beyond recall and decides destiny for eternity, so time as a precious talent is not to be squandered but kept in touch with divinity through uplifted hearts to receive strength and grace to cooperate with God in saving souls. Day by day opportunities come by speaking words of truth, handing a tract, or presenting a book, and a missionary spirit is to be cherished to give the message of mercy to those who have not heard it, who will receive it and reflect its light to others.
The householder went out again about the sixth and ninth hours and hired more idle workers from the marketplace for his vineyard, as he had done before, promising to give them what was right. The story is the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, picturing the kingdom of heaven and God's repeated calls to the human family continuing through the day. Its reward is given by free grace and generous purpose, not earned by works, and the worth of service is measured by the faith and love brought to it rather than by length of labor or visible results. Those hired late had not refused an earlier call but had been unemployed because no one had hired them, and they trusted the owner's justice while the first-hired bargained for a stated wage. There is therefore work for everyone and none should remain idle, and those who serve must not claim greater reward for longer service or grumble at generosity to later workers.
Narrative and Setting
The householder went out again about the sixth hour, which is midday, and about the ninth hour, which is mid-afternoon, and did the same as before by hiring more laborers for his vineyard. He continued to go out at different times through the day to add workers to his service, promising them what was right and calling them at successive hours rather than only in the morning. Those hired at these later hours joined the same work as the earlier workers and left their wages to his discretion, trusting his justice and equity to do what was right. Their hiring belongs to a parable in which workers called at different times receive the same pay, showing that the value of service is measured by the spirit of faith and love in which it is given and not by how long a person has labored or how much work is performed.
He found the workers standing idle in the marketplace and sent them into the vineyard, with the assurance that they would receive what was right. The later-hired workers asked no questions about wages but trusted the master's promise, so their reward rested not on the amount of work they did but on the generosity of his purpose. The call applies to mission service even late in the day, urging those still idle to labor with the assurance of fair treatment. Giving people opportunities for service rather than holding them back allows them to learn how to use their abilities by putting them to work, with mistakes corrected as they serve, instead of remaining inactive when they should use entrusted abilities to serve and win souls.
The repeated hirings belong to the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, which pictures the kingdom of heaven and God's dealings with the human family through calls continuing through the day. The repeated hiring follows God's purpose and standards rather than human expectations, and the kingdom is governed by His generosity and justice rather than by human rules of earning reward. The equal wage given to those hired later displays the householder's liberality, which workers free from selfishness recognize rather than resent. The parable shows Christ calling people to labor for Him throughout the ages, and its call remains urgent near the close of earth's history, with the vineyard representing work in which every church member has a part and service in communicating heaven's light is not the responsibility of ministers alone.
Those called at the sixth and ninth hours had not been present in the morning and had not refused the first call, but were unemployed because no one had hired them. Their later invitation does not excuse trifling with the first call of mercy by those who hear it, nor does it excuse people who hear the truth and reject it.
Reward by Grace
The parable sets God's free grace against the idea that His favor and the reward of the righteous must be earned by works, to correct a grasping, mercenary spirit. The worth of service is measured by the spirit of faith and love brought to the work, not by how long one has labored, how much is accomplished, or its visible results. Sincere work done to glorify God receives the same reward as greater work, for God does not measure service by hours worked. The reward rests on the householder's generous purpose and liberality, which stands higher than human standards of fairness, for God's kingdom is not governed by fixed human rules of earning. The equal wage given to those hired later displays that liberality, and workers free from selfishness recognize it rather than resent it.
Those hired at the sixth and ninth hours and afterward left their wages to his discretion, trusting his justice and equity to do what was right, while those hired first received what they had agreed upon. They went to work just as those hired earlier had, trusting His goodness rather than bargaining for a fixed reward. Christ so accepts humble, penitent sinners who enter His service even late, obey His commandments, and serve in thankful faith. The poor sinner who has long neglected the work may come in humble faith, grateful simply to be accepted, and receive far more than expected, joyful that God accepts him and serving with humble gratitude moved by love rather than eagerness for compensation.
By contrast the first-called workers illustrate a hireling spirit: they bargain for a stated wage, make terms with God for a set reward, serve for expected payment, regard their work as more valuable than that of later workers, and foster a calculating, faultfinding spirit. Treating service as a claim to fixed payment for long service and hardship fosters an unchristlike spirit and exposes the belief that larger reward or salvation is so earned. Those who insist on wages they set for themselves are represented by those called first who end up last, whereas faithful workers serve without making their own terms.
Those who serve must not grumble at the householder's generosity to later workers, claim preference and greater reward because they have worked longer, or resent His goodness to others. Such self-congratulation and focus on reward, rather than the privilege of serving Christ, reveal self-advancement, distrust of God, jealousy toward others, and a selfish heart that needs to change, failing to see His liberality. The reward is given by grace, not owed as payment for merit, and no one can claim a privileged place or begrudge another's reward, for service is valued for love and faithfulness rather than its length or amount. Eternal life is God's gift on condition of entire obedience, and time, abilities, and service are entrusted by Him rather than grounds for selfish claims, self-righteousness, or treating service as a debt owed.
People who receive the truth and begin working with Christ at the eleventh hour receive the same reward as those who have worked all day. The dying thief is such a late-hour laborer, who in faith, patience, contrition, and earnestness cast his helpless, dying soul and body on Jesus, fully realizing Jesus could save him if He would, with hope mingled with anguish that otherwise he would be eternally lost. The one-hour laborers hired at the eleventh hour represent people brought into God's work late who faithfully devote their abilities and resources and receive the reward for their faithfulness. Yet the vineyard reward is given to those who work, not to those who remain idle, for receiving it involves doing one's part faithfully. The Lord gives a place to workers with varied abilities and opportunities and honors each according to faithfulness rather than capacity, learning, or status, and work and its fruit reveal character.
Service is an invitation to labor for Him, not a basis for exalting self, disparaging others, or seeking wages, praise, and recognition. Work is made spiritual through love, dependence on God, cooperation with Him, and implicit faith that removes needless worry and anxiety, calling workers to carry His message and examine their hearts against self-exaltation and unfair judgments. Work in the vineyard is whole-hearted labor to the utmost of ability without setting the highest estimate on one's own services, without swelling with pride and self-importance, without measuring every hour with exactness, and without studying how little may be done to reach the lowest standard. Workers compare their efforts with the Saviour's work and account themselves unprofitable servants, aroused to grasp the fullness of Christ in order to do much for Him. The marketplace idlers represent spiritual idleness, which is unfaithfulness and brings a penalty, so that even otherwise worthy actions receive no credit when all one's work bears the mark of unfaithfulness.
Late Workers and Last Days
The repeated hirings at the sixth and ninth hours show Christ calling people to labor for Him throughout the ages, and that call remains urgent near the close of earth's history. In the closing work of the third angel's message, many who have long remained idle and indifferent will heed God's call and enter active service for the Master. God has useful work for humble people with varied talents, at home and abroad, and they can serve acceptably even without ordination.
In the last crisis many late-called souls will come out of the world and out of the churches, even the Catholic church, with zeal far exceeding those who long stood in rank to proclaim the truth. These eleventh-hour laborers will see the battle over religious liberty coming, give the trumpet a certain sound of warning, come to the front when calamity comes, gird themselves with the whole armor of God, exalt God's law, adhere to the faith of Jesus, and maintain the cause of religious liberty, yet they will receive their penny the same as the others. With the period of probation fast closing and the opportunity to give the last message of mercy to the lost soon past forever, God calls for the help of everyone who loves Jesus now, and there are to be no idlers in the Master's vineyard. The later hiring also illustrates that faithful workers who enter the work when it has grown harder will receive their reward.
Meaning of the Vineyard
The vineyard is the Lord's work of saving fellow men, and all who are Christians in every sense are to be workers in it, wide awake and zealously laboring for the salvation of others after the Saviour's example of self-denial, sacrifice, and faithful, earnest labor. Christ expects those in His vineyard to work and wants no idlers, but calls each to take part in serving for time and eternity, to fill the position God assigns and faithfully perform every duty, using all abilities faithfully and taking up entrusted burdens rather than standing back. Those hired enter God's work to bring people to the truth and to use what has been entrusted to them in its service.
The Lord's vineyard is large and worldwide and still must be done, needing laborers in many places, for the householder keeps going out through the hours to call and place men in all parts of it. It covers all portions of the field, and every portion, including the most destitute regions left without culture and without facilities, is to receive proportionate work and means from the Lord's treasury to place it on a proper basis. Piling over-abundance into expensive buildings in one place while other places have nothing violates this order, and unfaithful stewardship of this kind will stand exposed; every building erected is to be erected with reference to other places that will need similar buildings, giving other parts of the vineyard a chance to have facilities and letting plants be made in other cities. Serving Him in His vineyard requires equity and just judgment, with advance not blocked by selfishly using in one place or in one line of work all the means that can be secured, and those responsible for one part caring about and helping other parts rather than concentrating resources on their own interests. He Himself teaches, leads, guides, rules, counsels and guards each worker, high and lowly alike, each having a distinct part to act in perfect harmony without being bound to one central human power, since human centralizing of burdens and control leaves much undone and hinders the light from reaching farther.
No idlers in His vineyard will find an abundant entrance into Christ's kingdom, for God has given to everyone a work, and all powers and means are to be exercised in His service outside and beyond the home, with every member of the family educated to work for the Master. By continually working in Christ's lines workers learn to do more efficient work and to use influence as a blessing, and the wider the sphere of usefulness the more good is accomplished by making known the unsearchable riches of Christ and showing that the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. Work done from hour to hour passes beyond recall and decides destiny for eternity, so time as a precious talent is not to be squandered but kept in touch with divinity through uplifted hearts to receive strength and grace to cooperate with God in saving souls, cherishing a missionary spirit to give the message of mercy to those who have not heard it, who will receive it and reflect its light to others, by daily opportunities to speak truth, hand a tract, or present a book. Faithful work in one portion of the field requires planning for all portions, including the Southern field, with sanctified ability to distribute labor and means proportionately.
The vineyard is the gospel ministry in its various lines, the highest of all work and no inferior matter, blessed of God above all other work, and those who ignore the ministry ignore Christ. The repeated going out means God now calls for more men, for whole armies of large-hearted and large-minded young men with deep love for Christ and the truth, to strengthen the outposts as faithful sentinels in every part of the world. Young men must not be deterred from entering the ministry nor drawn by glowing representations out of the path where God bids them walk into other courses of study such as medical lines when they ought to be preparing for the ministry.
The vineyard image includes the home, where older family members are to cultivate this part of the Lord's vineyard by patiently teaching younger children and sharing the knowledge God has given them. Work in the Lord's vineyard includes a mother's work in her own home, and a mother with an unbelieving, profane, abusive husband who makes training the children hard, undermines her authority, and opposes prayer and the Bible should not leave her children to seek religious work elsewhere, but her appointed vineyard work is to remain at home and counteract the godless influence of the father.
The world is a vineyard calling for practical education in cultivating the soil and in various lines of manual labor, to be studied together with the other parables that use this figure. Those who go forth from schools to engage in mission work need this experience to be fit to take hold of any line of work in the fields to which they are called and to instruct others as they have been instructed, and no work is more effectual than that done by those educated in practical life. Faithful cultivation of school land by students and disinterested care of school buildings makes the love of sports and amusements that causes perplexity in school work pass away.
Vineyard work is exercising powers of mind in God's service, studying the Scriptures, warning sinners, winning souls to Christ, turning sinners to Christ and pointing the unbelieving and desponding heavenward, walking in the light from one degree of light and strength to another. It is working for God in the ministry to advance His glory by explaining the Scriptures, lecturing upon the prophecies, and teaching the truths of God's word for this time. God still calls young men to be earnest, persevering, successful laborers and would accept their service if consecrated unreservedly, yet many are wise in worldly things but not intelligent in spiritual knowledge, so there are but few to do this accepted work when there should be many, and those who do it will when the warfare is ended be welcomed to the joy of their Lord. Those He accepts need good abilities and cultivated talents, with the mind disciplined, its powers developed, and understandingly directed by education in the common branches and in Bible truth, for Christ is best glorified when they serve Him intelligently, since ignorance does not increase humility or spirituality and the truths of the divine word are best appreciated by an intellectual Christian.
The means entrusted to parents and to people are to be used during their lifetime to advance the work in God's vineyard, which still needs to be done. Laboring in the Lord's vineyard means using one's abilities in God's service rather than for selfish gain. Abilities used for that work can do much good, while abilities turned to selfish gain can do harm.
Call to Active Service
There is work for everyone in the Lord's vineyard and none is to remain idle, for Christ expects all to work and wants no idlers. Each person in God's household has work assigned and should put abilities to use as an earnest, efficient worker, serving God where they are and taking up the work at hand. That call applies to every church member, each having work in serving others and saving souls, and members should help new converts find work without crowding one another out. The work is not to be chosen for personal enjoyment or gain, nor is anyone to think they can help only by preaching, but it calls for self-sacrifice and service to the full extent of ability.
Workers are to be wide awake and zealously labor for the salvation of others in self-denial, sacrifice, and faithful earnest labor after the Saviour's example. All Christian men and women are to give themselves unreservedly to present truth to those in darkness, availing themselves of every opening where hearts are moving and honest souls troubled by the signs of the times ask what will be the end of all things. They are to use every opportunity to bring truth to people in darkness and labor for their salvation in unison with heavenly messengers instead of sleeping. All who profess Christ have work assigned and should persevere in seeking greater usefulness, for daily effort increases ability to work effectively and bear fruit for God, and the invitation of mercy is to be spread widely while there is still time.
Consecrated workers labor for Christ with reward to come later, winning souls from darkness and error and preparing them for His coming. Working with Christ helps believers grow spiritually, understand His work and sacrifice, and value people in light of the price He paid for them. The repeated going out through the day shows workers are needed throughout the day for earnest, persevering labor for souls, especially in new fields rather than only among churches already well served. That requires renewed consecration, courage, and activity, beginning where one is without waiting for a regular process, serving in self-sacrificing ways that win souls, entering cities and neglected areas without delay, for refusing that work for selfish ease leaves souls without help while doing even unpleasant work to save them brings spiritual strength and blessing.
Ministers are to give idle ones work in the vineyard rather than hold them back, for workers learn to use their abilities by putting them to work. The owner returns even later in the day to hire those still idle in the marketplace and send them to work, so ministers should assign the standing idle work in God's vineyard, correct their mistakes when needed, and put them back to work. Mistakes should be corrected so workers can continue serving, and using their abilities teaches them how to use their talents. Professed disciples who let souls perishing without Christ die while entrusted talents remain bound in a napkin and buried must be aroused with sleeping churches to unearth talents, minister to others, and enlighten them with salvation, since saving souls belongs not to ministers alone but to all who profess truth. As soon as a church is organized the minister is to set members to work, devoting more time to educating them how to work and extend knowledge of truth than to preaching, then pass to other equally important fields, selecting and training worthy young men as co-laborers, proclaiming the message to those who have not heard it.
God still calls young men and youth to be earnest, persevering, successful laborers if they consecrate themselves unreservedly. That vineyard work is exercising powers of mind in God's service, studying the Scriptures, warning sinners, winning souls to Christ, and pointing the unbelieving and desponding heavenward, walking from one degree of light and strength to another. Trained youth who unite with Christ become valuable workers, yet many are wise in worldly things but not intelligent in spiritual knowledge, so there are but few to do this accepted work when there should be many, and those who do it will when the warfare is ended be welcomed to the joy of their Lord. The great moral vineyard now calls for workers in foreign lands as well as in the world and in the church, who must be fitted by educating and training schools, have the greatness of the work impressed upon them, and bring practical godliness into daily experience to be useful in any place, with provision made for workers in both home and foreign fields. The gospel ministry in its various lines is the highest of all work and no inferior matter, blessed of God above all other work, and God now calls for more men, whole armies of large-hearted and large-minded young men with deep love for Christ and truth to strengthen outposts as faithful sentinels in every part of the world, not to be deterred from entering the ministry nor drawn out of the path where God bids them walk into other courses such as medical lines when they ought to prepare for the ministry.
The vineyard is a field of service in which every accountable person should watch for and improve opportunities to do good, including helping suffering people. The continuing call through the sixth and ninth hours applies to medical missionaries, who are to leave comfortable or self-serving work and serve in neglected fields where their labor can bless and save souls.
Each must faithfully use entrusted abilities and opportunities according to what has been received, serving in one of the Lord's various departments and taking appointed places. People of every capacity are to take part in spreading the light of truth, the church is accountable for those still in darkness, and the present time is a God-given opportunity in which to serve and develop Christlike character. Those who know the truth should take up their share rather than remain idle or draw people to themselves, using entrusted abilities to serve and win souls, cultivating neglected parts and laboring to the full extent of ability without choosing work for enjoyment or gain.
Christ continues calling people at different times and sees potential in those who may seem discouraging, unqualified, unlikely, or unprepared. As they remain learners and respond, His providence fits them for work within their abilities and the Holy Spirit gives power to speak and to do work suited to them. True toilers show the power of the truth they share by being prayerful, faithful, self-denying, and restrained in natural appetites and passions, and their labor is effective. Though serving in different parts of one field, they belong to one vineyard and should labor without selfish or sectional rivalry to warn the careless and save the lost.
Vineyard work includes writing missionary letters to friends and strangers, distributing tracts and papers to neighbors, and sending literature through the mail to those willing to read, with all who do this with humble heart, connected with God and beginning with prayer, educated to become acceptable workers. It embraces gospel work and canvassing under the Master's watchful care wherever laborers work, with calls to educate and encourage workers and to make practical preparation for His cause. Those in the world longing for truth will, when converted, become intelligent helpers serving God's cause, proving by faith and works that labor put forth for them was not in vain.
Many laborers are to be set at work and supported in the Lord's vineyard, and those doing good work but unable to support themselves must be sustained and not sent away. Wages and circumstances of workers in God's cause must be treated fairly rather than cut without their consent or understanding. Because God's people are to be a missionary people following the self-denial of Jesus as Pattern, workers must not set a high price upon labors or seek higher and still higher wages so fellow laborers whose wages are not high feel wronged, but should come prepared for self-denial and labor for souls without expecting financial support or large wages, cooperating with those serving God and not having work prescribed by others nor regarding themselves as an independent whole.
Everywhere is the Lord's vineyard where work is to be done, and no one is to wait for a regular process before making efforts but should take up work right where they are. Many should work in what are called irregular lines, stepping out of regular lines to do self-sacrificing work by which souls are won, learning by experience what it means to be laborers together with God. People may be called to different kinds and measures of service, with those called to new fields bearing the burden of the message through prayer, holy living, and teaching truth to raise up Sabbathkeepers, while not everyone is called to serve wholly or travel extensively. The vineyard call does not justify leaving ordinary work and family responsibilities to place undue burden on the church, and some who think the Lord has called them to this work need to give up that idea. The Master knows and watches over workers wherever they labor, giving Himself fully to guide, sustain, and strengthen those who preach the Word, while the church and its institutions should send laborers into the field and support their continued growth rather than centralize control.
Being a laborer means sacred responsibility for souls, including earnest prayers in faith for fellow workers not fully in the truth and feeling the worth of the soul for whom Christ died. The work requires a sense of the sacredness of handling sacred things rather than trifling frivolity or treating it as common labor or ordinary employment, demanding devotion, faith, and unselfish purpose for salvation of souls. Those who are fruitless cumberers of the ground must consecrate themselves to God and center affections and hopes in Him.
God has given to everyone a work with all powers and means to be exercised in His service outside and beyond the home, every family member educated to work for the Master, and no idlers will find abundant entrance into the kingdom. His servants are constantly to enlarge the circle of efforts, constantly to do more, never less, until the work widens to encircle the world, taking up neglected parts and going forth beside all waters to win sinners rather than spending time only on those who already accepted truth. Work done from hour to hour passes beyond recall and decides destiny for eternity, so time as a precious talent is not to be squandered but kept in touch with divinity through uplifted hearts to receive strength and grace to cooperate with God in saving souls. Day by day opportunities come by speaking words of truth, handing a tract, or presenting a book, and a missionary spirit is to be cherished to give the message of mercy to those who have not heard it, who will receive it and reflect its light to others.