And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.
At evening the laborers hired in the morning and at the third, sixth, ninth and eleventh hours are called to be paid beginning from the last to the first, so those hired about the eleventh hour come first and each receive a penny. That penny is the same full day's wage given to those hired earlier, though the last worked only one hour in the cooler part of the day. The equal payment is not injustice to the earlier workers, who receive what was agreed, but shows the owner's freedom, goodness and generosity, for eternal life is God's gift and not wages owed for length of time, burden borne or amount accomplished. It welcomes poor, unworthy sinners who come to Christ late after long neglect, and those who accept the full truth late in life or near the end, who trust Him to do what is right without bargaining and receive more than they expected with gratitude and joy. It warns those called first against a hireling, bargaining spirit, murmuring, jealous comparison and claiming greater reward for long service, for self-exaltation can make those expecting to be first last.
Parable Setting and Wording
The evening settlement comes after a householder, to whom the kingdom of heaven is likened, hires laborers into his vineyard for a penny a day in the early morning and again at the third, sixth, ninth, and eleventh hours. At evening the lord of the vineyard directs his steward to call the laborers and pay them, beginning from the last to the first. Those hired about the eleventh hour therefore come first, and each receives a penny.
Christ calls laborers into His vineyard at different hours, and the master watches over His workers and calls them to serve. Each person has work appointed to him in the Lord's vineyard. The penny is given to those who labored, not to those who loitered, so receiving the reward calls for faithful work. The workers hired at the eleventh hour receive the same penny as the other workers. This parable is especially forceful near the close of earth's history.
Generous Equal Reward
Those hired about the eleventh hour came first at pay time and each received a penny, the same full day's wage given to those hired earlier, though they had labored only one hour in the cooler part of the day. The reward is not measured by length of time spent working, and service is valued by the spirit of faith and love in which it is given. Even those added to the work shortly before its close receive what has been promised, and their equal reward is no wrong to those who served longer.
The equal payment displays the householder's freedom to be generous and to give the last as much as the first, his goodness, generosity, liberality and true dealing. It is not an injustice and does not wrong the earlier workers, who received the agreed, proper hire they had stipulated. It represents God's dealing with the human family and reveals His liberality and the principles of His kingdom, which are higher than human standards of proportional reward. Hearts free from selfishness recognize that liberality rather than resent it.
The reward is not measured by length of time, burden, amount accomplished, or visible results, and it is not earned as wages owed, debt, or merit. Eternal life is God's gift given according to His gracious purpose, while people's time and abilities already belong to Him and are entrusted in trust for His service. The mistaken expectation that longer service earns greater reward is thus exposed, and treating service as a claim to higher payment gives place to receiving grace on right principles.
The late workers had made no fixed agreement, set no terms, and asked no questions about wages, but trusted the owner to do what was right and just and equitable, leaving their pay to his discretion. Knowing they had not earned a full day's pay, they were surprised by the householder's kindness and received more than they expected with gratitude and joy. This illustrates the humble, trusting, grateful spirit God values, which serves from love rather than eagerness for reward and is content simply to be accepted. God values the spirit brought to the work rather than hours worked, and Christ accepts penitent sinners who come in humble faith and obedience even at a late hour.
Their shorter time in the vineyard did not mean they had refused the earlier call, for they had not been hired in the morning. Their equal wage therefore does not excuse refusing a call to work or merely agreeing with truth without obeying it. Self-exaltation on the basis of long service can make those who expect to be first last.
Late Workers Welcomed
The eleventh-hour workers are poor, unworthy sinners who come to Christ late after long neglecting His service. They expect little and are content if Christ will simply accept them, working thankfully without bargaining or setting terms. Though they have labored only briefly they receive a full day's pay, which they know they have not earned, and they receive it with surprise, gratitude and joy. Their trust that the householder will do what is right illustrates humble faith and obedience, and their reward is by grace rather than merit, amount accomplished, or visible results. God values this humble, trusting, grateful spirit that serves from love rather than eagerness for reward, in contrast to the hireling spirit that makes terms with God and measures worth against others.
The dying thief shows what this late acceptance means. In faith, patience, contrition and earnestness he fully realized that Jesus could save him, with hope mingled with anguish that without Him he would be eternally lost. Casting his helpless dying soul and body on Christ, he proves that one who turns to Jesus at the very end can still be saved.
The same payment belongs to those who accept the full truth late in life or near its end, including people from other churches who have lived up to the light they had. If earnest they are accepted, put on Christ, grow in understanding, labor earnestly in the appointed work, value God's truths and bring them into daily practice. Those given greater light and opportunity but failing to live by it may instead fall away.
These one-hour laborers come from all nations, tribes and peoples, from the world and the churches, even the Catholic church, and from grossest error and meager opportunity. They open mind and heart to light from the Word, work out salvation with fear and trembling, consecrate ability and entrusted means, choose Christ's side, are true to principle, shun no duty, and declare the whole counsel of God. Their zeal will exceed that of earlier workers. They fill places and take crowns left vacant by those who had great light, opportunities and privileges but turned away, departed from faith and made void God's law. When crisis, calamity and the season of calamity come they come to the front, gird with the whole armor of God, exalt God's law, adhere to the faith of Jesus, see the coming battle over religious liberty and give the trumpet a certain sound, maintaining the cause Reformers defended with toil and lives.
Coming to the Lord even at the eleventh hour, the final opportunity for grace, one may still be saved and receive forgiveness. The call is to come now without waiting or reasoning, throwing oneself at Jesus' feet and crying for mercy with a broken repentant heart, as blind Bartimaeus did. Such coming bears fruit in practical godliness and in making wrongs right. Pardon then, when life's sands are nearly run out, remains open to the chief of sinners coming just as he is with no plea but that Christ died to save him, and to the hardened, hopeless man on the borders of the eternal world falling broken on the Rock Christ Jesus. Yet the sinner must cooperate with God through repentance and confession, for Christ did not die to cover unrepented, unconfessed transgression, with some sins confessed to God alone and to injured parties, not all publicly. Jesus waits at the eleventh hour to reveal Himself to one whose life is nearing its end, and even then the person can hear His voice, open the heart through repentance and faith, and receive Him to abide within.
Warning to Earlier Workers
The first-hired workers embody a hireling spirit that treats service as a bargain, fixing its own wages, stipulating terms with God, and assuming labor entitles them to a stated and higher reward. In contrast to the late workers who labor thankfully without bargaining and trust the householder to do what is right, these self-seeking workers measure their worth against others and by making terms place themselves last in God's estimation. Their attitude is exposed at the close of the day, when those who would not work without the wages they themselves stipulated find themselves last.
The equal payment to those who came last is liberality and true dealing, not injustice, and it wrongs no one who served longer, since the earlier workers received the agreed and promised hire. Long years of service and greater hardship, even work through the burden and heat or only one hour in the cooler part of the day, do not earn salvation nor entitle anyone to a greater reward. Reward is not measured by length of service, and eternal life remains God's gift while human time and abilities are already His in trust for His service.
The parable therefore warns against murmuring at God's goodness and begrudging the Master's liberality toward those added shortly before the close. It forbids claiming greater reward on the ground of long service, measuring worth against others, judging service by its apparent amount, exalting self, disparaging others, and jealous comparisons. Self-exaltation can make those who expect to be first last, for God values the spirit in which work is done, and a grumbling heart over wages needs to be changed. The shorter time of the last workers did not mean they had refused the earlier call, since they had not been hired in the morning, and their acceptance does not excuse refusing a call to work or merely agreeing with truth without obeying it.
Work for Christ is not to be done for wages or human praise, with exact measuring of every hour to do as little as possible to reach the lowest standard, swelling with pride and self-importance, setting the highest estimate on one's own services, or demanding to be esteemed and appreciated. God honors every worker, man or woman, according to fidelity, and gives each the due reward according to the spirit and principles governing the work rather than by how much is visibly accomplished. Purity of motive and an earnest desire to glorify God bring the same reward to one who accomplishes less as to one who accomplishes more, since the first and the last share the eternal reward by grace and not as wages owed or debt that can be claimed as a right or used for boasting over another. Those who are first should therefore gladly welcome those who are last, laboring in love and dependence on God with a consecrated spirit that makes no compromise with self, accounts itself an unprofitable servant beside the Saviour's work, and seeks the fullness of Christ in order to do much for Him.
Wages for laborers in the Lord's vineyard are a sacred transaction between man and his fellow man, to be handled on fair and true and right principles which God's cause can afford. Workers are to follow Christ's self-denying example rather than seek ever-higher pay, even though those hired late also received a wage. Cutting wages without the workers' consent and without understanding their situation, by selfish counsel, changes God's order, turns the back and not the face to God, and reveals a character unfit to handle sacred things. Such dealing is neither justice nor righteousness and does not glorify God, for in many cases it brings families into strait places and want, gives occasion for the enemy to tempt and discourage workers, and drives them from the field.
Closing Work Fulfillment
The eleventh hour is now, the late remaining time to begin serving, the last time of the closing work. The parable of the laborers paid a penny each is especially forceful near the close of earth's history. At that hour divine agencies combine with human effort to accomplish the work, and the work is cut short in a most unexpected manner. Satan brings many temptations against such late service, but he is overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of testimony. That victory is possible because Christ laid off His glorious crown, laid aside His kingly robe, stepped down from His throne of highest command and exaltation, clothed His divinity with humanity to stand at the head of the fallen race, encircling humanity with His human arm while grasping the throne of a merciful, sin-pardoning God with His divine arm, becoming poor so that sinners may become members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ in an eternal inheritance, suffering and dying for salvation and imparting the fragrance of His character to work for souls ready to perish.
At that hour thousands will see and acknowledge the truth and the movements of the Spirit and be converted in a day, in a sudden wave of late recognition and acceptance with a rapidity that will surprise the church, and God's name alone will be glorified. God's Spirit will move as the wind blows where it wishes, in a time and direction and through persons no one can predict, manifested through those no one expects. It will pass by those who have had their day of test and opportunity but did not distinguish the voice of God or appreciate the movings of His Spirit.
This closing work is warfare by principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places, with Satan's almost overpowering deception, requiring sharpened discernment and human effort combined with divine power. The late workers fill places left vacant by death and by those who had great light, opportunities and privileges but turned away, departed from the faith and made void God's law. When the work has become harder and people more hardened, God will raise up self-sacrificing men and women, young and old, with varied abilities, giving them power to serve faithfully and carry His work forward to completion and receive their reward.
The time of God's destructive judgments is also a time of mercy for large numbers who had no opportunity to learn the truth and now hear it for the first time; the Lord looks on them with compassion and admits those who hear and accept it. Through Christ's grace those entering the work of presenting truth late may present it so effectively as to be accounted first. Remaining true to principle they receive the reward and take the places and crowns left vacant by the unfaithful. These one-hour laborers come from all nations, tribes and peoples, from the grossest error and from ways of error with very meager opportunities, yet they open mind and heart to the bright beams of light shining from the Word, work out salvation with fear and trembling, consecrate ability and all entrusted means to advance the work, choose Christ's side, are true to principle, shun no duty, and declare the whole counsel of God.
Many souls who will come out from the ranks of the world and from the churches, even the Catholic church, will join in proclaiming the truth, and their zeal will far exceed that of those who long stood in rank and file. They will see the coming battle over religious liberty and give the trumpet a certain sound. When crisis and calamity and the season of calamity come they will come to the front, 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 which Reformers defended with toil and for which they sacrificed their lives. The Lord will gather at the eleventh hour a company from the world to serve Him, including a converted ministry. Those who accept the truth and become Christ's workers when the final crisis comes, though beginning late, receive the same reward as those who worked throughout the day.
Call to Vineyard Labor
The vineyard is the world, the work of presenting truth to those in darkness for the salvation of fellow men, and every Christian man and woman is called to be a worker in it, with no idlers allowed, for the work of communicating heaven's light is not for ministers alone but the personal responsibility of each church member. The heaviest obligation rests on the one whose means and opportunity are greatest, and perseverance in the appointed task increases usefulness and bears fruit to God's glory. Christians are to be wide awake and zealous in this labor, following Christ's example of self-denial, sacrifice, and faithful work for the salvation of others.
That labor is to be whole-hearted and earnest, faithful and untiring, sowing the seed of truth without consulting inclination or personal ease. True workers serve with prayer and faith, restrain natural appetite and passion, and show through their lives the power of the truth they teach, so their labor has effect. Those who labor feel the worth of the soul for whom Christ died and send up earnest prayers in faith for those not fully in the truth, giving themselves to God and centering affections and hopes in Him. The work is sacred and must be handled with a sense of its sacredness, not with trifling frivolity as if it were common labor.
Each laborer has work appointed to him and his own part to act, both the high and influential and the lowly, in one great field spread through many places rather than centered in one earthly place. God's vineyard is in all places, with men in every part whom God Himself teaches and leads and guides, for God Himself is ruler and counselor and guardian over each part, and all can work together in perfect harmony without being bound with human cords to one center and without selfish rivalry, warning the careless and seeking the lost. No person should prescribe another's duty contrary to conviction, and people should take up work without waiting for a regular process, with those serving in irregular lines also winning souls and learning by experience what it means to work together with God.
The call presses urgently into destitute fields and unworked fields where memorials for truth should stand, into the cities to win souls and redeem lost time, into new fields to carry the burden of the message and raise up Sabbathkeepers, and into the work needed for youth and children and for suffering people through every opportunity to do good. When responsible leaders fail to prepare the way in destitute fields, workers may make their own way and seek help directly. God has a place in His vineyard for everyone who believes, employing a variety of talents, and honors every worker, man or woman, according to fidelity, with advantages of self-culture and measure of capacity or learning mattering far less than the spirit prompting to action.
God accepts young men who consecrate themselves to Him unreservedly as laborers to use powers of mind in His service, study the Scriptures, become intelligent in spiritual knowledge and the things of the kingdom, warn sinners and win souls to Christ, turn sinners to Christ and point the unbelieving and desponding heavenward, walking in the light from one degree of light and strength to another as earnest, persevering, successful workers. Sisters who pray and then with humble heart write missionary letters and distribute tracts and papers become educated as acceptable workers. Labor in the vineyard is gospel work that sells books expressing faith and giving light to the purchaser, bears the burden of souls, and learns how to win people to truth, while those who use their powers for selfish financial interests to sell books and pictures that do not express faith refuse to labor there.
Those hired late are welcomed into the work and receive a place, for Christ sees potential where people seem discouraging or unqualified, and as they learn and depend on the Holy Spirit He can fit them for useful work and develop abilities He can use. Humble beginners can be fitted by God to serve, and even very late in the day it is not too late to prepare capable workers, develop abilities, educate for positions of trust, and train others by example and instruction. Workers beginning a new part of the work should receive help from those with experience. Entering the ministry is being accepted by God to work in His vineyard, and God accepts laborers with good abilities, yet even those with acceptable abilities need schooling in the common branches of education, the truths of God's word for this time, and lectures upon the prophecies, to discipline the mind, develop and direct its powers understandingly, serve intelligently, best represent the religion of the Bible, and be useful in advancing His glory.
Those going out to mission work need experience in cultivating the soil and in manual labor, with training fitting them to take hold of any line of work where called, and the most effectual work is done by those who, having been educated in practical life, go out prepared to instruct as they have been instructed, with school land faithfully cultivated and buildings cared for by students so love of sports and amusements passes away. Entrusted means lent by God are to be used to advance His work in the vineyard rather than treated as children's inheritance by right, and God-given abilities are to be put to service to do good rather than turned toward selfish gain. All are required to be workers with no idlers, today is a day of trust and opportunity before the coming day of reckoning shows how accounts stand, the church is made up of vessels large and small with the smaller not expected to hold as much as the larger, and the Lord expects interest from entrusted talents in proportion to capital, ability, and opportunity, with each responsible for use or abuse thereof.
The Lord looking over the work to be done sees unworked and destitute fields and requires equity and just judgment, so that a large amount of means is not selfishly absorbed in one place or one line while other parts lack facilities, but every building is erected with reference to other places needing similar buildings, other parts of the vineyard are given a chance to have facilities, and the work spreads through many small sanitariums, treatment rooms in many cities, and hygienic restaurants rather than one mammoth institution. Workers are to serve wherever needed and not choose work for personal enjoyment or gain. Perseverance increases usefulness and helps bear fruit to God's glory, and workers who persevere may be given many souls as their hire. Parents are to be active workers rather than idlers, missionaries are to be trained and sent to labor, and gospel workers laboring in the field are to be supported.
Those who respond to mercy's invitation can have service accepted and share the reward of rest, the commendation Well done, and eternal life, and even those who begin late are included, with faithful workers welcomed to the joy of the Lord when warfare ends and work is finished. Those entering late may labor earnestly in the work appointed, value God's truths, and put them into daily practice, and they are not excluded from the same wage because of short time worked. Even humble labor for right has its reward, devoted willing labor prepares people for Christ's coming, and Christ's servants, paid by the price of His blood and sufferings, are called to work willingly. In some uses the vineyard workers serve only as an image of service without explaining the penny, applied to assigning work to those standing idle and correcting mistakes to set them working again, to doing Christ's work of saving souls with faithful labor, to students who unite with the Saviour growing spiritually and becoming valuable workers, and to the general call to enter and labor for souls.
At evening the laborers hired in the morning and at the third, sixth, ninth and eleventh hours are called to be paid beginning from the last to the first, so those hired about the eleventh hour come first and each receive a penny. That penny is the same full day's wage given to those hired earlier, though the last worked only one hour in the cooler part of the day. The equal payment is not injustice to the earlier workers, who receive what was agreed, but shows the owner's freedom, goodness and generosity, for eternal life is God's gift and not wages owed for length of time, burden borne or amount accomplished. It welcomes poor, unworthy sinners who come to Christ late after long neglect, and those who accept the full truth late in life or near the end, who trust Him to do what is right without bargaining and receive more than they expected with gratitude and joy. It warns those called first against a hireling, bargaining spirit, murmuring, jealous comparison and claiming greater reward for long service, for self-exaltation can make those expecting to be first last.
Parable Setting and Wording
The evening settlement comes after a householder, to whom the kingdom of heaven is likened, hires laborers into his vineyard for a penny a day in the early morning and again at the third, sixth, ninth, and eleventh hours. At evening the lord of the vineyard directs his steward to call the laborers and pay them, beginning from the last to the first. Those hired about the eleventh hour therefore come first, and each receives a penny.
Christ calls laborers into His vineyard at different hours, and the master watches over His workers and calls them to serve. Each person has work appointed to him in the Lord's vineyard. The penny is given to those who labored, not to those who loitered, so receiving the reward calls for faithful work. The workers hired at the eleventh hour receive the same penny as the other workers. This parable is especially forceful near the close of earth's history.
Generous Equal Reward
Those hired about the eleventh hour came first at pay time and each received a penny, the same full day's wage given to those hired earlier, though they had labored only one hour in the cooler part of the day. The reward is not measured by length of time spent working, and service is valued by the spirit of faith and love in which it is given. Even those added to the work shortly before its close receive what has been promised, and their equal reward is no wrong to those who served longer.
The equal payment displays the householder's freedom to be generous and to give the last as much as the first, his goodness, generosity, liberality and true dealing. It is not an injustice and does not wrong the earlier workers, who received the agreed, proper hire they had stipulated. It represents God's dealing with the human family and reveals His liberality and the principles of His kingdom, which are higher than human standards of proportional reward. Hearts free from selfishness recognize that liberality rather than resent it.
The reward is not measured by length of time, burden, amount accomplished, or visible results, and it is not earned as wages owed, debt, or merit. Eternal life is God's gift given according to His gracious purpose, while people's time and abilities already belong to Him and are entrusted in trust for His service. The mistaken expectation that longer service earns greater reward is thus exposed, and treating service as a claim to higher payment gives place to receiving grace on right principles.
The late workers had made no fixed agreement, set no terms, and asked no questions about wages, but trusted the owner to do what was right and just and equitable, leaving their pay to his discretion. Knowing they had not earned a full day's pay, they were surprised by the householder's kindness and received more than they expected with gratitude and joy. This illustrates the humble, trusting, grateful spirit God values, which serves from love rather than eagerness for reward and is content simply to be accepted. God values the spirit brought to the work rather than hours worked, and Christ accepts penitent sinners who come in humble faith and obedience even at a late hour.
Their shorter time in the vineyard did not mean they had refused the earlier call, for they had not been hired in the morning. Their equal wage therefore does not excuse refusing a call to work or merely agreeing with truth without obeying it. Self-exaltation on the basis of long service can make those who expect to be first last.
Late Workers Welcomed
The eleventh-hour workers are poor, unworthy sinners who come to Christ late after long neglecting His service. They expect little and are content if Christ will simply accept them, working thankfully without bargaining or setting terms. Though they have labored only briefly they receive a full day's pay, which they know they have not earned, and they receive it with surprise, gratitude and joy. Their trust that the householder will do what is right illustrates humble faith and obedience, and their reward is by grace rather than merit, amount accomplished, or visible results. God values this humble, trusting, grateful spirit that serves from love rather than eagerness for reward, in contrast to the hireling spirit that makes terms with God and measures worth against others.
The dying thief shows what this late acceptance means. In faith, patience, contrition and earnestness he fully realized that Jesus could save him, with hope mingled with anguish that without Him he would be eternally lost. Casting his helpless dying soul and body on Christ, he proves that one who turns to Jesus at the very end can still be saved.
The same payment belongs to those who accept the full truth late in life or near its end, including people from other churches who have lived up to the light they had. If earnest they are accepted, put on Christ, grow in understanding, labor earnestly in the appointed work, value God's truths and bring them into daily practice. Those given greater light and opportunity but failing to live by it may instead fall away.
These one-hour laborers come from all nations, tribes and peoples, from the world and the churches, even the Catholic church, and from grossest error and meager opportunity. They open mind and heart to light from the Word, work out salvation with fear and trembling, consecrate ability and entrusted means, choose Christ's side, are true to principle, shun no duty, and declare the whole counsel of God. Their zeal will exceed that of earlier workers. They fill places and take crowns left vacant by those who had great light, opportunities and privileges but turned away, departed from faith and made void God's law. When crisis, calamity and the season of calamity come they come to the front, gird with the whole armor of God, exalt God's law, adhere to the faith of Jesus, see the coming battle over religious liberty and give the trumpet a certain sound, maintaining the cause Reformers defended with toil and lives.
Coming to the Lord even at the eleventh hour, the final opportunity for grace, one may still be saved and receive forgiveness. The call is to come now without waiting or reasoning, throwing oneself at Jesus' feet and crying for mercy with a broken repentant heart, as blind Bartimaeus did. Such coming bears fruit in practical godliness and in making wrongs right. Pardon then, when life's sands are nearly run out, remains open to the chief of sinners coming just as he is with no plea but that Christ died to save him, and to the hardened, hopeless man on the borders of the eternal world falling broken on the Rock Christ Jesus. Yet the sinner must cooperate with God through repentance and confession, for Christ did not die to cover unrepented, unconfessed transgression, with some sins confessed to God alone and to injured parties, not all publicly. Jesus waits at the eleventh hour to reveal Himself to one whose life is nearing its end, and even then the person can hear His voice, open the heart through repentance and faith, and receive Him to abide within.
Warning to Earlier Workers
The first-hired workers embody a hireling spirit that treats service as a bargain, fixing its own wages, stipulating terms with God, and assuming labor entitles them to a stated and higher reward. In contrast to the late workers who labor thankfully without bargaining and trust the householder to do what is right, these self-seeking workers measure their worth against others and by making terms place themselves last in God's estimation. Their attitude is exposed at the close of the day, when those who would not work without the wages they themselves stipulated find themselves last.
The equal payment to those who came last is liberality and true dealing, not injustice, and it wrongs no one who served longer, since the earlier workers received the agreed and promised hire. Long years of service and greater hardship, even work through the burden and heat or only one hour in the cooler part of the day, do not earn salvation nor entitle anyone to a greater reward. Reward is not measured by length of service, and eternal life remains God's gift while human time and abilities are already His in trust for His service.
The parable therefore warns against murmuring at God's goodness and begrudging the Master's liberality toward those added shortly before the close. It forbids claiming greater reward on the ground of long service, measuring worth against others, judging service by its apparent amount, exalting self, disparaging others, and jealous comparisons. Self-exaltation can make those who expect to be first last, for God values the spirit in which work is done, and a grumbling heart over wages needs to be changed. The shorter time of the last workers did not mean they had refused the earlier call, since they had not been hired in the morning, and their acceptance does not excuse refusing a call to work or merely agreeing with truth without obeying it.
Work for Christ is not to be done for wages or human praise, with exact measuring of every hour to do as little as possible to reach the lowest standard, swelling with pride and self-importance, setting the highest estimate on one's own services, or demanding to be esteemed and appreciated. God honors every worker, man or woman, according to fidelity, and gives each the due reward according to the spirit and principles governing the work rather than by how much is visibly accomplished. Purity of motive and an earnest desire to glorify God bring the same reward to one who accomplishes less as to one who accomplishes more, since the first and the last share the eternal reward by grace and not as wages owed or debt that can be claimed as a right or used for boasting over another. Those who are first should therefore gladly welcome those who are last, laboring in love and dependence on God with a consecrated spirit that makes no compromise with self, accounts itself an unprofitable servant beside the Saviour's work, and seeks the fullness of Christ in order to do much for Him.
Wages for laborers in the Lord's vineyard are a sacred transaction between man and his fellow man, to be handled on fair and true and right principles which God's cause can afford. Workers are to follow Christ's self-denying example rather than seek ever-higher pay, even though those hired late also received a wage. Cutting wages without the workers' consent and without understanding their situation, by selfish counsel, changes God's order, turns the back and not the face to God, and reveals a character unfit to handle sacred things. Such dealing is neither justice nor righteousness and does not glorify God, for in many cases it brings families into strait places and want, gives occasion for the enemy to tempt and discourage workers, and drives them from the field.
Closing Work Fulfillment
The eleventh hour is now, the late remaining time to begin serving, the last time of the closing work. The parable of the laborers paid a penny each is especially forceful near the close of earth's history. At that hour divine agencies combine with human effort to accomplish the work, and the work is cut short in a most unexpected manner. Satan brings many temptations against such late service, but he is overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of testimony. That victory is possible because Christ laid off His glorious crown, laid aside His kingly robe, stepped down from His throne of highest command and exaltation, clothed His divinity with humanity to stand at the head of the fallen race, encircling humanity with His human arm while grasping the throne of a merciful, sin-pardoning God with His divine arm, becoming poor so that sinners may become members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ in an eternal inheritance, suffering and dying for salvation and imparting the fragrance of His character to work for souls ready to perish.
At that hour thousands will see and acknowledge the truth and the movements of the Spirit and be converted in a day, in a sudden wave of late recognition and acceptance with a rapidity that will surprise the church, and God's name alone will be glorified. God's Spirit will move as the wind blows where it wishes, in a time and direction and through persons no one can predict, manifested through those no one expects. It will pass by those who have had their day of test and opportunity but did not distinguish the voice of God or appreciate the movings of His Spirit.
This closing work is warfare by principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places, with Satan's almost overpowering deception, requiring sharpened discernment and human effort combined with divine power. The late workers fill places left vacant by death and by those who had great light, opportunities and privileges but turned away, departed from the faith and made void God's law. When the work has become harder and people more hardened, God will raise up self-sacrificing men and women, young and old, with varied abilities, giving them power to serve faithfully and carry His work forward to completion and receive their reward.
The time of God's destructive judgments is also a time of mercy for large numbers who had no opportunity to learn the truth and now hear it for the first time; the Lord looks on them with compassion and admits those who hear and accept it. Through Christ's grace those entering the work of presenting truth late may present it so effectively as to be accounted first. Remaining true to principle they receive the reward and take the places and crowns left vacant by the unfaithful. These one-hour laborers come from all nations, tribes and peoples, from the grossest error and from ways of error with very meager opportunities, yet they open mind and heart to the bright beams of light shining from the Word, work out salvation with fear and trembling, consecrate ability and all entrusted means to advance the work, choose Christ's side, are true to principle, shun no duty, and declare the whole counsel of God.
Many souls who will come out from the ranks of the world and from the churches, even the Catholic church, will join in proclaiming the truth, and their zeal will far exceed that of those who long stood in rank and file. They will see the coming battle over religious liberty and give the trumpet a certain sound. When crisis and calamity and the season of calamity come they will come to the front, 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 which Reformers defended with toil and for which they sacrificed their lives. The Lord will gather at the eleventh hour a company from the world to serve Him, including a converted ministry. Those who accept the truth and become Christ's workers when the final crisis comes, though beginning late, receive the same reward as those who worked throughout the day.
Call to Vineyard Labor
The vineyard is the world, the work of presenting truth to those in darkness for the salvation of fellow men, and every Christian man and woman is called to be a worker in it, with no idlers allowed, for the work of communicating heaven's light is not for ministers alone but the personal responsibility of each church member. The heaviest obligation rests on the one whose means and opportunity are greatest, and perseverance in the appointed task increases usefulness and bears fruit to God's glory. Christians are to be wide awake and zealous in this labor, following Christ's example of self-denial, sacrifice, and faithful work for the salvation of others.
That labor is to be whole-hearted and earnest, faithful and untiring, sowing the seed of truth without consulting inclination or personal ease. True workers serve with prayer and faith, restrain natural appetite and passion, and show through their lives the power of the truth they teach, so their labor has effect. Those who labor feel the worth of the soul for whom Christ died and send up earnest prayers in faith for those not fully in the truth, giving themselves to God and centering affections and hopes in Him. The work is sacred and must be handled with a sense of its sacredness, not with trifling frivolity as if it were common labor.
Each laborer has work appointed to him and his own part to act, both the high and influential and the lowly, in one great field spread through many places rather than centered in one earthly place. God's vineyard is in all places, with men in every part whom God Himself teaches and leads and guides, for God Himself is ruler and counselor and guardian over each part, and all can work together in perfect harmony without being bound with human cords to one center and without selfish rivalry, warning the careless and seeking the lost. No person should prescribe another's duty contrary to conviction, and people should take up work without waiting for a regular process, with those serving in irregular lines also winning souls and learning by experience what it means to work together with God.
The call presses urgently into destitute fields and unworked fields where memorials for truth should stand, into the cities to win souls and redeem lost time, into new fields to carry the burden of the message and raise up Sabbathkeepers, and into the work needed for youth and children and for suffering people through every opportunity to do good. When responsible leaders fail to prepare the way in destitute fields, workers may make their own way and seek help directly. God has a place in His vineyard for everyone who believes, employing a variety of talents, and honors every worker, man or woman, according to fidelity, with advantages of self-culture and measure of capacity or learning mattering far less than the spirit prompting to action.
God accepts young men who consecrate themselves to Him unreservedly as laborers to use powers of mind in His service, study the Scriptures, become intelligent in spiritual knowledge and the things of the kingdom, warn sinners and win souls to Christ, turn sinners to Christ and point the unbelieving and desponding heavenward, walking in the light from one degree of light and strength to another as earnest, persevering, successful workers. Sisters who pray and then with humble heart write missionary letters and distribute tracts and papers become educated as acceptable workers. Labor in the vineyard is gospel work that sells books expressing faith and giving light to the purchaser, bears the burden of souls, and learns how to win people to truth, while those who use their powers for selfish financial interests to sell books and pictures that do not express faith refuse to labor there.
Those hired late are welcomed into the work and receive a place, for Christ sees potential where people seem discouraging or unqualified, and as they learn and depend on the Holy Spirit He can fit them for useful work and develop abilities He can use. Humble beginners can be fitted by God to serve, and even very late in the day it is not too late to prepare capable workers, develop abilities, educate for positions of trust, and train others by example and instruction. Workers beginning a new part of the work should receive help from those with experience. Entering the ministry is being accepted by God to work in His vineyard, and God accepts laborers with good abilities, yet even those with acceptable abilities need schooling in the common branches of education, the truths of God's word for this time, and lectures upon the prophecies, to discipline the mind, develop and direct its powers understandingly, serve intelligently, best represent the religion of the Bible, and be useful in advancing His glory.
Those going out to mission work need experience in cultivating the soil and in manual labor, with training fitting them to take hold of any line of work where called, and the most effectual work is done by those who, having been educated in practical life, go out prepared to instruct as they have been instructed, with school land faithfully cultivated and buildings cared for by students so love of sports and amusements passes away. Entrusted means lent by God are to be used to advance His work in the vineyard rather than treated as children's inheritance by right, and God-given abilities are to be put to service to do good rather than turned toward selfish gain. All are required to be workers with no idlers, today is a day of trust and opportunity before the coming day of reckoning shows how accounts stand, the church is made up of vessels large and small with the smaller not expected to hold as much as the larger, and the Lord expects interest from entrusted talents in proportion to capital, ability, and opportunity, with each responsible for use or abuse thereof.
The Lord looking over the work to be done sees unworked and destitute fields and requires equity and just judgment, so that a large amount of means is not selfishly absorbed in one place or one line while other parts lack facilities, but every building is erected with reference to other places needing similar buildings, other parts of the vineyard are given a chance to have facilities, and the work spreads through many small sanitariums, treatment rooms in many cities, and hygienic restaurants rather than one mammoth institution. Workers are to serve wherever needed and not choose work for personal enjoyment or gain. Perseverance increases usefulness and helps bear fruit to God's glory, and workers who persevere may be given many souls as their hire. Parents are to be active workers rather than idlers, missionaries are to be trained and sent to labor, and gospel workers laboring in the field are to be supported.
Those who respond to mercy's invitation can have service accepted and share the reward of rest, the commendation Well done, and eternal life, and even those who begin late are included, with faithful workers welcomed to the joy of the Lord when warfare ends and work is finished. Those entering late may labor earnestly in the work appointed, value God's truths, and put them into daily practice, and they are not excluded from the same wage because of short time worked. Even humble labor for right has its reward, devoted willing labor prepares people for Christ's coming, and Christ's servants, paid by the price of His blood and sufferings, are called to work willingly. In some uses the vineyard workers serve only as an image of service without explaining the penny, applied to assigning work to those standing idle and correcting mistakes to set them working again, to doing Christ's work of saving souls with faithful labor, to students who unite with the Saviour growing spiritually and becoming valuable workers, and to the general call to enter and labor for souls.