all time of our prosperity, in the hour of death, and in the day of judgment." For we may rest assured He will never forsake us, but in times of worldly fear rebuke our anxieties, saying, "Peace, be still." In the last hours of sickness and pain, and in the very presence of death, He speaks again, "Peace, be still." And in the final end of all things, when "the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up," "yea, and the wicked shall be cast out forever from the presence of God," He shall speak yet this once more, "Peace, be still," and the winds and the sea shail cease their fury, and there shall be a great calm: an eternal rest, such as never was before.

And then shall the faith of the disciples of the Master be changed to sight, and they shall see and know what manner of Being this is, that the winds and the sea obey Him. Yea, and all things visible and invisible; for He is the eternal "Word, who was in the beginning, was with God, and was God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made." "And the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." "And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth: And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God, the Father."

TEXT:

SEPTUAGESIMA.

THE WORKERS AND THE WAGES.

For the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard.-St. Matt. xx, 1.

By the REV. A. G. L. TREW, D. D.,

Rector of the Church of the Epiphany, Los Angeles, California.

HE parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard begins

THE

with the word "For.” That word gives us the clue to its interpretation. It links it on to what precedes it. It shows us that the parable furnishes the illustration, and gives the reason, for that which the Lord had just spoken. To find, then, the meaning of the parable, let us look first at the chapter preceding it.

The rich young man had come to the Good Master with the enquiry, "What good thing shall I do, that I may inherit eternal life?" The test applied by Christ, to whom his secret heart was open, was too much for him. The Commandments he had kept, and would keep, but when it came to the severance of the ties which bound him to his money, that was more than he could stand. He went away, "sorrowful" it is true, but resolved still to keep his great possessions, rather than purchase eternal life by sacrificing them.

Jesus then earnestly assured the disciples that for the rich it is much harder than for the poor to enter into the Kingdom of God. Peter at once contrasts the conduct

of himself, and the other disciples, with that of the rich young man, who had just proved that he preferred his property to the companionship of Jesus. He sees himself in a very favorable light. In self-complacent words he declares: All that you called for from the young man, and in which he failed, we have done. We have met the test, we have forsaken all to follow Thee—now what, he demands, shall we receive in return therefore? The Lord answers Peter's question: Ye who have followed Me, at the cost of self sacrifice, shall in effect receive back all that ye have forsaken, and more, too; and ye shall also inherit everlasting life. But beware!-there is a but. Take heed. Do not think of yourselves more highly than ye ought to think. For at the day of Judgment there will be a reversal of places, and many who now are first will then, be last, and the last shall be first. "For the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a man that is an householder,”—and then follows the parable.

It is plain therefore that the parable was spoken as an answer, and a warning, to that state of mind which lay under Peter's question. Not to the question itself,for the direct answer to that has been already given in the preceding verses-but to the feeling which prompted the question; and that feeling was a complacent self-satisfaction, nearly related to spiritual pride, and putting the future reward upon the basis, not of right relationship to God, but of so much return for so much labor.

The lesson meant to be conveyed is two-fold:

1st. It is a warning against the envious and selfish spirit which sees in the good done to another an unfair discrimination against oneself;

2nd. It declares that the wages which each will receive, in the evening, when the laborers are called to re

ceive their hire, will be given, not because of the work done, but, because of the free goodness of God.

This is the main purpose of the parable, these are the central lessons designed, at the time, for the instruction and reproof of him who asked the question, and of those who sympathized with his question. That there are other lessons which may be gathered from it is no disproof of this view of the parable; for the words spoken by Him who is the Word of God are too full of meaning and of life to be exhausted by one set of circumstances and one application. But the other meanings are ranged around these.

"The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a man who went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard." He offers them work at stipulated wages, they accept the terms offered, and enter into the contract. At a later hour he met others seeking work, and sent them also to his vineyard, no wages being specified, and the laborers exercising a generous trust in his fairness. And so at noon, and in the middle of the afternoon; and then again when but one hour remained for work. In the evening the steward is directed to call the laborers and give them their hire; and those who were last employed are the ones first paid. They are given the same amount which the laborers engaged in the early morning had agreed to work for.

At once these become dissatisfied, and begin to think that they ought to receive more. And when they are paid the full amount which they had willingly agreed to take, they murmur and complain-the only ground of their complaint being, not that they had received less than their due, but that others had been treated generously. Then the lord of the vineyard justifies his action:

I have given you the full amount you yourselves agreed on. No wrong has been done you. If I should choose to do it, I have the right to scale down proportionately the payments to these others; but in free good will I choose to give them more than I am bound to. But because I am good to them-how does that harm you? Can you not see another person get an unexpected gain without feeling that you are wronged? His gain takes. nothing from you. Why, then, should you put yourself in the wrong? If another receives a benefit, do not feel that you are thereby injured. No; be generous and rejoice in it. Do not let my goodness bring out into view your ill-will.

There are in every parable, and in this one, perhaps, more than in most, many details which would repay close study, minute accessories often leading us to helpful and practical truths. But it will be well now to confine ourselves to three points.

First, the reward contemplated in the parable is Eternal Life; that which was sought in the young man's quest, that which was promised to St. Peter and to those who, like him, have forsaken earthly good things for the companionship of Jesus. The day, with its different hours, passes; each man receives his wages; and each man receives the same. The fact that all are paid an equal amount shows that all are put upon an equal footing in relation to the future reward. The basis of its. apportionment is not the amount of work done by each, but the free good will and loving grace of God.

Christ thus rebukes the feeling which would assert that because we have labored long, and have endured hardship, therefore we are entitled to claim more than others, and should rightly hold a higher place in God's.