(Matthew 20.)

In considering this parable, we do well to remember the remark, or question, of Peter that led up to it. The Lord had been speaking of the impossibility of a rich man entering the kingdom of God with his riches, and Peter says, "Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed Thee; what shall we have therefore ?" In answering him, the Lord shows, on the one hand, the portion of those who leave aught to follow Him; and, on the other, by the parable before us, that God's ways are not as man's, nor His thoughts as our thoughts.

The wrong thoughts entertained by the disciples, no doubt, gave rise to the parable. It also, of course, teaches us, who are prone to make the same mistake. We must bear in mind that the disciples, though in company with the Lord, were nevertheless laboring under many mistaken ideas, such as had no doubt been taught them from infancy-ideas which were peculiar to that nation, but which illustrate the universal mistakes of men in their thoughts of God and His ways; hence their surprise when the Lord assured them of the difficulty of the rich in finding entrance to the kingdom. " Who then can be saved ?" shows that they regarded the rich as much more likely to enter the kingdom than the poor. We need not be surprised at this, for in the kingdoms of this world it is the men of wealth who get the favors and the good places; and when the traditions of the elders have set aside and made of none effect the word of God, even God's people have wrong thoughts. May not the same thing be said of the Church's traditions to-day ? What truth of Christianity has not the "woman " of the parable of Matt. 13 leavened ?

The Lord therefore, in the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, sets forth God's own way of service and reward-how it would obtain in His kingdom. The general features of the parable show, first of all, that God has a right to do with His own things as it pleases Him-a fact which seems simple enough in itself, or as applied to ourselves, but denied to God by man more than any other right; though, as far as man is concerned, if he finds a place in that kingdom at all, he owes it to that grace which he would hinder from having its sway. The objection raised by those who wrought twelve hours against their fellow-laborers amounts to the same thing as that raised by the "elder son"; but if they got what they had agreed upon for their labor, what business was it of theirs what their master did with his own ? Had they been dealt with unrighteously, they had just cause for complaint; otherwise they were interfering with the rights of their master, and deserved the rebuke given them.

Applying the lesson of the parable, it serves to illustrate the difference between law and grace; indeed, this is the lesson which stands out upon the face of it. Being a parable of the kingdom, there is the thought of service as well as of responsibility involved in it; but even these are shown to be controlled by that principle which God loves, and under which alone there can be blessing for man anywhere or in any age-that of grace. The Lord was not setting forth the gospel exactly-though the truth presented here has its bearing in that direction ; for if we think of the gospel, it is impossible to concede that the blessing of it could be had in the way spoken of here; for evidently those who worked but the hour, did work, and the gospel says, "To him that worketh not, but believeth, . . . his faith " is blessed.

Nevertheless, even in our service for the Lord, were it not that the Master whom we serve is the God of all grace, how could we bear the thought of our work passing underneath His eyes, which are as "a flame of fire" ? On the other hand, knowing His grace will not lessen the tone of our service, but, on the contrary, if properly understood and appreciated, will exalt it. The apostle who could say, comparing his work with those whom he honors as being greater than himself, " I labored more abundantly than they all," is careful to add, "yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me":while the "wicked and slothful servant" who hid his talent in the earth, and wrought nothing at all for his lord, was the one who said to his master, " I knew thee, that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed; and I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth:lo, there thou hast that is thine."

All this goes to show us that there can be no real, no genuine service rendered to the Lord Jesus Christ on the part of any who are ignorant of His grace. That, and that alone, can inspire us; and what comes from the sense of this is alone of any value to Him; to attempt to serve One who is full of love and mercy in the spirit of legality cannot have His approval, but rather, must meet His frown.

If, then, we suppose that those who entered the vineyard early represent those who sought a place of honor in the kingdom on account of their supposed faithfulness, and those who came in later in the day to be those who looked for no reward except what the Lord's grace was to bestow upon them (and it seems that this is really the thought of the parable), we then have a plain view of its teaching. May the Lord grant to us, each one, to serve Him in that spirit of grace, counting on its all-sufficiency to sustain us in it, to the praise of that One whose grace it is. "Therefore we receiving a kingdom (of grace) that cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:for our God is a consuming fire." W. H.