:

brother, in the parable of the returning prodigal. But God would have mercy on the Gentiles without doing any injustice to the Jews. It is remarkable that a precise stipulation was made with the labourers first called into the vineyard; whereas those who were subsequently engaged were only told that they should receive due compensation and this may serve to intimate the different character of the two dispensations, Mosaic and Evangelical. All this is, more or less clearly, within the scope of our Saviour's meaning.-The secondary interpretation, which regards the several hours of the day as pointing to the various periods of an individual's life, proceeds, I think, upon less certain grounds; and may easily be so stated or understood, as to be open to serious objection. However, if adopted according to the analogy of faith, it may be made useful for edification, and may give rise to much profitable reflection. All Christians, we must remember, have been called into God's vineyard, from their early days ;-if they have remained idle, this has not been for want of a call, but through their own fault; and we cannot but fear that they who refuse to give their hearts and services to God until the end of their lives, will be great losers by their unbelief unbelief and backwardness. But all will receive their due; not indeed the fruit of their deserts, but that treatment which is just and right according to the covenant of grace. And if some late convert should be found more zealous and active in the

service of his master than older believers, and should receive a higher reward at last, yet none will have cause to complain on this account, and all will be bound to declare, "Just and true are thy ways, thou king of saints."

The details of the parable do not need much explanation." The penny," or Roman denarius, here mentioned as the hire of the labourers, is equal to about sevenpence halfpenny of our money, or a little more; so

that wages are reckoned at the rate of 3s. 9d. or 4s. a week.-The hours of the day are reckoned in the manner following: Sunrise was the first hour, so that the third hour was about nine o'clock in the morning, the sixth hour, twelve o'clock, the ninth hour, three,-and the eleventh hour, five.

In this parable it is especially important to observe that rule which applies to the interpretation of parables generally,-namely, not to argue from particular circumstances introduced into the narrative, but to keep the mind steadily fixed on the meaning and bearing of the whole.

It must be borne in mind that this parable was spoken by our Lord in. continuation of his answer to St. Peter, the beginning of which is recorded in the latter end of the preceding chapter. In this answer our Saviour was speaking especially of those who should make extraordinary sacrifices, and evince uncommon devotedness and zeal, for God's service in gospel times. And hence it is more than probable that the reference in the parable is to such labourers as these,-to those who may be regarded

and to his love. It is a vineyard, because his servants labour, and indolence is forbidden. Each of us is hired, or rather created, that we may work out our salvation according to the will of God.

No season disqualifies for the work of salvation; and the mercy of God can give effect to that work at any hour, however late. No age, indeed, will excuse us for standing idle; and yet it is never too late to engage in that work without which eternity is hopeless. Alas! the world is full of men who pass their whole existence in idleness; and are about to quit life without having ever learned for what end it was bestowed. Unless the great master hire and send us into his vineyard,-unless Jesus Christ himself seek us out, and send us forth, and engage us in his work, we shall either remain sunk in indolence, or we shall work only the works of darkness. Salvation is in Christ alone; without him man is abandoned to himself, that is to impotence and darkness,

When even was come, the labourers were summoned to receive their wages. We must labour throughout the day, until the evening come,-through life, until death. Happy evening, and commencement of the glorious day of eternity for those who have laboured in faith and hope, looking for the coming of the Lord from heaven, the dispenser of his Father's blessings! It is a matter of consolation to the weakest Christian to know that none who have loved and served the gracious Saviour shall be ashamed in his presence, or fail of the reward.

True conversion, although at the eleventh hour, will be followed by the reward; but to defer the business of salvation until the latest season, is to put every thing to hazard. The everlasting enjoyment of God is vouchsafed to all God's labourers alike. A moment, indeed, may secure it; but it is no less madness to wait for that moment in rash presumption, than to let it pass away through distrust of God's mercy.

They murmured against the goodman of the house.-Yes: these are those who murmur at God's gracious dispensation. There are, it may be, not a few whose long labour, severe austerities, and abstinence from outward sins serve only to nourish their pride, to fill them with contempt for other men, and to give them a feeling as if God were in their debt. Our best doings are but destructive of salvation, unless we refer them, in grateful lowliness of spirit, to God as their true originator,-unless we acknowledge that we are unprofitable servants, and that, in giving us our hire, God will bestow a reward, not of debt, but of grace. All his recompences are gratuitous; since they are but the acknowledgment of those services which he has himself given the will and the power to perform.

The last shall be first, and the first last; for many be called, but few chosen.-Our dependence must be not on ourselves, not on our work of righteousness, but on the goodness. and grace of God. God proportions. his bounty, not by the order of vocation, nor by the duration of labour, nor by the difficulty of the task, nor

by the greatness of the work, but by the love, the lowliness, the faithfulness with which he has himself inspired the heart. The lower the value" we put upon our labour, the greater will be the hire. We have nothing that we have not received; and it behoves us always to keep this in mind. Our only title to glory is the promise of God and the truly humble will never lose sight of this; not envying the brighter graces or the higher gifts of others, but retaining the consciousness of their own unworthiness, and admiring the greater faithfulness and work of more eminent believers.

:

Jesus Christ distributes his gifts according to his own good pleasure; and each should be content with his portion. The will and designs of God are always supremely righteous; and they are under the direction of infinite wisdom, although completely beyond the range of human reason. In the present life they are hidden from man, that he may learn not to debate with God, but to seek him in the way of faith.

Let us not presume on any thing; neither let us in any wise despair. It is not by their calling, but by their perseverance, that the elect are known. It is for him who giveth after the counsel of his own will to judge concerning the state of man's affections towards himself. Our part is, under all circumstances, to walk humbly; since it is humility alone that can keep the highest in grace from becoming

lowest, and that can make the lowest first.