into the vineyard. If, before beginning they insist on the stipulation
of a wage, and this be agreed to, each shall receive his penny provided
he has not lost his place through idleness or transgression. But those
who diligently labor, knowing that the Master will give to them whatever
is right, and with thought for the work rather than for the wage, shall
find themselves more bountifully enriched. A man may work for wages and
yet not be a hireling. Between the worthy hired servant and the hireling
there is the difference that distinguishes the shepherd from the sheep
herder.[1008] Was there not a suggestion of the hireling's spirit in the
query of even the first of the apostles, "What shall we have therefore?"
The Twelve had been called into service early in the Savior's ministry;
they had responded to the call, without promise of even a penny; they
were yet to feel the burden and heat of the day; but they were solemnly
cautioned against attempt or desire to fix their reward. The Master
shall judge as to the deserts of each servant; the wage at best is a
free gift; for on the basis of strict accounting who of us is not in
debt to God? The last called is as likely as the first to prove
unworthy. No general reversal is implied whereby all the late comers
shall be advanced and all the early workers demoted. "Many that are
first shall be last" was the Lord's statement, and by implication we may
understand that not all the last, though some of them, may be counted
among the first. Of the many called or permitted to labor in the
vineyard of the Lord, few may so excel as to be chosen for exaltation
above their fellows. Even the call and ordination to the Holy
Apostleship is no guarantee of eventual exaltation in the celestial
kingdom. Iscariot was so called and placed among the first; now, verily
he is far below the last in the kingdom of God.

NOTES TO CHAPTER 27.

1. Rich Men and Their Stewards.--"'A certain rich man had a steward,' We
learn here, incidentally, how evenly balanced are the various conditions
of life in a community, and how little of substantial advantage wealth
can confer on its possessor. As your property increases, your personal
control over it diminishes; the more you possess the more you must
entrust to others. Those who do their own work are not troubled with
disobedient servants; those who look after their own affairs, are not
troubled with unfaithful overseers."--Arnot's _Parables of our Lord_, p.