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Untitled Article
That this parable cannot with any propriety , or even with any conformity to the story itself , be adduced as a proof of the efficacy of a death-bed repentance , or vindication of their folly who wait for it , is abundantly evident ; for even those who were the latest hired laboured one hour in the vineyard ; and consequently had the opportunity of exerting themselves to a considerable extent , though not so much as those who had been occupied during the whole of the day .
At the same time , however , that I should object to the common practice of attempting to make the comparison on which a parable is founded , and the manner in which it is intended to be applied , extend to all the minute particulars and incidental details , and though there can be no doubt that the parable before us was addressed , and intended to be applied , to the Jews of that time , especially such of them as were then present , yet there is in most cases a general principle involved which it commonly requires only a little
reflection and good sense to perceive and apply to ourselves , and from which we may derive some valuable practical improvement . In the present instance , our attention may be directed to the gratuitous nature of the dispensations of divine grace ; which are not to be considered as in any sense rewards for work done , or as measurable by any scale of proportion to the value of the service rendered . To God , indeed , it would be absurd in us to speak of service , that is assistance or benefit , having been rendered at all by
any thing we can do ; and at any rate , they who have laboured the longest will find hereafter—and when they reflect upon their situation , opportunities , and facilities , both for action and enjoyment , they will generally find here , that the blessings they derive from the ordinary mercies of Providence , as well as from the discoveries of the Divine word , are ( if I may so express it ) altogether incommensurate to the exertions they have made . How absurd then for any mortal , under a fancied idea of his own merit , and the greater extent or efficacy of his labours and exertions in his Master ' s cause , to find
fault with his award , or to complain of the allotment of another ! His doing so is a clear proof in itself , that the discipline of this life has not completely formed and established those sentiments in his soul which are necessary to fit him most perfectly for that pure enjoyment which is to be received in the "immediate . presence of our heavenly Father , and which will consist in loving our brethren with a pure heart fervently , cordially rejoicing in their attainments and progress as if it were our own , and referring all that we have and are and shall be , to the great Author and Giver of every good gift .
The privileges bestowed by the gospel are represented in this parable under the similitude of wa ges , by which term , when taken literally , we understand a remuneration for services performed , and proportioned to the amount of work done . But it must be evident to those who bestow on the subject an unprejudiced attention , that it would be quite absurd to regard in this
light even the temporal , and much more the future eternal benefits derived from the dispensation of grace . And herein we see another instance which illustrates the folly of seeking for some minute correspondence to the fact , doctrine , or principle , intended to be conveyed by any parable , in all the circumstantial details by which it is accompanied .
It may not be amiss to observe , that even if we were to grant this inadmissible mode of pursuing the practical application of a parable , the comparison in the present case would not bear out the argument in support of the efficacy of a death-bed repentance , or the equality of the saint and sinner in the sight of God . For the men who were hired at the eleventh hour appear to have been idle during the day , not wilfully , but through a want of
Untitled Article
36 $ - On the Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1831, page 368, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2598/page/8/
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