Part 5

But when the first ones, who were hired early in the morning, were given their money, they supposed that they should have received more for their long day's work. But they each received the Roman penny.

Then they began murmuring against the good man of the house, saying: "These last have only worked one hour, and thou hast made them equal to us, who have borne the burden and heat of the day!"

But the lord of the vineyard explained to them that he had given each man what he had agreed upon; and that he had done them no wrong; for he said he had a right to do what he willed with his own money.

Now there are several things to learn from this picture story, and as I go along I think you will see them for yourselves.

The vineyard belongs to the Lord God.

The vines here represent the people in the world whom the Lord wants to store in His beautiful garner, the Heavenly Home, by and by.

The labourers are God's own people, whom He calls to bring those precious grapes into the garner.

God calls each one of us who loves Him to be a labourer in His Kingdom.

To one, who is perhaps strong and able, He gives work that will last him the whole long day of a long life!

Of another, He asks half a lifetime—of another, a quarter of a lifetime; or only one short hour perhaps!

To each one, when the day is ended, the Lord will give His own reward. If the worker has been faithful in what has been given him to do, the Lord of the Harvest will say: "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of thy Lord."

Little children can work for this Heavenly Lord. They can do little kindnesses for Christ's sake; they can try to be like Jesus. They can listen for God's commands like little Samuel, and obey Him when He speaks to them.

These may be like the one hour servants, but they will get their full rewards!

Some of the servants of the Lord of the Harvest have very hard and toilsome work to do. He has given them that to do, and He will surely give them their pay!

What is that pay? Not a Roman penny; not any earthly coins or rewards; but they are promised that if they are wise, and turn many to righteousness, they shall shine as the stars for ever and ever!

Does not this encourage us to do what we can to tell others of the love of Jesus Who died on the Cross that we might be saved?

We can all pray that God will call us to work for Him; and surely, if He does call and we listen to His Voice, He will teach us how to bring many to righteousness, and earn "the crown of glory that fadeth not away!"

XXII. As a Hen Gathereth Her Chickens

Not long before our dear Lord Jesus was crucified, He was walking one day in the streets of Jerusalem.

He had been telling the Scribes and Pharisees that they were trusting in their own goodness, but were far-off from the Kingdom of God.

His loving heart was filled with pity for those who would not come to Him to be saved.

Do you not remember how He had said, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest!"

He longed to have the poor, sorrowful people find joy and rest in Him. Had He not said at the very beginning of His teaching that He had come to bind up the brokenhearted?

So on this day as He passed along through the streets, He noticed a hen with her chickens round her. Perhaps He paused to watch them as they ran hither and thither. Perhaps He heard the hen give a sudden warning cry, and watched the little chickens respond to it by running with outstretched wings to the shelter of her feathers, beneath which they nestled serene and safe from all alarms.

And then the tenderness of the heart of Jesus comes out so beautifully!

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem!" He exclaims, "How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!"

Do you not know how, sometimes, a mother holds out her arms to a child who has been naughty, but perhaps the child turns away and will not come back to the loving embrace?

Have you not seen how sad that mother's face has looked? "But ye would not!" goes to her heart.

And that is something like Jesus felt when sinners would not come to Him to be forgiven.

* * * * *

It was only a very little while after He had said those words about the hen and the chickens, and about "Ye would not," that He wept over Jerusalem as He came down from the Mount of Olives and came in sight of the beautiful city, and thought of all the sorrow that was coming upon it.

And as He wept He said, "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes."

I think these sorrowful words of our dear Lord should sink into our hearts, and we should look up into His face now in the glory, and tell Him we will not grieve Him by our want of love!

Let us run from Satan, our great enemy, to His sheltering arms!

Like those little chicks, at sight of danger, let us fly to Him; and He will receive us, and comfort us, and protect us.

God Himself says in the 91st Psalm: "He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust."

And we shall find, whether we are young or old, that whenever we put out trust in Jesus, He will surely come to our help!

Do not let Him have to say of us, as He said of those Jews in Jerusalem, "But ye would not!" But let us believe His love, and joyfully answer the dear Lord who loved us so—

"I will trust in the covert of Thy wings!"

I heard the Voice of Jesus say, "Come unto Me and rest; Lay down, thou weary one, lay down Thy head upon My breast!" I came to Jesus as I was, Weary, and worn and sad; I found in Him a resting-place, And He has made me glad.

I heard the Voice of Jesus say, "Behold I freely give The living water, thirsty one, Stoop down, and drink, and live!" I came to Jesus, and I drank Of that life-giving stream; My thirst was quenched, my soul revived And now I live in Him.

XXIII. The Sower

One day when the Lord Jesus was staying near the Sea of Galilee, He went out with His disciples and sat by the side of the lake.

This lake is called by several names—the Sea of Galilee—the Sea of Tiberias—the Lake of Gennesaret—and it is one of the most interesting places which we read of in the Bible.

The Lord Jesus did many of His Wonderful works round the shores of this lake; and He often went across in the fishermen's boats from one side to the other.

It was on this lake that once He walked on the water. That was in the middle of the night, when the disciples were toiling at their oars and could not get to land because the wind was against them, that Jesus came to them, walking on the top of the waves.

Perhaps you say "How could He walk on water?" There is only one answer to that: "Because Jesus is the Son of God!"

Then it was sailing on this lake, that Jesus was asleep on a pillow in the hinder part of the ship; and the disciples awoke Him because there was a great storm, and they were very frightened and were afraid they would be drowned. So He rose up, and told the wind and the waves to stop their raging—saying to them "Peace! Be still!"

Could you do that? You shake your head. No, it would be of no use for you to tell the wind to stop blowing, would it? It was because Jesus is the Son of God, that He could do it.

Well, one day, as I said, the Lord Jesus was sitting by the shore of this lake.

The people who had been cured of their diseases, or who wanted to be cured, saw Him going out of the house where He was staying, and they followed Him down to the lake.

But as so many came crowding to Him, Jesus asked one of the fishermen to let Him sit in his boat, that He might speak to the people from there.

And as Jesus looked out on the fields behind the thronging multitude, His eyes rested on a man who was busily sowing the field with seed.

And Jesus said to the people "Look! There is a sower, who is going out to sow his seed!"

And then the Lord told them the story of the seeds, and His blessed words were something like this, so that even the little children who were standing by could understand.

The sower sets out from home, and he carries the seed in a basket, or perhaps wrapped up in a corner of his garment; and as he walks along the field, he throws handful after handful on to the ground.

Some seeds fall by the side of the path and the birds who are following him as he walks, and who watch what becomes of every handful he throws, fly down and pick up all they can see, and eat it up.

But the sower passes on, and some of his little seeds fall on stony places, where there is very little good earth; and when the seeds spring up and begin to grow, there is not enough earth for them to flourish, or to feed the little plants; and the sun gets hot, and they are scorched, and wither away.

But still the sower goes on sowing. And the next seeds fall among the bushes that grow by the path; and the little seeds get choked with the big, thorny bushes, and never grow up to be good plants, or to be of any use to anyone!

But at last the sower comes to a part of the field where the ground is good and soft.

He throws the handfuls now with joy! He knows there will be a harvest by and by! The seed sinks into the good ground, it takes root, and when the time of harvest comes, and the reapers come to gather the beautiful corn, there are heaps of sheaves; for some of these little seeds had grown up to bear a hundred other seeds! And some sixty, and some thirty!

When the Lord had done talking to the multitude, the disciples gathered round Him and asked Him why He had told them that story of the seeds—called a Parable.

Then Jesus explained to them that the seed that He had been talking about was the Word of God.

Those who try to tell other people about God, are like the Sower. And the ground is like our hearts.

Then Satan our great Enemy, like those birds in the Parable, watches eagerly where the seed falls, and tries to pick it up and carry it away! That is the "seed by the wayside."

Then there are "the stony places." That is when the Word of God is spoken to us, and our hearts are hard, and there is no deep, soft feeling in them; no love to God. And the little seeds get dry, and wither away!

But, children, if we feel our hearts are hard, let us turn to God quickly, and ask Him to send us His Holy Spirit to help us to love Him, and to make us grow up to bear fruit; and He will, if we ask Him.

Well, then, besides the two kinds I have told you about, some of the little seeds fall into ground that has other things growing in it.

What are the "other things" that grow in our hearts and choke God's Word?

They may be too much pleasure, too much enjoyment, too many toys, love of money, love of our own way—heaps of things in our hearts may choke God's good seed, and it may not grow up and bear fruit. Oh, how sad, if this should be so with our hearts! Let us ask God not to let them be overgrown with "thorns."

But at last the seed falls on to good ground. The Word of God comes to a heart which is ready to receive it. A heart which is longing for the Lord Jesus to live in it. Longing that His seed may grow and bear fruit, and that people may know that we love Jesus and want to please God.

Can you think of some of the things which can be called fruit, and show that Jesus is indeed living in your heart?

Are you loving? Do you try to be? Are you pure and good, and straight-forward in all your dealings with your companions?

Are you obedient at home, loving and dutiful?

Think of these things, and if the seed has really taken root in your heart, think of what a glorious harvest-time there will be by and by, when Jesus comes to gather all who have loved Him into the Father's eternal Harvest-home.

XXIV. The Ten Virgins

In the 24th of Matthew and the 44th verse our Lord tells His disciples about His promise to come back again, and He earnestly begged them to be watchful, reminding them that His coming would be very sudden.

He described how two would be in a field, and how one should be taken and the other left behind: and that two should be grinding flour with the mill-stones, and how one would be taken and the other would be left behind.

And then our Lord added this warning, "Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come."

He wants all who love Him to be quite ready for Him.

Now you know just what it means to be ready?

A father is perhaps going to take his children for a holiday in the country, and he says to them, "Be quite ready, children. I am going out to get a cab, and we must start the moment it comes, or we shall lose the train. Keep looking out for me, and be quite ready waiting. I do not want one of you to be left behind!"

Well, some of the children are very obedient, and they do exactly as they are told.

But one child thinks to herself, "There is plenty of time—Father has hardly got to the end of the road yet, and I do just want to finish this page of my book! Then I will dress in a hurry!"

But the page takes longer than she thought, and while she hastens upstairs to dress, the cab drives up, and she is not ready!

The father looks dreadfully sorry, for the train will not wait; and the little girl has to be left behind!

That is why our Lord says in that 24th Chapter, "Be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh."

So after Jesus had urged them so earnestly to watch, and to be ready, He told them a story, which will help us all to understand what He meant.

"Then shall the Kingdom of Heaven be likened unto ten virgins who took their lamps, and went forth to meet the Bridegroom," He said.

And five of these virgins were wise, and five were foolish. Those that were foolish took their lamps, but took no oil with them.

They wanted to meet the Bridegroom, but they forgot that perhaps He might come when it was dark night, and their lamps would be of no use unless there was oil in them.

It was not that they could not have obtained the oil; oh, no! But they were careless, and did not think.

But the wise virgins took oil in their pitchers, with their lamps.

So they all went out to meet the Bridegroom, some with oil, and some without it.

But it seemed a long time before the Bridegroom came, and all the virgins fell fast asleep while they waited.

But at midnight there was a sudden cry! But it was a sound of happy voices! "Behold the Bridegroom cometh!" the voices said joyfully.

Then the virgins waked out of their sleep, and they rose up and quickly trimmed their lamps.

But the foolish virgins found to their dismay that their lamps had gone out, and their little pitchers were empty!

So they ran to the wise virgins, and asked them to give them some of their oil!

But the wise virgins shook their heads, for they knew they must not give their oil away, or they would have none left for their own lamps to meet the Bridegroom.

"Go quickly and buy!" they urged the foolish virgins.

And while they went to buy, the Bridegroom came; and those who were ready went in with Him to the marriage; and the door was shut.

Oh, the terrible sound of those words—the door was shut!

Afterwards the other virgins hurried back; and when they came to that closed door, they called with bitter longing and entreaty, "Lord, Lord open to us!"

But the Bridegroom answered in these sorrowful words which should be a warning to every one of us as we read them, "Verily I say unto you I know you not."

This story has, as you see, a very sorrowful ending.

And the Lord Jesus would not have told it to us unless He had intended us to take a great warning from it.

The Oil spoken of in this Parable is a type or picture to help us to understand about the Holy Spirit.

For we must have the Holy Spirit in our hearts if we want to go in with Jesus to the Marriage supper, in Heaven.

When Jesus was baptized in Jordan, John saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove, and resting upon Him.

Perhaps you ask, "Could those foolish virgins have had the oil?" Ah! Indeed they might! Evidently they could have bought the oil.

The Holy Spirit is given to us "without money and without price," for our Lord says, "How much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him."

Some years ago we had a young maid who could not understand how she was to find Jesus. I told her that if she would pray for the Holy Spirit, she would certainly be shown the way.

In ten days she came to me with a joyful face. "I did pray as you told me," she said, "and I have come to Jesus, and He is my Saviour."

XXV. The Good Samaritan

There was once a lonely man, walking in Palestine on the mountainous road between Jerusalem and Jericho.

He had no one with him, and his heart sank as he recalled the stories of the wild men who lived in the caves, and came out to rob unfortunate travellers who passed that way.

The silence was unbroken, and as he looked from side to side and hurried along, he began to hope that he might reach Jericho without mishap.

The road lay between steep hills and mountains, and there were sharp corners and jutting rocks all along the way, which would hide any number of the robbers who haunted the place.

But all his fears and all his anxious, watchful glances were of no use. Suddenly a band of thieves sprang out of their hiding-place behind him, and in a moment they surrounded him, robbed him of all his property, and, as he evidently resisted them with all his might, they not only robbed him, but cruelly wounded him, and then made off, leaving him by the roadside, half dead.

Sad indeed was his plight, lying there in the glaring sunshine, aching with pain and consumed with thirst. "Would no one come to help him?" he sadly thought.

Yes—he heard footsteps coming down the stony path, and as they drew nearer and nearer, his hope began to revive. Surely some kind man would take pity on him!

And then the steps came close to him, and at last, as he lifted his weary eyes, he saw one of the Jewish priests standing for an instant, arrested by the sad sight, but, when the priest saw him, he passed by on the other side of the road, and went away.

So the lonely man lay there, still suffering and uncared for.

Presently another step was heard, and another man, a Jewish Levite, came along the road, and, catching sight of the wounded man, he came over and looked at him; but he, too, passed by on the other side.

* * * * *

But at length there was a traveller who was making the same journey, and he saw the poor man lying there dying; and when he saw him, he had compassion on him. A great pity filled his heart. He could not bear to see him wounded and suffering.

So he quickly went to his side and bound up his wounds, putting on them the only salves he had with him, oil and wine, which would both soothe and heal the sores; and then he lifted him on to his own donkey, and walking by his side and doing everything he could for the poor man, he brought him at length to an Inn, where he made him as comfortable as ever he could, and stayed with him all night.

You can picture to yourself this kind traveller sitting quietly by the suffering stranger, and cheering him with kind words, and bidding him hope for better times, when he should be well again.

At length the morning came, and the traveller was obliged to proceed on his journey. So he called the Master of the Inn and gave him some money, and told him to take care of the stranger, and promised to repay the Innkeeper, when he returned, whatever he had spent in caring for the sick man.

* * * * *

Nov when the Lord Jesus told this story to the lawyer who had been questioning him, He turned to him and asked him, "Which do you think was a neighbour to this man that fell among the thieves?"

So the lawyer answered him, "The one who shewed mercy on him!"

And Jesus said to him words like this, "Then you go and do the same."

And now, I think, our Lord Jesus, who looks down from heaven at all that is happening here, says to each one of us, as we pass on our journey through this world—"Go thou, and do like that kind Samaritan."

And perhaps you say to yourself: "How can I? I do not see any wounded men that want help—I am only a boy, and nobody needs my care! I am only a girl, and I have lessons and work to do, and I have not got any neighbours, such as that story speaks of—people who want my help—I am only a little girl!"

Yes, that is natural for you to say to yourself, but just stop for a moment and think.

You have a brother who is a Scout! Is not he always looking out for opportunities to help others? Cannot you be a "Scout" for Jesus our King? Cannot you, whether you are boy or girl, do at least one kindness a day?

That invalid sister drops her ball of wool! Cannot you stop as you are racing out to play, to pick it up, and give her a sweet smile of cheer into the bargain?

That schoolfellow has a headache and cannot get his sums right. Could you not bend over him for a moment or two, and help him find out the mistake, and set him free to come out and play?

Oh, do not say in your heart, "He is nothing to me, I cannot help his troubles!" Do not be like the Priest and the Levite. Cheer up everyone you come across, and if you do this for Jesus your King, believe me, your life will be full of sunshine and joy.

Do one kind deed every day, and you will end in being, in very truth, like the Good Samaritan whom Jesus praised.

XXVI. No Wedding Garment

Our Lord told the people who listened to Him many wonderful stories, or parables, which were meant to sink deep into their hearts, to warn them lest they should sin, or to encourage them to be good.

He often told them stories about "the Kingdom of Heaven," for He wanted all who heard Him to enter into that Kingdom, and to share its everlasting joy.

The parable I am going to tell you to-day is one in which the Kingdom of Heaven was likened to a certain great King who made a marriage feast for his son.

He invited a great many guests, and when all was ready, he sent his servants to call them all to the wedding.

But the guests who were invited were so busy about their own affairs that they did not trouble to come to the King's house!

Then the King sent some more servants, with the message that everything was prepared for the feast, and to bid the guests to come to the marriage.

But they made light of the invitation! One went to his farm, and another to his business; and the rest treated the King's messengers very badly, and even killed some of them.

Then the King was very angry, and sent his armies against the men who had murdered his messengers.

Then the King said to his servants, "The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy: go instead into the highways, and bid all that you can find to come to the marriage."

So the servants went out, and gathered all they could find, and brought them to the King's Palace, both bad and good. And this time there were plenty of people who came to accept the invitation.

Then the King came in to see the guests, and his eyes fell on one of them who had not on a wedding garment.

I think it is plain from the story, as our Lord told it, that this man might have had a wedding garment if he had chosen to do so.

Doubtless the servants had beautiful clean garments ready in another room, which the King had provided for every guest to put on.

But this one guest had no wedding garment!

Then the King said to him: "Friend, how did you come in to the banquet without having a wedding garment?"