SUNDAY READING. T H C PAYABLE or the laborers in the Vineyard. Sold by HOWARD and EVANS, (Printers to the Cheap Repository for Moral and Religious Tracts,) No. 41 and 42, Lou^-Lane, Wtst-Suiithfield, and J. HATCHARD, No. [96, Pkcadilty, London. By S. HAZARD, Bath; and by all Booksellers, Newsmen, and Hawkers in Town and Country. V Great Allowance will be made to Shopkeepers and UawUers, Price Three Halfpence. [ Entertd at Stationers Hall. ] T H £ PARABLE CF THE Laborers in the Vineyard, THE Kingdom of Heaven is compared by our , Savior to An householder which went out early » the morning to hire laborers into his vi-nevard Mi again he went out about the third hour, and saw V ers standing idle in the market-place, and said m tbem, Go yeal&o into the vineyard. And they Z tha [ Again he went out abovt the sixth SZI l ° and did likmise - And ab01lt tb* ventb tour he went out and found others st an dine: Silt Sa n'i mt ° them ' 5tand »* be ™ & the tired li ey Say UUt0 bim ' fo*uS9 no man hatb vinnaZ' He / ait 1 b unt0 *bem> go ye also into the *Se. whatsoever is right that shall ye llimLn! Povtebolder here spoken of our Savior "* e « is intended., and by the Laborers hired into vineyard those persarisare meant whoenter info his service. These laborers are said to be feu J standing idle in the market place; tor the gospel finds men idle, that is, not employed in God's ser- vice: they are working busily enough perhaps U themselves; for men will rise up early and ; o ( bed late for the sake of getting money, or follow^ pleasure, butthen their diligence is of a wrong kind' they are not diligent in the way of duty to their aker ; they may be linkened to a certain kind of Servants, who though they may seem buisy, and may get from ignorant persons some credit for beiii^so, are nevertheless merely running on their own errands and doing their own work, so that they are no better than idle in respect to the work which they ought to be doing for their Householder or Master. But when they become true Christians, they are no longer like those idle fellows who are always sauntering about, with their arms folded, in the market-place, pretending that they are in want of employment, no man having as yet hired them; but they may be now compared to a set of laborers in a vineyard, or garden, who, whenever you look at them, are sure to be seen either #ggiflg» or planting, or watering* or doing, in short, whatever is most wanted in the place where they are work- ing; and they have always an eye moreover to trie honor and interests of the great Householder their Master. We come now to another important point in tn parable. The Householder is said to go oiital^ jerent hours of the day to hire these servants* > signifies that the light of Revelation was sent a different periods ofthe world to the different ( 5 ) ' i ;* a nd in particular to the Jews at one pfcnod, ! the Gentile Nations at another. The Jews had much offended at seeing Christ address him- ifto the. Gentiles, who, as they thought not line been called into the church, or vineyard, of L at an early period of the world, ought not to be received at a later hour. Our Savior therefore m:l kes use of this Parable, or Story, as a convenient means of shewing how unreasonable these Jewish prejudices were. I mean here, however, to accommodate the pa- rable to the purpose of shewing in what manner the gospel often addresses itself to men in different periods of life, calling one at an early age, and one at a much later into the same vineyard of Christ. We are in no danger of erring exactly as the Jews iid, by raising objections to Christ's calling the peat body 6f the Gentile Nations into his church. We may be in great danger, however, of acting much in the same spirit with the Jews, and if we do m, that spirit is most likely t.o shew itself in our objecting to extend the priviliges of the gospel to wme poor outcasts, or aged sinners among our- setves. Let us then here describe the case of several persons whom we will suppose to engage in the service of Christ, some at an earlier, and some at a much later hour of life ; and since there are many, no doubt, who put oiY their repentance because judge that it is always time enough to repent, let us take fpecial care to shew how much more melancholy their case will become through every year's delay ; not to mention, as we might largely. ■*&how uncertain their very continuance in. life it. ( 6 > and how doubtful also it may be, whether tM* on hardening themselves more and more r / S ? give them hereafter that necessary 1 1°° J** grace, without which, even ifthey live ever they w,ll have no heart to repem. e6Vtrso|o «f First then I will put the case of one «* • brought to obey the gospel in the morninL o V andisoneoftheyoungeJt f the taboS in &l l-rd's vineyard. He sets out well, asTwil "s^ JJ'S f es on "KB through all the FolIowW •toges of h.s lue; even his most early prayers 2 Hot a mere matter of form, but theysJrin/out rf! persuas.on already rising up in hi/ Z[l «Jt rely depends on God, and needs the help of hi Ho y Sp iri t. It P l e3S es God, m answer to his it fen prayers, to strengthen this child aeaiost hit «arly t emptationS)SOt|)athe ^ as Qi g« mands, and not as wicked children may require or expect of him. Such a child as this will llso be JUigent rn learning his. book and improving his time, for he will be like the laboring men in the vineyard spoken cf in the parable, and not like the idJe ones in the market-place. Now what a vast quantity of good may such a person be the means of doing in the ceurse of a fcong J,fo on « ar th. First of all he is a blessing to his young connections and school-fellows, for he will ' often reprove vice and ireligion in them, even though it should be much against the modesty of his own natural inclinations ; then he grows up to be a bold witness for God in the face of all the gay and unthinking young men or women among whom he is thrown in early life; next he proceeds to da good about the village or town where he is settled ; 1 (7 r &er this perhaps he marries, in consequence of a 'hich bis wife, and all her connection, and his In offspring also have the advantage of observing him; they remark his humble, candid, pious, and affectionate spirit, and his diligent and self denying ]ife, and they profit both by his kind services and. his example. Now too his income very probably increases through his good character and industry, and hence he is able to assist the poor, the father- jess, and widow, and to pay for the instruction of the ignorant— for he spends little on himself, hav- ing no vices he has few wants, and his family being trained to religious habits, and preserved from the gay and expensive customs of the world, have few wants also. Thus is happiness of all kinds spread abroad. He explainsalso, as he has an opportunity, those Christian Doctrines which have led him into this life of usefulness, and is a great promoter o£ the gospel, so that a little world of Christians is: continually gathering together ail around him, and even a new generation is coming forward which shall by-and-by, rise up and call him blessed. Ia the midst of all this usefulness, however, he is very modest and lowly , he gives God the praise of every good thing he does, and he is sincerely pained when. Hattering and inconsiderate people load him with their extravagant commendations, for he sees a thousand faults in himself, which he is much £n*- gaged in overcoming, though others perceive them not; he is conscious of neglecting many an oppor- tunity of doing- good, and of failing to suppress sufficiently many an evil thought, and though some ^religious people may fancy that he already car- ies things too far, as they absurdly term it, yet ( 8 ) there is nothing of which he is himself mora., than that he falls short in every duty and 2? T in those things of which tto^^SKS ance, I mean in zeal for rtlfrioh in the f w P I prayer and praise, and in alf the SSL'S!' press.ons pf gratitude to bis Creator an^edeemf ractcr of a Christum, let it be remarked akn polecU 1 ,U ? t % With Y9ri0US d « es ' ^ im- posed to not a few misrepresentations. His virtu pus singularity, for instance, i s conside red by some, who do n„t understand his principles unnecessary preciseness, and is thought to arise in°ren^vi nCeUed % disob %i ; L coun in i eproving vice, ,i unsuccessful, is called by thofe whom he reproves impertinence; his activity in doing good is not seldom ascribed to forwardness, and even his extraordinary liberality is accounted lor, by those whodo not care to fellow his example, »y saying that it is mere vanity, or lavish impru.' dunce; and, above all, his piety is apt to be thought by theimpious and irreIigious,to be mere hypocrisy, or a, best a poor pitiable sort of weakness. This men, wink the Christian has many peculiar hopes, and joys, and consolations on the one hand, he ex- periences many trials and hardships on the other. -Nevertheless he tears up under them all , many ettnem, indeed, appear light to him in comparison or what they seem to other men, and grow more and more light as he becomes used to them. He goes on therefore cheerful and contented; he labors much, he suffers much, he renounces much, he contends much in the cause of Christ, and he does snis in every place to which he moves, in every changing situation and circumstance and in every ce,ison of life through which bypasses. And no\V a t last after a long life, death closes in upon him ; h'e looks with thankfulness back to what is past, and with composure to the important and deceisive hour that is approaching: he trusts indeed not in him him- self, but in his Savior, for after all he is but M 'vn- frojiuiHt Hi'vanti having done no more than it was hiuluh to do, but he has much comfortable proof tha n;- christian faith has not been a mere name, and he his able to take up the same language with the Apostle, and to say with a measure of the same confidence, / have fought the good fight, I have flushed my course, i have kepi the faith, henceforth there is- kid up for me a crown of rightsousness^hich the Lvrd the righteous Judge ■ shall give me in the great day. Tin's 'then is one of those, who, to bor- row the phrase in the parable, may be said to have krne-tbe whole burthen and beat of the day. There is another class of persons who may now toe spoken of as ent ring into the vineyard of Christ at a-somewhat later hour at the age we will sup- pose of five-and- twenty or thirty. These have lost an hour indeed; they have idled away one precious Jason of life. Alas! also it is to be feared that tang the heat and self-confidence of youth, they ave done much evil, as well as ■ neglected to good. Perhaps it has also happened that have already formed some rash connection-, astablished themselves on some irreligious dT ; n Ut now the y repent*; they break through all pities i they turn out of the path in which they 'I tS?S^ off ? Iif f- and th *r*nrn into the ya*a of Christ: they become humble, diligent, and useful .Christians ; fpr even the&c also good part at least of their health- and stfjen^r the cause of their Savior, and with grief and sh at having been thus far idle, they become tldiow T borers with those happier persons already spoken^ But let us come toaclass of persons who repent somewhat later still ; I mean the age of about fU or fifty How effecting is the condition of such persons when it is well considered ! they nowdis cover that they have been all their lives living as it were, to no purpose ; that the whole of these Vorif or fifty years has been idly thrown away, or if spent in labor, that it has been mere labor in vain, for eve,, though they may have been diligent, yet'they have been merely diligent in doing their own will and not the will of God; they have been working in their own vine\ard and not in the vineyard d Christ, they have been year after year pushing their own fortune, building up their own credit, exalting their own consequence, indulging their own e^se, following their own pleasure, caring about theijr. own interest or.. family-' interest- while the great interest of thekmgdonwf Christ have been ^nti^eiy- ovitaf the ques;ticra,!and now therefore they i^aveto re'pe4it perhaps, of. the very things they liad been the. most proud of; they have also to re- £>t many §infui habits, which: are become, as it Avere, ; a second nature; they have to disentangle ti.vjiiiselye ;'n\^m- = 3 muluiude of irreligious fon- ftfttfjBW ;filf^^owiio-is have -hiiherto-.- ruiocl over the#i;, $?e y ,t*a&er to uitteaeh evem their own; ctiil- ■Cvjrjn a ; false p: i-: ;>le wnich they had taught t)u uv; \v;ih :- ; ,mya <.^>ly and painful stop they imve lu iUQ^ure ba^k the whole ground fm^! ( n ) .- } iave been treading, and they have to undo ag jt' were, every thing which for fifty years they have been doing. When more than half of life is over, thevhave to enter upon the ttfork which they were sent into the world to do: but at leng-'h they hire themselves into the v; m yard of Christ, and he re* ceivesthem though it is at the ninth hour; and now they husband well their time, and begin to be fruit- ful in every good work; and whatever they do, they do all the glory of God: they perform what he commands, and simply because he commands it : they become a part of the church of Christ, and are numbered among the laborers in his vineyard. But if the case of such as were last spoken of is affecting, what shall be said of those aged persons whom it still remains for us to describe 1 Some there are (but, aias ! it is to feared that it is the case of very few ) who even at seventy, or more than seventy years old, repent and become the ser- vants of Christ. When scarcely an hour of life re- mains, when the evening is closing in and the night cometh uhen no man can work, then it pleases God to send his grace possibly to a few of these also, and Ihey go for the short hour that remains into the same vineyard of Christ. , How mournful is the view which we have now to take of such an aged sinner's condition. Here I s a person the. whole term of whose earthly ex- j&tence ( jWf poor . uncertain hour i excepted ) has oeenspen f in a smiul course. Where are then « merits which he will have to plead before God? Where .tre his works of faith, his acts of worship, °r.labors of love t Instead of these, methinks Tsee a tho*LSiind sins rising up, each of which is sufficient ( 12 ) to condemn him. Let us run over the woeful < i [ an eminent and distinguished Chrht\, n ;^^ wa/ot making the difference more parted l * ^3 draw the picture of one, who £ no thief or mu.derer, and therefore not account one of the most abandoned of mankind, yet is km under a load of much more than ordinary gtffcjj Ihose persons indeed who feel themselves guilty of any pun of che crimes we shall enumerate, should tak their share .-of the reproof and if they have not repented, so as totter imo th i nevard of Christ tney should remember; thatthough they .may be criniinai > ofu su-Mier size, yet they are still re- maining under condemnation. To a perverse -and disobedient childhood lias succeeded /a* we will suppose- in the case of the person we are speaking .'of) a wild and vitioas youth/ and then a proud and ambitious manhood and after tivis a fretful or covetous old age. In the course of his long life many temptations have broken in ypon him, and by turns he has yelded to them all. Many different situations have been filled by. him, and in each, as he no*v sees:, he has .either neglected or betrayed his trust.. < He has been a negligent and bad father, and em reason able, 'nay, secretly also an unfaithful husband, a careless .inattentive brother; a hollow, flattering and designing friend; perhaps also, a mean time serving elector, and even a mis- chievous common acquaintance. J Do you ask what has been the turn of his common conversation ? instead of-being pious, useful, benevolent candid and sincere,- it has cine time been proud atid.f donate, at another vain and flourishing* at * mti]el t 13 ) ilinderin* and revengeful j now again it has Veen c nftv and dissembling, often, also daringly ffibs and profane, and- not seldom exceedingly ■p^utingand impure. Do you ask what has been [he s : nful deeds he has doner C what a dreadful variety has there been in f them! At one time he [us been trying to over-reach bi$ fellow-trader, at another Fie has been endeavouring to seduce some unlhippy maiden: at one time he is seen quarrel- h]r* He has been selfish, griping and a ^aricious o. all occasions, and Mat -he had sav ^ lor gained by oppression and fraud Fie has spent on his -profligacy. He has got drunk with the money which he acquired by dishonesty, and he has paid f r his debauchery at night by the &tfl winch he has contrived in the morning to keep feck from the poor. At 1 he same time he has been torbuient, factious and complaining, always talking j* what is amiss in others, and very sudden and severe in judging them, but very proud and con- Wefnt of himself, .disdaining even the. smallest Name. > Would- you "get into favor. vVith' him 1 you jj lust natter him m every word : and you will please . lin ^ es * by doing it grossly and to his face, for he « quite used to praise; he : has long live* among who look if, to him as theii-'patron, or ga$e ( 14 ) *t him as their principle wit, or glory in him as their clnef songster, possibly has the chairman of ther drjuking club, ancl as their merry leader in af J ? m All Ut* tmuchery.- To all th ese sins he adds that of being the decided enemy of every religious man. Is' the gospel preached at is very door ? He stands in the front Toktok of his enemies : He denies its efficacy, makes a joke of its doctrines, reviles its lonow^^^raud ,j 8 the avowed hinderer of its. prpgress, , A Q^j^ajjm indeed is against him, and therefore, it is no.ty'onde'r that he is against; Christianity. Hence it is that the religion of every man around him, however pune and excellent, if it is but zealous and fervent, is declared without distinction tobe mere hypocrisy, enthusiasm, bigotry and can't. : . But let BifiaeSk a little also to the. various con- sttpHcta% of this : life of sin: here ho-wever we are Hgj 'm irr-d*mger of being lost in the vastness of the subject. Who can trace, a, thQi^sandth p$rt of the miseries wbich have arisen even frorr) one single source,- I mean fr^jn^tihe levity and consideration whiclxh'ave made one leadang feature in "his cha- racter: Who can cal^ufate the effects of all those evil principles which he has scattered at . random, reaching evt n ta ciistant places and generations^ Who can calculate the mischief which.he. niayhave caused even in owe- of his light .convivial hours Vitw- the Miigcriptinn on that graVe stone uhich is now almost; , fwergrown with thorns. Ah! 'tis the 'name' of an jkV companion, #n alehouse friend* who once was usedto sing with him in one joyful cho? rps, ibe praisf* of the fioyjing-boivl, and who «tbus ms p&m'ti&&tyk those habits t>f iatempenirtftf which led to that untimely grave. Let qs ope- one other source of no less painful reflection, tie- hold that miserable female, once the gay partner f his guilty pleasures, whom if he has not been the first to seduce, he has at least carried on and confirmed in a life of sin, and whom he has left afterwards to sink 1 in want, to grow loathsome through disease, and to become a nuisance to the viliageor the town ; he has helped to ruin but not to deliver her; he has soon left her to the tender mercies of some of her own sex as hardened as herself among whom she as sunk, and groaned and died. Which way then, I say, shall this aged sinner turn his eyes ? Every scene, everyplace, every month and day of his life which he can caii back to rememberance reminds hira of some sin. — Shall he look to soma of his more reputable actions? Alas ! even when his conduct has been most cre- ditable, his motives have been unchristian and im- pure. True, I have had some character, he now says to himself, but I have Lad no tiile to it. Men haze not known me, or if a few have known me dnd Met praised me, they have praised me because they have wanted to carry somepoznt of their own by pleasing wc; nay, ?ny companion have even praised me for ff* was Wit* for the same people seem now met bin k$ blame me in proportion as they discern any thing in ^thatis^aod. Tims the recol! cticn of the ap- prises he used .to recieve from these wicked men '.become one aggravation of his pain. wttish'aU he look to his more innocent and asrly years. ?^ Aiasl the review of hi.-; ■rnfaney only serve's ^remind him how naturally md how soon h<* forenf: WWt how sooe he forsook thi guide of his yoiub 1 end forgot the covenant of his God, chtiRinga zvay Q f Irisvwn devising, a way which seemed right^in^m own eyes, butthe end thereof, has he now sees, WOu y have been destruction* Thus if he looks backward •ill is misery, and horror, and despair. ShallV then look forward and comfort himself by thinking foow effectually he will repair all the evil he has clone? But haw shall he now repair it-. Qf those whom he has corrupted many are dead, and or the survivors very few can now be found. Go then and wring these few back to God! Alas! one will mock, another will dissemble, a third will despise. Go try to reclaim even the children of thine own joins, M ho are all trained through thy means in an evil course. Nay,. even these also will scoff at thy re- mike, and say, Our old father is grown •troublesome and peevish through age, he is turned religious only because fye has fist done with this life, and basgoiou foot in the grave. What then; I say, can this aged sinner do to re- medy the evils he has caused? he can only abhor himself for what is passed, and repent sincerely o all that he has done. See him then at length ab- i k iorring himself and repenting in dust and asks. See him retiring to his chamber, und, for the fir?' lime, communing seriously with his own heart See him reviewing tne whole of his past life from the firs' dawn of reason, to the present hour, en- deavouring to survey with exactness his thoughts, Vvordsand ac&oosi and all his n; >st secret practices intentions, and inclinations. See him meditating ;aJso on his numberless omissions taking the law of Cod for his rule, and ber ling now, for the fii' s - lime, to discover what manner of person he \m ( *7 ) i pn 1 How does he stand amazed at his own for- mer stupidity and blindness, and hardness of heart, J how astonished also at the patience of God XL has so lon - horn with bim 1 no u w - ls heart relents, the tears of penetential sorrow begin to flow the lion is also changed into a lamb, and the same person who before might have been compared to the woman in the gospel, outo/wbom tbtre went uv ,n fails, or, to Saul ivhen breathing fury and slaughter may now be likened to the Magdalen weeping at the feet of Jesus, or to Paul trembling and astonished, and crying out as he lay on the ground, Lord what woulds thou have me to do; or to the same Paul wheo it was afterwards said of Iffm behold he prayeth ! With trembling limbs, and with a body worn down with age, behold then this repenting sinner walking to that public worship which he had so long neglected ; with weak and failing eyes he opens the scripture j ^ at the age of seventy he begins to enquire with child-like simpli- city into the nature of the gospel-, and knowing how short bis time is, he makes haste to obey it. And now perhaps his old companions deride him, for as he once sneered at others who were religious, and called them all hypocrites, so he is now sneered at, and called a hypocrite in his turn : he becomes the scoff of the drunkards, and the merry jest of the profane j and they that jH in the gate make songs of bim, Now also the very sins of his youth, which had been scarcely mentioned before, are brought forward by his former favorites and friends as pre- sent evidence against him, his e.imes are even aggravated, and are all blazed abroad; but it is one proof of his sincerity, that even these putting re- ( '8 ) frogchet flo not shake him from his purpoee toduce him to turn back to his former companion"' apti««d, who also, like the JewspC SSajJ ' » ,'hc "m.ule clean, »nd bb „er, » e f ' S'tte , . no, s person «K» « ? f ! ± , , , J ° Chrta. beartily .repents ^iitt our Savior, gfi^g! t ni the last fint. These words appea r tc ue * phecyofour Judge which relates o 1 e g TO M ^ day (judgement. Then many a popular b«t »rrelrgioua c^ter many a one who ^JJPJ^ and and dazzeled all arround hi m, shal sink at once mW everlasting shame and disgrace, while many a : poor i ■ , f ; n(TC ' mnpT shall come toward * • r;; d rfol ch.»rt in m.ny of now see shall we witness on e uay oi ju «, Let us not lad to remark tha t then also many a false though flaming professor of th,-.gospel, many a vain. forward, and conceited teacher, many a *elfK»Bfi- tient enthusiast, and many a narrow-minded and fiery bigot, who has spent his life in htt e else than in judging and condemning others, shall be brought forward in the face of the assembled world, and shall receive his own condemnation. Then also I Ik ) *aay a diffident and trembling beih v P1 - * a meek and lowly Christian, vlvola, bS„t^ *'th httle noise in same obsrmJ. jbori «S Lord's vineyard, and o^Sb^wS* ° f h " ing him among their party, J „ V e p«£™ S S£e - dealt da mn2 tion,sha!I take that priz w den.edto those who set ihenZ £L ° h hasbee over him, and shall be SdSef She ^ his Lord. So the first shall be last Z i t , J ° 7 , of *J°r many are calU but few c £*n ***** THE FOLLOWING TRACTS frkQt BEEN LATELY PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY HOWARD and EVANS. Parts ditto pnee 6dL the History of Mr. Bragwell 7 The Two Shoemakers - - - 5 Price Threepence. The Story of Joseph and his Brethren. Xhe Explanation of the Ten Commandments. Prayers to he used by a Young Person, by a Grown P*S ten, by the Master or Mistress of a Sunday School, &c. Price Twopence. The History of Tom White, the PostilHeiu The Shepherd of Salisbury Plain. Black Giles the Poacher, in Two Parts. Price Three -Halfpence. WATts's Hymns for Children, complete, with Prayer*, The History of Mary Wood. : Mr. Fantom. The Labourers in th* Vineyard. The Valley of Tears, in Two Parts. The Judgment Day. Hints to all Ranks on the Scarcity of 1 7 9 5 ♦ Price One Penny, The Good Mother's Legacyi The Two Soldiers. The Thunderstorm. Tis all for the Best. The Cottage Cook. The Sunday School. Hester Wilmot, Part I. II. The Sacrament of trw; Lord's , Supper. Anew Ch ristrrms Tract. Good Friday Tract. Parley the Porter. The Fall of Adam. The Black Prince. The Cheapside Apprentice. The Lancashire Collier Girl. The Life of Williajn Baker, petty Brown. The Shopkeeper, 4 parts.. The Beggarly Boy, Noah's Flood. The Troubles of Life* Tke Harvest H#me, Sorrowful Sara. Tawney Rachel. Charles Jones, the Footman. General Resurrection and Day of Judgment. Onesimus Patient Joe. Wild Robert, Faith and Works, Gin Shop Sinful Sally, Robert and Rich- ard, Hampshire Tragedy, Bad Bargain. Turn the Carpet, Christma* Hymn, Army of Martgnm