--- title: Times and Seasons description: Issues of 1844 to 1845. authors: - Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints editors: - Ebenezer Robinson - Don Carlos Smith - Smith, Joseph, Jr. - Taylor, John collections: - periodicals tags: - newspaper - times-and-seasons - nauvoo - nineteenth-century periodical: Times and Seasons volume: 5 number: 7 published: 1844-04-01 publisher: E. Robinson and D. C. Smith; later John Taylor publisher_place: Commerce and Nauvoo, Illinois language: en type: article reference: "“Dissertation Upon Christ's Parable of the Laborers and the Vineyard,” *Times and Seasons* 5, no. 7 (April 1, 1844): 491–492." printed_title: DISSERTATION UPON CHRIST'S PARABLE OF THE LABORERS AND THE VINEYARD source: url: https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_times-and-seasons_1844-04-01_5_7 transcription: Text from the Centerplace.org transcription (https://www.centerplace.org/history/ts/v5n07.htm), with its page breaks; this Internet Archive scan is the reference copy (its OCR was used only as a witness for OCR repair) identifier: per_utah-and-the-mormons_times-and-seasons_1844-04-01_5_7 start_page: 491 end_page: 492 curator_note: A Mormon newspaper published by the church in Nauvoo; included for historical study. Inclusion does not imply endorsement. rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1844 (Nauvoo, Illinois); published before 1931, so public domain in the United States source: https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_times-and-seasons_1844-04-01_5_7 publication_year: 1844 --- # Dissertation Upon Christ's Parable of the Laborers and the Vineyard (See Mat. 20th Chap.) As a general thing, it would seem that parables are designed to illustrate and convey with force, ideas connected with the subject to which they refer, and not as some vainly suppose, to throw a mantle of mystery over it. In this sense we regard the parable of the laborers and the vineyard as the most exquisite illustration of the subject of the dispensations of God and his dealings with the human family, from the morning of creation to the present time;-but to proceed. "For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, which went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into the vineyard." It is evident that the term "vineyard" should be applied in the broad sense, to the whole world, and the "laborers" to the prophets, apostles, and servants of God. "And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the market place, and said unto them, go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right, I will give you; and they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right that shall ye receive." It is evident that the term "hour," here stands for a noted epoch of the world, or the commencement of an important dispensation; and the 'day for the whole time of the world's existence in its present state. For instance, in the morning of the creation, the Lord sent laborers into the vineyard, in the days of Noah and Abraham he sent others into it, and also at the commencement and duration of the Mosaic dispensation. These may answer to the first, third and sixth hours, for it is plain that in each of these periods the Lord performed a work adopted to the peculiarities of the age, or in other words, that he committed a dispensation to his people. At the opening of the Christian, which corresponds to the "ninth hour," he had a great work to do; therefore, he sent many into the vineyard. But in the latter days, which corresponds to the "eleventh hour," he will commission and send other servants into his vineyard. That the term "hour" in this parable refers to a noted epoch of time in the history of the world, is plain from the following: Verily, verily I say unto you the hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear them shall live;" John v:25. Christ here certainly alludes to the resurrection from the dead, and should we apply the term "hour" here used, in its literal sense, as meaning but sixty minutes of time, we would make a contradiction of terms, for he surely alludes to two resurrections, or periods at which a resurrection shall take place. No resurrection took place during the literal hour in which he said this; but in that age or epoch of the world, for proof of which we refer the reader to Mat. xxvii, 52, 53: The "hour that is coming" refers to the resurrection that is yet to transpire. Having, as we trust, satisfactorally [satisfactorily] settled the question, relative to the term hour, we will now examine the manner in which the Lord called men to work in his vineyard at these respective periods. He had a particular work to perform in the days of Noah; the consequence was, he called him to perform it, and gave revelations adapted to the same, which were to proclaim the law of righteousness, and construct an ark for the saving of himself and family. These revelations did not conflict or infringe upon any item of the law of God which was previously given to Adam, Enoch and others; but were such as were absolutely necessary to suit the peculiar circumstances of Noah and his family, but not those of another age. Abraham lived in what is generally termed the patriarchal dispensation. He was called by revelation, and authorized to perform the work that the Lord had to do in this age. Had Abraham taken the position that many of the religionists of the present time have, he would have contended that his ancestors who lived at the opening of the patriarchal dispensation received revelations which were sufficient for him and his posterity after him. Suppose that Lot, after the angel appeared to him, and warned him to flee from Sodom and Gomorrah, had replied that the revelations that were given to those who lived before, were all sufficient; or in other words, instead of acting in accordance with the express command to flee to Zoar, had undertaken to build an ark to save himself and family from the awful conflagration; would not the result have been his distruction [destruction]? An ark answered the purpose of Noah, but it would not that of Lot. (To be Continued)