[KNOWING AND NOT DOING.]
“THAT servant who knew his Lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.” See Luke xii. 47. From this language there is no escape. If the men of whom we speak, say, they are not servants, then they will be condemned for refusing to be his servants. There can be no middle ground, no neutral ground. “He who is not for us is against us,” says the Lord. We are not simply to do some benevolent deeds favorable to the Lord, or to his cause, but we must be on his side, belong to him, be his; identified with him; one with him, so that his cause is our cause, and his will is our will. But to the mystery again: How can it be, that a man can love the Savior, his people and cause, so as to defend them, give his money to aid them, have confidence in them, and be pleased with their work; but decide to stand, in relation with their enemies, in the same state with them, and not in relation with the Lord and with his people; in the same state with them?
What a fearful thing it is to be against the Lord, and to encounter his terrible sentence: “Shall be beaten with many stripes.” Why should a man stand in such a condition a single day? We see not how a man could rest for an hour with such a responsibility on his soul! Why should any man not be willing? nay, more, why should he not seek to place himself under the guidance of Him who is so wise that he can not err, and so good that he will do all things well? What a blessedness for man, that he can have infallible wisdom to guide him, and almighty power to save him! How can it be possible for any well disposed man to stand aloof from the Lord and from his divine arrangement for our happiness, and trust to his own wisdom and his own strength, when he could have the wisdom and power of God pledged for his security? Why not come to the Lord; let his kind hand lead, and his gracious providence guide in the way of life everlasting.
There were old men, too old to be on the muster roll, and boys too young, the history informs us, who fought in the battle of Bunker Hill, in the American Revolution. These received much praise for their good will to the cause and the service they rendered: but they did not belong to the army and received no pay. In the same way, we fear, many of these good friends that defend the cause and even pay their money to support it, will lose their reward, because they have never enlisted. They do not belong to the army.
Many such men have noble wives striving to serve the Lord, to train their children in the way of righteousness and bring them to God. These are dearer to them than life. Can they stand out in the ranks of the enemy, and see their companions who gave them their hearts and hands in their better days, struggling to save their precious children, and not stand by their side, aiding and encouraging them? What a responsibility there is here! They know their Lord’s will, and do it not and will be beaten with many stripes!
The Lord suffered and died for these. He hung on the ignominious cross for them, as well as for us all, and poured out his warm heart’s-blood to cleanse them from sin. All this appeals to them. All the exhortations of saints, their prayers, songs, tears and solicitudes appeal to them, by all the tender mercies of God and the infinite compassion, to come to the Savior and live. If they resist all this, turn their ear away from it, and, in the midst of all these entreaties, go down to ruin, what an everlasting source of regret it will be to look back and see what was done for them, but all in vain! “Turn you, turn you,” says the prophet, “and live.” “You would not come to me that you might have life,” says the Lord. “He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” “The Spirit says, Come, and the bride says, Come, and whoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.”