Q. What place should we strive to escape from above all others?—A. Hell."
The slaves are taught that they must do what God requires of them, if they would escape never-ending torments in hell. How strict an account of their stewardship does God require at their hands! He, they are taught, has made them slaves, and has given them nothing but labor and poverty for their lot in this life. Will he require much, where he has given little? Bishop Meade continues (Brooke's "Slavery," pp. 30, 31, 32):—
"Having thus shown you the chief duties you owe to your great Master in heaven, I now come to lay before you the duties you owe to your masters and mistresses here upon earth; and for this you have one general rule that you ought always to carry in your minds, and that is, to do all service for them as if you did it for God himself. Poor creatures! you little consider, when you are idle and neglectful of your masters' business, when you steal and waste and hurt any of their substance, when you are saucy and impudent, when you are telling them lies and deceiving them; or when you prove stubborn and sullen, and will not do the work you are set about without stripes and vexation; you do not consider, I say, that what faults you are guilty of towards your masters and mistresses are faults done against God himself, who hath set your masters and mistresses over you in his own stead, and expects that you will do for them just as you would do for him. And, pray, do not think that I want to deceive you, when I tell you that your masters and mistresses are God's overseers; and that, if you are faulty towards them, God himself will punish you severely for it in the next world, unless you repent of it, and strive to make amends by your faithfulness and diligence for the time to come; for God himself hath declared the same.
"Now, from this general rule,—namely, that you are to do all service for your masters and mistresses as if you did it for God himself,—there arise several other rules of duty towards your masters and mistresses, which I shall endeavor to lay out in order before you.
"And, in the first place, you are to be obedient and subject to your masters in all things.... And Christian ministers are commanded to 'exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things, not answering them again, or gain-saying.' You see how strictly God requires this of you, that whatever your masters and mistresses order you to do, you must set about it immediately, and faithfully perform it, without any disputing or grumbling, and take care to please them well in all things. And for your encouragement he tells you, that he will reward you for it in heaven; because, while you are honestly and faithfully doing your master's business here, you are serving your Lord and Master in heaven. You see also that you are not to take any exceptions to the behavior of your masters and mistresses, and that you are to be subject and obedient, not only to such as are good and gentle and mild towards you, but also to such as may be froward, peevish, and hard. For you are not at liberty to choose your own masters; but into whatever hands God hath been pleased to put you, you must do your duty, and God will reward you for it.
"2. You are not to be eye-servants. Now, eye-servants are such as will work hard, and seem mighty diligent, while they think anybody is taking notice of them; but, when their masters' and mistresses' backs are turned, they are idle, and neglect their business. I am afraid there are a great many such eye-servants among you, and that you do not consider how great a sin it is to be so, and how severely God will punish you for it. You may easily deceive your owners, and make them have an opinion of you that you do not deserve, and get the praise of men by it; but remember that you cannot deceive Almighty God, who sees your wickedness and deceit, and will punish you accordingly. For the rule is, that you must obey your masters in all things, and do the work they set you about with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as unto Christ; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good-will doing service as to the Lord, and not as to men. If, then, you would but say within yourselves, 'My master hath set me about this work, and his back is turned, so that I may loiter and idle if I please, for he does not see me; but there is my great Master in heaven, whose overseer my other master is,[I] and his eyes are always upon me and taking notice of me, and I cannot get anywhere out of his sight, nor be idle without his knowing it; and what will become of me, if I lose his good-will and make him angry with me?'—if, I say, you would once get the way of thinking and saying thus upon all occasions, you then would do what God commands you, and serve your masters with singleness of heart, that is, with honesty and sincerity, and do the work you are set about with fear and trembling, not for fear of your masters and mistresses upon earth, for you may easily cheat them, and make them believe you are doing their business when you do not, but with fear and trembling, lest God your heavenly Master, whom you cannot deceive, should call you to account, and punish you in the next world for your deceitfulness and eye-service in this.
"3. You are to be faithful and honest to your masters and mistresses, not purloining or wasting their goods or substance, but showing all good fidelity in all things.... Do not your masters, under God, provide for you? And how shall they be able to do this, to feed and to clothe you, unless you take honest care of every thing that belongs to them? Remember that God requires this of you; and, if you are not afraid of suffering for it here, you cannot escape the vengeance of Almighty God, who will judge between you and your masters, and make you pay severely in the next world for all the injustice you do them here. And though you could manage so cunningly as to escape the eyes and hands of man, yet think what a dreadful thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God, who is able to cast both soul and body into hell!
"4. You are to serve your masters with cheerfulness, reverence, and humility. You are to do your masters' service with good-will, doing it as the will of God from the heart, without any sauciness or answering again. How many of you do things quite otherwise, and, instead of going about your work with a good will and a good heart, dispute and grumble, give saucy answers, and behave in a surly manner! There is something so becoming and engaging in a modest, cheerful, good-natured behavior, that a little work done in that manner seems better done and gives far more satisfaction than a great deal more that must be done with fretting, vexation, and the lash always held over you. It also gains the good-will and love of those you belong to, and makes your own life pass with more ease and pleasure. Besides, you are to consider that this grumbling and ill-will does not affect your masters and mistresses only. They have ways and means in their hands of forcing you to do your work, whether you are willing or not. But your murmuring and grumbling is against God, who hath placed you in that service, who will punish you severely in the next world for despising his commands."
If the slave who wastes his master's goods and substance will not be able to escape the vengeance of Almighty God, what will become of the master who impoverishes and darkens the mind of his brother-man? Who commits the greater injustice,—the man who robs another of his mind, or the man who robs another of his money?
Mr. Glennie is equally explicit in his teaching. His fourth Sermon is on the text, Eph. vi. 7, "With good-will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men," pp. 21, 22:—