The Rector concludes his Sermon with these important suggestions:—
Page 25: "This passage of Scripture ends by telling you to remember that the day of judgment is coming, when every one, in every condition of life, shall receive according to what he has done in the body. It says, 'Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.' We are here told, that in the day of judgment, the inquiry will be, What have we done in this world? how did we live in this world? It matters not, we see, in what condition we have been here; it matters not whether we be bond-servants or freemen; it matters not whether we be among the high and the rich, or among the low and the poor, we shall in that day receive according as we now live. If we now live as obedient followers of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we shall, through him who loved us, inherit everlasting life. But if we are not true believers in him, if we are disobedient to his word, we can inherit only everlasting misery. With regard to you, the disobedient servants amongst you, the unfaithful, the deceitful, the ungodly servants, unless they repent and turn from the service of the devil to the service of God, shall surely 'be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.' Whilst the obedient servants amongst you, the faithful, the true, the godly servants, who are living 'as the servants of Christ,' 'doing service as to the Lord, and not to men,' shall, if they continue steadfast unto the end, be blessed for ever."
We read in the Bible, that "God is no respecter of persons;" that "he hath made of one blood all the nations of men;" "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself;" and that "all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." Would not the slaves be led to neglect of duty and insubordination by hearing such sentences? This effect, says Mr. Jones (speaking in reference to these sentences, "Rel. Inst." p. 197), "might result from imperfect and injudicious religious instruction.... But who will say that neglect of duty and insubordination are the legitimate effects of the gospel, purely and sincerely imparted to servants?" How judicious is the instruction given by Bishop Hedding! How purely and sincerely does Bishop Meade thus continue imparting the gospel! p. 116 (Brooke's "Slavery," &c. pp. 32, 33):—
"'All things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them;' that is, do by all mankind just as you would desire they should do by you, if you were in their place and they in yours.
"Now, to suit this rule to your particular circumstances, suppose you were masters and mistresses, and had servants under you, would you not desire that your servants should do their business faithfully and honestly, as well when your back was turned as while you were looking over them? Would you not expect, that they should take notice of what you said to them? that they should behave themselves with respect towards you and yours, and be as careful of every thing belonging to you as you would be yourselves? You are servants: do, therefore, as you would wish to be done by, and you will be both good servants to your masters and good servants to God, who requires this of you, and will reward you well for it, if you do it for the sake of conscience, in obedience to his commands."
From the same command of Christ, Mr. Jones instructs the slaves that they must not steal any of their own earnings, and must inform their masters when any of their fellow-slaves intend to steal! ("Catechism," pp. 114-116.) He never for an instant imagines (to use the words of the Rev. Dr. Jonathan Edwards in 1791), that "to hold any man in slavery is to be every day guilty of robbing him of his liberty, or of man-stealing" ("The Church as it is," p. 8). How solemnly would Bishop Freeman declare to the slaves, that thieves can never enter the kingdom of God, without thinking of the law of North Carolina, which provides that no slave shall be "permitted, on any pretence whatever, to raise any horses, cattle, hogs, or sheep" ("Rev. Stat." chap. 111, § 25), without the same being liable to be seized and sold, and the proceeds distributed, one half towards the support of the poor of the county, and the other half to the informer! (Ib. chap. 89, § 24.)
A friend once said that she was always grieved at receiving any expression of gratitude. She was grieved to think that the mere performance of duty was so uncommon as to call forth gratitude. In a somewhat similar manner, we feel more distinctly than ever how great is the degradation of the slaves, when such arguments as these can be addressed to them by intelligent men, with the expectation of producing conviction! How degraded must that slave be who does not feel or who cannot expose these wicked perversions of a beautiful command, and who cannot ask, in indignant tones, of these truly reverend fathers in God, "If you were the slave, would you consider yourself bound to work for your master faithfully?" Verily, "We owners and ministers" are "the almoners of Divine mercy" to the suffering slave!
Mr. Glennie declares, that God requires them patiently to submit to all the wrongs of slavery, as being afflictions sent by him for the good of their souls!—
Page 145: "Is it strange that any person who is loved by our Lord should endure sickness or pain or sorrow of any kind? No: this is what the whole Bible teaches. We read in one place, 'Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.' And in another place, 'As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.' The Bible also tells us the reason of this, which is, that the children of God may be taught to repent more of their sins, and to be more submissive and obedient to God; ... that they may think less about this world, and may be more diligent in getting ready for heaven. For these good reasons, God chastises his people; and whenever you become sick, or are visited with sorrows, you should try and look up to God as chastising you for your sins, and should pray much to him for his Spirit, that you may be patient like our Saviour, when he suffered for our sins, that you may improve by his chastening, and grow more like him in holiness."—Pp. 128, 129: "Whenever, therefore, the sorrows of this life are pressing you sore, think of this saying of our Saviour, 'Every branch which beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.' If you are indeed followers of Jesus, it will at such times comfort you to think that a Father's hand is upon you, chastising you,—in love chastising you to make you partakers of his holiness."
Mr. Glennie also frequently represents Christ as having appeared on earth as a servant, in order still more to reconcile his hearers to their lot (pp. 2, 3, 89). Nay, so anxious does he seem to be to induce his hearers to believe that Christ really endured the wrongs of a slave, that he sometimes goes beyond the Bible record. Thus, in describing Christ's sufferings before Pilate, he says (p. 9), "They spit in his face, and beat him with their hands; they scourged him, making long furrows in his back with the whip.... How grievous were the sufferings of our dear Lord!"