THE PORTION OF THE UNFAITHFUL WATCHMAN.
“THE Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut HIM ASUNDER, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matt. xxiv, 50, 51. Certainly this is an awful declaration. But the guilt of that man whose fate is here portrayed, is very great. He had undertaken to watch for souls, as one that should give account. He had undertaken to care for the household, and to help them prepare for the Master's return. He did nothing of the kind. He laid down that watch. He plunged into sin himself. He dared to betray others into sin. He proved utterly unfaithful to his high trust, and when the Master returned, the blood of many souls was found upon his garments. Such fearful guilt must bring upon him a terrible punishment. He is to be cut asunder, and his portion appointed with hypocrites. Surely this is in the highest sense just. He belongs with the hypocrites. Of all hypocrites that one is worst who makes high profession as a minister of Christ, and a herald of the swift approaching and immediate Judgment, and yet secretly betrays others to ruin. No language can express the guilt, nor can any mind conceive the awful judgments of God that shall be visited upon such persons in the day of final wrath. When our Lord says that he shall be cut asunder, there seems to be a plain allusion to the solemn imprecation, anciently used in making a covenant with the Lord. Thus the case of Abraham in Gen. xv. And thus also that of the Hebrews in Jer. xxxiv, 18, 19. The covenant was ratified by dividing asunder the sacrifice, and then each of the contracting parties passed between the parts. This was a solemn imprecation upon themselves, that should they prove unfaithful to the covenant they had made, the like fate should be theirs. Thus the Hebrews passed between the divided calf. Thus the angel of God, as a burning lamp, did the like in the case of Abraham. Gen. xv, 17. When the Son of God says this evil servant shall be cut asunder, it is not unlikely that he alludes to the treachery of which he has been guilty. He had by solemn covenant entered into the service of Christ. He had pledged himself in the sight of God and men, to be true to the great work of the Christian ministry. He stood before man as a herald of the immediate advent of the Son of God. His solemn vows he had broken, and now their awful imprecation hangs over his head. His portion is with the hypocrites. The sword of divine justice shall cut him asunder. And with our Lord's most expressive declaration, we leave him: “There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”