1. The reason of the punishment is represented in the notion and character by which the party sentenced is expressed, * The unprofitable servant.' The word unprojitahle is sometimes used in a larger, and sometimes in a stricter sense. In a larger sense it is used for him that deserveth no reward ; so it is said, Luke xvii. 10, ' We are unpro- fitable servants.' Sometimes more strictly and properly for the idle and the negligent, for them that do not their duty, and make no improvement of their gifts. So it is taken here, and in many other places ; koX top d'^^pelov BovXov eKJBuXkere, ' Cast ye the unprofitable servant'
2. The punishment itself is represented by two notions : — [1.] It is dismal, ' Cast him into utter darkness.'
[2.] It is doleful, ' There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' First, Dismal ; eh to aK6ro<; to i^oorepov. (2.) It is doleful ; i/cet £(TTac 6 KkavOfio^ Kol 6 jSpvjfio'? Toiv 686vT(ov. Sometimes hell is expressed by one of these notions ; as Mat. xiii. 42, ' He will cast the tares into a furnace of fire : there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth ;' so Mat. xxiv. 51, ' He shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with hypocrites, where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' It is notable, that is the punishment of the luxurious servant, that did eat and drink with the drunken, and beat his fellow-servants ; and here the unprofitable servant is threatened with the same, though he was not riotous, but negligent. Sometimes by both together ; as Mat. viii. 11, 12, 'The children of the kingdom shall be cast into utter darkness ; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth ;' and Mat. xxii. 13, ' Take him away, and cast him into utter darkness ; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
4 • SERMONS UPON MATTHEW XXV. [SeR. XVIL
Now, let lis first consider the punishment as it is dismal, 'Cast him into utter darkness.' There are two terms to be explained — darkness, and utter darkness.
1. Darkness. Heaven is set forth by light, and hell by darkness. The inheritance of the saints is called an ' inheritance in light,' Col. i. 12, because that is an estate full of knowledge ; for there we ' see God face to face,' 1 Cor. xiii. 12 ; an estate full of joy and comfort, Ps. xvi. 11 ; an estate full of brightness and glory : Dan. xii. 3, ' They shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and as the stars for ever and ever ; ' Mat. xiii. 43, ' The righteous shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of heaven.' How base soever the children nf God appear in this world, in the world to come they shall be wonderful glorious. Now the opposite state of this is set forth by darkness ; as the fallen angels are said to be ' held in chains of darkness,' 2 Peter ii. 4 ; or as Jude hath it, in ' chains under darkness,' Jude 6. Hell is compared to a prison or dungeon, 1 Peter iii. 19. So Christ speaketh of hell as the prison wherein damned spirits are held in a wretched and comfortless estate, in a state most remote from joy and blessedness.
2. It is called utter darkness, either because their prisons or dun- geons were out of the city, as appeareth Acts xii. 10, or because they shall be shut from the feast or rooms of entertainment. Their feasts were usually kept by night ; suppers, and not dinners ; and then cele- brated with a great many lamps and candles or torches. Now, those that were not only shut out from those rooms of entertainment, but cast into dungeons, were left in a comfortless condition. That it is opposite to the feast, these two places, Mat. viii. 12, and Mat. xx. 13, show. And here, when the good servants ' enter into the master's joy,' or sit down and feast with him, then is the naughty servant ' cast into utter darkness ; ' that is, shut out of the communion of the blessed spirits (who in the place of happiness have eternal joy), and cast into the dungeon of hell.
Secondly, Let us consider it as it is doleful, * Where shall be weep- ing and gnashing of teeth.' Their estate shall be sad, and they shall have a bitter apprehension of it. Their apprehension is expressed by two things — their sorrow and indignation.
1. Their desperate tormenting sorrow, eVet KXavOfio^, ' weeping.' This dolour shall arise from the inexplicable torments of body and soul.
2. Their indignation or vexation, ' gnashing of teeth.' It is a token of indignation and impatience ; as Acts vii. 54, ' When they heard these things, they were cut at the heart, and gnashed on him with their teeth.' I shall explain it more by and by. Two points will arise hence : —
JDoct. 1. That hell is a place and state of inexpressible torments.
Docf. 2. That unprofitableness is a damning sin.
The unprofitable servant is condemned, though he did not waste his master's goods, yet because he did not increase them. There is no treachery laid to his charge, no riot and wasteful profusion, no oppo- sition to his fellow-servants, to vex or hinder them in their work. We hear nothing of this laid to his charge ; but he neglected to do that which is good.