Luke xii. 47, 48. That servant, which knew his Lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required ; and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
IF there be much spoken in Scripture concerning the necessity of faith in Christ, so is there much spoken also concerning the necessity of obedience to him. The two are never to be separated : they are indissolubly connected together in God's purpose ; and must be also in our attainments : they are the root and the fruit, or the foundation and the super- structure. The importance of good works is marked with peculiar force in the words before us ; wherein our Lord makes known to us,
I. The ground and measure of our responsibility to God—
The ground of our responsibility to God is, that we are his servants —
[Every living man, from the highest to the lowest, is a servant of the Most High God. In this respect there is no difference between the king upon his throne and the beggar on a dunghill. Every one of us has his proper office to per- form for him, and every one that measure of talent which He has seen fit to commit to our care. Had we been independent of him, we had had no responsibility: but, having received every thing from him, and for him, we must, of necessity, give up an account to him of all that we have received, and of all that we have done.]
The measure of our responsibility depends on the knowledge we have possessed of our Master's will —
[A steward has much communication with his master, and an intimate acquaintance with his will; whilst a labourer is but very partially and imperfectly informed. Of course, therefore, much more is expected from the steward, than from the la- bourer. Thus it is in God's family. There is much more expected of a Christian, than of a Heathen, who has never