Chapter 4: Reproof A Christian Duty. day. No man keeps the law of God, or keeps his conscience clear, who sees sin and does not reprove it. He has additional guilt, who knows of sin and does not reprove it. He breaks two commandments. First, he becomes accessory to the transgression of his neighbor, and then he disobeys an express requirement by refusing to reprove his neighbor.
13. Unless you reprove men for their sins, you are not prepared to meet them in judgment.
Are you prepared to meet your children in the judgment, if you have not reproved nor chastised them, nor watched over their morals? "Certainly not," you say. But why?
"Because God has made it my duty to do this, and he holds me responsible for it." Very well. Then take the case of any other man that sins under your eye, or within reach of your influence, and goes down to hell, and you have never reproved him. Are you not responsible?
Oh, how many are now groaning in hell, that you have seen commit sin, and have never reproved, and now they are pouring curses on your head because you never waned them.
And how can you meet them in judgment?
14. Unless you do this, you are not prepared to meet God.
How many there are who profess to love God, and yet never so much as pretend to obey this command. Are such people prepared to meet God? When he says, "Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor," that is, without any excuse.
II. To whom is this command addressed?
Manifestly, to all men that have neighbors. It was addressed to all the people of Israel, and through them to all who are under the government of God to high and low, rich and poor, young and old, male and female, and every individual who is under the government of God, or bound to obey his commands.
III. Some exceptions to the universal application of this law.
He that made the law has a right to admit of exceptions. And the rule is binding in all cases, unless they come within the exceptions. There are some exceptions to the rule before us, laid down in the Bible.
1. God says, "Rebuke not a scorned, lest he hate thee."
There is a state of mind, where a person is known to be a scorner, a despiser of religion, a hater of God, and has no regard to his law, and is not to be influenced by any fear or care for God, why should you reprove him? It will only provoke a quarrel, without any good resulting to anybody. Therefore God makes such a character an exception to the rule.
2. Jesus Christ says, "Cast not your pearls before swine, least they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."
Whatever else this passage means, it appears to me to mean this, that sometimes men are in such a state of mind that to talk to them about religion would be at once irrational and dangerous, like casting pearls before swine. They have such a contempt for religion, and such a stupid, sensual, swinish heart, that they will trample all your reproofs under their