Matthew 24:46-47

Blessed is that servant— "You, the ministers of religion, ought to be particularly faithful in the discharge of your duty; for it is not an ordinary trust which is committed to your charge; you are stewards, whose business it is to take care of the whole family; and who, because of the influence which your example may have upon the rest, ought to be remarkably diligent, that you may provoke your fellows to be frugal, active, and sober. Your duty is, to be well acquainted with the stores of evangelical truths, and to understand how they may be best applied. You should know likewise the characters of the various persons under your charge; that you may be able to give every one of them their portion of meat in due season: and if when I come, I find you thus employed, you areblessed; for I will highly reward you with the joys of my kingdom; even as an earthly master bestows particular marks of respect on such servants as have been remarkably faithful in any important trust." We may just observe, that as no peculiar rewards were conferred on any of the Apostles, or other faithful ministers, at the time of Christ's coming to destroy Jerusalem, this clause sufficiently proves a reference to the final judgment; and will not permit us, with Dr. Hammond, to understand the Gnostics, or with Dr. Whitby, the apostate Jews, as particularly intended by the subsequent mention of the wicked servant; which seems plainlyto refer to a debauched and persecuting clergy, hypocritically pretending to a distinguished zeal for Christian forms and institutions. See Hammond, Whitby, and Doddridge.