Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 3079
“To whom do you belong?” 1 Samuel 30:13.
This question was addressed by David to a young man of Egypt who was servant to an Amalekite. He had fallen sick and his master, being in a hurry, had left him to perish alone in the field and had gone his way. Had the master taken his servant with him and nursed him, his own life might have been preserved, but God avenged this poor servant, who had been so neglected, by making him the means of revealing to David where his master was—and David’s sharp and swift sword soon overtook him and his brother plunderers.
This, however, is not my main point tonight. I am going to aim at something which directly affects our eternal position and standing before God. I shall first open up the question in a different sense from that in which it was asked by David. Then, secondly, I will try to guide you in your response. And when I have done that, I will give a few words of good advice to those who have individually and respectively to furnish the answer.
I. First, then, “TO WHOM DO YOU BELONG?”
This is a question of universal pertinence. We may put it to any man most fairly because there is an owner both of the Church and of the world. As for the Church, we are Christ’s. “You are not your own, for you are bought with a price.” The Church is Christ’s body, “the fullness of Him that fills all in all.” And the world, too, is not without its owner. We read of one whose name is “the prince of this world”—“the prince of the power of the air; the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience.” While some men are the children of God, are all other men to be regarded as orphans? Oh, no! Christ says to them, “You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do.” There are no unowned men! We are, every one of us, either ranked under the banner of Prince Immanuel, to serve Him and fight His
battles, or else beneath the Black Prince, Satan—enrolled to do evil and to perish in our sins! It is a very proper question, then, to ask of every man and woman, “To whom do you belong?”
The question, too, is one which can be answered, because a man must belong either to one owner or the other. It is no use troubling people with questions which are too mysterious to be answered, but this is plain and pointed. You either belong to God or else you belong to His enemy. You are either bought with Jesus’ precious blood or else you are still a bond slave of Satan. Which are you? If it were possible to dwell in an intermediate state, this might be a puzzling enquiry, but there are no neutralities in religion. There is no such thing as being in the valley while the two hosts are on either side on the mountains. You are either this day standing shoulder to shoulder with Prince Immanuel’s warriors, or else, when the muster roll of the army on the opposite side is read, you are most certainly numbered there. All attempts to serve God and the world must end in bitter failure. Mark Antony yoked two lions together and drove them through the streets of Rome—but no man shall ever yoke together the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the lion of the Pit. No man ever tries to walk on two sides of the road at the same time unless he is intoxicated—and it argues gross intoxication of mind and spirit when a man attempts to serve both God and mammon—to win eternal life, and yet to live like the spiritually dead! This is a question which you cananswer, my Brothers and Sisters. Now do not play with your eternal interests and say, “Well, I am sure I don’t know.” You do know. Do not put it off with quibbles! Do not say you will make the enquiry by-and-by. You know right now whether you are a child of God or not! Or else if you are half-afraid that you are not the Lord’s, and you are saying—
“‘Tis a point I long to know”—
then you will never be happy until you do know—and you will not be able, I think, to give sleep to your eyes nor slumber to your eyelids till, in answer to my question, “To whom do you belong?” you can say, “I belong to Christ. He has bought me with His blood and I am His in life and shall be His in death—and His throughout eternity.”
This is a question of a very practical character. We are sometimes told that we preach upon subjects which do not concern the ordinary race of men. Secularism comes and tells us that we are dealing with another life, when we ought to be teaching people what is proper to be done in thislife. Yes, but that is a mistake, for there is nothing more practical for daily life than true religion—and this question is one of the practical ones which true religion suggests! Remember, dear Friends, to whomever you belong, you are quite sure to serve your master. If you belong to Satan, I know that you will do Satan’s work. Perhaps you will do it in his uniform and there is some sort of honesty in that. Perhaps you will curse, and swear, drink and so on—that is serving Satan in Satan’s uniform. But it is just possible that you will do Satan’s work in Christ’s uniform! You may wear the cross on your arm and yet, for all that, there may be a devil in your heart, like some of the old inns we have read of which had the sign of an angel outside, but they served the devil within. Doubtless there are many men of this sort nowadays. If you are Satan’s, you will serve Satan. But if you are Christ’s, you will serve Christ. You surely will, for it is written of all Christ’s servants. “The love of Christ constrains us, because we thus judge, that if One died for all, then were all dead; and that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them and rose again.” Christ’s servants serve Him. Is it not written, “His servants shall serve Him”? Your whole life on earth will be affected by your answer to the question, “To whom do you belong?”