LXVII.

SERM. Men do not fill up the measure of their iniquities all at once. It was observed of him before, that he was covetous, and that being trusted with the money which Christ and His Apostles had to live on, he converted part of this un[chap. 12. faithfully to his own private use. St. John therefore says, he was a thief.

6.]

Now, from hence we learn how dangerous it is to continue in any known sin; we cannot foresee what it will end in. If the love of money made Judas first a thief, and then a traitor; why should any man else think himself safe, when he has once provoked God to leave him to himself?

And here it will be proper to observe to you, that men are not so much their own masters as they are apt to think. Governed we must be, either by the Spirit of God, or by an evil Spirit.

Whenever men provoke God to withdraw His protection, that moment the devil takes them under his power, and, as [2 Tim. 2. the Scripture saith, "leads them captive at his will." It 26.] John 13.27. was thus with Judas; for, after eating the sop, we are told, the devil entered into him, and forced him immediately to go about his desperate undertaking.

This shews the danger of resisting the Spirit of God,-of despising the day of grace,—and the folly of resolving to repent some time or other; as if we were our own masters, as if we could always do what is fit to be done, as if we could resist temptations when we pleased, as if we could foresee our ruin, and were of ourselves able to prevent it.

Was it so with Judas? You see it was not. You see him, when once God had forsaken him, you see him hurried by his new master to his ruin, by a wickedness which we are astonished at, and by a blindness and folly which would be unaccountable, if the Scriptures had not told us who had taken possession of him; and if we did not know by experience, that wicked men are not governed by reason, but by a power superior to them, and that they must do what that power will have them to do, let the crime be what it will.

When therefore people seem to wonder, how a man could possibly do such a wicked thing; how he could be so foolish as for a very trifle to ruin himself, &c.; it is because they have not well considered what the holy Scriptures have told

us concerning this matter, namely, that it is the devil that [Eph. 2. 2 ; John 8. 44.] worketh in the children of disobedience; that such will do the lusts of their father the devil, whatever reason or religion say to the contrary.

II. And this will appear still more evident, when we have considered another circumstance of his sin; namely, that he had sufficient warning given him, and such as might have hindered him from his designed wickedness, if he had been his own master.

St. Matthew tells us, that before they came to Jerusalem, chap. 20. 18. even in the way, Jesus took the Twelve, and said unto them,

The Son of Man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests, and they shall condemn Him to death.

St. John tells us, that another time Jesus was troubled in chap. 13.21. spirit, and testified, saying, One of you shall betray Me. After this, when the Twelve were troubled, every man for himself, and asked our Lord this question,-Is it I? Judas did [Matt. 26. 25.] the same; to whom Jesus gave this plain answer, Truly it

is you.

Now, all this did not hinder him from his wicked purpose. And the reason was, he was not now his own master; so that neither fear for himself, nor love for his Lord, nor the baseness of the crime, could prevail with him to repent of his evil project.

You will perhaps say, that if he was not his own master, his crime was the less. By no means. He might have continued under the protection of God, if it had not been his own fault. It is true, the devil is still seeking whom he may devour; that is, whom he may be permitted to devour; but then, we are well assured, that he is permitted to be master of none but such as, by a course of wilful, presumptuous sins, have forced the Spirit of God to leave them to themselves.

And here let me tell you, that it is a very unwarrantable way of speaking, that some people have got, when they hear of any person falling into evil courses, or coming to some ill end: they say, he was born to it, it was his fortune, and the like. Pray hear what Christ said of Judas: "Woe unto [Matt. 26. that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed." Jesus Christ would not have said so, if Judas had not brought this

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LXVII.

SERM. evil upon his own head, by hardening his heart, and adding one sin to another, until God thought fit to permit the devil to enter into him, and then he filled up the measure of his iniquities.

Christians should rather learn from hence, to keep their consciences tender and awake; to take notice of the warnings given them; to repent while it is in their power; and above all things, they should consider very seriously what a desperate thing it is, to go to the Lord's Table, without full purposes of amendment of life. The very meaning of the word SACRAMENT is, an oath or act by which every Christian binds himself to become Christ's faithful servant.

Now to God, who knows all our hearts, and how sincere our repentance is; and how serious our purpose of leading a new life; to God, who knows this, it will be a most provoking crime, to go to the Lord's Table without considering what we are a doing; without repentance, without faith in God's mercy through Christ, without charity, and without resolving to amend where we have done amiss.

This was the very sin of Judas, which gave Satan full possession of him. For he was not content to entertain a most wicked design, but he would carry it off as if he were as faithful a disciple and servant as any Jesus had. And he had so well concealed his hypocrisy, that even his fellow disciples could not guess him to be the man, rather than any other.

But is a man the safer because he can conceal the purposes of his heart from men? Not at all. That which was the case of Judas will be the case of every presumptuous sinner. Every such act will set him farther out of God's favour, and give the devil still more power over him, till he has neither an heart, nor power, to repent.

III. Perhaps, you will say, it had been less a sin, if Judas had not come to his Lord's Table. Why, truly, so it had, while he had such a wicked design in his heart. But you will not sure infer from hence, that Christians had better forbear coming to the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, than come where there is so much danger. I would desire you to consider this thing seriously.

One end of the Lord's Supper is to distinguish Christ's

servants from the subjects of the devil. "Do this," saith [Luke 22. 19.] our Lord, "in remembrance of Me." This then is the short of the matter: if we do not come to the Lord's Table, we are not one with Christ, nor Christ with us. If we do come with evil in our hearts, we are just such servants as Judas was. But if we go to the Table of the Lord, with sincere desires of being faithful though unworthy servants of Christ, He will then accept us; He will forgive us what is past, and make us better for the time to come.

Now, if this is the truth of the matter, and it really is so, one would wonder how any Christian dare lightly turn his back upon the Lord's Table, when he has an opportunity offered him; it is in effect saying, for this time I will not own myself a servant of Jesus Christ. The Lord's Supper is an outward sign or token, by which Christians profess, to all the world, that they are not ashamed of Christ crucified, but that they hope for salvation by His death.

IV. The next thing that I would have you to take notice of in this matter is, the wonderful patience of our Saviour. He knew who it was that should betray Him; and yet He bore with him so far, as to wash his feet the very night before He was betrayed.

Christians are too apt to rely (more than they have warrant for) upon God's patience. You see, by this man's example, that it is great presumption to do so, while we continue in sin. He bears with the greatest sinners; but if His goodness does not lead them to repentance, there is a time (you see), when Satan takes entire possession of them, and is permitted to do so, because God will no longer protect them from his rage and malice.

V. If, in the last place, we consider the bargain this miserable man made for himself, we may learn instruction even from that circumstance of his treason.

The sacred Scripture tells us, it was for thirty pieces of silver; that is, in our money, about three pounds fifteen shillings.

You wonder that a man should be so bewitched, as for such a wretched sum to be guilty of so horrid a crime. This shews us plainly how sin blinds the eyes of our minds. It is not Judas only that makes these mad bargains; every

SERM. man that sells his soul for gain, or pleasure, is as mad, and LXVII. blind, as he was; and, when they come to die, will be convinced of it, as effectually as Judas was before he died, who [Matt. 16. then found his Master's words true to his cost, What shall a 26.1 man give in exchange for his soul?

VI. But you will say, perhaps, what is all this to us? We cannot (if we would be so wicked) betray our Lord, and bring destruction upon our heads, by such a sin as his was? Heb. 6. 6. But indeed the sacred Scriptures say we may, and crucify Him too; and that there are many that do so. I will shew you how: Well, then; what did Judas do more than deliver Christ into the hands of His enemies? And is it not a crime something like this, to bring that Church which He has purchased with His own blood into contempt? And do not all Christians do so, whose lives are not answerable to their profession? Who live as if they did not believe one word of what He taught, or suffered for us. Who (as far Heb. 10. 29. as it lies in their power) do, as the Apostle speaks, "tread under foot the Son of God, and count the blood of the covenant an unholy thing," as if Jesus Christ had suffered as an evil doer; "and do despite unto the spirit of grace." This is at least betraying the cause for which He suffered; and it is betraying it after such a manner as Judas did, namely, at the same time that we pretend to be His friends and servants.

And may not our Lord say of such, as He did of Judas? Behold! he that betrayeth me, one for whose ransom I have given my own life, one who is called by my name, who comes to my table as a friend, professing thereby to be a member of my family; who expects to be saved for my sake, to be raised by my power, and to be justified by faith in me; even this man betrays me: for, as soon as he goes from my table, he forgets the favours he there received, the promises he there made of being mine for ever; he goes amongst mine enemies, by whom my name and doctrine are blasphemed; and he lives and speaks just as they do. So that you could not guess him to be a disciple of mine, but that he comes to my table; and that, you see, is only to betray me, to make men believe, that I have indeed no faithful servants; that whatever my disciples pretend, they