Sep 26
26
The Awful Sins of Judas
“Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priest and said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him (Jesus) unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.” (Matthew 26:14-15)
Ever since he “betrayed innocent blood” (Matthew 27:3-4), selling the Lord Jesus to the highest bidder, the name Judas has been a byword, symbolic of the worst form of treachery and deceit known to man. However, though he stands out in history as unique and his crime the most sinister, his sin is still among us.
The man who identifies with and/or supports, in any way, preachers, churches, and ministers which, in their preaching, deliver Christ into the hands of His enemies to do with Him as they will: auctioning Him off to the sinful crowd: selling Him out as a price agreeable to fallen man’s sinful will – that man is a Judas!
Any preacher or pastor, who, to get his people to be faithful, frightens them with the hounds of hell, drives them with the whip of the law, or bribes them with promises of exalted positions and great rewards in heaven – that preacher or pastor is a Judas!
Is the Lord Jesus Christ such an ugly, unattractive, undesirable Husband, that His bride will not love nor serve Him unless she is driven or bribed? What a dishonoring thought! What a blasphemous thought! Those who truly know the Lord Jesus, love Him, desire to honor and serve Him, do these things as willing and thankful servants, constrained by he knowledge of His great love for them, and the love which they have for Him (2 Cor. 5:14, I John 4:19).
To all who know Him, Christ is “Altogether lovely” and desired above any other, and all else-
Jack Shanks
The Mystery of His Love!
The following is by Augustus Toplady–
If anything can awake astonishment, and inflame our
gratitude, it must be that mystery of love- God manifested
in our nature, and made man, to bleed and die for our salvation.
That He should condescend to be sold for thirty shekels of
silver, to be apprehended and condemned as a malefactor;
to be crowned with piercing thorns; to be scourged at the
bloody pillar; to bear His cross; to be numbered with
transgressors; to be reviled by ruffianly soldiers, and a merciless
populace; to be torn with tormenting nails; and pierced with a
hostile spear; and suspended on the ignominious tree, between
heaven and earth, as unworthy of either, though He was the
maker and preserver of both.
What thought can reach, what tongue can tell, the infinite riches
of His love to man, that induced Him freely to undergo all this,
only to make man happy!
Nay, He not only freely underwent it, but even
longed for the time of His crucifixion to come-
“I have a baptism of sufferings to be baptised with; and
how am I straitened till it be accomplished?” (Luke 12:50)
Judas and Simon Peter
What was the difference between the sin of Judas and the sin of Simon Peter? What they did to our Lord seemed similar yet Simon was forgiven and converted, while Judas hanged himself and was damned. Every believer has worried at some point that they could turn out to be a Judas. Here is the difference.
Judas betrayed the Lord while Peter denied Him. There is a difference. Judas sold the Lord. Judas turned Him over to others for money. Judas did not care what happened to the Lord but was only interested in his own gain. He betrayed the Lord.
Many have done just as Judas did. They have taken the world, a job, home, family, and any number of things in exchange for Christ. In forsaking the Lord they are telling the world, “I don’t care about Jesus Christ, you can have Him. Just give me the money … give me my family . . . give me the world . .. you can have Jesus.” No less than Judas, they have betrayed Him and will end up like him.
Peter denied the Lord. In a moment of cowardice, in order to save his own skin, he denied that he knew the Lord. His denial was bad enough and brought him bitter sorrow and great shame, but because of his previous pride, the Lord had to show him his weakness, inability and self-righteousness.
Now every believer has denied the Lord many times. There have been times when we have kept silence to avoid a confrontation over the truth. We have sinned and acted foolishly, talking and acting like an unbeliever and not a disciple of Christ. But later, like Simon, we were very sorrowful and bitter, then upon hearing the gospel again, we cast ourselves upon His mercy. All have denied Him, but no true believer would sell out the Lord. No lover of the Lord Jesus Christ would take any amount of money in exchange for their soul, for eternal life, for Christ and His people.
Is it so with you? Would you take anything for Christ?
Paul Mahan
The matchless wisdom of God which devised this system of salvation!
(Charles Spurgeon)
“Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it!” Ephesians 5:25
The more I consider the doctrine of substitution–the more is my soul enamoured of the matchless wisdom of God which devised this system of salvation. As for a hazy atonement which atones for everybody in general, and for nobody in particular–an atonement made equally for Judas and for John–I care nothing for it. But a literal, substitutionary sacrifice, Christ vicariously bearing the wrath of God on my behalf–this calms my conscience with regard to the righteous demands of the law of God, and satisfies the instincts of my nature which declare that, as God is just, He must exact the penalty of my guilt!
“I am the Good Shepherd: The Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep!” John 10:11
The glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one. Jn.17:22
When men receive glory from one another in this world, it generally results in inflating their ego, enhancing their power, and even increasing their wealth. Our God is infinitely and eternally self-contained in all glory, honor and power. He needs nothing and cannot be added to in any way. Therefore, when He is glorified, it cannot be for His benefit. He is always the Benefactor and we are always the beneficiaries. To behold God’s glory is our greatest need and it is God’s greatest gift to His people. ~~Greg Elmquist
The most prominent object in heaven?
Spurgeon, “The Lamb in Glory” #2095.
“And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain. Rev 5:6
Jesus, in his ‘sacrificial’ character, is the most prominent object in heaven. So far from ‘substitution’ being done with, and laid aside as a temporary expedient, it remains the object of universal wonder and adoration. In all his present glory, Jesus disdains not to appear as the Lamb that has been slain. This still is his chosen character. Jesus, as the Lamb, is the centre of the wonderful circle which makes up the fellowship of heaven. As the Lamb slain, he is the object of heavenly worship.
He who became a Lamb that he might take away the sin of the world, is not ashamed of his humiliation, but still manifests it to adoring myriads, and is, for that very reason, the very object of their enthusiastic worship. They worship the Lamb that sits upon the throne and say, “Worthy is the Lamb,” because he was slain and redeemed his people by his blood. His atoning sacrifice is the great reason for their deepest reverence and their highest adoration.
The doctrine of Atonement is the first and foremost teaching of Scripture, the greatest well of the believer’s comfort, the highest hill of God’s glory.
“saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.” Rev 5:12
“For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” Rev. 7:17
How Do You Come To Christ?
I believe that all who come to our Redeemer in saving faith do
so PERSONALLY. I wish that I could believe God for my family; but
unless a man in his own heart believes on Christ, he will perish. Those who
come to Christ will come SINCERELY. A man is not only persuaded that
Christ is the way, but in his heart, he lovingly and sincerely agrees with
God’s terms of salvation. “My son, give me thine heart” (Prov. 23:26). It is
the heart or nothing in this heavenly marriage. Also, those who come to
Christ do so RATIONALLY, in knowledge and understanding. They
know WHAT He saved them from–sin’s curse and condemnation. They
know WHO saved them–our Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man. They
know HOW He saved them–by His perfect obedience and precious blood.
They know WHY He saved them–”according to the good pleasure of His
own will” (grace, grace, and more grace). And those who come to Christ
come PERMANENTLY, with no intention of ever leaving Him; and, by
His grace, with no possibility of ever being forsaken by Him.
Henry Mahan
Mere notional knowledge
By J. C. Philpot
The distinction that we are drawing between a gracious knowledge of the truth—and a mere notional knowledge is plain enough to every discerning child of God. He carries daily in his own bosom a test which discovers to him the difference between the knowledge which puffs up—and the knowledge of the only true God and of Jesus Christ whom he has sent, which is eternal life. He deeply feels that “the anointing which teaches of all things and is truth, and is no lie,” widely differs from a few speculative notions; and that the heavenly wisdom which is “first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy,” as far exceeds a natural, notional knowledge of the truth as the reality exceeds the counterfeit, and precious metal worthless dross and clay.
The one, he sees and feels, is grace, the other nature; one is spirit, the other flesh; one is power, the other form; one is light, life, liberty, and love; the other darkness, death, bondage, and enmity; by the one Jesus is revealed and made experimentally known, the kingdom of God set up in the heart, and Christ formed within, the hope of glory; by the other, pride and self are set up, the flesh pleased and gratified, and a name to live substituted for the work of faith with power. By the one, sin is repented of and forsaken; the world put under the feet; and every fruit and grace of the Spirit brought forth into living and active exercise. By the other, the heart is deceived; the conscience hardened; sin indulged; the strong man armed kept in possession of his palace; the flesh gratified; and the world loved and eagerly pursued.
By the one, the saints of God are highly esteemed and dearly loved—their company sought after, their trials and afflictions sympathised with, their infirmities borne with, and they esteemed the excellent of the earth, with whom we wish to live and die. By the other, the real people of God are despised and hated, their company avoided, their experience misunderstood or misrepresented, and the heady, high-minded, dead, and lifeless professors preferred before them.
Need we say more? Who that has eyes to see the state of the professing church, or is favored with any spiritual discernment to distinguish between the living family of God and those who have a name to live but are dead, will not say that these things are true
The point at which we have been aiming is to show the blessedness of that spirit of wisdom and knowledge which the Lord bestows on his people and to distinguish it from that mere speculative, natural, and notional acquaintance with the truth, which is commonly called head knowledge. Now, this heavenly principle, this gracious, enlightened apprehension of the spiritual understanding, needs to be fed and nurtured that it may not gradually pine away for lack of suitable nourishment, but rather thrive and grow. Various, indeed, are the ways which the Lord employs to strengthen and sustain this heavenly principle, such as temptation, trials, afflictions, a daily cross, and a continual conflict. But his chief means, and that to which all others are but subordinate, is the word of truth. The promises applied with a divine power to the heart; the invitations and exhortations scattered up and down the sacred page; the grand and glorious truths of the everlasting gospel, shining like so many brilliant constellations in the skies of the inspired record; the testimony everywhere given in the Scriptures to the Person and work of the Son of God, from the first promise in Eden to the closing prayer, “Even so come Lord Jesus;” (Rev. 22:20;) the opening up of the word of truth by the light, life, and power of the Holy Spirit; and the sealing evidence afforded thereby that these are the true sayings of God—such is the food of that heavenly understanding which the Lord bestows on his people.
May our thoughts seldom wander from the Cross!
(Henry Law, “Psalms” 1878)
“My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? why art Thou so far from helping Me and from the words of My groaning?” Psalm 22:1
We take our stand at Calvary.
The Cross is erected.
Jesus, the God-man, our substitute, our Redeemer, hangs there.
We look, and we receive assurance that truly He is . . .
bearing our curse,
drinking to the dregs our cup of wrath,
receiving into His inmost soul the sword of justice, and
suffering the extremities of anguish as the penalty for our sins.
Oh! what a sight of wonder!
Views of redemption, lead to grateful love. It is far easier to count ocean’s drops, than to portray . . .
the Saviour’s love,
His matchless worth,
His righteousness, and
the glories which He has purchased.
How precious is that expiating blood! Let us ponder its worth, and the marvels it has wrought – until our hearts become one blaze of love, and our lips one note of praise!
May our thoughts seldom wander from the Cross!