how shamefully they had violated their obligations to their divine Master, and how regardless they had been of their own eternal interests. And what shall we ourselves answer in the last day, when called to account for our present carelessness in the midst of all the warnings that are given us, and the dangers to which we are exposed ? Verily, whatever excuses we may now make, our mouths will then be shut : and to all eternity shall we reproach ourselves, that when we could watch whole nights about our temporal concerns, as the Apostles had done with their nets, we have not been able to " watch with Christ one single hour" in fervent and persevering prayer ; so " stupid have we been and brutish, even as beasts before him."]
May we not see from hence, my brethren,
1. How terrible we shall find it to bear the penalty due to sin!
[If it so oppressed and overwhelmed our incarnate God, what will it effect in us? " If it so consumed the green tree, how will it burn up the dryr!" I tremble to think how care- less all around us are, when in a few more days or hours they may have to sustain without any alleviation, and to all eternity, the wrath of God. Dear brethren, though your Lord bore in his own sacred person all your sins to make atonement for them, his atonement will be of no avail to you, unless you repent of your sins, and plead the merit of his blood for the expiation of them. No indeed, all that the Saviour has done and suffered for you will but aggravate your guilt, if you lose your present opportunity of calling upon him for the pardon of it. Do not, I pray you, give way to a sleepy careless state of mind. You have been again and again called, in order to awaken you ; and if you continue with folded arms to waste, as it were, your day of grace, death will ere long come, with irre- sistible energy, like Judas with his armed bands, and transport you to the bar of judgment, where nothing but condemnation will await you, and the wrath of an offended God. O that to-day, while it is called to-day, you may arise and call upon your God, that so iniquity may not be your ruin ! But, if you will " sleep on now and take your rest," wonder not if you be left, like Peter, to deny and forsake your Lord, and to perish with Judas, under an accumulated load of guilt and misery.]
2. How different a cup God is willing to put into our hands !
[Our blessed Lord prayed, that, " if it were possible, the cup of bitterness might pass from him." But God had decreed, that, " without shedding of blood there should be no remission
r Luke xxiii. 31.
1578.J THE TREASON OF JUDAS. Ill
of sins ;" and therefore if the Lord Jesus would be a surety for us, he must discharge our debt; and consequently, if he would take the cup out of our hands, he must drink it for us. And drink it he did, even to the very dregs. And now, brethren, he puts into our hands the cup of salvation, with all its inconceivable and eternal blessings. O drink ye of this, and let your souls live for ever ! I will not promise that you shall never in this life taste of the Saviour's cup of sorrows. You may taste of it ; you may even drink deeply of it, in order that you may be the more conformed to him. But of this I assure you, that, however bitter a cup God may at any time put into your hands, there shall be no wrath in it, no, not a drop ofivrath : it shall all be sweetened with love : it shall be altogether medicinal, and not penal. And, to counteract its bitterness, there shall be put into your hands " a cup of which the Lord himself shall be the portion s." Yes, the Lord Jesus drank the one, that you might drink the other. Only believe in him ; and trust in him; and cleave to him ; and watch and pray with him ; and all the blessedness of heaven shall be yours. And when the cup of God's wrath shall be put into the hands of the impenitent and unbelieving to drink to all eternity*, the cup of salvation shall be yours, and " the pleasures which are at God's right hand for evermore."]