prediction, our Lord says, " The Son of man goeth as it was written of him ; but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed ! it had been good for that man if he had not been born."
That we may make a suitable improvement of this awful declaration, I will, I. Shew of whom this may be spoken —
We must not confine this declaration to the person of whom our Lord spake; since it is equally appli- cable to a great variety of characters. It may be applied to,
1. The Traitor who sells his Lord —
[To Judas the words are primarily applied. But are there no other persons who sell their Lord ? Wliat is the conduct of the lewd voluptuary, the sordid worldUng, the ambitious candi- date for honour? Each of them says, ' Give me but my price, and I will sell my Lord.' Each of them, in his own particular way, acts the part of " Esau, who sold his birthright for a mess of pottage''." Tell them, when in the pursuit of their respective objects, what a loss they must sustain ; and they regard you not : the pleasures, the riches, the honours, which they affect, are, in their eyes, of paramount importance; and follow them they will, though they must sacrifice all hopes of
ever enjoying the favour of their God I must say,
that these may kiss their Saviour in the sight of men, but they are traitors to him in the estimation of their God ; and, as such, must expect to be made monuments of his righteous indignation.]
2. The Iti/idel, who denies him —
[The Scribes and Pharisees rejected our blessed Lord, notwithstanding all the miracles he wrought in proof of his Messiahship: and " their end was according to their works'^." And are there not, at this day also, infidels who reject Christ, and, under an affectation of superior wisdom, pour contempt upon the Gospel, as a " cunningly-devised fable," deriding its doctrines as enthusiastic, and its precepts as needlessly severe? These persons designate themselves rational Christians; as though " wisdom should die with them :" but they are the most irrational of all Christians; since they set up their own vain conceits above the inspired records, and their own wisdom above the wisdom of their God. And shall it not shortly be saidj in reference to them, " Bring hither those
' Heb. xii. 16. <* 2 Cor. xi. 15.