And Judas Iscariot | Page 4

said that the work had been done as he was
commanded. He had no sooner said it than, behold, there was heard the
bleating of the sheep, and the lowing of the oxen. "Be sure your sin will
find you out."
The New Testament has many warnings like these in the Old, but Judas
surpasses them all. There is something about him that makes us
shudder.
It is said that in Oberammergau, where the Passion Play is presented,
the man taking the character of Judas is always avoided afterwards. He
may have been ever so reputable a citizen, but he has been at least in
action a Judas, and that is enough.
I was once a pastor at Schuylerville, N. Y., where on the Burgoyne
surrender ground stands a celebrated monument. It is beautiful to look
upon. On one side of it in a niche is General Schuyler, and on the other
side, if I remember correctly, General Gates; on the third, in the same
sort of a niche, another distinguished general is to be seen, but on the
fourth the niche is vacant. When I asked the reason I was told that "It is
the niche which might have been filled by Benedict Arnold had he not

been a traitor."
The story of Judas is like this. He might have been all that God could
have approved of; he is throughout eternity a murderer, and all because
grace was rejected. Numerous lessons may be drawn from such a story.
Certain things might be said concerning hypocrisy, for he was in the
truest sense a hypocrite. Reference could be made to the fact that sin is
small in its beginnings, sure in its progress, terrific in its ending, for at
the beginning he was doubtless but an average man in sin, possibly not
so different from the others; but he rejected the influence of Christ. Or,
again, from such a character a thrilling story could be told of the end of
transgressors, for hard as may be the way the end baffles description.
Judas certainly tells us this.
II
However much of a warning Judas may be to people of the world, I am
fully persuaded that there are four things which may be said concerning
him.
First: He gives us a lesson as Christians. There were many names given
him. In Matthew the tenth chapter and the fourth verse, and in Mark the
third chapter and the nineteenth verse, we read that he was a betrayer;
in Luke the sixth chapter and the sixteenth verse he was called a traitor;
in John the sixth chapter and the seventieth verse he is spoken of as a
devil, but in John the twelveth chapter and the sixth verse he is
mentioned as a thief. To me however one of the best names that could
be applied to him is that which Paul feared might be given to him when
he said, "Lest when I have preached to others I myself should be
[literally] disapproved" (1 Corinthians 9:27). It is indeed a solemn
thought, that if we are not right with God he will set us aside, for he
cannot use us. I have in mind a minister, who once thrilled great
numbers of people with his message. Under the power of his preaching
hundreds of people came to Christ. There was possibly no one in the
Church with a brighter future. To-day he is set aside, for God cannot
use him. I have in mind a Sunday school superintendent, who used to
be on every platform speaking for Christ, and then yielded to undue
political influence of the worst sort, lost his vision of Christ and his

power in speaking, and to-day is set aside. But of all the illustrations, I
know of nothing which so stirs me as the story of Judas. He might have
been true and faithful and he might have been with Christ to-day in
glory; instead, he is in hell, a self-confessed murderer, with the clinking
of the thirty pieces of silver to condemn him, and his awful conscience
constantly to accuse him. It is indeed enough to make our faces pale to
realize that, whatever we may be to-day in the service of God, we can
be set aside in less than a week, and God will cease to use us if we have
anything of the spirit of Judas.
Second: I learn also from Judas that environment is not enough for the
unregenerate. It is folly to state that a poor lost sinner simply by
changing his environment may have his nature changed. As John G.
Woolley has said, "it is like a man with a stubborn horse saying, 'I will
paint the outside of the barn a nice mild color to influence the horse
within.'"