JUDAS ISCARIOT. praise. The application is easy. (Exod. xv.) O sirs! let no man deceive his own immortal soul: for it is most certain, that repentance to life hath all these lively companions attending it. Sound repentance, and the companions of it, are born together, and will live and continue together till the penitent soul changes earth for heaven, grace for glory.—Brooks. JUDAS ISCARIOT-WHY ONE OF THE TWELVE? BY THE REV. PATRICK FAIRBAIRN, SALTON. 267 age. In bringing it into such near connection with his own person, and allowing it to become interwoven with the events of his own minis try, our Lord gave it the character of a prophetical or teaching action, which, like all others of a like kind connected with his personal history, embodied lessons of great moment for every age of the Church. That out of the first twelve received into the divine kingdom by the immediate choice of its Founder, there should have been an apostate and a traitor, bespoke how certainly in the future history of the Church, persons should be found entering under the garb of a sacred profession into the number of its members, while still thoroughly opposed at heart to the spirit and design of Of the public actions of our Lord's earthly Christianity. That this unhappy individual ministry, there is none that at first sight ap- should have been an apostle, one who clave to pears more strange and mysterious than his his wickedness, though living in daily interappointment of Judas Iscariot to the place and course with the Lord of glory, constantly witcalling of an apostle. For knowing, as Christnessing the displays of miraculous power which did with infallible certainty, what was in men, and how all would conduct themselves toward him, he must have perceived from the first the unfitness of Judas for the solemn trust and labours of the apostleship; and, indeed, gave plain intimation of this, before Judas had done any thing to discover his real character to others, by declaring, that "of the twelve whom he had chosen, one was a devil." Yet not only was the appointment made, but it remained still uncancelled; and as if it was not enough to confer on this man simply the honours of the apostleship, he is the one specially distinguished by having committed to his keeping the common purse, and being charged with providing for their daily comfort. Why this apparently misplaced confidence, when the truth concerning him was so well known? And why should our Lord, with such insight as he possessed, have even admitted among his immediate followers one who was capable of acting the part of a traitor? Does it not seem to betray a defect in the wisdom of his earlier arrangements? And were proceeding from his hand, and himself taking an active part in the labours of a heaven-commissioned ministry-this, again, was intended to utter the warning, that the highest offices of the Church would not be free from such grievous wolves, and that there is no appearance of godliness, however great, and no ministrations of piety, however solemn, which a carnal and self-seeking hypocrisy would be found incapable of arrogating to itself. then, the root of bitterness itself, which here bore such accursed fruit-the love of moneyits silent growth amid the decencies of an outward profession, its tendency to make a gain of godliness, its readiness even to feed the cravings of its unhallowed appetite by dealing fraudulently with what belonged to the treasury of the Lord;-what a call should now be heard in this to watchful circumspection and inward self-examination! How earnestly is every member of the kingdom, from the least to the greatest, admonished to look to the workings of his own heart, lest the deceitfulness of riches should be stealing away his Such questions not unnaturally present them-affections from the things of God, and enselves, when the conduct of our Lord in this matter is considered hastily and without respect to the bearing it was designed to have upon the history of his work and kingdom among men. Yet, if more carefully examined, it will be found there were reasons more than sufficient to justify the course of procedure adopted, and that the fundamental principle of that procedure was entirely similar to that which discovered itself in the fall and rejection of the Jewish people in general. In so far as we may say of the one, it must and should have been, it is perfectly warrantable to say this also of the other. 1. Viewed, first of all, somewhat privately, and with reference to the personal history of Judas, his case was designed to furnish a salutary warning to the disciples of Christ in every tangling him in a net of perdition? The warning, indeed, though so loudly and impressively given on these points by the history of Judas, has, in all ages, been too little heeded; but this argues nothing against the wisdom of Christ in having ordered matters at the beginning of the Gospel, with a view to its being given in a way the most likely to be effectual and lasting. Nor is it too much, perhaps, to say, even in this point of view, that there was a necessity for all that took place, as the instruction afforded by our Lord's public ministry would not have been complete without it-the Church would have wanted something of what was necessary for her future warning and admonition. 2. But, again, the existence of Judas among the twelve, though in itself an evil, was in perfect accordance with the highest wisdom, as supplying in the issue the strongest possible assurance of our Lord's faultless purity and rectitude. It provides in this respect the same kind of test and safeguard for his private walk and conversation, that the general character of the Jewish people did for the things belonging to his public ministry. That these were per formed, not only in the broad light of day, but in the face of a people who stood towards him in a relation of hostility, and watched his every movement with jealousy and suspicion, secured that all he did and spake would undergo the most rigid examination, and that if a flaw anywhere existed, it would certainly be detected. The result showed, that if his enemies were too inveterate in their hostility to be convinced, they could yet find nothing in his career to justify it; their very silence is the clearest evidence of the reality of his miracles and the integrity of his character. But as the public and the private among men are too often in ill accordance with each other, it was manifestly of importance that a like test should be applied, and a like evidence borne from the more retired scenes of his familiar converse with his disciples. Accordingly, the world there too had its representative, and Satan his agent, in the unsuspecting form of a bosom friend-one, whose avaricious disposition drew him over at length into the camp of the enemy, and who had therefore every inducement to allege anything that his closer view of the character of Jesus might have furnished to excuse or justify his treachery. But here, again, nothing of evil could be found in Christ; and something more even than a silent testimony was borne to his innocence. He had exhibited, in his most private intercourse with his disciples, as pure and faithful an example of holiness as when appearing on the open theatre of a hostile world. And when conscience awoke from its temporary slumber in the traitor's bosom, he descried guilt, indeed, of the most appalling and aggravated kindbut guilt only in himself, insomuch that life itself was felt as an intolerable burden, and he rushed from misery on earth, into the still worse misery of an undone eternity. Thus, as matters actually stood, a twofold security was taken for establishing the blameless integrity of Jesus. There was the contradiction of sinners without, plying every device that the bitterest malice could suggest, and yet obliged to confess, that it could find no fault in him; and there was the hollow-hearted treachery of Judas within, who, though borne headlong by the swelling tide of avarice so far as to sell his Master, yet found himself, when the deed was done, without the shadow of a pretext to palliate his crime. Blessed Jesus, how sorely wast thou beset! but how gloriously didst thou triumph! Satan sought through every avenue to find something of his own in thee, but was foiled in all his attempts; and the very instruments of his working were constrained to own, that in thee there was no guile. Thou wert and art the Holy One of Israel. 3. But important as the reasons are we have already adduced for the admission of Judas among the twelve, there is still another that ranks considerably above them-one which brings us more directly upon the testimony of Scripture on the subject, and which rendered the appearance of a traitor within the camp. not only expedient, but necessary, in the same sense in which anything might be said to be necessary, that essentially belonged to the progress and development of Christ's work on earth. So our Lord himself constantly refers to it, as a thing that somehow could not be avoided, however much to be reprobated and deplored. (See especially John vi. 7, xiii. 18, 27.) So also St. Peter in his address concerning it, in the first assembly of disciples, in the upper chamber at Jerusalem: "Men and brethren, this Scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus." And as he afterwards declared publicly, that Christ “had been delivered up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God," the treachery of Judas, which played such an important part in the delivering up, manifestly comes in for a place among the things which, as being of essential moment, are represented as having been determinately arranged in the purposes of Heaven. Indeed Judas, as he became at last identified in his course with the Jewish people, so he was throughout their representative; he bore their name (even that is not unworthy of notice, considering the respect that is had to names in Scripture), and stood substantially in the same relation to Jesus, acted the same part, and inherited the same portion. We can conceive the possibility of another and better age having' been chosen for our Lord's appearance in the flesh, when, from the ancient people of the covenant being in a different state as to religion they might have been prepared to give to the Messiah a totally different reception. But as this did not seem meet to infinite Wisdom, as the great mass of the people, when Christ did appear, were sunk in carnality and worldliness.! it was inevitable but that, as they became ac-' quainted with his spiritual character and kingdom, they should reject his claims, and endeavour to prevent the success of his cause. He came to them as his own, laid open his undertaking to their view, and committed it, in a manner, to their charge; but prompted by a spirit of antipathy, as that of darkness to light, they betrayed the trust, and delivered him into the hands of the Gentiles to be crucified and slain. Considering the respective condition and character of the two parties, such a JUDAS ISCARIOT. result was inevitable; and the result itself, in the circumstances, was the grand demonstration and evidence of the spirituality of Christ's kingdom, which, in so carnal a soil, could not possibly meet with any better entertainment. Yet he being still the Son of God, this unworthy treatment, however certainly to have been expected, was not the less productive of the most bitter fruit to themselves; the league between them and the world, under which this foul treachery was perpetrated, could not possibly stand; and the innocent blood of which they had made themselves guilty, ere long returned with awful retribution upon their heads. 269 things took place, only in the one case on a more private, in the other on a more public theatre. Hence, Judas is spoken of as in a manner one with the rulers or representatives of the whole nation; as in Acts i. 15, where he is said to have "purchased a field with the reward of iniquity," while yet we know, if the parties were to be distinguished, it was rather they, than he, who made the purchase; but they are classed together as representing and prosecuting one interest in the matter. Hence, also, both by our Lord himself and by Peter, Judas is characterized as a kind of personification, in the most intense and wicked form, of all the malice and opposition which Christ was Now, this conduct on the part of the Jews destined to meet with in his work and kingat large, with its ruinous consequences, was dom on earth. He is even styled, in that sojust that which had its representation in the lemnest address to the Father (John xvii.), history of Judas; and as in his behaviour to- "The son of perdition," the very name afterward Jesus, they might have seen their own wards appropriated by Paul to the Antichrist. image, so in his unhappy end they should have | (2 Thess. ii. 3.) And those passages in which descried the clear presage of their coming per- David, speaking by the Holy Ghost of what, dition. This man, while he wanted nothing in from his experience of evil, might assuredly be outward appearance of attachment to the cause expected of a like kind respecting the Messiah of God and zeal for its interests, to justify his |--though the passages sometimes make menadmission to a place among the apostles, yet tion of adversaries in general, yet they are recarried in his bosom all the carnal elements of presented as finding their peculiar and most the age, which the wonderful manifestations of exact fulfilment in Judas. (John xiii. 18; Acts the grace and truth he was daily witnessing i. 20.) He, in particular, was the one who had could do nothing to dislodge. Hence he grew, sitten at meat with the Lord's Servant as a of necessity, more and more alienated from bosom friend, and yet had lifted up the heel Christ, as he became acquainted with his spirit- against him; and he stood so pre-eminent, as ual views and objects; until, at length, finding for the time to appear standing alone, among his own views of worldly gain and advance- those whose habitation, for their causeless enment in that direction assuming a quite vision-mity, was to be made desolate, and whose office ary aspect, and gathering from Christ's own words as well as other appearances, that things were certainly to go against him at any rate, it seemed the course of sound wisdom and good policy, to make common cause in time with the enemies of his Master by betraying him into their hands. But such a wicked betrayal of trust in one who stood so peculiarly near to Christ, and lay under obligations so sacred, could not prosper in its design, or even long escape the righteous judgment of Heaven. Indeed, he had scarcely begun to rejoice over the rewards of his iniquity, till they turned to gall and wormwood in his soul; nor could he rest till he had himself broken the infamous league he had formed with the adversaries, and laid violent hands upon his life. So that he served to the professing Church, then represented by the Jews, what the Jews served to the world, as in his treacherous conduct an affecting proof of the spirituality of Christ's character and kingdom, and in his fate, an awful monument of the inevitable destruction of those who reject his claims, and betray his cause into the hands of sinners. Thus we see, that while Judas and the Jewish people had each their peculiar sphere, there was an essential oneness between them in refereuce to Christ; in both, substantially, the same another was to take.* But this appropriation of passages in the Psalms of David, in which he speaks in his own person, and as of things pertaining to himself, implies an essential connection between David and Christ; such a connection, that what befell the one in the setting up of his temporal kingdom, must in its principal features also befall the other in setting up his everlasting kingdom. The reason is, that the kingdom in each case alike was the Lord's; and though in its administration, seen and temporal in the one case, not seen and everlasting in the other, yet in both the principles of government were one and the same-the principles of God's righteousness and truth, which, however developed and brought to bear on the affairs of inen, will always provoke similar feelings of dislike and enmity, and give rise to a similar course of op It is quite impossible to give their proper weight to these testimonies of Scripture, and take up with the view which is now becoming somewhat current among the learned, viz., that Judas was only impatient of delay, and had no other design in betraying Jesus than to compel him, as it were, to put forth his great power, and set up his temporal kingdom. hoping himself to be restored to favour after a slight rebuke. This view, though given with some plausibility by Archbishop Whateley, and in the Biblical Cyclopædia, manifestly does not touch the deep and solemn import of the passages in question, and would make Judas differ from the other apostles rather in rashness, than in settled wickedness. position and treachery, on the part of carnal and unsanctified minds. To prepare the faithful for expecting this in the case of the Messiah, was one of the chief reasons for ordering events as they actually took place in the personal history of David. He was called to make known to Israel his appointment to the kingdom, and the character he himself would maintain in the kingdom, in circumstances which rendered his exposure to the malice and opposition of ungodly men morally unavoidable. And what specially provoked this on their part was just the spiritual element which shone out so prominently in the case of David, and which contrasted so strongly with the carnal principles and policy of Saul and his adherents; insomuch that David's enemies are throughout characterized as God's enemies, and his cause as the cause of righteousness, with the success and triumph of which were bound up the highest interests, both of what was human and divine. But still, the spiritual there was of an inferior and imperfect kind, as compared with what it was to be in Christ. The kingdom, though truly and properly the Lord's, was brought out on a lower stage, because shaped and adjusted to the frame-work of an earthly administration. Yet even thus it was so strongly opposed to the reigning carnality and corruption of the age, that its heaven-elected head had to make his way to the throne through the contradiction of sinners of the most painful and trying kind--acquaintances becoming estranged from himbosom friends deserting and betraying him (as Ahithophel in after life, and probably others at an earlier period)—those who should have been the foremost, from their station or office in the land, to promote his advancement and uphold his cause, taking counsel together with the enemies and aliens against him. But if it was so in his case, how much more must the same have been with Christ, in whom the divine and the spiritual appeared in all their glory and magnitude! Here, as the good rose to its highest manifestation, so the antagonist evil could not fail to put forth its keenest opposition. And whatever of enmity the merely human head of the kingdom in its comparatively earthly form had to encounter, not less, at least, but possibly still more, the Church might certainly infer, as by the Holy Spirit she was plainly forewarned, to be awaiting the greater, the divine Head, when he should appear to set up the kingdom of heaven among sinful men. Here, again, then a necessity comes out for all that is recorded of the relation and conduct of Judas towards Christ. The earthly type must have its heavenly antitype; the pattern of things presented ages before in the lower stage of the kingdom, must have its corresponding features in the higher. And if the Jews of our Lord's time had known how to read their own Scriptures, and what lessons were contained in the history of the past for the time to come, they would have understood (as the aged Simeon at the birth, and the apostles after the ascension, of Christ understood), that so far from having reason to expect a flow ing tide of prosperity and good-will for him on earth, there was a "need be" for the very worst and basest part of the treatment he experienced. But is all this merely a matter of history? Far from it; the form only is past, the substance remains. Christ himself is no longer on earth to receive either good or evil at the hands of men; but his spiritual character, in all its essential truths and principles, has left itself impressed on his kingdom; and this is perpetually receiving the same kind of treatment he personally underwent. Instead of one, there are now thousands of Judases rejecting the Son of man in his kingdom, and betraying him to the adversaries. Only, they are less openly manifest-their conduct is comparatively veiled both to themselves and others, from the kingdom no longer standing alone in its spirituality, but carrying along with it the respectability, wealth, and glory of the world. Ah! how many follow Christ, when associated with these, or think they follow him, who, if the things of his kingdom were presented to them in their naked simplicity, would instantly turn their backs on them! It is not the gospel of the grace of God in its divine truths. its heavenly aim, its holy and blessed fruits, which they love, but rather the place it has now won for itself in connection with the esteem of men and the good things of the world. Such persons, however, are no more of Christ than Judas was; they are traitors within the camp. They are perpetually at war in heart with the spiritual things of God, and in the conflict that is going on between the power of good and evil, they substantially take the part of the adversary. This is ever and anon discovering itself in the sharper trials that occasionally arise in time, but the fearful extent to which it exists will only be seen in the judgment of the great day, when the searching fire of heaven shall try every man's state and work, of what sort they are. I FEAR TO DIE. I fear to die; and yet I fain And be with Jesus bless'd. I seem as one who long ago Had through the Red Sea pass'd, Exulting when the tyrant for (Not by his arm or power laid low) Upon its marge was cast; THE SWISS MISSIONS OF GRANDE LIGNE. But who amidst the desert drear, Had toil'd and struggled on, With now new signs of grace to cheer, And now again oppress'd with fear, His strength and spirit gone,A pilgrim seeking Canaan's land With hopeful heart at first, But downcast now-as still around Plods weary o'er the burning ground, Oh! how on Canaan's hills to gaze Would animate desire, The downcast drooping soul would raise, Call forth another song of praise, And better hopes inspire! O God of Jacob! lead the way, Lead on! I will not murmur more, Though worn with toil and pain; From Pharaoh's gate to Canaan's shore The Saviour Captain goes before, And foes resist in vain. Away, my fears!-the Lord is true; Safe in the promis'd land. THE SWISS MISSIONS OF GRANDE LIGNE -THEIR ORIGIN AND HISTORY. In the year 1834, the Rev. H. Olivier, pastor of a Christian church at Lausanne, Switzerland, left his native country for Canada, intending to preach the gospel among the Roman Catholics. He settled at Montreal, and commenced his labours with promising indications of success. Three persons were converted, and many received the knowledge of the truth by means of conversation, preaching, and the perusal of the Scriptures and religious tracts. It pleased God, however, to prevent Mr. Olivier from realizing his wishes; the climate proved uncongenial to his constitution, and he was compelled to leave Canada in the spring of 1836. Before his departure, two other labourers had entered into the field. Madame Feller, a member of the church over which Mr. Olivier presided, having lost her husband and her only child, had resolved to devote herself to the service of the Lord. After due consideration 271 and earnest prayer for guidance, she determined to follow her pastor to Canada. She was accompanied by the Rev. Mr. Roussy, a Christian minister, who had been also led to choose Canada as his sphere of labour. They sailed from Havre, September 20, 1835, and landed at New York on the 23d of the following month, and on the 31st reached Montreal. Ten days after, Mr. Roussy proceeded to Grande Ligne, in the district of L'Acadie, to take charge of a school. Madame Feller spent the winter at Montreal. In conjunction with Madame Olivier, she opened a school for the instruction of French Canadian children; much! of her time was also spent in visiting the Roman Catholics in their houses, for the purpose of reading the Scriptures, and conversing with them on the truths of the gospel. By these means she obtained an accurate knowledge of the Canadian character, and was prepared for subsequent efforts. In the latter end of May 1836, Mr. Olivier left Canada. Madame Feller went to St. Johns, hoping to find an opportunity for usefulness there; but her endeavours failed of success through the opposition of the priest, and her attention was ultimately directed to Grande Ligne. Mr. Roussy, it has been already stated, had undertaken the charge of a school in that district. His instructions were not confined to the communication of general knowledge, but embraced in addition the truths and duties of religion; and his spare time was employed in visiting the people, and making known to them, in a familiar manner, the way of salvation. So much attention was excited, that he was requested to preach, with which request he complied. The priest, under whose direction the school was placed, having dismissed him from his office at the end of two months, in fully at liberty to give himself to the propaga consequence of his evangelical zeal, he was tion of the gospel. After preaching some time at St. Johns, he removed his residence in the fall of 1836 to St. Andre, from which place he regularly visited Grande Ligne, Madame Feller became a resident at Grande Ligne in September, 1836. In the house of one of the persons who had received the truth under Mr. Roussy's ministry, she commenced those labours on which so great a blessing has since rested. The garret was appropriated to her accommodation. In that room, twenty-four feet long by ten broad, and only six feet high, divided into two apartments, in one of which she lived and lodged, and in the other received her pupils, Madame Feller spent the winter. It was a season of arduous, yet delightful effort. At nine in the morning the children assembled for instruction, which was continued till noon, resumed at two P.M., and closed at five. evening school commenced at six, which was chiefly attended by adults, with whom extended An |