Reflections on the Hardness of the Traitor's Heart.

WH

IMPROVEMENT.

437

Luke xxii.

28.

HO would not gladly continue with Chrift in the ftricteft Fide- Sect. 170. lity, amidst all the Trials which can arife, when he obferves how liberally he repays his Servants; and how graciously he feems to relish his own Honours the more, in Proportion to the Degree in which those Honours are shared with them; appointing them a glorious King- Ver. 29, 30. dom, and erecting Thrones for each of them? And furely, tho' the Apostles. of the Lamb are to have their peculiar Dignity in the great Day of his Triumph, there is a Senfe in which he will perform to every one that overcometh, that yet more condefcending Promise, I will grant him to fit down with me on my Throne, even as I alfo overcame, and am fet down with my Father on his Throne. (Rev. iii. 21.) Let our Souls in that Confidence be strengthened to all the Labours and Sufferings, to which he may call us forth.

18.

It is a melancholy Reflection, that there fhould be any one in this felect Company, to whom this indearing Promife did not belong; efpecially one, who having eaten of Chrift's Bread, fhould, in fuch a Senfe John xiii. and Degree as Judas, lift up his Heel against him. Deliver us, oh Lord," from any Share in that Guilt! We are treated as thy Friends; we are fet at thy Table: Let us not ungratefully kick against thee, while the Ox knoweth his Owner, and the Afs his Mafter's Crib! (Ifa. i. 3.)

If we would not do it, let us be jealous over ourselves with a godly Jealousy. Happy are they, whofe Hearts witness to their Sincerity in the Prefence of Him that fearches them, and can chearfully fay, Lord, is Mat. xxvi. it I? Let them fay it humbly too; left the Infirmity of Nature prevail 22. upon them beyond their prefent Purpose or Apprehenfion, and lead them

on to do that, the very Thought of which they would now abhor.

19.

Mat. xxvi.

How artfully must Judas have conducted himself, when, on fuch an Intimation, no particular Sufpicion appears to have fallen. on him? But Mark xiv. how vain is that Artifice, be it ever fo refined, which, while it preferves a Character in the Sight of Men, cannot in the least Degree impose upon Christ? The Day will come, when he will lay open the falfe and ungrate ful Hypocrite, in a more overwhelming Manner than that, in which he 23, 25. here expofed Judas; and whatever Advantage he may have gained, either by profeffing Religion, or by betraying it, he will undoubtedly find, that Ver. 24, it had been good for him, that he had never been born.

One would have imagined, that an Admonition like this, which laid bare the Secrets of his Heart, and warned him fo plainly and faithfully of his Danger, might have wrought fome Remorfe in his Heart, or at leaft have proved fome Impediment to the immediate Execution of his Defign: But being now given up by the righteous Judgment of Gon to 27.

the

John xiii,

438

Ver. 30.

JESUS declares, that he should foon be glorified.

Sect. 170. the Influence of Satan, and the Luft of his own depraved Mind, he is exasperated, rather than reclaimed by it; and immediately goes forth, under the Covert of the Night, to haften the Accomplishment of that Work of Darkness, the Confequences of which had been fo awfully reprefented. Oh Lord, let thy Grace, and thy Love, do that for us, which thy Terrors alone cannot do! Let our Hearts be melted by that nobler Principle, and taught to abhor every Thing which would displease thee! Oh, let them flow forth into fuch Workings of Compaffion to the Afflicted, as engaged the Bleffed Jefus to relieve the Poor out of his own little Stock; and into thofe Sentiments of Candor, which would not permit the Apoftles, even after this Admonition, to imagine Judas altogether fo bad as he indeed was; but led them to put the mildeft Conftruction on their Master's ambiguous Addrefs to him! Such may our Mistakes be, where-ever we do mistake; the Errors of a Charity, which would not by exceffive Rigour injure the vileft Sinner, and much less the leaft and weakest of GOD's Servants!

Ver. 29.

31.

SE C T. CLXXI.

CHRIST having exhorted his Difciples to mutual Love,
forewarns them of their approaching Trial, and foretells
Peter's Fall, immediately before the Eucharift. Luke
XXII. 31,---34. John XIII. 31, to the End.

IT

JOHN XIII. 31.

Sect. 171.
T was observed in the preceding Section, how
Judas, being marked out both by Chrift's
John XIII. Actions and his Words, quitted the Place in a
Mixture of Rage and Confufion: When therefore
be was thus gone out (a), Jefus faid to the rest of
his Difciples, as they fate at the Table with him,
Now is the Son of Man just on the Point of being
glorified far more remarkably than ever; and
GOD in a moft illuftrious Manner is to be glo-
rified in him, by the fignal and extraordinary Cir-
cumftances

JOHN XIII. 31.

Herefore when he was gone out, Jefus faid, Now is the Son of Man glo

rified, and GOD is glorified in him.

(a) When therefore he was gone out.] The Reader will obferve, that if the former Reafoning relating to the Order of this Part of the Story be juft, Judas certainly went out before the Eucharift was inftituted. And indeed one cannot reafonably fuppofe, Chrift would have commanded him to drink of the Cup, as the Blood fhed for him for the Remiffion of his Sins, when he had just before been declaring in effect, that his Sins should never be forgiven.

(b) A

He commands his Difciples to love one another.

John XIII.

32.

439
cumstances of his Abafement and Exaltation. Sect. 171.
And you may affure yourselves, that if GOD
be glorified in him, GOD will alfo glorify him
in and with himself, in fuch a Degree as shall in
the most convincing Manner declare his intimate
Relation to him; and the Time will presently
come, when he will eminently glorify him: For
the Son of Man is very fhortly to enter on the
Honours of his Celestial and univerfal Kingdom,
and in the mean Time fome Rays of Divine Glory
shall shine thro' all that Cloud of Ignominy, Re-
proach, and Diftrefs, which fhall furround him.

My dear little Children, whom I love even 33
with Parental Tenderness, and whom my Heart
pities under all your Trials and Sorrows, it is yet
buta yery little while longer that I am to con-
tinue with you; a few Hours more will part us:
And when I am gone, ye shall feek me, and wish
for my Prefence and Converfe; but as I faid to
the Jews, that whither I go, ye cannot come
(John vii. 34. and viii. 21. pag. 53,168.) So I now
Jay to you, Ye cannot as yet come to the Place
whither I am going. But obferve my part- 34
ing Words, and let them be written on your very
Hearts; for I give it you as a new Command-
ment (b), and prefs you by new Motives and a

new

(b) A new Commandment.] I apprehend this Expreffion fignifies much more, than merely a renewed Command. (Compare 1 John ii, 7, 8. and 2 John, ver. 5.) It seems a strong and lively Intimation, that the Engagements to mutual Love, peculiar to the Chriftian Difpenfation, are fo fingular, and fo cogent, that all other Men, when compared with its Votaries, may feem uninftructed in the School of Friendship, and Jefus may appear, as it were, the firft Profeffor of that Divine Science. Hamblichus (Vit. Pythag, cap. 33,) feems injuriously to have preferred the Pythagoreans to all other Men on that Account; but it may be obferved, that both he, and Eunapius, like many Moderns, feem to have had very little Regard to Truth, when Falfhood might caft a Slur on Christianity.Dr. Clarke well obferves, that our Lord feems to have laid this peculiar Strefs on Charity, as foreseeing that general Corruption and Destruction of true Christianity, which the Want of it would cause among thofe, that fhould call themselves his Church. Clarke's Sermons, vol. iii. p. 297.

Raphelius (Annot. ex Xen. pag. 137,-139.) has the beft Note I ever faw on the Paffage, tho' I think it hardly reaches the full Spirit of it; in which he fhews, that Xenophon calls the Laws of Lycurgus, nawolalos voμos, very new Laws, feveral hundred Years after they were made; because, tho' they had been commended by other Nations, they had not been practifed by them.-Perhaps our Lord may here infinuate a Reflection, not only on that Party-Spirit which prevailed fo much in the Jews, but likewife on the Emulations and Contentions among the Apostles themselves, which mutual Love would eafily have cured. In this Senfe it is ftill a new Commandment to us, who generally act, as if we had not yet got Time to learn, or even to read it..

(c) The

;

440

John XIII. 34.

Peter declares, he would lay down his Life for CHRIST.
ye love one another; as I
have loved you, that ye alfo
love one another.

Sect. 171. new Example to a Duty, which hitherto, alas,
has been too little regarded; and from henceforth
would have you to confider it as confirmed by a
new Sanction, and to keep it ever fresh in your
Memories; that ye love one another with a most
fincere and ardent Affection, fuch as Mankind
have never known before; yea, I would now en-
join you, even as I have loved you, that ye also
would love one another, with a Friendship which
may carry you thro' fuch Difficulties and Suffer-
35 ings, as I am going to endure for you all. This
will be the most acceptable, and the most orna-
mental Token of your Relation to me; and I re-
commend it to you, as the nobleft Badge of your
Profeffion (c): For by this fhall all Men know that
you are my Difciples indeed, if they fee you have
that lively and generous Love for each other, which
nothing but my Gospel can be fufficient to infpire.
On this Jefus paufed, that they might have an
Opportunity to reflect ferioufly on the important
Charge he had given them. And Simon Peter,
touched with what he had faid of his being ready
to go whither they could not come, faid to him,
Lord, permit us to enquire, whither art thou going?
Jefus answered him, I tell thee, Peter, whither I
am going, thou canst not directly follow me now;
for thou art intended for Service in my Church
for many future Years; but let it suffice thee, that
thou shalt follow me afterwards in the fame Way (d),
and dwell perpetually with me. Peter faid to
him, in a Tranfport of eager and tender Affection,
Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? Whatever
Difficulties and Dangers may be in the Way, the
Profpect of them does not difcourage me; for I
will most willingly lay down my Life for thy fake,
and had much rather die, than part with thee.

36

37

But

35 By this fhall all Men know that ye are my Difciples, if ye have Love one to another.

36 Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goeft thou? Jefus answered him, Whither I go, thou canft not follow me now; but thou fhalt follow me after

wards.

37 Peter faid unto him,

Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down Life for thy fake.

my

(c) The noblest Badge of your Profeffion.] It is well known, that the Founders of new Societies appoint fome peculiar Ornament, Sign, or Mode of Living, by which their Followers may be known from others. This feems to be here alluded to.

(d) Thou shalt follow me afterwards.] I am ready to think our Lord here obliquely hints, at what he afterwards farther fignified, in his Command to Peter after his Refurrection, when he ordered him to follow him; (John xxi. 18, 19.) viz. that Peter fhould die on the Cross for his fake; which antient History affures us that he did. See Eufeb. Ecclef. Hift. lib. iii. cap. I.

(e) When

But Satan was coming to fift them like Wheat:

441 But Jesus answered him, Wilt thou indeed fo Sect. 171. readily lay down thy Life for my fake? Alas, thou knoweft not thine own Weakness, or thou wouldst never talk thus confidently.

pecu

John XIII.

38.

And the Lord added with great Earneftness, Luke XXII. and faid, Oh Simon, Simon, I must tell thee, that 31. an Hour of terrible Trial is just at hand, which will prefs harder, than thou art aware, on thee, and on all thy Companions here: For behold, Satan, as in the Cafe of Job, (Job ii. 4, 5.) has requefted of GoD a Permiffion [to affault] you all by furious and violent Temptations, that he may tofs you up and down, and fift [you] like Wheat in a Sieve:(Compare Amos ix. 9.) But I, fore- 32 feeing the Danger, to which thou, Peter, wilt liarly be expofed, have graciously prevented thee with the Tokens of my friendly Care, and have prayed to my Father for thee, that he would communicate to thee fuch Supplies of Grace, that thy Faith may not utterly fail, and fink under the violent Shock it is to receive: And let me now exhort thee, that when thou art returned from thofe Wanderings, into which I know thou wilt fall, to the Paths of Wisdom and Duty (e), thou wouldst be sure to make it thine immediate Care to ftrengthen thy Brethren; and do thine utmost, all the Remainder of thy Days, to engage all, over whom thou haft any Influence, to a steady Adherence to my Cause, in the midst of the greatest Difficulties (ƒ).

And

I cannot

(e) When thou art returned, &c.] Kas ou wole erispefas, supicov Tes adexpus of. think the Authorities, which the learned Elfner produces, (Obferv. Vol. i. pag. 276, 277.) fufficient to induce us, with Sir Norton Knatchbull, to tranflate thefe Words, Do thou, Jome Time or other, convert and ftrengthen thy Brethren.For the Signification of 75 pepe, fee Alts ix. 35. xi. 21. xiv. 15.

(f) Make it thine immediate Care, &c.] I can fee no Objection against taking the Charge in this comprehenfive Senfe: And as I queftion not but Peter, after he had wept his Fall fo bitterly, as we know he did, applied himself to rally his difperfed Brethren, and to prevent their fleeing from Jerufalem, till the Third Day was over, in the Morning of which he was up betimes, and early at the Sepulchre of our Lord: (See John xx. 2, 3. Sect. 194.) So indeed the Strain of his Epiftles fhews his long and affectionate Remembrance of this folemn Charge. Many Paffages of the Firft are peculiarly intended to animate his Chriftian Brethren to a couragious Adherence to Chrift amidst the greatest Dangers; 1 Pet. i. 6, 7. ii. 19, 20. iii. 14,-18. iv. 12,-19. v. 8, 9, 10. and the Second has feveral Cautions to guard them against the Seductions of Error, in fome Inftances more to be dreaded than the Terrors of the feverest Perfecution. 2 Pet, i. 10, 12, ii. 1, 2. 20, 21. iii. 2, 17.

(g) It