Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
“Keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins; let not sin have dominion over me! Then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent of the great transgression.”
David, in Psalm 19:13
“For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins, but a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation . . .”
Hebrews 10:26-27
Peter cursed and swore that he had never even known Jesus, and then he was forgiven by God. Judas confessed that he knew Jesus very well and that he knew exactly where he was, and he was damned by God. Who did worse?
God judges the heart. Peter’s reason for swearing that he did not know Christ was a terror of death. And that awful fear of death was inescapable for Peter until after Jesus died, for Jesus came “that through death, he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb. 2:14b-15). On the other hand, Judas’ reason for confessing before men that he knew Jesus was that he loved himself and money more than he loved God and His righteousness and was willing to sell his Lord into the hands of wicked men in order to get what he wanted.
Two servants of God. One cursed and denied Christ, and was forgiven and healed. The other confessed Christ for profit and was damned even before he went to his grave. After betraying Jesus, all that was left for Judas was that “fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation”. This is a lesson to take to heart. Servants of God may stumble along the way, but God judges the heart, and He may in righteous judgment lift some from the ground and heal them but then refuse to grant the others any help at all. God knows what is just. In Christ, no cunning evildoer gets by, and no sincere soul gets left behind.