* 03/25/AM
"Betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?" --Luke
22:48
The kisses of an enemy are deceitful." Let me be on my guard
when the world puts on a loving face, for it will,
if possible,
betray me as it did my Master, with a kiss. Whenever a man is about
to stab religion, he usually professes very great reverence for it.
Let me beware of the sleek-faced hypocrisy which is armour-bearer to
heresy and infidelity. Knowing the deceivableness of
unrighteousness, let me be wise as a serpent to detect and avoid the
designs of the enemy. The young man, void of understanding, was led
astray by the kiss of the strange woman: may my soul be so
graciously instructed all this day, that "the much fair
speech" of the world may have no effect upon me. Holy Spirit,
let me not, a poor frail son of man, be betrayed with a kiss!
But what if I should be guilty of the same accursed sin as Judas,
that son of perdition? I have been baptized into the name of the
Lord Jesus; I am a member of His visible Church; I sit at the
communion table: all these are so many kisses of my lips. Am I
sincere in them? If not, I am a base traitor. Do I live in the world
as carelessly as others do, and yet make a profession of being a
follower of Jesus? Then I must expose religion to ridicule, and lead
men to speak evil of the holy name by which I am called. Surely if I
act thus inconsistently I am a Judas, and it were better for me that
I had never been born. Dare I hope that I am clear in this matter?
Then, O Lord, keep me so. O Lord, make me sincere and true. Preserve
me from every false way. Never let me betray my Saviour. I do love
Thee, Jesus, and though I often grieve Thee, yet I would desire to
abide faithful even unto death. O God, forbid that I should be a
high-soaring professor, and then fall at last into the lake of fire,
because I betrayed my Master with a kiss.
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