The Passover was one of the three major pilgrimage festivals in the Jewish calendar. And so it would not be surprising to us to find that our Lord Jesus had made careful preparations for that. We read in Matthew 26, for example, Now the first day of the feast of an eleven bread, the disciples came to Jesus saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the Passover? And he said, Go into the city to such a man and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at thy house with my disciples. Christ had previously revealed to his disciples his desire. With desire, he said, I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. Can you imagine the inestimable privilege, blessings that all these disciples had to be able to sit with the Lord Jesus Christ at the Last Supper before he went to Calvary? So the disciples responded in a way that the disciples knew best. We read that response in Luke 22. And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest. What a letdown that was, from being chosen to wanting to be chief, a climb down from the supper to a squabble. But our Lord was not disturbed or perturbed by all the unchristian behavior of his disciples. He demonstrated what true greatness in a Christian life entails. He that is greatest among you shall be your servant. To drive home that point, Jesus began to wash the feet of his disciples. Behold the condescension, humility of our Lord Jesus Christ. And feeling embarrassed, Peter uttered the first words that came into his mind, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Then came that piercing, the most searching of question and disclosure. Verily I say unto you that one of you shall betray me. Now as proof that they had the measure of grace, they did not start pointing the fingers and blaming each other. but each to his own self, and asking, Lord, is it I? This, after they had searched their hearts and seen that they had so much sin within. Not in defiance did they answer as Judas did, I is it? But Lord, is it I? And isn't that what the church needs, that self-examination, that each of us should stop blaming each other? but ourselves. Imagine what this church would be like, what the denomination would be like, instead of being insignificant and weak and dreary. If we stop blaming each other and asking, Lord, is it him or her, but us admitting that it is with us, that's the fault. Well, actually, you don't have to imagine what the church will be like because I can tell you what she will be like, not much the same. Because you see sin, but do you see sin as God sees sin in all its defilement, in all its debasement and destruction? You say you do always search your hearts, but do you search your hearts as God searches hearts with no corner unscathed, with no deep recesses ignored where your darling sins dwells? Because if we see sin as God sees sin, and if we search our hearts as God searches hearts, there can be only one, one only confession, Lord, it is I. Yes, even now at this last, this late hour, the question was posed to Judas. He had disclosed to them that one of the disciples would betray him. Lord had Judas in mind. Judas knew that it was him, that Judas knew that Christ knew Sin had found Judas out. Christ had found him out. And that being the case, you would have thought that Judas, being exposed, would now admit his guilt. Yes, it was I who went to the priest. He didn't come to me. It was I who agreed to deliver the Lord Jesus Christ into the hands of his enemies. It was I who was guilty of betraying. innocent blood. But yes, now even at this late hour, Judas could have repented. He could have fallen at the feet of Jesus Christ and asked for forgiveness. I was wrong, my greed had consumed me. Have mercy upon me, oh God, according to thy loving kindness, according to, unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. I've sinned in that I have betrayed innocent blood. That would it be, that could have been his confession. Jesus had warned in Matthew 26, the Son of Man goeth as it is written of him, but war unto that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It had been good for that man if he had not been born. Judas then, when he was confronted by that revelation of Jesus Christ, Judas could have said, war is me, for I am undone, but Christ can undo. What I cannot do, Christ has done it all. And so here am I face to face with one who can save to the uttermost those that come to God by him. But sadly, despite being found out, despite being seen through, and despite being caught in, knowing that he was the one who was guilty, Judas had no desire at all to repent. So Christ pressured the hand and forced the hand of Judas and said, well, then if there's no desire for you to turn from your wicked way and live, what you're going to do, do quickly. So as the Lord enables, we shall concentrate our minds on John 13, 27. And after that, after the sob, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus said unto him, that thou doest do quickly, that thou doest do quickly. Firstly, then the seal of condemnation, seal of condemnation, this imperative of Christ to force Judas to do quickly what he had planned to do, seal the fate of Judas. Before that, when Jesus said that one of you is going to betray me, Christ had offered Judas the opportunity of repentance. There was no need for Judas to carry out his evil and heinous deed. Turn ye, Judas, turn ye, for why will you die? Turn ye from your evil ways. But Judas As subsequent events showed, proved that he had no intentions whatsoever of repenting and asking for forgiveness. He had opened the door of his heart, but sadly it was not to let Christ in, but Satan. For Satan could never enter into that door of our hearts unless we permitted him. Judas was with Christ. but never in Christ. He tasted the morsel, but never fed upon that manna. He was at heaven's door, but failed to enter into that door, which if any man enters, he shall be saved. Likewise, the saddest road that you will ever travel is the road that you took this morning, leading to church, entering through those very doors, but never entering to that door which is Christ. For by me, Christ said, if any man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. Now, Judas had no intention of betraying Christ at that particular time. Perhaps he was thinking to himself, But you are thinking this morning, just one more sin. One more sin and then perhaps I will seek after this thing called salvation. One more sin is not going to hurt. One more day. One more day and I will turn over a new leaf and I will inquire about this Christian faith. and salvation in Christ Jesus. One more sin, one more day. That's the vain philosophy of the world. You think to yourself, there's always time for repentance afterwards. After all, he had been sinning before, and he is still here. One more day, and then I will seek God. One more act, one more day. Is that your philosophy as well? Repentance is for tomorrow. Today, we will enjoy ourselves. And I will say to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. Now, there's this fatal notion that is entertained by many in the world today, that you can live the way you want, and any time, any time at all of your choosing, you can come to God in repentance. And God is duty-bound. Being the God of love and of mercy, God is obligated to pardon your sin in order to protect his reputation for being a loving and merciful God, a forgiving God. And so we think freely. And so we think that we can safely free all those lustful lusts, all those youthful lusts that we have from the shackles of a moral, strict upbringing. Well, God's verdict for such a person is this, thou fool, this night, this day, this morning, thy soul shall be required of thee. Then whose shall these things be which thou hast provided? Well, sadly there are many such fools in the nursing homes and in hospitals and living on their own, in churches, in their old age. Now as a group, the 90-year-olds and the 80-year-olds are more likely to die than a nine-year-old or an eight-year-old. And surely if there is a person who desperately needs to make peace with God, it surely must be one of these older generations. You would have thought that towards the end of their lives, on the brink of eternity, the point of facing God their maker, their hearts would be soft and pliable, responsive to the gospel. But you could not be more wrong because generally speaking, those who have the hardest hearts are not those who are young and loose, but those who are old and lost. Not everyone, obviously, because they are, of course, deathbed conversions. We must not despair, yes, for as long as we have a loved one on this side of eternity who are still unsaved, we must pray for them, we must plead, for them who would not plead and pray for themselves. But no one and certainly no old folk can presume that he or she can be saved at the last moment on earth, on the deathbeds, after a life of sin and debauchery. Once upon a time, they had the opportunity to repent I took a gamble and said, one more time, one more sin, one more act, one more day, and then I will seek salvation. And then the days of youth, perhaps like the days of the young people here, turned to months and years. And on the brink of meeting God, they could not repent, even if they wanted to. That crossed that line. Many years ago, perhaps, when they were 19 or 29, 59, who can tell? So it was with Judas. There was a period in his life As he observed the repentance of the leper, miraculous healing of the man with a withered hand, woman caught in adultery, and of many others when he had seen the work of Christ Jesus, he could have repented. But he let these opportunities pass by. Remember, it's like a ball that's roll up on the slope. It will always roll back up to a certain point. And just a little push over the top, it can only roll over to the other side. It can never roll back. And so it is with us tempting the patience of God. Judas attempted the patience of God, committed sin upon sin, thinking that he could repent any time that he wanted. But this time, this one time, this only time, he had crossed that line, had gone beyond the point of no return, and that sealed his fate, sealed his damnation. Is this true of you today? Is this your condition? Are you on the verge of crossing that line? going beyond the point of no return, because you never know when that time will be. You cannot see that line. And every second of delay in believing, in coming to Christ, you're closer to that point of no return. Every second of delay in believing drags you closer and closer to that line, which, if crossed, will propel you to a lost eternity. Does not the Bible warn every profane person? Today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, because you just simply don't know when that line will be crossed, when that point of no return is reached. When you do cross that line, you will find no place of repentance, though you seek it carefully with tears, as did Esau. You will find no place of repentance, though you Sorted carefully with fear as did Judas, you will not seek repentance even though you are near Christ, as was one of the thieves on the cross. You will not seek repentance though far advanced in your age. The fact that you and I are here with some interest at all, at least in the gospel truth, means that we have not crossed that line yet. We have not reached that turning point, but which sin and which deed and which day will it be that will seal your damnation? Who knows when the time will come? Because there are no warning signs before the last sin, but one that will doom you and damned you to eternity. There is a time you know not when, a point you know not where, that marks the destiny of man to glory or despair. There is a line by you unseen that crosses every path, a hidden boundary between God's patience and God's wrath. Will you accuse God of being unjust, even though He's been warning you through providence, the death of the ungodly and that of the godly, your own near-death experiences, the illnesses, the infirmities that speak of your mortality? godly witness and testimony of your family and friends. They've been warning you, they've been pleading with you, the conduct of the ungodly that has been warning you to flee from the city of destruction and from the wrath to come. That dreadful day, that awful place, that accursed line, who can tell when that last act of yours will be that seals your damnation? From when there is no place of repentance, though you might have sought it with tears. As has been said so aptly regarding the thieves on the cross, one was saved that no one may despair, but only one that no one may presume. Note the proximity of these verses from Christ telling the disciples that one of them would betray him to the act of forcing Judas to act quickly. This included the time that the disciples were voicing their doubt and being sorrowful, the dipping of the morsel, the identification of Judas leaving the table, when it was night. All this would have been over within a few moments. Just a few moments that separated the possibility of salvation to the impossibility of repentance. We see secondly then, from the seal of damnation to the speed of declension. The speed of declension. Sin has a speed all of its own. It's like a rocket that has internal combustion that once the momentum is reached, it just accelerates, just goes on and on. Sin never takes its time when it's time to sin. It shoots out its arrows. Sin never needs a rethink or a recapitulation. Sin never rationalizes and somehow conclude that it is irrational to sin. Sin sends a way without taking time to find if there's a way out of temptation at all. Sin never dilly-dallies when it's time to dally in sin. And by nature, we love to have that soul. You know, there's always a struggle to climb the hill of holiness and sanctification, but the breeze will slide down. You climb the steps to a slide, for example, in the playground, fold your back, lie back, and just simply slide down within seconds. They call this backsliding. There's so much friction and resistance in us as we try to progress in our spiritual life. But no resistance so often when it comes to sinning. What wretched sinners we are. But we need help from outside of ourselves. That help is in Jesus Christ. Our sin, like a burden on our backs, can impede us, but it can be taken away. Christ Jesus has the answer to all our problems. We need to be aware of the speed of declension in spiritual matters. Note the speed of declension in our nation as well. How speedily the authorities of the land enact unrighteous laws that are contrary to God's How fast a flurry of laws that been passed from the throne of iniquity, which frameth mischief by a law. This nation has changed from a reasonably Judeo-Christian nation to a godless one within less than a generation. And your forefathers and your parents would have known a different country. That's true of the cities as well. Glasgow city, as you know, has a motto. Lord, let Glasgow flourish through the preaching of thy word and praising thy name. Those were the days when our forefathers knew of the influence of God. But how many today really take that to heart? Motto might as well be. That which Glaswegians do, do quickly. Time is short and the list of sins that you need to commit is long. So don't waste time at all. Make haste and do quickly. And when you make a mark at sin, you might as well flock to sin. The sin that Glaswegians do today, they do quickly. Note again the speed of declension in the church. Took over 400 years for the church since the Reformation time to be somewhat reformed. But it's just less than a decade, less than 10 years when the church that we left is no longer recognizable. That which thou doest do quickly applies also to renegade churches and denominations. The mutation and the mutilation of all that is good and all that is scriptural in the name of modernization to fit the modern palette. Rather should not we humble ourselves and fit into God's pattern, into the God's scriptural ways, Man's wisdom pitted against God's wisdom. How pitiful that is. And you and I, who are true to the Lord, can never have anything to do with a form of godliness without the power thereof. Mighty God had declared in Ezekiel, her priests, that is the ministers of the church, have violated my law, profaned my holy things, that put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shown difference between the clean and the unclean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. How many so-called Christians are sleeping with the enemies of Christ? Enemies who create strange fires in their worship, strange fires that make for strange bedfellows. Lastly, need to be aware of the speed of declension in our own personal lives. Years have been spent attending church, and then the isolation that was caused by COVID resulted in so many of us stop attending church at all. Now we are worshiping in the pajamas, in the comfort of our own home, if anything at all. Heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet that are swift in running to mischief. The sins which we plan to commit, we do quickly. That thou doest do quickly, we say to ourselves. But we drag our feet, don't we, when it comes to spiritual exercises? We give all sorts of excuses. But remarkably, no excuse is offered when we plan to commit sin. We're too busy, we're too tired, too handicapped to exercises of sanctification and the means of graces. The world will always make time for sin. We'll always find the last ounce of energy to sin in an effort to overcome our handicaps, as it were. Let the example of Judas be a warning to us all. Is there a Judas in this church this morning? His fall from the impossibility of grace and forgiveness to the impossibility of salvation and repentance took only a few moments. Our feet run to evil and we make haste to shed innocent blood. Our thoughts are thoughts of iniquity. Wasting and destruction are all in our past. Should we not rather run to Christ? Draw me and we will run after Him. Is that our prayer? We will be glad and rejoice in Thee. We will remember Thy love more than wine. The upright love Thee. Let our prayer then be that of the psalmist. Lord, haste me to deliver. With speed, Lord, succor me. My poor and needy am. Lord, come, Lord, and make no stay. My help and my deliverer art. O Lord, make no delay." Well, then Christ told Judas what he had to do. He had to do quickly. This was a matter of urgency. was something that could not wait. But a sense of urgency cannot refer to Judas for two reasons. Firstly, as we have discovered, Judas had no intention of doing that which he wanted to do quickly. He wanted to take his time. Perhaps he had plans of committing another sin. Perhaps he had this fanciful idea that he could renegotiate With the Pharisees, perhaps 30 pieces of silver could be increased. Whatever the reason was, Judas had no intention that night to betray Christ. And so, the sense of determination and urgency cannot refer to Judas, but to Christ. Because no gospel message should end in a sour note, but a note of triumph. So then contrast the speed of declension with thirdly, the sense of determination, the sense of determination in Christ Jesus. In forcing the hand of Judas, in not giving him the chance to procrastinate, but to carry out his evil deed, was not Christ hastening his own death, because once Judas had pointed to the band of men and officers and from the chief priests and the Pharisees, who Jesus was, he set into motion a chain of events that could not be stopped. There could be only one inexorable outcome, death on the cross of Calvary. Yes, Jesus was alert, alive to this consequence of him forcing Judas' hand. Christ tells Judas, that which you must do, do quickly, so that that which I must do, I can do quickly. And what was it that Christ must do? He must lay down his life, a ransom for many. He, the true Christ, had obeyed all the laws of God, that have been broken by us all, all the laws of God all the time. We read in Romans that Moses describes the righteousness which is of the law. The law is righteous. It's not something that is evil. The law of God is righteous. To the man which doeth these things shall live by them. And so if any man were able to keep all of God's laws all the time, you shall indeed live and not die. Now, obviously, being born in sin and shepherded in iniquity, no fallen creature was able to keep God's laws consistently, constantly. But Christ was able to do just that. He kept all the laws that you and I have broken. It secured for us the righteousness of God thereby. This is described as the active obedience of God. Active obedience of God in obeying all God's laws on our behalf. But man has a second problem. The problem is that he has to pay a penalty for that sin that he has broken from his youth onwards. any one of which results in death. Since man is unable to pay that penalty and also live Christ by his death, as our substitute, pay that penalty on our behalf. This is termed the passive obedience of God. The passive obedience, not as opposed to being active, but as in passive or suffering. So as relates to Christ, the passive obedience refers to his suffering on the cross for our behalf. And that is what Christ was so anxious to do on that night when he forced the hand of Judas. He was so anxious to go to the cross on our behalf. For without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. No one from the Old Testament times stood anew, from Adam through Abraham to us all. No one will ever be saved without the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. Adam would have believed in vain, as would us, unless Christ went to the cross and shed his blood as remission for your sin and mine. He must go unto Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day." So then, is it surprising at all that Christ was so eager to lay down his life that those who believe on him should not perish? How delighted was Christ to do the will of God so that he might secure salvation for all his people. Union with Christ is only possible through the redemptive work of Christ on Calvary. For without Calvary, salvation would be no salvation at all. And that's why true preaching must be the preaching of the cross. For if you think you have no need of repentance, you are saying that you have no sin at all, that needs no forgiveness, believing in a God who has no wrath, offering reconciliation with no savior, true redemption with no blood, from a Calvary with no cross. If that's the case, then all our preaching is indeed foolishness, and we are of all men most miserable. We might as well eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die. But the truth is that we have an immortal soul that can never die. The wicked likes to think that once he dies, that's the end of all existence. Does not need to suffer the conscious suffering forever and ever, but they will be destroyed and cease to exist. And that's why they live without accountability at all. No responsibility towards society or to God. They live with no thought of the consequences of their actions, and it's only the law of the land that restricts a little bit of their wickedness. They suppress their conscience, ignore the plain facts that man is religious, that man is aware that he has an immortal soul, that we are sinners. So for salvation to be possible, Christ must die and shed his blood on the cross. He must be born of a virgin so that he will have a human nature and suffer and die on the cross on our behalf. And everything points to the cross. Old Testament prophecies all lead us to Calvary where Christ died for us, the just for the unjust, when we will get without sin. Once everything was in place, a plan of salvation culminated in the cross of Calvary had to take place. There was no moment, no time to be lost if we are to be saved. And so, Jesus tells Judas, Well then, if you are still outside the kingdom, how long can you wait? To believe that it is only the older folks on the brink of eternity who should seek God is a false and dangerous premise, because you never know when you will cross that line, when you pass the point of no return. It may not be when you're 90 years old, but maybe when you're 19, when you have refused all the overtures of grace, all the pleadings of the preacher. And today may be that awful day that will seal your damnation if you will hear his voice this morning and yet harden your heart. How far may you go on in sin? How long will God forbear? Where does hope end and where begin the confines of despair? An answer from the skies is sent, ye that from God depart, while it is called today, repent, and harden not your heart. If you are a sinner, you need to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what you must do, and that is the only thing that is paramount today, to be delivered from the wrath to come. Let thou doest then, do quickly. Do it today, do it now. Today is a day of salvation. Tomorrow is a seal of damnation. Tomorrow you will neither seek nor find repentance. Tomorrow may be too late. That thou doest, believing in Lord Jesus Christ. Do it quickly. For believers, may it be true of us to seek first the kingdom of God and do so quickly. Why must the heathen have all the monopoly of zeal and commitment? Why must they have all the desires, all the lustful desires? Why can't we not have that enthusiasm and the zeal for God and for His glory? You know what is good and what does the Lord require of thee, but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God. Do it quickly. Do it today. Do it now. The book, Christian book that promotes godly living that you were meant to read years ago, read it quickly. Read it today. Read it now. You know that you ought to begin the Sabbath In public worship, there are two services on the Lord's Day. Attend both services. Do it quickly. Do it today. Do it now. That which is encumbered upon God's people to do, let us then, by His grace, desire to obey implicitly. And may it be said by the heathen around us, that that which the Lord hath commanded them to do, all the members of Partick Free Church continuing, they do quickly. He that testifies these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Let us not be ashamed, but confidently say, Even so, come, Lord Jesus, that thou doest. do quickly. Amen.