_Mat. 18:7_—“_Woe unto the world because of occasions of stumbling! for it must needs be that the occasions come; but woe to that man through whom the occasion cometh_”; _1 Cor. 11:19_—“_For there must be also factions_ [lit. ‘_heresies_’] _among you, that they that are approved may be made manifest among you_”; _1 John 2:19_—“_They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they all are not of us_.” Judas probably experienced strong emotions, and received strong impulses toward good, under the influence of Christ. The only falling from grace which is recognized in Scripture is not the falling of the regenerate, but the falling of the unregenerate, from influences tending to lead them to Christ. The Rabbins said that a drop of water will suffice to purify a man who has accidentally touched a creeping thing, but an ocean will not suffice for his cleansing so long as he purposely keeps the creeping thing in his hand. (_b_) They show that the truly regenerate, and those who are only apparently so, are not certainly distinguishable in this life. _Mal. 3:18_—“_Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not_”; _Mat. 13:25, 47_—“_while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away.... Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind_”; _Rom. 9:6, 7_—“_For they are not all Israel, that are of Israel: neither, because they are Abraham’s seed, are they all children_”; _Rev. 3:1_—“_I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and thou art dead_.” The tares were never wheat, and the bad fish never were good, in spite of the fact that their true nature was not for a while recognized. (_c_) They show the fearful consequences of rejecting Christ, to those who have enjoyed special divine influences, but who are only apparently regenerate.