Wednesday, June 06,
2012, 7:41 a.m. – The Lord woke me this morning with this song playing in
my mind:
It Is
Well with My Soul / H. G. Spafford / P. P. Bliss
When
peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When
sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever
my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
It is
well; it is well with my soul.
Though
Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this
blest assurance control,
That
Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath
shed his own blood for my soul.
My sin,
oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin,
not in part but the whole,
Is nailed
to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise
the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
And,
Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The
clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump
shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so,
it is well with my soul.
It is
well with my soul,
It is
well; it is well with my soul.
Speak,
Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Matthew 26:36-46 (NIV 1984):
Then
Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to
them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons
of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he
said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay
here and keep watch with me.”
Going a
little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if
it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you
will.”
Then he
returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Could you men not keep
watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will
not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
He went
away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup
to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
When he
came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he
left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same
thing.
Then he
returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and
resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands
of sinners. Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
My
Understanding: Jesus had just reminded his disciples
again that he was to be handed over to be crucified. The chief priests and
elders assembled together to plot how, in some sly way, they might arrest Jesus
and then kill him. One of Jesus’ twelve disciples, Judas, went to the chief
priests and elders and agreed to hand Jesus over to them for thirty pieces of
silver. Judas then watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over, i.e. to
betray him.
Following
this, Jesus and his disciples celebrated the Passover together. Jesus said, “The
teacher says: My appointed time is near.” While they were eating dinner
together Jesus told them that one of them would betray him. The disciples were
saddened by Jesus’ words and one by one they began to say, “Surely not I, Lord?”
Jesus gave an indication of how they would know which one was his betrayer, but
they didn’t get it. Even when Judas said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” and Jesus
replied, “Yes, it is you,” they still didn’t get it.
During
the meal, Jesus prepared his disciples for his death, but also for what they
were about to suffer for the sake of his name. He asked them to eat of the
bread, which was his body, and to drink from the cup, which was his blood
poured out for our sins. And, a little later on he told them that they would
all fall away on account of him, i.e. that they would desert and abandon him.
Peter did not think he would do such a thing. Jesus assured him he would deny
(or disown) Jesus Christ three times before the rooster crowed. Yet, Peter
strongly and passionately disagreed with Jesus and vowed to die before he would
disown Christ. And, all the other disciples said the same.
Keep
Watch
Then
Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane to pray. He asked
his disciples to sit at a particular location while he went to another locale
to pray, yet he chose to take Peter, James and John with him. He was sorrowful
and troubled. His soul was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. He
told the three he chose to take with him to stay there and to keep watch with
him.
To
keep watch means to be on the lookout for dangers or hazards. It originated
with the idea of a watchman in a watchtower, I believe. A watchman was to stand
guard and to warn the others of approaching danger. This type of watching
called for continuous attention given to guarding and protecting the people or
the city from enemy onslaught. God called his prophets of old watchmen, because
they were to serve as his watchmen in spiritually guarding his people and in
warning them of the dangers of sin and of rebellion against God, against
spiritual adultery and idolatry, and of coming judgment if they did not repent
of their sins. And, it appears to me that Jesus hand-selected these three men
to be his spiritual watchmen to first of all guard against sin and rebellion
against God in their own lives, and then to serve as his watchmen in guarding
his sheep, the church, from falling back into the pit of sin, to warn them
against the deception of false teachers and false teaching, against spiritual
adultery and idolatry, and to call them to repentance.
And,
we, the body of Christ, have also been instructed to “keep watch” against false
teachers and teaching (non-Biblical) so that we don’t end up following the
wrong gospel, to guard against quarreling, and to be careful in trying to help
a brother or sister out of sin that we don’t allow ourselves to be tempted
toward the same (or a similar sin). We are to watch our life and doctrine
closely and to persevere in them, and to be careful about getting the idea that
we are spiritually strong or sound to the point to where we could not fall,
because we are just setting ourselves up for a potential fall. We should be
careful about how we live to make sure we are living wisely and not foolishly. We
must be watchful and careful about obeying the truths from God’s word we have
learned so that we don’t drift away from our pure devotion to Jesus Christ. We
must be alert to making sure we are doing the will of God in sharing the gospel
and in teaching the word of God correctly, and for the right reasons, and we
must be prudent about making sure we have believed in and are following the
right Christ and the right gospel, so that we don’t end up on the wrong side of
God in eternity.
With Me
Jesus
was keeping watch, and he desired that his disciples watch with him. Jesus’
entire earthly ministry was one of keeping watch over God’s people and those
who would become his sheep. He warned the people of the dangers of sin and of
rebellion against God, against spiritual adultery and idolatry, and of coming
judgment if they did not repent of their sins. As well, he had warned them
against the deception of false teachers and false teaching and of hypocritical
religion that was a cheap substitute for true faith and practice. He told them
that if they wanted to be his followers they had to deny themselves, take up
their cross daily, and follow him in obedience. He told them they must repent
of their sins if they wanted to see the kingdom of God.
And,
now he was asking his disciples to follow in his footsteps, because he knew he
was soon leaving this earth. He wanted his followers to be as passionate about
sin and about obedience to God as he was. He wanted them to grieve over the sins
of the world as he did, and to be willing to die in order to see others be
saved. He wanted them first of all to flee their own lives of selfishness and
sin and to be aware of the dangers lurking all around them to fall into the
temptation of sin and of denial of Christ. Since he was fully God yet also
fully man, he suffered the same temptations they did, and he wanted to teach
them what it would take for them to be able to resist their flesh. He knew in
their emotions they were willing to obey, but he also knew the power of the
flesh and how it fights so against the spirit, and how deceptive it can be,
too.
Jesus
knew he was getting ready to die, not only a very painful and cruel physical
death, but he was going to take upon himself - the perfect and sinless Lamb of
God - the sins of the entire world. I cannot possibly imagine the pain and
suffering that must have caused him. The pain of my own past and present sins
is enough to bear. And, in his flesh he struggled with the knowledge of what he
must do for the salvation of the world. He was willing to go to the cross to
die, yet his flesh was weak and resisted what must certainly take place. So, he
prayed in anguish to his Father, asking if there was another way, yet if there
was not, he submitted to the will of the Father and committed himself to death
on a cross so that we could be free both of the penalty of sin (eternity in
hell) and the control of sin over our daily lives, which then frees us to walk
in fellowship and obedience to Christ.
Jesus
asked for the support of his followers in prayer, not just that they pray with
him, but that they grieve with him over sin, that they realize their own
sinfulness and propensity to sin, and that in humility that they would also
submit themselves and Jesus to the will of the Father, and that they would
accept in their hearts, though their emotions might resist it, what must happen
both to Jesus and to their own lives, as his followers. Yet, they fell asleep.
They didn’t keep watch with him, and the result was that Jesus’ words to them
came true. They all fell away that night and abandoned their Lord. Judas
betrayed Jesus and Peter denied him strongly three times. They thought they
were above that, but they were not. None of us are. So, we must keep watch, not
only for ourselves, but for our brothers and sisters in Christ, too (for the
other disciples).
Are You
Still Sleeping?
To
sleep in this sense means that we become spiritually lazy and we stop paying
attention to the forces of evil around us. We stop being on guard against the
enemy and so we end up becoming one with the world and don’t even realize it.
We think we are ok because we prayed a prayer of salvation, but in reality,
Jesus is not really Lord (master; boss) of our lives. We call him “Lord,” but
the things of this world are really what rule us. They are what call out to our
attention on a daily basis. We are not guarded against sin nor do we warn
anyone else against the dangers of sin and spiritual adultery and idolatry. We
don’t call anyone to repentance, because we don’t want to offend them or we are
afraid of what man might think of us or do to us. And, we cease to be Christ’s
watchmen (and women) in helping our brothers and sisters away from the pitfalls
of sin.
This
is exactly where much of today’s modern church is in America, like the church
in Laodicea, neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm. And, Jesus is saying to the
church, “Are you still sleeping? Look, the hour is near (the hour of judgment),
and the Son of Man and his followers are being betrayed into the hands of
sinners.” In other words, the church is falling prey to those who would betray
the true gospel of Jesus Christ and thus lead the church into spiritual apathy,
because its watchmen have fallen asleep at the helm, and/or because the church
has rejected the Lord’s true watchmen, because the church wants to keep
sleeping, because it’s comfortable that way.
Yet,
the Lord is gracious, full of compassion and mercy, and he longs for us to “watch
with him,” because the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, and he does
not want any of us to fall into the temptation of sin on any level.
You are Loving and
Forgiving / An Original Work / February 19, 2012
Based off Psalm 86
You are loving and
forgiving,
Jesus, Savior, King of
kings.
You provided our
redemption.
By Your blood You set
us free.
You are gracious; full
of mercy.
No deeds can compare
with Yours.
Great are You; there
is none like You.
Glory be to Your name.
Teach me Your way, and
I’ll walk in it.
O Lord, I will walk in
Your truth.
May I not have a heart
divided,
That Your name I give
honor to.
I will praise You, O Lord,
my Savior,
For great is Your love
toward me.
You have delivered me
from my sins.
Your grace has
pardoned me.
You, O Lord, are full
of compassion,
Slow to anger,
bounteous in love;
Faithful to fulfill
all You promise;
Glory be to Your name
above.
Hear, O Lord, and
answer Your servant.
You are my God. I
trust in You.
Turn to me and grant
Your strength to me.
You are my comforter.
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