Monday, March 9,
2015, 2:45 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “My Sheep.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Luke 22:39-46 (NASB).
The Disciples
Followed
And
He came out and proceeded as was His custom to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples
also followed Him.
A disciple is a believer, a follower, a student and a
devotee of the one whom he follows; “one who accepts and assists in spreading
the doctrines of another” (M-W). Jesus selected twelve men to be his closest
disciples and followers in ministry. One of them, Judas, betrayed him to death.
In grief, Jesus denounced him before the other disciples, though he did not
name him. Now Jesus had eleven disciples in his inner circle, yet he had other
followers, as well. The eleven disciples followed Jesus to the Mount of Olives.
As believers in Jesus Christ, we are his disciples (his
sheep). Jesus said that his sheep know him, they listen to him and they follow
(obey) him (See: John 10). We believe that Jesus Christ died to deliver us out
of bondage to sin, and to free us to walk daily in his righteousness. In the
power of the Spirit within us we live like we believe that. When we accepted
God’s invitation to his great salvation, we willingly died with Christ to our
old lives of living for sin and self, and we were resurrected with Christ to
new lives in him, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness”
(See: Lu. 9:23-25; Eph. 4:17-24).
Yet, we know from reading scripture that there are those
among us who are not his true followers. They may make a profession of Jesus
Christ as Savior of their lives, but their hearts are far from him. They may
even go through all the motions of being a follower, and they may fool many
people, but they never truly died with Christ to sin, and not ever did they
submit their lives to the cross of Christ and to him as their Lord and Master.
And, so, they betray him by their very lifestyles in thought, word and in deed.
Prayer and Temptation
When
He arrived at the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into
temptation.”
Jesus knew what was coming. The disciples did not, even
though he had told them, because they just couldn’t comprehend it all, and/or
because they didn’t want to believe it. He knew they would all fall away on account
of him, but they were confident they would not. So, this is why he instructed
them to pray so they would not enter into temptation, because he knew what was
about to befall them all. Yet, because they remained confident they would not
fall away, they remained vulnerable or susceptible to giving in to temptation.
Oh, how this should serve as a wake-up call to us all! How
many warnings did the Lord give us in his Word? How many of them are concerning
allowing sin to creep back into our lives? How many about falling into
temptation? How many about falling away? How many about following after false
teaching that tickles itching ears? How many about living in spiritual adultery
and idolatry and forsaking our first love? How many about living complacent and
lukewarm Christian lives unconcerned about what is coming? And, the list goes
on. And, yet, how many believers in Jesus ignore these warnings or don’t take
them seriously? And, so, they escape into the things of this sinful world to
fill their lives in place of filling their lives with the things of God and
which matter for eternity. He is saying to us, “Wake up!”
Remove This Cup
And
He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to
pray, saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My
will, but Yours be done.” Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him,
strengthening Him. And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His
sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.
Jesus, nonetheless, knew the reality of what was about to
take place. He knew the pain and suffering he would have to endure so that we
could be saved from our sins. Not only was he hated, despised, rejected,
persecuted, falsely accused, spat upon, mocked, beaten, falsely imprisoned and
hung on a cross to die a painful death, as though he was a criminal, but he
took upon himself the sins of the entire world.
I know the pain of my own sins which I committed throughout
my life, and that is bad enough. And, I was born into sin and sinned by nature.
Jesus Christ, God the Son, never sinned, even though he was tempted. So, my
holy and righteous God took upon himself the weight, pain and utter filth of
all the sins of all people, past, present and future. Wow! Yet, he did this
because he loved us, and because he wanted to free us from the control of sin
over our lives and to free us to walk daily in his righteousness, as well as to
free us from eternity in hell and to give us the hope of eternal life with God.
Because Jesus lived in a flesh body, he would feel all the
pain he knew he must go through for all of us. So, in grief and pain, he called
out to the Father and asked if there was any way this cup of suffering could be
removed from him. Yet, if not, he wanted God’s will to be done. He yielded to
his Father in heaven and he submitted to his will. I don’t believe Jesus was
willing that our sin might not be atoned for, but his flesh cried out to the
Father in desperation to see if there could be any other way our salvation
could be provided for short of him having to die for our sins. Yet, he was
willing to go the distance for you and for me, and so he surrendered his flesh
and his spirit to the will of the Father, and he chose to die so we could go
free. Then the Father sent an angel to comfort and strengthen him.
Jesus told us, his followers, that being his disciples would
mean that we would be treated like he was treated, and that many would be put to
death for the sake of his name, and for the sake of his gospel. He said we
would be hated, rejected, persecuted and falsely accused because of him. Yet,
we also live in flesh bodies, and our flesh does not always take kindly to such
treatment. And, so, there may be times when we cry out to God in our suffering,
and we ask that, if he wills, that it could pass from us, too. Yet, we should
also remain submissive to the Father’s will for our lives, realizing he knows
what is best for us, and realizing, too, that he has plans and purposes for our
lives far beyond our ability to comprehend. Our thoughts are not his thoughts
nor are his ways our ways, that is in our flesh, although as we grow closer to
him we should begin to think and act more like him.
Get Up and Pray
When
He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from
sorrow, and said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may
not enter into temptation.”
When Jesus finished praying, he found his disciples
sleeping, so he told them to get up and pray so that they would not enter into
temptation. Obviously they did not comprehend the reality of the hour which was
upon them, at least not to its fullest extent. All they knew is that Jesus kept
talking about how he was going to be betrayed and killed, and that brought
sorrow into their hearts. Yet, rather than put on the armor of God, it appears
they escaped their pain through sleep. It sounds to me like they were depressed
over the things Jesus was telling them. And, depressed people often try to
escape pain rather than confront it.
I find that many who profess the name of Jesus today are
sleeping, i.e. they are escaping the reality of what scripture teaches by retreating
into false teaching, mainly because the reality of what scripture teaches is
too hard and is uncomfortable for them, and because they don’t want to accept
that reality, and/or because there is sin they want to hold on to. So, they
have bought into a false grace which is easier for them to accept.
This false grace teaches them that all they have to do is “believe”
in Jesus, although “belief” is not really explained. And, they teach them that
they don’t have to repent of (turn from) their sins, and they don’t have to
obey Jesus, and that God, in fact, requires nothing of them at all, other than
to “believe,” but a “belief” absent of true repentance, submission and
obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. And, yet, the teachings of Jesus and those
of the apostles repudiate such a notion as what is being taught by these false
ministers of the gospel (See the book of 1 John, in particular). This does not
mean we will live in sinless perfection, but what it does mean is that our
lifestyles should reflect true faith in Christ.
Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny
his self-life, die daily to sin and self, and follow him in obedience. He said
if we hold on to our old lives of sin we will lose them for eternity, but if we
willingly die to sin and self, we will gain eternal life (See Lu. 9:23-25).
Paul taught the same. He said that coming to Christ means we forsake our former
lives of sin, we are transformed in heart and mind, and we put on our new lives
in Christ, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (See
Eph. 4:17-24). He taught that the grace of God, which brings us salvation,
teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live
self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for
Christ’s return. He taught that Jesus gave himself up for us to “redeem us from
all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager
to do what is good” (See Tit. 2:11-14). And, he also taught that Jesus died so
we would no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave himself up for us
(See 2 Co. 5:15; cf. Ro. 6-8).
So, I believe Jesus is asking much of the church today, “Why
are you sleeping?” And, he is instructing the church to “Get up and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” Basically,
he is calling his church out of complacency, out of spiritual adultery, and out
of lifestyles given over to idolatry, and he is calling them to wake up from
their slumber and to follow him in obedience and in surrender to his will for
their lives. Will you hear him?
My Sheep / An Original Work /
June 24, 2012
Based
off John 10:1-18 NIV
My
sheep hear me. They know me.
They
listen to my voice and obey.
I
call them and lead them.
They
know my voice, so they follow me.
They
will never follow strangers.
They
will run away from them.
The
voice of a stranger they know not;
They
do not follow him.
So,
I tell you the truth that
I
am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever
does enter
Will
find forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless
whoever enters
Not
by the gate; other way,
He
is the thief and a robber.
Listen
not, the sheep to him.
Oh,
I am the Good Shepherd,
Who
laid his own life down for the sheep.
I
know them. They know me.
They
will live with me eternally.
The
thief only comes to steal and
Kill
and to destroy the church.
I
have come to give you life that
You
may have it to the full…
They
know my voice, so they follow me.
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