Mark 14:32 ¶ And
they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples,
Sit ye here, while I shall pray. 33 And
he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and
to be very heavy; 34 And saith unto
them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch.
35 And he went forward a little, and
fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass
from him. 36 And he said, Abba, Father,
all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me:
nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt. 37 And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and
saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour? 38 Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into
temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.
39 And again he went away, and prayed,
and spake the same words. 40 And when he
returned, he found them asleep again, (for their eyes were heavy,) neither wist
they what to answer him. 41 And he
cometh the third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your
rest: it is enough, the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into
the hands of sinners. 42 Rise up, let us
go; lo, he that betrayeth me is at hand.
32
¶ And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith
to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray. 33 And he taketh
with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very
heavy; 34 And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto
death: tarry ye here, and watch.
Many
times you also will be alone in your service to Christ.
35 And
he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were
possible, the hour might pass from him.
He
prays by Himself and there is no answer from heaven. When was there a time when
you prayed and felt that heaven was “so far away” as in the pop song? He asked,
if it were possible, that He might not have to endure this in His humanity.
It’s
not just death for He is about to take on the sins of the whole world. However,
death for His human body was a factor.
Hebrews
5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and
supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him
from death, and was heard in that he feared; 8 Though he were a Son,
yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
36 And
he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup
from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.
The
essence of successful and correct prayer is to submit to God’s perfect will, no
matter how painful it is to us.
37 And
he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest
thou? couldest not thou watch one hour? 38 Watch ye and pray, lest
ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.
Be
spiritually alert to keep from falling into temptation. We need to pray before
we sin in order to keep from falling into sin.
Job
31:1 I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon
a maid?
James
1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is
tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them
that love him. 13 ¶ Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted
of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust,
and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth
sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. 16 Do not
err, my beloved brethren.
1Corinthians
10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to
man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye
are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may
be able to bear it.
I have
failed miserably most of the time. That doesn’t make it not true.
39 And
again he went away, and prayed, and spake the same words. 40 And
when he returned, he found them asleep again, (for their eyes were heavy,)
neither wist they what to answer him. 41 And he cometh the third
time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough, the
hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
42 Rise up, let us go; lo, he that betrayeth me is at hand.
Christians
are often spiritually asleep when evil comes their way. They are easily lulled
into slumber about the dangers of popular media if music or a movie has
something good to say about Christ or God. They are easily lulled into a deep
sleep if the government talks about things like patriotism and duty. They are
easily lulled into a comatose condition about the dangers of heresies like
Mormonism if a demagogue on the radio complains loudly about some political
figure they dislike all the while slowly drawing them into his heresy. Line
upon line, precept upon precept, Satan teaches sleepy Christians how to turn
from Christ. Eventually they will let him close enough to devour them.
Jesus is going to confront his
betrayer and the arresting agents.
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