“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.”
Watch The context of this verse is in Gethsemane where Jesus prayed His agonizing prayer of commitment. Jesus left Peter, James and John to watch while He went alone to pray. When Jesus returned to them, they were asleep. Jesus said to Peter, who had vowed to protect Him, “What, could you not watch with me one hour?” Then Jesus said, “Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Just as Jesus knew Peter’s weakness of the flesh, He knows ours as well. We would do well to heed the warning of Jesus to watch and pray. Watch and Pray Due to the fact that the flesh is weak and that the devil is smart, it pays to be vigilant. In 1Peter 5:8 Peter warned: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour.” Jesus did not mention the devil in this verse, but it is understood that our number one enemy is the devil, who would like nothing better than to bring us down. The devil makes sure that we encounter perils and pitfalls along the way. He tempts us to have moral lapses. He tempts us with greed. He tempts us with fear. There are no limits to the ways that the devil will trick us. Peter found out about this soon after Jesus gave this warning, for he denied Jesus three times. He did make a vain attempt with a sword by cutting off Malchus’ ear when the people came to arrest Jesus. Seeing the fruitlessness of that, he gave up. It is a message that we all must learn sooner or later. Understand this: THE DEVIL NEVER GIVES UP. He will keep up with his “devilishness” until the day that we die. We need to pay attention to Jesus when He tells us to watch and pray, for it is still true that “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Prayer should be our first and last line of defense. There is nothing that can keep us from praying. If we are put into a situation in which we can do absolutely nothing, we can still pray. If we can think, we can pray. God listens to our hearts, so He will hear the silent pleas of our hearts. We are without excuse when we do not pray. Jesus is available to us 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We can call on Jesus any time, and He will be available to hear our prayers. The hymn is correct: “Oh, what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry, everything to God in prayer.” We have sure promises in the Bible that if we pray, God will listen and He will answer. The Bible does not lie to us. We need to remember the admonition to pray. Nothing should be beyond our need to watch and pray. Avoid Jesus told Peter, James and John to pray “that ye enter not into temptation.” If we prayed as we should, we would be pre-conditioned to avoid the devil’s wiles. The reason that Peter, James and John went to sleep in the first place was because they did not watch and pray as Jesus told them to. This serves as a warning to us to pray in order to avoid temptation. But there will be times when we will have to pray in the midst of temptation. For example, after this warning, Peter still denied Jesus. Though Peter did not heed the warning that he enter not into temptation, he could have, and should have, prayed in the midst of the temptation. Let’s not be too hard on Peter, for we often find ourselves in similar situations. We need to learn to “take it to the Lord in prayer.” “Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation.” But if you do enter into temptation pray anyway. Bro. Joe
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“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.”
To answer our title’s question, Jesus said that we, His people, are the light of the world. Actually, He was talking to His disciples, but He means us as well. Does it humble you a little bit to think of yourself as having the responsibility of being the light of the world? It does humble me, and it should humble you as well. I must admit that when I get up in the morning and look at myself in the mirror, I am not inclined to say to myself, “you are the light of world.” I feel better about it when I realize that the light that shines from me to the world is not actually mine. In John 8:12 Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” The light that people see in our lives is the light of Christ. Christ’s light from us is like moonlight. The moon does not have luminary qualities. Moonlight is actually reflected sunlight. Pardon me, but the preacher in me can’t help but write the following: “The light that shines from us is reflected ‘Sonlight.’” But that doesn’t mean that we have no responsibility in the matter. In Matthew 5:16 Jesus said: Let your light so shine before men, that they might see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Our Christian light shines, or does not shine, by the way we live. Notice that Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they might see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” We let our lights shine by the good works that we do, and when people see these works they are not supposed to see us, but they are to see God and glorify Him. If the light that we let shine is merely our light, it will not glorify God. For example, if we are serving to enhance ourselves, we cannot bring glory to Him. We need to always question our motivation for service. Are we motivated by our love for Jesus and for people, or are we serving for ourselves? This is a tension that we always live under as Christian servants. This does not mean that we should not get personal satisfaction out of what we do for the Lord. It is very satisfying to me when I preach a sermon and people get something out of it and tell me so. But personal satisfaction is not taking the glory from God. If in the sermon they only saw me, they did not get a whole lot, but if they had an experience with God and it changed their lives in some way, they gained a lot. The same could be said of any service that you render for Jesus. If you sing a special in church and people applaud and enjoy what you have done, be satisfied that what you did was a blessing, but give the glory to God and they will too. I could go on and say the same about teaching a Sunday School class, being an usher, being president of the women’s mission program, etc. But our service for Jesus goes beyond what we do in church. We are to let our lights shine in our daily lives. People need to see that light where we work. You work with people who need the Lord and they need to see His light in you. People need to see that light where we play or where we shop - wherever. If they do not see that light in us, they will not listen to what we have to say about Jesus. They will bring glory to Jesus when they see Him at work in our lives. Jesus tells us that we are the light of the world because He wants to encourage us to go out and let that light shine. If we will let that light loose to people around us, they can’t help but see it. In Matthew 5:15 Jesus said that “a city set on a hill cannot be hid.” We need to let our lights shine as though we were a “city set on a hill” and people will inevitably see Jesus and give the glory to God. I pray that this article will bless you and help you to be even more aware of Christ’s light in you. It is of utmost importance that we be His lights. Go out into your life and be the light of Christ to those around you. Bro. Joe “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
In his letter to the dispersed Christian Jews, James put a lot of stress on works. He famously wrote that “faith without works is dead being alone.” Of course, you can turn that around and say that “works without faith is dead being alone.” I don’t think James would disagree with that. Some people think that James and Paul had a big disagreement about faith and works. It is true that Paul stressed faith over works, but he certainly did not exclude works. Take Ephesians 2:8-10 for example: “ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God: 9. Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hathbefore ordained that we should walk in them.” It’s not like we have to choose faith or works. I think that both James and Paul would agree that salvation comes by faith in Jesus because of the grace of God. But we are saved by faith in Jesus to do the works that He would have us do. In fact, Paul wrote that these works were “before ordained.” We were not only predestined** to be saved by faith in Christ, but also to do good works in His name.We are not saved by our works, nor are we kept saved by our works, rather we do the Lord's work because we are saved.There I’ve settled the faith and works argument. Lol If works are important then we should take James at his word and “be doers of the word.” We were not called to salvation to be “pew sitters.” I do not want in any way to denigrate church attendance, because I think that it is important. But I think that we need to view church attendance as a prelude for the work that we will do for the Lord during the week. I view church attendance as our “service station” to get us ready to do what we are supposed to do according to the word of God. I think that Jesus called us to “be doers of the word” when He commanded us to go into all the world “and make disciples of all nations.” That cannot be done without some effort. Take Paul for example: he really worked for the Lord in starting all of the churches that he started, and in writing the letters that he wrote. The letters of Paul that we have in the Bible are only a few of all of the letters that he wrote. Not all of Paul’s letters were inspired as scripture. Paul not only worked to promote the Christian faith, he also worked to support himself in order to be able to preach the word. Paul is a supreme example of a “doer of the word.” The question is, are you a “doer of the word”? I’ve “done gone to meddling again.” Of all the things that you do in a week, how many of them could be defined as Christian service? I’m not being negative here, you might be a great servant of God, but it is a question that needs to be asked, and each of us needs to answer it. I’m not necessarily referring to work done at your church, though that would qualify. I’m mainly concerned about what we do during the week when we are out in the workaday world. It is in this world that we really need to serve Jesus. What can you do to serve Him in the world? To start with you can be a decent, loving human being. Paul gave an apt reminder in Galatians 6:10: “Therefore as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.” It begins in the church and goes into the world as we seek to “do good to all.” Being a decent, loving person is the starting point, but there are other things that the Lord would have us do. I could give you a list of what I think, but I am going to leave it to you to decide what good things you could do that would make you a “doer of the word.” The important thing is that you be aware of James’s admonition and seek to carry it out in your life. Read this and go out into the world and “be a doer of the word.” Bro. Joe ** You will note that I did not write that we are just predestined to be saved, but that we were predestined to be saved by faith in Christ. God predestined that people would be saved by their faith in Christ. “Only let your conduct be as it becomes the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel."
In Philippians 1:27 Paul encouraged the Philippian Church to live a life “worthy of the gospel.” He approached this theme from the standpoint of their relationship as ecclesia – gathering of God’s people – church, not just their individual behavior. Of course it is reasonable to assume that the church’s relationship depends upon the individual behavior of its members. As the representatives of Jesus in this world a church is to conduct itself so that the gospel will be promoted instead of shamed. How can we do this? We can "stand fast in one spirit.” This means that we are to take a stand for what is right and do it together – in one spirit. We can take a stand on every moral issue, but if we do not do it in one spirit, we will get nowhere with our witness. Each of us needs to ask ourselves if we are thinking in one spirit with fellow members of the churches of which we are members. Why would we deem some issues important and disagree about everything else? For example, why would we take a strong stand on a moral issue and then get into a feud over what color to paint the fellowship hall. No kidding! Churches have split over such issues as this. I heard of one church that split over whether to have metal offering plates or wooden ones. These decisions are made my individuals who divide into parties and commence to feud. The problem is that the wider community hears the feud so loudly that our stand on the greater issue is muted. Each of us needs to make up our minds that we are going to stand together on the large and small things in one spirit. We can be of “one mind.” Does this mean that we will walk in lockstep and never disagree about anything? As long as there is more than one person involved there will be disagreements of some kind. I have discovered that if there is never disagreement in a church some powerful person is calling all of the shots. Disagreements are inevitable in all human affairs, including the church. We just need to learn to disagree like Christians. What, then, does Paul mean by being of “one mind”? In Philippians 2:5 Paul wrote: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…” The“one mind” is the mind of Christ. We are to be guided by the mind of Christ and to make our decisions based on what He wants. This is not always easy, but it is always necessary if we are to act like Christians in making decisions. In the verses following verse 5, Paul related how Jesus humbled Himself and did what He came to earth to do, i.e., die on the cross. If each of us is thinking like Christ, humbly, we will learn to disagree like Christians, and pray ourselves to “one mind.” Each of us will do and say what needs to be done to make it so. Before we “speak our minds” in churches, we need to ask ourselves if we are thinking with the mind of Christ. We need to ask, “Would what I am about to say promote the gospel and enhance the welfare of the church?" We can “stand together for the faith of the gospel.” In one spirit and in one mind we are to strive to promote Christ and His gospel, and not our own opinions. Getting our way at any cost does not promote striving for“the faith of the gospel.” What is your church striving together for? What is the purpose and aim of your church? Is it about the “faith of the gospel” and growth of the kingdom of God? Think seriously about these things and for your part let your conduct be worthy of the gospel. Bro. Joe I have been dealing with writer’s block for the last week or more. I’m glad that I got a little ahead on my blogs. Writer’s block is a terrible thing to have when you have committed to writing six blogs a week. Why not seven? Come on, give me a break. I need at least one day to rest my tired brain. (lol) At any rate, as I write this I think that I am coming out of “writer’s blockland.” Writer’s block is not all that I am thinking about these days. I thought of some other “blocks” that are much more devastating than writer’s block. You guessed right. I am going to share them now.
First, there is what I call “Bible block.” This means that a person knows that he or she needs to read the Bible on a daily basis, but for some reason keep putting something else ahead of it. After all, tomorrow is another day and we can get to it then. In a way I can understand this reticence about reading the Bible. Sometimes it is difficult to understand. (As it will be because its author is one who does not always see things as we do.) Then there are those “begot” sections, where “someone begot someone” is written over and over again. But the “begots” are important to give us information about the people in the Bible. We also have the names of people that are difficult to pronounce. Another thing is that the Bible tells us everything. Why did we need to know that David, “a man after God’s own heart,” committed adultery with one of his top general’s wife, and had him killed in battle? The answer is simple. The Bible is a book about truth and lets us know the truth about even its main characters. The only “hero” in the Bible is God/Jesus. He alone is without sin. The only excuse that I have had when I have had Bible block is just plain mental and spiritual laziness. I know that I do better when I read the Bible on a daily basis, and that all of the difficulties will take care of themselves. The Holy Spirit, who inspired the Bible, is available to lead us through whatever difficulties are in the text. If you have Bible block, overcome it by actually reading the Bible - whether you feel like it or not. Satan will jump up and down with fury and God will smile. Second there is what I will call “prayer block.” When we get prayer block it is because we do not realize at that time how important prayer is in our lives. People might say that they do not have time to pause and pray. That is because they think that they have to be in a certain posture, or place, to pray. Nowhere are we told in the Bible that there is a particular posture to pray every time we pray. I think that a place of prayer, or a “prayer closet” can add a dimension to our prayer lives, but we do not have to have such a place to pray. We can pray wherever we are. God’s ears are open to our prayers twenty-four hours a day every day. We can call on Him in any and all circumstances. I have found that I can pray in my car when I am traveling and still keep my mind on driving. (I do that a lot when I drive on I75, and if you have a spiritual bone in your body you will too. Lol) If you have a special place of prayer in your home, that is good. But if you do not it is not bad. Communicate with God wherever you are, and talk to Him about everything, including sinful thoughts, etc. He invites us to pray and wants us to pray. Third, I thought of other “blocks” that I will not deal with right now, e.g., “church block” and “witness block.” The important thing for you to remember is that when you have a spiritual block of any kind it is of the devil. He wants to block everything that will be spiritually good for you. If you are not reading your Bible or praying as you should, the devil is behind it. Remember this when you feel any kind of block that will harm you spiritually. My prayer is that this article will serve as a reminder to you of these things that I have written. Bro. Joe . Bro. Joe |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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