Truth Magazine

By Dan King, Sr.

On the night of the Lord’s betrayal, he went with his three disciples Peter, James and John to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. Matthew reports that in the solitude of the quiet garden “he began to be sorrowful and sore troubled” (26:37). Knowing what awaited him that night and the following day, he needed the company, prayers, and support of his nearest friends.

But they let him down. He asked of them only that they wait nearby and watch with him. When he returned to them after a short while, he found them sleeping instead of watching. They awoke to hear not a harsh voice of condemnation, but one filled with personal disappointment: “What, could ye not watch with me one hour?” Surely they could have seen the depth of the gloom that had settled over his soul as he came to the garden to pray! Surely they must have felt the sense of foreboding that had at-tended the trip to Jerusalem and all the events of that week! Yet, when he needed them most they had failed him. They had fallen asleep like this was just any other night.

The advice Jesus gave them that night was filled with profound implications both for them on that night and for us in our own lives as well. “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (v. 41). With these words he slipped back into the darkness and prayed again that his Father might let this cup pass from him. Shortly, though, the disciples were asleep again (v. 43). Before the night was through he was betrayed into the hands of his enemies and tried on capital charges. The next day he was cruelly crucified.

Christ’s words to them on that dark night have several important lessons for us today. Let us make note of a few of them below:

The Spirit Indeed is Willing in Good People

The disciples of Christ were not bad men. They were good men. They wanted to go with him to the garden and to watch with him that night. Their spirits were willing.

The importance of this point cannot be minimized. The world is filled with people whose hearts are unwilling. There exists in this world in great profusion a “spirit that worketh in the sons of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2). This was true in the first century, and it is true now. It is all about us, manifesting itself in forms both subtle and flagrant. This spirit is unwilling to yield itself to the loving appeals of the word of God. It is well illustrated by the answer of old Israel to the prophet Jeremiah’s call to repentance: “Thus saith Jehovah, Stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way; and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls: but they said, We will not walk therein. And I set watch-men over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet; but they said, We will not hearken” (Jer. 6:16-17).

So, when there are those whose hearts are willing to submit to the Father’s determinations, there is reason for us to rejoice. But we need to be realistic too. A willing heart cannot, by itself, achieve the goal toward which we are striving.

But The Flesh is Weak Even in the Best of People

No doubt the disciples fell asleep that night because they were tired. It had been a long day, filled with heart-stopping moments of challenge and argument between Jesus and the Jewish leadership. The anxiety level had been high since they started the trip to Jerusalem several days before. As soon as they got still they fell asleep. The reason: the son: the flesh was weak. Their intentions were good, but good intentions at times can fall prey to fleshly weakness. In this case they did.

Paul described this struggle in his own being between the desire to do good and the fleshly feebleness which he sometimes displayed: “For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I know not: for not what I would, that do I practice; but what I hate, that I do. But if what I would not, that I do, I consent unto the law that it is good. So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwelleth in me. For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me, but to do that which is good is not” (Rom. 7:14-18). God’s remedy for this weakness of the human condition is put before us in the person of Jesus Christ and his redemptive work on the cross: “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (v. 24).

Many times today we meet those who intend to do what is right but who fail miserably. They make promises. They make New Year’s resolutions. They hope to do better. They plan to do better. But they don’t do any better, even though the spirit is willing, at least for a time.

If you are one of such people, the redemptive work of Christ at the cross will give you a new start in life and another chance at faithfulness. If you repent and pray for forgiveness, you can start over again (Acts 8:22).

But, dear reader, please play close attention to the lesson of the rest of the verse:

Christ Gave The Sleepy Disciples Some Advice

That Applies To All People: “Watch And Pray”

It would have been virtually impossible for these men to have fallen asleep if their minds and bodies had been occupied in some intensive activity. Watching and praying would have done it. But they fell asleep again because they apparently did not watch and pray. They failed the Lord Jesus because they did not listen to him! We fail him oftentimes today for the same reason.

The Lord’s counsel to the disciples was truly profound, although it usually escapes the reader. The point is that one ought always to be engaged in the good and beneficial activities of life, or else spiritual sleep will “slip up on us” before we know it. Those around us are lulled to sleep by the hum-drum activities of life: working and making a living, doing chores around the house and in the yard, recreating and partying, eating and sleeping, etc.: “So then let us not sleep, as do the rest, but let us watch and be sober” (1 Thess. 5:6).

Truly, “an idle mind is the Devil’s workshop.” Let us keep busy in the Lord’s vineyard till he comes. Let us “Watch and Pray”! Or, as Paul put it as he concluded his great chapter on the resurrection: “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58).

Guardian of Truth XL: No. 22, p. 10-11
November 21, 1996

By John R. Hurt

In the changing of every season we see powerful convincing testimony to the truthfulness of the Word of God. Note the reading of Genesis 8:22.

While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, And cold and heat, and summer and winter, And day and night, shall not cease.

As we see the splendor of spring, the burgeoning flowers, the green sprouts and the whole of nature come alive again, we know that God’s Word is true. Just as surely as the green sprouts grow into summers lush growth and each tender bud blooms into summer times radiant blossoms, we can rest confidently in the unshakable fact that the Bible speaks the truth. With the coming of fall and all the beautiful colors that make the hues of the greatest Italian artists pale in significance, the Word of God is authenticated. Then with the arriving of the harsh cold, the falling leaves, and the stark brown bareness of winter’s landscape, you may be assured of the indisputable fact that countless centuries shout and proclaim. While the earth remains it shall ever be so! The word of God is true!

In this tribute to the veracity of God, this miracle of his creation, do we not also see the answer to Job’s ancient question, “If a man dies will he yet live again” (Job 14:14)? Each year we witness God take the seemingly dead lifeless plants and revive again the germ of life within them.

In the explosion of new life that follows, all nature is robed in the brilliant splendor of the season. Surely then, it is but a small thing, for the creator of this vast universe to reach down to our narrow house beneath the earth and revive again the germ of life within the soul of man. Ah, the changing of the seasons.

Guardian of Truth XL: No. 22, p. 22
November 21, 1996

 

God cares for all the children who never see the light

Who never experience sadness or feel the dark of night

Who never smell the flowers or climb trees great and small

Who never see the sun set or gaze at towers tall

Who never feel the chilly wind or tread on snowy hill

Who never hear the birds sing like other children will

But they’ll see heaven’s glory the streets all paved in gold

They will feel peace forever just like we all were told

They’ll be there long before we will they’ll never feel the scorn

These are the little souls of God who never will be born.

-Leah McJunkins

Guardian of Truth XL: No. 22, p. 22
November 21, 1996

 

 

In recent years, it has become common for many people to take early retirement from the job. This practice is sup-posed to give advantages both to the employer by lowering the payroll expense and to the retiree by giving more time to enjoy the golden years of life. Whether the practice has brought about good or bad results in the business world is for the experts to discuss. However, I would like to consider the effect of a similar practice of early retirement which I have seen becoming all too prevalent in local churches. In too many places, we are losing the knowledge, ability, and experience of godly men and women due to retirement from the work in favor of “voluntary unemployment.” Such early retirements have been detrimental to the work of our Lord and the souls of men.

Let us first be reminded of Bible teaching about the work necessary for each of us as Christians. Paul stated the responsibility with which each Christian is charged when he said:

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not vain in the Lord (1 Cor. 15:58).

That requirement should not being surprising to the servant of God for he has always demanded the full attention of heart, soul, strength, mind and body (Deut. 4:29; 6:5; 10:12-13; 1 Chron. 22:19; 28:9; 29:17-19; Matt. 22:35-38). God is not pleased with a division of attention which seeks to give partial service to him and partial service to another (Luke 16:13). Blessings from God are contingent upon giving unreserved priority to him and his service (Matt. 6:33). The Christians in Rome were reminded about their obligation of energetic service to the Lord which was to be “in diligence not slothful; fervent in spirit, serving the Lord” (Rom. 12:11).

The apostle Paul was an excellent example of that kind of diligent work in serving Christ. From the time the Lord appeared to him along the Damascus road until the apostle’s death, Paul was the picture of diligence. Regardless of the obstacle, he remained persistent in his pursuit of service to the Savior (2 Cor. 11:23-33). His determination in ser-vice to carry the gospel of Christ throughout the world can be seen in his comparison of that service to a marathon race in which he would be satisfied with nothing short of first place:

Know ye not that they that run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? Even so run; that ye may attain. And every man that striveth in the games exerciseth self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, as not uncertainly; so fight I, as not beating the air: but I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage: lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected (1 Cor. 9:24-27).

Later in the same book, he commends that kind of compulsive service in others. Notice his description of the household of Stephanas:

I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints,) that ye submit yourselves unto such, and to every one that helpeth with us, and laboureth (1 Cor. 16:15-16, KJV).

Could it be accurately said of our house that we are addicted to the ministry of the saints? Such devotion is set forth as the example for us to follow. Do we follow it? If we are taking early retirement in the Lord’s service, it is certain that we are not addicted to the service of Christ and the saints. Just think what a difference between such devotion and the early retirement syndrome in two areas of the Lord’s work.

Assembling of Saints

Some manifest a spirit of retiring from regular worship of God and exhortation of the saints contrary to the command of God (Heb. 10:24-25). Oh yes, they may come back at varying intervals to visit their former associates in work, but they do not keep “regular hours” anymore. Their identification with the work to be done is no longer present. When they return, it is more social in nature than an attempt to help shoulder the work that must be done. They may still see themselves as workers, but they are merely bystanders who no longer soil their hands with the tasks of service.

Are you an early retiree from the assembling of the saints? Is your presence at the assembly for worship more a visit than a routine? If so, why not change that today? If every member of this congregation attended each service with the same frequency that a good employee comes to work, think of the results. God would be glorified as he deserves to be by each Christian! Every saint would be encouraged by every other saint as we exhort one another to love and good works! Each Christian would be doing this work commanded by God! Early retirement robs God, the church, and the unfaithful.

Teaching of Others

Some manifest a desire to withdraw from the teaching which is the responsibility of mature Christians (Heb. 5:12). Instead of continuing their efforts until death, as Paul and other faithful saints did, these seek early retirement from the task of teaching. They claim to have “put in their time” or “done that when they were younger,” but see it as another’s responsibility now. They look back at the time when they used to get lessons prepared and do the hard work, but now are glad that they can sit back and listen to another who has done the preparation for them. They donot stop to consider that God gave no time short of the grave when we could rightly retire from the responsibility of teaching others. Early retirement would have been easier on Paul, Peter, John or Jesus, but they did not take it. They endured faithfully and zealously to the end.

Have you taken early retirement from teaching others about the gospel? Have you sought to hand that task to someone else? Why not get back to the work God has for you in teaching, now? If we had every mature Christian teaching as God commands, just think of the results. It would be pleasing to God! It would help those who need to learn the truth! Do you remember in school how several teachers could try to convey the same point, but then that one teacher who was making the same point would put it in such a way that you could understand it? That happens in the teaching of the gospel as well. There is someone that you can reach with the truth more effectively than anyone else. If you fail to do that teaching, God will hold you accountable.

If we had every mature Christian teaching as God commands, it would help every teacher as well! Those who are presently carrying all of the load would be aided tremendously by the help. I have noticed over the past few years in many congregations that the full weight of the teaching in the class programs has fallen on a shrinking number of teachers. They need help! However, when others step in to help, the helpers will end up being helped. When we teach others, we learn more in preparation than we can possibly impart in our teaching. Therefore, we grow faster in our service to God through teaching than we would have by setting back and letting others do the work for which we are responsible to God. These principles not only apply to our class program, but also to our teaching it privately.

Guardian of Truth XL: No. 22, p. 18-19
November 21, 1996