“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.”
Matthew 26:41a
In Matthew 26:41 Jesus instructed his disciples, “Watch
and pray, so that you will not fall into temptation.” This
is life-giving instruction to us. Just as there are many
people in Vietnam, Cambodia, Afghanistan whose legs were
blown off by land mines, so there are Christians who have
fallen into defeat because they do not pay heed to this
instruction of Jesus.
As Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, he was
overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Desiring
prayer help from his disciples, he told them, “Watch and
pray, that you will not fall into temptation.” But the
text tells us they did not watch, they did not pray, and,
therefore, they fell. In their defeat, they denied the
Lord Jesus and fled as he was facing his greatest trial.
The secret of victory over sin and the devil is to
watch and pray. When we do not do this, we become
frustrated, defeated, and angry. We speak unwisely and do
not shine as light in the world.
I pray that as we study this passage God will help us
to change our behavior by changing our thinking. I pray
that we will begin to watch and pray and learn the secret
of having a victorious Christian life.
Context
After the Last Supper, as Jesus went along the Mount of
Olives on his way to Gethsemane, he told the disciples to
watch and pray, lest they fall into temptation. We live in
a fallen world in which Satan is the god of this evil age.
Although he was an apostle, Judas had become a tool of
Satan and agreed with the Sanhedrin to betray Jesus for
thirty pieces of silver.
At this point in time Satan was also after Peter and
the other apostles, attempting to turn them away from the
living God. In Luke 22:31-32 we read that Jesus said to
Peter, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as
wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith
may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen
your brothers.” Additionally, in Matthew 26:31 Jesus
predicted that all his disciples would soon would fall
away: “This very night you will all fall away on account
of me.” Peter protested, saying, “Even if I have to die
with you, I will never disown you.” The rest of the
disciples also said the same thing, as we read in verse
35. But the disciples failed to watch and pray.
If a believer sins, it is because he has failed to
watch and pray. Feeling confident and independent, he
thinks he has no need of God’s grace.
What Is Watching?
What, then, is watching? It is seeing reality through
the lens of God’s infallible word. In Genesis 3 we see
that because Adam and Eve were not watching, they believed
the lie of Satan and fell.
Watching means sleeplessness. It means to be awake and
aware of surrounding realities. In the Scriptures it means
to be spiritually alert, having a mind that is renewed by
divine realities. A watchful person is guided by the
knowledge of God. Such a person abides in the word of God.
Paul said, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.”
A watchful person rejects the wisdom of this world. He
knows it is foolishness because it denies the ultimate
reality of God, the author of creation and ruler of all.
He knows that it denies the revelation of God in Jesus
Christ.
The watching person is spiritually alert and very aware
that sin still dwells in him. He knows that Jesus Christ
defeated Satan by his death on the cross, but he is also
aware that Satan and his demons are still given freedom to
rule and tempt all believers. The watching person is aware
that Satan, the enemy of his soul, is constantly prowling
about like a roaring lion, seeking to devour every
believer, if possible.
A watching person also knows from the word of God that
this world is not abiding but will pass away. Thus, he
knows it is foolish to trust in this world and its
intoxicating attractions. He remembers Lot’s wife and
embraces the truth of what Jesus said when he asked, “What
does it profit if you gain the whole world and lose your
soul?”
The watching person realizes that he can die at any
moment and slip into eternity. He is one who, like the
apostle John, has heard God calling to him, “Come up here
and I will show you what will take place after this.” A
watching person is one who has been to heavenly places and
seen not only the throne and him who is seated on it, but
also the four living creatures, the twenty-four elders,
myriads of angels, and the spirits of just men made
perfect. A watching person is one who has seen the Lamb
looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of
the throne and heard the song of glorious worship in which
men and angels proclaim, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and
honor and glory and praise!”
The Heavenly Vision [or Focus] of a Watching Person
In 1 John 2:15-17 John describes the heavenly mindset
of the watching person:
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If
anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in
him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful
man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he
has and does—comes not from the Father but from the
world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man
who does the will of God lives forever.
The believer always looks at reality through God’s
infallible word. Having seen heavenly things, he refuses
to be like the people who lived on earth before the flood
or like those who lived before the destruction of Sodom
and Gomorrah who focused solely on the things of this
world.
Jesus himself warned in Luke 17:26-30 about emulating
those who have no capacity to understand the reality of
God”
Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it
be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating,
drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the
day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and
destroyed them all. It was the same in the days of Lot.
People were eating and drinking, buying and selling,
planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire
and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them
all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man
is revealed.
How do we characterize a watching person? His
citizenship is in heaven. His desire is heavenly desire.
His interests are the interests of Christ with whom he is
united by faith. He will say with the apostle Paul, “To me
to live is Christ and to die is gain,” and “I am crucified
with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”
He has the mind of Christ.
A watching person understands the “third soil syndrome”
and rejects it. What is the “third soil syndrome”? It
describes those who are concerned about the worries of
this life, the deceitfulness of riches, the desires for
other things, and the pleasures of things. These things
will choke a person. One who is caught up in these things
is not living a life of watching and doesn’t understand
ultimate reality. He falls in love with this world, runs
after it, and lives for it. The problem is, he is going to
be destroyed by it. But the watching man does not run like
pagans after the things of the world. Instead, he seeks
the kingdom of God, first and last.
The watching person is spiritually prepared to deal
with the evil forces of this world. In Ephesians 6 we read
about the preparation the watching person makes. Beginning
in verse 10 Paul writes, “Finally, be strong in the Lord
and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so
that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”
A watching person understand that not only is there a God,
but there is a devil seeking to devour him. The watching
person also understands that as a Christian he is engaged
in a continual struggle: “For our struggle is not against
flesh and blood, but against rulers, against the
authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly
realms.”
As Christians, we must struggle against the evil forces
that operate in this world by divine permission.
“Therefore,” Paul says, “put on the full armor of God, so
that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand
your ground, and after you have done everything, to
stand.” Praise God, he has given us armor, the full armor
of God, so that we will not fall into temptation, but
stand our ground.
Then Paul describes the armor of God: “Stand firm,
then, with the belt of truth,” meaning the gospel truth,
“buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of
righteousness in place”—we are saved by Christ’s
righteousness—”and with your feet fitted with the
readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition
to all this, take up the shield of faith with which you
can extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one” that
come against us every day. “Take the helmet of salvation
and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And
pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of
prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and
always keep on praying for all the saints.”
“Be alert!” Paul exhorts. A believer watches by
thinking God’s thoughts. He is engaged in a struggle
against evil forces that seek to make him fall. He is also
aware that the Lord Jesus Christ may come back at any
moment. Thus, watching people who comprise the true church
make themselves ready, clothing themselves in the bright
and clean garments of the good works of Christian
obedience.
A watching person understands God’s truth and is
therefore able to detect and reject heresies in the
church. In Acts 20:30-31 Paul told the Ephesian elders,
“Even from your own number men will arise and distort the
truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on
your guard!”
A watching person is one who repents of his sins and
obeys God. He is careful in his life and sets his
affections on things above, not on things of the earth,
which is passing away. He is one who embraces Paul’s words
of Colossians 3:1-4, “Since, then, you have been raised
with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ
is seated on the right hand of God. Set your minds on
things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and
your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ,
who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with
him in glory.”
The Privilege of Prayer
Jesus also told his disciples to pray. Prayer is the
most difficult exercise in the Christian life, but what a
privilege it is! God has given us the right to pray to him
in the name of Jesus Christ. The right to pray and receive
an answer from the living God is the greatest privilege a
Christian has.
In Hebrews 10:19-22 we read, “Therefore, brothers,
since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by
the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us
through the curtain, that is, his body… . let us draw near
to God… .” Prayer is entering into the Most Holy Place,
into the very presence of God.
In the tabernacle and and later in the temple,
proximity to God was limited by who the worshiper was. The
Gentiles could come only as far as the court of the
Gentiles and the women of Israel could only come as far as
the court of women. The men of Israel could come closer,
to the court of Israel; only the the priests could go
further, but most only as far as the court of the priests.
Only certain priests could come into the Holy Place and
then there was a thick curtain which separated the Holy
Place from the Most Holy Place. No one except the high
priest could go into the Most Holy Place and that once a
year. Bearing blood to cover both his sins and the sins of
Israel, the high priest would enter in, according to God’s
own instructions. But now, as Christians, whenever we
pray, we are entering into the Most Holy Place.
We know that we are sinners and God is holy and dwells
in unapproachable light. Yet we are told, “Therefore,
brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy
Place …” Where do we get the confidence to enter God’s
presence? Through the blood of Christ! Jesus Christ died
for our sins; therefore, our sins are blotted out and we
are clothed in his perfect righteousness. Through Christ
we have confidence to go straight into the Most Holy
Place, into the presence of our heavenly Father, as his
children. In the name of Jesus Christ, we can enter in
through a new and living way, a highway that is
constructed by the broken body of Jesus Christ. This
strong highway is the the direct and only route to the
very presence of God. Thus, in the name of Jesus Christ we
have confidence to go into the Most Holy Place and pray to
the heavenly Father. He will help us and give us mercy and
grace to help us in our time of need.
Every believer has this privilege. We don’t need a pope
or a priest to pray on our behalf. We believe in the
priesthood of all believers, that all who trust in Jesus
Christ can come through the new and living way of Jesus
Christ into the Father’s presence and he will receive us.
Our Need to Pray
Why do we need to go into the presence of God? We are
tempted all the time we live in this evil world. We need
God’s help to resist that temptation. Psychologists cannot
help us nor can anything we learn at the university
because most modern educators have nothing to do with God
and Jesus Christ. In fact, it is quite fashionable for
secular man to deny God and Jesus Christ and despise
Christians. Every other idea is acceptable, but
Christianity is despised and treated as a joke. But I
would rather be a fool for Jesus’ sake than follow the
fashion of this world.
The truth is, we are weak, needy, and helpless.
Remember how Peter told Jesus, “Lord, I am willing even to
die for you. Even if everyone else denies you, I never
will”? How many times have we made similar statements? Yet
such words are merely expressions of foolish
self-confidence. We need help to resist the devil, and no
one can help us but God, who graciously says to us, “Come
to me in the name of Jesus Christ and you will receive
mercy and grace for your time of need.” PGM Oh, that is
not an empty promise! When we come to him, God will always
help us.
Why do people fall into the same sin again and again?
Because they do not watch and pray. They think they can
operate in their arrogance and self-sufficiency, but the
devil is stronger than their self-sufficiency.
Prayer Is Communication
When we go to the Most Holy Place, we go to adore our
God, confess our sins to him, give thanks to him, and make
supplication of him. Prayer is communication with God.
In Ephesians 6:10-17 we read about putting on the whole
armor of God. We pray because we are in a foreign land, on
the battlefield and want to be in communication with our
general. So we tell him what is happening and he tells us
what to do and which way to go.
I was told that some of the battles fought recently in
Afghanistan were directed by people in this country.
Imagine the communication that went on to do such a thing!
That is what prayer is. We talk to God and he tells us
which way to go and what to do. As he guides us through
the Spirit and through his word, we can avoid the booby
traps and land mines Satan has strewn in our path.
So in Ephesians 6:18 we read, “And pray in the Spirit,”
meaning the Holy Spirit. We must pray in the power and
wisdom of the Spirit. This does not mean we can ask for
anything we want and receive it. God’s will is revealed in
the word of God, and we must pray within the limits of
God’s will. Praying in the Spirit is praying in God’s
wisdom and power.
So Paul writes, “Pray in the Spirit on all occasions…
.” Every believer, when he gets into the belly of the
whale, will pray. In our distress, we will always pray.
Even atheists pray when they are in trouble. But Paul says
we are to pray in the Spirit “on all occasions.” That
means in good times and bad, we must pray.
The prayer of a watching person is always effectual
because God gives us his grace to deal with every
situation. The apostle Paul had a thorn in the flesh, a
messenger of Satan, and he wrote in 2 Corinthians 12 that
he prayed three times for God to remove it. God said,
“No,” but that was not the end of it. God also told Paul,
“My grace is sufficient for you.” Remember, we are praying
to the infinite personal God on the basis of his own
promise. So God told Paul, “I give you my grace to deal
with your problem.” That is why Paul could declare, “I can
do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me”
(KJV).
In Isaiah 40:31 we read, “Those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like
eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk
and not be faint.” This speaks about waiting on the Lord
in prayer. We must never try to face the prowling, roaring
devil in our own self-confidence. If we do, he will only
laugh at us. But if we go in the strength that God gives,
we can resist the devil and he shall flee from us.
The Weapon of Prayer
As Jesus came to Gethsemane we are told he was
overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. He asked
his disciples, “Please stay with me and pray with me.”
Imagine, the Lord Jesus Christ desired the society of his
disciples and their help in prayer. But they slept the
whole time. But although the disciples did not watch and
pray, Jesus did, praying three times. After he was
finished, he told his disciples, “I am ready now. Let’s
rise and go.” Jesus was ready to meet the devil.
What agony Jesus endured while he prayed in Gethsemane!
Tempted to find an alternative course to the cross, he
prayed first, “If it is possible, may this cup be taken
from me.” Then he prayed a second time, “If it is not
possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it,
may your will be done.” The third time he knew there was
no other way, so he prayed, “May your will be done,” just
as he had taught his disciples to pray in the Lord’s
Prayer, “Thy will be done.” Through prayer Jesus was
strengthened to face death on the cross.
This is the power of effectual prayer. Jesus came, he
prayed, and he overcame temptation. Though the disciples
slept, he kept watch and prayed. We are told that the
Father in heaven sent an angel to strengthen Jesus as he
prayed so hard and sweated blood. What a weight he was
experiencing! What a burden of carrying the sin of the
whole world upon himself! He who knew no sin was about to
become sin for us. He who was God was about to be
abandoned by God, that he would cry out, “My God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me?” But Jesus prayed and prayed
and prayed and God strengthened him by the angel so that,
at last, he came to his disciples and said, “Get up! Let’s
go. Everything is all right. I have prayed and I am ready
to go.”
This weapon of prayer is mightier than all the weapons
of hell. In fact, the devil trembles whenever a Christian
is on his knees. It is said of John Knox that rulers
trembled whenever he prayed and preached. All hell shakes
when a Christian prays.
Watch, Pray, and Triumph
What is the result of a Christian watching and praying?
He will be triumphant over sin, Satan, and the flesh. In 2
Corinthians 2:14 Paul exclaimed, “Thanks be to God, who
always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ.”
When we watch and pray, we will triumph! We will not
fall into temptation or be knocked down, swallowed up, or
blown away. God wants us to live resurrection life in
Christ.
Notice, Paul said God “always leads us… .” This is not
a once-in-a-while, hit-or-miss situation. As we watch and
pray, we will experience daily triumph in Christ. It is
our destiny as Christians.
Jesus told his disciples, “Watch and pray so that you
will not fall into temptation.” If we do yield to
temptation, it is because we did not watch and pray.
Christians need not sin. Oh, we are tempted left and
right, but we need not sin. We died with Christ and were
raised with him so that we can live new resurrection
lives.
After Jesus was baptized in the Holy Spirit, he was led
by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the
devil. What did he say to the devil’s temptations? “It is
written … . It is written … . It is written.” In other
words, Jesus defeated the enemy by the Spirit and by the
word of God. Jesus was watching, he was praying, and he
triumphed. And when Jesus went to Caesarea, he asked his
disciples, “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are
the Christ, the Son of the living God.” When Jesus told
them he was going to Jerusalem to die and be raised up,
the devil, coming through Peter, said, “Never, Lord! This
shall never happen to you!” But Jesus was always watching
and praying. Understanding what was happening, he replied,
“Get behind me, Satan!” As we watch and pray, we also will
triumph as Jesus did.
Triumph over Sin
What was the temptation Jesus faced at Gethsemane?
Maybe another way could be found to accomplish God’s plan
of salvation besides dying on the cross. But accepting the
fact that there was only one way of salvation, Jesus
prayed, “Thy will be done.” He submitted to God’s will so
that we could be saved. Long ago in the garden of Eden
Adam had said, “My will be done,” and changed paradise
into a desert. But when Jesus Christ said, “Thy will be
done,” he began the process of changing the desert once
again into paradise for us. He is creating a new heaven
and a new earth where his people will dwell with him
forever.
Job knew how to watch and pray. As he sat in his misery
after losing everything, Satan came to him through his
wife and said, “Curse God and die.” But because Job was
watching and praying, he told his wife, “You are talking
like a foolish woman.” What triumph! In the midst of all
manner of misery, Job refused to curse God.
When we watch and pray, we will triumph. Paul was a
watching and praying person who was aware of Satan’s
devices. In 2 Corinthians 2:8-11 he wrote regarding a
brother who had sinned, “I urge you, therefore, to
reaffirm your love for him. The reason I wrote you was to
see if you would stand the test and be obedient in
everything. If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And
what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I
have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake in
order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not
unaware of his schemes.” In other words, Paul was saying,
“We know what Satan is doing. We are aware of his
presence, his thoughts, his schemes, and we do not want to
be caught in them. Because we watch and pray, we are aware
of them.” This was an example of how to live carefully,
not thoughtlessly, in this present evil age.
In 2 Corinthians 10:5 Paul made an amazing statement:
“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets
itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take
captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
Because Jesus Christ is Lord, we must bring every thought
that comes into our heads into obedience to Jesus Christ.
That is triumphant living. That is careful life.
If you really think that you have to sin when you are
tempted, you are not a Christian. In 1 Corinthians 10:13
we read, “No temptation has seized you except what is
common to man.” If you think your problem is unusual and
out of the ordinary, read and believe this scripture.
The first thing we learn is that no matter what our
problem is, it is common to the human condition. We tend
to magnify our problems and make mountains out of
molehills, but Paul tells us not to do that.
The second point we find in this passage is that “God
is faithful.” In other words, he is faithful to save us,
to help us, to redeem us, and to deliver us.
Third, Paul says, “He will not let you be tempted
beyond what you can bear.” That is a divine guarantee. God
is in control. He is Lord of all. He controls everything,
even the devil, and no one can do anything without his
express permission. So here we find a guarantee that God
will not permit us to be tempted beyond our God-given
ability.
Fourth, Paul says, “But when you are tempted, he will
also provide a way out.” In the Greek it says, “together
with the temptation he will also provide a way out.” If we
are watching and praying, he will show us a way out of any
temptation. Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides, will
provide us a way out so that we will not fall into
temptation. “He will also provide a way out,” means he
will help us to endure and bear up “so that you can stand
up under it.” Despite the most severe temptation, we can
obey God and not sin.
In James 4:7 the brother of the Lord says, “Submit
yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will
flee from you.” Notice the order. Submit to God, resist
the devil, and then there is a guarantee: The devil will
flee from you. Yes, the devil is a mighty, superhuman
power. Yet when we submit to God and resist the devil, he
will flee from us.
Jesus was tempted to deny the cross, but as he watched
and prayed, he was successful over the temptation. What
was the temptation of the disciples? To deny Jesus. “Oh,”
they said, “We will never deny Jesus,” but when Jesus told
them, “Watch and pray, that you may not fall into
temptation,” what did they do? They slept, and so they
failed to resist the temptation.
As Jesus was being arrested, Peter made one last
attempt to save Jesus from the cross. He had been sleeping
when Jesus told him to watch and pray. When he woke up, he
took a sword and tried to cut off the head of a man to
prevent Jesus from being crucified. He missed, cutting off
the man’s ear instead. Then Peter denied Jesus three
times: “I do not know him!” This is what happens to those
who do not watch and pray.
Watch, Pray, and Triumph
Watch and pray! This was the good counsel Jesus gave to
his disciples and it is the good counsel for us too. Jesus
said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell shall
not prevail against it.” The church of Jesus Christ is
triumphant. The Red Sea and the Jordan will part and the
walls of Jericho will fall before the presence of the
church, led by its triumphant head, the Lord Jesus Christ.
When Jesus rose from the dead, he introduced us to
resurrection power, which is the same power by which God
created and maintains the entire universe. This power is
available to us so that we can resist temptation. Let
us, therefore, say with Paul, “Thanks be to God who
always causes us to triumph in Christ!”