Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.
Watching and praying means staying spiritually alert and taking refuge in God in earnest prayer so as not to fall when temptation comes. The spirit is truly willing yet the flesh is weak with weariness and bodily frailty, so good intentions alone cannot endure a severe test without God's help and sanctifying strength. Being tempted is to be assailed from without, but entering into temptation is to be overcome and brought under its power, and prayerful watchfulness keeps the soul from needlessly going into danger and from defeat. The charge was given at Gethsemane in the night of Christ's last agony to Peter and James and John, the favored three who had seen His transfiguration, and was spoken gently in pity for their frailty rather than in stern rebuke. Their sleeping when they should have wrestled in prayer left them to their own feeble strength and unprepared, so that Peter denied his Lord, and their sleep stands as a warning to the church now to renounce self-confidence and stay awake in the last days of peril when a vigilant, untiring foe spreads his net.
Gethsemane Setting and Background
The warning belongs to Gethsemane on the night of the arrest, the night of Christ's last agony. He reached it with His disciples after earnest instruction on the way from the Passover city. His approach and entrance were in utter sadness and silence unlike anything the disciples had seen before, deepening as He walked while they marked the change and dared not question its cause. His form swayed as if about to fall, every step was taken with labored effort and groaning aloud under the pressure of a terrible burden, while the disciples anxiously looked for His usual place of retirement for Him to rest and twice supported Him to keep Him from falling to the earth. There His prayer prepared Him for trial and duty, and the disciples after spending a short time watching and praying with Him slept while He prayed.
Throughout His earthly life He had walked in the light of God's presence, but now He was numbered with transgressors to bear the guilt of fallen humanity. The iniquity of all was laid upon Him who knew no sin, and He felt shut out from God's sustaining light. Sin appeared so dreadful to Him and God's wrath against transgression so terrible that He was tempted to fear being shut out forever from His Father's love, and His soul was exceeding sorrowful even unto death. He endured unparalleled distress while bearing the sins of the world, with bloody sweat forced from His pores and His face stained and convulsed with anguish. Yet His example in that hour was absolute submission to God's will, for although He could have refused humiliation He surrendered His will and went on to atone for human transgressions.
The warning was spoken especially to Peter and to James and John, found asleep when He returned and given the repeated charge to watch and pray. They were the three favored disciples brought into closest relationship with Him and His chief witnesses. They were the same three who had seen His transfiguration and beheld Him glorified, and John witnessed the agony as one of the three permitted to be with Jesus. The solemn charge came a short time before Peter's denial, calling Peter and the others who should have sustained Jesus to watch and pray that they enter not into temptation. Human willingness is real but bodily nature is weak, and He roused Peter with pitying tenderness over failure to watch even one hour after promising to go to prison and death with Him.
In His superhuman agony He longed for their sympathy, understanding, and prayers. He asked them to watch and pray with Him, wanting them to watch with Him in His hour of pain so they would better understand the sorrow pressing on Him. Instead He was left to wrestle with the powers of darkness alone, weeping and agonizing in prayer alone while they slept. By not heeding the warning they failed to pray for Christ and for themselves, and withheld the comfort and strength their steadfast faith would have given Him in His superhuman agony. Sleeping instead left the disciples unable to give Him sympathy and heartfelt prayer when He needed it most.
Meaning of Key Phrases
To watch and pray is to remain spiritually alert and to take refuge in God in earnest prayer in order to withstand temptation and not fall into it. The charge was given repeatedly in Gethsemane to Peter and to James and John after they were found asleep, and it looked especially to the test that would come upon them in betrayal and death. The disciples at first were troubled and prayed and meant to remain faithful, but they fell into a paralyzing stupor because they did not realize the necessity, though continuing to plead with God could have shaken it off. By failing to heed they trusted to themselves, failed to pray for Christ and for themselves, and withheld the comfort and strength their steadfast faith would have given Him in His superhuman agony, and their sleep stands as a warning against becoming spiritually asleep and exposed, especially in the dangers of the last days.
The spirit truly is ready but the flesh is weak means that human willingness and good intentions are real yet are overcome by bodily weakness and weariness, so sincerity alone cannot endure a severe test without vigilance, prayer, God's help and sanctification. Willing spirits do not remove human weakness, and spiritual alertness is needed precisely when that weakness makes a person vulnerable to temptation and to the coming trial of betrayal and death. Christ's words both warned of that danger and recognized frailty, meeting failure to stay awake with pity and sympathy rather than stern rebuke.
To enter into temptation is different from merely being tempted or surrounded by temptation. To be tempted is to be assailed, while to enter is to be overcome and to come under its power when its spell holds like a charm, yet one who is surrounded need not enter. That entering occurs when Satan's suggestions stir every remaining depravity in the unrenewed nature, where the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. Meditation and prayer guard against deliberately and needlessly going into danger and spare many defeats, keeping aloof from everyone and everything that leads away from duty and diverts the mind from God. Obeying means not placing oneself where dissolute, profligate, licentious and ungodly companionship corrupts, as when surroundings change to youthful companions full of hilarity and glee, pride and love of the world, but keeping the soul in the atmosphere of heaven as a partaker of the divine nature to escape the corruption in the world through lust, keeping the will submitted to God, and when compelled to be among evil people refusing to enter into or engage in their evil so as to remain unsullied by surrounding evil. Prayer in this sense asks God not to allow a person to be overcome when temptation comes, calling for choosing Christ over the world rather than being drawn by alluring presentations of the world and sacrificing immortal life and the throne of God for a short lifetime of sin, since failing this test in probationary time is failing forever.
The words about the ready spirit and weak flesh were spoken gently to excuse frailty with pity and sympathy rather than stern rebuke. Jesus feared the disciples could not endure witnessing His betrayal and death, questioned their strength to endure it, and gave sympathetic exhortation in view of their coming trial even while He Himself was in great agony and in need of their sympathy and prayers. Bending over the sleepers He roused Peter with pitying tenderness over failure to watch even one hour after promising to go to prison and death with Him. He desired them to watch with Him in His hour of pain so they would better understand the sorrow pressing on Him, be fitted to behold His death on Calvary, remember what He had told them many times about being rejected and killed and rising again, keep rays of hope amid gloom, keep faith strong when Satan and his angels seemed to win, understand He had come to suffer and die for the sins of the world rather than set up an earthly kingdom with them as rulers, understand He came to set up a kingdom of love, peace and purity in hearts to fit people for heaven, and be ready and able to bear the scorn and mockery falling on Him instead of leaving Him alone in His bitter trial. Their sleep was pressed on them by Satan and his evil angels when love for their suffering Master should have kept them awake, and it left them unprepared, while His own suffering shows He knows human weakness and temptation and can help those who are tempted.
Danger Requiring Vigilance
Vigilance is required because a cunning and powerful foe is on the track, trying to surround the path with darkness and lead into his snares. He watches going out and coming in, and by every means intends to hurt and destroy, working undercover and successfully in secrecy, more likely to deceive when his devices stay unknown. He does not come in visible form but stays on the track through representatives, bringing his power to bear especially on those who least suspect his presence, working in darkness and gaining control over all who let themselves be deceived. He is vigilant and untiring, never sleeping, knowing his time is short and working to the end with every deception to draw souls into his snare and ruin them. He spreads a net for unwary souls so that all who are not on guard will be caught, and he watches to bind them with hellish cords until they become lost to the work and almost helpless in his hands. He also uses principles that seem acceptable or beneficial to ensnare, to lead away from revealed will into rebellion and disregard for the righteous standard.
The danger is greater because men do not know their own deceitful and desperately wicked hearts, while God understands the tendencies of depraved nature. Old habits and natural inclinations must be resisted before they take hold, and thoughts and plans must be watched lest they become self-centered. Carelessness and indifference to warnings leave people in trouble through their own natural, hereditary tendencies, separated from the divine Teacher, unable to discern the Light of life, and losing the knowledge of the way of righteousness. In the unrenewed nature the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, and being overcome happens when temptation holds like a charm and suggestions stir every remaining depravity. Self-confidence and reliance on own wisdom lead to stumbling, while humility, distrust of self, and trust in God give strength to remain faithful through testing.
The need is greatest now in a time of great peril, for neglect leaves people spiritually asleep and exposed to temptation especially in the dangers of the last days. The disciples' sleep shows that danger, and the warning applies to God's people today and in the last days who must study Scripture's warnings about the dangers they face. The warning was sent because the coming moral conflict was seen ahead, in a time like the days of Noah and the days of Lot when people are absorbed in eating, drinking, marrying, buying, selling, planting, and building right up to the day the Son of man is revealed. God is leading His people out from the abominations of the world to keep His law with the antitypical land of promise just before them, while Satan with cruel and malignant hatred is determined to destroy them and cut them off from their inheritance. The adversary is ever on the alert to bring about conditions favorable to rebellion and to open channels for the unrestrained flow of evil, desiring ruin and condemnation, and has come down with great wrath knowing he has but a short time. Prayer is necessary for everyone whatever experience or intelligence, and especially as the end approaches and people must be ready for the coming judgment.
God preserves those who walk in the path of obedience, but departing from that path ventures onto Satan's ground where fall is sure. Refusal to leave the path of obedience in the wilderness is the example of trust and submission. A cunning enemy works through unsuspected means to turn people from the right path, but grace is pledged to those who choose obedience, and walking uprightly in the light is safety.
Disciples Failure as Warning
At first the disciples were troubled as they heard the strong cries, and they prayed with no intention to forsake Him and with a sincere desire to remain faithful and attentive. Yet sorrow and loyalty did not keep them awake, and they sank into sleep, a drowse and paralyzing stupor pressed upon them by Satan and his evil angels to dull their senses when love for their suffering Master should have kept them awake. That stupor could have been shaken off and resisted if they had continued pleading with God in prayer instead of failing to realize the necessity of taking refuge in Him. By not heeding the repeated warning they failed to pray for Christ and for themselves, and withheld the comfort and strength their steadfast faith would have given Him in His superhuman agony.
By sleeping instead of watching they were left to their own feeble, weak strength and left unprepared for the trial ahead. So Peter, who had promised to go to prison and death, denied the Man of Sorrows in His humiliation and acquaintance with grief, and that failure added the heaviest burden to the Saviour's humiliation and grief while He wrestled alone with the powers of darkness, His face stained with bloody sweat and convulsed with anguish. The charge had been given because Christ knew the power the prince of darkness would use to paralyze their senses when they should be watching and praying, knew their faith was to be tried and their hopes disappointed, and knew they would need all the strength gained by close watching and fervent prayer.
That mournful night-watch spent in noble mental struggle and prayer would have kept them awake with Christ and given strength to witness the terrible agony of the Son of God and to understand in some degree His overpowering anguish on the cross. It would have fitted them to behold His death, to recall His words about His sufferings, death and resurrection and about being rejected and killed and rising again, to receive the light of His sufferings and coming glory, and to let rays of hope sustain faith amid gloom and keep faith strong when Satan and his angels seemed to win. It would have taught them that He had come to suffer and die for the sins of the world rather than to set up an earthly kingdom with them as rulers, to set up a kingdom of love and peace and purity in hearts to fit people for heaven, and to bear scorn and mockery instead of leaving Him alone in bitter trial. Instead, by failing to listen for Christ's voice and to place themselves in communion with heaven, they lost the evidence that would have strengthened their souls for the terrible scenes before them, keeping only a dim sense of angelic presence and failing when they saw Him die.
Peter remembered the charge after his denial with bitter remorse, realizing he had slept instead of praying while Jesus suffered. Returning with true contrition, repentant and reconverted, he went alone in solitude and darkness to the very spot where his Lord had sunk beneath His inexpressible weight of woe. There he prostrated himself where the Saviour had lain, broke in heart over his sleep, and moistened the sod with penitential tears. He left that garden a converted man, humbled and fitted to pity the tempted, to sympathize with the weak and erring, to caution and warn the presumptuous, and to strengthen his brethren.
Their sleep, though only a drowse, represents a sleeping church that is not watchful in trial, with limited awareness of Christ's suffering. It stands as a warning to God's people today and in the dangers and perils of the last days not to become spiritually asleep and exposed to temptation, but to stay spiritually alert, to study Scripture warnings about the dangers they face, to remember where faith failed, to renounce self-confidence, and not to be caught unprepared or deceived. Jesus also let the disciples face a test while He was with them to comfort them, so that the faithful would recognize human fickleness and remain steady when He was rejected.
How to Watch and Pray
Watching and praying is continual and present, at all times and not only in meetings. Religion is not to be put on in a meeting and laid off outside like an overcoat, but is a continual way of life in the channel of bright rays against the attractions held out by the enemy. Temptations will surround a person as long as life lasts, because Satan if foiled in one way tries in another and his efforts never cease. People forget God so easily and slide away from Him so naturally that hourly, daily vigilance is needed, and watching and praying lest entering temptation is daily business. Obeying means always remembering identity as members of the royal family and subjects of the heavenly King, born anew with a new character unto God, having parted with the old cheap frivolous character that leads to the world and to pride and vanity and folly, and that parting is not in human strength. The warfare and the cross are as necessary and certain as the victory, and God gives grace for grace to those who fear Him and walk in the truth, while He will take away His Spirit and blessing from those who love amusement and do not separate from the world. The temptation guarded against includes love of pleasure that seduces away from duty and violates conscience, turning aside to amusement instead of useful industry, and keeping the command means living for God with courage and determination as a thorough Christian fully converted to truth and given unreservedly to God, true to self, to God, and to parents.
Prayer must be earnest, persevering and constant rather than faint, occasional and fitful. It is to be secret and family and daily, with children making God their trust and not letting the things of this life engross the mind to neglect of prayer, and with nothing lost in taking time to pray. The heart is to be continually uplifted in silent petition when alone, when walking and in daily labor, with petition for help, light, strength and knowledge, the mind stayed on Christ so surrounding evil brings no stain. Earnest daily prayer gives spiritual strength as temporal food gives strength to the body, and taking God at His word and trusting Him fully gives peace and joy with God as continual helper. Thinking more and praying more saves hours of sorrow, prevents crime, keeps lips from impure imaginings, turns feet from the gate of hell, and cleanses the soul-temple from defilement. Watching means watching one's own spirit with much prayer with reliance every moment upon God, clinging to the Mighty One as a tower of strength, because without His help people are weak and inefficient, communion broken leaves defense gone, good purposes alone cannot withstand evil, and the human will alone is not enough. This is urgent because short decisive steps lead down from holy ground, one failure to overcome leaves the soul unguarded, one evil habit not firmly resisted strengthens into steel chains, Satan weaves nets for feet not watching and will shift to an unexpected temptation if particular ones are specified, and the peril is greatest for those giving the last warning.
To watch is to guard every avenue of the soul and the doors of the heart, and to watch the small beginnings of sin before old habits and natural inclinations take hold. It means vigilance over thoughts and plans lest they become self-centered, refusing the thoughts Satan presents rather than entertaining them, and not letting human feelings gain mastery. The cloud Satan brings of unbelief made up of every evil thing he can devise to make the mind yield cannot envelop and penetrate unless mind and heart are opened to its dark influence, so the watcher in faith rises beyond self, circumstances and surroundings, looks to Jesus through every mist and cloud, penetrates the darkest temptation, and is guarded by angels from poisonous influence. Refusing evil and false reports, thinking the best of others, not treating evil as good, and keeping words to preserve good and oppose evil belong to this guarding of mind and speech, with study of the Word and removal of whatever keeps from complete experience in Christ keeping self from entering the work. Petty trials are not to be answered with offense, envy, fault-finding, jealousy or vanity, and care for the people purchased with blood with attention to opportunities to do them good belongs to watchfulness.
Obeying requires keeping aloof from everyone and everything that leads away from duty and diverts the mind from God, keeping the will in submission to the will of God. It means not placing oneself where dissolute, profligate, licentious and ungodly companionship corrupts, but keeping the soul in the atmosphere of heaven and becoming a partaker of the divine nature to escape corruption through lust. Temptations may surround yet leave safe as long as they are not entered, while many are overcome because they walk right into temptation, for being tempted is being assailed while entering is being overcome when the spell holds like a charm and suggestions stir every remaining depravity where flesh lusts against Spirit and Spirit against flesh. When compelled to be among evil people, refusing to enter into or engage in their evil keeps unsullied by surrounding evil through prayer and watching. Prayer asks God not to allow being overcome when temptation comes, and failing this test in probationary time is failing forever.
Christ's own example makes prayer necessary for everyone whatever experience or supposed intelligence, especially as the end approaches and readiness for judgment is required. All must become learners and receive education in spiritual things in order to give to others, for prayer is needed even when spirit is willing because human weakness makes vulnerable. Refusing to remain two-thirds asleep means watching with earnest diligence to suppress wrong and stand guard against dissipation and fashionable errors. It means crying to God in living faith for Him to pour out light and grace through appointed channels to those suffering for want of knowledge, and laying hold by living faith of strength to bless labor, so that light, knowledge and power are gathered and influence becomes diffusive beyond any boundary. The Lord hears all who come in necessity with humble contrite heart and will manifest Himself to revive the spirit of the humble and the hearts of the contrite, and this personal need to remain spiritually alert and dependent lays a continuing duty on believers.
Christian preparation joins watchfulness, prayer and work. Prayer and reliance keep Christ present in service as light and life with power to make efforts successful, while neglecting prayer and failing to recognize His presence excludes Him, and those who wait on Him receive His instruction. A living connection with heaven maintained through watchfulness and prayer makes work succeed in helping people both physically and spiritually.
Promises and Changed Life
Watching and praying guards against entering temptation, and in facing difficulties and enemies and in carrying responsibilities faithfully the way is to rely on Christ's strength. Overcoming in that strength gives experience of Him as a present help in every time of need, a personal Savior beside the believer exercising saving power continually. As long as watching continues there is victory and keeping by divine power, with good courage in clinging to the Mighty One as a tower of strength, since without God's help people are weak and inefficient. The call is a continual caution in managing responsibilities not to fret or worry or take on too much, but to carry out God's work in dependence on Him and take time to pray, with nothing lost in doing so.
Obeying these repeated commands brings an undercurrent of happiness that blesses others. That happiness changes character, so that sour and cross dispositions become sweet and gentle and proud people become meek and lowly.
Genuine faith always produces obedience, for God never commands what cannot be done but gives strength to every believing and trusting soul. Keeping Christ present gives safety even when fiercely tossed like a ship on white-capped billows, because Jesus is on board. The one who watches and prays in faith rises beyond self and circumstances and surroundings, looks to Jesus through every mist and cloud, penetrates the darkest temptation, and is guarded by angels from the poisonous influence of the wicked one. Thinking more and praying more saves hours of sorrow, prevents crime, keeps lips from speaking impure imaginings, turns feet away from the gate of hell, and cleanses the soul-temple from defilement, while trusting fully gives peace and joy with strength equal to duties that grow more taxing, temptations that grow stronger, and trials that grow more severe day by day.
The command means asking God who gives liberally to all who come to Him to open the way for His work to be accomplished. Trust is to rest in the Lord making a way, as shown by Daniel's prayer and its results in God's willingness to help. Christ gave in His own life an example of the necessity of prayer, so that whatever their experience or supposed intelligence, all must become learners and receive an education in spiritual things in order to give to others. The Lord hears the prayers of all who come to Him in necessity with humble and contrite heart, and manifests Himself to them to revive the spirit of the humble and revive the hearts of the contrite ones.
Specific Daily Applications
Watching and praying guards speech and temper by keeping self-control and choosing respectful, encouraging words rather than giving way to anger. Wearing Christ's yoke of restraint and obedience keeps the enemy from gaining advantage, while yielding to the urge to speak harshly or to act severely, dictatorially, or rashly is itself entering temptation. The tongue must be guarded against accusing or speaking against a fellow believer, with difficulties addressed to that person kindly and lovingly instead. Harshness that breaks out at times must be subdued so that public talks are after Christ's order, representing His mildness and patience and goodness, for by grace dwelling within words become sanctified and severe expressions that grieve the Lord are held back even when others disappoint expectation.
The same vigilance guards the mind and the culture of the soul by refusing rather than entertaining the thoughts Satan presents. Evil and false reports are to be refused, the best thought of others, and evil never treated as good, so that words preserve what is good and oppose what is evil. Sincerity in prayer is proved by active resistance to pride, jealousy, and evil-speaking, with earnest effort to overcome them. Every avenue of the soul must be guarded against self entering the work, with study of the Word and removal of whatever hinders a complete experience in Christ. Daily victory requires refusing to let feelings gain mastery or to answer petty trials with offense, envy, fault-finding, jealousy, or vanity.
For students, watching means guarding against being swerved from the path God marked out by advice from brethren whose minds are not always under the Holy Spirit's control. It means guarding against letting studies accumulate until they absorb and overburden the mind and crush desire for godliness, and against losing sight of the motive for entering school. The temptations to be resisted include sacrificing truth from unholy ambition to secure high education and high place among men, leaving the Heavenly Father's will out of the reckoning, giving wisdom from above a secondary place, losing confidence in God, trusting much learning as success, letting love for God wane, neglecting prayer, and failing to cultivate spiritual attributes. True knowledge leads to holiness of life through sanctification of the truth, while education pushed so far that spiritual life languishes is wholly disastrous and worse than useless.
Choosing Christ over the world rather than sacrificing immortal life and the throne of God for a short lifetime of sin is central to not entering temptation, for being surrounded by temptation need not mean entering it. A young person whose surroundings change to youthful companions full of hilarity and glee, pride and love of the world, is kept only by continual watching and prayer against Satan's alluring presentation of the world. Safety lies in keeping aloof from everyone and everything that leads away from duty and diverts the mind from God, keeping the will submitted to God's will, staying out of the society of evil companions, and when compelled to be among evil people refusing to enter into or engage in their evil so as to remain unsullied by surrounding evil. Associations whose principles and secret workings lead away from safe paths and God's righteous standard must be met with the same alertness and prayer lest Satan ensnare the soul. Love of pleasure that seduces from duty, violates conscience, and turns aside to amusement instead of useful industry must be resisted by living for God with courage and determination as a thorough Christian fully converted to truth and given unreservedly to God, true to self, to God, and to parents. Those with earthly possessions face special temptation and trial on account of property, with Satan and evil angels zealously working to encourage selfish disposition and love of the world, and the danger on every hand is loving possessions too well and claiming as one's own what God has only lent to advance His work. The pattern is getting the sacrifice almost on the altar under the warming influence of truth without fully consecrating all to God, then losing the spirit of sacrifice as that influence wears away until the strong foe regains control of the mind and love of the world revives, so that treasure is served instead of God, for the battle rages between truth and love of the world for victory over heart and mind.
In church life and work, wide-awake watchfulness and prayer are needed lest the enemy take advantage of circumstances, especially when things are being swayed in wrong lines. In gatherings, failure to watch and pray opens the way for Satan to exploit human weakness through unbelief, suspicion, and disputes over side issues that distract from important truths and prevent harmonious action. Persuasive false teachings and spiritualistic deceptions that mix error with truth must be resisted lest they lead to giving up the faith. Belief alone is not enough, for each person must guard against entanglement in the world's deception, especially as the conflict over the Sabbath intensifies. Hasty action from human impulse must give place to waiting for God's direction. The same guard applies against ensnarement in sanitarium organization and bond injustice, against taking on more sanitarium work than can be carried, against overwork beyond ability, and against a man's ensnaring conduct with young women. Strict guardianship of self is required for the sake of connected souls, guarding words, showing respect for those in authority, and remembering that carelessness spreads like leaven while faithful influence raises the moral tone.
Watching includes caring for the people Christ purchased with His blood, guarding thoughts and plans lest they become self-centered, resisting the enemy's quiet approach and old habits and natural inclinations before they take hold, and looking for opportunities to do others good. It calls for steadiness and faithfulness rather than restlessness, staying true to convictions of duty, loving what is right, remaining humble and devoted, serving God and developing Christian character while continuing to learn in the school of Christ until perfected for immortality. Children are to make God their trust by keeping secret and family prayer every day and not letting the things of this life engross the mind to the neglect of prayer, since earnest daily prayer gives spiritual strength as temporal food gives strength to the body and keeps them from entering temptation. Growing in grace at home and everywhere gives moral power to actions, through guarding spirit, actions, and words at home, giving time to personal culture and training in right principles, being an example to others, meditating on the Word night and day and bringing it into practical life, using the sword of the Spirit as the only safe sword, and honoring fellow workers with only kind, peaceful words.
Watching and praying means staying spiritually alert and taking refuge in God in earnest prayer so as not to fall when temptation comes. The spirit is truly willing yet the flesh is weak with weariness and bodily frailty, so good intentions alone cannot endure a severe test without God's help and sanctifying strength. Being tempted is to be assailed from without, but entering into temptation is to be overcome and brought under its power, and prayerful watchfulness keeps the soul from needlessly going into danger and from defeat. The charge was given at Gethsemane in the night of Christ's last agony to Peter and James and John, the favored three who had seen His transfiguration, and was spoken gently in pity for their frailty rather than in stern rebuke. Their sleeping when they should have wrestled in prayer left them to their own feeble strength and unprepared, so that Peter denied his Lord, and their sleep stands as a warning to the church now to renounce self-confidence and stay awake in the last days of peril when a vigilant, untiring foe spreads his net.
Gethsemane Setting and Background
The warning belongs to Gethsemane on the night of the arrest, the night of Christ's last agony. He reached it with His disciples after earnest instruction on the way from the Passover city. His approach and entrance were in utter sadness and silence unlike anything the disciples had seen before, deepening as He walked while they marked the change and dared not question its cause. His form swayed as if about to fall, every step was taken with labored effort and groaning aloud under the pressure of a terrible burden, while the disciples anxiously looked for His usual place of retirement for Him to rest and twice supported Him to keep Him from falling to the earth. There His prayer prepared Him for trial and duty, and the disciples after spending a short time watching and praying with Him slept while He prayed.
Throughout His earthly life He had walked in the light of God's presence, but now He was numbered with transgressors to bear the guilt of fallen humanity. The iniquity of all was laid upon Him who knew no sin, and He felt shut out from God's sustaining light. Sin appeared so dreadful to Him and God's wrath against transgression so terrible that He was tempted to fear being shut out forever from His Father's love, and His soul was exceeding sorrowful even unto death. He endured unparalleled distress while bearing the sins of the world, with bloody sweat forced from His pores and His face stained and convulsed with anguish. Yet His example in that hour was absolute submission to God's will, for although He could have refused humiliation He surrendered His will and went on to atone for human transgressions.
The warning was spoken especially to Peter and to James and John, found asleep when He returned and given the repeated charge to watch and pray. They were the three favored disciples brought into closest relationship with Him and His chief witnesses. They were the same three who had seen His transfiguration and beheld Him glorified, and John witnessed the agony as one of the three permitted to be with Jesus. The solemn charge came a short time before Peter's denial, calling Peter and the others who should have sustained Jesus to watch and pray that they enter not into temptation. Human willingness is real but bodily nature is weak, and He roused Peter with pitying tenderness over failure to watch even one hour after promising to go to prison and death with Him.
In His superhuman agony He longed for their sympathy, understanding, and prayers. He asked them to watch and pray with Him, wanting them to watch with Him in His hour of pain so they would better understand the sorrow pressing on Him. Instead He was left to wrestle with the powers of darkness alone, weeping and agonizing in prayer alone while they slept. By not heeding the warning they failed to pray for Christ and for themselves, and withheld the comfort and strength their steadfast faith would have given Him in His superhuman agony. Sleeping instead left the disciples unable to give Him sympathy and heartfelt prayer when He needed it most.
Meaning of Key Phrases
To watch and pray is to remain spiritually alert and to take refuge in God in earnest prayer in order to withstand temptation and not fall into it. The charge was given repeatedly in Gethsemane to Peter and to James and John after they were found asleep, and it looked especially to the test that would come upon them in betrayal and death. The disciples at first were troubled and prayed and meant to remain faithful, but they fell into a paralyzing stupor because they did not realize the necessity, though continuing to plead with God could have shaken it off. By failing to heed they trusted to themselves, failed to pray for Christ and for themselves, and withheld the comfort and strength their steadfast faith would have given Him in His superhuman agony, and their sleep stands as a warning against becoming spiritually asleep and exposed, especially in the dangers of the last days.
The spirit truly is ready but the flesh is weak means that human willingness and good intentions are real yet are overcome by bodily weakness and weariness, so sincerity alone cannot endure a severe test without vigilance, prayer, God's help and sanctification. Willing spirits do not remove human weakness, and spiritual alertness is needed precisely when that weakness makes a person vulnerable to temptation and to the coming trial of betrayal and death. Christ's words both warned of that danger and recognized frailty, meeting failure to stay awake with pity and sympathy rather than stern rebuke.
To enter into temptation is different from merely being tempted or surrounded by temptation. To be tempted is to be assailed, while to enter is to be overcome and to come under its power when its spell holds like a charm, yet one who is surrounded need not enter. That entering occurs when Satan's suggestions stir every remaining depravity in the unrenewed nature, where the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. Meditation and prayer guard against deliberately and needlessly going into danger and spare many defeats, keeping aloof from everyone and everything that leads away from duty and diverts the mind from God. Obeying means not placing oneself where dissolute, profligate, licentious and ungodly companionship corrupts, as when surroundings change to youthful companions full of hilarity and glee, pride and love of the world, but keeping the soul in the atmosphere of heaven as a partaker of the divine nature to escape the corruption in the world through lust, keeping the will submitted to God, and when compelled to be among evil people refusing to enter into or engage in their evil so as to remain unsullied by surrounding evil. Prayer in this sense asks God not to allow a person to be overcome when temptation comes, calling for choosing Christ over the world rather than being drawn by alluring presentations of the world and sacrificing immortal life and the throne of God for a short lifetime of sin, since failing this test in probationary time is failing forever.
The words about the ready spirit and weak flesh were spoken gently to excuse frailty with pity and sympathy rather than stern rebuke. Jesus feared the disciples could not endure witnessing His betrayal and death, questioned their strength to endure it, and gave sympathetic exhortation in view of their coming trial even while He Himself was in great agony and in need of their sympathy and prayers. Bending over the sleepers He roused Peter with pitying tenderness over failure to watch even one hour after promising to go to prison and death with Him. He desired them to watch with Him in His hour of pain so they would better understand the sorrow pressing on Him, be fitted to behold His death on Calvary, remember what He had told them many times about being rejected and killed and rising again, keep rays of hope amid gloom, keep faith strong when Satan and his angels seemed to win, understand He had come to suffer and die for the sins of the world rather than set up an earthly kingdom with them as rulers, understand He came to set up a kingdom of love, peace and purity in hearts to fit people for heaven, and be ready and able to bear the scorn and mockery falling on Him instead of leaving Him alone in His bitter trial. Their sleep was pressed on them by Satan and his evil angels when love for their suffering Master should have kept them awake, and it left them unprepared, while His own suffering shows He knows human weakness and temptation and can help those who are tempted.
Danger Requiring Vigilance
Vigilance is required because a cunning and powerful foe is on the track, trying to surround the path with darkness and lead into his snares. He watches going out and coming in, and by every means intends to hurt and destroy, working undercover and successfully in secrecy, more likely to deceive when his devices stay unknown. He does not come in visible form but stays on the track through representatives, bringing his power to bear especially on those who least suspect his presence, working in darkness and gaining control over all who let themselves be deceived. He is vigilant and untiring, never sleeping, knowing his time is short and working to the end with every deception to draw souls into his snare and ruin them. He spreads a net for unwary souls so that all who are not on guard will be caught, and he watches to bind them with hellish cords until they become lost to the work and almost helpless in his hands. He also uses principles that seem acceptable or beneficial to ensnare, to lead away from revealed will into rebellion and disregard for the righteous standard.
The danger is greater because men do not know their own deceitful and desperately wicked hearts, while God understands the tendencies of depraved nature. Old habits and natural inclinations must be resisted before they take hold, and thoughts and plans must be watched lest they become self-centered. Carelessness and indifference to warnings leave people in trouble through their own natural, hereditary tendencies, separated from the divine Teacher, unable to discern the Light of life, and losing the knowledge of the way of righteousness. In the unrenewed nature the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, and being overcome happens when temptation holds like a charm and suggestions stir every remaining depravity. Self-confidence and reliance on own wisdom lead to stumbling, while humility, distrust of self, and trust in God give strength to remain faithful through testing.
The need is greatest now in a time of great peril, for neglect leaves people spiritually asleep and exposed to temptation especially in the dangers of the last days. The disciples' sleep shows that danger, and the warning applies to God's people today and in the last days who must study Scripture's warnings about the dangers they face. The warning was sent because the coming moral conflict was seen ahead, in a time like the days of Noah and the days of Lot when people are absorbed in eating, drinking, marrying, buying, selling, planting, and building right up to the day the Son of man is revealed. God is leading His people out from the abominations of the world to keep His law with the antitypical land of promise just before them, while Satan with cruel and malignant hatred is determined to destroy them and cut them off from their inheritance. The adversary is ever on the alert to bring about conditions favorable to rebellion and to open channels for the unrestrained flow of evil, desiring ruin and condemnation, and has come down with great wrath knowing he has but a short time. Prayer is necessary for everyone whatever experience or intelligence, and especially as the end approaches and people must be ready for the coming judgment.
God preserves those who walk in the path of obedience, but departing from that path ventures onto Satan's ground where fall is sure. Refusal to leave the path of obedience in the wilderness is the example of trust and submission. A cunning enemy works through unsuspected means to turn people from the right path, but grace is pledged to those who choose obedience, and walking uprightly in the light is safety.
Disciples Failure as Warning
At first the disciples were troubled as they heard the strong cries, and they prayed with no intention to forsake Him and with a sincere desire to remain faithful and attentive. Yet sorrow and loyalty did not keep them awake, and they sank into sleep, a drowse and paralyzing stupor pressed upon them by Satan and his evil angels to dull their senses when love for their suffering Master should have kept them awake. That stupor could have been shaken off and resisted if they had continued pleading with God in prayer instead of failing to realize the necessity of taking refuge in Him. By not heeding the repeated warning they failed to pray for Christ and for themselves, and withheld the comfort and strength their steadfast faith would have given Him in His superhuman agony.
By sleeping instead of watching they were left to their own feeble, weak strength and left unprepared for the trial ahead. So Peter, who had promised to go to prison and death, denied the Man of Sorrows in His humiliation and acquaintance with grief, and that failure added the heaviest burden to the Saviour's humiliation and grief while He wrestled alone with the powers of darkness, His face stained with bloody sweat and convulsed with anguish. The charge had been given because Christ knew the power the prince of darkness would use to paralyze their senses when they should be watching and praying, knew their faith was to be tried and their hopes disappointed, and knew they would need all the strength gained by close watching and fervent prayer.
That mournful night-watch spent in noble mental struggle and prayer would have kept them awake with Christ and given strength to witness the terrible agony of the Son of God and to understand in some degree His overpowering anguish on the cross. It would have fitted them to behold His death, to recall His words about His sufferings, death and resurrection and about being rejected and killed and rising again, to receive the light of His sufferings and coming glory, and to let rays of hope sustain faith amid gloom and keep faith strong when Satan and his angels seemed to win. It would have taught them that He had come to suffer and die for the sins of the world rather than to set up an earthly kingdom with them as rulers, to set up a kingdom of love and peace and purity in hearts to fit people for heaven, and to bear scorn and mockery instead of leaving Him alone in bitter trial. Instead, by failing to listen for Christ's voice and to place themselves in communion with heaven, they lost the evidence that would have strengthened their souls for the terrible scenes before them, keeping only a dim sense of angelic presence and failing when they saw Him die.
Peter remembered the charge after his denial with bitter remorse, realizing he had slept instead of praying while Jesus suffered. Returning with true contrition, repentant and reconverted, he went alone in solitude and darkness to the very spot where his Lord had sunk beneath His inexpressible weight of woe. There he prostrated himself where the Saviour had lain, broke in heart over his sleep, and moistened the sod with penitential tears. He left that garden a converted man, humbled and fitted to pity the tempted, to sympathize with the weak and erring, to caution and warn the presumptuous, and to strengthen his brethren.
Their sleep, though only a drowse, represents a sleeping church that is not watchful in trial, with limited awareness of Christ's suffering. It stands as a warning to God's people today and in the dangers and perils of the last days not to become spiritually asleep and exposed to temptation, but to stay spiritually alert, to study Scripture warnings about the dangers they face, to remember where faith failed, to renounce self-confidence, and not to be caught unprepared or deceived. Jesus also let the disciples face a test while He was with them to comfort them, so that the faithful would recognize human fickleness and remain steady when He was rejected.
How to Watch and Pray
Watching and praying is continual and present, at all times and not only in meetings. Religion is not to be put on in a meeting and laid off outside like an overcoat, but is a continual way of life in the channel of bright rays against the attractions held out by the enemy. Temptations will surround a person as long as life lasts, because Satan if foiled in one way tries in another and his efforts never cease. People forget God so easily and slide away from Him so naturally that hourly, daily vigilance is needed, and watching and praying lest entering temptation is daily business. Obeying means always remembering identity as members of the royal family and subjects of the heavenly King, born anew with a new character unto God, having parted with the old cheap frivolous character that leads to the world and to pride and vanity and folly, and that parting is not in human strength. The warfare and the cross are as necessary and certain as the victory, and God gives grace for grace to those who fear Him and walk in the truth, while He will take away His Spirit and blessing from those who love amusement and do not separate from the world. The temptation guarded against includes love of pleasure that seduces away from duty and violates conscience, turning aside to amusement instead of useful industry, and keeping the command means living for God with courage and determination as a thorough Christian fully converted to truth and given unreservedly to God, true to self, to God, and to parents.
Prayer must be earnest, persevering and constant rather than faint, occasional and fitful. It is to be secret and family and daily, with children making God their trust and not letting the things of this life engross the mind to neglect of prayer, and with nothing lost in taking time to pray. The heart is to be continually uplifted in silent petition when alone, when walking and in daily labor, with petition for help, light, strength and knowledge, the mind stayed on Christ so surrounding evil brings no stain. Earnest daily prayer gives spiritual strength as temporal food gives strength to the body, and taking God at His word and trusting Him fully gives peace and joy with God as continual helper. Thinking more and praying more saves hours of sorrow, prevents crime, keeps lips from impure imaginings, turns feet from the gate of hell, and cleanses the soul-temple from defilement. Watching means watching one's own spirit with much prayer with reliance every moment upon God, clinging to the Mighty One as a tower of strength, because without His help people are weak and inefficient, communion broken leaves defense gone, good purposes alone cannot withstand evil, and the human will alone is not enough. This is urgent because short decisive steps lead down from holy ground, one failure to overcome leaves the soul unguarded, one evil habit not firmly resisted strengthens into steel chains, Satan weaves nets for feet not watching and will shift to an unexpected temptation if particular ones are specified, and the peril is greatest for those giving the last warning.
To watch is to guard every avenue of the soul and the doors of the heart, and to watch the small beginnings of sin before old habits and natural inclinations take hold. It means vigilance over thoughts and plans lest they become self-centered, refusing the thoughts Satan presents rather than entertaining them, and not letting human feelings gain mastery. The cloud Satan brings of unbelief made up of every evil thing he can devise to make the mind yield cannot envelop and penetrate unless mind and heart are opened to its dark influence, so the watcher in faith rises beyond self, circumstances and surroundings, looks to Jesus through every mist and cloud, penetrates the darkest temptation, and is guarded by angels from poisonous influence. Refusing evil and false reports, thinking the best of others, not treating evil as good, and keeping words to preserve good and oppose evil belong to this guarding of mind and speech, with study of the Word and removal of whatever keeps from complete experience in Christ keeping self from entering the work. Petty trials are not to be answered with offense, envy, fault-finding, jealousy or vanity, and care for the people purchased with blood with attention to opportunities to do them good belongs to watchfulness.
Obeying requires keeping aloof from everyone and everything that leads away from duty and diverts the mind from God, keeping the will in submission to the will of God. It means not placing oneself where dissolute, profligate, licentious and ungodly companionship corrupts, but keeping the soul in the atmosphere of heaven and becoming a partaker of the divine nature to escape corruption through lust. Temptations may surround yet leave safe as long as they are not entered, while many are overcome because they walk right into temptation, for being tempted is being assailed while entering is being overcome when the spell holds like a charm and suggestions stir every remaining depravity where flesh lusts against Spirit and Spirit against flesh. When compelled to be among evil people, refusing to enter into or engage in their evil keeps unsullied by surrounding evil through prayer and watching. Prayer asks God not to allow being overcome when temptation comes, and failing this test in probationary time is failing forever.
Christ's own example makes prayer necessary for everyone whatever experience or supposed intelligence, especially as the end approaches and readiness for judgment is required. All must become learners and receive education in spiritual things in order to give to others, for prayer is needed even when spirit is willing because human weakness makes vulnerable. Refusing to remain two-thirds asleep means watching with earnest diligence to suppress wrong and stand guard against dissipation and fashionable errors. It means crying to God in living faith for Him to pour out light and grace through appointed channels to those suffering for want of knowledge, and laying hold by living faith of strength to bless labor, so that light, knowledge and power are gathered and influence becomes diffusive beyond any boundary. The Lord hears all who come in necessity with humble contrite heart and will manifest Himself to revive the spirit of the humble and the hearts of the contrite, and this personal need to remain spiritually alert and dependent lays a continuing duty on believers.
Christian preparation joins watchfulness, prayer and work. Prayer and reliance keep Christ present in service as light and life with power to make efforts successful, while neglecting prayer and failing to recognize His presence excludes Him, and those who wait on Him receive His instruction. A living connection with heaven maintained through watchfulness and prayer makes work succeed in helping people both physically and spiritually.
Promises and Changed Life
Watching and praying guards against entering temptation, and in facing difficulties and enemies and in carrying responsibilities faithfully the way is to rely on Christ's strength. Overcoming in that strength gives experience of Him as a present help in every time of need, a personal Savior beside the believer exercising saving power continually. As long as watching continues there is victory and keeping by divine power, with good courage in clinging to the Mighty One as a tower of strength, since without God's help people are weak and inefficient. The call is a continual caution in managing responsibilities not to fret or worry or take on too much, but to carry out God's work in dependence on Him and take time to pray, with nothing lost in doing so.
Obeying these repeated commands brings an undercurrent of happiness that blesses others. That happiness changes character, so that sour and cross dispositions become sweet and gentle and proud people become meek and lowly.
Genuine faith always produces obedience, for God never commands what cannot be done but gives strength to every believing and trusting soul. Keeping Christ present gives safety even when fiercely tossed like a ship on white-capped billows, because Jesus is on board. The one who watches and prays in faith rises beyond self and circumstances and surroundings, looks to Jesus through every mist and cloud, penetrates the darkest temptation, and is guarded by angels from the poisonous influence of the wicked one. Thinking more and praying more saves hours of sorrow, prevents crime, keeps lips from speaking impure imaginings, turns feet away from the gate of hell, and cleanses the soul-temple from defilement, while trusting fully gives peace and joy with strength equal to duties that grow more taxing, temptations that grow stronger, and trials that grow more severe day by day.
The command means asking God who gives liberally to all who come to Him to open the way for His work to be accomplished. Trust is to rest in the Lord making a way, as shown by Daniel's prayer and its results in God's willingness to help. Christ gave in His own life an example of the necessity of prayer, so that whatever their experience or supposed intelligence, all must become learners and receive an education in spiritual things in order to give to others. The Lord hears the prayers of all who come to Him in necessity with humble and contrite heart, and manifests Himself to them to revive the spirit of the humble and revive the hearts of the contrite ones.
Specific Daily Applications
Watching and praying guards speech and temper by keeping self-control and choosing respectful, encouraging words rather than giving way to anger. Wearing Christ's yoke of restraint and obedience keeps the enemy from gaining advantage, while yielding to the urge to speak harshly or to act severely, dictatorially, or rashly is itself entering temptation. The tongue must be guarded against accusing or speaking against a fellow believer, with difficulties addressed to that person kindly and lovingly instead. Harshness that breaks out at times must be subdued so that public talks are after Christ's order, representing His mildness and patience and goodness, for by grace dwelling within words become sanctified and severe expressions that grieve the Lord are held back even when others disappoint expectation.
The same vigilance guards the mind and the culture of the soul by refusing rather than entertaining the thoughts Satan presents. Evil and false reports are to be refused, the best thought of others, and evil never treated as good, so that words preserve what is good and oppose what is evil. Sincerity in prayer is proved by active resistance to pride, jealousy, and evil-speaking, with earnest effort to overcome them. Every avenue of the soul must be guarded against self entering the work, with study of the Word and removal of whatever hinders a complete experience in Christ. Daily victory requires refusing to let feelings gain mastery or to answer petty trials with offense, envy, fault-finding, jealousy, or vanity.
For students, watching means guarding against being swerved from the path God marked out by advice from brethren whose minds are not always under the Holy Spirit's control. It means guarding against letting studies accumulate until they absorb and overburden the mind and crush desire for godliness, and against losing sight of the motive for entering school. The temptations to be resisted include sacrificing truth from unholy ambition to secure high education and high place among men, leaving the Heavenly Father's will out of the reckoning, giving wisdom from above a secondary place, losing confidence in God, trusting much learning as success, letting love for God wane, neglecting prayer, and failing to cultivate spiritual attributes. True knowledge leads to holiness of life through sanctification of the truth, while education pushed so far that spiritual life languishes is wholly disastrous and worse than useless.
Choosing Christ over the world rather than sacrificing immortal life and the throne of God for a short lifetime of sin is central to not entering temptation, for being surrounded by temptation need not mean entering it. A young person whose surroundings change to youthful companions full of hilarity and glee, pride and love of the world, is kept only by continual watching and prayer against Satan's alluring presentation of the world. Safety lies in keeping aloof from everyone and everything that leads away from duty and diverts the mind from God, keeping the will submitted to God's will, staying out of the society of evil companions, and when compelled to be among evil people refusing to enter into or engage in their evil so as to remain unsullied by surrounding evil. Associations whose principles and secret workings lead away from safe paths and God's righteous standard must be met with the same alertness and prayer lest Satan ensnare the soul. Love of pleasure that seduces from duty, violates conscience, and turns aside to amusement instead of useful industry must be resisted by living for God with courage and determination as a thorough Christian fully converted to truth and given unreservedly to God, true to self, to God, and to parents. Those with earthly possessions face special temptation and trial on account of property, with Satan and evil angels zealously working to encourage selfish disposition and love of the world, and the danger on every hand is loving possessions too well and claiming as one's own what God has only lent to advance His work. The pattern is getting the sacrifice almost on the altar under the warming influence of truth without fully consecrating all to God, then losing the spirit of sacrifice as that influence wears away until the strong foe regains control of the mind and love of the world revives, so that treasure is served instead of God, for the battle rages between truth and love of the world for victory over heart and mind.
In church life and work, wide-awake watchfulness and prayer are needed lest the enemy take advantage of circumstances, especially when things are being swayed in wrong lines. In gatherings, failure to watch and pray opens the way for Satan to exploit human weakness through unbelief, suspicion, and disputes over side issues that distract from important truths and prevent harmonious action. Persuasive false teachings and spiritualistic deceptions that mix error with truth must be resisted lest they lead to giving up the faith. Belief alone is not enough, for each person must guard against entanglement in the world's deception, especially as the conflict over the Sabbath intensifies. Hasty action from human impulse must give place to waiting for God's direction. The same guard applies against ensnarement in sanitarium organization and bond injustice, against taking on more sanitarium work than can be carried, against overwork beyond ability, and against a man's ensnaring conduct with young women. Strict guardianship of self is required for the sake of connected souls, guarding words, showing respect for those in authority, and remembering that carelessness spreads like leaven while faithful influence raises the moral tone.
Watching includes caring for the people Christ purchased with His blood, guarding thoughts and plans lest they become self-centered, resisting the enemy's quiet approach and old habits and natural inclinations before they take hold, and looking for opportunities to do others good. It calls for steadiness and faithfulness rather than restlessness, staying true to convictions of duty, loving what is right, remaining humble and devoted, serving God and developing Christian character while continuing to learn in the school of Christ until perfected for immortality. Children are to make God their trust by keeping secret and family prayer every day and not letting the things of this life engross the mind to the neglect of prayer, since earnest daily prayer gives spiritual strength as temporal food gives strength to the body and keeps them from entering temptation. Growing in grace at home and everywhere gives moral power to actions, through guarding spirit, actions, and words at home, giving time to personal culture and training in right principles, being an example to others, meditating on the Word night and day and bringing it into practical life, using the sword of the Spirit as the only safe sword, and honoring fellow workers with only kind, peaceful words.