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T HE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
(2 ) The Sleeping Saints, vs. 37-41. “And flndeth them asleep.” W h at a disappointm ent! Here are th e th ree tru ste d friends, all asleep. P ete r had been sure he would never fail H is Lord (Matt. 2 6 :3 5 ). We m ust allow for the exciting events of th e day; th e strang e message of th e Master and H is prayer in th e upper room ; th e agonized face of th e ir Lord; th e ir own deep sorrow . All of these combined to w eary th e flesh (Luke 2 2 :4 5 ). He had w arned them to watch. The rebuke of th e Lord is gentle, b u t pene trating . When David wept a t th e Mount of Olives, all of his followers w ept w ith him ,—-but when David’s Son and Lord wept and sw eat g rea t drops of blood, His followers w ent to sleep. Jesus felt keenly th e ir indifference, and He designed to teach them and all of us a needed lesson. We are all sub ject to tem ptation. The only safety is in w atching and praying. We should be on th e a le rt to see th e first intim a tion of tem ptation to sin, so th a t it may be checked. When we find ourselves yielding, we should be alarm ed. Had P eter rem ained awake, he m ight have saved the others. We should be on the guard ag ain st certain tendencies. P rac tice makes habit. How hum iliating to be found asleep once! How painful to be found th e th ird time! If Jesus needed to pray, how much more do we. (3 ) The Solemn Statem ent, vs. 41-42. “ Sleep on now and tak e your re st.” W hat a sad aw akening fo r those dis ciples! The loving Master had needed th e ir sympathy, b u t they had failed Him. (Psa. 69 :20 .) The opportunity was gone. It never came again. The tria l was over. He had been victorious. He calmly looks upon them , and th en aw ak ens them . The disciples awake to find them selves in peril. They need streng th now. Yonder are th e torches of th e band whose leader is th e tra ito r Judas. W hat
gu ilt of a sinful world, and still far th e r and above all, the m idnight dark ness when th e F a th e r’s face was to be tu rned from Him. This is a threefold prayer, and per haps a threefold tem ptation as th e first. P aul prayed th ree tim es for deliverance and received grace to bear his tria l (2 Cor. 1 2 :9 ). The Lord prayed th ree tim es and His prayer was answered. We are told in Heb. 5 :7 : “Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and suppli cations w ith strong crying and tears unto him th a t was able to save him from death, and was h eard in th a t he feared .” And does th is no t give us th e key to the meaning of th e cup which He de sired to pass from H im? He feared lest He m ight a t th is crucial moment fail in loyalty to th e F a th e r’s w ill. The though t of th e aw ful darkness and the veiled face of His F a th e r— th e becom ing sin— was w ith Him, and He needed Divine power to resist sh rink ing from th a t cup. He did n o t sh rink from the cross (John 12:27, 28). His F a th e r sent an angel to streng th en H im and He found, as did Paul, th a t God’s grace was sufficient. W hat a lesson concerning our own trials! We pray, and then fain t. If our pray ers are no t imm ediately answered we charge God w ith neglect and indiffer ence. The Son of God struggled for at least an hou r and prayed th ree times before He received th e answer. L et us learn to m eet tem p tation and tria l w ith prayer. All life is a battle. There is conflict in th e state, conflict in th e home; conflict in th e h e a rt; con flict w ith th e will of God. We need to recognize th e rig h t of our F a th e r to ru le in our lives. We m ust bend our wills to His will. I t is well to be over come of God, as was Jacob, ^ e may go limping th rough life, b u t our halting steps will be th e seal of our victory.
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