written by a man who has experienced this war
within, isn't it? Is that your experience? Matthew 26. Look at verse 41. Our Lord came
and found His disciples sleeping in one of his darkest hours,
and he said, verse 41, Watch and pray that ye enter not into
temptation. The spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak. The Lord told Isaiah to comfort
you, my people. Speak to the hearts of my people. Tell them the warfare is accomplished.
Iniquity is pardoned. And the Lord being our great
prophet is comforting us, comforting His disciples whom He had chosen
and loved and called with the assurance. He gives them and
us with this assurance that there is indeed a Spirit in there,
a new man, Christ in you that is willing and all that that means. But,
and he remembers our praying that we are dust and ashes, but
he said the flesh is so weak. Listen to this in Psalm 78. You
may want to turn there. This is so good. This is similar
to Psalm 107, 103, but Psalm 78 I read this psalm today, it was
so good, talking about his poor people, sinful as they are. Verse
37, their heart was not right with him, neither were they steadfast
in his covenant. But He, being full of compassion,
forgave their iniquity and destroyed them not. Yea, many a time turned
His anger away and did not stir up all His wrath, for He remembered
they were but flesh." He knows we're flesh. But first, the thing
He says to His disciples and us, He gives words of reproof,
words of rebuke, word of warning and exhortation. Because whom
the Lord loves, He chastens. He reproves. If He doesn't reprove
us, if He doesn't chasten us, we're not His children. And we
need it, don't we? We need it badly. They needed
it. In verses 37 and 8 here in Matthew 26, He took with Him
Peter and two sons of Zebedee began to be sorrowful. Very heavy. And He said unto them, My soul
is exceeding sorrowful even unto death, tarry ye here. Stay right here now and watch
with me. And he went in and fell on his
face and prayed. He said, watch with me. What
a privilege and honor it was for Peter, James and John to
be chosen by the Lord to go in there with him and watch and
listen as he prayed to the Father to be with the Lord. But they
fell asleep. And don't we do the same thing,
don't we? All the time. All the time. And most of the
time, and what this is, we are guilty of, is spiritual drowsiness. And most of the time it's due
to several things, but three things principally. It's overindulgence
in this world. Nothing is more deadly. We read it in Romans 7, to be
carnally minded is death. It will deaden you. To be spiritually
minded is life and peace. Carnal security, being too much
at ease in Zion, that will make you spiritually drowsy. A lack
of communion with our Lord. We're not watching and asking,
seeking, calling. He told them. He exhorted them. Terry, watch with me. And they
couldn't make it very long, could they? They didn't make it. Why
is it? Well, look down at verse 40.
He came to them in verse 40. and said to Peter, and we know
why he spoke to Peter, because Peter got lifted up with pride.
Satan, our Lord said, Peter has desired thee, and he will sift
you like wheat. And he did. And he began by lifting
him up above his brethren. And that's the condemnation of
the devil, pride. That's what Paul said to Timothy.
The condemnation of the devil is pride. He gets you lifted
up above your brethren. And he's got you. In verse 40, he said he found
them sleeping. He said to Peter, what? Could
you not watch with me one hour? Where's all that bragging and
boasting? How you'd go die with me? Can't
you watch with me for an hour? Why is it that most of the time
we can be so engrossed in trivial, useless, vain things, whatever
they may be, things of this world, books and entertainment, all
of that, completely engrossed with. You can't put it down. And we quickly grow sleepy and
tired to spiritual things. Why is that? Well, our Lord said
it. The Spirit is indeed willing. If there were not a Spirit, a
new man in there, you wouldn't have any desire at all for the
things of God. You wouldn't be here tonight
if indeed you're led by the Spirit. But then the flesh is so weak
So weak. And we're not wrestling, Paul
said, just with flesh and blood, are we? Principalities and power. Our Lord did. He wrestled with
Him. He's the first one our Lord faced as our substitute. And He knows how powerful the
adversary is. He faced Him at His weakest point. Forty days without food and He
faced Him. I'm so glad. He's our captain,
aren't you? But He awoke these three from their sleep, lack
of watching. He awoke them with a rebuke. And you notice, they didn't have
anything to say. They never uttered a word. And
you know they're ashamed, like we are. They're ashamed. They have nothing to say. They
have no excuses. That's good. That's proof, that's an evidence
that we have this Spirit in us. If you rebuke a wise man, he'll
love you. Not a fool. A fool, he won't
take it. But rebuke a wise man, he'll
love you. David said, let the righteous smite me. It will be
a kindness. It won't break my head. It will
help me. I need it. Let him whom the Lord
loveth be chastened. Then he gives them a word of
exhortation here, verse 41. Watch and pray. That you enter not into temptation.
Watch. He says this over and over and
over and over and over again. Watch unto prayer. Paul picked
up the same vein, didn't he, of thoughts. And he said, Watch. Pray without ceasing. We ought
always to pray. Here's what we need to pray. Lord, help me to watch. Help
me stay awake to watch. Watch for the pits. Our Lord
told Simon Peter, but evidently he wasn't listening, he wasn't
watching. Because he said, Satan has desired you. He just told
him that. He'll sift you like wheat. And he didn't watch it. And so
he tells us all, told them, rebuked them, watch for these pits and
these traps and these snares and these nets of the adversary.
They're unseen. Watch against sin, self-righteousness,
legal traps that he lays for us. That ye enter not into temptation,
he said. That ye enter not. Temptation
is a constant and lifelong thing that every believer goes through. Temptations and enticements,
allurements. Our Lord, as I said, He went
as a man when He started His ministry as a man, thirty years
old. He faced Satan's temptation. He was tempted in the wilderness. And that's us. But these enticements
is what this is. This is not trials at the Lord's
hand, but these are temptations to sin. Enticements, allurements,
sin, flesh, and Satan. Temptations. Now temptations
are not sinful in themselves. It's not sinful to be tempted.
You can't help but be tempted. You walk out in the world and
you can't help but be bombarded by temptation. And they arise
from our own lusts within. Temptations don't. Being tempted
is not sin, but entering into it is. Taking hold of the bait. You
remember that article put in the bulletin a few weeks back
by Thomas Brooks? Such a wise man. The Lord gifted
men like that to write so in-depth about these things. The bait. Satan is a wise and
crafty foe. He baits the hook. His wows and his methods are
to hide the pain and the suffering and hide sin for what it really
is and debate it to make it look good and seem good and seem pleasing
and pleasurable. Oh, you're going to like this.
And he covers the evil of it and the pain of it and the suffering
of it. He covers it. And the sin, though,
is not to be tempted, but is to take hold of the bait, to
enter into the trap. David looked, was tempted, and
he went after it. That's entering into the temptation.
Joseph was tempted day in and day out, wasn't he? But he didn't. By the grace of God, he ran. He didn't enter into it. Joseph
being such a type of Christ. So he says, watch and pray. Watch.
Watch meaning keep your eyes open to see temptations for what
they really are. Have your eyes wide open. Don't
be blinded to his deceptions. Be wise as serpents. Harmless
to the devil. Watch and see it for what it
is. It's no good. No good. Sweet may be the bud,
but bitter is the flower, the fruit of it. Pray, he said. You can't do anything without
Him. You'll fall for every temptation without the Lord. That's why
he said that, didn't he? Without me, you can do nothing.
Peter, Satan and that desire to sift you. Only one man that
could endure temptation of his own self, and that's our Lord
Himself. But the Lord knows how to deliver
the godly out of temptation. He's the only one that can. And
He said, I'm a very present help. I'm getting ahead of myself.
And then He utters these blessed words of comfort. So He gives
us a warning, an exhortation, Watch and pray. Enter not into
temptation. Then he says in verse 41, for
our comfort, the Spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is
weak. I'm as thankful for this verse
as I am any verse in the Bible. Go with me to John chapter 3.
The Spirit. What is this Spirit he's speaking
of? It's the new man. It's the new creation. It's that
which is born of God, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. It is that incorruptible Word
in you. It's Christ in you, the Spirit
of Christ in you, begotten of God by the Word of truth. This
is what our Lord was telling Nicodemus, who did not have the
Spirit yet. I think he did later. And Nicodemus
couldn't understand it. And he was arguing it. Like Brother
Chris Cunningham said, he said, a man will argue against a new
birth until he experiences it. And then it's something you can't
really explain. It's something you can't understand.
You can't explain it to someone who hasn't experienced it. And
all you can do is experience it. The natural man receiveth
not the things of God. They're foolishness to him. Neither
can he know them. They're spiritually understood.
John 3, our Lord said in John 3, verse 3 through 6, He said
to Nicodemus, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man
be born again, that is, from above, of God, he cannot see
the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him. He
couldn't understand. How can a man be born when he's
old? Can he enter the second time
into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water, and of
the spirits, He cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That
which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of
the Spirit is Spirit. That which is flesh is flesh.
It will never be anything but that. That which is Spirit is
Spirit. And flesh and blood cannot inherit
the Kingdom of God. We are going to see that. Look
at John 6. Go over to John 6. I don't want
to lose you because this will be a comfort to you. John 6,
verse 63. This is the Spirit that He's
speaking of. John 6, verse 63. Our Lord said, "...is the Spirit
that quickeneth the flesh, profiteth nothing." The words that I speak
unto you, they are Spirit. That is, we're born of this Word. 1 Corinthians 15. Go over there. 1 Corinthians 15. We're born
by the Word of God. liveth and abideth forever, incorruptible
seed, the word of truth, the gospel, the power of God. 1 Corinthians
15, and in preaching the gospel, preaching Christ, Him crucified,
We have to wait on the Spirit of God who blows where He listeth,
our Lord said there to Nicodemus, on whom He listeth, when He listeth,
when He decides, when He purposed, to take the Word and breathe
in them and the breath of life and create in them this new creature
and in this new life. Eyes are open, their ears are
open, their heart. 1 Corinthians 15, look at verse
22, as in Adam, all die. The day you eat thereof, our
Lord said, you'll die. He died spiritually. He had a
soul. I tried to say something about
that Sunday. Like an animal has this animating
principle in its soul. And the breath of life, everything
that has the breath of life has in that sense a soul. But until
the Spirit of God comes on a man or woman or young person, they
don't have the Spirit. Verse 22, in Christ all made
alive. Look at verse 45. Verse 45, so
it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul.
The last Adam, a quickening spirit. A quickening spirit. We are quickened together with
Christ. Born again. As I said, it cannot
be explained, only experienced. And so Paul said in Romans 7
about this dual nature, this flesh and spirit. This is what
he said. And only someone who has it can
enter into it. He said, I know that in me, in
my flesh, me, this fellow that was born on this earth of my
parents years ago, Born in sin. In sin did my mother conceive
me. Brought forth from the womb speaking
lies. Flesh started sinning and can't
do anything but sin. That's me. That in me, that is,
in my flesh dwelleth no good thing but to will. is present with me, he said.
The Spirit is willing, indeed is willing. A new creature, born
again, willing. The word willing means inclined,
disposed to do something. A dead sinner won't hear. A dead
sinner won't call. A dead sinner won't come. A dead
sinner won't follow. Only a born again child of God
who is made willing in the day of God's power. Thy people shall
be willing. The day of His power, when the
gospel comes, the power of God. Christ is the power of God. The
power of the Holy Spirit that moves upon a dead sinner, operates
on them and creates in them this new man. Here it is in Ezekiel
36. He said, I'll give you a new
heart and a new spirit will I put within you. A new spirit. I'll put my spirit
within you, He said, and cause you to walk in My statue and
to keep My judgment. Lay hold. and you're going to
dwell in the land, I'm going to save you. And you'll remember
your own evil ways. Until that new Spirit comes,
you don't even know you have evil ways. And so the Spirit
is willing, the man or woman or young person made willing
by the power of God, and it's God that worketh in us. Both
the will and the do. He gets all the glory. Alright,
now let's look briefly. I'm not going to be long at all.
I'm not going to give you time to get sleepy. Er. Er. Sleepy Er. There's a willing
spirit. Let's see if you have this in
you, okay? And all you can do is answer.
The Spirit, it says, bears witness with our spirit. Alright, here
it is. There's a new creature that's willing and obedient.
Paul said, to will is present with me. I want to do what's
right. He said, I find the law is good,
it's holy, it's just, it's good, it's true. Do you believe that?
You know, the natural man hates holiness. The natural man hates
righteousness. The natural man hates God. The
natural man loves nothing but sin, evil, wickedness, corruption. It's like a dead worm. A worm feeds on dead things.
That's where the worm dieth not. Gnawing desires. The old man is not willing at
all. He's disobedient. work disobedience, but there's
a new man who wants to be obedient. Do you have that willingness
in you, that want to in you? It wasn't always there, was it?
The new man is not of this work. His mind, his heart is set on
things above. We've sung that song, don't we?
Things that are higher, things that are nobler, these have allured
my sight. Well, what happened? There was
a day when that began, isn't there? There was a day when a
new heart was put in there, a heart that had a desire, like David
said, one thing if I desired of the Lord. There was a time
when that was just not there. There was a time... Can you enter
into this? Well, you could care less about
the things of God. There's a new man that his heart
and mind is set on things above, but this flesh is very worldly,
very sensual, this flesh is very materialistic, very covetous.
He found this war going on. There's a new creature that's
willing to hear the Word, wants to hear the Word. We just sang
that hymn. I wish I would have kept it open.
But Cowper knew something about that. He said, I want to hear.
I want to pray. I want to. Well, that want to
is this new man. That's the willing man. The Spirit,
our Lord said, indeed is willing. That's the work of God. That's
the Spirit of God. It's a new creature in there.
Here's the Word. Delights to hear it. Do you delight
to hear the Gospel? But do you not find that the
flesh is so weak that you have such a hard time hearing it? The new man, this new creature,
this willing spirit, believes the Word with all their heart.
All their heart. He can say with David of old,
I believe all thy precepts, I esteem all thy precepts to be right.
concerning all things, to be right. And I hate every false
way. And this flesh is so weak, it
starts listening to other things. It starts doubting. The new man
comes to Christ. Come unto me. He said, of the
natural man, you will not come unto me. The will not come unto
me that you might have not. No man can come unto me, he said,
except the Father which hath sent me draw him." Drawn of the
Spirit. There came a day when the Gospel
was preached, and the Spirit of God moved, and you were drawn
to Him. And you came to Christ from your
heart. Oh Lord, save me, or I perish.
That's of God. That's a new Spirit. And the
flesh will not come. There's a new man who loves to
follow, wants to follow Christ in everything. He wants nothing
more than to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Be just like Him. Don't you? Simon Peter said,
Lord, I'll follow You wherever You go. Well, there was a time
when all he cared about was fishing. That was his life. Christ was
preaching at the time. Other men had been preaching.
John had been preaching. Other men before that. Huh? Peter
wasn't interested. Fishing was his life. The sea
was his life. His old buddies, drinking at
the pub was his life. Right? But one day, the Master
came. Came by his boat. Chose Him and
set His love on Him and called Him by His grace and by His power.
What did Peter do? What did James do? What did John
do? Buddy, they dropped everything and they followed Him. That's
the Spirit of God movement. And that's what we want, don't
you? And by His grace, sometimes we do. We drop everything and
come, but then there's His flesh. It has this pull after it. It's
still there. It's stronger in the young than
the old, thankfully. But it has a pull, allurements,
and then often we fall. Don't listen to that. Don't listen
to the vanity. And there's this new man that
walks by faith that believes the unseen. Peter wrote that. My favorite verse, 1 Peter 1,
he said, Whom have you not seen ye love? I do. Though now ye
see him not yet believing. There's no doubt in my mind and
heart that Jesus Christ lives. No doubt. Somebody said, Amen. You do too. And you rejoice with joy unspeakable
and full of glory. Rejoice in the gospel of Christ
with joy unspeakable. You can't put it into words.
And full of glory. You've seen His glory. Well,
that's that new man. You believed the unseen, but
now the flesh. There are times when it says
to you, do you really believe this? Don't you need more evidence?
Wouldn't you like to see something? Flesh is weak. We walk by faith. There's a new creature, a new
spirit within us indeed that is willing to walk in paths of
righteousness. There's nothing we want more. than to walk in paths of righteousness. Set my feet in paths of righteousness. These feet that are so swift
to run to mischief. Oh Lord, turn me and I'll be
turned. Do you have that desire in you?
Do you have that willingness in you? There was a time when
it wasn't there. It had no appeal to you at all.
Well, no, I don't want that. He'd go headlong after sin. He'd
run to mischief. Swift to it. Well, what happened? Who made you want to walk like
Christ? Like the town of Mansoul. When Emmanuel conquered them,
came in, that's when they all were set free from captivity
and they all fell in love with Emmanuel. Redeemer and they all
walked, got in behind Him and they all walked in His footprints.
They all wanted to walk just like Him. There's a new man, a new creature
in there that's willing to leave everything, everyone to follow
Him. Right? Peter did. Peter said, Lord, we've left
everything. Didn't he? He did. Why? But the Lord didn't
rebuke that, did He? That's a new man that the Lord
commands. That was His work. And Peter
said, Lord, we've left all to follow You. Yes, you have, because
I drew you. But nevertheless, He said, you're
going to have a hundredfold. Rewarding them for something
they didn't do. But yet it was there, wasn't it? We've left
everything. Didn't think a thing about it. People still are doing
that. And aren't you willing? Oh, but
there's a flesh that doesn't want to leave anything. There's
a new man who's willing to suffer and bear reproach for Christ.
I've said this many times, and I really mean this, and I believe
this, like Simon Peter, Lord, I'll die with you. Wouldn't you
consider it the highest honor on earth to die for the cause
of Christ? Wouldn't that be wonderful? We
read these stories of Foxe's book of martyrs and Stephen and
the martyrs in the Scripture. And don't you, down deep, don't
you think, I wish I had that courage and I wish I could make
that stand. Like all of Hebrews 11, don't
you think? I wished it. I denied Him so much that I wished
at one time He'd allow me, if they threatened my life, Is there not willingness in you?
To bear reproach? To suffer for Christ? Oh, but
there's a flesh in there that doesn't want to suffer at all.
It wants to avoid every dislike and all reproach. There's a new man who wants to
die and be with the Lord. A new man that wants nothing
more. One thing of our desire. Dwell in the house of the Lord
forever. Behold the beauty of the Lord, David said. Oh, but
there's an old man that doesn't want to leave anybody or anything. He wants to stay right here and
steal the vanity of attraction. There's a new man that loves
holiness and righteousness and on and on we can go with that.
What's our hope? And I think sometimes we do our
people an injustice by always talking about our helplessness,
helplessness, helplessness, helplessness, helplessness, and never telling
us what God says, that greater is He that is in you than he
is in the world. No, without Him we can do nothing. That's right. With Christ, all
things. Our Lord said, sin shall not
have dominion over you. I love that verse. Don't you? He said, you're not under the
law, you're under grace. The strength of sin is the law. You're
under grace. That is, God's grace is sufficient. And if we'll make use of it,
If we'll call, and this brings us right back where we started,
doesn't it? Watch. We come right back where we started,
where he rebuked us for not doing. Peter fell terribly. He was sifted
terribly. He fell and he went out and wept
bitterly. You think he started watching
after that? Oh, buddy, he did die for Christ after that. Pray
without ceasing. We're tempted without ceasing.
That's why he said pray without ceasing. We're tempted without
ceasing. Our adversary is waiting for
us to fall asleep. And we can't stay awake. So we
call, Lord, watch over me. He's ever-present, help. No,
you can't do anything. You can't do anything but sin.
In your flesh dwelleth no good thing. But there's a new man
in you that Christ has promised that sin shall not have dominion.
The elder shall serve the younger. That old man will serve the younger,
serve a purpose. That Spirit of God in a child
of God, His Word, Pray without ceasing. God has given us His
Word that is meat to go in the strength of, like Elijah. He
was fed by the ravens because he had to go 40 days in the strength
of that meat. Face the foe. You know, he went running, didn't
he, Mac? He wasn't watching and praying. He went running. He
was scared to death of a woman and sat under the juniper tree
feeling sorry for himself. And that's when the Lord rebuked
him, saying, What are you doing here, Elijah? Are you calling? No. You're crying. And then he sent the raven and
fed him and he was going to go into strength of that meat and
strengthen him. That's the Word of God. Meat to go into strength
of out in the world. We have a sanctuary. We have
a sanctuary. Yes, it's Christ. And yes, it
is His people, His church. David was foolish, David was
fretting, and David was in the flesh in Psalm 73. Psalm 37 and
73. In Psalm 73, David, he says,
I was envious at the foolish, saw the prosperity of the wicked.
I looked around me, I said, my religion is in vain. God's people
just have trouble, nothing but trouble. I've been plagued all
the day long. Until I went into the sanctuary. I went into the sanctuary with
the people of God. And I heard a man stand up and
preach the Word of God that I'd lost sight of. And then I understood
what? Their end. I quit looking to
the end, and I started looking at the present. Sanctuary. Christ is our sanctuary. He's promised where two or three
are gathered to be there. His people in His fold, His sheepfold,
a haven, a city of refuge. Do you not find this to be a
city of refuge where Christ is and His people like a sheepfold
where you snuggle up to fellow scared sheep? We just looked
at how our Lord as a man went through Great suffering. And He chose three men to go
through it with Him. They couldn't go through it with
Him. But He chose three to go with Him, to watch with Him.
And He came back, as it were, to find them watching with Him,
which is a comfort in it. Is it not a comfort when your
brethren tell you, I was thinking about you. I was praying for
you. Isn't that a comfort? Who was it that I spoke to the
other day? This happens all the time. And
you too? Brethren, I've been thinking
about you all day. Oh, doesn't that do your heart
good? There are times when we can't find any help from anybody
but our Lord. We always go to Him. We always
find help from Him. He's always our sanctuary. But
God's people, we need each other. Did He not say, comfort one another? How? With these words. Fellowship
with saints. You're not going to find any
comfort with the people out in the world. Oh, no. It's the opposite. Peter warmed himself by the fire.
We're going to look at that real soon. With the enemies of our
Lord. He became just like them. Oh, people of God, exhort one
another. Watch with me. Wherever His people
are watching, that's where we need to tarry. That's where we
need to sit. That's where we need to come.
So our Lord said, the Spirit is indeed willing. Can you find
that willingness in you? Thank God if you do. Oh, but
the flesh... It's so weak. And suppressing
this flesh, mortifying our members, that's in Christ. It all has
to do with Christ. It all has to do with hearing
the Gospel. It all has to do with seeing Him suffer for those
sins. You know, that's the only way to mortify our flesh and
members. The only way to kill it is to
see Christ suffering because of those sins. That will show
sin in its true light. That's the only thing that will
really show us sin in its true light, is seeing Christ, what
He endured to put away those sins. Oh, thank God for that
new man. Alright, stand with me. Our Lord, we thank You. We believe, we hope, we believe
that You have done a work in us, so many in here. We so thank You. So thank You, Lord. We know that
in us, in our flesh dwelleth no good thing. We loathe ourselves,
hate ourselves. Oh, Lord, we're thankful. We
do. feel a willingness within, a
new rule in us to do good. We delight in the
law of God, the Word of God. We delight in the things of God.
have a desire and a hunger for the things of God. Oh, Lord,
but our flesh. Overrule our flesh, Lord, as
You promised. You said it will not have dominion
over us. But oftentimes, like Paul said,
we feel it leading us into captivity. Oh, Lord, deliver us. Let us
always be watching. It calls us always to pray without
ceasing. We thank You, Lord, You know
our praying. We're so thankful that You've told us not to sin. Little children, these things
I write unto you that you sin not. Lord, we need that constant
reproof and rebuke and warning and exhortation. We need it as
little children. Oh, Lord, how thankful we are
for the rest of that verse. that if any man sin, we have
an advocate who knows our frame, who is touched with the feeling
of our infirmity, is tempted in all points like as we are,
yet without sin. who can succor us and help us
in time of need. Oh, Lord. Who will never turn
us away. Who knows our frame, remembers
that we're flesh, a wind that passeth away. Oh, Lord, how we're
thankful that You know us. But oh, Lord, strengthen this
inner man daily, this new man, strengthen him and cause this
old man to get weaker, we pray. For Your glory and honor, for
our good, for our peace, we pray these things in Christ's name.
Amen.