Watch
and Pray
While we are
admonished repeatedly in the Bible to pray,
we are counseled to watch. Matthew 24:42;
25:13; Mark 13:35. The reason given is:
Watch therefore; for ye know not what
hour your Lord doth come.
To watch in the sense
here uses, is more than merely being awake.
It means to be alert, to scan eagerly, to
observe in order to look after, protect, or
guard.
With many, the word
watch has lost its original
meaning and has almost become synonymous with
prayer. Hence, the hour of prayer is often
called the watch hour, and the
morning watch has become the same as the
Morning Prayer. To this there is no
objection, unless we fail to give watching an
equal importance with prayer. There is danger
lest, forgetting that watching and praying go
together, we pray, but neglect to watch. Both
have equal claims upon us.
In the texts
mentioned above, watch has
special reference to watching for the signs
of the Lords coming. This is most
important, but the warning includes more than
this. We are to watch lest we enter into
temptation. Matthew 26:41. Satan has many
ways of catching his prey, and we are to be
fully awake and alert, or we may be caught in
his snare. It is not enough to ask God to
protect us and shield us from danger. We must
take proper precautions ourselves. It should
be known that faith in God is not
inconsistent with doing all we can to help
ourselves.
Young and old need to
be on their guard. They should not ask God to
do for them what He expects them to do for
themselves. Lack of understanding of
Gods method of work has brought
confusion and defeat to many. There are some
things God expects us to do, and when we do
our part, He will do His. God may send bread
from heaven, -and will do so if needed,
-but ordinarily we must work for it. God
gives sunshine and rain, but we must sow the
seed and do the harvesting.
Co-operation With God
Many Christians have
been drilled in the belief that God does it
all and that there is nothing for them to do
but be pliant and submissive and God will do
the rest. From one viewpoint, this is true,
but another it is not. There are many
things God cannot do without our help, and He
asks for our full co-operation. As the
branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it
abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye
abide in Me. John 15:4. However, it is
just as true that the vine cannot bear fruit
without the branches. There is an
interdependence between the branches and the
vine that makes it necessary for both to work
together. We cannot be separated from the
source of spiritual power and live.
We say this in all
reverence and only for the purpose of
pointing out the necessity for our working
together with God. For we well know that, our
part is only that of a willing medium who of
himself can do nothing.
Such sayings as
Fear God and take your own part,
who help themselves, are at times used
to belittle God. However, there is a certain
amount of truth in them. God wants us to put
our trust in Him, but not with our hands
folded. If I am in financial straits, am I to
call upon God for help, but do nothing to
help myself? I seek God for health. Does this
release me from being careful in my habits
that I might glorify God in my body? I ask
God to protect me from danger. Does that
permit me to ignore a red traffic light? I am
shipwrecked and about to sink. Shall I refuse
the rope that is thrown to me? I pray God to
protect me from accidents. I pray God to save
me from temptation. Shall I then walk right
into it, trusting God to save me? I fully
believe that God can save me from my own
folly if I transgress unknowingly; but I have
no right to expect Him to perform a miracle
when I insist on transgressing. God can save
me if I ignorantly transgress; but if I
deliberately drink poison, I may expect to
reap the consequences.
Watch and Pray
Therefore, we are not
only to pray, but also to watch. We are to be
on alert for danger and take no unnecessary
risk. While we are not to be suspicious of
everyone and everything, we are to have our
eyes open at all times. In the days of
Nehemiah when the walls of Jerusalem were
rebuilt and the enemies of Gods people
did all they could to hinder the work and
there was constant danger of attack, the
record reads: They which builded the
wall, and they that bare burdens, with those
that laded, everyone with one of his hands
wrought in the work, and with the other held
a weapon. Nehemiah 4:17. These men
trusted in God, but they also watched. With
all confidence they said, Our God shall
fight for us, but that did not hinder
them from having weapons ready for an
emergency.
God commands us to
watch and pray, for the two go together. From
the beginning, it was Gods plan to
place His children in a position where they
would be compelled to watch. That is why He
placed the tree of knowledge of good and evil
in the Garden of Eden. Had there been no tree
there, Adam and Eve could have roamed the
garden with never a thought of being careful
where they went. The placing of the tree and
the command not to eat of it, made it
necessary for them to be on the watch. Had
they watched and not gone near the tree,
there would have been no temptation. Failure
to watch caused the first sin.
It is well to shield
children from temptation and from the sight
of evil up to a certain age. However, it is
not well to make all decisions for them to
the point where they are not compelled to
make a decision and a choice for themselves.
The time will come when as they grow up they
will meet evil face to face. They should be
prepared for such a time and not be left to
meet temptation alone with no one to help.
Under wise guidance, controlled experiments
should be performed that would make them
acquainted with certain situations and
conditions and prepare them for tests that of
necessity will come. If they have not seen
evil, if they have never been instructed to
watch for its first innocent appearance, they
may be taken unawares and caught in a snare
that may have serious consequences.
Evil does not always
appear repulsive at first sight. What could
be more attractive than an artistically
lighted room, beautiful music, and young,
lithe bodies swaying in rhythmic motions as
they dance upon the polished floor? To the
innocent eyes, it does not appear wicked, and
they reason that it certainly can do no harm.
They do not know that there may be the
beginnings of a train of events that lead to
blasted lives, unhappiness, divorce, insane
asylums, homes for the incurables, and a
paupers grave.
The tree of knowledge
of good and evil had every appearance of
being a good tree. Eve could see nothing evil
in it, and the fruit was inviting. However,
in the eating of the fruit was wrapped up
murder in the next generation and in seven
generations the corruption of the whole
earth.
I have seen children
permitted to run wild until they feared
neither God nor man. I have seen other
children who were shielded from every
temptation, but who, as soon as they were
relieved from parental restraint, plunged
into all manner of evil, largely because they
were never permitted to face temptation under
wise guidance. The parents of today need to
be remembered in prayer; they need to pray
themselves, for facing a task that is too
great for human wisdom. Divine wisdom is
needed to discern the line of distinction
between unbridled liberty and wise restraint.
Somewhere along the line, opportunity should
be given young people for self-directed
endeavor, for a natural introduction to the
complexities of modern society, so that when
they leave school or home they will be able
to face life with some knowledge of the
problems they will meet. They should not be
asked to meet these conditions unprepared.
Parents and educators should give careful
study to their responsibilities, lest they
send into the world young people who may have
a good technical education, but who are
totally unprepared for life.
The admonition to
watch has many applications. We are to watch
our religious appearance, for there is
constant danger that we drift away from the
old moorings. We are to watch the signs of
the times, or we may find ourselves out of
step with the opening providences of God. We
are to watch our words, appearance,
associations, recreations, habits, readings,
Bible study, church attendance, financial
dealings, and our account with God. There is
no phase of life that we can safely omit.
As we watch, we will
discover dangers from within and without.
Watching reveals these dangers to us, and
prayer reveals the remedy. There are no
circumstances under which we may not breathe
a prayer; for prayer is an atmosphere rather
than an appointed time and place.
Many things are going
on in this world of which we are but dimly
aware. In the air outside my window-and
inside also there are millions and millions
of words and pictures flying around looking
for a place to land and be transformed into
audible words and visible images. They are as
yet only electrical impulses, and how they
ever become anything else, I do not know. I
see nothing as I look out; I hear nothing,
but by turning a little knob on my instrument
I can prove their existence. Suddenly the
room is filled with music, and pictures
appear. I see the President addressing a
large gathering, and I hear him speak. I see
the coronation-taking place in England, and I
hear the words of allegiance from those who
kneel before the queen. I hear the explosion
of a bomb thousands of miles away, and I hear
and see the percussion. And I wonder, is
there any good ground for not believing that
God who made all things may have a machine
better than anything man has made that will
record not only our words, but our thoughts,
our intentions, and visibly reproduce every
act of our lives? In view of what men can do,
prayer becomes a reasonable possibility, and
the advice to watch and pray is a sensible
and reasonable request.
I am moving along in
my car on an excellent highway, the weather
is perfect, and there is no other car in
sight. It is perfectly safe to exceed the
speed limit, no police are in sight, and so I
go sixty, seventy, eighty miles per hour and
all is well. However, a mile farther on I am
stopped and charged with speeding. Who saw
me? Nobody followed me. Then I am confronted
with a radar report! Moreover, there is the
picture of the car and the speed noted
electrically. Radar is no respector of
persons. Its report is correct, and I am
caught.
I need to be careful.
I may think nobody is looking and I can
safely transgress; but somebody is looking.
God has radar whose testimony I cannot deny.
So I must watch, whether I see anybody
watching me or not. I must watch for my own
sake, watch for the sake of those who trust
me. I must watch and pray.
I was discussing this
in class once, a student spoke up:
Well, if God has a radar, then I am
sunk. The class period had not been in
vain.
As Gods
watchmen, the ministry has a special
responsibility. Says God: I have set
thee a watchman unto the house of Israel;
therefore thou shalt hear the word at My
mouth, and warn them from Me. If
the watchman see the sword come, and blow not
the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if
the sword come, and take any person from
among them, he is taken away in his iniquity;
but his blood will I require at the
watchmans hand. Ezekiel 33: 6,7.
Personal Responsibility
The watchmans
responsibility does not, however, relieve an
individual from his personal responsibility.
Christ, speaking to the disciples, said:
Watch ye therefore: for ye know not
when the master of the house cometh, at even,
or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in
the morning: lest coming suddenly he find you
sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto
all, Watch. Mark 13:35-37.
While God holds the
watchman responsible, the Christian must also
watch himself. Paul said, Examine
yourselves, whether ye be in the faith, prove
your own selves. 2 Corinthians 13:5.
That means that each one must faithfully look
into his own heart and attempt to discover
whether he be in the faith. This entails more
than examining certain doctrines to see if he
is in harmony with them. It is more than
adherence to a creed. It means at first of
all that a man must face himself with the
question, Am I a Christian. Am I truly
converted? Have I turned my back on the
world? Am I a new creature in Christ Jesus?
Am I an overcomer, or am I constantly being
overcome? These are questions that count.
Moreover, high position or great learning
does not come into the reckoning. We shall
all appear before the judgment seat of
Christ.
Such an honest
self-examination will reveal weaknesses and
faults that must be remedied. However, no one
need be discouraged though he finds himself
far below the standard set by God, and even
below the standard, he has set for himself.
Hear Pauls confession: Not as
though I already attained, either were
already perfect: but I follow after, if that
I may apprehend that for which also I am
apprehended for Christ Jesus. Brethren, I
could not myself to have apprehended: but
this one thing I do, forgetting those things
which are behind, and reaching forth unto
those things which are before, I press toward
the mark for the prize of the high calling of
God in Christ Jesus. Philippians
3:12-14.
Paul was a good man,
consecrated and honest; but he confesses that
he had not already attained, that he was not
already perfect, that he had not yet
apprehended. However, this did not discourage
him. He was determined to follow
after, to reach forth unto those
things which are before, and
press toward the mark for the
prize.
Pauls
experience should be an encouragement to all
who with him have been pressing toward the
mark, but who have found that they have come
short and have not already attained or are
already perfect. The un-Biblical
holiness doctrine that is
popularly preached may have done some good,
but it has done much more harm. Were Paul now
living, the believers in holiness
would roundly rebuke him for recording his
experience as in the quoted statements above.
Such an inventory as
Paul made of himself, every Christian should
make. He will discover his shortcomings and
his sins, but he will not become discouraged.
With Paul, he will follow after,
and at last win the prize.
When we stated above
that the chief problem of being true
Christians cannot be determined by adhering
to certain doctrines, some might have gotten
the impression that we are not interested in
doctrine, and that doctrine, after all, is
not important. Let us hasten to remove such
an impression.
Paul admonished his
hearers not to do or teach anything contrary
to the doctrine which they had learned.
Romans 16:17. He had a definite form of
doctrine which he delivered to them and
which they obeyed. Romans 6:17. It appears
from this wording that Paul had arranged a
form of doctrine which he
delivered to the Church of Rome, and that
they had accepted it and obeyed from
the heart. Some apparently had deviated
from the form which Paul had
given the churches, so he sent Timothy to
stay at Ephesus and to charge some that
they teach no other doctrine. 1 Timothy
1:3. His counsel to Timothy was, Take
heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine;
continue in them: for in doing this thou
shalt both save thyself, and them that hear
thee. 1 Timothy 4:16. And in the last
letter Paul wrote to Timothy before his
death, he again referred to doctrine, saying
to Timothy, Thou has fully known my
doctrine. 2 Timothy 3:10. Having fully
indoctrinated Timothy, Paul could safely
leave him in charge, knowing that he would
see to it that they teach no other
doctrine than that which Paul taught.
In this view of doctrine John joins Paul when
he says, Whosoever transgesseth, and
abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath
not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of
Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
If there come any unto you, and bring not
this doctrine, receive him not into your
house, neither bid him Godspeed. 2 John
9,10.
In view of these
statements, how can anyone think lightly of
doctrine? When we are invited to examine
ourselves whether we are in the faith, this
faith may well include the commandments
of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Revelation 14:12.
While there must
always be liberty to differ on minor points,
there must be unanimity on the great
doctrines of the Bible held by the church.
Memory Verse:
Here is the
patience of the saints: here are they that
keep the commandments of God, and the faith
of Jesus. Revelation 14:12
Questions:
1. Have
you taken an honest self-examination to find
out if your standards are Gods
standards?
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2.
What is a true Christian? Explain.
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