 All right, well, we're there. Matthew chapter number 46. Look down at verse number 41. We're gonna be in Matthew 26, the whole sermon tonight. So keep your place there. We'll be moving around a lot, but we will always be coming back to Matthew 26. So look down there at verse number 41. Notice we see a well-known phrase that Jesus says a lot in this chapter. Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. So like I said, this is a well-known verse. A lot of people are familiar with this phrase. Watch and pray. So we just see a random, just reading this verse alone can kind of be a little confusing, not knowing where we are. So look at verse 36. Let's kind of wanna read our little story we're in here. Verse 36 kind of gives us the context. It says, then come with Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane. So Jesus has just had the Lord's Supper. He has revealed that Judas is the one who will betray him. And he's going into the garden of Gethsemane with his disciples. And say unto the disciples, sit ye here while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. So he's going into the garden. He takes Peter, James, and John with him. And a lot of times we'll see this where Jesus just takes Peter, James, and John with him. If you remember the Mount of Transfiguration, it's the same thing. Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him. Verse 38, then sayeth he unto them, my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. Tear ye here and watch with me. And he went a little further and fell on his face and prayed, saying, oh my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he come with them to the disciples, Peter, James, and John, and findeth them asleep. And sayeth unto Peter, what could he not watch with me one hour? So here Jesus is just about to die for the sins of the whole world. He's just about to die for the sins of these three men as among the entire world. And all he asked them is he said, can you just pray with me? He said, my soul is exceeding sorrowful and to death. Can you just pray with me? Can you watch with me? And he comes back and they're asleep. Then here we have our verse tonight, watch and pray. The enter not into temptation. This spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. The title of the sermon tonight is watch and pray while you still can. Watch and pray while you still can. And I'd like to give us three lessons tonight from Matthew chapter 26 on what it means to watch and pray. When he said watch and pray, what was he talking about? What does it mean to watch and pray? When he said, watch it with me, watch with me, watch and pray, what was he telling them to do? First thing tonight is to watch and pray, we must pray the right way. We must pray the right way. I want you to notice that Jesus said, watch with me. This means that Jesus was watching himself. So what greater example of someone to learn how to watch and pray from Jesus himself, right? So I want you to notice that in this story, the main thing that we see about Jesus is how he prayed. We want you to look in verse 39. I'd like to give you real quick two ways to pray the right way. Jesus didn't just pray anyway, there was a certain way he prayed, there were certain ways he told us to pray. And when we look at verse 39, let's look at the first way to pray the right way. Verse 39, and he went a little further and fell in his face and prayed saying, oh my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as I will. The first way we can pray the right way tonight is put God's will before yours. Put God's will before yours. Turn to Matthew 6.9. Matthew 6.9. While you're turning there, I'm gonna read you a parallel passage, Luke 22.42, where it says saying, Father, if thou be willing to remove this cup from me, nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. We need to pray, when we pray, we need to make sure we put God's will before ours. Now it doesn't mean we can't ask God for what we want, we can't put our will in there, but we have to put God's will first. Because Jesus, he prayed for what he desired. He didn't want to go through what he was gonna go through and he prayed, he said, Father, if thou be willing to remove this cup from me, nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. And this is a common thing we see with Christ. It's not just in the garden of the Gethsemane, we see it. If there are Matthew 6.9, Bible says, as what Jesus said, after this manner, therefore pray. So he's teaching the disciples how to pray. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Now, I want you to notice in this prayer, when he teaches his disciples to pray, part of that prayer is asking for our daily bread, asking for what we need, but he makes sure to say, thy will be done. And because God knows what's best for us more than we know. So even from a selfish perspective, it's best to pray for God's will. If you turn to Jeremiah 29.11, if we're honest with ourselves, this is how we like to pray. My will, my will, my will, my will, my will, my will. And I want it right now, and that's what I want, but God knows more than better than we do, right? We'd be better off if we just prayed for God's will, because he knows best. For there in Jeremiah 29.11, the Bible says, for I know the thoughts that I think towards you. Say it to the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you an expected end. Look, God knows the plan for your life. He knows what's best for your life. You say, well, how do I get that expected end? How do I get that plan God has for my life? Verse 12, then shall he call upon me and he shall go and pray unto me and I will hearken unto you. Sometimes we complain, say, oh, God's not answering my prayer. God's not answering my prayer. Well, do you pray? Do you pray about it? Do you put God's will before yours? Because a lot of times we have a problem where we have something we want to be fixed and we pray to God to help us, but we just pray for what we want. We pray for what we want. Whereas in reality, God has something that's much better for our lives. Right? And the ironic thing, it's ironic because what's best for us is what God wants. Sometimes we think that we know the answer to everything and we know what is the best plan for our lives but really what God knows what the best plan for our lives is. Turn to Proverbs 3.5, Proverbs 3.5. I mean, just with me personally, some of the best prayers I've had answered are when I don't know what to do and I just ask God to take care of it. I just ask for God's will and that's how it is with all of us. Proverbs 3.5, it's a familiar verse. Proverbs 3.5 says, trust in the Lord with all of thy heart and lead not unto thine own understanding. When even when we pray, this verse right here is a great pattern. We're supposed to trust God, right? And sometimes it's hard, sometimes we want, we have a problem, right? We have a problem, we have something we're praying about and we have set in our minds the way that we think it should be answered and we have a plan and we have, oh, it's gonna be fixed this way and this way and this way and when we pray, what we're really doing is just asking God that he solves it our way, right? But this is why we need to put God's will before ours is it's a safeguard behind it that God's will, just in case the way we're praying, just in case, which is a lot, the way we think we haven't figured out, just in case that's the wrong way, God's will, if we put God's will before ours, he will take care of it. Verse six, in all the ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. Verse number seven kind of follows this up, be not wise in thine own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil. This is just a good, this verse can apply a lot to praying because when we're praying, it's all about being not wise in our own eyes, right? Putting God's will before ours. So we're talking about how to watch and pray and first I said to watch and pray we must pray the right way and we're looking at these two ways, right? To pray the right way. The first way is put God's will before ours. The second way tonight is we need to spend time in prayer. We need to spend time in prayer. Look it back at Matthew 26. Matthew 26, 39. Verse 39, Bible says, and you went a little further and fell on his face and prayed saying, oh my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou will. So he's in the garden praying. We just looked at that, how he put God's will before his. But notice verse number 40. I think this is interesting. And he come with them to the disciples and find them asleep and say it then to Peter, what could he not watch with me? Notice this, one hour. So he says to the disciples, watch with me. He goes and he prays and he comes back and he says couldn't you watch with me one hour? Jesus was praying for one hour. Have you ever spent an hour straight in prayer? Have you ever spent an hour praying to God for something? Look, there is serious power in spending, not just praying in general, but just spending time in prayer. You know, a lot of us, you know, our idea of prayer is the 10 second prayer. We rattle off as quick as we can before we eat, right? But you know what it's Jesus, he spent time in prayer. It wasn't just something he did for five minutes, he didn't do just for 10 minutes, he spent time in prayer. This morning we sang him number 301, sweet hour of prayer, right? That idea of spending an hour in prayer, this is where it came from. It came from this idea of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, spending an hour straight in prayer, right? Turn to Psalm 5516. Psalm 5516. Honestly, I think that prayer is probably the most underestimated weapon we have in the Christian life, right? One example I thought is, sometimes you'd see, if you're out in a mall somewhere, you'll see a fire extinguisher, and it's, you know, in that little glass box, right? With a little handle, it says, you know, break in case of emergency, right? That's how Christians think prayer is. They think it's just this thing, when everything has gone wrong, when everything else has failed, if you have to, break in case of emergency, right? Is that what prayer is, right? And I think God will honor our prayer more if we spend time in prayer all the time, not just when we really need it, right? Psalm 5516. As for me, I will call upon God, so we're talking about praying here. And the Lord shall save me, notice verse 17. Evening and morning and at noon, will I pray and cry aloud, and he shall hear my voice. That's a lot of time in prayer. Can you say that you've always prayed evening, and morning, and noon? I know I can't. We need to make sure that we're not just praying, and we're not just praying for God's will, but we need to be spending time in prayer, right? There's a special power in spending time in prayer. And you say, what's the result of that? Verse 18. He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, for there were many with me. You say, I'm going through a battle right now, I'm going through some hard times right now. Hey, evening and morning and noon, pray. Cry aloud. In the result, you hath delivered my soul in peace. You know, I think a lot of people, you know, you hear a lot of people say, oh, you know, they won't say it, no one will say prayer doesn't work, but people almost have this idea that prayer really doesn't work, it's just kind of something we're supposed to do. I think, I do honestly think that the reason people think that is most people don't pray. Most people don't spend time in prayer every single day. You don't have to turn there, but Psalm 109 verse four says, for my love there, my adversaries, but I give myself unto prayer. Do you give yourself unto prayer? I know I always don't, it's something I need to work on myself. It's hard, but we need to train ourselves to consistently spend time in prayer. This morning, my dad talked about consistency, right? If you want to spend time in prayer, it has to be consistent, you have to set a time, you have to set a place, or it's not going to happen, right? Same thing with Bible reading. If you don't set a time, you don't set a place, you know, you'll look back and it's been weeks since you've done it, right? We ought to give ourselves unto prayer. Here's how I look at it. I don't want to get to heaven and have Jesus show me, hey, you know that battle you went through there and that hard time you went through there and you went through this and you went through that and this was really hard. You didn't have to go through that. I would have helped you and you didn't have to go through this and I could have helped you with this and I could have given you this and I could have blessed you with this, but you just never asked for it, right? And a lot of times, we just rattle off a 10 second prayer and we're like, I asked for it. You know, I prayed. We need to spend time in prayer, right? Jesus prayed for our straight in prayer. That's no joke, right? Tonight after the sermon, we're going to sing What a Friend We Have in Jesus. I think that song kind of goes along with this idea here. I'm going to read you the lyrics to the first line. It says, What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry. Do you look at prayer like a privilege, right? And what a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer and I love this next line, this is so true. Oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear. See, why do I bear all this pain and this needless pain and why do I forfeit all this peace? All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer. There's a lot of pain that we go through. There's a lot of suffering we can go through and a lot of it we're just going to go through anyway, but I think a lot of it is, it doesn't need to be that bad, but it's because we just don't pray, right? Who knows what blessings and what needless pain you're bearing just because you don't pray or you don't spend time in prayer. You don't pray for God's will. So just to recap, you know, how do we pray the right way? I think the two things we see from this story are we need to pray for God's will. Even Jesus Christ himself, God in the flesh put God's will before his and he spent an hour straight in prayer. So first tonight, we're talking about how to watch and pray, right? First tonight, I said to watch and pray, we must pray the right way. Second tonight, to watch and pray, we must deny the flesh. We're there in Matthew 26, look down at verse 41. Matthew 26, 41, there's our verse. He says, watch and pray. The end are not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Turn to Romans 7, 17. Romans 7, 17. While you're turning there, I want to read to you Galatians 5, 16. It says, this I say then, walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh, lust against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary, the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that you would. So in Galatians, we see, just like we're gonna see here in Romans, the idea of this battle between our spirit and our flesh. You're saved, so you have the Holy Spirit inside you, but you're battling the flesh. You still have that sinful nature. When you got saved, your spirit was saved, but your flesh was not. So we still are stuck with this flesh. So we're gonna need to learn how to deal with it. You're there in Romans 7, 17. The context as we're talking about this battle between the spirit and the flesh. Verse 17 says, now then it is no more I that do it, but sin, that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not. And then verse 19, we're gonna spend a little bit in this verse here. It says, for the good that I would, I do not. So this is a verse a lot of times, you know, you read through the Bible, you know, you have your amount of chapters you're trying to get through in a day. Sometimes we contend just to zip through real fast. But I want you to just stop and think about this verse saying, for the good that I would, I do not. So he's saying, the good that I want to do, I don't do, but the evil which I would not. The evil that I don't wanna do, that I do. And this is just a great verse that talks about this battle between the flesh and the spirit. Verse 20, now if I do that what I would not is no more I that do it, but sin, that dwelleth in me. So when we're talking about the flesh and how do we deny the flesh, right? How do we deny the flesh? Jesus said that the problem with the disciples when they fell asleep was their flesh, right? They were getting into their flesh. So I wanna give us two ways the flesh will stop us from serving God, right? The two ways the flesh will keep us between us and God's will. The first thing in Romans, look at verse 19 there, it will keep us from doing what is good. For the good that I would, I do not. For the good that the good things I want to do, the good things I know I should do, I don't do. The flesh will keep you from doing that which is good. Turn to Galatians 517, Galatians 517. The Bible says in Galatians 517, for the flesh listed against the spirit, we already read this part, in the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary, the one to the other. Notice this, what's the effect of the flesh? So that you cannot do the things that you would. Sometimes we wanna serve God, we wanna do what is right. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh keeps us from doing what we should do, right? Look at, skip down to verse 23. Say what's the flesh keeping me from doing? What is the flesh stopping me from doing? The good that I would, what is that? What's it stopping me from doing? Verse 23, brought the fruit of the spirit. See the compare and contrast here, it's the flesh, the spirit, the flesh, the spirit. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such, there is no law. This is what the flesh is keeping you from doing. So here's what this means, if you're in the flesh, you won't have love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness. You see how this works? If you're in the flesh, what the flesh will do, if you let the flesh control you, it will keep you from doing what God wants you to do. It'll keep you from doing what is good. All right. When the Bible says, and you say, what's an example? Well, here's, it's real simple. When the Bible says to do something, and you don't want to, it's because you're in the flesh, right? Here's some examples I think, you know, just picture this, there's a war going on in your flesh, right? And when the Bible says to do something, right? Whatever it is, thou shalt this, do this, do this. When the Bible tells you is to save Christian to do something, and you don't, congratulations, you just got whooped by your flesh. That's how it works, right? And here's some examples I think, this applies to all of us, right? You wake up in the morning, man, I don't want to read my Bible right now. It's four in the morning. I don't want to read my Bible right now. I want to go back to bed, flesh wins. I know this is my prayer time. I know this is the only time I have to do it, but I have like a million other things to do. I'll come back to that later, flesh wins. I know the Bible says fill in the blank, but insert excuse here, flesh wins. That's how that works, right? This happens to all of us. And just back to what Jesus said. He said, your spirit is willing. The spirit wants to serve God. If you're saved, there's something inside you that wants to serve God, that wants to do what is right, that wants to do God's will. You read something in the Bible, and you want to do it, but the flesh is weak. The flesh does not want to. And we need to realize that if we're gonna serve God, we need to deny the flesh. And if we're gonna deny the flesh, we need to know what it's gonna do to us, right? We need to be able to watch for, you know, when we wake up in the morning, we don't want to read or our Bibles or pray. And we have that temptation not to. We need to realize that's the flesh, right? I'm gonna deny the flesh. We need to realize what is the flesh. But the second thing, the flesh will do to us. It will make us do what is wrong, right? That's the other part of Romans 719, right? It's sure, it's gonna keep you from doing what is good, but it's also gonna make you do that which is wrong, right? Galatians 517, if you're there, the Bible says, for the flesh, lest it be against the spirit, the spirit against the flesh. These are contrary ones to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you would. But I want you to notice now, it says, but if you let the spirit, you're not under the law. Now, the works of the flesh. There's that compare and contrast again. You've got the spirit and you've got the flesh, right? Now, the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envies, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like. That's a lot more than the fruits of the spirit, right? Which makes sense, right? Because the theme is always it's harder to do that, which is good, right? But I want you to notice that there's not just works of the spirit that the flesh will keep you from doing. There's also works of the flesh that you will do if you're in the flesh, right? Every, it says there, although which I tell you before is I've also told you in time past that they would do such things, shall not inherit the kingdom of God. So not only will being in the flesh keep you from doing what is good, but it'll make you do what is wrong. You don't turn there, but Romans 8-7 says, because the carnal mind, right? It's talking about the flesh. The carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Saying the flesh, if you have the carnal mind, you can't even serve God, it's impossible. You have to deny the flesh. Verse 8, so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. You are in the flesh, you can't please God. So we need to learn how to deny it. Turn to 2 Peter 2.9. 2 Peter 2.9. 2 Peter 2 is that well-known chapter, it's a parallel of Jude talking about reprobates, right? And there's a lesson here from reprobates, I wanna give you to kinda teach us this idea, right? How the flesh is gonna make us sin, the flesh is gonna make us do that which is wrong. I wanna teach you something or show you something from 2 Peter 2, that'll illustrate that. Verse 9, 2 Peter 2.9, the Bible says, the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust into the day of judgment to be punished. So just keep in mind as we're going in to this, we're not talking about the unsaved, we're not talking about saved people, we're talking about reprobates. But chiefly, them that walk after the flesh. Well, you notice that when we're talking about reprobates, what's the main thing that says they do? They walk after the flesh, right? In the lust of uncleanness and despised government, presumptuous are they self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil dignities, whereas angels which are greater in power might bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. But these is natural brute beasts making to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not and shall utterly perish in their own corruption. So just a quick thought on reprobates. So have you ever wondered what makes a reprobate so evil? Say, well, they have no conscience. Right, but have you ever thought why being without a conscience, why does that make you so evil? Well, here's the thing, so you're saved tonight, right? You're saved, you have the flesh in you, you have a conscience that you've always had, and you have the Holy Spirit, right? Someone out there who's not saved, they have the flesh, but they have their conscience. So they still have something, right? They don't have the Holy Spirit, because they're not saved, but they at least have something standing between stopping the flesh from taking complete control over them, right? A reprobate. Do they have the Holy Spirit? No. Do they have the conscience? So what are we left with? The flesh. A reprobate is 100% flesh. That's why they're so evil. There's no conscience, there is no Holy Spirit, there is nothing keeping their flesh, their flesh has free, free, free run. The flesh can do whatever it wants, and that's why it says they walk in the flesh. So you say, well, I'm saved, I'm never gonna be a reprobate, so how in the world does this apply to me? Well, we look at the, what's the effect when we have something that is 100% flesh, what's the effect? Verse 14, having eyes full of adultery that cannot cease from sin. Beguiling, unstable souls and heart, they have exercised with covetous practices, cursed children. The effect of being 100% flesh is that you cannot cease from sin. That's, they're in sin. So you say, how can I apply this to me? Well, that means, not obviously you're saved, so you're not 100% flesh, but you have the flesh to a degree in what the effect of the flesh is, is it will make you sin, right? So we need to watch for that. We need to, we're saved, we have a Holy Spirit, but it means that the effect of the flesh is sin. So we need to watch out for that, right? This is why, remember we read that verse, says they that are in the flesh cannot please God. That's why, because it's gonna keep you from doing what is good, it's gonna keep you from serving God, it's gonna keep you from doing the fruits of the Spirit, but not only that, but it will lead you into sin, right? It will make you do the works of the flesh, right? So we need to understand this if we're gonna die of the flesh. So first tonight, I said to watch and pray, we must pray the right way, right? We looked at, okay, that involves praying for God's will, putting God's will before ours, that involves spending time in prayer, right? Not just praying, but spending time in prayer. And second, we said to watch and pray, we must deny the flesh, right? And we looked at the two effects that the flesh has on us, it's gonna make us do that which is wrong, and it's going to keep us from doing good. Third tonight, to watch and pray, we must always be ready. For there, Matthew 26, look at verse 47, Matthew 26, 47, verse 47, says, and while he yet spake, lo, Judas, remember that guy, one of the 12 came and with him a great multitude with swords and staves from the chief priests and elders of the people. Skip down to verse 46 for a second time. But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled, notice the last part of this verse, it's really a sad part of the verse. Then all the disciples foresook him and fled. And so we see here, Jesus, he tells them to watch and pray, they keep falling asleep, they keep falling asleep. And finally it's too late, right? They come with the multitude comes with swords and it says all the disciples foresook him and fled. You know, you read this and what I always thought was like, man, that was quick. You know, it's like, they're gone, right? Multitude comes, they're gone, right? Not even a second thought. Now I want you to notice, turn to Luke 22, 31. Luke 22, 31. I want you to notice that the disciples said otherwise. If you don't have to turn there, you're turning to Luke 22. But earlier in our chapter, if you'll remember when Brother Phil read, it mentioned that Peter said that he wouldn't betray him, right? And it says likewise also said all the disciples. So all the disciples had said that they weren't gonna betray Jesus. And I don't think they were just saying this, I think they genuinely thought that they were ready or they weren't gonna do this. They weren't gonna betray him. You're there in Luke 22, 31. The Bible says, and the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you. That he may say, if you is weak. Look, tonight we're in a Bible believing church that has the right gospel. Not only does it have the right gospel, but it's doing something about it. It's preaching the gospel. It's fulfilling all three parts of the Great Commission. Satan wants all of you tonight. He wants me, he wants you. Just like the Lord said to Peter, he said, Satan hath desired to have you. Satan wants you and he wants you bad. Verse 32, but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fill not, and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. Look at verse 33, and he said, this is Peter. And he said to him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison and to death. And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cocks shall not curl this day before thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me. So in verse 33, Peter claimed to be ready. This is what he said earlier in Matthew 26. He said, I'm ready. I'm ready to go to prison. I'm ready to die for the cause of Christ. He said he was ready, and like I said, I don't think they were just saying this because it says all the disciples said likewise. I think they actually convinced themselves that they were ready to go through whatever was coming. But turns out he wasn't, right? You know the rest of the story, all the disciples forsook him and fled. But even later in the story, he denies three times that he knew Christ, right? He thought he was ready, but he wasn't. Are we? We need to ask ourselves, am I ready for whatever happens? And he said, well, why would you go to this verse? Because there's other places in the Bible where men of God say that they were ready to go through persecution, and they were, and they did, and they faithfully served God. He said, well, why would you go to a story about someone who said they were, but they weren't ready, who ended up betraying Christ in the end? That's not very inspirational, right? Why would you go there? Well, here's why, because what it shows us is that just saying you're ready to suffer, and just saying that you're gonna stick with it, doesn't mean you actually will, right? If you're, you don't have to turn there. But Acts 21.1 says, then Paul answered. So now we're talking about Paul. What meaning to weep and break my heart? For I am ready, same phrase, not to be bound only, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. Paul said he was ready, with the difference being that he actually was. If you actually read the rest of the book of Acts, he goes and he was beaten by the Jews more, and he knows the story. He ends up in Rome. He actually was ready to be bound. He actually was ready to die. I personally believe he did end up dying for the name of Christ. That's not in the Bible, we don't know that for sure. But even from what the Bible tells us, he was ready to suffer persecution, right? Peter said he was, but he wasn't, right? And obviously Peter ended up doing great things, greater things for God than any of us probably will, right? But at this time, he thought he was, but he wasn't, right? If you're there in, you don't have to turn there, but did I tell you to turn to Matthew 13? Turn to Matthew 13. Matthew 13.20. Matthew 13.20. We're talking about the parable of the sower. So Jesus just told the parable of the sower, and now he's explaining it to his disciples. A lot of times, he would tell a parable, and then his disciples would come to him after, because there were certain people he did not want to hear, he didn't want them to understand. So his disciples would come to him after, and they'd ask him to explain the parable. This is what Jesus is doing now. He's explaining the parable of the sower. Verse 20. But he then received the word and said, Verse 20. But he then received the word in stony places, the same as he then heareth the word, and anon with joy received it. So he's saying, this person that he's talking about is a say believer, they've received the word, yet hath he not, yet hath he not root in himself, but endureth for, notice this, a while, for when tribulation or persecution, so we're not just talking about persecution here. The definition of tribulation is a cause of great suffering or trouble. So it's not just persecution, anything that is hard for you or suffering or persecution is one of them. But he says, tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that received among the thorns, to see that here at the word, a saved person, and the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choked the word, and he becomeeth unfruitful. So he says, tribulation or persecution. So he's not just talking about being, that's what we think of initially, right? That's what it was in Peter's case, right? It was persecution. But just in general, when the Christian life gets hard, are you gonna stick with it? Because it's gonna get hard eventually, right? One way or another, it's gonna get hard, right? So are you gonna stick with it when it does, right? Peter thought he would, he didn't, right? So we need to really just count the costs in our own minds and look at it, and think about that. Just look, Satan wants nothing more than to choke you out spiritually, right? That's why I said in the parable how the word's choked, right? Satan wants to choke you out because here's the thing, you're saved, right? You're never gonna lose your salvation. Satan knows that, but do you know what he can do is he can stop you from getting other people saved? He can think about it, he can literally, you are saved and he cannot do anything to change that, but Satan can literally send hundreds of people to hell just by choking you out spiritually and making you, stopping you from being fruitful spiritually. He can't take your salvation, but he will stop you from serving God, right? And as far as the persecution in particular, you know, even if it's something as silly as people being offended by our standards, we're not in the Great Tribulation right now, right? But there's just little things, right? Like maybe at work, right? At work, I'm sure many of you know this, but you go to work and it doesn't take very long for people to notice that you don't swear and you don't listen to their music and you live totally different from the way they live. And if you're anything like me, people start asking you questions, right? People start asking, like people will ask, what kind of music do you listen to? What kind of music do you listen to? Hymns, this is the conversation I've had with numerous people. Hymns, what's a Hymns? Hymns, you know? You ever been to church? Hymns, you know? And then like they still don't know, but they just like, it's awkward. So they just, oh, okay. You know, they still don't know what a Hymns is, but they just, oh, okay, all right, you know? No, look, Stan, do you believe, just let's just take the music as an example. Do you believe that the hymns that we sing in this hymn book, do you believe that this is the music we should be listening to? Do you? So when people ask you, what do you listen to? Do you believe it? Then tell them. Stand up, because look, the world is open with what they believe. The world will openly, and they don't even, they're not even ashamed of it. It's not, you know, they don't even know that you would be offended by it. They're openly talking about the lifestyle they're living. You know, they're openly talking about the things they're gonna do that weekend. They're openly talking about the sin that they're gonna live in. And then, what kind of music do you listen to? You see how this works? Look, you don't need to be a jerk about it, because I think a lot of people just like go and they just force everything they believe on people they work with. You don't need to be a jerk about it, but stand up for what you believe. Do you believe what's in here or not? There was a guy I worked with in Sacramento, and he was an atheist, and he asked me, he said, well, you know, what about all these people from all these other religions, you know, like Buddhists and Muslims who are good people? You know, you think that they're gonna go to hell? You know? Well, you know, God loves them and he died for them too, and he wants them to be saved, but yeah, if they don't believe in Jesus, they will go to hell. That's what the Bible teaches. I am the way of the truth of the life, no man coming into the Father but by me, right? Like I said, you know, you don't need to take it to an extreme for your jerk about it. Here's my rule at work, like just with me personally, I don't tell people what I believe, I don't tell people where I go to church, but when people ask me, which they do, I'll tell them right away. I'm not ashamed of what I believe, or you are ashamed of what you believe. You know, we come to church and we're not ashamed of what we believe, we're on this soul winning hype, and we're on, you know, or this hype for the word of God, and then Monday morning, and you know, just like the zeal's like zzz, you know? Thursday night zzz, right? Friday zzz, you know? So many outside days zzz, you know, we're all proud about what we believe, and we go into the world and it's, you know, we don't want to talk about it, right? And you know, you don't have to turn there, many of you know it's like in Timothy 3, 12, says, yay, in all that live, we'll live Godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution. You're gonna suffer persecution, people are gonna think it's weird on, you know, what you believe, and somehow they're gonna be offended just by what you believe, right? And like I said, don't be a jerk about it, but you need to stay on your ground, right? How are you gonna go through the Great Tribulation? How are you going, how can you say, because I'm sure if we asked everybody tonight, hey, are you ready for suffering for Christ? Are you willing to die for Christ, go to prison for Christ? I'm sure we'd all say the same thing Peter did and Paul did, I'm ready, right? But, you know, how can you expect to be ready for dying for Christ if you like, you know, you stick your head in the sand when people ask you the kind of music you listen to? Yeah, I'm ready. Right? Think about that, right? It's just a thing we like to say sometimes, like, oh, I'm ready, I'm ready for the Great Tribulation, and you know what, we should be, but you know, if you're ashamed in the small things, how are you gonna be ready to suffer for Christ in the Great Tribulation, or to die for Christ, right? If you needed to. We're gonna go through persecution and tribulation eventually, might as well get ready for it, right? So, we talked about, we're talking about how to watch and pray tonight, right? We talked about to watch and pray when we pray the right way, we talked about how do we pray the right way? We pray, we put God's will before ours, and we spend time in prayer. Then we talked about to watch and pray, we must deny the flesh. We looked at the two main things that the flesh will do to you. It will stop you from doing what is good. God wants you to do this, God wants you to do that, the flesh is gonna stand in your way. Second thing, the flesh is gonna do it, it's gonna make you sin, it's gonna lead you into life of sin, obviously by doing that, stop you from serving God. But right before we end the sermon tonight, I wanna ask everyone a question tonight. Why watch and pray? Why watch and pray? What's the big deal? Look at Matthew 26 verse 42, Matthew 26, 42. We're all done, I just kinda wanna leave you with just kind of the main idea of the sermon tonight. Matthew 26, 42. He went away again the second time. And prayed saying, oh my father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thou will be done. And he came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy, and he left them and went away again. Isn't that sad? It doesn't even wake him up, doesn't even wake him up. Just goes and prays again alone. And he left them and went away again and prayed the third time, saying the same words. And then come with he to his disciples. So this is the third time he's coming back, he's told them numerous times to watch and pray, numerous times he's begged them to watch with me, watch with me, watch and pray. And saith unto them, oh does the change what he says this time, sleep on now and take your rest. Sleep on now. He's trying to get him to wake up for the past three hours, he's been trying to get him to wake up and pray, and now he tells him the exact opposite. He just tells him to keep sleeping. Take your rest, what? I thought we were supposed to be watching and praying. Take your rest. Behold the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Wise, let us be going, behold he is a hand that doth betray me. And while he yet spake, low Judas, one of the 12 came, and with him a great multitude of swords and staves from the chief priests and elders of the people. Boy, you didn't notice that Christ starts out by telling them over and over, watch with me, watch with me, watch and pray, watch and pray. But the third time, eventually, he just says the opposite. Say why? Well, let me explain a certain theme we see throughout his ministry, okay? There's a theme in the Bible that Jesus' time was not yet come. John 2.4 says, my hour is not yet come. John 7.8 says, my time is not yet full come. John 8.20 says, his hour was not yet come. That's just to name a few. His time to die, when he was in the garden, when he was telling them to watch and pray, his time to die, it was getting close, but it was not yet. His time was not yet come. So he was telling them, so his time to die was not yet come, but the disciples' time to watch and pray was then. That was their time. That was the time they had to watch and to pray. It was now. And I'm sure the disciples eventually heavily regretted not watching and praying, right? Because they didn't always have the chance to watch and pray, right? He says watch and pray, watch and pray, watch and pray, but then it's too late. He's taken by the multitude. And I'm sure Peter, if you remember the chapter, he goes and he ends up denying Christ. And it says he went out, in verse 75, he went out and wept bitterly, right? I'm sure Peter, as he was walking out, weeping bitterly, I'm sure he would have given anything to be back in the garden and prayed with Christ and had one more chance of doing it right this time. I'm sure he would have given anything just to be back and to pray with Christ for those three hours, right? I'm sure he would have just given anything just to have one more chance of doing what Christ begged of him. I'm sure John, when he was standing at the cross, watching Jesus be crucified in front of his face, I'm sure he would have given anything to be back in the garden, pray with Christ, listen to what, when he said watch and pray, have one more chance at watching and praying, right? Look, do you realize that one day it would be too late for you to watch and pray? Do you realize that one day you're saved, so you're gonna stand before Christ and you're gonna see the people he could have gotten saved, most people in here are soul winners tonight, but maybe you'll see the battles you could have won, the exploits you could have done for Christ, the great things you could have done if you would have watched and prayed and some are gonna be to the point where they give anything to have one more chance to watch and pray. Christ, see look, now is your time at the Garden of Gethsemane where Christ is begging you to watch and pray. And a lot of people, they're gonna die and get to heaven and they're going to, they're gonna be to the point where they give anything to be back on this earth so they could do it one more time and just do it right this time and watch and pray. They're gonna, to many people who will wish they would have prayed the right way, denied the flesh and made sure they were ready to suffer whatever happened. And they're gonna wish, they're gonna, they give anything to be back and do it again. For Christ is gonna look at them and say, take your rest. It's too late. You're in heaven, might as well enjoy it now. Right? And we're gonna have, there's gonna be a lot of people who have a lot of regret. Because when they had this time on this earth to watch and pray, when Christ is begging you, watch and pray, watch and pray, watch and pray. I know the flesh is weak but the spirit is willing. Watch and pray, watch and pray. A lot of people are just, they don't see, just like the disciples. They just know how it's just another thing he said, just another thing he said, they're gonna die, they're gonna, figuratively speaking, they'll be standing at the cross watching Jesus be crucified and you know, I wish I would have watched and prayed. I wish I would have let the savior who is being crucified me right now pray by himself for hours. I wish I would have done something about that. And we're gonna wish we would have watched and prayed. We're gonna hear those words, watch and pray, watch and pray, watch and pray, but it's gonna be too late. Because look, your time, you know, if you, if there's only one thing you get from the sermon tonight, if you're out of everything, I just said you only remember one thing tonight. Here's the idea I wanna get across. Your time to watch and pray is right now. It's now. And if you wait, and you wait, and you wait, one day it's gonna be too late. You're gonna wish you would have. It's gonna be too late. So tonight we just need to realize that, you know, these things we talked about, right? Praying the right way, denying the flesh, being ready for persecution. We're not always gonna have the time to do that. One day we're gonna be in heaven and we're gonna think a lot of people are gonna have a lot of regret seeing what they could have done with Christ. And we're gonna wish we would have watched and prayed. So let's just remember tonight that now, right now is our time that God has appointed for us to watch and to pray, right? Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Dear Lord, thank you for this chapter in Matthew 26. Thank you for the story, God. I pray you would help us to watch and pray, God. Not only watch and pray and do all the things we mentioned, but help us just to realize that one day it's gonna be too late. One day we're gonna feel pretty stupid and feel pretty foolish, maybe seeing the things that we could have done for Christ, but it's gonna be too late. And help us just to realize and just remind ourselves that I better watch and pray right now because one day I'm not gonna be able to. Thank you for this church, God. Think of these people. I pray you would bless the rest of the service, God. Bless this hymn. We're about to sing, God, about praying, God and not taking prayer for granted. And I pray you would just bless the rest of the fellowship tonight, God. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.