Chapter 324—Watch!
Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.
Mark 14:38
.
Many today are asleep, as were the disciples. They are not watching and
praying lest they enter into temptation.
Let every soul be on the alert. The adversary is on your track. Be vigilant,
watching diligently lest some carefully concealed and masterly snare shall
take you unawares. Let the careless and indifferent beware lest the day of
the Lord come upon them as a thief in the night....
He who overcomes must watch; for, with worldly entanglements, error,
and superstition, Satan strives to win Christ’s followers from Him. It is not
enough that we avoid glaring dangers and perilous, inconsistent moves. We
are to keep close to the side of Christ, walking in the path of self-denial and
sacrifice. We are in an enemy’s country. He who was cast out of heaven has
come down with great power. With every conceivable artifice and device he
is seeking to take souls captive. Unless we are constantly on guard we shall
fall an easy prey to his unnumbered deceptions.
Warning, admonition, promise, all are for us, upon whom the ends of the
world are come. “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch
and be sober” (
1 Thessalonians 5:6
).... Watch against the stealthy approach
of the enemy, watch against old habits and natural inclinations, lest they
assert themselves; force them back, and watch. Watch the thoughts, watch
the plans, lest they become self-centered. Watch over the souls whom Christ
has purchased with His own blood. Watch for opportunities to do them good.
If you draw close to Jesus and seek to adorn your profession by a well-
ordered life and godly conversation, your feet will be kept from straying into
forbidden paths. If you will only watch, continually watch unto prayer, if
you will do everything as if you were in the immediate presence of God,
you will be saved from yielding to temptation, and may hope to be kept
pure, spotless, and undefiled till the last. If you hold the beginning of your
confidence firm unto the end, your ways will be established in God; and what
grace has begun, glory will crown in the kingdom of our God.
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