Morning By Morning #87

Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.

Matthew 26:56

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

Jesus never deserted His disciples, but in their cowardly fear for their own lives they deserted Him at the very beginning of His sufferings. This is a great example of the frailty of us as believers if left to fend for ourselves, for at best we are sheep, and sheep flee when a wolf attacks. All the disciples had been warned of the coming danger, and yet each had promised to die rather than leave their Master. Still, when danger arrived, they were seized with sudden panic and took to their heels and ran.

Perhaps at the beginning of this day I have purposed in my mind to bear a trial for the sake of the Lord, and I feel certain I will exhibit perfect loyalty and faithfulness. Yet may I be careful to boast lest I have the same evil heart of unbelief and then depart from my Lord just as the apostles did. It is one thing to promise but quite an-other to actually perform. What an eternal honor it would have been for them to have stood by Jesus’ side as men! Yet they fled the honor. Lord, may I be kept from imitating them!

Where else would they have been as safe as by their Master’s side? At any moment He could have called down “more than twelve legions of angels” (Matt. 26:53). They fled from their only true safety. O God, don’t let me be such a fool as that, for Your divine grace can make even a coward brave. “A smoldering wick he will not snuff out” (Isa. 42:3), for He can cause it to burst forth in flames on the altar whenever He wills. In fact, these very apostles who were as afraid and timid as a hare later grew to be as bold as a lion after the Holy Spirit descended upon them. In the same way, the Spirit can make my cowardly and unfaithful spirit brave so that I boldly confess my Lord and bear witness to His truth.

What anguish must have filled the Savior’s soul as He watched the unfaithfulness of His friends! And this was but one bitter ingredient He saw when He looked in the cup (see Matt. 26:39), yet He drank it all. May I not put another drop in His cup. If I forsake my Lord, I crucify “the Son of God all over again and [subject] him to public disgrace” (Heb. 6:6).

Keep me, O blessed Spirit, from an end so shameful.

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

Sometimes we are tempted to be critical of certain Bible characters. We wonder how the disciples could be so shocked to learn one of them would betray Christ one minute, only to flee from and deny Him a few hours later. We see the children of Israel delivered from Egypt after witnessing miracle after miracle, such as the plagues and the parting of the Red Sea, simply to say so quickly, “If only we had died by the LORD’S hand in Egypt!” (Ex. 16:3).

Rather than being so quick myself to condemn them, perhaps I should consider how many miracles the Lord has performed in my life and how often I have denied Him either in my words or my actions. Remember, as Spurgeon alludes to today, the disciples did not yet have the benefit of the Holy Spirit, and after He was sent in Acts 2, they were amazingly bold and fearless.

Father, thank You for the filling of Your Holy Spirit. May I keep on being filled, walking boldly and faithfully in Your truth, never denying You again.