Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” Mark 14:32.

As Christ left the disciples, bidding them pray for themselves and for Him, He selected three, Peter, James, and John, and went still farther into the seclusion of the garden. These three disciples had been with Him at His transfiguration; they had seen the heavenly visitors, Moses and Elias, talking with Jesus, and Christ desired their presence on this occasion also….

Christ expressed His desire for human sympathy and then withdrew Himself from them about a stone’s cast. Falling upon His face He prayed, saying, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”

At the end of an hour, Jesus, feeling the need of human sympathy, rose from the ground and staggered to the place where He had left His three disciples…. He longed to hear from them words that would bring Him some relief in His suffering. But He was disappointed. They did not bring to Him the help He craved. Instead, He “findeth them sleeping.”

Just before He bent His footsteps to the garden, Jesus had said to His disciples, “All ye shall be offended because of me this night”; and they had given Christ the strongest assurances that they would never forsake their Lord, that they would go to prison with Him, and if need be would suffer and die with Him. And poor, self-sufficient Peter had added, “Although all shall be offended, yet will not I.” But the disciples trusted in their own strength; they did not look to the mighty Helper, as Christ had counseled them to do…. Even the ardent Peter, who only a few hours before had declared that he would die with his Lord, was sleeping….

Again the Son of God was seized with superhuman agony, and, fainting and exhausted, He staggered back to the place of His former struggle…. Only a short time before, Christ had poured out His soul in songs of praise in unfaltering accents, as one who was conscious of His Sonship to God…. Now His voice came to them on the still evening air, not in tones of triumph but full of human anguish. So lately He had been serene in His majesty; He had been like a mighty cedar. Now He was as a broken reed….

Although sin was the awful thing that had opened the floodgates of woe upon the world, He would become the propitiation of a race that had willed to sin.—Signs of the Times, December 2, 1897.

From From the Heart

Greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. John 14:12.

Christ’s work was largely confined to Judea. But though His personal ministry did not extend to other lands, people from all nations listened to His teaching and carried the message to all parts of the world. Many heard of Jesus by hearing of the wonderful miracles that He performed. And the knowledge of His suffering and death, which were to be witnessed by the large number in attendance at the Passover, would be spread from Jerusalem to all parts of the world.

Used as Christ’s representatives, the apostles would make a decided impression on all minds. The fact that they were humble men would not diminish their influence but increase it. The minds of their hearers would be carried from them to the Majesty of heaven…. Their words of trust would assure all that it was not by their own power they worked, but that they were only continuing the same work carried forward by the Lord Jesus when He was with them. Humbling themselves, they would declare that He whom the Jews had crucified was the Prince of life, the Son of the living God, and that in His name they did the works that He had done….

The whole universe is under the control of the Prince of life…. He paid the ransom money for the whole world. All may be saved through Him. He calls upon us to obey, believe, receive, and live. He would gather together a church embracing the whole human family, if all would leave the black banner of rebellion and place themselves under His banner. Those who believe on Him, He will present to God as loyal subjects. He is our Mediator as well as our Redeemer. He will defend His chosen followers against Satan’s power and subdue all their enemies….

Christ desired His disciples to understand that He would not leave them orphans…. He was about to die, but He desired them to realize that He would live again. And although after His ascension He would be absent from them, yet by faith they might see and know Him, and He would have the same loving interest in them that He had while with them.

Christ assured His disciples that after His resurrection He would show Himself alive to them…. They would then understand that which they had not in the past understood—that there is a complete union between Christ and His Father, a union that will always exist.—The Review and Herald, October 26, 1897.

From From the Heart

There is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. 2 Timothy 4:8.

While sitting round the Communion table, Christ spoke words of intense interest to His disciples. He was soon to pass through scenes that would be to them the severest test. Not only did He see distinctly His own humiliation and suffering, but He saw also the effect that this would have upon the disciples. He would not leave them in darkness regarding His future work…. He knew that in their sorrow they would be assailed by the enemy, for Satan’s craft is most successful when carried on against those who are depressed by difficulties….

During these last sorrowful hours, Christ told His disciples that on the night of His trial, they would all be offended because of Him, and that He would be left alone. He told them that for a little while after His death they would be sorrowful, but that their sorrow would be turned into joy. He told them that the time was coming when they would be put out of the synagogues, and that those who killed them would think that they were doing God service. He stated plainly why He told them these things while He was yet with them—that when His words were fulfilled, they would remember that He had told them of them before they came to pass, and thus be strengthened to believe in Him as their Redeemer….

Christ’s statements saddened and amazed the disciples. But they were followed by the comforting assurance, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” …

Not only to the disciples, but to us, are these words of comfort spoken. In the last scenes of this earth’s history, war will rage. There will be pestilence, plague, and famine. The waters of the deep will overflow their boundaries. Property and life will be destroyed by fire and flood. We should be preparing for the mansions that Christ has gone to prepare for them that love Him. There is a rest from earth’s conflict. Where is it? “That where I am, there ye may be also.” Heaven is where Christ is. Heaven would not be heaven to those who love Christ if He were not there.—The Review and Herald, October 19, 1897.

From From the Heart

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 1 Corinthians 3:6, 7.

The work of building up the kingdom of Christ will go forward, though to all appearances it moves slowly, and means are so limited that impossibilities seem to testify against advance….

The disciples were bidden to feed the hungry multitude before eating themselves. After the wants of all had been supplied, the command was given, “Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.” Twelve baskets full were gathered up, and then Christ and His disciples ate of the precious, heaven-supplied food….

In the place of shifting your responsibility upon someone whom you think more richly endowed than you are, work according to your ability, even though you have but one talent….

Christ received from the Father; He imparted to the disciples; and they imparted to the multitude. All who are united to Christ will be doers of His word, receiving the bread of life … and imparting it to others….

Our Savior placed in the hands of His disciples the food for the people, and as they emptied their hands, they were again filled with the food, which multiplied in Christ’s hands as fast as it was called for…. This should be a great encouragement to the disciples of Christ today. Christ is the great center, the source of all strength….

A Paul may plant, and an Apollos water, but God only giveth the increase. This is so that no one may boast. The most intelligent, the most spiritually-minded, can bestow only as they receive. Of themselves they can manufacture nothing for the needs of the soul. We can impart only that which we receive from the hands of Christ, and we can receive only as we impart to others. As we continue imparting, we continue to receive, and the more we impart, the more we shall receive. Thus we may be constantly believing, trusting, receiving, and imparting….

In the hand of Christ the small supply of food remained undiminished until the famished multitude were satisfied…. If we go to the Source of all strength with our hands of faith outstretched to receive, we shall be sustained in our work, even under the most forbidding circumstances, and shall be enabled to give to others the Bread of Life.—Signs of the Times, August 19, 1897.

From From the Heart

You give them something to eat. Matthew 14:16.

The disciples thought they had withdrawn where they would not be discovered, but as soon as the multitude missed the divine Teacher, they inquired, “Where is he?” Some among them had noticed the direction in which Christ and His disciples had gone, and soon an immense crowd was looking for Christ. Fresh additions were made to this number until the congregation was composed of no less than five thousand men, besides women and children.

From the hillside Jesus looked upon the moving multitude, and His great heart of love and compassion was stirred with sympathy. Interrupted as He was and robbed of His rest, He was not impatient…. Leaving His mountain retreat, He found a convenient place where He could minister to their spiritual destitution….

The people listened to the words of mercy flowing so freely from the lips of the Son of God. They heard the gracious words, so simple and so plain that they were as the balm of Gilead to their souls. The healing of His divine hand brought gladness and life to the dying and ease and health to those suffering with disease. The day seemed to them like heaven upon earth, and they were utterly unconscious of how long it was since they had eaten anything.

“And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed: send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat. He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat.” Surprised and astonished, they say unto Him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat? He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes. And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass…. And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all. And they did all eat, and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes.”

He who taught the people the way to secure peace and happiness was just as thoughtful of their temporal necessities as of their spiritual need.—Signs of the Times, August 12, 1897.

From From the Heart