"Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead,
and Christ shall give thee light."
Eph. 5:14.
In discoursing on these words, I shall, with the help of God, --
First. Describe the sleepers, to whom they are spoken:
Secondly. Enforce the exhortation, "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise
from the dead:" And,
Thirdly. Explain the promise made to such as do awake and arise: "Christ
shall give thee light."
I. 1. And first, as to the sleepers here spoken to. By sleep is signified
the natural state of man; that deep sleep of the soul, into which the sin
of Adam hath cast all who spring from his loins: That supineness, indolence,
and stupidity, that insensibility of his real condition, wherein every
man comes Into the world, and continues till the voice of God awakes him.
2. Now, "they that sleep, sleep in the night." The state of nature is
a state of utter darkness; a state wherein "darkness covers the earth,
and gross darkness the people." The poor unawakened sinner, how much knowledge
soever he may have as to other things, has no knowledge of himself: in
this respect "he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know." he knows not
that he is a fallen spirit, whose only business in the present world, is
to recover from his fall, to regain that image of God wherein he was created.
he sees no necessity for the one thing needful, even that inward universal
change, that "birth from above," figured out by baptism, which is the beginning
of that total renovation. that sanctification of spirit, soul, and body,
"without which no man shall see the Lord."
3. Full of all diseases as he is, he fancies himself in perfect health.
Fast bound in misery and iron, he dreams that he is at liberty. he says,
"Peace! Peace!" while the devil, as "a strong, man armed," is in full possession
of his soul. he sleeps on still and takes his rest, though hell is moved
from beneath to meet him; though the pit from whence there is no return
hath opened its mouth to swallow him up. A fire is kindled around him,
yet he knoweth it not; yea, it burns him, yet he lays it not to heart.
4. By one who sleeps, we are, therefore, to understand (and would to
God we might all understand it!) a sinner satisfied in his sins; contented
to remain in his fallen state, to live and die without the image of God;
one who is ignorant both of his disease, and of the only remedy for it;
one who never was warned, or never regarded the warning voice of God, "to
flee from the wrath to come;" one that never yet saw he was in danger of
hell-fire, or cried out in the earnestness of his soul, "What must I do
to be saved?"
5. If this sleeper be not outwardly vicious, his sleep is usually the
deepest of all: whether he be of the Laodicean spirit, "neither cold nor
hot," but a quiet, rational, inoffensive, good-natured professor of the
religion of his fathers; or whether he be zealous and orthodox, and, "after
the most straitest sect of our religion," live "a Pharisee;" that is, according
to the scriptural account, one that justifies himself; one that labours
to establish his own righteousness, as the ground of his acceptance with
God.
6. This is he, who, "having a form of godliness, denies the power thereof;"
yea, and probably reviles it, wheresoever it is found, as mere extravagance
and delusion. Meanwhile, the wretched self-deceiver thanks God, that he
is "not as other men are; adulterers, unjust, extortioners": no, he doeth
no wrong to any man. he "fasts twice in a week," uses all the means of
grace, is constant at church and sacrament, yea, and "gives tithes of all
that he has;" does all the good that he can "touching the righteousness
of the law," he is "blameless": he wants nothing of godliness, but the
power; nothing of religion, but the spirit; nothing of Christianity, but
the truth and the life.
7. But know ye not, that, however highly esteemed among men such a Christian
as this may be, he is an abomination in the sight of God, and an heir of
every woe which the Son of God, yesterday, to-day, and for ever, denounces
against "scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites"? he hath "made clean the outside
of the cup and the platter," but within is full of all filthiness. "An
evil disease cleaveth still unto him, so that his inward parts are very
wickedness." Our Lord fitly compares him to a "painted sepulchre," which
"appears beautiful without;" but, nevertheless, is "full of dead men's
bones, and of all uncleanness." The bones indeed are no longer dry; the
sinews and flesh are come upon them, and the skin covers them above: but
there is no breath in them, no Spirit of the living God. And, "if any man
have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." "Ye are Christ's, if
so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you": but, if not, God knoweth that
ye abide in death, even until now.
8. This is another character of the sleeper here spoken to. he abides
in death, though he knows it not. he is dead unto God, "dead in trespasses
and sins." For, "to be carnally minded is death " Even as it is written,
"By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death
passed upon all men;" not only temporal death, but likewise spiritual and
eternal. "In that day that thou eatest," said God to Adam, "thou shalt
surely die;" not bodily (unless as he then became mortal), but spiritually:
thou shalt lose the life of thy soul; thou shalt die to God: shalt be separated
from him, thy essential life and happiness.
9. Thus first was dissolved the vital union of our soul with God; insomuch
that "in the midst of" natural "life, we are" now in spiritual "death."
And herein we remain till the Second Adam becomes a quickening Spirit to
us; till he raises the dead, the dead in sin, in pleasure, riches or honours.
But, before any dead soul can live, he "hears" (hearkens to) "the voice
of the Son of God": he is made sensible of his lost estate, and receives
the sentence of death in himself. he knows himself to be "dead while he
liveth;" dead to God, and all the things of God; having no more power to
perform the actions of a living Christian, than a dead body to perform
the functions of a living man.
10. And most certain it is, that one dead in sin has not "senses exercised
to discern spiritual good and evil." "Having eyes, he sees not; he hath
ears, and hears not." he doth not "taste and see that the Lord is gracious."
he "hath not seen God at any time," nor "heard his voice," nor "handled
the word of life." In vain is the name of Jesus "like ointment poured forth,
and all his garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia." The soul that
sleepeth in death hath no perception of any objects of this kind. his heart
is "past feeling," and understandeth none of these things.
11. And hence, having no spiritual senses, no inlets of spiritual knowledge,
the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; nay, he
is so far from receiving them, that whatsoever is spiritually discerned
is mere foolishness unto him. he is not content with being utterly ignorant
of spiritual things, but he denies the very existence of them. And spiritual
sensation itself is to him the foolishness of folly. "How," saith he, "can
these things be? How can any man know that he is alive to God?" Even as
you know that your body is now alive. Faith is the life of the soul; and
if ye have this life abiding in you, ye want no marks to evidence it to
yourself, but _elegchos pneumatos_, that divine consciousness, that witness
of God, which is more and greater than ten thousand human witnesses.
12. If he doth not now bear witness with thy spirit, that thou art a
child of God, O that he might convince thee, thou poor unawakened sinner,
by his demonstration and power, that thou art a child of the devil! O that,
as I prophesy, there might now be "a noise and a shaking;" and may "the
bones come together, bone to his bone!" Then "come from the four winds,
O Breath! and breathe on these slain, that they may live!" And do not ye
harden your hearts, and resist the Holy Ghost, who even now is come to
convince you of sin, "because you believe not on the name of the only begotten
Son of God."
II. 1. Wherefore, "awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead."
God calleth thee now by my mouth; and bids thee know thyself, thou fallen
spirit, thy true state and only concern below. "What meanest thou, O sleeper?
Arise! Call upon thy God, if so be thy God will think upon thee, that thou
perish not." A mighty tempest is stirred up round about thee, and thou
art sinking into the depths of perdition, the gulf of God's judgements.
If thou wouldest escape them, cast thyself into them. "Judge thyself, and
thou shalt not be judged of the Lord."
2. Awake, awake! Stand up this moment, lest thou "drink at the Lord's
hand the cup of his fury." Stir up thyself to lay hold on the Lord, the
Lord thy Righteousness, mighty to save! "Shake thyself from the dust."
At least, let the earthquake of God's threatenings shake thee. Awake, and
cry out with the trembling jailer, "What must I do to be saved?" And never
rest till thou believest on the Lord Jesus, with a faith which is his gift,
by the operation of his Spirit.
3. If I speak to any one of you, more than to another, it is to thee,
who thinkest thyself unconcerned in this exhortation. "I have a message
from God unto thee." In his name, I warn thee "to flee from the wrath to
come." Thou unholy soul, see thy picture in condemned Peter, lying in the
dark dungeon, between the soldiers, bound with two chains, the keepers
before the door keeping the prison. The night is far spent, the morning
is at hand, when thou art to be brought forth to execution. And in these
dreadful circumstances, thou art fast asleep; thou art fast asleep in the
devil's arms, on the brink of the pit, in the jaws of everlasting destruction!
4. O may the Angel of the Lord come upon thee, and the light shine into
thy prison! And mayest thou feel the stroke of an Almighty Hand, raising
thee, with, "Arise up quickly, gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals, cast
thy garment about thee, and follow Me."
5. Awake, thou everlasting spirit, out of thy dream of worldly happiness!
Did not God create thee for himself? Then thou canst not rest till thou
restest in him. Return, thou wanderer! Fly back to thy ark, This is not
thy home. Think not of building tabernacles here. Thou art but a stranger,
a sojourner upon earth; a creature of a day, but just launching out into
an unchangeable state. Make haste. Eternity is at hand. Eternity depends
on this moment. An eternity of happiness, or an eternity of misery!
6. In what state is thy soul? Was God, while I am yet speaking, to require
it of thee, art thou ready to meet death and judgement? Canst thou stand
in his sight, who is of "purer eyes than to behold iniquity"? Art thou
"meet to be partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light"? Hast thou
"fought a good fight, and kept the faith"? Hast thou secured the one thing
needful? Hast thou recovered the image of God, even righteousness and true
holiness? Hast thou put off the old man, and put on the new? Art thou clothed
upon with Christ?
7. Hast thou oil in thy lamp? grace in thy heart? Dost thou "love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind and with all thy
soul, and with all thy strength"? Is that mind in thee, which was also
in Christ Jesus? Art thou a Christian indeed, that is, a new creature?
Are old things passed away, and all things become new?
8. Art thou a "partaker of the divine nature"? Knowest thou not, that
"Christ is in thee, except thou be reprobate"? Knowest thou, that God "dwelleth
in thee, and thou in God, by his Spirit, which he hath given thee"? Knowest
thou not that "thy body is a temple of the Holy Ghost, which thou hast
of God"? Hast thou the witness in thyself? the earnest of thine inheritance?
Hast thou "received the Holy Ghost"? Or dost thou start at the question,
not knowing "whether there be any Holy Ghost"?
9. If it offends thee, be thou assured, that thou neither art a Christian,
nor desirest to be one. Nay, thy very prayer is turned into sin; and thou
hast solemnly mocked God this very day, by praying for the inspiration
of his Holy Spirit, when thou didst not believe there was any such thing
to be received.
10. Yet, on the authority of God's Word, and our own Church, I must
repeat the question, "Hast thou received the Holy Ghost?" If thou hast
not, thou art not yet a Christian. For a Christian is a man that is "anointed
with the Holy Ghost and with power." Thou art not yet made a partaker of
pure religion and undefiled. Dost thou know what religion is? --that it
is a participation of the divine nature; the life of God in the soul of
man; Christ formed in the heart; "Christ in thee, the hope of glory;" happiness
and holiness; heaven begun upon earth; "a kingdom of God within thee; not
meat and drink," no outward thing; "but righteousness, and peace, and joy
in the Holy Ghost;" an everlasting kingdom brought into thy soul; a "peace
of God that passeth all understanding;" a "joy unspeakable, and full of
glory"?
11. Knowest thou, that "in Jesus Christ, neither circumcision availeth
anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith that worketh by love;" but a new
creation? Seest thou the necessity of that inward change, that spiritual
birth, that life from the dead, that holiness? And art thou throughly convinced,
that without it no man shall see the Lord? Art thou labouring after it?
--"giving all diligence to make thy calling and election sure," "working
out thy salvation with fear and trembling," "agonizing to enter in at the
strait gate"? Art thou in earnest about thy soul? And canst thou tell the
Searcher of hearts, "Thou, O God, art the thing that I long for! Lord,
Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I would love Thee!"
12. Thou hopest to be saved; but what reason hast thou to give of the
hope that is in thee? Is it because thou hast done no harm? or, because
thou hast done much good? or, because thou art not like other men; but
wise, or learned, or honest, and morally good; esteemed of men, and of
a fair reputation? Alas! all this will never bring thee to God. It is in
his account lighter than vanity. Dost thou know Jesus Christ, whom he hath
sent? Hath he taught thee, that "by grace we are saved through faith; and
that not of ourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man
should boast"? Hast thou received the faithful saying as the whole foundation
of thy hope, "that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners"? Hast
thou learned what that meaneth, "I came not to call the righteous, but
sinners to repentance? I am not sent, but unto the lost sheep"? Art thou
(he that heareth, let him understand!) lost, dead, damned already? Dost
thou know thy deserts? Dost thou feel thy wants? Art thou "poor in spirit"?
mourning for God, and refusing to be comforted? Is the prodigal "come to
himself," and well content to be therefore thought beside himself" by those
who are still feeding upon the husks which he hath left? Art thou willing
to live godly in Christ Jesus? And dost thou therefore suffer persecution?
Do men say all manner of evil against thee falsely, for the Son of Man's
sake?
13. O that in all these questions ye may hear the voice that wakes the
dead; and feel that hammer of the Word, which breaketh the rocks in pieces!
"If ye will hear his voice to-day, while it is called to-day, harden not
your hearts." Now, "awake, thou that sleepest" in spiritual death, that
thou sleep not in death eternal! Feel thy lost estate, and "arise from
the dead." Leave thine old companions in sin and death. Follow thou Jesus,
and let the dead bury their dead. "Save thyself from this untoward generation."
"Come out from among them, and be thou separate, and touch not the unclean
thing, and the Lord shall receive thee." "Christ shall give thee light."
III. 1. This promise, I come, lastly, to explain. And how encouraging
a consideration is this, that whosoever thou art, who obeyest his call,
thou canst not seek his face in vain! If thou even now "awakest, and arisest
from the dead," he hath bound himself to "give thee light." "The Lord shall
give thee grace and glory;" the light of his grace here, and the light
of his glory when thou receivest the crown that fadeth not away. "Thy light
shall break forth as the morning, and thy darkness be as the noon-day."
"God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, shall shine in
thy heart; to give the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ." On them that fear the Lord shall "the Sun of Righteousness arise
with healing in his wings." And in that day it shall be said unto thee,
"Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen
upon thee." For Christ shall reveal himself in thee: and he is the true
Light.
2. God is light, and will give himself to every awakened sinner that
waiteth for him; and thou shalt then be a temple of the living God, and
Christ shall "dwell in thy heart by faith;" and, "being rooted and grounded
in love, thou shalt be able to comprehend with all saints, what is the
breadth, and length, and depth, and height of that love of Christ which
passeth knowledge."
3. Ye see your calling, brethren. We are called to be "an habitation
of God through his Spirit;" and, through his Spirit dwelling in us, to
be saints here, and partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.
So exceeding great are the promises which are given unto us, actually given
unto us who believe! For by faith "we receive, not the spirit of the world,
but the Spirit which is of God" --the sum of all the promises-- "that we
may know the things that are freely given to us of God."
4. The Spirit of Christ is that great gift of God, which at sundry times,
and in divers manners, he hath promised to man, and hath fully bestowed
since the time that Christ was glorified. Those promises, before made to
the fathers, he hath thus fulfilled: "I will put My spirit within you,
and cause you to walk in My statutes" (Ezek. 36:27). "I will pour water
upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground; I will pour My
Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring (Isa. 44:3).
5. Ye may all be living witnesses of these things; of remission of sins,
and the gift of the Holy Ghost. "If thou canst believe, all things are
possible to him that believeth." "Who among you is there that feareth the
Lord, and" yet walketh on "in darkness, and hath no light?" I ask thee,
in the name of Jesus, Believest thou that his arm is not shortened at all?
that he is still mighty to save? that he is the same yesterday, to-day,
and for ever? that he hath now power on earth to forgive sins? "Son, be
of good cheer; thy sins are forgiven." God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven
thee. Receive this, "not as the word of man; but as it is indeed, the word
of God;" and thou art justified freely through faith. Thou shalt be sanctified
also through faith which is in Jesus, and shalt set to thy seal, even thine,
that "God hath given unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son."
6. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you, and suffer ye the
word of exhortation, even from one the least esteemed in the Church. Your
conscience beareth you witness in the Holy Ghost, that these things are
so, if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. "This is eternal
life, to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent."
This experimental knowledge, and this alone, is true Christianity. he is
a Christian who hath received the Spirit of Christ. he is not a Christian
who hath not received him. Neither is it possible to have received him,
and not know it. "For, at that day" (when he cometh, saith our Lord), "ye
shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you." This is
that "Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth
him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you,
and shall be in you" (John 14:17).
7. The world cannot receive him, but utterly reject the Promise of the
Father, contradicting and blaspheming. But every spirit which confesseth
not this is not of God. Yea, "this is that spirit of Antichrist, whereof
ye have heard that it should come into the world; and even now it is in
the world." he is Antichrist whosoever denies the inspiration of the Holy
Ghost, or that the indwelling Spirit of God is the common privilege of
all believers, the blessing of the gospel, the unspeakable gift, the universal
promise, the criterion of a real Christian.
8. It nothing helps them to say, "We do not deny the assistance of God's
Spirit; but only this inspiration, this receiving the Holy Ghost: and being
sensible of it. It is only this feeling of the Spirit, this being moved
by the Spirit, or filled with it, which we deny to have any place in sound
religion." But, in only denying this, you deny the whole Scriptures; the
whole truth, and promise, and testimony of God.
9. Our own excellent Church knows nothing of this devilish distinction;
but speaks plainly of "feeling the Spirit of Christ" [Article 17]; of being
"moved by the Holy Ghost" [Office of consecrating Priests] and knowing
and "feeling there is no other name than that of Jesus," [Visitation of
the Sick] whereby we can receive" life and salvation. She teaches us all
to pray for the "inspiration of the Holy Spirit" [Collect before Holy Communion];
yea, that we may be "filled with the Holy Ghost" [Order of Confirmation].
Nay, and every Presbyter of hers professes to receive the Holy Ghost by
the imposition of hands. Therefore, to deny any of these, is, in effect,
to renounce the Church of England, as well as the whole Christian revelation.
10. But "the wisdom of God" was always "foolishness with men." No marvel,
then, that the great mystery of the gospel should be now also "hid from
the wise and prudent," as well as in the days of old; that it should be
almost universally denied, ridiculed, and exploded, as mere frenzy; and
that all who dare avow it still are branded with the names of madmen and
enthusiasts! This is "that falling away" which was to come--that general
apostasy of all orders and degrees of men, which we even now find to have
overspread the earth. "Run to and fro in the streets of Jerusalem, and
see if ye can find a man," a man that loveth the Lord his God with all
his heart, and serveth him with all his strength. How does our own land
mourn (that we look no farther) under the overflowings of ungodliness!
What villanies of every kind are committed day by day; yea, too often with
impunity, by those who sin with a high hand, and glory in their shame!
Who can reckon up the oaths, curses, profaneness blasphemies; the lying,
slandering, evil-speaking; the Sabbath-breaking, gluttony, drunkenness,
revenge; the whoredoms, adulteries, and various uncleanness; the frauds,
injustice, oppression, extortion, which overspread our land as a flood?
11. And even among those who have kept themselves pure from those grosser
abominations; how much anger and pride how much sloth and idleness, how
much softness and effeminacy how much luxury and self-indulgence, how much
covetousness and ambition, how much thirst of praise, how much love of
the world, how much fear of man, is to be found! Meanwhile, how little
of true religion! For, where is he that loveth either God or his neighbour,
as he hath given us commandment? On the one hand, are those who have not
so much as the form of godliness; on the other, those who have the form
only: there stands the open, there the painted, sepulchre. So that in very
deed, whosoever were earnestly to behold any public gathering together
of the people (I fear those in our churches are not to be excepted) might
easily perceive, "that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees":
the one having almost as little concern about religion, as if there were
"no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit;" and the other making it a
mere lifeless form, a dull round of external performances, without either
true faith, or the love of God, or joy in the Holy Ghost!
12. Would to God I could except us of this place! "Brethren, my heart's
desire, and prayer to God, for you is, that ye may be saved" from this
overflowing of ungodliness; and that here may its proud waves be stayed!
But is it so indeed? God knoweth, yea, and our own consciences, it is not.
Ye have not kept yourselves pure. Corrupt are we also and abominable; and
few are there that understand any more; few that worship God in spirit
and in truth. We, too, are "a generation that set not our hearts aright,
and whose spirit cleaveth not steadfastly unto God." he hath appointed
us indeed to be "the salt of the earth: but if the salt hath lost its savour,
it is thenceforth good for nothing; but to be cast out, and to be trodden
underfoot of men."
13. And "shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? Shall not
My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?" Yea, we know not how soon
he may say to the sword, "Sword, go through this land!" he hath given us
long space to repent. he lets us alone this year also: but he warns and
awakens us by thunder. his judgements are abroad in the earth; and we have
all reason to expect the heaviest of all, even that he "should come unto
us quickly, and remove our candlestick out of its place, except we repent
and do the first works;" unless we return to the principles of the Reformation,
the truth and simplicity of the gospel. Perhaps we are now resisting the
last effort of divine grace to save us. Perhaps we have well-nigh "filled
up the measure of our iniquities," by rejecting the counsel of God against
ourselves, and casting out his messengers.
14. 0 God, "in the midst of wrath, remember mercy!" Be glorified in
our reformation, not in our destruction! Let us "hear the rod, and him
that appointed it!" Now that Thy "judgements are abroad in the earth,"
let the inhabitants of the world "learn righteousness!"
15. My brethren, it is high time for us to awake out of sleep before
the "great trumpet of the Lord be blown," and our land become a field of
blood. O may we speedily see the things that make for our peace, before
they are hid from our eyes! "Turn Thou us, O good Lord, and let Thine anger
cease from us. O Lord, look down from heaven, behold and visit this vine;"
and cause us to know "the time of our visitation." "Help us, O God of our
salvation, for the glory of Thy name! O deliver us, and be merciful to
our sins, for Thy name's sake! And so we will not go back from Thee. O
let us live, and we shall call upon Thy name. Turn us again, O Lord God
of Hosts! Show the light of Thy countenance, and we shall be whole."
"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that
we can ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him
be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages; world without
end. --Amen!"
[Edited anonymously at the Memorial University of Newfoundland,
with corrections by George Lyons of Northwest Nazarene College for the
Wesley Center for Applied Theology.]
