"AWAKE THOU THAT SLEEPEST"

EPHESIANS 5:1

A. "WHEREFORE HE SAITH, AWAKE THOU THAT SLEEPEST AND CHRIST WILL GIVE THEE LIGHT"
  1. This is, without any doubt, one of the strongest gospel appeals:
    1. It is, in fact, a resurrection call.
    2. That fact alone ought to stir our hearts and awaken us out of our state of spiritual lethargy.
  2. What amazes me is the fact that this resurrection call is directed to sleeping church members: 1 Cor. 11:30
B. "AWAKE THOU THAT SLEEPEST"
  1. "Wherefore he saith":
    1. The call comes from Him who saith, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last." Rev. 1:11
    2. "The Amen, the faithful and true witness" - Rev. 3:14
    3. "Who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire" - Rev. 2:18
    4. "I know thy works" - Rev. 3:15
  2. "Awake thou that sleepest":
    1. You are insensible; your eyes and ears are closed to truth; and you have no proper sense of your true condition - Luke 15:11
    2. You are in a false state of security - Luke 12:16- 20
    3. You are in a state of total spiritual activity - Prov. 24:27-30
  3. "Arise from the dead":
    1. Dead in trespasses and sin - Eph. 2:1-6
    2. Some are dead twice - Jude 12
  4. "Thou hast a name that thou livest":
    1. How sad it is to think of having the name of an active Christian, yet be dead to the spiritual life in Christ - Rev. 3:1
    2. The cemetery and not the church is the proper place for the dead.
    3. O that God, in mercy, would use His word to bring back to life the many among us who are spiritually dead!
    4. Think of the condition of the Laodiceans - Rev. 3:14-17
C. "AND CHRIST WILL GIVE THEE LIFE"
  1. So long as you are asleep, light, however bright and clear, shines upon you in vain:
    1. It shines upon the graves of the dead, yet it does not affect them.
    2. Until the warning in God's word has awakened you, all instruction in the word of life will not help you.
    3. Christ seeks to awaken you out of your fancied dreams of security and happiness, and have you reflect upon your true lost condition - EXAMPLES -
      1. The prodigal son - Luke 15:11-17
      2. The rich farmer - Luke 12:16-20
      3. The prophet Jonah - Jonah 4:5-8
  2. The call of Christ for us to awake out of our spiritual sleep indicates:
    1. That He can do nothing for us unless we cooperate with Him.
    2. The most powerful sermon can do us no good unless we answer God's call.
    3. It seems to me that before the end comes to God's people, God will allow trials and hardship to come upon some of us to wake us up out of our sleep.
  3. God will give you light:
    1. Light is the peculiar property of God, the source of light - John 1:1-12
    2. The purpose of light is threefold -
      1. To reveal to us our true condition - Rev. 3:14-17; Job 42:5, 6
      2. To light the way that leads to the kingdom of God - Ps. 43:3
      3. To help you to avoid the pitfalls of sin - Ps. 119:9, 105
  4. How wonderful it will be when God will send the Holy Spirit among His sleeping people:
    1. To raise them from the deep sleep of sin and unfaithfulness.
    2. To bring a new life into their experience.
    3. To cause us to put on the strength of God's eternal truth.
    4. Shall we not pray more earnestly for a resurrection experience?


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