Awake You Who Sleep

Ephesians 5:14–21 NKJV

14 Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.” 15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of God.

You Who Sleep

Paul calls on those whop sleep to awake - to rise from the dead

Who are the sleepers he is calling to?

Most often when this is preached it is assumed that these sleepers are those who are lost, the unconverted, unsaved souls

This is certainly an appropriate application of the passage - those who are separated from God are dead in sin

However, the epistle is written tot he church of God in Ephesus, to the faithful in Christ Jesus

I believe here he is addressing the letter those Christians both then and now, both there and here, who might be lulled back into the comfort of sleep

who might comfortably slip back into the old deadness of separation from God and friendship with the world

Consider the state of the sleeper:

By sleep, he speaks of the natural state of man - the deep sleep of the soul that is come upon all men, through Adam’s sin, in that all have sinned.

This state that all people come into the world, until God awakes them - ignorant of the things of God

oblivious to the spiritual life - and death - going on all around them

(consider the room full of youth here last night, so many of them completely unmoved, even bored by the worship of God)

Those who are asleep are not aware of what is going on around them

The Sleeper sleeps in darkness

People sleep in darkness - As the word tells us of darkness that covers the earth and gross darkness the people

The unawakened sinner lives in this darkness - the things of God hidden from him -

He does not know that he is a lost soul, separated from God, bound for eternal damnation

he does not hear the voice of God calling unto the ends of earth - come unto me and be saved

When a person sleeps they are not aware of their own ills - consider when you sleep

While the sleeper sleeps - he does not know that he is full of all disease and poverty

As Jesus said to the Laodiceans -

Revelation 3:17 NKJV

17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—

Revelation 3:12–14 NKJV

12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name. 13 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’ 14 “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God:

rev3.

Revelation 3:14–16 NKJV

14 “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: 15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.

Revelation 3:17–19 NKJV

17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.

The one who sleeps may think he is rich, in a right state, having need of nothing (ever dream you could fly?)

and not know that he is wretched and miserable, poor, blind, and naked

The Sleeper may dream that he is in right relationship with God, when in fact he does not know God

are you awake to God - is He alive to you right now - if not awake

The Comfort of the Sleeper

When we sleep, we like to be comfortable

Insulated in our blankets we like to be warm, shielded from anything that would disturb us

We like soft mattresses and pillows, along with our soft blankets

A quiet room, we try to silence the sounds that might disturb us.

Soft, and warm, and quiet, covered and hidden, we can sleep in comfort

How much the sleeper Paul calls to here is like that

There are many lost sinners who keep themselves in comfort this way

not the comfort that comes from knowing the living Savoir and living in relationship with Him

But the comfort that comes from hiding under the blankets, shielding the ears from the sermons and scripture that would make one uncomfortable

closing their eyes to the wages of sin, and to the things of God

In fact, there are many deceived people in the church this very Sunday, who are sleeping in this comfort

the western church has become in many places a church of comfort

closed to the real service of God

Closed To Reproving, Exhorting and rebuking, or being reproved and exhorted

hiding their eyes from the sinful state of the world and its need for repentance

living in the comfort of luxury while our loved ones are going to hell

So lost in this dream that they have forgotten the words of Christ, saying take up your cross and follow me

saying whoever will not place Him above father and mother, children and spouses, possessions and their own life also, is not worthy to be a disciple

Awake Church! Awake O Sleeper and arise from the dead!

The sleeper may take precautions before going to sleep to make sure that nobody wakes him

I remember taking ear plugs with me to a youth retreat once

There is away of bolting the door of your heart against anybody

it is easy for Christians to adopt doctrinal views that will prevent them from being awakened (hyper Calvinism for instance, universalism, etc.)

The Sleeper Does Not Know He is Asleep

It is possible for a Christian to be asleep and not realize that he is asleep

In fact if he knew it, he would not be asleep

Have you ever been driving an find yourself nodding off? You don’t realize it has happened until it does

How many times have you been in a dream that seemed so real?

The one who is worried about falling asleep probably has not done so

like the person driving at night, striving to stay awake

you may be worried about becoming a hypocrite, but as long as you’re worried about it, you probably have not done so yet

But just as the dreamer does not know it is a dream, so the hypocrite believes he is heaven bound, pleasing God, even due his reward.

Sleeping people don’t wake each other up

a person may be in a church where most of the people are asleep, and they probably won’t be rebuking or exhorting one another, but rather keeping one another comfortable

In fact, if your church makes you so comfortable that you are never challenged, never jolted out of your slumber, then there is a very good chance that both you and they are asleep.

Of course those folks usually see the other churches, those who are awake, as fanatical, overzealous, Jesus freaks.

what is a fanatic? Picture those you would consider fanatics. Now, consider their zealousness to that of Paul and Peter, James and John.

which ones are the fanatics? Why not you?

What’s Wrong With Sleeping?

Why is this sleeping so bad?

We are Christ’s servants and we should not be asleep (spiritually)

If a soldier is assigned to a post, he is not expected to sleep

The ministry of the gospel of Jesus has been commited to us

how can we be comfortable under our covers while the devil takes captive the souls of our loved ones and community?

How can we continue to slumber when Jesus Christ’s return is so near? Will He come back to find you asleep?

And how can we be so numb to the awfulness of sin and debauchery throughout our society these days? Even while Christ is near, even at the door?

Consider the Disciples at Gethsemane: How they slept at the moment they should have been awake

There was Jesus sweating drops of blood -

And where were they? Sleeping.

Could you not pray with me one hour?

And now, Jesus is interceding for us, and where are we? Sleeping?

Jesus has gone to prepare for us a place and return again and receives us to Himself, and do we sleep?

Or rather, are we awake, making disciples, saving the lost.

It is also terrible for us to sleep, becasue it is quite certain that the enemy is awake

he is walking about as a lion seeking whom he may devour

Arise from the dead

The state of this sleeper is one of spiritual death

We were dead in our trespasses and sins

the one who continues in those sins is still dead in them

The one who is dead in sin has not had his senses exercised to discern good and evil

The sleeper gets no exercise while he sleeps

The natural man does not receive the things of the spirit of God - they are foolishness to him

his senses are dead to things of God

The awakened saint is alive to God, and the Spirit Himself bears witness with his Spirit that he is a child of God

do you have that witness in your soul today? Do you know that you are a child of God?

If God is not right now bearing witness with your spirit that you are a child of God -

I pray that He would convince you by His power of your desperate need to wake up!

Awake O Sleeper and arise from the dead.

Awake to the life of God and to the abundant life that really is life spoken of by Jesus.

Awake, Awake, Jesus calls us to awake

We are Christ’s servants and we should not be asleep (spiritually)

to be clear, this is not an angry shout to jolt us with fear

rather, the loving call of Father. Wake up child

He loves you. He is calling us in love. To wake up. Be sober, be vigilant, becasue we have an enemy.

Though a mother comforts her children to sleep, if the house were on fire, she would awake them with hast. That is love

He calls us to arise. Arise and shine. This is the time to shine. Though darkness should grow, children of God shall Arise and shine!

Awake And Christ Shall Give You Light!

Light is often used to mean instruction, or clarification

When we are awake to Him, so many difficult things become more clear

There are so many things in the bible that are difficult to understand while we sleep, yet become so simple and clear when our heart is right and awake

I recall how boring the bible once seemed - the very idea of reading all the way through it (spoken as if it was some high and lofty goal only few might attain unto), seemed a near impossible task.

I would think, someday I would like to read all the way through...

even now, people will often ask me, “have you read the whole bible?” As if that is some rare accomplishment, just short of walking on water

Then, after I became saved, after God awoke me from my slumber...

suddenly, this once boring book became the most exciting thing I had ever read

I literally could not remain seated some days as I read.....

The most incredible truths in the world for all time… I had been asleep… But then He gave me light.

When we have light we can see further away

We turn our headlights on when we drive at night so that we can see

If you have forgotten to turn them on at night, you know that once you get away from the lights, you cannot see very far.

We are in a time for darkness, we must have Christ’s light to see beyond today, beyond hear and now

If you will awake, you will see beyond right here

AS David said, “I see the Lord always before my eyes”

When we have His light, we can see everything in our lives in the perspective of that Light, with Him always in the picture

(I often tell people to take themselves out of the equation (picture), I might add to put Him always in the equation

Like headlights illuminating the road ahead, the Light of Jesus will illuminate the future, so that we can live today with the future, even eternal future, in view.

A clear view that is not obscured at all by darkness any more.

Light brings understanding to so many things.

Not only the words of scripture, but the life in Christ that comes from being awake to Him

Not only the light of direction and guidance, but also the light of true joy.

There is a joy in the light of God’s presence that we find when we are awake to Him.

A joy that remains, even in the midst of trials, travail, and trouble

As the Psalmist said, through the earth be removed, and the mountains carried into the midst of the sea....

Enter into that light Today!