Let us look in our Bibles first
of all in Matthew chapter 25, then I'm going to read a verse
in Ephesians chapter 5. Matthew chapter 25, the first
13 verses here, one of our Lord's parables. Then shall the kingdom
of heaven be likened unto 10 virgins which took their lamps
and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise and
five were foolish. They that were foolish took their
lamps and took no oil with them. But the wise took oil in their
vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried,
they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry
made, behold, the bridegroom cometh, go you out to meet him. And all those virgins arose and
trimmed their lamps. The foolish said unto the wise,
give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out. But the wives
answered, saying, not so, lest there be not enough for us and
you, but go you rather to them that sell and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the
bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in with him to
the marriage, and the door was shut. Afterward came also the
other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered
and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch, here's
our Lord making application of this parable. Watch therefore,
for you know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son
of Man cometh. Now in Ephesians chapter five
and verse 14, The apostle writes, wherefore he saith, awake thou
that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give
thee light. The Lord Jesus Christ, when he
gave instructions concerning the Lord's Supper, as recorded
in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, He said, this do in remembrance
of me. Charles Spurgeon and his devotional
from these words said the following, the words of our Lord, this do
in remembrance of me. Mr. Spurgeon commented, it seems
then that Christians may forget Christ. That seems impossible, doesn't
it? It seems then that Christians may forget Christ. He goes on,
there could be no need for this loving exhortation if there were
not a fearful supposition that our memories might prove treacherous. And then he went on to say, nor
is this a bare supposition. It is, alas, too well confirmed
in experience, not as a possibility, but as a lamentable fact. I mention this only to introduce
another lamentable fact. Christians may go to sleep. Christians may go to sleep. You
know, the New Testament uses the word sleep to speak of the
death of Christians, but that sleep is not a lamentable fact,
not the death of a believer. That's a blessed time. That sleep
is when the believer goes home to be with his Lord. The sleep
that I mean is what is defined as just a drowsy frame of spirit. a drowsy frame of spirit. And the word drowsy that Webster's
dictionary defines as lethargic, lethargic, indolent. Surely the
parable of the 10 virgins, without going into explaining the parable
itself, it teaches that Christians may fall asleep because there
were 10 virgins They were all waiting the coming of the bridegroom,
and five were wise. They were wise unto salvation. It refers, of course, to believers,
that's the children of God. But they all went to sleep. That's
the point, right? The five foolish went to sleep,
whom the Lord confessed, I do not know thee. And we know that's
true of all of those who are lost, The Lord does not know
them. Doesn't mean He's not aware of
them, but it does mean that He does not have a love for them
that He has for His people. That word know there means to
know in an intimate way. I do not know thee. He knows
His people for whom He did foreknow. Them He also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of His Son. And whom He did predestinate,
them He also justified. And whom He justified, them He
also called. And them He called, He also glorified. So there's no question in my
mind that believers, as this parable teaches, and especially
this passage here in Ephesians 5, And we know this is part of the
letter. Ephesians is like all of the
epistles that Paul wrote, but it seems more evenly divided
than the other epistles. First, he goes into the doctrinal
teaching and then the practical teaching. And you've got three
chapters of Ephesians, doctrinal teaching, three chapters, practical
teaching. And this is, of course, in the
practical part of the letter. And this is not the only place
that he says something like this or wrote something like this.
And when I say he said or wrote something like this, this is
God's Word. He was writing by inspiration
of the Spirit of God. Not just the advice, it's not
just the thoughts of a man. God used men, but this is the
Word of God. And he said the same thing in
Romans 13 when he wrote there, and that knowing the time, knowing
the time, that it's high time to wake out of sleep. He's writing
to believers. It's high time to wake out of
sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. You say, how can that be? Our
salvation is near. Yes, every day we live. Every
day our salvation, our full, our complete salvation is nearer. Each day draws nearer to our
going to be with the Lord. But in the same way, he said,
awake, awake out of sleep. Now my message this morning,
and this is a message I believe that needs to be preached to
myself quite often. Awake, awake. We find ourselves in a drowsy
spirit. As believers, as children of
God, we need to be awakened. Awake, awake. First, I want to give us some
causes for Christians going to sleep. some things that cause
a believer, a child of God, to go to sleep. And before I mention
the first one, let me say this. Some people say, well, I've heard
people say this, I don't know where God's sovereignty ends
and man's responsibility begins. Well, let me just say this, God's
sovereignty never ends. It never ends. He always has
been, always is, and always shall be sovereign in all things. And man's responsibility? Men
are always responsible. Now let me just put that in some
words that nobody could misunderstand. Maybe I can speak right here
in a minute. Everyone who is saved, Everyone
who is saved will only have God to thank. Salvation is of the
Lord. And everyone who is lost will
only have himself or herself to thank. Now that's just so. Men are responsible. They're responsible to believe,
to hear, to believe. God is sovereign, and He's sovereign
in exercising His grace. That's the thing about salvation.
The salvation, listen, the salvation that is preached and believed
in most places today, it's not marvelous. It's not wonderful. Why? Because for the most part,
it's something that man does. But the salvation of God is salvation
by grace. It's what God does. And He makes
us vessels of mercy or He leaves us. He passes over us and allows
us to just go on in our sins. We should never take salvation
for granted. But what are some causes that
cause that allow Christians to go to sleep. I have three of
them. The first one is slothfulness. Slothfulness. I want you to look
back in Proverbs chapter 19. This is what we read here. Proverbs chapter 19. What causes
Christians to go to sleep? One thing is slothfulness. Proverbs 19 in verse 15. We read
slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep. The Christian life in
the word of God is compared. There are several different analogies,
but it's compared to a race. The Christian life is compared
to a race. Let us run the race that is set
before us. When a person is serious about
running a race, he or she is not going to be slothful. You
think about the men and women who've won medals in the Olympics,
do you think, for running, do you think any of those people
would ever be described as being slothful people? Here's a person
who has practiced and practiced and practiced and run, and they
win a medal, Well, that guy or that woman, those are the most
slothful people I've ever known. Not really. Oh, no, not really. And the thing goes to other things
in the Olympics as well. I mean, people give themselves
to it. And the Christian life, the scripture
says that the kingdom of heaven is taken by violence and the
violent take it by force. When God saves a person, that
person is engaged, engaged, unless we go to sleep and then we're
slothful. Slothfulness puts us into that
sleep. We become slothful about reading
the word of God. This is something that we all
have to be warned against. You know, you plan to read the
Word of God, and before you know it, you've got something else
and something else, and the day's gone, and you still haven't read
any of God's Word. Just being slothful in reading
the Word of God and meditating upon the Word of God. The same
thing about prayer. Prayer is a great privilege that
God has given us, and we become slothful about church attendance,
the opportunities that God gives us to hear the word of God. I
noticed that some people, you know, when their children are
younger, they're conscientious about having their children in
Sunday school. But then when the children get
older, they think, well, Sunday school is not for me. Well, we
don't necessarily call it Sunday school here. Nothing wrong with
that word, but we call it Bible study. And we never outgrow the
need to study the Bible. But people become slothful in
attendance, slothful in prayer, slothful in reading the Word
of God, slothful in witnessing. There was a time when we desired
and looked for opportunities, prayed for opportunities to speak
to someone about Christ, and then we become It's lawful and
we're in sleep before we know it. A second reason, a second
cause that some people fall into and go to sleep is the pursuit
after the things of this world. Someone described the pursuit
after the things of this world like riches and honors and pleasures
as opiates to put Christians to sleep. You know our text here
in Ephesians says, arise from the dead. Now that may surprise
you. Because unbelievers who are dead
in trespasses and sins are never told to arise. A person cannot
give himself life. But the apostle Paul here in
this text says, wherefore he saith, awake thou that sleepest
and arise from the dead. We live in a world that is filled
with unbelievers who are spiritually dead. We have to. We work among them. We go to
school with them. We live in a world of unbelievers. And we do not necessarily realize
what a chilling effect fellowship with lost people has upon a believer. When God's children begin to
spend more time with the world than they do with the people
of God, we're just asking to be put to sleep. The chilling
effect that rubs off on us. Now I know we're not to go out
of this world. Paul made that clear in 1 Corinthians. He said we can't go out of the
world. but pursuing the things of this world. Some people are
so dead set on wealth. When you come down, and all of
us gonna be there before long, some of us sooner than others,
but when you come down to that deathbed, all of the wealth that
you have accumulated It's not going to mean anything to you. It's not going to be worth a
hell of beans. Like the old saying, you know,
a wealthy man died and someone said, well, how much did he leave?
All of it. That's how much he left, all
of it. You've all heard that saying about you've never seen
a U-Haul trailer hitched onto a coffin. We don't bring anything
into this world, and we're not going to take anything out of
this world, as far as the wealth and riches of this world. And
yet gold, the things of gold, have an attraction to all of
us, to our flesh. If we're not careful, these things
will put us to sleep. And a third cause, and I'm almost
embarrassed to give this one, but I must. attending upon the
ministry of one who is asleep himself. In other words, if the
preacher you're listening to, the pastor that you sit under,
if he's asleep, then most likely you're going to be asleep too.
As I thought about this, I just have to ask myself, am I guilty? Am I guilty of contributing to
Christians going to sleep by my ministry? Is there nothing
in my preaching to alarm the lost? Is there nothing in my
preaching to warn the lost? Can people come here Sunday after
Sunday and just fit in even though their life is not in accord with
the word of God? Even though they have no real
interest in the things of God, can people come here Sunday after
Sunday and be comfortable? Am I soothing the road to hell
for anyone? I trust not. I know some preachers,
they're more concerned about filling the intellectual pride
in the heads of their hearers. than they are in warming the
hearts of the believers with the love of God. And that's something
I don't want to be guilty of. And by the grace of God, I will
not be guilty of that. Attending upon a ministry where
the preacher, he's asleep. He's asleep. And so the people who listen,
They go to sleep. There's a number of reasons,
but I thought of these three. Awake! That's the call, isn't
it? Awake! If anyone here today,
any believer, any child of God, is slothful in your serving Christ,
in your love for Christ, awake! Stir up the gift that is within
thee with prayer. Wrestle with God. Get on your
face before God and cry out, God, help me. Deliver me. Can the Lord Jesus Christ be
so zealous, so dedicated, so committed as He was in rescuing
us from hell and us be so slothful and so negligent and so unconcerned
about our relationship to God. Shouldn't be. Shouldn't be. Well, here's the
second part of my message. What methods does God take to
awaken sleeping Christians? When I wrote that down, I thought,
you know, I remember when I was a teenager. Most teenagers can
sleep for hours. They sure don't want to get up
and go to school in the morning. My dad worked the third shift,
and he came home about the time I was supposed to be getting
up. My mother would wake me up, and I'd stay in bed. He had a
way that got me out of bed every time. I'd feel water dripping on my
face. He'd be standing over me with
a glass of water. It worked. It worked every time. What are some of the ways that
God uses in waking up Christians? I have three. First of all, the
Holy Spirit brings God's love home to our hearts. He brings
God's love home to our heart. Our hearts may be cold and indifferent
and then through hearing a message or reading a message or reading
the word of God, God the Holy Spirit begins to quicken us and
to warm our hearts. It may be thinking on the sacrifice
of Christ, what it cost him, his life's blood. to redeem us
from all iniquity. And we begin to think, after
all that God has done for me, and this is the way I repay him.
After all he's done for me, giving his only begotten son, and this
is the way I repay him. This is the way I react. by my indifference, my slothfulness,
my laziness, and my unconcernedness. I want you to turn with me to
Isaiah 43, just a moment. Verse 21, this people have I
farmed for myself. They shall show forth my praise.
But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob, but thou hast been
weary of me, O Israel. Thou hast not brought me the
small cattle of thy burnt offerings, neither hast thou honored me
with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve
with an offering or wearied thee with incense. Thou hast bought
me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with
the fat of thy sacrifices. Now notice this, but thou hast
made me to serve with thy sins. Thou hast wearied me with thine
iniquities. There's two ways to understand
this passage of scripture. When he says there, thou hast
bought me no sweet cane with money, were they ever commanded
to do that? No. Nowhere in the law were they
ever commanded to buy any sweet cane and bring that offer unto
the Lord. When a person loves someone,
They just don't follow certain rules, you know? You've got to do this, you've
got to do this, you've got to do this. When a person loves
someone, they look for ways to please that person. They look
for ways. And these people, after all God
had done for them, Nation of Israel. God says to them, you've
caused me what you, you've bought me no sweet cane, but thou hast
made me to serve with thy sins. In other words, you've just loaded
your sins onto me, but you gave me no return, showed no love. You've done the bare essentials. That's all. But where's the love? Where's the appreciation for
what I've done for you? All you've done is caused me
to serve with your sins. But notice that next verse. I,
even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own
sake, and will not remember thy sins." God, for Christ's sake, forgives
us our sins, doesn't He? For mine own sake. Blotted them
out. You know, they used to do it
that way. They'd have a ledger book and
And you would charge this, and charge this, and charge this,
and charge this. You might have a whole page full
of charges there. And then you come in and pay,
and they just blot them out. Just ink them out so they cannot
be read or brought up again. And that's what God said he has
done with our sins through the blood of Jesus Christ. He's blotted
them out for his own sake. But even so, we see here that
God would have us to show our love, to show our appreciation. And sometimes that's the way
the Lord wakes us up is by causing these things to be more real
to us, bringing them home to us. A second way, the Holy Spirit
uses his word to sharply rebuke us. We get up on Sunday morning
and we think, I'm going to church, praise God, I'm going there to
be comforted with the word of God. And we get here and the
preacher has a message that doesn't comfort it, really rebukes us.
God sometimes awakes his children that way, through the ministry
of the word, rebuking. After all, the scripture is profitable
for doctrine, for rebuke. for instruction in righteousness. A third way, some very afflicting
providence. And we don't, any of us like
to think about that, but sometimes that's the way God awakens his
children. I don't say God's trying to teach
me something. God's trying to tell me something.
God doesn't try to do anything. God does. But some afflicting providence
comes our way. It may well be God is using that
to wake us up, to get serious about this matter of serving
Him, being faithful, being committed in every way that we should. Now look, in closing, look at
the text here in Ephesians 5, what the promise is. what God
promises to those who awake. Wherefore, he saith, awake. Who
says it? God the Holy Spirit does. Awake,
thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, from among the
dead, and Christ shall give thee light. Christ shall give thee
light. Now, hurriedly, there are four
things in the Bible that light symbolizes. First of all, it
symbolizes life. Life. Awake and I will give thee
life. Light. They go together, light
and life. The Christian has been given
life, but remember this life that we have been given is life
more abundantly. And sometimes the life may be
weak because we are asleep, awake, and he will give us light that
is life more abundant. Light symbolizes knowledge. And
when we awake from our sluggishness and drowsiness, the knowledge
that we need to hear and to grow in the grace and knowledge of
the Lord. And light symbolizes purity.
It's through the blood of Jesus Christ that every Christian is
pure in the sight of God. He's washed us from our sins
in his own blood. But remember, the Apostle James
speaks about a believer keeping himself unspotted from the world,
unspotted from the world. When our Lord washed the disciples'
feet, The whole lesson there is to show us as we go through
this world that we need cleansing daily and the purity of a believer. Awake, the Lord Jesus Christ
says, and Christ shall give thee light. And the last thing, light
symbolizes joy. This is surely something that
we all need, joy. Why? Because as God said through
Nehemiah, the joy of the Lord is your strength. When a believer,
David prayed in that Psalm after he had committed the sin and
he's in repentance, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.
Believers, we lose joy, we lose strength. Because his joy, the
joy of the Lord is our strength in serving him. Well, let me close just by saying,
awake. If you're asleep today, as a
believer, as a child of God, awake. Awake unto righteousness,
the scripture says, and sin not. The Lord bless His word, all
of us here today.