"Awake thou that sleepest."-Eph. 5:14
I put before you now a simple question. Look through the pages of this
paper and you will soon see why I ask it. "Are you asleep about your
soul?"
There are many who have the name of Christians, but not the character
which should go with the name. God is not King of their hearts. They
mind earthly things.
Such persons are often quick and clever about the affairs of this life.
They are, many of them, good men of business, good at their daily work,
good masters, good servants, good neighbors, good subjects of the Queen:
all this I fully allow. But it is the eternal part of them that I speak
of; it is their never dying souls. And about that, if a man may judge
by the little they do for it, they are careless, thoughtless, reckless,
and unconcerned. They are asleep.
I do not say that God and salvation are subjects that never come across
their minds: but this I say,—they have not the uppermost place there.
Neither do I say that they are all alike in their lives; some of them
doubtless go further in sin than others: but this I say,—they have all
turned every one to his own way, and that way is not God's. I know no
rule by which to judge of a man's estate but the Bible. Now when I look
at the Bible I can come to only one conclusion about these people: they
are asleep about their souls.
These people do not see the sinfulness of sin, and their own lost
condition by nature. They appear to make light of breaking God's
commandments, and to care little whether they live according to His law
or not. Yet God says that sin is the transgression of the law,—that His
commandment is exceedingly broad,—that every imagination of the natural
heart is evil,—that sin is the thing He cannot bear, He hates it,—that
the wages of sin is death, and the soul that sinneth shall die. Surely
they are asleep.
Is this the state of your soul? Remember my question. ARE YOU ASLEEP?
These people do not see their need of a Saviour. They appear to think it
an easy matter to get to heaven, and that God will of course be
merciful to them at last, some way or other, though they do not exactly
know how. Yet God says that He is just and holy, and never changes,—that
Christ is the only way, and none can come unto the Father but by
Him,—that without His blood there can be no forgiveness of sin,—that a
man without Christ is a man without hope,—that those who would be saved
must believe in Jesus and come to Him, and that he who believeth not
shall be damned. Surely they are asleep!
Once more I say, is this the state of your soul? Remember my question. ARE YOU ASLEEP?
These people do not see the necessity of holiness. They appear to think
it quite enough to go on as others do, and live like their neighbors.
And as for praying and Bible-reading, making conscience of words and
actions, studying truthfulness and gentleness, humility and charity, and
keeping separate from the world, they are things they do not seem to
value at all. Yet God says that without holiness no man shall see the
Lord,—that there shall enter into heaven nothing that defileth,—that His
people must be a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Surely they
are asleep!
Once more I say, is this the state of your soul? Remember my question. ARE YOU ASLEEP?
Worst of all, these people do not appear to feel their danger. They walk
on with their eyes shut, and seem not to know that the end of their
path is hell. Some dreamers fancy that they are rich when they are poor,
or full when they are hungry, or well when they are sick, and awake to
find it all a mistake. And this is the way that many dream about their
souls. They flatter themselves they will have peace, and there will be
no peace; they fancy that they are all right, and in truth they will
find that they are all wrong. Surely they are asleep!
Once more I say, is this the state of your soul? Remember my question. ARE YOU ASLEEP?
If conscience pricks you, and tells you you are yet asleep, what can I
say to arouse you? Your soul is in awful peril. Without a mighty change
it will be lost. When shall that change once be?
You are dying, and not ready to depart,—you are going to be judged, and
not prepared to meet God,—your sins are not forgiven,—your person is not
justified,—your heart is not renewed. Heaven itself would be no
happiness to you if you got there, for the Lord of heaven is not your
friend: what pleases Him does not please you; what He dislikes gives you
no pain. His word is not your counselor; His day is not your delight;
His law is not your guide.
You care little for hearing of Him: you know
nothing of speaking with Him. To be forever in His company would be a
thing you could not endure; and the society of saints and angels would be a weariness, and not a joy. At the rate you live at, the Bible might
never have been written, and Christ might never have died, the Apostles
were foolish, the New Testament Christians madmen, and the salvation of
the Gospel a needless thing. Oh, awake! and sleep no more.
Think not to say you cannot believe your case is so bad, or the danger
so great, or God so particular. I answer,—the devil has been putting
this lying delusion into people's hearts for nearly six thousand years.
It has been his grand snare ever since the day he said to Eve, "Ye shall
not surely die." Do not be so weak as to be taken in by it. God never
failed yet to punish sin, and He never will: He never failed to make His
word good, and you will find this to your cost, one day, except you
repent. Reader, awake: awake!
Think not to say you are a member of Christ's Church, and therefore feel
no doubt you are as good a Christian as others. I answer,—this will
only make your case worse, if you have nothing else to plead. You may be
written down and registered among God's people: you may be reckoned in
the number of saints; you may sit for years under the sound of the
Gospel; you may use holy forms and even come to the Lord's table at
regular seasons; and still, with all this, unless sin be hateful, and
Christ precious, and your heart a temple of the Holy Ghost, you will
prove in the end no better than a lost soul. A holy calling will never
save an unholy man. Reader, awake: awake!
Think not to say you have been baptized, and so feel confident you are
born of God, and have His grace within you. I answer,—you have none of
the marks which St. John has told me, in his first epistle, distinguish
such a person. I do not see you confessing that Jesus is the Christ,
overcoming the world,—not committing sin,—loving your brother,—doing
righteousness,—keeping yourself from the wicked one. How then can I
believe that you are born of God? If God were your Father, you would
love Christ: if you were God's son, you would be led by His Spirit. I
want stronger evidences. Show me some repentance and faith; show me a
life hid with Christ in God; show me a spiritual and sanctified
conversation: these are the fruits I want to see, if I am to believe you
have the root of the matter in you, and are a living branch of the true
vine. But without these your baptism will only add to your
condemnation. Reader, awake: awake!
I speak strongly, because I feel deeply. Time is too short, life is too
uncertain, to allow of standing on ceremony. At the risk of offending, I
use great plainness of speech. I cannot bear the thought of hearing you
condemned in the great day of assize; of seeing your face in the crowd
on God's left hand, among those who are helpless, hopeless, and beyond
the reach of mercy. I cannot bear such thoughts,—they grieve me to the
heart. Before the day of grace is past, and the day of vengeance begins,
I call upon you to open your eyes and repent. Oh, consider your ways
and be wise. Awake: awake! Why will ye die?
This day, as the ambassador of Christ, I pray you to be reconciled to
God. The Lord Jesus who came into the world to save sinners,—Jesus the
appointed Mediator between God and man,—Jesus who loved us and gave
Himself for us,—Jesus sends you a message of peace: He says, "Come unto
Me."
"Come is a precious word indeed, and ought to draw you. You have sinned
against heaven: heaven has not sinned against you. Yet see how the first
step towards peace is on heaven's side. It is the Lord's message: "Come
unto Me."
"Come" is a word of merciful invitation. Does not the Lord Jesus seem to
say, "Sinner, I am waiting for you: I am not willing that any should
perish, but that all should come to repentance. As I live, I have no
pleasure in the death of him that dieth. I would have all men saved and
come to the knowledge of the truth. Judgment is my strange work,—l
delight in mercy. I offer the water of life to every one who will take
it. I stand at the door of your heart and knock. For long time I have
spread out my hands to you. I wait to be gracious. There is yet room in
my Father's house. My long-suffering waits for more of the children of
men to come to the mercy-seat before the last trumpet is blown,—for more
wanderers to return before the door is closed for ever. Oh, sinner,
come to Me!"
Come" is a word of promise and encouragement. Does not the Lord Jesus
seem to say, "Sinner, I have gifts ready for you: I have something of
everlasting importance to bestow upon your soul. I have received gifts
for men, even for the rebellious. I have a free pardon for the most
ungodly,—a full fountain for the most unclean,—a white garment for the
most defiled,—a new heart for the most hardened,—healing for the
broken-hearted,—rest for the heavy-laden, joy for those that mourn. Oh,
sinner, it is not for nothing that I invite you! All things are ready.
Come: come unto Me."
Hear the voice of the Son of God. See that you refuse not Him that
speaketh. Come away from sin, which can never give you real pleasure,
and will be bitter at the last; come out from a world which will never
satisfy you: come unto Christ! Come, with all your sins, however many
and however great,—however far you may have gone from God, and however
provoking your conduct may have been. Come as you are: unfit, unkept,
unprepared as you may think yourself,—you will gain no fitness by delay.
Come at once: come to the Lord Jesus Christ!
How indeed shall you escape if you neglect so great salvation? Where
will you appear if you make light of the blood of Christ, and despise the Spirit of grace? It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of
the living God, but never so fearful as when men fall from under the
Gospel. The saddest road to hell is that which runs under the pulpit,
past the Bible, and through the midst of warnings and invitations. Oh,
beware, lest like Israel at Kadesh, you mourn over your mistake when it
is too late; or, like Judas Iscariot, find out your sin when there is no
space for repentance.
Arise, and call upon the Lord. Be not like Esau: sell not eternal
blessings for the things of today. Surely the time past may suffice you
to have been careless and prayerless, Godless and Christless, worldly
and earthly-minded. Surely the time to come may be given to your soul.
Pray, I beseech you, that you may be enabled to put off the old ways and
the old habits, and that you may become a new man. I yield to none in
wishes for your happiness, and my best wish is that you may be made a
new creature in Christ Jesus. This is a better thing than riches, or
health, or honour, or learning. A man may get to heaven without these,
but he cannot get there without conversion. Verily if you die without
having been born again you had far better never have been born at all.
No man really lives till he lives unto God.
I leave my question with you. The Lord grant that it may prove a word in
season to your soul. My heart's desire and prayer to God is that you
may be saved. Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and
Christ shall give thee light. Arise, O sleeper and call upon God. There
is yet hope. Forsake not thy mercies. Do not lose thine own soul.
===Written by: J.C. Ryle ===
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