PUTTING ON CHRIST "And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts." (Romans 13:11-14, NKJV) Devotion 14 of 33 – Tomorrow:
" . . . to awake out of sleep."
Other versions read, "wake up from your slumber" (NIV), "rise from sleep" (DRA), "be aroused out of sleep" (YLT), and "stop sleeping and wake up" (NJB ).
I do not understand this to be "the sleep of death" that characterizes those who are alienated from God (Psa 13:3), although it can lead to that if not arrested. Rather, this is the sleep of indifference that can settle upon the people of God – a sort of spiritual drowsiness in which the soul becomes insensitive to God and unaware of His will, or even of His impending judgment. This frame of mind is a constant liability. It is to be avoided at all cost. Wherever it is found, those with understanding are to shout out for sleeping souls to wake up!
Unfortunately, we are living in a time that is conducive to spiritual slumber. The many distractions all about us, the penchant for entertainment, and the shallowness of religion has induced a state of spiritual sleep within the church. Church people have become more aware of their physical surroundings than their spiritual environment. They are more conscious of men and circumstance than of God and His Son. The din of worldly amusements appears to have drowned the "still small voice" that is still speaking from heaven. The people are asleep.
Like a mighty clap of thunder, the Spirit shouts to lethargic churches, "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light" (Eph 5:14). The context of the exhortation to the Ephesians is much the same as it is in Romans. In our text, the conduct of believers is being considered, and the necessity of living for God's glory in every association with mankind. In Ephesians the Spirit follows the exhortation to wake up with these words, "See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil" (Eph 5:15-16). To redeem the time is to make the most of every opportunity. However, that cannot happen while men remain asleep. However, it MUST happen of men are to remain in God's favor. Nowhere has God committed Himself to save those who are asleep.
When men sleep, the devil works. This was a point made in Christ's parable of the tares of the field. "But WHILE MEN SLEPT, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way" (Matt 13:25). When, therefore, the spirit of lethargy is found within the church, the number of tares tends to increase. Drowsy Christians provide an environment in which the devil can more readily work, for he is "the enemy" who sows his own children among the wheat of Christ (Matt 13:39). Not only do sluggish and torpid Christians stand in jeopardy themselves, they put the entire assembly in a state of danger. It is no wonder the church is challenged to wake up!
Those who conduct their lives with purely selfish interests, and with no regard for the glory of God, are asleep! They neither hear the voice of the Lord who is speaking from heaven, nor are they aware that He is standing in the midst of the churches, beholding their condition and manners (Rev 1:13). They must awaken, for they are sinking into a pit from which they might not be able to recover. The seriousness of such a condition cannot be overstated.
"Sleep" is a Scriptural word denoting the antonym of "sober." "Therefore let us NOT SLEEP, as do others; but let us watch and BE SOBER" (1 Thess 5:6). The sleeping ones cannot "watch," being alert for the intrusion of the enemy and the coming of the Lord as well. In a state of slumber they are not capable of being "sober," or "self controlled" (NIV). They cannot keep under their bodies, bringing them into subjection (1 Cor 9:27). They are, because of the condition of sleep, unable to "put off the old man" and "put on the new man" (Eph 4:24). In their state, it simply is not possible to "resist the devil" (James 4:7), "mortify the deeds of the body" (Rom 8:13), or "deny ungodliness and worldly lusts" (Tit 2:11-12). Further, their slumber renders them incapable of seeking things that are above (Col 3:1), pressing toward the mark (Phil 3:14), fighting the good fight of faith, or laying hold on eternal life (1 Tim 6:12). All of those activities demand that we be awake, alert, and not in a state of spiritual unconsciousness.
It is unbelief that puts the soul to sleep, for faith cannot sleep – it is perpetually awake. Faith cannot be dormant, inactive, or reduced to inactivity. We know this is the case because everywhere faith is mentioned it is commended. Nowhere are those who genuinely have faith said to be rejected by God. It is not a certain kind of faith that justifies, but faith itself (Rom 3:28). The faith through which we are saved by grace is not a special faith, but faith itself (Eph 2:8). Jesus declared, "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth" (Mark 9:23). Spiritual sleep robs the soul of this benefit, and causes faith to be denied. Faith that does not work is no faith at all, as James affirms (James 2:20,26).
Those who are "asleep" are conducting their lives as though God had guaranteed they will live for many more years – even for eternity. As a result, such benighted souls have become insensitive to His direction. Like the Jews with whom Jesus contended, they "cannot hear" His word (John 8:43). They are asleep! They also are no longer aware of the advances of the wicked one. Such must be awakened from their slumber, else they will fall into "the sleep of death" (Psa 13:3).
The Spirit stands at the tomb of unbelief in which many in His church are slumbering and cries out, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light" (Eph 5:14). In the wake of His cry we hear another word from the Lord: "now it is high time to awake out of sleep." Blessed is the person who responds to that call!
PRAYER POINT; Father, in the name of Jesus I pray with David, "Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death!"